Wowzas!!

Well it's been quite a while since I posted last, which was not intentional. I actually am really enjoying this blogging thing, even if it's pretty boring to anyone but me =) So the past week has been pretty crazy,busy and fun. I'm going to try and document it list style and I'll add pictures later: I really like that I'm saving some memories for myself at least:

★ last weekend, June 18th to June 20th we were in LA for the wedding of a lovely and sweet couple that we know through M. After a hectic morning I made it to my early afternoon flight and landed in "la-la land", as a friend of M's calls it; we started at this friend's apartment which looks out on the beach in Santa Monica (tough life man). The rehearsal dinner was at a Maggiano's on Friday night and was quite yummy and filling. The boys had a bachelor's party on Thursday night which involved some wild karaoke, or so I'm told. After dinner we headed to our hotel in Santa Monica. We split a room with another couple that M knows from growing up. I've had a chance to get to know all of these people via parties held at M's parents house and also just hanging out with them when M and I are in Arizona visiting his parents.
Saturday morning M and his brother and I got in our six miles along the beach in Santa Monica and enjoyed the sights, smells and characters of Venice Beach. Needless to say, I'm ok with never going there again though the S.M. beach is glorious. The wedding was at a large church overlooking a socal valley and was a beautiful and traditional ceremony that obviously held a lot of meaning for the couple. The reception was several hours later here and was magnificent; it involved good food, sangria and dancing under the stars = yay! The next morning we enjoyed brunch together, said our goodbyes and headed home on the road. We each had one, count it, one, taco bell taco (soft for me, hard for him) on the six hour way home and then scarfed down three orders of chicken masala (heaven!) and naan from our favorite around-the-corner (but not for long!) Indian joint. Bed sure felt good that night =)



Rehearsal dinner


Before the ceremony in the church parking lot.




The beautiful and lovely reception site.



Reception =)



¡sangria (and carmex tube)!



Hummingbird cookie favor for the Hummingbird Nest Ranch (consumed very quickly)!



Beautiful sunset...


★ J and K, a married couple  that M met in his Peace Corps time, arrived in our fair burg from their east coast living to visit for a spell. They are so super nice and they have an amazing job working with kids. They decided to come visit us in sunny California and also borrow a car for some side trips. After work I picked them up. I got in my five miles that afternoon and K (the lovely lady) joined me for yoga. After showers we made some yummy beef tacos and watched Law & Order and then got to bed. It was really nice to visit and hang out. We last saw each other visiting other P.C. friends in Austin last February, so it had been a few months. J & K had just come from a wedding of two other  P.C. friends and M was happy to hear all about the wedding antics. Our friends took our car and headed for some Yosemite camping and came back to us Friday morning.
★I took my kids to see some really cool things this week. We visited the San Jose Museum of Art which currently has some great work. I love finding new things in San Jose, I think it's so funny how much stuff has always been here just under my nose while I go about being pretty oblivious. We also checked out a neat structure dedicated to the original inhabitants (Natives) and settlers (not-Natives) of San Jose and I learned some facts about San Jose along the way. Did you know that:
       * San Jose was first "started" in 1777 as a place to grow crops to feed the Spanish soldiers?
       * San Jose was incorporated as a city in 1850?
       * S. J.  was the first capital of California?
       * S. J. uses yellow sodium street lights to reduce light pollution so that the sky can be more visible from Lick Observatory?
       *...and the beat goes on...
My kids are going to set up all of their art work on the second to last day of class so that there can be a little grape juice and cheese "gallery opening" during break on the last day which means that we need something kind of random for them to do, so I've decided on "wearable art"- we're tie-dying! I'm pretty stoked and need to scrounge up some random white things so that they can now be not so white. The last day is this Thursday which blows my mind- this summer school class goes so quickly compared to the school year (well, three weeks vs. nine months = no-brainer I suppose), so this week will be pretty busy too since we  need to be out of our apartment and into our new abode (memaw's house woot woot!) by Thursday; busy, but I'm excited for it all.

★ After M got off of work on Friday we four dropped off the dog at memaw's house and headed up to beautiful Lake Tahoe's west (best) shore. There was a stop in Auburn to enjoy some delightful Jimboys tacos which apparently don't live up (or down, perhaps?) to everyone else'sRaley's and drove over famed Donner Pass and got into our campground (Sugarpine Point State Park) at around 11. We tried to quietly set up and made it to bed around midnight. I'm always afraid of how I'll sleep while camping but it's never as uncomfortable as I think it might be, though I do admit that I'm looking forward to my bed tonight!
The weather this weekend turned out to be absolutely heavenly and it was as perfect as a Lake Tahoe weekend can possibly be. We didn't go out on the boat, but we did run a whole lot, went into town for a delish-brunch (taco ensalada!) and some depressing U.S. soccer, hung out on the beautiful beach (though M claims that it's not a beach unless it's on an ocean, lakes have shores), dunked ourselves in the frigid water, saw a bear in a dumpster, cooked burgers over our fire, played boggle (I won!), chatted a ton and just had a good ol' time.
We drove out exactly at check out time, checked out the fatty, fatty mackinaw off of Fanny Bridge, got a cobbler (razzleberry) and shakes at Ikedas and got home a couple of hours ago. We all (including Guinness) took gloriously long and hot showers and are watching our taped England vs. Germany game (wasn't that a goal?! at about 37 minutes), waiting for half time to go and get fish tacos at the stand on Bascom avenue. I'm staving off panic about all that needs to be moved/cleaned/done in the next three days, but I just need to have faith that it will get done and that I'll be totally ok. I'm super excited for the tacos tonight and definitely feel as though I deserve them- we did our 13 mile long run this morning and I'm ready for a good din-din. It's odd, after every long run I feel as though I could never run any longer but up comes the next run and there I go, which gives me heart considering that I've got 26.2 on the horizon (October).

                 Jimboys in Auburn.Some good eats, as far as I know...harrumph!

Our first campsite, getting breakfast ready before a nice run and sad soccer...

                  Tent sweet home. His and hers camp chairs!

             Boys and girl. Our bear locker, though it didn't really keep them all away!

Two cute couples, looking their best while roughing it.


Smokey s'mores and marshmallow scarfing.

Artistic sky and tree shot and artistic feet and fire pit shot, both thanks to M.

A ground-map of Lake Tahoe and Jeff and Katie being cute at Fanny Bridge.

One fanny, two fannies, three fannies...four? Four was strategically left out?

Anyway, that was some randomness, I'll be adding in photographic evidence luego, have yourselves a lovely little Sunday and enjoy the last days of that oh-so-lovely month known as June.