Crafty Lackey

Trying again

2011-06-07T21:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I can't say I've been too successful with my blog lately....

Adam finished this model today that he'd been working on for awhile. Looks awesome!

This is our last month in Santa Cruz... We got a place in Arcata, which seems like it's going to be great!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

My mom called not long ago to tell me about the three bear cubs and their mother that she encountered on her walk with Heidi today! I'm glad they both made it past them ok.
Thanks to dad for bringing mom flowers from Tiff and me!

One of my favorite places to go in Santa Cruz county. There were a lot of mosquitoes, but I got to use my new awesome hiking backpack I bought yesterday! Definitely a good investment for my back, which is still a big problem, but I also got a 20 dollar massage (which is normally 65) on Groupon, which I hope to use this week!

Sharks game! Can't see it, but it's 2-1 Sharks right now at the end of the second period! And that's a really good new Rock Bottom beer we got yesterday. And, I'm reading the Giver to Adam, one of my favorite books from my childhood. I figure I should practice for next year...

The final days of my break

2011-05-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

I did it! More than one post...
It was a beautiful weekend; a good end to my break!

A lot of flowers are blooming in Santa Cruz, and it's been really clear and warm.

Adam, Jon, and Salem seriously contemplating the Kendo demonstration at the Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival. Adam's parents came down as well, and we had a nice day and dinner on Saturday with them!

Oscar! The latest addition to our family. Adam won him today at the festival. He's not eating yet, and I'm a bit worried he won't make it long, but we have high hopes! The cats are a bit of a concern too, but they haven't noticed him yet....

2011-04-28T16:36:00.000-07:00

I've decided to start posting again. (Hopefully more than just this once...)
We just got back from a great trip to Boston, and I still have a couple days off!
Here are just a few pictures from the trip:

Mt. Auburn Cemetery. I believe this is a magnolia hybrid. The flowering trees were beautiful! And I saw my first White-breasted Nuthatch.

The top of Washington Tower(?) in Mt. Auburn Cemetery. Cool 360 view of the area.

We saw a couple old cemeteries that were really pretty.

At the end of our day walking the Freedom Trail. It was neat to see the historical sites in Boston!

Birthdays

2010-11-01T20:39:00.000-07:00

As usual, it's been awhile since I've posted anything on here...

Headlands the Friday before Adam's birthday. Super foggy, which was actually pretty cool.

We had a couple really nice hours of hiking.

Adam's whole birthday weekend was great. :)

Then there was my birthday and Halloween...

This is the best picture I took of Becky's and Nelson's costumes.

Perfect Bellatrix Lestrange. It was exciting having Theresa come down!

Wizards deep in thought.

Spooky pumpkins! I decided to buy two bags of candy for the zero trick or treaters we got.

On a hunt for starfish. We saw three!

Really nice, colorful flowers from my dad! (balloon and chocolates too!) :)
Oh, and thanks Shane!

Pumpkins

2010-10-09T22:01:00.000-07:00

Denali.

There have been some random colder days lately.

New fun tunnel thing for the kitties. 50 cents! And they love it!

Pumpkins! :)

Beautiful Saturday. Unfortunately right when I started feeling better Adam got sick...

Lately...

2010-09-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

A bigger hike in our future?! We went to Big Sur State Park a couple weekends ago. Very nice, and the drive was pretty too!

I don't usually put pictures of myself up, but this was the first time that the peanut butter and jelly spreader was used in the exact manner that it was made for. No peanut butter was mixed into the jelly jar. Phew!

I've been feeling really tired lately. Maybe that's in part because of the anxiety dreams I've been having, which leave me feeling not very rested. Or because I've been busy, and I'm getting used to my new schedule and being in a new environment at the elementary school. Or because money is a constant worry, depsite the fact that I really try to spend as little as possible. I'm so glad I got into this class and am able to be at the elementary school, but now, obviously, I don't work full time anymore, which makes it hard. And now I have to start getting everything ready to apply for the credential program I want to get into, which includes taking several tests I'm a little worried about. And then there are other things that some of you may know about that I've been able to keep, mostly, more in my subconscious than anything, but that at least make themselves evident in my dreams. And it's impossible not to worry...

But aside from all that crap, things have actually been pretty good. Kiki and Denali are eating a new special food which we're really hoping will get rid of their mouth problems that they have had for so long. So far it seems to be working... Thank you Green Peas and Rabbit! One of the moms at work (who is a bit neurotic, to say the least) has noticed the connection I've made with her son and let me know that she's happy that I'm there, which feels good. I feel great coming home to Adam every day, even when I'm really tired. And just getting to live in Santa Cruz is pretty awesome. :)

In Colorado

2010-08-19T19:53:00.000-07:00

Celebrating dad's birthday early! Pretty nice looking cake if I do say so myself...

Pretty doggy cooling off.

Handsome doggy hanging out at mom's.

Green tornado hitting mom's yard.

Hiking Upper Columbine trail.

It was really nice to go to Colorado and see everyone! Plus, we were lucky enough to be there when there were thunderstorms every afternoon and it was super green and pretty. It was a needed vaction.

Now, I'm trying to get into a class at Cabrillo that would place me in an elementary classroom once or twice a week. Hopefully I'll know if I get in on Tuesday... I start another online class on Monday and I'm at Happy Days alot, which has been crazy... They accepted the max number of infants we can have for the fall and, in my opinion, it's way too many! But, we're managing, I guess. Adam starts school in just over a week.

Most importantly, it's nice to be back in Santa Cruz!

Mini Road Trip

2010-08-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

Going back awhile, Matt came out to CA to visit and we hiked outside of San Jose. I'm still hoping he'll move here soon!

First campsite in Great Basin National Park. Best night sky, view of the milky way, and shooting star I've ever seen.

Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah.

Early morning in a ridiculousy hot campground outside Arches. Pretty though!

On the top of Great Sand Dunes National Park. The trip out to Colorado was great, really fun!

Loud music early Sunday morning

2010-07-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

In full swing

I was trying to show how many people there were behind the runners...

Luckily, I was woken up by the people and music just in time to walk outside and see the first runners go by. wharf to wharf

First blueberry (or any kind really) muffins from scratch. Delicious!
We leave for Colorado at the end of this week! And I'm finally getting close to finishing all of my projects for the class I'm taking...

4th of July weekend

2010-07-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

Doing his trick. How many hours can he sit like that...

On a very pretty hike we went on.

Celebrating America with red, white, and blue cake! Yeah, it was yummy. We had a really nice weekend in Nevada City. No parade or fireworks, but a great movie and *NSYNC videos later in the night made up for that... And, of course, all the people and delicious food.

I think we've decided on driving to Colorado in August. Hooray!

Peaches!

2010-06-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

Yeah! Never had a fruit tree in my yard before. I tried one (despite it not being totally ripe), and it was already good. They are going to be great once they ripen up. Thinking about making a peach cobbler or something....

Summer time

2010-06-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite meals. Yum!

I agreed to be full time in the infant room, but I still don't know when that will start. Hoping to spend a little time in Colorado later this summer too. Going to ask tomorrow for the time off, never my favorite thing to do...

I'm almost done with my first summer class; the next one starts right away though.

I started swimming again, which was definitely a good idea. It feels great.

Most importantly, Adam finally got the stent removed! Unfortunately, he was really really sick afterwards, and for some reason he got sick again today. :( We think he might have been allergic to one of the medicines they gave him.

We're heading back up to Nevada City this week for a long weekend. Looking forward to it! :)

Happy Father's Day Dad!!

2010-06-20T21:46:00.000-07:00

And other dads!
We went backpacking this weekend. It was great, definitely want to go more this summer. First time camping together was fun too! Pretty tired though, and my whole body is a little sore, but it feels good. Plus, today I got to see Kendo in person for the first time, pretty intense.

I really like these flowers, keep seeing them on the trails around here.

The kitties love being brushed, which is good cause they're shedding like crazy...

Denali.
I guess I might start working full time in the infant room. Probably at the end of the summer? but not totally sure yet. But it was nice finding out they trust me and want me to stick around!

I should also mention that my mom is doing amazing, better than I could have imagined. :) And, seeing as it's Father's Day, I was glad to hear that my dad is feeling and doing pretty good too!

Waterfall

2010-05-23T21:48:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to that waterfall. It was definitely worth getting to. We were the only ones there too, so it was super peaceful and pretty, though after stepping in the water neither of us made it under the falls... The whole 6.6 mile hike was nice too, with a bunch of stream crossings, banana slugs, wildflowers, etc.

Parks!

2010-05-14T19:32:00.000-07:00

Been awhile since I posted last....

We bought a CA state parks pass this week, so we spent today at Sunset State Beach,

and we're planning on going back to this great state park (called the Forest of Nisene Marks SP) we found last week tomorrow. Maybe this time we'll be able to find the right trail to see the waterfall we meant to get to last time...

We also went to this great park with Adam's parents when we were in Nevada City a couple of weeks ago. (I should really post more often!)

And we're signed up for a backpacking class in June! Getting out a lot I guess...

In other news, things seem to be going as well as they can for my mom. She's finally out of the brace!

School again?!

2010-04-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

It's been a little rainy, but it actually cleared up for a bit this evening. I'm kind of bummed that I'm getting less hours at work, but what can I do?! Supposedly it slows down in the summer, but I'm hoping I'll get more hours than this week and next, we'll see.... I even have a four day weekend coming up, so we're heading up to Nevada City tomorrow because we can! And tomorrow I sign up for online summer classes, so that hopefully by the end of the summer I'll have enough units to have more kids in a classroom with me and a teacher.

Mostly I hope that my mom actually gets her brace off on Friday... seeing as she's already planning on it..

Change

2010-04-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

So.... I actually missed a day of taking a picture for the first time (fell asleep super early after a long day). And, consequently, I've decided to stop taking a picture a day. Instead I'll just take pictures and post on here whenever I feel like it.

We got this awesome red desk at a thrift store. Despite the fact that it's bigger than the table that was in the kitchen, the room feels way more spacious, and we have way more counter space and storage. Plus, we now have a table and chairs in the living room. First meal at a table, instead of on the coffee table, was great. Even the living room feels more open the way it's set up now. weird. Really happy with it though. (and the two chairs we got from the Roberts. thanks!)

Some birds nest. Anyone know what kind?! It's in a backyard in San Jose.

A great weekend is ending, with a crappy loss by the Sharks. I think I'm actually a fan of a sports team for the first time in my life. It's fun!

11 April 2010

2010-04-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

Some real ice tea on a very stormy day.

10 April 2010

2010-04-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

Roses are starting to come out!

Went to San Jose on Saturday. It was fun seeing Zach and Caitlyn, as well as the Roberts and company :)

9 April 2010

2010-04-11T19:30:00.001-07:00

8 April 2010

2010-04-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

damn, almost completely dead now. this has happened before though, so hopefully it will come back...

7 April 2010

2010-04-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

Lots and lots of sailboats out on nice days

6 April 2010

2010-04-06T22:01:00.001-07:00

A toast to Joe's birthday! I missed it totally, but still want you to know that I'm thinking about you and hope you're doing well. All the best :)

Home again. Our trip was great. I'm so glad I got to spend so much time in CO with my mom, dad, and other family! I got more than I was expecting from my tax return so I splurged on a bottle of 16 dollar wine!!

That was a lot of posting for one day......

5 April 2010

2010-04-06T21:59:00.001-07:00

Adam's parents planted our Christmas tree! Looks nice and healthy.

4 April 2010

2010-04-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

Ruling the table... Nice dinner in Nevada City too!

3 April 2010

2010-04-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

Lots of family together. Plus, Adam cooked us another delicious meal. Nice last night in CO :)

2 April 2010

2010-04-06T21:52:00.000-07:00

hmmm.... not sure why I took so few pictures of my mom, and others, while we were in Colorado... didn't seem to take many pictures at all really... dumb!

1 April 2010

2010-04-06T21:50:00.000-07:00

In the quarry in the Red Rocks park.

31 March 2010

2010-04-06T21:48:00.000-07:00

Close to the end of our hike up to St. Marys Falls, which was covered in snow... woops. Still a pretty hike though!

30 March 2010

2010-04-06T21:47:00.001-07:00

Full moon (I think...)

29 March 2010

2010-04-06T21:44:00.001-07:00

Resting in the shade at the dog park

28 March 2010

2010-04-06T21:29:00.000-07:00

the peak from the garden.

27 March 2010

2010-04-06T21:26:00.000-07:00

Heidi and Rambo. so cute! so sweet!

26 March 2010

2010-04-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

New home for the next week...

25 March 2010

2010-04-06T21:22:00.000-07:00

On the way up to Nevada City...

New decoration

2010-03-24T20:36:00.000-07:00

yeah!

23 March 2010

2010-03-24T20:35:00.000-07:00

Glued in many places, but still looks nice...

22 March 2010

2010-03-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

So pretty, blooming all over here.

21 March 2010

2010-03-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

Stopped by Rock Bottom, and got a new tiny puzzle!

20 March 2010

2010-03-24T20:30:00.001-07:00

Rivals...

Poor Sadie :(

2010-03-19T22:42:00.000-07:00

on a happier note...
it's kind of weird to see so many people at the beach, though I suppose it's just going to get more full if the weather stays as nice as it was today. Ran into someone I worked with at Rock Bottom too!

Overall, the news seems to be pretty good about my mom. In the brace for another five weeks, but she seems to be healing and on the right track. Definitely not easy, but I think she's doing great, and I'm excited to see her again in a week!

Blooming

2010-03-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

All sorts of flowers are blooming now, including lots of poppies! It's been so nice and warm out.

17 March 2010

2010-03-18T18:57:00.000-07:00

sun setting through the living room window

16 March 2010

2010-03-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

mess. been cleaned since though!

15 March 2010

2010-03-18T18:54:00.001-07:00

Pretty nice view from the living room window. Plus it's been so warm the windows have been open a lot!

Laffing Sal

2010-03-14T21:49:00.000-07:00

13 March 2010

2010-03-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

We met some happy cows on our hike in Alum Rock.

12 March 2010

2010-03-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

whoa...

2010-03-11T21:35:00.000-08:00

10 March 2010

2010-03-11T21:32:00.000-08:00

oh man... i guess i waited too long to water my plants, then when I watered this one all the leaves and the flowers drooped. had to tie the flower stalk up. still pretty though

treats

2010-03-09T21:56:00.000-08:00

8 March 2010

2010-03-09T21:55:00.000-08:00

oh how I love to defrost the freezer

Point Lobos

2010-03-07T21:17:00.000-08:00

6 March 2010

2010-03-07T21:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Tiff!

Lucie busy drawing. The Roberts plus one came to Santa Cruz. How nice!

5 March 2010

2010-03-07T21:10:00.000-08:00

hmm.. there I am. mirror could be cleaned...

My favorite

2010-03-04T21:52:00.000-08:00

3 March 2010

2010-03-04T21:50:00.002-08:00

Yes! It bloomed again this year. Such pretty flowers

2 March 2010

2010-03-04T21:50:00.001-08:00

yum! cookies

1 March 2010

2010-03-04T21:48:00.000-08:00

terrifying creature. rarely seen

28 February 2010

2010-03-04T21:45:00.000-08:00

Waging war with the ants. Spoiler alert: We won!

27 February 2010

2010-03-04T21:43:00.000-08:00

I feel like I take this picture a lot... except this time there were huge-ass tsunami waves

26 February 2010

2010-02-27T14:55:00.001-08:00

Adam making sushi after a long day of work for me, which was followed by an infant staff meeting telling everyone their pay is getting cut in order to not have to lay anyone off or cut hours. Lucky for me I can't make any less than I already do!

25 February 2010

2010-02-27T14:54:00.001-08:00

About to watch Shutter Island. Really good movie

24 February 2010

2010-02-27T14:53:00.001-08:00

New home for the cat tree and what's left of the catstle.

23 February 2010

2010-02-27T14:50:00.001-08:00

Looking pretty good! My mom has managed to keep a super positive attitude through almost all of this. Every day I was home I saw improvements. Definitely felt bad leaving, but hopefully I'll be going back in about a month.

22 February 2010

2010-02-27T14:48:00.000-08:00

First day I could see the mountains...

21 February 2010

2010-02-27T14:46:00.000-08:00

20 February 2010

2010-02-27T14:45:00.000-08:00

19 February 2010

2010-02-27T14:43:00.001-08:00

First walk with Heidi- took her off leash, she ran after a deer, I gave up looking for her an hour later, went home to get the car, and Heidi was waiting for me at the front door (luckily!).

18 February 2010

2010-02-27T14:41:00.000-08:00

First night home. just starting to get things set up.

Going

2010-02-17T20:26:00.000-08:00

to Colorado tomorrow morning. I'll be back late next Tuesday. Hopefully things go well.

ha, Becky, despite the look of that post, I didn't mean it to have any meaning. I'm sure we'll have a lot more really nice days for you guys to come visit! Hope you get better quick :)

Someday...

2010-02-16T22:02:00.002-08:00

it will be finished...

15 February 2010

2010-02-16T22:02:00.001-08:00

Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T22:58:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a beautiful day. Hard to believe it's winter here. It's fun to have all the people come out to the beaches and the boardwalk!

13 February 2010

2010-02-14T22:56:00.000-08:00

We went to Big Basin Redwoods State Park. My first time there. It was a really nice sunny day and a great park too!

12 February 2010

2010-02-14T22:53:00.001-08:00

homework time for some...

11 February 2010

2010-02-14T22:52:00.001-08:00

ingredients...

10 February 2010

2010-02-14T22:47:00.000-08:00

Adam and

Denali and the Catstle

mmm

2010-02-09T20:26:00.001-08:00

Tiff inspired me to make these today.

8 February 2010

2010-02-09T20:24:00.000-08:00

New sheets that actually fit on the bed. Yeah!

7 February 2010

2010-02-09T20:22:00.000-08:00

The boardwalk opened this weekend.

6 February 2010

2010-02-09T20:20:00.000-08:00

Visiting with the lackeys! :)

Time

2010-02-05T21:49:00.000-08:00

to say goodbye to the birthday balloon. it lasted so long!

I've been thinking my latest posts have been a little dull, but what can you do?! I've been sick and worried about my mom.

4 February 2010

2010-02-05T21:48:00.000-08:00

hmm.....I guess I ate a lot of peanuts that day. Thrilling post, I know.

3 February 2010

2010-02-04T11:23:00.000-08:00

my wandering jew actually looks like it might make it!

2 February 2010

2010-02-04T11:22:00.000-08:00

still trying to get better.

1 February 2010

2010-02-04T11:20:00.000-08:00

new haircut! don't think I did too bad a job...

31 January 2010

2010-01-31T18:41:00.001-08:00

super nice day today

but I'm sick

and more importantly I'm still really worried about my mom. The brace doesn't seem to be working, so it looks like she's probably going to have surgery. I might even go home this weekend. I would like to be there for her.

30 January 2010

2010-01-31T18:39:00.000-08:00

mmm...

29 January 2010

2010-01-31T18:38:00.000-08:00

28 January 2010

2010-01-31T18:37:00.001-08:00

time to clean I guess...

27 January 2010

2010-01-31T18:35:00.000-08:00

My other

2010-01-26T20:59:00.000-08:00

baby

25 January 2010

2010-01-26T20:58:00.001-08:00

sweet fat one

24 January 2010

2010-01-26T20:56:00.000-08:00

snow! it melted quickly, but it was still really pretty and peaceful in Nevada City.

23 January 2010

2010-01-26T20:54:00.000-08:00

scared! but she does seem to be getting more comfortable with me... until I move too quickly or something...

It finally

2010-01-22T20:38:00.000-08:00

cleared up today.
I had my first two days of work on Thursday and today. They went pretty well, and I think I'm going to enjoy the place. Tomorrow I have a cpr/first aid class all day, and then we're heading up to Nevada City till Monday. There's supposed to be snow up there!

21 January 2010

2010-01-22T20:37:00.000-08:00

My baby

20 January 2010

2010-01-22T20:33:00.000-08:00

The beach is covered with branches and things from the storm. The wind was totally crazy at our place...