Birthday Present

My mom told me she wanted to get this key holder off my wist for me, but the shipping would have taken too long so yesterday, we went up to Anthropologie to pick one up. It was much larger than I thought it was, but I still love it. And it actually worked out well because Anthropologie actually sent me a birthday coupon, so I got 15% off and didn't have to worry about shipping. We hung it here in the little nook by the kitchen.

A Busy September

I can't believe that September has already nearly passed. After seeing Andy and Tine we got unfortunate news that my grandpa had passed away and we flew home for 2 days to see family, and attend the visitation and funeral. While Josh and I were heading back to Minnesota, Steve and Deb were on there way out for a visit, so we hurried back to spend some much needed fun times with them.

Last Friday we drove down to Santa Cruz and Josh and Steve tried surfing. They were pretty good and had a great time.

Then Saturday we spend the day driving. First the 17-Mile Drive, then we continued down the coast and got as far as Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. The scenery was gorgeous.

Sunday, we finished up our adventure with a trip to the aquarium. My favorite were the otters, but we also saw seahorses, jellies, birds, sharks, starfish and other various sea life.

Frisco Friends

We'd been looking forward to Andy and Tine's visit since they told us earlier this summer they were coming out, so when Saturday rolled around, we couldn't wait to get down to SF. Since the Bay Bridge was closed (for construction) it took us a little longer than normal to get there, but we got to spend plenty of quality time walking, talking, eating and drinking together. They were also nice enough to let us stay with them in their room Saturday night, so we could stay out late.

This was the crazy sunrise we woke up to. We were on the 24th floor with a great view of downtown and Union Square. It was foggy but the sun was able to peek in before the fog totally took over.

Champions of Finance Award

Last week Josh found out he was nominated for a Champions of Finance Award. He found out today he was nominated by his boss for his Risk & Opportunities model. The winners will be announced in October and if Josh gets one of the 6-8 awards (out of 70ish nominees) he would get $500 and a cool trophy for his desk. Of course, he would never post this himself, but I'm proud of him, so I thought I would.

Weekend Activities

I had been hearing about the California State Garage Sale (the actual state government) so Friday I decided to check it out. They were selling mostly old wooden furniture from the 70s, repo cars and older computers. While I was snooping through some of the drawers of cabinets I found this little card catalog. There wasn't a sticker so I got it for only $3!

Then, Saturday we spend nearly all day at the United Way Golf Tournament that General Mills was sponsoring. Josh played and I volunteered.

Today we packed up or bikes and headed up to the American River. There are 22 miles of path going from Downtown Sac all the way out to Folsom. No, we didn't ride the whole path.

Cabin Fever

This weekend we went with some friends up to a house we rented near Lake Tahoe. We were on Serene Lakes in Soda Springs. It was so much less crowded and more quiet than Tahoe, and our house was awesome. We had 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, game room, kayaks and a canoe to use at the lake.

Here's a picture of all of us. We stayed with Kyan & Lisa, and Colleen & Kirk.


At the lake we got to hang out at the beach, kayak, canoe, sunbathe, shade-bathe, and swim. It was so fun to get away from Sacramento for the weekend and smell the fresh mountain air.

Back to Minnesota

I just booked our flights for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We'll be home Nov 19-27 and Dec 23-Jan 3. Mark your calendars!