Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Celebrate Good Times - C'mon!

Okay, so the title of this blog is a little cheesy but last night Kevin and I went to Kincaid's for dinner to celebrate that Kevin is now getting paid at the brewery and I got that summer position at CSU Dominguez Hills. Kevin has been wanting to dine at Kincaid's for quite awhile and of course, since I work between 5 and 6 days a week there, the last thing I want to do on a day off is frequent that establishment, but, I promised Kevin that once he got paid we could go.

This is a winery that is featured in the movie Bottle Shock that Brooks made us watch and we'd never tried it before so we gave it a shot. Pretty good, even-bodied wine. Nothing too crazy about it but it went well with all the food.

Appetizers - oysters!

Yum haha

Sunset view from our table

My dinner - scallops with steamed greens and cauliflower and a side of lobster tail :)

Kevin's dinner - Filet Mignon Wellington and a side of lobster tail

After dinner

Our lovely server Marisa :)

I have to give Kevin credit that yes the food was really yummy, service was excellent :) and we had a great time.

Today, as I write this, I am at my friend Erik's (he was our wedding photographer) editing our wedding album. It has been over two years and no album, mostly because I have procrastinated on setting aside pictures I wanted (there are just too many good ones) and then we finally decided on the pictures and layouts but I had to finalize it and I kept putting it off because I was so busy with work and school. Now I have decided that there are no excuses and we are getting to work on this!

And when I say we, I mean Erik haha. Erik thinks we're crazy for the amount of photos we want in this album, but oh well . . . :)

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Friends and Family Visiting :)

Amy and Fredy visited on Sunday and then we all went over to Sherri's boyfriend's house for dinner - unfortunately I forgot to take any pictures of the dinner but then Heather (my cousin) and her boyfriend Nick came into Redondo to spend the night. They had spent the day at Disneyland (they currently each live in Minnesota) and we stayed up late talking to them and playing Wii Fit haha.

Me, Sherri and Hez

Jim Joe, Sherri, Heather, Nick

Then we went to Mediteraneo in Hermosa Beach for dinner the next night and tried to watch the sunset on the pier but it was pretty overcast so it wasn't a great sunset.

The girls: Amy, Sherri and Me

Kev, me, Amy and Fredy

The flowers Heather and Nick brought me from the wedding they went to on Saturday.

I now vote that they can come visit anytime! :)

It was so great to have people visit and to catch up. Now, on to getting to work this summer. Kevin has now been asked to work full-time at the brewery and I start training for my summer position at Dominguez Hills on Monday.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Fun Stuff

Jamie came to visit from New York to baby-sit her sister's kids while her sister and husband went on a trip. We were only able to see Jamie on Friday night but as always, it's great to see her whenever we can.

Josh, Tom, Jamie, Lev, Jules, Kev and Me

We stayed up a little late talking to Jamie and then had to wake up early the next morning to do an event through Dive 'N Surf - Jules found out about it and it was a free event for SUP (stand up paddleboards). I've been wanting to do this forever, especially since I don't really think I can surf (never tried but it seems hard) so this is like surfing but you just paddle around without having to ride the waves.

The event was free and the Dive 'N Surf people brought all the equipment

It was so much fun! I definitely want to go again

It was hilarious to see some people who just couldn't keep their balance and then others who were trying to surf and ride the waves - it was a great event and I hope they do more so we can do more free paddleboarding :)

Friday, June 17, 2011

Nightmare

This would literally be my worst nightmare:

http://thestir.cafemom.com/home_garden/121848/swindling_realtor_dupes_family_into

Swindling Realtor Dupes Family Into Buying Home Infested With Snakes

Posted by Kim Conte

on June 16, 2011 at 11:14 AM

This story couldn't be more sad -- or more horrifying.

An unsuspecting Idaho couple, Ben and Amber Sessions, bought what they believed was theirdream home, only to discover after they moved in with their two young children (and another on the way!) that the house was infested with hundreds and hundreds of snakes.

Why were there so many snakes? The five-bedroom house had likely been built on top of agarter snake den where the nonpoisonous reptiles congregate in the fall and winter, rendering the house essentially unlivable: The Sessions could hear the snakes slithering inside the walls; and their drinking water reeked of the foul-smelling musk that the snakes release as a warning to predators.

But here's the clincher: The real estate agent who sold the Sessions the house knew about the snake infestation all along and still convinced them to buy it.

In fact, the whole town knew about the "snake house." The couple who had lived there previously -- who eventually abandoned the property and tried (unsuccessfully) to sue the real estate agent -- even invited a local news station to film the snakes back in 2006.

Unfortunately, the Sessions were oblivious to the house's notorious history: They signed a document that noted the snake infestation, believing the ridiculous story by their real estate agent that the snakes were just an excuse invented by the previous owners to leave their mortgage behind.

And where were the neighbors during all of this? Here's what one had to say:

I felt bad ... By the time we knew someone had bought it, they were already moving in. It was too late.

The Sessions fled the house and filed for bankruptcy; the house foreclosed. Now that it's back on the market and other unsuspecting people are looking at it, maybe it's time for the neighbors to do the neighborly thing and actually warn potential buyers to stay far, far away from this snake trap.

Ahh, so scary!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Comps Studying

So, amidst all the excitement of getting a summer job at Dominguez and Kevin getting hired at the Strand, I still have to study for the comps. The comps is a test I have to take in order to get my master's - and I am not looking forward to it. It consists of a long list of books I must read and then be tested on. So far this is what I have read:

This book was a little more difficult to get into than I thought it would be. But ultimately I somewhat enjoyed it and now have it read - yippee

I read this book faster than Beloved but it still wasn't my favorite book in the world.

Oh well, time to just grin and bear it. I definitely need to get reading more!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Summer Bridge

A few weeks ago I applied for a summer program at Dominguez Hills that is for incoming freshman who have really low math and English skills - therefore they are required to take extra classes in order to get up to the level classes that can go toward their degree. I interviewed for the position (there are 8 total positions, only 3 available because the other 5 people are returning from last year) and just found out yesterday that I got the position :)

http://www.csudh.edu/studentaffairs/encountertoexcellence/summer_bridge.shtml

I have a few days of training at the end of July and then the program is 6 weeks long - from July 6th-August 17th. So excited and I think that this will be great experience for me and great for my resume. Apparently I will actually be teaching classes during the program, so let's hope I learn how to do that and fast! lol

Emilie's First Visit to Redondo

Martin and Ash had to go to Camarillo for Martin's cousins baptism so they decided to drive a little further and visit with us for a few days.

Emilie hanging out

Kev holding Emilie

Taking the baby to the beach

Not as easy with a baby :)

Happy baby

Then we played a game to see who Emilie likes more. She stared at me more so I win! :)

Last night we had a BBQ. It was like a Nor Cal reunion in So Cal - it was me, Kev, Martin, Ash, Sherri, her boyfriend Jim Joe, Erik, Tyler (Martin's sister), Tyler's boyfriend Chris, Martin and Erik's friend, James

Martin and Ash stopped at a brewery on the way and picked up these growler's and Erik helped himself to a sample

Kevin shucking corn and Sherri making her bruschetta

Erik and Martin enjoying the bruschetta

Baby time: Sherri and Ash with Emilie

iPhone time haha (we were playing the new Hanging with Friends game, all with each other lol)

Aunt Tyler and baby Emilie

Mamma Ash and Emilie

Dinner time

Buzz game - I never won but it was a lot of fun

Time for Emilie to go back home - bye Emilie, thanks for visiting :)

I would say that Emilie's first trip to the beach was a great success - can't wait until she's older and we can play with her in the water.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Aloha

Our really good friend, Brooks, called us up and told us that he had a great opportunity for us to go to Hawaii and stay in a timeshare condo where he had a connection from someone he worked with. He basically told us all we had to do was buy our flights and get there and then the rest would be taken care of. Kevin and I debated it back and forth - especially since we probably shouldn't go on any big trips this summer. However, Brooks basically didn't give us a choice and said that it would be such a great opportunity to go and the flights we found were actually pretty cheap for Hawaii. After much consideration, we decided to book the flights. We have been doing a lot of trips this year back home for various reasons and it feels like we never get to take a fun trip anywhere just for us and to places we want to go.

We are going to Maui from August 13th-20th - just in time for both mine and Brooks' birthdays - what a way to spend my 29th! So excited - especially since I only went to Hawaii for my senior trip and we were in Honolulu. I heard Maui is beautiful and I'm excited to do the bike ride at sunrise that Martin and Ash told us about from when they went a few summers ago.

These are a few photos of the condo Brooks set up for us:

I still feel guilty for booking it, but I also know that we have hardly taken any time off to do fun trips that are longer than a few days since the wedding and the last two years have been so crazy with school. Also, now that Kevin is working at the Strand, who knows the next time we could take time off? As is usually our motto, seize the day and live for the moment - and we'll figure it out. Plus, once it's time for babies, we definitely won't be able to just take off and go to Hawaii on a few months notice :)

Strand Brewing Co. Employee #1

Kevin got great news today when he was called into an early meeting this morning and told that the Strand Brewing Co. now had an opening and would like to hire Kevin. Yippee! It's only part-time as of right now but at least he's getting paid and it's a start. The Strand was also doing a beer dinner tonight at Tin Roof restaurant in Manhattan Beach which we were both invited to so we joked that this dinner was for Kevin's new employment.