Lakers v. Clippers Date Night VIPs

I love it when a blessing comes our way and we are able to escape on a much needed date night.

My hub called me a couple weeks ago to let me know he was given a couple tickets, and a parking pass, to the Clippers v. Lakers game.  I was so excited as I love a date night and a night in Los Angeles makes the event even more exciting.

After getting the kids squared away we headed to LA.  I drove because everyone (mainly me) will be in a much better mood if I drive.  Traffic was good.  Great conversation catching up.  With all the great conversation I forgot to even ask where we'd be sitting.  Once before we went to a game and had great seats, I think 100 level; I thought this time they'd be the same.

Anniversary Date Night- $ Does Not Buy Happiness

I hate to say I'm a "cheap date" because those words just sound wrong, but in actuality, I guess I am!

There was a time in our lives, before kids, where we would fly to San Francisco for our anniversary or plan some elaborate get-away.  Those were the days of two incomes, a lot of time, and not a whole lot on the calendar.  Now just getting away for a couple hours is a rarity, but a HUGE blessing!

I love our home life just the way it is and wouldn't change a thing!  We're so blessed by our kids and the memories we're creating together.

For our anniversary this year we decided to head to Disneyland sans children and just wander around with no plans. Prior to heading out we ordered teriyaki chicken for the kids and ended up nibbling on it along with them.  After eating we headed to California Adventure.  It was a chilly SoCal night!

California Adventure has a TRON 3D experience we had not yet seen.  It's a 3D movie trailer.  After watching it I realized I remembered very little about the TRON movie.  I wonder if I fell asleep while watching?  Give me a bucket of popcorn, a cozy chair in the dark, and two hours and I'll probably fall asleep.  Guess I slept through some of it.

This is the entrance to the Hollywood Backlot and Electronica.

Next we headed over to FLYNN'S.  It's a video arcade filled with video games of the 80's.  Here you'll find 40-somethings reliving the glory days of videoing while "Juke Box Hero" plays in the background.  I did hear a song I hadn't heard since the New Wave days of the 80's.  This is the mostly English version.  It brings back memories and shows the wackiness of the early 80's.

My date exchanged a whopping $5 for video coins and we went to town!  It's amazing how long $5 lasts when only two people are playing!  We tried a number of games, but trying to find my Donkey Kong Junior skills proved to be just too hard. My sweetheart excels at Galaga.  He's so cool!  Centipede is my game.  I hogged most of the coins for my favorite.  My sweetheart just let me play.  He's so good to me!

He takes this very seriously!

I was really bad at this game!

See my score?  I almost got to post my initials!

Flynn's

He's really good at this one!

Tap-tap-tap...I wish you could see the instantaneous firing!  It really was impressive!

After Flynn's we headed out to Downtown Disney where I asked my sweetheart to treat me to a dessert of Bread Pudding (totally not paleo) from Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen.  We cozied up to a little table and shared our dessert together.

Happy Anniversary to us!  This year was one of our best anniversaries yet!  I think we just may be discovering contentment.  It's not about having the fanciest or most elaborate celebrations.  It's about being together, having family, and making memories.

We came home to a house that was immaculately cleaned by three smiling children.  They're so good to us!  I couldn't ask for more!

And we only spent $10.50!!

Dreams Do Come True

This is what JOY looks like!

Yesterday I saw a dream come true.  I witnessed a beautiful friend marry the man of her dreams.

Following the wedding, as we were walking by she peeked out this window.  Seeing her reminded me of Portuguese women whom I saw leaning out windows of white-washed homes on narrow cobblestone streets when I lived in the Azores as a child.  It was a common occurrence to see a single woman leaning out an open window while the man who was courting her would be in the street below.  (Notice, my dear friend's man is no longer in the street below).

Courtship.  What does it look like and what is it supposed to be?  There are many books written on the subject, but what I saw in the relationship of this precious couple over the last year offers a great definition.  Hope, commitment, determination, sacrifice, love, and most importantly a Christ-centeredness.

Just over two years ago, I met this kind-hearted, gentle young gal while volunteering at a summer Vacation Bible School week through our church.  Following our week of VBS, two of the gals and I formed a Bible study group.  They were both single and wanted to meet with an "older" mentor.  God had placed mentorship on my heart, but I wasn't sure who I was to mentor.  He figured it all out!  Our group of three grew to four and we've been meeting consistently for the past two years.

In addition to the bride, here are my other girlies.

Over the last couple years we've done many studies and had many conversations, but one of our most commonly discussed topics is being a single Christian woman.  We're currently doing a study on Falling in Love With Jesus.  It's applicable to both married and single women.  It's written by a married woman, Dee Brestin, and a single woman, Kathy Troccoli.  It's been a great book to remind us of our First Love and to seek after Him.  Daily, I gain nuggets to cling to as we are all continuing to grow in our relationship with Him.

Although it's been many years since I've been single, I know there are times it can be tough. Life can be tough married or single, but we're reminded God has a plan.  We cling to that!  In Jeremiah 29:11 (The Message) God reminds us, "I know what I'm doing.  I have it all planned out- plans to take care of you, not to abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for."

We all need that reminder now and again.  He knows what He's doing.  He has our future planned out.  Sometimes it's just hard to be patient.
I've been so incredibly blessed by these gals sharing their hearts and lives with me.  I think of how much each of us has grown through our struggles, achievements, heartaches, and joy.  I especially love how God has knit our hearts together for such a time as this.

About a year ago, I told my gals, I hoped to see them walk down the aisle.  God is faithful and we've seen his answered prayers.  I'm so excited for what lies ahead for our precious newlyweds. 

Our newlywed gave us the book, Ocean Star, awhile back.   Here's The Ocean Star Blessing for my girls.  It is written by Christina DiMari.

Today, may you now your are a Star that is Designed to Shine.
Always stay connected to your Source of Life &
May the Living Water make you whole.
Always travel with a pod of people who bring out the best in you &
May you be protected from those who would destroy your Dreams.
Always remember your Heart is the wellspring of life &
May it be guarded by Truth and filled with Peace.
Always hold on to your Rock when the waves of adversity come &
May you be surprised by Pearls of encouragement along the way.
Always Look Up when choosing which way to go &
May the Bright Morning Star light your path.
Always believe in the infinite possibilities that are born of Faith &
May you use your gifts to Shine Brightly for others.~

A Dreamy Date Night

It seems that every marriage book recommends regular date nights and warns of the marriage perils if couples do not adhere to a scheduled date night routine.  Yes, it would be great to have a disposable income and to take advantage of weekly date nights (or even monthly), but that has never been a reality for us.  It's not that we don't recognize the benefits of spending alone time together, we have just never had the extra money sitting around to 1. Pay for the date and 2.  Pay the babysitter.

Now that our oldest is into his teen years we're able to get away close to home for a coffee or to go for a run.  We're usually gone for a short period of time and are close enough if anything were to happen we're no more than 2 miles away.

Every once in awhile and I'm talking ONCE in AWHILE we get out on a REAL date!  We went out once in the spring, on my birthday, and now once in the summer.  Maybe we're a seasonal date night couple.  In the spring we had our former babysitter visiting with us and she offered to watch the kiddos so we could get away. 

Maybe she wanted to babysit since we showed her such a great time at RAINY Disneyland

A good babysitter lets the babysittee apply crazy make-up

Or maybe she let us go on a date because I fed her yummy food!

Here she is with 2 of our 3 kiddos

About a month ago, my hub sent me an email letting me know he had purchased tickets for an Angels baseball game followed by a Dierks Bentley concert at Angel Stadium.  I cannot turn down a date as GREAT as that!  We only feel comfortable being further away from home for many hours with a friend hanging out with the kids.  Fortunately, I was able to secure someone I know and trust to spend time with our precious three.

I didn't know what to expect from our little evening out.  I tend to be the person who only deals with what needs to be done at that given time on the given day- some people might say procrastinator, I just think it's living in the moment.  On the way to the Sold-Out game, I was teasing my date a little.  I asked him questions like, "Is this a REAL date, like the kind where you don't ask me if I have parking money?"  He reassured me he had the cash on hand.  I had no idea what section we were sitting in or even what time the game was.  Bummer for us as we were an hour late to the game, but no problem.

One of the three home runs was hit to our section!  The sun was bright and the evening was great!  The Angels beat the Mariners.  I felt a little bad for the Mariners again, but that's the way it goes.

Love the sun!

Following the game we proceeded onto the field for our up close Dierks Bentley concert.  Not only were we going to see Dierks live, we were going to watch him from Angel dirt.  The band and the stage were wheeled out onto the field right after the game.  If you had a wristband you were allowed out to watch.  I can honestly say it appears Country is going strong in Orange County.  Many fans in the stadium stayed and enjoyed the concert in the stands.  It was so cool to look up in the stadium and see all the people dancing and singing.

Dierks Bentley

The Crowd

The Couple

My Feet on the Angel Field

The night was going so well.  We were having a blast.  Word at home was the kids were having a blast.  It was successful date night.  Then I glanced to my left and saw a familiar face.  Since we don't have cable and I pretty much don't like the content of what is available on television we don't watch much.  We do have Netflix and Hulu and follow a couple shows.  One show we watch is Friday Night Lights.  I think it's my small town fix.  Anyway, I glanced over and who do I see?  Tim Riggins!  Okay, at this point I didn't know his real name, but I was pretty sure it was Tim Riggins minus the long hair.  I so wanted to go up and ask him, but what if it was just a look alike?  After the concert we walked away.  My supportive hub (who thinks I'm a wee bit silly, I'm sure) told me to go ask, be the high school girl that I truly am, but I was too embarrassed.  When we walked to the car I knew my chances were gone.  Big stadium, big parking lot.  As we were waiting for cars to leave, I glance up and who was there...Tim Riggins, actually his name is Taylor Kitsch, thank goodness for internet phones.  He was there again!  I so wanted to take my famous self-portrait with him...just because, but I lost any nerve I may possess and we left.  Drove home.  End of story.  This is the second time in my life I've chickened out on something like this.  Bummer!  Note to self:  You're too old to be a chicken! 

Taylor Kitsch?

The good news is I drove home with the love of my life.  We had a WONDERFUL date night!  I'm looking forward to another exciting one.  I wonder what he has planned for the fall?

So Glad I Married "Glass 1/2 Full"

You know the common expression "Glass half empty or half full?"  Wikipedia defines it as "a common expression, used rhetorically to indicate that a particular situation could be a cause for optimism (half full) or pessimism (half empty); or as a general litmus test to simply determine if an individual is an optimist or a pessimist."

In general I would describe myself as a "half full" kind of person, but I think that only applies to the little/easy things of life and it seems to be the Right Answer when someone asks.  When referring to the bigger things of life, like safety and our kids, financial burdens working out, people I care for making the right decisions, etc., I'm becoming more aware that I'm totally a "half empty" kind of person.  I'm filled with doubt, my trust wanes, and let's just say, I'm a big downer!

If something has a 10-25% chance of happening I will lay awake at night worrying of this something bad happening.  On the other hand, for most of those occurrences, my sweetheart will say, there is a 75-90% chance that it WON'T happen.  Now get some sleep.

The Bible has over 160 entries of Trust, Trusted, Trustfully, Trusting, Trusts...(I do not trust my vision to give you an accurate count, but know there are MANY references to Trusting).  So apparently God knows there may be a few people like me that need to read OVER AND OVER again that I need to put my Trust in Him and not give into the worry that plagues and can cause so much anxiety.

So today, I'm thankful for the Wonderful Husband I married who SO balances my thinking and reminds me that the Glass is 1/2 Full.

A Night To Remember

The anniversary couple...married November 1992

Yesterday we celebrated our 17th Anniversary. It's hard to believe 17 years have so quickly flown by.
The day started out like many other Saturdays... Soccer game, basketball practice, etc. After our youngest played her soccer game I learned that it was also last day of baseball sign-ups. What?? We just finished fall sports, just started practicing winter sports, and it's already spring sport sign-ups? Thus began the tension of our day.
I had to rush over to sign-ups with birth certificates in hand and proof of address. I waited in the long sign-up line after filling out my 15 (yes, 15!) forms and then finally made it to the close-out line. It was there I realized I didn't have my checkbook and definitely didn't have the $300+ cash in my wallet.
I phoned DH who was enjoying a U10 play-off game and asked if he could run home and grab the checkbook. "What?? They don't take debit?" was his response. Mine too.
Well, finally as they were closing the gates to sign-ups he arrived with the checkbook, and the boys were signed up for spring baseball.
By then I was feeling tired, frustrated and just wanted to go home for a nap. The relaxing anniversary day I had planned in my head was not panning out.
After a quick lunch at a favorite spot, we headed home. I needed a nap and a workout. The boys went to shoot hoops.
Because of the busyness and the tension DH and I almost decided to cancel our anniversary dinner plans. Things were just not feeling celebratory. Some days things just go awry and you feel like the enemy is out to get you. This was one of those days.
So I took my snooze. Hopped on the eliptical when I got up and started to feel better.
Maybe the date would work out.
In the meantime, DH and the boys had gone out to Ann Taylor Loft and bought me a new outfit. Super cute! Fit Perfectly!
I scrambled and called a friend who would love to have the kids over.
Despite the rough start, we were ready to leave by 6:00pm. The kids called me downstairs and much to my SURPRISE my Chariot did await!!! Hub had rented a limousine for us to take out to dinner!
I had never been in a limousine before. Excitement abounded!!

Their First Limo Ride...the High Life!

The kids, hub and I piled in the limo and we dropped the kids off at their friends' house.

We then went to a fabulous restaurant called The Cannery. The food was amazing!! As was my company!!

Salad and Grilled Seafood...Presentation was beautiful!

And the perfect ending to the perfect meal...bread pudding and coffee

The day seemed to begin in disaster, but at the end of it I felt COMPLETELY
Loved
Pursued
Cherished
and Adored!
Thank you sweetheart for a most memorable 17th Anniversary!