Wonderful Weekend with Family

Happy first day of winter! After temperatures hitting near 80 this weekend it finally feels and looks a little bit like winter today. Friday evening we celebrated Alyssa's successful surgery and complete recovery with a delicious dinner at Lucca's. Every time we go it is a culinary delight! On our way home we drove down Yale Street in Fullerton to see their unique "ball" lights. It makes you feel like you are in a fairy land. Saturday we had lunch at an Ethiopian restaurant. The food was very delicious! It was a new experience for the Myers' but they loved it. Mom and I went to church Sunday morning and then wrapped presents while watching Christmas movies all afternoon. That evening we drove to Pasadena to Lake Avenue Church for a Messiah Sing-a-long. The music is so beautiful and inspiring! Sara & Patrick met us there and Sara enjoyed herself singing along. Today is my last official work day of the year! I am so ready for a break and am looking forward to spending a wonderful Christmas with my family.

Graduation Day

Today was Wayne's final graduation ceremony after 30 years of service. The president presented him with a special "diploma" commemorating the event. We Love You Wayne!

Merry Christmas to us!

Today we had our office Christmas party. Lots of delicious food was to be had, fun games abounded and prizes for the best decorated cubicles were given out. This year instead of doing a gift exchange we collected donations to send to the orphans in Thailand (over $300!). It was a good time spent with our office family. God bless us everyone!

Two Hearts
"...there could have been
no two hearts so open,
no tastes so similar,
no feelings so in unison,
no countenances so beloved.
Now they were as strangers;
nay, worse than strangers,
for they could never become acquainted.
It was a perpetual estrangement."
- "Persuasion" by Jane Austin, as quoted in the "The Lake House"

What a difference a day makes!

Even though it was 39 degrees in La Mirada this morning and our high was only 58 degrees, the sun was shining nice and bright.

Bright, beautiful sun how I missed you yesterday!

On another note, went I got to work this morning I was met by the hustle and bustle of movie making. I guess they are shooting a Hallmark movie in and around campus this week... who knew? Interesting notice though. Does it mean you can go home if you don't want to be filmed? Hmmm...

Cold and Rainy Monday... who wouldn't feel blue?
Here is the view from my truck as I drove to work this morning. Rain always makes me gloomy and sad... I am a sunshine girl and miss it dearly.

Biola Employee Christmas Luncheon was held today in the gym. Everyone was dressed in festive holiday colors and even got a photo op with the Prez... well sort of... Why the sad face holding a coffee cup? I am protesting the fact that we still haven't had our long ago promised "Coffee with Corey"!

A Happy Thanksgiving

This year we all gathered at Donna & Greg's for the Thanksgiving meal. There are so many things to be thankful for! I have been blessed abundantly this year with wonderful family and friends. God's provision for all our needs is evident every day. After the meal we enjoyed a nice long walk. Friday we spent the day cleaning up and decorating the house. In the evening we had a wine & cheese night with friends which was very fun and the food was delicious! Saturday morning I went on a shopping adventure with Alyssa and we had a fun time finding some great deals. That afternoon I made the trek back to Imperial through a sandstorm, did more shopping with the kiddos and watched the old Christmas movie "Holiday Inn". Sunday was filled with church and more family time. Monday was time to get back on the road for the long drive home. Thankfully the traffic was not bad at all and I made it back in good time. That night I spent baking cookie for the annual cookie exchange at work. I made Surprise Snowballs. About seventeen ladies participated and I came away with a great tray full of holiday treats. I am mailing them all off to some servicemen in Afghanistan and Iraq as part of the monthly care package program of Soldier's Angels. Remember to pray for our troops especially this Christmas season.

Apple Pecan Gorgonzola Rustic Pie
This Thanskgiving I wanted to make something a little different that the regular apple pie. I found a recipe online and adapted it to my taste. Here are the results!

Ingredients:
1 pie dough crust uncooked
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
5 Tbsp real maple syrup
3 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored, chopped
1 teaspoon of lemon juice (optional)

Toss the pecans, Gorgonzola, thyme, chopped apples, and half of the maple syrup together in a medium size bowl. You can squeeze a little lemon juice on them to help keep them from discoloring.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out pastry dough to 13-inches, at an 1/8 of an inch thickness. Place pastry dough on a rimmed baking sheet. Mound the filling in the middle of the rolled out dough, and spread out evenly to 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches from the edge of the dough. Pleat the edges of the dough over the filling.

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until crust is nicely browned. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Drizzle the remaining maple syrup on top. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Happy Birthday Donna!Can't wait to celebrate Thanksgiving and the weekend together!
Love, your little sister ;)

One Down... Three To Go!
Tonight I got my first batch pf pomegranate jelly done. I truly do enjoy this annual tradition!

Sunrises and sunsets...

A day comes and goes painting a beautiful canvas of color. This past week I was reminded to stop and enjoy some simple things that I sometimes take for granted or never stop to admire. Tuesday morning I awoke at a wonderfully beautiful sunrise and again a great sunset. I thank the Lord these beautiful gifts I can enjoy each day.

Happy Birthday to the United States Marine Corps!So proud of all you do for us!

Another Busy Week...
This past week came and went in a flurry of work and busyness. Monday and Tuesday were spent at the annual PACRAO conference in Newport Beach. I realized just how blessed I am that I don't have a long freeway commute everyday and how wonderful the carpool lane really is. The two days were filled with seminar and workshops. This week was when I also had to get the cookies made and decorated for the Christmas Boutique. Each evening I worked on a little bit of the process. Monica and the kids arrived on Wednesday evening. Abby was great helping me decorate them. Thursday after work we finished packaging them all and delivered them. Phew! I felt the stress level lift! That evening David and Kristin came over for dinner right after arriving at LAX. We all had a great time eating and catching up.

We had roasted veggies, salad and arepas. Friday I had lunch with Monica and the kiddos at Margie's favorite restaurant, Chick-fil-A. That evening after work I helped out at the Christmas Boutique from 6-8. I was very happy that my purse organizers were a big hit.

Old TV Shows...

What do Happy Days, Saved By the Bell, Hawaii 5-0 and Mickey Mouse Club all have in common? They were the themes for our office dress-up day! Everyone was part of a themed team and decorated their cubicles and put together costumes for a fun day. I was even complimented on my costume by some of the regulars at Starbucks when I ran in for a coffee this morning =) Our office was very creative and had costumes ranging from Alice in Wonderland to Detective Steve McGarrett. Lunch was a smorgasbord of 50's, 80's & Hawaiian delicacies followed by some fun desserts and last but not least our Registrar employee appreciation awards. We all had a great time together!

When times are tough, the tough plan a party!! Click on the slide show above to see it bigger.

One year later...
Can you believe it was a year ago today that Grace, Jon, Christine and I were on an airplane headed for Italy! Oh how I wish I was there today...

I Love Traditions!

One of my yearly Fall traditions is picking pomegranates with Charlotte. Saturday afternoon we donned our grubby clothes, work gloves and picked a bunch of these beautiful and delicious fruit. Some of them were quite big this year! After all the picking was done we took them up to the porch and squeezed and squeezed. Grace joined in the squeezing fun too. It's a very messy process but totally worth it! I kept popping those little "jewels of goodness" into my mouth... Mmm so good!!! Charlotte's son Bill even made a pomegranate smoothie for us to enjoy at the end of the afternoon. Can't wait to make the jelly now!

Thank you John!

This week marked our final consulting sessions with John who has been our Banner consultant since the beginning of the whole software conversion process. Has it really been almost two years? We were fortunate to him for this whole journey and will miss him a lot.

Roy, Ruth, Megan, Jeri, Chrystal, John, Kathy, Jessica, Dave, Isaac

Just Another Day At The Office

Isaac Libre, the Rooth Fairy, Megan Lane, & TiggerAnn lead the Monday morning staff meeting today.

Busy week...Another week has gone by in a blur. Last weekend was the big 41 celebration for Timothy and we had a grand time together. From the delicious pandebonos and bunuelos, BBQ, to the fun shopping we enjoyed the time together. Margie had a blast trying on princess dresses at the store! Then it was off for a quick trip to Yuma. I love the time I can spend enjoying great food with great friends. The work week was busy as ever since all of us managers are stepping it up and filling in for our boss. We are hoping someone will get hired soon!!! After all that good food over the weekend I gained a pound but tried to step it up a bit in the exercise department. I have been listening to "Jane Eyre" on my hourly walks and enjoying that a lot. This weekend was a catch up on doing chores and laundry day but my favorite day this week was today. We had a reading service at church today. We are starting a new series on the book of Isaiah at Grace. So our church has reading services where we read entire portions at a time. Today Erik Thoennes lead by reading Isaiah chapters 1-6. Interspersed between the reading were some wonderful songs. A few brand new ones written by our worship leader. I feel so blessed to have such inspiring elders leading us! I think Fall has probably decided to stay. There has definitely been a change in the weather. I will truly miss the sunny, warm summer days... but they will be back again next year.

Happy Birthday 41st to my little brother!!
Long, long ago in a far away land our family was blessed with the arrival of a little bundle of joy...

Timothy, you are my favorite little brother and I can't wait to celebrate you this weekend even if you don't want to =)

Love, your big sister!

MCAS Miramar Airshow... a wonderful day!

Pretty Purse Pockets

This past weekend I spent some time working on designing and sewing "pretty purse pockets". Here is a picture of one of them. If you've ever gone digging through you purse trying to find something you are going to love these organizers. The organizer seen here has 10 pockets and measures approximately 4" x 20". I've had fun mixing and matching fabric designs & colors...

Enjoying the last days of Summer...

Grace and I drove over to Bolsa Chica State Park on Saturday. After a picnic lunch and wading in the water to get used to it we mustered up our courage and got in the water. It wasn't too bad. We ended up boogie boarding for about 3 hours... so much fun! It was a perfect day to be at the beach and the waves were just right.

POW/MIA Remembrance Day

This weekend I made a quick trip down to the desert for Margie's baptism. It was a special and very sweet moment in her life and I am glad I was there to see it.

"A day of remembrance, resolve, resolution & service."

To so many heroes, those who died on September 11, 2001 and all of the thousands who eight years later continue to tirelessly and courageously defend and fight for our freedom...

We remember you...

Labor Day Weekend 2009

This past weekend was not only the long holiday weekend but also surgery weekend for Alyssa. With school starting to get into full swing Summer is slowly coming to an end =( but happily it still feels like summer. I will miss the nice warm days when they're gone. Thursday, Donna, Greg and the kids drove up here to go for a pre-op appointment with the doctor at USC then that evening we met up with Grace and Jon and had dinner at Lucca's... mmm... so good! Surgery was scheduled bright an early on Friday so while they took Alyssa to the hospital I took the day off work and stayed with Josh. We had a fun day together! It started with breakfast at Starbucks which he thought was the greatest thing. Then we drove to the Santa Ana Zoo.

It's small but has a pretty good monkey display which kept Josh entertained for quite a while. He also enjoyed seeing the "giant Jurassic turkeys" as he called them. After a quick visit to the souvenir store we went to the dollar theater for a movie. We munched on hot dogs and watched "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" which Josh later said was his favorite part of the day. After the movie we made a quick stop at Wendy's for a snack and the Target garden center to pick up a few little flower plants and then headed home. Greg, Donna and Alyssa arrived soon after. Alyssa is now sporting a new cast for the next 6 weeks. Her surgery went well and she is recovering like a champ and getting use to getting around on crutches.

Saturday we just had a low key day seeing how she would handle the pain. We had lunch at Gondola's pizza (bringing back memories of their dating days for Donna & Greg!) and did a little shopping. For dinner we went out to a great little sushi place in Diamond Bar with Grace & Jon. Sunday morning as usual I was up bright and early for church and the Myers got on the road to drive back to AZ. In the afternoon I drove down to San Juan Capistrano to meet my friend Monty for lunch. We had a good time eating at Paco's Tacos, talking and enjoying the beautiful day in the park. Monday was a "catch-up-on-sleep-kind-of-a-lazy-day." I did a little gardening and then in the evening went for a long walk with Grace. I could get used to four day weekends! Click on the slide show to make it bigger:

Remembering Carmen

It's a sad day for us up on the hill. My next door neighbor Barbara emailed me this morning that her dog Carmen had died last night. I don't know any details but I am sad to lose her. I am not really a "pet person" but Carmen was a funny and friendly dog. She'd always come over and visit if her mom was not home. Many times she'd come over and "knock" on the door so I would open it. I remember one night she came over and when it was time to go to bed I tried to get her to go home but she wouldn't leave. So finally I gave up and she promptly made herself at home at the foot of my bed. Hours later I woke up to hear her snoring softly. Then she woke up and was ready to go home. Later I found out that her mom wasn't home and her nephew had been "dog sitting". He had been looking and looking for her thinking she was lost. I feel fortunate to have a couple of pictures of her. Carmen had an aversion to cameras. As soon as she saw one she would run away! Yes, even though my yard was her own personal litter box I am going to miss her daily morning routine.

Celebrating Mom's 70th Birthday!