Friday, February 15, 2013

What to do . . .?

When you are super behind on something like blogging or scrapbooking--I'm behind on both, by the way--where do you start?  Do you go back, start where you left off, and try valiantly to catch up?  Or do you just start with today (or the recent past) and move forward, filling in the giant gap as you can?  I've heard before with scrapbooking that you should do the latter, but I'm not sure if it would work all that well for blogging.  What say you, fellow bloggers?

Anniversary Weekend

On February 5th my husband, Tobin, and I celebrated 14 years of wedded bliss.  And by bliss I mean lots of hard work, trials, tears, fun, love, laughter, triumphs, miracles, and everything in between.  Tobin's fabulous brother and sister-in-law took our kids for TWO nights so that we could get away for the weekend.  Did I mention they are awesome?!?!

Due to several factors, including our goals to pay off debt, we decided to stay close to home--a staycation of sorts.  We made a bid of Priceline and ended up at the Pleasanton Marriott.  That's about 45 minutes from our home.  We had such a fun weekend together!  It was really nice to get away without any kids or other distractions and just enjoy each other.  We were spoiled with lots of alone-together time for the first seven years of our marriage.  (read: we had no children)  Now, with two six-year-olds and two two-year-olds, life is crazy!  I'm learning more and more how important it is to nurture my relationship with my husband.  It's far too easy to let it get swept aside by all of the other obligations in a busy family life.

We didn't plan anything specific to do during the weekend.  We saw a movie, went out to brunches and dinners, went to the Oakland temple, tried out the hotel's outdoor hot tub (which was really only warm), did a bit of walking and shopping, etc. 


We had sushi on Friday night; it was possibly the best sushi I have ever eaten.  Sooo delicious! 

California Roll and ?
 
Moonlight Roll
 
Shrimp Tempura

 I ended up packing at the last minute because I tried to get everything else done first. I figured it wouldn't be too hard to throw a few things in a bag for us; we were only going for two nights, after all. I did pretty well, but forgot a couple of essential things like a comb and brush. Don't you think our hair looks good in the picture at the temple? That was just before we headed to a store to get a brush and comb. Luckily, short, curly hair styles pretty easily without any tools.



A beautiful day at the Oakland Temple
 
View of Oakland and San Francisco from the temple

 
The weather was so clear we could see the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge from the temple.

We really enjoyed the time to ourselves! And now we are back to reality in full force, including Tobin's busy season and the older twins' baseball season. Whew!




This One Is For Sarah Elkins!

My sister, Sarah Elkins, is having a baby shower tomorrow.  She and her husband are expecting a new bundle of joy, due in May.  However, the baby seems to want to arrive sooner than that!  I want to make the baby a quilt, but Sarah and her husband are waiting to find out the sex of the baby until he or she is born.  What a fun surprise!  Because of this, I am waiting to make their baby quilt.  :)  I have sketched out an original idea.  Something I've never tried before, so I hope it turns out well.  I'm actually really excited about it.  Now I just need to know the baby's sex so I can finish the plan and make sure I have enough of the right color(s) of fabric.  I can't wait to find out!

Once the quilt is done, I'll certainly post pictures here so you can all see how cute the quilt is.  (If it doesn't turn out well, then there won't be any pictures.  ha ha ha!  You might have to wonder for a long time which way it goes, based on my most recent blogging frequency.  ;))

I love you, Sarah!  I hope your party tomorrow is super fun!