Love and San Diego

So, it's about 3pm on an average Wednesday at work when I get a text from my bestie that she and her fiance are getting married the next morning in San Diego!!! HOLY CRAP!!! (The Navy has a way of imposing last minute/life changing experiences I've noticed...) Crystal and I met through work a few years ago and have been best friends ever since. In fact, every year we celebrate our "Frienniversary" every year with a fancy dinner to celebrate when we became friends. (Cheesy? Absolutely yes. But hey, its an excuse to splurge!) We've worked together, traveled all over the US together, she's been there when I met Luke and got married and I've been there when she joined the Navy. So bottom line, I HAD to be there for their special day.

Quick like a bunny, I got the day off from work, priceline negotiated a hotel room in SD, bought some cupcakes, packed, stopped off in LA to get pick up Will's wedding band and headed down the I-5. The next morning we headed to the courthouse (which is right across the street from the ocean) for their ceremony. I've never been to a ceremony at the courthouse and it was actually nicer than I'd imagined. The lady performing the ceremony actually said some really nice things about love, respect and being faithful to the one you marry. After some "I dos," a kiss and my witness signature, Mr. and Mrs. Will Argueta walked out of the courthouse. We had some cupcakes, a toast and then Will had to go back to work. Crystal and I celebrated the day by going to our favorite San Diego breakfast joint, The Broken Yolk. Let me tell you, the best way to celebrate a marriage is with some bomb French Toast!

On a side note...I LOVE San Diego. Luke is normally not allowed to say the "B" word or the "H" word in my presence (baby or house.) But I've decided that when we are ready to settle down and buy a house, San Diego is my #1 pick so far. Reasons why:

1.) It's absolutely gorgeous there! Blue, blue skies, blue water, great temperatures. You could never have a bad day if you lived there, I'm certain of that.

2.) Technically, it's a pretty large city, but I don't get that rushed or crowded feeling there, even when I'm downtown. It's relaxed and casual with all my urban necessities.

3.) It's in California.

4.) There's a temple there.

5.) Lukie and I could get a sailboat!

6.) University of San Diego has Nurse Practioner program.

Hopefully, we'll end up there soon!!!

Take her to sea, Mr. Murdoch...

Luke and his friends go sailing every once in a while and I have always wanted to go, but never had the chance...until last weekend!!! We took Chip's vessel, Thug Life out for a sail out of the Ventura harbor. Thinking it would be wise to avoid a potential sea sickness episode, I popped half a dramamine before we set sail. Even though it was my first experience on a sail boat, Chip had me steer the boat out of the harbor while the boys set up the sails. (completely nerve wracking when there are innocent kayaking bystanders in the same waters as a newbie sailor!) I didn't get sick at all and loved being on the water. However, the dramamine made me so drowsy that I zonked out right on the ship! Luckily, I was awoken when we passed a buoy being occupied by a family of barking seals. (in case you are wondering, Luke will not allow me to keep a pet seal in our bath tub...I asked.)

All in all, it was a fabulous day with great weather, company and scrumptious snacks. I'm thinking one day Luke and I should invest in a sail boat and go on some sailing adventures...

Full House + Wedding Weekend

The Brown/Acosta wedding has been a long anticipated event! Chris Acosta has been Luke's longest friend and it was his wedding that we all gathered for. We got to play "How many people can we fit into Luke and Whitney's 1 bedroom apartment?" We successfully housed 6 people for the wedding weekend (more like 6 1/2 if you count the baby in Janel's belly...can you believe she drove from Utah with 3 weeks left in her pregnancy?!! What a trooper!)



It was so great to meet up with all of Luke's posse at the rehearsal dinner at Bucca di Beppos. I think I ate myself into an oblivion...they even had a towering donut cake decorated like a wedding cake. It was so creative (and delish!)


Luke was the best man and he looked super handsome in his suit. Everything about the wedding was absolutely gorgeous...the venue, the bride, the flowers, the bridesmaids and their dresses. The color was pink, so of course I was in love with everything...especially the candy!! Have I mentioned that I like candy? (understatement of the century...) Some of the wedding party also arranged and performed a medley of songs for the bride and groom which was really quite spectacular.


Sadly, toward the evening Lukie got really sick. I've never seem him so ill, so I was really worried. He was in some sort of fever/delirium for about 24 hours, so I got the opportunity to teach his Sunday School class. We played "tithing jeopardy," which seemed to work ok, but I think all the kids were glad to have their real teacher back the next Sunday.

Urban Camping

This past weekend we decided to go camping with our friends, the Vreekens. Now, this wasn't what I will call "normal" camping...this was urban camping. After work on Friday, we drove 40 minutes from our apartment, set up camp and were roasting weiners before dark. McGrath State Beach is basically a spot of sand near the beach where they have set up about 100 campsites (all within about 20 feet of each other,) so this is not the type of wilderness where you wonder if you will be eaten by bears in the middle of the night. In fact, I had cell phone reception the entire time, slept on an aerobed and had access to a flushing toilet...practically a 4 star hotel! Bear Grylls would be ashamed of me. Keep in mind that most of my girl's camp experiences followed the "No tents allowed" rule, even in the rain. We slept under the stars on tarps and made lean tos when it rained. Hard core.

However, I must admit that urban camping was so so so much fun! We laughed all night, discovered that roasting corn on the cob in the fire only has a 25% success rate, ate some marvelous peach pineapple cobbler (if I do say so myself!) sang some tunes and lost a box of donuts to the ants.

The best part of camping, as everyone knows, is the s'mores. My parents brought Luke back a bag of the biggest marshmellows that I've ever seen from their trip to Utah. Luke calls them (and I quote,) "The best things that have ever been created." In order to create a successful s'more with these suckers, you need to use 2 full grahams (if they made mega grahams, that would be even better) and a full sized Hershey's chocolate bar. These s'mores are not for the weak. I came out of the experience with a couple of burned fingers, a pant leg smeared in mallow and a very sticky face, but well worth the battle....

4th of July

This 4th of July, the Erickson clan gathered for an official chili cook-off and home made root beer contest. I scoured my recipe books and the Internet looking for the perfect chili recipe. Luke doesn't like soup or anything that even closely resembles soup, so I was determined to find something even he would enjoy. I finally decided using a tried and true Olson/Low family recipe that has been around since the sixties.

Saturday morning, my trusty sous chef and I started cooking...several pork chops, a flank steak, a few roasted anaheim chilis and 5 hours later, we knew we had a tasty concoction! (Even Luke liked it!) As for our root beer, it had been brewing under our bathroom sink for a few days...so we were ready.

Sunday was the day of the big competition (with a very distinguished panel of unbiased judges.) Everyone had delicious entries and we had such a good time enjoying the company. And we even walked away with the win!

(We were awarded a 100 Grand candy bar...which as you might be able to see, did not make it home.)

The root beer on the other hand, was awful! But that didn't stop me from trying all of the entries, from Beer Mon to Sniper Hill. It was a hoot! Somehow, Luke and I also won the root beer contest. However, don't be fooled...I think the prize was "Least Worst Root Beer." I think next year, we may try our hands at home made Dr. Pepper...get ready!

Spin

I am definitely not a morning person. I literally have to drag myself out of bed at 7:30 or 8am. But ever since I switched my gym membership to MAC in Moorpark (cheaper and closer than 24 Hour Fitness, plus they have movie ticket discounts which sold Luke on the idea) I’ve been wanting to try some of their fitness classes. Last night I vowed I would go to bed early and wake up at 5:30 am for my first ever spin class. Unfortunately, I was so nervous/excited that I woke up every few hours for fear of sleeping in.

I made it to the gym and I must have had “newbie” written all over my face because the instructor came over and helped me adjust the bike. Despite the discomfort of the bike seat (and I thought I had a fair amount of padding back there!) it was a really fun, high paced class with great music. (Hello, hearing Eurhythmics makes the 5:30am rise totally worth it!) Even though I kept the tension pretty low, I sweat a ton and got a good workout. When it got tough, did I imagine that I was biking in the French Alps with Lance Armstrong? You betcha. When Justin Timberlake and Madonna were singing to me about how we only had 4 minutes to save the world, did I worry that the fate of the world rested on how fast I pedaled? Absolutely. According to the Internet, you can supposedly burn 500 calories in a spin class. This may just be the variety I’ve needed in my workout routine. Hopefully I won’t be too sore tomorrow!

Palm Springs/Mt. San Jacinto

Father's Day weekend I drove out to Palm Springs with my Dad to climb Mt. San Jacinto and spend time with my family. Saturday morning we took the 8am tram up to the trail. There were tons of other people hiking as well. Toward the top of the mountain there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground, which I am not a fan of. For some reason, the thought of slipping on the ice and sustaining a massive head injury on some rocks over 10,000 ft really freaks me out. Anyways, we made it to the top for a quick Kodak moment and headed down.

The reason I hike mountains is to climb them and conquer them. Once I've reached the top, I feel like my duty is done and therefore, my motivation to hike down is pretty low. My Dad had to put up with a pretty slow and extremely cranky hiking partner for the way down (sorry Dad!)

Though, after a shower and pastrami sandwich, I was in much better spirits.

On a side note, this trip was my first night away from Luke since we've been married. You'd think that sleeping without him for 24 years of my life would make this pretty simple, but I missed him terribly. Luckily my grandma was a good replacement on the pull-out couch!