A "dance" down memory lane...

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of taking my Chloebug on a date to see the Nutcracker Suite performed by Vacaville Ballet, the very company I danced with until 2001.  To say it was a special day would be an understatement.  It was one beautiful dance down memory lane!  Being back in Vacaville, seeing my old instructors who I hadn't seen since I left the company, being back in the theatre I knew so well, watching the young dancers and how so many of them have grown in the 9 years I've been away, recognizing costumes and choreography from when I was up there on stage...  It was all just so, so cool!  Chloe loved it too.  Her favorite dance was Waltz of the Flowers, though she was kind of head over heels for the Snow Queen too.

During intermission we went backstage so I could hug everyone and introduce Chloe.  I think Chloe was a little freaked out by all the excitement initially, but she quickly warmed up. 

Here we are with Miss Heidi, who was my instructor all those years, and her mom, Miss Cheri, who helps run the Academy, designs the costumes, and used to teach the little ones.  I've known these two ladies for as long as I can remember.  They may as well be my family.

{Sadly, this was taken before Chloe decided to warm up.  And Cheri had just come from a local Fire Department Christmas event where she played Mrs. Claus, hence the white wig.}

Then Margene, who is one of the Academy's seamstresses (and mom to a company dancer), suddenly poked her head out of the costume room.  Margene is in my home ward, and holds a very special place in my heart (and my mom's too).  She was Young Women's president when I was baptized, and was very instrumental in that whole process.  It was also around that same time that she announced she was pregnant with this sweet girl, Kimberly (and Kimberly's twin brother, Jared).  I love Margene, and was so happy to see her and Kimberly, who has grown into such a beautiful young lady and dancer.

We all got a little carried away jabbering backstage and before long the second act had started.  Chloe and I watched from side stage for a few minutes before returning to our seats.  It was all so cool, and brought back countless fond memories.  After the performance all the lead roles came out in their glittery tutu glory to greet the audience members and sign autographs.  Chloe was in absolute heaven and wanted to get a picture with each dancer.

{Waiting for the dancers and beaming with excitement and anticipation}

{Chloe with the Doll}

She pretty much couldn't get enough of the Snow Queen.

And it just so happens that this Snow Queen was once a tiny little dancer just like Chloe.  In fact, she was in one of the classes I taught at the Academy!  Crazy what a decade can do!

{Chloe stealing one last squeeze from Miss Heidi before saying goodbye}

{And here's one last shot of Chloe and me getting ready for our date}

What a neat day.  Certainly one I'll never forget.

Christmas cards, Christmas cards, it's that time of year!

There are many things I love about the Christmas season.  Of those things, checking my mailbox each day to see which Christmas card is waiting to be opened has to be near the top of the list!  Not only reading updates about all of my favorite people, but seeing their pretty pictures of them looking their best - there's something simply satisfying about the whole shebang!  Then there's decorating my pantry door with said cards, hoping that by Christmas Eve the entire door is covered!  Love it all. 

Just as I love receiving Christmas cards, I love giving Christmas cards!  Each December brings that afternoon where I sit down at my computer and peruse the various photo card options online, select my favorite and submit my order!  It never gets old, and as long as I live, I will probably always mail out Christmas cards.

This year Shutterfly is offering a promotion for bloggers to receive 50 free Holiday cards.  Yes!!!  I am particularly excited about this promotion after looking through Shutterfly's 2010 Christmas card selection.  There are so many I love that it's difficult to narrow down a favorite.  I especially like this one though, and the variety of photo slots it offers:

 Aside from traditional Christmas cards, Shutterfly also provides countless other photo sharing options and gifts like personalized calendars, photo books, and thank you cards.  Check them out!  And to find out more about Shutterfly's promotion, go HERE.

Happy Christmas card shopping/creating/giving/receiving season to all!   

Better late than never

Happy Birthday last Thursday to my sweet little nephew, Grant, who turned 2! 

{June 2010 - Colorado Springs, CO}

Sorry you're getting this wish 3 days late, but I hope you had a marvelous day!

And, while we're on the topic of birthdays, here are a few other belated wishes for:

My brother, David, who celebrated a birthday October 21st
{August 2010 - Colorado Springs, CO}

My brand new niece, Katherine, who was born September 25th
{4 days young - Fort Collins, CO}

My sister-in-law, Courtney, who celebrated a birthday September 14th{May 2010 - Colorado Springs, CO}

My best friend and cousin, Wendy, who celebrated a birthday September 4th
{July 2010 - Salt Lake City, UT}

...and who also gave birth to this sweet little angel, Emma on August 31st
{September 2010 - Salt Lake City, UT}

And going even further into August (sheesh!), my dad-in-law, David celebrated a birthday on the 19th
{May 2009 - Nashville, TN}

And last but not least, Grandma Jean celebrated a birthday August 16th
{May 2009 - Nashville, TN}

Wow, that's a lot of birthdays.  Hopefully I can keep up better from now on!  Happy Birthday to all of you!

Funny Chloe & Neil's latest project

As long as Chloe has been around, the one thing she has known about her father is that he can build pretty much anything.  These recent weeks as we've made plans for the new house, Chloe has overheard a lot of our discussion and has seen Neil start to put our plans to work in the garage.  I suppose that explains the reasoning behind this conversation she initiated over dinner the other night:

"Mommy, did Daddy buy you that wedding ring?"

"Yes...?" (a bit puzzled)

"Because he doesn't know how to build rings?"

Classic.  Neil and I both laughed.  Out loud.  For a good minute and a half straight.  No wonder she'd think something like this up after she's watched her daddy build and fix so many things over the years.  What's really funny though is that Neil did, in fact, "build" us matching titanium rings during his senior year of college, just after we got married (in one of his engineering classes).  So to answer Chloe's question, "Yes, Daddy can build rings!  In this case, he simply chose to buy one for Mommy instead!"  :)

Here's Neil's current project.

{photos courtesy of Pottery Barn Kids}

We have a large blank wall in our loft/play area upstairs begging for book shelves, so Neil is in the process of building some. He examined these in the store and then wrote up his own plan of attack.  He is building two of the tall skinny ones and one of the short wide ones, though the short wide one will be about a foot wider than the one pictured above (to more precisely accommodate the wall space).  He is just about finished, and then we can sand and paint.  I cannot say enough how amazed and impressed I am by Neil's ability to see something and recreate it, just like that.  He really has a gift, and I am grateful for it and for his passion for wood working in general.  I'll post some pictures once the shelves are complete and the loft area is a little more put together.

5

5 years ago on this night, God sent us an angel.

And our lives have been blessed every day since.

Happy 5th Birthday, precious Chloebug!  We love you!

Quick glimpse

We've had lots going on.  I think the last of our boxes were finally unpacked on Saturday, which felt really good.  As we've now lived in the house nearly a month, we've grown aware of so many things we want to change.  It's a great house with a lot of potential, but so many things were poorly planned out and cheaply/sloppily done.  In time we'll get there.  In the meantime we are just getting used to this new California adventure and looking forward to gradually making this house feel like home.

Here's a quick glimpse into our lives over the last few weeks:

Neil's first house project

We have this funny cut out in the wall intended for an entertainment center and TV.  I wasn't a big fan of it because it was the type of opening that I felt needed a very specific sized entertainment center and TV to look at all decent.  Anything too small would just look dumb, but obviously anything too big just wouldn't work at all.  We do still plan to one day find the perfectly sized TV stand eventually, but for the time being, Neil threw together this built in a couple weekends ago. 

I'll be honest.  I was not optimistic when he described what he had in mind.  The idea of having our speakers and everything else just out in the open for everyone to see didn't sound very pretty.  But once we painted the wood white, found baskets to fit in the cubbies, and got everything placed just right, I'll have to say I really liked how it turned out.  Neil is so amazing with the ideas he comes up with.  It was even his idea to find baskets to hold our DVDs.  A very inexpensive solution to what seemed like an impossible dilemma.

Someone had a birthday!

That's right.  Our sweet little boy turned 2 on the 9th. 

He was VERY excited to see Thomas the Train on his birthday cake.

Playing with his second favorite toy, "Oody".

It is still so strange for me to say, "He's 2" when people ask how old he is.  I have another post on Ryan in the making along with plenty more birthday pictures.  Hopefully these two can tide you over until I get to it.

Jr. Kindergarten
So here in California, Chloe does NOT miss the cut off for kindergarten, which means we technically could have enrolled her when we first got here.  We decided to wait until next Fall though, just because we felt like all the recent stress of having her dad gone and then moving away from everything and everyone she knew was enough for her little 4 1/2 year old self to handle.

I've been looking into preschools for the last couple of weeks, and finally got her enrolled this week at a Christian school in Manteca.  They call the program she's in, "Jr. Kindergarten", as it's primarily for kids of her age group who have later birthdays.  She started today and goes Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8:30-12:30.  She seemed to really enjoy herself today, and I'm looking forward to being back in a routine and preparing Chloe for the Fall when the real deal begins.

Here's our proud "Jr. Kindergartner", sporting her new backpack from Uncle Jim and Aunt Karen, which she's been anxiously waiting to use since last Christmas!  Can you believe she's turning 5 TOMORROW?

New Callings
The very first Sunday we went to church we were extended callings.  The Bisphopric didn't waste any time!  Neil is in Primary teaching the Valiant 10 class, and I am back in Young Womens again teaching the Beehive class (12-13 year old girls).  This is the third time I've had this calling in the eight years Neil and I have been married.  I keep thinking there must be something for me to learn if I haven't already learned the two other times I've worked as Beehive Advisor.  I really love my girls already (all 5 of them!), and have felt an immediate connection to each one.  I am so impressed with the youth of our ward in general.  They all seem so grown up and solid.  It makes me very happy and proud to be working with such strong young girls.  I taught for the first time on Sunday, and they were so responsive and eager to participate in the lesson.  Always a very good thing!  It's a great group as a whole (all the young women and leaders), and I look forward to getting to know everyone better.  I do miss Primary, where I was in our last ward, but I think this is where I'm supposed to be right now.

Gradually Ripon is feeling more like home.  I have good days and I have blue days.  This has been a much harder transition than I ever dreamed it would be.  Everyone keeps telling me to give it a year, so that's what I'm doing.

More pictures and updates to come.  Just wanted to share a quick glimpse into what's been happening 'round here.

A solution to an indulgence

I really hate spending money on frivolous things.  And I especially hate the guilt that consumes me after I've given in and done it.  Food is the worst!  Do you ever find yourself out and about and pass that fast food restaurant that has your favorite such and such?  Or walking through the mall just long enough to catch a whiff of something that suddenly convinces you that whatever it is would really hit the spot?  You want it so badly, yet the pleasure only lasts as long as it takes to eat it.  And then you're $XX.XX poorer and feeling guilty that you gave into such an impulse.  Starbucks' Caramel Apple Spice is and has been my greatest weaknesses for months.  And especially this time of year when it flows with the season. 

Well, this morning I had a brilliant thought.  I actually have a lot of brilliant thoughts, but this just may have exceeded any brilliant thought I've ever had.  Rather than investing more mullah into this [ridiculously delicious] beverage, what if I just figured out how to make it myself?  Couldn't be too difficult, right?

RIGHT, actually! 

After checking around online, I found what looked like a legitimate recipe.  For anyone else who enjoys this stuff as much as I do, you know that warm cinammony taste of heaven I speak of.  And if you've attempted to make it yourself, you also know it's close to impossible.  Sure, any apple cider is good.  But there's a key ingredient that makes this stand above all the other apple ciders out there.  And until today, I didn't know what that ingredient was.

So are you ready?  Starbucks' very own Cinnamon Dolce Syrup.  I called the Starbucks here in Ripon to see if they sold it by the bottle, and you wouldn't believe it, but they do! 

So what did I do?  Well, I drove myself right over there and bought me some!

For only $7.95!

Here are the other ingredients needed to finish the job: 

Starbucks uses Tree Top Apple Juice, but Langers is what I had on hand.  I'm sure they also use their own special caramel sauce, but Smucker's does the trick just fine!  So for 1 cup apple juice, I added 3 teaspoons of cinnamon syrup.  Then on went the whipped cream, drizzled caramel sauce, and a perfect sprinkle of cinnamon.  It tastes EXACTLY like the real thing, but doesn't cost you the drive to Starbucks, time waiting in line, or 3 bucks out of your pocket.

Wanna come over and have some?

Halloween festivities

Halloween really crept up on us this year.  On the 28th, amidst the unpacked boxes and junk everywhere, I finally decided it was time to set it all aside and start thinking about costumes.  Since last Halloween, Chloe's begged to be a princess.  That hadn't changed, so princess it was!  And Ryan, well, he's still in that stage where he'll wear just about anything and be happy.  So I made it easy on myself and stuck him in the same elephant costume another cute little someone wore 3 Halloweens ago (see HERE).  He did fight it some, but every time he'd start to pull at it, we'd just remind him that if he wore it he'd get candy.  Worked like a charm.

Here are a few pictures from earlier in the week.  Well, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  We literally crammed everything Halloween into 3 days.  Under normal circumstances I would have had decorations up well before October 1st, and at least one trip to the pumpkin patch underway by the 15th.  Not this year though!  The only reason I managed to get the few Halloween decorations out that I have is because they were sitting in a clear tupperware container that was easy to spot and access.  Anyway, over the course of Thursday and Friday we did caramel apples and the traditional sugar cookies.

Friday we went to Dell' Osso Farms, where we road the train and picked out pumpkins.

 
If we're measuring in cuteness, then these two are surely off the charts!

Finding the perfect pumpkin.

Ryan L-O-V-E-D the "choo choo", and did NOT want to get off.  Can you tell?

Saturday evening our cul-de-sac hosted a Halloween party.  Coned off the road and everything!  Apparently it's quite the annual event, and something our neighbors have been doing now for a few years.  They had some activities for the kids, including face painting and a jump house, as well as food, music, and LOTS of people.  It was definitely not a quaint gathering, exclusive to the cul-de-sac residents only.  Oh no!  Over the course of the night I saw well over a hundred people.  We didn't last past 8, but neighbors and friends of neighbors were partying outside our door until midnight.  A friendly group, but I hope these late night parties aren't a normal thing in this neighborhood.  I have a feeling I'm going to make a really grouchy old person.  :)

Anyway, here are the kiddos in all their Halloween glory. 

Ryan was quite a hit.  All the little girls kept hugging him and telling him (and us) how cute he was.
 

And Little Miss Chloebug, the most feminine and dainty little thing you ever did see fluttered around like any ballerina princess ought to.  She was especially fond of her sparkly silver princess shoes, and pointed them out to anyone who glanced in her direction.

Back in August when Neil was here and we were still in Colorado, we came to an agreement that by Halloween we would be living under the same roof again.  At that point there was no light at the end of the tunnel.  We'd had zero luck selling our home, and the prospect of renting still scared us.  Yet even with everything against us, we were determined to be a family by Halloween.  And we did it!  We even beat our deadline by 10 days!  :)  And all in all, I'd say we had a pretty nice Halloween! 

An unexpected diagnosis

I've had low back pain now for over 6 months.  Initially, I thought I'd overdone it lifting Ryan or some other heavy object.  As time passed it mellowed some, but remained present, varying in intensity depending on my activity and stress level.  It got bad the week of our move from Colorado, and then made a huge jump in the worse than bad direction two Saturdays ago when we unloaded the truck.  That night I couldn't even help Neil stand our dining room table up from its side after he stuck the legs on it.  Pathetic! Over the course of the next week I stretched my back a ton and tried to take it as easy as I could.  By the following Sunday though, I was in no better shape.  By the third hour of church I was wiggling out of my seat because it hurt so much to sit.  Monday morning I finally called a chiropractor, and that afternoon, with kiddos in tow, headed to his office.  We discussed medical history (which there wasn't much of), brainstormed possible explanations for the pain, tried 15 or so minutes of electrotherapy, and eventually, did an x-ray of my lower back.  

Now I'm no medical expert.  But it doesn't take much to see that things aren't sitting quite straight here.  This is a cropped version of the x-ray (which Neil took with his phone) so it isn't quite as profound as the real thing.  BUT!  It is still a very level shot of my lumbar spine and pelvis.  Notice anything out of the ordinary?  Perhaps the fact that my pelvis tilts up, or that my spine carries with it a lovely curve? 

Translation: I have scoliosis. 

Don't worry, it isn't as scary as it sounds.  The chiropractor classified it as "somewhere between mild and moderate".  Based on the tilted pelvis, he said he was shocked that I didn't suffer from back pain as a teenager or during my pregnancies.  He agreed that the posture and core muscle strength that ballet helped me to maintain probably saved me during my teen years.  As for my pregnancies, well, I guess I got lucky.

At this point our #1 goal is to eliminate the pain.  Then he would like to work on correcting the problem.  Because of the tilt, one of my legs basically functions as if it's longer than the other, and he wants to work on that.  Scoliosis is not generally a disease that can be cured entirely.  Our bodies do what they do, and rarely are they perfectly proprortioned.  But he feels that my case can be improved in time with proper therapy.  Yesterday I went in for my second round of therapy, and I will continue going twice a week until the pain dies down significantly or all together.  From there, we'll play things by ear.

I'm a little wigged out by the whole thing.  With all the recent changes in my life, this is just icing on the cake - icing that doesn't taste very good.  The chiropractor suspects stress is what finally triggered symptoms, and I think he's right.  As unpleasant as it has been though, I'm grateful to finally have answers.  It's a pretty unsettling feeling to be in pain and not know why.  I also think the timing of it all is ironic.  I mean this is right up Neil's alley.  He sits in on spinal surgeries all day, looks at x-rays just like the one you see above, and consults surgeons about the products he sells for patients with scoliosis or other spinal problems.  Neither the chiropractor, Neil or I expect that I will ever be a candidate for surgery (thank goodness for that!), but how funny that in all these years I've apparently lived with this disease, I'm finally diagnosed with it just 4 months after Neil's accepted a job working in this very industry.

Just outside the kitchen door...

I have so many pictures I want to share.  Here's one of the kiddos that I took earlier this week.  We have a door with a big window off the side of the kitchen that leads out to the driveway where the kids like to play.  It's a cozy, private little area where they can freely roam and where I can get things done inside but still keep an eye on them. Anyway, here they are just outside the door.  Chloe was "helping" Ryan ride his bike.

I am hoping to get some more pictures posted this weekend. I have tons of these two that are just too sweet not to share. 

Just waiting on keys...

Happy day!

Goodbye, Colorado. Hello, California.

Here's a condensed version of the last several weeks of our lives:

August 31st - took our house off the market and listed it for rent.

September 16th - signed an 18 month lease with our new renters.

September 24th - met my parents in Rawlins, Wyoming (the halfway point between our house and theirs) to hand Chloe off for the week; picked up Neil from the Denver airport on my way home.

September 25th - welcomed our first niece into the world: Katherine "Katie" Croft; packed, cleaned, packed, and cleaned.

September 26th and 27th - more packing; more cleaning.

September 27th - spent the night in our Colorado home for the last time.

September 28th - bid Colorado Springs farewell and headed to Parker to pick up Ryan at the Larsen's, who had lovingly taken him off our hands the day before so that we could be more productive.

September 29th - left Parker to head to Fort Collins, where we met and got to hold little Katie for the first time; drove on to Salt Lake to pick up Chloe and take a rest from the first leg of our drive.  On a seperate note, this date also marked my parents' 44th wedding anniversary!

September 30th - met and held another special little baby: Emma Grace Fleming, my best friend/cousin's little girl, who was born 6 weeks premature on August 31st.  Today, in fact, was her due date, and also happens to be her dad's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Brandon!  With the complications that both mom and baby faced during the pregnancy process, it's a miracle that Emma even survived.  She was in the NICU when we went to see her, but finally got to come home last Thursday!  She's a little sweetheart, and I'm grateful I got to spend a few minutes holding and admiring her. 

October 1st - left Salt Lake at 5:11am MST; arrived in Ripon, California at 4:09pm PST.

October 3rd - made an offer on a house.

October 6th - officially went under contract (a miracle considering the 2 other offers we were competing against).

October 8th - Neil left for Pennsylvania for another week of training (bleh!).

And here's what the coming days will bring:

October 15th - Neil comes home from Pennsylvania.

October 18th - scheduled to close on the house.

Did I mention that in the midst of all of this moving business, both of the kids got sick?  Chloe had the icky sore throat, no voice, cough, fever, refused-to-eat-anything-because-it-hurt-too-much-to-swallow (you get the idea) funk.  No strep, thankfully, but it may as well have been!  Then Ryan caught a version of it a few days later.  Doc diagnosed him with "a bad case of the croup" and put him on 3 days worth of steroids.  Awesome timing, right?  It was miserable, but hey, with the help of my parents and some good friends, we got through it! 

Since Neil took off last week, I've been floating around with the kids between the family where Neil's been renting a room from (in Ripon) and my cousin's house (in Pleasanton).  I am so relieved to finally be living in the same state as my husband, and cannot wait until we're living under the same roof!  These last 3 months of limbo living have given me a whole new appreciation for normalcy.

So that's about it!  I'm officially a California girl, yet again!  I'll post a picture of the house once we have the key in hand.  6 more days...

I left my heart 82 miles from San Francisco

September 3rd-5th is, to date, probably the best weekend I've ever lived.  It wasn't particularly eventful, but I think that's just what made it so nice.  With all the chaos life has thrown at us these last few months, a weekend away from it all (including our babies) was just the medicine we needed.  As stated in my last post, we got a late start with delayed flights and all that jazz.  It was a wonderful reunion nevertheless.

After grabbing luggage and finding Neil's car in the maze of the Sacramento airport economy lot, we hopped on the road and headed for downtown Sac, arriving at the Sheraton at midnight exactly.  Of course we had both been looking forward to this weekend, but Saturday morning in particular because it was the one morning we didn't have to be up for anything. No appointments.  No kids.  No alarm.  Nothing.  Just sleep and some snugglin'. So you wanna know what happened? We were BOTH wide awake at 6:40am!  Just plain WRONG if you ask me!  But it was what it was. So we got up, showered, and were out of our hotel room by 8:00. 

We took a nice morning walk downtown and stopped at a little mom and pop's deli for breakfast, then headed to the Sacramento LDS temple.  Growing up in Vacaville, I knew Sacramento was bound to have a temple eventually.  Sure enough, it was announced 4 months before I moved away (in 2001).   Even though I haven't lived in Vacaville for nearly a decade or seen this temple in person until now, I've always held a special place in my heart for it.  It was a stunning sight to see. 

After the temple, we drove to Roseville and had sushi at Mikuni's.  Neil had taken two surgeons there recently and spoke highly of their food.  That says a lot coming from Neil who isn't quite the sushi connoisseur his wife is.  Well, he wasn't messin' around!  It was the heavenly, melt in your mouth goodness that I'd hoped for.

After our sushi date, we hopped on highway 99 and headed to Ripon!  This is the town where Neil has resided for just shy of 3 months now. 

Notice the population: 14,575 (soon to be 14,579) - quite a change from Colorado Springs!

I'll be honest.  I wasn't initially fond of the idea of living in Ripon.  I wanted to be closer to the Bay Area or Sacramento.  I've always been a city girl at heart.  Not that I feel it's the ideal atmosphere for my children to grow up in, but I wanted something closer to that than just some rural podunk town in the middle of Northern California.  Well!  As the weeks passed, and Neil told me more and more about the town, I grew quite fond of it.  It's safe and has very little crime.  The schools are better.  The housing is better.  It's right smack between Stockton and Modesto, which makes Neil's commute short.  And it's within about an hour's drive of both San Francisco and Sacramento.  Anyway, by the time this weekend rolled around and I was actually able to SEE Ripon for the first time, I found myself instantly smitten.  Perhaps it was because it's where Neil has called home for the last 3 months.  Perhaps it was because of all the positive talk Neil fed me about the town.  Or, it could have also been, simply, the feeling I had the second we exited the freeway; that feeling that told me, "This is right for us.  This is home."  I think it was a combination of all these things.

We drove around for twenty minutes and then headed over to the house where Neil has been living.  This sweet couple, who has so warmly welcomed Neil into their home, are recent empty nesters.  So living arrangements have actually worked out well for everyone.  Charlie was out of town for the weekend, but I met and talked with Karin for awhile.  Then our realtor, Lorilee picked us up and took us to see some houses.  Even though we didn't fall in love with any of them it was still nice to explore the various neighborhoods and get a feel for what was out there. 

Saturday evening we just goofed around.  First we drove to Modesto in search of flats for my birthday.  Neil was DARLING.  Never has he been as much fun to shop with as he was this evening.  And, I suspect, he'll probably never be that much fun to shop with ever again.  He just had me laughing the entire evening, and over the silliest and stupidest things.  It was really one of those you had to be there and you had to understand us moments, but it truly was one of the most enjoyable dates Neil has ever taken me on.  We got a slushie, walked around the mall, did some people watching, held hands some more, exchanged lots of playful and sarcastic remarks, perused Best Buy and Target, smooched a little, and went to Applebee's.  Neil even reminded me of what a great husband he was, being that it was opening day of college football season and he hadn't asked even once to watch a single game.  He did peek at a few scores while we ate, as there were TVs too easy to spot in the bar, but I didn't mind. I kinda like football myself.  :)  After dinner, we headed back to Charlie and Karin's where we dropped off our things and took a nice long walk to finish the night. 

Sunday morning we got up and went to church.  It's always interesting attending your new ward for the first time.  Even though technically I'm not in this ward yet, Neil has been for the last few months and in a strange way I feel like I have been too.  The second we walked into the chapel the sister missionaries tackled me with hugs.  They, and so many others were happy to see that Neil really did have a wife!  I felt very welcome.  It was Fast and Testimony Meeting, and lots of tender and meaningful testimonies were shared. 

We took off after Sacrament Meeting, stopped at home to change and then hopped back on the road towards the city; one of my favorite cities in fact: San Francisco.  So many tender thoughts flood my memory whenever I think about or go to San Francisco.  Growing up I played hooky from school countless times to go spend a day there with my dad.  We did so many things in that city as it was only a hop, skip and a jump from my hometown. Neil and I have been there together once with his whole family (Christmas Day 2007), but this was the first time just the two of us got to go.  We had planned to bring bikes and ride them across the Golden Gate Bridge, but it just didn't happen.  So instead we parked and walked up the Pier to Boudin, where we enjoyed bread bowls. Then we walked back to our car and that was that!  It was perfect, really.  Simple and sweet with a purpose.  If we'd had more time and energy I'm sure we would explored more inland.  But we were tired and not really in the mood for any touristy stuff.  With how close Ripon is to the city, there are sure to be many more San Francisco trips in the future.

On our way home, we stopped to visit one of Neil's childhood friends, who currently lives in San Ramon with her husband and two kids.  Neil and Natalie go way back to their early childhood days.  Natalie and I have sent each other Christmas cards for years and gotten to know each other through blogging and facebook, but up to this point had never actually met in person.  Since Ripon is less than an hour from San Ramon, Neil has made it over to see Steve and Natalie a handful of times.  It was great to finally meet both of them and their beautiful children.  Neil and Steve, despite the fact that they've only known each other a few months, acted as if they'd been life long friends.  I am grateful the connections were so instant for them.  Neil has mentioned to me several times what a blessing they've been in his life these recent weeks.  I am grateful they have opened up their home to him so many times.

Sorry, Steve - couldn't resist.  How cool is it that your shirt says "Neil" on it?  Did you do that on purpose?  :) 

We got back to Ripon early evening, ate dinner with Karin and then took a walk. At one point, Neil got a text from his co-worker, Toby, who also happens to be in his ward.  When Neil texted back and told him we were just blocks from his house, he invited us over.  Turns out Toby's wife is a photographer and dancer as well.  When I first got in touch with her back in July, I knew we were destined to be friends.  We have too much in common to not be!  Sure enough, we did not run out of things to talk about.  And once the topic of photography came up, it was all over. Before we both knew it it was 10:30pm.  Now here's a not so funny story, which is on a completely different subject.  When I booked my flights for this trip back in August, I accidentally selected the Monday 6am flight out of Sacramento.  Meant to select the 2pm flight, but no - 6am.  ...Which meant that we had to get up at 3:20am and be out the door by 3:45 to provide plenty of time to get to the airport.  So going back to Sunday night. Neil politely interrupted Tami's and my conversation to suggest we get home if we wanted to sleep any before our alarm went off in 5 hours.  Despite our unexpected visit and rather abrupt goodbye, it was wonderful meeting Toby and Tami.  I'm sure we'll get to know each other even better in the coming months, and I look forward to it.

Monday morning was not fun.  Not only was it the end of a perfect weekend, but it was 3:20 in the freaking morning!  I could barely keep my eyes open driving to the airport and walking through security.  I slept some on the plane, but it was a full flight so I had very little room to get comfortable.  As we landed and the flight attendant cheerfully announced, "Welcome to Denver", I cringed.  I just didn't want to be there.  At all.  I know that sounds horrible, especially to my Colorado friends, who know I love them.  Sorry - when you read my blog, you get the honest me.  I detached myself from Colorado a long time ago, and now that I've walked the grounds of our upcoming California adventures I'm that much more anxious to BE THERE!  I will say it was wonderful seeing my kiddos again, and I am so grateful to Jared and Lori, who watched them for us so Neil and I could have this much needed time together.  Lori especially, whose pregnancy marked her 37th week that very weekend, was a good sport about the whole thing.  We all joked that 3 days with my kids would surely put her into labor, but so far nothing.  She's due this coming Wednesday.

A perfect California sunset.  And, minus the flight delays and mix ups, a perfect weekend.

Waiting...

That's a word I've become uncomfortably familiar with these last several weeks.  Waiting for our house to sell.  Waiting to hear back from the insurance company.  Waiting to see Neil again.  Waiting for our lives to not be in limbo.  Well, now I'm waiting again.  This time, at the Sacramento airport.  About a month ago, Neil and I decided to book me a flight to CA over Labor Day weekend (child free, of course).  The timing seemed perfect since he would be finishing his 3 week training in PA on the 3rd (today) and flying back to CA.  We arranged our flights as close together as possible - me arriving in Sac at 7:30pm, Neil arriving at 9pm.  Well, things ran perfectly smooth for me!  I even arrived at my gate 5 minutes early.  But Neil, not so much luck.  Due to "mechanical issues", his flight was delayed 2 hours.  I have now been sitting in the airport for 3 hours waiting to see him come down that escalator.  I keep seeing couples reunite, which is absolutely WONDERFUL, but it's making me CRAZY because I want my Neil! 

On a side note, it's awesome being in Sacramento.  The last time I was in this airport is the day my brother and I flew out (May of 2002) to help our parents move from Vacaville to Salt Lake, where they now reside.  It's crazy the things I never paid much attention to in this airport but that I am seeing and recognizing now, more than 8 years later.

THIS, for example! 

I totally remember this thing at the baggage claim!  Kind of a creatively strange structure.  Random, I know.  Sorry, I'm bored okay!?!  I am really looking forward to seeing Neil.  He is now expected to arrive at 10:49pm - that's 8 minutes away.  Here's to a short but perfect weekend getaway in sunny California!