Memory #8

Family Trips to Mexico

My parents bought a time share in Mexico several years ago, so we try to go down there once a year.  We usually go to Mazatlan, but did venture to Puerto Vallarta one year, and Nick and I were able to use the timeshare to go to Cabo in August (seen here and here).  I love these family vacations, and it is especially nice to have my Mexican husband around when we are there. (Okay he is not really Mexican, but he did live in Mexico, and he does speak Spanish, so that's close enough.)

Mazatlan 2005

We took this trip before Nick and I were married.  Nick used the middle picture of us when he proposed a few months later.

The driver of the banana boat purposely turned the boat so a wave would knock us off.  These pictures are so classic.

Puerto Vallarta 2007

This was the first and only all inclusive vacation I have been on.  It was so amazing to eat whenever and whatever we wanted.  We felt obligated to get our money's worth though, so we were constantly eating and drinking. I went home never wanting to eat again....that didn't last long.

We used this picture for our Christmas card that year.

Mazatlan 2008

We always like to get involved in the pool competitions, because you can win free nachos and drinks.

Our favorite restaurant in Old Town Mazatlan 

 

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Wish List Item #8

Source: flickr

Source: flickr 

 

Source: Things I Love 

 

Source: Etsy

I would like enough tea cups to be able to do this:

Source: Happiness Is 

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Memory #7

Adopting Belle--September, 2009

My parents gave us our little Belle on Christmas in 1995.

This is her:

Seeing this hurts my heart.  She was so stinking cute.

So, our little Belle grew up and turned into a beautiful Beagle.

I only got to live full time with my little Belle for 4 years before I went away to college.  But she was always my little love, and every time I came home, she would stay in my room, and I would let her sleep in my bed with me.  I was the only one in the family that would let her do that.  So, when Nick and I moved into our house, my parents had just moved out of theirs.  They did not have a backyard anymore that Belle could roam in, so she would often spend her days at our house.  After many "discussions", Nick and I agreed that she should come live with us.  So, we adopted her, and she has lived with us ever since.

She provides us with all kinds of entertainment, even in her less active older age.

She still loves to explore.

She hates baths.

Her favorite activity is sleeping.  And, she loves finding new and creative places to sleep any chance she gets.

Like the hammock:

Or the table:

Or the closet:

Or on our bed pillows or laundry:

And one of her favorites that I had to kick her out of all the time while we were painting the house...plastic:

I am so thankful she came to live with us.

And I have turned into one of those annoying people who treats their dog like their child.  I can't help it.  It's not my fault that I don't have kids yet, so she gets to be spoiled until that happens (and probably even after that happens if she is still around...she's going for the world record).

I LOVE HER!
(see some of my favorite posts of Belle here, here, and here or you can just click on "Belle" under labels in the sidebar and it will show you every post about her.)

And, Belle and I have a special message for a special person.

What's on your birthday wish list, Molly?
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Here's what's on mine.

Source: Anthropologie 
(The problem is that I want these for every door in my house.)

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Memory #6

College Football

It may sound shocking, but I was a college football player.  It's true.  And I was pretty good.  I'd be lying if I didn't say I looked into going pro. They seriously do have women's professional football, and I seriously did look into it.

These intramural football games were some of my favorite memories from college.  I played all through college, and even into grad school.  I had SO MUCH FUN playing in these games with my best friends (and even my sisters one year).  Looking at these pictures makes me miss those days.

I was a linebacker and a receiver, but that linebacker position was my absolute favorite.  I loved grabbing flags.  My superior skills were even mentioned in the Chimes (Biola's newspaper), where I was called a Puma for my natural instincts....I'm not bragging or anything. But, that is me with a flag in my hand in the picture below. (My sister, Kristina, is holding the other flag...she was almost as good as me.  It runs in the family.)

 

There was this one time where the league suspended me.  Kristina was a lineman for our team, and during one of our games, she grabbed the flag of the runningback from the other team, causing the other team to lose some yardage.  The runningback retaliated by elbowing Kristina in the face on purpose.  My natural protective instincts kicked in, and I have no recollection of this, but apparently I ran up and shoved the girl and yelled at her.  Meanwhile, Amy was fired up and started running into the game from the sidelines to get in on the action.  But, our coach grabbed her and was holding her back.  So, I was kicked out of that game, as was Kristina and the runningback.  Our coach saved Amy from the same fate.  That runningback and I were then suspended for the next game as well.

Don't mess with my sisters!

We played through rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

Okay, we don't really have snow or sleet in Southern California (what is sleet?  I don't even know), and I can only think of a handful of times where it has hailed here, and we don't even get much rain, but there was one time we did have rain, and we played through it.

This picture of Bekka kills me every time I look at it.

And I bring my skills back out every Christmas for our family football game.

I LOVE Football!
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My Wish List Item:
Any of these prints by Katie Daisy from her Etsy shop.
(I especially love the last one)

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Memory #5

Before I begin my memory, I must make a shout out to the people who have made all my memories possible.  Because without them bringing me into this world, I would not have any memories at all because I would not be here.

Today is my parents 37th anniversary.

And just because I can never get enough of this video, and because it is probably one of my top 20 memories from my 20's, here it is again:

 Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

And onto today's memory:

One Year Anniversary Trip--July 2007

To celebrate our first anniversary, we drove up the coast to Big Sur, where we stayed in a little cabin.  We revisited some places from our honeymoon, as well as some new places.

We went on a beautiful difficult hike on the Ewoldson Trail.  We hiked up through redwood trees until we reached the top, where the view was incredible.

We also brought our folding chair out to a little spot on a cliff one night to watch the sunset.  This made me a little nervous because we crossed over a gate that said "Private Property", but it was worth the danger.

And when we left, we wrote a little poem in our cabin's guestbook.  You can see the poem more clearly here.

And then we enjoyed some more sights on our way back home.

I was going to make this post about all of our anniversaries, but this is long enough.  I don't know what I was thinking with this whole 20 from my 20's idea....SO MUCH WORK...and I am sure that I am the only one that cares about any of this.

But I know you all care about this:

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My Wish List Item

Source: World Market
Amy bought me a set of these napkins for Christmas, and I love them.  So, I wouldn't mind having another set.

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