Rollin sushi!

So I'm bummed that I don't have the pictures to show for it....but Abel and I became sushi chefs last weekend. =) Abel made his fav- spicy tuna (which turned out really spicy), and I made a shrimp tempura roll and created a roll with crab meat, avocado, and pineapple! It was yummy! We had lots of fun, quite a mess, and made a great memory. It was better than any sushi restaurant we've found here in Cali- except that we had to do all the dishes afterwards. =)

Parades and Waves in 2009

Abel surprised me for Christmas/our 6th anniversary with tickets to the Rose Bowl Parade on New Years Day in Pasadena, CA. It was awesome! It has always been a dream of mine to go and see the beautiful floats in person. We had beautiful weather and a great time. It is amazing to see what they can do & how detailed they can be with the natural materials! Special memories....

Abel has had the month of January off- his classes don't start for a few more weeks. So we've enjoyed living life at a more relaxed pace. The last two weeks we had unbelievable weather as well, so we took advantage of it all and spent a lot of time outdoors. It did not seem like January- blue skies, warm temperatures, it was the best. We actually went to the beach & I got out of the car! =) On MLK day we went to West Marin and explored Point Reyes. We attempted to see whales migrating south, but they were way off in the distance. We had a really fun day with our new friends Ethan & Brandy. Have I mentioned how much we love it here? =)

So, that's all for now. We've got lots of visitors coming this semester which will be great! More news and pictures to come...thanks for being patient. Hopefully I'll get to update during the next semester and it won't be another 4 months....but wow, does time fly!

Jenn's updates from 2008

Okay, so it's only been 4 months...I can't imagine anyone still checks our blog- but I'm determined to get some new pictures up.
I'll start with Thanksgiving...my parents came to visit and it was great showing them around.

Then we went home for Christmas! We got in just in time to watch Izaac's last Tball game...it was hilarious. We miss Izaac and Izabella lots- it wouldn't have felt like the holidays if we couldn't be home with our family.

Alright, I'm going to post these and then work on what's happened in 2009 so far. Thanks for hanging in there with us!

Merry Christmas

We know this is the First Post in quite some time but it's better late than never.

So as you can see in the pics above, we woke up this A.M. to frost all over. It was on the roof, on the grass, and on a bunch of the cars but, being from Florida, I thought it was snow :-).

Jenn and I are getting ready to fly home for a week and are so excited. We'll be home from the 20th-28th , just long enough to defrost a little.

Speaking of defrosting, I got to go surf yesterday afternoon and scored some good little waves (waist to chest high) just up the road from the school. The water wasn't too cold since I've got a good wetsuit, but when I got out of the water and tried to change in 39 degree weather my hands quickly became numb. It was so bad that it took me about 5min. to get my car key off of the elastic loop on my wetsuit, after getting it off I could barely turn the key to start my car and once I had changed and got on my way it took about 15min. to regain the feeling in my hands.

Well thats all for now, we will do our best to keep you all up to date on all the fun.

Abel

Happy Birthday Abel!

Shh...don't tell him I told you, but Abel turns 30 today! Please leave a comment with your birthday wishes.
Love you babe!

Chihuly

Abel & I love this artist's glasswork. We saw his exhibit 2 years ago at Fairchild Tropical Gardens & it amazed us. We've seen pieces in different museums & his studio at the Bellagio hotel this summer. So when we saw he had an exhibit here at the deYoung museum in San Fran we knew we had to see it. His art is amazing....I had to show you a few pics so you could see what I mean.

It was completely different than the display at the Gardens. Remember, it's all blown glass. The colors are breathtaking.
The display that resembles the Native American baskets was one of my favorites simply because it was so different than anything I'd seen before.
There was a room with many pieces layed in the ceiling- it makes you want to lay down & never get up again. It was really cool.
We were so inspired & enjoyed it so much- we are planning to visit Chihuly's hometown (Tacoma, Washington) sometime while we're in Cali. They have a glass museum with a hot shop where you can watch other glass blowers work. Chihuly also has pieces around the town in various places as well as a whole bridge filled with his art. Hope you enjoyed the slideshow! Find what inspires you and share it with us.

My New Job

Sorry I haven't updated lately. It's amazing how much time a job takes up! =)
I work for Golden Gate Regional Center which exists to help individuals with developmental disabilities and their families receive services to become more independent. It's completely different than anything I've done before so I am learning a lot, but it's mostly a paperwork position. The perks are: the office is 2 miles from our home, the schedule is very flexible, and I'll be continuing the process to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (which is my ultimate career goal, for now). Everyone is very nice and helpful and I've enjoyed getting to know them while they help me learn what I'm doing.
If nothing else, it's good to get a paycheck again!
Thanks to everyone who prayed- I believe God answered with just what I needed.

Cats, You Either Lovem or You Don't

Hitting the Books Hard

So classes started last week and I've hit the ground running. I am registered for six classes, which although sounds like a lot is not so bad yet since one of them is a two day (8hr) class which does not occur till the last weekend in Oct. and the first weekend in Nov. I am however pushing the limit since I am taking two somewhat intense history classes. (Old Testament intro 1 and Survey of Christianity to 1517) I kind of like it better this way because the pressure forces me to stay up to date with my reading and projects.

On a different note Jenn was offered a job yesterday and will begin next week. This is a big blessing since we have heard mixed stories about the difficulties others have had in finding jobs. We continue to experience Gods blessings at every turn. We are very grateful for the prayers of our friends and family.

God has also blessed us with some new friendships most of which are couples in which the husbands surf and the wives are either pregnant or have a newborn. Which means that while Jenn gets to hang out with the ladies and the babies I get to hang with the boys and go surf.

Their is so much that we are thankful about and so much that we are loving about our new home.

We will try to keep you all up to date on all the latest as best we can but it is becoming really easy to forget in the midst of all the fun and busyness.

Talk to you all again soon.

It's Official....

After two visits to the DMV, taking the written test, and paying all the fees....
Smog certificate (that we didn't need)...$65
2 new license...$56
Registration...$185
Special license plate holder for the front of the car...$50
They're going to let us drive in California! =)
Can I tell you...I felt like I was 16 again. That written test was tricky! I kept thinking about how embarrassing it would be if I didn't pass, but I guessed on at least 11 of the questions (out of 36). I guess I should have read the handbook, oh well.
I also drove over both the Golden Gate bridge and the Bay bridge into Oakland, in addition to the streets of San Francisco (in our car with a stick shift)...so I feel like I passed my driver's test as well. =)

I thought I'd include a list of other things we've seen here in Cali you don't experience in Florida:

• coyote and deer in the front yard
• cactus leafs in the produce section at the grocery store
• goats to "mow" the grass on the hills
• sweaters & scarfs in the summer

(This picture was taken on our first day in California...fortunately it's warmed up over the last few days) I gotta say...we're lovin it though.