Sorry the video is shaky at first, I was being pummelled by a wave.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
More Family Time!
Dan's parents came to visit us for a week, and we loved having them here! Dan & I had to work all week, unfortunately, but they got to see what a normal work week looks like for us, and had plenty of time to tour San Diego during the days. They made time to pick one of us up for lunch each day, though, and it was really fun having them at home every night when we got off work!
When the weekend finally arrived, we took Dan's mom out for a belated Mother's Day celebration at the Cheesecake Factory (obviously she is a woman after my own heart). We kept Saturday and Sunday laid back with shopping, walking on the beach & the bay, touring Old Town, church, and of course afternoon naps. :) Dan played roller hockey on Sunday night, and I think it was the first hockey game they'd seen him play besides the street hockey games he played with neighborhood kids growing up.
They're hoping to visit us again in the fall, and we can't wait!
Mother's Day meal at the Cheesecake Factory 
Shopping at Old Town for...um...cow's feet???
Dan playing hockey (in the center). I tried taking pictures of him when he was really in action, but he was too fast for our camera & looked blurry in the pictures!Friday, May 14, 2010
Prom Night
A hot guy asked me to prom this year, so I said yes. It's still surprisingly fun, but an altogether different experience for us now.
Debby getting ready for Prom - 1995: "Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!! Prom is FINALLY HERE!! I should've gotten my nails done yesterday - how will I EVER get ready in only 4 hours? Sooooo nervous! I hope my nail appt. doesn't make me late to my hair appt., because then I...Oh.No. IS THAT A ZIT???" (you get the picture - hours of endless angst and frantic rushing around)
Debby getting ready for Prom - 2010: "Ugggh. Prom's tonight, isn't it. (Digs through closet for faithful black dress) Hang on, give me 15 mins to do something to my hair. You wanna grab fast food for dinner on the way?"
Dan getting ready for Prom - 2010: "I would rather have a root canal than go to this thing. Next year, somebody else is going." (He says that every year)
But we did have a lot of fun and Dan loves seeing his high schoolers have a great time together. The kids looked great, the venue was beautiful, the music was loud, I wasn't voted prom queen (still mad), Dan danced the Electric Slide and showed those kids how it was done, and a good time was had by all.
Prom 2010
Debby getting ready for Prom - 1995: "Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!! Prom is FINALLY HERE!! I should've gotten my nails done yesterday - how will I EVER get ready in only 4 hours? Sooooo nervous! I hope my nail appt. doesn't make me late to my hair appt., because then I...Oh.No. IS THAT A ZIT???" (you get the picture - hours of endless angst and frantic rushing around)
Debby getting ready for Prom - 2010: "Ugggh. Prom's tonight, isn't it. (Digs through closet for faithful black dress) Hang on, give me 15 mins to do something to my hair. You wanna grab fast food for dinner on the way?"
Dan getting ready for Prom - 2010: "I would rather have a root canal than go to this thing. Next year, somebody else is going." (He says that every year)
But we did have a lot of fun and Dan loves seeing his high schoolers have a great time together. The kids looked great, the venue was beautiful, the music was loud, I wasn't voted prom queen (still mad), Dan danced the Electric Slide and showed those kids how it was done, and a good time was had by all.
Prom 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Seven Years and Counting
This Monday, Dan & I celebrated our 7th anniversary! Seven years! Wow, that's a long time ... er, I mean, boy does time fly when you're madly in love! :) Honestly, I think we've had the closest thing to a 7-year honeymoon that's possible, and we're so thankful because we know it's all because of God's grace. Not that we haven't had our down times, but maybe they haven't seemed so bad because we've always been in each other's corner, offering support and creative ideas to make things better. But as much as we cherish one another, we don't depend on each other for ultimate purpose, security, or love. God is the only one who can meet all our needs, and knowing that sure takes a lot of pressure off our relationship!
Dan's much more of a visionary than I am, and he's occasionally said that he envisioned his life a lot differently than it's turned out so far. Reading between the lines, he obviously means "I had a really boring life planned until I met you and it took a turn towards AMAZING!" :) I, on the other hand, am neither visionary nor reflective by nature. I live in the present and think about the present, plus or minus 6 months or so. But we both rest securely in the knowledge that we were designed for each other, and that God has brought us through the past 7 years to develop us individually and together as husband and wife. We're exactly where He wants us to be today, and it feels perfect.
A little of this...
And a little of that...
= an awesome 7th anniversary celebration!
Dan's much more of a visionary than I am, and he's occasionally said that he envisioned his life a lot differently than it's turned out so far. Reading between the lines, he obviously means "I had a really boring life planned until I met you and it took a turn towards AMAZING!" :) I, on the other hand, am neither visionary nor reflective by nature. I live in the present and think about the present, plus or minus 6 months or so. But we both rest securely in the knowledge that we were designed for each other, and that God has brought us through the past 7 years to develop us individually and together as husband and wife. We're exactly where He wants us to be today, and it feels perfect.
A little of this...
And a little of that...
= an awesome 7th anniversary celebration!
The day that started it all.
Our friend's kid who's blowing bubbles in the background has his driver's license now. sigh.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Michigan & Canada Trip
Dan's spring break started last week, and never wanting to waste an opportunity to travel, we headed to Michigan and Toronto. My brother, Steve, has been working on his PhD at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for the past few years, and it was high time we paid him a visit! Since he works during the week, we spent our first few days touring Toronto. Toronto is a huge city, and yet somehow they've managed to keep it clean, well-maintained, and safe. We decided that they must kill all the lawbreakers, but hey whatever - it's working for them. Nobody even jaywalked there, except of course the man I love with all my heart who will never quite get New York out of his blood. :)
The weather was surprisingly beautiful during our visit, which we took full advantage of since our hotel was within walking distance of most of the sights we wanted to see. We hiked a lot, but it was tons better than fighting traffic and paying for parking everywhere. We fit a lot into our three days there, and then took a quick 24-hour trip to the Niagara Falls/Buffalo area so we could squeeze in a Sabres hockey game. We spent the night at Niagara Falls, and I tried my darndest to get one of those rooms with the heart-shaped tubs, but the honeymooners were too quick for me.
We finally met up with Steve and his sweet girlfriend, Sheila, on Wed. night to see the Red Wings game and then drove back to Ann Arbor to spend the rest of the week with them. It was great to see where Steve's been living and working, and Ann Arbor seems like the perfect college town for him. The town is small but very cute, and the college is great about bringing quality entertainment to the students on campus. While Steve was working one day, Dan and I took a few hours to drive around the surrounding area to see the countryside and a couple of other small towns. Michigan is truly a lovely state, and I imagine that it's breathtaking in the summer and fall when the trees are at their peak.
We had a great time at all the places we visited, but the highlight was getting to spend time with Steve in his home town and getting to know him & Sheila as a couple. Well, Dan would say the highlight was the Hockey Hall of Fame, so I'll throw that in for good measure. Below are some of our favorite pictures - enjoy!
A view of downtown Toronto from the Harbourfront, where we stayed. I loved being within walking distance of the major sights! 
First things first - we went straight to the Air Canada Centre to buy tickets for the hockey game that night!
At the Maple Leafs vs. Bruins game
Our second night in Toronto, we saw a comedy show at The Second City, which helped some famous Canadians launch their careers, including Mike Myers, Dan Aykroyd, and Martin Short.
Dan's favorite shrine - the Hockey Hall of Fame
This is my favorite photo of the trip - look how excited he is! He probably could've spent all day gazing at the Stanley Cup, but there was always a line of people waiting to take pictures.
They had a life-size game where you shot against a virtual goalie. Debby=2, Goalie=3. Stupid goalie.
The NY Islanders' championship corner - and their #1 fan
Casa Loma - a huge castle that was built by a rich guy in the heart of the city, and then he went broke and it became a museum.
The Royal Ontario Museum
The historic Distillery District - where an abandoned distillery was renovated into fancy shops & restaurants
On the warmest day, we drove to beautiful Scarborough Bluffs
On our last morning in Toronto, we visited St. Lawrence Market, which is a vegan's nightmare. Meat & cheese shops everywhere!! mmmm...meat.
We bought breakfast at the Carousel Bakery, home of the "famous peameal bacon sandwiches".
So delicious!
After Toronto, we drove to Buffalo, NY and ate dinner at this cute place before the hockey game
We tried "beef on weck" - a northern NY tradition. Incredible roast beef on a kummelweck roll. The roll is topped by kosher salt, and the sandwich is surrounded by side items soaked in as much vinegar as you can tolerate. My blood pressure is rising just thinking about it.
Heading into the Sabres vs. Rangers game. We weren't as much Sabres fans as we were Rangers-haters that night.
A quick photo of Niagara Falls during our 15 minutes of clear weather! It was a rainy, foggy day.
We also took a drive to charming Niagara-on-the-Lake
We met Steve and Sheila at the Detroit vs. Blue Jackets game before heading to Ann Arbor for the next few days
The University of Michigan campus is beautiful! This is the Philosophy building where Steve works.
My little brother is a professor. weird.
Cubicle with a view
Meeting up for a hearty breakfast. Man, we ate well on this trip!
University of Michigan has lots of art around campus - but this sculpture is also a giant swing! Abstract, yet functional.
The weather was surprisingly beautiful during our visit, which we took full advantage of since our hotel was within walking distance of most of the sights we wanted to see. We hiked a lot, but it was tons better than fighting traffic and paying for parking everywhere. We fit a lot into our three days there, and then took a quick 24-hour trip to the Niagara Falls/Buffalo area so we could squeeze in a Sabres hockey game. We spent the night at Niagara Falls, and I tried my darndest to get one of those rooms with the heart-shaped tubs, but the honeymooners were too quick for me.
We finally met up with Steve and his sweet girlfriend, Sheila, on Wed. night to see the Red Wings game and then drove back to Ann Arbor to spend the rest of the week with them. It was great to see where Steve's been living and working, and Ann Arbor seems like the perfect college town for him. The town is small but very cute, and the college is great about bringing quality entertainment to the students on campus. While Steve was working one day, Dan and I took a few hours to drive around the surrounding area to see the countryside and a couple of other small towns. Michigan is truly a lovely state, and I imagine that it's breathtaking in the summer and fall when the trees are at their peak.
We had a great time at all the places we visited, but the highlight was getting to spend time with Steve in his home town and getting to know him & Sheila as a couple. Well, Dan would say the highlight was the Hockey Hall of Fame, so I'll throw that in for good measure. Below are some of our favorite pictures - enjoy!
A view of downtown Toronto from the Harbourfront, where we stayed. I loved being within walking distance of the major sights! 
First things first - we went straight to the Air Canada Centre to buy tickets for the hockey game that night!
At the Maple Leafs vs. Bruins game
Our second night in Toronto, we saw a comedy show at The Second City, which helped some famous Canadians launch their careers, including Mike Myers, Dan Aykroyd, and Martin Short.
Dan's favorite shrine - the Hockey Hall of Fame 
This is my favorite photo of the trip - look how excited he is! He probably could've spent all day gazing at the Stanley Cup, but there was always a line of people waiting to take pictures.
They had a life-size game where you shot against a virtual goalie. Debby=2, Goalie=3. Stupid goalie.
The NY Islanders' championship corner - and their #1 fan
Casa Loma - a huge castle that was built by a rich guy in the heart of the city, and then he went broke and it became a museum.
The Royal Ontario Museum
The historic Distillery District - where an abandoned distillery was renovated into fancy shops & restaurants
On the warmest day, we drove to beautiful Scarborough Bluffs
On our last morning in Toronto, we visited St. Lawrence Market, which is a vegan's nightmare. Meat & cheese shops everywhere!! mmmm...meat.
We bought breakfast at the Carousel Bakery, home of the "famous peameal bacon sandwiches".
So delicious!
After Toronto, we drove to Buffalo, NY and ate dinner at this cute place before the hockey game
We tried "beef on weck" - a northern NY tradition. Incredible roast beef on a kummelweck roll. The roll is topped by kosher salt, and the sandwich is surrounded by side items soaked in as much vinegar as you can tolerate. My blood pressure is rising just thinking about it.
Heading into the Sabres vs. Rangers game. We weren't as much Sabres fans as we were Rangers-haters that night.
A quick photo of Niagara Falls during our 15 minutes of clear weather! It was a rainy, foggy day.
We also took a drive to charming Niagara-on-the-Lake
We met Steve and Sheila at the Detroit vs. Blue Jackets game before heading to Ann Arbor for the next few days
The University of Michigan campus is beautiful! This is the Philosophy building where Steve works.
My little brother is a professor. weird.
Cubicle with a view
Meeting up for a hearty breakfast. Man, we ate well on this trip!
University of Michigan has lots of art around campus - but this sculpture is also a giant swing! Abstract, yet functional.Sunday, March 21, 2010
Take Me Out to the Hockey Game
This weekend was Dan's dream come true - his favorite hockey team, the NY Islanders, came to CA to play the Anaheim Ducks and the L.A. Kings. So guess who was at both games proudly supporting the enemy team? Friday's game against the Ducks was action-packed, but the Islanders lost in overtime, 5-4. We stayed the night up there and met some friends of ours, Trish, Briklyn, and their daughter Annabelle, for breakfast near Anaheim. The last time we saw them was at their baby shower before Annabelle was born, so it was fun to catch up with them and meet their sweet daughter in person!
After breakfast, we drove to L.A. and spent a few hours touring the downtown public library (we're complete nerds, I know) and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Actually, the library is very cool - it's humongous and they have a couple of small art galleries inside, plus murals and mosaics all over the walls and ceilings of each room. We stopped there because 1) it had super cheap parking and 2) we wanted to consult a tour book on L.A. to see if there was anything we shouldn't miss since we had the day there. Once we got inside we were so impressed, we toured the whole library before leaving. The tour book we found highly recommended a visit to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, which is a modern architectural masterpiece. We wanted to get an audio guide headset which would tell us about the history & construction of the building as we did a self-guided tour, but we missed the 2:00 deadline for audio guide rentals. So we toured it anyway and just made stuff up. :) The building has been featured in several movies, so it's a pretty well-known landmark in L.A. We saw "The Soloist" with Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx, and it played a huge part in that story.
We still had a few hours until the Sat. night game started, so we drove to Santa Monica where there's a famous pier with an amusement park, and the pedestrian-only 3rd Street Promenade. The Promenade is a lot like 16th Street Mall in Denver, with shops, restaurants, and tons of street performers. We spent a while walking around, ate some dinner, and headed back to L.A. for the Kings vs. Islanders game. Our friends, Dave and Cynthia, met us there, which was good for me because the game was boring, so at least I had Cynthia to talk to. L.A. scored one goal early in the 2nd period, and the Islanders lost again, 1-0. Oh well, we still had a great time making Dave & Cynthia nervous by cheering for the Islanders. They thought the L.A. fans would be less than civil to us for some reason - can't imagine why, since L.A. is known for its fine, upstanding citizens. :)
We had a great weekend, and we learned about some places in L.A. that we'd like to check out this summer when they have some outdoor concerts. I'm always up for new weekend getaway ideas!
Sporting orange & blue at the Anaheim/Islanders game
Our friends, Trish and Briklyn with their daughter, Annabelle
Making an absolutely necessary stop at this guy's favorite store in Anaheim, Hockey Giant
Some of the art & architecture inside the L.A. downtown library
Visiting the Walt Disney Concert Hall
A rooftop view of L.A. from the Concert Hall
The Walt Disney Concert Hall
L.A. has awesome, random artwork around town
A very foggy view of Santa Monica Pier (we decided to save it for another sunnier day)
Walking along Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade. If you click on it, you'll get to see a wacky guy doing yoga-body-art-poses ... or something. Everybody's a little wacky in L.A., though
Our friends, Dave & Cynthia, were a little embarrassed to be seen with the enemy at the Kings/Islanders game. There was no escaping, though, we had them surrounded! hahahaaaa!
After breakfast, we drove to L.A. and spent a few hours touring the downtown public library (we're complete nerds, I know) and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Actually, the library is very cool - it's humongous and they have a couple of small art galleries inside, plus murals and mosaics all over the walls and ceilings of each room. We stopped there because 1) it had super cheap parking and 2) we wanted to consult a tour book on L.A. to see if there was anything we shouldn't miss since we had the day there. Once we got inside we were so impressed, we toured the whole library before leaving. The tour book we found highly recommended a visit to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, which is a modern architectural masterpiece. We wanted to get an audio guide headset which would tell us about the history & construction of the building as we did a self-guided tour, but we missed the 2:00 deadline for audio guide rentals. So we toured it anyway and just made stuff up. :) The building has been featured in several movies, so it's a pretty well-known landmark in L.A. We saw "The Soloist" with Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx, and it played a huge part in that story.
We still had a few hours until the Sat. night game started, so we drove to Santa Monica where there's a famous pier with an amusement park, and the pedestrian-only 3rd Street Promenade. The Promenade is a lot like 16th Street Mall in Denver, with shops, restaurants, and tons of street performers. We spent a while walking around, ate some dinner, and headed back to L.A. for the Kings vs. Islanders game. Our friends, Dave and Cynthia, met us there, which was good for me because the game was boring, so at least I had Cynthia to talk to. L.A. scored one goal early in the 2nd period, and the Islanders lost again, 1-0. Oh well, we still had a great time making Dave & Cynthia nervous by cheering for the Islanders. They thought the L.A. fans would be less than civil to us for some reason - can't imagine why, since L.A. is known for its fine, upstanding citizens. :)
We had a great weekend, and we learned about some places in L.A. that we'd like to check out this summer when they have some outdoor concerts. I'm always up for new weekend getaway ideas!
Sporting orange & blue at the Anaheim/Islanders game
Our friends, Trish and Briklyn with their daughter, Annabelle
Making an absolutely necessary stop at this guy's favorite store in Anaheim, Hockey Giant
Some of the art & architecture inside the L.A. downtown library
Visiting the Walt Disney Concert Hall 
A rooftop view of L.A. from the Concert Hall 
The Walt Disney Concert Hall
L.A. has awesome, random artwork around town
A very foggy view of Santa Monica Pier (we decided to save it for another sunnier day)
Walking along Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade. If you click on it, you'll get to see a wacky guy doing yoga-body-art-poses ... or something. Everybody's a little wacky in L.A., though
Our friends, Dave & Cynthia, were a little embarrassed to be seen with the enemy at the Kings/Islanders game. There was no escaping, though, we had them surrounded! hahahaaaa!
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