Women's Christmas Dessert 2010

Dinner with the 20s Community Group 2010

Community groups come and go. But every now and then, you strike gold as a leader and get a bunch of awesome, God-fearing people who genuinely pursue their faith with soft and humble hearts. These girls are my special blessing this year.

We had dinner at Macaroni Grill.

And talked for two hours!

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving 2010 can be summed up in three words: fabulous FOOD, close FRIENDS, and one adorable DOG! Thanks for the invite, Jen. You truly are like family to us.

Alicia making her first roux.

Francis bringing the drama to green bean snapping.

Succulent, mouth-watering turkey! It really was moist and delectable.

My first trip to the buffet.

Francis and I fell in love with Jen's mom's dog Riley (appropriately named after the famous basketball coach Pat). I couldn't believe Riley was a rescue dog from a shelter. He had been found roaming in a tomato field all alone, probably the casualty of a foreclosure. Riley is so well-behaved and sweet! His fur is silky smooth too.


I don't have any pictures to prove it, but four of us played an epic game of Monopoly at the end of the evening. 4.5 hours of down and dirty business dealing. Francis won, of course.

Sampling the Culinary Delights of Pasadena

Francis lived in Pasadena when he was 18, and he still harbors wistful memories of his favorite eateries. If you know Francis, then you understand. We visited all his old haunts.

1. Himeko Chicken (now Teri & Yaki) : Asian dark chicken served with kimchi salads


2. The Hat: Hot pastrami sandwiches dipped in au jus, with a mountain of french fries

3. Tops: Chili-cheese fries and fresh grilled chicken salad with spicy carrots to start

I'm not sure why he is frowning in the photo -- probably because this was our last meal in Pasadena.

Here we are with Ellie McPhant after being turned away from Dancing with the Stars. We rushed directly from the airplane to the television studio in Beverly Hills, stopping on the side of the road to change into dressy clothes. We waited in line for 2 hours before being told we were some of the last people who would be able to make it into the show. All but two of the people behind us were told to go home. But 15 minutes later, they came back and said we would not make it into the show either. I was pretty disappointed, but maybe next time.

We also watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One while relaxing in Pasadena. The theatre we went to was amazing. It has a full bar and individually-reserved seats.

Disneyland on Francis's 28th Birthday

I planned a trip to LA for Francis's birthday because he has tons of happy childhood memories from Disneyland and we've talked about going for years. Above we are wearing our 3-D glasses before entering the Toy Story ride at California Adventure. That ride was by far my favorite because it's basically a giant game. I loved "shooting" 3-D pies, rings, and tennis balls at the screen while the Toy Story characters cheered me on.

Francis playing the standard Western shoot-em-up game that can be found at any amusement park. He made the owl's eyes light up just for me. *sigh*

About to take off on Space Mountain! The lines were exceptionally short because we went mid-week right before Thanksgiving, so we made it on a ton of rides. My favorites included Toy Story, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, California Screamin', and Matterhorn.

Putting the "A" in DisneylAnd.

Oh how I love amusement park food...if you can call a great cloud of fluffy pink sugar food.

And apple pie!

This shot was taken while we raced past the camera on the California Screamin' roller coaster. We got greedy at the end of the night when the lines were short and rode this one twice in a row. I felt nauseous after that. Luckily, it was the end of the day anyway. It was a super fun yet exhausting one.

Sunshine

Giants Game!

To say Francis and I are bandwagon-jumpers would be an understatement. The Giants were on the verge of clinching the NL West pennant. Exciting times for loyal Giants fans who have waited seven long years for this opportunity. Facebook friends were jealous that we had scored tickets to this pivotal game.

Meanwhile I had to search high and low in my house for even one piece of orange clothing to wear to the game.

Our friends Daniel and Linda hooked us up with tickets.

We were provided with orange rags to wave in the air when we entered the stadium. The energy of the 40,000 fans at the stadium was palpable. A sea of orange and black. We jumped right on board the band-wagon, cheering and booing at all the appropriate moments. (I think.) I tried to seem "in-the-know" so the surly old men seated behind us would not be able to tell. They made derogatory comments about the umps on every single call in favor of the Padres. As if they could tell from the nose-bleed section what was happening at 90 mph on the field!

Our friends Mike and Megan are Padres fans, so they remained seated during the cheering. Luckily, Mike is a physical trainer with legs the size of tree trunks. No danger of being beat up for his views about the Padres.