August, in a nutshell.

I have no idea how quickly this month just flew by?!?  To kick start the month, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary on the 3rd...well actually, the weekend before, all through the week and that following weekend.  It was just so wonderful being able to spend so much time with Levi, especially after his summer semester.  I can't believe our first year of marriage flew by!  One whole year!  Wow.  It's been a wonderful year of learning, loving and growing together.  I couldn't be any more grateful to have such a loving, patient, funny partner.  

We didn't do a big exchange of gifts, since we enjoyed some pretty fantastic meals out.  On our actual anniversary we had lunch at Rei do Gado, a Brazilian steak house.  So super good!! It reminded us of eating at Pampas in Las Vegas for our wedding weekend.  The only gift I really wanted was a Peace Lily for my desk at work, in that pretty teal pot.  I didn't realize til now that it matched the burlap banner I bought for us on our anniversary.  I happened to see it when we went by Deseret Bookstore before going to the movies.  It's the truth...life is so much better when he & I are together. I love it. I LOVE him!  

Levi's Dad came in to town and it was nice meeting up with him [middle] and Levi's uncle.  It's nice seeing his Dad.  He's always been so nice to me, ever since I met him.  I remember meeting him, the evening Peej got married. We went by Levi's Dad's house and he was working in the garage on some wood pieces.  He took the time to explain all his toy pieces and the differences in wood.  I'm really quite lucky to have such a nice Father-in-Law.  

This is a recipe I came across that I truly love.  Seriously, it's so good!! I've recommended it to several people.  I thought I'd post it for safe keeping.  

In my last post, I mentioned going to FHE [family home evening] with my friend Odin. Oh man, it was a hilarious evening of lip syncing! I think the guys below were singing...excuse me, I mean, lip syncing to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.  Such a hilarious night!!

OH. MY. GOSH.!!! My friend NeNe sent me this and I was blown away--TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY! I never knew this!  CRAZY!

Speakin' of Nene, she invited me to a Padres game against the Braves!  We took a paid half day off, rode the trolley downtown and enjoyed a lovely Summer day watching some good ol' baseball! We were lucky to score seats in the shade and at one point, it got a lil cold.  But boy oh boy, we enjoyed some Hodad's burgers!! So delish!!

Mamacita [middle] moved to the good  ol' southwest.  I'm surely going to miss her.  It's been such a blessing being able to work with her again, this past year.  I wish her the very best in her next chapter of life.

On Levi's first day of one of his new classes, he forgot his phone at home.  I tried to catch him before he left but I only saw the gate close behind him.  I thought I could catch him before he got to school, but I didn't...so there I was looking for visitor parking at his school.  I had just missed him by 5 minutes by the time I actually found his classroom.  Oh man, it was quite hilarious.  There I was driving around his campus, praying that I would see him walking to class.  I found an info desk, luckily remembered what the name of his class was, obtained a campus map and waited outside his classroom door.  I was so nervous! I felt like some sort of deranged ex-girlfriend stalking him down.  Since it was his first day in this new class, I didn't want him to not have his phone in case he needed something off his email or the internet.  Fortunately, I caught a girl walking towards the classroom door and kindly asked her if she could give him his phone.  When he arrived home that night, he was so amazed I could find him!! I was somewhat embarrassed that I would do such a thing and hunt him down like that.  So odd, yet so, so funny!!

Last weekend, we went to Pt. Loma Seafood Company. Oh man, some of the best seafood you can find in San Diego!! It was so scrumptious!! I loved the Shrimp & Cod!  Plus it was so nice down on the harbor. I surely love living in San Diego!! 

I had an old friend in town, this past week. She served her LDS mission here in San Diego, when I was about 18/19 years old....back around 1999. It was so great seeing her [middle] again, since it's been 10 years since I last saw her. Catching up with her was just so easy and lovely.  Plus, it was cool that she invited me back to their hotel to go swimming. I will NEVER turn down an opportunity to sit in a jacuzzi! She & her friend wanted to eat Mexican, so I took them to one of the best Mexican restaurants in San Diego; Old Town Mexican Cafe! Oh man, I love the food & mariachi music there!! It was such a wonderful evening!

To round out the month, Levi & I went to Hobby Lobby since we're blessed to live so close to the only one in San Diego county!  Originally, we went by to find supplies to make a jewelry hanger. We found this lovely gem!! Oh man, I LOVE it!! This was better than I could have ever expected to find!! PLUS, it was on SALE!! 50% OFF!!! WHAAAAAAA??!  Yeah, half off and way more efficient than I could have ever thought up!! Thank you Levi for my terrific early birthday present!! So wonderful! I can't wait to fill it up! ;)

I still can't believe this month flew by so quickly! I can't believe September is on the horizon...and you know what September means?!?! BIRTHDAY MONTH!! I can't wait! :)

Hodad's, Petco Park & Some Bee Pollen!

What a great weekend!
Friday night, we went to "Mormon Night with the Padres".  They were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks.
It was Levi's first baseball game at Petco Park and I wanted him to have a really good time!

We bought some tickets with my ward (congregation), so we ended up in the nosebleed section.  The awesome thing about Petco Park is that there are no bad seats! Every section is pretty awesome!
Since we were there right after work, we ate at Hodad's.  Oh my goooodness!! It was so dang tasty!!

Can you see the awesomeness of his burger?!?! Wowzers! We weren't expecting that!! It was so dang delicious!! Oh man.....I would buy a $5 ticket to the park, just to eat at that Hodad's again.  Plus, it was nice being back at Hodad's, where we had our second date:

I don't remember the food being that delicious on our 2nd date, probably because I was so nervous that night, 20 months ago.  And the Frings (onion rings & fries basket) was AWESOME, Friday night!!!  Man, just thinking about it makes my mouth water!

Anywhooo, the game was pretty good but the Padres lost.  It was nice to go to a baseball game and be with Levi at his first Petco Park game.  I had such a good time with him.  He's so much fun!

On Saturday, we had lunch with my ol' friend Bugs & her husband.  I haven't seen her for about a year and a half so it was nice to finally be able to catch up with her and introduce them to Levi.  We went to the buffet at one of the local casinos and had a grand time! Seriously, it's as if time never came between us. We caught up like dear friends do and it was nice to know that her husband and Levi had a few things in common.  We talked, we laughed, we cracked some crab legs and laughed some more. Such a terrific afternoon! 

On the way home, we all stopped at the local farmers stand to buy some fresh mangoes & avocados.  The man at the stand gave us a few samples of cherries, various honeys and bee pollen.  As we drove away, we wished he would have given us the honey after the bee pollen because the pollen left a funny aftertaste.  A couple minutes down the road, my bottom lip started to tingle, along with the back of my tongue.  I texted Bugs to see if she was having the same reaction.  I started to worry when it was just me.  Levi continued driving and didn't make a big deal about it.  As we got closer to town, I started to lose my voice and I sounded very raspy.  I don't know how this was happening so quickly.  Part of me thought it was the pollen and the other part of me thought it was all the smoke in the casino and the cold night air, the night before.  I didn't want to freak, but it was weird how quickly I was losing my voice and how I couldn't clear my throat/chest.  We stopped at 7/11 and got Slurpees which helped my throat a little.  We drove over to Wal Mart and immediately went over to the medicine aisle.  I was freaking out a little more because I started to lose more of my voice and it was a strain to even speak over a whisper.  Levi is very good at staying calm when I start to lose my cool; this was one of those moments.  I ripped open the box of Benadryl, popped a pill and chugged my Slurpee.  Within 10 minutes, my voice started to return slightly.  We went home, put away our groceries and a half hour later I was out cold!  When I woke up around 9, I was still groggy and very sleepy.  What's in that stuff?!?!  Crazy Benadryl!  I felt a lot better and my voice returned to normal.  I don't know what happened, if it was the pollen or not, but I don't think I'll be doing any pollen sampling anytime soon!  I felt like I was Hitch! (love that movie!)

Wow.....what a weekend!! I always enjoy my time off with my sweetheart.  It makes me ever so grateful to be getting married to this man, so so soon!

Health Hiccup.

Since yesterday, I've been laid up in bed, not really enjoying being a woman.  
Sometimes, I DO NOT enjoy being a woman....it's just downright painful, amongst other things.
This wasn't exactly the week I had in mind. 

Tomorrow I'm suppose to go to a Padres v. Mariners game with my sister.  I'm HOPING that the medicine kicks in SOON, so I can go enjoy a really good baseball game!  Man, I looooooove watching baseball in Petco Park! Plus, my sister and I are planning on enjoying some Phil's BBQ at Petco since they now serve up local restaurants. 

Then Friday, the most AWESOMEST weekend with Levi begins!!!  I cannot wait!!!  Seriously, I think once this health hiccup subsides, I can really truly look forward to this AMAAAAAAAZING weekend that starts tomorrow.  

Until then, I just need to relax a bit and not stress anymore.... thank goodness for little modern medical miracles.

My love of baseball.

I had been wanting to see this movie, while it was out in theaters.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to, so I bought it once it hit the store.  I'm glad I did.  I enjoyed it.  Every time I watch it, it makes me so excited for baseball season! I. LOVE. BASEBALL.!!!

The first time I watched Trouble with the Curve, it brought tears to my eyes.  In the movie, it shares the troubled relationship Mickey has with her father, Gus.  Yet, the one thing they share is their love for baseball.   Everything she learned about baseball, came from watching her father scout potential pro-ball players. 

Just watching this movie made me think back about all the baseball games I use to watch with my Dad, while he still had his eyesight.  I loved kicking back with him and watching all those games.  It was so much fun.  He would explain little things to me, or tell me about ol' time SD Padres players.  He loves ALL sports, but he would follow baseball the closest.  When his eyesight started to go, he would try his best to continue reading the baseball stats/summary in the newspaper with his magnifying glass.  It wasn't long after that he would start to ask me to read them to him.  I enjoyed those times.  Now that he's blind, he listens to his baseball/sports games on the radio.  He's a die hard fan.  He even has my Mom set the radio to his sports station. I love that my Dad loves baseball.  I'm so grateful that we have our love of baseball to help bond us even more. 

A June type of weekend.

Weekend run down....

*Padres game tomorrow for Mormon night.  Oh yeah!

*Catchin' up with an ol' friend.

*Church on Sunday.

*Potluck after church...in which I made homemade baked beans!! Oh yeah, I'm pretty stoked!! 

....and that's about it. 

Happy Weekend!

Thursday, I love you so!

((**it's a long one...))

Before we went to the Padres game, JoJo, Khany, Mr.NY and I went to the House of Blues to grab a bite to eat. Due to bad service, we left and had no where to go until Mr. NY thought of The Local. Off we went...Cool lil dive to eat at. Once we got there and couldn't really find a table, he totally took control of the sitiuation until he made sure we had drinks on our table. He made sure that we were all situated...I LOVED that. He didn't know my two friends but he made sure that we were all take care of---he's such the perfect gentleman! (So to anyone who ever says that guys from NY are [fill in the blank with something negative] you have yet to meet Mr.NY!!) Sitting next to him gave me the opportunity to lean into him everytime we spoke. I loved the way he smelled. He smelled like a "MAN". I don't know how to really describe it, but it was perfect to me.

He and I didn't really eat since we were both full from our work lunch. That was fine with me since it gave us more of an opportunity to talk. I had no problem at all staring at his gorgeous face and listening to his sweet New York accented voice. Once we were done, we headed towards Petco Park. We parked in a parking garage next to the Park and walked over. The garage was pretty warm and I could smell him even more. Quite the turn-on!. Hello pheromones!!

Once we got to the Park, I couldn't wait to see my friends' faces as we walked in. Mr.NY is an extremely handsome man...I was going to relish in their reaction for days!! Once we got to our seats (JoJo and Khany sat together in the row behind Mr.NY & I) and sat down, I got my friends' seal of approval. [OF COURSE!!]. Sitting next to him and missing about half of the game gave us more time to talk. I was in NY heaven!! It was so much fun. I loved having so many close friends near by too! He even caught my girlfriends and I talking about him. Eh, it didn't bother me much and it was kind of fun being caught too. I'm sure he knew what was going on :)

After the Padres' win, we started back to the car. It was barely even 9:30pm. I seriously did not want the evening to end...especially that early too! Thank goodness Khany stepped in and said her and JoJo were gonna go party and did not want to wait in the long garage line. So off we went to find some place to hang out. We ended up at Marriott's Altitude SkyLounge. Mr.NY got himself a drink while we went to secure some seats. Once he came back, we went to get drinks for ourselves. I got in line behind a guy who actually let me go in front of him. With my Shirley Temple in hand, I let JoJo & Khany get theirs. The guy started to talk to me and wanted to get me a different drink. I declined several times, in which he started to flirt and hold the small of my back....all the while trying to coax me into getting a 'Dirty Shirley' instead. As soon we got our drinks, I bid Nick farewell and walked away. Once we got back to our seats we started to discuss what happened and Mr.NY instantly perked up, asked me what Nick looked like and with such seriousness said, "Let me know if he comes over here. I'll take care of it. Was he bothering you?" In that very moment I knew that he was definitely a MAN! (Quick sidenote: The night before, Khany and I were talking about what we'd want in a potential spouse. I told her that I would want a man that I could feel physically safe with, since that's what I grew up around--having a Dad & 2 older brothers.) I LOVED LOVED LOVED the way he made sure that I felt comfortable and protected. He didn't say it in such a way to make himself look puffed up and chauvinistic---NOT AT ALL. That's just one of the many times he's made sure I've felt safe...Offering to walk me to my car, not wanting me to stay alone in the office at night. Mr.NY is such a great man. As if I didn't like him enough, this made me fall more head over heels. Through the course of the evening we talked about a lot of different topics. We learned more about each others' families and lil things, here and there. Around 1:30 we finally left Altitude. During the elevator rides (22 floors) I held on to his arm. I just grabbed on to it and he didn't tease me or make any comments...he continued talking to the other guys in the elevator. Once we hit the Lobby, I tripped over his feet, accidentally pushed him back and stumbled out of the elevator. He tried to grab me but luckily I was able to find my footing. (Maybe my Shirley was a lil dirty after all???) But for some reason, I wasn't embarrassed at all. Sure we all laughed (my friends more than him) but I wasn't as embarrassed as I normally would have been. As we were walking the 4 blocks back to my car I held on to his arm, sometimes even holding his hand. He didn't seem to mind at all. I was in heaven the whole time!! Since we were about 50 feet in front of the girls, we turned the last corner and there happend to be a lil nook I decided we could hide in. I stepped into it and pulled him in as well.... I like little small corners, they make for intimate quarters. :)

Once we got back to my car, we tried to exit the garage. After paying $15, the Mr.Roboto arm wouldn't go up or accept our parking ticket. He told me to reverse and go back to the lil payment machine. As soon as I pulled in front of it, he jumped out and pulled out his wallet. He already had his credit card out and paying for it by the time I walked up with my purse. He reassured me to not worry and he'd take care of it. I didn't want him paying an additional $20 just to get another ticket. He then told me to get back in the car and pull back up to Mr. Roboto. I did...and then he jumped out and tried to lift the arm. I told him I'd just push the Call button. He walked around the Mr. Roboto machine and tried every button and slot on there. Finally I decided to just push the 'call' button....all of a sudden the arm went up and we were on our way. We drove back to work and dropped off Khany & JoJo. Off we went to his apartment. We talked more about his family and the bad idea it was to stay out until 2am...with work in a matter of hours. I loved his sleepy eyes, his groggy NY voice and the way he smelled. It was just perfect, really it was.

It was such a wonderful evening and I couldn't have been more happier with myself for inviting him along. I got to know him a lot more and I loved every moment with him. He's such an easy guy to talk to and he makes the best expressions with his face. Other than my Dad & brothers, I have NEVER felt as safe and secure with any other man in my whole life. I didn't have to worry about ANYTHING. I truly loved and enjoyed that feeling with Mr. NY. What a spectacular night!!

I did it! I asked!

I had an extra ticket to the Padres (baseball) game for this Thursday. I figured I'd ask someone to go.

I felt a lil guilty after Sunday's fireside for not doing my fair share of dating.

I asked someone today!

I'm surprised he said yes!

I'll be going to the Padres game with Mr. NY!! AAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I can't wait!