one year!

well we've been together for five years now and been married for one year!  hard to believe how fast the time has flown by, and certainly this year in particular.  in the single year we've been married, mike was hired by costa mesa police department, sent to the oc sheriff's academy, lived in irvine during the week and in temecula on weekends, graduated from the academy and started his field training, i finally quit the winery, found a new job at surfrider foundation, and we moved to san clemente.  whew!  

anyway, our anniversary fell on a monday, so it was a little difficult to do much to celebrate that day since i had to work.  but, when i  got home, mike was cooking dinner and had some beautiful roses waiting for me.  he made fajitas which were REALLY good and then we watched 'what happens in vegas' which was a bday gift from sammy.  it was a good night.

in order to continue the celebration, we decided that we would use a gift certificate we got as a wedding gift and go to ruth's chris steakhouse for dinner.  i know, i know, you're all wondering why i would want to go to a steakhouse, but i was sure they had other things on their menu.  we got dressed up last night and made the trek to irvine which is the closest location to us.  our table wasn't ready right away so we had a nice drink at their bar and watched some of the red sox/rays game.  i ordered myself a frou-frou drink a pear twist martini made similar to a lemon drop.  the drink was so good and very crisp and refreshing!  (its so not like me to order these kinds of drinks and i even had a pomegranate martini the night before with the harveys).  it's fun every once in awhile and i guess it really makes it feel like a night on the town!  

we were seated to our table and had plenty of time to search through their menu.  they actually have a pretty good special where you have a four course meal for two for only $89!  but since we had a gift certificate we thought we'd order straight from the menu.  we started off with some seared ahi tuna -- one of my favorite things!  we each ordered a salad and mike got a chop salad without the bleu cheese of course and i got their tomato, mozzarella salad.  everything there is ordered a la carte so we got two side dishes, potatoes au gratin (yum) and french fried onion rings (yum).  mike ordered their filet and i ordered their stuffed chicken -- both of those were served on piping hot plates drenched in butter.  so fattening, but sooo good.  my chicken ended up being a WAY bigger portion than i anticipated and i think i only ate 1/4 of it.  i could barely stuff any more food into my belly!  mike was full too and we had to bring at least half the meal home with us.  

and to finish off the evening, they gave us one of their desserts on the house!  and the even wrapped it up to go.  i went for the cheesecake, but i haven't had a chance to eat it yet.  it looks just delicious!  i'll let everyone know how it is.  so after our huge meal, we ended up only shelling out about $25 for close to a $200 dinner.  not to shabby -- thanks to mike's probation friends enrique and kip for that one!

until next year...

here are all the wonderful flowers mike got me and all the nice cards we received from everyone.  the askanas-graul family (my mom's best friend since 6th grade) was thoughtful enough to buy a bottle of wine at the bernardo winery when we were there for the wedding and then mailed us the bottle for our anniversary!

here is mike the chef.  fajitas. ole.

our timed photo before leaving for dinner

our close up photo before dinner

this photo is a little dark but from back to front you can see the huge onion rings, mike's perfectly pink filet, the potatoes, and my huge chicken portion.

mike was really hungry!

this is after the meal.  we left with our doggie bags and with a food coma.

more birthday fun!

well, it was another exciting night with the harveys.  when you get those twins together there's no telling how hard you're going to laugh or how many times you are going to roll your eyes at their silly antics.  mike's oldest, little brother marshal came home for the weekend from college and it was the perfect time for everyone to get together.  he's going to lindenwood university in missouri to play baseball and is having fun, but needed a little taste of home to get him through until the holidays.  

we went to macaroni grill which is always yummy.  lots of filling pastas.  whitney and i got two dishes to share, but i'm pretty sure we could have shared on entree and still been full!  oh well.  i guess all those carbs will help with all the marathon training that i'm not doing right now.  oh well again.  

after dinner, we went back to the harveys for a little belated bday cake for all the girls (me, whiney, and allie all had birthdays toward the end of september and beginning of october).  then we got into a nice game of 'apples to apples' which always turns out to be a good time and plenty of laughs.  whoever thought that gold chains might be considered glorious (or not-so-glorious)?  good times.  

here are a few pictures from the night...

the brothers

the brothers being silly (no surprise)

the yummy birthday cake

and finally allie, me, and whit with our cake! blowing out the candles was funny because i'm pretty sure allie blew all of them out for us!

it's starting to feel like fall

after a few weeks of wonderfully warm weather in san clemente, it was nice to have a little cooler weather for a change.  since our apartment is up in the hills a little bit, we definitely get a nice and chilly ocean breeze.  we invited two of our temecula friends, scott and julie, up to see our new place and they brought along their adorable (and i will say it again, adorable) little one, scotty.  now that i think about it, it should be a given that they brought little scotty along, since he's only two months old.  soooo, i guess what i'm trying to say is that we invited all three to visit.  it was great to catch up and see how our old stomping grounds are holding up, even though we've only been out here for a few weeks.

we took our first little walking tour of downtown san clemente.  the area is really cute, but i'm pretty sure you have to be super wealthy to shop down there.  i guess i need to find the closest target, and fast.  there are antique shops and cute little restaurants along the main walk.   you can even bring souvenirs back to all your friends from england and denmark without ever leaving the country.  there is a british shop and it looks like they will be putting in a danish shop so that you can buy danish things (but don't be confused, they won't be selling pastries).  we ended up walking all the way down to the pier, but that meant that we had to walk all the way back up the hill afterward.  we were tired, but it was fun anyway.  i had the honors of pushing scotty's stroller while we walked along the pier.  pushing something with wheels along a pier makes you realize how uneven piers are.  it felt like i needed some shocks on that bad boy and it reminded me of the second ace ventura movie where jim carey is bouncing around in his jeep and singing 'chitty chitty bang bang.' oh man, good times.  don't worry though, little scotty wasn't in his stroller.  he got to take a little ride with dad in his 'baby bjorn' a little contraption that keeps him close to his dad's heart (or just strapped to his chest).  here are a couple pictures from the afternoon.

(sorry i don't have julie in any of them.  i wanted to have someone take a picture of us at the end of the pier, but it was pretty nippy and we turned right around.  definitely next time.)

here are the two boys pushing little scotty.  don't they make such a cute couple.  vote no on 8.

here's big scott and little scotty (sorry about the gust of wind that blew through right as i took the picture...sweet do)

here's mike and i with the pier in the background

what a pretty day to be in san clemente...

welcome to our home!

i know everyone has been on the edge of their seats just waiting to see the glorious photos that capture the essence of our new home.  well here they are...

if you are standing in our doorway, the following five pictures show you what you are looking at from left to right.

this is our couch (the big boxy thing at the bottom of the picture is shelby's crate)

this is our tv, filing cabinet, and desk (thank goodness it all fit on one wall)

this is our hallway (i know it's the nicest one you've ever seen)

this is our counter, microwave, fridge, cabinets, and all the other stuff that belongs in a kitchen

this is our dining room (sorry the picture is a little dark)

this is our very small bedroom (what you are looking at is about all that fits in the room)

this is our very handy and convenient stackable washer/dryer

this is our closet (stuffed to very brim)

and the moment you've all been waiting for...

this is our lovely bathroom!

that's all for now...

bday fun!

with everything that has been going on, i kinda almost forgot that my birthday was coming.  we've been dealing with the move and our house in temecula and then all of a sudden...bam...september 30th was here!  i had to work of course, but it was a beautiful, hot, sunny day in san clemente.  i got to bring shelby into work with me and everyone at work signed a birthday card for me.  it was really sweet.  and my boss got me one of those 'lucky' bamboo deals to put on my desk.  i haven't really had a chance to make my desk my own yet, but this will be the start.  now i gotta bring in a few pix of the family and i'll be settled in.  

since my birthday was in the middle of the week, we didn't do to much to celebrate.  but my wonderful hubby did make me dinner (artichokes, cheese-stuffed chicken, and rice)!  it was really good and i was really full afterward.  that's a lot of food for two people!  i opened a couple gifts and got some really cool flameless candles and a personalized apron from my mother-in-law.  it really is 'kirstin's kitchen.'  i received a few cards with money...it always fits!  and mike got me my very first ipod!!!  we have the computer already and now i have my accessory.  

it's funny, because i've actually been putting off working out and/or running to train for the rock 'n roll marathon next june because i didn't have an ipod to listen to music.  excuses, excuses.  shame on me.  but now that i have my ipod, i guess i'll have to get on a training schedule.  whitney and i are still trying to figure out how to train together, but apart.  we'll see.  btw, if anyone has any marathon training schedules starting from...hmmm...oct, nov, dec, jan.....let's see....8 months before the race, let me know.  

thank you to everyone for all the bday wishes and i promise i will post pictures of our new place soon.  i need to take pictures during the day and i keep forgetting until it's too dark outside...sorry...:)