Wednesday Night Roomie Din Din

Text from LB: "I'm craving Los Arroyos. Anyone in for dinner there tonight?".
Me: "YES!"

I'm always down for some good Mexican food....and it's even better when shared with my roomie. She introduced me to the meal that we both ordered the first time we ate there together almost 7 months ago now. We both finished off our plates. So yummy!!

We had a great evening of chatting about what she was going to pack for her trip to Montana tomorrow. Then we came home and did the packing. It was all fun, and I'm already ready for her to be back from the trip to tell me all about it!!

Good times!!

Sunday Fun Day

Today was a great day....overall. Starting from the beginning......to the end.

Laura and I met up with Brett at the Montecito shopping area to carpool...which means that I went in and got myself a decaf white mocha - yum, yum!!

Church today was amazing. Britt came into church this morning and preached to the 8am service. They recorded it for the rest of us, and it was just the most lifting and encouraging message. Britt and his family have had the hardest week of their lives...but the Holy Spirit in them, the faith and trust in God....it's the most amazing thing to see, hear and be part of each and every day. If you have 40 minutes, watch this. You have to, you need to, make 40 minutes available in your day....you won't be sorry.

Afterwards, Brett and I grabbed a sandwich and went to meet up with a few folks at the dog park for a picnic! It was great to see everyone, hang out and enjoy the water. We saw a few dolphins, took a few pictures, and enjoyed each other's company! I got to play a bit with Josh's camera...complete with his new 50mm 1.2. Nice!!!

So....after lunch, when I got back home...I put on the lens that I rented for my trip to Texas this coming weekend. Ahhh.....that 50mm 1.2 IS so lovely!!!

LB suggested that I get a shot of the one white Cosmo flower in her garden. Pretty.

One of Molly's new places to sit is under the TV, next to the speaker. I'm not sure what made her decide that this was a good place to hang out, but she loves it. And, of course, she always loves hanging out on Brett. ;)

The folks from lunch were going wine tasting. I haven't done this in SB, and so I wanted to check it out. Laura and I met up with everyone right as they were leaving Oreana, but not before we went in and took a whiff of the fermenting grapes. They were so pungent and putting out heat too....so weird but cool to be able to see.

We walked ovre to Kalyra and I had my first wine tasting in SB. I wasn't that fond of any of them really, but I had a great time with all my fun friends. I just love this picture....everyone laughing....that's about how the afternoon went. Good times!!!

I love all the neat doors around SB. So glad that everyone entertained me and had some fun with the door!!

Good times. Great friends. Love them!!

We walked down State to Chipolte and all 8 of us crowded into a booth and stuffed ourselves silly.

See....didn't I tell you.....an absolutely wonderful day from start to finish. I'm a happy girl.

Celebrating New Life

Brett and I took off around 1 today and headed to the Camarillo Outlet Mall. I hadn't been here before....but I could definitely see myself spending a little bit of time there. We made it into the GAP Outlet...I found a few things on sale (gotta love cotton dresses) before making it out of the store. I have to make it back there soon for sure.....there is an AG store and I've worn through all of my existing jeans from there!! We also scored in the Hurley store and got us both new sweatshirts. It's about to start being the colder season here at night, and so we needed something new!! :)

The main reason for our shopping excursion was to find Brett some new digs. He doesn't ever have the need to get dressed up, but since we were headed to a nice party that evening....I made it my mission to get him some new things. :)

We headed over to Express Men and ended up hitting the jackpot. Brett cleans up real nice if I do say so myself. I had fun bringing him all sorts of things to try on...it was like having a life sized Ken doll. Too bad I'm not more like Barbie - ha!! We'd have our Halloween costumes all picked out already. :)

We found what we needed, got it all wrapped up and took it to go. Not before doing the same with some yummy panini sandwiches too! We stuffed ourselves while driving and met up with Dave and Dayna before the party in Santa Monica.


The party was in their honor....they are expecting a baby girl in February! They just found out that it's a girl....and I couldn't be more excited for the two of them. I remember when first meeting them the talks of them wanting to be parents....I'm so wonderfully thankful that it's all in motion now. They are going to be great parents and I can't wait to meet her so soon!!

Their friends, Cynthia and Peter, threw a beautiful party in their honor. We both had a great time meeting new people, and chatting with familiar friends. It was a super quick trip but worth it anytime we get to hang out with the O'Neils.

It's how we roll.....

In honor of Emily's upcoming birthday, there was a small group of us tonight that gathered to spend time with friends....and roll up some sushi.

I missed the last sushi making party, so I was a newbie, but I caught on pretty quick. I made mine with red bell pepper, cucumber, tuna, avocado and spicy mayonnaise. It turned out quite delightful if I do say so myself.

I had a great night chatting and catching up with everyone. It seems that work and being under the weather has kept me from hanging out with these wonderful people as much as I'd like.

We all enjoyed laughs, the celebration....and most of all, Emily. Love her so much!! She's such a joy in everyone's life, and she makes being in Santa Barbara that much better.

Tried one of my infamous self portraits....I love the boys in the back.....got to keep us all on our toes!!


Love you Emily!! Happy Birthday!!!

Weird Morning

This morning was a first in Santa Barbara for me and my drive to work. It normally takes me between 12 and 15 minutes to get to work. This morning went a little different.

I woke up extra early. I dried my hair. I curled it. I shaved my legs and I put on a skirt!! I know....seriously!!! I was ready to get into work and get working.

I left my house at 7am. When I hit Pueblo, 101N was already starting to back up. At this point, I decided it would be a good detour to stop by and deposit a check...my bank was on State, and that would be a faster route than the freeway. I had no clue what was going on with the traffic.

5 minutes later I was on my way back to 101. Well, I got in the wrong lane and ended up back on 101S. Oops!! I exited Las Positas and decided to take Modoc to Hollister to get to work.

1 hour later I'd moved about 500 feet.

While I was sitting there, I used my phone to find out what happened. There was a fatal car accident on 101N this morning at 530am. Just terrible. Someone was driving the wrong way on the freeway....evidently for 8 miles. Hit 6 cars before hitting the last one where someone was killed. Just terrible.

So, after sitting in my car for about an hour and 40 minutes....I decided to head back home. It took me a whole 5 minutes to get back to my house where I could get some work done. I hadn't gone very far.

One advantage to working from home.....the company. :)


I was able to head into the office a little bit later as I saw the freeway was cleared up. Wish I could take Molly to the office with me!! :)

Pray for Daisy Love and Walker Rainey

Last night, updates were coming in all over Facebook about Daisy. She's the daughter of our pastor, Britt Merrick. She had a fall at school, which resulted in some pain that took her to the doctor for some tests. They originally thought that her kidney had ruptured, but then found a tumor in her belly.

There have been more updates since then, and they are posted here. If you are a believer in the power or prayer, please pray for Daisy.


http://prayfordaisy.tumblr.com/

I also want to share another story that has touched my heart recently. This is a friend of a friend of a friend's little 7 month old boy. This little guy also needs our prayers.


http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/walkerrainey

Yeah...I can eat!!!

The meds are working!!! I was able to eat some soup at work today during lunch....good ole fashioned Ramen noodles, chicken flavor.

We got an invite from LB this afternoon to join her and Ruth (her mom) for dinner. They have been cooking up stuff all weekend and tonight it was pizzas. Emily and Jessica came over too, and we had a good old fashioned Girl Night In.

The pizzas were delicious. The salad was scrumptious. The conversation was lovely.



Love me my girlfriends.

Another doctor, Sucrets and KFC

Brett and I went to another quick care this morning. This one actually admitted that I had a sore throat, gave me some meds and sent me on my way. Here's to hoping that they knock out what is ailing me!!!

We had plans to meet up with everyone at Gigi's for lunch. There was people, food and fun!! We chowed on KFC. I got some Sucrets and was able to actually eat. I mean....I ATE!! I ate until it started to hurt, which was wonderful!! :)

I took a few cute pics of Taysha's new haircut for Gigi to see. She's such a cute puppy!!


Joey and Loralyn had a lot of fun chasing each other around.


The whole gang!! It was great to get to meet Kate, Steve and Joey and for all of us to spend some time with Gigi. I can't believe that we ALL had our eyes open and were looking at the camera. This is a great shot!!




Today was a really nice day. We came back to the house and Brett did another Mac learning session for Betty. Got a late start out of Vegas but was a great weekend. Already feeling better, and can't wait to get back to 100%%

Update....and now we're in Vegas!

My throat is still hurting. A LOT. And it's super aggravating. The doctor in SB didn't help too much, except for telling me not to talk as much as possible. I rescheduled my demo at work from Friday to Monday, thankfully, and I didn't speak as much as possible at work.

I accidentally found out that root beer helped sooth my throat last on Thursday night and so I got myself 2 of them and drank them at work yesterday. I couldn't enjoy any of the free lunch at work....and drinking that much carbonated beverage without any food isn't a very good idea. But anyways....we drove to Las Vegas last night after work. I drove the first half, drinking down another root beer....making my tummy rumble even more. Doh!!

We made a super quick pit stop, and I managed to struggle through some food. Seriously, I will never take swallowing without pain for granted again!!

We pulled into Brett's parent's house last night at around 10, and found Loralyn waiting up for us. She learned that her Uncle Brett was coming in and wanted to stay up for his arrival. This made Brett smile REAL big. :)

This morning we got up, did a little shopping around Town Centre in Vegas. Mom and Ma did some shopping for Loralyn while Brett, Pa, Loralyn and I played at the playground. Then Betty and Bruce bought themselves a shiny new Mac!! Yippee!!! One more down!! :)


We ate a little lunch and then went to hang out with Gigi. Brett, Autumn and I played an exciting game of Aggravation with Gigi. This was the first time that I'd ever played this game...and I got to be the yellow marbles.

We played a pretty intense game.....there was a LOT of sending each other's marbles back to home. Brett and Autumn were pretty ruthless....BUT.....I ended up sneaking into winning. Not really sure how that happened...must have slipped under the radar between the siblings. :) It was a great afternoon hanging out with Gigi.


We grabbed a bite to eat...I felt like a little kid.....I ordered mac and cheese and mashed potatoes....since it was the only thing I thought I could eat without it hurting. Turned out that the potatoes didn't feel so good....so the mac and cheese it was!! We got Kate, Steve and Joey from the airport before calling it a night!!

Oh, PS....here is how pathetic I felt being stuck with my sore throat. I cannot WAIT for this to get better!! I've tried gargling with salt water, more throat spray than I should, cough drops, advil, etc. Think we're going to visit another doctor tomorrow!

Silent Annemarie

You haven't heard much out of me this week on my blog, or in person. My throat started to hurt on Monday, I was at work complete with Chloraseptic throat spray, OJ and soup.

It didn't get any better on Tuesday. I worked from home that day as to not spread whatever was ailing me to my coworkers. My voice was kind of wrecked and my throat wasn't feeling any better. Every minute that was I wasn't awake and working, I was sleeping.

Wednesday, I went in for a 2.5 hour demo....which REALLY trashed my throat, but it had to be done. I worked from home after that.

Yesterday I went into work....thought my throat was finally feeling better. I had about 4 teas during the day, but after 2 demos....again, I was in the same spot as the day before.

Finally, last night.....after nothing seeming to work, Brett came over and took me to the Emergency Care place. The doctor (as I was told by the nurse) was new to the clinic, been there about 12 hours, and she didn't even know how to pronounce his name yet.....well, he looked at my throat, did a culture test, checked out my ears (which weren't not completed convinced that he knew how to use that piece of equipment) and said that there wasn't anything wrong with me.

That's always good news when you leave a doctor office....BUT, I was hoping for an explanation to the reason why I've been in such pain this week. He said to not talk as much as possible (um...how am I supposed to do that in sales?? silent demos??) and get rest.

So, while we were waiting, I had some fun with my phone camera. :)


Silent Annemarie.


Brett has been amazing this week....bringing me food and taking care of me. It's super hard to eat anything because swallowing is so painful, but he's been telling me that I HAVE to eat.

Molly's New Digs

Since she lost her last one on her escapades last night, on the way home from church today, we picked her up a new fancy collar and name tag.

Molly is bad to the bone. Meow!

Pizza Party

Today was a great day!!! I kind of chilled about the casa this morning. Danielle and Erik were making some dish for a late breakfast that I still can't remember what it was called, but it was totally tasty....and I ate it...yummy!!!

Brett and I started to sit down and watch 17 Again..lighthearted movie for a nice Saturday afternoon. Shortly after we started it, LB and Benjamin came home....at first they were laughing at us for watching a teenie bopper movie with Zac Efron, but they got sucked in and watched it all the way to the end with us. It was a great way to enjoy a super lazy afternoon.

We decided to have a little pizza and salad night with Danielle and Erik, and their friend, Steven too. D & E whipped up an amazing salad, while I got the goodies for us to build some flat bread pizzas. I'd seen this on Monday at the Shinns and been dying to make them up for myself!!

Red & green bell peppers, mushrooms, onions and sausage with pizza sauce and lots of cheese!!! Yummmmy!!

Have you seen a more delicious salad??

We all made our own....so good!! Just pop them on the grill until the cheese is all melty! Be sure to take them off before the bottom gets too crispy or burnt!

After dinner delight?? LB's cookies....chocolate chip with oatmeal.....gotta add some ice cream too!!

A little Rock Band. Brett brought it over....no, we didn't buy it for our house! HA!

And lastly....a fun game of Scene It!! Everyone's game faces. Bring it!!

It was a really fun night of lots of fun......

......

until.....

Everyone kind of retired to watch some TV, and then I went to find Molly.

Um......where's Molly!!??!!?

She wasn't anywhere in the house. We all looked everywhere, and she wasn't there. Brett, Danielle, Erik and I were walking around the house saying her name, and meowing for a while. It was getting chillier and starting to get a little damp. I told D&E to hit the hay, while Brett and I walked around until about 2am. We thought we'd heard her bell a few times, but then we were doubting our ears because the wind was blowing leaves around too.

It was dark and we didn't have a good flashlight, so after about 2 hours, a too close scare with a skunk, and saying "Molly" about a hundred times....we decided to retire until it was morning.

We decided to sleep on the couch and the chair in the living room, and left the front door and back door cracked with the screens on....just in case she would come back in the middle of the night.

At 550am, I heard a meow!! I shot up.....not that I was sleeping that great anyways. Cramped up in a chair with the ottoman, tossing because I didn't know where Molly was all night. But, as soon as I heard that meow, I jumped out of the chair and went to the back door . Brett was saying "make sure it's her...turn on the light"....but I knew it was her, I could tell it was her meow.

Well, it was Molly!! She was at the back door. I opened it up, called her, and she walked right in. PHEW!!!

We had no idea where she went or what she was doing, but I was just glad that she was home!!!

District Cleaning

TGIF!!!! It was only a 4 day week, but Friday couldn't have come quick enough.

Tonight I went to see District 9 with Brett and Kyle. I understand what the message and underlying meaning of the movie was....BUT, it felt like it was a 3 hour movie, and it wasn't even 2. The aliens in the movie were really kind of grody, and I just didn't like the movie. Ugh, there is so going to be a District 10.

We went by the RedBox on the way home and got Sunshine Cleaning and 17 Again too. We watched the sunshine one, and it was much better, in my opinion anyways. ;)

More Mermis Family Story

Well....I haven't finished blogging the rest of the week and weekend from my time in Texas yet....BUT....since it's officially now Corey's birthday (it's past midnight in TX on the 11th), I thought I'd go ahead and post the pics for her so she can see them when she wakes up on her day!! Happy Birthday Corey!!

We had a super mini session with Jake and Delaney after hanging out with the Mermis family on Sunday afternoon. We toured their new house, ate some snacks and played in the pool. The kids had a little bit of energy left in them, so before it started raining, Corey put them in some cute clothes, and we took a stroll around the greenbelt area of their new neighborhood. They are walking distance from this wonderful forest!!

I love hanging out with Corey, Joshua and the kiddos......they are amazing friends and I'm so glad that we got to hang out with them for a little bit while we were in town!! Your turn to come visit us now!! Love all of you guys!!











For a few more from our mini session, watch the slideshow.

When flight delays work out to your advantage....

This RARELY happens....but....

Brett got a voicemail from United on Sunday night. He had at first dismissed it because he said, it's probably just them calling to let us know about our 6am flight. I asked him to check it, and it's a good thing he did.

Our flight was delayed. Bummer!!! That delay would make us miss our two connections. We were supposed to go through Denver to LA to Santa Barbara, and get in at noon.

We found another flight option through San Francisco, and were able to get on that one instead.

So, we left an hour later than planned around 7am. We landed in SF at a little after 9am, and were going to have to wait 2.5 hours for our connection to SBA...BUT....there was a flight leaving at 930am that we were able to get on, and so we landed in SB at 1030am instead!!

We left one hour later than planned.....
took only two planes instead of three....
and landed 1.5 hours earlier than planned.

That rocks!!

So, we're back in SB and it's nice to be home. Spent the afternoon at a BBQ at the Shinns and had a nice time just relaxing. Looking forward to a super short work week!!

Happy Labor Day!

Pancakes, Pool and Astros!

Another early morning...who said you get to sleep in on vacation?? Brett and I went to spend the day with the Waldorf clan in Sugar Land.

Aedin and Dylin helped Brett and me make pancakes. Brett did a really great job of making some Mickey & Minnie Mouse shaped pancakes, while the girls put in the blueberries and helped do some of the flipping too!! It was a fun morning in the kitchen. We managed to not get mix and syrup everywhere...even some made it into our bellies too!!

We rode bikes around in the street for a bit....everyone had to wear their helmets. Doesn't Olsin look adorable in his? Aedin and Dylin went to the park with Brett and me just for a little bit, before we decided that it was too hot and we had to go to the pool instead.

We all played at the pool for a while...it wasn't that hot in TX so the water was actually nice!!! We jumped on the diving board, and I'm still amazed at how well Olsin was swimming all over the place. Colin was with us too, but I didn't get any other pictures. We were too busy playing instead!!!

Erika shared this wonderful picture with me of all the kids. I just love it! I'm going to get it printed and put it in one of the empty frames in my room (someday)!! Such adorable kids - all of them!!! Gavin was in Austin with Terry for a soccer game, so we missed them this time. Guess they'll have to come to SB too!! Got lots of potential visitors lined up!! :)

After a really fun and long day in Sugar Land with the Waldorf clan, Brett and I went to meet my parents at the Astros game. They were playing the Phillies for the 2nd time this weekend. I've learned to enjoy baseball, and I was really watching the game.

We had a ball game hot dog - complete with ketchup, onion and relish! Yummm!!!

Of course we had to get some cotton candy too! :)

Mom and Dad left a little bit early.....too bad they didn't stay because the last inning of the game was fantastic! The Astros were behind one run...and to make a long story short....came back with an out of the ballpark home run which left them one ahead....winning 5-4!!

We got back home and had to spend some time with Clyde before calling it a night. I think he's missing Molly since she moved to CA. He's such a sweet cat, and I love his high pitched meows.