You're it.

Don't forget about my MK Deal of the Week!

I didn't realize I was tagged by Tammie, so I am sorry this is late.

1. Who is your man? Thomas
2. How long have you been married? 9 years on December 5
3. How long did you date? dated a year and engaged for 1 year
4. How old is your man? 31 on November 4
5. Who eats more? me
6. Who said "I love you" first? I can't remember, but I think Thomas.
7. Who is taller? Thomas
8. Who sings better? me, but Thomas is pretty good
9. Who is smarter? Toss up
10. Whose temper is worse? MINE
11. Who does the laundry? Technically, it is my job, but Thomas occassionally has to wash underwear and jeans on his own.
12. Who takes out the trash? Thomas
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you are looking at the bed, Thomas does.
14. Who pays the bills? I do.
15. Who is better on the computer? probably me, but Thomas and I are close on that one
16. Who mows the lawn? Thomas
17. Who cooks dinner? Thomas
18. Who drives when you are together? Ummm...me. And Thomas hates it.
19. Who pays when you go out? Thomas
20. Who is more stubborn? me
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? I don't think either of us ever admit it.
22. Whose families do you see most? Mine
23. Who kissed who first? Thomas kissed me.
24. Who asked who out first? Thomas asked me out.
25. Who proposed? Thomas
26. Who is more sensitive? I don't know. Probably me. Thomas doesn't show a lot of emotion.
27. Who has more friends? me
28. Who has more siblings? Technically, he does. He has three half-brothers, but they don't really see each other or talk that much.
29. Who wears the pants in the family? Me, but I prefer a kilt.
30. Who is the biggest pushover with the kids? So far, Thomas.

I tag Tonya, Pam and Laurie!

MK Deal of the Week is BACK!

I know I still have plenty of pictures to post from my trip and from Bunco, but I have a much more pressing need....

Here is my Mary Kay Deal of the Week:

CELLU-SHAPE CONTOURING SYSTEM

This product is amazing. It is to reduce cellulite and it really works! Visit my website (link on the right of this page) to get more information. This is a great gift, but it is also an awesome personal product to use. I am offering a once-in-a-lifetime deal on this product (I have seven in stock, but will order more, if the need arises). This product retails for $55 and I am offering it for

ONLY $35.

Free Delivery

I estimate that one set will last for more than 6 months. Aren't you worth it?

Where are they now?

Well, after several days of not blogging, this morning we woke up in Kinnewick, WA. We started making our trek home yesterday and drove a whopping 3-1/2 hours. This was mostly due to stopping at an outlet mall to see if they had Callie's Halloween costume at one of the stores. We lucked out! They did! Two hours later, we left. (With desperately needed new tennis shoes for me and a shirt from the clearance rack at Eddie Bauer for Thomas.)


Before I move on, I have to post one last beach picture of Thomas and Callie...



So, what have we been doing?


We left Rockaway Beach on Saturday morning and started making our way to Seattle. We decided to bypass Portland (as much as we hated to) because I found an incredible deal on Hotwire for an amazing hotel in Seattle.



As we made our way through the mountains to Portland, we saw some beautiful scenery and finally arrived at the place I have been looking forward to so much...










"Little People, Big World" is one of my favorite shows and I was so excited to go to their Pumpkin Patch! It was really neat and a true Pumpkin Patch where you could go to the field and pick your own pumpkin. Well, we were going to bring back a bunch of pumpkins, but we decided it might be better to find some souveniers. Another interesting point were the cameras filming while we were there...






After we did that, we worked our way up to Seattle. It rained the majority of Saturday and Sunday, but that was okay. We still had a great time! Once we arrived to Seattle, we went to our hotel - The Edgewater. Apparently, it is the only hotel in Seattle that is built on the waterfront. It was a beautiful hotel and was decorated wonderfully. We had a room with a view of the city and a balcony. This was our view (you can see the Space Needle in the mix of buildings)...


The night we arrived, we went to The Crab Pot, which is a restaurant where you order a specific meal for two and they come out and dump it on your table. We had crab, mussels, clams, corn, andouille sausage and potatoes. It was fantastic! Here is a picture of Thomas with the food before we started eating...sorry it is sideways, I am in a hurry and don't have time to reposition...
So, Sunday, we were going to go to Federal Way for church because when we lived in California, we went to camp with their youth group. I couldn't find the right church and then we got a later start than we wanted, so we ended up having our own study and communion in our hotel. The singing wasn't quite as good as at Heritage!


After we had church, we started walking around Seattle. We went to Pike's Place market and then headed over to two museums we were wanting to go through. One was a music museum that was very hands-on and fantastic!! The other was a Science Fiction museum that Thomas sais was "the best museum he has ever been to." We did the normal shopping and walked by their Tiffany and Co. and Barney's New York. We walked by and did not go in, for fear of buying something!



We then stayed for one more night at the Edgewater and then headed out of town. We attempted to see my good friend from highschool - Katie - but it didn't work out. It was disappointing, but I was glad to hear her voice and hopefully rekindle our friendship.

So, the last thing I will post is a picture of the beautiful leaves turning. The colors have been incredible and I wish you were all here to see it...






Obviously, my camera phone does not do it justice. We plan to be in Boise or somewhere just after that tonight. Should be at Grandma Freda's on Friday. See you soon!

Pay It Forward

Tonight, we decided to stay in Rockaway Beach, which is a small town on the northern coast of Oregon. This was after we visited Tillamook, which is seemingly the cheese capital of Oregon. Tillamook is home to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and Blue Heron Cheese. We visited both. Callie was able to go to her very first petting zoo and feed all sorts of animals - cows, goats, sheep, etc. It was funny and she loved it. We have some great video them eating out of her hands! At the Tillamook Cheese Factory, the self-guided tour was interesting, but to be honest, cheese making really is not all that interesting in itself. What was interesting was the tasting area and the fact that they had MARS BARS. YES, I SAID MARS BARS. I was totally excited! That was perhaps my favorite candy bar before they took them off the market in the US and started selling them in the UK only. So, I bought two. One for Grandma Freda (because she is the one who introduced them to me) and one for me to snack on (since Thomas and I have decided to come back completely FAT).

So, after all this, we made our way to Rockaway Beach and checked into a nice cheap hotel. We have a partial ocean view with beach access and the room has a kitchenette and fireplace. Best of all is the price. Last nights room was cheap, but this one is cheaper! Yea!

After we all went and watched the sun set on the beach (and Callie stuck her toes in the ocean for the first time), we went to a restaurant called "Pirate's Cove" in Girabaldi (about four miles down the road). We waited for about 30 minutes to get a table because everyone at the hotel told us it was worth it. It was very busy at the restaurant and people seemed to be enjoying themselves. Once we were seated, we ordered some really strong iced tea and our meal, which consisted of Bay Oyster Shooters (mini raw oysters with cocktail sauce and lemon), salad and a huge plate of fresh crab that we shared. (Tonya - you would have LOVED this meal and we would have had a lot of fun cracking crab together. Some people break bread together, we crack crab.)

Anyway - after this fantastic meal, our waitress came over to our table and said, "Well, your meal has been paid for, so you guys have a great night!" I sat there with my mouth hanging wide open and Thomas (who, apparently really didn't hear her) said, "What did you say?" She just looked at us and told us that someone had paid for our meal and we should do the same for someone else. She said that it was a stranger and it wasn't the first time she had seen it happen in there. We don't know who it was or why they did it, but we know they did and it was shocking and touching at the same time. As we left, we decided we would do the same for someone on this trip. We would find some little family like ours and essentially "pay it forward" to them.

Of course, this will probably not be an expensive meal like ours and it may be in the Carl's Jr. drive through, but that's okay! Just kidding. I will let you know how it turns out (and I promise it won't be a fast food restaurant situation). More tomorrow! We miss you guys!

Wish You Were Here

Well, I kind of mean that title. It is so nice to spend some time with Thomas and Callie, just the three of us. I do wish you all were here sometimes. I think you would love to see the things we are seeing and would enjoy my company tremendously. Hahaha.

I have a piece of bad news. I can't get another cable for my camera because it is a proprietary cable and I have to get it directly from Olympus (or an underground source). SO, I am posting only pictures from my camera phone until we get back.

To update you, I spent absolutely all day yesterday thinking it was Tuesday. To my dismay, it was not. I think I posted last on Monday, but I am not sure so I will start with Tuesday's events anyway.

Tuesday, we went to Vacaville to the outlets for a short time (kind of like going to San Marcos), bought Callie some of her very own Skechers (pictured below) and then we headed to Placerville to see my Aunt Theresa and Uncle Dick. They seemed to be doing well and we really enjoyed our visit with them and introducing them to Callie in person. She had a great time and they got a kick out of her. I have a funny video from a restaurant that I will post when we get back. Basically, Callie played the maracas while their in-house guitar player serenaded her. It was hilarious!

Wednesday, we started making the trek up the coast. For those of you that have not been up Hwy 101 in California, you travel through the Redwoods first and then you hit the beautiful coastal area. When you travel through the Redwoods, you see the Giant Sequoias. We took a lot of pictures with the digital camera, but here is an example of what we saw...

Yes, the previous picture was of us driving through a tree - in our Nitro! That is a real, living sequoia. Amazing.

Last night, we stayed in Eureka, CA, where we found a place call the Eagle House Inn. I stayed there about seven years ago with the singing group, but it was being remodeled at the time and they were still working on the downstairs ballroom and restaurant. At that time, we heard from some people in a restaurant that it was haunted and I wouldn't be surprised if it was. It has been in business for 100 years and is a Victorian style hotel. It is absolutely beautiful and all of the rooms are different and hold many different fantastic antiques. Below is a picture of Thomas and Callie in the sitting area of our room.

That was taken this morning before we left. So, after that point, we gorged ourselves on crepes and we started up the coast and saw some fantastic views. I failed to remember the gas pumping law in Oregon - which is basically that you can't pump your own gas. An attendant has to do it for you. Gas here is only $2.80 - $2.90, which shocked us! It was more than that in Amarillo. Usually, when we come out here, it is at least $.50 more expensive per gallon than in Fort Worth. That has been great because I budgeted for more gas than we are actually using.

This is a picture of Callie with Cowlie (her stuffed animal from BB&B). She has become more and more attached to Cowlie, especially during this trip.

Here are some other pictures from today (I took a lot with the video camera and digital camera as well). The first is the sunset on the Oregon Coast.

This is of an actual, working lighthouse. (That is why you see a dot of light.) We were on a huge cliff overlooking the water, lighthouse and beautiful view of the Pacific.

Finally, we decided to stop in Newport, OR. We didn't book any hotel arrangements, but we desperately wanted to find something affordable with an ocean view. At first, we tried the chains, but we weren't happy with the "partial" ocean views or the prices. We are all about bargains and found a hotel called the "Hallmark Resort." We found out an ocean view King room, non-smoking was $119, which was great (compared to everywhere else). So, imagine our amazement when we walked into the room. This is a picture (description below).

It may not look like much, but let me tell you that this is one of the nicest rooms I have ever stayed in for this price. In the lower left hand corner, you can only see a bit of it, but it is a jacuzzi tub! You can see that it has a nice bedroom area and beyond that, a sitting area with a gas fireplace, two comfy chairs, a table and a fold out couch. There is also a kitchenette with a dishwasher, refrigerator, etc. THEN, beyond that, is a private balcony that overlooks the beach and the ocean. IT IS FANTASTIC! This is the kind of place that you find only once in a blue moon. If you are ever in Newport, this is where you should stay.

So, we are having a great trip and we miss you all. Will post more tomorrow (as if this wasn't long enough)!

The longest Thursday EVER...

Last Thursday, we had the longest day ever. We woke up at the normal time...Thomas at 3:00 a.m. to get ready for work and Callie and I got up at about 7:00. Well, this is how it went:

7:00 - 9:00: Worked on the house and packed for our trip.

9:00 - 10:15: Got ready to go.

10:15 - 1:00: Doctors appt.

1:00 - 6:00: Work

6:00 - Thomas dropped off Callie at work for me and he went to a concert in Grand Prairie.

I went to Colleyville so my parents could see Callie.

8:45 - Got home

8:45 - 2:30 a.m. - Packed for our trip and finished laundry/housework

2:30 a.m. - LEFT FOR OUR TRIP

AND THEN....

Saturday at Noon, we arrived in Livermore, California! It took us a little less than 36 hours to make the drive. We went straight through, but we stopped a lot more than normal so that Callie could get out and stretch her legs every few hours.

We arrived at a close family friends house in Livermore (the city where we used to go to church) and then went to the Dave Matthews concert at an outdoor amphitheatre that is right off the bay. We were tired, but it was awesome!! I brought my camera, but I forgot my cord, so I have to get a new one tomorrow. So, to catch you up somewhat, here are a few pictures from my camera phone...

The above dessert is from Claim Jumper restaurant - perhaps one of my most favorite restaurants on the planet. This is a cookie sandwich (two giant heathbar choc chip cookies with ice cream in the middle) all topped with whipped cream, caramel and hot sauce. The dessert is almost wider than Thomas!

He ate about half of it. Next is Callie at Claim Jumper. They brought out a *complimentary* childs plate that had more food on it than I would eat in a sitting.

Below is a picture of Thomas and I at the concert...

We saw some old friends today and are headed to Jelly Belly, my Aunt and Uncles house and then up the coast tomorrow. More to come then!