Happy Birthday to Me!

Despite everything, I had a great birthday weekend. We spend most of it camping at Mission Bay with my parents, and on my actual birthday, David's parents, Alex & Angelina all came to visit and have dinner with us at Anthony's Fish Grotto downtown. I felt so loved by all the calls, texts, emails, & facebook messages (boy, we sure live in a digital age, huh?), so thank you to everyone.

And, I was overwhelmed to be blessed with an amazing birthday gift, too...

A New Camera!! I am so excited, and so thankful to David, my parents, my in-laws and my grandma!! And I'm also proud of David for being such a savvy shopper and getting an amazing deal (yay for Circuit City going out-of-business!).

It takes amazing pictures. Now I just have to learn how to use it-- luckily I have a willing friend/teacher. Here are a few fun ones from the weekend from the new camera, since my brother was bugging me to post a few. :)

Here are a few "artistic" ones just for fun.

Big blog news coming soon- stay tuned!

My New Project ~ all for SD Moms!

I've been slacking a little over in these parts... but it's been for good reason! I'm excited to announce the launch of my new website: San Diego Mommy Spot!

If you are a San Diego County mom, you'll definitely want to check it out as I hope it to become the premiere online community for SD families! We have forums, an event calendar and you can even share your photos.

This week we are celebrating our launch with a big giveaway, so head on over to see what you can win!

I still hope to keep the ol' family blog fairly regularly updated, but I'm also hoping to put more energy in the SD Mommy Spot too. Please spread the word if you think about it! :) And special thanks to my dear friends Kelley for the adorable logo and David Dear for all the tech stuff!! They're the best!

gettin' back to our roots

**UPDATE: Gidget Goes Home has a new home: http://gidgetgoeshome.com

So this is our family blog... but sometimes, I just can't help myself, and I have to post on some random topic, that you, our beloved readers may or may not care about. It's sort of like word vomit, although I usually mean to say it. This just probably isn't the proper venue for said words.
(Exhibits A, B, C, D.) For further example, I realize, Dad that you'd rather see pictures of Gigi than read about my adventures in cloth diapering. :)

All this to say that my personal blog is now going to be my outlet for set ramblings and rantings. From the deep thoughts to the superficial, that's where you'll find it. This blog will be reserved for family updates. I may remind you from time to time of what's going on over there at Gidget Goes Home, or you can check the cute li'l widget in the sidebar here that says "Gidget Goes Home: What's New?" for the most recent updates.

Basically, the theme is my stay-at-home adventures, and my attempts to fill my days with simple, crafty, green & fun living!
Come on over and bookmark or subscribe if you haven't already.

Now, in order to implement my new plan, I feel I must share a cute shot of Gigi Bri with you. Here she is today on top of Gigi Mountain, i.e. my attempt to redirect her out-of-control climbing habits.

I got tagged!

The ABC's of Me

(I was "tagged" by Linda to do this!)

A. Attached or single? As attached as they come! I love being married!

B. Best friend? David! But my girlfriends are a close second... here are a few of the many I've been blessed with: Rena, Sarah, Beth, Kelley, Annie & my mom

C. Cake or Pie? Probably cake, although I'll take pie anytime too.

D. Day of choice? Friday! Especially because David gets every other one off.

E. Essential items? laptop, cell phone, sunglasses, a good book, my nalgene, and the Bible

F. Favorite color(s)? Teal/aqua

G. Gummy bears or worms? worms (sour!)

H. Hometown? San Marcos, CA (north county san diego)

I. Favorite indulgence? brownies (the huge box from costco!) or peppermint joe-joe's

J. January or July? July, definitely a summer girl.

K. Kids? a crazy little girlie (~15 months)

L. Life isn't complete without? Jesus... He makes life worth the living (same answer as Linda!)

M. Marriage date? June 28, 2003

N. Number of brothers and sisters? 1 younger bro

O. Oranges or apples? oranges (especially if someone else peels it for me!)

P. Phobias? the dark (more of a fear than a phobia though)

Q. Quotes- "Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold." S.E. Hinton (this was Linda's and I'm leaving it because I love The Outsiders!), but also: "We will never take our places as 'more than overcomers' with nothing to overcome." -Beth Moore, and "i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart)." e.e. cummings.

R. Reasons to smile? I am loved.

S. Season of choice? I think I already answered this. :) SUMMER!

T. Tag 5 people: mom, sharla, ashley, emma, shan

U. Unknown fact about me? I'm pretty much an open book so even this might not be all that "unkown" to some of you, but in high school I was a cheerleader, did gymnastics, pole vaulted, played field hockey, and started surfing.

V. Vacation of choice? anywhere warm & tropical/humid with a pretty beach.

W. Worst habit? Wasting time.

X. X-ray or ultrasound? Ultrasound... I've had my fair share.

Y. Your favorite food? ice cream, corn on the cob, guacamole

Z. Zodiac sign? Aquarius. I don't believe in this stuff, but I do like water, so there ya go.

I'm 27!

Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes and helped to make my day special!! In addition to all that, I had a great day...

David, Gigi & I went to lunch at a yummy deli, and got a scoop at Baskin Robbins! Yum!

Then we did a little shopping at Old Navy and Best Buy (got a Dyson- woohoo!).

And finally we dropped Gigi off at our friends the Stopniks' house for the evening and we went out on the town! We took the train downtown and had a yummy shrimp dinner at Bubba Gump's. That much I was aware of, but the exciting part of the night was a surprise! David took me to see Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. It was fabulous! I mean, so good! It's a show similar to Cirque du Soleil but done by an American company. Lots of good tumbling action, elaborate costumes, and crazy talented peeps. We both really enjoyed it.

Here we are all dressed up at the Stoppies' house.

Meanwhile, Gigi had a fun time with her friends Brooke & Britton. They even got to all take a bath together and get cool mohawks!

New 'do!!

I did it! Today I chopped off about 14 inches or so of hair to donate to Locks of Love. It was fun, and I was glad to get rid of my heavy head of hair. Now my head feels light and fluffy! I'd been growing my hair out for 4 years, since our wedding when it was just above my shoulders.
Here's the photo documentation!
BEFORE:












DURING:











AFTER!!!