Northern California Vacation

Shane and I just got back from an amazing trip around Northern California. I had a week off from work so we hopped in the car and drove to California! It was a lot of driving but we actually had a good time. We listened to 2 books on tape while we drove. We stopped off at several different places and saw and did a ton, while still sleeping in, relaxing and just enjoying being away from home for a week. And I must add that we had perfect weather. It was in the mid 80's and didn't get that cool weather you get in San Francisco a lot. It was sunny, clear, and warm the entire week.

Here's a little re-cap of our week.

Quincy
We started off by surprising Shane's mom in Quincy, CA. That is where Shane grew up and it's way up in the forest, Northwest of Reno, NV. Needless to say, we really surprised her. We were going to call her when we pulled into town to at least give her 2 minutes to prepare but when we called she was on the phone and her phone was busy. So we just pulled up and rang the doorbell. She was still on the phone and luckily she was talking to Shane's sister because she screamed into the phone when she saw us. We only stayed one night but it was fun to visit and I even got to meet one of Shane's uncles that I had never met before. Here is a picture of our drive from Quincy to San Francisco. It was such a pretty drive.



San Francisco
On our way down to San Francisco we stopped at the Jelly Belly factory. We took a tour and it was so fun and informative. They can make 35,000 centers of the Jelly Belly every minute and it takes 7-21 days to make a Jelly Belly depending on the flavor. They can also stamp 20,000 per minute with it's Jelly Belly logo. We got lots of free samples while we were there and of course picked out a bag of our favorites to enjoy for the rest of our trip. I had no idea that Jelly Bellly makes Candy Corns...I LOVE candy corns. So I had to take my picture in front of this wall. I got to try one and while I am usually very partial to the Brachs brand, they actually tasted really good.





Sunday we drove down the coast for a while and found a small, secluded beach right off the highway that wasn't crowded at all. It was beautiful. We finished listening to our first book on CD that we had and then watched the waves crash against the rocks and just enjoyed the scenery. One piece of scenery I could have done without was a naked, old man walking down the beach...yep completely naked. Sick! After the beach, we went and walked around the Oakland Temple.









The next day we headed into San Francisco. Shane and I have both been there several times so we didn't do a lot of the touristy stuff. We each wanted to do one thing. I wanted to ride the Cable Cars...of all the times I have been to San Francisco, I've never been on the cable cars. It was pretty fun watching how the work them and I got to hang off the side of it as well. Shane wanted to eat Shrimp on the Pier. So we headed into town, caught the cable car over to Pier 39, walked around the shops and then ate dinner on the Pier. Shane was soo happy he got to eat 'Shrimp Fest' (yes that was the name off of the menu.)





Santa Cruz
After San Francisco we headed down to Santa Cruz. Shane went to college for 2 years in Santa Cruz so we drove around and looked at the town for a while. I got to see where he lived, etc. Then we walked down to the boardwalk. We were really disappointed that the rides they have on the boardwalk close during the week after Labor Day (no wonder our hotel room was so cheap.) We were sad, but still had a good time. We walked around the pier, saw the Sea Lions that hang out all around the pier and then had dinner overlooking the ocean. So gorgeous! Later that night we went back down to the beach for an after dark walk along the beach. I love the sound of the waves and just walking along the beach. The next day we went and walked around Steamers Lane and watched the surfers catch some waves and then headed out of town.







Lake Tahoe
We spent a short time in Lake Tahoe but enjoyed it just the same. We didn't do much, we walked down to the lake from our hotel, ate dinner and then just enjoyed some down time back at the hotel.



All in all we had a great vacation and it was nice to be gone for a week and get away. It was also nice that while we did lots of fun things, we didn't try too pack to much in and had some nice down time as well. I even got to read an entire book while I was gone, which I loved!!

We have a backyard

We're so excited because we finally have a backyard. After living here over a year we knew it was time to put in a backyard. We have a big backyard and so we spent a long time agonizing over what to do with it all. We wanted to do some fun things with it but also leave enough room to be able to throw a ball around, etc.

Warning: This post will contain a lot of pictures so feel free to scroll through really fast. But I wanted to show you the before, during and after phases.

Before:
In the back corner of our lot, there is a 'retention pond' meaning a big hole for extra water to run into when it rains. It's mostly on the lot next door, so we got permission to fill our part in.



Shane standing in the 'hole' we filled in.

During:
Since I had to work while all the work was being done, I was very sad that I couldn't watch the progress during the day. Having such a great, techy husband that I do, he set up a webcam and it would take a picture every 5 minutes. It was especially fun the day the sod went in, it was amazing how much sod they could lay in just 5 minutes time.

The view from the webcam:

After:

So here are the results...I love it and we are so happy it's finished and we have a backyard we can enjoy. And yes we realize we have no trees and bushes. Those are coming next spring along with a small basketball court.

This lower patio will have a gazebo over it in a couple weeks after the concrete all sets

Happy Birthday to me

This last Monday was my birthday. Some of you may know that I love to celebrate my birthday. I've never had much of a problem getting older and it's just a fun day to let others spoil you. :) I love my birthday so much that I usually celebrate for about a week (I also celebrate my half birthday, just another excuse to celebrate something.)

This birthday week started out last Saturday when BYU opened their football season against No. 3 in the nation Oklahoma. I was just hoping they showed up and had a good game, but when they won...I knew it was going to be a good birthday week. As the game ticked down and ended, Shane turned to me and said 'Happy Birthday.' He knew how excited I was at this huge win.



Sunday we had our family birthday dinner. I share a birthday with my cute niece Kayla and then my sister Jennifer's birthday is 3 days after mine. So we had a very nice dinner, presents and a yummy bundt cake...can't top the 'Nothing but bundt cakes.'



Lucky for me this year my birthday fell on Labor Day so I got the day off work for my birthday. I slept in, laid around reading my book and then around lunchtime Shane had the rest of the day planned. We went to lunch, then drove up to Provo Falls, which is not in Provo for those who don't know that, but up past Kamas on the way up to Mirror Lake. We hiked around there for a while, took a really pretty drive, and saw the leaves just starting to change (sad.) We ended the day in Park City do some shopping at the outlets and dinner after that. It was really fun, relaxing day and so nice to just get out of the city for the day.





Tuesday they celebrated my birthday at work where I got my favorite kind of cookie from a nearby bakery and several co-workers took me out to lunch.

Wednesday, Shane and I and Brigitte and Tyler all went to the Keith Urban concert. We've had tickets for 6 months and I was soo excited to go. It was a fun time and Keith always puts on such a good show. He played straight for 2 hours!Tyler and Shane are not country fans but they were brave to come with us and Shane said it was better then he expected. They both said it's the best country concert they've been to...and yes they've been to a few with us.





Thursday night my parents took my sister and I out to dinner.
Friday Brigitte and I went to lunch to celebrate and then that night we went to a Peter Breinholt concert in the park.

So tonight ends my birthday week celebration with another BYU win and such a fun week. Yes I may be a year older, but it sure was fun to celebrate it with everyone. Thanks for all the well wishes. Here's to another year of fun and good times ahead.

Light the Night

On Friday, October 2, 2009, I will be participating in the Light the Night walk for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I would love anyone who wants to join me, to come walk with our team and raise some money for this great organization. Their research and information has helped to not only save my life, but my nieces as well.

Our team name: Sheri's Hodge Podge's

If you can't walk with us, then please take a moment to donate. Any amount will do...seriously, any!! Click Donate Now.

Click here to see my fundraising page and the cutest picture of my niece!

Thanks for all your support through my whole ordeal, I'm still feeling great and healthy and this is just one more way I...and you...can give back and help others that are or will one day struggle from this ugly thing called Cancer.