A trip down south

So this past weekend, Gina and I took a trip down to Los Angeles to see my Grandmother and Aunt. We haven't seen them since before our wedding and so it was long overdue. We left on Friday after I got off work and drove down. The weekend was very hot in L.A. and a bit on the sticky humid side as well. But the company, food and gin and tonics more than made up for all of that! On top of that I got a picture of us all together!



When Gina and I were ready to leave on Monday, our plan was to head up north by taking the scenic route. She and I have never been to Hearst Castle and only she had been to Carmel and Monterey. I don't think I've ever been to either. Our plan was soon foiled as the numerous fires forced us to turn around 70 miles after Cambria, just south of Big Sur on Highway 1. No big deal, there would surely be some road that met up with Highway 101 or better yet I-5 to get home right? WRONG. We had to go back all 70 miles along Highway 1 to get back to Highway 46 which was another 80 miles and then home for another 230 miles. All in all I drove for almost 12 hours that day and 700 miles. Man was I tired! We still managed to laugh the whole time. I suppose that's what I love about Gina so much. In all of the hassle of having to turn around and go back and having to sit in the car with me all of that time, she and I still found all kinds of ways to make each other laugh. It could have been a silly song or laughing at something along the road or just telling funny stories. We found something to laugh about that day and it made an otherwise horrendous day a happy one. Don't believe me? Take a look at this picture we took along the side of Highway 1 AFTER we got turned around at Big Sur...

Remodeling Update

So our kitchen is right smack dab in the middle of a remodel right now. We've had everything torn out to include the sweet 60's style linoleum and underlayment, the cabinets and sink. Also gone is the old hood saturated with dead bees that no doubt came down to enjoy the mass amounts of grease that had built up over the years. In its place now, are brand new maple cabinets that will hold granite on top. We'll also have new appliances, a new sink and canned lights to replace the one over the sink and two new lights over the penisula that looks out to the back yard.

We have an absolutely amazing contractor doing all of this work too, Louis Dalmau. Louis is the same guy who we had do our bathroom in the laundry room. There was such a tremendous amount of dry rot in there but you'd never know it to look at it now! Louis also brought us a lot of new ideas to improve the layout of the kitchen. He suggested moving the refrigerator over to accomodate a new pantry and to make opening both doors (it's a side-by-side) fully. He came in and worked with us within our budget and, as importantly, our timeframe.

As we started getting the new cabinets in last week, the look and feel of our new kitchen really started taking effect. I've posted some before and after pictures to see the difference. Enjoy!

There's a little Someping growing...

So...here we are 5 months after Gina and I got married...Gina and me....we have the house to get done (kitchen in progress)...I have school to get done with (one last semester at Sac State)...and now the topper! Gina's pregnant! We just had our first checkup with the OB/Gyn today and he's awesome! Thanks Jay and Patricia for the recommendation. It couldn't have been any better.

So the pictures we got today show off what we refer to as "The Little Someping". Baby is too small yet at just 7 weeks and 3 days (it was only about 1/2 inch in size) to tell obviously, so we're calling it this until we know something more. Gina and I both want a boy, me for a promise I made to my Grandfather and Gina because she just does. But more than that we just want a healthy baby. What tripped me out more than anything though was the little heartbeat! That little heart was friggin' going off! That was so awesome to see!

Gina was so funny today...she was so nervous that she said she had a panic attack on the way to the doctor's office. It was an excited nervous I'm sure, but I had to chuckle. We're so different when it comes to dealing with stress and such. She gets all nervous and almost shuts down while I get a twitch or start whistling some song or something. Mostly though I tap. And it doesn't matter what. It could be my fingers or my feet.

So at any rate, the blog here will be our way of trying to keep everyone up to date with the latest news and pictures along the way. It oughta be a lot of fun! Here are the first pictures we have of our Little Someping!