Thanksgiving 2006

Well, another Thanksgiving come and gone in San Jose. The last weekend in my old apartment here in SJ as Scott and I found a great place together in San Mateo. More on that move later on...

This year, our friends Sara and Dave came to my place and we cooked up another mean meal. It was the best turkey I think I've ever had!! And it was the easiest turkey I've ever seen made or have made myself. Last year we spent so much time thawing, prepping, seasoning, stuffing...but this year our procrastination finally paid off. I'd been working mad hours at PwC (I am fortunate enough - haha - to get 2 busy seasons at work this year...One from Halloween to Christmas and another from mid-Jan to mid-March.) and didn't have any time to prepare or go to the grocery store during the week. Therefore, when Sara, Dave and Scott arrived at my place on Wed night before Thanksgiving, we went straight to Albertson's to get groceries. Most everything was easy to find and there weren't many people in the store at 11pm, but the turkey was harder to find. There was only 1 turkey left in the whole place and it was a Jenny-O Bag-to-oven turkey. I'd seen it on TV advertised a couple of times and wanted to try it out. It was basically already prepared, washed and seasoned - all we had to do on Thanksgiving was take it out of the freezer (that's right, no thawing necessary), cut slits in the bag it cooked in and stick it in the oven. Three and a half hours later it was done! And it smelled good, tasted even better and made awesome gravy! It was the juiciest meat I've ever had, and I'm a white meat girl. Needless to say, I vow never to spend all that time thawing and preparing again. It's Jenny-O from now on!















After we fattened ourselves up, we spent the rest of the weekend playing games, watching movies and wandering around a bit at Christmas in the Park in San Jose and shopping a little at Santana Row. I enjoyed the 4 days off as I knew it would be busy busy busy until Dec 22nd when I flew home for Christmas holiday.

SF Auto Show

The week of Nov 18-19, Scott and I spent part of the weekend checking out all the cars at the SF annual Auto Show. This is the time when all the auto makers, from domestic to exotic, showcase their new 2007 models. It was really cool to see all the new stuff...but we mostly went for the "green" cars (hybrids, etc) and the exotics. Scott is doing his thesis project on sustainability, specifically with hydrogen fueled cars. It was good research to see what auto manufacturers have on the horizon for cars that run on alternative fuels. Plus as a bonus we got to see all the cool cars like Lamborghini's, Bentley's, Aston Martin's and Ferrari's. Scott found the Lamborghini that he's going to own someday. :)














Another cool thing about the car show was that Mario Andretti was there signing autographs. Mario is one of my dad's all time heroes, as far as sports goes. We stood in line and got autographs for our dads. He was a really nice guy and took pictures with anyone who asked. And my dad loved the framed autograph that he got for Christmas. :)

Happy Halloween! ~8>D

Slim Jim jerky stick ~ Can-can dancer girl ~ Rainbow Brite ~ Dark angel









Another year in the Bay area...it's been over 2 years since I moved down here. Wow, time flies. Another Halloween gone by and we had lots of fun. Since Halloween was on a Tuesday this year, we celebrated, along with many others, the weekend before. Scott, Robert, Liza and I got our costumes ready and headed out on the town. There weren't as many people out in San Fran as in previous years because the famed block party in the Castro district was not held on the weekend. It was moved to Tuesday (real Halloween) this year due to the fact that the city was trying to cut down on the number of people that flock there. The other reason for the slightly smaller city crowd was the fact that many attended the annual Exotic Erotic Ball which is held in a huge venue in the southern part of the city. Tickets to that usually run $200 just to get in! Crazy people with money. Well, it was actually pretty nice not running into soooo many people this year and the bars were much more manageable. We could actually find seats and hear each other talk. :) We had a great time and we rocked our costumes! And yes...I put eyeliner on Scott...and we "painted" his fingernails with a black Sharpie (it was better than my sparkly blue).

Bye, bye wisdom - teeth that is...

I finally got a much needed dental treatment for my mouth...getting my 4 wisdom teeth out. I've needed to do this for some time and I'm glad it's over. It wasn't fun, but I recovered quickly thanks to my wonderful man. Scott took such good care of me and knew just what to do and not do, as he had a not-so-great experience when his were pulled. He stocked my fridge full of jello, pudding, ice cream, soups and made me mashed potatoes and gravy! He waited on my hand and foot and made sure I was always comfortable and that I took my medicine. He even ate all the stuff I did so I wouldn't get jealous if he ate pizza or something. What a guy! I think his favorite part was the fact that I was silly from the medication and took great care in cuddling and naming the stuffed toys he bought me. They were so cute and they didn't mind my bad breath from my mouth holes! :)

These are the beautiful flowers and my three "kids" that I cuddled while recovering - Spike (I guess cuz of its fangs), Googley (I suppose cuz of its weird eyes) and Winky (probably cuz of its one eye with big eyelashes) - don't laugh...I'm sure you are a little silly on meds too!

Fleet Week, San Francisco

October 7th and 8th was the annual Fleet Week in SF. They have an air show with the Blue Angels and you can tour the cool big ships in the bay. Robert and Liza came down for the weekend and the weather was perfect. Fall is always the best weather here. It was a nice relaxing weekend and the air show was great. We watched the Blue Angels do their thing and they came down so close to us that we could feel the ground shake. They also had the Red Bull plane races where they set up an obstacle course in the bay that starts at the Golden Gate bridge. An American pilot won! Woohoo! The tricks those planes can do always amaze me. We also took Robert and Liza up to Twin Peaks as they've not been to the top before...and it's usually too foggy to see anything anyway. But, it was beautiful and you could see all the way to the marina.

Back at home in Bozeman!

Ahwoohoo! I got to go back home for a long 4-day weekend (the last weekend in September). The trip home to MT is an annual affair that happens during the Career Fair at MSU. We have a fairly large Accounting department "Meet the Recruiters" night each year around the same time and I am fortunate enough to be one of the MSU alums that gets flown back to Bozeman for the event to represent my firm, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers). The best part is that I get a free ride home for only about 3 hours worth of real work. The rest of the time I get to spend with my family and friends! It's an awesome perk.

It's also one of the best times to be home because my sister Ashley's birthday is on the 22nd, my mom's is the 26th and my dad's is the 29th. So September is a great month for celebration. Ashley currently lives in Longmont, Colorado as she got transferred there to work as a clothing manager in the Murdoch's Ranch and Home store. Her b-day present from me was a plane ticket home for that weekend so we could all be together again. I had so much fun and it reminds me of how much I miss some things about Bozeman...like the clean, smog-free air, the beautiful mountains, the La Parilla wraps and McKenzie River Pizza, the relaxed environment and the cheap drinks! :) It also reminds me of some things that I don't miss...like the smoke in the bars (cough-cough) and the minimal night life compared to the city that I'm now used to. I did have a blast seeing everyone, though, and there's a great new bar in town where Makenzie, works. Oh yeah, did I mention that mom's home cooking must be the best part of being home?! Mmmmmm...no wonder I gain a few pounds when I'm home for Xmas...you just can't resist it. :)

Here are some pics of the night that I went out with my sisters and friends:
The 3 sisters together again - Heather, Ashley and I














Heather and her husband Jonny














Me, Ashley, Jonny and friends posing with our best "Zoolander" faces














Ashley and her long-time friend Kelsey














Me and Heather - wow, look, Heather took a normal picture!














Me, Ashley and our friends Rob, Derek and Matt: Rob and Matt are soon-to-be fellow PwC-ers














Me and some long-time high school friends Alex and Ryan










Me, my best friend (and matron of honor!) Makenzie and our friend from the bartending days, Brooklyn (left)














Here's a cute pic of me, Heather, Ashley and my cousins Mackenzie and Breanna: They came over to my parents house with some aunts, uncles and grandparents for a dinner.














Can't wait to be home for Xmas! See more of you then... ;)