Weekends 3/52

::weekends is a new series where I'll be documenting some of what we do on our weekends.  For us, that's Thursdays and Fridays::

This weekend was around Arya's 2nd birthday and we had Grandpa and Grandma Heller here to enjoy the great weather!  It's been an unusually warm winter and it hit 80 degrees in Coronado on Thursday, 1/16 (Happy Birthday Bridget!).  I'm not usually a beach kind of girl (as you can tell by me wearing jeans and a sweater to the beach), but I actually enjoyed myself and Arya had a good time too.  She played in the water, played with her sand toys and ran and ran and ran.  I've had this swimsuit for about 3 years now.  She's finally old enough to wear it!

Weekends 1/52

::weekends is a new series where I'll be documenting some of what we do on our weekends.  For us, that's Thursdays and Fridays::

We feel SO SO blessed to have some days off together after 5+ years.  It definitely took some getting used to, but I think we've got a tentative rhythm that allows me to have my absolutely required alone time and Neil's absolutely required "get out of the house!" time.

Arya had a good time at Presidio Park.  We kicked the ball around, played with the leaves and played keep away with Arya with the frisbee. Another little boy wanted in on the fun too, so that was cute.

Nice Day for a Photo Shoot

We headed back to Balboa Park today to have Arya's picture taken by one of our dear friends.  After rescheduling due to bad weather, we packed up our huge IKEA bag full of props and made our way down. We were on time!  Quite a feat if you ask me.  I needed to pump and pack a bottle, pack the props, get Arya in her outfit (which ended up being the wrong outfit...how many yellow outfits with white daisies can she have?!?) and Daddy needed to trim his beard.

Arya was amazing! She cried on cue when it was time for her to eat, so we took a little break. Other than that, she was perfectly content outside.  In total she had 3 outfit changes. Not too shabby.  Daddy took a few photos of our friend in action.  We are excited to see the photos she took!

Seven Years

Neil and I unknowingly celebrated our 7^th anniversary of dating. I remember back when we first met in February 2004. I had just been dumped on Valentine’s Day by my old boyfriend. He had come from another school to surprise me for the weekend. I didn't much like the surprise and the whole weekend was awkward. Afterward, I hated him and by default all men. I felt like I wanted to string one around and then break his heart, very similar to what happened to me. It wasn’t nice, but hell hath no fury like me on that day.

So, the Monday after Valentine’s Day, I walked into my anthro class at Luther. I plotted that I would flirt with any guy that sat next to me and crush his heart! Neil walked in, looked around and sat next to me. Usually, I stick to myself and am pretty quiet, but this time, I started up a conversation. He asked how my Valentine’s Day was and I said “It sucked, my boyfriend broke up with me.” Neil looked crushed, as if he couldn’t believe someone would do that. Man, this was going to be too easy.

Little did I know he was sizing up the situation, as well…girl talking to him…cute girl… and now a SINGLE girl.

Seven years later, we are married (almost 3 years!), living in sunny (usually) San Diego and have a 16 pound cat who we like to call Mr. Simon. To celebrate, we camped at Lake Morena County Park. It was a great time to go, the weather was very nice and it was only a little cold overnight. We set up the tent fast and Neil started boiling water with his alcohol stove to make our dinner of dehydrated Mexican Rice with Chicken (not my favorite). I, on the other hand, was tasked with getting the tent ready to go. I blew up both mattresses, stuffed them inside the sleeping bags and that was that. We roasted marshmallows and made s’mores. I drank wine out of a camping cup, Neil drank a big beer. It was a good night. (Oh, and I should mention I no longer feel like breaking his heart.)

We hiked in the morning around the reservoir and then returned to San Diego. We biked down to Balboa Park and walked around the Artist Village. Then we went to the Science Museum and watched “Tornado Alley” and “Hubble” on the Imax screen. “Hubble” made me want to be an astronaut! To close the evening, we went to Wonderful Sushi for dinner, ate way too much, went for a walk and went to bed.


It was a great couple of days and paired with our time back in Minnesota and Iowa for Gary and Vanessa’s wedding, we had a great week, together and with friends!

Labor Day

Yesterday, Neil and I had a busy day. I went to Joann's Fabric and bought 6 yards of batting at 50% off. I also got a larger cutting board, curved safety pins, a bobbin holder, and a thread holder. We also got 4 kits, one for an Adirondack rocker, Adirondack chair, a matching table, and one ottoman.

Once we got home I went to work on my project, which was to pin together my quilt and Neil started working on the rocking chair. Let me just say that we started around 10am and didn't get both of our projects done until about 6pm. The directions for the chair were horrible and nothing really lined up right. There were also hardly any predrilled holes. My quilt just took a long time to do. I had to clean the kitchen floor, and then began safety pinning the layers. I had to take several breaks because my poor finger tips were hurting. Eventually, I just put masking tape all over my fingertips and then it didn't hurt as bad.


Neil had a hell of a time getting that chair together, but eventually he got it. Then he brought it outside and he grilled some beer brats. Ooh, they were yummy.. And yes, it is about 8pm when we were doing this. You also get a view of our outdoor space!!


Have a good day!