Big Bang Friday

I love Angels games. I especially love Bing Bang Fridays because I love fireworks. I have always wanted to sit in one of Joe's company's seats. He always gets to sit in the Diamond Club, the Box, or Dugout Seats. Well, last night I saw Big Bang Friday from the box! It was awesome.

My parents were supposed to join us, but since my dad was sick, we asked Shannon and Steve. Well, Steve had to coach, so we asked Scott to come. On the way there, we realized we were only missing one person of our clique (Eric) and suggested that we trade Joe in for Eric. Turns out we needed him for the tickets. It was a super fun night! The Angels won! I love Chone! Mainly because I pronounce it Cho-knee.

Family Day

Today was a day filled with family.

This morning, Joe, my mom, and I headed to Colton to see my brother's new house and new baby.

I love my little niece, Jacqueline.

I love Alyssa and JJ. Alyssa was very sweet to her new cousin.

Joe and Brandon became quick friends!

Then we were off to Olive Garden to celebrate my mom's birthday. My mom is the best!

Alyssa ordered 10 olives for her fingers. The waitress brought her a special plate!

My dad was missing from the activities because he was sick and stayed home. We ended up taking him to the ER. I suggested we go to Hoag because it is a better hospital than Irvine, even though he could have walked to Irvine! Although, we spent about 5 hours in the ER, it was time well spent. He had immediate attention and a ton of special doctors. I honestly think this hospital may convince him to move back. My brother, David, hung in the hospital with my mom and me. We told jokes, stories, and watched SNL. My dad ended up having to stay the night. We had to pack up all of his belongings. So I thought it would be funny to tuck his shoes at the end of his bed. I think he thought it was funny!

Let's hope and pray that Dad makes a quick recovery and that everything can be fixed. I know this is really hard for him and my mom.

A Beautiful Day

I had such an awesome day on Tuesday!

It started with breakfast at The Bagel Shack in El Toro. This is my favorite bagel joint around. It also happens to be owned by wonderful people! The bagels were delicious, but the company was even better. Buster and I met Devon and Irelyn. Buster was stoked to have a new friend. Irelyn was sooo cute with him. I think they both had a great time! I love hanging out with Devon. We always have a great time. I adore Irelyn. She is just so happy... and smart... and sweet... and creative... and spunky... and caring... and talkative...and all around awesome! I just love her! Buster and I hope to see Dev and Irelyn again soon!

After breakfast, which also included a latte and a very large and very hot coffee, I needed to go to school. But I was all bent out of shape because of the politics and drama going on there. Instead of going to straight to school, I stopped by the Spectrum. Turns out my best friend, Ann Taylor, was having a great sale and I was able to get a Back To School dress, using my end of the year gift card. It was awesome. Then I went to school and fought ants.

At 5:30, I met my Mom's Club. I am the president, you know. Camden, Troy, Sophia, Ashyln and their moms and I walked around Mission Viejo lake. I was impressed with our time. We walked around it in the same amount of time we walked around the RSM lake a few weeks ago! I so love all of my little babies!

Camden, Troy, and SophiaCuddly boy TroyBaby Sophia - she's the youngest in my posse.

In true Becky fashion, I had overbooked myself that night and needed to be in Laguna Beach by 8:00 for Pageant of the Masters. The tickets were free! Joe was a good sport. He really did not want to go. But he went. His first comment was "are we at a senior citizen home?" I can see where he would be mixed up. We got to go backstage before the show began to see all of the make-up and costumes. Then we sat through the show, some of us (ummm... Joe) did not do a great job of making boredom. Afterwards, we got to go backstage to see the actual sets. That was way cool! That was the best part of the experience, followed closely by the really delicious hot chocolate.

My parents came to visit yesterday. We hit up the Spag Fag with the Van Dams tonight.

Summer, why must you come to an end?

New Ride

After months of looking at cars, I came home with a new one today. I had searched all overSouthern California and Nevada for a car in the right price. I had originally thought I would get a Toyota Highlander. However, the payments on that were totally crazy.

I got a 2009 Lexus RX350 today. It is super cool! My experience at the Lexus dealer was not the best. I first went to the dealer in April or May. I looked at the car, test drove it, and tried to make an offer. It was decided that I had too many payments left on my lease, but they assured me they could make me the deal when my lease was almost up.

Joe and I headed back last weekend. We were both looking at cars. We were playing with numbers, but they did not get to my goal payment. Then "Sonny" called back on Monday and said that he would accept my offer. My dad and I headed to the dealer yesterday to find that he actually had not accepted my offer, but was really close. So we went to other Lexus dealers who said if we could get it at that price, we should because it would be an amazing deal. So I called "Sonny" today and he was very rude. He said that he could no longer give it to me for that price(even though he said the offer was good until Sept. 2). I was upset and called his sales manager, who said he would have never given it to me for that price and there was nothing he could do about it. I then asked to speak to his manager and after a long negotiation, I got it for that price, plus a lifetime of car washes! I ended up getting it for $6,500 under the sticker price... I was pretty proud! :)

It was a long and painful process. I was also kind of sad to drive away and leave my 4Runner behind. That was my favorite car I had ever had and the only car I wasn't totally ready to get rid of. I was stoked to get rid of my Blazer after it blew up in the middle of the desert at 38,000 miles.! I could not wait to get rid of the Taurus when I got the big truck. I was excited to trade in that ginormous truck for my first new car, the Blazer. I had to get rid of the 4Runner because my lease was up and the payoff was super high. But I am excited to have my new car!

Summer Of Babies

This summer has been so fun. I cannot tell you how sad I am to go back to work (many reasons). One of the best parts of the summer was hanging out with all of my friends' kiddos.

Yesterday, I hung out with Danielle and Aiden. I had so much fun and he is such a little cutie! Then I had to go to a work party and I held baby Troy the entire time. We were both covered in sweat when I finally put him down. It was hot. He is a cutie pie.

This summer I have also spent time with Chase, Ashlyn, Sophia, Joseph, Ethan, and Braden.

Of course, I love my bff, Camden and I always enjoy my time with her. I am glad I got to hang with her a lot this summer. Right now I am off to play with another one of my little friends, Irelyn!

Then tonight, I have organized my Mom's Group. Who needs your own child when there are so many others to hang with!

Washington, DC - Last one

Ok... no more pictures after this!
On the last day we were in DC, we woke up and got in line for the Capitol Tour.
This is in the inside of the rotunda. This is also in the rotunda. It is the California Gold Rush! Gotta love California history. Can you tell I teach 4th grade?
Here we are on our tour inside of the Capitol.
Then we went to the National Zoo. When I was kid, I loved this zoo! In my mind, I was expecting it to be the same size as the San Diego Zoo. We finished the entire zoo in about 1 hour and 40 minutes. Guess I had a different perspective on things back then.
I was bummed to see that the pandas I had known and loved had died in the 18 years lapse of my visits!! But they have these new pandas.
And they still have elephants.

Then after the zoo, we went to the mall to look for a Redskins sweatshirt. No luck! So sad! That was my trip!

Washington, DC - Part 4 - Sunday

On Sunday, we walked to the Capitol. It was one of the few things Joe really wanted to see. It is closed on Sunday. Then we walked over to all of the monuments. Here is good old Abe.
Then we went to the World War II monument. It is newer and pretty cool. We took pics by Virginia and Florida (the states we were born in) and California (where we live now) We also visited the Vietnam Memorial. Loyd McBroom was my mom's cousin. He stepped on a landmine.
Then we went to the Korean War Memorial.

Then to the Washington Monument. We could not even fathom the thought of walking up the steps. We did a ton of walking while we were there.

Here we are in front of the Jefferson Memorial. Again, way too much walking, so we didn't go over to the actual memorial.Then we rented a car and drove to Arlington National Cemetery. This is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

It was neat to see all of the wonderful monuments and memorials. I have always been patriotic and proud to be an American. However, standing in front of these memorials and monuments, while thinking of how many people lost/risked their lives for the love of their country is amazing. I love the USA!

Washington Part 3

On Saturday, after sleeping almost 12 hours, we went downstairs for a delicious breakfast buffet. We stocked up on our food. Then we went to the Holocaust Museum. This museum was amazing. It is shocking that I could be totally entertained without really saying many words for about 3 hours. The museum presented a great memorial to a very, very sad part of history. After that, we headed to the Air and Space Museum. As a child, this was my favorite museum. I don't think they have done too much to the museum since I was kid, including cleaning the bathroom. However, it is still a great museum. A trip to this museum is not complete without purchasing some freeze dried ice cream. We bought a cookies and cream ice cream sandwich and enjoyed in The Mall. There is a new Air and Space Museum by Dulles Airport that is supposed to be super cool. We ran out of time to see it. Next time!
Then we were off to the Natural History Museum. As a child, I dubbed this the "dinosaur museum" and that was my second favorite place to visit. Here is a picture of a stuff sloth from the museum. If I could be any animal, I would be a sloth! In fact, I was one today!
Here we are in front of some dino bones!
I had planned a dinner cruise for Sat. night. It was the Full Moon Dinner Cruise. It was fun, but overpriced. I was also a little grossed out by the bugs on my table. Also, it was supposed to be a sightseeing/ touristy thing, but you cannot see anything in the dark. Regardless, we had fun together and it was a beautiful evening!

Washington Part 2

On Friday, after we went to the Newseum, we had a snack at the Spy Museum. It was way too crowded and we didn't have enough time to go to it. We thought we would make it back there, but never did. We were busy!

We headed to the White House. We couldn't get very close. That's too bad. My dad has a picture of my mom is the White House driveway and he really wanted me to replicate that photo. But due to security, no one gets close to the White House. Here is another great self portrait! :) On Friday night, we met up with my friend, Bobby. We have been friends since elementary school. He took us to Georgetown for dinner. I love Georgetown. It is so nice. If it were not so expensive, I could see myself living there. Then Bobby took us for a little tour. We saw the Watergate Hotel (which was cut out of these pics), the Kennedy Center (in the background of these pics), some embassies, and the Iro Jima Memorial. Very cool.
That's Bobby and me. It's neat that although we have not seen each other in 18 years, we still had a lot in common and had a great time. We hope Bobby comes out to visit soon! He works for the government and has a super cool job.

Then Bobby dropped us off and we went to sleep at 9:30.

Washington, DC part 1

Joe and I went to Washington, DC for a little vacation. We had a great trip! I actually grew up in Virginia, right outside of DC and this was the first time I have been back since I moved in 1990. We honestly probably walked over 20 miles on this trip, took over 300 pictures, and hit up so many wonderful sights. Therefore, I am going to have to blog in several different posts.

The first day, we checked out my old neighborhood. It is crazy how things have changed. This used to be a super nice neighborhood. It was still a nice neighborhood, but you can tell that things were not kept up well.

This was my very favorite house. It didn't look quite the same as it used to. We lived in this house before we moved to Virginia. The backyard was huge... 2/3 of an acre. This was my very first house. I lived here until I was 2 1/2, then we moved to Florida. We moved back to his neighborhood when I was 5... just two doors down from this house. That means we had the same next door neighbor twice!
This was my elementary school. It still looks the same, except for it has a cute sign in its drop off zone that reads "kiss and go". I thought that was cute. School parking lots are crazy!
Then we headed into DC. Our first stop was the Newseum. It is a brand new museum all about the media. This was my favorite museum because 1. it is new, 2. I was a journalism major, so I like stuff like this and 3. it has super cool things.

On one floor, they have a 9-11 memorial. This is the actual satelite from one of the World Trade Center towers.
Here are Joe and I in front of a newcopter!
More to come...

Turn Around, Don't Drown!

I am in Vegas, well, actually I am in Henderson. I am visiting my dear parents. We have had a lot of fun together and I enjoy my time with them... indoors! The weather here is terrible! First off, it is sooooooo hot! Like way too hot to do anything outside. But not only is it 4 million degrees outside, there have also been flash floods! Yesterday, I was enjoying a trip to my favorite teacher supply store when all of a sudden golfball sized raindrops came pouring down! Then hail! Then, after only about 5 minutes of rain, the parking lot began to flood! Of course, the streets turned into a huge mess! Everyone had to drive in the left lane going about 10 miles per hour. All of the right lanes were small rivers and would have flooded any car that chose to drive in it. The storm lasted about 20 minutes, but it was crazy! Why would anyone want to live here?

The only comical part of the horrible flash flooding is that the National Weather Alert System (or whatever it is called) is very good at pinpointing the storms and giving great warnings. However, in each of the warnings, the computerized voice says something like "do not attempt to enter moving water ways or deep water... TURN AROUND, DON'T DROWN." It makes me laugh.

Despite the horrible weather, I have been staying busy doing the following:

1. Wheeling and dealing on new cars (unsuccessfully), but I did get to work directly with John Barr, who is a celebrity here. I love him!

2. Went to sushi with dad.

3. BBQ steaks

4. Went to the outlets with my mom, as you could tell by my last post.

5. Saw the movie, Swingvote.

6. Saw Batman again, but this time in the IMAX.

7. Snuck my latte into the movie theater because the people who work there are on a power trip.

8. bet on the Del Mar horses races... I won 4 out of 5 times. My dad was getting ticked because I bet on the ones with cute names and he bets on odds. He didn't win once. Sound familiar?

9. played craps with my dad

10. learned that all Smithsonian museums and the zoo are free! I will be in DC next week at this time!

Tomorrow, I am going to hang out with Tracy. This has been a great trip!

But remember, turn around, don't drown!

Buyers Remorse

Anyone who knows me even the slightest bit, knows that I love to shop!! I am a shopper. I realized that I may have a problem. Maybe it is the fact that I turned the second bedroom in my house into a closet! Anyway, last week, I started to clean out things and got rid of a ton of clothes I do not wear. I was feeling pretty proud!

Now, I am in Vegas. It is really hot. It sure it is cool in the outlets though. I went on a full on shopping spree today. I was feeling pretty proud of myself when I walked into the first five stores and did not buy a thing!

Then I went into J. Crew. They were having a GREAT sale. Forty percent off of already low prices. Plus, they had a purple and green sweater with matching socks... they had my name all over them. I did not feel too bad at this store, as I did not spend a lot of money and I got practical things.

However, I then walked into the Coach outlet. I am pretty sure they had just dropped off a busload of Asian tourists in the store and they were all snatching purses as quickly as they could. I originally went in to buy my mom a purse. She wants a purse with colored lining, so she can see everything in the purse. I grabbed a great one that was on sale. It had purple lining. Then I thought that maybe I needed one for myself. Then I found a purse stuck in a corner, not where it belonged. It had been a purse I had wanted. It was super cheap and the last one left! I had to get it! So I left the Coach store with three purses. But one is a gift!

I also went to Gymboree and bought Alyssa a little horse purse. She is going to love it! Gymboree had the cutest things in it! I love that store!

I went to the Kate Spade Outlet three times because they had a purse and a pair of sunglasses I wanted. I realized that I could not get another purse and if I was going to get the Kate Spade purse, then I would have to return a Coach purse. But I really loved some sunglasses. I ended up not getting them.

Then I went to Sunglass Hut. I need new sunglasses because the dog I was dogsitting chewed mine up last weekend. I found a pair of Coach ones that I really liked, but they were too $$$$. I wasn't going to spend that much on sunglasses.

I left the outlets feeling kind of sad that I did not get sunglasses.

Then my mom and I went to Nordstrom Rack tonight. They had the same sunglasses that I has wanted, but for a quarter of the price! Score!

So this is a pointless and superficial blog. I just need to throw it out there for the following reasons:
1. I am happy with my purchases
2. Please do not take me shopping with you. I have a problem and my friends should not encourage me!

Thanks!