Summer Fun!

Well we have been busy busy busy here in Sunny California!! Since my last blog I have had my best friend from High School come out for a visit and my Sister. Now the boys are here! I had not seen Danielle since a year after graduation and it was sooo much fun catching up and reconnecting! We went wine tasting in Murphy's and had a blast hanging out in the pool!
When Courtney was here we did some wine tasting in Livermore and Murphy's and spent a day in San Francisco!
Now that the boys are here we are doing more outdoor activities. We took them to San Francisco one day and we spend most of the time in the pool! Last Saturday we went River Rafting down the Stanislaus River. It was supposed to only take 4 hours and be very leisurely. Boy were we misinformed! The first 3 hours were a lot of fun. We had a few minor rapids and nice dappled sun through the trees. The air temp was 102 but we couldn't feel it as we were in snow melt water. A good 45 degrees cooler than the outside air! We laughed and splashed each other and had a great time.
The last 3 hours of the trip were a complete 180 of the first 3 hours! The water temp dropped, the river picked up speed, there was sooooo much deadfall, the rapids were no longer fun, but getting increasingly faster and frequent. At one point the rapids separated us from the boys and Steve and I were all alone! The sun went down on us and we were freezing. Juniors boat was sinking because he had a leak. My boat had popped on some trees that I got stuck in. (Luckily we had duct tape to fix it. Jr's tape was not holding) Steve drank all his beer and was getting cranky, I was so OVER this trip that I could not wait for it to end!!
It did finally end and we were all safe and sound. Wet, tired and cold, but safe and sound.
Steve and the boys loved it!! I liked half of it......
For the Forth of July we are going to some friends house for a BBQ and on Monday we are going to Santa Cruz for the Beach and Boardwalk rides!!
I'll let you know how it all goes!!

OK so I am working on remembering to update once a week. Now I do realize that I am probably the only one reading this. As you can see I have learned to use this website and our blog looks much better now!! Since I last wrote to you of all our fun times, we have added a few more items to our list of home improvement projects!! We really want to make our backyard look like a vacation home. Now this is easier said than done and much more expensive that I had previously thought. Slowly but surely we are working on it. I will post pic's once it looks better!

We have also had a bit of fun in the last week, we are starting to meet people and make friends. Which is a very welcomed experience!! Our neighbors Dan and Melissa are a great couple and we have had some fun dinners over at each others house. We live in a big Cowboy town and everyone likes to make fun of the "city girl", that's me of course! I can't help it if they herd cattle here and I come from Germantown and the Charity Horse Show!! But I am learning, and teaching along the way.....
This past Saturday we went to the Lodi Zinfest. It is a wine festival featuring Zinfandel wines from the local wineries in Lodi CA. It would have been much more fun if the temperature had not soared to 106!! We stayed as long as we could handle it but I just got over heated.
For this coming weekend my best friend from High School is coming out to visit her mom in Fresno and we are going to get to see each other! I am so excited! We reconnected on Facebook and have been filling each other in on all the years that we missed out on. I can't wait to see you Danielle!

Well that sums up this week! Hope everyone has a great one!

Well, I know it has been a while since I updated this blog! So much has been happening, I have to get in the habit of visiting once a week to keep it current. The house is really starting to come together. The new floors are all done and we have moved to the outside landscaping now. My parents were here for a good long visit and we had a great time! It was really nice being able to treat them for once after all they have done for Steve and I over the years.

Today has been an especially fun day!! This morning I started my first Horse Back Riding lesson. I have ridden many times before, but wanted to really learn. My hope that is that I become proficient enough in English saddle that I can start to do some jumps!! After a really good session, Steve and I took his motorcycle out for a nice sunny drive. He enjoys this much more than I do. Especially after being in a saddle all morning!! OUCH my backside is sore! I try to be a good sport for him though. We stopped at a local farm and bake shop, but not til after we made a wrong turn and headed through a Bee Farm. Not a good idea on a motorcycle!! What was worse we had to turn around and go back through it to get out! It was all worth it in the end, we found the bake shop and we split a piece of pie. We ate it sitting under a huge willow tree by a pond and watched the ducks and geese fight while they were protecting their nests. It was picture perfect, only no camera because we were on the motorcycle! They are not all they are cracked up to be.

Now I am trying to wake him up from a nap so we can get back out side and start to plant some shrubs!

March 15, 2009

Well we have been in this house for exactly one month now! Steve and I are amazed everyday at how lucky we have been! To think that just 6 years ago we were returning from NY and we were almost destitute with no jobs...to here in California living in this home! We tell each other almost everyday that this is the home of our dreams!! Now mind you, at the moment we are living in a sea of carboard boxes and the first floor looks like a construction site.... but we love it none the less! I promise to post pictures once it is suitable for viewing!
Steve has been working his tail off with painting and laying the wood floors! I am hoping to have this done in the next week!! Our Two dogs are acclimating just fine! As long as they have thier mommy around they are OK! It has been very hard losing Tsunami. I never thought she wouldn't be here with us. I still find myslef pulling 3 treats out of the jar....

As soon as the house gets under control I plan to really jump feet first into my new business venture! Southern Living at Home.
So check back with us and I'll give an update on the progress of the house and all our winery visits!!!