Congratulations...

.... seth and i have received our acceptance letters! we both got into point loma nazarene & i also got into cal poly and san diego state. not sure where i will go at this point. cal poly is out cause it is so far away, so it's down to PLNU vs SDSU. both great schools, one is private with a small student body, one is obviously a state school and has TONS of people. it would be awesome to go to school with seth though. major difference is tuition cost. MAJOR difference. so we shall see how it all plays out. that's the biggest decision going on for me at the moment. seth also has some decisions he is facing at the moment, and we are just taking things one day at a time.

as for school currently, seth is almost done with one class & trucking along in his others. soon he'll only be attending one class on campus & the other two are online - lucky duck! my classes are going well, calculus is getting tougher, but I think I can get through it. Hospitality is going well - doing a group project where we get to do research at wine bars - so that's kinda neat. geography is pretty good. the teacher is hilarious and always says the funniest things you would never imagine a 70 year old man saying. (conserve water, shower with a friend!) but his tests are crazy hard! bummer :(

what else?!? ares got attacked at the dog park, but handled it nicely. this dog is three times his size and he did not back down. that's why his middle name is "killer"! haha. but he did survive & has no battle wounds. Luna Marie (one day I called her this and it just stuck...must be from shay) is doing well. always barking at other dogs - so she doesn't make many friends. but we do have a good little group that meets at the park & all the doggies get along! it's basically a pug pack (4 pugs: Ares, Luna, Hank & Ernie) + a frenchie (Dukes) & a boxer (Summer).... and the occassional visit from Cassius, the old english bulldog. i'll have to bring the camera one day to capture the mayhem! it's quite adorable actually :)

i am also going to donate my hair to locks of love. it's something i've always wanted to do & i've finally fought the urge to snip my hair off so that i can get to that point. so in the next few months it should be over ten inches in a ponytail and i will CHOP it off! the working out has been going pretty well too. seth wrote up this awesome workout for us alternating days between swimming & running. it gets pretty tough, but hopefully i'll be bikini ready by june :) or sooner since we live in cali...haha.

sorry there are no pics with this post... i need to upload them to the computer.. maybe next time :) arrivederci!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I woke up this morning and wanted to do something nice for my husband. I decided to bake him his favorite muffins! Which as I type are in the oven right now. The yummy smell of gooey, warm blueberry muffins fills the apartment :)

When I went to the store this morning, I also wanted to buy a card to tell him how much I love him, but when I picked the one I liked, I looked at the price and it was FIVE DOLLARS! for a piece of paper with words written by someone else. not the best way to share your love.

So to my loving husband, Seth:

I love you. You are an amazing man and I am so blessed to have you in my life. I am extremely happy that you chose me to have by your side and be your wife. (haha smart guy's a rhymer!) You have given me so much joy and happiness, & turned my world upside down. Without you, I would be lost. You are the sweetest, most loving, giving and passionate man I know. I appreciate everything you do for us & everything you do each day to bring a smile to my face. I love who you are and what you believe. I love your passion and determination to do what you want with life. I love your adventurous spirit, but mostly I love the side of you that no one sees but me. I could have never imagined meeting someone who loves me as much as you do and who takes care of me like you do. God has given me the greatest husband and my best friend. You are the love of my life and I love every minute of our life together. Happy Valentine's Day Sweetheart!

Love, your Firefly

A note from Seth

Blogging...hmmm. It seems that no matter what I do or how I try to adapt, I am always falling behind the times. Got a cell phone years after everyone else was using them, got a smart phone years after everyone was using them, learned how to text years late, finally got a Facebook account and now we are all moving to blogging. Ahhhh... Whatever. So school started and I am already fed-up with it. Not so much it as the people who go there. At our community college there are about 22,000 students that attend there (literaly). Its so busy in the morning that we have police directing traffic on campus, just so that you can get to the parking lot where you will find exactly 0 spaces to park. Once you arrive in class it is filled with a bunch of snot-nosed little punks with 0 life experience and loud mouths full of exactly 0 knowledge or wisdom. The things that comes out of these kids mouths makes me doubt humanity as a whole. I spoke with my friend Jeremy Bishop to day who said something very interesting and I quote, " America, the land of the spoiled brats who think they already know averything." Thanks Jeremy, How true it is. I sit in class and wonder... 'what am I doing here?' I am forced to take the lamest classes, due to CA's flawed school system. On that note, CA has by far the stupidest most unreasonable laws out of any state or country for that matter. I cant get a job here because I wasnt certified in CA, they wont take my credits because they are this or that accreditation, wow. Now we are looking for jobs and I am waiting on the VA to start paying me my education money, which so are like a million other people out there. So the bank account continues to dwindle with each days passing.
Ok well aside from all that... Life is great.
No really, it is. Things are going great in the household. Sarah and I are adapting to the constant presence of each other and actually handling it very well;) She has handled the whole move so well and has truely impressed me with her mature attitude toward it all. We have a great roommate, seems to be working out very well so far. The dogs are healthy and loving SD as am I. I have yet to go surfing, since I have had such a full plate as of late, but plan to get out there asap.
We went to a dueling piano bar the other night with my brother Adam, his wife Helen and my cousins Lacey and Brandon. It was spectacular. We loved it. Sarah is amazing, she downed a shot of whiskey before anyone else at the table. What a trooper, what a wife. She continues to impress me each day with her little quips also.
I have been hitting the gym about 4 times a week with Kyle (roommate) and it seems to be going well. Sarah has been working out at the apartment gym and seems to like it ok. Sarah and I played raquetball the other day... it was a lot of fun. Sarah is a natural. She tends to shy away if the ball is hit real hard, but she will catch on soon enough.
Sarah has a possible job offer as a nanny. She has an interview this week with the people, so hopefully all goes well and we can stop worrying about money quite so much. I keep sending in applications, to no avail, but I will press on.
We truely miss all our friends in VA and UT. We hope to see them all so soon. They all seem to be doing very well and everyone seems to be getting pregnant these days, must be the weather out there. Good thing we are safe in CA.
Well, till next time. Take care and stay safe.

job hunting & slaving over school

this is us visiting point loma university which is right on the sunset cliffs! gorgeous views all over campus!



here we are at seaport village in san diego, right at the harbor!

well... we started school last week, and needless to say, we both are hating it. the campus is ridiculously crowded all the time... and it feels like we're back in high school. but it's only for one semester. for me at least. but seth is not as bothered by it as I guess I am. i have classes M-Th: calculus, geography, intro to hospitality & computers (online). seth has class TuTh: speech & philosophy, and he's taking two online: music & art history. calculus & computers are kicking my booty, & well seth just can't stand music and art. I told him I would switch with him, I'll do his art & music, if he does my computers. no go. oh well.
anyway, other than school, we are pretty much occupied with finding jobs. We've both applied online to many places, but no luck yet. I received emails asking for more info, so I'm just waiting to hear back. Those were for being a nanny! ha. It's pretty much the only job I am qualified for. So that's where I applied and also for a Gymboree Party Instructor, and another job as a Cupcake Associate! ha. Do you know which one I'd prefer?? lol. Seth is looking into jobs for security and hopefully he hears something soon.
I am struggling yet AGAIN, with figuring out what I want to do with my life. Hospitality and Tourism or Interior Design or something totally different! I have no idea! And it drives me crazy every minute of the day! But I have to stick with something so I can be done with school!
Pups are doing great! Cute as ever! Enjoying the California sun.. they get to go on walks much more often! And Ares actually SURVIVES!! :P
Well off to dream land soon... class tomorrow :/
<3 sc

more pictures of the apartment

so here are some more pictures of our apartment. another open shot of the living room from the kitchen. then there is a picture of our bedroom. the next shot is taken from the dining room - looking into the kitchen & living room. then is the dining room, which still needs some work - so there will be more pictures to come once we complete that space. and the last picture is our kitchen with the island where we eat most mornings on our bar stools. there is also a separate desk in the kitchen where the wicker baskets are above the cabinets. it kills me to live with all white walls, but we're trying to add some color with fabrics and pottery and what not. so as we get time... and money... hopefully there will be vast improvements & new photos to share!

welcome home

well this is our lovely living room.... the computer is acting up & will not allow me to upload any more pictures for some reason. but i will continue to try. unfortunately, it seems i may have to do multiple blogs of just a few pictures - which will be really annoying. ha. but let's see... so far there is the living room with a view from the kitchen, then there is one section of the living room which shows off the fireplace (with the fancy iron work above - from southern living!) and the entertainment stand/bookshelf from ikea. took about two hours to build that sucker! and of course i must add, the mirror placed on the wall to see the front of the door. somewhere i read that for feng shui in your house, you should have the couch facing the entrance of your home, otherwise have a mirror hanging to be able to see the front door. interesting. seth probably thinks i'm a whacko - but i thought it was neat. and anything to keep good spirits in the house is a plus for me! we have that empty space behind the couch which we are trying to come up with some idea for. we've been thinking maybe three square frames wrapped in a patterned fabric, or three pictures of the three roommates. not sure. any suggestions?? <3>

here we are....

We finally made it to our adorable apartment in sunny San Diego! We left on December 27th and arrived on January 2nd. The trip was so long & the whole situation was stressful, but we made it through! It was hard to say goodbye to all our family & friends. I miss everyone so much! I miss my Virginia. But not its weather. I do prefer the San Diego sun & the sweet breezes coming through the open windows.

It's still so surreal being here. It feels like we are on vacation. I'm sure that feeling will change when we start back at school in a week. Which I am quite nervous about cause I'm used to my little TCC. But somehow I've got to work my way through 4 classes & the wonders of calculus and not get distracted by the sand & sun. haha. We'll see how long that lasts :)

... And since it is a new year, new surroundings, new lifestyle...Seth & I have decided to embark on a new adventure (our new year's resolution) - to get in the absolute best shape of our lives! Seth goes to the gym with our roomie, Kyle and I am hitting up our apartment gym with my killer trainer Jillian Michaels - in a box! Her insane "Hot Bod in a Box" deck of training cards, that seriously kick your butt! It is going well so far, well it's only been a couple days, but I miss my chocolate already! Guess you just have to sacrifice :(

Will post some pics of the apartment soon. We picked out some great things at Ikea to decorate & add to our space, so it is coming along nicely.

Stay tuned for more. pugs & kisses xoxo