internet peeps, i'm sorry

i was just taking a look at our blog's main page and thought to myself, "holy moly, i haven't added a new post in about a month."  

and for that, i apologize.  to our most adoring fans, i'm sure you've cursed the days where there were no updates on the VERY exciting happenings of mike and kirstin's life in san clemente.  and the thing is that so much has been going on! (well, not too much, but enough to write a few posts about).

i can't believe how much time has flown by.  thanksgiving has come and gone and we are well into the holiday season already.  we spent thanksgiving with my family and our family friends in san diego.  it was very relaxing and pleasant and i didn't over-stuff myself which is a pretty great accomplishment.  no turkey coma over here!  as with most families, we went around the table and listed the five things we were most thankful for this year.  here a the top five things i am thankful for this year.  

1. i have a wonderful husband, a loving family, and great friends that i know will be there for me when needed.

2. i have not been directly affected by the current state of the economy (yet...knock on wood)

3. i have a job and a boss that i actually like!

4. i live 5 minutes from the beach

5. and finally, i'm thankful for the internet so that i can watch two of my favorite shows--'the hills' and 'gossip girl' :)

after thanksgiving dinner, my sister and our friends aimee and erin went to see the new movie twilight.  i totally loved the movie and will return to this topic in a new post-to-come...

let's see what else.  a couple months ago, i wrote that i was going to train for the rock 'n roll marathon taking place in san diego this coming may 2009 here.  one of the reasons i was going to start training (or just working out for that matter) was that i finally have my own ipod to keep it interesting.  so i spent time making my own workout mix and loading everything onto my ipod, but still hadn't worked out. 

i went online and researched some marathon training schedules for beginners and found one with a 6 month schedule.  naturally, i counted back the days and found that in order to be ready in time, i had to start training by dec. 1st.  i changed the schedule that i found online into my OWN excel spreadsheet so that i could add in the dates for each workout.  (basically, i know that if i'm not organized about training, i'm never going to do it).  i put my schedule on the fridge so i could feel the accomplishment of crossing off each day as it passes.  mind you, i created this little calendar/schedule about a month ago and put off working out until my schedule told me that i absolutely had to start...so much for self-motivation.  

but either way, i started my workouts and they don't seem so bad on the piece of paper.  i start with short runs of 2-3 miles and then i slowly build up the length of the runs as time goes on.  the trouble is that where our apartment is situated, there are only hills around us.  if i go right out of the complex, i have to run up hill first and if i go left, i have to run up hill too.  running (or as i do it...slowly jogging) up a hill is not the best way to get your body warmed up.  i'm already wheezing by the time i've gone only a quarter mile.  but i've determined that i need to continue and that it will get easier.  i may end up having to drive closer to the beach to run along the boardwalk where it's a little flatter, and a lot more soothing.  i'm one week into my training and i' ll keep you posted on how everything is going as i try to make it through the next 25 weeks.  wish me luck!

and the other latest and greatest in our lives, is that mike is one short week away from completing his field training with costa mesa police department!  he can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.  in his past few months of training, mike has certainly learned a lot and built upon the things he learned in the academy, but a person can only take so much of having someone constantly looking over your shoulder.  he'll soon be on his own in his own squad car and kickin' some butt in costa mesa.  i'm so proud of all that he's achieved so far in this new career path and when i look back on the past year, it's hard to believe all that he's gone through to get where he is now.  six months through the academy and four months of field training is plenty to wear you out (i know i could NEVER do it).  once mike is on his own, i know he'll enjoy helping out his fellow officers and making arrests, and i'm sure he will come back to each of you with plenty of stories to tell.  

until next time, find a way to get in the holiday spirit!!

san clemente life

so much has been happening over the past few months that i don't even know where to begin...

we've been living together in temecula for a little over a year.  i was working in wine country (but hated my job) and mike was doing great things with his probation work.  then, mike kind of hit a ceiling in the probation department.  he wasn't really being challenged at his job everyday and it became kind of routine.  he decided that it was time for a change and wanted to become a police officer.  after a long, grueling application and interview process (they even came to the house to talk to me and they made mike take a lie detector test...scary!), mike was hired on by costa mesa police department in orange county.  they are one the best departments in california for two reasons (1) they pay isn't half bad, and (2) they provide some of the best training from the orange county sheriff's academy.  from february to august, mike was back in school again, but not like any other school we've been to.  he spent long days getting yelled at by the tactical staff, sitting in lectures, running, and just trying to survive.   but he made it out of the academy alive (with honors in communications skills and firearms proficiency i might add)!

so here we were living in temecula, with mike working in costa mesa.  (side note:  the drive from temecula to costa mesa without traffic is about an hour and fifteen minutes...don't even talk to me about the wasting gas and money there)  we decided that it was time for a move out to orange county to be closer to his new job and then i could spend some time looking for a job i actually liked.  so, i quit my job at the winery and spent my days searching as many corners of the internet as i could for appealing jobs.  but job hunting is time consuming and ultimately frustrating.  i didn't have any particular industry in mind even though i studied hospitality management.  but hospitality requires a lot of hours for not very much pay...one of those work your way up the food chain type industries.  i was spending a lot of time on malakye.com (a job posting site for the action sports industries--surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, motocross, etc.)  i even found a few job posting there that sounded interesting with companies like billabong and rip curl.  the only problem is that the companies are so big, that if you don't meet their specific criteria, you'll never get a call back.  i tried with some follow up calls, but to no avail.  

then, out of the sky, i decided to take another look at the surfrider foundation.  i had looked on their site before, but there were no job openings except for internships.  but i loved the organization anyway and we even made a donation to them instead of having favors at our wedding.  by some miracle, there happened to be a job posting for an office administrator position.  right up my alley!  you have to be friendly (check), personable (check), organized (check), reliable (check), computer saavy (check...mostly).   i quickly put together my cover letter and sent off my resume.  i didn't hear anything right away, and checked the website again and the job posting was gone.  i thought that they must have hired someone already.  i called the surfrider foundation and left a message.  wouldn't you know, i got a call back asking if i wanted to come in for an interview.  hell yeah i want to come in for an interveiw!  i did my research and nailed the uber casual interview.  a couple days later, i was hired!  yeah to me!

now, we're both in temecula with jobs out in orange county and still no place to live further west.  we ended up finding a great place in san clemente (well, rancho san clemente...east of the i-5 and up the hill a couple miles)!  we are about 10 mins. from the beach now!  i am loving every minute of our life out here in our extremely cozy apartment.  mike misses our house in temecula, but it is hard moving from a house to a one-bedroom apartment.  

it's time to find some renters...dun dun dun.  with the economy and the housing market as it is, we aren't willing to sell our house in temecula.  we are going to hang onto it for a while and try to rent it out.  this is a whole new process for us, so we'll see how it goes...any and all suggestions are appreciated.  

anyway, i better be getting back to the dog and cat to make sure they get dinner.  thanks for reading the latest update and i'll post some pictures of our new place soon!