Correct blog

Yes you're at the right blog. Since I changed so does my blog. No I'm not married to my blog, neither is my brain wired to it...change is fun!

Little Buddha

No I'm not referring the movie. (You know, the one with Keanu Reeves and Chris Isaak.) I'm referring to that little guy on our bathroom counter. He chills there while we brush our teeth, shave and wash our faces. He suggests colors of eye shadow that I should wear that day. Jared and I got him on our honeymoon in Kauai. I thought he'd be a great addition to the family!

No more blonde hair!

I never dyed my hair before. Well, there was that one time in college when I dyed it bright pink but it washed out...oh ya, and the kool-aid incident in 7th grade. Other than that I'm perfectly natural. Until now...


BEFORE


AFTER...Sorry Grandma. I'm not a blonde anymore. Goodbye Alice in Wonderland... heeeeello Lois!

Do it yourself and save money!

My right rear blinker went out in my car. No big deal right? Go down to your local auto shop (Kragen) and buy a new light bulb. Well, it wasn't that easy. The bulb came out but the base was fused into the container/housing. I couldn't get it out. Neither could the nice guy at Kragen. He said I'd have to replace the whole assembly, and that I need to go to the dealer for the part. THE DEALER!!!!!!! I can't stand the dealer. They're so dang dishonest and thieves. I looked online for the part that I needed. It was going to cost ~$125. "NO WAY," I thought. Two things I always carry mandatory in my car are WD-40 and Duct take. So I sprayed the two fused pieces of metal together with some WD-40 on Saturday.


Then today I headed down to the garage with some needle nose pliers and pried the bulb base out. It took some work but it fixed the problem. Now $125 turned into $4 of light bulbs, and do-it-yourself!


Since I've been so tired of my car breaking down on me...(especially on the freeway) I told Jared that when we return from Switzerland I would like to take an auto mechanics class. Or just buy a car that never breaks down.

Wedding Dance

Homemade - made-up Cherry/Peach Pie

I had some peaches and some cherries. I also have some pie crusts in the freezer that I made a few weeks back. I looked online for a cherry/peach pie/tart. Well there weren't any recipes. I guess no one thought of that combination. My mother just makes up recipes out of no where. I try to be like her. So I started out with the basic tools.


Cherry pitter (that was fun, my first time.) Lemon squeezer (I invested in one a while back because of all of the lemonade, lemon tarts and lemon pound cakes that I was making.) Can you guess my favorite flavor? And a great paring knife for pealing and slicing the peaches.


I added some lemon and sugar and some freshly grated nutmeg. My mother taught me that fresher is better. A bit of cream, because...well why not?




Before


After
We'll see what the expert pie taster thinks.

Shimmer mishap

While applying my make-up this morning... er afternoon to go out...I accidentally spilled my Mac loose powder shimmer stuff. I salvaged what I could and then with shimmered hands...

I spread as much as I could on my showing body parts:)

Car in Zurich? Nah.....

Who needs a car for grocery shopping. We'll just make a bike like this.

How to make a tight turn quickly in your car!

Mostly common sense really.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Tight-Turn-Quickly-in-a-Car

Another reunion

Jared and I headed to Utah for yet another reunion. The first highlight was that our friend Amanda was on our same flight.











Then when we got to our condo Moose Hollow. The bed fur on it. Period.




A moose that held the paper towels.










Fake skis on the wall.





And really bad art.






Other than that it was a very cozy place to stay with a beautiful view.



For lunch we ate at "Eats of Eden" in Eden, Utah. (Obviously a play on words.)







Along with my cousin Pete and his wife Thea.






We opted for the non-alcoholic Apple Beer (which contained no apples) instead of "Polygamy Porter." Oh the things you find in Utah.

reunion cont.

On Saturday we decided to head up to Snow Basin and go on th Gondola with my sister Emma and her family.

















Johnny was very excited for the Gondola ride.








There was a beautiful view from up top








Then the clouds rolled in.








When Johnny heard of thunder and lightening coming he ran to mother for snuggles.







He got his snuggles.


Hudson was just happy to run:)










On the way down we were surrounded by the storm.
It was very exciting.








Johnny hid from the storm. Notice the little orange shirt hiding.








Then Jared wanted snuggles:)







It was really coming down. Jared and I decided to run to the car to drive up and get everyone else. We were instantly drenched

The photos

Jared was such a good sport enduring more photos...y'know after the wedding.
Emma and Johnny waiting patiently while Lee rounds up Hudson.











It's always a challenge to get this little guy to sit still.






This will do.









Our family minus Jeremy.








The cousins, by age minus 12. (25 in total original cousins.)

Hudson runs

Hudson throws rocks

Simpsonized

This is my Simpsonized. Where they got the brown hair from I don't know.

Wonderful Husband!

When you're having a crazy day and are running around getting lots of things done and put it on hold to go out for a run because the triathlon that you stupidly signed up for is nearing it sure is nice to come back from your run to find your favorite flowers and the dishwasher cleared out (a chore I really don't like to do.)

Mr. Monkey man

Jared loves to climb!

My New Bike!

Using identical formulaOne Composite construction as the more racing-oriented TCR Composite W series, the OCR Composite W frame designed specifically for women features more-upright positioning for all-day riding luxury.

The Tree Fort Bikes Take:
The main fitting difference between the TCR counterpart is a shorter reach to the bars because of a shorter top-tube length. The OCR frame is also manufactured to focus on ride quality over speed.

Frame:	Carbon
Fork:	FormulaOne Composite Alloy Steerer
Handlebar:	Giant 6061Al
Stem:	Easton EA50
Seatpost:	FormulaOne Composite
Pedals:	Shimano M505
Front Derailleur:	Shimano Ultegra
Rear Derailleur:	Shimano Ultegra
Brakes:	Shimano BR600
Cassette:	Shimano Ultegra 10spd
Chain:	Shimano Ultegra
Cranks:	Shimano R600 Compact
Wheelset:	Mavic Aksium
Tires:	Michelin Pro Race
Saddle:	Fizik Vitesse CP
Shifters:	Shimano R700 Short Reach

Tahoe 2007

Every year my Dad's side of the family head's to Lake Tahoe to enjoy ~ a week of relaxation. Yeah right! It was full of lots of adventures and exercise to the max. Also, accidents. Did I say accidents...yes I did. Lets list them:

1. Alice got hit by a car on her bike (no biggie.)
2. Alice hits a patch of sand and flips over bike onto right shoulder which hurts a lot. (Mountain Biking.)
3. Alice sustained multiple scrapes and bruises from mountain biking with Amy, George, Danny and Jared. STORY:
Danny, "I think this is where I fell into that bush last year." 2 seconds later, LITERALLY!
Alice, "Aaaaahhhhhh."
George, "Alice just fell into that bush, all I saw were her legs fly into the air."
Danny helps Alice out of the bush because it's prickly and she's still clipped into her pedals and really can't move on her own.
Alice, "I feel as if something is folded inside me."
George, "Your insides are folded."
After all of this Jared wants to ride behind me and watch me fall because everyone else is getting a kick out of it. Plus I alert them of dangerous rocks ahead with my uncontrollable yelps.
(Later Alice's left ribs really hurt for a day or two. She goes into shock that night in bed thinking that maybe there's internal bleeding and feels light-headed and shakes uncontrollably. Thank goodness for a kind husband to bring her back to reality.)
4. Jared and Alice both sustain back injuries after diving off of a rock into the lake. Apparently we "cajoinked" ourselves according to Jared. His injury is worse.
5. Alice sustained lots more scrapes and gashes to her legs when Jared had an idea to climb straight up a bushy hill only to find when we arrived at the top that there's a paved road from the other side. We took the road down...kind of. More short cuts were taken.
6. Alice suffered two injuries back to back within 10 mins. of each other from Hudson throwing objects from ACROSS THE ROOM WITH HIS PERFECT AIM, to her chin and WORSE, I HUGE BUMP ON HER HEAD, which is still there after 6 days and is tender to the touch!

WARNING: SOME PHOTOS SHOW GRAPHIC CONTENT. LIKE BLOOD AND STUFF!

Santa Cruz dude!

I took the kids on Monday down to Santa Cruz along with our new friends Dustin and Andrea who are soooo much fun. Andrea taught Krista about sand crabs. She ended up catching ~30 of them and stored each in a bucket. Don't worry, she saved them from hungry Chase and released them back into the wild.

Later we headed to the Boardwalk to catch 75¢ ride night like I do every year. (Last year the rides were only 65¢.) I took everyone on my favorite ride Wipeout, which I discovered last year with Heather.

Here is Krista and I enjoying out corndogs with mustard. A standard meal if you're visiting the boardwalk.


Our new friends Dustin and Andrea. I sure hope they visit us in Zurich!



All of us getting ready for the bumper cars. We had a plan.......


...which Jared was ready for. Apparently you are only allowed to drive in one direction. Well, silly us...all 6 of us just happened to not be very good at following rules and stirred up some trouble...or rather caused a big traffic jam....hee hee;)

Jelly beans and sugar overload

Last Saturday we took Krista and Chase to the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield. It was a first for all of us. The kids hadn't even heard of Jelly Belly's which was a shock to Jared and I. We needed to educate them about gourmet candy...or rather take a free tour and let someone else do the talking.

We had to wear hats so our hair wouldn't end up in the Jelly Belly bags. We ended up buying 4 bags (8 lbs total) of Belly Flops (irregularly shaped jelly beans). It was buy 2 get 2 free.