Day 30: So Long.. NaBloPoMo

It's the end of NaBloPoMo! 30 blog posts in 30 days!

Anyways, I can't believe that November is over and tomorrow is December. Holy cow... where did time go?!

December is jam packed with lots of fun activities and I can't wait. I can't wait to watch lots of Christmas movies, decorate our tree and go shopping.

So, farwell NaBloPoMo & November and Hello December!!

Day 29: Back to the Grind

Sigh... I can't believe that the Thanksgiving weekend is over. It went by so quickly, probably because it was very enjoyable. Like I previously posted, we had a great Thanksgiving with family.

Friday, we went to David's parents place for breakfast and just hung out. No black Friday shopping for us. We haven't even started our Christmas shopping to tell you the truth. Saturday, lunch with friends and family at Chick-fil-A and that afternoon I cooked a mini Thanksgiving meal, while the boys watched a boring USC vs. UCLA football game.

Today, we had grand plans to go get our Christmas tree after church. We had lunch with David's parents and headed over to Home Depot. Due to the acquisition of more furniture, since last Christmas, we have less room this year for a tree. We looked for 5'-6' "skinny" tree, but couldn't find one. The selection looked pretty picked over. So no tree yet! :( I was really looking forward to putting up decorations and playing Christmas music.

Tomorrow means back to the grind. My boss will be gone on vacation till the end of the week, so that means I will be very busy. But one nice thing about it being busy, is that it will go by quickly. I am looking forward to hanging out with the girl's tomorrow night and possibly a weekend away with friends in Big Bear!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and extra time off!

Day 28: The End of Fall

First off, if you ever plan on reading the Outlander series or are currently reading it, but have not read past Drums of Autumn, don't read any further!!

** Spoilers below **

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My friend Kristy and I went to Oak Glen last weekend, to get a little taste of fall before it was gone. Upon recommendation by my Mil, we headed over to the Hawk's Head Public House at Riley's Farm for lunch. As soon as we pulled up and I realized that it was a colonial restaurant, I was so excited!

For those that don't know anything about the Outlander series, this is the current time period, in which the 5th book takes place. Now.. do you understand why I was so excited? If I remember correctly, Kristy even asked me, "Does this have anything to do with your book that you are reading?" Oh YES!!!

Anyways, the food was really great. They had live traditional music, along with the staff dressed in costume. There were a couple of redcoats walking around as well.

Kristy and Mary

The best Chicken Pot Pie!

Mary and I

Historical fictions are definitely my genre!

Day 27: Mission Inn Lighting

I am in desperate need of updating photos with you all, but I am going to go out of order, since today is kind of the kick off to the Christmas season.

Tonight, we went with the family to see the Mission Inn's festival of lights. It was my first time ever going the lighting and I'm not quite sure what to think. It was very beautiful and the fireworks were fun. There was a chill in the air and it felt a little bit like the beginning of Christmas, but oh so many people! I think I might just stick to going down there on an evening when it's not so busy!

Here are a couple photos that we took:

Day 26: Happy Thanksgiving

It's technically the end of Thanksgiving day, but I still wanted to say that I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

This year there is so much to be thankful for this year. One of which is my amazing husband. I am amazed that we have been married for close to 3 years now. Time has flown by so fast and I love him more than the day we said I do. I am also very thankful for both our families who love us so much. Also, I am thankful for my job and thankful for all the film work David has had recently.

Thank you Lord for all of these things that you have provided us!

Day 25: Not So Sure

I was borrowsing Sunset's website again today and came across this photo:

Sunset

I normally really like their Christmas decorations but this one, I'm not sure about. I think they should stick to the traditional circle.

What do you think?

Day 24: 3 Days

3 days till we will officially start our Christmas season! I am so excited! I downloaded Ella Fitzgerald's song, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, as a ring tone for my phone. I love Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas music!

Other things related to Christmas, is that we also went to Target tonight to return some red towels that I bought for the bathroom. They didn't quite match with the new red shower curtain once I got them home. So back they went. Thankfully, I found ones that were a better match. As soon as I got home I put them up. Hopefully, soon the bathroom will feel like a bit of Christmas in there just like the rest of the apartment.

Anyways, hopefully work tomorrow will go by very quickly and then it will be time for eating lots of turkey, spending time with family and Christmas decorating! Yay!

Day 23: Day Dreaming

If money was no object, I would have house with a huge library. I would want built in bookcases from floor to ceiling. I would love to have the rolling ladder to reach those books at the top. :) Friends could borrow my books and each would be stamped with, This Book belongs to Robyn L....". Hehe.

A girl can dream right?!


I love these home libraries.

Day 22: Weekend Recap

Another busy weekend and another weekend in which I didn't even pick up my book! And I only have 150 pages left of The Fiery Cross, as well! If I read during my lunch this week, I for sure should be able to finally finish it.

Anyways, so I already mentioned that I did not get a chance to read. Friday, David and I went out to dinner and I came home and promptly fell asleep. I was extremely tired from going to see New Moon. Saturday, I went to Oak Glen with Kristy and Mary. I had a blast. Look for a blog post about that coming soon. We also watched the movie, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. It was a cute chick flick. Today, church and more crafts with Jenni! I am almost done with my Christmas cones. I ran out of material though, so I had to stop. A trip to Michaels is now on the to do list.

This week, I am looking forward to Thanksgiving and the four day weekend. I am sooo tired right now. I was getting ready for bed and realized that I had not blogged. I almost failed NaBloPoMo! But thankfully I didn't. I am not enjoying it as much as I did last year and I am already looking forward to Nov 30th. How sad is that?

Well, I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Day 21: Adios Pumpkin

I am over pumpkin. I didn't think it was possible, but I am. Maybe I ate too many pumpkin cupcakes or pumpkin cheesecake. Hmmm... or you know it could be all those pumpkin spice latte's.

Or.... I could just be ready for Christmas. I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving and having a 4 day weekend. I am looking forward to putting up our Christmas tree, on Friday.

Bring on the peppermint, Christmas carols and lights!

Day 20: The Verdict

Yesterday night was so much fun! Going to the midnight showing of New Moon was completely worth the lack of sleep and being tired today. New Moon was so much better than Twilight. Of course it's not even close to being better than the book, but the movie is never as good the book. I loved it!

Anyways, here is a photo of Jenni, Melissa and I waiting in line outside. Desiree, I am still sad that you weren't able to come with us. :(




Now, starts the countdown to Eclipse in July! Hehe!

Day 19: Fishing in Cold

A lot of this blog focuses on stuff going on with myself or things that David and I do together. Rarely do I blog about the things he does with the guys, which I really should do more often.

So, today's post is strictly about the hubby!

David went on a guys trip up to our local mountains and stayed at a cabin in Big Bear. The main purpose of this trip was to go fishing and they spent hours doing so, in the cold btw. Unfortunately all week, they had not caught anything. At the end of their last full day there, David called me and was a little bummed that he had not caught anything. Well about half an hour after his call, they finally did catch some fish.

Here are David and Tim very proudly holding up their catches of the day:

Day 18: Finally!!

Tomorrow night, the girls and I will be heading to the movie theatre to see the midnight showing of New Moon! I am super duper excited! Finally, it is here!

I am currently watching Twilight and as soon as it's over I am going to bed. I want to be nicely rested for tomorrow. I have to work on Friday (crazy I know), so as soon as I get home tomorrow night, I am going to try and take a nap. Friday, morning I will be picking up a Pumpkin Spice Latte on the way to work. I will definitely need my caffeine fix. That's the plan. I hope I'm not a zombie at work on Friday.

I have heard of others that have re-read New Moon to refresh all the details before watching the movie. I decided to not do that. Also, I'll tell you a secret: I really couldn't put down the Outlander series. Sssh... don't tell anyone! But anyways, back to my not re-reading the book. We all know the movie is never as good as the book. I don't want to be disappointed when I watch the movie. I did re-read New Moon back in July, so it's still pretty fresh in my memory.


So, I leave all you Twilight fans out there with a question:

Did you do a re-read of the book in preparation of seeing the movie?

Day 17: Lots of Yawning

I am fading very quickly, so this will probably be short. It's only 9 and I can't stop yawning. I will be going straight to bed, once I am done with this post.

If you minus work, it was a really great day. After work, I met up with my MIL at Tai Pan. I had never been there before and when I mentioned to her that I was looking for some Christmas decorations, she said she knew just the place. I can't believe how many that they have. I don't think I have ever been to a store with so many. It was amazing! So, So, pretty as well! There were so many things that I wanted to buy, but I was good and picked out a couple items that were my favorites.

We then got dinner and headed over to Kirklands. All that shopping and walking around wore me out. I am never this tired at this time. I just yawned again for probably the 5th time since starting this post. Opps and again! ::yawn::

So, if you live near a Tai Pan, I definitely recommend going there! Right... I am now off to bed!

Day 16: 8 Years!

8 years ago today, David and I started dating! It seems like just yesterday that we met one evening and a couple of weeks started dating. Two more years and it will have been a decade! :)

I love you David!


Here is blast from the past, a picture of the two of us, right after we met:

Day 15: Busy, Busy

I can't believe how busy this weekend was! David was out of town filming, so I thought I would have lots of time to read and finally finish up the Fiery Cross. Nope, didn't happen. I didn't read at all! I still can't believe it.

Friday night, there was game night/potluck. There was lots of yummy food and I had fun even though we didn't really play any games. Saturday, Jenni and I spent the day at Michael's to buy supplies for our art project. That evening, I spent time with family and we went to Olive Garden. Except for the slow service, dinner was great along with the company. I came home and did some major cleaning. I didn't go to bed till 2:30! More cleaning was done today. I even tackled the office! Our office/guest bedroom is a collection place for all the odds and ends. Including the mountain of paperwork needing filing.

Jenni and I also worked on our projects. We remembered to take lots of pictures as well. Once, we are done I will post pictures. My front steps are covered in glitter now though. Opps! :) We had dinner at Panera and spent almost 2 hours there. They had to kick us out, as we were still there past closing!

So it was a good weekend. Time spent with friends, family. Cool weather! I even pulled out the scarf tonight. I hope you all had a great weekend as well!

Day 14: Getting Crafty

Today, Jenni and I spent several hours in Michaels trying to find the perfect materials to recreate these from Crate and Barrel:



I had hoped to make them for cheaper, than what it cost to buy them. Well, after an entire afternoon of looking at beads, Styrofoam, fake berries and yarn, standing in long lines, registers crashing, these bad boys will cost just about what it would have been to buy the pre-made ones. How lovely! At least while making them, I get to spend time my friend. :)

We will be attempting this feat, tomorrow after church. I will let you know how it goes!

Day 13: Christmas Sneaking In

The other day I mentioned that I wasn't a big fan of getting all into Christmas, till after Thanksgiving. Ya well.. Christmas is starting to sneak it's way into my head. I guess I didn't put up a strong enough mind barrier! :)

I keep trying to keep the thoughts of decorating and baking at bay, but it's not working. The other day I found myself looking for a tree topper. I went online to Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Restoration Hardware and Pier One. I was emailing my friend Kristy pictures and links. I finally found one on Targets website. It's really pretty by the way!

While doing this I realized that the Christmas Creep has succedded! Bah, Humbug!

So, I leave you with some pictures of Christmas decor that I liked. Enjoy!



We have a credenza that we were given that needs to be refinished and I have always said I wanted to paint black. People give me the weirdest looks when I say that. I need to print this out, so next time I can show it to the person and say "See, it's not a horrible idea"!

Photos curtesy of Country Living

Day 12: One Week!

Only one week till New Moon! 7 days or 170 1/2 hours to be exact. I am soooo excited! I will be going to the midnight showing with Jenni and Desiree. I can't believe I agreed to go. I am going to be dead to the world the next day and I can't take it off as my boss will be out of town. :(

It better be worth it!

Day 11: My Poor Little Car

My car has served me well the last couple of years and my parents for all the years they used it. Several times, David and I have contemplated getting me new car, but have always decided it wasn't needed. At one point we even went and test drove cars, but like previously we changed our minds. It has been great not having two car payments.

Unfortunately, my car is OLD! It's an 87 Mercedes and lots of little things have started to be needing replaced. David took it down for the oil change today and was told it needs $2000.00 + worth of repairs! Not the news I wanted to hear. Some of the repairs don't need to be fixed right away like the heater, which blows ridiculously hot air at you all the time. Others though need fixing like the brakes and other things I can't remember the names of like transmition mounts or something.

So we are faced with some decisions. Do we repair it? Not really cost efficient to do so, since it's so old. If we aren't going to use the car, my dad wants it back. That means no selling it and using the money towards a new car. David not having a full time job doesn't help. The Lord has been so amazing and has been providing him with lots of film work, which has been great. But it's not steady, no guaranteed payday. I know we will soon be heading into the slower months, Jan - March. We have been blessed with the money to still be aggressively paying down our credit card debt. I am so thankful for all of this.

A second car payment makes me nervous though. It's a long term commitment, unlike eating out and Disneyland passes which can be cut out or not renewed. We discussed our options a little bit tonight and we are leaning towards buying a used car, something that won't put us into a large car payment. The Corolla would become primarily my car to drive to and from work. It gets great gas mileage, the main reason why we bought it.

I am sure with lots of thought and prayer about it, we will make the right choices for ourselves and our situation! It looks like my little car might be going back home to Indiana, that's if it's safe to make the drive back. I will be sad to see it go, if does!

Day 10: Where, oh Where...

did You've Got Mail disappear too? The hubby and I went to watch this movie tonight and upon opening the dvd case it was empty. I was sooo sad. All day I had been looking forward to watching this movie and when it came time to put on, we could not find it anywhere. David went through every dvd case to see if it was put in the wrong spot and nothing.

So instead we watched Definitely, Maybe which turned out to be a bit of a bummer. It was cute but the storyline was really unrealistic and I couldn't not get past that. We struck out twice for movies tonight!

The whole night wasn't a complete bust thankfully. I made Chicken Pot Pie for the first time ever and for a throw together meal, it came out pretty well! I am now inspired to find a really good recipe and a nice flaky crust.

Anyone have a really good recipe that they make?

Day 9: Aahh.. Going Out

So since the hubby has been sick the last couple of days we haven't done much. All weekend I felt cooped up even though I thoroughly enjoyed reading my book. I had grand intentions of coming home and cleaning this evening. You don't believe me... I swear I did! :)

When I got home today, David suggested going to one of our favorite sushi places in town. My parents got him a gift card for there for his birthday, so we decided to get out of the house and go and enjoy ourselves.

Of course the food was really good like always. Afterwards, we decided to check out the new humongous Forever 21 store. I seriously can't believe how large it is. They took over an old department store building that recently went out of business. There are two whole levels of clothes and almost too many items to choose from. I wouldn't even know where to start if I was actually looking for something to buy!

After visiting Forever 21, we stopped by one of my favorite places. Can you guess what it is? How did you know? Yep, we stopped by Borders and I picked up the 6th Outlander book, A Breath of Snow and Ashes as I am almost done with The Fiery Cross.

All in all, it was a great evening. Nice to get out and be outside rather than stuck inside with a sick husband and a horrible headache. I guess cleaning is now on the list of things to do tomorrow!

Day 8: Weekend Recap

So this weekend did not exactly play out as I had hoped but it was still good.

It consisted of:

~ cooking an awesome meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and asparagus
~ sleeping in
~ reading
~ watching the excitement on my nephews face while he opening birthday presents
~ watching a good movie with the hubby by my side
~ more reading which resulted in tears and laughter
~ devoured the last piece of heaven called pumpkin cheesecake

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!

Day 7: I <3 Heels

The heels that I ordered came yesterday and I luuuve them! They fit perfectly and feel like I have been wearing them forever. There is something about how the way a pair of heels can make your entire day!

I can't wait to wear them next week!

Day 6: Random Friday Musings

I am so very happy it is Friday!

 

::does happy dance in chair::

 

 It has not been a good week. I will be extremely glad when work is over this afternoon! Since it's Friday here are some random musings.

 

 

~ I don't think I will ever get sick of Starbucks, Pumpkin Spice Lattes!

 

~ While driving to work the other day, a man in the car next to me was using his electric shaver. Never seen that before.

 

~ Really wish I owned a Kindle. Why do they have to be so darn expensive?!

 

~ I hope David feels better so we can go to Oak Glen tomorrow, for my nephews birthday. Don't want to get him or my baby niece sick. I don't think Troy or Melissa would appreciate that if they did.

 

~ Anyone want to come over and do my laundry for me?

 

~ Yay, for the cooler weather again. ::knocking on wood:: We don't want to be in the 90's again anytime soon!

 

~ Wuthering Heights on audio is ummmm.... interesting. Not a big fan of the male narrators voice but, oh well. I am sure as I progress further into the story I won't notice it anymore. Still too early into the story to decide to if I don't like it.

 

~ I ordered shoes "online" for the first time last week. They are Nine West heels and I really hope they fit. They were such a good deal that I couldn't pass it up. Per UPS they are supposed to arrive today, so I am excited!

 

Well that's enough for today! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

 

Day 5: I Hear Sleigh Bells

I still can't get over that it is November. I think I am in denial, haha. Since, Halloween is over everyone decided it's now okay to start celebrating Christmas. What about Thanksgiving?

Target had Christmas stuff out on Saturday when I was there. I picked up a pumpkin spiced latte on my way to work on Monday and they are using their Christmas cups. I was asked if I wanted to try something with Eggnog. No way, I'm still in fall mode! David is sitting here right now watching Myth Busters and it's an episode about whether or not a frozen Christmas tree can explode. If anyone cares, the myth was busted. :P

Anyways, once Thanksgiving is over then I will be all about Christmas! But until then we need to focus on Thanksgiving! So my question for you all is what's you favorite dish, desert or food item that you eat on Thanksgiving?

My favorite would probably be Stove Top stuffing!

Day 4: Headaches, Boredom and Sickness

I have had a headache for the last three days. It is starting to drive me crazy, as it won't be away. It's not a normal headache either. It's like a, "I think I might be getting sick kind of dizzy headache", but when it comes down to it I haven't gotten "sick". David on the hand, has come down with the flu. Poor guy! I came home from work today and made him tomato soup and grilled cheese.

Hopefully, he feels better soon and that also my headache goes away. I really hope I don't get sick. I have too much to do at work!

Sorry for such a lame post tonight. I really haven't felt like doing much this week since my headache won't go away. Hopefully, tomorrow nights post will be more interesting.

P.S. One good thing, we are half way through the work week! Only two more days of work! :D