More fun in the Buff

Question: What could make an awesome trip even better?

Answer: A cute, little fattie and another sister!!!

Sary and Cal joined us a few days after I arrived. Don't ask me how this is even possible, but he has gotten cuter! Don't believe me?

Bet you do now! I know I am making a weird face but doesn't he look precious? We took this picture to highlight the cool shoes I bought Cal. What a stud.

The only downside is that they brought the heat with them. I swear it was a billion degrees in the Buff and Rachel's apartment isn't air conditioned--YIKES! Needless to say, that made us all a little grumpy and obsessed with finding things to cool us off and get out of that apartment.

We . . .
1. went on a scenic boat cruise on Lake Erie and the Erie Canal and then ate frozen custard and yaked on the pier.

Cal was fussy with us

but content with Ryan. That seemed to be the pattern for the whole trip.

It was there that I discovered that a sure way to make Cal laugh is to hold him up over your head.
Unfortunately, THIS is an all-too-frequent side effect.

2. got haircuts together and then spent the day shopping on a cute little street in Downtown. (Very Steel Magnolias-esque if you ask me.) But no pics to show for it. Boo.

3. had a picnic in the park. 4. Met some famous people--went out for BBQ with Deb and made breakfast with the Lemons. If you want the full scoop on these peeps, follow the links to Rachel's blog. (Highly amusing!)
And of course, we spent a lot of time just cooing over Cal and catching up. What a fun trip! I miss my sissies already!!!

While I was in the Buff . . .

Last week I got to spend the whole week with my sissies in Buffalo. Funnest! (Rachie calls it "the buff" and it makes for some pretty funny/seemingly awkward statements--see above.) We don't get to see each other nearly as often as we would like, so we had to make the most of it. It was an action packed week!

The first few days I got Rach all to myself. So fun! I also adore Ryan, so it was fun to have him come along.

We . . .

1. Went to see a Shakespeare play in the park. It started to rain quite heavily halfway through, but it was still fun to sit there all wet and enjoy. We did wuss out and leave at intermission though. Can you blame us? I don't love Julius Caesar that much.

2. Went to Palmyra to see the many important church history sites there and go to the beautiful temple. It was very special to be in the place where Joseph Smith prayed and saw God and Jesus Christ.

3. Went to the drive-in movie and saw what was quite possibly the worst movie I have ever seen--G Force. Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT believe the hype. It is atrocious. But snooging in a truck bed filled with an air mattress and tons of blankets and pillows made up for it.

4. Went to Niagara Falls. It was SO COOL in person. I was amazed by all the electricity in the air and the mist it creates. By the time we left, it seriously looked like we had just stepped out of the shower.


5. Went to a quaint little town called Niagara on the Lake in Canada to do some window shopping and see an obscure musical. So charming! We also gorged ourselves on pastries from the local bakery. Yum!

As you can see, I am highly impressed by Ry's guns. Meow!

I really lucked out in the sister department. Don't you think? Love ya, sis! Thanks for a great trip.

Stayed tuned for Part 2 . . . Someone pretty darn cute joined us.

Why I hate the library

I got into a habit in high school of wanting to buy all of my books rather than checking them out from the library. I love to write in my books (yes, even my novels) and make them my own. (Don't worry, Sam likes to inform me how dorky this is!) But I often end up buying books that aren't that good and then wishing I had spent that $15 on something I wanted to re-read. That in mind, I decided to start using the library again when we moved to San Diego. And now I remember why I made the conversion to begin with.

I am very involved in Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children when I receive that annoying email--"You're materials are due in two days." What?!? I can't finish this 550 page, beast of a novel in two days! But then I see that wonderful link at the bottom of the email--"Click here to renew." Phew! I can renew it. Until I click the life-saving button only to discover that there is a hold placed on the book and I have no choice but to turn it in. So my options are these: pay a fine for each day it takes me to finish it or just go to the bookstore and buy it. Grr. Should have just bought it in the first place!

A stroll in the park

We love living so close to Balboa Park! It is very pleasant to take evening strolls together after Sam gets done with work. The park has free concerts every week night and we have had fun going (even though it is usually clear from the quality of the band why it is free--case in point, a bunch of old men in Hawaiian shirts jammin' on guitars).

One cool area of the park is the cactus/desert plant garden. The plants look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book!
There is also a spectacular rose garden with HUGE roses in all different, crazy colors. (I am not at ALL a nature photographer, but you get the point of the unusual colors)

Nice shootin' Tex

Prepare to be shocked:

I, Laura, the avid anti-gun person who swears there will never be a gun in my house, went shooting. Sam has a shooting qualification test next week, so he had to go to a shooting range once to practice (and I got dragged along). Now, since I know you are all wondering, I wasn't converted by any means, but it was kinda fun. I almost peed my pants when we first walked in because it was SO loud, but I got used to that. I never, however, really got over my trepidation of touching the gun.

Don't I look like a she-beast? (That is one of my friend's made up words to describe really manish women)

We call him the Terminator.

It may look like I am aiming . . .

but apparently not! I was not the best shot.

My new favorite treat

If there is one thing all Westover women lack, it is self control. We are constantly GORGING ourselves on sweets--brownies, cookie dough you put in the freezer hoping that out of sight will be out of mind, fruit snacks for the nursery kids on Sunday . . . you get the picture. Well my latest junk food obsession is chocolate covered almonds. Something about the roasted nut dipped in rich milk chocolate is just SO addicting. I keep buying these big jars from Costco (even though every time I say it is the last one I will ever purchase) and then making Sam hide them from me so I don't eat all 3 lbs on my own.

Well yesterday I was feeling especially motivated in the fitness department, so after my usual cardio at the gym, I came home and put on a toning video. As I suffered through countless sit-ups, I saw something gleaming, calling to me from under the couch . . . a lid. I found them!!! So what do you think happened next? I ditched the sit-ups and dug in! Mmmm . . . delicious. I should do sit-ups more often!

Coldplay

I definitely go on blogging kicks. I will have weeks where I want to post but have nothing to say, and then really fun weeks when I just don't feel like posting. Well, last week was one of those fun weeks and I am still trying to play catch up. So be prepared for a few post right in a row.

Last Thursday we went to the Coldplay concert! We both really love the band and were pumped to see affordable tickets. We had to sit on the lawn at the very back of the amphitheatre, but it was nice to have room to stretch out and relax. It was made even better when Coldplay came back to us! I have never seen a band do that before but it was a thrill for those of us at the back (especially the annoying high school groupies and drunk college students back there with us). We saw the technies preparing an area with guitars and stuff only about ten feet away from us, so we had to brace ourselves to be tramped. We were dead right. After being smashed, shoved, and having to punch some girl in the butt, we found a place to breathe. But here is our proof:

You can see sweat pouring down Chris Martin's face. Eww.

Just in case anyone reading this is a fan, here is a clip.

Take me out to the ballgame

Sam was pumped to go to the Padres game last weekend and so was I. Why would I be interested in a long, boring baseball game, you might ask? One word . . . churros. I have a weakness for those delicious, cinnamon covered, deep fried goodies. They didn't have any at the concession stand near our seats, so I pouted through several innings until Sam went on a search to find me one. He took one bite, shook his head, and said, "I don't know why you think those are so good." Mmmmm . . . more for me.

Don't we look like fans? Sam found these "vintage" Padres shirts online.

I guess I should mention that my second favorite part of the game was the view. The park is RIGHT downtown and near the water--gorgeous!

Our "wild" andventures

For my bridal shower in Provo, Sarah put together one of those videos where she asked Sam questions and recorded his answers in advance, and I had to guess his answers before they showed the video. Well, I am proud to say that I got them all right except the question, "What is Sam's dream job?" I said (very confidently too) to be captain of a ship. WRONG. His answer? A zookeeper. Um, excuse me? Apparently he is more of a closet zoo fanatic that he owns up to.

Well we now live one block from the San Diego Zoo, and Sam is in heaven. One of the first things he wanted to do was buy season passes. We have had fun going for just a few hours in the evenings when it is less hot and crowded. My favorites are the koalas--don't they look so snuggly? Cutest.Our memberships also get us into the Wild Animal Park, another zoo-ish place in Escondido where they try to make it more safari-esque. They mix some animals together in wide open areas and you ride around on a little train. I went a few weeks ago with Amber and her boys, and it was pretty neat. However, after being on a real safari, it is a bit of a let down. I mean seriously, that is a tough act to follow.

Somehow this . . .

Just can't compare to this!

Online Photo Class

My sickening sister-in-law told me about a free online photography class, and I decided to give it a try. It teaches you how to manipulate your photos using photoshop tricks. Now these are just my first attempts and since I just have the free trial photoshop, I don't have many options for brushes, frames, and whatnot. But it is fun! Maybe I will get hooked . . .

Day 1: Adding a frame and word art

Day 2: Adding a brush (although I don't know why they don't call it a stamp--that's all it is)

Day 3: Creating a vintage look with sepia and hand tinting

BEFORE . . .

AFTER . . .

Funnest.