A Lifelong Adventure

If I was a flower growing wild and free

2009-03-15T22:24:00.000-07:00

All I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee.

And if I was a tree growing tall and green
All I'd want is you to shade me and be my leaves

If I was a flower growing wild and free
All I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee.
And if I was a tree growing tall and green
All I'd want is you to shade me and be my leaves

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were a river in the mountains tall,
The rumble of your water would be my call.
If you were the winter, I know I'd be the snow
Just as long as you were with me, when the cold winds blow.

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were a wink, I'd be a nod
If you were a seed, well I'd be a pod.
If you were the floor, I'd wanna be the rug
And if you were a kiss, I know I'd be a hug

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were the wood, I'd be the fire.
If you were the love, I'd be the desire.
If you were a castle, I'd be your moat,
And if you were an ocean, I'd learn to float.

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

We recently watched the movie Juno which features this song during the opening credits. We both really enjoyed the song and the lyrics so we thought we'd share them here. It has been about a month since our last post but in all honesty there hasn't been much news fit to print. Some beach photos might be featured soon. Otherwise, we are enjoying some cool, spring weather and much longer evenings outside. We are also looking forward to a few days off during Thomas's spring break which will hopefully provide some new blog material.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-13T11:29:00.000-08:00

We know our posts have been few and far between since the first of the year and we are really trying to get back to regular blogging. Unfortunately, we haven't gone on many adventures recently so there hasn't been much to post about.

Our day to day routine mainly consists of work, school, and running on the beach when time permits. We experienced some unbelievable 80 degree weather throughout the month of January and tried to make the most of it by being outside as much as possible.

Now the rainy season has finally hit the central coast and things are slowly turning from brown to green. A very refreshing change.

A self-portrait of taken during our cross country skiing adventure in mid December. Yes, we still need to actually post about it!

Lake Michigan or the Pacific?

2009-01-19T23:44:00.000-08:00

They look quite similar here at this beach in SF. (The temperature however is quite different in comparison in mid January.)

From The Mountains to the Ocean

2009-01-05T05:50:00.000-08:00

As Thomas is heading back to school, Camerin will have some time to catch the blog up with the activities of our life. To start things off where we left off a few months ago. . . the thanksgiving backpacking trip. This year we desired to hike in the mountains with full packs and to see snow. Well we found it above 7500 feet, and it was pretty cold around 15-20 degrees.

M-E-R-RY C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S

2008-12-25T15:25:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas filled with joy and peace.

We are thinking about all of you today and missing home but enjoying our first married Christmas together in California.

Many lovely gifts were opened and there were lots of surprises. Santa even remembered Marty.

Our good friend Matt will be joining us for a Christmas dinner feast consisting of some new recipes.

-Pistachio-crusted lamb chops

-Cranberry, pomegranate, & meyer lemon relish

-Gorgonzola scalloped potatoes

-Carmelized-apple & pecan pie

Joy to the world, the Lord has come!

Oh Christmas Tree

2008-12-08T19:43:00.000-08:00

Saturday November 30th we ventured out in search of the perfect Christmas Tree. Charlie Brown was our inspiration due to the small nature of our appartment. We had hoped to purchase a living tree and plant it somewhere after the holiday, but we were unsuccessful in our search. Instead of the usual fields lined with trees ready to be cut down we found a Christmas Tree Circus Tent in "candy-cane alley".

We found a beautiful Noble Fir standing 4.5 feet tall.

Camerin has been collecting ornaments and trimmings for a few months now at local thrift stores and garage sales. We set out all of her findings and determined that the tree would kindof have a red and white theme. The theme was really realized when we found our star-topper (it glows from some of the lights below).

Although the tree is only 4.5 feet tall we had trouble determining how many lights it would need and ended up having to take a second trip to the store to buy lights.
We also found some great plaid fabric at our local craft store for our tree-skirt.

Marty was also very helpful during the tree trimming process!

SNOW [preview]

2008-11-30T23:53:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick glimpse of the snow we experienced in the mountains.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T06:30:00.000-08:00

We hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving with lots of great food.

We miss you all!

Since we have not experienced true "fall weather" here are a few photos from a past Thanksgiving trip and fall color.

Rotate-create

2008-11-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

Thomas has been doing studies attempting to instill play or activity into daily life. Rotate-create (or so it is currently named) is a 4 foot by 4 foot by 16” square that is made up of different block modules. The blocks all share a similar dimension, which allows them to be rotated and reconfigured into a great variety of configurations. “Rotate-create” was originally designed to be a furniture scale toy for children and adults to aid active imaginations.

“Rotate-create” began through a study of the “lego” module.

Above are some images of the painting process.

These are images of the first prototype. The prototype was made of wood (specifically ultra-light MDF). It is intended to be manufactured out of a high-density foam so that it can be easily manipulated by both children and adults and have more of a long-term lifespan.

Vineyard Sunset

2008-11-17T07:51:00.000-08:00

The sun sets early now and Camerin was able to capture a few shots on her way home from work at the winery one evening. There have been many beautiful sunsets, and we wish we remembered to take our cameras with us more often.

A Little Color Project

2008-11-17T07:37:00.000-08:00

After rearranging the living room furniture about a month ago, Camerin decided she wanted to organize the bookshelf by color. It turned out looking pretty fun and bright. Now we just need to work on collecting more books in the 'Roy G. Biv' categories!

Don't worry, the bookshelf is not leaning perilously. It only appears that way in the photo.

Autumn

2008-11-15T07:21:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe autumn has finally arrived here mid-November. The air has a refreshing crispness to it and the days are certainly shorter.

Although we miss all the seasonal beauty of the Midwest, here are a few fall photos from right near our own front door. Pumpkins on the doorstep, a wreath on the door, and some leaves turning yellow.

Remember:
Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.
-Elizabeth Lawrence

Lone Oak

2008-11-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

The tree is more than first a seed, then a stem, then a living trunk, and then dead timber. The tree is a slow, enduring force straining to win the sky.

~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Wisdom of the Sands, translated from French by Stuart Gilbert

Big Sur In Pictures

2008-11-10T21:29:00.000-08:00

A bridge scene to begin the day. You can see the fog was pretty dense.

Happy travellers.

The infamous rocky coastline.

A view of the beach where we were able to enjoy a picnic lunch.

High up in the mountains about half a mile inland. Here we are above the fog layer and out in the beautiful sunshine. What was supposed to be a great trail for views of the ocean actually turned out to be the original driving route. Needless to say, we decided not to hike the entire 10 miles!

Ooops!

We entered at our own risk but were fortunate enough not to be swept away by any massive waves that day.

The water is so crystal clear and the prettiest shade of greenish blue.

Hope you enjoyed a little trip down Highway 1 (minus the hairpin turns and sheer drops).

Big Sur Preview

2008-11-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

Having just realized that it has been nearly two weeks since we lasted posted something on our blog, we thought we better let everyone know we are still here. Where does time go?

Camerin has been guest blogging on a wedding blog, Elizabeth Anne Designs over the past week which has kept her busy and part of the reason our Big Sur photos are still not up.

Here is a little preview shot of us on the beach. You can see it was pretty dense fog. And another photo of the closest we will get to a fall scene here on the Central Coast. More photos soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMERIN!

2008-10-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

This is a special day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Due to the unfortunate fact that Camerin has to work today (on her BIRTHDAY ) we celebrated her birth all day yesterday. We went hiking up in Big Sur. Tonight we will continue the festivities with Birthday Dinner and homemade sugar cookies (with icing of course).

Beach Bums

2008-10-11T04:00:00.000-07:00

Preceding the big wine tasting adventure, we spent some time at the beach with Marty. The previous day he wanted nothing to do with going near the water. However, the second day he really warmed up to it. Since Marty is a very nervous and timid dog, it was refreshing for us to see him running and having fun outside. He chased his ball, ran into the surf, stirred up a flock of seagulls, and ran himself crazy. Evidently he is a beach dog!

A mid-air catch!

Please ignore the 80s style bangs the wind had turned my mop of hair into!

The whole 'family'.

A nice portrait of the mutt. He's so happy!

A Visit from T & K

2008-10-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

We are a little behind in our posting but wanted to try to bring everyone up to speed on our most recent activities. Thomas' parents had the opportunity to visit us at the end of September for about 5 days. The week was pretty full and included a nice dinner at our house, some time at the beach, a long day of wine tasting, and a visit from the Bakersfield family as well.

Thursday we took the day off to show them around some of the 'unblemished' areas of Paso and the wineries where we both work. It was a big day but they were able to cart home 2 full cases of wine on the plane. We started the day at Four Vines, travelled from there to Whalebone, then on to Tablas Creek and Carmody Mcknight Estate. By this point we were all getting a little weary so we went back into town for some lunch. We then pressed on to EOS Estate Winery and took the grand tour of the entire winery facility. Unfortunately, there were no grapes coming in for crush. One last stop took us to a family favorite, Eberle, but not much tasting went on by this point in the day.

T & K really enjoyed the Zins at Four Vines. Camerin's favorite was Tablas Creek by far due to their production of Rhone Varietals. Thomas couldn't pick a favorite.

All in all we had a great visit. It was a lot of fun to have guests out. We can't wait for more people to come!

A sunset shot from Pismo. What a beautiful view.

A Busy Week

2008-09-30T16:49:00.000-07:00

Last week we hosted our first out of town guests. Thomas's parents were able to enjoy some great California sunshine and wine. We had a lot of fun visiting with them, touring the wineries, and going to the beach. We have some pictures to share of our latest adventures. which we hope to post soon. We will write more on all of our activities later in the week, but for now just wanted to say yes we are still here and working hard.

Marty really enjoyed the beach!

The Boys are Back in Town

2008-09-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

Summer is officially coming to a close. The infamous boys (minus Michael in Denmark) are all reunited in SLO town. It is fun to have people around again but all of the traffic from the students is annoying. We were living in a sleepy retirement town for the summer months but we are fully back in a college town again.

Even though there are no trees to change colors, their is certainly a chill in the air again. Camerin is really going to miss the beautiful fall colors of Bloomington & Brown County this year.

Martin, or Marty, seems to be the official name for our new friend. He is doing well but no longer wants to go for walks. All of the new students moving in have scared him or something. He has fun playing with Matt & Jimmy and Paul & Jason have a backyard he might get to run around in.

Thomas starts school on Monday. Camerin is now working close to a 40 hour work week again for the first time since last summer in Ohio and might be getting another promotion at the end of the month. Ted & Kelly are coming for a visit starting on Sunday. We are both looking forward to doing some wine tasting with them and showing them some fun areas they haven't visited yet.

Leave a comment or drop us an email to let us know how you are doing too!

Update on the D-O-G

2008-09-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

Although he still doesn't have an official name, 'Sparky' is beginning to adjust to his new life. He is fairly well behaved but is still learning that couches are for people. He does a lot of sleeping throughout the day and we take him for a walk in the morning and in the evening. It has been good for us to get out a little more too. We are still open to any name suggestions. Some current possibilities are Cupa, Nigel, Martin/Marty, Eeyore (fitting for his personality). There are others we have tested out too. More pictures soon!

SURPRISE

2008-09-03T22:21:00.001-07:00

This is our new friend. While visiting the local animal shelters we heard about "Sparky". He has had a really tough life, but is a great dog! He is mostly Manchester Terrier and believed to be about 5 years old. Standing around 17 inches from the ground he is the perfect size of a pet for us. We are currently working on a new name for our little friend and any suggestions would be appreciated.

"Sparky" (as we are currently referring to him) was originally a stray picked up by the county animal services department. He did not do well at the animal shelter so he was taken into foster care. He had a great foster family, but they could not keep him much longer so we decided to adopt him . (The photo below shows the foster family and their 7 dogs. They are great dog lovers!)

There will be more photos in the upcoming weeks as our friend gets more acclimated and accustomed to his new home.

A surprise coming soon

2008-09-02T13:46:00.001-07:00

We have something exciting to blog about within the next couple days. Keep checking back.

We are both doing well but have not had much of a chance to post anything in awhile. Camerin recently received a promotion at work and Thomas is looking ahead to classes beginning again in just 3 short weeks. The weather has finally turned to summer here as most of you are probably looking at the end of the summer months and the cooler temperatures of fall. And of course we are looking forward to the chance to possibly enjoy a few lazy summer days like the ones the hammock above invokes.

Dolphin Sighting

2008-08-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

After working all day in Paso, we decided to take a more scenic drive home for a little change of pace. We drove out to the coast and south along Highway 1. As we approached Morro Bay, Camerin suddenly spotted something in the surf. She was sure it was a whale (a spotting in the area is her lifelong goal) but then realized it must be something smaller like a dolphin. She made Thomas immediately pull over so they could take a closer look.

After speaking with a local bongo drummer and kayaker who thought we were from British Columbia, we learned they were in fact dolphins playing in the surf along the coast. We saw them jump out of the water and swim up and down the beach. They were actually surprising large but without a telephoto lens (Camerin's camera battery was dead) photography was limited. You can see a little bit of what we saw though!
This dolphin was 'surfing.'

We hope to catch some better photos of the dolphins jumping in the near future. But for now we found some better photos online of our dolphins friends. We saw the dolphins performing these actions, but it was too gloomy to get good photos.

Swinging At The Beach

2008-08-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

Since we got off work early Thursday we decided to venture to the beach. There were quite a few people out and about and even some playing in the water.

Chair Recovery and Renovation

2008-08-11T23:01:00.000-07:00

While out for a bike ride one beautiful afternoon, Camerin spotted a lonely chair. It was slightly disheveled and dirty, but looked to have some good "bones". It was located in someone's yard with a FREE sign on its cushion . . . so we adopted it. After a weekend of some good hard work we have a new, comfortable, stylish, chair. Here are some photos of the renovation process.

Wood before and after sanding.

We used both hand sanding and our trusty Ryobi orbital sander. Here you find Thomas hard at work sanding on our step.

Camerin was our resident specialist on the cushions. She went out and found new "faux leather" aka vinyl to reupholster the cushions. Here she is cleaning the old cushions.

We forgot to take a photo of the chair before we took it apart. Here are the original sides of the chair.

Such a happy cleaner.

Priming and painting for that long lasting finish.

Putting it all together.

Thomas loves his new staple gun.

The chair is really coming together now.

Finished Product!

Still Here!

2008-08-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Do not worry, do not fear, we are still here. We have been a little busy lately, since we are both working and have not had a chance for an adventure. We hope everyone is having a great summer and enjoying as much of the summer sun as you can. Remember to have fun!

Birthday Follow-up

2008-07-19T12:06:00.000-07:00

A few quick images of Thomas actually celebrating his birthday back on July 8th. He actually got a delicious carrot cake with cream cheese frosting instead of a lemon cake. But it was gooooood!

Lots of candles!

Make a wish!

He got them all.

The happy birthday boy.

Operation Abandoned Plant Rescue

2008-07-19T11:54:00.001-07:00

Several weeks ago, when students were moving out we found these poor bamboo plants abandoned outside near our parking lot. They were planted in dirt and all dried out with some nasty crust on the vases so we took them in and tried to revive them. The process is well-documented here. After conducting some quick internet research, we learned that bamboo is supposed to planted in water with river rocks (not dirt with some odd fish tank pebbles as we found them).

We cleaned off all the dirt, rinsed them, added river rocks to their vases, trimmed the sun-burnt leaves, and they are actually doing quite well we are happy to report. Bamboo is kind of a finicky plant we are coming to realize, although everything online says they will grow anywhere. We have to change their water once a week and it has to be filtered and room temperature. Quite a few parameters for a little plant!

Rinsing the roots

All the ingredients for 'happy bamboo'. River rocks, clean vases, no more dirt on the roots.

Adding rocks carefully to each vase.

Process complete.

Here they are now all lined up in their happy home. The dead parts have since been trimmed off as well.

Holiday Recap

2008-07-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

Well yes . . . unfortunately, that photo is a good example of our firework display this year. We polled the locals as to where best to celebrate the 4th of July, and unanimously we were directed to the Morro Bay 4th of July Festival. There were live bands, food vendors with kettle corn and cotton candy, giant chess games, and FOG. We arrived in time to hear a good Blues band and find a comfortable seat on a dock. All in attendance were apprehensive of the looming dense moisture in the air. The festival director made an announcement saying the "show would go on as the fog might be clearing," and at 9:00 the first firework was launched. To everyone's dismay the beautiful explosion was masked by the fog, and we only saw what appeared to be bursts of multi-colored lightning in the clouds. About 15 minutes into the show the air cleared enough for us to view the whole finale. Hope you all had a great 4th of July!

Blog Love

2008-07-09T11:57:00.000-07:00

Our wedding has been featured on a couple of blogs and so we wanted to share the links with you so you could check them out too.

Our lovely cake was selected as a 'Cake of the Week' by BV Weddings in San Francisco.

We have also been featured as a 'Real Wedding' by the very sweet Elizabeth at Elizabeth Anne Designs. Nicole Green submitted some of her beautiful images from throughout the day.

More info on what we've been up to lately to be posted soon.

Don't forget to leave us a comment too!

Happy Birthday Thomas!

2008-07-08T07:30:00.000-07:00

Your birthday is a special time to celebrate the gift of 'you' to the world.

In the end, it's not the years in your life that count.
It's the life in your years.

We are going to celebrate by enjoying some
fresh fish on the grill and lemon birthday cake!

Wines & Vines on a Sunday Afternoon

2008-07-07T13:34:00.000-07:00

On Sunday afternoon, we decided to get out and soak up a little sun at one of the local wineries, Wolff Vineyards. The tasting room is situated among all the rolling hills and vineyards with spectacular views. The best part though, is that they bring the wine to you while you sit out on their beautiful patio enjoying the gardens, the wines, and the views. Our timing was perfect too because only four days ago they had bottled their 2007 Riesling and 2007 Chardonnay. They said it was still undergoing "bottle shock" but we thought it was great nonetheless.

Last but not least, a collage of images from the day.

Home Tour Part II

2008-07-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

Some major improvements have been made since the last time we shared photos of the apartment. Our room is no longer in disarray and the boxes are (almost) all removed. We have a computer desk workstation created from some finds around the neighborhood when students were moving out at the end of the month (Free stuff). The kitchen/dining area has taken shape and we have even managed to get a little bit of art work on the walls. Unfortunately, if you look closely, many of the frames have nothing in them yet. Still working on that minor detail!

Glass topped desk we created from Goodwill finds
and other misc. items around the neighborhood.

We bid farewell to "Gary" for now. He has gone to live with his mother down the street. He will probably be back for another visit sometime though.

2008-07-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

We are glad you are checking in to catch up on our lives. We would really like to receive some comments from those of you that are stopping by. To comment, simply click on 'Comments' at the bottom of each posting and write us a brief message. You don't have to have a Google account to use the comments feature. You can just type in your name or click the 'Anonymous' box.

Can't wait to hear from you.

Upcoming posts:
Beach visits
More apartment photos

A colorful summer image of row boats taken by Camerin.
Cassis, France

first guest / pet sitting

2008-06-25T14:20:00.000-07:00

Our first overnight guest is a lifelong pet of one of our good friends. Camerin and I have had the pleasure of feeding, bathing, attending, and monitoring a Russian tortoise. After some initial research Camerin found that the tortoise enjoys green leafy vegetables and the warmth of a heat lamp. Our little friend is somewhat gender and name confused. She is currently responding to “Sasquach”, “Stanislaus”, and “Sebastian”. After an original “shell-shock” the tortoise has become very active digging, climbing, and eating. We think she is truly enjoying her new surroundings and caretakers.

The New Digs Part 1

2008-06-19T21:43:00.000-07:00

Here it is in all its glory. Our little apartment. It turned out to be larger than we had initially anticipated from the photos we had received from Thomas's friend, Matt which was a pleasant surprise. The kitchen was the first room to have any sort of order made out of the choas of boxes our lives had taken on over the past month. Slowly but surely the other rooms are taking shape.

You will see many of our fabulous (and cheap!) furniture finds all purchased during two days of intenstive garage saleing and Goodwill distribution center bargaining. We still need to get something on the walls and build a desk, but overall everything is shaping up nicely. Lots more pictures to follow. These were all taken shortly after moving in.

Summertime just isn't quite the same...

2008-06-18T11:35:00.000-07:00

...without the lake.

We miss it. It is hot and sunny, gorgeous weather here on the Central Coast but you really can't enjoy it the same way without a boat.

A happy day on the lake last July.

Honeymoonin' in the Mountains

2008-06-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

We wanted to share some images of our wonderful trip to North Carolina.

The Nantahala Mountains were even more beautiful than the pictures can even show. We were completely overwhelmed by the beauty and views surrounding us everywhere we went. The week consisted of long drives through the mountains, seeking hidden rivers, lakes, and waterfalls, riding on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, whitewater rafting, visits to the Biltmore Mansion & Great Smoky Mountain National Park and some hiking here and there.

The drive to our cabin was pretty intense as it took us on a rutted gravel trail straight up the mountainside. Much of our time was spent sitting on our own front porch "watching the trees grow" as the locals like to say. We definitely were not ready to leave and we are already talking about when we will go back.

Some views of Hidden Falls, our cabin:

The Biltmore Mansion & Gardens:

Majestic views of the Great Smoky Mountains:

The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad:

Always looking for waterfalls:

This snake was spotted shortly after taking pictures of the above waterfall. Thomas thought it would be a good idea to take a "short cut" straight up the side of the mountain. Who needs a trail anyway right? Well, as we both stumbled up the hill Camerin fell multiple times. At one point she reached out to grab a stick to catch her fall which really turned out to be this huge snake. Screams followed, but after recovery a quick flash photograph was captured.

Pictures of our new place!

Welcome!

2008-05-27T20:14:00.000-07:00

Hello to family, friends, and loved ones.

Welcome to our blog.

We will be using it mainly to post some photography from our many adventures. And also to keep you all updated on the latest happenings of the new Mr. & Mrs. B.

Leave us a comment from time to time and let us know how you are doing as well.

Enjoy!