We're home

Well, our vacation is over.  We got back home this afternoon to a wonderful Texas welcome, it's 100 degrees!  Oh well, we knew the nice weather would have to come to an end.

The wedding was wonderful.  Becky looked stunning, and her groom, Jay, cried as he said his vows...so sweet!  

Here are the newly-weds cutting the cake.  Sorry it is so dark, we were actually pretty far away from them, and the room was pretty dark.

Here is me with Becky!  Kevin made us laugh, so we look a bit goofy, but she is gorgeous!!!

We were able to eat breakfast with the couple before we left Colorado.  It was a great way to end a fun filled weekend.  They just gushed at each other all morning, it was fun to see them so happy to be married.

Sunday we made it to Amarillo, TX.  We had decided to visit Palo Duro Canyon and see a musical called Texas.  We had been there four years ago on our way back from California, and we loved it do much we knew we should do it again.  We drove through the canyon and got some great pictures.

I did say earlier that we went to see a musical. This musical is so unique, we wish everyone who came to Texas could see it. It is called Texas, so it is basically a story about the state of Texas. Four years ago we saw one focused on the conflict between the settlers and the Comanche indians. This time it was about a certain rancher's land and whether or not a railroad should be allowed to run through it. It was very entertaining. Halfway through the show it started raining, and so we watched the second half under an overhang. The performers just kept on going, they did not miss a step. We couldn't take pictures of the performance, but we got a picture of the stage. They literally use the whole canyon and the back drop. At one point a horse and rider are way up on top of the canyon holding a Texas flag, and the there is also a fake lightning bolt that splits s tree in half on the base of the canyon behind the stage. It is very fun to see.

Our trip was so much fun.  It was great to see Becky, and to catch up with some of my friends from college.  Colorado weather was so nice, although it was warmer that normal, the evenings were gorgeous.  Canon City is a very unique little place, with plenty to see and do.  It was a long drive, but it was manageable.  Most people cringe at the thought of a road trip with gas prices so high, but we drive a Hybrid!  We averaged 40 MPG our entire trip!!!  We can't really be upset about that.

Shadow Hills Golf Club

I found this course several months ago when we began to plan our trip to Colorado, and I am very glad I was able to play this course.  We took a drive up to the course on our first evening in town to check it out.  It looked so nice I decided to set up an early tee time (early for vacation standards).  The course is in great shape and is set in a high desert type environment with views of mountains all around.

I have played golf on many below average courses from Fresno, CA to Mesquite, TX, so I am always excited to play on a nice course.  I rank this course right up with the Kapalua Bay Course in Maui.  I know many people would disagree with me, but I am very partial to deserts and mountain views.
I played very well on the front nine including a par on a 360 yard par 4, along with several bogeys.  The back nine, well...things did not go so well due to a major stop down as 2 groups of junior golf campers were playing a few of the holes as a reward for the end of their week.  I was patient with their volunteer guides, but my quick pace was blown up as well as my game.

Regardless of my score, which is never good anyway, I did hit the ball good most of the time and I enjoyed the views and the course.  Take a look at some of the pics.

Day 3

Well, the highlight of our day was finally seeing Becky!!!  Yay, the whole reason we came here was for her and we finally got to see her and give her a big hug.  She looks great and happy, we are so glad to be here for her wedding.

Kevin enjoyed golfing this morning, he'll tell you all about it later.  I enjoyed the pool.  I did, however, get very sunburned.  I haven't really seen much of the sun this year, and so my skin was extra sensitive.  I am not used to getting sunburned, my skin just doesn't do that.  Well, at least I thought it didn't do that.  It is really just my chest and the front of my shoulders, but it honestly doesn't hurt that bad.

We took the advice of Becky and headed to a pizza restaurant in downtown for lunch.  It was GREAT!  It is always the best choice to take the advice of locals for food.  We had a wonderful lunch and then headed to Skyline Drive.  Skyline Drive is a one way street on the spine of a mountain that overlooks Canon City.  Some parts of mountain are literally as wide as a one lane road.  It was a little spooky at times, but very cool.

 

Canon City from Skyline Drive

The view from the car as we drove on Skyline Drive

For dinner we were invited to the rehearsal dinner.  Jay's family fed everyone who was here for the wedding at a park, it was a lot of fun.  We had BBQ sandwiches and a few different types of salads.  I was able to talk with a few girls from college which was very fun.  We talked about our lives today and also remembered some old college days.  I had a wonderful time visiting with them.  We didn't get to talk too much with Becky, but that is to be expected, everyone wanted to talk to her, so we said our hellos and that was about it.

Here we are!

Day 2

We didn't post last night because we were very ready to settle down for the night after a long day of driving.  We did make it to Canon City, CO pretty early, but it was a long day none the less.

We left Witchita Falls at about 7:30am.  We weren't sure how long it would take us, with all the stopping I was going to have to do, so we got up early and left.  We had a very uneventful trip, which is good.  One of my doctors suggested we stop every hour and a half so I could get out and walk around.  Kevin took him very literally and every hour and half we were stopping so I could get out and walk around.  That is definitely not like him.  He would drive four five or six hours without a stop if he could, but as you women who have been pregnant know, bathroom stops are required much more often than that.  It added a little time to our trip, but made it much more comfortable.

We only had one really funny stop on our way out.  As I tell the story, it may not be as funny, but I will tell it anyway because we had a good laugh.  We stopped at a Sonic in a little place called Dalhart, it was a dirty, smelly little town.  Anyway, we decided to sit and eat outside, because why would we want to spend any more time in the car.  We were done eating and getting ready to leave and some guy in a beat up work truck pulled in to order.  The truck was missing the front bumper and was covered in mud.  He started ordering in the loudest, most country voice possible, so that was funny in itself.  This is what he said "I'd like a super sonic burger with cheese, mayo, no pickles, add bacon."  Wow, talk about a heart attack waiting to happen, that was enough to make me giggle, but then it continued. "A sausage and cheese toaster sandwich, and two large orders of mozzerella sticks."  I couldn't hear what types of drinks he ordered, but they were the route 44 size.  Now, I realize we were eating at Sonic also, so we hadn't chosen the most healthy lunch choice, but it just shocked me what he order

ed.  We are thinking it was for two people because he ordered two drinks, but wow!

Like I said, it wasn't near as funny retelling the story as it was listening to him order and then seeing what he looked like!!!

We made it New Mexico, and were only in that state for a short time.  It looked a whole lot like Texas.  We finally got to some real mountains so we knew we were close to Colorado.  It was as if whoever decided state lines (I realize there is history behind all of this, but just humor me) saw pretty green mountains and said "This needs to be it's own state, Colorado will start here."

AHHH, mountains!

We ate at a little Mexican restaurant on Canon City, it was pretty good.  We walked main street and realized that this is a sleepy little town during the week.  We made it back to our hotel and called it a night.  

We woke up pretty early this morning.  Our room looks onto the breakfast area, which starts serving at 6am, so we got to hear people having breakfast pretty early, but it wasn't a big deal because Kevin had to get up early for an 8:30am tee time.  Right now he is golfing and a great golf course just outside of town.  He will be taking a ton of pictures because it is a beautiful course.  I will be heading to the pool in about an hour to soak up some sun.  I will not be taking a lot of pictures because it will not be a beautiful sight!!!  I am just excited to be able to enjoy the sun and not sweat to death.  Right now it is about 70 degrees at 9:30am and people are complaining that it is hot.  We just laugh, they have NO idea!  The high today is 88, with chance of showers in the evening.  Perfect, as far as we are concerned!

Oh, we have yet to see Becky.  They were doing the whole Bachelor/Bachelorette parties last night and, well, we just didn't think that was our cup of tea (Kevin is old and doesn't really know anyone but Becky, and I'm pregnant).  Knowing that they were out late I will give Becky some time to sleep in before I call her.  I am REALLY excited to see her!

The road trip has begun

We left home today around 3:30 on our way to Colorado to see our good friend Becky (from Fresno Pacific University) get married.  Because of our early start today, we were able to stop off for a sit down dinner in Decatur, TX.  On the downtown square is a restaurant called Sweetie Pie's Ribeyes.  Allison ordered a baked potato and shared some of my Ribeye.  For the road we ordered two apricot fried pies, which came with frosting.  We already had a hotel reservation in Wichita Falls, TX, which is only about 2.5 hours from home, so we ended our day of driving early since the room was free due to my frequent stays at LaQuintas.

Tomorrow the real driving will start as we will go the distance to Canon City, CO....Ahhh, Colorado, the sunshine state!  (old joke, I just can't let it go)

We will continue to update the blog as long as all of our hotel rooms have internet.

Go Bulldogs!

Sweetie Pie's Ribeye

Fried Apricot pie

Summer in Texas

As much as I love summer, because it used to be the only down time I would have all year, I hate the heat here in Texas.  We love living here, but honestly, I can say that I hate the weather all year long.  This year we had an awesome spring.  The weather was gorgeous, sunny and about 75 to 80 and it lasted a long time.  Then all of a sudden we woke up one day and it was summer.  Our first warm day this year was back in mid-May and it was literally 99 degrees, it hasn't cooled off since then.

This post is not just to complain about the weather, although that's most of it.  It is really to tell you of our latest "adventure."  Saturday night we got home from church to a stuffy house (you can probably tell where this is going already).  I went to the thermostat and it said it was 82 in the house, we heard the AC running, but felt no cold air.  Kevin looked in the attic and noticed a strange noise coming from the AC unit and also noticed a coil (or something) was totally frozen solid.  We didn't know what the problem was, but we figured it had to do with the frozen pipe.

Well, it was about 9:30pm by the time we figured this out.  We decided to tough it out for the night.  WOW, I was pretty uncomfortable.  I did not fall asleep until 2am simply because I could not get comfortable, I guess by 2am I was so exhausted it didn't matter.  Kevin fell asleep pretty quickly but woke up in a puddle of sweat at 5am.  Sunday we had a get together planned at our house, but obviously we were not going to have people over with no AC.  Our friends, the Lopez's, kindly opened their house so we hauled all the food over there and hung out.  

After dinner we went to a hotel.  I did not think I could spend another night in an 85 degree house.  I worried about the cats all night long.  I know that sounds silly, but animals get hot too.  I was happy to see they were ok when we got back home today.

Well, you might be asking when are we going to get the AC fixed.  We have a home warranty, which is a good thing for the cost of things, but sometimes a bad thing when it comes to the time issue.  Being that the AC went out on a Saturday night (Murphy's Law) no one was available on Sunday.  The company that was chosen to fix our problem called this morning and said they could be here Tuesday after 3pm.  YIKES!  Don't think I didn't pull the pregnant card on them...but they didn't care. :(  After a few more phone calls it looks like another company will be able to come tonight and hopefully we will have nice cool air this evening.

My fear, and with our luck, it will be something that they have to order a special part for and it will be a few days until it is fixed.  So, I am sitting at home melting.  I'm trying to drink as much water at possible and sitting directly under a fan!

AHH Texas!

***UPDATE***  The AC was fixed on Monday night at about 8pm.  The control board went out (I think that's what it was), so our fan is running constantly right now, but the cool air only kicks on when it is necessary.  We should have a new control board Thursday or Friday.  I'm not melting anymore!

California

I know this is a little late, but better late than never, right?  We spent a week in California celebrating two high school graduations, one jr. high graduation, a 9th birthday, an 18th birthday and two baby showers!  It was fantastic.  As earlier mentioned, our camera broke on the way to CA, so we were not able to take our own pictures.  We got a few from family so I'll share a little of what we did.

We arrived on Saturday and Stephanie made our whole family (that's a lot of folks) dinner.  We played Rock Band, well some people played others watched, and had a yummy dinner and desserts!

Sunday was Alyssa's 9th birthday.  My baby shower was planned for that day, so when she arrived at my mom's house we had a quick birthday celebration complete with a cake and the birthday song.  The baby shower was at a cute little house call the Noriega House.  It is a refurbished old home, perfect for events like

 showers and weddings.   The cake was actually a bunch of little bite sized cupcakes that my mom made.  They were so yummy and cute, of course they perfectly matched the decor!  The table skirt you see in this picture is actually the valance for the baby bedding we chose for the nursery.  

While the women were at the shower Kevin, Rod, Dad, Mark and Jakob played golf.  I know they had a good time, but it was REALLY cold that day.  They didn't finish 18 holes because they about froze to death.  But, like they say, your worst day golfing is better than your best day anywhere else!

Monday was the big fiesta.  Mark and Geoffrey both graduated from high school this year, this was the original reason for making the trip to CA.  My parents hosted an open house party for friends and family to celebrate with these two.  We couldn't be more proud of both of their accomplishments.  

Mark will be leaving in September to join the US Air Force.  I might get this wrong, but he will eventually be assigned to a job in some sort of technology because that is where he scored the highest!  Geoffrey will be attending the Smitcamp Honor College at Fresno State University. This is a very competitive Engineering college that very few people are accepted into each year!

Tuesday we headed to Fresno.  That night, to our surprise, Connie and her friend Lotti had planned a surprise baby shower for us.  We knew people were coming over to Ross and Connie's for ice cream and to visit, but we didn't know it would be to honor us and our baby.  It was so much fun.  We were able to see so many of our friends that we don't always get to see.  It was such a nice surprise.  Wednesday Kevin and Rod played another round of golf while Julie and I hung out with some of our friends and their new babies!  Wednesday night was also Kymberli's 8th grade graduation, but we were unable to attend.  We are very proud of her, she has turned into quite the young lady!  Thursday we headed back to Bakersfield after stopping by my old stomping grounds, Fresno Pacific University, and also saying hi to Kevin's grandpa.

Thursday night were the big graduation ceremonies.  Geoffrey's started at 7pm on one side of town.  We went there first and watched all the opening stuff like speeches and what-not.  We were very fortunate, Geoffrey was the very first one to get his diploma!  We watched him walk across the stage, we yelled and screamed and then got up and left!  We headed to the other side of town to see Mark graduate.  Since Mark's last name starts with a W he was at the very end.  We got there a little too soon and had to watch all the graduates from the Bs on...shew!  Finally it was Mark's turn, we yelled and screamed and then were able to give him a big hug after the ceremony.

Friday was a low key day.  My mom took me shopping while Kevin enjoyed a nice quiet morning at home.  After lunch Kevin and I went to visit my friend Kristi and her family for a few hours and then Dad cooked us some yummy tri-tip for our last night in CA.  We played some Wii and hung out with the family one last time.

It was such a wonderful trip.  I think we may have seen just about everyone we have ever known in CA.  We were so glad to be able to celebrate with our families so many great accomplishments and to be able to anticipate the coming of our baby.

Of all the pictures from the weekend this is my favorite.  Here are my "babies" giving me a kiss on each cheek.  Even though they are 18 and all grown up they still love their Auntie (and they didn't even complain when they were asked to do this)!!!

My last day to...

WORK!!!!  That's it.  I'm officially done working.  I turned in my keys, laptop and cell phone.  Today was spent cleaning out the rest of my desk and having a small party with my student trainers.  It's doesn't really feel like it's over.  Everyone else was packing up also, so it wasn't like I was the only one leaving.  The difference is that when August comes around I will not be going back.  Maybe that's when it will hit me.

I have to say that I had a wonderful time working at RHS.   I had plenty of bad days, bad experiences and stressful situations, but overall it was wonderful.  Some of you teachers can understand that a school can be like another family.  At RHS the pride of teachers and students is contagious, wearing orange and white (even when we don't have to) is something that most Yellowjackets do on a regular basis.  It may take me a while to get out of the habit of wearing an orange shirt every day!

My last day...

of normal school!  That sounds a bit strange, but it is true.  Today was our last regular schedule day.  Starting tomorrow we have a finals schedule and will have it the rest of the week.

I spent today melting in my office.  We have no AC due to some major construction going on in the athletic facilities.  Last week was extremely hot here (thankfully I was enjoying the cool CA weather) and so the training room, and my office got hot and will not cool down.  Today it was 95 and I felt every degree!