Of Vacations and Weddings

Tonight I would like to share a post I wrote several years ago.  It is primarily about our trip to California and events from the fall of 2006 though the beginning of 2007.  A highlight of our vacation was that we got to visit my Aunt Marjorie.  Eric & I had not seen her since I was pregnant with Austin, which of course meant that she had never met Austin!  I recently re-read this post and noticed that I wanted to take a cruise for our 15th anniversary.  Well, we never went on that cruise, but now as our 18th anniversary approaches, we are preparing to go on a cruise!  Most likely that will be the subject of my next post, but for now, I hope you enjoy this post, originally written on February 24, 2007.  It was originally called "General Update" and was shared on my business website.  I have renamed it "Of Vacations and Weddings" for this this blog.

Wow...it has been forever since I updated this. We went on our vacation to California in October, and we had soooo much fun!  First, we went to see my Aunt Marjorie in Magalia.  While we were there, we visited Feather River Canyon, and took a trip to a real, working gold mine.  This was great for Austin, since he's really into gold and gemstones.  We also went to downtown Sacramento and toured the Leland Stanford mansion.  The rest of the time, we pretty much visited with my Aunt, and ate at great restaurants.  Here is a picture of me at Feather River Canyon.

Audrey at Feather River Canyon, October 20, 2006.

After we left my Aunt's house, we drove over to San Francisco, where we stayed in a neat bed and breakfast at the top of Gold Mine Hill. Our hosts were so much fun, and we enjoyed breakfast with the other guests and our hosts every morning before we set out for the day. We went to Pier 39 and spent a long time there. There was so much to do and see! The highlight for me was the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. We had two people tell us before we left home, that we HAD to go there, so we did and it was well worth it. We visited an aquarium that had an underground section...we could see fish swimming around us on three sides while we moved through on a conveyor belt. We also visited Alcatraz and Golden Gate Park. The park was so crowded that we didn't do a lot there...we were running out of time, so we mostly went in the Japanese Tea Garden and then looked at some artwork that was on display right across from the Tea Garden. Then we drove over Golden Gate bridge to Muir Woods and walked around in there until closing time. We got some neat souveniers there...my son got a statue of a bear that was carved from the redwoods, and I got a necklace, also carved from the redwoods. The plane trip home was exhausting, as we got on our first flight at 12:30 a.m. and then had a long layover in Texas before boarding the last plane, a jet, to bring us back to Alabama. I didn't like the jet...it seemed to take off at a higher incline and coming down was steeper too. It made me a little sick.

Well, after we got back, it was business as usual...until my son & I got the flu. That wiped us out for about a week. Plus Brittany's boyfriend moved here, so most of our "free" time was taken up with chaperoning. Then, at the end of December, they decided to get married...Here's a picture of the newlyweds!

Joel & Brittany Gomez, December 29, 2006

The newlyweds lived with us while they were waiting for their rental to be ready. Joel got the flu and Brittany got bronchitis. Then Austin got sick again, and then Eric got the flu! So I had been tending sick ones, in addition to running the shoppe. Brittany & Joel's rental finally got ready after a couple of weeks, so they moved out and are in the process of getting everything set up nicely in their own place. I have been working hard at home too, trying to get rid of a lot of things I don't need, so that we can spend more time together as a family.

Eric & I "celebrated" our 14th wedding anniversary on February 8th. I say "celebrated" because this was right after he had the flu, and he still wasn't feeling well...so we really didn't do much. We have decided that we should start celebrating our anniversary in the summer when everyone is well. Anyway, next year will be our 15th, so we will probably plan something really big then...I've been thinking about a cruise...who knows!

A Day to Remember

A while back, Brittany and I began discussing her baby shower.  Right away, we knew we wanted something different.  For one thing, we wanted it to be a family event, rather than a "girls only" shower.  Also, we wanted something different than the traditional baby shower decor.  Since Brittany really loves owls, we finally decided on an owl theme...and we started looking for decorations.  This proved to be harder than we expected.  Who knew that most owl things are done in pink and obviously for girls?

Brittany and Joel found a bedding set they really liked, which included owls and other woodland creatures, so we decided to have the shower decor correspond with that.  We started looking online for things we could use.  In the end, we used some stickers that we got from Michael's to decorate the tables.  We (and by saying "we" I mean Brittany, me, and all the people who so kindly helped us) cut out and glued the stickers onto popsicle sticks and put them into bowls of candy.  We also bought some owl "confetti" from an Etsy listing. 

Bedding and Room Decor

Candy Bowls

Close-up of Owl Confetti

We were able to borrow some Japanese lanterns from Glynis.  Brittany and Zandria made origami owls and we hung them from the lanterns.

Japanese lanterns

Close-up of origami owls

Finished table area

Next, the food...I am so appreciative of everyone who provided food and/or drinks.  We had a variety of items, from meatballs to fresh fruit.  I was so excited that Austin volunteered to make homemade mints.  They turned out very well!  Mary carved a watermelon in the shape of an owl, and two smaller watermelons into nests, filled with fresh fruit.  That was all so cute!  We had two delicious varieties of cheese balls with crackers, chips and vegetables with dip, finger sandwiches and nuts.  Janet made a delicious fruit punch, and we had coffee, sweet and unsweet tea, and water.

Food!

More Food!

Even more food!

Close-up of Mary's owl!

And for the finishing touch...the cake.  Originally we thought about a plain sheet cake with a fondant owl on it, or something to that effect.  Then, we started thinking about a topper with owls in a nest, and began searching for one online.  We found one that had two owls in the nest, but we wanted three.  So, we turned to Zandria to make one to our specifications.  She suggested making one from clay so that it could be baked and saved.

Owl topper (fondant)

Zandria's rendition (clay)

Now, what type of cake?  We found a neat-looking one online.  It was square, with embossed fondant on the outside to look like tree bark.  When I asked the baker about it, I learned that this option would be way too expensive.  Then, we found a cake that was made like a jelly roll and the outside finished with chocolate frosting that was supposed to look like a tree, although it was much less detailed than the first idea.  The jelly roll part would also look like rings of the tree on top, which was kinda neat.  While I was discussing all this with the baker, she told me she was making a "tree trunk" cake for a groom's cake.  So, when this was finished, she emailed me a picture of it, and I was really impressed with it.  So, we decided on a variation of this, but of course, we would need more than one cake for the number of people we were expecting.  We decided on three cakes with three different flavors:  one chocolate amaretto, one Italian creme, and one carrot.

Original cake idea

2nd cake idea

 

Baker's "Tree Trunk" Cake

After probably 30 emails back and forth (attempts to meet in person never worked out), we finally had our plan in place, and Tara Wilson of the Foster Street Bakery in Dothan, AL began working on our cakes.  The following pictures will show her work combined with our set-up.  I thought we did a pretty good job, considering that we're not professionals.

Close-up of Brittany's Mice!

Oh, and the cute little mice all around and on the cakes?  Brittany made them! 











All in all, I think the shower was a success.  I looked around the room, and it appeared that everyone was having a good time.  Our friends and family were generous in their gift-giving.  I think Ronan will be the best-dressed boy on the block.  ;-)  Most importantly, I think Joel & Brittany enjoyed themselves, and that was my ultimate goal.  I wanted it to be a day they would remember.  8-)

Guests enjoying themselves!

More guests enjoying themselves!

The happy couple!

~ Special thanks to EVERYONE who helped with decorating, food, drinks, and photography.  I appreciate each and every one of you! ~

My Bad Day

Going back in time today to post something I wrote several years ago.  The reason?  I have a tendency (actually tendency may be putting it mildly) toward negativity.  Sometimes it is good for me to remind myself that even if things are not going well, there is usually something to be gained by being positive.  I'm not having a bad day, today.  So far, it's been pretty good.  Austin just came in and showed me that he can walk normally on his hurt foot.  So, that's a very good thing.  But, for some reason, I thought of this today, and decided to share it.  Maybe it will help someone who IS having A BAD DAY...

Originally written June 22, 2007 ... 

I had the worst day yesterday, but at least it had a good ending. My son, Austin & I went to Wal-Mart to get a few things, and then we went over to the post office to mail a couple of packages. Austin likes to take the packages in, so while he was gone, I reached over to grab my purse, and it wasn't there. I looked in the back seat, and it wasn't there. I thought, "I must have thrown it in the back with the groceries," so I got out and looked in the back, but it wasn't there. Then I started panicking. I knew I must have left it in the shopping cart in the parking lot at Wal-Mart!

By this time, Austin was coming out of the post office, so I told him what happened, and we went back to Wal-Mart. I drove up and down all the rows in the area where we had been parked, and we looked left & right at all the buggies. My purse is quite large, so we could have easily spotted it, if it had been there. Anyway, we didn't see it, so I parked the van and we went in to the service desk. Nobody had turned in my purse, but the clerk told me to check with the greeter at the door. I asked the greeter, who said to check with the guy who gathers the carts, and she pointed him out to me. I asked him, but he hadn't seen it. Then, Austin & I went out to the parking lot and walked all around, looking in all the buggies. It was about 90 degrees outside and we exhausted ourselves, and still no purse. By this time, I was starting to panic. I started thinking about identity theft and all the places I would need to call...which made me think about my cell phone. My husband, Eric, had just gotten a new camera phone for me, just two days earlier. I kept thinking how upset he would be and by this time, I was fighting back tears. I went back in to the service desk again to use the phone. I tried calling Eric, but couldn't get him. I knew the area where he was working, and that he probably didn't have good service there, so I decided to drive out there. I didn't know what to do.

When I got out to where Eric was working, I sent Austin out to get him. I didn't want the other guys working there to see me crying. Eric came to the van and we tried to call the cell phone company, but it rang 20 or so times, and nobody answered, so we decided that I should just go home and try to call from there. I left there crying and my sweet son said, "Don't worry, Mom, I just know someone will turn it in." I kept telling him how in the past that would probably be true, but in this day and age, there are too many dishonest people in the world and that my identity would probably be stolen. I rambled on about that all the way home.

When we got home, Austin got the bags out of the van so I could go in and start making the phone calls. The message light on my phone was blinking, so I checked the messages. The first one was a hang-up, but the second one, I couldn't believe it...someone had found my purse. It turned out that a hair stylist, a man named Jon Blalock, had found my purse in the buggy next to his truck. He had taken it inside to his station, and given me a call to let me know he had it, and that everything was still inside! I tried to call him back, but the line was busy. I was so exhausted that I asked my mother if she would go by and pick up my purse on her way home. I finally got in touch with Mr. Blalock. We chatted for a little bit and I told him my mom would be picking up my purse. I gave him her name, and he said he would ask for her ID. I told mom to give him some money from my purse as a reward. Then Austin called Eric to let him know the purse had been found. Eric was preparing to come home to help me make the calls, but Austin caught him just in time, so he could stay and finish his work.

Well, my mom went by, showed her ID, and got my purse. She gave Mr. Blalock a small reward, and he seemed happy. I was so grateful to get back my purse and with everything in it, no less! I apologized to my son for being so negative earlier and I can't tell you how relieved and happy I was!