Dinner with the Edwards

Last night I had dinner at the Edwards house. It was a blast. Greg and Sarah completely out did themselves. Greg made this amazing salmon dish with rice. He even made pizza. SO GOOD!!!! I was blown away. Who knew, Greg has some righteous kitchen skills. Sarah also has got some talent. She made these yummy green beans that had a little kick to them. They were gooooooood!

Besides the food, which was AMAZING, I had such a wonderful time fellowshipping with this great family. Greg and Sarah have two kids, Elam and Edie, who are a so much fun. I got to read them a bedtime story. It was a great night. I absolutely adore this family and am excited to have this chance to get to know them. Thanks Edwards family was a great night.

Here is a picture of the main dish.

Date Night with the Holdridge’s

Last night Lauren, Violet, and I played dress up. Lauren decided at one point that I was going to be the king. She said I looked like a boy….what do you think? These girls crack me up.

Another Date Night Photo

Valentine’s Surprise

My good friends John and Jennifer Billings decided to surprise me on Valentine’s day covering my front door with tons of little red hearts that the cut themselves. It was a great treat and I was blessed. Thanks Billings! I love you guys!

Valetine's Suprise

Birthday Date with Violet

For Violet’s third birthday I decided to invite her over for a slumber party. Just her and me! It was a blast. For her birthday I bought her a Minnie Mouse night gown with matching slippers, her own Hello Kitty sleeping bag, a Hello Kitty travel bag, and a little stuffed Minnie Mouse doll. I picked her up on a Sunday evening and took her out to dinner at Islands. She wanted a burger and fries for dinner so what better place to go, beside In-n-Out where her family was going to go that night. After dinner we went to the store where Violet got to pick out a color of fingernail polish, stickers for her nails, and a new toothbrush (she picked a Hello Kitty one). We then went back to my house, got our pajamas on, watched a Handy Manny video, and painted our nails. Then it was off to bed.

On Monday morning Violet wanted to eat at First Awakenings, her choice. Then we went to the new and improved MY Museum. They did such a great job re-vamping everything. Violet had a blast. We played restaurant, picked vegetables, rode that tractor, played in the giant dollhouse, dress up, went down all the slides multiple times, and even played on a boat. It was a full day but so much fun and a day that I never will forget. I love you Violet and thanks for spending the night.

My P.O. Box

I have finally decided…..I HATE HAVING A P.O. BOX IN PACIFIC GROVE!

Yes Nate, this is the moment you have been waiting for. Once again, after a few years of nagging, I have realized that you were right and I was wrong. Going to get my mail is a waste of my time, especially when it can be delivered to my door.

For the last six years I have had a P.O. Box in Pacific Grove. The only problem with this statement is that I don’t live in Pacific Grove I live in Monterey (I am probably going to get busted by the post office police for saying that). I opened my P.O. Box when I moved back from Belize. For the first few months I was staying at different friends houses and I decided to open a P.O. Box so that no matter where I moved to my mailing address would not change. At the time I opened my P.O. Box I was living in Pebble Beach so I qualified to open a P.O. Box in Pacific Grove. I moved seven different times in two years so I was excited that I never had to change my mailing address. It is such a pain to have to change your address every time you move, especially when you move as much as I do. Four of the seven moves that I made were in PG so it was always easy to check my mail because it was never out of the way. Even when I did not live on Monterey I did not work that far from the post office so I kept it. I also never felt like I was going to be in open place for all that long. When I moved to downtown Monterey, about four years ago, I was tempted to close my P.O. Box but I didn’t want to lose the PG address, and I also did mot want to share one mail box with four people.

I have now lived in Monterey for about four years and I drive to PG once a week to get my mail. It really has never been that bad. I look at it as a little piece of the past and a type of “security blanket.” I love PG and there are many perks about having a PG address. One of them is that I get all kinds of information, schedules and discounts to all the local fairs, parades, and festivals. It is also a small post office and it kind of reminds me of the show Cheers. The same people have been working there since the beginning and they know who I am.

After this last week my opinion has changed. It started on Saturday when I went to get my mail and I received two cards that were postmarked October 2008. Each card had a red stamp on it saying “Left in Empty Bin.” What does that mean? One of the cards was a thank you card and the other was an invitation for a baby shower that happened four months ago. Stupid!!!! Then yesterday, Monday, I had the craziest experience. I went to the bank and Blockbusters and decided to check the mail. First of all I could not find a parking spot. They had the normal Monday Farmers Market traffic but they were also filming a commercial at “The Red House.” They had two blocks barricaded off with about 20 different types of trucks and trailers. There were tons of cops and people everywhere. The thing that got me was when I was walking out of the post office and was getting ready to cross the street to my car the director screamed action and the cops made everyone every car stand still. Why I have no clue. I was not even near the the place they were filming. Why I needed to stand on the corner for five minutes for no reason was completely stupid. Checking my mail, which would normally take me five minutes max took me about twenty minutes yesterday. It was ridiculous! Then today I hear from a friend that she sent me a wedding invitation, her wedding is next week, and I never received it. My mail is getting lost in some “empty bin.” So frustrating!

That is why today I am proud to say that I will be cancelling my P.O. Box at the end of March, when my six month lease is up. It is going to be hard to let go of my one foot in PG but I think I am ready.

THANKS NATE! You always know best!

Here are a few photos of the craziness in PG yesterday.