V.A. Hospital Christmas Party

Joe and I volunteered at the Annual V.A. Hospital Christmas Party in Westwood on December 2nd. We were asked by someone we met when we went and did the house build in Mexico earlier this year. I was asked to take pictures and put them on a dvd. This event was soo huge that I don't think I got as good of pictures as I was hoping for. There were soo many volunteers to help serve all the food. We started off serving salads but got promoted to the dessert section. I think we cut and served a million different pies for 5 hours straight!! We were soo tired by the end and soo sick of pies!! The Veteran's were given dinner, gifts and a ton of entertainment. There were magicians there from the Magic Castle and later that night there was a concert with Jim Belushi and the Sacred Hearts Band.



Look at the MILLIONS of pies we have to cut and serve!! Joe was such a trooper!!


I was so lucky to meet the actual lady that is in the famous picture of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square at the end of World War II. Her name is Edith Shain and she was introduced by Jason Alexander from Seinfeld. It was soo cute because all the older men that took pictures with her kept bending her down like in the picture and kissing her!!!



Me with Jason Alexander and Edith Shain


It was a really neat experience to see all these people who have fought for our country and be so happy to have this party in honor of them!

My favorite guy there was the one with the blue baseball hat tilted to the side of his head!!

A Disney Winter Wonderland...

Friday night Joe and I met my Uncle Mike, Aunt Shauna, Hillary, Emily, Uncle Chris and Aunt Celia at Disneyland for Emily's birthday. I was soo excited to go because I had heard about the castle being decorated like it had snow on it. It looked absolutely AMAZING!!! There were tons of white lights all over the castle that look like icicles and snow. I was told that it goes through 3 different stages through out the day for the snow to appear. They didn't have the show because the winds were pretty strong, but I found this video on YouTube. The pictures don't capture how beautiful it looks. You really need to see it with your own eyes. Believe me, it is AMAZING!! (When there is 30 seconds left in the video, you can see all the lights light up as snow)

I'm "FOUND"!!!

So I guess I jumped the gun a little with my previous post. I decided that I had to give "Lost" one more shot and I am SOOOO glad I did!!! The next episode I watched was FINALLY THE HOOK!!! I have watched discs 3 & 4 today (another 5 plus hours!). Joe isn't one to watch let alone get hooked on any TV shows but when he said this to me, I knew he was also hooked, "You can't watch anymore episodes until I see you next weekend!" It's going to be a LONG week!!!

I'm "LOST"!!!???

My family is absolutely obsessed with the show "Lost". They are always saying what a great show it is and that I need to get in the loop. So, when I was at my parent's house the other day I decided to finally break down and borrow the first season. I watched the first two discs today (5 hrs and 20 mins) and am sad to say that I don't get it??? I kept waiting for that moment where you just don't want to turn off the show, but it never happened. I don't know if I can keep going? I want to due to the fact that everyone is soo "die hard" but I just don't know??? Please tell me that I haven't gotten to that "moment yet".....does it really exist? The only thing that kept me going was Jack AKA "Charlie from Party of Five"!!! (The last show I saw ended with Sun healing the girl with Asthma, Sawyer getting tortured for the inhalers and the Iraq guy leaving to go explore). I am completely LOST!!!!

The funniest thing just happened!!!!! Joe is playing Guitar Hero III on-line with our friend Ryan and they are talking to each other through their headsets as they are playing. I just heard Joe say, "Talk Dirty to Me"????? EXCUSE ME???? Come to find out that it was the name of the song they were going to battle each other on....I was getting a little worried!!!!

"Grandpa In A Speedo"...The SECOND Reason To Watch The Amazing Race!!!

You gotta love a Grandpa sporting a speedo!!! Yesterday was another entertaining episode of the Amazing Race. One of the "Road Blocks" was pull vaulting across a mud river. Each team had to choose one person they felt would be able to complete the challenge. One of the teams is a grandpa and his grandson. I don't know what they were thinking, but decided to have the grandpa do the task. After about 5 attempts, he felt that his clothes were holding him back because they were to0 heavy. So, he did what any other grandpa would do....stripped down to his speedos!!! It was classic! He knew exactly what he was doing because he made it right across!! Can't wait to see what next week has in store!! (FYI...this is on Sunday's, channel 2 at 8pm)


The Goths are still contenders!!! I loved how Vyxsin was pushing Kynt on the bike!! Normally wouldn't the guy be pushing the girl?? Kynt is lacking in the muscle category!!! Go GOTHS!!!

The ONLY Reason To Watch The Amazing Race...

Kynt (Kent) & Vyxsin (Vixen)...dating Goths!! The Amazing Race 12 premiered on Sunday. My favorite for this season are the Goths!!! They are AWESOME!!! They have the best hair, make-up and outfits. They actually did really well the first episode. Go Goths!!!! Just think of what they could do with 1 million dollars!!!???

"Today, I'm In YOUR World"...???

I was fortunate, once again, to get tickets to the USC game tonight at the last second. Guess what??? They beat Oregon State 24-3!!! My friend, Tracie, had some friends that had some extra tickets. These weren't just ANY tickets, but FREE tickets on the 50 yard line, right in the middle. I have been sick since Monday, so I probably shouldn't of gone. I am sure I will be paying for going later!! But, I just couldn't pass these up!!! These seats also came with food that was "all you can eat"!! You could get free hot dogs, peanuts, popcorn, drinks and even Haagen Das ice cream bars. So needless to say, we got pretty spoiled!!!

The friends who had these tickets had the cutest little boy named Collin. This was his first game and he was all decked out in USC gear. He had a jersey, beanie and a track jacket!! He has the prettiest blue eyes!!! He was soo good during the game and I couldn't get enough of him!!



This section of seats was quite entertaining. It is the alumni section, below the press box, so there are a lot of "older" people in this section. The ladies next to me were soo cute. Every time USC would score, they would hug each other!! The lady behind me was classic....she was SOO into the game and would make the best comments. Some of her comments were, "Get rid of him NOW" (referring to Booty), "BOO" (as Booty would throw the ball and the players would drop it), "Can your son play quarterback?" (referring to Collin taking over for Booty in the first quarter) and my favorite line, "You need to get out of this hole!!" (referring to USC even though they were up 24-3 and it was the 4th quarter!!). We also saw Anthony Davis. He is one of the great USC football players. He had the "sweetest" outfit on....black dress pants with a black shirt and a black tuxedo vest??? The best part about the vest was the rhinestone Nike swoosh!!! The ladies behind me kept shouting to him, "Hey, A.D."!!! Some lady attacked him with a hug!

The best part of the night was when this lady came up to us and told us we were in the wrong seats (we were over one too many). So we moved over and then this man, lady and young boy came to sit down. It was Arsenio Hall. There were probably a lot of people who had no clue who he was!!?? This lady acted like he was the president, clearing the section before he came and sat down. She would come back every now and then and bring him his food and do whatever he wanted. I was talking with Joe and doing the famous Arsenio pumping his fist and saying "Roo Roo Roo", when his son noticed what I was doing and told his dad (Aresnio). Arsenio looked and me and said "Hello". I started laughing and asked him if he still "had it" (referring to his famous shout). His comment to me was, "Today, I am in YOUR world".???? I about died!! Are you kidding me?? MY world???? WHO ARE YOU???? We were all dying at how important he made himself even though most of the people there had NO CLUE who he was!!!

(For those of you who have NO CLUE who I am talking about!!!)


It was a great night in "My World" and sad to say probably our last game of the season. I am hoping with the kind of luck I have been having, I might stumble upon some USC/UCLA tickets!!!! So if anyone has to have a pair lying around....I AM AVAILABLE!!! FIGHT ON!!!!! Hopefully USC will at least make the Holiday Bowl!!

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY CARTER!!!

Today is my nephew Carter's 3rd birthday. I wish I could see him today, but Canada is a little too far of a drive!! I finally got my passport mailed to me last Friday, so I may be there soon! I hope that he had a great day. I am sure he is going to be pretty excited playing with all his new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures!!! This seems to be his latest obsession!! Heather and I got him some pretty cute outfits as well, so he will be pretty stylin (Dave..you can thank us later..we are looking out for you!!) I am pretty jealous that my mom is up there with him...wish it was me! I can't wait to see them at Christmas time. It will be here sooner than we think!!!

Have a great day Buddy!!! Happy Birthday!!!

A Girl and Her Shoes...

How cute are these DC snow boots??? I just couldn't resist picking up a pair. I got the white and blue ones. I am always walking around in my tennis shoes when I got visit my sisters in Calgary and Colorado and get pretty tired of my wet toes. You have got to check out this website: whiskeymilitia.com. They have to coolest stuff, mostly skater/surfer stuff. They have such great prices!!! These boots are normally $90 and I got them for $35. They have one item up until it sells out and then a new item goes up. I have gotten tons of stuff!! I can't wait to play in the snow with my new STYLISH boots!!!! They will match the white watch I bought the other day off the website!!!! When it comes to shoes, I just can't resist!!!

Several Acts of Kindness...

Today was an amazing day. I spent most of the day counting money at the Honda Center from people who donated money for the wild fire victims. It was such a neat experience! When I got there at 9:30, they had raised $30,000. When I left at 2:30, they had raised $282,000!!!!! There were soo many people who came by. All you had to do was drive up and drop off your donation from your car window to the Red Cross volunteers. I was in charge of adding up all the checks and I was amazed to see such large amounts! There was one for $10,000!!! There was one for $5000 and a ton for $1000. There was this one guy who pulled up on his Harley and dropped off a check for $3600!!! There were tons of kids who brought all the coin from their piggy banks and even made cards with pictures they drew. The Anaheim Ducks presented a check for $100,0000!!! The owner of the Ducks was there along with a few players.

I didn't want to leave. I love doing stuff like this! It was soo awesome to see all the cars lined to give their donations. I was told that Hurricane Katrina raised $300,000. There were 3 Red Cross locations collecting donations today and the Honda Center alone I know will pass $300,000. I can't wait to hear how much money was donated from all three locations!! It will go on until 7:00 tonight. (I did try to get on the Channel 7 News, but I wasn't famous enough for them!!)

I am watching the news right now and Toyota just donated $2 MILLION DOLLARS at the Rose Bowl location!!!!! AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!


This is picture of Lake Mission Viejo from Alicia Parkway looking up at the mountains! This fire is OUT OF CONTROL!!! It is crazy to think how close it is!! (A friend of mine emailed it to me) I hope they can put it out soon!!

Trying To Do My Part...

Tomorrow I am going to volunteer at the Honda Center to collect donations for the fire victims with the Red Cross. A bunch of people from my work are going. It starts at 5 am and goes until 7 pm. I am going to be working there from 9:30-2:30. I hope that there is a big turn out. You can basically just drive up and drop off your donation from your car. I am happy to help in any way I can. These fires are awful and I feel so sad for all the people that have lost their homes. I encourage everyone to try and donate whatever you can or try and volunteer in any way you can. I am sure that we all know or have heard of someone that has had their life effected by these fires.

It's A Miracle...

I absolutely HATE to read!!! Everyone has been talking about the book "Twilight". My cousin Emily had the book and I asked her if I could borrow it. I am sure she was shocked that I was interested due to the fact that she knows I HATE to read!!! I started to read it on Friday night for a couple of hours. It was ok, not hooked like everyone else, but I was determined to finish it. I read a couple of hours on Saturday and then finished it today. It did get better towards the end, but I still don't know what all the hype is about. I think I will probably end up reading the sequels, "New Moon" and "Eclipse". I can't believe I actually read a book in 3 days. The last book I tried to read, "Angels and Demons", I got about half way through it and never finished it. I guess now at least I can sound cool that I read a book that everyone is obsessed with. Maybe I have found a new hobby......let would be a MIRACLE!!! I doubt it!!

Gotta Love Banker's Holidays...

My good friend Becky was in town from Sunday until tomorrow to take her kids to Disneyland. It was soo good to see her and the kids. Her kids are the cutest..Avery, Edi and Robert!!! Joe and I met up with her family at Disneyland on Monday afternoon. We were lucky to have Monday off due to Columbus day (got to love Banker's holidays!!). This is my favorite holiday because hardly anyone is off!! We didn't get there until around 4:30. It was soo hot out and wanted to wait until it cooled off a bit. It felt like a summer day in October. Nothing like walking around in shorts, short sleeve shirt and flip flops.

Disneyland is all decorated for Halloween. The decorations were pretty cool and it was nice to see them. It has been a few years since they have decorated for Halloween. They changed all the California letters in front of California Adventure into candy corns. I can never find anything with my name on it so I thought I would take advantage of spelling my name!!! The park wasn't that crowded. We went on a few rides and had some dinner. It is soo fun going to Disneyland with little kids! It was good to see them and I wanted to take little Edi home!!!






Edi, Avery & Rob

Joe, Me, Pat, Edi, Avery, Becky & Rob

Deceptively Delicious...

ATTENTION ALL PARENTS WHO HAVE KIDS THAT WON'T EAT VEGETABLES!!!I am watching Oprah right now and she is having the best show about kids who refuse to eat vegetables. Jessica Seinfeld has a new cookbook called "Deceptively Delicious". She has three kids who refuse to eat vegetables and was tired of battling with them every meal. She found out a way to hide vegetables in everything they eat. She purees any kind of vegetable: broccoli, carrots, spinach, cauliflower and squash and mixes them in their food. She takes macaroni and cheese, chicken mcnuggets and even brownies and mixes the puree in them and the kids have no clue. LISA...THIS IS YOUR LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL!!! If any of you have kids that refuse to eat vegetables, you need to get this cookbook!

35 Home Game Winning Streak OVER...And to STANFORD????

We went to the USC vs Stanford game yesterday afternoon. Like everyone else, we thought it would be a blowout. USC was a 41 point favorite going into the game against Stanford. Well.....that doesn't matter when your QB throws 4 interceptions, you have an extra point kick blocked and you are on the 2 yard line on 4th down and go for the touchdown instead of the easy field goal when you are already ahead and get stopped!!??? Stanford beat USC 24-23 in the last minute of the game. They had a sophmore quarterback playing for his first time and he did AWESOME. Mostly due to the fact that he was never pressured and had all day to throw or run the ball. They ran the same play into the end zone 3 times in a row and finally scored to win. HELLO USC??? Were you not paying attention?? Ya...I'm a bit BITTER!!! It was awful!!









We did have some pretty sweet seats for this game. We were on the 10 yard line, 19 rows up. The view was great and we got some pretty nice pictures. My brother was there too, so it was fun seeing him.


There were these pigeons on the field during the whole game that wouldn't move!!


USC hasn't lost a home game since the first season Pete Carroll started coaching in 2001 and it was to Stanford of all teams!!! Stanford lost practically every game last year, but I guess that doesn't matter when you show up to play!!! USC has a long road ahead of them. They haven't even played any teams that really matter yet. I am sure they dropped even lower in the polls after this embarrassment!!!


Poor USC was getting "booed" off the field & then everyone applauded Stanford!!??


I can't help but think of the things I did differently this game that may have contributed to their loss: I wore a different hat for the first time and I forgot to kick the flag pole as we were walking in. I don't think those were the reasons, but maybe it will make them feel better!!! It was pretty sad to hear the crowd booing their own team and applauding as Stanford left the field!!! Good game Stanford! Time to wake-up USC and start playing like a real team!!!! Booty, you better get your booty in gear!!! UCLA also lost to Notre Dame 20-6. Notre Dame has lost every game before this one. Little embarrassing to be a So. Cal team this week!!


You can see my brother sitting across the field from us. Joe's camera zooms really far!!


On a good note....Happy Birthday Shannon!!! Hope you have a great day and I can't
wait for little Kaden to arrive in a few weeks! Make sure Bob tells Joe where he got you your pink ring!!!!