Fun Idea!

I just saw this on a blog, which had the link from Martha Stewart. Just leave it to Martha to know how to make our own scratch-offs. I can't wait to try this!!!

Make Your Own Scratch Off Cards:

http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/goodthings/scratch-off-save-the-date-how-to?czone=planning%2Fengagement-cnt%2Fget-inspired

This goes out...

to anyone who actually still looks at this blog, considering i haven't updated it since last summer!!!

Someday I'll post pictures of our New Year's trip to Yosemite, but since I don't have any pictures on my new Mac that B got me for Christmas, that's going to have to wait!!

I've kept my page just so that I can have links to all of my friends' blogs....which I truly love looking at! It's a great way to see everyone's kiddos grow up. Since I don't have any kids, though, I'm not very dedicated to this blogging thing. Although I have gotten more into facebook lately, so maybe I'll come back around to this also. Since I'm studying for the bar, anything and everything have become legitimate and desirable distractions!!! (Exhibit A: this post!).

If any one happens to see this, I just have to tell you about the website www.ebates.com. It's so great. You get rebates on any purchases you make if you go through their site to your shopping site, and it's amazing how little bits add up! I'm not a big online shopper, but I was excited to use it to get an Entertainment book for $20, and since Ebates was offering a 35% rebate, it ended up only costing $13!! Since I bought my Entertainment book this fall for $35, that's an awesome discount. Now I know better for next year. Ebates sends out the rebate checks 4x/year, I think, and the one that I'm getting is for $21. Nothing to sniff at, and it didn't cost me a thing! Oh, and the other nice thing is that they have all of the discount coupon codes on the ebates website, so you don't have to go hunting for them elsewhere. I'm a big fan!!! Hope it works for you too!

Maybe I'm back to blogging, maybe not, but at least now anyone who chances across this page doesn't have to see the Wicked pictures anymore :).

So totally Wicked!

I'm so far behind in blogging land that I hardly know where to start....so maybe I'll just work backwards, and see how far I get, and try to update with new stuff too.  Whatever!!

Here are a few pictures from our girls' night when we went to see Wicked in San Diego about 2 weeks ago.  We celebrated M.B.'s birthday a bit late (about a month!), but it worked out well for us to have some fun girltime to look forward to during the guys' 2nd "at-sea" period.  

Our group was 2 Marine wives, 2 Marine girlfriends, and 1 wife of a Marine who got out about a year ago.  So we had lots to talk about, that's for sure!  K.J. made a delicious dinner, and it was fun to go downtown, see a show, and then go out in the Gaslamp District afterwards.  Very San Diego, and very fun!

I liked Wicked quite a bit; it's a cute story!  I always love shows with lots of dancing, which this didn't have quite as much of, but I am so glad that we went to see it, and I loved sharing the memories!  I highly recommend it if it comes to your town!  The Lion King is coming in November, so we're planning to go to that one too.

Funny moment: at dinner we had a "mozzarella & tomato salad" that K.J.'s husband picked up from the market.  I thought it looked strange, but everyone told me to eat it, so I was the guinea pig.  Um, yeah, just as I expected...those weren't little balls of mozzarella, they were full garlic cloves.  :)  We got a great laugh out of that one.

DC, Here I Come!

I just booked my ticket to visit DC from July 1st through the 7th....I want to be there for the wonderful Independence Day celebration!  B will be at sea for a couple of weeks, so why not go on a great trip??!!  I can't wait to catch up with everyone, most of whom I haven't seen since I moved out to California 10 months ago.  I can't believe it's been almost a year!  WOW!

San Diego Wild Animal Park

I had never been to the Wild Animal Park (an annex of the famous San Diego zoo), so on New Year's Day, we went! It was awesome and very spacious. The weather was PERFECT (70s and sunny, oh right, that's every day in San Diego!) and we had a great time.

Some lovely tourists took our picture by the sign, which I'm pretty sure every visitor takes their picture with.

This was Brandt being a flamingo. For some reason he was embarrased because lots of tourists were nearby. But I LOVE action shots!!!!

The view from the Condor area, looking over the back of the park. Surprisingly pretty!

This elephant was so great! It was giving kisses to the keeper. Another elephant was getting a birthday cake, although I'm not sure what it was made out of.

Hello Mr. Giraffe!!! Too bad you are not real!!!

Let's see....where to start?

Okay, yep, I'm a terrible blogger. Any of you who really are interested in what I'm doing might just want to CALL me, because the chances of figuring out what is going on in my life from this blog are slim to none. But since I'm hanging out tonight waiting for pictures to be ready at Costco, I can update this thing!!!

Here are some pictures:

In November, we went beach camping. Perhaps I mentioned it in an earlier post? Anyway, we tried to take the train up to Carpinteria, but to no avail, as it was broken down. So Amtrak refunded our money and we had a nice little drive up the coast. My extended family camps here several times a year, but mind you, it's not real camping. There are Ralph Lauren sheets, lots of cute Coastal Living-type decorations, etc. It's a wonderful relaxing time of beach & family!! This is a picture of our campsite, which we combined with the friends next to us. Our tent-trailer was behind the red umbrella in the picture.

Brandt slept here in the tent below. Not quite as glamorous as the tent trailer, as there was a huge windstorm during the night and his tent wasn't tacked down. I had to go sit in it while he went to the bathroom so that it didn't blow away....I thought it was funny, but I don't think he was quite as amused :).

Gorgeous sunsets, though!!!

November means Marine Corps Ball, so we headed out to the Harrah's Casino for the 11th MEU's ball. It's fun getting all dressed up, and I love Brandt's "pirate costume" as I call it. We had a great time, although we girls were kind of sad that there will be no 2009 ball for us, as the guys will be at sea. Oh well!

Merry Almost Christmas!!!

It actually feels like winter here in southern California! It's in the 30s or 40s at night sometimes, and highs in the 50s or 60s during the day. Okay, so that's a light winter, but I'm getting to wear some of my winter clothes, so that is fun (most are in storage, but I have a couple of things!).

The family Christmas festivities have begun, as last night was my grandmother's 91st birthday at a British restaurant in Corona Del Mar called Five Crowns. There are carolers who come and sing at the tables, so it is always a hit with the gramma and the kiddos. It's a fun way to celebrate my gramma, and an annual tradition for many years. Yay for a wonderful gramma who is so cheerful and enthusiastic!

My parents arrived on Thursday, so my mom is racing around buying presents since she doesn't bring too many with her. The family Christmas Eve party will be at my gramma's again, then we'll do Christmas with my sister's inlaws on Saturday. Everything is spaced out this year over the whole week; in years past it's been 3 days in a row, so the less-than-frenzied pace is a welcome change.

I'm working the next 2 days, which is kind of a bummer, but I need the funds, so I'm game. Then I'll have 5 days off, and since I set my own schedule anyway, I really can't complain!!

I took the kiddos shopping for Toys for Tots last week (they each got a $10 bill to spend & I kicked in a little extra), and hopefully tomorrow afternoon we can go drop off their treasures. It was fun watching them pick out presents for other children. All 3 kids (even the 4 year old who wanted everything for herself) picked out great gifts and seemed to truly understand how important it is for us to share our resources and blessings with children who will have very little to open this Christmas, if anything at all.

I dropped B off at LAX last night for a red-eye to Tallahassee so that he can see his Dad & Stepmom & Sister & Brother in Law & Niece for Christmas. I know they will have a great time...I wish that I were there!!! They are all a great family and I love spending time with them. Brandt will enjoy relaxing and sleeping in!! Since he won't be around for the holidays next year, we spent Thanksgiving with his mom & stepdad and now he has Christmas in FL, so he is getting in lots of great family memories.

This is Brandt sleeping in the car on the way up to Monterey for Thanksgiving....it was supposed to be a 7-8 hour drive, but it ended up taking us FOURTEEN. We had to pull over twice to sleep in the car. That's what we get for leaving at 4 p.m. on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and attempting to drive THROUGH Los Angeles. Big mistake. We finally got there at 6 a.m. and B had to write a paper for his class....lovely. But the rest of the weekend was delightful!

B's shipboard deployment is likely pushed back to September 09 from July 09, so I'm happy about that! More time for us to enjoy together before he leaves!!!

I hope that all (well, really both) of you who read this have a wonderful Christmas!!!