Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

AND WE'RE OFF

Well, I guess it's about time I wrote about our summer, seeing as how August is quickly creeping up on us, and so much has happened in this small amount of time.
On June 22nd we started out on our road trip to San Jose, CA. Mike was really excited to get to California and get started on his internship this summer, and although I was a little reluctant to have him gone, I was really excited to be in the car with him for such a long time. For those of you who don't know, Mike works for Delta and anytime we want to go anywhere, we fly, even to St. George, and Vegas. I know, lame, but if we can fly, we will. Driving was definitely a new experience for us, but a great way to spend quality time together. We headed out on Sunday afternoon (a little later than planned, but when do you ever leave on time?), in my dad's old little Honda Del Sol. Now if you really look, you can see that this could have been potentially a bad situation, because we were literally TRAPPED in a tiny tin can (sorry, Dad, but it is so small, almost claustrophobic). There was nowhere to go in case of an argument, not that I was planning on it, but you know what can happen when you are in a confined space with someone for a long period of time. Anyway, enough about that. The car was great, and we had a lot of fun, minus a couple minor setbacks, but eventually we made it. Thanks, Dad for the loaner.
On our way, we stopped in Reno, at Circus Circus, to get some sleep for the night, but nothing too memorable there, so moving on.The next stop on our trip, that was filled with road construction, and single lane highways, and smoky, hot air, was Lake Tahoe. This was the best pic that we had, and if you have ever been to Tahoe, you know that something is missing. How about the mountains and the beautiful landscape. Thanks to the fires raging in Northern California, the sky was filled with smoke and you couldn't see a dang thing! I personally had never been to Tahoe before and Mike was so excited to show me this beautiful place that he remembers visiting when he was younger, it was such a disappointment when we got there. We will just have to stop on our way back (in about 18 days, but I'm not counting or anything) and hopefully it will be a little bit more clear and we will be able to take in the beauty, or so I've heard.
Next stop on our trip was actually Santa Clara. We drove by to see where Mike would be living for the next 8 weeks. Then on to Downtown San Jose (only about 5 mins from his apartment) and it was such a pretty city. There is a park in the middle of the city, across from Mike's office. Surrounded by museums, and fun restaurants and cute little stores, a great way to spend an afternoon. We headed down to Santa Cruz from there, where we spent the night before I left Mike in California all by his lonesome self. We walked down to the beach and ate dinner (fish and chips,) on the Pier. The Pier we were walking on was a natural wildlife reserve where seals came to hang out, sleep and play. We got to watch them for a while. I loved it! Then again, I am mesmerized by pretty much any marine creatures! I was in seal heaven!

PANCAKES AND OLD FRIENDS

A couple of weeks after I came home from California (with Mike visiting for the 4th in between there), I headed back to San Jose for a visit. On this trip I was able to make contact with an old roommate of mine, that I actually met while I was living in Oregon, and she and her family are now living about 3 hours from San Jose, unfortunately right where the worst fires were burning in Northern Cali, so she was looking for an escape. We decided to meet up for breakfast one morning, while she was on her way to the beach. We ate breakfast at this yummy restaurant "Stack's" in a darling little town called Campbell (I think I might want to live there one day). The food was great and the restaurant had a fun atmosphere. After that, we went our separate ways, but it was so great to see you again, Senessa. I am thinking there will be many more opportunities.

Of course we had to take in an Angel's game while I was there, basically this is the whole reason for my visit. They were playing the A's in Oakland, which is about a 45 minute train ride from San Jose. We got tix right behind home plate and were surrounded entirely by A's fans. We tried to be courteous, knowing that this was their home game, but we couldn't help but let out a few cheers and claps now and then. (I thought the drunk lady in front of us was going to turn around give Mike a piece of her mind).
Oh and did I mention that the Angel's won that game? Maybe that is why A's fans weren't so fond of us, or. . .
maybe it was because we looked like this! As we waited at the platform for the train, a very kind but reluctant A's fan took this picture of us. His friends were not very happy that he took the picture, but we were very grateful, and we had definitely behaved ourselves that night. After being boo'd at, spit at and given crusties galore, it could have been a lot worse. Have you ever heard us heckle? Anyway, we had a blast and I love spending time like that with Mike. He was in baseball heaven!

Memories. . .Like the Corners of My Mind

Ok, so first off I have to say thanks to Marcie, and then Morgan, for sending me speeding down memory lane this morning. Man it is like a train just barreling through. I saw this tiny tag on Marcie's blog and I started thinking about all the good times that were had in Jr High and then High School, and then even college and I am feeling very nostalgic at the moment. What fun times! If you want to play along I would be so thrilled. I loved to reminisce. We could almost pretend that we are sitting around a table at Jake's Over the Top ("The Max"), or Cafe Rio.
Anyway, hope you enjoy!
I love you all!


1. Add a comment of a memory you have of the two of us together. It doesn't matter if you know me very well or just a little, it can be anything. It can be a recent memory or from way back. Once you leave a comment I will assume you are playing too.
2. Add these instructions to you own post and wait for the memories to start rolling in.

My Personal Top 30 Fave Things About Erin!

Happy Happy Birthday Erin, Dear. Happy days will come to you all year.

Ok so if you haven't guessed my sister's birthday is coming up. Tomorrow to be exact, and she is going to be the big 3-0! I figure it is ok to tell you that, since she has made a huge deal of it herself. For her birthday she went to New York with her friends, LUCKY!

Anyway, I thought I would tell you 30 things about her that I love!

1. She is always Singing.
2. She is always dancing.
3. She taught me how to shave my legs.
4. She is an excellent mom!5. She always shared her clothes with me, even if it was the last thing she wanted to do!

6. She introduced me to Abercrombie and Fitch (before it was ever in Utah).

7. And even earlier she introduced me to Girbaud Jeans.

8. She taught me how to put on lip liner and lipstick. I think she did a pretty good job! :)

9. She is always happy.

10. She can't go a day without a diet coke.

11. When it is cold she can't go a day without a Starbucks hot chocolate.

12. She was a cheerleader in Junior High and High School, and even in college, and she still has the same energy today that she had back then.

13. She is a great dancer.

14. When she had friends over, she always included me, and still does to this day.

15. She instilled my love of playing loud music on the radio and singing along even louder.

16. She has great style!

17. She is classy.

18. Her house is always clean. (and she has a 2 year old. Very impressive)

19. She is a great friend, I would even dare say she is the best!

20. She always knows just the right things to say and do when life isn't going your way, or even when it is, whether it be flowers, a card, or even a simple phone call.

21. She is a "glass half full" person.

22. She is a great cook and an even better baker and she isn't afraid to try new things.

23. She talks really really fast, a trait that we share!

24. She is Christlike.

25. She is a wonderful wife.

26. She appreciates the simple things in life, for example, all she wants to do on her birthday is go for a bike ride.

27. She is one heck of an Eponine. Saturday morning chores were never dull with a good Broadway soundtrack in the CD player.

28. She loves to make up dances to songs and then somehow she would persuade us all to perform them for whoever was around, whether it was our parents, boyfriends, friends, etc. . . (she even got our brothers to participate). Sleigh Ride by the Carpenters will forever be a tradition, I think. 29. She loves nothing more than to spend time with her family.

30. And the best thing of all about Erin, is that she is MY sister, and for that I am the luckiest person in the world!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Peanuts and Cracker Jacks!

Well, it is officially Mike's favorite time of year again. With thirsty Thursdays ($2 beers, not that we participate, but it so much fun sitting the stands with those that do), all you can eat Tuesdays- $1 hot dogs, although again I don't participate (I think baseball season would be so much better if I liked HD's), and heckling, cheering, heckling, cheering, and so on. We LOVE Bees baseball in our house and our reasons are 3-fold.
#1 They are the official minor league team of SLC. Support your local teams!
#2 It is just fun to go to a baseball game, eating your sunflower seeds, and peanuts and hot dogs and churros and kettle corn and, well you get the point, and enjoying the warm spring and summer nights.
AND. . .
#3 Mike's most favorite reason being that the Bees feed in to the Angels. Mike is the HUGEST Angels fan and if we are lucky, we sometimes get to see Angels players playing for the Bees! When a major leaguer gets injured, they like to keep them playing during their recuperation, so they drop them down to the Minor team, and lucky for us, we get to watch them play.
This is D. Brown. He is one of our faves to cheer for! He will look up and wave or smile at least one time every game. I love it that the players don't feel like they are too good to interact with the crowd. D. BROWOON! (His last name always seems to come out as 2 syllables when I yell it, so that is what I imagine it would look like spelled out!)
My friend Jacy has on two occasions managed to score "suite" seats! (pun intended). They really are great seats and it is great that we can go inside if the weather is chilly (unfortunately it was both times). We still had so much fun, thanks Jacy!
Tickets are actually really inexpensive. You can get student rates, or it is fun to buy the outfield seats and take blankets and just hang out. It makes a great date night or FHE. And if the kids get too bored or rowdy, you don't feel bad leaving because you didn't spend a fortune.

I don't think anything represents the American Past-time better than this. (The Diamond, not the bee).

I am thrilled that I have a husband who loves activities like these, even if he has to practically drag me out to the field, he knows I will thank him for it later. We always end up having a blast!

And as if watching it is not enough, we have to get in our time at the batting cages as well. I have actually gotten pretty dang good!

Go Bees!/Angels!

Memorial Day Weekend

Happy Late Memorial Day to you all!

Memorial Day always brings around the same traditions in my family. On Sunday, we always head to the Provo Cemetary to visit my mom's family. We have done this for as long as I can remember. It wasn't always the experience that is is these days. As kids I just remember it being a way too long drive, and then an even longer wait at the cemetary while the adults shared stories about the ones we were visitng. Then we had to walk through the whole cemetary and all we wanted to do was go the park, have a picnic and play.

These days, we appreciate it a little more and we are able to join in on the stories that are shared. Even if we didn't know the visitees, we love to listen to stories about them and learn new things every year. This is a couple that I did know, and I knew well. This is my Great-Grandpa Ed and Great-Grandma Hazel (my mom's grand parents). These two were so spunky! And they always had popscicles in their freezer, saltine crackers in the pantry and piles and piles of golf balls and golf clubs in their basement. That kept us entertained for hours.
This is Brooks' first experience with the cemetery. My poor sister told us that she sat down with him and told him where we were going and that we don't step on gravestones because it is disrespectful. Well, Brooks is 2 and I am sure the only thing that registered in his little head was "step on gravestones". Good effort, Erin, but he was going to do it anyway. And heaven forbid you stop him.
On Monday, we usually get together for a little BBQ, and some games. Although this year the games didn't happen, we still made hamburgers at my parent's house.

And last but not least we went to hang out with Mike's family. We sat outside talking for a while, but soon it started to get dark and while the boys were outside throwing hatchets at a big log, I know, don't even ask, the girls decided to go in and watch a movie. We watched P.S. I Love You. I had never seen it before, and unfortunately, I still haven't finished it (thanks, Mike), but I was such a cry baby through the first half. It was good, but I couldn't stop crying. It is a good thing Mike came in when he did, or I would have probably dehydrated myself. I do want to finish it though. Maybe a night when I am feeling really tough!

All in all it was a good weekend. No work on Monday, and time to relax and hang out with the family.

I Have the AWESOMEST Dad!

About two weeks ago, my dad biked a century bike ride. It isn't really a race or anything, but it is quite the accomplishment. It is a 100 mile ride that starts at the Utah Fairgrounds and you ride out to Antelope Island and then back to the fairgrounds. CRAZY! I am so proud of him and I know he has really been working hard to be able to do this ride. Way to go, Dad! We love you!

This is my Dad and my nephew, Brooks right after my dad finished the ride.
And this is Brooks waiting for Dad (Papa, to him) to ride by. It was a really hot day and they had popscicles for the riders when they finished, but they couldn't stop the friends and families from getting their hands on a couple, too. Brooks' looks delicious, doesn't it? You can't see it, but it was dripping down his arm and on to his shoes and pouring down his chin all over the front of his shirt. (Refer to top pic). Man we love this kid!

It's About Time!

Well, it finally happened and I have to say, honestly, I had my doubts! And it definitely doesn't help when both parties are commitment phobes, although I think she got over it faster than he did. Spencer and Stephanie, two of our great friends FINALLY got married. They had been dating for about 4 years, off and on and off and on and, well you get the point. Anyway, they finally did it! Kudos you two! We love ya!

Spencer's friends and Halo competitors and mountain biking companions (although I think Steph now holds that position) and just about anything else that guys do together, these guys do it.

(L-R Danny Diehl, Dave Jeppson, Spencer Randle, Mike, and Matt Metcalf)

The girls posing for a quick pic (L-R Jacy Diehl, Stephanie Randle, Me and Melissa Metcalf)
I just thought this was so cool. It is an ice sculpture/flower vase. Pretty cool. I have to admit I was tempted to lick it, but I held back.

CONGRATS TO THE RANDLES!