Happy New Year's Eve! While I am working hard and freezing to death the majority of you will be out partying like the rockstars you should of been, so as always just a friendly reminder that AAA will be offering their towing services for free again this year! Please Please Please use their services if you have been drinking, there is no good reason to drive home drunk!
The board has been pulled down, the boots have been dusted off and the clothes have been washed, now Mother Nature just needs to.........
My new goggles & hat!
Jill, Ricki, Melissa & I are off to Mammoth for a few days later on this week, I am so excited, yet a tad nervous (I cannot afford to break any bone in my body & I have never driven in snow) for this trip, there should be tons of snow and a lot of fun, catch me on Facebook & Instagram for updates from the slopes!
Gosh it looks as if I took a mini blogging break (two weeks?), things have been busy around here, but yet very little to report back to you all, so here is what I got! Work has been nuts, we are getting ready for our big New Year's Eve event and it is time to plan Spring programs and Summer Camps and I am just a tad bit behind (but soooo not my fault). My novice paddling friends and I celebrated the holidays on the 21st, oh my goodness it was one of the best parties I have ever been to! I met up with my childhood friends Kelly & Darcy Granger and Kelly's oh so adorable little boy Jace on Christmas Eve (wow, am I really that old that I can say childhood friends? I just about freaked out when I think about how they moved 20 years ago, there is no way I am that old). It was so nice to visit with them, sadly I do not have any photo's but Kelly does, so I will have snag some from her Facebook page as soon as she posts them. Christmas Eve night I had dinner with the parents and SuperMom out did herself as usual with an amazing prime rib dinner and fudge for dessert. We were all very lucky to have Santa come and visit us once again this year.
Don't mind the leaning tree!
The aftermath of Christmas morning!
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.
The contents of my stocking!
I was lucky enough to score a GoPro camera from my parents this year, woohoo! They probably bought it for me cause they are sick of hearing me talk about how much I wanted one. :) Seriously, I am so excited, I cannot wait to take it out paddling, snowboarding (I am going to Mammoth next week), bike riding and strapping it onto Gracie for some fun pictures and video's.
The family came over for Christmas dinner, it was so nice to see all of them so spirited with antlers and red noses.
Mari brought her babies and Cole came in disguise.
Cole & Mike
Auntie Janis & Anne
Umm, ya, AMAZING dinner!
My plate and yes, I ate it all!
Cole & Grampy trying to fly Cole's new toy!
Oh, Miss Mari!
I think I captured all of what has happened in the last two weeks, I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!
Well it looks as if this will be another bullet point post, I really need to get better at updating this thing on a more regular basis, it might make for a more interesting read.
Last Saturday was the DOCC Holiday Party, goodness this was a fun party! Jill had a Martini pre-party at her house and then we headed to San Juan for the DOCC party. I am guessing there were between 50-60 people there. As we walked in we were greeted by our coaches Rich & Tyson who were ultra-generous with their Fireball Whiskey ( I know it sounds nasty, but boy howdy was it good) and made us have some shots, lets just say 4 shots later I was all cozy and warm inside and feeling pretty good! Lol, I NEVER do shots, let alone Whiskey shots! Lets just say I was really tired the next day, but not hungover.
Jill & Tyson (Tyson feeling very festive)
Friday night I went to a cookie party hosted by my friend Mandi at her house in Lake Elsinore. It was one of those parties where each person brings 12 dozen cookies to share/give away, ahhh and we each took 12 dozen home. Holy Mother of cookies that is wayyyyyyy too many cookies. Carrie and I had planned on baking our cookies together, we thought it would be easier if two of us watched her kids instead of just her having to bake her 12 dozen by herself and take care of the kids. Well, we both kind of panicked the night before and we each made all of our cookies without telling the other, so when I showed up to her house we just looked at each other and confessed that we thought it would never work out so we did them ourselves on Thursday night, lol, it was really funny. We also drove up together, it was so nice to catch up with her. The party was a lot of fun, Mandi's friends were really nice and we had a great time chatting and hanging out. However, I seriously fear that this party is one step closer to playing Bunco or doing some other 30 something Mom thing, I am really scared.
My sugar cookies!
All of the cookies that everyone brought!
Gracie wanted in on the baking action, so I let her lick the beaters, lucky dog!
Also on Friday I PAID my car off, I made the last payment and now I am waiting for the pink slip to come in the mail! WOOHOO!
Yesterday I finally hung my Christmas lights and in true Erin fashion I blew a fuse a few hours later. I like to push the limit on how many strings of lights I can put together, lets just say I exceeded the MAX. I fixed the fuse, I am getting quite good at that and wouldn't you know as I am typing this the little jerk of a fuse blew again. My friend Kris texted me about something random at the same time as well and I informed her what happened, cause I know the glee she feels every time I blow a fuse (she HATES my bright colorful lights) and her fix boyfriend showed up on my porch and fixed everything for me, he even added another extension cord to prevent any future blown fuses, can you say AWESOME!? Now I am just waiting for the association to send me a letter saying they are going to be testing paint samples again and I will have to take them all down. I have news for them, I will NOT be taking them down till January 1, 2013, thank you very much!
I also put my Christmas tree up, yep that is as close to a tree as I can get without Gracie eating it!
This morning I went to a CrossFit workout at Baby Beach with a bunch of my paddle friends, it was tough, but a lot of fun! Here is a video of what we did....
There were 51 people there to workout!
All of the beach pics and video's were borrowed from Facebook.
And because I have been meaning to share this picture for a long time and I have finally remembered to post it, this is me on my OC-1 out in the middle of the ocean, how cool is that. Yes, I look like a black blob but that is me!
Hope everyone had a good weekend, now it is back to the grind tomorrow, blah!
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE... enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own, even if she never wants to or needs to... A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE... something perfect to wear if the employer, or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour... A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE… a youth she's content to leave behind.... A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE... a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age.... A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE... a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra... A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE... one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry... A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE... a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family... A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE... eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal, that will make her guests feel honored... A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE... a feeling of control over her destiny... EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... how to fall in love without losing herself… EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... how to quit a job, break up with a lover, and confront a friend without; ruining the friendship... EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY... EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... that she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents... EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... that her childhood may not have been perfect. but it's over... EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... what she would and wouldn't do for love or more... EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it... EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... whom she can trust, whom she can't and why she shouldn't take it personally... EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... where to go... be it to her best friend's kitchen table...or a charming inn in the woods... when her soul needs soothing... EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... what she can and can't accomplish in a day... a month...and a year...
It is December 1st and the holiday season has officially begun! This morning started out with a great paddle practice, I am off to the DOCC holiday party tonight (thank goodness for the burning of the calories this morning, I will get enjoy all of the wine food tonight!), it should be fun, I am just bringing brownies to the party, it is something easy and does not require a dish that needs to be washed and I do not have to wait until everyone is done eating it to take home! There is a pre-party at an undisclosed location for some cocktails and hors d'oeuvres and we most likely show up fashionably late. I am bringing a tasty spinach artichoke dip that my aunt made for Thanksgiving, OMG, I cannot wait to dive into it (again, thankful for all of the calories I burned this morning).
Here is the recipe for this tasty delight....
- 1/2 cup reduced fat mayo
- 1/2 cup of greek yogurt (single serving is just the right amount)
-14oz can artichoke hearts (cara mia)
-2 cloves of minced garlic
-1 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Stir in all of the ingredients, place in 8x8 pan and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Slightly brown under the broiler for 2-3 minutes. Serve with crackers.
ENJOY!
Our little movie star Cole (black in white shirt) was in another Sesame Street video last week. Oh my goodness he is such a cute little boy, actually not so little anymore, in the video he looks so grown-up.
I love him so much!
We all had an amazing Thanksgiving, my sister and her Mom slaved away all day in the kitchen to make us a fabulous meal! I have been meaning to call her up and say "Thank You", but I always remember late at night, so hopefully she is reading this! I was on the entertainment committee and played with Cole & Mari all afternoon, Cole can now play card games and he is quite the UNO player. We took our standard self portrait pictures together (I hope they never grow to old to take self portraits with their Auntie).
Oh my goodness the kids were WILD with a little poking from ME! See for yourself....
And of course dinner....
I think that about covers all of the happenings in the past week or so, catch ya later!
