You + me ski trip

For our anniversary this year, we did something we've never done before as a couple. We went skiing!

China Peak was our destination. The only time I've ever been up to this location in the past was as a senior in high school - it was called Sierra Summit back then. I went with some friends to try snowboarding. Yeah, me on a snowboard. It was not a pretty sight. There is actually a terrifying story that goes along with that ill fated snowboarding trip... something about completely loosing control, flying at high speeds down a hill, and colliding at full speed with a group of unsuspecting skiers. I may or may not have injured someone really really bad. Hmmm... All I remember after that ill-fated event was a super sore bum. I fell down sooo many times - it took weeks for my booty to recover!

It is for that reason that I was most hesitant to strap on a pair of skis and try it again. But Jeremy decided that this was the year that I was going to learn how to ski. We've been up to Badger Pass a few times this year as a family. And after much patience and some good one on one instruction from my ski expert husband, I am slowly gaining confidence in my skiing skills. And it seemed only appropriate to take a trip up to China Peak to enjoy a day together on the slopes.

It was a gorgeous day. 56 degrees. Sunny and warm. No coat necessary. And there weren't many people there as it is almost the end of the season. (The lack of people there definitely helped ease my fear of running into people.) We started our day at the very top of the mountain. We saw the top of the actual China Peak. That was awesome. The views and vistas were so beautiful. Huntington Lake was completely covered in snow and the white treetops added to the majestic winter woodland effect.

We had a lovely day. Just us. You + me. Enjoying skiing, nature, and just being together.

Tijuana circa 1997

Jeremy's sister, Kelly, emailed me this picture a few weeks ago. It is a blast from the past!

L to R: Jason, Jeremy, Jennifer, Aimee, Matt, & Kelly (in front)

This picture was taken when Jeremy and I were dating. 1997 as you can see in the picture. I was just 18 years old. Eek! Matt and Aimee were dating too! Jeremy's family went down to San Diego for a weekend trip with the Morris family during some holiday (those Wards were always going out of town) and I was invited to come along.

While we were there we made a day trip into Mexico, Tijuana. I have no recollection of what we did on this trip. I vaguely remember putting on that hat and smiling for the picture.

All I know is: we were young. I was had just graduated from high school. Jeremy hadn't been home a year from his mission. We were just at the beginning of our relationship with no clue as to the future that was ahead of us.

It is fun to look back at what we were. And to see how far we've come since then. This here picture is a great piece of our history.

Kings River Expedition

After browsing through old pictures last week, I came across our last summer's excursion in river rafting. Somehow it never made it's way onto the blog!

Last year for Father's Day, several of our friends decided to purchase (through Groupon again!) a Kings River Expedition as gifts to the husbands. Yes, the wives included themselves in the gifting and 4 couples got to go on a real wild water adventure! Matt & Aimee, Jeremy & Jennifer, Jared & Elizabeth, and (not pictured because they were on a different boat) Rick & Michelle. That guy in the back was our river guide, Ryan. We found out within minutes that we all knew his wife - she teaches at the elementary school our kids go to!

We all made our babysitter arrangements for the children and then headed out to the Kings River. We made it there in record time - thank you Matt for your mad driving skills - and arrived in time for our brief training. It's been so long that I honestly don't remember much, but I knew it would be a mostly safe journey because we were there at the end of the season which meant low water flow. That was good for me and my oh-so-non-adventure-seeking self. I was mostly worried about getting wet. Ha! That water was cold!! Yes, everyone in our group thought that fear of mine was quite silly and had a hay-day with the teasing before it all began. Everyone else was totally excited for this experience!

We slathered up with sunscreen, put on our water shoes, and hopped on the bus for a 10 minute ride to the head of the river trail. And when I say bus, I don't mean charter bus. This baby was an old rickety, 1932 original. (I don't really know what year it was made, but lets just say it was old, ok?) It had no AC = windows rolled down on this warm summer morning. The exhaust and fumes were pungent. And our driver took us over a rickety old bridge, but to make the turn after the bridge he had to BACK UP THE BUS! back onto the bridge to get us turned in the right direction! Talk about freaky.

We made it to our destination without incident and began our journey down the river. The river rafting company had their photographer perched at the most exciting point along the river so he could capture the moment perfectly. Let me narrate the photos for you...

Yeah, we're rafting, we're rafting...


Uhhh... here comes a big dip...


Splash!!


Ahhh! That's cold water!


*Nervous laughter*


We made it - yes! And oh, that is still cold!

This was the 2nd to last big rapid. There was still one more to go after the big photo shoot and Matt was determined to get it all on film. He had his Flip camera with waterproof casing all prepped and ready to go. He started filming just as we went over the top of the rapid, we hit a huge bump, his oar snapped in half, the splintered end of the oar rammed into our river guide's shin (so sorry Ryan!), and his camera shut off right before it caught any of the last of our river rafting experience. Bummer! The size of that last rapid was a quite unexpected! It was heart pumping and thrilling to say the least.

We paddled to shore and our guide hit the first aid station quickly to bandage up his fresh wound. Then he hit the BBQ to grill up our hamburgers for lunch! What a guy!

It was a great run. Really, it was. We had so much fun being there together as friends and doing something completely different than our usual out to dinner & ice cream dates. And the water really wasn't that cold. I'm just a wimp. Surprise, surprise, I know.

Our Minnicks have moved away since we took this trip. We miss them like crazy. Especially when we look at pictures and see how much fun we all had together. But let's not get too weepy. We will have more fun times together in the future! But, maybe next time there's a river rafting trip we'll just send the husbands. Guys only trip. I like the sound of that.

A Seinfeld Valentine

This post is long overdue, but we didn't want to forget about our exciting "Valentine's Day" adventure.

Last year, back before Christmas or was it Thanksgiving? can't remember. Anyway, we decided to give each other tickets to Seinfeld as our Valentine's Day gifts this year. No other gifts were expected or required. For reals. These tix were pricey enough as it was. Yes, we'd go out to dinner, but no purchases of any kind were to be made. And we both stuck to that. Hallelujah!

So Valentine's Day came and went and we had to wait until MARCH 25th to see the show! So can we really call it a Valentine's gift? I don't think so. And here's why: because March 25th is the DAY BEFORE JEREMY'S BIRTHDAY. Oi! Why did we not just call it a bday gift to him?!

Well, no matter what kind of gift you wanna call it, we went. We went to see Jerry Seinfeld, live at the William Saroyan Theater, the day before Jeremy's birthday for Valentine's Day.

We went to dinner with some friends at a cute sushi place just near the theater and enjoyed a quick meal before the show. Mmmmm... sushi. That was a delicious start to a fun night.

Jerry was Jerry. He did his whole stand-up comic routine about nothing. Just like his TV show. He began with his bit about Fresno and raisins. "Raisins in my cereal, raisins in my muffin, chocolate covered raisins, and raisins with my raisins..." What the heck kind of hotel is he staying at that all they serve him is raisins? is what i wanna know. Of course, he shared all of his hilarious observations about marriage, children, parenthood, blackberry phones, public bathroom doors, and everything else about nothing.

Our favorite part of the evening was his Q & A session he opened up during his encore. People ask some silly questions when they are in the presence of TV royalty.

"When are you going to do a reunion Seinfeld show?!" someone yelled from the balcony.

Jerry answers with a snarky, "Didn't we just do that on Curb Your Enthusiasm?"

Hello people? Really? (Not that we watched that reunion show - it was on HBO - which we don't have, but we certainly knew it happened.)


"WE LOVE YOU JERRY!!!!" a few fans scream from the mezzanine.

"I've never heard that before," Jerry replies with a sarcastic eyebrow raise.


The last question from the audience was the one he didn't have an automatic prepared response for: "What are you doing for Passover?!" a man yelled from the floor.

Jerry stopped short and turned, "Is it Passover?" he asked with a baffled look and put a hand to his forehead. (Um, yes. Easter would happen the next weekend.) "Woops," was all he could reply.


It was a fun/funny evening. We love Seinfeld. We love Valetine's Day. And we love Jeremy's birthday. Mostly, we just love an excuse to buy tickets that we normally wouldn't buy and go out for a night on the town.