ramblings

so, i'm up early on a sunday and have a strong urge to blog...although i don't have anything particular in mind to blog about. this should be fun and hopefully not boring for you all.

lots of good and exciting things are going on in our little world. i'll be graduating in less than 2 weeks! lots of celebrations to commemorate the occasion. woohoo! the same day that i graduate my lil sis, krista, will turn 21. finally!! "p-a-r-t-why?...because i gotta!" name that movie???

i'm taking a pre-graduation celebratory trip to visit a DDF in Florida next weekend. i haven't seen her in over a year or her lil guy who is now about a year and a half old. can't wait for some fun in the sun and girlie chatting/catching up. never been to jacksonville before. i'm sure it's beautiful...guess i'll find out:)

in early june my BFF is getting married and i am the matron of honor. i have many duties and lots to do, but she is super happy and i'm really excited for her and her man. i went to a shower for her last night and tied my first quilt. i loved it. i'm inspired to make one of my own...if i can find someone to sew it for me! i hate sewing. but i just love the tied quilts. it's funny cuz my fam in nd actually think tying quilts a sub-standard form of quilting. well, mostly my g-ma b. but i think they are so cute. after the shower we had a "stuffing" party and stuffed all her announcements. signed, sealed, and not yet delivered. i love wedding stuff. i had a blast planning my own wedding and i love seeing hers come together.

the 4-wheeling season is kinda off to a slow start. but, we are getting there. we've been to the dunes twice together (brandon's gone a couple of other times) and we are going out tomorrow for some trail riding. this time last year we had been to the dunes like 10 times or something.

so, this has successfully turned into a bragging post. sorry. if it helps, just know our cat is supa fat and we have weeds instead of grass in our front yard.

finally...our san diego trip

the reason this post took foreva is cuz i was not looking forward to going through hundreds of pics to find the ones i wanted to share. and i still chose too many. i guess i'm about to overshare with ya'll but that's coo cuz you're probably going to look through them all anyway:) enjoy!!

first pic of brandon and he was already irritated with the camera. but we had a great sunset the first night we were there and i had to try to capture it.

some kayakers in the bay.

a little known fact about brandon: he can't ever just take a walk; he has to find something to occupy his hands. it's a special treat when we walk on the beach because then he finds kelp to play with. yuck!

the san diego mission's bell tower. it was california's first of many and so beautiful. it was built in like the 1500's and had beautiful grounds. i wanted to take pics inside BUT a funeral was about to go down and i just didn't think it appropriate.

view of lighthouse from whale watching cruise.

us on whale watching cruise. it was a lot of waiting and just hanging out to see a few whale tails and "flukeprints." marine biology lesson: flukeprints are when a whale's fluke (the very end fins) crest the water and leave a glass-like imprint in the water for a while. this really excited lady kept yelling "oooh's" and "awww's" and "wow, those flukeprints are beautiful!" it was pretty hilarious. but, whales are freaking huge! we saw a few including a humpback.

a passing aircraft carrier. the pic just doesn't do justice to it's size. amazing.

skyline of downtown san diego.

there were soooo many ducks at the hotel. and they were pretty aggressive when we were feeding them. oh well, brandon showed them what happens when they get too close to him--he picked one up and held it for a bit. a little kid nearby was like "mom! he picked one up!! how'd you do that?!" he was in awe. i loved his excitement.

the hotel grounds were so serene and lush. i took lots of pics but i'll spare you the boring details. but, something really excited happened there--we saw a celebrity at the pool! john michael higgins (whose been in so many movies but always a supporting role) walked by us and smiled and we looked at each other and brandon said, "i know that guy" and i said "ya! he's in movies!!" i was so stoked, but didn't want to interrupt his family vacay for an autograph or pic. it was fun seeing a celeb though. you know me, i like the celebrities!!

us at ocean beach.

a weird tree that was half tree half cactus. very strange.

at the san diego zoo. there's a baby panda in the back...awwww, how tender!

it was rainy the morning we went to the zoo. so, instead of purchasing a $30 umbrella we got $4 ponchos. we still got pretty wet but probably not as wet as we would have been if we had to share an umbrella.

the lil ape was sooo cute. he kept jumping on the big ones and throwing dirt up at them to get them to play. then he went and sat by this big one and started "showing" him the landscape. too cute! and so humanlike!

they hippos were angry at each other and were snorting it out!

us on the pacific beach pier.

that's all folks!

a few ways you know you're getting older when...

• you find yourself enjoying the oldies station on the radio a lot more often
• it feels wrong to crush on leading actors because they're that much younger than you
• you are not the youngest person at work anymore
• the newest technology takes awhile to figure out
• clothing that was popular when you were a child is popular again
• you can't help but think how much cheaper things used to be
• people get your attention by calling you ma'am

it's a little sad and i know it's only going to get worse! maybe i should focus on the good things about getting older...