Porter - Our New Puppy

On May 21st, Alex and I bought Porter...our first puppy! He is a Golden Retriever, born on March 24, 2010, and such a joy to have in our little family! We went to visit the litter when they were 6 weeks old...here are some pictures. There were 2 males and 4 females....we chose the bigger of the 2 males.
When Porter was 8 weeks old, my mom and brother went with me to go bring him home!

Porter is now 14 weeks old, he can stay dry for 8 hours at night, he goes on 2-3 30 minute walks each day, he loves to eat dirt and rocks, and plays fetch very well. Alex and I are teaching him to "sit", "come", "down", "wait"...and he is doing pretty well with those commands. Teething is the most challenging part...so I have lots of chew toys for him. Life is busier now with a little puppy in the house...but we love our new addition!

Link to see VIDEOS of Porter: www.youtube.com/user/aksanchez07

My Spring Break

I have enjoyed a week off from teaching and all things related (since I am procrasting on my huge stack of grading to do). I did have swim practice each day for a couple of hours in the morning with my SJHHS Swim Team....but here were some of my projects for the week.

Monday I spent the day with my mom. She trimmed my hair (don't you just love it when your hair is freshly cut?) We had lunch at Javiers in Crystal Cove (I wanted to drive along the coast). I love mom/daughter days!

Tuesday I spent the day weeding, raking the soil, digging out some dead plants, planting many new plants, and adding more compost to the soil in the bakyard planter.

Wednesday and Thursday I painted the dining room and kitchen a terra cotta color, primed and painted the fireplace white, took off the top cupboard doors and painted the cupboards white. I have all the doors in the garage primed and ready to be have a couple of coats of white paint. We are going to paint the bottom cupboards an espresso color to match the dining room table.

Friday I had lunch with my dad! I'm so glad to see him!

Christmas in Maryland

Alex and I flew to Maryland for a week to spend Christmas with his family this year. Alex's older brother, Fidel, and sister-in-law, Mary, live in Maryland and are expecting their first baby in March. Alex's parents and sister also flew out from CA to join in the fun! We arrived just after the big snow drop...so having a White Christmas was very special.

On Monday, we went to Georgetown. The buildings are so charming!

On Tuesday, Alex went to DC with his sister, Claudia, and parents. I took the Metro to Virginia and spent the afternoon with my Uncle Dan, Aunt Lori, and five cousins (Ryan, Megan, Jason, Nathan, and Aaron). They surprised me with a cake and presents for my Birthday!

On Wednesday, we all drove to Annapolis to visit the Naval Academy. It closed when we arrived, but we were able to walk around the harbor and see some historic buildings. That night we all went out for Tapas for Claudia's Birthday.

Thursday was my 29th Birthday. It was the first birthday not spent with my family, but it turned out to be very special thanks to my Alex and sister-in-law, Mary! Alex took me out for a bagel and Starbucks (our little date for the week). We all went to Mary's parent's home in Laurel and had the best food! Mary made me a mud pie and had everyone sing to me...sooooo sweet!!! Then Alex found this great Italian restuarant in Baltimore for dinner. :o)

On Christmas morning, we opened presents with Alex's family and then I visited with my family via webcam! We had a yummy brunch when Mary's family arrived...played Cranium together, and then had a fabulous dinner that evening.

On Saturday, Alex and I went to DC. Mary and Fidel took everyone else to the airport. We were able to walk around the capitol, see the Supreme Court, go inside the Library of Congress, walk in the mall, go to the Air and Space Smithsonian, and walk to the White House. We had a quiet dinner with Mary and Fidel that evening (this was one of my favorite days).

Home Projects

I have this Thanksgiving week off from teaching, so I decided to take on some sewing projects. Alex and I have been trying to make our home look more "homey-er", so I began with some pillows for the bed. I sewed covers for 2 Euro Pillows and now think that brown pillow cases and a brown blanket under the blue duvet would make a nice touch.

We have been looking for curtains for our living room, but since we haven't found any we both like, I decided to make them. So we found some fabric and I sewed the 6 panels yesterday. Four of the panels are 9 ft! Today I bought curtain rings and Alex helped me put them up! We just love how they transformed the room. But, now we can block out the morning sun and have privacy at night. Since, from the street, you can look through the top windows and see into the loft and master bedroom. With the very little material I had left, I made two runners.

Women's Retreat

Last weekend I went on the Women's Retreat put on by my church, Compass Bible Church. We spent Friday evening through Sunday morning in Murietta Hot Springs. I shared a room with 5 other girls from my small group, heard amazing teaching from the book of Ecclesiasties and came back with so much to apply to my life. Here are some pictures!

Before & After Shots

Here is the living room before we moved in, before we painted, and after we painted.

The bathroom at the bottom of the stairs used to be white...it's now green and I painted the cabinet white.




















Upstairs we painted the hallway a lighter shade of the sand color.




































The Loft has one wall that is a Sand Color and 2 walls that are Olive Green.

The upstairs bathroom was boring white and is the same green as the bathroom downstairs.










































The Master Bathroom is now a slate blue color to match the blue in our bedroom.























































Finally the Master Bedroom turned from white to a light taupe (called Oatbran).