Catching Up With Friends

This past weekend we got to hang out with friends we haven't seen for awhile. Saturday we went to the "Purdue Bar" to watch the Purdue game with Robbie, Lisa, and Leigh. It was strange because even though they all live so close, we hadn't seen then for at least a month. It was fun to see them finally and hopefully now that summer's over all of our schedules will be less busy!

My friend, Courtney Bayer, was in the SD area too! Her boyfriend grew up here but now lives in Chicago. He has family here still, so they came to visit his grandpa. Bayer is honestly one of the nicest most happiest people I know, so it's always fun to see her. They came over and saw our new place, then we went and met some people that Bayer knows from college that have moved here for Mexican food in Old Town, then they came back over to our house to hang out a little bit longer. Diggy loved the company!

This morning I was SOOOOOOO tired and I think Adam was just as tired or more tired than I am, BUT it was totally worth it. We had a really fun weekend!

Laguna Beach

This past weekend we took a short day trip to Laguna Beach. It was such a nice little getaway. It only takes about 1.5 hours to get there and is a really pretty drive. We basically just walked around the town, ate lunch at a nice seafood/Mexican restaurant on the beach, hung out at the beach for a few hours, then drove home. It was so beautiful and a really fun day!

We would have liked to stay the night, but we had someone waiting for us at home :)

Diggy's New Friend

Diggy discovered a new friend this week. He must think his new friend is handsome because he has been spending LOTS of time staring at him lately...

It's so cute/sad. Whenever I get home he is sitting there just looking and probably wondering why his friend won't come out and play with him. He even will let out a little growl and pat at the mirror every now and then, haha. I keep telling Adam that I want to get Diggy a puppy brother but Adam thinks he'd be jealous. Maybe this is a sign that he wants a playmate :)

Pumpkin Love

This week is the annual Pumpkin Festival in my hometown Morton, Illinois. It's quite the big deal there, and growing up I would get SOOOO excited for this time of year. It's really fun for all ages. They have rides, music performances, contests, crafts, a parade, beer, and about every pumpkin food you can ever imagine.

This will be my second year in a row missing the P Fest (as us people from Morton call it). In honor of my hometown, I bought a few huge cans of Libby's Pumpkin and decided I'm going to do some baking this week.

I sent Adam to work today with some pumpkin muffins to share with his coworkers. This weekend I'm going to get a little more adventurous! Happy P Fest to all! Eat something pumpkin :)

Ellen Show!

Adam and I went up to LA yesterday in hopes our standby tickets would get us in to an outdoor concert at the Ellen Show and after a long hot wait in a parking lot, we got in! It was so fun! Inside the studio, Jennifer Aniston was the guest, which we unfortunately did not get to see in person (they played it for us outside though). The outdoor concert was Dave Matthews Band! We really lucked out and got to see a band we actually like. We were closer to them than I have ever been at a concert and at one point Ellen walked right in front of us! You were not supposed to have cameras, but I hid mine in my purse so I could take a few.

Because we took the risk of going on standby, they guaranteed us tickets in January or February for another show where we will for sure get to go into the studio! I can't wait to go back and hope the guests are just as good next time!

Change of Plans

This past weekend was quite different than it was supposed to be.

As of two weeks ago, Adam was supposed to be in Evansville for work and my mom was supposed to be visiting from Illinois. Adam had stuff planned with his family and friends and I had stuff planned to do with my mom.

Then, Adam's trip got cancelled because his training has been delayed. Next, my mom hurt her knee and we decided it would be better for her to visit when she could get around better. So that left us with a weekend that was previously busy to having nothing planned at all.

Adam ended up being a do-gooder, volunteering for Habitat for Humanity with some people from work on Saturday. He spent all day building a school in Tecate, Mexico; I can tell he had fun because he talked about it the whole night. I spent that day shopping :)

Sunday we spent doing low key things to enjoy the weather. We went to the pool, went for a walk, and enjoyed music from one of our favorite local artists Joe Rathburn. He's this older guy who plays acoustic songs outside of the Padres Stadium before every home game. We end up here quite a bit because Tin Fish is the best sun spot in town, the food is good, and we like Joe's music.

Here's Joe

It's always sad when the weekend is over, but we got good news this weekend that made coming to work today easier. I LOVE the Ellen Degeneres show and go online to try to get tickets quit a bit. It isn't very often that the links are even available to try to sign up, but when they are, I sign myself and Adam up to double my chances. Anyways, Adam, not me, got a call this week and we got standby tickets to the show tomorrow. Cross your fingers we make it in! Even if we don't, we are guaranteed tickets to a later show and it's always nice not to work on a Tuesday!

Staycation

Adam and I usually plan a little roadtrip or some sort of fun activity for holiday weekends but this Labor Day weekend, we decided to enjoy the weather and surroundings here while the weather is at its peak!

We started out the weekend Friday night trying out an Indian restaurant a few blocks from our home, and wow was it good! Saturday we woke up, ran some errands, then spent the afternoon at the pool. On our way home we stopped by this big outdoor Ziggy Marley concert for families and their kids which was really fun and cute to see all the kids. After the sun started going down, we cooked dinner at home. We pretty much repeated this same day (minus the concert) Sunday and Monday too. It was a great weekend!

Ziggy's family time concert

Diggy happy we stayed home

"Our" pool :)

Visit Home

I got back Sunday from a very busy trip home! I squeezed a lot of people into a short amount of time!

I hadn't told my mom and dad that I was coming home, so it was a big surprise. Kristie picked me up at the Bloomington Airport (although she was waiting for me in Peoria and had to drive all the way :) and we went on to dinner at La Fiesta to surprise my mom. It was fun because she was not expecting it at all. My dad picked us up from dinner and was really surprised too! Anyways, this day I visited my cousin Court and her baby Leighton, had dinner with my aunt Julie, my sister, and my mom. Then hung out at home with the parents!

Thursday my friend Panichi drove all the way to come down and hang out. It was so nice to get to see her too! She went all around with me-we got our nails done, then visited Courtney and Leighton again/saw my cousin Nate, went to Kristen's and talked with her and her mom and her doggy Lucy, ate dinner with my parents, then went to Kristie's to walk her kids to DQ. It was a great day!

Panichi at the nail place

Leighton (aka Lei Lei or Leighty or Leighty Bug)

Kristen's dog Lucy

Friday we took Kristie's kids and met Court, Leighton, and Julie for lunch, then Kristie, Sylvie, and I drove to Mahomet to see my sister in law Robin and her kids. Robin's family moved into a new house awhile ago, but Adam and I hadn't seen it yet. Of course, it was so pretty and it was so fun to see the kids, even though it was a short trip. It's sad when you go almost a year not seeing anyone who isn't done growing because they always look SOOO much older! After we left, we stopped in Bloomington so I could get some home decor at Hobby Lobby (there isn't one around here!) and then we went to Kristie's to hang with the family and order sushi!

Nolan, Mara, Reese, and Sylvie playing at Robin's house

Sylvs and Cal eating at their "little table"

The big kids playing with Lei Lei on the floor

Saturday was really the whole reason I went home, my childhood friend, Angie Scime, got married. That morning I had to fit in a visit with Darah so we went for a long walk to catch up, then I ran home to get ready, and left for the wedding. It was really pretty and fun-lots of friends and family there. I realized at the reception that my camera was dead, so I have no pictures :( Angie looked so pretty though and was having a blast!

Sunday, I went walking with Kristie, drove to Bloomington and shopped and lunched with Court, Julie, Kris, and my mom, then ran to the airport. I was lucky and got on an earlier connection flight so arrived in San Diego just in time for dinner with Adam. Lucky for him, I stopped on the way to the airport to get us Avantis for dinner. A great end to a great trip. Like always, I was sad to leave but happy to see Adam and Diggy!

Next trip home: Christmas!