Out with 2012 and in with 2013

Since it is already 2013 and I have been pretty awful at blogging this past year I thought I would do a little recap of 2012 to send it on its way and bring in 2013

January:

~ the Man came home from being deployed overseas for 5 1/2 months

~ Rented an apartment online without ever looking at it or the neighborhood it was in scary stuff that ended up turning out really well for us!

February:

~ booked a moving truck & packed up all of our stuff to move across the country

~ drove from California to Maryland in 4 days at 34 weeks pregnant

~ the Man became apart of the Navy Reserves instead of reenlisting as active duty Navy

March:

~ Started my job in its new location I kept my same job but transferred from CA to MD, so different people to work with

~ the Man got enrolled in college for the summer

~ We bought a new car

~ the Man found a job

~ the moving truck delivered all of our stuff

April:

~ Celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary well kind of, we had planned on going out to eat and to the movies a couple days later but I decided that our new apartment was a disaster and not ready for a baby to come home to yet so we stayed home that night and then I ended up going into labor

~ Welcomed the most amazing little boy into our lives

~ My mom came out and visited and met Jackson for the first time

May:

~ the Man's parents came out and visited and met Jackson

~ My dad & sister drove out to visit us and deliver a few things from WI

~ the Man started his college classes

June:

~ Celebrated my 27th birthday with a visit from two amazing friends! Still can't believe you pulled off that surprise

~ My maternity leave ended

~ Nicki came out to babysit for a couple weeks until the Man and I were on opposite shifts

July:

~ the Man switched from days to 2nd shift

~ the Man finished up his summer college classes

~ Jackson started to laugh and smile when he thought things were funny not just when he was sleeping

August:

~ Took a vacation to Wisconsin

~ Jackson's first plane ride

~ Jackson was baptized

~ Celebrated the Man's 26th birthday with friends in WI

September:

~ the Man started the fall semester of college

~ the Man switched to working 3rd shift

~ We took Jackson to his first baseball game, the Brewers played the Nationals

October:

~ Jackson and I flew to WI by ourselves

~ Celebrated my Mom & Bill's wedding

~ Jackson turned 6 months

~ Jackson's bottom 2 teeth popped threw

~ Jackson started to eat real food

~ Jackson started to crawl and with that get into EVERYTHING

~ Took Jackson trick-or-treating for the first time

November:

~ Celebrated Thanksgiving with new friends in MD

~ Jackson started pulling up on furniture and moving around it

~ Welcomed our niece Dahlia to the family we cannot wait to meet her!

December:

~ the Man finished the fall semester of college

~ we celebrated our first Christmas as a family of 3

~ the Man's parents came out and visited for Christmas

~ ended up signing a lease at our current apartment for another year
~ Jackson's 3rd tooth popped threw

I know that I probably missed a ton of milestone's and things that have happened this past year.  Overall 2012 was a pretty amazing year filled with tons of ups and a few downs.  I know both Josiah & I are looking forward to see what 2013 has in store for us and our family.

Happy New Year to all of you and your family's. Here's to family, faith, love and new adventures & opportunities in 2013!

Our Style....at least for now

Since the little man is sleeping and I have tons of actual work to do I find my self wanting to write a blog post....I really need to learn to stop procrastinating!

Moving out of the great state of Wisconsin has enlightened the Man and I on quite a few different things.  People in other states really don't drink as much as people in WI. There really are way more religions than the typical 3 or 4 you usually come across in WI.  Speaking only 1 language really does make you a minority pretty much every where else in the country!  And this last one is what the whole post is about: There are many different ways to parent and raise your child.

Now Time Magazine recently put out an article about attachment parenting. Now before I moved to California I had NO idea as to what attachment parenting was.  The Man does not like to jump on "bandwagons" or "fads".  And to him that is exactly what attachment parenting is.  But what this "fad" did was open our eyes to a different way than either one of us had ever thought to parent. We thought we owed it to Jackson to at least look into all the options for everything that pertained to him and make the best decision from that.

So far here is where we are at on some of the different issues:
- we formula feed
- we use disposable diapers
- we immunize at the recommended times
- at night he sleeps in a pack-n-play next to our bed (we do not co-sleep)
- I own 2 ring slings and love to wear the baby when its not to warm out
- we didn't let him cry it out at all until he was 3 months old (now we will not let him cry for more than 10 min.)

Now the whole thing that started this post was that the Man and I are now looking into Baby Led Weaning. It is a different way to go about feeding your baby solids than the normal purees. When I first heard about people I knew doing this I found it really odd.  The more I thought about it though the more it made sense. I personally am a VERY picky eater and I do not want my kid to grow up and be a picky eater. Josiah totally agrees with me on this reason and the fact that it will get us eating better and more diverse meals.

Since we didn't know a whole lot about it and what it all entailed we purchased 2 books off of amazon: Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide to Introducing Solid Foods and Helping Your Baby to Grow Up a Happy and Confident Eater and The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook. We are currently reading the books but from what we have learned from Google & in our reading this is something that we want to try.

Sorry about the super long post just to get to 1 little point.  But look for more posts on how our BLW is coming along and if we stick with it or find out it is not something we want to continue with.

3 days and some odd hours

So I have been a really horrible blogger lately...there are a few reasons for it, not sure if they are 'actual' justifiable reasons but none the less they are reasons. First off, the Man is home and after him being gone for almost 6 months it is awesome having him back.  Secondly, I have been more tired than I have EVER been during this entire pregnancy!  And lastly to say we have been busy planning/getting ready to move across the country would be an understatement!!

So on to what is actually going on....

Last week the movers came and picked up all our stuff.  If you have ever dealt with a moving company before you will completely understand how frustrating it can be.

This is what happened: they called on Friday and said they would be there Monday.  So we rushed to pack EVERYTHING we owned over the weekend.  

just the stuff in the kitchen...the living room, and spare bedroom looked just like this!!

Monday came and we packed up the last few things and waited and waited some more and then waited some more.  Once 4 p.m. rolled around we were a little concerned and not really that impressed.  So we called the company and they kindly informed us they weren't coming till Tuesday morning which happened to be right when I needed to be on the phone for a work conference call, how convenient! So I call my boss and explain that there is a chance I won't be on the call.  10 min. later the moving company calls back and informs they won't be there now until sometime Wednesday afternoon, really people you changed your pick-up time in 20 min!  So finally Wednesday afternoon the movers got here and loaded all 100 and something items we had as we just sat there and watched.

So now the Man and I have been living in our apartment with basically nothing, not even joking.  We currently have 2 suitcases with clothes, an air-mattress, 2 lawn chairs, some old knives, 2 small cookie sheets and then our computers and my work printer.  As you can imagine at 33 weeks pregnant I am extremely uncomfortable and I am pretty sure every day is a battle for me to be in a good/positive mood about the surroundings.  I am really hoping that the moving truck arrives at our new place the day after we do so I don't have to sit in another lawn chair for a really really long time!!! I am totally not counting on that happening and I am figuring that we will be with the same things for at least a week in our new apartment...makes me want to cry just thinking about it!

the latest in living room furniture!

But the good side of things we are leaving on our road trip in about 3 days...it all depends on when I get done with work on Wednesday.  To say the Man and I are excited does not even come close to how we feel about getting out of this 'black hole' of a town.  We are over the moon excited to basically start a whole new life in a completely different location. 

I would like to apologize for the extremely lengthy & wordy post...I will work on taking more pictures and posting more often once we are all settled in!

Week 30 :)

OMG!! is all I really have to say about that...I mean our baby will be here in 10 weeks or so this is still mind-blowing!

The Scoop:

Weeks Pregnant ~ 30 weeks, day 3

Size of Baby ~ 15.7 in. or the size of cabbage

Baby's Weight ~ should be 2.75 lbs. but we all know that this little guy is on the large size so I can tell you his approximate weight after my appointment next week.

My Weight ~ we are at a total weight gain of 22 lbs.  My doctor has also now told me that I should try to only gain another 13 lbs. the rest of this pregnancy.  So we will see how that goes and if it will happen with the amount of eating out I will be doing with moving and everything.

What's New ~ Well so far week 30 has been a little rough I am really hoping week 31 is a lot better! I am more tired now than I think I have ever been during this entire pregnancy.  It is like week 30 came and stole every ounce of energy I had.  The baby has also been pushing on my sciatic nerve which is not pleasant at all and I am hoping he moves and never finds that nerve again to push on.  I have also had a few ok maybe a lot of mood swings...I really think this has a lot to do with the lack of sleep I have been getting.  For some reason I haven't been able to fall asleep at night and then I am waking up every 2-3 hrs to switch sides or pee it really has gotten old I am hoping that our baby will be sleeping through the night in no time :)

Purchased Items ~ We were doing so good at not buying things until I had a pretty big breakdown you can read about it here. It now has become really hard not to continue buying stuff.  Everything is so cute and I really think our baby needs it or would love to have it.  I don't know how you other mom's control yourself!!

Bump Pic ~

I am going to miss the weather & orange trees!

I know this isn't a bump pic but it's from that day and its of us while on our walk :)

a BIG change

Since sometime this summer the Man and I have been seriously talking about moving and what the next year was really going to have in-store for us.  Again because I am a little scattered brained I am not sure if I have mentioned that the Man is getting out of the Navy...well kind of...instead of being active duty he is going to be a reservist.  Both of us were glad for everything the Navy has done for us but we are both ready for a change.  

Back to where I was originally going with this post...

With the decision made to no longer be active duty we needed to decide what we wanted to do and where we wanted to live.  Both of us are not big fans of living in California and really wanted to try and somehow get back to or closer to our families.  Because I really really like my job we thought it would be pretty awesome to transfer my job...this way we weren't both unemployed and starting in a new city.  

So the search was on for my job to be open in a different state....first we thought we might go to Texas or Virginia, well both of those positions ended up being a down grade from my current job...so the hunt was still on.  While inquiring about the position in Virginia, we learned of a potential opening in the spring of 2012....this would be perfect for us, since the Man would be active duty till this time.

Well long story short ok maybe its not that short after talking to what would/will be my new boss the position is open and I will be doing my current job in Maryland!  We will be in the Washington D.C. area, just on the northern Maryland side of it.  So without knowing anyone or ever being in the area I am not counting the field trip after 8th grade since I don't really remember anything useful from that trip, sorry Mom & Dad!! we are going to just pick up and move there.  It is a little very scary thought but I think hope together we will love it.

I am sure I will have more posts about this subject that will probably clarify parts of this post that might not make sense due to the baby stealing my brains and making me a scatter-brained forgetful person

Thanks!!

Well Nicki has been gone for almost a week now.  I really do miss her cooking for me!  But soon enough I will be on vacation in WI for the holidays and then the Man will be home.

When Nicki decided to come and live with me for 4 months I wanted to make sure she actually got to do some cool/fun shit.  So now that she is gone I thought I would recap some of the notable things that we did.

August:
- Motley Crue & Poison concert
- She got to meet the baby for the first time

September:
- Went to Las Vegas for a night

October:
- Watched the Blue Angels at the airshow on base
- Dad came to visit
- Went to Yosemite National Park
- Went to Monterey Bay & the Monterey Bay Aquarium
- Saw the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra perform the Wizard of Oz

November:
- Went to San Diego for the weekend
- Got to experience 2 hours of stand-still traffic on our way to San Diego
- We found out the sex of the baby
- Had our first Black Friday shopping experience

Overall I think we did a lot of fun things.  So I have to say thanks to Nicki for only taking 1 college class this semester so I wouldn't have to live by myself for so long.
  

San Diego Trip

This past weekend Nicki and I decided to visit a friend of mine down in San Diego.  Part of the reason for picking this exact weekend to go was that the Packers happened to be playing the Chargers there.  So we thought it would be fun and exciting to watch the game together.

The entire weekend was amazing!  We did not have ANYTHING planned besides to watch the Packer game on Sunday.  Oh I lied Nicki and I did have my friend Ali make us appointments to get our hair cut while we were down there.  If you saw how my hair turned out the one time I had it cut in the almost 2 years of living here you would drive any distance to get a good hair cut and eyebrow wax :)

I had to work Friday morning but we managed to leave the house by 1:30 which our ETA was 6:30 or somewhere close to there.  Little did we know ok well we kind of figured but didn't think it would be as bad as it was we hit L.A. traffic at 4 p.m.  So our scheduled 5-6 hour drive turned into an 8 hour trip!  It wouldn't have been so bad except for 2 1/2 hours we drove a total of 18 miles ANNOYING! Even that wouldn't have been so bad except I was tired, hungry & had to pee!  Like every trip we take over 15 min long Nicki and I packed some snacks...I am pretty sure I ate 90% of the snacks we had in that 18 mile stretch and I might have even told Nicki that she was not allowed to eat ANY of my crackers.  Sorry Nicki, I know you were hungry too but at that time I was not willing to share with anyone.

We finally made it to our destination at 9:30 p.m. The next day we went to our hair appointments and we both now feel so much better about life  who knew a haircut and eyebrow wax could do that! Then Saturday night we went out downtown to the Gaslamp District. Nicki got to ride a mechanical bull while having a bunch of random Packer fans cheer her on and was easily the best bull rider of the night at least while we were there.  We went to a few other places and overall just had a really relaxing night people watching and listening to good music at a few different types of bars.

Sunday morning we decided to travel to Coronado to go over the giant bridge and check out Coronado Island.  It was a little on the cold side but other than that it was very fun seeing the ocean/beach and the Hotel del Coronado. We also checked out Seaport Village which is full of all sorts of shops.  And then it was time for the big game!  Happy to say that the Packers won :)

Our drive home was SO much better than the drive there! We made it home in 5 hours and that included 2 stops along the way.  We did have to leave before the game was over to beat the traffic but I think Nicki would agree with me that it was worth it.

I really should have taken some pictures while I was there but it was such a relaxing weekend that it didn't really occur to me.  So sorry that this is such a long, wordy post!

Monday Market

So this past week Nicki and I were lucky enough to have our Dad come visit us.  While he was here we did a few different things.  One of the small adventures we had was going to the Monday Market in the neighboring town.  I have always wanted to go but was honestly to scared to go by myself...so I made my Dad and Nicki check it out with me.

The Monday Market is a flea market type event that happens every Monday from 6 a.m. till 2 p.m. Because it is there EVERY Monday I didn't think it would be a very large thing but was I ever wrong!  This was probably the largest flea market I have ever been too.  I wish I would have taken more pictures of how many people were there shopping and with booths set up.  You could buy things like fresh fruit & veggies, spices, clothes, purses, jewelry, new furniture, garage sale type items, dish network, or if you really wanted there were a couple people selling birds.  It was crazy and never ending.  We ended up purchasing some oranges, grapes and churros.  Oh and we also tried Cocos Frios....it is a cup of cut up fruit (we had watermelon) that they then put some spices and lime juice on top of it the only reason we tried it was when I first moved here someone told me that I had to try cocos frios because it was amazing....They were wrong!  Watermelon should not be spicy and salty with a hint of lime.  So we ended up throwing most of it away but at least I can say I tried it.

Ok enough with the words and on to some photos!

baskets of peanuts

Candies

Baby Window Shopping!!

I am not sure if I mentioned this in an earlier post or not but the Man and I decided early on in the pregnancy that we would not buy anything for the baby until 20 weeks.  When we first made that decision I didn't think it would be that hard to wait but at 17 weeks, it seems like it is taking FOREVER to get to 20 weeks!!  So to help with my urge to purchase tons of cute/fun baby stuff I have been online window shopping.  On that note I thought I would start to share some of the things I like and maybe someday will make mine :)

Here are some things I have found on one of my favorite sights Etsy all pictures link to product

I love this quote and think it would be perfect on a chalkboard wall in the baby's room

If only we didn't rent so we could make a chalkboard wall...maybe a large chalkboard table will have to do

I think getting a hanger with our baby's name would be awesome to have for their baptismal gown

Is this football hat not the cutest thing EVER!  Is California too warm for a crocheted hat???

I am not sure if I would buy this or try to recreate it myself but I think it would be perfect for our baby

So true! These words will some how make it into our home

How cool is this! You scan them an ultrasound picture and they hand paint it on to a canvas in the colors of your choice

I am hoping to have the Man make something similar to this for our baby.  I want to use it as a changing table on top and then storage bins below (not wooden but the ones from target) I haven't told the Man about this little project yet but I am sure he will be thrilled to help make my idea come to life :)

Vegas...the city of lights, the city that never sleeps, or in my case the city that takes all your money in a very short period of time!

Earlier this week I had the privilege of driving to Las Vegas for work.  We would only stay one night and my hotel was completely paid for.  Being the good sister that I am Nicki has never ever been to Vegas I decided to bring her with for the 2 day trip. 

Here is about how the trip went:

~ Drove 6 hours with 2 stops along the way

~ Found our hotel in North Las Vegas not near the strip but very close to the base I was working at the next morning

~ Took a $45 cab ride to the strip Yep thats right $45 one way cab ride just so I could let my sister experience the strip for the first time

~ Saw some crazies while walking along the strip

~ Gave Nicki $20 so she could actually gamble You guessed it, she came to Vegas with $12 in her pocket...she some how managed to lose her debit card & drivers license in the 2 months she has been living with me 

~ Walked the strip closer to our hotel in hopes of a cheaper cab ride back...Took a cab back and paid in cash this time so it only was a $35 ride

~ Went to bed, woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed whatever that is suppose to mean

~ Gave Nicki the iPad, $20 and the spare car key and told her to wait for me at the food court till I was done with work.  I worked over 4 hours.

~ Left Vegas to start our 6 hour journey home but decided to stop at the casino on the Nevada/California border for lunch.

~ Decided to try our luck at gambling again. Nicki lost what she had left from the money I gave her earlier and I ended up winning $35.  

~ Drove the rest of the way home. Had to wait in road construction for about almost an hour.

So that about summarizes our 2 day trip to Las Vegas and back.  It was a lot of fun jamming out to 'family-sing-a-longs' during the car rides.  The only part that sucked was having to get up super early the rest of the week to work...but I guess thats life! 

HUGE downfall

This time of year makes me really happy for a couple reasons: 1.) love the fall weather 2.) getting closer to hunting season & the holidays 3.) football begins

Now living in WI is the reason I fell in love with all of those things and living in CA is making it really difficult to enjoy all of those things!!

 Average high temp where we live is in the 100's with a low in the upper 60's...this does not equal the hoodie weather that I enjoy once 4th of July is over with.  


Now hunting season and the holidays are not even close to the same experience they were just a couple years ago.  No large family get togethers with 10 different Christmas' and 3 different Thanksgiving dinners....just 1 of each and usually with only one or two other people. 


Football season is the reason I wrote this blog entry.  I LOVE to watch Packer & Badger games and now I am stuck watching 3 California teams that I could really care less about.  Which forces me to watch the games online, not exactly the same experience. 

Lunch Date

Yesterday I had the privilege of having lunch with Lu Lu and Lance.

I was super excited when Lu told me they were making a trip out to CA and road tripping from San Francisco down the coast to San Diego!  The closest they would get to where I live was Monterey.  Again I was very excited by this because I have heard great things about Monterey but I had never been there.  So naturally I agreed to meet them there for lunch....now anyone that happens to know where I live and then knows where Monterey is probably thinks I am crazy! hey now keep your comments to yourself!  It is about a 3 hour drive one way....ok so maybe I am a little crazy for driving round trip 6 hours just to have lunch.


I have to say lunch was amazing! We ate at the Cannery Row Brewing Co. If you ever get the chance to go to Monterey this is defiantly a place to check out.  


I did end up spending about 3 hours in Monterey between lunch and walking around the boardwalk.  Very cool place and I am hoping to go back with my sister this fall to check out the aquarium.

Here are a few photos from the trip!

The bathrooms where we at lunch were in the basement and the walls down the stairs were 

chalkboards for everyone to write on

 

Airport Frustrations!

As I promised in the previous post, I am doing a "flashback" post.  To get everyone fully up-to-speed I might repeat a few things already stated.....you will just have to deal with it :)

On to the point...

I traveled back to Wisconsin unexpectedly Sunday June 19th and was to return to California late Thursday June 23. Here is how the trip from FAT to CWA went:
   - First flight departed at 7:00 am, by 7:30 the guy sitting in the isle seat was telling me a little too much about his life and how he was going to party it up in Miami while being there on a business trip.  By 7:45 the same guy bought himself 2 bloody marys and me 1.  8:15 the same guy was now sing and dancing to some great 80's & 90's music  very very funny.  9:00 same guy are you noticing a trend on this flight???? bought my a 2nd bloody mary and himself a 3rd  keep in mind that he proceeded to tell me that it was on his wifes credit card and that since it was father's day it was ok.  By now I am laughing really hard at this guy and personally think he might be going through a mid-life crisis but it doesn't end here.  He ends up passing out by 10 am and sleeping the entire rest of the flight.....I went the opposite direction as he did when we got off the plane even though he offered to buy me lunch


   - My next two flights weren't that interesting so I don't have much to say about them.....they did however arrive on-time and everything was great in Dallas and Chicago that is where my 2 layovers were


Now for the trip from CWA to FAT:
   - Get to CWA to find out that the previous flight from Chicago to LAX was cancelled, so they put me on other flights just in case mine got cancelled as well.  Then find out that my plane is delayed over an hour....panic now is setting in because I realize I will have about a 10 min. window to get off of this plane and run to my board my next flight in Chicago


   - Landed in Chicago, got off the plane super fast but ended up that my carry-on, which was stowed underneath the plane,  was one of the last ones unloaded.  So I ended up missing my connecting flight.  No worries at CWA they already booked me on a totally different route so I am still good to go just postponed about 2 hours  at least that is what I thought!  Get to my new gate and go to get my ticket and then learn that now that plane is delayed by 45 min.  OMG this is getting annoying!!!   I finally board that plane to realize that when I land in Phoenix I once again have about a 25 min window to get to my next flight....Oh wait there is a light bulb out on the plane make that now a 10 min window.  


   -  Got to Phoenix and didn't get off the plane as fast as I would have liked or needed too.  So I end up missing that connecting flight by about 10 min too.  So now I go to the terminal that I need to be in and they kindly inform me that there are 5 daily flights from Phoenix to Fresno  I was extremely excited for about a second  but the earliest one they could get me on was at 8 pm on Friday, mind you it is about 11:30 pm on Thursday....that is a long frickin time to spend in one airport!  They do inform me that I should be able to fly stand-by and get on one of the 3 earlier flights and that I should be able to go back to the terminal I came from and get a free hotel room from the airline that brought me to Phoenix.  So I went back to the other terminal by the way this is not that easy of a process, just for the record and just as my luck would have it there was not a single person working and I was told that the earliest anyone would be in was around 4 am  CAN I CATCH A BREAK YET!!!!  So I go back to the terminal that I will be flying out of sometime in the next 24 hours to sleep on the floor like a bum.  Got up at 4 am and got in line to get my stand-by ticket, went to go to my gate to realize that even thought I have not left the airport at all I had to go through security again.  Went to my gate to find out they switched the gate to the other side of the terminal....not cool!  First flight to FAT is boarding.....my stand-by ticket got me on the flight!!  YAY!!!


   -  Finally landed in Fresno at 11:30 Friday morning


Sorry that this was so long and maybe even boring for you.  It was extremely frustrating for me.  Moral of the story always bring a blanket/pillow or even both! Sleeping on an airport floor by yourself is not comfy at all.

cra·zi·ness

the only word to describe the last month: CRAZINESS!!

Let's quickly recap the last month  I might have to do a few "flashback" blogs to get completely caught up


1.) Made an unexpected trip back to Wisconsin to celebrate the life of my Grandma Halopka, she was an amazing person and is missed by many!!

2.) Had the worst travel experience on my way back to California to-date

3.) Home for 4 days before packing up and headed to San Jose to fly back to WI

4.) Had an incredible trip home: 4th of July in Phillips & at the Eau Plaine, Brother-In-Law's wedding the following weekend, and was able to see tons of family and friends that I don't talk to enough.  there were many people I did not get to see that I really really wanted to, SORRY!!


5.) Flew back to CA after 12 days in WI

So now here I am trying to get back into the swing of things...

"Potential Dates" with the Man

When the Man gets home I have a few things I would like to do:  "Potential Dates"
these are in no particular order


1.) Watch the movie the Hangover 2

The first one was amazing and this trailer makes the second one look even better!

2.) Take a trip to Yosemite National Park 

I don't think these pictures do it justice 

Tenaya Lake

Glacier Point

3.) Go Camping

       California has a lot of amazing places to camp.  We could go to the Sequioa's, somewhere near the ocean or even just a lake near Lemoore.  As long as it involves us, a camp fire, smores, and a tent I know it will be a good time.

4.) Relaxing Poolside

       I don't think this needs any explanation

These are just a few of the things I know I would like to do and I think the Man would also enjoy.  Hopefully we are able to go on a few of these "Potential Dates"

Trip to San Jose

Here are some photos from the trip to San Jose yesterday.

Happy cows do NOT come from California!
This is just one farm we drove by

San Jose State, where Nicki will be interning for the summer

On Campus

interpret this how you want, Nicki & I had our own thoughts as to what this resembled 

Giant cob of corn hanging in Target

Nicki's new roommate owns the largest can of tuna I have ever seen!!

4lbs of tuna!  I don't even know what you would do with that much tuna at one time.

Besides having to sit in stand-still traffic for 2 hours last night because of an accident, those pictures pretty much sums up our trip!!