My Friend Suzy

Today is Suzanne's 30th birthday.

And the best part (in my opinion) is that I get to celebrate with her!

Suzy and I met in high school and instantly became close friends.

We played on the same softball team and went to youth group together.

We graduated and moved hours apart, but still remained close. We'd get together whenever we were home and we traveled to visit each other at college.

One summer we coached together out at an amazing camp in Pennsylvania. We spent our days off in Ithica and New York City.

After college we traveled through Europe. We stayed up all night to watch the bulls run in Pamplona. We slept in a park because we were too cheap to pay for a hotel room. We hitchhiked, yes hitchhiked, through northern Spain. We slept on a beach when we missed the last train. We watched fireworks over the Eiffel Tower on Bastille Day. We hiked through beautiful valleys and ate lots of ice cream in Switzerland. We camped out in Tuscany and made our way to Rome.

We met some amazing guys and both got married.

We ended up living just an hour away from each other in Southern California and made a point to visit each other as much as possible.

We adopted dogs.

Just over a year ago Suzy became the most amazing mother to precious Zachary.

And today we are celebrating Suzy's 30th year.

I love you Suzanne and I can't wait for all the adventures that are still ahead!

You don't have to go back to school...

...to score at the Back to School sales!

Blogging is Like Laundry

It's so easy to get behind.

Then overwhelmed.

And do nothing at all.

I promise I'll get caught up!

...eventually...

Friends

A few weeks ago, Jason and I snuck back into town to surprise some of our favorite kiddos at their high school graduation. What an emotional day it was.

We spent the night at our good friend Eric's, and the next day had a little rendezvous with our precious Foothills loves...

Stopped in for a quick visit with JT, Jess and our godson Jorde...

A surprise visit with our old neighbors...

And last, but not least, a wonderful evening spent with our dear friends Patrick, Carly, Eva and Adrian in San Clemente.

What a reminder of how God has truly blessed us through our incredible friends.

Five Years Ago

I married my best friend.

I love you Jason Steinbarger!

Only in Salinas

As soon as we crossed the finish line at this morning's Fourth of July race, we were met with huge strawberries and oranges, then picked up goodie bags filled with celery and romaine and iceberg lettuce.

Later on in the day, Jason and our friend Gavin took part in the fireman's muster bucket brigade competition and received baskets filled with artichokes, celery, broccoli, cauliflower and several varieties of lettuce.

They don't call this the Salad Bowl for nothing!

Erin & Gracie

A few weekends ago my friend Erin came up for a visit, and she brought along Charlie's pal Gracie.

We had a great time together and the weather was beautiful! We hiked Garland Ranch out in Carmel Valley where the pups had a swim in the murky pond (Charlie's new to the whole swimming thing so I don't really care where he swims - it still amazes me!) and then we took them down to the beach where they chased each other in the waves.

The rest of the weekend was spent lounging around the house, barbecuing, watching movies and just hanging out.

It was great to have our friends visit for a few days!