Christmas in Whistler!

We had a great time in Whistler skiing over Christmas. It snowed almost every day and we had a White Christmas! We skied at Blackcomb & Whistler and loved the tree skiing!

Click here for all our pics

Karl's bro, Mark, me and Karl

Happy Holidays!

We're officially on vacation!! WOO HOO!! We're headed to Whistler tomorrow to ski for a week with Karl's family. We've been watching the snow report and we're due for a White Christmas so I can't wait! There's nothing like being on the slopes and skiing in the groves of trees at Christmas! We're all packed...4 bags...160 lbs worth of stuff ready to go. We'll be in SA the week after Xmas for Mema's 80th birthday bash and to see all my family. I can't wait! I feel like I haven't seen Riane, the new, crazy Brit, in forever!

We were so busy with work, etc, this year that I didn't send out Christmas cards this year (slacker, I know.) I hope everyone has a great holiday and rings in 2008 with lots of laughter and fun (and a drink in their hand ;) See ya in 2008!

Nutcracker!

This year was our second time to see the San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker. We have so much fun just hopping on the bus and shooting down to the opera house where everyone is walking up the big steps. It's so fun to get all dressed up and go watch my favorite- The Nutcracker! The show is always awesome and I love the music. I was able to see the clarinet section from my seat! Haha. (I wonder if I could still play mine?) Another great performance this year!

Oh the crazy holidays...

This week has been completely crazy with holiday events, parties, happy hours, wrapping, packing, etc! Weeks like this I wish there were more hours in a day. I feel like I just can't get everything done that I need to and enjoy the holidays at the same time! My group at work decided to have our Christmas party the same day as the flurry party so that was a bummer I had to miss theirs but alas...something has to give. At work we had parties all week! Lunches, eggnog parties, sushi dinners, secret santa parties, Christmas tree decorating parties, etc. We don't hold back when it comes to celebrating. Karl and I are both exhausted and ready for the holidays and vacation to begin..and we can sleep and sleep and sleep. Lovely.

Cirque du Soleil!

The BEST show we've EVER seen. Hands down. Karl & I walked away from this show completely amazed at what we just saw. We didn't know what to expect going to the show other than all our friends who had been to a show highly recommended it. We went to Kooza which is playing in San Fran right now. Their shows normally only play in bigger cities so we thought this would be the perfect chance to go check it out. We went in completely open-minded and didn't know what to expect. It was AMAZING. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who might go see it but here's a little glimpse...

This was probably one of our favorite acts. The contortionists in this show will do things that you never thought humanly possible. All perfectly choreographed to cool music too. I seriously thoughts these little person's spines were going to snap. At the end of this act, as our mouths were permanently dropped open, the girl basically lays down on her stomach and flips her entire body over itself and walks around her head on the ground..unreal. Very cool but we were thinking "OW!" the whole time.

The "wheel of death" was another one of our favorites. These dudes were just crazy and the main thing to point out on this act is there is no net to catch them if they were to fall...which one guy almost did. We were so glad to have taken advantage of Cirque being in town to experience our first show. We're now hooked and already looking up other Cirque shows to go see!

Karl's 30th!

The old man hit 30 today! (which is very weird to think about considering we've been together since we were 17!) I wanted to take him somewhere to celebrate the big 3-0! We decided San Diego would be the most fun for the cheapest plane ticket, least amount of time off work to get there and we have some of our best college friends living there so it was a perfect spot! It was an easy 1.5 hour flight from San Fran so we took advantage of cheap Southwest fares there and back. Friday night Mark & Marina, James and us went to eat our favorite food- Mexican!

The restaurant was very San Antonio Market Square like with a big patio, yummy food and ritas. We braved the very chilly weather and sat outside on the patio huddled next to a space heater and ordered our favorite- cheese enchiladas! It was a really cold weekend and even rained some...not the San Diego weather we were used to but we had a blast despite the weather. Saturday we decided to do something mature and non-drinking related and went to the Animal Wildlife Safari. We had fun walking around, harassing random animals.
... not the petting zoo, mind you

Karl & Mark of course, walked around the park memorizing the names of every random species of animal there. (Both Animal Planet junkies) Karl told me that he liked going to the park with Mark because Mark could identify all the weird animals and Karl knew their behavior. Dorks. Anyway, the park was really cool and we even *splurged* and did the tram safari ride through the wild serengeti to get up close and personal with these animals. Excitement.

...baby giraffes

...notice the baby monkey hanging on for dear life

...does life get any better than this?!

It was a freezing cold ride but pretty cool. Saturday night we went to eat at this cool restaurant near the Culyba's house right on the ocean, which had a really cool view. We had drinks and yummy seafood. After dinner, and Karl and James wrapping up an intense Wii tennis match, we obviously had to refresh our beer pong abilities to see if we could still hang...Harris' v. Culybas and we won! We bundled up and played in the garage and eventually had to go inside since since we were frozen and one game of shrub and one game of two cup, couples style is all our husbands' old bones could take.

...old man & bank robber

If anyone knows Karl they know his fascination with weather & temperatures. He was inspired by Mark's refusal to turn on the heat in their house despite it being in the 40s outside. So, fun game- Karl decided to see how cold it could actually get in the house at night. For us, this included sleeping next to a turkey thermometer probe by our pillows to get the lowest overnight reading. Turns out- one morning it got as low as 52 inside! Fascinating.

December Already?!

Karl & I had a pretty relaxing weekend this weekend. I can't believe this will be our second Christmas in SF already. Time really flies. We decided since we'd be gone for almost two weeks over Christmas and New Year's we should get our Christmas tree this weekend so we could enjoy it! (a real tree, of course) We walked down to Polk Street to the neighborhood hardware store and had all of 4 trees to choose from. Being in the middle of the city they could only display what they could fit on a tiny piece sidewalk in front of their store. Anyway, we found the perfect sized tree! It's about 4 feet tall and with the new star topper I found, about four and half. Karl lugged it all the way up our big hill up to our apartment and it's perfect!

We set it up right in front of our big window in the living room so you can see it from the street, which seems to be what everyone does here. It's pretty cool driving around the city to see all different sized trees all lit up in windows. We had fun getting into the Christmas spirit decorating our tree with lights and ornaments we've collected in California over the past year and a half. I actually have a Christmas box started here, which surprised Karl. I don't why since this is my FAVORITE holiday :) We have a whopping 8 ornaments some of which are almost as big as the tree! We have a couple from our trips to Disneyland, a couple from Napa and of course a Nutcracker from when we went to the SF Ballet we went to last year. The decorating wouldn't be complete without my cowboy boot stockings my mom sent us last year which I love!

While I was decorating around the apartment Karl was completely content with his cup of eggnog watching the Harry Potter marathon that's been on all weekend. I had to run to the store to get eggnog and as I was pulling out of our garage, I confirmed if you looked up at our apt from the street you can see our tree in the window. Yey! I LOVE Christmas time and even though we miss putting up lights on our home and a big tree with our collection of ornaments, we love Christmas time in the city!

First Invitation!

I wanted to show off my first official invitations I designed for Mema's 80th birthday party! Mom & I worked so hard getting everything just right and the final printed invite turned out awesome. We never knew there were so many different types of paper to choose from to print it on but Mom ran to several different stores before choosing the perfect one. I was so happy her sweet sixteen picture turned out just right (this was Papaw's favorite picture of her) All those hours I spent learning Photoshop while I was on my break paid off! I had so much fun designing them and would love to take on some other projects so let me know if anyone ever needs invitations, cards or announcements custom designed by Jamie ;) Here is the final invite....

Thanksgiving!

We made our annual family trip down to the Frio this year for Thanksgiving with all of our cousins and aunts and uncles. What a time we have together under one roof- all 25 of us! We missed Riane & Ronnie so much this year! Dominoes just wasn't the same without Uncle Ron! We played tons of card games, board games and of course dominoes. Then, usually we get in a game or two of poker. My $5 usually doesn't last too long but I try and stick around as long as I can before my cousins take my money ;) Despite the freezing cold weather we had this year- in the 40s and wet, we continued our volleyball tradition and played every day, all bundled up.

I have to say I am getting better and slowly learning the advantage of actually trying to hit the ball rather than running and trying to dodge it. I was voted MVP by my team when I scored the winning point! (Much to me and my team's surprise). We even had one dry night where we all sang around the campfire to Uncle Doug's guitar songs! We sang new ones I had requested before the trip that he had practiced! One of the highlights of our trip is definitely all the awesome food we eat over the course of 4 days. This year Sallye made her new famous drink- "Cable Car Martinis!" We even drank them out of fancy martini glasses rimmed with cinammon sugar..Mmmm...hearing from her that this was her favorite treat during their trip to San Francisco I decided I should try one and yow were they strong!

Let's just say after all the ladies had a couple while cooking Thanksgiving, it was a miracle we had Thanksgiving dinner at all! Even Mema got up there with them and sang and danced away with them in the kitchen. Luckily, there were enough microphones to go around (spoons and basting brushes) so everyone could sing! We all were cracking up so hard and thankfully, Karl had the turkey under control and grabbed in just in time!


He and Mom tried a new recipe for the turkey this year which involved turning the turkey upside down to let the juices get to the breast meat and man did it work! We had the juiciest turkey ever so something worked! We sure missed Riane this year- she couldn't make the trip all the way from London but she and her friends made their own T-day feast in London! (thanks to grocery shopping at the Americanized Whole Foods in London!)


And as if that wasn't enough food to last us a week, we couldn't wait for "Mexican night!" We chowed down on the infamous bean rolls and chalupas and definitely got our fix before heading back to California. Topped off by Sallye's famous margaritas and we were set!


During the day in the morning after breakfast we all went walking around the neighborhood and down to the ricer. We even took Riley the "Crazy Dog" out for a walk and she once again decided it would be more fun to walk me so I was basically holding on for dear life the entire time. I let her off the leash ONCE and she thought she could out run an entire family of deer- nice try Riley! She got her exercise, that's for sure.

Karl and the guys kept the fires burning in both living rooms and we were cozy playing games all night long....into the wee hours. I was so happy to see my family and glad we keep our once a year tradition of getting together. Friends and family is what life is all about!

*click here to see all pics*

I'm thankful for...

I feel like I have so many things to be thankful for and think about how lucky I am every day. So here it goes….my top 10 in no particular order.

1. My awesome, big, fun family that is more and more fun to hang out with every time we’re all together. Having 4 siblings and friends for life is one life’s greatest gifts. I wonder if my mom knows they are the coolest things she’s ever given me.

2. All my crazy cousins, aunts and uncles and Grandma that provide so many fun memories for years to come. Funny how we don’t need anything fancy to have fun- just cards, a game or two and we’re all laughing and having a blast!

3. My best friend and husband, Karl, who continues to make me laugh every day 12 years later. Thank you for making my dreams come true. I love you babe.

4. My job at one of the world’s greatest companies. Every day I wake up to and go to a job I actually love.

5. All my friends- old and new. One & a half years later after pulling into a brand new city not knowing a soul, I have made many new friends in the city and we have a blast hanging out. And as always, I am thankful for my 6 best friends, whom I've been friends with for almost 20 years. Wow.

6. A warm home and husband to come home to every night.

7. My cowboy boot slippers that everyone makes fun of but until they wear them they can’t imagine how cozy there are.

8. Babies- the sweetest things on this planet which I can’t WAIT to have some day.

9. My health and my family and friend’s health.

10. Good Decisions and a little luck along the way.

Obama visits us at work

Another star studded day at work. Obama and his entourage came and spoke to all employees and even took questions from the audience. Here's a clip from his visit that was posted on You Tube.

** Click here to watch! **

Ben & Mere Visit

We were so happy to have Ben & Mere come visit us this weekend! We had perfect WARM weather and it's already November! It has been warm and sunny all weekend. Daylight savings hit last night and now it gets pitch dark at about 5pm in SF which is kind of sad. It's always weird to me in the winter here to be at work at 5 and have it dark out before I even leave for home. Makes the days seem like they just fly by. Guess this means I can't run around the hood after work so I'll have to run in the morning or at work around campus....

Here are some picts from this weekend. I was really sad to learn I forgot to swap out the un-charged battery for the one plugged in at home so we didn't get too many pics Saturday but here are a few.

Thanks B & Mere for coming to visit! We had fun and hope you did too! (Maybe the next time we all get together to party we'll be celebrating you oldies turning 30! :) scary....

.....the ladies and our favorite wine


...nice wine teeth :)

Earthquake!

Last night Karl and I had just sat down to eat dinner and we were sitting in the living room eating on the couch and I felt a slight rumble but I always think it's someone in the apartment above us like jumping around so didn't really think anything of it. But, then it got alot stronger and I heard all the dishes and glasses in our kitchen rattle around in the cabinet...Karl and I both just looked at each other like what do we do? We really should look up what to do in case of a major one but we just sat there looking around until it was over. It was reported to be a 5.6 so definitely one of the bigger ones since we've been in SF. Karl would like me to mention this is the biggest quake that's hit SF since the big one in 1989. I've only felt a few smaller ones and but once this summer Karl woke up in the middle of the night and felt the biggest one yet where our entire building (15 floor high rise) was swaying back and forth. Let's just say I'm glad I was in Texas visiting my family and didn't get to experience that one..I would have freaked out! Anyway, we're safe...just a little entertainment on a Tuesday night in SF.

My new project....

Check out our new website! I decided, after seeing so many of my friends use Blogger, that I would check it out. Turns out it rocks! It is SO much easier to use, as with all Google products, and it was alot easier than Wordpress to do simple formatting, posting, etc. So...here we are!

Keep checking back for updates!

Sonoma Camping Farewell...

We decided to go camping in Sonoma this weekend since the weather was great for camping and probably the last weekend before it gets too cold to camp. This is my favorite time of year to camp in Napa since the vineyards are blankets of bright red, and orange & yellow up & down the hills.

We did our usual bike ride to about 4 wineries along our route and took pictures as we went. It ended up being perfect weather- upper 70s during the day and it was in the upper 40s that night-brrr..but it was cozy so we bundled up and sat by the fire.

It's funny because back at the campsite Karl used his nifty little head lamp he bought for his guys camping weekend in Catalina Island and it turned out to be super handy while we were roasting hot dogs and making s'mores. Yum! I had to take a picture of him with it on because it was cracking me up! We're going to miss camping and bike riding up in Sonoma but we'll be back!

Taylor visits!

I was so happy this weekend when Tay came to stay with us for 3 nights and even got to play hooky from school on Friday so we could hang out in SF! We ate lunch at Google and we pigged out! Tay had steak and pork and mashed potatoes and then we had lots of little yummy desserts ;) Friday night we found a really good Dim Sum restaurant and we pigged out again on lots of little dumplings and eggrolls. (yes, all we do is eat here in SF..hence the running at least 45 minutes a day!) Saturday, we had so much fun running across the Golden Gate bridge. We ran the whole way across and back- 3.6 miles! We had awesome clear weather so the views were awesome. We shopped all day Saturday and had yummy calamari in North Beach for lunch. Then, we hung out down in Union Square and went into all the big, huge stores that in a normal city are one floor and in Union Square they are like 4-5 levels. We were worn out! Then, Karl took us out to North Beach for YUMMY veal picatta that we love! The waiter must have thought Tay was alot older than she is because he even poured her a glass of wine! (which of course Karl and I helped her drink instead ;) Sunday we took a walk down to Crissy Field and took lots of pictures of the bridge and us on the beach. There were sooo many dogs chasing balls and playing in the water, it was fun to watch. We even spotted two sea lions playing around near the shore that we thought were dogs! It was a short but sweet trip
...I miss you & love ya lots Tay Tay!

I could get use to this!

....click picture for bigger view

During my break I have had so much fun visiting my friends' new babies! These 3 kiddos were born all within 4 weeks of each other and are so so sweet! My friend Sophie from work had Baby Katlynn, Leah from work had Christian and Sara, my friend in SF, had baby Olivia. They have been my lunch buddies and we've had so much fun visiting. I could definitely hold these little people all day long!

Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Fest

The sun never came out and it was chilly as we walked around Half Moon Bay's Pumpkin Fest this year with some friends, but we bundled up and had fun. The pumpkin winner this year weighed in at 1384 lbs! Since they guard this veggie dearly and block all views from photographers (hoping you'll pay the $12 to pose in the tent with it) we weren't able to take a picture but I did get a picture of the 2nd place winner and an artist carved a huge face on it which was cool! We are still having nice and sunny weather in SF so this weekend we tried to enjoy while we can. Saturday morning Karl & I ran from our apt. to the Embarcadero, past the Ferry Building, to right underneath the Bay Bridge- 3 1/2 miles! Then, ran back to the Ferry Building for some lunch along the water @ Mijita taco stand. While the tacos definitely aren't Las Palapas they are good & cheap!

Pine Ridge Winery Lobster Fest!

We had so much fun at our first Pine Ridge Winery Lobster Fest! Our winery does its famous Lobster Fest once a year for members only, so we had to experience this first hand. What a feast! We each got an apron, which came in very handy during the feast. We arrived to appetizers being served all around in the gardens and patio with wine pairings. We had grilled lamb and hanger steak skewers, prosciutto wrapped figs stuffed with blue cheese and oysters from an oyster bar with special sauces. We were then escorted to the long tables where the lobster feast was to be served.

We stood back and the cooks ran down the tables and poured out buckets of yummy food! Lobster, shrimp, potatoes, garlic, onions, artichokes...yum! We dug in with our hands! Everything was amazing! Lots of butter and garlic...yum! We were then taken to the patio again for dessert- tiramisu paired with the new release of Malbec wine- first in 10 years. Yum!! We were very happy to have experienced the famous Lobster Fest just a drive away from our home in San Francisco.

...very serious work!

Class of '97 Reunion

We had a blast in SA for our 10 yr high school reunion....fun times!

..me & my girls...friends for almost 16 years now!

Julie's Wedding in Sonoma

We went to Julie's wedding this weekend in Santa Rose, wine country north of Napa. It was soo pretty outside on a golf course at the Country Club. They couldn't have asked for better weather.

Oren Wedding in LA

Congrats Melissa & Ben! A gorgeous black tie wedding at Walt Disney Concert Hall. We had a blast partying with all the AXAs...

Culyba Wedding in La Jolla

Weddings! Weddings! It's our hobby! La Jolla was gorgeous and the Culyba wedding was set overlooking La Jolla Cove- beautiful!

Costa Rica!

I miss Costa Rica! Riane & I had soo much fun with our tour group...10 days of adventure!!

Here's a funny video of me being a spaz as I drop from a platform on the "Jungle Swing" It was actually really fun but the initial feeling of dropping from that high up is creepy...thus the need to scream as loud as possible ;)

**Click to see more of our pictures**

Cabo Wabo!

We had a very relaxing time in Cabo. We stayed on one of the nicest swimming beaches there- Medano Beach, which is on the Sea of Cortez side. From our hotel we could look out to the famous El Arco and rock formations which mark the very tip of Baja. This is where the Pacific side meets the Sea of Cortez. During our sunset cruise we went around the tip into the Pacific side and the air temperature was instantly cooler and the waves were way rougher crashing into the rocks and beach. It was crazy how you could just feel how much colder it was!

sunset cruise

You can't get in the water on the Pacific side because it's way too rough. Alot of celebrities have homes perched on the cliffs on the Pacific side. Even on our nice beach the surf was pretty strong and the undertoe was pretty significant but it was definitely swimmable once we swam past the waves. The water was chilly but felt great after laying out and getting hot. We went on a Sunset Cruise to the famous El Arco (See Pictures) and one day we decided to try diving. I was really nervous that it was going to be too cold for me but the dive master said we'd be fine in long wetsuits, which they rented us. Karl originally thought the water temp was about 75 or so and the dive master quickly assured us that is was mid to low 60s!!! I suited up and got all ready, dropped into the water and instantly froze! The water was so cold my face and hands hurt! I just couldn't do it and there was no way I was up 45 minutes of it getting even colder once we reached 50 or so feet during the dive. Karl continued on and did two dives. I stayed on the boat and the driver let me snorkel around a little but I was pretty cold doing that! There were a ton of fish but no coral.

famous El Arco

They dove near El Arco and the rock formations and underwater it got pretty deep pretty quick. They saw an eel, Amberjack fish, and a Rock Fish which they warned us about. It definitely wasn't Bora Bora diving but Karl was glad he checked it out. By the end of the second dive he was wiped out and admitted he was pretty cold. I've decided to stick to the warmer water for diving. We ate dinner at little restaurants on the beach and the surf was so high one night the waves were rolling under our chairs and table! We saw an awesome moon rise one night too which was pretty cool. We ate lots of yummy seafood and found an awesome sushi restaurant serving all the local fish they catch. We loved laying out on the beach and reading and relaxing!

....our beach

20 Miles on a flat tire?!

We set out for a bike ride with my friend from work and her friends. There were about 8 of us and the plan was to bike from SF, over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito, and then to Tiburon. It's a pretty popular ride over to Sausalito but we wanted to make it Tiburon because one of our favorite cafes on the water is there. We planned to take the ferry back to SF. We were told the ride was pretty flat by the people at the bike shop and that there was only one short steep climb but we'd be fine. Turns out we were in for a much harder, longer ride than expected! We biked over the bridge and then climbed into Sausalito. The road into Sausalito was pretty hairy because the road didn't have a shoulder or bike lane coming into town. Then after going through Sausalito on our way to Tiburon and just as we were leaving town I realized I had a flat tire..ug! I am at this point using Karl's 8th grade Mountain Bike because my good road bike is in storage in Austin.

..pretending everything is ok on GG bridge

This was about 8 miles into the ride and luckily we brought our pump with us. We then had to pump up the tire every 2 miles the rest of the ride. Ug. We encountered much harder climbs and more of them than we expected and it turned out to be a pretty long ride. The constant stopping made it a little longer too. Overall, it was a very pretty ride all along the bay. At the end, we looked at my bike computer and it said 20 miles! Yow! And, it took us 3 hours! We were very relieved when we finally got to the restaurant and sat down and had a beer! Luckily, we didn't have to bike the whole way back! The ferry was PACKED with other bikers and we barely made it on. The weather this weekend was awesome and everyone else had the same idea as us! It was cool to us that just a short ferry ride across the bay and we were sitting at a restaurant patio on the water and it was HOT! The second the ferry pulled up to SF we felt the cooler breeze. We had a great time and we proud of ourselves being able to do that long of a ride without having ridden in so long. Sausalito and Tiburon are really cute little beach towns right on the water with awesome views, especially looking across the bay to the SF city skyline.

Camping at Lake Tahoe

Karl and I went camping this past weekend at Lake Tahoe. We stayed at Emerald Bay State Park which is on a really pretty bay of Lake Tahoe. It took us about 4 hours to drive there Friday night after work and we were able to set up the tent in the dark no problem. Our site was pretty cool because we didn't have anyone to our left and the campers to our right were up a little hill. The weather was great- upper 80s during the day and mid 40s at night.

View of Emerald Bay from our hike

We planned a hike on Saturday that was about 6-7 miles around Emerald Bay. We had great views of the bay/lake as we hiked and it went all along the water. We passed through Emerald Bay Beach which is really nice and lots of boats were beached there and people were swimming, etc. The water was cold- we think upper 50s but we got in! We got hot enough laying out on the beach and eating lunch that the water actually felt refreshing to get in! The water is perfectly clear and they have these great sandy beaches you can just walk right into the water from. After our hike we drove to another beach a little more south and it was a happening place We saw some wakeboarders in shortie wetsuits and some kids being pulled on tubes. They had a swimming area buoyed off for swimmers and kayakers. We were overall very impressed with how nice Lake Tahoe was and how pretty the scenery is. We weren't too afraid to cook dinner that night and stored our trash in the bear locker. It's pretty cool to us that you can pick up and camp in the middle of the summer out here compared to Texas where we have about a 4 week window of decent weather. In only 3-4 hours you can be in complete wilderness away from the city. Lake Tahoe is gorgeous and the perfect year round vacation home spot since you can ski all winter at any of the ski resorts there and you have the lake during the summer ;)