Ken and Cari

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T13:40:00.000-07:00

We had a work show where we got to wear costumes yesterday so I designed costumes for my area manager, Jessica and I that resembled bottles of our company product. They turned out pretty great and we were a big hit! Ken and I are being football refs for Halloween this year. Maybe I will get around to posting those pictures someday along with the ones from our amazing one year anniversary which we spent at a Bed & Breakfast in Julian (total surprise for me from Ken) it was amazing!!

Happy BIrthday Grandma Ballard!!!

2009-10-31T13:15:00.001-07:00

So I called my Grandma Ballard today in Florida to wish her a Happy Birthday and she told me that all she wanted was a picture posted on the blog since it has been stuck on the same page for I don't even know how many months now!!....So here you go Grandma, I'm not promising I'll stay on top of it this time (since I know I probably won't) but I can definitely grant you your birthday wish. I love you and hope you have a great birthday!! Here are some pictures from our wedding which was this time last year.

Happy Birthday Mark!!

2009-03-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

So, Mark has been like a part of our family for some time now. We met him back when he was a missionary in Colorado, I think I was like 14 or something, I really can't remember. There was an instant connection between him and our family and he has been with us ever since celebrating all major events and just like being another big brother. I call him my "not brother" because he's not by blood, but likes to tease me as a brother would. Mark and his wife Wendy even came on our wedding cruise and come down to San Diego to visit quite a bit which is always fun. Mark's birthday was on the 9th, so Happy Birthday Mark!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

2009-03-11T08:45:00.001-07:00

Oops, I dropped the ball on this one, it was my mom's birthday on March 3rd and I totally forgot to post it. We went out to the Outback Steakhouse with my parents to celebrate it and then to Sports Chalet for some fun prizes. We had a really good night. We love you mom and are so grateful for all you do!!!!!! Happy Birthday!!!!!!!

Weekend with Bandido

2009-03-10T09:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had Bandido at our place because my parents had to leave town last minute. We love having him; the only pain is that we are in a small apartment with no yard, oh well, it's still fun and Bandido does a good job at our place. He definitely gave us more reasons to get outdoors over the weekend to enjoy the beautiful San Diego weather. One day we went to the OB Pier with Jen, Garret and Ryan and fished. It was fun and Bandido was loving it until he got a little cold. He then spent the next couple of hours buried in my sweatshirt. It was super cute and he kept me warm so I was happy. All in all it was a fun weekend and good to have Bandido with us for a few days!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2009-02-19T08:31:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day filled with lots of love and fun surprises! Ken and I had a laid back day, it was so nice. Ken made me an amazing breakfast in bed with flowers and a sweet card. I was super excited. We watched TV and took a nap and relaxed all day. It was great!! We didn't even get up to shower until like around 5 that afternoon and then made a yummy dinner together and just relaxed some more. I had a cold over the weekend so it was exactly what was needed!! I love you Ken, thanks for a perfect day!!

Engagement Photo

2009-02-19T08:29:00.000-08:00

I know this is way past due, but I finally remembered to post one of our engagement photos, I knw I still need to put up more wedding photos and I will, just who knows when! Life is good just super busy!! Here's this for now.

Best Flower Girl and Ring Bearer Ever!

2009-01-23T09:51:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I forgot to post about my niece and nephews during the wedding. Dylen was our flower girl and Max was our official ring bearer and Luke was our unofficial ring bearer. There was some question as to whether the feisty 3 year old and curious 1 year old were up to the job, but I never doubted and thought even if they totally melted down I really wanted them to be apart of our wedding. They both highly impressed everyone there, in fact, Dylen pretty much stole the show! She was so cute walking down the aisle that as my dad and I followed her we were laughing at how particular she was about making sure the flowers she was throwing were landing just right. I loved having them in the wedding and Misty totally helped as a Bridesmaid by holding Max's hand as they walked down the aisle together (so cute!) As he passed the different rows he would stop to say hello to people and stare at the pillow, it was absolutely adorable!! These are some of my favorite pictures from the wedding, I took them from my sister in laws blog. My absolute favorite is the one of Bean hugging me with her foot popped. I had a ton of fun dancing with them, the pianist was nice enough to play songs they would recognize and they both really got into it. We also got some adorable shots of Luke from our second reception, he was too little to walk down the aisle, but did a great job looking adorable! Even DrewAnn was dancing up a storm at our second reception. We have the cutest nieces and nephews!

Our Wedding Cake

2009-01-20T11:49:00.000-08:00

Ken and I designed our own cake for the second reception and we decided to go non-traditional for it since we had the traditional 3-tiered cake for the first reception. The one we designed had the layers of the ocean with a wave at the top and tandem surfers coming out of it. Ken made the cake topper so that made it even more special to me. We LOVED how the cake turned out and it was super yummy!!

Wedding Pictures

2009-01-20T11:41:00.000-08:00

I know I have been promising wedding pictures forever, I just haven't gotten around to it. I really want to put a book together...that is one of my goals for this year. Here are a couple of shots from our reception at the Seapointe, we went down to the beach beforehand and took a bunch of pictures. Our photographer Mariah Baddas did an amazing job and I would recommend her to anyone! I met her through my best friend Brooke, they are neighbors and friends. The only bummer about the shots we took at the beach is that my entire wedding party was not able to be there. Megan and Misty had to head home early so they were in all of the pictures from the cruise and reception, but not the second reception where we took these. Dylen and Max were also not there so I don't have them in these pictures unfortunately. Other than that I love how they turned out and did get good shots with the whole group on the actual wedding day. I promise to get more up eventually.

Happy Birthday Dad!!!!!

2009-01-20T11:34:00.000-08:00

Again I know this is really late but HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! We love you!! My dad's birthday was on December 30th and to celebrate he got a new car, well a Nitro to be exact, pretty great gift if you ask me!! Ken and I were still down with the flu so my parents brought us dinner and we gave him his present. We even tried to bake a homemade coffee cake for him but it turned out pretty bad, sorry! We love you and promise to surf with you more this year!! Here's shot of my dad giving the toast at our reception, if you weren't there it was pretty funny, my dad even got in a comment about how they were so happy I was getting married...finally!! That had the crowd roaring, gotta leave it to the men to crack jokes whenever the opportunity presents itself!

Wild Animal Park

2009-01-20T11:30:00.000-08:00

Mark and Wendy came down with their 3 boys for the weekend and we met them for a day at the Wild Animal Park. It was really fun to hang out with the Handy's but Ken and I were still not feeling well at all so we were not the best company to have. We did go on the new safari ride and got some neat pictures, but we liked the old one better, it was longer and you were able to see a wider variety of animals. Oh well, all in all the day was fun with the Handy's, even though we all froze!

Happy New Year!!!!!

2009-01-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

Happy 2009 to everyone!! Our new years was extremely low key! I worked on New Years Eve and New Years Day and both Ken and I had been battling the flu so we stayed home in our PJ's, watched TV, played Wii and rang in the new year with a kiss in bed and lights out by like 12:02 am. Hopefully next year we will feel better!! We hope everyone has a great 2009 and meets all of their goals this year!

Welcome Aubrey Jean Bellis!!

2009-01-20T11:24:00.001-08:00

Ken's best friend Steve and wife Leia welcomed a new little girl on December 29th up in Washington. She was born 7 lbs. 10 oz. and 19 inches long and had a very excited big sister awaiting her (DrewAnn.) We are super excited for the Bellis' and can't wait to meet the newest addition to their family!

Merry Christmas!!!!!

2009-01-20T10:13:00.000-08:00

Ken and I had a very quiet Christmas this year. I had to work during most of the holiday, so we stayed home and just enjoyed life as newlyweds. On Christmas Eve we went down to Susan and Barbara's place where we opened gifts and ate a yummy turkey dinner. None of us had the traditional Thanksgiving feast this year so Susan made it for us and it was great! Bandido stayed with Ken and I for the week since my parents were out of town and we loved having him and took him everywhere with us. Christmas morning we opened gifts. We put a $50 limit on each other since we are trying to save money. It was fun to see how creative Ken got with his money. My favorite gift was the Perfect Wifey award signed and framed by my husband and Martha Stewart. It was pretty clever! During the afternoon Ken's dad and friend Ryan came over to watch the Lakers/Celtics game. I'm not a basketball fan so Bandido and I watched TV in the bedroom with a friend from SeaWorld that joined us. Later that evening my parents rolled into town and came over to exchange gifts. Other than that I worked. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!!!!!

Happy Birthday Ken!!!!!!

2009-01-20T10:07:00.000-08:00

I know this is REALLY late, but I did want to mention that Ken had a birthday awhile ago, December 19th to be exact and we celebrated it by going to dinner with Susan in Old Town. It was a nice relaxing evening. Happy birthday sweetheart, I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shopping with Max & Dylen

2008-12-11T17:38:00.000-08:00

When Ryan, Misty, Dylen and Max came down for the wedding we took the kids to the mall to build-a-bear. It was pretty cute to see how excited they got! My favorite part of the evening was watching my dad play with Dylen in Old Navy, they were pretending that the tables were forts. It was pretty cute and funny. I also put in some pictures of Bean's flower girl gifts and Max's ring bearer gifts. It was super fun to have them down here!!

Spa Day!!

2008-12-11T17:31:00.000-08:00

Before the wedding Brooke treated me to a day at the spa!! We went to La Costa Resort & Spa and there totally pampered ourselves. I got a massage, wrap and a boy scrub, it was heavenly!! We relaxed, had lunch, spent time in the pools and saunas and seriously had the best day ever!! Thanks Brooke, you're the best!!

Wedding Prep

2008-12-11T17:21:00.000-08:00

A couple of days before the wedding we as ladies had some grooming rituals to take care of like getting our nails done and practicing our make-up for the big day. I was accomapnied by a few of my bridesmaids (Melody, Brooke and Jen) and my mom even showed up at the salon to chat with us. It was pretty fun getting all dolled up in preparation for the big day. Mel and I spent the rest of the day shopping and doing other fun girl things. I really did have the best bridesmaids! Thanks ladies for making my time so special!!

Home sick :(

2008-12-11T17:09:00.000-08:00

I have been home sick this week with the cold/flu/whatever it is that has been going around. Ken was sick last week and it seems like it has been circulating around my office. I tried to go back to work today, but only lasted a couple of hours before I was sent home to sleep. I feel pretty horrible, the only good part has been how sweet Ken has been. He came home from work the other day with a bouquet of flowers for me and has been stopping at the store everyday to get what I need and made me yummy dinners! He has been so wonderful, even on the little sleep he is getting due to my coughing and sneezing all night long. I really am lucky to have such a wonderful husband and I love him very much! If this is what marriage is all about I really have been missing out all these years! I love being taken care of!

The Right Stuff!!

2008-12-05T08:25:00.000-08:00

That's right, NKOTB, The Block or as we die hard fans of twenty years still like to call them...NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK are back and better than ever!!!!!! I know I'm lame but I really have been a fan of this 5 member boy band since I was a kid, in fact my 10 year birthday party was a tribute to them, especially my favorite and love at that time Jordan, his falsetto still makes a girl swoon!! My friend Katie took me to their concert about a week ago, there we met up with our friends Megan and Carrie. All I can say was that it was freakin' AMAZING!!!!!!!!! Those boys (or men now;)) can perform!!!!!!! It was probably the best concert I have ever been to!!!!! I left totally hoarse. We were all standing, singing and dancing throughout the entire concert, I pretty much felt like I had given the concert by the end and was pretty proud of us all for remembering all of the old lyrics. They did an awesome job of switching off between old and new songs and yes girls, they even did their old dance moves (sigh)! It was a pretty much a number one night ending with a wave out back by Jonathan to Katie and I, that's right, we rock! Most of you are probably laughing by now or truly embarrassed to know me, but I don't care, I'm a New Kids fan and I don't care who knows it, hahaha, I even left the concert having bought an old school style t-shirt! Ken's a lucky man to have a wife with such great taste in music, hahaha. Seriously though, the show was so great that even non-fans (if there are any?!) would leave already anticipating the next concert!! Hey boys, you've definitely got the right stuff, keep on hangin' tough!!!

Happy ThanksVegas!

2008-12-04T10:22:00.000-08:00

Ken and I had a very non-traditional Thanksgiving in Las Vegas. We flew out for four days and stayed at the Mandalay Bay. There we spent time relaxing, seeing shows, riding rides and visiting the other Casinos. I spent a day at the spa and thoroughly enjoyed myself!! We went and saw Zumanity, a Cirque de Soleil show at New York New York and celebrated Thanksgiving by going to the Tournament of Kings at Excalibur. We even went to Minus 5, a lounge made entirely of ice, talk about cold!! All in all it was a super relaxing holiday! Even though we missed our families, we had a great time just being together and celebrating our new little family!! We hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving as much as we did and want you all to know that we are truly grateful for all of the wonderful people in our lives and that we love you all!!! Happy Turkey Day!

No more purple wall!!

2008-11-17T13:59:00.000-08:00

There was a purple wall in Ken's apartment that the previous renter painted and he never bothered to after moving in which was close to two years ago. The whole time we dated this wall drove me crazy! It didn't match anything and I am not a big fan of purple. Needless to say this walls days were numbered since we got married. This past weekend Ken and I spent painting the wall white and rearranging furniture. It is so fun to create a home together and painting the wall was super fun since it was our first big project as a married couple. Note to everyone, it took four coats of white to cover the purple, not fun!!

Worst blogger ever!!

2008-11-14T08:47:00.000-08:00

I know I'm lame and I haven't blogged in forever, but my computer is pretty shotty and will only turn on every now and again. I do have a ton of posts written though, so I decided to put those up and when I have access to a good computer again with the software for my camera I will upload pictures. Sorry about all of the writing for now, but it's better than nothing after 4 months.

Second Reception

2008-11-07T09:36:00.000-08:00

We had a second reception on November 1st back in San Diego after the cruise for those that weren't able to sail with us. We had this up at the Carlsbad Seapointe Resort, it was in a gorgeous clubhouse overlooking the ocean. Ken and I were able to stay at the resort on Friday and Saturday night to be able to get ready for the reception. Once again Traci came up to do all of the girls' hair and help us get ready for the night. We took fun pictures down at the beach with the wedding party and had so much fun at the reception, since the wedding was over and we had been vacationing all week, it was just about having fun! The flowers and arrangements were gorgeous as was our wave cake with the surfer cake topper that Ken made. We had so much fun dancing and just being with our friends and family. It has been a crazy 10 days and I am exhausted, but also sad to say goodbye to everyone that came out to share this time with us that we love so much. I can honestly say this was the best, most perfect time of my life and I love being married, it is so much fun!!!!!!! Thank you to everyone that made this so special and memorable, Ken and I wouldn't be the people we are without all of the amazing people in our lives!!!!!! We love you all!!!!!!

Last Night!!!!!

2008-11-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

On October 26th, the night before the wedding, after the rehearsal fiesta I was accompanied by some of the girls in my wedding for a night at the Embassy Suites. I was super excited because this was the first time that all of the girls were meeting since Megan and Resa live out of state. I was even more excited to have all of my best friends together, what I didn't know is that they had made some pretty fun plans for me that night!!! Melody, Megan, Resa, Brooke and Amber planned an amazing girls night for us that included a not so attractive costume for me, games, movies and tons of laughs!!! We had so much fun that night!!!!! I have never been happier than I was having these girls together and being able to share with all of them why they are all so important to me in my life! We stayed up late giggling and chatting and it was so worth it!! The next morning at 6 am Traci arrived to start doing our hair and getting us ready for the big day! This has already been the best experience of my life!!! Thank you to all of the amazing friends in my life! I love you all more than words can express!!!!!!!

Wedding Cruise!!!!!!!

2008-11-07T09:19:00.000-08:00

October 27th is finally here and we got married!!!!!!! This was a crazy, yet oh so fun day. Ken and I are still amazed at how over the course of so many events and days everything went so perfectly!!! We got married aboard the Carnival Elation by Bishop Christopher Beesley from my home ward. The wedding was short and perfect. Dylen and Max did an awesome job with their little parts and we were so happy to share this event with so many wonderful family members and close friends. It really means a lot to us; all of the sacrifices that went into being with us for all of these events!!!!!! The reception after the wedding was beautiful! The day just flew by, after everyone left the photographer took Ken and I around the ship and took some amazing pictures!!!!!! I was so excited at how well they came out! The cruise was amazing! We had never been on a cruise before, and are totally sold on how great they are! Ken and I were in an amazing suite and had so much fun sharing this experience with the 34 people that sailed with us! We even had group shirts which made for a fun picture! We were the only wedding on board, so everywhere we went people were congratulating us. We spent a day in Cabo San Lucas and it was gorgeous! We went on a glass bottom boat that took us out to Lover's Beach where we snorkeled and enjoyed the amazing weather and warm water temperature! Seriously everything was picture perfect! There are way too many details to go into, but overall we had the most amazing time ever and want to thank everyone that shared this experience with us!!!!!!

Rehearsal Fiesta, ole!

2008-11-07T09:13:00.000-08:00

Wedding time is finally here and Ken's mom put on an amazing rehearsal dinner or fiesta as we liked to call it on October 26th. She had a caterer come that made fresh Tijuana style tacos, they were so yummy, they even made their own tortillas on site. We had so much fun welcoming all of our friends and family that came into town for our wedding. My mom rented a bounce house for the kids and that was a big hit, I even had fun jumping in there with Dylen. Susan got some crazy type sombreros for Ken and I to wear which was pretty funny. We were able to give out our gifts to our wedding party and different people for being apart of our wedding. It was a perfect night and the location at my parents clubhouse was super fitting and nice. This was a great way to start the big event!!!!!!! Thank you Susan, we love you!!

Happy Birthday Dylie Bean!!!!!!!

2008-11-07T09:06:00.000-08:00

Dylen turned 3 on September 30 and I was lucky enough to be able to go fly up and spend some days with their family. Misty and I went shopping for Dylen's Flower Girl dress and Max's Ring Bearer tux and we found them the cutest outfits ever!!!!!! It was a blast! Misty had planned a mermaid themed party for Dylen, so I helped her with all of the day of stuff like making cupcakes and decorating. It was so much fun, especially since Dylen is now old enough where she also wanted to help and be involved. I love the rare moments that I get to be apart of their daily lives. We opened all of the gifts that we had gotten her at home before the party and I was super happy the the princess shoes and accessories that Ken and I got her were a big hit. Misty and I even got to wear them and be princesses for a couple of minutes, at least until Bean realized she liked the ones we had on better. It was pretty fun! I can't believe how big Max has gotten and how many words he is saying! It is funny to decipher some of them, but when he says please and thank you my heart melts. I definitely have the cutest niece and nephew ever and had such a great time while in Modesto!!! Happy Birthday Bean, I love you!!!!!!

Oktoberfest 2008

2008-11-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Oktoberfest in a tradition of the Weichert family, so every year they get together for the annual Oktoberfest held in La Mesa where everyone eats, drinks and enjoys the music and games. I have been lucky enough to have attended the past two years and look forward to all the years to come. This year it happen to hit on the same day and my Bachelorette party October 4th, which has been kept as a total surprise for me! I am so excited, even my future sister-in-law Meghan will be joining us for the festivities this evening!! Luke and Ella came in traditional Oktoberfest outfits which they actually got from someone in Germany. They both looked so cute!! Everyone decided they needed a picture in Lukie's little hat, it was pretty funny. There were some rather boisterous men at the table behind us who though it would be pretty fun to join Linda and Ryan for a picture. They were pretty funny. Ken and I were big winners and the paper roll game, he won some lovely heart candles (hahaha) and I won a water thermos. Good times to be had by all!!

Bachelorette Party!!!!!!

2008-11-07T08:54:00.000-08:00

Yay, it is almost here and as lovely ladies we get to party!!!! Something about a last single night out just makes me get all excited and want to run through the streets of San Diego on a rainy night and that is exactly what we did!!! Of course I cannot divulge all of the secrets of this mysterious night, but I can let you know that Melody (Maid of Honor) and Jen (Bridesmaid) threw me pretty much the BEST bachelorette party ever!! On October 4th they had rented an amazing room at a Hotel Downtown San Diego where the festivities began. Everyone looked amazing and we partied all night, including appearances at The Red Pearl where some of us showed up soaking wet from our little run through the rain using inflatables as umbrellas and the rest of us showed up piling out of a Mustang like clowns in a clown car, stops at The Shout House (my personal favorite) and Whiskey Girl. This was definitely a night I will never forget!!!!!! The next day Karrie and I lounged by the pool and decided vacations even in our own city are pretty great!!! Thank you to all of the lovely ladies that accompanied me on my last night out and to Mel and Jen for throwing the best party ever!!!!!!!

Bridal Shower

2008-11-07T08:49:00.000-08:00

Brooke (a Matron of Honor) and Amber (a Bridesmaid) threw me an amazing bridal shower on September 6th. It was so amazing. They had totally transformed the courtyard of my old place into like a quaint little tea party looking area. There were white linens and flowers everywhere and everyone wore cute little dresses. It was so much fun! We played a game where I had to answer questions about Ken and for every one I misses a had to put a piece of Bubbalicious in my mouth. I had quite the ball of gum in my mouth, by the end I couldn't even speak without drooling. It was pretty funny! I got amazing gifts from everyone and felt like such the guest of honor. It was so much fun!!!!! I love all of these fun events leading up to the wedding. Thank you Brooke and Amber, it was absolutely perfect and thanks to everyone that came!!!!!!!

Moving Time

2008-11-07T08:41:00.000-08:00

The day has come to leave my beautiful condo in Liberty Station where I have lived for the past two years with Melody and Amber. I am thrilled to be getting married, but not so much to be leaving my condo. My lease ended on August 1st and since I am not getting married until October 27th I have like a three month gap with no home. I could always move home with my parents, but they live in Mission Valley and I have become so accustomed to living right by the beach and within bike riding distance of work that the thought of a commute (even a small one) is not very appealing. Luckily I have great friends, so Katie and Karrie invited me to shack up with them for the next three months in their new place in Pacific Beach. I am pretty excited as I know we will have tons of fun!! The plan was to move all of my stuff over to Ken's so I could set up house over the next couple of months and live out of a suitcase at Katie and Karrie's . Although it is kinda weird to be a nomad; it was only temporary and it really was fun to live with these girls! I already miss Mel and Amber, but I love new adventures. We took some pictures of the move and how I transformed Ken's place into a live-in storage unit! I can't believe how much stuff we have!! It's gonna take awhile to go through it all, so not fun! Anyways, thanks Katie and Karrie for letting me crash for the past three months, I love you both!!!!!

Magical Moments at Disneyland!

2008-09-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

So for the second year in a row I went up to Disneyland to stay at the Grand Californian Resort with my friends Graham and Matt. Matt is Graham's friend that works at Walt DisneyWorld in Florida, he comes out every year and gets good deals on rooms. They have been great enough for the past two years to let me join them for their Disney adventures. I went up early Tuesday morning and we all had a blast. Adrienne (Graham's roommate) also came up, so the four of us had all hung out. We even ran into some people that Matt knew from Florida and spent some time with them. We spent the day lounging by the pools and running back and forth between Disneyland and California Adventure riding rides. It was such a blast! On Wednesday my friend Erin came up and we ate at the Blue Bayou and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Meghan also joined us that evening with Luke, Kelle and Ella. It was super fun to be able to hang out with all of them. I will admit though work on Thursday was pretty rough, I was exhausted after running around the parks for two days!

Happy Birthday Luke!!

2008-09-05T14:34:00.000-07:00

Ken's nephew Luke turned one on August 28th so we went up to their house for a super fun Dino party. Meghan had decorated the house really cute and there were a lot of people. At one point Luke let Ken and Kyle put a dinosaur costume on him, it only lasted for about five minutes, but I got some cute pictures. After everyone left all the adults went out. It was a really fun night Kyle, Meghan, Garret, Jen and Ryan (Meghan's brother). Happy birthday Lukie!!

Baseball fun

2008-07-28T19:12:00.000-07:00

There was a raffle at Scripps where Ken works for tickets to the Padres game and Ken won! We were pretty excited. It was a day game, so it was fun to take off from work and go. The seats were amazing!! They were right behind home plate. We could hear the crack of the bat and the thud when the ball hit the glove. It was super hot in the stadium, but the seats made it totally worthwhile. It was also dollar hot dog day!! Padres lost which was a bummer but we had a really good time.

Bike fun

2008-07-23T18:31:00.000-07:00

Once again I love summer! The other night Katie, Mel and I rode our bikes to dinner. Something so simple, yet so fun!

Summer time picnics

2008-07-23T18:26:00.000-07:00

I love summer because you get to spend a lot of time outside with friends and we live in an amazing neighborhood with a really great park. In the moment we decided to call up some friends, stop by Vons and head over to the park for some good food and fun. We really did have a blast eating and paying different games. I was super excited because I broke in the new soccer ball I got for my birthday. We had such a fun time! I love summer!!

Camping!!

2008-07-15T17:08:00.001-07:00

Ken and I went camping with Ken's mom this past weekend at Dos Picos County Park (about 45 minutes away, joust outside of Ramona). We had such a good time. Susan is a pro-camper, so she had everything we could possibly need! It was so relaxing and fun! I went running one day and we all went on a hike and lounged around, read and napped. On Saturday night my parents came up for dinner. Melody, Karrie, Katie and Graham also came up and spent the night with us. The campsite had activities set up; Ken wanted to go on the Junior Ranger bug hunt, but decided against it when he realized he was the only one over 10. We went and made magnets and then watched Transformers on the inflate-o-screen. Bandido ran himself ragged in just the couple of hours he was up there with us. Sitting around the campfire telling stories and attempting to make smores and Jiffy Pop made our nights, it was a fantastic getaway!

Wii Parties

2008-07-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

Ken got me a Wii for my birthday and to break it in we had Jen and Garret over for a Wii party. We spent all day playing it!! We had so much fun. My favorite part was making the Wii people. We all got a good laugh out of making them, especially since they turned out so much like us. Check out Wii Cari, Wii Ken, Wii Jen, Wii Garret, Wii Melody and Wii Amber. Great gift babe, I love it!!

It's Tiki Time!!

2008-07-15T16:59:00.000-07:00

Melody, Katie and Amber threw me a super fun tiki party for my birthday. We had so much fun decorating and turning our place into a tiki hut complete with limbo pole and tiki's guarding the doors. Even Ken was a grilling hula fool. Thanks guys!! It was a blast! I love you all!!!

Happy Birthday Me!!!

2008-07-15T16:53:00.000-07:00

July 1st (only the most important day of the year) was my birthday and it was great!! I turned 27 (that's right, I'm old!) I had such an amazing day!! My parents had put together a game of presents for me, I had 27 presents waiting for me and they each had a clue that I had to guess before opening and each one represented something for each of my 27 years. It was so much fun!! It took me about an hour to open them all. Then off to the mall for more shopping fun with mom and we ended by meeting Ken and Susan (Ken's mom) at Benihana's for dinner. We were also joined by one of my mom's cousins and his family that were in town from Montana. We had a blast and the food was oh so good!! Susan got me the coolest picnic basket complete with everything we needed to have some fun at the beach and Ken surprised me with a Wii!!! It was seriously an amazing day. We then went back to my house where my roommates were waiting with even more surprises for me. Thank you to all of my friends and family for making my day so special!! I love you all!!!!

Fair Time

2008-07-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

Ken and I took my parents to the San Diego County Fair at the Del Mar Fairgrounds for Father's Day. We ate lots of greasy foods including fried White Castle Cheeseburgers, fried oreos, fried mac and cheese and the world's biggest donut. Needless to say we ended up with tummy aches, but it was so worth it. We saw the Hypnotist, always a good show and I rode some rides alone, until my dad joined my. Dad even won mom a huge I LOVE YOU teddy bear at the basketball game. It was all in all a great night. Happy Father's Day Dad, we love you!!

My very own Bill Nye...

2008-06-26T22:24:00.001-07:00

So I have always had a thing for Scientists, starting way back in the day with Bill Nye!! No one can ever question that science rules!! After all, he got me to love it and want to pursue science for life. Who would of thought that I would end up with my very own Bill Nye one day?! Here's a shot of Ken taken by one of his colleagues at his lab. He's a chemist and even though I know it's nerdy I love that about him!! And of course a shot of the man who started me on science...the one and only Bill Nye the Science Guy (Science Rules!!!)

The Price is Right

2008-06-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went with a group of about 20 to a taping of The Price is Right; now hosted by Drew Carey. It was a long day, but tons of fun. Even though we had guaranteed tickets we still had to wait in the lines for four hours while they interviewed us and took down our info. Brooke had shirts made for all of us that said Plinko Please, I think that was my favorite part. Once inside I cheered so loud that my throat seriously hurt by the end. Even though I was a little bummed I didn't get called up, one guy from our group did; Mark, or Mark David to the Price is Right because everyone had to go by full legal names. He was the last contestant called up but unfortunately didn't get on stage. He did however get some consolation prizes so that was pretty cool. All in all it was a fun experience!

Happy Father's Day!!

2008-06-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to my dad, Ken's, our brothers, grandpas and all the other fathers in our lives!! We had dinner and watched the basketball game with Wolf, Ken's dad. My dad had a pretty crazy day so we will be doing something with him later in the week to celebrate. We love you all and thank you for all you do for us!!

Mexico

2008-06-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

After the mud run I was expecting a long nap and some relaxation, but that is not at all what happened. Ken and our friends Garret and Jen all wanted to go down to Mexico for lunch. After a long shower they convinced me it was a good idea and I am so glad they did! We went to Tijuana and ate at Cantina de los Remedios, it was the greatest food ever!! Then after talking around and finding the cheapest way to do it; we went down to Rosarito and set off fireworks, relaxed on the beach and just totally enjoyed ourselves. Jen and Garret got married at The Rosarito Beach Hotel 2 years ago, so it was really fun to go there and see everything and for them to have a mini anniversary back there. It was such a fun, spontaneous trip and of course I loved being able to speak Spanish to everyone, it made me realize how much I miss it!

Mud Run

2008-06-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

There is an annual 10k Mud Run at Camp Pendleton every year and I have always wanted to give it a go so this year Brooke and I (along with others in her family) did it. It was 6.7 miles of hills and obstacles that seriously kicked my butt!! There was a part where you have to cross a lake after running through the mud pits and climbing over the walls, it was my favorite part because I actually got to swim it and let me legs rest for a bit. We were advised to duct tape our shoes on so they wouldn't come off; about 2 minutes into it my feet felt like bricks from the mud, sand and water. After the mud crawl to the finish line I can honestly say I have never been prouder of myself. It was the hardest race I have ever done and I loved it! We have decided to make it an annual event for us, next year I'll be better prepared for sure!

SeaWorld for life?!?

2008-06-12T22:15:00.000-07:00

We were working on this project at work that required us to find pictures from when we were kids. I have always loved the ocean and beach!

While I was going through some of mine I found some of me when I was little here at SeaWorld. It was really fun to remember our trips to the park and even funnier to think about how I ended up back here. Looks like SeaWorld is apart of my life then and now. Somehow I ended up with a sweet sweatshirt and no pants, oh those were the days; and my dad is rockin' his outfit! Good thing we still have the Tide Pool for all to enjoy, now instead of touching the animals I get to train people on how to teach others to interact with them, oh how life changes and moves on.
Shamu is still here! But no more Cap'n Kid, so sad!
One day I'll have to put all of my SeaWorld pictures together of then and now, that will be quite an album!

Cute family!

2008-06-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

My brother has the cutest family! His wife and two kids are so photogenic and I loved this picture of the four of them. I took it off of their blog where the cute pictures never end. I love you guys and miss you tons!! Hopefully I'll be able to make a trip up there some time this summer...

Fun at Seaport Village

2008-06-10T13:02:00.000-07:00

We spent the day at Seaport Village with Ken's mom. She treated us to a great lunch and then we wandered through the different shops and even rode the Carousel. We journeyed over to the Hyatt to go to Top of the Hyatt, a lounge that has an amazing view of San Diego. Through a fun series of events we ended up getting stuck in the stair well and climbed quite a few stairs before finding an unlocked door that led us to the elevator. All in all it was a great day!

Who ya gonna call?

2008-06-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Ryan!! Ken's friend Ryan had a birthday on June 8th and we celebrated it with a BBQ. Garret and Jen brought a fun Ghostbuster's costume for him to wear. It was pretty hilarious. Good food and good fun. We even played a round of pin the tail on the donkey, I learned I'm not so great at that game, I was the farthest away, oh well.

Moore time!

2008-06-04T15:13:00.000-07:00

Some of my oldest friends were in town last week with their families. I have known the Moore's from Ajo literally since I was born. It was so much fun to see Mark and Scott and see them as husbands and fathers. Their mom Kelly was also here and that was great, she has always been like another mom to me. I spent some time at Legoland with them, and even though it was a short visit; I loved catching up reliving the old days!

Registering with Brooke

2008-06-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

Brooke went with me to continue the registering process. We had tons of fun at Crate & Barrel. We found this chair/couch thing that I loved. Here's us relaxing in it, so comfy!!

Zoo pictures

2008-06-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our zoo trip.

Go Padres!

2008-05-29T13:23:00.000-07:00

We went to a Padres Game against the Nationals on Tuesday night with Steffen and Bianca, two German exchange students from Ken's lab. We had a lot of fun explaining the game and seeing how excited they both got. The Padres won 4-2 and even got two home runs in the bottom of the seventh! It was a fun night.

3 day bliss!

2008-05-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

I actually had three days off over a weekend and they conincided with Ken's days off for Memorial Day weekend, so needless to say we were pretty stoked!! We decided that we wanted to do something really fun and special since my schedule has been pretty crazy lately and we only get to see each other a couple days a week right now. Since we are on a tight budget getting ready for our future life we opted to finally use some of the free passes that I get as a benefit of working at SeaWorld. I have to say that even though I am super tired today being back at work, we had an awesome three days!!!!! Friday night we went over to Jen and Garret's and had an amazing meal with friends, it was relaxing and nice after a long week and a perfect start into our long weekend together. On Saturday we went to the San Diego Zoo with Jen and Garret and Steffen, a PhD student visiting Ken's lab from Germany for 6 weeks. We went to lunch at Albert's in the tree house and ran into Rachel, Jake, Linda and Ryan. We ran into them at the great apes where we also saw a big ape eating poo, yep, poo. It was so gross but the picture is funny! We had a ton of fun and stayed until it closed. Then we went to Balboa Park and went to the Reuben H. Fleet museum and explored all of their exhibits, playing with each scientific invention. I felt like I was on a school field trip again, it was a ton of fun. We concluded the day by seeing the Mummies movie at the IMAX, it was a long, but super fun day! The next day we hung out with Karrie, Katie and a bunch of other friends. It was fun talking and laughing and just relaxing. On our last day we went to Ken's moms' for a BBQ and it was super yummy! We had fun catching up with Barbara, Cindy and Eddie. From there we went to my parents house to say hi and were pretty exhausted by the time we ended up at my place. It was a busy weekend, but so much fun. I wish we had more time off together like that!!!!! I have some of the pictures, but will have to add more later.

Nana and Mark

2008-05-11T22:42:00.001-07:00

Ken's mom's mom Dot (Nana to Ken) and her husband Mark are in Maui celebrating their 15th anniversary. We are excited for them, but jealous not to be in Hawaii ourselves. They live in Arizona and we are really excited that they are coming on our wedding cruise with us. Congratulations on 15 years! We love you.

5 am runs

2008-05-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

My roommate Melody and I run Monday through Friday at 5 am. We find it is a great way to keep up with each other lives, but it is pretty painful getting up and going that early, it is just the only time that works for both of us. By the time we get done every morning we are feeling pretty good about ourselves though, so it's worth it. Here are some not so great photos of our early mornings.

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T22:16:00.001-07:00

Ken and I made brunch at my condo for our moms today. We had a scrumptious menu of french toast, bacon and fruit salad. I was really impressed with Ken's cooking skills. He continues to impress me! Bandido also came over and I got some cute shots of him. We made picture coasters for our mom's and found funny singing Yoyo&Hoops cards for them. They are the funniest cards, if you ever want to laugh check out their website! We had a good time chatting and then looking at old pictures of Ken that Susan brought over. It was a great day. We love our moms and are so grateful for all they have done for us. We also want to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all of our friends and family that are now moms! We love you all!!

Fun times with friends

2008-05-11T22:08:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of fun having friends over for random dinners and game nights. Here are some pictures from our latest ones. Davey and Brian, our neighbors, came over and made us dinner one night. Another night we had breakfast for dinner with Davey and Brian and our friends Katie and Karrie. We always have a good time on nights like these.

Reception favors

2008-05-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

When I was sick we received 3 huge boxes full of favors and other goodies for our reception. Ken was a super good sport and not only took care of the sickling but helped me to put the thank you tags on the favors and get other little wedding tasks accomplished while I was in bed. There are so many little details when it comes to a wedding, fun times!

Happy Birthday Garret!!

2008-05-10T09:43:00.000-07:00

Garret (one of Ken's best friends) had a birthday on April 13th. His cute wife Jen planned a surprise brunch cruise on the Hornblower. It was so much fun hanging out with everyone on the boat and the food was super yummy! I got some cute shots of the birthday boy and others that were on the cruise. Kyle even came down for it so that was super great to be able to hang out with him for a couple of hours. Happy birthday Garret and good job Jen planning it, we had a ton of fun!

Happy Birthday Wolf!

2008-05-10T09:37:00.000-07:00

Ken's dad Wolf had a birthday on April 20th so we had him over for lunch and to watch the Laker's game. It was fun watching Ken and Wolf play foosball and Ken even made some birthday brownies. All in all it was a fun afternoon. Happy Birthday Wolf!!

Fun Times Registering

2008-05-10T09:28:00.000-07:00

Ken has been so helpful with all of the wedding planning and I am really grateful for that. He even went with me one day to register even though he is so not a fan of shopping. After about 2 hours we decided that registering is more my thing. The home decor is a reflection of the woman's taste as Ken told me so I have taken on that part alone, well not really alone because I have been doing it with friends and having tons of fun. Here's a picture after Melody and I after we registered at Crate & Barrel, I am pretty clueless in the kitchen and Mel is right there with me so we got a big laugh out of scanning things that I didn't even know existed before. Mel thought it was hilarious that I scanned an ice scoop, but hey, ice is cold. Brooke and I went another day and will be going again next week. I discovered registering is super fun, even trying to explain all the fun things I put on our list to Ken. It makes me really excited to set up a home and to even start cooking, gotta use out of all those fun gadgets!

Lunch break

2008-05-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

I met Ken for lunch yesterday and since his lab is so close to the Birch Aquarium we decided to go there. We had fun watching the kelp bed diver presentation where sharks were all over one of the divers and walked around and looked at the different fish. It is fun to see the differences between there and SeaWorld. All in all it was a really fun lunch break before I had to come in to work.

Happy Birthday Max and Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

2008-05-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

I am really bad about keeping up with this, so I have a lot to back track on when I get the pictures uploaded, but I did want to send a shout out to my nephew Max. He turned one on April 27th which was also my parents 30th wedding anniversary!! I wasn't able to go to Modesto for Max's firefighter party, but the pictures from it were super cute so I wanted to post a few. Happy birthday Max! We love you and will come see you soon!

Happy Anniversary also to Mom and Dad! 30 years and still going strong! I hope Ken and I do as good as you two have over the years! We love you both!

Sick :(

2008-04-29T12:51:00.000-07:00

So I have been sick for over a week now and it is a huge bummer. I even had to miss my nephew's first birthday over the weekend because of it. I hate being sick. Anyways, I got tagged by Misty so here are my three's...

3 names that I go by:

1. Care
2. Care Bear
3. Boo

3 Favorite things to do:

1. Surf
2. Go to movies

3. Travel!!

3 pets that i have had

1. Bandido is my dog right now, he lives at my parents house
2. Marconi (American Rat Terrier)

3. Frank (Wiener dog, pretty fitting name right?!)

3 longest plane/car rides

1. Uruguay

2. London

3. I've driven across the US

3 Favorite Holidays

1. Christmas
2. Halloween

3. Fourth of July

3 Favorite Drinks

1. Diet Pepsi

2. Pineapple juice

3. Horchata

3 peeps I tag

1. Brooke
2. Megan

3. Cara

Cake tasting

2008-04-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

Last night Ken and I went cake tasting with my parents.
It was fun because this was the part of the wedding planning that my mom was most excited about. We had a good time and ended up creating the perfect cake for our reception. We are really excited to see how it all turns out! Here are some fun shots us enjoying the yummy cake samples.

One Year Anniversary

2008-04-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

Ken and I celebrated our official one year anniversary on April 7th. To celebrate we went to the Hotel del Coronado on Coronado Island and spent the day walking around this famous hotel, enjoying the pool and beachfront and shops. It was a really fun day. Ken was pretty taken with the architecture of the buildings. He taught me that there were no official plans ever made for the hotel. The just made sketches and built as they went. We noticed as we walked around that nothing was really straight or level. All of the banisters and door frames were crooked and curved. The Hotel del is celebrating their 120th anniversary this year so it was a fun time to walk around. It was fun having such a luxurious place so close to home where we could celebrate and enjoy the day.

Mini golf and a possum?

2008-04-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

Mark, Wendy and their boys came down for the weekend from Bakersfield so we went to play miniature golf one night. It was fun because it was late so there wasn't really anyone else on the course. The funniest part of the night was on a hole where you have to hit the ball into a giant shoe (we played the Fairytale course) and then the ball comes out a shoot and onto the green. All of our balls came out just fine except for Ken's. Mark and Ken starting poking around the hole and the shoot with their clubs to see where the ball was, then Ken took my ball and hit it in, but nothing happened. All of a sudden I see a baby possum scurry out of the shoot, the two balls drop onto the green and the possum runs back in. It was so funny! This is how we learned that mini golf and baby possums go hand in hand.

Fun day at the Zoo

2008-04-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

Misty came down to San Diego with Max and Dylen for a few days and we had a ton of fun on a trip to the zoo. Max crashed out pretty early, but Dylen was hilarious as she ran around and looked at the animals saying, "I'm a jaguar you can't catch me." It was a really fun trip! Kids make things like this so much more enjoyable!

Princess Drew's First Birthday

2008-04-11T10:26:00.000-07:00

So I am really bad at keeping up with this so we have missed a ton and now I get to play catch up. We'll start with Princess Drew's first birthday celebration (Ken's Goddaughter). It was up at Poway Lake and we were pretty surprised when we pulled up because this was one heck of a birthday! The Princess had a castle jumper and a petting zoo!! It was probably more fun for us "big kids" than even the little ones. It was a blast! We spent the afternoon by the lake flying kites, enjoying a fabulous Mexican buffet (which we are now having cater our reception), jumping in the castle, laughing at the funny farm animals and the babies reactions to them, and best of all just hanging out. It is fun to watch when Ken, Kyle, Garret and Steve all get together. It still amazes me that the four of them have been friends for so long. It was a really fun day and we were glad that Steve and Leia came down from Washington to have the party.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day. Ken picked Brooke, Hillary and I up and then we went to get his mom and drove to my parents house for brunch. They made scones which is a total family favorite and Susan brought a huge fruit salad. My mom had Easter baskets for all of us which was really fun. Even Bandido got new toys and treats! After brunch Ken, Susan and I drove up north to meet up with Kyle and Meghan at Meghan's sisters house. There were a lot of friends and family and we all particpated in an Easter Egg hunt. Ken and I won a gift card to a restaurant so that was pretty cool. The house was decorated really cute and Luke had a special Easter sunflower headband and Ella (Meghan's sister Kelly's daughter) wore pink bunny ears. They both looked so cute! By the time we got back to San Diego we were all exhausted but it was a really fun day! Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday as much as we did!

Corvette Diner

2008-03-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

My cousin Brooke and her friend Hillary flew out from Washington last week and spent four days here in San Diego. They came out to celebrate their 16th birthdays. It was a whirlwind of a trip!! They did so much in just four days! My parents took them around quite a bit, but I was able to see them here at SeaWorld and then we all went to Corvette Diner one night and had a sleepover. It was really fun. The best part of the diner was getting the balloon hats. Brooke got a dolphin hat, Hillary a killer whale hat and my dad got a penguin hat. They were hilarious. I even got Ken to wear one for a picture! We had a ton of fun at this 50's diner. The staff there does a great job of dancing and just making it really fun in their crazy wigs and light manner. Another highlight is when they throw straws and Bazooka bubble gum at you. Magically straws appeared later in both my purse and jacket...wonder who could have done that;)

Foosball time

2008-03-24T13:05:00.000-07:00

It has been really fun to have people over to Ken's to play foosball. Anyone that walks in that door is guarateed to be bugged by Ken until they agree to play a game with him. I'm glad he loves it so much, who knows if I'll ever be able to top that present! Here are some shots of times when his dad Wolf came over to watch the Superbowl and play foosball and of his mom Susan playing him just a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty fun to watch!

Studio birthday party

2008-03-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the promised pictures from Katie's fun studio party. Her mom and sister co-own a ceramic studio so we all went there and made fun projects. I was so impressed with Ken's newly discovered artistic talent! He made some coasters that have different ocean scenes (my personal favorite was the Spongebob Squarepants crew complete with Plankton!) He also whipped out a super impressive pot on the wheel. My projects of the bubble coasters and star jewelry box looked pretty pathetic next to his, but they will all be fun to have in our house! We drove up with our friends Graham and Karrie so I included some shots of them hard at work as well, and of course one of the birthday girl. We had so much fun!!

Happy Birthday Susan!!!

2008-03-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

Today is Ken's mom Susan's birthday. Unfortunately she has been sick, but feeling much better now so we are going to take her out tomorrow night. We always have a great time when we go out with her and are so grateful for all she does for us!! Happy birthday Susan! We love you and I am so excited to be apart of your family!! Here are some cute pictures of her as a proud grandma with baby Luke.

It is also St. Patricks's Day and my grandpa Ballard's birthday as well as our friend Katie's 21st birthday. What a fun and busy day! We went to Katie's birthday celebration yesterday and had tons of fun. Pictures will be coming soon showing off our new experiences and adventures at the studio party...Happy birthday Grandpa and Katie and Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Recipes

2008-03-15T16:17:00.001-07:00

My goal is to make a cookbook before we get married. Anyone that has a favorite recipe, send it my way. I would love to compile a book of all of your favorites! Does anyone know of a site where you can input them, or anyone can access it and input theirs? That would be the easiest way and I would have a collection. Just some thoughts....

So busy!!

2008-03-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

Life has gotten pretty busy, I am amazed at how quickly you have to start when it comes to wedding plans. I feel like that is all I talk and think about right now. I'm not complaining because I love every second of it, but there is A LOT that goes into these things. We are off to a good start though! The official date is October 27, 2008 for the wedding and November 1, 2008 for the reception. There will be tons more details to follow; which I will try to post within the next couple of days. I did want to post some pictures though of Ken's goddaughter DrewAnn, her mom Leia sent me some super cute ones and since I promised some, here they are.

We're Engaged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-03-08T22:26:00.000-08:00

Ken proposed last night!!!!!!!! It was so sweet and romantic. He took me to the beach where we had gone the night we realized we liked each other a year ago. I was totally surprised and more than ecstatic!!!! It was perfect! I tried to take some pictures of the ring myself, but they didn't come out very well so I also posted one from the jeweler of my ring. I love it! Stay tuned for wedding details. We met with the moms today and have some great ideas. It's gonna be fun!

Doggy Dress-up

2008-03-06T12:27:00.000-08:00

I am not a huge fan of animals wearing clothes, but when Mel came home with matching pink polo shirts for our dogs I couldn't resist. We tortured them into a mini photo shoot and laughed till it hurt. By the end we were all ready to put on pink shirts and take a family photo. Ken came over during our puppy torture session and resuced them by taking them on a walk. To me that was even funnier, walking two dogs wearing pink polos. He already felt stupid enough so he made me walk Bandido, it was already too much walking dogs in clothes, so walking the 4 pound one instead of the 70 pound one was going overboard. It was a pretty funny night. I have spared Bandido as much as I can from further torture, unfortunately my mom likes to play doggy dress-up so he has quite the little wardrobe. Hailey and Bandido get along for the most part, they just kind of ignore each other, every once in awhile I've caught Bandido snuggled up into Haliey resting on her arms and it's pretty dang cute!

Great Roomies!!

2008-03-05T10:48:00.000-08:00

So I have two of the greatest roommates! Amber, Melody and I have been living together in Point Loma, San Diego for almost two years and have all kinds of fun! We live in a 3 bed/3 bath condo that Melody stumbled upon on Craigslist and we could not be happier. We even have Mel's dog Hailey with us (a 70 lb Yellow Lab) and once in awhile my dog Bandido spends some time with us at the condo. The three of us met working the camp programs at SeaWorld. Melody and I met the summer I got back from the mission in 2004, we were working as lifeguards for the camps and had tons of time to bond while taking the campers to surf and do other beach activities. We met Amber a year later when she came to SeaWorld and summer of 2006 we moved into the condo. The three of us have been a perfect blend and I am really grateful for such great roommates and for the friendships we have formed! The picture of Mel and I in the wall was of our sneaky attempt to scare Amber, the wall cut outs are outside of her room. It didn't work so well because I couldn't stop laughing, it was pretty funny though!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

2008-03-03T09:00:00.001-08:00

So my sister in law Misty always posts birthdays and I thought that was a great idea, so I wanted to give a shout out to my mom. Today is her birthday and we love her very much! We were able to go out to a movie with her and my dad last Saturday to celebrate, the movie wasn't so great but it was fun to go with them. Hope you have a great day! Thanks for all you do for us!!!! We love you!!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

As a side note, it is also my cousin Brooke's 16th birthday. To celebrate she wants to come to San Diego for a visit (she lives in Washington). We are excited to have Brooke and her friend out here for a couple of days! Happy Birthday Brooke!

Hardcore Foosball Championship

2008-03-01T19:25:00.001-08:00

My parents and I got Ken a foosball table for Christmas. This was probably the best present ever because I have totally reaped the rewards! It is in Ken's apartment and we spend A LOT of time playing. One night Ken made a ring out of a dollar and for some reason he put it on one of the goalie's heads, it then became our crown. Whoever wins the game gets to wear the crown. We play with real rules, no spinning that is. That was hard for me to get used to, but now I definitely hold my own. Ken's is the blue side and mine is the red and let me tell you the red side is definitely the crown wearer. I will admit that this is not always fair though because if Ken wins I'll want to keep playing, but only until I win so I can get the crown back. Then I call it a day and my team continues to be the champions. Ken's a pretty good sport about this, or at least was until the one time I let it slide and came to work with the crown on his team. I got a message that day of his guy with the crown and a recording with it that kept saying, "Number one, number one, number one, who's number one." This repeated over and over, it was pretty funny though and I now use that as his ringtone. I have a feeling that this is a championship that will go on forever!!

Spotlight #4 Luke

2008-03-01T18:33:00.000-08:00

Spotlight #4 goes to Ken's nephew Luke James Wolfgang Weichert or Prince Weichert as Ken likes to call him. Born August 28th 2007, he is the first to Kyle and Meghan. Kyle made the mistake of asking Ken for suggestions for baby names and Ken's big ideas were Prince and Batman, well Prince stuck as far as Ken goes since he will continue the Weichert legacy, so I guess that means our first son will get stuck with Batman, poor guy. I told him that would only work if we have a Robin as well (jokingly) but he seemed to like the idea a little too much. Luke is a really cute baby. We drove up to the Laguna Niguel area where they live to see him about a week after he was born and I was so surprised to see how big he already was. I forget the Weichert boys are big and tall. I'm so used to the short little ones on my side. Luke has pretty big feet and is already way bigger than my nephew Max, who is about 4 months older than him, so we all expect Luke to be tall like his Daddy. The last time I saw Luke was over Christmas and he looked so cute in his little red outfit. His little smile has already melted quite a few hearts. We look forward to spending more time with him and I look forward to seeing Ken change his first diaper, I definitely think Kyle should make him the next time we're there:) I have no doubt I'll be surprised at how much bigger he has grown in just a couple of months. Hope to see you soon...we love you Luke!

Spotlight #3 Max

2008-03-01T18:15:00.000-08:00

Spotlight #3 is my nephew Max Edward Ballard. Born April 27th, 2007, this little one is about to turn one. Max was born on my parents wedding anniversary, that was really special for them and it definitely makes it easier to remember! Ryan was away at a training for the Army, but got a special leave to be by Misty's side the day of the birth, unfortunately it was only a day trip so off he went the next day. The first time I saw Max was at his baby blessing and I was amazed at how cuddly this little guy was and continues to be! He curls up into a ball in just about anyone's arms. His is such a little lovebug. Max has only gotten cuter over the months and now has cute puffy cheeks and a buzz cut of fluffy blonde hair. He is probably the happiest baby I have ever met; always laughing and smiling. My sister-in-law Misty has some classic footage of him laughing on her blog. Just about anything will make him laugh and smile and he loves to play with his big sister Dylen, he is pretty much in awe of her. I enjoyed spending time with Max and hope that my babies are as good as him one day! We'll be taking a trip up to Modesto for his first birthday next month, so I definitely look forward to having him snuggle me as I hold him. See you soon baby Max Buddy! We love you!!

Spotlight #2 DrewAnn

2008-02-27T08:41:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of Stephen holding DrewAnn (left) and Luke, Kyle's son (right), stay tuned for more...

Spotlight #2 is Ken's Goddaughter DrewAnn Devlin Bellis. Born March 27, 2007, this little one is about to turn one and we are excited for her return to San Diego for the big day. DrewAnn is the first to Ken's best friend Stephen and wife Leia. Ken and Stephen have been best friends for longer than I have been alive. Unfortunately The Bellis' moved to Washington last Fall so it isn't very often that we get to see them. They plan on coming down to San Diego for Easter and Drew's birthday, we are definitely looking forward to hanging out. I know Ken is hoping for an overnight fishing trip while they're here. I met the Bellis' about a week or two after Drew was born, we went down to their house in Chula Vista and out to Miguel's for Mexican food (best cheese dip in town!) I instantly liked this couple and could see right away why Ken and Stephen had been friends for so long. This is a friendship that will never end. DrewAnn was adorable, all tiny in her pink clothes. It was cute to see how the new parents worried about every detail with her, if I remember right they had to end up putting the baby carrier on a serving tray holder during dinner, Steve wasn't so happy about this so he checked her every other second. It was pretty cute. While The Bellis' were still here we able to do a few fun things with them like hang out at the beach. Drew loved the water!! She cried when Steve and Ken took her out of it, Leia and I got a good laugh at this. We also took a day trip to Mexico where Leia and I started our traditions of getting massages while the boys lounged by the pool. The last time we saw them was in Las Vegas in December for the boys birthdays. That was fun for everyone. Drew has gotten so big over the past year. We love getting the frequent photos from Washington to see her progression. Ken was honored to be named her Godfather and got her a special candle and everything, he still thinks he is deserving of a pinky ring, but until he controls the mafia that's just not gonna happen. Happy Birthday Drew, we love you and look forward to seeing you all next month!

Spotlight #1 DYLEN

2008-02-26T16:58:00.000-08:00

Spotlight #1 is my niece Dylen Joy Ballard. Born September 30, 2006, this almost 2 1/2 year old is spunky and full of life to say the least. I will admit that being the youngest in my family I was a bit reserved in welcoming a new one (afterall, I was used to being the baby) so when Ryan and Misty announced that I was going to be an Aunt I had mixed emotions. Dylen was a little early which caused a scare. Dad, Mom and I drove up to Modesto the day she was born and I will never forget the feeling I had when I saw that tiny baby in the NICU. It was definitely love at first sight, from that moment on I have absolutely LOVED being an Aunt! It is amazing, all the fun with none of the responsibility:) Unfortunately they live in Northern California so I don't get to see them as much as I would like, but I love the trips that I am able to make up there or the visits down here in San Diego. Dylen has captured my heart, which allows her to turn me into her 24 hour playmate when I am around. Even though I'm exhausted by the end of a visit there is something about hearing that little one in her cute voice say, "Aunt Cari play with me", that makes it impossible to turn down. She even has Ken and I repeating her simple catch phrases like, "No way man" and "I ate it all gone." Ken was finally able to meet Dylen over Christmas when they came to San Diego for a visit which was a treat in itself. Obviously I love this kid, but hey, what can I say? She made me an Aunt and that is a bond that can never be broken. Here's to our little Dylie Bean!

The youngins who have captured our hearts

2008-02-26T16:19:00.000-08:00

There are four people under the age of 3 that definitely have places in our hearts so I decided while getting ideas from other blogs to highlight each one of these kids that we love so much starting with the oldest to youngest, so over the next days look for them.

The big question...

2008-02-26T15:53:00.000-08:00

So the biggest question I have been getting from those of you I haven't talked to in awhile is, "When did you get married?", followed by, "Congratulations." Since we do have a blog together that question is merited, since I have written at least 20 personal emails with the answer I figured I might as well post it...Ken and I are not married. There is talk though, so watch for future posts.... this picture is from a wedding we went to last summer.

Since I really haven't talked to everyone is so long I thought this would be a good time to tell our story...once upon a time there was a boy and a girl...

No really, this is us in a nut shell. We met through a mutual friend about 2 years ago now and then re-met a year later. As indicated by the first date post there are some discrepencies as to how we started, but let's just say the date was a success and we have been together ever since. We decided to become exclusive a month after dating, so on April 7th, 2007 our romance became official. Life has been bliss ever since. We are coming up on a year now and as happy as ever. Life really can be great!

My pictures are HUGE!

2008-02-20T11:58:00.001-08:00

So the pictures I am trying to post come out huge, how do I make them smaller??

What am I doing??

2008-02-20T10:31:00.000-08:00

So, this is new to me. Ken and I decided to create a blog, but I am not so great when it comes to computers...so I have no idea what I am doing. Any suggestions on how to make this easier let me know.