21 and 20 to 30...

So, spending time in KC took a bite out of my endeavors.  They were full, full, full days!

Again, I accomplished some more random "firsts" but not necessarily long-dreamed-of happenings.

- Finished watching a movie on the iPad
- Completed a "solo" trip with Nealon
- Flew into OAK
- Ate at Gott's in SF with my cousin, Connor, a new SF resident

Yep, nothing too exciting!  Back to the grind tomorrow!

Stay tuned!

Nealon, pretending that he wasn't jet-lagged and that he was enjoying time with Connor.

22 to 30

Met my goddaughter, finally!!!

Today I met our goddaughter, Annabelle P. Johnson!  She turns 3 next month and is precious!  It took a lot of work for us not to meet...

Sweet Annabelle

Annabelle's mom, Jen, is expecting #2 this fall.  She's an AMAZING mom! 

yay!

Annabelle is going to be a wonderful big sister!

23 to 30...

today didn't include any long talked about interests or desires...or something even very interesting.  it did include a few firsts though...

- first time buying tickets on ticketmaster as soon as they went on sale - here we come mumford & sons!
- first time spending the day at my in-laws without luke.
- first time driving around kansas city by myself (with Nealon and Rebecca, of course!  i was just the one doing the driving.

tomorrow...there will be an anticipated first!  (and hopefully some pictures)

24 to 30...

Visit Southern California!

Today, nealon and I flew to San Diego!  We were on our way to Kansas city*...  Still, I managed to step outside of the airport.  Since we had to get to gate 1 which was on the other side of another security checkpoint (good-bye $2.50 bottle of barely enjoyed water) we stepped outside the front door for a moment.  Tried to take a picture but it didn't work and I didn't want to somehow miss our connection.  Alas, I'll provide you with this picture of nealon on the plane.  We were still on the ground in SD.

On a more legitimate note, tonight, Luke is booking the details for a little family vacay to SD.  (check out the deals on Virgin airlines!! And thank you Hilton points!)  The trip will take place next month...yippee!!!

* nealon and I are aunt Rebecca sitting while luke's mom is having knee surgery out of town.  School starts Monday!

Getting into daddy's Star Wars toys

25 to 30

Go on a real, grown-up, double-date!

Yes, Luke and I have gone on several dates before but tonight seemed a little more grown up.  A real babysitter, a real dinner reservation, real friends, real [good] food, a dress and a dry cleaned shirt.  Luke even cleaned out the car!  (Who cares if the babysitting was *free* as part of an exchange for services set up, and who cares if we used a generous gift card towards dinner.  That just made it even more enjoyable, right?!)

Dinner was at Evvia in Palo Alto.  The other couple was the Herrmann-Hollenbecks.  Batman was dining there.  He even had his motorcycle valet parked.  Our waiter was excellent.  The food was amazing!

Batman's motorcycle and me

Yes, those are real guns on front and yes, that dress had been in the bag of clothes I attempted to sell yesterday.

Grown-ups!

Laura and Jay

26 to 30 - fail!
Failure wasn't the task for today.  I fail all the time.  Failure was however the result of what I attempted to do.

Today I had every intention of selling some of my clothes.  Getting rid of things is often difficult for me and something that I'm often trying to do. So, selling some of my clothes seemed like the perfect solution, right?  Well, not the way I went about it.

I selected about 12 of the nicest items* that I was thinking of getting rid of and proceed to go to Plato's Closet where they buy gently used clothing and then sell it again.  I'd never been there before but thought I'd give it a try.

For Sale!

As they looked through my clothing to decide what they would take, I looked through the clothes on sale and overheard what they were telling other people - "we'll buy two of your items and give you $9." - "we'll buy three of your items and give you $6"...  I felt like i was probably in pretty good shape to do better than these other gals!  As I looked at the clothing for sale, I wished that I'd brought some of my target clothes with me.  When my turn to talk with them came up i was told, "sorry, we won't be buying any of your items."  Ouch!

The sign when I entered should perhaps have been an indicator to me.  They were looking for teen and young adult clothing.  Now that I'm almost thirty, perhaps I'm no longer a young adult.

Too bad I'm not a size 4 and don't shop at forever 21!

Here is the cash flow for my day:

Gas - $6 (spent about an hour in the car round trip.  The store is in San Mateo)
Parking meter - $1
Payment for clothing - $0

I spent $7 today trying to make money....

Now do I try consignment or do I just go to Goodwill?

* Including lacoste, Ralph lauren, anthropologie, DKNY, etc.  As a general operating rule, I don't like to spend more than $20 on any item of clothing.  Under $10 is even better.  All of the clothes I was attempting to sell either came from a sale rack, marshalls/tjmaxx/Ross, gifts, or were purchased with my clothing allowance at a former job.

27 to 30...

Do something with your handwriting! 

I've been wanting to for a while but never really have...  I've been asked what font I've used before when it was my own penmanship.  Somewhere during college I began to enjoy handwriting...mine is ever changing.  I don't expect this entry to win and isn't my favorite.  One of the things that this 30 to 30 project is helping me see it to "just do it!".  There are so many things I never get done because I know I won't be able to do them perfectly.  There are so many things that I'm missing out on because I never even get started...

The contest is for a band called "Sleeping at Last."  Luke sent me the info on the contest.

Here's my entry for tonight.  Again, not my best.  Perhaps I'll enter more!

Handwriting Entry (#1)

28 to 30...

Painting!  Getting started at least.  My goal is to eventually paint something to hang on the wall.  Today I purchased several beginner/cheap supplies and played around a bit.

Luke wanted something with flowers and a meditation on the ten commandments...

Don't love it but the point of this is to get started, right?

Luke is making me decide tonight what I'm going to do tomorrow...because I'm finding myself getting to these tasks late in the evening...

an urban eden

 29 to 30...

the countdown is ON!

this evening i planted a vegetable garden.  of sorts.  we don't really have any space to truly plant a lush garden.  i like my containers.  there are many reasons that this should not be a success.  we'll see.  perhaps someday we'll have zucchini, broccoli, sugar snap peas, artichokes, lettuce, and jalepenos!

getting these 30 things accomplished is going to be difficult.  if planting a veggie garden at 9pm was one of the easy tasks.... 

until tomorrow!

30 days left in my 20s. 30 days left until 30. As such, I'm going to try to accomplish 30 things that I haven't done, have wanted to do, or feel need to be done for real before I turn 30. (Having a baby 10 weeks prematurely while 29 years old wasn't enough for me...!)

Tonight I started out easy. We watched Top Gun. Yes, I'd never seen it. It came out when I was 5 1/2 years old and somehow I've managed to survive all these years without it.  It was pretty good....

More adventures to come - most more interesting than Top Gun!  Let me know if you'd like to join me or have suggestions for things to add to my list...  (plant a veggie garden, cook an entire meal from a magazine, ride a motorcycle, go to a movie by myself, walk across the golden gate bridge, go to SoCal, meet my goddaughter...)

If you happen to be here, on this page, you likely received a birth announcement/thank you from us (or soon will). Thanks for checking this out!

The announcements took two forms; I couldn't decide which I liked better. The original idea was to not attach the picture and write thank you notes in the blank portion of the front of the card.

I also really liked how it looked with the picture attached. Unfortunately, that also meant cutting N's hand off! I then wrote notes on the backs of the cards.

Although a little cheesy, I thought I'd have a contest. Leave a comment on this post and you'll be "entered" into a contest to win a set of personalized note cards. April 30 will be the last day to enter. I'll randomly (names in a hat style) select a winner and notify you. Please leave an email address in your comment.

An attempt to "dress-up" some baby gifts!

This is going to become my "creative" blog... maybe? If you happen to be reading this, wow! Luke and I (and Baby Bro) have a family blog as well - http://brochateau.wordpress.com.

My friend Jesse has started a card club...and I get to be part of it...helping me achieve some of my "goals" in the last year of my 20s... There are 4 of us participating. Each month, we send at least one blank card that we have created to each of the others. I went with a Thanksgiving-ish theme for this month. Some months I assume that mine will look similar to each other. This month, they each took a slightly different direction. Each card has a front panel that slides off, leaving a blank panel for messages.

what we've been up to since moving to the west coast

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2 Months!

So, we've lived in CA for almost 2 months! We still have our SC phone numbers but other than that, our "things" have been switched to CA. Here is a quick photo update which really only provides a small glimpse of things...we've been busy!

My friend Kari and I took advantage of a free train ride into the city. Our plan was to go for brunch...alas, the place we were planning on eating had been closed (just for a few days) for remodeling.... There weren't a lot of other options so...we ended up at Panera...
I met Kari at the beginning of our time here. She had just moved out from Tennessee. We enjoyed having extra time to hang out while not having jobs. (We are both now employed)

A highlight of our time here thus far has been "jam nights"! A wonderful family in our church has hosted us and several other musicians for dinner and music on a couple of Friday nights. This is something that we would love to do if we had the space - We're SO thankful for the opportunity and space provided. Luke has compiled/invited a different group both times and it is fun to watch (and listen to) the variety of talents!

A few weeks ago we made it to the coast (Montara Beach) with a couple of Luke's cousins and their kids! One family lives only about 20 minutes from us and the other was in from Reno for the weekend! We had a lot of fun! Neither of us have lived this close to any of our first cousins before.

We have a piano! I accidentally found a great free piano on craigslist...and it is now in our living room...determining where all of the other furniture goes! We're excited! It is a good piano that just needs a little touch up work. The guy giving it to us even loaded it up and delivered it. Some friends helped unload it...causing a tiny traffic jam on the first night of the summer concert series in the park just down the street from us.

4th of July! We did a little bit of everything that day...ended by fireworks! We had parked near a movie theater so, instead of braving the traffic to get out - we went and saw "Get Smart" - it was fun! (That sounds a little like an elementary school report "it was fun") So on that note - I'll finish with a poem that I wrote in elementary school...

I like the 4th of July
It's when the fireworks fly
It makes a big, big boom
When the fireworks zoom

FIRE!!!

You may have heard that hundreds of wildfires are burning in Northern California. Beyond hearing about them, we're smelling them, feeling it in our breathing, and seeing the soot that has come in from our bathroom window being open. It smells sort of like a campfire...

Here's a short write-up on the situation: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gwSSrT7-LciDlr1tYmyE9e19oX9QD91GKFNO2

A Photo Update!
Our weekend, minus a few activities, plus a few details, summed up in photos!

We've attended two MLB games since we've been out here. One A's game - versus Detroit - in a luxury box with Tyler Martin and friends (THANKS Tyler)! This past Friday evening we went to AT&T Park in San Francisco and watched the A's beat the Giants.

We were also in a luxury box at AT&T Park thanks to our friend Erin's employer! Erin's husband, Bob, works at Grace with Luke and we've enjoy spending time with them since we've been here. One added highlight of being in the luxury box was running into Kristi Yamaguchi in the hallway! I could have reached out and touched her. She was honored before the game with a Giant's jersey...for winning "Dancing with the Stars"...I think!

On Saturday, Luke and I headed back into the city. Before heading in, we met up with our friends Garth and Dan. We knew Garth from Seattle and he's now living in Los Angeles. Dan and his wife, Claire, live about 20 minutes from us. Once in San Fran, we enjoyed walking around Union Square. We had a yummy and affordable dinner at "King of Thai Noodle House" and then...

...we went to Border's to enjoy an in-store concert by Sam Philips.
This is what had taken us into SF in the first place.


On Sunday afternoon, we hiked "The Dish" with our friend Bonny. The weather was perfect! Once we got past the incredible uphill start, we really enjoyed our time. :) Bonny then treated us to Fraiche - frozen yogurt!

The Dish (it is very large!)

Blogging?

I'm not sure why I'm so hesitant to "start" blogging. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to "get going"? (Other than having a baby...? :)) I think that pictures help blogs so...that will be my next step to being a better blogger

Other items for suggestion:

• Good summer reading?
• How to handle an upstairs neighbor who is a light sleeper? Closing the lid on our toilet or opening our closet doors and walking seem to wake her up...
  

Things here in California are going pretty well! We're feeling a bit more settled, although I still don't have my clothes unpacked...

In the past week I:

• Ruined clothing at the laundromat - black pens and industrial dryers don't go well together!
• Interviewed for a job - the guy interviewing me was younger than me! It would have been a lot of hours and little pay so, i passed.
• Went to an A's game - in a luxury box! A new friend with season tickets had access and had a sort of "celebration" to welcome us. Fun stuff!
  
• Had dinner with Luke's cousin - Scott and his family live in the area and have recently welcomed a new baby!
• Connected with more people on facebook!
• And a handful of other things like starting to have people over for dinner and games!
  

I'm enjoying exploring by foot! We live withing walking distance to a couple of grocery stores (including a Trader Joe's), and about a 20 minute walk from a mall! Not having a job can get expensive! I've been trying not to let it though...

So, selling a house is not for the faint of heart! At least not selling our house across the country :). I'll spare you the details but it has gotten a little bit hairy!

This week I'm looking forward to:

• A Giants game - also in a luxury box!
  
• Lunches and breakfasts - with new friends!
• Hanging things on our walls!

Until next time....

We're in California!

Hey all...I think that I'm going to try to start blogging...?! For the time being...here is a quick update -

Luke and I just moved to California! Luke is the new worship director at Grace Presbyterian Church in Silicon Valley (Palo Alto/Stanford University area). We're living in a little apartment in Menlo Park. We arrived here a little over a week ago and our things (POD #1) were delivered yesterday...a little later than expected! We also found a car yesterday - 1996 Volvo Wagon :). So, now it is time to get settled! Luke leads worship for the first "official" Sunday tomorrow morning...got to get some sleep!

Our new mailing address is: 932 University Drive, #1, Menlo Park, CA 94025

Life in a small college town...
So, I often am amused by the "quirks" of living in a small town and figured I might as well share them...it is ok if no one reads them. (Jen, thanks for the push to update this more than once a year!) We love Clemson and Pendleton but also like to laugh about things that seem so simple but well, sometimes aren't so simple...like getting a cup of coffee at 7pm on a Wednesday evening...

Tonight, Luke and I went out to see "Bee Movie" at The Astro (more affectionately known at "The 'Stro") It is the fantastic $2 theater in Clemson. The internet said that the movie started at 7pm but when we arrived, it actually was scheduled to start at 7:30...so, what to do. Let's get coffee. Where? Jittery Joe's? OK. So, we drove to Jittery Joe's...closed!! Ah, yes - school is out so things shut down. Where now, well, after eliminating other options because they were either too far away, probably closed, or involved going to the grocery store for coffee, we ended up at Sonic (if you aren't familiar with this chain - www.sonicdrivein.com) which now that I think of it is a year old here in Clemson! We enjoyed our Carmel Mocha Lattes (the total cost for 2 was $4.77 - quite the value, don't you think!?). We enjoyed them while staring across the street at the Starbucks that is under construction...what is happening to our small town?!?! Starbucks!!! After sitting in the car for 20 minutes - listening to the new Alison Krauss and Robert Plant album - we headed back to the movie theater. And yes, the movie was cute...