Building a Better Home

Osmel and Liver have worked hard this summer to do some improvements around the house.  We added a canvas/rod iron gazebo to the back patio to make it a new outdoor dining area.  We mounted the TV over the fireplace and they framed it out.  Step two is to put shelving units on both sides of the fireplace.  I'm so proud of all the hard work they have done.  

Karen's Inner Photographer

Here is a sampling of some of my "artsy" photos.  

My goal is to get some of these framed for the house.  

Sea Life

Here is a sampling of some of the wild life we encountered.  In Shell Beach there is this great big rock that is covered with pelicans.  A bird that is actually one of my favorites.  It looks like that prehistoric bird that I can't spell (Pterydactyl?).  We saw some seals (or are they sea lions- which one has the external ears?) lounging under the pier in Avila Beach.  Plus of course, sea gulls which are such stately birds.  

The End of Summer

The last hurrah of the summer was to take a small trip with my little man!  We did a condensed version of my trip with my mom over the Labor Day weekend.  We really had a great time!  It was good to get away.  We hadn't been on a trip together in over a year- not even a little weekend get away.  We walked a lot!  Which of course is always good for the body.  We both took our cameras so we competed to find the best shots.  I took a lot of artsy photos because I'm looking to take some of the the photos and use them as decor for the house.  We started our long weekend in Santa Barbara.  We hit a lot of traffic on the way up (as we expected) so we figured it was better to spend that first night someplace a little closer.  On Saturday morning we had breakfast at this cute little downtown Bistro where we sat outside.  It was still fairly early, so there weren't many people and it really was a lovely way to start the weekend.  We walked along downtown for a couple of hours and then made our way to Santa Maria.  Lovely weather!  And again, it was a beautiful area to visit.  We spent some time in downtown San Luis Obispo, Shell Beach, and Avila Beach.  Then we had dinner in Pismo.  We ate dinner one night at the Far Western Tavern in Guadalupe.  This place has a lot of memories.  As a little girl, my maternal granfather lived in Lompoc and used to take us to the Far Western for Sunday Breakfast every time we visited.  We created new memories to go along with the old ones.  The drive home was nice, not too much traffic.  We even stopped in Camarrillo to visit the outlet mall there.  My husband LOVES to shop- and he had to visit the Nike Factory to buy yet another pair (or two) of footwear!  It was hard to come home, but we returned refreshed and regenerated, and we had grown in our appreciation of each other and our marriage.  

Trip to Arizona

Another blessing this summer was to take a few (but precious) days to visit the Millage family in Arizona.  I got to be there for Hannah's birthday and share some great times.  It was good to visit Calvary Chapel Surprise and to see all those that have migrated to AZ.  I really enjoyed sharing time with my precious loved ones.  Hannah and Josh were the driving factor to my trip (sorry Tammy and Brian you are number 2) and I had a blast with them.  Josh just makes me laugh- he's quite the character.  Hannah, is so smart and talented.  There was a birthday party for Hannah's 8th bday (where does the time go?) where I got to see the Jones family, the Chill family and Julie and Sophie; I also had a chance to meet some new folks from CC Surprise.  It was nice too to sneak in some time with Todd and Julie and Sophie.  Another blessing was to drive home with Jessica.  She is a wonderful young lady and we had a really nice time sharing the drive.  

Vacation With Mom

This summer, my mom and I had an opportunity to take a vacation together.  It is something we hadn't done since I was a little girl.  We had a great time.  We stayed two nights in San Luis Obispo and two nights in Santa Maria.  We visited downtown San Luis Obispo and the mission, Pismo and Avila Beaches, several Santa Maria vineyards, and Los Olivos.  We shopped, ate in some mighty fine resaurants, wine tasted, shopped some more, sight see-ed (it can be sight saw can it?), and had a really nice and relaxing time.  We even went to a really fun performance called The Great American Melodrama in Oceano-  that was a real treat! The scenery and weather were all beautiful and overall, I have to say an excellent time was had by all!

The Newest Members of our Family

This summer someone was walking by the house and found one of these little guys walking in our yard.  They assumed it was ours, caught it, and brought it to the door.  We knew it wasn't our neighbors because earlier in the day, they were trying to catch him.  When we asked them, if it was theirs, they said, "No, we are just trying to catch it."  So we decided to keep him.  We researched the bird and found that it was a lovebird.  The internet suggested that they be kept in pairs, because they are very social.  We found a local pet shop that had some just like our new little guy, and we brought home a female to keep our male company.  All this happened during the Olympics, so we decided to name the kids Bei and Jing.  We have made their home on our newly "remodeled" patio and they seem quite content.  Not the pet I had in mind, and not the kids Osmel was hoping for either.  When the guy brought the first one to the door he left with a "God bless you,"  and we decided, this is a little gift from God.  The purpose is yet to be determined.  They cutest part about them, is that they were cuddling from the first few minutes that they came home.  They seemed to make an instant connection.  Kind of reminds me of my husband and me- knowing from the beginning that we were meant to be together.