Christmas in Montana

Scott and I finally got to go home this Christmas. We were home for 2 weeks and it was so relaxing and fun. It was so great to see our families that we love so much! I spent a few days in Helena with his family and he spent lots of time with me and my family in Belgrade/Bozeman. Although we didn't get to see all of our friends while we were back, we got to see a lot of them. I got to see two of my best friends and their cute kids. Scott and I got to see his brother and sister-in-law's newborn and young daughter. So I got my kid/baby fix as well as getting to see plenty of family. Scott's mom was very glad to see him as it's been a whole year since she saw him last. My mom was happy to see me as well partly because I'm her baking partner! We cooked and baked up a storm while I was home! As usual we overdid it on the food and treats. I swear I gained atleast 8 pounds...which part of my New Year's resolution is to work it off in volleyball. I'm still working on it. :)
All in all though, it was a wonderful vacation away from the city and work. Can't wait for next year already! Maybe next year we will be able to have a real sized tree.

Christmastime around San Jose

There's a cute little park in the middle of San Jose where they always set
up holiday and special event stuff. Every December, they have a big Christmas display set up. It's really cute with lots of lit up trees that have been decorated by various groups around San Jose: school classes, charities, families, businesses. They also have lots of sets and displays with holiday themes like Santa, snowmen, skating bears, ginger bread men, and giant presents.

Across the street they have carnival rides, a huge ferris wheel, and even an ice skating rink where you can skate in between the palm trees. In case you can't see the palm trees in the picture, they are the skinny sticks holding up the lights. I always thought it would be cool to ice skate in a place where tropical plants grew. All I know is...you don't have to get a pair of ice skates that are 2 sizes too big so that you can wear 3 pairs of socks so your feet won't freeze!

There are also various fake snow machines that spew white flakes of soap all over. The kids dance around and yell, "Look mommy, snow!" I think it's hilarious, as most of the kids have never seen snow. Unless, of course their parents are rich and can afford ski lessons in Tahoe. That's one thing I miss during Christmas...snow. I don't know so much like the cold - San Jose weather is wonderful - but having no snow around the holidays is just plain weird. Good thing I get to go home for Christmas - I'm leaving this Friday (the 16th) and will be home for 2 weeks. :) Can't wait to see snow and especially my family and friends!

Pictures around San Fran

Here are some random pictures of various places Scott and I have visited around the Bay area this summer and fall. We are keeping track of all the cool and beautiful places we've been to so that we have good places to show people when they come and visit. ;)

Thanksgiving at my apartment

Happy Turkey Day! I had a nice relaxing, long weekend with some Montana friends. Me, Scott, Robert (one of Scott's best friends from Helena), Robert's girlfriend Liza (from Fargo), and Sara (another of Scott's friends from Helena) all cooked up a storm in my little apartment kitchen. Robert bought a 20lb turkey for the 5 of us! Needless to say, we ate a lot of food. We cooked the turkey using a really good Martha Stewart recipe and it turned out great. Thanks Martha! I made my usual favorite sides (mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole) and pumpkin pie. Sara brought the yummy homemade cranberry sauce and Scott made the gravy from scratch that was awesome. I love cooking and baking and it was sooooo nice to cook for some one other than myself.

After Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, we used most of the weekend playing lots of fun games and watching movies. We also took a tour of the Winchester Mystery House (which is about 6 blocks away from my apartment) and then went window shopping at a ritzy place called Santana Row. It's a street full of expensive shops, hotels, and cafes. It's really pretty during Christmas time and they had put up all the pretty lights and there was a live band playing. We could only window shop because it's the type of place that has Bentleys and Lamborghinis (no joke) parked outside the hotels...even though they don't belong to anyone - they are from the dealerships and are parked there to attract the rich people and make it look swank. Someday soon I'll be able to walk in one of those shops and pick out whatever I want without looking at a price tag. That'll be about the same time that Scott gets his Lamborghini. :) We also drove down to a horse ranch about an hour south of San Jose, where a friend of Robert's dad raises, breeds, and sells Morgan horses. Liza really loves horses are she grew up on a ranch and it was fun to pet horses again. It's been awhile...maybe next time we'll be able to ride.

Friends from work - Team MXO

I wanted to show off some pictures of my work friends...the people who I spend 90% of my time with. :) I am very fortunate to have such a great group of people to work with. I spend almost no time at my actual office in San Jose, but instead am assigned to one huge public client (Maxtor Corp - $4 billion in revenue - they make hard drives) so I am there most of the time. We have a pretty large team out at my client. There are usually 10-15 auditors and IT specialists there most of the year. I even have my own cube where I have pictures and semi-permanent stuff. How sad...I'm a dorky accountant in a cube. I never thought I'd say that. Really, though, it's the people that I work with that make it all worth while!

Here is a picture of most of the group at our year-end party March 2005. The party included our significant others and was held at our Partner's, Gil Simonetti, very large and nice house.

Here are some pictures of some of the group at a couple of recent weddings of 2 of the girls on the team, Melanie and Valerie. I am one of only 2 girls on the team (there are 9 total) that is not yet married. Three of the girls got married just this summer/fall and the others have been married for awhile (yet all of us are younger than 27). It's been a busy summer of wedding/rings/engagements/party talk! :) I've learned a lot about what NOT to do. LOL!

Halloween - SF Bay Cruise

Halloween has always been a fun holiday for me. I still love to dress up even though I don't get candy anymore. And now being in San Francisco, it's even more exciting - even though drag queens and S&M attire are more normal during the whole year, the outfits are even more extravagant during Halloween! Plus I can get away with wearing tons of makeup and barely any clothes and get away with it because everyone is dressed that way. Heehee ;). I dressed pretty warm this year though because me, Scott and 4 of our other friends bought tickets for a Bay Cruise and I knew the wind would freeze me almost as bad as snow in Montana. The cruise boat was huge - 3 stories - and it had 2 bars and 2 dance floors with a live DJ. It was pretty fun and there were lots of cool costumes. My favorite were Rainbow Brite, a group dressed up as Victoria Secret Angels, and a girl who looked just like Mila Jovavich as The Fifth Element. After the cruise ended at midnight, we all caught the free Academy of Art bus to a club called Fluid. One of Scott's friends, who he met working at Starbucks, is the VIP coordinator for the club so she got about 20 of us in for free (the cover was at $35 that night!). That was a big score because it was her last night working and next time we go back, we'll actually have to pay. Damn. All in all it was a fun weekend. Maybe next year we'll make it to the Castro. (For those of you who don't know - the Castro is the biggest Halloween party probably in the country, and happens to be where most of the gay population lives. Coincidence? I don't think so! But it's supposed to be really fun...if you can brave the 200,000+ people. Supposedly like trying to be in Times Square on New Year's.)