Happy Birthday Alyssa!

Happy Birthday (yesterday) to my sister-in-law, Alyssa!

I love you and I am glad that we are in the same family.

Tweet

The Rehearsal

So, Katie and Collin got married.

But, before they got married, they had to practice getting married.

And we, the bridesmaids, had to practice standing in our spot.

Aren't they so cute!

Of course, after a rehearsal comes a rehearsal dinner.

It's only fair, since we worked so hard practicing for the wedding.

I wish I could post the video that Collin made of him and Katie for the rehearsal dinner....so amazing!

I guess that's what happens when you work in the film industry.

As soon as I get wedding pictures from my dear sweet friend Esther (who is not so dear and sweet because she refuses to become a follower of my blog just because she can), I will post the fabulous wedding!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since my mom and I are trying to get our tutoring business to become an overnight sensation, I decided to write some online articles.  Apparently, that can really help your website get some traffic.  So, feel free to check out my first two articles here and here.  They are nothing too exciting, but hopefully they will help business.  And, if you have not already seen our website, or you just want to admire it again, check it out here.  If you know anyone who needs a tutor, you know where to go! (well, so long as you live in the Orange County area)

Tweet

A Crazy House

For Katie and Collin's wedding, a bunch of us rented a house in Santa Barbara....a really nice house, complete with a jacuzzi.

Sharing a 3 bedroom house with 14 people was quite an adventure.

I have more pictures coming from the rehearsal and the wedding.

(I did not do a good job of taking pictures over the weekend.  All of these pictures are Steve's, and I am relying on Esther to give me her pictures from the rehearsal and the wedding.)

Tweet

Giveaway Winner!

I am sorry it has taken me so long to announce this.  I was in Santa Barbara all weekend, and the minute I walked through the door when I got home on Sunday, I went straight to the bathroom and threw up.  The throwing up continued all night and into the next day, along with a fever, a headache, and an achy body.  I am just now starting to recover.

I am glad the worst is over....I HATE being nauseous!

Okay, so I had big plans of making an elaborate video with all kinds of people in it to announce the giveaway winner, but since I am sick, that did not happen.  So instead, I asked Belle to star in this little video with me, and she was happy to oblige.  
She's such a little diva.

Please pardon my sickliness and the fact that you can't see my eyes at all.

Tweet

I love you Grandpa

Today marks one year without my sweet sweet Grandpa.

I've wracked my brain for things to say, but words aren't coming.
I'm just unbelievably thankful that he was my Grandpa and that I will see him again in heaven.
I love you forever Grandpa.

Tweet

Grandmas are Cool

I had some fun looking back through old pictures the other day, and found some that I thought were worth posting.

For those who don't already know, my Grandma is an amazing quilter.  She is the most talented woman I know when it comes to sewing, and she has taught tons of people how to sew through classes and books she has written.  Here is proof.

So, at my wedding shower, when she chose to give me what was in my opinion the most beautiful quilt ever made, I was in shock.

Grandma had shown us pieces of this quilt before it was actually sewn together.  It is a replica of a quilt that Grandma got from my great-great-great-great grandmother.  I never imagined that she would be giving it to me, and I was beyond excited that she gave me a quilt that was so special and that she had spent so much time on.

But, as we were admiring the quilt, Amy made a little discovery.

Grandma had not just given me the replica she made, but the original quilt itself was also tucked away in the bottom of the box that I had opened!

The shock that followed was comical.

To say my sisters were jealous is an understatement.

We all thought that maybe she just put it in the box so that people would be able to see the original that the replica was made from.

On the back of the quilt, Grandma sewed a little pouch with a picture of my great-great-great-great grandmother, Violaty Gaylord Corbin, and some other family members on it.  Inside the pouch, she put a history of the quilt and all of its owners as it has been passed down.  She added my name to the history.

The quilt was made sometime around 1880 and is very valuable.  How lucky am I that it is mine?  I am never giving these quilts up (well, until I have a granddaughter of my own I guess...but she just might have to wait until I die.)

If you ever come over to my house, I'll have to show them to you in person.

The replica was hung up in our apartment the whole time we lived there.  It is one of the first things I am going to hang in our house once we get to that point....which is soon.
------------------------------------------------------------------
We are off to Santa Barbara this afternoon because....
It's Katie and Collin's Wedding Weekend!
I am so so excited to see these two get married.
I love them both so much.

And when we get back, I will be announcing the giveaway winner.
That's right, today is the LAST DAY to enter the giveaway.
So, do it!
(And yes, I am yelling at you with that exclamation mark.)

Tweet

these are my friends

Isn't this video cool?!

I am so proud that these are my friends.

They didn't want to put me in the video because they knew my superior strength would make everyone look bad.

Next time though.
Here is their website.  You should go check it out.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You all have 2 more days to enter the giveaway.
There are a lot of people who have posted comments under the anonymous option,  but did not put their name on them.  If that is you, please let me know who you are and what comment is yours so that you can still win.
I love reading everyone's comments and name ideas.  It's so much fun!
And, don't forget to become a follower.
 (Am I annoying, or what? I am annoying myself with my begging for you all to become followers.)

Tweet

Our Weekend with Molly and Eddie....

was rainy.

But when Monday came, it was absolutely beautiful.

I always love where we live, but on days like this, I feel overwhelmed at how blessed we are to live where we do.

And we were so happy to take Molly and Eddie out to some of our favorite spots before they left.

Breakfast at Dana Point harbor:

Our spoiled little pup got to enjoy the morning with us.

She gets so much attention down there at the harbor with all the dog lovers.

After breakfast we hiked to a little lookout spot and had the most spectacular views.

It was an amazingly clear day.

Snow on our little Saddleback mountain is rare, so I was so excited to see that the rain brought snow, not only to our further away mountains, but to our really close mountain too.

You should have seen it the day before I took this picture.  It was covered!

And now we are missing Molly and Eddie's company.

We were feeling a little melancholic after they left yesterday.

That's the life of a family spread across California, I guess.

(But Amy and I are already planning a trip up to Turlock soon to do some more wedding planning....so excited!)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nick asked me if he could give me some constructive criticism about my blog last night and told me that I overuse exclamation marks a bit.  He said I sound like I am yelling at everyone.  So, I am sorry for yelling at you all, and I will scale down the exclamations (I already edited my previous post and took out half the exclamations).

Also, don't forget about the giveaway.
And don't forget to become a follower of my blog!
(that deserved an exclamation because a lot of people are forgetting to do that and 18 followers makes me look like kind of a loser and I know there are more people than that who read my blog...trust me, I know.)

I love you all...thank you for reading my blog.  It really means a lot to me....even if you aren't a follower.

Tweet

Look who's engaged.....

My cute sister-in-law Molly got engaged to her love Eddie last Saturday.

He proposed during a hike to the place their romance started a little over a year ago.

And, how lucky are we that they chose to spend their first weekend engaged with us.

They just left us today to head back home, but we had so much fun with them.

I have much more to share from our weekend together.

I am so happy for the two of them and can't wait for the wedding (and all the fun planning that we get to do).

Congratulations Molly and Eddie!!

I love you guys!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Even if you are a boy or don't wear headbands, you should still enter, because they would always make a great gift.

And, because there is hardly anyone commenting, you have a really good shot at winning.

So, let's go people.

All comments must be in by this Thursday.

And, don't forget to become a follower!!

Tweet

Giveaway!

Here's the deal.

My lack of a name for this blog is really starting to get to me.

I thought that putting my cute header on the blog would force me to come up with a name, but that clearly did not work.

So, I need help.

To encourage people to give me ideas, I am going to do a giveaway.

I got all inspired not too long ago and made a bunch of headbands.

So, I am going to give away 2 of them.

This is also a little taste of what's to come in the etsy shop that my sisters and I are going to be starting up at the end of this month.
(This means we actually have to do it, girls.)

If you want to win (and I know you do), here is what you have to do:

1) Become a follower of my blog right over there to your right in the sidebar and leave a comment-ANY COMMENT

and/or

2) Leave a comment with an idea for a blog title

That gives you 2 chances to win!

And here is what you could win:

Headband #1

Headband #2

I will choose one winner at random.

 All comments must be entered by Thurs, Feb. 24.

Open to all US residents, including my friends and family

Tweet

Valentine's Day

I was very excited to have Valentine's Day off.  There was no school, which meant we got to enjoy the whole day!  We are way more breakfast people than dinner people (though we do like dinner too, and lunch, and desserts, especially desserts).  So, we decided to go out for breakfast in Laguna instead of doing dinner out with all the crowds. 

We decided to try somewhere we have never been, so we went to the Orange Inn on PCH. It was great food and cheap!  And the best part is that it's been around since the 1930's.

It was a beautiful day, so we spent the rest of the morning walking on the beach and watching some paddleboarders face planting into the waves and seals playing in the water.

And, Nick can't watch paddleboarders and surfers without getting antsy and wanting to go out himself, so he spent the afternoon paddleboarding, while I spent the afternoon cleaning and doing laundry.  But that was a good thing.....I LOVE having free days to do that.  It was the best feeling to get all that done...and I had a fondue dinner to look forward to.

And now I have to think about taking all my hearts down....sad.
I think they can stay up for all of February, right?

Tweet

Super Bowl and Tim's Birthday

 Last Sunday, we headed straight from Santa Barbara to our house to have a little super bowl party.  Since I knew I would be arriving at my house later than some of the guests, I decorated the house before I left for Katie's Bachelorette weekend.

I cut out footballs on the cricut, then sewed them together the same way that I did these hearts. 

I cut little triangles out of fabric and sewed them together to make flags, then sewed them onto ribbon to hang them.

And check out the molding around our doorway!  Nick finished that the day before the party, and I LOVE it!  I will post more on that and other house updates later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before the Super Bowl started, we headed down to the park to play some flag football.

Then, we headed back to the house for the big game.

Our house was packed.  I think half the people didn't even watch the game because we couldn't all fit in our living room (I don't think those people were too sad about it).

And then, there were others, who were completely engrossed in the game AND the commercials.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We also celebrated Tim's 29th birthday while everyone was over.

Amy designed a Happy Birthday sign for him that I glued onto ribbon.

 Tim's girlfriend Jen enlisted our friend Tany to make Tim a gluten free cake.

It was magnificent!

(or so I was told by many people...I don't like chocolate cake, so I did not have any myself.)

Happy Birthday Tim!

And at the end of it all, I was thrilled that the Packers won!

Go Green Bay! 

Tweet

Love is....

From the mouths of babes.

Tweet