This is the newest member of our family! His name is Chuck Norris (a name the humane society gave him). We like to call him Chuckers! He fits right in with our family! He’s just over a year old and we are happy to call him our own!

    


     Gary and I had a very quiet thanksgiving. We just had my in-laws over for dinner. The kids went on a cruise with their Mom and my family all went to Rohnert Park to celebrate at my Aunt’s house.

    We are VERY much looking forward to spending my birthday at the coast in Mendocino! We are counting down the days!!

As always be blessed!!

Welcome Fall!

Well fall is here in Chico!! I know our family is SO glad that the weather is cooling down and the rain is FINALLY here!

 Charlie started soccer about a month ago and he loves it! Gary and I go every Saturday and watch him practice. It’s great observing him learn how to work as a team and follow instructions. He also loves Kindergarten. It’s kind of funny because Gary and I have been able to spell things out that we did not want him to hear but now he comes home with new words and he recognizes words, I guess that will teach us:)


 

Samantha is doing well in high school. She is on the Chico High cheer leading squad and that keeps her really busy. She is also taking some college prep classes so with that cheer leading and all of her friends she is a typical 14 year old girl :)

 

Gary and I are about to celebrate out 19 month anniversary. I know I know its kind of silly to celebrate every month but we do :) I told Gary that after our 2 year anniversary we stop celebrating every month :) In two months and two days we go to the coast for my birthday! We CANT wait !

 

As always be blessed!

Well summer’s moving right along here in Chico! Charlie and Samantha start school on the 11th and they are very excited! We went to Charlie’s orientation for kinder garden and Samantha’s orientation for her first year of high school yesterday.  Charlie is incredibly happy to start school with the “big” kids. Samantha is on the JV cheer leading squad and of course like any other 14 year old has a TON of friends and a very chaotic life :)

Gary and I have recently bought Dr. Oz’s book YOU on a diet and we have started adopting the VERY healthy advice in it! Gary and I have both dropped 21lbs. within just the last 2-3 months. Most of it has been through just watching portion control and making sure we have HEALTHY food to munch on instead of grabbing what ever is available. We are starting his two week detox plan this Sunday and according to Dr. Oz we can lose two inches off of our waist! But Gary and mine’s main focus is to get healthy not skinny!

Gary and I will be celebrating our 17 month anniversary (woo hoo :)) here in a couple of weeks. And we are counting down the days when we go to the coast back to our Forrest Suite for my birthday at the end of December.

As always BE BLESSED!!

Summer is Here!

Well it's HOT here in Chico CA! And it's only going to get hotter! Well I finished school! I managed to get an A in my college study skills class, a B in my Gender Communication and a C in my health class! I've got about two and a half months til I start school again!

Samantha graduated from the 8th grade and is really excited about starting high school. She will be doing cheer leading and is going to cheer leading camp this summer.  Charlie starts kinder garden at the beginning of August and he is eager to go to the big boys school. He just finished T-ball and started his first Karate class this week.

Gary and I are doing GREAT! We will celebrate our 15 month anniversary here in a couple of days! I know I know who celebrates the months (hehee) well  we do! We are VERY much looking forward to going to the Mendocino for my birthday in December. We are going back to our Forest Suite that we celebrated our one year anniversary at.  Life is AWESOME!

It's been a while........

    I know, I know.....it's been FOREVER since I've blogged! I've just been REALLY busy with school! I'm almost done though WOO HOO!!! I just have one more paper to write for my Gender Communication paper and I will be done with this semester! Then next semester I will be going full time! So I'm really looking forward to the summer break! 
    Samantha graduates from the 8th grade next week so as you can imagine she is really excited. She has done great in Junior high and is  planning to take all college prep classes next year for her first year of high school. Gary and I are extremely proud of her! Charlie is playing t-ball and is doing great. He just LOVES sports and is very much a little boy. He will start kinder garden in the fall and is very happy about that.
    Gary and I have been together for 14 months and they just keep getting better and better!! I couldn't have prayed for a better man in my life :) Until next time..........
By the way........Charlie took this picture of him and I, I thought it was a really cute pic so I decided to post it!

Day 2 Of Our Mini Vacation!

Day 2 of our vacation!!  AND our anniversary!! When we pulled into the driveway of our forest suite we were amazed!! It's an old barn that  an artist Jennifer Taylor remodeled as her art studio. Then she rents the loft out as a vacation rental. Its 2 miles south of Mendocino and about 1 mile from the coast. We are in the middle of a redwood forest and it is BEAUTIFUL! Gary and I drove over from Chico yesterday. It's raining right now outside and it is SO romantic! The whole west wall of our get away is windows and there are several skylights throughout our little oasis. Today we went down town to this great little coffee shop called the mendocino bakery. Gary and I had some fair traded organic thanksgiving coffee! Then we went down the street to the Harvest Market  and got some fresh baked sourdough bread, some wild locally caught prawns then came back to our little studio and had a WONDERFUL dinner! We are so relaxed here we almost feel at home. Too bad we have to go back to our actual home tomorrow but we WILL be back!!

Well charlie started t-ball practice this last Saturday!! What a little base ball player we have! Our coach, coach Chris is REALLY great with the kids! it was SO cute watching about nine five year olds learn how to play baseball!! Charlie hit the ball GREAT! I've attached a pic of him at the batting cages! What a little trooper we have!!

Gary and I are VERY excited about our upcoming trip! We leave 13 days from today! We CANNOT wait to get away to the coast!! Until next time.......

Well the weather here in Chico, CA is FINALLY getting nicer!! We've had nothing but rain the last couple of days which has prevented us from riding our bikes. Also Gary's gout has been flared up so he hasn't been able to hardly walk let alone ride a bike. Gary and I have decided where we are going to go for our one year anniversary which we are VERY excited about! Here's a link to where we are going http://www.vrbo.com/272501 . We are REALLY looking forward to getting away from the valley to the coast! Plus also eating some great seafood!

Yesterday we took Charlie to sign up for his t-ball at a pancake breakfast. Sometimes I think Gary and I are more excited about him starting t-ball then he is! He got his hat he's on the muck ducks team. It was great seeing him get all excited about starting something new! He has his first practice this Wednesday!! Until next time.......

REALLY sore!!

WOW!! today Gary and I were REALLY sore after our 2 hour bike ride yesterday!! We have both decided to ride our bikes 2 hrs 4 days a week! We would like to lose 50lbs and I'm pretty sure we can do that over the next 6 months! We are dropping our gym membership til it gets too hot outside to ride our bikes. I figured it out and depending on what website you look at we burned anywhere from 1388-2000 calories in a 2 hour bike ride! AMAZING! and its fun too!! riding around Chico it is VERY bike friendly and very beautiful! Anyways i was just stoked about being sore and thought i should blog. as always keep smiling!!!

FINALLY back on track again!!

Well the sun has been shining here in Chico, California!! FINALLY!! So Gary and I decided to take the old rusty bikes out and go for a bike ride!! We rode from our house almost to the airport. It was for a total of 10.12 miles round trip! This is the longest bike ride I've taken since i was a child! We figured it out and even if we were riding light we burned over 1300 calories! WOO HOO!!(hehee) Gary and I haven't even eaten 1300 calories today! So I'm excited about the weather getting nicer!

Gary and I are about to celebrate our one year anniversary together. We aren't sure what we are going to do yet. We are thinking about possibly renting a car then going to Fort Bragg then driving either up or down the coast. Ill keep you posted!! As always keep smiling............

Well things have been kind of busy around our house lately! School is really exciting! The GOOD stress it has been causing has been very welcomed! I am doing very well in both my health and Gender communication classes. I have taken two tests and gotten an A on the first and a B on the second and this is all without a book!  I wont start my third class until march, its a college study skills class.

Samantha's fourteenth birthday is coming up at the end of this month which she is of course really excited about! Charlie will be starting t-ball here next month so that should keep us pretty busy! until next time.........

Starting a new chapter......

   Im starting school today which i am REALLY excited about! i havent been in 10 years. I will be taking a health and wellness class, Gender communication and college study skills. I will be going to Butte Junior college here in Chico, but all of my classes will be online.

    It's amazing having kids in your life! Charlie amazes me everyday he spends with us! Its fun seeing the world through a 5 year olds eyes. He almost always has something new to tell us from his point of view.......aaahh to be a child again........

My New Crocs............

These are my "new" crocs!! Gary bought them for me for Christmas! I told Gary i had to blog about them because they are the MOST comfortable pair of shoesI've ever worn! they are ergonomically correct and make my feet feel GREAT!