Help!

Yesterday was our 9 month wedding anniversary and we've been dreaming about a cruise to celebrate our first year. We've been looking online but nothing seems like a great deal or a great place to go. Does anyone know of any great cruises or great deals that we could check out? We're hoping to go right around our actual anniversary which may be more expensive since it's between Christmas and New Years. However, Jeremy has work off from December 20 - January 4, so we can be flexible. Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated!

What a weekend!

Our weekend went by so fast! I can't believe it's already Monday night (ug)! But I must say, it is so nice to finally be sitting in my own house, using my own internet, updating my own blog! Woohoo!

Emma, Maddy, and Benny were a blast to have over. I never knew my house and its contents could create such a fun time! We did lots of cool things, like running through the sprinklers, watching an old Chipmunk movie, playing school, playing pillow maze, playing card games, coloring, eating at McDonald's for lunch and Monkey bread for breakfast, etc. Oh, and of course Saturday morning started at 5:30 AM!!!

Here are a few captured moments with the kids. And another look at our clean garage and security light (since I didn't have those pictures for the last update).

Maddy's board says "Emma has the gas bubbles!!!!!!" We each wrote "secrets" about each other on our white boards.

Emma's board says "Maddy has a pimple on her butt. Gross!" What a secret! Kids will be kids.

They loved that bean bag chair


The garage. It's not much, but it makes us happy!


The security light. Makes me feel safe.

Spark plugs & Subbing / Cars & Cousins

The car "incident" inspired us to make a few changes around the house. First we installed a motion-detecting security light over the garage with the help of Jeremy's dad, Bill. Then we cleaned out the garage and made room for car-parking. It looks and feels amazing! With the light and tucked-away car, I feel a little safer at night.

Thankfully Jeremy is a great handyman around the house. Not only can he take apart random things, figure them out, fix them, and put them back together into working order, but he can also sew, do dishes, and cook. This week's projects included replacing the spark plugs on my car, cutting down a screen to fit our window, and fixing and upgrading the sprinklers. Future pursuits may include a fireplace mantle, a front porch and walkway, and a shower in the second bathroom, among many other aspirations.


As for me, subbing for Fresno Unified is becoming sort of a joke. I finally got a subbing job for regular ed at an Elementary School last week. My second and last job thus far was for the same teacher and class just yesterday. I did pass out my information cards to all the Deaf Ed teachers, but I still seem to only get calls for random jobs. For example, a certain High School wanted me to sub Special Ed, French, and chemistry. Uh....no thanks! I've never taken any of those classes! What would I do unless they had worksheets and movies? At least I start subbing for Clovis Unified next week. THANK GOODNESS!!!


This afternoon and tomorrow we are privileged to have our cute cousins stay over at our house to play with us. Hopefully Emma, Maddy, and Benny have a great time playing hide-and-go-seek, running through the sprinklers, watching movies, making tents, etc. I know if I were little, I think it would be so cool to stay at another person's house and have new experiences and treats. We'll see how it goes!


Besides work, school, our home, and playing, that's about it for an update. One more thing...Monday we are getting Internet!!! Wooohooooooo!!!

Robbed of Security

Friday was a welcomed relief after a long week. Naturally we stayed up late and retired to bed around 12:30am. I awoke at 1:30am to the normal howling of neighborhood dogs, thinking nothing of it. But at around 2:20am, Jeremy and I were startled into consciousness at the sound of a car alarm...my car alarm!

It took a while to figure out what was going on, and even longer to locate my keys to turn off the alarm. By then I realized that the only way I could be hearing that repetitively loud clamor was because someone tried (or did) get into my car. I wanted to run out the front door of our house and confront the blasted thief. Luckily Jeremy talked some sense into me and we decided to open the garage door, attempting to:

1) scare the robber,
2) possibly catch the robber,
and/or
3) shed some literal light on the situation.

Keeping in mind that my back right door rarely locked properly (because of past child passengers that played around with the lock), I figured the crook saw an unlocked door and tried to get in. But to my horror, the view from the garage door was not what was expected.

My driver-side door was wide open and no one was in sight!

It had taken so long for us to get our bearings that, of course, the bandit had made out into the night, scared away by the roaring of my little car. What would anyone want with my silly car anyway? Turns out Honda Civics are very popular cars to steal!

Anyway, I called 911 on my cell in a pathetically shaky voice and reported the incident. The Clovis Police were there in about 3 minutes (we timed it while looking out from our "safe spot," AKA the bathroom window). A nice officer knocked on our door and told us yet another unexpected development:

The driver-side window was shattered and broken!

Definitely a large detail that was overlooked at our first garage gander! We walked out with the officer (glad he had a gun), assessed the damage (nothing was stolen...the alarm scared him/her off when the door was opened, whew!), and told him our story (by the way, we got dressed into regular clothes within those 3 minutes). He took down our information, dusted for prints, and gave us our claim number (no, we don't have comprehensive car insurance). He also said that another car break-in was in progress down the street. What the heck!? My first thought is, "We're MOVING!!!" The second? "Go catch the flippin felon!"

We went back into our house after the officer promised to patrol the area closely for a few days. It was around 3:10am and I was still full of adrenaline and anxiety. There was no way I could go back to bed! My sense of security had be robbed! Even after saying a prayer, I was up for the night.

Jeremy said he'd fall asleep next to me on the couch while I watched TV. Around 5:30am we got back into bed and I was finally out of it. I didn't/couldn't get up until around 10am, and I discovered that my amazingly wonderful husband got up early to clear out all the glass inside and around my car. Of course, he took pictures of the damage first!

We called around for repair estimates and got a great deal. The rest of our Saturday was packed with other commitments, but we still got me a new window! Boy were we tired, though. And to make matters worse, Sunday night was scary too. The Fresno Police Department Helicopter was circling our neighborhood and shining a bright light around our area. Again, what the heck?! "We're moving!" A loudspeaker came on and announced, "This is the Fresno Police Department. Come out now. This is your last chance. We will find you." Or something like that...

I wanted to go outside to see the helicopter and determine how close it really was to our house. Wait, is that a stupid idea? Kinda like wanting to run out and catch the car thief? What I really wonder is, why do I have the sudden impulses to run outside and see what's going on? If Jeremy wasn't there to knock some sense into me, I might have run out into two dangerous situations!

Here are some pictures for an even more dramatic effect:

No, we didn't leave the door open all night.

The glass was everywhere!

Jeremy parked his car behind mine so no one could try to hotwire the car and drive off with it (our garage is still a little un-car-park-able)

Fingerprint dusting

Lots of glass

There's still glass stuck in my seat belt so I have to buckle it into the passenger side!

What have we learned from this? Always lock our cars, never keep anything valuable or seemingly valuable in the car, install a motion sensor light over the garage, and keep our outside lights on.

Is it okay that I feel totally unsafe and paranoid in my own house? I quote my husband: "It's a new experience for you and sometimes me. It's a valid feeling to have. It will be good to look back on."

Ha! We'll see....

Labor Day weekend -- Camping at Monterey

We decided to go to Monterey for the long weekend
(after grape picking, of course).


Our friends suggested a great camping spot about 1 1/2 miles from downtown
(pretty much 5 minutes from all the good stuff).


We went...
(luckily the overheated car made it!)


We camped....
(at Veterans Memorial Park, arriving just as the attendant put up the "Camp Full" signs!)

We got a free ticket to the Monterey Bay Aquarium...
(we were at the right place at the right time!)


Spent a full day there...
(THE busiest day of the year! Most of these pictures were only able to be captured through the crowds because we stayed till closing!)









Ate lots of yummy food...
(Archie's American Diner)


Visited Fisherman's Wharf and Cannery Row...
(lots of interesting sights and smells)







And everything was grand!