lately

yes, yes, I know I have not blogged for a month but before you yell at me I have had lots going on. First off, Bobby and I moved into an AWESOME new place in the middle of January in downtown SLO. We now live in a 2 bedroom with an extra office/loft, 1 1/2 bath townhouse 2 blocks from the restaurants and shops of downtown. There have been many nights where we just walk downtown and grab dinner or coffee just because we can and it's so fun! We feel so blessed to have found this place and have a nice, bigger place to call home. A super awesome extra perk is that is comes with a detached 1 car garage which Bobby promptly claimed as his art studio. It is totally a man cave and is decked out in Bobby's past and current art projects, an easel, many canvases and supplies and most recently, 2 retro armchairs that used to be Bobby's grandparents from 1958. It's such a great space for him to be creative and produce amazing art that only Bobby can do. One of my favorite parts of the house is that is has an extra office/loft third room that I've turned into my music room. For Christmas, I bought myself a weighted, full length electric piano keyboard and put that in there along with my guitar and sheet music. It is my happy place in the house for sure :). So over this past month we have been working hard to get it all organized and set up and are finishing up buying some new furniture for the place. When it is all finished, I will post some pictures!

So moving/decorating has been a blast but takes up a lot of time and of course we have kept up with our weekend adventures most recently to Malibu, Orange County, and Big Bear Mountain. We have also been keeping up with our half-marathon training schedule which takes up a lot of our time. I am up to 8.5 miles and Bobby is at 10.5. We are well on our way!

Well our recent adventure came this weekend when Bobby's grandparents came up to SLO to visit us and deliver the armchairs for Bobby's art studio. They are amazing people and we had such a blast showing them around SLO, walking by the beach, and antique shop browsing. One of the places we took them to see was the Monarch Butterfly Grove in Pismo State Beach. From about November to February, thousands of monarch butterflies migrate to the coast and one of their hot spots is in Pismo Beach in a large grove of eucalyptus trees right by the beach. It is so amazing to see clusters of beautiful butterflies in the trees and flying all around you. Here are some of the shots we took:

All I know is that God must have had fun making butterflies because their coloring and patterns are just amazing and so intricate. It's so fun to experience different parts of nature. We had a great weekend with Bobby's grandparents and look forward to sharing more of our lives with them in SLO.

I promise I will try and be more diligent about blogging! guess that means we'll just have to go on some more adventures...oh, darn.

Have a great week!

happy hiking

Last weekend, Bobby and I were looking for an adventure so we teamed up with our friend Cortney and decided to go hiking. And this was no ordinary hike. We decided to spend the whole day out exploring, starting at 8 am and ending at 5 pm. We combined a couple of trails to make a loop of 16 miles!! I can't even tell you exactly where we went other than that it was about 30 minutes outside of SLO in the Santa Lucia Wilderness and we started out on the Rincondada Trail, but thanks to Bobby, the human compass, we made it back in one piece. There is nothing like spending an entire day out enjoying God's beautiful creation and getting a lot of exercise in the process :). It was such a peaceful day and a great way to spend a Sunday.

 this tree was one of the highlights of the hike. it stood atop a lookout of the whole valley.

 love the bright green moss.

 these succulent-looking things were growing wild right out of the side of the mountains. so beautiful. I was thinking how great they would look as a center piece.

 going for it.

 there were many streams that we  Bobby had to cross and when my husband offers to carry me across, how can I say no?

 hello mr. banana slug

 back at The Tree nearing the end of our journey after a 2.5 mile straight uphill climb. just about died. so happy to rest here at the top.

So now that I've walked a half-marathon, it's just a matter of running one. BIG difference.

Happy Hiking! :)

bring it on 2012

It's 2012! Crazy! Time flies when you are having fun and I sure had a lot of fun this past year. Looking back over the year, I can't complain about a thing. I live in SLO, have a wonderful husband, have a great job of serving people every day, and got to go on many adventures and fun trips. I have felt so overwhelmed with blessings and look forward to what's in store for Bobby and I this year. 

So last year, Bobby and I made some goals/resolutions and I'm happy to report we accomplished most of them. There are two that I'm really proud of: the first one is that we went on 3 backpacking trips (Big Sur, Santa Cruz Island, and Yosemite). The other one is that we both read 15 books! Now, that might not sound like a lot to some of you but before 2011, I averaged 1-3 books a year so I'm pretty darn proud! All but 3 of the books I read last year were true stories about people's lives. I like to read books about how people have overcome hardships, struggles, or experienced extraordinary things in their life. I am drawn to these books because the people I work with at my job have mental illness and have dealt with many, many setbacks and hardships so I like to learn as much as I can and learn from other people's stories so I can better understand where they are coming from which enables me to better serve them. Here are a few of my favorites:

1) "Same Kind of Different as Me" by Ron Hall & Denver Moore
2) "Unbearable Lightness" by Portia de Rossi
3) "The Girl's Guide to Homelessness" by Brianna Karp
4) "The Soloist" by Steve Lopez
5) "Heaven is For Real" by Todd Burpo


I'm going to try and read 15 more books this year so let me know if you know of any good ones!

Our big goal for 2012 is......to run a half-marathon! We're so excited because SLO is hosting their first ever marathon and half-marathon on Earth Day (April 22) this year! Bobby and I are already training for it and are very excited to run it. It's good motivation to start the year off in shape! You can find more information about the race here.

Another exciting thing we are looking forward to this year is moving into our new place in SLO next weekend! It's 2 blocks from downtown, walking distance to all the shops and restaurants, biking distance to work, and across the street from a park and community garden. I cannot wait to decorate and make it home for us. We have extra rooms so we welcome any and all visitors!

these are the gardens in the park by our new place.

Good luck on all your goals this year!

                

first snow of the season

Yay for snow! Bobby and I took a little adventure this weekend up to the snow to get our first snowboarding session of the season in. Despite the fact that there was not much snow (all man-made) it was still a blast. We met up with our good friends Tony and Elisa and made the trek up there with them. We went to China Peak, about 4 hours north of SLO, and spent the day on the mountain (with a mid day nap in the sun after lunch!). It's hard to really experience winter when you live in California considering the blue skies, sunshine, and 65 degree weather in the winter, but being in the snow made it feel a little more like Christmas!

I'm already looking forward to the next trip! Only 4 more days of work until Bobby and I have a week off!!!  It's going to be a great week of family, friends, more snowboarding, a wedding, and lots of relaxation. :)

6 more days til Christmas!!

happy holidays from slo

This past weekend, Bobby and I headed into downtown SLO to watch the annual holiday parade! This is one of those times when it is fun to live in a small town when the main streets are blocked off and everyone comes out and watches floats, bands, and other lit-up things roll down Higuera Street. Bobby and I brought some of our clients from work downtown with us so that they could enjoy the festivities as well. They don't get to get out very much so we thought this would be a fun opportunity for them. Besides the fact that it was FREEZING cold and we were sitting on concrete, it was so fun to see the town come alive and be part of the action.

 what's with the "ie's"? either way, i don't think hot chocolate with whip has ever tasted so good :)

 love the VW buses!

....and then on the way home, I spotted this insanely lit house...

kinda reminds me of the house in the movie Christmas Vacation! I'd hate to see the electric bill on that one.

It was a really fun night and gave me yet another reason to love SLO.

Happy Holidays :)