The Chill Factor

Forgot to take into consideration the chill factor for my short trip to Sedona.  Actually, it wasn't the chill I didn't plan for, but the snow.  I didn't bring boots, but my shoes did okay.  We got about five inches one night, the most snow they have gotten all winter.  Lots was melted by noon though, since it was warming up fast.  The red rocks were gorgeous with and without the snow, the trees magnificent.  Had a great weekend -- it was over too fast!  Got to see lots of friends and eat lots of food!

Me and My BFF

My BDF (Best Dog Friend) Kiwi

Floor Plans

Yes, we have plans for our floor!  Yes, our carpet is 30 years old.  Yes, we haven't done much to our place since we moved in 10 years ago.  That is slowly changing and has for the past year or so (it helps that I work for a general contractor now).

A long time ago... 21 years ago... we made a commitment to sacrifice our want of house so we could send our two girls to Christian school for their entire schooling.  We rented apartments for the first 15 years of our marriage.  Ten years ago, by God's blessing, we were able to pay outright through an inheritance for the condo we now live in.  Our girls have (or are close to) graduating, and we are starting to improve little by little our condo.  Someday we may own a house -- but I love too much that I don't have a mortgage.  I don't even know how we would live in San Diego, let alone have sent our kids to private school, if we had a huge house payment.  Besides, the less area I have to clean the better!  I am just as content to die in our condo (although Chris might have something to say about that).

My kitchen is finished and half the flooring downstairs.  Now it's finally time to replace the old carpeting, finish scraping off the acoustic ceilings, and replace fans and lighting with some new fans and maybe some can lights.  This flooring was on sale at Costco this month.  It will go in in a few weeks.  There are many more things needed, like remodeling bathrooms, replacing our patio door, the ceilings and floors upstairs, etc., but one step at a time!

Amy and I went shopping at Armstrongs, a beauty supply store where you can only shop with a cosmotology license.  She bought this cool nail polish called "Black Shatter."  It's very popular right now, and you put in on over another color.  It separates and makes kind of a leopard look.  She did one of my nails just so I could see it.  Pretty cool, but I think I'm a little too old for this look... ha ha!

A friend sent me this pic as I am always raving about Starbucks and my addiction to it.  I told her, "It's like someone took a picture of my brain!"

I am headed to Sedona for the weekend.  Leaving tomorrow (Thursday) and returning Monday morning and going straight from the airport back to work.  My BFF's brother-in-law is getting married, although the wedding is really just an excuse for me to hang out with her all weekend.  Looking forward to it -- got my tickets on Southwest for $49 each way.  It's supposed to rain and maybe snow there all weekend, but it's supposed to rain here all weekend, too.  Really looking forward to getting away...

Furever Friends

We love animals, and we have been members of the zoo for years.  Ally took these shots this weekend.

Rolling around on the warm cement I guess...

Ally touched the bear!

There is a new baby hippo, but we didn't get to see it... well, you can barely see its back near the mama's head.  We waited for awhile, but he wouldn't come out.

We had two girls from the Philippines stay with us this weekend.  They sang at our church on Sunday.  We took lots of photos, but for privacy issues they ask that you not post them on the web or social media sites.  Ally gave up her room for the weekend.  It's nice to see her enjoying helping others.  One thing we learned is that we use more water to flush a toilet one time than people in some countries get all day.  Our girls have sponsors, so they do okay in the Philippines, but they told us their neighbors do not get to take showers because they do not have a sponsor.  We have sponsored several children over the years -- hope you'll consider it, too!

So, we took the girls to the zoo, the beach, our lake, and our hot tub all in one day.  We were exhausted.  They were very polite, neat, and thankful.  Ally said her room was cleaner than when they came!  I know her bed was made better.

Amy sent me these pics while she was at school the other night.

She turns 21 on Friday!  We are going to go to The Melting Pot in La Jolla, which is fondue entrees and chocolate fondue desserts.  Haven't been there before, but looking forward to it.

I finally got my Christmas present from my BFF!  She has started making stained glass pieces.  This one is about a foot in diameter.  Love it!  Now just gotta figure out how to hang it in my window.  I'm scared!

Today, we are off to the DMV since Ally's driver's license hasn't come yet, and her temporary one is about to expire.  I brought my iPad to keep us entertained while we are there.  You never know, could be there 30 minutes, or 3 hours!

Sweet Treats!

Started out making just a couple candies this week, but in my true fashion, overdid with dishes and chocolate flying everywhere.  Was totally exhausted (and doing laundry at the same time), but was glad I broke out my Valentine's molds and made some cute treats.

Peanut butter filled lips...

Raspberry cream filled hearts...

Dark chocolate with pecans and caramel filling...

Chocolate transfer molds (kinda like edible tattoos) ...

The final product!

Last week was able to scrapbook these two Christmas pages...

On a totally random note -- if you don't have one of these -- get one!

They are at Wal-Mart for only a few bucks and are the best thing ever for computer screens, specifically my iPad which has a coating that can never get wet, not even with a damp cloth.  This swipes the fingerprints right off, and the dust, etc. on our laptop and desktop screens.  We have a bigger one we use for the flat screen TV.  One more thing, just to make my life a little easier:)

We are having two underprivileged young girls from another country stay with us this weekend.  They are singing in a group at the church on Sunday.  I think we will take them to the zoo on Saturday.  I usually avoid that place on the weekends, but they will only be here over the weekend.  Ally is really looking forward to it and was even excited to give up her room for the weekend.  We aren't allowed to post their pics on any social media, but we are allowed to make them a scrapbook page of their visit to send with them for their "tour book."  So I might have Ally work on that.