Marlie and Me (The Dotings of a New Aunt)

Could there be a cuter little girl? I think not!

The Greatest Stuff on Earth

Lately, I have been trying to eat more whole grains. I grew up on wheat bread, so it hasn't been too difficult for me to do. However, it seems that even breads and grains that we think are healthy and whole, are not. Below are a couple of products I have found and absolutely fallen in love with. Once you try them, you will never go back to the old stuff.

This is Ezekiel bread, named after the scripture Ezekiel 4:9 which talks about all the grains of the earth. It is AMAZING! Don't ask me how they do it, but it contains no flour and has the best wholesome/nutty taste you can imagine. It is absolutely delish toasted. I have found it at Trader Joe's, but also at my local Vons so I think it's pretty much everywhere. I seriously have not been able to go back to my old wheat bread.



My next new find is Coach's Oats. This is the best oatmeal I have ever had. It combines the texture and flavor of steel cut oats with the convenient cooking time of regular rolled oats. Once again after trying this oatmeal, you won't be able to go back to your old oatmeal. Because I was only able to find it one time, I looked it up online and ordered it right off of the sight. If you're interested it's www.coachsoats.com. You can thank me later.

It Figures

As I was running my errands today, I thought I'd be extremely productive and get my car washed since it's a task I usually put off. All went well. I got into my car and began to drive out of the parking lot. Before I even got onto the street, it started raining! Can you believe it? Needless to say, the wash was somewhat pointless, but at least my car was vacuumed inside.

Busy Weekend

Boy, was my weekend busy. On friday, I performed with my father's band for the Mar Vista Ward Halloween party. It was a lot of fun, although I don't know how well my keyboard skills were displayed over the sound of drums and guitar. It didn't really matter, everyone had a great time.

My father ripping it up on guitar


I am on the far left. You can barely see me.


Posing with Tigger




Then on Saturday night, I had a halloween/birthday party at my parent's house. It was loads of fun and a great excuse to get everyone together. We had homemade rootbeer smoking from a witches cauldron (thanks to magical abilites of dry ice), homemade chili, and tons of treats. The only downer was that Cheryl and Clay and Frank and Kim were not able to be there because of their pregnancies. Cheryl and Clay's baby girl was born on Saturday and Kim is on bed rest. They sure were missed but I am so excited for them!

My mother made me this amazing birthday cake. One of the ingredients included in the frosting was a pound of semi-sweet chocolate! You've gotta love the spider web motif as well. If you look closely, you can see a trail of spiders making themselves comfortable on my cake.


Possibly my favorite costume of the evening. Since David and Vanessa are newlyweds, it was more than appropriate they come as a disheveled couple caught in the heat of moment. Priceless!


Matt and Rachael made great hippies. I love Matt's afro.






Matt's chops







My brother in law Stevie has the best legs.


Me with my sisters Natalie and Rachael

The Nerve!

I have proudly (with just an itsy bitsy amount of fear) sported my Yes on Prop 8 sticker on my car window for about four days now. The only problem is that I am a teacher, therefore I park in a teacher parking lot with many other teachers. Teachers happen to be some of the most liberal and opinionated and retarded creatures on earth (yes I just called teachers retarded). Well, I noticed yesterday when I drove home from work (my car was parked in this infamous teacher parking lot all day) that my Prop 8 sticker had been removed from my window! I couldn't believe it. I may be jumping to conclusions here, but I am most certain that it was one of those blood-sucking, ill informed, retarded, liberal teachers that took it off my car. So, just to get back at this retarded person (I've used that word thrice now) I taped another sticker onto the inside of my car--problem solved, unless some psycho feels it's worth smashing my window in to rid this world of pro traditional marriage stickers.

So this is what really irks me. Today I started to notice that many Yes on Prop 8 signs I had seen previously in people's yards are now gone, most likely stolen. My parents had theirs stolen, and they live at the end of a cult a sac. It is interesting to note the type of person that would steal these items. Basically, they are individuals who want to stifle our right to speak freely. They are also individuals who want to allow for same sex marriage at the cost of all that is good and right in this world.

I'm just annoyed!

This One's for Sherry

I know, I'm a blogging slacker. I have had a great and busy summer but have completely neglected my little blog. So here is a bit about what I've been up to lately. Pictures should soon follow in a future blog.

I moved back to California.

My sister Rachael married Matthew Jackman on August 9th.

I had many panicked moments and sleepless nights because of my lack of luck in finding a job. However, heaven shined down on me eventually and I landed a great job at California High School teaching freshman and senior English. The best part: Cal Hi is only 6 miles away from home! No more commuting for me.

Dennis and Sherry visited us in California for a couple of weeks in the summer.

I became an aunt on September 27th! Marlie Janae Garces weighed in at 8 pounds and 9 ounces, 21 inches.

I must also mention that my FAVORITE holiday is just 21 days away!

I shall soon be back!

Tucson Ain't So Bad

Day 3 of The Journey:
I was wrong about Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona: they are beautiful! This drive has been more enjoyable than I could have ever imagined. I even saw a rainbow today as we were driving towards Tucson. By the time we got to the city, the sun was setting, the mountains were picturesque, and the landscaping was oh so deserty, that I was reminded of just how much I do love the beauty of the desert. If I were smart, i'd post pictures I took today, but my camera's charger is MIA for the time being and I had no more power left in my camera. However, I have included some pictures that I found of Tucson that resemble what I have witnessed today.




I should be home tomorrow. I think we have about seven more hours of driving to go. It's almost surreal to think that I will have driven a total of 2400 miles by tomorrow!