i've been so lax about updating!
but really and truly have been busy with visitors as well as working long hours...

so here will be a (hopefully) nice long blog to keep you all from getting irate at my first sentence, since mom edwards' birthday has long since passed (by the way, we'll celebrate in santa cruz!)

let's recap, shall we?
we had such a fun visit with michelle and sweet baby hannah, who was so much fun. just chattering away, thinking and responding, and being so silly and giggly and good! it was especially fun to hear her saying our names (ceecee and uncle matt) all the time for different things that she wanted us to be a part of (for example, her bath, putting on shoes, eating, etc., etc., etc.!). so now i can be a bragging aunt, right? hannah's language is amazing! SPEECH THERAPIST NERD ALERT!!!! at 18 months, she should be saying about 15-30 one-word utterances, but this little peanut was saying mostly 2-word utterances and sometimes even 3 words!!! she was counting to four, and knew some colors and all her body parts. i know i'm the only one getting excited about this, but i gave her a standardized language assessment and she is in the 88th percentile for her age group (way above normal limits) and has a language age-equivalent of a child aged 2 years, 3 months. can you blame me for being excited? NERD ALERT PASSING....

mary came down a couple of days into their visit and we did the 21 mile alpine challenge bike ride. yikes! all i will say is the last 11 miles were uphill and exhausting. but we made it and it was a really satisfying feeling!!! and the best part was the free (well, minimal donation to charity) sports massage afterwards--ahhhhhhh...... and we weren't even sore the next day!!!! i really believe it was because of that massage. and michelle and hannah were waiting for us at mile 16--we were the only riders who had a cheering section!!!!

then uncle matt babysat that night so the girls could have a night out. so we all got pedicures (mine still looks perfect, girls?) first and then went out to eat at casa de bandini in old town, a really cute mexican restaurant. we sat on the veranda/balcony and ordered drinks and an appetizer while we waited (hour and 15 minute wait, we were told). well, after an hour of eating appetizers and chips/salsa, we weren't hungry anymore! so we left the restaurant to walk the streets of old town. we bought tortillas and stood on the street corner, having such a great chat.

michelle and hannah took off on weds, april 19th in the morning. so sad--we missed having them around every morning when we woke up and every day when we came home from work.

but then our good friends kelly and spivey came into town thursday! i picked them up at the airport at 1:00 and took them to lunch at rancho's, a great mexican joint with a beautiful outdoor arbor, covered in bouganvilla (sp?) to eat under. it was a great long weekend of chatting and talking and eating. we went to fillipi's for pizza, to ocean beach for coffee and a walk on the beach, the boys played hours of basketball, kel and i found a new coffeeshop with an ocean view, and we laughed and talked and solved the world's problems! ha! we went into the weekend with no real plans other than to talk and matt's plan of playing basketball with spive. and this is because they are the kind of friends that it is fun to just go to the store with, or stand in line with. we get into such great conversations with them that we often lose track of time and place and forget where we are, or we become late to wherever we were going, just because we stopped to chat! we're so glad they moved out to san jose. and part of their trip was a researching trip because they may be considering a move to san diego (depending on where kelly gets accepted for a PhD program).

they took off on sunday, which was probably good because i had sort of a rough week at work--just super busy with LONG IEP meetings. Usually meetings will be anywhere from 45 min-2 hours. and the 2 hour-long ones are exhausting, but sometimes necessary for everyone to say what they need to say. well, we had a meeting on friday that lasted 3 and a half hours AND WE STILL WEREN'T DONE! so we met again this thursday for FOUR MORE HOURS! and we STILL need to meet again. it's because the parents are really well-informed and well-educated and have strong opinions about their child's needs. and they also have an advocate (this is a person who is rude and demanding and acts like an expert, but is not one). we have a positive relationship with the parents, but EVERY LITTLE THING is a huge discussion. so exhausting! i don't get paid enough to do this. and it cuts into time that i am able to spend doing what i love, which is seeing kids.

i don't intend to complain, just explain, really. this year has been difficult. between a new computer system and network that is faulty and consistently sucks away my time, and an increasing number of "high-profile" or potentially high-profile cases (meaning parents have sued the school district and won, or may sue them, depending on how my meetings go), it has changed and my stress level has increased significantly. so while i really enjoyed my job the first two years i was here, this year has proven to be the most challenging, on many levels.

welp, enough about work!
our friend des is in town from new york and we've been having so much fun with her! we had lobster tacos on weds night and had a bonfire in our friends backyard last night. everyone started conking out around 11:30, so it wasn't a very late night, thankfully! des has a cute little mutt doggie named "farley", who i love. he sat on my lap like old times last night.... we'll all go to dog beach today at some point and have a picnic and let the dogs run wild!

matt and i also need to work in a long bike ride sometime today and tomorrow--yikes! our 65 mile ride is coming up in 2 weeks!!!!! we both got road tires installed on our bikes to make for a smoother (and faster!) ride, so that part is ready. our last ride, you know the 21 miler, had a change of elevation of 2500 feet. this one has a change of over 4000 feet. i don't know why i thought this one would be easier (terrain/elevation-wise), but i think we're all in for a rude awakening! ha! we'll be camping in santa cruz with mary and casey and mom and dad edwards, so that will be so fun!

welp, i must get the day started!

remember the things you have seen
the sun that shines down on the world so still
think of the places you'll go
somewhere the language sounds like music to your ears
-denison witmer

happy birthday mom edwards!!!!

boy, am i tired today!
i've been having sinus headaches since sunday and it is GETTING OLD!!! anyways, enough complaining from me!

first off, the U2 concert was AMAZING!!! you can see by matt's picture how close we were to the stage. it was a fantastic show and they played some great songs. i really can't even put it into words. it was worth every penny and i would go see them again any day. like matt said, when they sang "where the streets have no name", it was probably the best moment of the whole show.

i started my 3rd ceramics course this week, which will go through may 24th. so that will be keeping me busy on tuesdays and thursdays for awhile. and i will be crafting some new specimens for some of you (unless you specifically say, "i would be happy to entertain you and look at your completed projects but i can not have another piece of junk in my house", which believe me, i understand and would take NO offense!). why do you think i give them away???? heehee! no, when i am making something, usually i have a person in mind the whole time and i'm thinking about them when i am creating. so when/if you do get a handmade item from me, keep that in mind! and, even better than the actual products, after i'm done with this course i will go up in the pay scale-yay!

i'm trying to find a vacation spot for matt and i this summer. airline tickets are too high (and only getting higher with the price of gasoline going up) and we will not be camping--matt needs an actual vacation with a hotel and pool and air conditioning, not a working vacation with setting up camp, heat, and bugs! which we love at times, but mare reminded me that his vacation time is limited (unlike mine) and he needs something relaxing! we were maybe going to go to hawaii to celebrate our 7 year anniversary, but like i said, the ticket prices are too high. here are the requirements for this vacation at this point:
1. on/near the ocean
2. within an 8 hour driving distance
3. must be in a hotel

hmmmm.... looks like that is either mexico (and i don't really want to drive our car down there) or central coast/northern coast california. maybe we'll have to change our requirements. or maybe airline tickets will go down in price by the time we want to travel. any suggestions anyone?

moving on...
i can't wait for michelle and hannah and the peanut baby inside to come to san diego on wednesday!!! michelle and ry--what do you think about both of your kids coming to san diego while in the womb??? don't blame aunt tracey and uncle matt when they want to move here later-heehee! speaking of uncle matt, he will be babysitting on that saturday night so me, michelle, and mary can have a girls night out!!!

kev and emily, we've been thinking about you guys since you were originally planning on visiting us last week. we're praying for your pop pop and hoping for his healing. we can't wait to have you in june!

while we're on the subject of visitors, april is completely booked now, so if anyone else wants to come visit us, get your orders in soon--summer is starting to fill up as we speak!

welp, a lot has been happening, but i don't have the energy to write, so i must be off!

finally i'm updating!
we've been having fun with our visitors (round one: aunt deedee, uncle bob, and jonathan; round two: mary and justin). we had a wonderful time with both of them.
highlights with the burns family included:
1. chats with aunt deedee and our walk on sunset cliffs
2. a memorable dinner at a great italian restaurant in the gaslamp
3. eating hot tortillas (and getting burned!) on the sidewalk at old town
4. a visit to cabrillo monument

highlights with mare and justy:
1. spending time at the beach
2. they might be giants show
3. hiking up cowles mountain
4. laughing so hard at ridiculous things
5. eating at hodad's

so we're getting ready for our next round: michelle and hannah baby and the little boy baby who is in michelle's tummy!

matt and i watched the village last night and i loved it. i loved how it messed with my head about halfway through (i won't ruin it for those who have yet to see it). grade: A

tonight matt and i are going to see U2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
for those of you who don't know.... this is going to be EPIC!!!!! U2 was the first album i ever bought-in 5th grade, (joshua tree) and it's on both mine and matt's lists of things we want to do in our lifetime. so i can't even wait!!! our friends sue and tom are also going with us and we'll be sitting with some people matt works with. the show is in anahiem, so it's a bit of a drive, but we're heading up early and checking into a travelodge and sharing a room. then we can just crash and relax after the show. matt's friend is renting a stretch SUV of some kind and they offered us a ride to/from the show. we may just take them up on that offer!

anyhoo, i'm finally getting back into the swing of training, after being SUCH a huge slacker. and it feels really good!
and man, we have had beautiful (and warm) days, which has made it much easier to get out and get going. yesterday i went running with my "running club" at school, which consists of me, the spanish teacher, and the school nurse. we ran along the cliffs and then took a break by going down the stairs to the beach/rocks at the bottom. we were just sitting there on a smaller cliff that was about 5 feet above water level, chatting, enjoying the sun, watching the surfers...when BAM! first i heard it hit the rocks and i tried to run (where? i don't know where i thought i was going...), but to no avail. a huge wave crashed OVER OUR HEADS. we all started screaming and laughing! and thankfully, we didn't get swept out to sea with it!!! we decided that break was refreshing enough and finished our run, soaking wet. ha!

welp, i must do some shopping and get ready for our big night!!!!!
have a great weekend everyone.

out one day
walking one day
out one day
with you hallelujah
-eisley

is it me, or did tunisia lose a couple of vowels while i wasn't looking?
it's fun to hear about your adventures, dad edwards!

the burns family has landed in san diego! we are having so much fun. they left for a mini-excursion to LA and santa barbara but will be back on thursday. we went to a fun improv comedy club on saturday night and it was very funny! sort of a "whose line is it, anyway?" type of show, with audience participation and funny skits. i will definitely have to go again and bring matt (he was at a concert instead) next time! we also walked sunset cliffs, the boys played torrey pines, we visited cabrillo monument, and took them to our favorite beaches in san diego.

we're looking forward to our next sets of visitors coming soon (mare and justy!).
welp, i only had a second and thought i'd do a quick blog!
grammy--yay! we missed your blogs!
michelle-i was laughing so hard about the cheesecake story--i can just picture it!

so in addition to working a full day sunday, matt worked from 6 am yesterday morning to 11 pm last night. he went in at 5:30 this morning--i hope he doesn't stay that late tonight--i miss him!!! thankfully his deadline is tomorrow, so at least i'll get to see him tomorrow night!

the guys came today to prepare our current floors for the installation of new ones. i made a chocolate cake and had coffee going so they would do a great job! also, the estimate of the project includes a certain number of hours for preparation+ installation and if they work less than those hours, we get charged less. and since i wasn't able to be present to check when exactly they left, i'm hoping the cake was enough of a guilt trip for them to be honest. ha! we shall see... so our floors are bare with some putty and junk (i don't know what it is, but it is smelly) that made the floor level. and they predicted that it would only take until noon tomorrow before the whole job is finished--yay! that is one day earlier than predicted!

i did this raw foods detox diet thing a little while ago to help get my kidneys/liver/etc. back in order and cleansed out and boy can i tell a difference now. everytime i eat something with refined sugar or preservatives, i get an instant headache. i used to drink one coke a day (which i thought was limiting it pretty nicely, anyways) but now i haven't been able to get through more than 5 sips without getting a headache. also, anything like ranch dressing, chips, cheetos, or things with partially hydrogonated oils are an instant headache, too. talk about a deterrant from unhealthy food!!!!! it's fantastic! let me know if you are interested, anyone!

hey! i just heard my honey walk in the door--i'm out!!!

yesterday we finished tearing up the deck, rented a uhaul, loaded it up with our demolished hot tub, deck wood, carpet, and padding. then we drove up to our friend eddie's house and picked up his carpet (they're doing wood floors, too) and other junk and drove to the smelly dump!

everything was going so quickly and smoothly (unlike our last trip to the dump with a uhaul so weighed down with concrete pieces that the axles were bowed and the wheels were scraping against the bottom of the truck), we couldn't believe it. and we shouldn't have, because it was too good to be true. the dump was about 10-15 minutes away from the uhaul place and we had to refill it with diesel fuel. very long story short, we tried about 9 gas stations in the area and no one had diesel. two of them were supposed to, but their pumps weren't working. to add insult to injury, the roads we were on were right by the busiest mall in san diego, so we had mall traffic of people coming and going on a saturday AND the stoplights were out. it took FOREVER to get anywhere! so frustrating!!! the icing on the cake was when we were trying to pull out of a gas station driveway into the lanes of stopped traffic, what did we see trying to get through all the cars? an ambulance. everyone was moving aside and the ambulance was actually getting through pretty well. until the woman in front of us blocked it. we backed up and motioned for her to angle into the parking lot driveway, but she was NOT getting it. soooo, the ambulance headed right for us, trying to take a shortcut through the parking lot. but we were so huge we were blocking most of the driveway. so matt threw it in reverse, backed up quickly, and the ambulance got through safely. and we backed right over a big chain-link fence! ha! we finally just went back to point loma and filled up there, dropped off that uhaul, and made it home in a grand total of 2 HOURS. whew!

our reward was a nice cookout with friends and a fire in their firepit outside that evening. we had a great time.

i'm bummed, matt has to work today.

but i do need to run some errands and get in a bike ride, so i'll be doing that--but i'll miss him! hopefully he will get some comp time and be able to take off that friday when mary and justin are in town.

speaking of that, only 5 more days until the burns family arrives!!!

have a great day everyone!

i know you've all been dying for an update on the status of my eye.
it actually got better during the day, but i went to the doctor anyways. she said it was not pinkeye, but an allergic reaction. good. an allergic reaction to what, i wonder? i have to rummage around and figure out what i've been sticking in my eye. maybe my eye is allergic to the twitch that i have developed. maybe it is allergic to the pirate patch i've been wearing.

i moved most of our living room furniture down to our guest room last night. and then i moved all the wood in our family room up off the floor so we can tear up the carpet. matt was mad, but i just had a samson moment and couldn't resist using my brute strength!

michael, i like your new song.
justin, i like your scumstache.

don't you hate when someone says, "this is going to make you laugh," and then what they say is not funny? there are all those expectations and then if you don't deliver, that person could be embarrassed, which makes me sort of sad, so i usually give a half-hearted laugh. and then i'm annoyed with myself for being fake. but at least i've been polite, i suppose. i say this because the pilates instructor i had tonight said that. luckily, she was addressing a whole room full of people, so i didn't have to pretend, but i still felt rude. oh well, i'm over it! and i'm sure she is, too.

today i have a happy hour after work at a restaurant i haven't been to yet. it is supposedly german, so i don't have high expectations for the food, but maybe i'll get a nice glass of white reisling. then matt and i are going to fillippi's, our favorite italian place (mom good, that's where the sauce was "so good"!:).

welp, have a great weekend everybody!

okay, as if the twitching hasn't been enough (yes, that is still going on), i woke up with pinkeye today. sick! well, that's the price of working with kids. i guess i'm surprised i haven't had it before now. technically, i'm not supposed to go to school today because i'm contagious, but i'm not taking a sick day when i feel fine and i have so much to do!

matt is really busy at work so it makes it easier for me to stay late and get my stuff done. we have a ton of stuff going on this weekend. we're renting a truck and hauling away our jaccuzi (turns out it wasn't as "portable" as it claimed to be, three guys couldn't lift it but they sure had fun destroying it into pieces-ha!) and all the wood from our deck. then we need to move our furniture from upstairs to downstairs because we're getting our new wood floors put in next week! we have to then rip up the carpet and haul it away in that same rented truck. well actually, matt and our friend eddie are going to do most of that actual work, but i will be directing and bossing around! ha!

my ceramics class is over--i start a new one (and last one) in april. that should give me the final number of credits i need to go up in the pay scale. i only made 3 bowls and a vase this time. working on that wheel is challenging. also, i missed a few classes, so that didn't help my productivity, either!

matt ordered girl scout cookies from a friend at work and i can't wait to eat some tonight for dessert!!!!! i love this time of year! i have my thin mints in the freezer as we speak!

well, i do have to get to work, so i must be going.
mom edwards, the gorilla family is so cute! and i love their living environment.
have a great thursday, everyone!

i have now joined the ranks of mary, as i went to my very own "bunko" party last night. my friend, the resource specialist at my school, invited me to go to this fund-raising event as her guest because she knew it wasn't her husband's thing. when she called him to tell him i accepted, he said, "i owe tracey--what is her favorite.....everything?" i said anything from tiffany's, of course! it ended up being so fun and i was able to get so rambunctious! for those of you who don't know, bunko is a dice game that you play in rounds as you rotate from table to table depending on whether you win or lose the round (and you have a new teammate every round). so i only saw my friend for one round and then i was off and running!

matt and i will be going to a show (pinback) tonight. it should be great, i heard them doing a live studio performance on a local radio station yesterday and they sounded fantastic! he and his buddies will be destroying the rest of the deck today and then we'll go pick up our pergo from home depot (it still won't be installed for awhile, though).

some family notes....
dad edwards, that is scary about your blood pressure--so glad you've been able to get that regulated. i hope you don't have to stay on your medication for too long.
justin, i laughed so hard at your attic blog (yes!).
grammy, where is your new and improved roadrunner blog? heehee!
kevin and emily, thinking and praying for your poppop and family.

welp, i need to go deposit our state tax REFUND. yay! it feels so good to say that--it's been too many years of owing too much. but now we both claim ourselves as "0" on our W-2s, and we're good to go. plus, we own our condo. that helps.
so i have to run the saturday morning errands over here, have a great weekend, everybody!

i agree with dad edwards--february is a drag.
i've always said that it seems like the longest month, even though it is the shortest.
the thing that makes it even more of a drag is that it is raining AGAIN!!!! waaaahhh!
matt went to LA to see the andys and i stayed home to rest, recuperate, and get things done. it has been a hard week.
we tried to buy a car yesterday and had our first relatively positive interaction with "brian". he couldn't give us the price we wanted, but maybe he'll call and offer that price today! as i mentioned before, those guys are the lowest of the low. the last guy we dealt with gave us the whole schpeel about we'd be crazy not to buy the car that very instant.
and matt said, "i'm not coming inside with you. this was a research visit."
the guy said, "what's it gonna take to get you in a car tonight?"
"we're NOT buying anything today," we said.
"what do you want? you want to talk to someone who doesn't have an accent?"
(because he had an accent).
i was instantly upset.
my HUGEST pet peeve is when someone assumes i possess qualities that i despise (such as racism, prejudice, manipulation, ulterior motives etc.)
i kept thinking about it all day long.
the car was great, the price was right--but he's never getting our business.

we're getting worn down by these people--we may have to change our game plan and get a car from a private party...

welp--i have the day off today, due to president's day! so i'm going to pilates this morning, which i normally can't do on a weekday. this weekend i did a little shopping and finally spent some christmas gift certificates! that was fun--i bought some fun spring/summer clothes (which i can't wear right now, since it is raining and cold! boohoo...). my search is still on for a good jean jacket--maybe i'll find one today.

i can't wait to find out whether we're having a new niece or a new nephew!!! only a few more weeks...
also only a few more weeks until the burns family arrives--i hope we will be through with the rain by then!!!!
well, i'd better get going to pilates--
michelle-your comment about playing catan in the ice storm reminded me of having snow days! what fun!

my eye has been twitching at least a few times a day (sometimes like a hundred times a day!!!) since before christmas. i may have tourette's syndrome-don't be surprised if i start randomly yelling obscenities. i may have to start wearing a pirate eye patch if this continues!!!

anyhoooooo....i had friday off of work in order to celebrate abraham lincoln's birthday. and i celebrated by having someone come out to the house to measure for our new pergo floors. they will get back to me with an estimate on wednesday, so we shall see. grammy, what did you do to celebrate your hero's birthday? :)

matt put an ad in "craig's list" advertising our FREE HOT TUB (you haul away) and within an hour we had 6 phone inquiries and 10 emails. so some people came by to look at it last night--since it is inset into our 2nd level deck, they couldn't see if it was going to be easy enough to move. so today matt and i and our friend tom are going to be tearing up our deck (which we have been intending to do since we moved in. it may just be dirt out there for awhile, but at least that will get us motivated to fix it how we want (which involves laying flagstone-irregular shaped flat stones-with a border of blue mexican river rock, then get a little bistro table, bamboo/reed fencing and most importantly--a firebowl, so we can have campfires out there)--just in case you were all wondering!

since we're going to be getting a new car in the next couple of months, we'd rather sell the jetta ourselves than have a dealer rip us off. so matt listed that the next day (on craig's list) and had a ton of emails--people offering to pay cash for it now and then just give it to them when we get our new car. crazy! he had to take both ads off within a day because we were getting so many calls! he's meeting someone in an hour for that business.

we got two inches of rain yesterday here in point loma, which is disappointing because we were going to go mountain biking at mission trails today. but those deals are going to be straight mud, so we may just take a normal road ride over to mission bay after we finish the deck.

man!!!! the rain just started up again--go away! well, at least everything will be beautiful and green for all of our march visitors! and my eye started up again as well, though i can't find any positive in that.

we could count the stars
and we could plunder the galleons
my heart is on the outside, looking
i've been searching with my one eye missing
i'm a pirate eye
i'm a pirate eye
-lassie foundation

matt made this great mix that i am listening to right now, you guys need to get into it. some new(er) tunes for you to research/buy/burn when you come to visit: palomar, elefant, aqueduct, razorlight, elliott smith, reeve oliver, q and not u, hippos, fall out boy, mates of state, and the new starflyer album....

we had an impromptu weekend extender (that's now what we call friday night activities now that we're older and it's harder to go out on friday night) on friday with some friends. they all came over to our house for an appetizer and then we walked to downtown ocean beach and ate dinner at bravo's, a mexican place. then we went to pacific shores for an after dinner drink and walked back home. it ended up being such a fun time!

yesterday matt and i did a little research for our future wood floor buying experience. it's sort of a long process, actually. i was hoping to have them put in before our guests come in the middle of march, but it looks like the earliest will be late march/early april. then matt went out and bought a rotisserie chicken, bread, and cheese from the grocery store and we stuffed ourselves!!! we blobbed around, rented the last episodes of sex and the city--and it had such a great final episode, we're sad that it's over!

today we went for a hike back in sunset cliffs natural park and everything is green and lush and beautiful. the place where we had mom and dad edwards' 30th anniversary celebration is overgrown with green plants and yellow flowers, as is the entire park. we hiked down the cliffs to the beach and tidepools and explored and found sea plants and creatures. now we're getting ready to go to a superbowl party. i don't care about the actual game, but there will be guacamole, i've been told, so that's the main draw. also, someone is making a chart where we can "buy" boxes and something or other about the last 2 numbers of the score of each quarter--either way, i plan on winning some money from this deal!!!!

have fun this afternoon, everybody!

yeah, the sun always shines around you...
-the queers

i love thursdays.
this is because 1. friday is tomorrow and 2. because my kids go home at 12:20 and i get my afternoon to myself.
yay!

i've been discouraged about my job but had a good talk with my dad the other night, who gave me encouragement and ideas for future endeavors. it's so good to have a father on earth who knows me, i mean really knows me, and my strengths and weaknesses and interests and giftings; so that when he gives me advice, it is actually helpful and i know i can trust it because he knows me. thanks dad! i love you!

today i went to lunch with the resource specialist from my school. we picked up sandwiches and then ate them on sunset cliffs as we enjoyed the 74 degree day and the beautiful blue ocean. we ended up staying for over an hour because we didn't have kids to get back to, and we deserved it, gosh darn it! it was so refreshing and wonderful and an answer to prayers, really. it was windy and warm and perfect!

if you have read matt's blog, you know that we scored tickets to the U2 concert, (after our own unsuccessful hours of trying) through one matt's coworkers! yay!!! U2 is one of three bands on my list of things to do/see in my lifetime (the other 2 concerts are beastie boys and travoltas, in case you were wondering). but U2 is the very first album i ever got (mare-insert cheesy sigh) so i've loved them since 5th grade and can NOT wait to see them live!!!!! and the show is on april 2, a saturday, so that makes it even better--we can totally enjoy it and not stress out about having to work the next day!

some other good shows coming up here soon:
mates of state
pinback
ambulance ltd/autolux (with mare and justin)
decemberists OR ash-they're playing the same night at different venues (it's a toss up, i've seen ash and they give such an excellent show, but i'd like to see the decemberists, because i hear their influence in justin's music) either way, these shows are also going on when mare and justin are here as well!

i made 3 cute bowls in pottery class this week. all i have to do now is glaze and fire them--hopefully they come out okay---and then i'll be giving some fun gifts that i can actually be sort of proud of and that you don't have to pretend aren't ugly. i've been on the potter's wheel and it is so relaxing, yet concentration-requiring--i am actually getting the hang of it, but there really is a science to it! one false move and the whole thing can collapse (which happened to me twice on tuesday-ha! so funny to see a big misshapen blobby spinning around in circles!).

i need to get started on my adventure scrapbook! so many things to record and remember. thank goodness i've had some good travel journaling! EXAMPLE: as some of you know, mary and i are doing a 100k bike ride in santa cruz this may. and i remembered that matt and i camped at a great campground (with an ocean view) near santa cruz a couple of summers ago on our vacation up the coast. it turns out that the campground is only 4 miles away from where the race starts! so mare and i decided to do that, since it will be our last event for awhile. so i looked up in my travel journal to see what i had written about it and it turns out i actually recorded the exact campsite (#27-ha!) where we stayed, just in case we would ever stay there again. so it pays to be specific in the journaling is all i'm trying to say...

stay where you are
i'm right behind you
i'm always looking
i may not be the one, that's true
but i'm trying, dontcha know?
-ambulance ltd

welp, i'm finally blogging!
let's see, a lot has happened since i last blogged:
first of all, we went to seattle, which we loved. some highlights included:
-pike's place market (you know, the famous one where they throw the fish and all). it was actually a pretty large market with several floors of shops, stands, and restaurants. i bought a great necklace there in the shape of a swirl-yay!
-the cavs game--so much fun. plus, we had VIP seats so that meant we were able to go in this VIP room during halftime and get free drinks, soft pretzels, sandwiches, etc. so fun!!! plus, we were sitting next to two other cavs fans and we were the only 4 yelling in the arena some times. and matt was so excited and i love to see him like that.
-the ferry ride to bainbridge island. it was sort of misty out and it had been raining so matt and i had the entire upper (outdoor) deck to ourselves. we could see the mountains and the islands through the mist and it was such a smooth ride. it was actually pretty surreal and very romantic.
-our anniversary dinner at a restaurant called "serafina's", which was beautiful and everything about it was perfect!
-the Experience Music Project, basically a pop music museum with really great artifacts like handwritten lyrics from the beatles on hotel stationary, part of jimi hendrix's guitar that he burned and smashed at woodstock, etc.

we also had some amusing moments:
-on the plane ride there, one of the flight attendants told the people in front of us that her brother used to play guitar for air supply. and she was still pretty excited about it. of course we snickered to each other!
-once we were on the bus and a man with some mental health issues got on and started talking loudly about how he had lost everything just yesterday and now he was heading to church and maybe we don't believe him but he really was heading to church and would the good people on the bus be willing to help him out? and he started scanning the bus and looked straight at matt (who was just growing a beard), pointed, and said, "i know YOU can't help me", and looked for another person to ask. so AMAZING!!!! we really didn't get solicited by the homeless while we were there for that very reason--matt looked like an unsavory character himself!!!!

so we had such a fun time and would love to go back someday!

but now we're home and as matt said, we've had some great weather and have been enjoying the outdoors. we have also been taking some great bike rides together, which has been fun. it's great to finally have an athletic activity that we are both interested in and pretty evenly matched!

also, i started my second pottery class and i've been attempting to throw some pots/bowls/anything on the wheel. needless to say, it is extremely difficult but very therapeutic when successful. and the items look better than making them purely by hand. we'll see if i get a couple decent items from this class.

oh yeah, we're looking for a new car and you would not believe these car salesmen--the things they say are so ridiculous. this one dude raved on and on about how great our credit was and when i told him that we were waiting for our tax return so we could have a bigger downpayment, he tried to convince me to post date a check for 6 weeks later. when i refused, he asked why i didn't feel comfortable with that!!! i had to remind him that we had good credit for a good reason--we don't write checks for money we don't have!!!!! duh!

welp, i know i should probably say more after not blogging for so long but i'm tired.
so i'm outie.

happy belated birthday ryan!!!!!

well, if you read matt's blog you know that we're heading to seattle this weekend. yay! i'm so excited!!! our friend eddie used to live in seattle and he put together a numbered list of places he and his wife loved to go to--and even included a map with correponding numbers and exact locations! we'll probably plan our little itinerary on the plane ride up there. (we have our tickets on alaska airlines, since we'll be using that airline in the future...:) some things we're going to do for sure are go to pike's place market (where they throw the fish), the space needle, the EMP (experience music project)-our friends gave matt tickets for his birthday, and, of course, the cleveland cavs vs. the seattle supersonics game on sunday night. look for us on tv if you get the game--we have floor seats across from the cavs bench (approximately)!

justin, i was so freaked out by your twin peaks blog. seriously scary.

welp, just wanted to get a quick blog in before work so i must be going.
have a great weekend everyone!

ouch.
i'm sore.

that's what i get for being a fat lazy pig and not running for a few weeks. and then doing a hardcore fast workout so i can determine my maximum heart rate so i can start using my heart monitor so i can start training more effectively. i think i figured out that my max heart rate is 198 during running. apparently, my max heart rate during biking and swimming will be lower. i'll keep you all posted, i know you're dying to know.

well, a new year's resolution i have is to do as many athletic events as i can this year. and be healthy and injury-free while i do so. on the list for this spring/summer:
1. march-marchmadness trail running 5k race (san diego, by myself?)
2. april- 30 mile (50k) bike race with mary in alpine, CA
3. may- metric century (100k/62 miles) bike ride (santa cruz with mary)
4. july- firecracker 5000 (5k) (hilton head island with ryan)

this week has been surprisingly good, for my first week back.
i decided i have no complaints about life.
that's a great place to be, in my brain and in my life, i also decided.

matt and i started watching "supersize me", thanks to mary's (and justin's?) suggestion. wow. it is SICK. everyone on earth needs to watch that movie!!! matt and i are feeling so convicted about our eating habits now. on my list of things to accomplish in my lifetime (before even watching this documentary): eat healthy 90% of the time. supersize just knocked this item up a few priority notches, i must say.

justin, i could have watched your shorts all night. i was so disappointed when they ended. especially the evening portion. it actually made me feel cold and reminded me of the smell of the winter air and the feeling of tightness in the lungs. but it was peaceful and reminded me of late nights in college when i loved bowling green.
more, please!

welp, i'm tired so i'm going to lay down.
rydogg, be expecting something in the mail soon!

so this is the new year
and i don't feel any different
the clanking of crystal
explosions off in the distance
-death cab

it's true. i don't feel any different. still happy and content with everything (will there be changes with my job at some point? maybe, but i've changed my attitude and it's just change. i don't have to make up an excuse to change what i'm doing.) so maybe i do feel different (like mikey). i sure havent' felt like blogging lately, but here i am.

it's our 7th wedding anniversary!!!
wow.
we're definitely where we hoped to be in 7 years.
sort of surprised that there are no kids here yet--ha! but fine and content with that.
but happy that we've grown and changed together.
GOD IS SO GOOD is the only thing i can say.

are we where you thought we'd be 7 years ago???? or didn't you think about our future? probably not. except for maybe parents...

anyhoo, i made a fantastic dinner (if i do say so myself!) of steak, homemade mashed potatoes, asparagus, and bread with cheese. we have cake that i will eat for dessert at some point.

speaking of cake, we're having a party for matt's 30th this saturday. our usual friends are coming + some others + some peeps from LA. i'm making tortilla soup, sangria, and fruit pizza. yum!!!

we just got a call from aunt deedee and uncle bob tonight saying they're coming to visit the 3rd week of march! yay! and then i have spring break the 4th week (mare, do we still have plans? i hope you'll come for an sd run--or are we doing our own bike/camping tour? yes!!! so fun!!!), then kevin and emily come out the last week--hooray! so fun to have family and friends who are able to come to our home and stay awhile. so it looks like march is already booked--let this be a lesson to the rest of you: you'd better get your reservations in early!!!!

quick note about christmas/new years:
such a wonderful, quality time with family and friends. too short, of course. but a ton of laughing, great food, fun games, white christmas, fantastic chats, good workout at the ymca, and fun martinis from dad good. we love you all and loved being with you this christmas. we miss you all already. thankfully some of you already have plans to come out and see us!!!! :)

happy new year, everyone.

tomorrow is christmas eve!
it seems like it came so soon, yet not so soon.
that remark reminds me of a chef on the food network, some pretty girl with a giant head who cooks italian food. everything is "sweet but not sweet" or "tart but not tart". ha! i can't stop watching the food network when i'm off work and it makes me want to both cook and EAT!
i've been out of control eating since thanksgiving, yet i stopped exercising. finally, i started again on monday and hopefully i'll continue through christmas break with dad and ryan good (and anyone else!) at the YMCA and then with mom edwards (maybe pilates? :) in bg and then a great run with heidi in boardman, OH. did i mention that she ran the New York City marathon last month? a-ma-zing.

anyhoo, it feels good to get back into the swing of things. i'm just randomly training, but sort of on the same track as i was training for the triathlon, just because it seemed so healthy for my body. mare and i will be completing a half century (50 mile) bike race and/or adventure race this spring, so good to get some conditioning in now...

tomorrow we head out for ohio. pray for safe travels and no delays and no illness this christmas.
dad edwards, i liked your picture diary. they were so fun--especially the picture of matt with sweet hannah! i wonder what is happening with the possible new edwards home?

matt and i had fun the other night making a christmas mix--it ended up being 4.6 hours and we played it at our recent christmas party. i'm bringing it home for christmas so we can all be festive at home. speaking of which, it is most definitely going to be a white christmas. and for that, i am pumped!!! especially if i can go sledding or have a snowball fight! yes!!!

welp, i'm going to get going now.
merry christmas to all and to all a good night!!!
can't wait to see you all!

yay! i'm on christmas break now!
hooray!

for my last day of school, i had one of the best quotes from a first grader yet!

me: (reading the grinch and noticing a little boy picking his nose) he had to stop christmas from coming, but HOW? erik, if you need a tissue, there is one on the table.
erik: (takes a tissue, quickly wipes his nose and throws the tissue in the trash)
me: good job~ then he had an idea. the grinch had a wonderful, awful idea... erik, stop picking your nose.
erik: (smiles and giggles) aw, but i like to pick my nose.
me: i know, but you can't pick your nose at school. it's gross.
erik: i pick my nose at home...(pauses) a LOT (he adds with a grin).
me: (trying not to laugh)
erik: but my mom always catches me.
me: okay, hold on just a second, boys. (i turn to my desk to write down this gem and when i look up, there he is, lips and surrounding areas covered in red gunk) erik, what is on your face?
erik: what? it's lipstick.
it was actually chapstick, and he looked like a clown. it just added to the whole experience, i must say.

matt and i had a really fun party here friday night. we had 3 other couples over for a christmas party and i made a ton of food-chili, cheesy potatoes, roasted vegetables with orzo pasta, stuffed mushrooms, bread and cheese, mozzarella/basil/tomato skewers, and a few other random things. we made grasshoppers to drink and our friend brought this warm cranberry wine drink and we all sat by the tree and exchanged gifts and laughed and talked all night. my friend marni brought me back this amazing ring from australia that is a swirl. i love it, but it is too big, so i have to get it sized. which i will investigate tomorrow, my first monday of christmas break!

matt gave me my christmas gift, a pink hawaiian print roxy suitcase, which i've been wanting forever! and a cute little matching train case/makeup bag thing. and also a cordouroy purse and a dvd "the nightmare before christmas". yay!
i also gave him his birthday present a little early, but he'll have to tell you about that!

so we're heading over to our friends house (marni and eddie) to get our dog fix (with their silly dog, rocco). plus, eddie brought matt a cuban cigar back from australia, so the boys want to smoke those. and i think we're going to watch a christmas movie. so i must be going!

justin, i meant to say that i loved your videoblogs! except for the drainage pads.

last night matt and i went to my work party. it was held at this beautiful home (parents of one of the teachers) near old town. they even had a gas firepit outside in their beautifully landscaped front yard. i also got a job offer (from the wife of one of the teachers) to do speech therapy at a nursing home. i don't feel confident in my skills with adults, but i was assured that i would get some more training. just a few weekend/evening hours--and i may take it after the holidays. or i may not. we shall see... i introduced matt to everyone, of course. and at least 5 teachers made the joke that "there will be a quiz at the end of the night". hardeeharhar. teacher humor. it was fun to be outside of work and not talking about work, though. i get in my head and i'm overwhelmed at work, so there's really no time for chatting. so it was nice.

then we came home, drank a little champagne, i got sushi, and we rented "boomtown", a tv show that should have never been cancelled.

yesterday the surf was super high--6-10 foot waves, so i went to watch it on my lunch break-so amazing. i never get tired of it! i haven't checked the surf report yet today, but if it has died down, we're going surfing today. it's going to be 70 degrees again.

i had a dream that i was giving hannah a bath last night. she was fat and bald and splashy, just like she is in real life! yay!

music i'm listening to: sarah mclachlan, sufjan stevens, new U2, new jimmy eat world (michelle-i'll burn it for you, you'll be into it--it's like the clarity album).

5 more days of school until christmas break!
23 more days until our 7 year anniversary!
28 more days until matt is 30 years old!