Duck Hunting with Shasta

Last Saturday, Damon, Shasta and I spend a little time up at the ranch. It was a nice day and I enjoyed taking a few moments away from the house, from work, etc. Of course, we also had to go duck hunting at one of the ponds. It was a little too cold for me even though I was all bundled up! Here is the fog photo...

My adorable husband, being goofy as always...

Sitting and waiting for the ducks to fly over.

And waiting some more...

Off to Casen's 7th birthday party...can you believe he is that old already? Stay tuned for photos!

Happy Anniversary to Shasta

It was two years ago today, that Damon and I met our Shasta. Although we feel like we have had her in our family forever, it was only two years ago that we saw our little one in Idaho and claimed her as our own. She was the reason why I finally started a blog and you can read all about that trip here. Shasta has provided many things to both Damon and I...she was my first puppy, she was the first dog outside of the Morelli bred labs, she was a wonderful little sister and playmate for our Cy, she is a fabulous hunter and an even better house dog. Yes, Damon and I are very lucky that Shasta chose to be our little daughter and, today, we celebrate all that she has provided for us.

Thank you for all of the wonderful memories Shasta...we love you!

Winter Wonderland

The other weekend we had another Winter Wonderland wine tasting extravaganza. There is nothing better than a sunny day filled good food, good wine, good company and a limo (I swear the limo makes everything better!) We started at Trentadue and visited about 7 other wineries afterwards in 5 hours...needless to say, we were tired afterwards! At Mazacco, they had a Wii skiing contest set-up, of course, we had to try that out in honor of Alicia and Geoff.

Here are Leana and I trying our skills at skiing...

And my mom and Aunt Susan...

How many Oscars can you count in the following picture?

Kris and I enjoying the a bench built for two...

Me and my mama...

A random scenic view of our beautiful home.

Our purchases...

The group of wonderful wine ladies...unfortunately this was the best picture out of three, what can I say, it was along day full of wine!

Number 3: Completed

I am very proud of myself for tackling and succeeding my Great Grandma Ann's Parker House Rolls recipe. She was a fabulous cook, in fact, that is how she made a living here in Sonoma County. She worked for the doctor in town, who lived out in the country with the family. Their house was the big Victorian on 4th street where the Italian Affair restaurant is (not too far out in the country in my opinion!) Grandma Ann made everything look easy in the kitchen, but trying to follow her directions is anything but easy. Sorry the pictures aren't that great, but try to read the second photo and you will understand the difficulty in following her recipes.

Here is the dough at the beginning...

And here the end result after two sessions of letting it rise...
The difficult part, which I still need to work one, is rolling them and shaping them just like she did.

Here is the final product with the slot for butter all built in...YUMMY!

Dancin' at Kodiak's

I am sorry that it has been a week since I posted last...it is not for lack of excitment and photo opportunities, more just a lack of time due to all of the busy-ness. Damon was gone last week in Texas hunting crane and geese (I think that that it was he was doing), so I enjoyed time with my parents, my friends and just some simple me time. I even treated myself to a nice long massage, which was enjoyable down to the last second. Friday night I met Morgan, Meredith and Meredith's co-worker Kim at Kodiak's. It was just so much fun. I really enjoy line dancing with my girlfriends and getting some updated photos of us. Here is Meredith, Kim, Morgan and me:

I also enjoy going there because you never know who you are going to run into. Meet Amy in the photo below. She is from my dorm in Chico. Our dorm was super small, probably 80 girls and 80 guys, plus it was a little off campus. So, we got to know everyone equally and I was pleased to find out that Amy actually attended Petaluma High. Last weekend when I was in the city we were looking at Lindsay's photo album and there were lots of pictures of Amy. And then, not even a week later, I run into her. It was great to catch up and hear all about her upcoming wedding to a nice guy that she met while traveling in Ireland. How romantic!

It was also an exciting night because we were celebrating Meredith's last day of work at Rodney Strong. She is starting work next week at some racing school at Sears Point...she will be in charge of marketing for the audi experience and some other things that I just don't really understand. I am looking forward to learning more about her new career change once she gets started. I am so proud of my friends!

xoxo

Proof of Carpooling More

Damon and I really enjoy working together, because we don't see each other all too much at work. Plus, we are really enjoying every moment being together, being married and, just all around, being happy in one another's company. One reason I think that we are able to maintain our sanity is that we do not drive to work together everyday. He tends to work longer than I, we are on different lunch schedules, I love driving alone and cranking up the volume, etc. However, I do realize that it is absolutely absurd on the environment, so we have been carpooling together once a week. I know that that is still not enough, but at least it is a start. Here is proof of our carpool day last Friday...

We actually had 3 "people" in the car...Shasta came to work that day as well!

A Quick Night Away to San Francisco

This weekend I decided to take an impromptu night away to San Francisco to catch up with Lindsay and Howli. We were planning on having lunch on Sunday, but they convinced me to join them for a good dose of cocktails and catch-up. I do love the city and I love my girlfriends even more. Plus, it was nice to be spontaneous and, for 18 hours of my life, not live by the to-do list in my palm pilot. Howli's experience in North Carolina with the Obama campaign is inspiring and deserves a whole other post on its own...maybe with the pictures that she promises to take at the inauguration next week! Here is Howli with Sally, her friend from high school who was a frequent guest in Chico and who currently lives down the street from Lindsay:

And quite the close-up picture of Lindsay and I (I had to crop out the flash reflection.)

Seeing 2 of my 4 close college friends make me miss that old life...that carefree nature when we weren't worried about the economy at a macro level. All we worried about was having enough money for a night out after studying all week. I am oh so thankful for all my Chico girls, they have truly made me into the person that I am today and always make me feel at home, no matter how long it had been since we were last together.

Number 93: Completed

This weekend on my way down to the city for an improptu night away to meet up with Howli and Lindsay, I crossed off my first item on the 101 goals in goals in 1001 days. 93. Pay for someone behind me in the drive thru or on a bridge.

Here is the proof:

The man who pulled up behind me waved as we passed one another...I like to think that I made his day. Now, only 100 more goals to complete!

Countdown: 180 days

In 180 days my husband, parents, grandparents, sister and brother-in-law will be embarking on a 7 day Mexico Rivera cruise the week of July 5th. We are very excited to be going to a different destination this year and are happy that Grandpa has decided to take the drive down to LA. We went to Mexico on our first family cruise in 2003...I had just turned 21 and studied for my GMAT test for graduate school. Damon and I looked at my photos from that trip and had a good laugh and how different everyone looks. I would post a few examples, but they are all prints not digital.

We also splurged and got balcony rooms on the highest deck on the ship. We are oh so excited about that...plus our balconies are connected so we can take down the partition. Anyone want to join us for cocktail hour?

Now the quest to actually fit into a swimsuit begins...they have a huge waterslide on the boat that I just have to go on!

Christmas 2008 - Part 4

Our next stop on Christmas day was at Damon's parents house to share dinner with his side of family and enjoy more time with Ryanne. Kris's dinners are always fabulous and she is always so calm while entertaining, I love it! Plus, she is very inventive with her decorations, such as...

her homemade napkin rings...

And her really good wine...

Gotta love the spirit of a 2.5 year old on Christmas day. Ryanne was very excited for more presents and she even showed up wearing one of the outfits that Damon and I got her.

And again, Damon was playing with Ryanne's toys...this time a vtech pink laptop that we gave her.

Ryanne's Grandma got her the coolest 3D viewfinder...she had a heck of a time trying to figure out where to put her eyes and her nose. I think that she figured it out and she got so excited!

The last gift from Damon and I to Ryanne was a pearl necklace for her to grow old with...

Ryanne got a big ol' house for her bunnies and was cracking up about her imaginative games.

Leana with her Grandma...

The Killpack's minus Ryanne...

Damon and I ran upstairs to say hello to Shasta and Won in their kennel and decided to take a self-portrait.

Ryanne just loves her Grandma's house for all the "icee" aka "ice cream"

After fueling up on sugar, she decided to pull her Uncle around the kitchen...she is so strong!

Relaxing with Grandma and playing with her new toys...

The end of Christmas day...