Books, Beach, & Baby

This is the cover of my next book, the life story of a man with A.L.S. His health has declined rapidly in the last few months, so I think the book will mean a lot to his wife and two teenage daughters. I designed the cover in Photoshop, and I'm happy with how it turned out. Hopefully it looks the same once it's printed! I'll find out in a couple of days.

On to other news...Our friend Tommy has been staying with us for a couple days, and last night we went out to Half Moon Bay (only about 15 minutes away) and found a great seaside restaurant to eat at. We ate outside, where there was live music, a fireplace, and a gorgeous view of the ocean at dusk. I absolutely loved it! The only bad news is that I forgot my camera, so I can't share it with you, but I'm determined to go back soon to capture it on camera.

Baby 2008 is kicking like CRAZY! It freaks Ryan out sometimes. I can't believe I only have seven weeks to go. Baby also gets the hiccups a ton, usually twice a day, which the doctor said is a sign of baby wellness. :)

How Nuvi is saving our marriage

Our parents teamed up and got Ryan not one but TWO GPSs for graduation, one for roads and one for trails. Ever since our Garmin Nuvi joined the family, we've been all the happier for it. In fact, we like to say it's saving our marriage. No more little tiffs about which way to go... We've been "lost" so many times and in so many cities, but those days are over!

So thanks, Nuvi, for saving our marriage, and thanks to our parents for knowing just what we needed! :)

So far...

We've only been here two weeks, but we've already...

- Shared a milkshake from In-N-Out
- Bought a wetsuit on craigslist
- Relaxed at two of our favorite beaches
- Unpacked everything, including all the baby's cute clothes!
- Gotten a little sunburned while Ryan surfed and I watched
- Had an overnight guest, our friend Tommy
- And been visited by Grandpa and Grandma Wood and Mom

Tomorrow we're even meeting G&G and Mom at Fenton's!

Here are a few random pictures. The first is of Ryan and Tommy before they attempted to surf on Saturday. (It's harder than it looks!)

The next photo is our cute Walmart table, which I'm proud to say I assembled. On the drive out I was talking to Ryan about wanting to try doing something new, something I wouldn't normally do. I think he had visions of backpacking up near Tahoe or me on a surfboard...But when this dining set entered our lives, I knew it was just the thing. Normally, I would recruit anyone else to do this kind of thing, but I set my mind to read the instructions, learn something about spring washers and nuts, and build the whole thing myself. Obviously, I'm pretty proud of it.

This was taken at my wonderful, wonderful Utah baby shower. Our baby is spoiled already! Thank you everyone for coming. I had SUCH a fantastic time catching up with family and friends.

The last photo here is my personal favorite. I call it "Ryan: The Pink Princess."

To his credit, he did have a long day unpacking. And I wouldn't post this if I hadn't already posted the manly-man picture of him in his wetsuit.

Back in Business!

After what feels like a long absence, we've finally rejoined the 21st century and have working internet access in our apartment! (Cross your fingers that we won't have to call AT&T again anytime soon.)

We love California! We're ecstatic to be in our new apartment and getting used to life here (pre-baby, that is). The apartment is bigger than I remembered on our walk-through, which was a nice surprise, and our furniture looks cute in it. After our marathon two-week move (and with a LOT of help from our families!), it couldn't feel better to be settled down.

Our patio door leads to the pool, so we've taken our picnic basket out to the pool twice already for lunch. We went to family night at the bishop's house Monday, and we've done two activities with a couple in the ward. The HOA board members (especially the women!) seem happy to have us here, and we both like my new doctor.

The apartment had new carpet and paint when we arrived, and we've since gotten a new fridge, dishwasher, and oven. (How great is that?!) Now all we need is fully functioning plumbing! We've got a couple leaky toilets, a couple leaky sinks, a showerhead that had been pulled out of the wall, no mirrors in the bathrooms, etc. Oh yeah, and the door to our bathroom didn't work at all (my personal favorite). Slowly but surely, we're getting things taken care of. And once it's all done, this place will be perfect for us.