MMM Tea......

I'm in love with a tea!! If you have never tried the coconut chai tea from Gypsy Tea's you need to find the nearest Cost Plus World Market store and go to the tea section. First of all when you open the can its spells like every kind of wonderful spice you could imagine. Its a black tea and is wonderful with a light cream added to it. Oh MY!! and along with that I got the Tea Lovers Chocolates and they come in 3 different tins marked by the style of tea they are best pared with. They are in the shaped of little drops so you can enjoy a little at a time with each sip or why not just drop it in :) mmmm..... very good and with it colder outside its greatly soothing, joy in a cup!

Going home to the Desert

Well...... I can't believe it is really happening! If you asked me even 3 weeks ago if I ever thought I would ever being moving back to Arizona I could have told you positively NO. But Jeff continues to surprise me. We had our friend Marshal over for the weekend and while we were sitting outside talking he mentioned Jeff was seriously thinking about moving... "Huh" wow news to me! And Jeff joins us on the patio and continues the conversation... I still thinking in my head, "No way, I think its just a thought and in a couple weeks he'll forget about it". This was my first thought because Jeff has mentioned this before, I remember back in January of this year after a special assembly day that he was wanting to move if we could. We need some serious changes in our lives right now. The last year and a half or so has not been the greatest. We've come through many hardships together but for some reason the world has been mercilessly coming down onto us and we can't get ourselves out from under it. It's always been in the back of our mind to move to Arizona. The life is simple, the stress is slim, cost of living is cheap and we can start fresh. It all sounded so good yet we we're both so hesitant to actually be the one to say "YES, we are moving". So about 2 weekends ago Jeff and I sat down and had a serious, tearful and emotional talk....and our decision made. We will be moving to Arizona the week of December 22nd. It will allow our family an opportunity to come help us as it is the Christmas/New year holiday and everyone has some time off. So....For those here in California, I hope we can get together soon. And as for those in Arizona, I look forward to seeing you again. I love being here in California but we need a change and I think we will find a lot of joy and happiness in Arizona, Back Home.

FORE!!!!!!!!

Today we spent the afternoon with a friend of ours. I grew up with Marshal back in Arizona and he decided to grace us with his presence this weekend. We went to a driving range that's not to far from our house. I still need a lot of work on my form, as you can see in the pictures it looks more like I'm getting ready to beat someone. I'm still learning. Give me some time, I'll get better. I've lovingly named one of my clubs "Ginty" It's an older style driver made from wood with the name ginty carved into the bottom. Apparently a ginty is a Scottish brood who is continually getting into trouble but somehow easily finds way to get out of it. My swing was better with that club than any other one so of course its my favorite.

Camping in Bodega Bay

A few weeks back we were able to get away and camp. Friends of ours were celebrating their 1st wedding anniversary. We wanted to be able to take them away for the weekend. Obviously not a fancy resort, but camping to me is the next best thing. Your away from all your responsibility and there's nothing for you to do but relax. No dishes in the sink calling your name or laundry to do, no work. Just wake up, make breakfast and the sit around until you need to figure out what you want for lunch. We were able to camp by the beach so at night we would take our camping chairs and sit out by the ocean. The sounds of the waves crashing on the beach and a sky so clear that I could swear I was able to see every star in it........There is nothing else like it. During the day we took a LONG walk to the other side of the beach to a small cave. We picked some muscles both large (for pearls) and small (to eat). No we didn't find any pearls but the smaller ones made for great eating! We found a couple nice size crabs so we took those home too however we didn't have time to cook them so the lucked out that day. One of the days some of our family came out to visit for a few hours. We made sand castles with my niece Maddy. We had a great time, I even think we were more into the building of our sandcastles that Maddy was. I wish we could be back there again. The four of us (Dj and Jessica, Jeff and myself) had a great time!! Hope to be able to visit again soon!

To all you Hippies at heart!

We were able to go over to a friends house were we experienced costumes of all decades. Everyone was encouraged to dress from a certain time period. It was a tough decision but I finally landed on one that I would have to say was the MOST comfortable outfit I have ever worn to a party. I can now understand why hippies dressed the way they did. I could sit like a cow and nobody would be the wiser. There were very imaginative outfits ranging from the 60's, 70's, 80's, Egyptians, Flappers and even robots along with those wearing their vintage 2008 attire. Everyone had fun and might I add...I had a great time on the trampoline!!!! My husband Jeff looked like a sleazy director of dirty videos!! Not someone I would feel comfortable being stuck in an elevator with! But thankfully the mustache was temporary! And I found a fellow Hippie that shared the same love for ugly mismatched clothing as I did. Thanks Hillary, Your hair was awesome!!!!

Rex-Goliath

Named after a 47 pound rooster from the Texas Circus this Cabernet Sauvignon was said to have a hint of cedar and oak with layers od raspberry, plum, mocha and currant. But for me the tannin was a little to overpowering. The only thing that could calm it down was a bit of dark chocolate. Normaly I love deep red wines like merlot but this one at times tasted like a warm wet rag on my taste buds. I can see it being nicely paired with steak but deffinately not for a casual drink with friends.

Wine Journal

I've decided to take more of an interest in wine's. Although I have always loved my wine, I would usually grab haphazardly whatever wine I could without any real thought put into it besides the price tag. I have been recently reading up on the difference between the "Old World" wines and that of the "New World" wines. So I just got a new journal today. My "Wine Bible" I will be able to track all the different wines I come across and with my favorites I can note what I liked about them, What they paired well with and where they came from and so on. I hope that my new adventure in the world of wine tasting can help educate others and maybe pass along a few of my new favorite labels I hope to come across very soon.

To A Beautiful Friendship

So it begins! I was just introduced to this blog by viewing my sister-in-law and friend, Julie Bellew. It seemed like a great way to get your thoughts out and be creative at the same time. I would have never thought that there would be a day that someone would actually take time out of their busy life to take an interest in what I have to say. Its a nice feeling. Thank you for lending your ear...eye's rather, and listening to what I have to say.