2013 Goals

I know I haven't posted about Christmas yet but I wanted to get into New Years.  I haven't ever been very good at New Year's resolutions. I am more of the goal kind of person.  Last year's goals included things like: find a place to live in MD, manage to drive across the country and not have a baby, have a happy healthy baby and so on.  This year's goals are not so focused on moving & the baby and more focused on our entire family.

Goal #1
- Save $$$$ in our savings account, so that someday we can buy a house.  whether that is here or somewhere else in the U.S.

Goal #2
- Go to New York City for Jackson's 1st birthday. Living so far away from our friends and family means that Jackson doesn't really get a birthday party. We thought this would be a way to make his day/birthday week more special than every other day of the year.  We will also get to do something special for our anniversary since it is 3 days before Jack's birthday. This isn't going to be a long trip just a night or two but none the less it's still a trip.

Goal #3
- Make it back to Wisconsin as a family at least once.  The Man doesn't get much vacation and has school and reserves so this will actually be a little more difficult than people may think.  It is very important to us that Jackson knows his family and our friends.

Goal #4
- Go camping in Ohio (half way between our friends & us) with a bunch of our friends this June. We have been talking about doing a group trip or something for a couple years now.  This year I am really hoping that it actually happens.

Goal #5
- Save an additional $6,000 - $7,000 for a trip to Switzerland in January 2014.  The Man is half Swiss and a Swiss citizen.  He has always wanted to visit Switzerland. Since we don't live near family that would be able to watch Jackson for a week or longer and we do not know when/if we will be living closer to family in the next years to come.  So I proposed to the Man that we try and go in a year since Jackson will be under 2 and will fly for free. If we save up all this extra $$$$ the only way we will not be going is if I am pregnant or just had a baby...which neither is being planned since both of us really want to go to Switzerland!  If we don't go next January it could be another 5-10 years before we will be able to go again, so we look at it as we have to seize this opportunity to take Jackson and make a memory we will tell him about.

So there are our BIG goals for 2013. We also have other goals that probably don't seem so big but are just as important like: raise a super happy healthy little boy, love each other every day more than the day before, be better people and so on.

Visit from Friend(s)

A couple weeks back, my birthday week and the little man's 2 month birthday, we were lucky enough to have a couple friends visit us.  Well I should start by saying that we only knew about one of these friends coming out...little did I know that they booked their tickets together and decided to keep a HUGE secret from me by not telling me our other friend was also coming along.  I just have to say good job to both of you on keeping it a secret for so long.  I was completely surprised when I went to pick up Megan from the airport and found out Nadine was also there.  It actually didn't really sink in until we were back at the apartment that she was there....the baby was having a rough morning and might have had me a little frazzled!

It was awesome to get to see both of them again and that they were able to meet Jackson.  We did a lot of fun things while they were here.  The first thing they got to do was go to Jackson's 2-month appointment with me and watch him get 3 shots, ok so maybe that wasn't so much fun.  But after that we walked around Georgetown and grabbed a bite to eat.

The next day was my birthday and we did some touristy site-seeing in downtown D.C.  We saw a few different memorials, the White House and tons & tons of girl scouts...it just so happened they were celebrating 100 years of girls scouts that day. 

On Saturday we got to check out the Smithsonian National Zoo.  It was really awesome, especially since its a free zoo!!  It has been decided that if we are still living in this area Jackson will have his 3rd birthday party there...so everyone better start saving up to come celebrate with us!  After the zoo we went back and had a little pool time at the apartment and just relaxed since we had to get up at 3:30 a.m. to get them to the airport.

Enough with the words and onto a few photos!

 World War II Memorial

 Jackson enjoying site-seeing in downtown D.C.

 Almost all of us at the zoo

 Thirsty Nadine getting water from the Tiger at the Zoo

 Zoo

 Megan's obsessed with Smart Cars and got super super happy every time she saw one

 The White House

Nadine & Megan some what near the Washington Monument

I know I didn't do a great job summarizing their trip but free time is limited and I really should be sleeping instead.  I had an amazing time while they were here and I really hope they both come back out to visit again soon :)

All pictures were taken by either Josiah, Megan or Nadine

Happy Birthday To Who??? To Me!!

So I know I am way behind on A LOT of posts, so bare with me as I try and back track and catch up.

Last Friday it was my birthday.  In previous years this is one of the biggest events of the entire year for everyone I know, well at least that's what I like to believe.  I usually celebrate for at least a week if not the whole month of June.  For some reason this year it didn't seem as important to me as it has in the past.  I'm not sure if that's because I'm getting older or if it has to do with Jackson.  Either way my birthday still ended up being amazing without me making a big deal about it.

Two of our friends, Megan & Nadine, came out to visit us that week.  So on my actual birthday we did a little site-seeing in downtown D.C. The baby did an amazing job with all the site-seeing, he was super happy all day and even was awake when we stopped at the Lincoln Memorial.  It was the first time I rode the Metro without Josiah, which I thought was pretty awesome since I got us where we wanted to go without any troubles at all.  I did almost have a minor freak out when we got to the Metro station and the elevator was broken so we had to take the escalator.  It wouldn't have been so bad if it would have been a normal sized escalator but this thing was super steep and extremely long.  Little did I know that Megan has experience with strollers and escalators, she pretty much man-handled that thing!  Thanks Friend!!!

Photo courtesy of Megan....The HUGE escalator we took the stroller down and this isn't even from the top!

So all in all it was a pretty awesome day spent with the family and two great friends!!  Let's hope 27 is as good to me as 26 was!

Godparents

Because the Man and I decided to raise Jackson Catholic, which is what I am, we had the big task of choosing who we wanted to Jackson's godparents.  The Man doesn't have godparents and didn't really know what the purpose was for having them.  So like normal we Googled it...I have my own definition as to the purpose of godparents but we thought we should find the "official" reasoning.

Here is what the all truth telling Wikipedia told us: Traditionally, godparents were informally responsible for ensuring the child's religious education was carried out, and for caring for the child should he/she be orphaned. Today, the word godparent might not have explicitly religious overtones. The modern view of a godparent tends to be an individual chosen by the parents to take an interest in the child's upbringing and personal development.

Now here is my thoughts on godparents...it's similar to Wikipedia's: I think parents should choose people that they feel will help their child grow in ways that they might not be able to fulfill.  I do believe that they should help with the religious aspect.  I also think that godparents are their to help teach your child life lessons and to help them grow and become knowledgeable adults.  

With this in mind there immediately were a few people that came to mind who would be amazing godparents.  Traditionally and religiously you only have 2 godparents, a godmother & a godfather.  Sorry if everybody knows this stuff!  The Man and I debated for probably a good 6 months whether or not to have 2 or 4 godparents.  In the end we decided on 4 :)

The 4 people we choose are my sister Nicki, our friend Megan, my cousin Andy and our friend Kyle.  All 4 of these people bring something different to the table. None of these people are perfect...sorry guys!  But they all have had different experiences, attitudes and thoughts.  The Man and I our sure they will help Jackson grow into a very well-rounded adult.    

Thanks to Nicki, Megan, Andy & Kyle for agreeing to be such a big part of Jackson's life!  We can't wait to have his baptism when we are back in Wisconsin in August.

We are very lucky to have so many amazing people in our lives that will help us raise Jackson...even if its from miles and miles away!      

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!

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

 

4th of July in Wisconsin

Just in case there is someone out there that did not realize this but 4th of July is my FAVORITE holiday well except for my birthday 


This would be the first year the Man would come with me for all of the festivities.  I was also extremely lucky to have a few of my good friends join us up in Phillips for the weekend.  I hope they had as much fun as I did!!

Here are a few pictures from the first half of the weekend up in Phillips

Above: Me and Megan walking by the dam 

Above: View of the lake from the dam....I love this picture!! 

Above: Me enjoying a cocktail while on a peaceful pontoon ride 

Above: Latest family picture...Nicki couldn't make it home this year so we made a cardboard version

After 3 days there we moved to the Eau Plaine to celebrate the holiday with more family.....and boy was I impressed with the fireworks!!  I wish I could have taken a good picture of them but it just didn't happen, sorry!

Here are a few pictures from the Eau Plaine

Above: The Cabin 

Above: Boat ride with Meghan & Kelly 

Above: While on our boat ride we came across this bridge and fisherman 

Above: View of the lake from the cabin.....AMAZING!! 

Above: View from the boat waiting for the fireworks to start

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...

It's My Birthday!!!! The start of being closer to 30 than 20!

Today is my birthday! The day I look forward to the most every year. 

2 years old

Before we look at what 26 has to offer, lets see what happened at 25! 

Highlights of being 25:

• Started a new job (that I love)
• Took 2 trips back to Wisconsin
• Had visits from Megan, Josiah's Parents, my Mom & Bill, Nicki, and Chad & Carrie
• Went to see the Badgers play in Vegas, where I saw more friends from WI
• Went to see the Badgers play in the Rose Bowl, also met up with Kyle and his family
• Took another trip to Vegas to see Carrie
• Took a trip to San Francisco with the Man
• Met some awesome friends!
• Celebrated being married for a year (it went by really fast!) 

Overall 25 was a pretty good year for me. It defiantly had its downs but judging from the list above there were ALOT of highlights!

This years birthday cupcake

The start of 26

This years birthday was pretty good.  I brought cupcakes to the people I work with on almost a daily basis....they were AMAZING!!  I received tons of birthday wishes on facebook and in text messages, thanks again to everyone that wished me a Happy Birthday, and I even got a few phone calls :)  I ended the night with a birthday dinner at La Fiesta with two friends, Coleta & Kat.  

Lets hope the rest of 26 goes as well as today, if not better!  

I probably should have just made this two posts but oh well!