Una Vez Mas

When we honeymooned at an all-inclusive resort in Cabo three years ago we loved it and knew that we wanted to come back, but we also knew that there was one thing that could make our next trip even better…friends! It’s hard to believe that we’ve only known our new California friends for a year and we’re already vacationing together but it was totally meant to be, we had such an amazing time.

We stayed at the La Bonito Pacifica resort and it did not disappoint one bit. Our room was lovely, the beach was gorgeous, the service was excellent and the food was beyond delicious.

The Krouts and the Stearns…our new favorite vacation buddies!

Just as before on our previous trip to Cabo, the beaches were stunning but the waves were harsh and the wind was strong enough to sandblast your legs; not exactly ideal for laying out. Our resort had two great pools though and we all spend plenty of time lounging around them reading, napping and working on our tans.

Mark had fun trying to outrun the waves while I kept my distance and picked up shells instead. A few mornings we went for a walk on the beach and as we walked we could see crabs all over the place, scurrying away into their holes for safety.

One day we all shared a cab to downtown and the marina where we did a little souvenir shopping {I bought a huge bottle of Mexican vanilla for only $9!}. From there we chartered a boat taxi for just the six of us – beers included – to Los Arcos; the water was the most perfect aqua color and the day couldn’t have been any more beautiful.

Mark and I  bought this cute little wooden crab because it reminded us of the crabs we saw on the beach and on the rock walls at the marina. He matches the small, wooden pelican that we bought on our previous trip.

 

We never wanted that week to end…great time spent with great friends, relaxation to the max. We’re already dreaming up our next Rand/Krout/Stearns vacation…Hawaii???

Baking, Lately

Thanks to our weekly small group meetings and two recent baby showers I’ve had the opportunity/excuse to bake…A LOT. It’s been so much fun! I love to find new recipes, try them out and share the goodies with all of my friends. This cake was for a friend’s birthday, it’s dark chocolate with chocolate buttercream frosting.

These are sugar cookies that I made for my friend Elisha’s baby shower. I used a biscuit cutter instead of a cookie cutter and the icing is thinned out Royal icing that I simply dipped one side of each cookie in {super easy way to ice a bunch of cookies quickly}.

These mini cakes were also for Elisha’s shower, they were given away to guests as party favors. I found the little paper loaf pans on clearance at Joann’s and filled them with classic yellow cake topped with chocolate buttercream frosting. They were really fun to eat because when the paper wrapper was removed they looked just like twinkies!

My latest batch of cookies were inspired by some that I saw in a restaurant’s dessert case, they are salted oatmeal white chocolate chip cookies and yes, they are as delicious as they sound. The recipe I used came from Smitten Kitchen {every recipe of hers that I’ve ever tried has been amazing}.

Gosh, I sure do love baking :)

You Might Be a Texan if…

As much as I love California I’m a Texas girl through and through, always will be. I heard somewhere that you become more Texan once you leave the state and I couldn’t agree more; there’s something about living in a place where people don’t have much {or any} state pride that makes you want to stand out and be even more Texan.

Some of our close friends here just found out that Chevron will be moving them to Houston and they seem to be a little nervous about assimilating into the Texas culture. I assured her that I would help her learn to love the Lone Star State and so I’m sharing a list of all things Texas that I’ve been compiling over the past few years.

You Might Be a Texan if…

- you buy your groceries at HEB
- your favorite ice cream is Blue Bell
- you know at least one person who wore cowboy boots under her wedding dress
- you don’t think it’s hot until it’s over 100
- you can smell the rain coming
- your soda of choice is Dr Pepper
- you know that tea = sweet tea
- you have an inexplicable desire to own/drive a big truck
- you’d rather take back roads than the interstate

- in school you pledged to two different flags every morning
- you took at least 3 years of Texas history classes
- you spent summers as a kid playing in the sprinklers
- you’ve gotten stuck behind a tractor on a two lane road
- you’ve taken family portraits in a field of bluebonnets
- you know that small towns are speed traps
- you know who Reveille and Beevo are {and which one is best}
- you say yes ma’am and yes sir

- you open all the doors and windows to let your car cool off before getting in
- you have been branded by a seat belt
- you have laid out in a bikini in February and November
- you have witnessed snow/hail in late April
- you think 70 degrees and below is chili eating weather
- you know there’s no better place to be on a Friday night than at a high school football game
- when buying clothing, you consider how well it will hide sweat or if it will show sweat
- you pull into a small town and instantly know their high school mascot, school colors and if they’re in the football playoffs
- your high school released early on Fridays for away and playoff games
- your high school is closed during the county livestock show week
- BBQ or fajitas are served at every school function

- you pull over onto the shoulder to let someone pass
- they wave thank you :)
- you’ve worn shorts on Christmas morning
- you think that Dairy Queen started in Texas
- you know that Chicken Express serves Dublin DP
- you once went on a vacation to San Antonio to go to Sea World, Fiesta Texas, the riverwalk and the Alamo
- you know not to keep chocolate in your car in the summer
- you know that the true value of a parking space lies not in it’s proximity to the door but in its shade

- you know several people who have hit a deer or cow with their car
- you can find orange jello salad with marshmallows at every potluck
- you know how to pronounce Mexia, Waco, Humble and Bexar
- you’ve brewed tea in the sun
- you measure distance in minutes
- you learned how to shoot a bb gun before you learned to multiply
- you know that making a trip into “town” is a special occurrence
- you’ve ever paid back favors in cookies or banana bread
- you’ve ever been on a field trip to see the Capitol or tour the Blue Bell creamery

Bluebonnets

I’ve been feeling a little homesick lately but for the past couple of weeks I’ve had something very special living on my balcony to make this place feel more like home…we have bluebonnets!

You have no idea how happy it makes me to look outside and see these beautiful blooms, I go out and sniff them almost every day :)

Our lone surviving poppy finally has a couple of buds but no flowers yet, maybe within the next couple of weeks!

Elisha’s Baby Shower

A couple weekends ago all of my small group gal friends threw a baby shower for our friend Elisha, she’s expecting her first baby {a little boy} in just a couple of months. I was in charge of decorations and had a total blast putting everything together! I chose a yellow, lime and navy animal theme because it matched the crib sheets that Elisha was registered for, that way she could reuse some of the decor in the baby’s room if she wanted to. Here’s the dining table all decked out…

And also a pic of our beautiful, Pinterest-worthy food table; we had fresh lemonade, pear and walnut salad, mixed fruit cups, watermelon caprese bites, deviled eggs, edamame hummus with endive spears, homemade macarons, sugar cookies and lemon blueberry cupcakes.

Remember this photo I posted a while ago? The very beginnings of my decoration inspiration came from an idea I saw online to spray paint plastic animals. I found these elephants, tigers, lions and giraffes at Walmart for $1 each and also grabbed a can of dark navy blue spray paint.

It took quite a few coats to get in all of those little nooks and crannies but they looked pretty cool once they were all solid blue.

The blue animals sat atop a lime green table runner that I made using some fabric I found at Joanne’s. I also couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make some tissue paper pom poms, they are just way too easy to make and they are so pretty!

It’s still strange to me that I’m at that point in life where I’m going to or planning a baby shower every month. It’s definitely a fun place to be, though, because I love having an excuse to be creative and bake!

Planter Box Update

The planter box that my dad and I made a few Thanksgivings ago moved with us to CA and this spring it is finally getting some use! At first I couldn’t decide what to plant in it (flowers, herbs, lettuces??) and during a bout of homesickness I decided that I wanted bluebonnets, Texas bluebonnets. The thought of going an entire spring without seeing or smelling a bluebonnet just made me want to cry. Unfortunately bluebonnets are not quick growers and I would have had to seed them back in the fall in order to see some spring flowers so my dad graciously dug up a few plants from their property and shipped them to me.

We both had no idea how well they would ship much less take to new soil, new weather and a new state but we gave it a go. I transplanted the bluebonnets and a couple of red poppies into the planter containers and kept them inside for a couple of days because it was dropping down below freezing at night. But eventually they had to make their way outside and either live or die…and a few weeks later most of them were still alive! Once I spotted some new leaves growing I knew we were in the clear :)

Here’s how big they were towards the end of February, a few weeks after being transplanted. The poppies grew up pretty quickly but the bluebonnets took their time.

And here they are now…

The poppies are huge, bushy and quickly running out of room; I’ll have to re-pot them soon in order to keep them from suffocating each other. The bluebonnets have grown more slow and steady.

I honestly thought I would see a poppy flower bud first but lo and behold the bluebonnets have beat them to it! Their timing is perfect too, we’re leaving tomorrow for a week long vacation to Mexico :( Luckily, this bloom below is the only one showing petals so hopefully they can hold off until we get back. I’m so happy that we’re going to have Texas bluebonnets in California!

Bear Valley Ski Trip

When we moved to California last March we just barely missed out on skiing in Tahoe; the snow wasn’t great for the 2011-2012 season and by the time we were settled enough to make the trip, powder on the trails was nonexistent. Since then we have slowly gathered some ski gear, scoring a great deal on used boots at an REI garage sale, waiting for the right time to plan a trip.

Luckily for us, the small group that we’ve connected with has gone on a group ski trip the past couple of years and we were able to participate this time around! There were 18 of us total (including a few kids) and we all stayed together in a rented vacation home. A few of us skied, others did snow-shoeing or cross country skiing, and the kids enjoyed sledding and playing in the snow. We went to Bear Valley which is directly south of Lake Tahoe. I really liked the resort, it wasn’t crowded at all, the weather was sunny and the slopes varied from nicely groomed to shin-deep powder.

This was the first time I’d been skiing since I went to Sienna in south Lake Tahoe when I interned in Sacramento back in 2008 and Mark hadn’t been in over 10 years. Skiing is just like riding a bike, though, it came right back to us after just a few runs.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather, it was sunny and just over 40 degrees with a little wind. That’s my kind of skiing weather, I hate when temps are in the negative and it’s just miserable being outside.

Mark after completing his first black run ever! We all went down one or two blacks just to prove to ourselves that we could do it, haha. We mostly stuck to the blues and allthough we only skied one day, we made the most of it and stayed until the lifts closed and our quads were cramping.

The whole skiing gang: me, Mark, Brian and Brendon.

Parents’ Weekend Visit

{I’ve gotten so behind on blogging lately and I have no excuse, except laziness. Does that count as a valid excuse? Eh, probably not…oh well!}

About a month ago my parents came to visit us for a few days and we had such a great time showing them around our new home. We knew that we wanted to take them to Monterey so on the morning of our first full day we headed out and didn’t stop until we hit the coast.

We visited Lover’s Point Park, did some shopping and had lunch on Cannery Row, saw some sea otters and made our way down 17 Mile Drive, stopping at Pebble Beach along the way.

The next morning we went into the city and since it was a nice, clear day we drove up to the top of Twin Peaks for a breathtaking view of all of San Francisco.

From the peak we could see the Golden Gate Bridge, the Transamerica Pyramid, Coit Tower, the Bay Bridge and the other bridges in south bay.

Then we drove north through the city towards Fisherman’s Wharf pointing out Union Square, Chinatown and Lombard street along the way. We parked at Pier 39 and walked down to Ghirardeli Square, making sure to pop into our favorite sourdough bakery too!

We indulged in a little ice cream at Ghirardeli but were soon hungry again from all the walking so we made our way back to the pier to have a fresh crab lunch.

The sea lions were fun to watch for a bit. They were laying out on the docks warming themselves on the beautiful, sunny day.

To show my parents some more of the greater bay area we took the long route home; we left the city going north over the Golden Gate passing through Sausalito to San Rafael, took the Richmond bridge back over the bay then drove through Berkeley and Oakland before hitting 24 to take us to Walnut Creek then home to San Ramon.

It was a fun visit and I’m sure we wore my parents out but we just couldn’t resist showing them some of the awesome places to go and see in California!

A Day in the Life

So often I find myself getting caught up in the every day routine; I get up early and go to work each day, counting down until the weekend, only to start again the next Monday. Weeks turn to months and months add up to a year…as of today, March 21st, we have been California residents for an entire year. ONE. WHOLE. YEAR. That feels incredibly surreal for me to say because looking back it seems to have gone by so quickly.

Like I was saying, it’s easy to treat each day as just another 24 hours to get through, let time fly by and forget to be thankful for the big picture. We’re making great friends and great memories out here :) That’s what I’m most thankful for. Here’s a little glimpse into what a typical week looks like for us now…

On a typical Monday morning you’ll find me up at 4am, preparing to be at work by 6am. Mark sleeps a little later but then comes to the gym around 7am to get a workout in before his day begins. It’s nice to have him visit me at work, sometimes he’ll bring me something from Starbucks too :) Then he’ll head out for the day, usually to the Sacramento area to visit a few school districts and sell a few hundred iPads. I get off work at 2pm and work out for a while before heading home. Mark usually makes it back an hour or two after me and we’ll veg for a little while, I’ll make dinner, he’ll do some emailing for work. During the work week we usually try to be in bed around 9:30pm, earlier would be nice but it never happens, haha.

On a typical Tuesday the routine is much the same. If the weather is nice we might take a walk to the nearby park and watch a little league game or a dog playing fetch with his owner. With the exception of some cloud cover and a little drizzle yesterday the weather is definitely showing signs of spring here, almost every tree is blooming and the rolling hills are a beautiful shade of bright green.

On a typical Wednesday evening we have our small group gathering. There are 8-11 couples from our church that regularly attend and we alternate between each others’ houses every Wednesday night. Right now we’re going through a marriage study called Love & Respect, it’s been really great, especially the ensuing conversations that are had within our group. We’ve never had such an amazing support system of Godly people in our lives before, I can hardly believe that we’ve only known them for 9 months.

On a typical Thursday the week begins to wind down. I work just four days per week and Mark usually has an office day with no traveling on Friday so in a sense Thursdays are my Fridays :) We’ll stay up a little later, watch the Office, maybe go for a sunset drive in the coupe…did I mention that we now own a sports car? I have to admit that I do enjoy it myself, not as much as Mark does I’m sure but nonetheless. We bought it back in September and we’re beginning to have some of the little dents and dings repaired to get it looking perfect again.

On a typical Friday I try to get all of the housework done before the real weekend begins, this usually means doing laundry, cleaning around the house, getting some groceries, etc. If I’ve got a crafty project going on I’ll work on that too. Right now I’m in the middle of planning decorations for two baby showers coming up in April and May for a couple of ladies in our small group. Friday evenings we might go grab a couple margaritas at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Maria Maria, or stay in and watch a movie.

{A sneak peek at a little project I’m working on for one of the baby showers}

On a typical Saturday anything goes…we might sit around all day and accomplish next to nothing, we might go for a few hour hike in Las Trampas to view the city from afar or (like this coming Saturday) we might go wine tasting with friends. Previously we’ve only ventured to nearby Livermore for some less pricey tastings but this Saturday we’re celebrating a promotion and a big move within our small group so we’re heading to Napa!

On a typical Sunday morning we attend church and hang around for a little while afterwards to chat with our friends. Occasionally we’ll do lunch together but since my soccer season started back up a couple weeks ago I’ve had some 11am games to attend. I’m really enjoying the coed team that I’m on but the chemistry is nothing like what I had with my ladies’ team back in Austin. Some games we play on turf and some are on grass, I’ve grown to like the turf more because the California parks seem to keep their grass extremely long and it feels like we’re playing in sand. Sunday afternoons are pretty low key; we’ll go for a jog or walk, do some laundry and prepare for the work week ahead. Our pastor gave a sermon recently about the importance of Sabbath and what it truly means to Sabbath and take a day for relaxation and reflection. We’re trying our best to use our Sundays wisely :)

And that’s what a typical week in the Rand household looks like! We do have something more atypical and pretty exciting coming up in April, we’re going on a vacation to an all-inclusive resort in Cabo with two other couples from our small group! We’ve literally been counting down the days since we booked our flights and now that we’re within a month all six of us can’t stop talking about how much fun we’re going to have. The last time Mark and I were in Cabo we were on our honeymoon three and a half years ago (don’t even get me started on how quickly our marriage has flown by). It’s going to be a great start to what will inevitably be a wonderful summer!

Trash to Treasure

Every day when I leave our complex I drive past the dumpster and a few weeks ago I noticed an old pallet waiting to be thrown out. I thought to myself, I could make something with that. But for weeks and weeks there it sat, leaning against the dumpster, because I never made the time to haul it home. I kept expecting it to be taken away with the trash but week after week it remained until I finally had a free weekend to get creative! So Mark loaded it into the back of the Jeep, drove it over to our building and carried it up two flights of stairs to our balcony {thanks, love}.

I put on some gloves, grabbed a hammer and a crow bar and got to work; and boy was it hard work getting those planks off. Half of the boards were split or broken to begin with so I had to be careful not to ruin the others while prying the nails out.

I ended up with four unbroken boards which I then arranged together…

…and using a few smaller pieces and some wood screws on the back I secured them all together. The great thing about this project is that I didn’t have to worry about the boards being square or perfect in any way since the idea is for it to look as rustic as possible.

Next was the hard part, deciding what to put on it and how. My inspiration came from some pallet art ideas like this one that I had seen on Pinterest and for sale on Etsy. I experimented on scrap wood with different types of paint, stencils and oil stains to see what looked the best on the brown and grey weathered wood. In the end I went with plain white craft paint simply because I already had some in my stash which meant I didn’t have to go out and buy anything :)

As for what to write on the boards, I wanted to display one of my favorite bible verses, Proverbs 3:5. This was my confirmation verse in middle school and it continues to be one of my favorites. I created a paper stencil from my computer, cutting the letters out with an X-acto, taped the stencils onto the boards and then lightly applied the craft paint with a cheap brush, dabbing most of the paint off of the brush first so as not to flood the stencil.

And here’s the finished product! The wall above our desk has been empty since we moved in so it was the perfect place for my pallet art. I am so in love with how it turned out and the best part is that this project was 100% FREE!