Christmas 2008

Christmas Morning at our Apartment:

Christmas (later in the day) at my parents':

Gingerbread Houses 2008

It was quite the ordeal to make the pieces to the Gingerbread houses from scratch but boy were they fun to put together and very tastey to eat!

Christmas Letter Blunder...Oops!

This past Wednesday, I was able to mail out our Christmas Letters and that night my in-laws came over to have dinner with us before they left for the Grand Canyon the next morning (celebrating Peter's birthday and their Wedding Anniversary).

I decided not to mail their Christmas Letter but to give it to them that night and allow them to be the first to read it. While I was cleaning up a few things in the kitchen after dinner, my mother-in-law read the letter. Towards the end of the first page she looked up confused and a little concerned. (I was afraid that she would find some spelling or grammar mistake that I had missed but I knew there wasn't anything I could do about it.) Instead she said something out loud along the lines of "Did I write Happy 25th on her birthday card?". Then she asked if I had turned 24 or 25 this year, and I said 25.

Apparently, in the Christmas Letter, I said I turned a year younger than I was and neither Jeremiah or I caught this! Debbie then said, "Are you already trying to fudge on your age!?!" To this, we all laughed and thought of ways that I could, from now on, "accidentally" write the wrong age in each subsequent Christmas Letter and continually "slow down" my aging process so that by the time I'm 40, I'll be telling everyone that I'm only 30!

(Debbie then told us about Papa Fabiano (Peter's sister's father-in-law) who actually told everyone he was 10 years younger than he was when he immigrated to the States from Italy and that no one knew this until a little before he passed away. (I'd love to hear the whole story of how you found out some time, Uncle Jerry.))

So, to set the record straight, I'm 25...sorry if you got a little confused as well :)

Christmas Tree 2008

The Day after Thanksgiving 2008

The Day after Thanksgiving, we went to the beach as it was a gorgeous day for it. Yusef, Jeremiah's cousin, and his wife, Emily, were visiting from Oakland as well as Emily's sister, Allie, and her husband Adam (from Orange County). We had a very fun time throwing the football, kayaking, building a sand castle, and just lying about. Here are some pictures:

Sara's 25th Birthday Surprises - Part 3

We made it back! Vegas was a lot of fun. But let me first start with the Chargers' game on Sunday. We had amazing seats (Thanks Uncle Bill) right behind the San Diego goal posts and about 17 rows up from the field! The game was against KC and wasn't supposed to be difficult as KC is having a really bad season. But, needless-to-say, it was a pretty intense game down to the last 30 seconds. Right at the end of the field, we got to watch them battle out the last few game-deciding seconds right in front of us. Fortunately we won and were able to start off our trip on a really high note.

After the game, we hiked the steap hill back to our care (we choose to walk up the hill and farther away than pay the $20 for parking - it's good exercise anyways :) ) and jumped on the freeway as quickly as we could to avoid any jams in the road with all the cars.

We took the 15 North and, once we got into Escondido, found a Rubios to stop at for some dinner. Let me just say, I've never tried the Nachos before then, and boy were they tastey! After dinner, we got back on the freeway for the long trek up to Vegas. I tend to sleep a lot in the car and this was no exception. I snoozed for an hour or two at least and am very fortunate to have a husband who can stay awake a lot better in the car than I can.

After 5 hours, I think, we arrive at the Strip. Well, 2 or 3 miles South of "The Strip" but still the hotel claims to be on the Strip. Our first night we stayed at a place called South Point. It was a newer hotel and very nice. The customer service, on the other hand, was not so nice. It took us over an hour from the time we arrived to the time we finally stepped foot into our room.

After we settled into our room, we walked around the hotel for a bit to see what was there. Because we arrived late, and because of the delays getting into our room, much of the activities we were interested in weren't open any more. There was a full movie theatre, bowling alley, pool, spa, food, and, of course, a casino. After walking around for a bit, we decided to go back upstairs and just relax as we were pretty tired.

The next morning, we took our time and eventually made it down to the jacuzzi for a very relaxing start to our day. It wasn't too hot so we were able to spend a lot of time in it.

When we needed to get moving, we finally got out and got ready for the day, packing our things to move on to the next hotel. Before we left, we stopped by the lunch buffet and ate a ton (that was their way of making up for our room delays the night before). The food was actually really good and the desserts were amazing (yes, we ate more than one dessert!).

Once our tummies were overly full, we headed up the Strip and found our next hotel, the MGM Grand! It was a beautiful hotel and had much better customer service. After enjoying the view from our room for a bit, we headed downstairs and looked at the Lion Habitat - very fun.

Then we headed outside and, after crossing the street to the Tropicana, were quickly pulled to the side to get signed up for a Timeshare speal the next day. Now we wouldn't normally sign up, but we knew ahead of time that we were going to because you can get free show tickets out of them. So we did and were set to see Cirque Du Soleil the following evening, on my birthday.

We walked across the street to Excalibur and then walked through it and the Luxor to get to Mandalay Bay. We thought about seeing the Shark Exhibit, but it cost money so we thought against it. Then we caught the train to take us back to Excalibur - yay for not walking!

We had about 40 minutes before there was supposed to be a show at Treasure Island. We debated driving over there as it is on the other end of the Strip but thought that it didn't look that far to walk so we just walked. And walked. And walked. It really was deceiving just how far away TI was from us. Every time I looked up, I expected to be a lot closer to it than we were. We ended up running a little as the time was ticking down.

We made it just after the show started and, even thought there was a big crowd, we managed to find a place where we could see pretty well. The show was definitely not worth the hustle. It was not what Jeremiah remembered it being when he was younger and in Las Vegas for Taekwondo tournaments. They basically sex-ed up the show to appeal to an adult audience instead of kids.

After the show, we started walking back down the Strip, back towards our hotel. We made sure to stop and look at things we missed on the way up, like the Belagio Hotel's water show and its lobby, which was decked out in Fall decorations and very beautiful.

Eventually we made it back to our hotel and spent the next few hours having fun playing games. We went to bed at some point my birthday morning.

Later that morning, we woke up and quickly made it over to the Tropicana to get on the bus for the Timeshare presenation. We ended up spending over 3 hours there, I think, which was longer than we were expecting. (They sure can make it sound good and enticing, but they also have a way of avoiding your questions when they don't want to answer them.)

We then got shuttled back to our hotel and got dressed and ready for the evening. We went downstairs to have my birthday dinner at the Rain Forset Cafe and on our way were stopped by someone outside a club who asked if we wanted to be on the Guest List for that night. I thought, why not? So we got signed up (although, we never did make it to the club). (Tip: If you want to get on a club guest list, walk by the door of it a few hours before it opens and make sure you look nice, like you have money...they'll probably stop you to ask.)

Dinner was wonderful and my "cake" was Bananas Foster...yummy! We then headed to our car to drive, this time, back to Treasure Island for our show. The show was a lot of fun, and even more fun once Jeremiah switched seats with me so I could get away from the really chatty lady on my left who had to comment loudly about everything!

After the show, we walked around the lobby for a bit and found cheap Black Jack tables. We had fun playing there for the evening until we were ready to leave.

At some point we made it back to our hotel and went to bed. It was a wonderful birthday day. The next day, we packed up and headed back home. It was definitely good to be home and away from the smoked-filled Vegas. It was a fun trip and 3 days was just enough time to enjoy it, but I wouldn't want to stay any longer than that!

Sara's 25th Birthday Surprises - Part 2

Last night Jeremiah took me out to dinner and a movie as a date night for my birthday celebrations. We had yummy Mexian food at El Torito (my food was a little too spicy - I got it mainly because it was the only chicken dish that came with guacamole so you didn't have to pay extra for it - so I ended up eating more of Jeremiah's than my own and he ate all of mine) and then went out to see Pride and Glory. There wasn't much of a selection to choose from as far as the movies went. He surprised me with the movie and I had no clue what we were going to see until I saw the title of the movie on the sceen in the theater. It was an okay movie but a little sickening as I'm sure the plot has happened (or something similar to it) and/or is happening. The language was a little more than I like to endure so if you don't like bad language, don't see this movie. All-in-all it was a fun night and a great way to start the celebrations.

This morning we took it easy and Jeremiah even made me breakfast! Eventually headed out to the Wild Animal Park (we're members). We spent a few hours there which was plenty as the sun was really wearing on me but it was still a lot of fun. We saw some areas of the park that we hadn't seen before and that's always exciting.

Then Jeremiah took me out to a late lunch/early dinner at one of our favorite pizza places in the area, Filipe's, and enjoyed very cheesey pizza, a delicious Anitpasto salad, amazing Rootbeer, and some good 'ol college football. (It was hilarious seeing the last few minutes of the fourth quarter count down on the clock and the cameras showing the kicker of one of the teams getting ready to kick the winning field goal if his team couldn't pull a touchdown first - the game was tied at 21-21. With 3 seconds left on the clock, they brought out the kicker for a 29 yard field goal. The crowd looked nervous and rightfully so as the cameras also kept showing clips of this kicker from previous games messing up field goal attempts. The ball was hiked, the kicker kicked, and the ball went straight into the tackiling offensive and defensive players and was batted down. It was so funny; it took a while for me to stop laughing. Eventually, after going into overtime, that same team, I believe it was Alabama, got a touchdown and ended up still winning the game - no thanks to their trustee kicker. I don't think he will be on the top of the draft list any time soon.)

We came back from lunch/dinner and went to my in-laws to meet their friend from Africa that has been staying with them for the past few days. His name is Solomon and he is one of the pastors they meet with when they go on missions trips to Kenya. It was great to finally meet him as we've heard so much about him from my mother-in-law.

Then we went out to the mall to try and find one fun shirt to wear in Vegas and we had much success and it only cost $0.03 after using some left-over money from a previous exchange. Not too shabby.

We then came home and started our packing for our trip. I'm very thankful that today wasn't any fuller than it was as I'm pretty worn out and I want to make sure I get plenty of rest before the trip.Well, that's all I have for now.

I'll share more about the trip when I get back!

Sara's 25th Birthday Surprises - Part 1

So, I really wanted to be surprised for my birthday this year and I left the task up to Jeremiah. He's been planning for weeks and, although I found out one of the surprises early by my own mistake of opening mail that was addressed to him - habit - the only other detail I know, and it's a big one, is that we are going to Las Vegas right after we attend the Chargers game on Sunday (the surprise I found out).

We'll be there for 3 nights and 3 days and I'm really excited since I've never been on the strip! We've passed through Vegas on family trips to other destinations and stayed at a hotel near the border, but I've never had the Las Vegas experience.

Now, I don't want to sound misleading when I say that. We are not partiers or club-hoping people, but we will definitely find fun stuff to do and hopefully a lot of it will be FREE.

What we do tonight and tomorrow leading up to Sunday are still a mystery to me and I can't wait to find out more.Oh, BTW my birthday isn't until Tuesday, but as you may have discovered from our Blog, we really like to celebrate birthdays and for as long as we can get away with it.

Stay tuned for more details!

Sara's Bookkeeping Services

Well, after more than 2 years of working for a struggling company (while being underpaid), the ties were finally severed and I decided to move on to the unknown of self-employment.

Beginning in October, I opened the doors to my new Bookkeeping Services!

My goal is to provide a service to small busineses and entrepreneurs who shouldn't be wasting their time (and money) on the important, yet extremely time-consuming task of keeping their books up-to-date.

I also offer Website, Online Marketing, and Office Organization services. I'm like a one-stop shop!

By contracting me, they will also be saving money over hiring an employee as I will be working on a 1099 basis - which equates to no employer taxes, benefits, paid vacations, sick time, or breaks.

If you know of anyone in the Carlsbad, San Diego area that could benefit from my services...please feel free to pass on my info. Thanks!

You can check out my new services at:
http://www.sarasbookkeeping.com/
(catchy, huh?)

Halloween 2008

My fun socks were my costume.

Jeremiah's tattoo sleeve arm was his...thanks Grandma!

Disneyland - September 27, 2008

Well, because I haven't had my computer lately and have been using Jeremiah's, I have neglected doing some things that I had been wanting to do, like posting some pictures of our recent trip to Disneyland. So here they are:

Us waiting for the tram to go in.

On the tram...

Outside the gates, waiting yet again...

Still waiting, but at least there were fun decorations!

One of the early highlights of the day...Jeremiah made it in the Top 10 High Scores on Space Blasters! This was a first and very exciting!

There's Jeremiah's score at the bottom of the list.
(I was #11 that round...just barely missed it)

Us in front of the castle with no one else around.

Gotta love the carousal.

I tried really hard to bump, I mean, not bump Jeremiah the whole ride.
Finally got him in the end :)

At our favorite lunch spot...the Blue Bayou.

Isn't he adorable in the candlelight?

A pleasant surprise to end our meal...26 chocolate mint doubloons...very yummy!

Hume Lake 2008 - Pictures (as promised)

Sara and a deer that came really close to our tent in our campsite.

Jeremiah cutting wood for our fires (even I helped saw them up - hard work that is!)

A beautiful scenic shot on our way to the Death Hike.

Entrance to the Death Hike...doesn't look too bad from here.

Right before the Death Hike.

Quick Photo-opt.

The view as we hiked down (yes, that's Boulder Creek)

A quick break in the shade (and it was actually bugless here!)

Boulder Creek! We made it!

The water was so clear.

Down at Boulder Creek.

Still looking pretty good after the hike down :)

(We had no clue at this point how tuff the hike up would be.)

Fellow Death Hiker

One of the only pictures of us on our way back up - we were trying to catch our breath and get away from the bugs as quickly as possible to do much else.

We made it back to the fork in the road!

Camp 7 here we come!

The Big Sequoias

It's the last stretch and then we're done!

Almost there... the truck is just around the bend. (We got the end of the hike on video and unfortunately didn't take any pictures of it.)

Jeremiah just returned from Paintball - the day after the Death Hike.

Needless-to-day, I wanted to relax that day.

Relaxing at the Cove.

So cute!

The Benne Family.

Jeremiah on the Log.

And so here I am relaxing at the Cove.

Entrance to Crystal Cave.

Inside Crystal Cave. (The pictures don't do it justice.)

Us at the Giant Sherman.

Fun on the Log once again.