06.27.10 An Afternoon with Miriam

Miriam came over to hang with us this afternoon as we watched the World Cup.  This photo cracks me up, but it is a perfect representation of a typical afternoon with Miriam!  Love ya M!

06.26.10 Jakob at the Pool

Juan and I babysat Jakob this afternoon and spent most of our time at the pool.  He had a blast playing with Juan and the soccer ball.  He carried it all the way to the pool and all the way home.  He wasn't afraid of the fountain or the big pool and wanted to jump in.  He mimics everything Juan does.  When he first arrived he kept saying Ma-boos, ma-boos and we couldn't figure out what he wanted....then we realized, marbles!  He is talking so much more now!

06.25.10 Lecia's Birthday

Juan and I met the P+W folks at Ozono's for a bithday happy hour for Lecia.  It was great to see everyone and visit on the patio before the summer heat is too unbearable.  Happy Birthday Lecia!

06.24.10 Team Jerseys

I ordered us team jerseys for Argentina, for the world cup.  I got Messi (home) jersey and Juan's is Tevas (away) jersey.  Everywhere is sold out, so we were excited to get our in the mail.

06.23.10 Travel Among the Clouds

I flew to Kansas City today for a site visit at the Overland Park Regional Medical Center.  On the flight home, the most beautiful cloud formations I have ever seen.  It was so beautiful that if I would have been in the exit seat, it would have been difficult not to open the door and jump out into them...just to be part of them for a moment. 

06.20.10 Brazil Beats Ivory Coast 3-1

The Brazil/Ivory Coast game was difficult to watch.  Brazil played great and quickly overwhelmed the Ivory Coast; but the Ivory Coast played very dirty and was intentionally trying to harm the Brazillian players.  "If you can't beat them, hurt them" was there motto, and unfortunately the refs let them.

06.22.10 National Association of Professional Women

I was invited to join the National Association of Professional Women a few months ago.  I became a member and received my membership plaque today.  It is an organization of women leaders in all professions.

06.21.10 Father's Day Gift for Me

Yesterday was Father's Day.  I wasn't feeling good, so Juan went to his family's get-together without me.  When he arrived home, he had a gift for me from his parents.  It was a lovely little dragonfly necklace.  They thought about me when they saw it and couldn't resist.  How very sweet of them.

06.19.10 Newspaper Backlash

Although there is nothing that can be done about the horrible call that lost USA the World Cup game yesterday, there is still incredible outrage about it.  They are still discussing whether or not Referee Koman Coulibaly will be kicked out of the refereeing for the remainder of the World Cup.  The USA were lucky that England and Algeria tied, keeping their 2nd round hopes alive!

06.18.10 USA's Win Stolen by Ref

The USA game was crazy against Slovenia and ended tied 2-2.  In the first half, the USA was down 0-2 and looked terrible.  In the second half they fought back strong.  Donovan and then Bradley scored to tie it up.  At the very end of the game, a penalty kick and shot by Jozy Altidore completed the 3rd and final goal to clinch USA's win...but referee Koman Coulibaly from Africa called a foul on someone (although he would never say who) and declared the goal null.  Throughout the entire game, this referee made TERRIBLE calls and ultimately cost the USA the game.  In this photo, Landon Donovan scores his team's first goal at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. 

06.17.10 Argentina Wins 4-1

Argentina won their 2nd game of the World Cup 4-1 against Korea.  It was a fabulous game.  In the first goal, Messi corner kicked the ball into a Korea player that then bounce into the goal.  The next 3 goals were by Gonzal Higuain.  In this photo, Higuain  heads his 3rd goal and his side's 4th at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.  Although Messi still has not scored in this World Cup, he was credited with assists on most of this games goals.  He was amazing as always.

06.16.10 Spain Looses

We were so disappointed to see Spain loose their fist game of the World Cup 0-1 against Switzerland.  There are a bunch of Barcelona players on the Spain National team and we were excited too watch them.  Now they must win the next two in order to move into the next round.  In this photo Sergio Ramos of Spain goes for a challenge with goalkeeper Kiego Benaglio of Switzerland at Durban Stadium in South Africa.

06.15.10 Earthquake Hits

At about 9:20pm this evening I was drifting in and out of sleep while Juan was editing photos on his laptop.  All of the sudden he asked if I felt that.  I replied, "What?" and he said, "That was an earthquake!"  I said no way and turned on the tv.  To my surprise they were already showing the seismograph chart and talking to people at the epicenter.  Apparently it was a 5.7 along the Mexico border and we could feel the rolling motion where we were at.  Juan said his head was bobbling.  What was scary was that for the next hour or so there were 18 more aftershocks.  No one knew if there was going to be a big one, or why we were continuing to have so many aftershocks.  We were on the 2nd floor of the 4 story hotel and definitely ready to go home!

06.14.10 Scrapbook Store Found!

Juan asked if I wanted to go to any scrapbook stores while in CA.  I could only locate one, so after our brunch and nap on Sunday, we headed out.  It was a great little store and I managed to find quite a few things to purchase.  I layed out everything before I packed it all away in my suitcase today.

06.13.10 Champagne Brunch

This morning we went to the Champagne Brunch in the hotel.  You have to have reservations and it is $34.50 per person.  We almost didn't go because of the price, but it was TOTALLY worth it!  It was the most amazing brunch I have ever seen.  There was an omlette station, pancake station, eggs benedict station, waffle station, every kind of fruit, bread, meat, cheese, and fish you could think of, crab legs, shrimp coctail, and of course all you can drink orange juice and champagne.  We immediately made mimosas and asked them to "keep them coming".  It was absolutely fantastic and we went straight back to our room to nap afterwards.  Juan was ready to go again the next morning...I had to keep telling him it was only on Sundays!

06.10.10 Paper Organization

My paper is organized in 12x12 carriers by color.  I have a roller carrier for all of my solids and one for all of my pattern (that are not already sorted by theme).  Both roller containers sit under my table near my feet, for easy access.  It is easy to pull and search my stash for whatever color combination I am looking for.

06.12.10 The Mission Inn - Riverside, CA

I was scheduled to complete a survey of the Riverside Community Hospital for Bldg B HAZUS upgrade on Monday, so I took the opportunity to fly in Monday with Juan and spend the weekend at the Mission Inn.  It is a wonderful old Mission that has been converted to a 4 star hotel.  We spent the day exploring all of the nooks and crannies of the hotel in between napping and watching the world cup.

06.11.10 Just a Snack

My husband cracks me up.  This is his idea of "just a snack"!  Four entire oranges in one sitting.  He is definately addicted to fruit.

06.09.10 Purse Contents

I saw this "Purse Challenge" on Becky Higgins' website.  To document everyday things that are currently in your purse.  As you can see, I am currently carrying an aqua Coach purse with:  2 checkbooks (one for our joint account and one for my personal account), credit cards, misc. frequent buyer cards, inhaler, aspirin, mints/gum, pen, klenex, glasses cleaner, business cards, store cards, and misc. lipstick/lipgloss.

06.08.10 Scrapbook Room Organization

I have so much scrapbook stuff that I have to organized my products by types of events, i.e. baby, camping, holidays, family, love, etc.  I put all my products in a clear 12x12 box that is labeled on my elfa shelves.  The clear helps me see what is in each box quickly and I am able to pull boxes when I go to scrap groups or travel with my supplies.  In addition, I have 12x12 boxes for each trip I've taken...still needing to be scrapped, i.e. Spain, Italy, Greece, England, etc.  I seem to be filling each box (I have 20), I obviously have WAY TOO MUCH stuff, but isn't it fun?

06.07.10 Cricut Cartridge Storage

I have too many cricut cartridges for my current storage, so I had to get another shelf.  I love that I can see all of my cartridges and they are in easy reach of my Expression.  They are, of course, alphabetized.

06.06.10 World Cup Pool

The world cup starts tomorrow!  Juan and I had a blast four years ago watching the games, so I am pumped up for this years matches.  Juan started a pool so I filled mine out today.  I have Argentina winning the cup, of course, as Messi is playing for them.  Let's hope I'm right!

06.05.10 Miriam's Pimp Cup 35th Bday Party

Juan and I threw a 35th birthday party for Miriam.  She was looking for an excuse to use a "pimp cup" and this was the perfect opportunity.  We all all dressed like pimps and made our own pimp cups with bling stickers.  We had a great time and I love any excuse to dress up.  I found hats for both Miriam and I and my glasses while in Fredricksburg and was very excited.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY Miriam! 

06.04.10 Geat American Scrapbook Convention

Vanessa and I went to the Great American Scrapbook Convention in Arlington today.  We had a blast.  There were a lot of dollar booths and closeout specials.  I'm not sure that I needed anything, but I sure had fun buying more stuff.  Guess I need to scrapbook!

06.03.10 New PE Seal

I'm still in the process of changing everything over to my married name.  This weeks task was my PE seal.  I had to get a new stamp made, send in my original license, copies of my new identification, and some paperwork.  Seemed like a lot just to get my name changed, but I like my new stamp!

06.02.10 Framed Certification

I fianlly got my LEED AP Certificate framed.  I picked it up this past weekend and finally managed to get it hung in my office.  I framed it similar to my diplomas and PE license certificate.  It looks great on my office wall.

06.01.10 Lost Final Season Finale

We've been followers of the tv show lost through all 6 seasons.  Juan actually bought me the first season when we were dating and we watched an episode a night for about 3 weeks and we were hooked.  Thanks to TIVO and DVR's we never missed an episode.  We did get frustrated with the season 5 flash forwards and season 6 flash sideways, but figured we'd stick it out to the end.  I was not enthused with the ending.  The fact that the flash sideways were in purgatory seemed an easy way out.  There were also too many things left unanswered; but I will definitely miss my weekly fix of Lost.

Camping Pages

When I joined my friends in Tulsa the weekend before last for scrapbooking, I worked on our annual camping trip from 2009. I scrap "lifted" quite a few of these from my friend Shannon, but a few are my very own designs. When I returned from my trip I was all geared up and have been scrapbooking quite a lot since then. I only have one more page and 2009 camping will be complete.  One thing I noticed, I completed 20 pages for a 3 day camping trip...no WONDER I'm behind.  Check out my completed camping pages:

05.31.10 Japanese Gardens

Juan and I took Mom to the Japanese Gardens in Fort Worth today.  It was so much greener than last time I was there.  We then walked around the entire area including the Rose Gardens, the Perenial Gardens, the Trial Gardens, etc.  It was extremely hot, but a good afternoon.