Happy New Years!!!

Well I can't believe another year is ending. We went for an early dinner with one of Tom's co-worker and his girl friend and than tom and I stopped off at the store to pick up a movie to bring in the New Years. Not really exciting but what do you expect from old people like us. We can't hide it anymore, we are no spring chickens anymore. But enough of that stuff.... The New Year is holding a lot of good things for us, well I should say one good thing for us. When our little one arrives in June. Not too worried at all when the little comes, some things will change but than for us not a whole lot because we don't have a big social life and we stay at home a lot. So I don't think that is going to be a big problem for us. The first few months will probably affect Tom more than me with the lack of sleep but since he is working I will probably be doing all the late nights and than he can do the weekends to give a little bit of a rest but not much of one since Tom won't be able to help out with the feeding. Oh well, I'll look at it as bonding time for the little one and me. Well we will be truly old by the time the little one comes, Tom will almost be the big 30 and I'll be 27...UGH....one thing we both won't be looking forward too. I think Tom and I'll just be 25 forever now. Here is looking forward to the little one making us feel younger when she/he starts running around. Well Happy New Years Everyone and here is hoping I don't fall asleep before 12am.

Doctor's Appointment

We had our third doctor's appointment today and things seem fine. Still haven't gained any weight really(not that you are supposed to gain much weight in the beginning anyhow but you should gain 3-4lbs) but the good things is I haven't dropped below my pre-pregnancy weight. So that is great news. Our first goal now is for me is to start being able to eat. Once that happens then the doctor wants me to concentrate on increasing my protein, iron and calcium which I already knew but it's good to hear that she's not worried about my weight. We also got to hear the heartbeat which was the greatest thing in the world however, it took a while for her to find it which I knew could happen however Tom didn't know this and I think he started to turn white because all of a sudden she said "it sometime takes a while to find the baby's position to hear the heart". I have to admit I was getting a little nervous myself because not hearing a heart beat was my worst fear. In the end everything went well and we have our big ultrasound to look forward to next week to make sure the baby is developing fine.

One quiet Christmas

I wanted to get up early on Christmas morning like I always do but Tom got lucky. It was a slow start for me this morning so we didn't get up till 9am, which I think Tom was happy for. We have discover that I am now intolerant of all dairy :(. It really suck since most of my protein came from dairy, so no milk, cheese, ice cream, yogurt and even no chocolate. My stomach just can't handle it and I end up puking :(. We opened our gifts, talk to family members on the phone and computer, played some board games that Tom gave me as gifts and than we made our Christmas lasagna for supper. Yes no turkey, we didn't do the big dinner this year because we didn't know how I would be feeling and right now poultry is not appealing to me, so we made homemade lasagna. Pretty quiet day over all, I felt bad that Bella didn't get her Christmas gifts and Tom was short a few but hopefully I can get out on one of my good days and pick them up a few gifts present in the New Year. I hope everyone had a good Christmas this year and that Santa found everyone one.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!!! Even though we are far away from everyone that we love, just remember we'll be thinking of you and wishing you a Merry Christmas. Christmas is never the same without you all and all the busyness that Christmas brings. Tonight Tom and I are going to try and go Christmas light seeing around our neighbour hood. It's not quite like home b/c there are so my different religion's down here, compared to home so there aren't as many decoration up on the house, but certain areas have more than others. Christmas eve will be quite here tonight we have no plans and tomorrow morning I am hoping to get Tom up some what early for his liking. We hope that everyone was good this year and that Santa Clause finds everyone. MERRY CHRISTMAS

It's Snowing!!!! Oh wait that is just RAIN!!!!

Well if it was 10 degrees colder we would have so much snow today but all we have is a very dark day full of rain. Today was another blah day for me and it sucked because it was Tom's first day off for Christmas, however I was happy he was home with me. We didn't do much today I took a lukewarm bath and read a book trying to keep my mind off not feeling well. We did manage to go to Target today to get a pair of maturity pants for me. Not that I really need that yet, because I can still button my pants to all my pants however some of them are not comfortable while sitting so I decided to get one pair of maturity pants and see if they feel better. Now I don't know if maturity sizes are suppose to reflect the normal sizes in clothes, and I know I have lost weight over the last couple of months but how do you go down a size when buying maturity pants. I thought at least I would be the same size but it wasn't so. I tried on a pair of 6's and well with the belly band in them you can't wear a belt, plus I don't like the feel of a belt now around my waist anymore so they would have fell down so i had to get size 4's. It's pretty funny because I have never worn a 4 in my life not even as a teenager. I must say though the softness of the belly band on the maturity pants feel a lot better than my normal pant. I did feel silly getting the pants though since I don't feel like I am showing at all. Oh well it all for comfort. Here is hoping tomorrow is a better and Tom and I can spend a wonderful day out together. It's looking like however I won't get our christmas shopping done for Christmas:(, Oh well present in the new year could be nice too.

Life

Stress of life....if it's not one thing it's another. We are stressed in school, finding that special someone to love, making sure we pass exams, finding money to pay for post secondary education and than graduating. Once we are finally past all those things, than we have to figure out life...if that is even possible, find a job, pay our student loans back and than pay our normal average bills... AHAH...you think it would end there but it doesn't!!!!!

Next comes where to live, a wedding to pay for, the job that wants your family to move to another country,try to save money so you can finally move back home to buy a house and a little over 2 years trying to start a family (which is probably the most stressful thing of all) and will you be able to have anymore children? Once you are finally blessed with a gift of life, comes the stress of knowing you have to eat not much more just 300 extra calories a day for the last 6 months, so that the life the two of you are trying to bring into the world will end up healthy and strong. This part should be the easies part of all but when you can't eat because you are sick all the time it's stressful. Most people will tell you this is normal and that the sickness will go away at a point in the pregnancy but when you have already past that point in the pregnancy how does that make you feel.... AHAHA. This stress will continue though even once the little one arrives because you will always worry about the health and safety of your child no matter how old they are.

Then the stress of figuring out if you should move or not do to space issues but if you do you will have to pay a lot more for rent. When you live in a small placed, there is not a lot of room which leaves you researching everything to find out how big things are and how long they will last, and what are the weight restriction. No since spending a 100$ or more on something that you will use for a few month and then have to try to find some place to store it, when you have no place to store anything. Blah,blah,blah...a house would be nice. This also means that one has to give up having the extra non essentials things which can make your life easier for sure when you have a baby but are not necessary to have. One thing that helps though during the first year is that if you are going to breastfeed for the first year and use cloth diapers, you don't have to buy formula and diapers, which the cost of using them is very costly.

With all these cost coming up in the new year, you try to figure it out if it's a good idea or not to go on a trip to Europe before the baby comes because who knows when you will get away again. People will always say they can go later in life but as I know things are always coming up in life and than you put off the trip agian and again. The doctor says it's fine to fly and the best time is to go between 12-24 weeks. The major risk of flying when pregnant is blood clots in the legs but that is the same risk for women who are on birth control, and how many women are flying when using birth control. Once the baby is here, you aren't going to be able to go anywheres because you are breastfeeding and would you want to leave your child for a few weeks? ...I highly doubt we would. So the trip?

However, I am not blind because no matter what stage in life you are in there are always going to be stress'er in life. The main thing to remember is that you just have to keep dreaming and moving on with life and be thankful for the things that you are already blessed with and try to not worry about the rest. Easy Said Hard To Do!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am ready for some good days

So winter is here at last. The rain is coming and it fit the way I feel. Every few days I feel like it's the end of feeling crappy and the beginning of feeling good. However, it's just not so, the good days are just a tease. We were suppose to go out to Berkley university today to walk around the campus with some of tom's co-workers but the rain has postpone that one and I wasn't going to go anyhow b/c I am not feeling good. We went for breakfast but all I could mange to order was a glass of milk while everyone else order and ate their meals. Tom is gone out to the movies while I stay home and try to feel better. No since two of us staying home and feeling bad, plus this gives him a chance to see Borats, which I am just as happy to miss. Well I don't know if it's just this morning or yesterday but my pants are just becoming uncomfortable and some how my stomach is getting rounder but when fully dress it still looks like I have only gained a few pounds which I only have. Actually I have lost some weight and now I have to try to start gaining weight now that we are in the second trimester. How I am suppose to do this I don't know when I have trouble eating on every other day and when I do eat it's really small. It's a good thing that you only need 300 extra calories a day more when you are pregnant. If I needed more than that I think I would just ask for a feeding tube because but I do not crave food at all. In fact it the opposite still, I hate food. The look of it, the smell of it and the idea of eating it. I miss the days of loving food. My mom said she was the same through all four of her pregnancies so it makes me feel a little better. So I guess it 6 more months to go before I'll enjoy food and want it again. Here is hoping that time keep flying like it does and doesn't slow down over the next 6months.

Congratulation Sarah

Well tonight I got a message left on my answering machine from my sister Sarah saying that she is pregnant too. I thought she was when I talk to her earlier this week, when she said a few things. But I have learned that asking if one is pregnant or when one's going to start a family is not a good thing to ask one b/c you never know the situation that they might be in. I am really happy for my sister this will be their third and I am know she wanted three. It's funny b/c at one time my family was really small and over the years it has been growing. As of the Fall, if all things go well my parents will have nine grandchildren and all the children will be under the age of 7.

Just another day

Well not much to write about today. Tom found out last night that they are getting two extra paid vacation days for Christmas because they have to close the office to move departments around the building to make room for some new people and to make a bigger lab. I am not complaining, that gives me the two days I didn't get to spend with tom on Thanksgiving because I was too sick and spent it in bed. Last night Tom and I finally finished decorating our Christmas tree which was nice however, this morning I have a feeling Bella was up to no good because certain things have fallen off or down a few branches. So I will have to fix that up later this morning. Not much less is really new, I am feeling a bit better this week but it seems to go up and down every other day. Tom's still pretty excited however he seem to forget that I am pregnant because he keep asking me if I would like a glass of wine or something from the liquor store. Hopefully when I start showing he won't forget too much. Well this weekend we'll post our 12 week belly shot. It's not that exciting, nothing is showing and probably won't for a long time yet. I can fit in all my regular pants which I am really happy about, it saves a lot of money. I am just looking really bloated right now because everything that is suppose to be down in the pelvic region is starting to get pushed up into my abdominal region.

Finally, we are blessed!!!!

It has been a long road but we finally have good results. Tom and I are expecting and we are overjoyed but not getting to excited b/c a lot can happen yet. Here is a little picture for you to see, we are hoping to get a better picture after Christmas at our next ultrasound but still it's exciting. This pictures shows us at 8wks 5days however this is 3 days ahead of our ovulation date. We aren't sure which one we are using yet. The doctor said that the ovulation date is the better then the ultrasound date so that means that our little one will be blessing us around the June 24th 2007.


So how have I been you might want to know. Well for those who have been pregnant before and had a great first trimester don't talk to me. I know way way back I said I didn't care if I am puking with my head in the toilet, all I want is for us to get pregnant. Well I didn't think it could be this bad. Since my fifth week, that's where I have been for most of my days and it's not just morning either. @#%!, they call it morning sickness well that must have been a man that named it b/c he only saw his wife in the morning before he left for work. This so called morning sickness doesn't just last the morning but it's all day, everyday. Just the idea of food entering my month makes me want to puke. I can't even go into grocery stores, our kitchen or even think about or be around food. The headaches are unbelievable, if I'm not puking the nausea is making me gag so much that I am almost puking, than when there is nothing left it's the good old dry heaves. Basically for those that haven't been pregnant or for the males that never will be, all I can say is it is like the biggest hangover x 3 with the case of the flu and you can not take anything for it but just ride the wave till it passes. I am hoping that the second trimester is a lot better and most of you say it will be however there are a few women where it does continue throughout the pregnancy and like I said, at the beginning, this hasn't been an easy road to get to, and hasn't been an easy start on this road so my hopes of it becoming easier are not very high. Somehow I always find myself taking the bumpier road in everything that I do. I wonder if I can make it throughout the next many months ahead but as long as the little one enters the world strong, health and happy that is all we care about. I know I will make it b/c somehow I always do. We aren't going to find out if it's a girl or boy, because we want it to be a surprise the day she/he comes to us. Just like Christmas I don't want to know what I got before the day b/c well where is the surprise in that. We know we are having a baby so that not a surprise but a blessing so let him/her surprise us with who they are.

So right now I am just longing for the time where I can enjoy a meal and eat food that I love to eat, b/c I am getting tired of crackers and instant breakfast. All I can do is thank Tom right now for trying to help me through this and just taking each day at a time.

Well I wrote this blog a long time ago but didn't post it till we told our family. So most of this is old. We are now at the end of our first trimester, so things are a little better.

The old days

Well I got up early this morning and thought I would watch some cartoons.....where are the cartoons. I remember when I was little I would get up before school and watch cartoons. What are our children these days watching. Okay there were maybe 2-3 cartoons on that if I was little I would watch, like Dragon flys, Berenstain Bears(this one started in 1985) etc. But it was really disappointing b/c where are the cartoons that everyone watched and even Saturday mornings are disappointing if you ask me. Were are the smurfs, transformers, He-man, snorks, gummy bears, Monchichis etc. Well I didn't find a site that wouldn't show the old cartoons/tv shows but I did find a site calledRetro Junk that listed old shows and show most intros to the shows.

New pictures of some of our Nieces and Nephew

Well here are a few new pictures of Tom and my nieces and nephew. There are three other nieces and a nephew missing, hopefully will get some new pictures of them soon.

Reagan Marie Lipsett (pronounced Ree not Ray) Looks just like Dad

Sean Patrick Flynn

Peyton Emily, MaKenna Catherine, Reagan Marie Lipsett

Tis the Season but not the weather

Well the Christmas movies have started and the stores are all decorated and the music is on the radio. As soon as Friday comes I will start decorating our apartment, buy some Christmas scented candles and close the blinds on the windows so it will feel just like Christmas. Why would I close the blinds you say, well if you open our blinds all you see is the dark grey sky's, pouring rain and brown leaves on the trees that haven't fallen off yet. The outside just not calling the Christmas season, however I did see two house with Christmas decoration which was nice. I have done a little Christmas shopping already, and I am hoping to get the rest of it done in the next few weeks. I don't want to be like Tom and run out five days before Christmas to get the shopping done in one day. However I know he has started early too b/c he order some stuff on line and said that I am not allow to open any boxes. However, I do know he got me a kitchen aid mixer for Christmas!!!!
Happy Holidays everyone,
Till next time

The Bridge School Benefit

Selena is threatening to smack me around if I don't write something about the Bridge School Benefit concert we went to last month. So to keep the peace, here's a little writeup of it.

Selena and I bought lawn tickets for the concert thinking that it'd be better to stretch out on the lawn all day rather than being in a tiny seat. Plus they were cheaper and makes me feel a little better about having to spend $7 for a beer.

After a brief intro, Neil Young opened the show playing a few songs. Most people were still settling in at this point so I honestly don't remember much about what he played.


Tom hasn't finished this but I am posting it anyways in hope one day he will!!

Rigoletto Opera

Last night Tom and I went to the SF Opera house and saw one of the most famous Italian Operas Rigoletto. The Opera house it's self was amazing, and when we went to our seat I must say I was a little bit nervous and Tom was extremely nervous. Our seats were in the last balcony near the back. The last balcony goes up pretty steeply making it feel very high up, but once seated it didn't bother me as much but still bother tom a bit, since tom is not one for heights. Once the show started all I can say is wow, the talent of the cast and everything was just an amazing experience. There was even a little screen at the top of the stage that had subtitles so that you could understand the opera better. I definitely want to go back again.

Ooops where am I

Well I forgot to write about this funny day I had just after Tom and I got back from Canada. Well it was a gorgeous day and I was enjoying myself. I was at the stop light talking on the phone for a few seconds. After I turned off the cell phone I turned my ipod on and started listening to music. During this whole time I had forgot to press the walk button and it's an intersection that you need to use the walk button b/c the intersection is made up of three lane on both sides going up and down, two lanes on both sides of the road going a cross, as will there are train track on the other side of the cross walk. All this means is that you need to hit the button so that you can safely make it across the road. So all of a sudden the light is about to change and I realize that I didn't hit the button and I am going to be stuck for another whole cycle of track light. When I realized a little lady was standing beside me and so I laugh.....Now going back to the fact that I just got back to California from the Maritimes where you say hi to everyone and smile when you pass ppl on the street. So this was all going on in the brief second and the walk light came on, I laughed and thank the lady for pressing the button saying"I would have been stuck there all day b/c I forgot to press the button". Well the little lady didn't even look at me or give any sign that I was even beside her let alone that I had thanked her. It made me laugh so much b/c I was like oh yah oops I am not in the Maritimes anymore. I still always forget where I am b/c I still say hi to ppl on my walks and once in awhile I get someone to return a smile or a hello but most of the papal just walk by you like you weren't even there, unlike when I lived in Ottawa and papal just looked at me like why are you talking to me I don't know you. So that was my little moment that made me laugh to myself.

How time flies

Well I can't believe that we have been married for 2 years now. Funny thing is, that 2 yrs is really not that long and yet it feels like we have been married forever. I guess that's b/c Tom and I have been together for almost 8yrs (7yrs 8months) and that even looks too short for it feels like we have been together forever. Well it's still early in the day for us today. So far I made Tom and I breakfast of pancakes with pineapple topping with cinimion and turkey bacon and coffee for tom. We are planning to go out for dinner tonight but I do not know where he is taking me, but I know it will be wonderful.

Us at Danny's wedding September 16,2006


And this was us two years ago today!!!I loved every minute of this day

Dan and Genevieve's wedding

Here is the lovely couple on their wedding day. It was the most beautiful day for a wedding and the wedding itself was beautiful. Congratulation you two.

Another day

Well each day is starting too look more and more like winter. The sun is gone for most of the day, I think around 1 pm it comes out for 2-3 hours and the temp is dropping too. Sort of makes the day feel blah. Well not much is new with us really tom is back to work and I am trying to get myself motivated to go back to the gym again. After more than a month home and only running a hand full of times you really get out of your routine. So while eating breakfast this morning I thought I would look at places that are renting and seeing what is out there since they say we will have to move sometime this winter. Got to watch the rental market and see how it goes. While looking I decided to see how the real estate market is looking too, I don't know why I look, I think it's more of dream for me than looking b/c the real estate is just too crazy down here for us. I start looking in the next town from ours b/c it's suppose to be a little cheaper and well it is for this part of California but it's not for us. Just to give you an idea, how much do you think this houses cost?

	Approx Sq Ft: 1132
Detached Single Family	1 Story	Cottage/Bungalow
2 Bedrooms	1 Bathroom	1 Shower over Tub
1 Tub	Den or Study	Laundry Area - Inside
Extra Storage	Wall to Wall Carpeting	Vinyl Floors
Gas Heat	City/Public Water	Lot: 1 to 4,500 Sq Ft
Patio	Fenced Yard	Sprinklers - Front
Barbecue Area	Built-In Oven/Range Combo	Double Pane Windows

I tried to get the pictures but the website wouldn't let me copy or download them so I will set up the link for the page. Anyhow you really want to know how much this little cute house cost and I should say it nothing fancy but it still cost $649,999. Yup that is right that is how much it cost and oh did I mention it's 51 yrs old. Here is the link for the website just in case you have nothing else to do and you want to have a good laugh and be thankful you live where it is cheaper. California homes (this link only takes you to the home page so you need to go to view listting and the city is sunnyvale and 2+ bedrooms and it should take you to the right spot) this listing was number 13. It's so crazy. Make me really dream about when the time comes and we can move back to Canada and buy a house. I should really get moving here I need to get ready for the gym b/c if I don't I won't be going. Don't they say a body that stays at rest will stay at rest...Oh how true it is. Time to get moving.

Cheers All

Back home in CA

Well it have been quite a month and a bit for me. Sorry folks for dropping off the face of the earth but when I go home I am pretty much spending all my time with family and the time just flies by. I didn't get a lot of pictures when I was home, I would forget to take the camera and stuff like that but most of the time in NS was spent with my nieces, nannie, mom and dad and sandy. I got to go to my nieces 5th Birthday and spend time with Sarah, Terry and Jen too. I even got to spend a weekend at my brothers place which was awesome because I haven't done that since my last yr at UNB. I played with my niece and nephew and introduced them to the Sims computer game. It's still a little too old for them but they had fun making people and houses. I think Craig was more sad seeing my computer go than me, haha. Had a great time with everyone, I took mom and sandy out shopping a couple of times and got them some great new clothes that look awesome on them. I also spent amazing time at Trevor and Sarah's place for almost a week, just hanging out with them and my nephew Sean(he is soo cute) I could have taken him back with us except I don't think Sarah would have let me...I don't blame her. Dan and Genevieve's wedding was amazing I got a few pictures in before my camera died which I was not happy with but what can you do... I will try and post some of the pictures that I do have up. Well I can't believe that I have gone home and am back now. It's just crazy how fast the time goes and I don't understand why so many ppl are in a hurry, b/c you miss out on soo much when you hurry things up. I think it's time just to sit back and enjoy our journeys. Miss ya all at home and I am sorry all friends that we didn't get to see I didn't have a car in NS till tom came, so I couldn't get into the city and I spent a lot of time with my grandmother as well. I hope everyone is well and I miss ya all already.
Sel

Tom is finally joining me

Well after three weeks Tom is finally coming home. It has been a long three weeks with out him. However, I have been enjoying myself seeing old friends and spending lots of time with family, but I have been missing you like crazy love. Well this week I have been up in NB visiting Sarah and Trevor and my new nephew Sean. He is soo cute and lovable I am really am going to miss him when tom and I go back home. However, I am not going to think of that now b/c tom and I are still going to be home until the 18th when we fly out back to California. The time goes by soo fast here that I hope we get to see everyone that we want to. I have missed some of you who were down but headed back home before I got to see you which sucks but what can you do, hopefully another time when we are home. Well the time we have left here is visiting and Dan's wedding and spending more time with the families, all in all is a good time. Well I should run going to head to Bangor soon to pick you up love.

Home at last

Well I am back in Canada and it feels good too, however I do miss you a lot Tom :(. Well not much is going on here. For the last few days I have been spending time with family and enjoy the time together. I especially like playing with 5 of my nieces. We dance, play games and go to the play ground. Today I am hoping to buy some plants and fix up mom's gardens, which I am excited to do b/c home in California I have tried to have a garden but my gopher keeps eating it so hopefully I will have better luck here for the month that I am home here. Well I hope that I get to see some of my high school friends however I know that I have missed some of you who have already gone back to where you live now. It truly sucks that I missed you. Hopefully I will see you all who I don't get to see the next time I come home. Well I got to run and get the day going.

Till next time
Sel

Pic's of Reagan Marie Lipsett

Reagan Marie Lipsett, wearing the dress I sent home to her.

Reagan and her sisters, Peyton and Mackenna

Pic's of Sean Patrick Flynn

Sean Patrick Flynn first photo shoot.















The Happy Family, Congradulations Sarah and Trevor.
















My favorit picture of all times. A little angel!!!!

HEAT WAVE

Okay this is nuts for the last week we have been in a heat wave. I don't even think they should call this a heat wave it is more like an oven wave, or burning on the steak wave. It has been over 100 F down here and that mean it around and over 40 C. The worst part is, our A/C is not working so the apartment is very hot. I haven't made a meal in so long now b/c I don't want to add any more heat to the apartment. All weekend we stayed indoors or went to a mall with A/C but it hardly felt cool because of all the ppl there with the same idea. There are also black outs around the area, some people have not had power since Friday. I am thanking my lucky stars that we have had power. Hotels in some area are full and that is not because of people visiting, it is the locals with out a/c or power trying to cool off. Sad thing is so far one person has died and a bunch of pets too. This is reminding me of the blackout in Ottawa again. Well it's gross here in our place the fans are on and the a/c which isn't working is on and the temp says 90 in the apartment but that is just b/c that is the highest the thing reads in the house, hahah, but I know it's hotter than that b/c you can't tell the difference between inside and outside. I am really hoping that they are right and it cools down tomorrow, it has cooled down some this morning but it's early so it going to be hot again. I would never have thought that temps in the 80's F would be thought as cool before but that is the temp now in the apartment so I think the A/c finally kicked in after a week not working.

Welcome Sean Flynn

Well Tom and I are once again an Uncle and Aunt. After a long wait Sean Patrick Flynn finally came to his waiting happy Parents Sarah and Trevor on July 21, 2006 . All is great and everyone is doing well. We can't wait to go home and see him and everyone else. Once I get some pictures I will post them up. There will be lot of pictures b/c I am still waiting on pictures from my sister baby as well which they named Reagan Marie Lipsett (Marie is after me!!!!!) I feel special :). So many babies this month and I have to wait till September to see them which feel so long away. How come the things you look forward too and want take so long to get here and than go by so fast, but everything else is just a whirlwind of time. Till next time

Welcome Reagan Marie Lipsett

Well today is july 4th, and tom and I spent the day with our friends Seema and Ashok in San Fran. We just walked around and ate food and watched the fire works down on Fishermans Wharf. The fireworks were nice. but I was disappointed because I thought San Fran would have a much better show. Anyhow after a long day I got home to hear on the answering machine that Sandy and Blair had their third daughter today. Mom and Dad didn't tell me what they named it but said everything went will and she weighed in at 7 LB 10 OZ/21.5 IN. Which is a lot better than Makenna who was 10lbs 04 oz. I can't wait to see her.

Those poor unloved Hurricanes

Chaos in Carolina!

Let's Go Oilers

Well we have waited all hockey season for this and it is all on now!!....game seven for the cup!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The house is going to be full tonight, all Canadian hockey fans that work with tom are coming over, for food, beer and the game. It can't get any better than this. The Oil is going to cover the storm tonight babe, no doubt in my mind. We are going to win this thing. We we were last in the Western conference and we are playing for the cup. We were down 3-1 :( and we are back 3-3 baby and who is going to win this thing I say !!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!OILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE ARE TAKING THIS THING HOME ON THEIR ICE!!!!!!!!!!

Not much is new....

Well it's been a while and I must say there is not much new at our end....Tom is working long hours to meet some deadlines and work for me has picked up a little more the last couple of weeks but has slowed down again. The gopher has eaten my garden...Bella is her crazy self as always. I did finally make homemade spaghetti sauce yesterday which I haven't made for tom since we moved to California considering the first 9 months we lived in corporate housing so we didn't have a lot of kitchen stuff to cook with, like my big pot that I make homemade spaghetti sauce in. Now we are just hoping that the Oilers win the game on Saturday and that they win the cup, pleassssssssssssssse win. Well today and the next two days are suppose to be really hot ones, it's suppose to get up in the high 80's F so for all you C degrees people that means in the 30's. I must say that I am not a 30 person, I am a person that likes to be in the 20's where it is warm but not soo warm you feel gross and sweaty. Here is hoping that there is a breeze during these next few days if it gets as hot as they are saying. Well I got to run haven't decided if I should got for an hours swim or run today before it gets too hot out, it's all ready 22 C at 10am. :S

Happy Birthday to me.....

Today we went out and bought some more flowers that I potted b/c my gopher friend still seem to be living in my garden. We got more stuff that is suppose to get rid of him too. So I am hoping that this time it works. So when I plant my garden yet again for the third time it well get a chance to grow. I will post some photos of my flowers a bit later. Tom baked me a chocolate birthday cake from scratch....No box crap YAYAYAY. He also made me breakfast and took me out for Indian food for dinner. I ate way too much that now my stomach is hurting and full that I can't even eat my birthday cake. Hopefully in an hour I will have some room for it, it smells soo good.....CHOCOLATE.....

Gopher this is war....

Do I need to say anything more...........................................................

Wow the last four days flu by way too fast

Well we picked Sandra up Saturday night right after the Oilers won!!!!!! Got back to the apartment late in the evening and after chatting some we all went to bed. Next day Sandra and I woke up and picked up the rental car and hit the road for Hollywood. We drove pretty much the whole way down the coastal highway which was really amazing and she had a beautiful day to see it too. We first stopped at Santa Cruz (the well known boardwalk/amusement park on the beach) for lunch and than we hit the road again. We drove till just outside of LA and spent the night in a motel. Got up early the next morning and took a detour down to Malibu, where I must say the houses are amazing. We saw some surfers and a few beaches and continued to drive to Beverly Hills where we walked on Rodeo drive which had some nice stores and signs in the stores that said you need to make an appointment before going in to shop. Once we finished our walk on Rodeo drive it was off to Hollywood. We got there just before lunch time and walked along Hollywood Blvd. The walk of fame where the people have their names in stars in the sidewalk is a lot longer than I thought it was. I would keep missing the surroundings b/c I kept looking down and reading the names. I had to remind myself to look at the building too. After we walked around some more and did what we wanted to do we jumped back into the car and headed for home. The drive was good for the long weekend until we hit a joining highway that joined the I-5 and 101 , the traffic was crazy and I was getting cranky, my butt was hurting from sitting so long and we were only moving 2 miles every 10 mins it was crazy. But we finally got home. Next day it's off to San Francisco and Wednesday we'll rest at home.

Let's try this again....

Well Tom and I went back out to buy some flowers for my garden and also get some rodent repelent for the garden too. Hopefully this mole or gopher will not eat my garden this time. We also picked up two rose bushes too that I planted in pots. I have a few more pots so I will probably go out some time after this week and buy some more flower to put them in the pots. Well only a few more hours till Sandra comes to visit, I can't wait should be an awesome time while she is here. Well I got to run and get back to the hockey game they are need to win this one LET'S GO OILERS, LET'S GO!!!!!!

What a night....

Well last evening right before bed tom and I heard a loud crash and lots of sirens and than the smelled smoke. We ran out b/c I thought someone ran into the cars in our parking lot but we found our car was okay but just outside of the parking lot were a lot of lights..... and sort of a eerie feeling after that. Then we heard sirens entering our complex roads and just flying around. Tom later went out and saw our neighbours talking to another guy who claimed he saw the whole thing. So what it came down to was the cops were chasing someone and when they went over the train tracks, which are on a sort of a slope and the car went airborn through the light towards our apartments. They lost control of the car and ran over the speed limit signpost and then hit the telephone pole...the guy got out of the car and ran into our complex. Which then led the cops to fly around our complex. As far as we know he was found and there were no reports of the episode in the paper so we really don't know what happen. I'm really glad that Tom and I don't live in the apartment right by the road next to the sidewalk.

Damn you Mole or gopher.

Well my garden was looking really nice there for a bit. It was full of flowers and looking really pretty, and then one day one of my flowers went missing. When I mean missing there is nothing in sight that could say it was ever there, not even a leaf or petal was left. The only proof I have that it was there is that I know I planted one there and we started out with six of a kind. Each day one more is missing. Now you are thinking are you sure I am not miscounting? I can tell you I am not because we started out with 24 plants and we are down to 8. 8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I say I don't even know when the mole/gopher is doing this to my garden but I know it's him because if I really dig up the garden I can find little tunnels here and there and he leaves little mounds of dirt here and there. I am just waiting for him to take down our little orange tree that is 3 feet high. If he gets the orange tree than this mole or gopher is on some steroids for sure. Well it looks like I am going to have to get more potted plants and try one more time to plant some plants in my garden.

What a Day

Well Sunday was an awesome day. Tom and I got up and went to the farmers market and than headed into San Fran, b/c tom had to sign in for his conference for this week. He took me shopping first b/c he couldn't check into JavaOne(that's the conference) till 2pm, and I need some clothes that fit. Now if you know me, you would know that I am not typical girl when it comes to shopping. I hate shopping to the T, I have never been much of a shopper. I hate the lines, the trying on clothes etc...I like running in grabbing what I want and leaving as fast as I can.... Plus I never find much that I like or that fits well. Things either fit here but not there and vise versa. Well I don't know what happen this day but it wasn't my normal shopping day for me. It started out me not wanting to shop b/c I didn't feel like trying things on but I bit the bullet and grab some stuff to try on in store number one. Tom also picked out some pants for me to try on as well b/c they were on sale. Well did I ever go crazy everything I tried on was fitting and Tom and I were liking how it fit too. So I walked out of that store with 4 pairs of pants and two skirts, plus it was all on sale too. Next store Tom was like "I don't know if I want you to go in" but we went in and I found 2 pairs of shorts and two skirts, that were cheap too. I have never shopped like that before and I did it all in an hour thank goodness b/c I was getting tired. Oh and Tom only got one shirt haha, normally when we shop I come out empty handed or with one thing and tom comes out with 6-8 things. It was nice for a change to be the one with clothes, that boy has more clothes than I do. Well after shopping and Tom finished with his conference stuff, we headed back home to get ready for the OILERS VS SHARKS game. We were really excited and tom was bouncing off the wall b/c it was the first time he ever got to see the OILERS in a playoff game. It was an amazing game and so much fun, we got teased some but nothing hard which was sort of was surprising and even more surprising, we weren't the only OILER FANS there. There were way more OILERS FANS there than I thought would be but we were still way out numbered by a landslide. Tom and I were the only ones in our section cheering for the OILERS that I could see. Which was funny b/c we were the only ones jumping up and yelling when the OILERS scored and you could hear us yelling. OH did I say how amazing it was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And we killed the Sharks soo bad 6-3 wow I can't wait till game 6th we are soo going to win this Round. I was soo tried when we went home I had no trouble falling to sleep.

New Record

Well today is a beautiful day but it started off blah, for me. I woke up felling yuky and didn't want to go running. However after putting it off for a bit, I finally went to the gym for my run but someone was on the treadmill so I started on the bike but didn't feel like doing that plus I didn't know how long the person was going to run for. So I decided that I would just go running outside. I normally like to have a route planned out to run but since I haven't begun to run outside yet I had to wing it. I managed to run 5 miles in 45 mins, I am going to have to find a longer route next time b/c I like to run for an hour. Normally I run on the treadmill at 6mph for an hour on a hill workout setting so that is 6miles but now I know I can run faster than that so I can't wait till next time, to see how far I can run in a full hour! After being outside and after my run I felt so much better. Once I finished lunch I called tom to see if he wanted to go for a quick coffee, so he had some time so I picked him up and we went out for coffee. Once I got home I went out and planted the flowers that I bought yesterday. It's starting to look nice out on our patio, I just need some more flowers, which I will go out and buy so I have some more to plant tomorrow.

Awesome weekend

Well this weekend has been the best in a long time!!!! We really haven't done much but the pace was nice and slow and the time was together. The beautiful weather we have been having is great too. This weekend Tom came with me to my Saturday morning workout and he did good, very sore today but it's good for him. Then we went to our favorite breakfast place and ate out on the patio which is soo nice since the weather is getting even nicer, more people want to eat outside so it's getting harder to get a table. After brunch we went to OSH which is like your home depot, and got flowers for our patio. We got a Fuchsia Hybrida-Lisa which is hanging out on the patio and than I got some impatiens and pansies. I love having flowers outside. Today we slept in a bit but only till 9 am and than got up had some breakfast, and back to OSH for some more plants and some staining supplies for my Hope chest. I got some some dahlia and vintage burgandy, which I plan to plant tomorrow. I weeded the garden and we stained the hope chest and now it's dinner time and it's BBQ and watch the Hockey game, Go Oilers.

Rocking Chair

I finally finished my rocking chair, Here is the before and after picture. I am just starting to stain the hopechest and now it all about the polyurethaning it. Once it's done I will post some pictures of it.

Come on Down

Well this spring is becoming a very interesting one for sure. Peter and Mel came to visit at the end of April and it was a great time. Now Qball is coming down to visit for a week on the 20th of May which will be great as well and just the other day I get an email from Sandra and she is going to try and come for a visit during the first week of June. I really hope that she will be able to come down, it will be awesome to see her, especially where I haven't seen her since our wedding day. Now the funny thing is, is that Tom and I have had more visitors down here than we had in the time that we lived in Ottawa. We should have moved here yrs ago.

Most Beautiful Day

Well today the weather is awesome, it's 80 F out which is 26 C for all you Canadian. It felt so good to be out in the sun in shorts and a T-shirt, I hope we continue to have this kind of weather for the rest of the spring and summer but I know it's going to get a lot hotter which I won't like too much, but I am not complaining it not rain. I also had an awesome run at the gym today, did some incline intervals for 65mins,wow it felt good. Today is such an awesome day. We also found out that we don't have to move now until the beginning of September, so this is great news. Well it's such a nice day I think it's going to be a bbq dinner tonight. I love this weather!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe the week is over

Well on Monday Peter and Mel came to visit us for the week!!!!!! We spent the week doing some sight seeing and running around taking them to our favorite places to eat. Well we didn't get to do everything but we still did a lot. We spent two days in San Francisco where we saw a Baseball game, ate at a Tapas restaurant (Spanish food and a style of eating), Stinking Rose (which is a garlic restaurant), tour of alcatraz, golden gate bridge, china town, pier 39 and we had fun running around trying to catch the buses and trains which we did well until the way home when we just missed the train home and ended up taking a cab to where we parked the car. We also took them out for dim sum which is one of our favorite types of Chinese food and Hobees which is a great breakfast place, In'n'Out (which is a burger place that only sells hamburger, cheeseburgers, fries, and milkshakes), out for Persian food and last but not least Cold Stone Creamery which is the best Ice cream parlor ever (you make your own flavor of ice cream, you can put in anything in your ice cream from chocolate chips, gummy bears, brownie, cookie dough, sauces, cookies, different chocolate bars, nuts, peanut butter etc). Today we took them to 17 mile drive, where pebble beach golf course is and then down highway 1, the coastal highway, towards Big Sur. It's so beautiful. Tomorrow we take them to the airport, I will be sad to see them go :(.

Back home in California

Well after a great trip home visiting family, and a long day of flying I am finally home in California. I got home at 12:30 am and I'm soo tired and hungry by the time I got to bed it was 1:30am Pacific time. That's one long day b/c that was 5:30 am Atlantic time. Well I must say that it's a lot easier flying from the east coast to west coast for jet leg. I got up at 8:30 am and felt good, Tom and I went to breakfast and I am heading to my workout. But when I fly from west to east, I'm tired for days. It's funny how a four hour time change can mess you up. I got home and tom had cleaned up quite a bit which was really great and he had a bouquet of tulips waiting for me at home too.

I brought the weather with me

Well I have been home since Wednesday night now and the sun hasn't been out yet, how funny is that. My nannie told me then when I go back to California on Saturday to please take this weather back with me. hahaha, I said I would try. So far home I have gotten to see my two sisters and their family's. My nieces are so funny, I am going to miss them, when I go back. I spend time with my grandparents every day and listen to their stories of the past, this is one of my favorite time of the day. Made one of Dad's favorite pasta dishes for him for dinner this week, it was pretty good I must say, especially since it's a dish that doesn't have any meat in it but lots of garlic, man the garlic going to be coming out of our pores for a week. Going to spend three full days with mom this week where she got some time off work, just taking it slow and doing whatever. I have a feeling this week is going to go by fast :(.

Finally home in CANADA

Well I got in Halifax airport around 10pm last night and got to Bridgewater at 11:30pm. Tired from the trip but I still couldn't fall asleep because of the time difference. So about 3am I finally fell asleep and got up at 9:45 am refreshed. I spent my day with my sister and my two nieces Peyton and Makenna. We skipped threw the grocery store, had lunch, went shoe shopping, sang songs etc... best day in a long time. Tomorrow I am going swimming with them, I can't wait. Tonight is relaxing with mom before she goes to work at 11pm.

Well what a day

Well yesterday was a crazy day. I spent 4 hours staining my rocking chair, and man it wasn't fun. If you go and buy unfurnished furniture and the guy tells you how stain it and also give you a pamphlet that explains how to do it too, don't listen to the guy, listen to the pamphlet. The guy told me to apply it all over and than go back and wipe it off. In theory this works but the chair is really big and I must not be very fast at staining b/c it was really hard to rub off where the stain started drying and my arms were hurting so bad I wanted to quit. I should have only done a section or an area and than wiped it off b/c it wipes off just as easy as wiping it on, and gives you the same results. So anyhow after a lot of cursing and fixing areas, the staining is finally done. Now next step is to polyurethane it. I'm going to wait until I come back from my trip and when the weather is better to do it outside, b/c tom said the stain was very strong even though I had the patio and all windows open....that's probably why I had a headache. I hope the hopechest works out a lot better than the chair did.

Well another funny story for the day is that when I got the mail today there were three Christmas cards that people sent us around Christmas time. They had our old address on them but we got our mail forwarded to where we are living now, so I don't know what the US mail is doing with b/c if it takes 5 months to forward mail it is a little crazy. I hope we aren't missing any important mail now.

Picking up Furniture

Well since we now have a car we are going to pick up our Rocking chair and Hopechest tomorrow. I can't wait for tomorrow. I am so excited to pick them up. Once I pick them up and stain them, I will post some pictures. And it didn't rain today day either. What a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Proud Parents

Well today has been a very exciting and expensive day for us. Today tom and I went to the Toyota car dealership to test drive a car and we quite enjoyed it. Before we knew it we were signing the papers for the car we test drove b/c it had everything we wanted an a little more, which oh well. We got the car today and it only had 16 miles on it and 10 of those miles are what we put on it during the test drive. So we are proud parents of a 2006 Toyota Matrix XR. No more renting cars and now it going to be hard work not too be lazy and drive everywhere. Here are some pictures of our car. Oh if you notice in the pictures too that it's sunny out. If it doesn't rain tonight than it will be 24 hours of no rain for us!!!!!!!

We are finally growing up

Well the time has come where Tom and I can't pretend to be young anymore. Yes you heard me right we have to grow up. It is time to finally get a car.....I am feeling so old. But hey it's exciting to buy a car, I am just not thinking of the money that we have to spend on it. Tight budget for the next few yrs :(. But we are getting a car!!!! So we're pretty sure on the car we want and we are going to test drive the Toyota Matrix tomorrow morning. We need a hatchback for my massage table and this is the best in our price range and for gas/miles. We had a Vibe for the first nine months that we were down here, provided by Tom's company, but they took it back when we decided to transfer down to this location for good. The Vibe and the Matrix are basically the same car, the engine is shared by both, but Pontiac and Toyota designed the features a little different and there were something about the Vibe we didn't like....Like if you put down the drivers sun visor it would hit the rearview mirror and I don't know I like to be able to see in front of me and behind while a drive. The Matrix isn't suppose to have that design feature. So either the end of this month or next month Tom and I will be the new owners of a 2006 Toyota Matrix!!!! Now we just have to try and not abuse the fact that we have a car or all the exercising we do now is going to be non-existant. I am crossing my fingers now that we won't get too lazy b/c we walk everywhere and Tom is biking to work, we can't afford it to become lazy. Well I will let you know how the test drive goes and hopefully we find someone that will give us a loan so we can get the car.

I know I am behind

Okay Cari here it goes I know I have been behind in my blogs ;).

Well on Wednesday night Tom took me to the James Blunt concert in San Francisco and I must say I enjoyed myself a lot. His accent I love...he sang some songs that are only released in the UK which was nice. I tried to find them on itunes but they aren't up yet so I going to have to do some digging. Now I know some of you will say that his song Your're Beatuiful is over played but I don't listen to the radio that much so I don't hear it unless I am playing it, so I must say I still like the song as well as his other 11 I think that are on the cd. So over all it was a good evening in the city. We caught the last train out of the city at 12:01 am and got home at 1:30am so I was tired the next day. But glad we went b/c it was definitely a change in our routine. Tom also bought tickets for Nine inch nails for this summer or early fall not sure of the date yet. But that one is here in Mountain View so the travel won't be that bad. I will let you know how that goes, Tom's really excited for this one....I wonder why...hahaha

Headache

Well the last time I looked at the clock last night or early morning, which ever you prefer to call it was after 4 am. At 7 am my eyes opened and I tried to go back to sleep, however I fail to do so. I decided to get up and showered at 8: 30 am. My head is pounding so hard that it's making me feel sick to my stomach, and it is the most crappiest day outside which is not surprising because the news the other day said we've had more rain than Seattle in the month of March and that we only had 6 complete days that were dry in March. Well I must say that April is not looking much better. I am so tired of rain, I think that this is worst than the snow we get back home, when you are wishing it would finally stop. Why you my ask me because if you go out in this weather it's cold rain and you get soaked and everything is soaked, where as you can still walk in the snow mind you that you are freezing off your butt but at least you aren't soak to the bone unless you decide to play in it with out your snow gear on but than you are having fun while getting soaked. I do not enjoy walking in this rain at all!!!!!

Can't sleep

Well it is 1:44 am pacific time and I am wide awake. It really suck when this happens because all I want to do is go to sleep in my bed and have good dreams. However instead I am up and not knowing when my body will say it time to shut down for the night. Now some of you would say it's not a big probably because if you were me you would have a nap during the day....but I am not a nap'er at all. In fact I have never been one to nap or sleep in unless you say 9 am is sleeping in because that is the latest that I can sleep in once in a blue moon. Because if I sleep in till 9 am or by chance a little later I wake up with the biggest headache you have ever felt without it being a migraine. Now I know I am not the only one who has trouble sleeping because a lot of people claim they can't sleep. So I don't understand it, if there are so many of us that can't sleep at night than why don't they have better TV shows on at night. The TV sucks in the early morning hours. Therefore I will go and make myself a hot chocolate and put in a movie that I have watched a thousands times and know off by heart in the hope that I start to get drowsy. You might ask why hot chocolate and I can't really tell you why, it might be that people always said warm milk but I can't drink just warm milk. My mom and me always do hot chocolate. That reminds me of one of the best times I had at home with my mom, it was the night before my wedding and I could sleep so I was lying in bed trying when I heard my mom get up and go into the kitchen...where I knew she would be making hot chocolate because she couldn't sleep either....and so we both sat in the kitchen in the early morning drinking our hot chocolate and talk till we thought that we should try to go back to sleep, before it was time to get up and get ready for the wedding. :)

Sooo Funny

Well today I found a site and it made me laugh soo much I can't believe it is really. LOL I am still watching it now. Can you believe they made and animation movie on doggy poo. Yup that is right they did. It's so funny check it out it will brighten your day. There are two trailers on the sight watch them both and I am told you can buy it at amazon. Doggy Poo

Rainy and Cold

Whoever said California was the sunny state must have only visited here a short period of time. It has been raining off and on again for two weeks now, it has the cold and damp feeling that makes you want to cuddle up under the blankets with hot chocolate and never come out today. Even Bella feels it she has been crawling all over me and wanting to sleep on my lap which is making it even harder to get things done, especially when you don't want to do them either.

Flying home single

Hey all you, I just wanted to let you know that I will be flying home on april 12th till the 22nd. Tom won't be able to come with me because he has two work. I am hoping to get to see you all but things are a little busy at home too so I'll keep you posted. Plus I won't have a car so it's hard for me to get to Halifax.
sel

It's going to be an exciting trip home in the fall

Well this years trip home is going to be amazing one. In July one of my sisters and one of Tom's brothers are having babies with their due dates only 5 days apart. As well today Tom and I found out that his brother Dan purposed to his girlfriend Genevieve and are setting their wedding date for sometime in September!!!! This is going to be one crazy trip home but it's going to be one exciting trip too. Babies and a wedding what more could one ask for. So for those who I told that we were coming home in July or August....Well make that September now :) .

YAY, we finally got our last wedding gift purchases

Well today has been a good day but an expensive shopping day. Today after my workout we rented a car (yes everyone we still don't have a car...but I don't want one right now b/c I know I will become lazy and won't walk as much as I do know...Plus renting a car for a day is only 17$ but when we decide to start a family I guess we'll have to get one) So we went to my favorite hardwood furniture store today, to look at Grandfather Rockers. My mom and dad wanted to buy us one for our wedding present but since we were moving there was no sense on buying it just to put it in storage. So she gave us the money which we put away for it. Well now that we won't be moving home anytime soon we went out to go buy one. We got to the store and found the one I wanted as well as a hopechest that is 49 3/8 W x 22D 20 1/2 H(very big!!) with cedar lining (it smells so nice). However these pieces that we bought are unfinished so we bought the stain and I get to stain them too, I can't wait. Now we just have to talk one of Tom's co-workers to help us pick them up and transport them back to our place. I love buying would furniture...I can't wait till we finally buy our own house so that I can have my own wood workshop in it so that I can make my own....but this will be fine for now, I get to do some of the work. After that we picked up two bags of cat food from the vet (expensive) for Bella, a filing cabinet for my client files and our important docs so they can be locked up, and then finally the worst store to take Tom .....costco....He gets in there and wants to buy things like crazy and you have to know your prices b/c not everything is a good deal but even the good deals add up. No more shopping until we move. Once I get my rocker and hopechest home and stained I will post the pictures up.

What a day

Well I woke up really tired and new today was not going to be an easy one. YUP I was right started off with a nice cold shower...No hot water, lovely. Then it's time to fold laundry and head to the gym. Well the gym was brutal, my legs just didn't seem to want to run so after fighting with myself for 40min on the treadmill I finally gave up and stopped....which sucks b/c the minimum that I normally run is in hour and max is two hours. Coming out of the gym I see that it is pouring ran...lovely time to run back to the apartment. I find out that the weather is suppose to continue to rain for the rest of the week. Here is hoping that the day gets better and the weather man is going to be wrong!!!

Pictures from Hawaii

Here are the pictures I promised to put up from our trip to Hawaii.

This is the view of the beach outside our hotel. Tom and I climbed the mountain in the middle of the picture from inside the crater to the outer edge. The crater is actually a dormant volcano. The crater is know as diamond head crater.

This is an African tulip tree.

Sunset on the beach

This is actually just one tree known as a banyan vine tree. Basically roots start growing down like vines from branches and rooting themselves into the ground.

Cheeseburger in Paridise restaurant.

This is a zoomed picture of the view off diamond head crater that Tom and I climbed.

This is another view from diamond head crater, looking towards our hotel.

Night time on the beach looking at the hotels

The Luau

Now we didn't stay at the Hilton but they have huge grounds and anyone can go in and walk around. This is what we found.....Penguins in the Hilton Hotel

Turtles at the Hilton Hotel

The Hilton Hotel even has pink flamingos

A Pineapple growing outside the Dole plantation

They call this the baboon face cliff. Not sure if you can see it but the nose it the farthest point out and the mouth is by the water and the eyes are the next bump up from the long snout.

This is a bell of forgiveness you ring it and you are forgiven,
Tom is ringing the bell

Me ringing the bell

This is a buddhist temple in a Memorial grounds

This is known as the blow hole. There is actually a cave down in the water and when the wave comes in it pushes the water in to the cave and up through a hole in the rocks which they call a chimney and sprays water up into the air.

Me in Hawaii

Us in Hawaii

Us being Silly

Tom in Hawaii