Keeping Up With the Ovoians

30

2009-03-25T21:23:00.000-07:00

So, I will be 30 in 10 days and I have mixed feelings. I am glad to start a new decade in my life and hopefully starting our family, but I'm a little sad. Any advice?

Big date!

2009-02-09T12:30:00.000-08:00

I know it's been awhile, so I am quickly going to talk about how excited I am to go out on a date with my hubby! It has been forever since we had a date. We are celebrating V-day at Flemming's tonight to avoid the madness on Saturday. Can't wait!

Disco Fever

2009-01-19T11:47:00.000-08:00

Last night, Jack and I went to a '70s disco birthday party and boy did we have fun! Check out our Groovy outfits!

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

2009-01-13T22:19:00.001-08:00

Fresno is all a buzz with the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in town. They are rebuilding a home for a deserving local family. On Sunday, I visited the site with my my dad and his friend Neil to give the effort our support.

My father somehow talked us into getting there around 6:15 in the morning. But when we arrived, they were not allowing spectators in until 8:00. So after hanging out with the Extreme Makeover security and the Fresno Police (just chit-chat) in the dark and freezing cold weather, we were finally allowed in. Thank goodness we arrived early. In just a few short hours, the spectator area would be 7 rows deep. We had prime spots. Directly in front of the house, right next to the Media booth. We ended up on the news and on You Tube.

It was amazing to see the framing of the house go up within 45 minutes. When we left about 2 hours later, they were working on the second level. Amazing! We got to see Jonathan, Michael, Dede, and Ty. It was a great day!

It took 6 months...

2009-01-04T15:24:00.000-08:00

but we are finally done with thank you notes from the wedding. Ahhh..what a relief!

A new Hobby

2009-01-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

A friend of ours is a Creative Memories consultant and she invited me to a workshop at her house. I always wanted to scrapbook, but it just seamed too overwhelming. I have always saved ticket stubs and other memorabilia of my travels and life events in hopes that I would begin to scrapbook. I started small with a book that I had purchased years ago to scrapbook about my college years and friends. Lisa and the other ladies helped me along and gave me great ideas. By the time I left Lisa's house Friday night at 12:00 am, I was about 1/3 done. By 5:00 pm the next day, I was finished. I am so proud of my book. Take a look!

Happy New Year's

2009-01-04T15:01:00.000-08:00

We spent our New Year's Eve at the Neil Diamond Concert with my parents and in-laws. Jack, Giana and I surprised my parents with tickets for Christmas. They are huge fans, but we knew that they wouldn't buy the tickets themselves. We had such a great time. Prior to the show, we all went to dinner at Cheesecake Factory.

Sheryl's Baby Shower

2009-01-04T13:52:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, December 28 we celebrated Sheryl as she was preparing to be a mom. The shower was held at the Victorian Rose Cottage in Old Town Clovis. I love that restaurant. They have great food and it is so beautifully decorated for the holidays. We had a traditional tea brunch with little sandwiches. Sheryl looks so cute with her belly. She is waiting to find out the gender of the baby until delivery day. It was a great time to catch up with friends who live so very far away! I also got to play with Sarah's new baby Cole. He is 12 weeks old in these pictures and too cute!!!!

Ani, Sheryl, Sarah, Cole, me, Sarah

The Buddha Baby Cole!

Ho Ho Ho

2009-01-04T13:04:00.000-08:00

We had a fantastic first Christmas together being married! Since my mom had undergone surgery a few days prior to Christmas, we kept everything low key and simple.

Our Christmas Tree.

On Christmas Eve, we decided to just go out to dinner at Sweet River Grill. We had always spent that day jumping from house to house, and it was a nice change. Christmas brunch was then held at our house (traditionally hosted by my mom). After 2 batches of Aebelskiver batter, we finally got it right. I had used expired baking powder, which made the batter very runny. So after an hour delay, we finally set down to a wonderful meal.

Giana and I making brunch.

Once our tummys were delightfully full, we retreated to the living room to open up gifts and played a little Wii. We then moved the celebration to Jack's parents house for dinner and some

more Wii. Joyce decorated the table so beautifully. But Jack, Giana, Jack's cousin Nicole, and I were sent to the kids table. You would think that getting married would get you to the "big table", but so not true.

Giana is so sad!

Jack's Great-Aunt Dot was the ringer of the
evening. She plays at her Senior Center and is
really good, much better than most of us.

More Wedding Pictures

2008-12-30T11:23:00.000-08:00

I am currently in the middle of picking my favorite 50-60 wedding pictures that will be part of our wedding album. I thought that I would post a few pics, since I said I would, but never did. Enjoy!

I'm sleepin' in

2008-11-21T14:47:00.000-08:00

I am officially on vacation! I get 9 whole days of bliss before I have to return to work. People always say "you have the easiest job...you get off at 3:30 and have the whole summer off". Well let me tell you...there is a reason why we get so much time off. I love my job and I couldn't ask for a better fit, but it is physically and emotionally draining working with kids all day, every day. If it wasn't for these breaks, I don't think that school employees could last so long. We need to decompress...which is exactly what I plan on doing...on my couch!

And the winner is....

2008-11-15T15:56:00.000-08:00

ME! This week I had an all out, to the death tug-of-war match with the crazy bush in my front yard. I am happy to report, that it is gone! I don't have a clue as to what it was, but it was all tangled together and overgrown. I have had the gardening bug lately and I pulled out a bunch of lackluster plants, and the stupid bush, to clear the way for some new flowers that will be planted in the next few weeks. I will post more pictures as my project progresses.

Jack's Birthday...Brazilian Style

2008-10-23T16:58:00.001-07:00

Saturday was Jack's 32 birthday and boy did he have an eventful day. We began bright and early to help out my parents at their yard sale. He then went golfing with some buddies and met back up with us at dinner. He is a big meat guy so he chose to go to this new Brazilian steakhouse in town. We had so much fun! They had a live band playing great music and dancers draped in feathers and jewels. The food was fantastic! The dancers and members of the staff came to our table with drums and bongos to pull Jack out of his seat to dance with them. I have never seen Jack's face turn that shade of red! The evening was one for the books!

Introducing....

2008-10-06T18:15:00.000-07:00

Cole Grant Ono! He arrived to on Thursday and is just as cute as can be. He looks a lot like is big sister Ava. I can't wait to meet him.

Baby Mania!

2008-10-01T16:31:00.001-07:00

OK, 2 of my BFF's are pregnant. Sarah is due to have her baby boy tomorrow. His name will be Cole, and if he turns out to look anything like his big sister Ava, he is going to be a cutie! Sheryl is due in the spring with her first baby. We are all going to be surprised to find out the gender on delivery day. I totally have baby fever and am so excited to be Auntie again. Disclaimer: I may have baby fever, but I'm not ready to have one myself...FYI!

This is the most recent picture I have with either of them, since they live so far away. Sarah is on the far left and Sheryl is on the far right. Sheryl was prego at the wedding, but didn't know it until a week later.

I live in a zoo.

2008-09-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

No really, I do. Between the two of us, we have 5 dogs, 1 cat, and an eel. Let me tell you the story of how our lives were "blessed" with these beautiful creatures. Jack's first animal was Wicket and soon after he obtained Kneesaa. Those are the big dogs that stay in the back yard.
He then was somehow talked into getting a Cairn Terrier that goes by the name of Josie by an ex-girlfriend of his who thought that he needed one...for what reason I can not imagine!

He was then married to his ex-wife and she wanted to get a dog that was "theirs" and they named her Madison (who by the way is the strangest dog that I have ever seen. She's a cross between a Border Collie and a wiener dog...long and short with a HUGE head). Anyway, a few months pass and his ex-wife brings home a snot-rag of a cat named Zoe because she would surely be killed if they hadn't (not true...one of their friends had a litter of kittens who was giving them away, and rightfully so. The cat is a Siamese...enough said!).

Jack has invested mucho dinero over the years into a salt water tank. However, the only thing that has managed to survive is an eel that always hides (I think that I have only seen it twice). Then when Jack and I got married, I brought my precious princess Gracie (the only one that minds and is partially trained). So there is the story of how we accumulated all of these crazy animals who run our lives. There is absolutely no sleeping in after 5:00 am in our house...no really!

Long time, no blog

2008-09-22T18:36:00.000-07:00

So, I'm back to work now and wish that I could retire. Does anyone else feel that way? I absolutely love my job and it is completely rewarding, but it's so hard to go back to work after the whirlwind summer that I had this year. I mean marriage, honeymoon in Hawaii, visiting family in Pennsylvania, and trying to set up a home in between all of that. It took me nearly a month to feel like I am back in the swing of things on the school front. I can't wait until Thanksgiving break!

Sweet hubby!

2008-08-15T13:59:00.001-07:00

Look at what my husband brought home today! Ain't he cute?! There wasn't even a reason...he did it "just because". LOVE HIM.

Pennsylvania

2008-08-11T14:02:00.000-07:00

OK, OK, OK. You asked, and now you have received. I'm finally blogging about PA. The trip began with us missing our flight out of San Jose. We had to spend the night and be back at the airport by 4:00am to catch the next available flight. We literally spent the day either in airports or on a plane. I was so glad to get into my bed in State College, Pennsylvania at 1:30 in the morning the following day. After sleeping in until 11:00am (8:00am Pacific time!), we began getting ready to attend the wedding of Jack's cousin Stephanie, as she married her new husband Garo. It was such a beautiful wedding. It was kind of fun to see the Armenian ceremony as a guest, since I had only experienced it as a participant:) A little bit of déjà vu. Many of the guests at Stephanie and Garo's wedding were also guests at our wedding in June. It was great to spend time with them, considering that we were unable to do so at our own wedding. It is amazing how fast that day goes by!

We then drove the 3 hours to Philadelphia for the remainder of our trip. We toured Independence Hall, visited Betsy Ross' house, payed our respects to Benjamin Franklin's grave, and posed with the Liberty Bell. Our hotel was located in the center of the Historic District, which made it easy to visit all the sites on foot. We also spent some time with Dyan, who is another cousin on Joyce's (Jack's mom) side of the family. She was such a spit fire and I enjoyed getting to know her. She was a fantastic host and showed off her city beautifully.

On our last day in Philadelphia, we decided to drive out to Lancaster to visit with the Amish, Mennonites, and the Brethren. We felt like we were in another world. It was corn fields and horse buggies as far as the eye could see. Every house was adorned with fresh laundry hanging on the line. While we were on a buggy ride through the countryside, our "wagon driver" was a girl in her mid-twenties who had returned from college to help her family's buggy business during her summer break. She had grown up in a Mennonite family in that area, and was the only person in her family to have ever gone to high-school or college. It was interesting to hear her speak of her childhood and how her family was supporting her decision to not join the church and to live away from home. She was explaining to us the differences between the 3 religious groups who occupy the area. Although they may all dress similarly and drive buggies, they have very distinct differences. It was so interesting to learn about something that we have never been exposed to.

We had a great time on our trip, but we are so very glad to be home. It took me 2 full days to feel rested. We packed all of these activities within a period of 5 days (we had no down time). Jack became ill on the last day of our trip, which made the journey home that much more difficult to bear. Did I mention that we were glad to be back home??? By the way, Jack has recovered.

We got Tagged!

2008-08-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

OK, Sarah just tagged me so we will play along. However, we are new to this blogging adventure and do not have many friends to tag back...so we wont. HaHa. Since this blog is about Jack and I, we figured that we would share the "tagging" responsibilities. Here are our 6 uninteresting facts about ourselves. Enjoy!

1. Jack loves video games. We recently added another guitar to the Guitar Hero games and we have a great time challenging our friends that come over to visit. He is really good, and very competitive. It's pretty funny to watch him get upset over his performance. Jack is currently playing his newest video game "Soul Caliber IV". He is shouting out his fun facts during his battle sequences as I am writing this blog.

2. I have a bit of OCD. It really is just bad enough to be irritating. For example, I have this obsession with counting. Floor tiles, windows, or lines on a wall. It really is anything that my eyes happen to fall upon when I'm bored. I always count in twos as well. If something comes out odd, I will count them again in different ways, including other things around it to obtain an even, number in the tenth position. I know, I'm crazy...tell me something that I don't know!

3. Jack is a bit of a candy'aholic. He used to have a candy drawer at his office, but has since removed in preparation for his wedding tux. I have recently put out a jar of Jelly Belly's, which was left over from the wedding, in the living room and I have to refill in at least once a week. Those are Jack's favorite.

4. I am a little bit of a shopaholic. I love to browse stores and chit chat with friends. I even love to shop alone. However, I rarely buy things that are full price. I love finding those treasures in the clearance racks and isles!

5. Jack is the fastest walker I have ever met. He just starts walking and doesn't even realize that the rest of his group is a block behind him. I hold his hand everywhere we go, not necessarily because it is romantic, but out of necessity to not loose him in a crowd. :)

6. I adore getting pampered! I try to get mani and pedis every chance I get. I often have so much going on, that it is such a treat to just slow down and really have time for myself. I believe that it recharges me and makes me be a better woman and wife.

I'm bloggin

2008-07-28T13:46:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Sarah talked me into creating this blog to keep everyone updated on my newly married life. Jack said that he was excited to also participate...well see if I even give him this address ;) Please excuse the "proof" wedding pictures, but those are the ones that I have at this moment. I'll continue adding new pictures from the wedding as I receive them.

Married life has been great! I am just so excited that the planning is done and I can work on relaxing a bit before I go back to work next month. We are still in this transitional stage, as many newlyweds are. I am currently in the process of moving into Jack's fully furnished house. I am slowly merging our belongings and am looking forward for the day when I feel like it's "our" home.

We recently returned from our honeymoon in Hawaii, which was fantastic. We spent the first 3 days in Kauai for Katie and Trevor's beautiful wedding. They were married in the Fern Grotto, which was breathtaking. We had such a great time. We then ventured to Maui for our honeymoon. Our goal was to relax and be on our own time schedule. We were in the ocean every chance we got. We did some shopping, went to a show, drove to Hana, and went on a breathtaking sunset cruise. We had such a great time and I didn't want to come back home!

If you look closely, you can see that our teeth
are green from the frosting of the groom's cake.

As you can see to the right, the Fern Grotto on Kauai is stunning. The wedding reflected Katie and Trevor's relaxed and elegant style. The wedding guest boarded a boat which took us to the Fern Grotto. While on the boat, we were treated to live music and a hula dancer as we coasted along the historic river. Following the ceremony, we boarded the boat and toasted the happy couple. We then proceeded to a luau for the reception and enjoyed a great Polynesian show.

Jack is bringing a little Hawaiian hospitality to the mainland

Who couldn't be peaceful in such a stunning place?!

Our trip to Hana was fantastic! I had been to Hana about 11 years ago for my high-school senior trip. Now it was Jack's turn to experience it's beauty. Jack convinced me that we should take a tour and get a little history of the area from the expert, rather than driving ourselves. The drive up is very tumultuous and he didn't want either of us to have to negotiate the thin mountain roads. He was right, it was so much more fun and we saw things that I missed on my last visit to Hana. The picture to the right is a shot from that trip, we had the best banana bread at that little town! It was so good that I bought their mix so we could enjoy it at home as well.

This is the view from our condo...not too shabby!

We had such a great time on our sunset cruise. The sailboat picked us up in Ka'anapali and it was quite an adventure boarding the boat. We had to run up the ladder from the beach before the waves clobbered us. I wasn't fast enough and got soaked. We enjoyed cocktails and appetizers as we sailed along the coastline and watched the beautiful sunset. It was the most romantic thing. This cruise will certainly be on our list of must-do's for our next trip. Dramamine was a life saver.

Isn't my hubby a hunk!