What did you say?

So, right now it is about 1:30 am and I just can't write anymore about estate planning... so boring. So, I went in the bedroom and Brian is asleep. I only had the hall light on, but I could still see his face. When I was standing next to the bed and taking off my earrings and watch I saw Brian with his eyes closed say, "yes..." while grinning and nodding his head. I thought he must be having a happy dream, but then he said some weird random sounds like, "Maaa... fisss...dooo." Then he started to laugh a little. I ask him, "What did you say?" He just kept nodding with his eyes closed. I went back to taking off my earring when I heard clear as day, "it's not just for their parts, its for their bones-that's what good." All while smirking and nodding. It was so creepy and odd. For the last ten minutes all I can think of is what is he dreaming about?

So much to say!

The Community Partners Event was awesome. We had 120 non-profit organizations, field reps from a bunch of Assemblyman, Congressman and CA senate offices. We even had Lou Correa, Congressman, attend the event. I was exhausted afterward, but I have received so many emails about how well it went.

My Ph.D. orientation day 1 was last Friday. I felt a little overwhelmed by everything that must be completed before the dissertation. I think the anxiety was because they told me everything I needed to do for 3 years in about 30 minutes. I am very excited to start researching and writing articles.

It is still a race to September 1, 2009 when everything will be pretty much be done. Right now I am frantically working on a project for Chapman University's Extension Services. I have been hired to teach an extension course on personal financial management. I was able to get CCCS-OC tied into it, so it really isn't anymore additional hours during the day. It is just a lot of work right now since I have to write the curriculum by THURSDAY. I have a meeting with the Dean of the Finance department at 2:00. After Savannah's is in bed, at about 8pm, I have been going back to work to write.

This last Sunday I gave a talk on Provident Living. It was such a great experience since I really learned a lot about the Church Welfare Services and the 6 areas of Provident Living. We also had our Ward Beach Party on Saturday. I was in charge of the Sandcastle competition. Every team had a 4X4 plot of sand. Brian and I made a mermaid and the winning team made the most perfect Egyptian pyramids and sphinx!

Matt is in a Fantasy Football league and invited my Dad and Brian to play. It sounds like a lot of fun and, honestly, I am surprised it has taken Brian this long to get into it since he loves football. Brian teaches the 13-year old boys at church and told them about the fantasy football league. There was so much interest that Brian set up a league for the boys and some Dads too.

Today, Savannah and I played, sang songs and watched Sesame Street. She is really finding her range of voice. A couple weeks ago it was all low grunts and now she is hitting these high pitch "Mariah Carey" notes. When I picked her up from her nap she looked a lot longer in the torso. Her new trick is me holding her arms while she walks. It is really cute seeing her focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Some people have told me that their children walked before they crawled, and I think that is what Savannah will do. Honestly, with a condo without carpet I wouldn't crawl either!

Stress...

So, like I said in my last post, I have a HUGE function tomorrow that I am coordinating. I have almost 100 different non-profits coming and field reps from all Congressman/Assembly/CA Senators districts located in Orange County. There is so much to do with this project and Accreditation. Tomorrow will be my 3rd 14-hour day! Man... this sounds like a pity party, but it is more of 'this is why I have been unreachable and haven't returned any phone messages or emails'- SORRY!

Thanks to Aunt Grandma for babysitting Savannah today. YOU'RE A LIFE SAVER.

7 Years

I was reading my cousin Lisa's blog and had an interesting thought. Today is her 7 year anniversary to her husband John. Brian was one of John's groomsman and I was one of my cousin's bridesmaids. That's when Brian and I met... 7 years ago.

John and Lisa recently had their third child, Beckham. He was born on January 13, 2009... the very same day as Savannah.

I wonder what significant date in our lives will coincide with John and Lisa's next.

Well, besides that, I can't believe Brian and I have know each other for 7 years! So many things have happened since then...

Senior Prom, High School Graduation, Buying the Condo, Vacations, Lily, First Big Promotion at CCCS, Wedding, Hawaii Honeymoon, BA Graduation, Master Program, Cruise to Mexico, Sealed in the Temple, Savannah birth, Brian's Graduation and acceptance into a Master Program, my acceptance into a Ph.D. Program.

These are just the major events. The parts I loved the most are all the jokes, laughter, kisses, sleeping in, long trips in the car just talking about our future, and playing with Savannah and Lily.

Seven Years ago I met the man of my dreams. I love you Brian.

(Lisa and John- Thanks for getting married)

Make Over for CCCS and a Trip to Grandma's House

I am throwing a HUGE community partners event at CCCS-OC next week. I have invited 300 non-profit organizations in Orange County to a big party at our office. It's being catered and I even hired live entertainment. This is a major project, but I also wanted the facility to look updated as well. Originally, the office was purchased in 1996. At the time my boss was a HUGE Ducks (Hockey) fan and had the office colors made to be maroon and teal- just like the team colors back in the 90's.

Well, 13 years later the building is getting older and our technology is a little behind. I have been writing grants like crazy for new equipment, promotional items, for new programs, ect. I have been really lucky so far this year. I just was able to buy a SMART board for the education room. I wanted to at least have the room painted since we are having an $9,000 system installed next week. Well... my boss is very good about saving money, so he said if I wanted it done I would have to do the labor myself. Not being a great painter I recruited Brian and Kylee. The room looks great. I cannot wait to see the end results with the smart board.

When they were painting on Monday I was able to bring Savannah to work ALL DAY. It was great! She is was so good. She was very quiet and never cried. She played and showed off her smile for everyone.

(I love this outfit on her. I bought some head band from No Slippy Hair Clippy and I just love them on her!)

The next couple days are going to be VERY long days in the office. I usually only work about 4-5 hours in the office, and only go in 4 days a week. Right now with the big event next week and accreditation coming up I am swamped (I actually should be working on work stuff right now, but my brain needed a break). Since I will be working 12-hour days Wednesday and Thursday with an early morning meeting on Friday my Mom volunteered to watch Savannah. Not babysit- actually take Savannah to her house in Palm Springs. This will be my first night away from Savannah and my heart aches. Knowing my Mom, Savannah will be treated like a princess. That helps me not to feel too sad. I am sure they will go on tons of walks, go to the country club to show off some new outfit Grandma bought her, swim, play all day and never leave my mother's sight. Obviously, I don't want to be away from my baby, but it works out the best so that I can get all my work done and Savannah can get all the attention she needs.

(Notice the HUGE lipstick mark on Savannah's cheek. My parents have been in Seattle for a couple weeks and really missed her!)

After September 1st, my work load starts a steep decline toward the end of the year. I was on maternity leave January though April. When I returned in May I was given all my yearly goals from the Board and as of next week will have them basically completed. It will be perfect timing to start focusing on my Ph.D. classes.

Trinity Broadcast Network

Remember these people from the Trinity Broadcast Network?

Besides being the Director of Education at CCCS-OC, I am also Public Relations. I do a lot of newspaper and TV interviews. Usually the TV interviews are for news, but sometimes I am a guest on a show. Trinity Broadcast Network has had me on before, and asked me to do another guest spot for their show Joy in our Town. I was interviewed for 30-minutes about ID Theft and Bankruptcy.

The lobby was very ornate. All the furniture is painted gold.

My 'entourage'... or Kylee my assistant and Alex the intern. The staff at TBN referred to them as my entourage, and I felt like such a want-to-be famous person- I was embarrassed.

Preparing in the Green Room... not a great picture of me. This is the first Green Room I have been in that was covered in mirrors.

We had to wait a long time due to a technical difficulty. We started to get very board after an hour of waiting.


I had to do my own make-up.
I was fine with that since I hate how thick it is when they give me a make-up person.

Kylee- She is my assistant, but more of a very, very good friend.

There were other sets that Kylee and Alex Played around on.

Finally, on set.

2 New Teeth

On Sunday night we noticed Savannah had a tooth that was coming in on the bottom gums. I realized tonight that it is not one, but two teeth.

Savannah loves watching Lily. As for Lily... I think she considers Savannah her third favorite person in the house. Savannah grabs at Lily and pulls her ears, so she tries to stand just outside of Savannah's reach. When Savannah pulls on Lily she just walks away. I am very happy Lily isn't an aggressive dog. It could have something to do with Lily being seriously obese. She just weighed in at 44 lbs. The vet thinks she either has diabetes or a thyroid condition. Brian's response, "really... seriously?

I only was able to get the tale end of this moment. Basically this went on for about 10 minutes prior to me turning on the camera.

Savannah Update

Another really cute dress!

Savannah has been growling instead of babbling. I have tried to tape it, but she stops when she see the camera. So I tried to film her from behind. She is getting so strong. She is completely sitting up without assistance.

The Orange County Fair

At the last minute we decided to go to the Orange County Fair. We picked up our friends, Bekka and Nic, and went to stuff ourselves with good, fried fair food. We went last year with them, and now it is starting to become a tradition. As soon as we got there Brian and I realized we forgot the diaper bag. Brian drove all the way home to get it since it had her diapers and food.

Savannah is really into grabbing faces right now. She likes to laugh when she puts her hand on people's cheeks.

I started the feeding frenzy with corn on the cob dipped in melted butter, then fresh potato chips covered in nacho cheese. After that I bought a small bag of Boston Baked Beans (my favorite candy) while we looked though the exhibits. Then it was a fully loaded giant baked potato and fried mushrooms.

The final item of the day was in this box. It's not Chinese food, but chocolate covered bacon. I thought, "I like chocolate and I like bacon. It must be good together." YUCK! It was pretty gross.

Note: I did not actually purchase the chocolate covered bacon, I tried a piece from someone else. On the drive home when we were re-hashing how many calories we act Brian said, "On an upside, I am pretty proud that we didn't actually purchase the chocolate covered bacon... that must count for something."

Just a strange sign... didn't know Pork Butts were such a big hit, but hey, who knew chocolate covered bacon would sell.


Bekka and I went on a fun house. It was the only ride we went on. We were inspired by the movie Grease, and sang, "You're the One that I Want... woo, woo, woo, honey."

We were not allowed to go on the ride with flip flops on, so they made us put on these nasty plastic feet protectors. We wanted to go on so badly that we sucked it up and put them on. I washed my feet when I got home.

The best part of this clip is the end. Savannah was a little over stimulated and very tired. We went home right after this and she fell asleep immediately.

Las Vegas

This past weekend we went to Las Vegas (again) to visit Brian's family. Don, Jane, Stephanie, Devilin, Whitney, Kaylee, Lexy and Jayce all flew down to Aron's house to celebrate Jane and Stephanie's birthday. Savannah had a rough first night. I think her schedule was thrown off by the 4 hour nap she took on the way to Vegas. Other than that Savannah was a great baby. She smiles more and more everyday and loves to look at herself in the mirror. We all swam, watched movies, and ate food. We all made our own pizza's and Whitney, Kaylee and I made my Chocolate Chip Cookies. Yum- I wish I had some right now!

Savannah tried watermelon for the first time. She loved it! It did scare me a little when she spit up an hour later and I saw white with red stuff in it. For a second I thought it was blood. I guess I am only used to white throw up.

On Sunday night we had a big family dinner. Aron has a huge dinning room table, but he only has four chairs. We pulled up the couch and it became our VIP seating. Since the girls set the table and made the place cards I think you can tell who was considered VIP.

We each made our own individual pizza. Since Devilin is a big eater he had the big square pizza.

It was fun making the pizzas, but with 9 people and 1 oven some people had to wait. Whitney's came out first... Aron's came out last (See below).

Here are some close ups of Savannah. She is so beautiful.

Savannah is 6-Months old today!

I can't believe it's been 6 months. Savannah is so special and sweet. She is a mellow and smiley baby. She loves to watch Sesame Street, read Winnie the Pooh books, listen to us sing, watch me jump around and dance, play with her toys, chew on teething toys and (my personal favorite) SNUGGLE. She loves to cuddle up on our shoulder and rub her little face by our neck. She has the most beautiful eyes and cute cheeks and lips.

I just love her.

Savannah's New Trick

At our weekly park trip with Anna and Kristine, Savannah was able to do this! I didn't have my camera at the time, but this is the second time she did it.

I am disappointed that the quality of this video is poor, but I took it when the lights were off. Since Brian has to work so early he usually takes a nap in the late afternoon. That is why he is in bed and the lights are off during the recording.

4th of July

This past weekend we celebrated 4th of July in Palm Springs with my parents. Bekka and Nic came out with us and we had such a good time. My parents recently bought a Wii. I would never classify myself as a gamer or even someone who can operate a video game system, but Wii is SO MUCH FUN. We played bowling, tennis, boxing, bowling and golf. My parents also have the Wii Fit with the yoga mat.

With Wii fit you have to do a body fitness test. It weighs you, calculates your BMI and checks your balance/speed. After this is all done it calculates your age. My Wii age was 27, Brian's Wii age was 46, and my Mom's was 78!

My arm and back muscles were so sore after playing all weekend. Yes, I know that sounds pathetic.

Bekka, my Dad, my Mom and I all got massages, the boys played 18 holes of golf, and they also entered into a putting competition. My Dad ended up winning a Nike putter and Brian and Nic won glass mugs with golf balls.

On the 4th a bunch of my parents friends came over and we just swam, ate good food and made smores on the fire pit. There was a little accident though... Someones FLAMING marshmallow slipped off their roasting stick right on top of my foot. Being the biggest baby in the entire world I screamed and rubbed it off on the grass and then stuck my foot in the pool. Other than that we had an wonderful 4th of July.

I am really excited about this picture. I propped Savannah up by just leaning against the couch, but she was able to stand for quite a long time.

On the 4th Savannah tried bananas for the first time. We added into her oatmeal cereal. We tried it in a mess bag the next day. Yesterday she tried Sweet Potatoes and really liked it.