Reminiscing of Italy - April 2005

My in-laws are currently traveling around Italy. Part of their voyage will take them to the stomping grounds of distant relatives....I'm interested to see if they will be able to track down the correct Bacciagaluppo (can you get more Italian than that?) family. I love learning about family history! We also have some friends who just returned from an Italian adventure, so all this talk of Italy has had me thinking of my whirl-wind trip there in 2005.

I would love to go back some day...there is something just so charming about Italy, it captures you! These are just a few of the photos I randomly found on my computer today.

This man practically begged us to take a photo with him, so after a few minutes, we obliged and then we started walking away. Bad move on our part...we heard yelling, so we turned around and saw him following us through the crows by the Trevi fountain...then we ran...we kept hearing, "you pay! you pay!" He somehow caught up to us and grabbed us, so we coughed up a few Euro and paid him, he was creepy.

The Spanish Steps...

The Trevi fountain is beautiful, and it really is romantic.

Aaaaah, Florence! It is the picture I had in my head of Italy.

What's a trip to Italy without the typical, "I'm holding up the leaning Tower of Pisa" picture?

Yes please! I will take a cappuccino and a croissant :-)

We were in Rome at the beginning of the trip and the end. The first time we were there was Easter Sunday and the crowds were crazy at the Vatican, so we didn't go in. We figured we would wait until the end of our to do that. Again, bad move. The day we got back was the day the Pope passed. The picture below was taken fairly early in the day, so all of the crowds had not arrive. The square was packed with people praying, chanting, and singing! So, I've been to Rome two separate times and have not seen the Sistine Chapel...maybe some day.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival

Two weeks ago we went up to San Francisco with some friends to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park. It's a FREE 3 day festival put on by a super wealthy guy who loves bluegrass...how cool is that? We only made it up for a few hours on the last day, so we missed many amazing shows (like Elvis Costello and Emmylou Harris), but it was still fun to be a part of.

Believe it or not, I had never driven the coast up Highway 1 to San Francisco, so we took that route and it was a perfect day for it! On our way, we stopped at Taco Bell. Why? Because look where it is! Seriously, Best. Taco. Bell. Ever!

Go for a surf, a walk, or a fun day at the beach and you have food right in front of you. They even have an outdoor ordering window on the deck for all of their customers with sandy feet. How accommodating!

The show was packed! There were six stages with concerts going on at each one all throughout the day. The main reason we went was to see the Avett Brothers since we had missed both of the shows they played in the area earlier this year. I needed to get my fix, and I did. They are so fun live!

I think one of my favorite things about concerts is the people watching. These two danced the entire show! No joke, an hour and a half of the same movements over, and over, and over. He pulled out some really sweet hip movements which I didn't catch, but you'll get the idea.

Sweet Baby Girl

Little Evangeline is already getting so big. I was able to hang out with her a bit last Saturday when we celebrated her big brother's 2nd birthday at Vasona Park in Los Gatos. She spent most of the day soundly sleeping in her baby bjorn, but I was able to manage a few snapshots before she slipped off into dreamland.

Poor girl, she was being smothered by all of her aunts, uncles, and cousins. I'm sure she was wondering what the heck all of the commotion was about...

"Auntie Em, will you please get out of my face with your camera, it's starting to get annoying..."

Isn't she sweet? She kindly let me take one last photo of her, thanks baby girl :-)

Let the Landscaping Begin!

We're at it again. After a long hiatus, we are back to working on the house. We still have more work to do on the inside, but we're both tired of paint, spackle, tiling, crown molding, baseboard, sanding, etc., etc. So, we decided that to keep things rolling we should change gears and work on the outside of the house. It's going to be super fun to watch the yards go from weeds and dirt to patios, grass, and tropical plants!

Phase 1 of the landscaping journey started last week. We extended the patio that comes off of our "sunroom" so that we can have a spot to put our hot tub....YAY! We are so excited to get our hot tub back, and just in time for winter too!

Before we could lay the patio Brian had to move an in ground drain that was in the way and redo some piping. Here he is working hard...

Laying down the last of the rebar...he looks pretty happy with his rebar skills.

Here's a closer look at the job.

Thinking things over. "Are we sure this is what we want to do, are we sure we left enough room to put the plants we want around the patio?"

Now for the real fun part...the pouring of the patio! Brian's dad was nice enough to come help us out for the day, and we couldn't have done it without him! Go Brendon, go!!!

Brian looks happy that we have started working on the house again :-) We'll get there some day, but at least for now the ball is rolling again!

Fluffy Bedding

Slipping into a freshly made bed with just washed sheets is one of my favorite things in the world! Fluffy pillows, soft sheets, and the smell of clean linens...*sigh* Yes, it's the small things in life that make me happy. The duvet set in our master bedroom is starting to look a little dingy; it's been through a lot this past year. There are remnants of floor underlayment (nasty, gooey, gray stuff), and even a stain from bird poop (that's another story). Needless to say, I've been looking around.

I just so happened to find something that I like at Anthropology, of course. I will never bring myself to buy it, but I can dream.

Wouldn't you love to slip into that bed? I LOVE white bedding, it's so fresh and happy. But, they also have it in this fabulous grey. Pretty tempting, huh?

And check out the ruffle sheets...too cute.

Anthropologie, you have ruined me. Here's to trying to find a look alike that is more suitable to my price range...cheers!

*All images from Anthropologie.

Pacific Grove and the Painted Lady

The day after my crazy summer school class was finished I headed down to Pacific Grove with one of my best friends, Lauren, for a night away. It was a much needed "school is done" night away for me and a "baby boy #2 is arriving soon" night away for her. It was so nice to have some quality friend time and some much needed relaxation!

Lauren's in-laws own a house right up the street from the infamous "Lover's Point," so our accomodations were fabulous! Most all of the houses in Pacific Grove have a name, and theirs is called the, "Painted Lady."

As you can tell, it happened to be nice and foggy the day we arrived, so we took full advantage of the less then perfect weather and totally vegged out. First, we got pedicures.

Baby boy #2 came along for the fun. We most definitely enjoyed the massage chairs and the opportunity to catch up on celebrity gossip.

We went for a very short stroll down to Lover's Point to check out the sites.

Then what better to do on an overcast day then put on some sweat pants and watch a movie, so we did. Have you seen, "A Good Year?" If not, you should, it's a good one, especially if you like France :-)

What came next? Take out Chinese food...YUM! I can't remember the last time I ordered Chinese food; it had been far too long. There really is something fun about it being cold outside and being bundled up in sweat pants, chowing on Chinese food, and talking with a girlfriend. I think it should be done more often!

The next day we were surprised to find that Pacific Grove treated us to something unusual...a bright sunny day! Here's the view from the Painted Lady...

Lorraine, I'm so glad that we were able to spend some quality time together...thanks for the invite! I find it amazing that we've been friends since we were born, and we're still going strong. I think we're staying pretty true to our promise and are gonna be "buddies til the end of the world..."

Whidbey Island School House

My sweet friend Ruthie got married on Whidbey Island (just Northwest of Seattle) last month, and I had the pleasure of attending. I flew up to Seattle a few days before the wedding to spend some time with her and our friend Angela. The three of us met while attending Capernwray Bible School in New Zealand back in 2003, and we were attached at the hip. I get to see Ruthie quite often, but I hadn't seen Ang in 5 years, so it was quite a treat for the 3 of us to be together...it was much needed girl time!

I have heaps of photos from the trip, which I will hopefully get around to posting. Ruth and Erfon got married outside the schoolhouse, which overlooked the water and was absolutely gorgeous. The inside of the schoolhouse was converted into an actual house with two beds, a large living area, bathroom, and full kitchen. It was so super cute!

That's all for now...back to work!

Better Late Then Never..."Southeast Asia - 2007"

We took this amazing trip two years ago now, and I have finally put together a photo book! Every once in a while Shutterfly will do a free 8x8 album, so I finally took advantage of it. They give you some restrictions, but even with those I think it turned out pretty good. I can't wait to get it in the mail! Now I just need to backtrack and catch up on albums from the past 3 years. All in good time...

Click here to view this photo book larger

He's a Trooper...

Since we were super busy the past year I was not able to keep up on blog posts like I would have liked to...especially posts about the house progress. One of the main reasons I have this blog is for our own enjoyment; so that years down the road we can look back at it and say, "remember when....". Therefore, I'll be posting some of our remodeling photos for quite some time so that we can remember all of the craziness that we went through to get where we are.

As I mentioned above, he's a trooper. I can't even begin to tell you how many dust filled projects Brian has had to do...he lived many a day in a mask to keep his lungs free of concrete dusk, insulation, tile debris, and sawdust.

The photos below (one of the many dust filled projects) are the beginning stages of the floor installation...it all started on a Sunday afternoon and I was on my way home from a wedding shower. I pulled into our street and saw smoke pouring out our front and side doors...but it wasn't smoke, it was concrete dusk. The poor guy was leveling the concrete of our whole downstairs...NOT a fun job! Here's a bit of the aftermath....

Trying to clean every square inch with the small shop-vac nozzle. I lost track of the number of times we vacuumed up that floor.

He was covered head to toe in concrete dust.

Look how happy we are :-) Living in DIY Central was a blast (insert sarcastic tone)!

What's for Dinner?

It's summer, which means fresh ingredients, light fish, and the grill! A few weeks ago at the gym I grabbed the new Sunset magazine, which happened to to be in the magazine drawer (score), and hit the elliptical. Note to self, it's never a good idea to read food magazines while working out. I always start drooling, my stomach starts growling, and I usually end my workout early so that i can go eat. Anyway, I came across this recipe for Mahimahi with Thai Green Curry. YUM! You need to make it, STAT. My new obsession is anything containing curry or coconut milk...I can't get enough.

*Sorry for the yellowy/orange tint...it was taken at night under lights. Maybe if I knew how to use my camera better it would have turned out better. Or better yet, if could edit photos....

If you're into that as well, try this recipe for Red Curry Coconut Noodles, it will also make your mouth very, very happy! Bon Appetit!

Running on Empty

Wow it's been a while since I have blogged! Life was a little busy (understatement of the year) there for a while, but we are finally getting back into the swing of what normal life and a normal schedule looks like.

Long story short....we had to do a major push to get our house "done" in 30 days. Ready, set, panic attack! Luckily, I have been blessed with a husband who can do anything as well as amazing family and friends who were willing to help in the midst of the chaos.

The day we found out we had to "complete" our house in 30 days Brian and I decided that we had to be a team...there was no other way to get it done. Though I never want to go through what we went through again, we have lots of fond (*cough, cough, nudge, nudge*) memories of staying up til 3 a.m. drinking Simpler Times (how appropriate) while painting, floor prepping, running speaker wire, etc. By the way, since I'm on the topic of running speaker wire....I have a major aversion towards seeing wires, it drives me nuts! The night we had to run the speaker wire in the living room I was not a happy camper...I was grumpy from the lack of sleep, and knowing that I would be going to bed at 3:00 a.m. or later, again, was not making me any happier. I kept saying that we should just forget it, the wire wasn't cooperating. Who cares if we have to see wires when we put up the surround sound, I just want to go to bed! Brian kept reminding that I hate wires and that I would thank him later...really? Would I? Are you sure about that? After far too long that night, we finally got the wire to cooperate (too confusing to explain the process here)....and yes, I thank him all the time now! Do you know how nice it is to have speakers in the wall with no wires hanging from them? It truly is amazing! Thank you husband for not giving up.

Now back to the real reason I am writing this post. We were running on empty, not really sure how we were gonna make it another day. Late one night I was making us some burritos (for probably the 5th night in a row) and Brian was working on the floor. He had mentioned that he wasn't feeling that great. "Poor guy," I thought...and continued making burritos. About 15 minutes went by and I realized that I hadn't been hearing any noise. "Brian...Brian, are you ok?" No answer. The first thing that flashed into my head was an image of him collapsed on the floor...why wasn't he answering me? I rounded the corner to the living room and this is what I saw...the same image that had flashed into my head seconds earlier....

"BRIAAAAAAAN!!!!!" I yelled as my heart was beating a mile a minute. I ran closer to see what had happened.

"Brian!" He slowly opened his eyes and mumbled, "I fell asleep..."

Talk about a panic attack! The poor guy was just so exhausted that he fell asleep with his face right next to floor glue (gnarly stuff) and his head on a razor blade. So happy we are done with most of this chaos :-)

Oh, and don't worry, I took these photos after I found out he was ok.

Good Friends

Good friends...there's nothing like 'em! We were so fortunate to have lived next to some of our best friends for the past year and a half. Granted, we only live 3 minutes down the road now, but it seems far since we used to live 30 seconds away, by foot.

Brian has known Luke since high school. They didn't like each other their freshman year, then Luke moved away for their sophomore year, then something happened the summer between Junior and Senior year and they became inseparable! I'm glad their relationship took a turn for the best because the McLelan's are great people to have around.


They have done SO much for us the past 6 months since I have started school and since the house purchase/renovation/remodel. To name a few...they have fed us a countless number of times, cleaned out our hot tub so that it could be refilled (there may have been an alterior motive here, but that's just a guess :-), mowed our lawn, scrubbed our bathroom, painted, sanded, demolished, and have even folded our laundry! I mean really, who does that? We are so blessed to have them as friends! Good friends really are a gift from God.

Encouraging Words

My mom sent me this the other day and it encouraged me, so I thought I would share. I hope it encourages you too. It's from a devotional book called "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young.

Bring me your weakness, and receive My Peace. Accept yourself and your circumstances just as they are, remembering that I am sovereign over everything. Do not wear yourself out with analyzing and planning. Instead, let thankfulness and trust be your guides through this day; they will keep you close to Me. As you live in the radiance of My Presence, My Peace shines upon you. You will cease to notice how week or strong you feel, because you will be focusing on Me. The best way to get through this day is step by step with Me. Continue this intimate journey, trusting that the path you are following is headed for heaven.

Psalm 29:11 Numbers 6:24-26 Psalm 13:5

Saying Goodbye to the Beach Shack

We've done it...we've moved. Little did we know that moving two minutes down the road would be so emotional. We LOVED our little beach shack! Yes, it was small; yes, mold would grow on the walls and we would have to clean it with bleach; yes, we had a church building in our front yard; and yes, the traffic on Portola Ave. was extremely loud (until they put in double paned windows for us), but even with all of those little "annoyances" we still loved it. Why? We were down the street from the ocean, we had space for a little tomato garden, we had an awesome little jungle spot for our hot tub, we lived by some of our best friends, and best of all it was our first home together...the place where we started our family.

I met (or re-met him as he would say) Brian on April 17, 2005 at a wedding, and he had just recently moved into the "beach shack." It just so happens that my sister and her husband had lived in the beach shack right before Brian, so I still had a key to the place.

A few days after that wedding I got a phone call from Brian, in which he mentioned that he had some of my sister's mail. I was literally down the street from the beach shack, so I told him that I would stop by to pick up the mail. During our conversation that night I mentioned how weird it was that I had a key to his house..."here you go, you can have a spare key now..." to which Brian responded, "you should hold on to it, you might need it some day...."

All I remember is giving him a strange look. I held on to the key and we continued our conversation. Little did I know that two and a half years later I really would be needing that key.

Goodbye beach shack...you were so good to us!

Meet Isaac

Isaac, or I-2 as Brian likes to call him, is nephew number 2 out of 4 for Brian and I. Isaac has an older brother whose name is Isaiah and when Brian first met them he couldn't remember who was who, so he started referring to them as I-1 and I-2. For some reason the name I-2 just stuck and that's how we refer to him.

Isaac is a sweetheart. It took him a while to get there with me for some reason...when he was younger he would turn around and walk the other way when he saw me...why you may ask? I have no idea, but he had some sort of aversion towards me. Luckily, I have grown on him the past few months. He now jumps up and down when he sees me and gives me hugs. I'm so happy that I have finally won him over!

Isaac is quite entertaining. One of his favorite activities is dancing...to Michael Jackson, of course. He has a soft spot for MJ, and once that music starts playing his head automatically starts bobbing up and down, his arms start popping and locking, and his 360 spins come out in full force.

All in all, he's just so fun to watch. He's curious, adventurous, and mischievous. He is intrigued by everything and makes the best facial expressions. Here he is on Christmas day enjoying sour grass, which he loves, but you wouldn't know it by looking at these photos....

Bathroom Destruction

First of all, forgive the quality of these pictures; they look horrible. Secondly, if you haven't seen or heard from us in a while, this would be why.

Poor Brian, I can't even tell you how much cement cutting/grinding he has had to do since we bought this house. I'm not gonna lie, it looks like a horrible job. I'm so happy that he is willing to do it :-)


We decided to move the location of the closet door in the master bedroom. Here's Brian in the process of changing it from the wall when you first enter the room to the bathroom. This way it will give us more wall space, plus with the lay out of the room/bathroom we thought it made more sense to enter the closet from the bathroom.


This job did not look fun! Brian and Luke were able to tackle the marble tiled wall...it took quite a bit of effort, but now it's empty. YAY! Thanks Luke, you were a huge help!




This photo is to prove that I do help from time to time :-)


And lastly, here is our "new view" from our "new bench." We love taking bike rides and going to one of the many benches along the water. This is the closest bench to our new house and it's about two blocks away. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. When Brian and I started looking for houses a while back we would pray for a house close enough to the water that we could ride our bikes. God totally blew us away with this one!