My VW Jetta- betty
Over the past 3 years I have relied on my little white jetta to take me places, primarily to work, to the mall, to the airport and on road trips to Utah & LA. It has traveled many hours, and thousands of miles in this pursuit. It has conquered freeways all over the US, moving me and my meager belongings from Slave Lake to California via highway 1 & I-15. After this long journey, it bravely mastered the 280, 101, 85, 237, 880 and many more bay area expressways. I have great love for my little Jetta. Its Cute, it gets good gas mileage, it has a nice CD player, it’s big enough to haul groceries, but small enough to fit into any parking spot, anywhere. It has a sunroof and a bad looking bad interior with chrome trim. It’s a sexy, girl next door kind of car.
Like any girl, my Jetta is not perfect-- and its sexiness does come with a cost. It’s had a new transmission, new A/C, and various other repairs, (luckily the tranny was covered by warranty). Yes, my Jetta has served me well over these 3 years.
On to a new mode of commuting though- last weekend I bought myself a road bike. You see, my new job is 6 miles from my apartment, and all along the way, there are numerous bikers traversing the roads. The past 4 months I have said to myself, I want to do that! I look at them in envy, as they are not only saving $ & the environment, but they all have sexy, cut up calves and quads. So I finally did it-- I got a bike Yippee!!! Today was my very first ride to work, and it took T-minus 20 minutes plus changing time. I thought it would take a lot longer, but it was quick and relatively painless. Hopefully from now on, I will interchange my Jetta and my new road bike to take me where I need to be.
XOXO
Eve
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
California Summer Fun
I love California in the summertime! The weather is fantastic, and there is sooo much to do, especially in the bay area. Here is a little recap of our weekend-
On Friday night we went out for dinner with 2 other couples who work with Sean. We went to this great little place, Max's Opera Cafe- its menu & portions are as big as cheesecake factory, and they serve yummy hot little raisin biscuits at the beginning of your meal. Yum.... I love raisins. I love going out with Sean’s work buddies, bc they have the best stories to tell. There is nothing like the story of a good foot pursuit, drug bust or cranked up prisoner. Nothing like my job at all.
On Saturday morning we woke up early, like 7:30am- very early for a Saturday. We had one goal in mind- get out of the house and on the road to Santa Cruz Mountains by 8am. We almost made it,,, we were out of the house by 8:16am. I had to cheerlead Sean into waking up... as he is a really terrible morning person, unlike me, (I usually bound out of bed, especially when it’s to the promise of a fun filled day).
Mountain Biking was especially awesome! We made it up the mountain as fast as we ever have- we did the whole ride in 2 hrs flat, nice! I love mountain biking. It such a great adrenaline rush, lots of fun and a great workout at the same time. I took a 2 day mountain biking course in May, and since then, I have a lot more confidence and have been able to try more technical rides without peeing my pants with fear. Don't get me wrong- the down hill single tracks are still scary.. But now I know that my bike was built to handle it.
We finished our ride at 11am, and were home by noon. Ahhh---- I love Saturdays. We watched an episode of Law & Order SVU, ate some subway and baked yummy chocolate chip cookies. I have got the BEST cookie recipe. For all my sisters, be excited... I will distribute this recipe this Christmas during our annual recipe exchange!
After eating we put on our suits, slathered on the sunscreen and frolicked in the pool for an hour and a half. Well, I frolicked while Seany Sean laid in the sun and baked himself crispy. He seems to think that this is the way to achieve a nice golden tan, but instead, he has just moved one step closer to skin cancer. I am a big proponent of SPF 30, big sunglasses and a hat. There is nothing like a wrinkly leather face by the time you are 40 to turn you on to skin protection.
We finished off the day with our favorite kind of date, dinner and a movie. We saw the new Adam Sandaler flick- "Click". While I love Adam Sandler, and think he is the cutest little comic out there, the movie sucked, so don’t waste your money. After the show we headed to our favorite Mexican joint, Chilopote... yum yum. It is our California substitute for Cafe Rio. While I love the Rio, Chilopte is a fierce competitor. Winning a little more of my heart with every bite.
Sunday was boring. We were late for church, as usual. You'd think that bc there are only 2 of us, and we live 5 minutes away we would get there on time. But no, without fail, we're late every week and end up sitting in the overflow room with the hard plastic chairs and crying babies. I guess it is our punishment for being late. At least back there we can nod off without fear of insulting the speaker, as we're so far back they can’t see us anyways.
Sunday night we went to Sandra's house for Dinner. We LOVE hanging out with Angel and Sandra.. They are some of the coolest peeps out there. Angel is Sean’s best friend from childhood, and Sandra, his girlfriend is a super cool fellow Albertan. Go Canada. She is also an amazing cook, and we left, 3 1/2 hrs later stuffed full.
Well, that’s about it--Just another fun filled weekend in the life of Sean & Eve.
XOXO
Eve & Sean
I love California in the summertime! The weather is fantastic, and there is sooo much to do, especially in the bay area. Here is a little recap of our weekend-
On Friday night we went out for dinner with 2 other couples who work with Sean. We went to this great little place, Max's Opera Cafe- its menu & portions are as big as cheesecake factory, and they serve yummy hot little raisin biscuits at the beginning of your meal. Yum.... I love raisins. I love going out with Sean’s work buddies, bc they have the best stories to tell. There is nothing like the story of a good foot pursuit, drug bust or cranked up prisoner. Nothing like my job at all.
On Saturday morning we woke up early, like 7:30am- very early for a Saturday. We had one goal in mind- get out of the house and on the road to Santa Cruz Mountains by 8am. We almost made it,,, we were out of the house by 8:16am. I had to cheerlead Sean into waking up... as he is a really terrible morning person, unlike me, (I usually bound out of bed, especially when it’s to the promise of a fun filled day).
Mountain Biking was especially awesome! We made it up the mountain as fast as we ever have- we did the whole ride in 2 hrs flat, nice! I love mountain biking. It such a great adrenaline rush, lots of fun and a great workout at the same time. I took a 2 day mountain biking course in May, and since then, I have a lot more confidence and have been able to try more technical rides without peeing my pants with fear. Don't get me wrong- the down hill single tracks are still scary.. But now I know that my bike was built to handle it.
We finished our ride at 11am, and were home by noon. Ahhh---- I love Saturdays. We watched an episode of Law & Order SVU, ate some subway and baked yummy chocolate chip cookies. I have got the BEST cookie recipe. For all my sisters, be excited... I will distribute this recipe this Christmas during our annual recipe exchange!
After eating we put on our suits, slathered on the sunscreen and frolicked in the pool for an hour and a half. Well, I frolicked while Seany Sean laid in the sun and baked himself crispy. He seems to think that this is the way to achieve a nice golden tan, but instead, he has just moved one step closer to skin cancer. I am a big proponent of SPF 30, big sunglasses and a hat. There is nothing like a wrinkly leather face by the time you are 40 to turn you on to skin protection.
We finished off the day with our favorite kind of date, dinner and a movie. We saw the new Adam Sandaler flick- "Click". While I love Adam Sandler, and think he is the cutest little comic out there, the movie sucked, so don’t waste your money. After the show we headed to our favorite Mexican joint, Chilopote... yum yum. It is our California substitute for Cafe Rio. While I love the Rio, Chilopte is a fierce competitor. Winning a little more of my heart with every bite.
Sunday was boring. We were late for church, as usual. You'd think that bc there are only 2 of us, and we live 5 minutes away we would get there on time. But no, without fail, we're late every week and end up sitting in the overflow room with the hard plastic chairs and crying babies. I guess it is our punishment for being late. At least back there we can nod off without fear of insulting the speaker, as we're so far back they can’t see us anyways.
Sunday night we went to Sandra's house for Dinner. We LOVE hanging out with Angel and Sandra.. They are some of the coolest peeps out there. Angel is Sean’s best friend from childhood, and Sandra, his girlfriend is a super cool fellow Albertan. Go Canada. She is also an amazing cook, and we left, 3 1/2 hrs later stuffed full.
Well, that’s about it--Just another fun filled weekend in the life of Sean & Eve.
XOXO
Eve & Sean
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Ahh, Sweet Release..
Why is is that harmandeep's legs were not sore after our 18 mile, vertical hike- yet my legs are still sore, my back is aching and its been 4 days ! I've been hobbling around at work, avoiding the stairs at all costs and really just sitting in my office using the phone, rather than getting up to interrogate people in person (as a good auditor should do).
The injustice in it all is that I am in relatively good shape. I have worked out consistently since grade school. I won best female athlete 3 yrs in a row, I was on the skipping team, swim team, volleyball team, and heck, I even tried out for cheerleading, even though I was far to large and boyish to have a hope in making it (thats another story). These days, I exercise 5 times a week and have a resting heart beat of 48 beats per minute.
Harmandeep, on the other hand, has worked out a total of 10 times since I've known her (which is 3 years and 12 days...since my first day of work in California). She eats whatever she pleases, and still looks like J-Lo. Sean and I were sure that she should have been comatose for a week after we saw her at the top of that mountain, but no, she was stock full of energy and not the least bit sore the very next day. What am i missing here? She has always said that she is built like a rock, and now i surely believe it.
What then you might ask, is my "sweet release"? Well my friends, it is Yoga. I just finished my favorite DVD- Bryan Kest- he is the greatest. While the thought of Yoga makes me tired & bored, I always feel so great and energized afterwards, and best of all, it has worked out all of my knotted muscles and crampy calves. Thank goodness. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with Harmandeep tomorrow.
XOXO
Eve
Sean, my husband, works the midnight shift at his work. Its been like this since we were married, however, in the last few months, I've been noticing a weird trend on nights when he is working and I am home alone. Lately, everynight that he is gone, I have been having the hardest dreams ever. I cannot give complete detail of these dreams, however a few of the topics include:
1) Alligator Babies- I dreamt that I had a baby, only it was a foot long alligator instead of a human baby. I was locked up inside my imaginary house with this "baby gator", and it kept biting me and I kept running away from it. It made really really angry, bc everyone in my life expected me to just stay at home and take care of this animal that would not stop biting me. My interpretation of this dream, is that I am definitely not ready to have babies. I feel they would restrict me in too many ways, and life is just too fun right now for such things.
2) Random Make outs- I have random dreams of make outs with other people. I feel bad, bc its like Im cheating on Sean in my Dreams. I've told him all about it though, and I've rationalized it to really be his fault, since he abandons me on oh so many nights. Some of these make outs are with people I know/knew and some are with imaginary people, made up in my head. Unfortunately, they are never total hotdogs, and I am usually disgusted by the time I wake up... Happy when Sean finally comes home around 8am.
3) Moles- Last night I dreamt that I was getting my skin checked for cancerous moles. You see, i have a lot of moles, and lately, I've been freaking myself out with thoughts of cancer. I am a pretty healthy person in most ways, I exercise, I eat well, however, I drink far too much diet soda, and I have had many, many sunburns in my lifetime. However, this cancer check was not at a doctors office, and I was not wearing a white gown. It was at my old highschool, Roland Michener, and I was sitting on the gym floor in a group of about 100 people. I can't tell you the rest without sounding too explicit- but let me just say. There would be an awful lot of lawsuits if all cancer checks were performed in such a fashion.
I love it when I remember my dreams though. When I was a little girl, I used to hate it, because I always forgot them by the time i woke up. The worst, is when you're having a fantastic dream, and then you wake up, and cannot resume the dream when you fall back asleep.
1) Alligator Babies- I dreamt that I had a baby, only it was a foot long alligator instead of a human baby. I was locked up inside my imaginary house with this "baby gator", and it kept biting me and I kept running away from it. It made really really angry, bc everyone in my life expected me to just stay at home and take care of this animal that would not stop biting me. My interpretation of this dream, is that I am definitely not ready to have babies. I feel they would restrict me in too many ways, and life is just too fun right now for such things.
2) Random Make outs- I have random dreams of make outs with other people. I feel bad, bc its like Im cheating on Sean in my Dreams. I've told him all about it though, and I've rationalized it to really be his fault, since he abandons me on oh so many nights. Some of these make outs are with people I know/knew and some are with imaginary people, made up in my head. Unfortunately, they are never total hotdogs, and I am usually disgusted by the time I wake up... Happy when Sean finally comes home around 8am.
3) Moles- Last night I dreamt that I was getting my skin checked for cancerous moles. You see, i have a lot of moles, and lately, I've been freaking myself out with thoughts of cancer. I am a pretty healthy person in most ways, I exercise, I eat well, however, I drink far too much diet soda, and I have had many, many sunburns in my lifetime. However, this cancer check was not at a doctors office, and I was not wearing a white gown. It was at my old highschool, Roland Michener, and I was sitting on the gym floor in a group of about 100 people. I can't tell you the rest without sounding too explicit- but let me just say. There would be an awful lot of lawsuits if all cancer checks were performed in such a fashion.
I love it when I remember my dreams though. When I was a little girl, I used to hate it, because I always forgot them by the time i woke up. The worst, is when you're having a fantastic dream, and then you wake up, and cannot resume the dream when you fall back asleep.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Hello world!
Since my sister Betina has a blog, and since I LOVE to read it sooo much, I've decided to start up my own blog as well. I probably wont be as entertaining as Betina, as most of my time is consumed by the uninteresting world of Sarbanes Oxley, however I will do my best to entertain. This was actually Sean's idea as well- you see, we are both terrible at keeping personal journals (well- lets be honest, Sean is way worse than me), so we thought this might be a good way to keep an electronic journal as well as keep in touch with our friends and family.
This weekend we drove up to Yosemite National Park and Hiked half dome for the 2nd time in 2 yrs. We went with my very good friend, Harmandeep, her husband Vik and 2 of their friends, Denise and Matt. Originally, we were going to pull over on the side of the highway and camp in the forest, as Sean has done many times as a bachelor, however, Harmandeep was not up for such an adventure. So, she did some research and found us a cute little cabin to rent right in Curry Village. It was a 4 person cabin, but we managed to fit in 6 people! It was soooo fun sleeping in the same room, we told funny stories and giggled like 12 year olds until about midnight when we finally fell asleep. What fun.
Sean's alarm went off at 5:15am, and while I was content on sleeping for at least another 1/2 hr, Denise jumped out of bed and got ready for the big hike. Since she was up, everyone else got up too- go Denise! We were on the trail by 6:30 am- beating the rush of people arriving on the shuttle bus by about 1/2 hr... pheuff.
About 10 minutes into the hike, Vik told us to go on without them, explaining between gasps that "I'm not sure Harmandeep will make it".
While they rested, the rest of the group forged onward at a nice steady pace. We made it through the waterfalls, up the rest of the mountain and to the saddle by 11am- wow, that was fast! The final challenge- the cables, for which we picked up some random gloves that were left at the bottom, and made our way up. Last time I went, the line for the cables was so long, that we just went up on the outside (very scary). Luckily this time, we beat the rush and had the mental protection of a cable on either side of us to protect us from the 4800 Ft with a vertical drop on either side of us. As we climbed, someone dropped something black, and it gracefully tumbled down the mountain, to its ultimate death. Sean, the lovely husband that he is, scared me to death when he pointed out that my camel back was open- and said “Are those your sunglasses that dropped?". While it was next to impossible that they were my sunglasses, my heart DROPPED. Not my Faragammo's!!!!! They are my babies, and I would surely die without them. After about 5 seconds of utter terror, my common sense kicked it and said "nope, my glasses are tucked at the bottom of my pack"---- Pheuff!
The view from the top was as beautiful as ever, and worth every ounce of energy of the 4.5 hour uphill climb. I re-applied my 45SPF and proceeded to eat 2 zip lock bags of Costco Trail Mix. I LOVE trail mix. I used to eat it all the time my senior year at BYU, however, I got really fat, so now I only allow myself trail mix at the top of half dome. The last time I had it was 2 yrs ago, when I hiked it the first time. hee hee. I don’t eat the peanuts though- as peanuts are the poor mans nut. But, the mixture still has to have peanuts, so that all of the salt can rub off onto the raisins, for the delicious sweet & salty combination.
The way down was hard. Much harder than the climb up. Mostly because my legs were jello, and there was no prize at the end, just a 4 hour drive home. We planned to meet up with Vik and Harmandeep back at base camp, expecting them to be someone buzzed, and laying out by the pool. To our extreme amazement, we ran into them about ½ hr into the descent! They were done 90% of the climb!! We NEVER thought they would make it this far, especially after they bailed 10 minutes into the climb. Miracles never cease. Harmandeep had the determination of a bulldog, and they made it to the TOP! WoW!!!! I was so impressed by her/their efforts.
If you want to know the real motivation behind Harmandeep’s bulldog determination, well, she had a golden carrot waiting for her at the top of the mountain. You see, the night before, while browsing the camp store, Vik promised Harmandeep a Louis Vitton Purse- the one that she’s wanted for 10 yrs (so she says), IF she made it to the top. Thus, you see why, Harmandeep was determined to make it up!
We finally made it to the bottom at 4:47pm, caught the shuttle bus back to the parking lot and made our way home, returning to our apartment by 10:30pm- Wow, what a day!
Half Dome is a great experience and Must do for all. You have to be in decent shape to make it up, but it is totally worth the effort. If anyone wants to do it next year, let me know!
XOXO
Eve
Since my sister Betina has a blog, and since I LOVE to read it sooo much, I've decided to start up my own blog as well. I probably wont be as entertaining as Betina, as most of my time is consumed by the uninteresting world of Sarbanes Oxley, however I will do my best to entertain. This was actually Sean's idea as well- you see, we are both terrible at keeping personal journals (well- lets be honest, Sean is way worse than me), so we thought this might be a good way to keep an electronic journal as well as keep in touch with our friends and family.
This weekend we drove up to Yosemite National Park and Hiked half dome for the 2nd time in 2 yrs. We went with my very good friend, Harmandeep, her husband Vik and 2 of their friends, Denise and Matt. Originally, we were going to pull over on the side of the highway and camp in the forest, as Sean has done many times as a bachelor, however, Harmandeep was not up for such an adventure. So, she did some research and found us a cute little cabin to rent right in Curry Village. It was a 4 person cabin, but we managed to fit in 6 people! It was soooo fun sleeping in the same room, we told funny stories and giggled like 12 year olds until about midnight when we finally fell asleep. What fun.
Sean's alarm went off at 5:15am, and while I was content on sleeping for at least another 1/2 hr, Denise jumped out of bed and got ready for the big hike. Since she was up, everyone else got up too- go Denise! We were on the trail by 6:30 am- beating the rush of people arriving on the shuttle bus by about 1/2 hr... pheuff.
About 10 minutes into the hike, Vik told us to go on without them, explaining between gasps that "I'm not sure Harmandeep will make it".
While they rested, the rest of the group forged onward at a nice steady pace. We made it through the waterfalls, up the rest of the mountain and to the saddle by 11am- wow, that was fast! The final challenge- the cables, for which we picked up some random gloves that were left at the bottom, and made our way up. Last time I went, the line for the cables was so long, that we just went up on the outside (very scary). Luckily this time, we beat the rush and had the mental protection of a cable on either side of us to protect us from the 4800 Ft with a vertical drop on either side of us. As we climbed, someone dropped something black, and it gracefully tumbled down the mountain, to its ultimate death. Sean, the lovely husband that he is, scared me to death when he pointed out that my camel back was open- and said “Are those your sunglasses that dropped?". While it was next to impossible that they were my sunglasses, my heart DROPPED. Not my Faragammo's!!!!! They are my babies, and I would surely die without them. After about 5 seconds of utter terror, my common sense kicked it and said "nope, my glasses are tucked at the bottom of my pack"---- Pheuff!
The view from the top was as beautiful as ever, and worth every ounce of energy of the 4.5 hour uphill climb. I re-applied my 45SPF and proceeded to eat 2 zip lock bags of Costco Trail Mix. I LOVE trail mix. I used to eat it all the time my senior year at BYU, however, I got really fat, so now I only allow myself trail mix at the top of half dome. The last time I had it was 2 yrs ago, when I hiked it the first time. hee hee. I don’t eat the peanuts though- as peanuts are the poor mans nut. But, the mixture still has to have peanuts, so that all of the salt can rub off onto the raisins, for the delicious sweet & salty combination.
The way down was hard. Much harder than the climb up. Mostly because my legs were jello, and there was no prize at the end, just a 4 hour drive home. We planned to meet up with Vik and Harmandeep back at base camp, expecting them to be someone buzzed, and laying out by the pool. To our extreme amazement, we ran into them about ½ hr into the descent! They were done 90% of the climb!! We NEVER thought they would make it this far, especially after they bailed 10 minutes into the climb. Miracles never cease. Harmandeep had the determination of a bulldog, and they made it to the TOP! WoW!!!! I was so impressed by her/their efforts.
If you want to know the real motivation behind Harmandeep’s bulldog determination, well, she had a golden carrot waiting for her at the top of the mountain. You see, the night before, while browsing the camp store, Vik promised Harmandeep a Louis Vitton Purse- the one that she’s wanted for 10 yrs (so she says), IF she made it to the top. Thus, you see why, Harmandeep was determined to make it up!
We finally made it to the bottom at 4:47pm, caught the shuttle bus back to the parking lot and made our way home, returning to our apartment by 10:30pm- Wow, what a day!
Half Dome is a great experience and Must do for all. You have to be in decent shape to make it up, but it is totally worth the effort. If anyone wants to do it next year, let me know!
XOXO
Eve
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)