Halloween Fun

A week of Halloween parties: the special dance class dress-up day, Canyon Creek's Halloween parade and party, the church trunk-or-treat, and finally, the actual day and trick or treating with Meredith. Halloween is a big production around here!

New Job. New House?

On October 18, I started my new job as an intern at Rudd and Wisdom. I met Nadia Binkley and Ray finally and got a personal tour as Dani took me around the building. I was excited to meet everyone. I am processing pension benefits for our clients - it is very complicated and the rules are different for each client. Definitely not mindless! A week later we were driving through a nearby neighborhood looking at the new houses when Dave noticed one that had previously had a sold sign that now said 'available'. It had a gorgeous Rocky mountain-looking exterior and dark wood floors througout the downstairs. It has a private backyard backing up the a greenbelt, an outdoor kitchen, and 2 levels of decks in the backyard. Perfect yard for a pool! I fell in love with it almost instantly. Dave took a little longer. After looking at houses for 7 years, I felt it was the perfect one. I am ready for a new start and want to land where we are going to be. We put an offer on the house and are going to close in November! Super excited!!!

Tahiti and Our Tenth Anniversary

Dave and I got married on October 14, 2000. We went to Tahiti for our honeymoon, staying in hotels in Papeete, Moorea, and Bora Bora. So 10 years later we decided there was no better place to celebrate than in Tahiti, again. We decided on a cruise this time (which was way less expensive) and would give us a chance to see more of the islands. Besides, nothing could top the first visit, so why try? Chris and Jessica Brough watched the girls for us. They are the best! Thank you Broughs!!! We flew to Papeete from LA and landed around 10 pm. We had a day in Papeete before the boat sailed, so we rented a car and re-visited the places we loved the most: the Lagoonarium, the waterfall and the blowhole. We had to search hard for the Lagoonarium this time. The roads had changed a lot in Papeete since we were there 10 years ago. So here's a picture of us 10 years later - in Jaws' mouth! Here we are at one of the island stops. The boat is in the background. Our itinerary included Papeete, Raiatea, Huahine, Rangiroa, Bora Bora, and Moorea. We saw Noni plants in Raiatea, and had a picnic in the water on Huahine. It was absolutely beautiful everywhere we went. Remind you of the Titanic steps? It did to me. Us on the Tahitian Princess during formal night. Our dinnermates were 3 couples: one English couple in their seventies, one couple in their early-fifties from LA, and one couple from Germany in their eighties. They were all spry and interesting. We learned the guy from LA was retired LAPD, and the German couple had been missionaries almost their whole lives and were sent on the cruise by their children for their 60th wedding anniversary. Both couples from Europe had lived through the second world war. Fascinating people! On October 13th our boat landed in Bora Bora - our most highly-anticipated destination. We rented a private outrigger boat charter for a trip around the island and got to see all the changes 10 years can make. Several resorts had closed - too much hurricane damage from one storm or another - and other nice resorts had opened. Our Sofitel Motu overwater bungalows looked a little worn down. Apparently the storms quickly tear down buildings around here. I guess that's why the islanders live under blue tarps. No reason to rebuild when the weather keeps knocking things down. We snorkled near our honeymoon hotel and then drove out to feed stingrays and sharks. The sharks came really close to us and I got a little freaked out. Next our boat driver took us to the deep part of the lagoon where the huge stingrays swim. We didn't see any 10 years ago when we went scuba diving so we weren't too optimistic BUT... our driver had us put on our masks and snorkels and hang on the outrigger blade. He slowly drove through the water and BAM! Huge stingrays jumped out of the water 20 yeards from us! We watched underwater as they swam towards us swooping up and down in the water. One kept coming closer and closer to us, swimming upwards. I freaked out and launched my whole body onto the outrigger blade, closed my eyes and held on for dear life. Dave watched and said it came up to 5 feet beneath me and then swam down again. It was amazingly exciting!!! I couldn't help but feel like this was a gift to us - and that's why we didn't see any 10 years ago. God withholds some good things so we can experience them later and appreciate them even more. After snorkeling, our driver dropped us at the St. Regis Bora Bora where we had just booked one night's stay from Dave's laptop on the cruise ship the day before. Technology is cool! St. Regis is where they filmed 'Couples Retreat' - one of our favorite movies (if you've seen it, you'll recognize some of the shots below). The view on the walk to our room. We had an amazing room with windows in the bathroom and living room floors. A group of eagle rays liked to coast in the currents just under our bungalow - amazing! The one night we were there the hotel had a Polynesian dinner buffet with dancers. Since Dave used to DJ with a Polynesian dance group in high school, he knew all the moves. They were impressed. Pictures of the beach area where we went kayaking. Here I am doing yoga on the same platform they used in the movie - with Otemanu in the background. "Regard me!" Us just outside the spa area. Our lunch at the bar before we checked out and took the hotel water taxi back to the boat. We did SO much over our 2 day visit. We explored our bungalow (it was bigger than I thought it would be!), watched "Couples Retreat" which was looping on one of the tv channels, went to the Polynesian dinner buffet, snorkeled around our bungalow, enjoyed the breakfast buffet, kayaked on the lagoon, swam in the pool, snorkeled in the lagoonarium and saw puffers and sea snakes, checked out the spa, stretched on the yoga platform, shopped in the hotel store (expensive snacks!!!), relaxed in the awesome huge tub in the room, swam in the second pool with divided couples areas, and enjoyed every second of the amazing views. It was an incredible 2 days. Here we are back on the boat saying good bye to Moorea. Our trip was amazing. Happy Ten Years! Here's to the next ten!