The real slim shady (russ post)

So were at the airport and this homeboy is rocking a cross that was
almost life size. It was pretty hardcore. But not really. I managed to
get a spyshot without him or TSA noticing

Have it your way.

So russ can never order anything regular. It has to be special. At the
airport this morning he asked for two round eggs on his sandwich-
opposed to just one flat egg. What did he end up getting from the poor
confused cashier? All three eggs- two round, one flat, and then his
sausage and cheese. It ended up looking like a big mac!

Beat that speed typers....can you beat me?

84 words

Speed test

Can you beat my speed? Click above and try! Russ--I double dog dare you--

Let's roll (russ post)

Baxter got his new riding gear and now he's ready to roll. All this
cruising PCH and now Baxter wants in.

Finally!!! Carrie & Nick!

So for the last two months Carrie and I have been trying to get together.... and it finally happened last night! We met up for dessert with the hubbies and talked away! We caught up on everything that has been happening in our lives and the night was filled with stories about rouge employees, crazy Russians, insurance fraud, namable products, and my personal favorite--"the dagger." For those of you who know Carrie & Nick-- you'll have to ask how Nick became the "sword bearer" for a homeless guy, almost got cut into peices, and now is being supeoned in court about the whole situation.... quite crazy.

It was a fun night. I can't wait for next time! By the way, for those of you who haven't seen the giant cookie sandwich at Claim Jumper--you must try it next time--it's HUGE and delicious!!!!!

GRAND FINALE... BALBOA

We also checked out Balboa Island—where we walked around, hung out on the pier and saw some really weird hot pink and orange octopus thing, and ate a frozen banana. We then headed to the Spectrum where we ate at Javiers—Russ and I shared the burrito which was good, and then we had Pink Berry—which is good with chocolate chips! :) Then the Harmors headed to the airport. We had so much fun with them! They definitely have to come and visit again soon!!!!!!!!

WICKED....

On Sunday we went and saw Wicked at the Pantages Theater in LA. It was my second time seeing it, but the first for everyone else. The boys had gone to a car show during the day in Long Beach, so we decided that we would meet at the theater in LA. Desiree and I had gone to the beach during the day, so we were a little late getting showered and ready to drive up to LA. We had talked to the boys right before we left and told them that we were leaving and we would call them when we got there. As we were driving up to LA, I realized that I had forgotten my cell phone on the charger. Desiree started to dig in her purse and realized that she had forgotten her cell phone on the counter. We crossed our fingers that we would be able to find the boys when we got to LA. Does anyone know how much a payphone costs now a days? Luckily we didn’t have to use one—but it’s funny how helpless you feel without your “link” to everyone else. As fate would have it, the boys were genius and just stood outside the theater waiting for us. We missed the first 10 minutes of the play, but it was amazing! I haven’t been able to stop singing the songs in my head! We took a quick snapshot, and then the usher told us we couldn't take photos inside, so this is the only one we got.

Laguna Pride

In the afternoon we decided to check out Laguna Beach—we did the walk up the boardwalk to the gazebo and then we hit of the shops. Russ found these really funny “naked dolls” and I found some really cool glass robin eggs that we both wanted to get, but talked each other out of. Desiree got some really cool greeting cards. We then hit up BJ’s Pizza for dinner and met up with Ashley Simms (now Harmor--who I went to seminary growing up with) and her husband Travis (who is Tylers brother—small world huh?). We then went and hung out at their house in Irvine. It was a fun night!

Woody Frenzy

We all decided to take a trip up the PCH to see all of the unique beaches that the OC has to offer. While driving, we ran into a WOODY CAR CONVENTION. Check out some of the cool cars we saw! There were probably over 100 of them there!

Breakfast on the Pier

Tyler and Desiree came to visit this last weekend--on Saturday morning, after garage sale-ing in Aliso Viejo and Laguna Niguel, we had breakfast at Fishermans on the San Clemente Pier. It was delicious and the view was amazing. Watching the crashing waves in good company was so much fun! Their breakfast is fantastic--get their Blueberry pancakes if you have a chance!

Frustration

So back to frustration again... I just weighed myself and I only weigh like five pounds heaver than I did 6 months ago, but I look like I've gained like 20 pounds! It's so FREAKEN annoying! It just makes me wonder what the heck is happening with my body! My new rheumotologist--who I am so excited about--is having me reduce my "steroids" over the next month to a lower dosage. Today was the first day I got to take a 1/2 pill less... and I'm hoping that as we reduce it the next few weeks, I'll start looking better and my body will swell down. I'm really thankful that I'm feeling better and that the medication is working-- I just can't wait until this roller coaster is over!

Birthday Cake

Karma Comedan

Beach Bums (Russ Post)

Look at these two with their California dreaming....We found a really nice beach in Laguna Beach-- Shaw's Cove.  It was fun and Baxter " went for a swim"  unreluctantly of course (you know how much he loves the water).

The $64.00 Hat

So yesterday we got up at 6:30 am ready for another garage sale adventure. I grabbed $80, a couple of water bottles, our "quarter bag," and the Penny-Saver and off we went in search of new treasures and ebay items. I had planned our map of attack and the first place on our list was a community garage sale in Lake Forest that promised 75 homes. We started to drive around and visit the different sales. It was about 20 minutes into it when Russ found our first item for the day.... a brand new FOX hat (with tags still on) for $5.00. He asked the guy to sell it for $3.00 and they bargained it to $4.00. Since I had all of the cash in my pocket, I pulled out a $20 bill and handed it to Russ. I walked away to the next garage sale as Russ paid for the hat. It wasn't until another five minutes later when I realized that I had accidently dropped the other $60.00 when I had pulled the twenty out of my pocket for the hat. I couldn't believe that I had lost it! Russ went back to the garage sale where he had bought the hat to ask the people if they had seen the cash. Of corse no one had. I'm sure as soon as I dropped it, it was gone. I just hope that whoever found it, needed it and got some really rad deals with it. Russ teased me that the hat he got was now worth $64.00--the most expensive hat he's ever bought!

To make things better, Russ said he still had $16.00 in his pocket and he wasn't going to let losing our cash for the day get us down. So we kept going. Two garage sales later, I found a "golden ticket"--the perfect garage sale find-- the find of the day.

This lady had the Cashflow (Rich Dad, Poor Dad) board game for $1.00. Yes--$1.00. I couldn't believe it. Here was a brand new (NBI) in it's packaging board game worth $100.00 for $1.00! To not give away my excitement, I called Russ over, and said "Hey Russ, you've been waiting this game, let's get it!" Russ who also knew how much the game was, gave me the look like "No way--only $1.00!). I gave the woman the one dollar bill as quick as I could and we headed out! I was so happy because not only did I make my $60.00 back, but I made even more! I had Russ look it up on ebay right away and found that the game sellls between $80-140.00. Not too shabby!

So I've decided that it's true what they say about karma. We "donated" $60 to a fellow garage saler, who hopefully needed it... and then in return we found a golden ticket and made even more money! How can you go wrong with that? Needless to say--I LOVE GARAGE SALES!

Here is a picture of Russ as we were returning home with his two finds--his two hats on his head (the new one, and the one he was wearing--and our board game!

Blast from the Past

This last week I had the pleasure of running into a few old faces from the past. Can you believe it has been eight years since I graduated the class of 2000 from Mission Viejo High School? Go Diablos!

Anyway, on Thursday Russ was working at the Spectrum and I decided that on my way home for work I would stop and eat dinner with him while he worked. I grabbed some Chipolte (yum...) and headed over to his cart. As I was stuffing my face, Casey Larrinaga and her husband Rob walked by and I heard "No way--Debbie Barlow?" Any how, we go to catch up and reminisce on old times. It was fantastic! Casey also lives in Lake Forest! Yeah! Hopefully we'll be able to meet up at Fudruckers for a Tuesday night car show soon!

Also, Rachel Roll-Trotter had a baby shower on Saturday and Lauren Andrews whom I also haven't seen in forever, was there! She lives in Temecula, so hopefully I'll see her more often too. Amy Erwin was also at the shower. So crazy! It was great to see everyone... and now I know of more pals who are around town to hang out with! Yeah!

Oh... and here's another weird one... guess who works at the same company as me? Jeff Luna... remember him? It's cool to see him everyday... I get to tell him about who I run into! :) Anyways, I can't believe our high school reunion is going to be 2 years! Doesn't it seem like high school was just yesterday? Now I'm really feeling old!

Russ' Baywatch Run

Welcome to the Bahamas... I know it's exactly what you wanted to see... Russ doing his Baywatch run into the ocean... well whether you want to see it or not, here it is....

I've added several posts below of our favorite pictures and videos of our trip. I hope you enjoy!

Atlantis Resort & Casino II

Atlantis Resort & Casino

On our last night, we went with Rok and Narine to the Atlantis Casino. The aquarium they have there is OUT OF THIS WORLD! I couldn't believe how big the sting rays were! They seriously were larger than my Mini! We also saw some really ugly big fish that were stuck in this really small tank, some really scary green eels, jelly fish, sea horses, and a million other really cool fish. After checking out the aquarium we hit up the casino. I played the slots for about 20 minutes and lost $20... but it was fun.... Russ played Roulette for an hour or so... he was winning for a long time, but of corse ended up losing... he lost $60. So we walked away without $80 in our pockets--but at least we had a lot of fun! We also learned how to play blackjack...so maybe next time we'll try that one out! I really like watching people play! Its so interesting to see how the games work and the strategies people try to play.

The Crystal Room

One of the formal dinners we had at Sandals was at the Crystal Room. It was a seven course meal and took 2 hours 20 minutes to get through. It was a lot of fun and Russ and I talked the night away as we dined "in style." This was the only night that we didn't have to go to an event for the company. The other nights we had a meet-and-greet dinner, cocktail party, and an awards dinner. It was fun to meet other couples (everyone was older than us) that were part of the same business. I wish we were a little more outgoing, but since I have only been in the credit card processing industry for 7 months, I didn't feel very prepared for some of the conversations... but we had a lot of fun! Rok Daneshfar and his wife Narine, also came from National Merchant Center. It was fun to have them there! We had some good laughs...not to mention cheeseburgers and hanging out in the jacuzzi at 4am!

Coco Cabana ....

One of the coolest things the Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort & Spa offers its guests is a PRIVATE ISLAND.

Well it's not private because you have to share it with the other Sandal guests, but its this beautiful island that you take a short boat ride trip to from the resort doc. It's about 1/2 a mile off the shore from the resort. There is a small restaurant, pool, and bar.

Along the island are these amazing beaches. There are cabanas with lounge chairs built into the floor... they also had these huge lounge chairs and couches lining the beaches for guests to hang out in and lounge around. The lounge couches had pillows and everything... it was so cool! It was just this amazing atmosphere. So posh! Russ and I were lucky to score a private cabana on the very edge of the island. We lounged with pina coladas and fell asleep with the crashing waves in the background. We almost missed the last boat back--but luckily woke up with 2 minutes to gather our stuff and run to catch it.

The island was amazing. Here are some photos.

Bahama Scuba Diving

On Tuesday morning we went Scuba Diving. The first 30 minute dive was to see two ship wrecks. The coral and plant life was much darker than we were expecting--a lot of mauves, grays, deep purples, and browns--and a few bright neon greens. There weren't that many fish there, but the ship wrecks were amazing... one was medium size and the other small. We could swim around them and Russ did a couple of "scuba-saults" which are somersaults underwater--his favorite. As we were heading back in, I started to cramp up and get really bad charlie horses in both feet. I was able to make it back to the ship okay, but I decided to sit out on the second dive in fear of them coming back worse. Russ went as the dive masters buddy and they saw a plane wreck on the second dive--which he said was amazing. Both dives were pretty shallow-- about 40-50 feet.

Our boat trip back was really crazy. One of those Bahamian storms blew in (the kind where it gets really windy, downpours and rains for 10-20 minutes, and then it's crystal clear again like nothing happened). The ocean swells were huge and it felt like we were hanging on for our lives. We sat on the top of the boat with the captain, and luckily we were able to see the swells so we could prepare our bodies for each up-and-down. I woke up with bruises the next day on my arms and side from hanging on so tight! At least I didn't get sea sick because I was concentrating so hard on not getting thrown off the boat with the swells! We made it back to the resort in one piece.

Russ and I decided that we LOVE scuba diving. It's such a peaceful experience being able to submerse ourselves into a "completely different world" for a while. We love the quiet and beauty of the ocean. We decided that we want to try Catalina this summer... anyone one want to go with us?

PIANO BAR FUN

The piano bar was so much fun... that Narine and I want to open our own! :) What do you think--does Southern California need a piano bar?

PIANO BAR FUN

Sandals Resort had the coolest thing ever-- a PIANO BAR! Every evening this piano guy came and played songs and you sang along with him. It was like classy Karaoke and so much more fun! Narine (Rok's wife from work) and I decided to dedicate "You Are My Sunshine" to Russ and Rok. We had read the first paragraph and loved the words--but we didn't read the rest. After we had the guy dedicate the song and we started to sing it, we realized our mistake! :) Oh well, we had SO SO SO much fun singing it didn't matter. These are the words to the song-- you can see why we were a little embarrassed after the first paragraph!

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy, when skies are grey
You'll never know dear
How much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away.

The other night dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamt I held you in my arms
When I awoke dear, I was mistaken and
So I hung my head and cried.

You told me once dear, you really loved me
And no one lese could come between
But now you've left me and love another
You have shattered All my Dreams.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy, when skies are grey
You'll never know dear
How much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away.

Lovies in A Tropical Paradise

Here are a few pictures of Russ and I together! We had so much fun together!