Motel 6 on Water....

Recap:
1 Cruise Ship
5 Days
1 Stop in Mexico
4 White Girls
2500 Black People
= the annual Fried Chicken SuperBowl Cruise

We made the best of it.

Sorry to my poor friends whom I subjected to that. I hope you will still be my friend!!!

Cruisen Day 6

And it's over... just like that. At the crack of dawn practically. We will be arriving in San Diego at 8am and off the ship we will go. I'm thinking we will grab a bite to eat before we take Jennifer back to the airport for her to catch her flight back to Texas. Then Courtney, Denae and I will start the loooonnnnggggg drive back home. Jennifer will probably beat us to Texas before we get home. Ha! I'm SURE I will be exhausted and will need a few days off to recover from my vacation... but back to work Tuesday morning for me. Yuck. I'm excited to see all of our fun pics though!! Soon to follow!!!

Cruisen Day 5

Our last full day at sea!! :o( Time to get in all of the things we keep putting off.... and probably more math for me. Boo math!! Maybe I'll check out how much it is to get a pedicure on board... hmmmmm.....

Cruisen Day 4

Today we will be in Cabo!!! Woot woot!!! I have never been to Mexico before. So I'm really looking forward to it. I wish we would be here longer... our short little excursion is only from 8am to 4pm. We haven't decided what we will do yet. We may snorkel, shop, eat, walk around, all of the above, not sure. I'm not taking a lot of cash though so that I can keep myself in check. Ha!! After 4pm we will be back on the boat and probably taking showers before our 8pm dinner time. We may even dress up this night.... also still up for discussion. :o)

Cruisen Day 3

Our first full day at sea!! I'm sure a lot of lounging around will be involved. There is also the indoor mall and casino's to check out. The pool is supposed to have a waterslide at the pool and the very top deck of the ship is for topless tanning.... which I fully plan on trying at least once. When in Rome!! haha!! Sadly I will need to work in Math and so form of gym exercise. I can't justify laying around and eating all day.... wait... I do that now... hmmm. Since this ship is like a floating town I'm sure we will be busy all day. :o)

Cruisen Day 2

I'm hoping to not wake up too early today... it's not easy sleeping in a hotel though. So we will see. I believe us girls are going to be hitting a grocery store to pick up some wine (you can take one bottle per person on board the ship) and any other soda's and snacks we may want. Not sure if we will load up on snacks to tide us over until we board or if we will grab lunch somewhere. We board at 4pm and Tina will be taking us to the ship. She is so sweet. She will also be moving my car (well, Courtney's) around her condo parking lot so that we don't have to pay the $14 a day for parking. I'm not sure how long boarding will take... then we are off to find our rooms and all that fun stuff... and then I'm sure we will be exploring the ship and get our bearings. Will, I'm sure the other girls will get their bearings... I will be lost the whole time... Ha!!! I also need to remember to go it easy on the free food... yikes!!!

Cruisen Day 1

I do not want to be in Tracy on my birthday. At all. So my dear friends Courtney, Jennifer and Denae and I are going on a cruise!!! After we have my favorite breakfast of stuffed french toast my mommy is going to make for me, we will be on our way!! Denae and I should be leaving my house around 10am - 11am-ish and head to Hilmar to pick up Courtney. Then on our way to San Diego and the airport to pick up Jennifer. We will probably head to the hotel to check in, then hook up with my friend Tina for dinner.
So for the next few days... I will be posting our tentative schedule. Its too expensive to text or call while internationally roaming fees apply... so hopefully this can tide you over till we get back and can post with pictures!!

This is where I will be next Saturday!!

16th Annual KNBR 680 Giants FanFest

Saturday, February 7, 2009

10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. at AT&T Park

Single Game Tickets will be on sale at FanFest!

This FREE event is open to the public.
Come on out to AT&T Park and meet your 2009 Giants!

FanFest will feature the KNBR live broadcast stage at homeplate, providing fans the opportunity to watch the broadcast from any Lower Box or Club Level seat in the ballpark. Fans will once again have the opportunity to go "behind the scenes" with self-guided tours of both the Giants and Visitors clubhouses, batting cages, dugouts and press box.

There will be an expanded Kids Zone, interactive games and activities throughout the ballpark and access to the field's warning track. Giants players, coaches, broadcasters and alumni will sign autographs and pose for photos througout the event, participate in Q&A sessions, and be interviewed live on KNBR, with the broadcast aired throughout the ballpark.

SCHEDULED TO ATTEND(Subject to change without notice.)
Jeremy Affeldt Bruce Bochy John Bowker Emmanuel Burriss Matt Cain Orlando Cepeda Will Clark Jesse English Tim Flannery Kevin Frandsen
Tito Fuentes Mark Gardner Alex Hinshaw Steve Holm Bob Howry Travis Ishikawa Randy Johnson Roberto Kelly Mike Krukow Duane Kuiper
Carney Lansford Fred Lewis Tim Lincecum Jon Miller Joseph Martinez Osiris Matos Pat Misch Bengie Molina Ivan Ochoa Kevin Pichardo
Edgar Renteria Dave Righetti Dave Roberts Ryan Rohlinger Aaron Rowand Sergio Romo Billy Sadler Brian Sabean Jonathan Sanchez Pablo Sandoval Nate Schierholtz J.T. Snow Henry Sosa Jack Taschner Eugenio Velez Brian Wilson Ron Wotus Keiichi Yabu Barry Zito

Apple Hill 2008

My family has a tradition on the day after Thanksgiving. We all head up to Apple Hill to cut down our Christmas Tree!! It is without a doubt my favorite day of the entire year. We have been going there for about 7 years now and were very blessed to have great weather this year!!

Our first stop is in old town Folsom for breakfast at Sutter Street Grill. They have the most amazing omelette's!!!! I usually get the cheese, spinach, mushroom and avocado. Oh my.... I'm salivating just thinking about it. Johnny met up with us in time for breakfast.


My brothers oldest two kids had spent the night with us so they too were there for breakfast.

After breakfast we walk around the old town and into the antique shops. Once we are done there we head up to Apple Hill to find the perfect tree. Here goes Jack tearing through our options on his search.

Catrinia is happy to be held and take it all in.

After we find the tree we cut it down. Well, we used to cut it down... but now we just wave the guy with the chain saw over and they cut it down for us. Then it is family photo time. Here is the best of the bunch:

Letty got creative and took this pic of Johnny and I. I think it's pretty cute!

Hey when you have to go, you have to go:

My mother loves to take a picture of our backsides while we are all walking back to the car. She calls it 'The End'. Ha!!! Here is 'The End' 2008:

Logan helped Grandpa Buttons take the tree to the car. What a good helper.


After the tree is strapped down and we grab a turkey sandwich from Letty's car, we head over to old town Placerville. There is always a tree lighting ceremony as well as carolers, a live nativity scene and a stagecoach ride. This year my parents and the kids went on the stagecoach ride around the block. While they did that Johnny and I walked around and checked out all of the shops and antique stores. I guess the kids had a blast... but soon after they had a melt down and headed home.

Yes, I made him put this hat on. LOL!!

Once we have walked and seen all that we want to in Placerville we head off to dinner. We ended up at Tahoe Joes. YUM!! I had the bacon wrapped fillet and lobster. Oh yes I did!!! Then it was time to go home. Which makes me sad. I wish Apple Hill day would go on forever. Such a great day!! I'm looking forward to Apple Hill 2009!!

Traveling Buddies!!

I have done a little traveling in my life. Not as much as I would like too... but a little. I have yet to get a stamp in my passport... but I do have a passport... so I have no doubt that I will get to that someday. Anyways, on my major trips I have had a traveling buddy. Here is a very short picture recap of my three traveling buddies.

Oahu, Hawaii: 1996

Denae M. - (who will probably kill me for posting these photos!!)

Here we are on our way!!

Lets keep in mind here that I am 17 and Denae is 15 in these photos. This is back when I was thin and tan. Ha!! We went to Hawaii to visit Denae's sister for like two weeks. We did all sorts of touristy stuff. If I'm not mistaken this was taken on Waikiki Beach at sunset right after we had dinner. Check out my hot socks & shoes and our tucked in shirts. Cute!!

We also climbed Diamond Head, went snorkeling here and there and places I don't remember the names too... Ask Denae. Hahaha. And I think here we were on our way down to snorkel. I believe this is Hunauma Bay.

We also met the locals at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Very cool dinner show!! I remember eating the ice cream out of the coconut. I also had my first papaya, Sushimi and Mongolian food on this trip. I would remember the food. LOL! (that girl is Denae's cousin or something. I can't remember that either.)

We also went to the outdoor flea market and got caught in the middle of a normal tropical rain that they have all the time.

Denae's sister also took us to Pearl Harbor and we were able to tour a live submarine. We did lots of other fun stuff too.... It was great times!! I can't wait to go back!!

New York City, New York: 2005

Jennifer A.

On our way!!

Also back when I was thin and tan. Jennifer had to go for business so while she was in meetings, I explored the City. Here are some pics of when we explored together. This is us at the top of the Empire State Building. Amazing!! It was a little hazy... but oh what a view!!

Here we are inside the Empire State Building practicing looking good in front of the Statue of Liberty.

There she is!! See the spec in the back ground?? Ha!! This was on our night time cruise.

We also walked the City a lot... and during our walk we ran into an on TV (at the time) reality celebrity. Momma from The Restaurant. They were closed for lunch but we did go back for dinner. It was easy to see why it closed.... The man that took this picture is actually Rocco's brother!! We asked him if he knew a good place for lunch and he took us down the street to his restaurant The Union Pacific. It reminded me of a Barbie wonderland in there. Hot pink everywhere. The lunch specials were a choice of one of three preselected three course meals. I had the soft shell crab... it was interesting. Definitely an experience!!!

We walked to Times Square & Madison Square Garden and other places I can't remember. I also took the subway at 7am to get to the Statue of Liberty tour and Ellis Island tour. That too was an experience. Lots of walking and blisters!! Good times!! (it did rain on me the last day)

Washington D.C. 2007
Courtney M.

Just arrived and ready to explore!!

No longer thin or tan. Pisser. Us and Mr. Lincoln. We visited several monuments that day.

That is the White House in the distance. Again with the rain on my trips. What is up with that?!?!

Here we are inside of the State Capital. We had a tour. That was very cool!! POW MIA

We went to the home of George Washington in Mount Vernon, Virginia. While we were there they had part of the set for National Treasure II up. See it in the background??

We walked all over the place!! And we took the metro too. There is no way I can remember everything... but Courtney has blogged about it on her Washington DC Trip Recap. She has LOTS of great details and pictures so check it out!!

So those are my traveling buddies... each of whom I have been on at least one trip with. In January ALL of my traveling buddies and I are going on a CRUISE together!!! I'm totally excited and cracking up how that all worked out. Can't wait!!

Road trip... and the rain...

Johnny and I took a road trip a few weeks ago. It was a beautiful day!!! Sunny with just a few puffy clouds. Perfect day for a drive.

We went up by Clear Lake for Johnny to get his hunting tree stand out of the tree as hunting season is over. We get there and walk about 15 minutes in to the tree stand. Above is the pic of when we are about 5 minutes in. We saw several deer and doe or whatever you call them along the way in. The air was brisk and clean smelled so good. LOVED IT!! I miss fresh air. Ha!!

We get to the tree and Johnny takes about 15 minutes getting it down and packed up. As soon as he finish we started to walk back. About 3 steps from the tree a little tiny drop of rain lands on my nose. And apparently on Johnny's too... because we both looked at each other and said "its sprinkling!!" and we kept on walking thinking it should clear up in a second. Especially since it wasn't even cloudy when we walked in there 35 minutes earlier. About 10 steps later it started to 'sprinkle' a little harder. And then harder.... and then it was a full on rain. We started laughing... after all it's only a random little sprinkle/rain right? Um no, within 3 minutes of it starting it was POURING!! We got drenched!!!!

By the time we made it back to the truck we were soaked through and through. And cold!! So we cranked up the heater and cracked the windows and started to drive to old town Clear Lake. Unfortunately the rain did NOT let up and we were so cold and soggy that we decided to not leave the truck to walk around. Not to mention, neither of us had a jacket. We did stop for about an hour at the Jackson Casino though. We grabbed a coffee, gambled $100 of his money (he lost $80.00 and I made $50 on the $20.00 I used. Heehee) took this picture and left.

Johnny ended up with really bad cold from the adventure. I ended up with these pics and we both have the memories!!