Moving to Lompoc

We Moved! Ryan got promoted to Lieutenant at USP Lompoc in California. We found out about a month and a half ago and it has been a complete whirlwind ever since. There is so much involved with a halfway cross country move but the Government has been so great and helpful through out the process. We had to find a home, break our lease, find me a job, pack up the house, drive out here, and try to get settled! We took a week long house hunting trip out to California to try and get the lay of the land and obviously find a house. We ending up finding our place on day and so we basically just hung out by the pool, lounged in the room, and watched the Newlywed Game!

In addition to lounging around, we went to the Wine Ghetto here in Lompoc. Its a community of small wineries that do tastings and educate  about the win they produce. This particular one was specalized in Pinot Noir and the company is called Montemar. They were so welcoming and helpful that we stayed and chatted for hours. They have a lounge area out back with olive trees, fire pits and rustic furniture. When you pair the beautiful weather with the high end meats and cheese they sell to go with the wine, you cant beat it!

I found a great nail salon that I will frequent often! This lovely color is perfect for fall.

We drove up to Pismo Beach while on our little trip.  This beach was perfect for bringing some chairs and a cooler down by the water and just relaxing. 

This is the Lompoc beach we checked out. It is literally 8 minutes from our house! How beautiful is this! 

Our new street! House pictures to come!

So now Millie and I are in a hotel waiting for Ryan to join us. We are going to spend about 2 weeks in a hotel before we can move into the new house, hopefully the quarters are not too cramped!

The one where the cops had to intervene

So at least once a year, my girls come to visit me and we have one heck of a time! This year was no exception, in fact it was one of the craziest! It started with the thought that we wanted to take advantage  of colorado outdoor activities. We had been zip lining, horse back riding, and white water rafting. The only logically thing left was to go kayaking! Of course we have no training, no guide, and no clue what we were getting ourself into. So against Ryan's better advice, we headed out to Canyon City to rent our equipment! When we got there, we of course were not able to load the kayaks onto the car, so we got the company to do it for us!

Here we are taking credit for loading the kayaks on the car and getting pumped up for the adventure!

Miss Alyssa and I unloading the kayaks off the car. Harder than it looks!

Also, getting them in the water was harder than it looks! Miss Sarah was such a good guide!

So after the hard work of getting the kayaks into the water, we were ready to set sail! We were loving the warm weather and mountain views. 

While on the river, 1 mile felt like 5 miles so we really had no idea how far we had gone. After a while, the skies start to get ominous and we were hard pressed to find a way out of the river. We make the decision to pull off to the side of the river, and see if there was a road in sight. There was not. We could not go any farther on the river because of posted signs staying "Danger!" So we climb up the side of the canyon walls, leave our equipment, and walk the trail to find a road. We finally walk far enough and run into a high way and a cop parked on the side of the road. The plan was to ask the cop for a ride back to our car, then I would drive back to the end of the trail, we would carry the kayaks 1 by 1 for about 3 miles to the car. We acknowledge this plan was not the best, but it was the only one we had.  So the cop agreed to take me to the car and then, it started pouring rain. The cop thought he would drive to the other side of the river, to see if there was a way to drive the car right up next to the kayaks and load them up. There was not. But we did encounter some hillbillies that almost got tazed by the cop! As the rain is pouring, the girls forge the river and bring the equipment across to the other side while me and 3 cops hike through barb wire, waist high weeds, and ditches to get to the kayaks. We reach the girls, deflate the kayaks and drag everything back about a mile to the car. We throw the equipment into a cop truck and they drive it back to the rental company. Needless to say, we looked rough! Clothes were muddy, friendships got stronger, and memories were made. 

Summer in November

I am a very bad blogger! I had such a great summer that I didn't even get around to blogging about it! So here in a very consalidated post about a few things I did this summer!

Went to Mile High to see Kenny Chesney! This handsome guy doesn't like country music, but he likes me, so he went!

Ryan, on the other hand really enjoyed the music! Such a great time! Beer and boat music!

My parents came to visit us in Colorado and we took them to a Rockies game! Ryan and I are rocking our rockies gear!

Coors field is so cool

My lovely parents! So glad they were able to to come visit!

Then, we traveled to Vegas, where I drank mimosas from sun up to sun down!

We watched these guys gamble and also said bye to Brad for a while! He is in China now teaching over there as a part of his Masters program!

We love Vegas!

Had dinner with these lovely ladies! We always have such a good time when we get together outside of work! I am so blessed to have met them and established a personal as well as a professional relationship with them!

My Daniel! We went to a Colorado Hockey game this summer. We decided we do not like hockey, but we do like the munchies that come with sporting events!

Fun times!!!

Colorado Camping

I have never been an outdoorsy kinda gal, but throw in a bon fire and some booze, and i'm in! My work  gals and I decided to pack up our tents and sleeping bags and head up to Mueller State Park in Colorado. We reserved three lots up in the mountains and let me tell ya, it was beautiful!

Mueller State Parking! Colorado Camping 2013!

 One of the most exciting parts of the trip was the food that we were going to make! Campfire food is so delicious! Here are a couple recipes we tried.

These tasty treats were a big hit! I took frozen Rhodes Rolls and let them thaw out. After they thawed we wrapped them around a hot dog and stuck it on skewer.

My lovely friend Beth made this dish. She put chopped up potatoes, bacon, spices, and lots of cheese! They were the perfect side! Beth wins the award for best camp cook! In addition to the hot dogs and potatoes, we also indulged in s'mores and beer! You really cant camp with out it!

My tent mate, Kalynn! We have never put a tent up before but by trial and error, we figured it out all by ourselves!
You can see in the background how beautiful the view was.

I am using a rock to hammer in the stakes, super inventive!

We were so proud of our accomplishment! Pretty cozy in there!

California Love

Ryan and I got back from our California vacation a few weeks ago. It was amazing! He planned the whole thing and made most of it a surprise! We started out the trip by visiting his aunts in Lancaster. They had such a beautiful home where we enjoyed some great homemade food and good company! They made these amazing pulled pork sandwiches that were so good I demanded the recipie and plan on making it this month when my parents visit. We also enjoyed gourmet cupcakes from a local cupcakary! My favorite was a lemon lavender one.

Nadias cupcakes, Lancaster CA.

The next stop was Six Flags Magic Mountain. Ryan had a ball! Roller coasters are his thing, he did research on each coaster, purchased fast passes and had facts to share about each one. I thought I liked rollar coasters, but in my old age, my stomach isnt as strong as it used to be. 

My favorite part of the park, Frozen Lemonaid!

Ryan and I in line for the first coaster, X2. Apparently its the only 4d coaster, whatever that means. 

After a day at Magic Mountain, we checked into our hotel and headed out for our first In and Out burger of the trip. Ryan and his brother are obsessed with this place! I have to admit, they are tasty, but I don't get the hype. 

The next day we headed to Coronado Island, the most beautiful place ever! Ryan surprised me with a 3 night stay at the Hotel Del Coronado resort. It was literally right on the beach! It was the 125th anniversary of the hotel so it was all dolled up for the occasion. 

The view of the del from our room balcony.

View!!! AMAZ!

Yours Truly posing with the Del!

We spent the next few days walking around the town and the beach, having drinks and eating delicious food. My favorite dish was fresh swordfish that I washed down with a sangria. The sunset was also something to write home about. The hotel Del had many outside decks with fireplaces that we were able to enjoy a drink and the sunset. It was surprisingly chilly there so, we would throw a sweater on and relax!

Beach sunset

How lovely!?

Did i mention we drank a lot? :)

One of my favorite days was the Padres/dodgers game. Ryan got us seats there were 4 ROWS from the field! We were so close, I felt so elite! Ryan has a high school buddy that plays for the padres so we were cheering on the Padres all evening! There truly is something perfect about baseball, beer and hot dogs. We also got to take a fairy from the island to San Diego which was kinda cool, definaly not something I get to experience her in Colorado.

Watching batting practice with my liter of beer!

Our seats! Love that guy!

We spent our last morning on Coronado Island with creps for breakfast. I though creps was just sweet but I had a savory one with eggs, avocados, and roasted tomatoes. Following our fancy breakfast, we took a walk on the beach, so peaceful. 

Next stop, Montecito! We took the coast highway there which was so cool! There are tons of little beach towns along the way; ex. Laguna Beach! We made it there was checked into the Montecito Inn, the Inn the Charlie Chaplin built. It was so cute and historic, it even had the original elevator built in the 1920's. This stop was filled with more food, more drinks and more sight seeing. 

On the Pier in Santa Barbara

Pool side with a beer!

Relaxing

Lemon Lavender gelato

Ginger beer with tequila. 

Looking forward to our next trip!!!

                                                                                                                                      -Kels

Carry On

With our upcoming trip to California, i've been buying buying outfits and planning on what to pack.  My whole life I have been a textbook over packer. I wouldn't plan on what I was going to wear, I would just pack my whole closet so there would be no missing out! But with age comes wisdom, now I make lists! I make lists of what I will wear each day and any supplies I might need. Here is my list of what is essential in a carry on!

I always always always wear a scarf on a plane. Planes get cold but I don't want to change my outfit around to go from plane to vacation, so a scarf is perfect. Wrap it around as a shawl during flight and just take it off if its too hot when you land! Perfect!

Often times, you go straight from the plane ride to whatever you are doing for the day without a chance to freshen up at the hotel. These babies rock! A. Banana Republic has the best perfumes B. These are travel size so you can take them on the plane with you!

Of course you have to bring your iPad or macbook! We will be bring both this trip so we can both be entertained! I like to download an audiobook so when we are in flight I can listen with out being on the internet.

I love this book by Nicholas Sparks! I haven't read this in a while so it will be coming with me next week!

Lastly, the most important travel essential is dramamine! I usually get very sick when I fly, but when I take this, I doze off and don't feel a thing! Really its important to bring all of your medication with you in your carry on, in case your luggage gets lost of you need to take some immediately. 

                                                                                                                                             -Kels