I hope everyone had a great holiday! We were able to surprise Jamie's family by me showing up in Florida with him! We had a great time and a wonderful Christmas back here as well. Jamie is still enjoying his 3 weeks off..... lucky boy!

OK, I have told this story about 20 times but Jamie asked me last night if I put it on the blog. So here it is, this happened to me yesterday:

OK, here is the setup: I work in a 21 story building. There are 2 sets of elevators in the lobby. One side goes to to floors L-10, the other side goes 10-21. You can cross over to the other elevators on the 10th floor if you want.

So here is the story: Today we had a fire drill and I am part of the ERT (Emergency Response Team) so I manned one of the stair wells, there are 2, one on each side of the building..... kind of like the elevators. Anyways, as part of the fire drill we had people go down to the 9th floor instead of going all the way out of the building. I stood at the door and told people to go to the 9th floor and wait outside the door for more instructions. I keep telling this over and over.... A crabby woman comes in and I tell her to go down to the 9th floor, here is the rest of the conversation:
- "The 9th floor is on the other side of the building."
- I said, "You can go down the stairs to the 9th floor."
- "But it's on the other side of the building"
- "The elevator to the 9th floor is on the other side but the stairs go to all floors"
She rolls her eyes at me and heads down the stairs. I hear her say to someone else as she is walking down:
- "That girl keeps telling us to go to the 9th floor but it's on the other side of the building so I don't know what she is talking about!"

OMG, how do these people get out of bed! I was telling a co-worker of mine and he said I should have told her to take the stairs to the 10th floor, cross over and go down the other set of stairs to the 9th floor!

Well this weekend was Grandpa's 90th Birthday Brunch. It was a great success! We spent Saturday getting all the food ready and it sure paid off. I don't think anyone left hungry.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Sequoia with our friends Jules and Kristen.



We did a lot of hiking and saw lots of trees. Duh...



We also learned a new game called table scrabble and got out of eating Tofurkey!!! (J/K Kristen!)

It was about 35 during the day and just plain freezing cold at night. Kristen kept a fire going the whole time, YAY Kristen! We did hear that it snowed on Monday so we barely missed it. Thank goodness as none of us were prepared for snow. The trails were cold enough that I don't think we would have made it in the snow!

Here's to next year, I hope we can do it again!

Over the weekend I went to Mandi's party for her son Jack's 3rd birthday! It was alot of fun and I was able to go out with Michele afterwards. We went to my house for a bit so my mom could see the kids and Jamie got to play with them. He spent a lot of time spinning! Check out the pics...Kolbe and Kaylee

YAY! Our dining room is almost done. Here is a picture to remind you of the hideous wallpaper.



When we removed the wallpaper, it was very clear WHY they had wallpapered. The walls were in terrible condition. The paint below was peeling off and there were tons of holes from nails and goodness knows what. We figured we needed more than a little jar of spackle so we had the drywall company (that we are getting to know pretty well!) come in. They did a skim coat on all of the walls which smoothed everything out and made the walls look new. It was amazing how much difference it made! They looked great! The picture looks a bit splotchy but that is because it was still not completely dry when I took the pic.



And finally, THE RED PAINT! I know a lot of you have been wondering about what this would look like... to quote my lovely mother in law "RED? Well, I guess now that you are my daughter in law I need to just smile and say I am sure that will be lovely :)" Well maybe she didn't say it quite like that but I am sure it's what most of you were thinking! Anyways, it is RED now and Jamie and I love it so hopefully you like it too. I especially like it with the yellow/orange kitchen color. They compliment each other really well. I don't know that the picture shows that very well.



Tom and I are going to put up the base moulding this weekend and I still need to finish up the trim. For my birthday Jamie bought me a new light fixture but it's on backorder so hoepfully that will come soon!

So as promised, here are the pictures from the tea! Afternoon Tea at the Ritz

YAY ME! I had a wonderful birthday weekend! Julia came down from Lompoc and stayed over on Friday night. We had a lovely meal (the whole weekend was about eating!) at the Olive Branch here in La Crescenta. It was much better than I remembered it and Julia really liked it too! I am sorry to say that I wimped out on her and went to sleep about 10 ( at least that is an hour past my bedtime!) I was wide awake at 5:30 on Saturday morning but I resisted the urge to wake her! At around 9 we were all up and went to breakfast at one of my favorite places, The Dish in La Canada and then we got pedicures and did a little shopping. Later on we played some scrabble and I was doing soooo well. I was actually kicking Julia's butt! In the last 5 words or so she caught up and on her final piece I kind of rubbed it in that she only needed 7 points to tie me. She sat there for a while and then placed her letter "B" and got 19 points to win the game!!! Can you believe it? She spelled Be and B.O.! She must have had some one much higher up on her side! (j/k :) We then went to grandmas house for my mom's famous vegetable beef soup and gradma and grandpa's famous lemon meringue pie. YUMMY!

Today Jamie made me my favorite breakfast. Jamie sandwiches! We put up a coat of primer in the dining room and I helped start a coat of the red paint. Jamie finished the first and also did a second coat while I went out to a ladies tea at the Ritz in Pasadena. It was so much fun! My mom, grandma, Cousin Renee and Aunt Sue, Aunt Shirley and Cousin Barbara as well as friends Katherine, Carolyn, Debbie, Nancy and Pam. Whew! What a group! I think everyone had a great time. I took some pictures but won't be able to post them until Wednesday. I am off to Chicago for work!

Last but not least, my wondeful husband gave me a new light for the dining room and took me out to dinner and a movie. We saw Borat, which was very funny but also very offensive. I don't think most of my friends would like it, please let me know if you see it and like it! We also went to Pichanas and stuffed ourselves with Brazilian meat.

I am sitting here in my post-birthday glow, full of tea, meat and happiness. Thank you to everyone who thought of me on my birthday and helped make it such a memorable one! I am truly blessed!

Here is Jamie working on peeling the rest of the wallpaper.



We had the drywallers come yesterday and do a skim coat all over to even out the walls and WOW does it ever look better!!! Next step. the RED PAINT!



JUNGLE CAT!

Liz, Ian and Karen here from England!

We had everyone over for dinner last night and I had such a great time! It was wonderful to see Liz, Karen and Ian again! I also got to meet Sean's girlfriend Lea which was great since they have been together for months now! Nancy also brought over a new friend named Pam. It's always nice to meet new people!

YAY!! We got new windows in the front half of the house this weekend!

Old in living room



New



The old ones in the Dining Room were so bad I took a pic after they were almost out!



And the new.... It is so bright in there, I may not even put up curtains, it's really nice!



I had a contractor come by to give a bid on doing a skim coat on the walls in the dining room (the wallpaper is coming off really badly) and put dry wall on the ceiling to cover up the texture stuff. So hopefully that will be done really soon!!

I am back from Spain!!!! It was wonderful!!! Here are the pictures:
Spain

I had such a great time Saturday night but for a sad reason. My friend Michelle is moving to St Louis with her husband and 2 daughters. We decided to have a going away party and it ended up being a Jr High reunion. We all had a great time!

Mark and Michelle Goodbye

So big news!!! No I am not pregnant! I am going to Spain!!!! How exciting! I leave 2 weeks from today and will be gone for a week. Gen invited me to go with her and her friend Josie, they are also going to Italy but I will just do Barcelona and Madrid with them. (JUST???!!!) Anyways, very much looking forward to it but not the flights. I was able to book Business Class but I am just so tired of flying that I don't think Business will help except to make it bearable. Let me stop before you think I am complaining!!! I am the luckiest girl! So look for pics in about 3 weeks!


HI TO MEL DOWN UNDER!!!!! SHE wanted to be talked about here on the site. If I talk enough she might even come up to LA to visit! How do I know this? Because she wrote me an email! Shocking, I almost fell out of my chair! So hi Mel!!!!

Every morning my mom, our neighbor Jan, her dog Wylie and myself go for a 1 hour walk. Last year we saw deer quite often but we haven't seen them in a while. My mom and Jan saw them last week for the first time since spring and we saw them again on Tuesday. So I took my camera this morning and got some pics!

Some of you ask what I do at these trainings... well here is a picture I took with my new camera!

We had a lot of fun this weekend. The best part was going shooting!

Well I am back from all my trips! I leave again on Sunday but who's counting the days? OK, I am. In 7 weeks I will have been gone 5 of them.... but the good news is that when I get back, I am back for good (workwise)! At least until January! Here are links to my pictures, there are 4 sets. Feel free to browse them when you have a free hour or so.... :)

Mammoth

Arches National Park, UT

Keystone, CO

Big Sur

WOW, I bet it's been a while since I updated.... I've been travelling like crazy for work! Jamie ended work a few weeks ago on Monster House and has already fit in a trip to Cozumel for a week of diving! We are now in Keystone, CO visiting with his parents for a few days and then on to UTAH. I think we will be going to Arches park to go biking around and then on to Mammoth. So far it has been nice and relaxing. It's just so beautiful up here! Can't wait to post the pics.

Last weekend we went camping up in Big Sur with Laine and his friend Dax. I think that is the most beautiful place I have ever seen for a campsite! We were under these massive Redwoods, just take your breath away, WOW.

Well that is my quick update for those of you that thought I fell off the face of the planet.... we are off to dinner at Goat's Soup and Whiskey. Yummy!

Donate to Breast Cancer

WOW! What an eventful couple of weeks. We had our 2nd Annual Summer BBQ and had a great time! Here is a pic of Jamie with his new Birthday BBQ

His grandma Hazel even came out for the weekend to join us. The whole weekend was wonderful! Thanks to everyone that came out.

I then went to Baltimore for work and was able to drive down to my brothers house in Virginia for a few days. Derrick's Place



He and Alisha have put a lot of work into the house, especially the basement. I don't have any before pics on it but they showed me and WOW what a difference! They also had a 4th of July BBQ on Sunday and Derrick put on a great fireworks show! What a great time! I loved meeting all of his co-volunteers from the fire department (which is literally across the street!) I also got to go to work with Alisha and saw her produce a teaching video. That was very interesting!

So 2 great weekends in a row! Fantastic!

What a great weekend! Julia came over on Friday and we had a great day together. The family came for a BBQ and the evening weather was really good (mid-day was VERY bad!) I am so glad she is closer than Colorado but I want her in La Crescenta again!!!

We had a great weekend! On Saturday we finished putting in the stepping stones and then Jamie had the idea of filling in the sides with gravel so we bought a 500 lb (not sure if that is right but it sure seemed like it!) and Tom helped up put it down and spread them around. We are both so very happy with how it turned out!!!! My cousin Renee said it almost looks like a professional designed the backyard! WOW What a compliment!
Before


After

Last weekend we worked on the backyard a lot. We put those stepping stones back and bought a bunch more. We still need about 15 more and then we'll be done with that! We already put the picnic table back and it looks great! This weekend we are going to finish the stones, clean the deak and tables and consider ourselves done with the backyard!!!

I think most of you know that we let Orange Cat (Orangie) start living in the house at night (sometimes all day too when she doesn't want to leave in the morning!) She's taken to it very well as if she has been there forever! We took her to the vet today to get the big lump on her tummy removed. Well after the doctor looked at it, he said it has doubled in size and is up inside her too. They think it is breast cancer (in a cat?) so even if they remove it, it will probably come back. Since it doubled in size the price for the surgery went way up too so we decided, all things considered, to not do the surgery. Orangie was happy though because I took her back home!

Have a great 3-day weekend!!!

WOW! Look what we found on our roses this morning! A bee swarm. Very cool. I assume it will be gone by tonight.

Another freak thing happened this morning. Orangie brought a dead mouse in the house and ate it. I guess I am glad she ate it so i didn't have to clean it up!

We had a really good weekend that ended with Jamie and I and the Firepit in back. Verey nice and relaxing. One of my favorite parts was trying out the poker table on our new dining table! It was so nice to have it fit and not have to use a book and side table to prop up the end of it!

Yesterday was a sad day for us. Nicki got very sick over the weekend from her kidney failure which she has had for years. She passed away yesterday morning but thankfully it was very peaceful.

Thank you for your prayers and thoughts for us in this difficult time. It helps that she was with us for 18 years and made my world a happier place.

Isn't this a cute picture of Orange Cat?



In other Keeney news.. we finished the hallway!!! (Well mostly, I think I will be replacing the laundry doors but other than that, it's done!) Thanks sooooooo much to Tom and my mom who did so much of the work!





Last but not least, Jamie spent all day yesterday planting 30 plants in the backyard! They are in the planter below the trees and look great! I can't wait for a month from now when they really start to fill in :)

Well it has been a while since I wrote last.... I had a couple of friends from Australia come out to visit, Tania and John :) They are on the right. It was a whirlwind trip for them, arrived on Saturday to LAX and then hopped another plane to Vegas! Wow, as if that wasn't enough, they then drove to our house on Sunday and spent the next few days at Disneyland, Universal Studios and driving around Hollywood all in the pouring rain. They were good sports about it and said they would prefer to be in line for 5 minutes in the rain than an hour in the burning sun. I have to agree with them there!



My cousin Renee treated herself to a new car! Very exciting as this is her first new car and wow does she need it. She has to drive to downtown LA every day!



We bought a new dining table. it is very exciting as this one actually can have plates, utensils, glasses and the serving dishes all at once on the table! We are moving up, let me tell you! Before you know it, we'll have a room that fits the table!




Yesterday (Happy Easter by the way) we went to Vahag's Baptism. It was very interesting to watch... now if only I could understand Armenian... Sossi and George looked very happy and Vahag and Hrag were both very good! The food was outstanding and we even danced a bit. What a great party! By the way, did you notice my handsome husband in his new suit??? Here are more pictures Vahag's Baptism

And last but not least, if you want to laugh check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg well worth the wait on the download time. It is called the Evolution of Dance where this guy dances to a bunch of old songs. I loved it!

BEFORE


AFTER


YAY! Our new lawn is in! Sprinklers and everything. It has the obvious squares and we have to water it 3 times a day but it will all be worth it. The backyard is coming along. We have Katherine's agrapanthas above, we'll get the stepping stones and picnic table in place, re-stain the deck and then we are ready for our 2nd annual BBQ~!

BEFORE

AFTER

This is when he was scraping up the layers.
1. The ugly, cheap, peel-n-stick tiles
2. 1960'3-70's linoleum
3. About 3/4 inch particle board that was black in some areas with dried mold
4. Layer of linoleum that you couldn't even tell what it looked like
5. Layer of glue
6. Finally!! The wood floorboards that match the living room (someday we may rip it all out and match the living room through the whole house.


All in all, we are both VERY HAPPY with the results! The floor is about 1/4" lower than before so there are some funny gaps under some of the door moldings, oh well!

GW is working on the bakyard as we speak and expects to have a lawn in by this weekend!!! YAY! Then we just have 3 things left (at least on the immediate list) Re-build the closet in the guest room, re-do the dining room, and MOST OF ALL!!! NEW WINDOWS!!!!!

WOW!!!! We had Snow at our house!!! Click here to see the pics Snow in Tujunga

Jamie and I had gone over to Katherine's house to dig up some agrapanthas (sp?) She is having some remodeling done and didn't want the plants to go to waste. On the way home it started to hail. We drove into our driveway and ran in the house to grab the camera. The hail stuck to the ground and then it started to snow. I've NEVER seen snow stick on the ground at home before!!! I think the hail helped. It was amazing and the most snow I have ever seen up there before!!! You could hear people playing snowball fights everywhere mixed in with the sirens for all the people crashing their cars.

Needless to say, Jamie did not plant the plants on Saturday. Strange.... couldn't do yardwork due to hazardous snow conditions in LA???? Anyways, we lit a fire and the cat was in cat heaven all stetched out on the ottoman (we moved it in front of the fire for her) and we drank hot chocolate and stared out the window. It was fantastic!!! BTW, Jamie planted the plants on Sunday and they look fantastic!

How about the title "The Next Chapter" Carolyn suggested it and I think it fits!

Happy Tuesday to you all. As you can see, I changed the name above, well I would like to change the name but I cannot think of anything. Since yesterday was our 1 year anniversary (WOW!!!) we aren't Honeymooners anymore... jsut old, boring married people? Anyways, send me some ideas for names if you think of something.

Speaking of anniversaries, ours to be exact, we went up to Lake Arrowhead and rented a house. I hoped and hoped for snow and wow did we get it! It was in the 70s the weekend before up there and then the weather changed. YAY us! I guess all the rain on the wedding means we will always get the weather we want on our anniversary from now on. The drive both ways was beautiful and no traffic. We got to the house about 2:30 on Saturday (just about a 2 hour drive) Jamie gallantly ran into the house to find a shovel and shoveled a walk way to the house while I waited in the car. :) I'm a lucky girl! We ran all over exploring the house, threw a couple of snowballs, built a fire and then just sat around the rest of the weekend. Well pretty much. On Sunday we watched the snow fall, pretty much all day. Jamie hooked up the chains and we drove into town for lunch. I really do like it much better than Big Bear or Mammoth. It's smaller and more mountain community feeling. Hard to describe but I would go there anytime! Dinner at the house and then we watched the Godfather 2. Nothing says romantic like the Godfather!

Yesterday was nice and relaxing too, it was so nice to not have any traffic and the sky was crystal blue for the drive down the mountain. We ended our first year with a dinner at the local Star Cafe. Wonderful.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us in our first year of marriage. I really don't know what people are talking about when they say the first year is the hardest. If that was the hardest then the rest will be a piece of cake! (Chocolate I hope!)

One last note for those of you that know Sean. He came over for dinner Friday and Jamie liked him immediately. All Sean had to say was "Sure, I'll play X-Box with you!"

YAY! Sean is here! He got in yesterday and is over at the Glendale Hilton. I picked him up and took him to one of the most SoCal places for dinner that I could think of. (My brother would be proud) We went to In N Out! Yummy, and he liked it. It was starting to get a bit foggy and cool (he sure missed the 90 degree weather) so I took him a bit up Angeles Crest to show how easy it is to get out of the city. He was suitably impressed so we then went to Macys at the Glendale Galleria, the 5th wonder of the world and again he was suitably impressed (he actually wanted to go there as he had forgotten to pack shirts for work so he needed to buy a couple.

It was fun watching him talk to people as no one seemed to understand the poor guy. I think I'll buy him one of those portable dry erase boards like they use in diving so he can write things out.