6710 Grand

During my first trip to San Diego when Nick and I were dating, he took me to the San Diego Zoo (and a whole lot of other places).  I bought a picture frame in the gift shop and later, put in a picture of the two of us together that my brother took.  Later, during my next trip when he took me to Disneyland, I bought a second frame...and then one at Sea World, and then one at Six Flags Magic Mountain.  It became a thing.  Now, we have dozens of them, marking the places we've been together.  You can literally watch our lives progress through the photos.  As we've added children, destinations, states...it's like a timeline of our life.  We have one rule--we do not replace the old photo if we visit that place again and our family has changed.  So, the picture we took at the Philadelphia Zoo only has 2 of our daughters even though Isabelle has been there dozens of times.  She wasn't with us on the visit where we bought the frame.  We also don'...

It's no secret I'm a bit fanatical about my coffee.  Ok, a lot fanatical.  We all have our quirks.  For the past two days I've picked up morning coffee from Starbucks.  It's not a normal thing but after a week away at a conference, my coffee cream in the work fridge expired and I haven't had a chance to pick up more, so Starbucks it is. The one closest to my office is ridiculously busy.  I think the whole mobile order/drive thru thing has just made it worse.  The order line is short.  The waiting to pick up line is more of a crowd.  Yesterday it took nearly half an hour to place my order and get my coffee.  AND they forgot the whipped cream.  Today, I placed my very first mobile order ten minutes before I got to the store and STILL had to wait almost 15 before my coffee was ready (AGAIN no whipped cream).  It's OK Starbucks--I still love you. I've been at my job now just over a year and have two conferences under my belt.  ...

I'm always optimistic about camping.  I love the idea of disconnecting for the weekend.  I love the thought of slowing down, enjoying nature, exploring the outdoors.  Mostly I love the fire.  The satisfaction of building it, of stoking it, bringing it to life and watching it consume log after log.  Cooking over it is fun too.  It makes me nostalgic for my days in the Girl Scouts.  We camped a lot and I always loved the romance of it.  Sleeping outside (sort of), foraging for wood (in addition to what we brought with us), being one with nature (ok, not really, but you get the idea). The girls love it too and for all of the same reasons (maybe not so much the fire or the being disconnected).  We camped a few times in Phoenix and had many disasters, including Iris's first camping trip which ended maybe six hours after it started but that's for another post.  It was harder there because you couldn't reserve a space and the drive to where t...

It was December 2002.  I’d been invited to go on a cruise with my then boyfriend (now husband) and his family for Christmas.  I was booked on a flight from Kanas City to Denver and then on to San Diego.  I was still afraid of flying but the excitement of the trip was outweighing my fears.  Also, I hadn't seen Nick in more than three months and had just spent the better part of the last year working out like a fiend and dropping 27 pounds.  In addition, I’d been spending my mornings in the tanning booth so I was a nice golden brown (I know—it’s really just skin damage but I was young and stupid.).  Yes, I looked GOOD!  I’d planned my airport attire very carefully, wanting to walk off the plane that evening in such a way as to completely turn the heads of every man but most especially, Nick.  I wore a shockingly short tan skirt, black ¾ sleeve turtleneck (a slim cut) and my knee high black boots (my hooker boots—yes).  My hair was piled hi...

Nick and I have been talking about taking an adventure.  Nothing too exciting—we are about to have a baby.  We thought maybe a cruise would be fun and that the girls would like it.  It’s easier than going to China and if we do it right, no one needs a passport.  As we dream up the ideal vacation, I could not help but be reminded of our first (and only) cruise.  It was the fall of 2002 and Nick’s parents were taking their family, including Grandma Olson on a cruise to Mexico over Christmas.  There was room for me so I was invited to share Grandma’s stateroom.  All I had to do was get to San Diego.  No problem!  There are so many great things about a cruise but perhaps my favorite was the food.  It was all-inclusive so you really could eat anything at any time.  My first experience with the lunch buffet was a gorge-fest which I can at least partially blame on the insane diet I had been on for the past several months which helped ...

In the summer of 2008, Ivy was not quite 2 and Iris was due in about four months.  My brother Andrew was graduating from the 8 th grade and I was headed to St. Louis to attend the ceremony.  Nick and I had just spend the weekend moving from one apartment in Phoenix to another.  His parents had driven in from San Diego to help.  After a very difficult night’s sleep, Ivy and I headed to the airport quite early in the morning.  So early, that I decided it was more practical to keep her in her pajamas and change her at the airport once we were through security.  I was always nervous flying with a purchased ticket, which we hadn’t done often since Nick left Southwest for Mesa. We made it in plenty of time and once through security, Ivy and I headed for the changing station.  She’d pooped!  Great!  A steady one poop per day kid, I was glad to have that out of the way early.  I cleaned her up and changed her clothes.  We were both in...