brother, the birthday boy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRIS!!!

Today, my brother turns 25. For such an occasion there's only one thing to say.....

Well, not yet. The wild rumpus will be in 2 more days (Saturday). He's throwing a party at the house he just moved into with a few of his friends.

I'm sure we'll catch a few funny photos (costumes not included).

Love you, Chris. Hope you had a great day snowboarding. Wish I could have gone.

bubbles, piñata & cupcakes

Sunday, I accompanied Dom to his cousin's son's 4th birthday party. It was nice to see a lot of his family again. We were entertained watching all the kiddie party-goers play games outside, run around, and become mesmerized by BUBBLES! How cute is that little one. I'm sure she thinks he's magical :)

You can't really have a birthday without knocking around a monkey piñata :) I've actually hit one in Mexico...so basically I'm cooler than you. This little girl was so dainty and graceful.

Ethan, the birthday boy, digging into some froggy cupcakes. They were made with Funfetti cake mix, which is pretty much the best.

A gentleman...

...brings a girl flowers when he comes over for a dinner date :)

Aww Dom! (and Roxi)

I baked pork chops with a chili powder rub, a special corn salsa topping and sweet baked potatoes. For dessert we headed to Froyolife for some frozen yogurt. I love that place. Later, we watched Couples Retreat which was much funnier than I had expected. What started out as a rocky road kind of day ended up being a really sweet and special night. I like that kind of a Saturday night :)

my only way to nap

"This very moment is a seed from which the flowers of tomorrow's happiness grow."

-Margaret Lindsey

(I'm glad I had my phone nearby to snap a quick and quiet pic)

photo toys

I've had my new camera since a few days after Christmas and I finally bought an appropriate bag for it just yesterday. It's the Tamrac Adventure 6 Photo Backpack and a daypack in one. It has the lower compartment for the camera and my extra lens and the large top compartment is for personal items. It's perfect to carry a lunch, water, light sweatshirt, etc. The camo print fits well with my outdoorsy lifestyle...AND I figured it will encourage Dom to carry it for me ;)

I also bought this cool "Gorillapod." You can see for yourself what this little tri-pod can do. I can't wait to use it...it will come in handy on our hikes and while camping :)

Mmm...Froyo

I've been CRAVING some Froyolife Frozen Yogurt for probably a month now. Finally...satisfied. They always have new yogurt flavors. I have 2 words for you...RED VELVET! It's so goooood when it hits your lips ;)

I love all the random crazy toppings you can add.

Did I mention that........

????

Well, I do!!!

Silhouette sunsets

Aren't my 4 year old students talented? I think so! They learned the colors of a sunset and what a silhouette is. This project also gives them some early practice with watercolor paints.

A few less fish in the sea

Take a look at THIS perfectly delicious Valentine's Day Dinner :)

Ahi Tuna on a bed of fresh spinach, surrounded by baby carrots and green beans, drizzled with homemade Shitake mushroom vinaigrette.

My stepdad was once a gourmet chef and he only makes this dish on special occasions. My mother, aunt, uncle and cousin had the pleasure to thoroughly enjoy this meal as well.

Made with love, for the loved.

A Pre-Valentine's hike

We designated Saturday for a long hike. We haven't been on one in far too long, partially because the weather hasn't been favorable and Dom and I have both been sick. Now that both of those obstacles have cleared, gorgeous 80 degree weather on Saturday set us up for quite a day. We started later than we had planned, since we were out late and I had drinks the night before. We first drove to a hike we've previously done but it was too full and there wasn't any parking. Dom looked through the hiking book and we were off to the Monrovia Canyon Park. We first decided to hike 1.5 miles (round trip) to the Monrovia Canyon Falls. That's what these pics are from.

What a perfect day to be outdoors. There were lots of little stream crossings like this along the trail. I love the sound of water.

Edgy.

And here it is, the waterfall.

We took a short break to enjoy the falls and cool off. Roxi is always on alert.

No, that's not my new boyfriend...Dominic shaved off his beard and left only a mustache! He looks like a different person, it's pretty funny how some facial hair can make such a change. It probably also has to do with the fact that he hasn't been without his goatee in 12 years. I've never seen his naked chinny chin chin. He's still handsome...and still a goof ;)

After we hiked back to the parking lot, we drove to a higher lot to hike the Ben Overturff Trail. It unfortunately begins with the mile long Sawpit Fire Road that got pretty steep at times. A shorter dirt road continues and then the trail finally begins. Now, it could have been because of the drinking from the night before but MAN parts of this hike kicked my butt. Usually, Dom is the one to slow down first but he was ahead of me and going strong up the steepest parts of the trail.

Along this trail, you come to the top of the Sawpit Dam, but gates keep you off the grounds. Another sight off the trail is the Trask Boy Scout Camp. The trail is very scenic and takes you along mountain sides and into the woods along creeks and under large shady trees. We got hungry and stopped to boil water in Dom's new JetBoil and then poured it into a freeze-dried meal pack. Mmmm Louisiana Red Beans & Rice :) Just pour, seal it, shake it up and let stand for 13 minutes and it serves 2. It was surprisingly GOOD!

At one point I thought I had to quit because I felt blisters forming on my heels and sharp pain was building up. Dom helped my carry on by putting mole skin on my heels and tying my laces a bit tighter. On our way back we came across a little salamander in the middle of the trail. Down the one mile paved road we went, our knees hurting because of the steepness. Almost 6 miles (round trip) later, we're back at the truck. With the waterfall hike, we completed about 7 miles that day. This was the workout we've been looking forward to.

Dom's got more pics on his camera, I'll post em soon :)

Friday, February 12th...

...was a GREAT day!!! Here's how it went down....

• Pay day $$$
• THE day I've been waiting for to make my FINAL credit card payment...
• I'm DEBT FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I still can't believe it. I owe nothing :)
• I sent home my students' beautiful Valentine's projects. I was so pleased with them

4 year olds project...recreating Jackson Pollock's work with marbles and paint

4-5 year olds art recreating Robert Indiana's famous LOVE icon and sculpture using finger prints

*See the entry "HEART art" a few entries back for the 5-6 year old Jim Dine project*

This one is my favorite from the class. 6-7 year old's Jim Dine heart mosaic using torn construction paper, then use Mod Podge to seal it and give it a finished glossy appearance.

7 year olds learned to draw a 3-D figure, a cube.

8 year old's Jim Dine complimentary color, watercolor hearts.

• I received the cutest Valentine's cards and gifts (soap, earrings, chocolates, rose, $20) from my students
• It was a gorgeous 80 degree day
• I had a lovely vase of flowers along with a very sweet card delivered to me AT WORK from Dominic :) It was completely unexpected and I couldn't stop smiling :)

• I went on a dinner date at a new sushi lounge in Montrose called Sake (it's GREAT) with Dominic. Since they're new, they brought a free appetizer to the table. The ambiance is cool, we're definitely going back.
• Dom and I met my friends Kasia and Maggie at Leo's for drinks (jager bombs, patron, carona and dos xx amber). I felt like celebrating such a fabulous day.

Trying drying

One gift I got Dom for Christmas is a food dehydrator. We always mention how cool it would be to make our own dried food and jerky to take camping and hiking so we finally tried it a few weeks ago. We only dried Granny Smith apples and some bananas. I'm pretty sure they were in there for about 9 hours (over night), but the bananas should have stayed in a bit longer. The apples taste great and are perfect.

Once more fruit come into season we'll try more. I'm most excited about drying mangos. The BEST dried mangos I've had were in Hawaii. I miss them.

puzzled

All through the rains and during Dom's "mandatory evacuations" I REALLY had an itch to do a puzzle while being stuck in the house. Well, that itch carried on even after the evac had lifted and I checked a few grocery and drug stores for one but had no luck. Finally, I found a decent 1000 piece box...the picture being a big field of flowers with a lake in the distance in front of mountains and a pinkish sky. Once I get going it's hard to stop! I think one morning I sat in bed and worked on it for 3 hours straight!

Dom didn't know what I was doing when I started out by separating the "edge" pieces from the rest. Doesn't everybody put the outside together FIRST???