Utah News!

(Pictured above is GJ in snowboarding costume, Amelia as a soccer player, Russ as Neo and Debbie as Trinity for a halloween party in 2003!)

Yesterday we got a text that our pals GJ & Amelia (who we've known for five years---we both got married on the same day, flew on the same airplane to our honeymoons to Puerto Vallarta, and ended up living in one of six married apartments surrounded by 200 single apartments at Parkway Crossing, and have been friends ever since...wow that was a long explanation of how we met...) HAD THEIR BABY GIRL! She was born yesterday morning :) 

(Pictured above is Lynsey Bungie jumping in 2005--she, Chris, and Russ all took the leap when we went down to Vegas for a weekend...I was too chicken.....if she can do this...labor should be easy for her!)

And this morning Russ got a text from Chris & Lynsey (who we've known for three years--- met Chris while selling pest control in Texas and soon after he and Lynsey got engaged...and we've been friends ever since... Russ and I were a groomsman and bridesmaid at their weddings) THAT LYNSEY IS IN LABOR TODAY WITH THEIR LITTLE GIRL!!!

We can't believe both of them have had babies only a day apart! How fun!!!  This now constitutes a trip to Utah this next month to meet the two new little girls... I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

(Pictured above--Tyler & Desiree when they came to visit us in April--we can't wait to see them again!)

Also good UTAH news... Tyler & Desiree are coming to visit us for the weekend!  They fly in tonight at 7pm and we're going to go to Santa Monica Pier and the Promenade for dinner!  We can't wait to see them!  

The issue is done!

So this week has been one of the longest weeks ever..... I'm not complaining because I actually like it when it feels like life slows down a bit. I hate it when all of a sudden the weeks over and you're like--where did it go? I actually got a lot done this week. One of the biggest accomplishments was finishing this September/October issue of Schooled. Russ should be posting it online in the next few hours and you can see it on www.schooledmagazine.com. Anyway, you'll have to check it out and let me know what you think. I wrote two small filler articles.... I'll post them soon. All around, it was a fun issue!

Fall tv lineup is in full bloom

With some sweet shows just around the corner I am most excited
For the office as you can see from my dwight schrute stress ball head
and I have a talking michael Scott bobble head. Should be fun. Voice
your comments on your favorite upcoming show. New or returning

The Life Of A Dog

Here is Baxter, turned upside down, paws up in the air...snoozing on the bean bag at 12pm.... does he have it easy? I think so!

Recommendation for date night on the town....

Saturday night Rob & Casey Herberich invited us out for a night on the town. We had such a good time, that I wanted to share it with you other So. Cal kids just in case you are looking for something fun to do!

We started out with all you can eat sushi at You & I Sushi in Laguna Niguel on Moulton (right next to Yogurt Land). It's a must try for one of the best all you can eat sushi's in South Orange County (second to RipTide at the Kalidescope). I loved the crunch roll and their You & I roll was huge (...that's what she said---Russ just made me write that here).

We followed dinner by playing miniature golf at Boomers off of Culver in Irvine-- so we could work off a little of the sushi we devoured. Boomers brought back lots of memories---one I think involves Allyson Pulido-Didlake right after we graduated from High School--where I think we got kicked out one time because we were on a double date and the boys were really rowdy and threw their putters in one of the water features and broke something. Luckily my picture still wasn't on the wall for people not allowed back.

The night was filled with lots of "That's what she said" jokes...funny how miniature golf holes and large sushi rolls can do that to you. We ended up having a great time playing two rounds of 18 holes.... well 17 holes on the first one, because we couldn't turn in our balls for the 18th-right? The course was a little ghetto as several of the lights were out and some of the decor could have used a fresh paint coat.... but it all added to the fun.

First time we played singles and it was Casey (1), Rob (2), Russ (3) and me of course 4th (I swear, it takes me like 20 hits to get the ball in). And the second round was boys vs. girls and the boys took the cake--poor Casey was stuck with me and my gazillion hits.

It was a ton of fun... so next time you're looking for a fun date night... I suggest Boomers & You & I Sushi! You can't go wrong!

The pictures above are from the joyous night--sorry I think your eyes are closed Casey--but it was the only picture we took!

The Barlow's new house!

After losing the first house they bid on due to a bad foundation... my parents just finished a bid on this house... and it's pretty brand new, so they don't forsee any problems with all of the inspections this time! It's an absolutely beautiful home... and my mom has asked me to help her decorate! I can't wait... if you want to take a peek at it online...visit:

http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Juan-Capistrano/30981-Marbella-Vis-92675/home/4910897

A mans man

This is a picture I found from my ATV trip and figured everyone would want to see what a mans man looks like

The Baxter mover

This is the newest invention at the airports it's called the Baxter
mover.

On the way back to lax from Seattle Baxter was too lazy to walk so he
took the people mover.
Russ

Finished.......not as many as I hoped

So Valerie and I brought a ton of books with us to Hawaii--we thought we would get through all of them on the beach... but I only got through one and a half! Pretty sad since my suit case was loaded down with about 15 pounds of books---I'll have to show you the picture she took of all of them later... Anyway, here are the books I did finish! :) If you are a member of Goodreads.com, let me know so we can be friends! Have any of you read these? What did you think?
The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
So far... i'm totally captured by this book! It's like another shopaholic... I'm loving it... and so far she's stood up to her standards of no sex before marriage--I'm wondering if this will make it through the book! :)



Update....... finished it and loved it! I bought the other two books that go in the series... definitely a good chick-lit read.... I would compare it to the Shopaholic series... girly and fun!


View all my reviews.
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book. It fit in great with the other three in the series... I was so sad when it ended... I hope Stephenie Meyer decides to write more about Bella & Edward or Renesme & Jacob (besides the one upcoming work in progress from Edward's point of view). It seemed to take me forever to read through the book---but I think it was because I didn't want it to ever end. Valerie and I were able to talk about the book a lot...so I don't want to spoil anything for those of you who haven't read it yet (if you haven't read the series---you have to put it on your list--it's fantastic), but if you want to discuss, give me a call.... I loved it!


View all my reviews.

Where's Baxter?

Can you find Baxter in this pile of laundry. He's all snuggled in.
It's one of his favorite things to do when we pull it out of the dryer.

The new store sign.

Check it out ... Russ has a new store sign. Its much better than the
white one they had up earlier. The store has been awesome and he's
starting to prepare for the holiday rush. Everything has been going do
well and he has been very blessed. He is such agrest entreprenuer and
I am do proud of him.

Tinting tailights is illegal

So me and rob got the stuff to tint our taillights and it came out
dealt nice. We pulled off the lights and sprayed them down and it only
took about an hour. The funny part is that we did in front of a cop. I
am not sure why he was there, but there was a cop in the complex. The
even funnier part is that he leaves and comes back like 20 minutes
later and said that a neighbor complained about some punk kids with
their music too loud. I thought it was funny because I had the music
actually really low ( which is suprising I know) but it was really low
so I was amazed that someone called the cops. So the cop shows up and
could care less but just needed to show up. He did so as we were
putting the lights back in after being painted.
I darker out my tailights in front of a cop cuz that's how I roll.
(Hopefully I won't have to post my fix it ticket blog entry at a later
date)

Kepi & Luke.... Our Hawaiian names

So what are Russ' and my names in Hawaiian?

Beach shot from the iPhone... More to come soon!

Girls trip 08

First night in Hawaii!

Val picked me up from the airport ( she got here 7 hours earlier than
I did ) and after we went to costco to pick up some food, and Borders
to pick up some books, it was pretty late and we decided to head back
to the hotel. As we pulled onto the main highway the car started to
shake really bad and make this awful noise. I told val to pull over
and she pulled off into the dirt. When we got out we couldn't see a
thing because there were no lights. Something was moving in the bushes
so I freaked out and we jumped back into the car and locked the doors.
We decided to drive to the next lighted area so we could see what was
going on. As we were driving it totally sounded like we were dragging
a dead body and since it was so dark I was totally freaking out. We
pulled into a hotel on the side. And found we had a flat tire. See
picture below. We called the rental place and they said they would be
right there.... Since we were only 6 miles from the airport. But it
ended up taking two hours! They brought us our new car and we were off
onto our next adventure.

Baxter's big top adventure

Here is a pic of Baxter at the airport. He flew with me to Seattle.
Did great on the flight and was a hit with everyone. If any single
guys want to borrow him it is a way easy way to pick up chicks. I am
married so I don't get to reap the benefits of Baxter's lore

Lovely Lupus

So today my Grandma took me out to lunch with one of her friends who has Lupus as well to tell me what it's been like for her to live the last 10 years with the disease....and it really made me think this afternoon how grateful I am for all of the support and love I have received the last nine months of treatment.  First to Russ--who puts up with all of my complaining and side-effects and loves me no matter if I gain weight.  And to my mom--who comes to all of my doctors appointments with me, is always sending me emails and updates about things she hears.  And to Cathy (my other mom), who calls all of the time to see how the latest doctors appointment went, and how I'm doing. And to my grandma, who is always worried about me being in the sun for too long.  And to all of my family and friends who have shown genuine concern and love for me.  I have kinda been in denial during the whole thing--and have brushed it off and tried not to let it become too much of my life, but it's been amazing to have the love and support from those around me.  I just want to say THANK YOU to all of you!!!!  I love you!!!!

30 cupcakes for a lucky 30 year old

Okay, So 30 cupcakes for one lucky 30 year old.... who is my cousin Jared. To help him celebrate his 30th birthday in style, Betsy and Lisa organized a cupcake tasting competition... and it was honestly the coolest thing I have ever seen done for someone's birthday. Betsy, Lisa, and I hit all of the cupcake stores in Orange County, including Sprinkles, Wonderland, Sweet Loraines, Bristol Farms, Black Forest Bakery, and French's Bakery. We got the same flavors from each of the places and then a couple of the "special flavors" as well. Jared then took his time sampling and rating each of the 30 cupcakes.... and the final verdict... guess who has the best cupcakes? Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the answer.

The 30th cupcake---yummy!

All 30 cupcakes together... don't they look amazing?

The scoring sheet.... this is where the true numbers came out.

Jeff & Lisa who hosted an amazing dinner for us first followed by the testing.

Don't you want a taste?

Sarah Bell in love with the frosting... I think she ended up eating three of these!

The red velvet line up.

Jared with his birthday signs! The house was decorated with streamers to celebrate the special occasion.

Another line up.... don't they just look scrumptious?
Jared when the cupcakes first came out... look how surprised he is!  Did I mention that the planning was top secret?  He thought he was just coming over for dinner..... lucky guy.
The aftermath... after Jared tried each one, we would try each one... and look at the mess we left... we could barely eat half of each cupcake...they were all so good!
Jared's not so sure about this lemon one.... I don't think it got a very high vote.
Debbie & Russ... it was like being an adult in a candy store with all of these cupcakes.... we were SO SO SO EXCITED at first and then by the end... we were  SO SO SO sick! !   
Russ fell asleep in a sugar daze... while we all chatted away.

And for the final answer.... it was BRISTOL FARMS that had the best cupcakes. They won the oreo cookie, german chocolate, raspberry, and white chocolate flavors, easily putting them over Sweet Lorraines and Sprinkles.... The best red velvet cupcake--that would be Sprinkles. And Sweet Lorraines won the best over all cupcake--their candy apple flavor--which one for the cake texture and flavor, icing texture and flavor, design, and originality--it definitely took the cake.

Five Year Anniversary

Can you believe it? Russ and I have officially been married for FIVE YEARS!!!!!!!!!! It seems like we've been married for such a short time, but again it seems like we've never been apart! Russ surprised me with reservations at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Beach/Dana Point. We started off with crab cake appetizers, and I had the salmon while Russ had a steak. We finished with creme brule for dessert. We then went and walked around the grounds and ended up sitting in these comfy chairs looking at the ocean in the dark for a few hours as we reminisced on the past five years. It was a fantastic night worthy of a five year celebration. Thanks again honey!

Five year anniversay.

Orange County Fair

A couple of weeks ago (sorry, it's taken me forever to find the time to update the blog! And the fair has since closed) we went to the Orange County Fair with Lisa & Jeff (cousins) and their three children Gavin, Rachel, and Sarah, and with Jared (cousin) and Betsy (friend). Russ had met the person who runs the fair in his shop and the guy gave us free ride tickets (and Russ and I got in for free). We had a fun night playing games, shopping in the booths, watching the crazy show where hte people balance on nothing, ate the worlds largest hot dog--it seriously was like 5 pounds, yummy kettle corn and Jared & Betsy ate one of the famous Krispy Creme Chicken Sandwiches. Yes, you heard me right...it's a Jelly filled Krispy Creme, cut in half with a chicken patty in the middle... gross? I would thinks so, but Jared and Betsy loved it! We had a great time! CHeck out the pictures!

Jeff & Rachel catching a fish--which won a stuffed dolphin!

Gavin won a spiderman...and boy was he excited! All he had to do was throw a dart and pop a balloon...and he did it! Lisa's a proud parent!

Debbie & Russ in front of the ferris wheel

The lighting ride--poor russ had bruises afterward from being crushed to the side. I couldn't stop laughing...I thought I was going to pee my pants.

This ride was a little tight for Russ...hopefully it didn't cause too much damage.

Lisa & Sarah

Russ with his funnel cake

Debbie & Betsy with kettle corn

Jared & Betsy eating the infamous Krispy Creme Chicken Sandwich

In front of the small ferris wheel