Boxes, Tape, Sharpie

We're moving in about a month give or take a few days. I'm super excited. We aren't moving far; 15 miles. Lately, we've been getting the feeling that we need to live closer to public transportation (BART), get a cheaper apartment, and having the itch for a change. Trust me both Romulo and I growing up had a lot of experience in the area of moving and we both are pretty much experts. Romulo's family has moved something like 30 times in the last 35 years. I'm sure that is under estimating it. And my family moved pretty much every 2 years. But besides those experiences going up we both hate moving. This decision to move wasn't easy since we've really come to love San Ramon. But Walnut Creek is a super cute town and has lots to do.
So, with the move and all coming up I decided to get a jump start on things since I'm home all the time now and not having to worry about killing myself between work and packing. Today, I found myself having to go to Home Depot twice and each time I got a good laugh. Like for instance, who brings little bag size dogs with them to a Home Depot. And the dog's owner wasn't some California Bleach Blonde lady. The owner was a 70 year old man. I don't know maybe it wouldn't be funny to you but for me it was! The stereo type for small dogs little ladies isn't so true here at San Ramon's Home Depot.

Time Sure Does Fly

It's amazing how time just flies by. Just last April/May Romulo was finishing up school and graduation. I thought that time would never come and sure enough we are a year out of school and enjoying the "career life".

I almost forgot...

that we visited Sausalito, Ca, watched the sea lions along Pier 39, all road BART into SF, drove over 4 bridges (Bay Bridge, Golden Gate, San Mateo, and Richmond/San Rafael Bridge), and took in the view of both Oakland and SF from the Oakland Temple grounds. It was amazing how cloudy it was up in the Oakland Hills but clear blue skies over Oakland and SF.
Oakland and SF in the background behind Mom and Dad.
SF behind parents on the Sausalito side.
The playful and noisy sea lions.

Only in Your Dreams

My oldest sister Sarah a long time ago found this French Country Store that she fell in love with and made us all fall in love with. Well in Carmel-by-the-sea there is a store for Pierre Deux. We only could dream of buying anything from this store. My mom and I jumped to the opportunity to actually walk through the store, feel the fabrics, and have our mouths drop at the beauty. We could only imagine since we only get the magazines!
Sarah these pictures are for you! Enjoy! And yes, everything is worth every penny!

Luke I am your father...

Easton this is for you! May the force be with you! We love you both Hudson and Easton.If you believe it or not, these are nutcrackers for Christmas!

SF loves Mom & Dad

Last week I had the opportunity to have my parents come visit us. I was excited to be able to show them around "our town" and have time to be their tour guide in SF. Since Romulo and I first came to SF for his internship (Summer '07) I've been making mental and actual lists of things to do when my parents were to come. But my parents had a list of their own and we were able to combine our lists and get it all done in a week! Busy week it was!
We were able to visit:
Redwoods National Park near Santa Cruz
Carmel-by-the-Sea
Monterey
Santa Cruz boardwalk
take a tour bus around SF
walk the Golden Gate Bridge
drive and walk up Lombard Street multiple times
visit the At&t baseball park where the Giants play
visit Golden Gate Park and walk thru the Japanese Tea Garden
visit Napa and tour a real castle
spend lots of time analyzing the Painted Ladies
walk thru - shop- and eat at Chinatown
drive along the CA 1 highway
stop and visit the Pigeon Point Lighthouse
hang on the side of a cable car
visit the Fisherman's Wharf multiple times
died at Ghiradelli Square
walked Haight/Ashbury street
enjoyed a lovely morning session at the Oakland Temple
and did lots of laughing, teasing, and sharing!
Enjoy the pictures below. (Oh by the way Dad, I took 1017 pictures through out the week!)

Time with my Parents

Lighthouse along CA Highway 1
Parents at Japanese Tea Garden. They love looking at plants.
Mom and Dad visiting the Haight/Ashbury Street. The street they heard about ever since they were teenagers.
Romulo, Dad, and Mom at the Willie Mays statute at AT&T Park.
A cable car along Lombard Street.
Parents at the bottom of Lombard. We first drove down it, parked at the top, walked down and up, and then drove back down it. I tried to count the steps along the left side of the street (if walking up along the left) and if I counted right there are 244 steps.
Parents along a path at the lighthouse.
Parents first sight of the Redwoods.
Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Monterey's Canning.
Monterey's old Fisherman's Wharf.
The beach at Carmel-by-the-Sea. So beautiful.
The Golden Gate Bridge right before we walked across it. Oh and the correct color of the bridge is International Orange.
Mom and Dad at the famous Painted Ladies. I remember growing up and watching TV shows with my mom about the "Sisters" and how the use of paint.
Hope you enjoyed the picture post! I'll be putting up more in the future!

Where's the LOVE?

So I guess I will just post and let you ALL know we're fine! This morning around 10:30ish there was a 4.3 earthquake that I totally felt! I was at work and totally felt the building move and my chair actually rolled a little to the right! I looked around to try to see others reaction but I guess they are seasoned and didn't feel anything. I even emailed Romulo and asked if it was an earthquake or I was just crazy; but nope he didn't feel a darn thing! C'mon I'm not crazy. And sure enough 30 minutes later the news broke that an earthquake hit the Bay Area. Thank you; point proven not crazy! 2nd earthquake to survive through. I'm sure my parents will love knowing this since they are supposed to come visit us next week! Welcome to sunny California!

We had the best time...

this week. Sissi, Stephen, and little Ethan came and visited us from SLC, Ut. Stephen is at the U and it was his spring break so they decided to come visit us for 4 days. The visit was fun and laid back. Even though I still had to work Romulo was able to work from home for a few hours each morning. We were still able to go to Fisherman's Wharf, visit our jobs in the Financial District, visit the Henry Cowell Redwood Forest near Santa Cruz, and of course Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz was a little chilly but still fun to be able to walk the boardwalk and pier. At Fisherman's Wharf we ate at the 70+ year old restaurant, Franciscan. I will need to post some pictures later of our fun time.

Thanks...

for all the wonderful book recommendations! I will check these out soon; after I finish "Three Cups of Tea".