Almost October

Ok, faithful readers. It's almost here. Tomorrow is officially October which means that I can finally say "I'm getting married this month"! I can't believe how quickly time flies! Almost a year ago, we were in Seattle getting engaged! It seemed like we had so much time to plan and prepare - now we're three weeks out!

Honestly, I think I've become wedding bipolar. Ask me how I feel on one day and I'll tell you that I'm completely excited and can't wait for the day. Ask me on another, and I'll tell you that I'm completely exhausted and can't wait for it to be over. Whoever said that it should be a fun and relaxing process lied! It's one of the most stressful events I've ever planned!

That said, things have been really falling into place over the last couple of weeks. We met with our DJ last night - he's going to be so much fun! We had to meet at the fire station because Mike was on duty. The DJ was so excited to slide down the pole! I'm not gonna lie, he did it about 19 minutes faster than I did... but he really had fun! I can't wait for him to DJ for us - we have some cool and fun things planned!

My Bachelorette Party!

Yesterday Kati threw me my bachelorette party... it was so much fun! So much fun that I took three naps today and Excedrin & water have been my new best friends. It took me until about 4pm to actually be able to move from the horizontal to vertical position without feeling like my head was going to explode.

We started the day at Kati & Nate's house. Nate made some very fantastic jello shots for us before taking off for the day to go fishing. Apparently hanging out with a bunch of girls who start drinking at 11:30am wasn't on the top of his to do list.

We hung out by the pool for most of the day and relaxed. Then we decided to watch some movies - we started "Bridesmaids". Brigitte and I got sleepy, so we skipped out in the middle to go take a nap so we were all set for the evening.

Kati got me this fantastic chalice to drink out of:

My Bridal Cup

And then had these great shirts made:

"First the Rock, then we Roll"

The back of them said "Anna's Bachelorette Blow Out". So freaking cute! They definitely got us noticed!

Kati had a limo set up to take us basically anywhere we wanted for the evening. As it turned out, the driver was the same guy who drove us for Kati's wedding! Here are the girls who came in the limo:

My Beautiful Friends!

Me & Kati!

We headed over to Buca di Beppo for a delicious family style dinner... with way more food than all of us girls could eat! Here's the table:

More Of My Beautiful Friends

I felt so loved... I seriously have the best friends ever... they are a combination of high school friends, work friends and people I've met throughout my life... but they all mesh like they've known each other forever! Dinner was fantastic (even if they had issues with the "glasswear"). The work ladies put together a fantastic little basket with all sorts of things that I won't put on Facebook or the internet for that matter. They're so sweet!

After dinner we headed out to The Park Lounge for some more drinks and some dancing.

Shots!

I've noticed that I always look a little scared right before I take a shot. I think it's because I suck at drinking. That said, drinking apparently makes me into an absolutely amazing dancer:

Shaking What My Mama Gave Me

There was one point in the evening that I took a picture with a blow up doll. It was on someone else's camera, so I don't have it to post (a darned shame, I know). I didn't think much of it last night, but now that I'm sober, it makes me ask the question "Who brings a blow up doll to a club?". It did make for some interesting pictures.

Kati made us pancakes this morning and then we played a round of "Pin the Hose on the Fireman"... yup, it's exactly what you think it is. Then it was home for the day to recover and pick Shadow up from the clink. My bachelorette party was absolutely amazing!

All of this dancing and clubbing has made me realize how much I really love curling up on my sofa with Mike and Shadow. I know, it sounds sappy. Don't get me wrong, I totally had a fun time last night, but there's nothing like watching every episode of Criminal Minds with my two boys!

Album Review: Tony Bennett "Duets II"

This week I went ahead and bought Tony Bennett's "Duets II". I'm not going to lie, I really liked the first one, so I jumped at the chance of getting a second round of duets, especially once I saw the duet partner lineup. I really love Tony Bennett's voice and some of these pairings are really unique. I also sort of can't believe that this guy is 85 years old and still singing... I hope I'm that way too!

Instead of doing my normal couple of songs, I'm going to give a quick review of each of the songs:

1. The Lady Is A Tramp featuring Lady Gaga: I have to admit, Gaga is really starting to grow on me. I was pleasantly surprised with this first song on the album - she proves that she can actually sing without any of that crazy electronic stuff. They took the classic and added some cute little things to it to updated it.
2. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) featuring John Mayer: If there was one voice that I would pick to blend pretty well with Tony Bennett's it would probably be John Mayer.
3. Body and Soul featuring Amy Winehouse: I feel sort of bad speaking ill of the dead, but I'm really not that impressed with her singing on this song. She has a distinct sound to her voice, but it's really hard to understand her... and her harmonies just don't really mesh with Tony Bennett... it was sort of an odd duet.
4. Don't Get Around Much Anymore featuring Michael Bublé: This is another one of those voices that was just meant to sing with Tony Bennett. I could listen to this song over and over again.
5. Blue Velvet featuring k.d. lang: I really liked this one too... k.d. lang has such a mellow voice and this song just screams for it. This is one of the types of songs that you'll listen to on the way home from work after a stressful day.
6. How Do You Keep The Music Playing featuring Aretha Franklin: Up until about the last 30 seconds of the song, Aretha really keeps her "queen of soul" voice reigned in. Just when you think she's made it through the whole song, she lets some runs go.
7. The Girl I Love featuring Sheryl Crow: This is not a bad song, but it sounds a little like Sheryl Crow is trying too hard.
8. On The Sunny Side Of The Street featuring Willie Nelson: Talk about a weird match up. Not the greatest on the album, but I love Willie's voice, so it makes it work!
9. Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me) featuring Queen Latifah: I don't know that I'd ever heard this song before, but I think it's absolutely beautiful and am amazed at how beautiful Queen Latifah's voice is!
10. Speak Low featuring Norah Jones: She has one of those amazing jazz voices that lends itself to this style of music - and this is an amazing song!
11. This Is All I Ask featuring Josh Groban: Josh Groban has to be one of my favorite classical singers, so it pains me to say this. He can't really cross over into other genres. I love his classical music, but when he tries his hand at other types of music, he sounds like an opera singer trying to sing Britney Spears. It just doesn't work for me.
12. Watch What Happens featuring Natalie Cole: If anyone can sing with one of the greats, it's Natalie Cole. Great tune.
13. Stranger In Paradise featuring Andrea Bocelli: Now this is a guy who can sing classical and then blend it into almost any other style of music. Where Josh Groban fell short, Andrea Bocelli stepped in!
14. The Way You Look Tonight featuring Faith Hill: You know, in the last few years, I've liked Faith Hill's music less and less. Don't get me wrong, she has a great voice, but this song just feels very awkward and forced.
15. Yesterday I Heard The Rain featuring Alejandro Sanz: This is a really beautiful song. I hadn't heard of Alejandro Sanz before, but he's a very accomplished Spanish singer-songwriter. He sang his bit in Spanish and it was really pretty.
16. It Had To Be You featuring Carrie Underwood: I was actually a little disappointed with this one. I've always thought Carrie could sing the alphabet and I'd like it, but again, this felt forced to me. She normally does really well with the duet thing, so I'm not exactly sure what happened with this one.
17. When Do The Bells Ring For Me featuring Mariah Carey: Also a great song. How do you go wrong with Mariah Carey? Ok... well, there was "Glitter"...

This is definitely a great album - I highly recommend it!

Gnats -1, Anna - 0

Today Mike and I embarked on what I knew was going to be the hardest ride that I've done in my approximately 3 month cycling career. We basically took the hardest climb I've done to date and added to it. To make it even more fun, I rode without having been on a bike in three weeks... life's just been too darn busy! Finally, for whatever reason, I just had one of those days that I just plain wasn't feeling it. Fellow athletes out there, you know the feeling - it's not that you're in any better shape, it's just that some days you don't want to.

Well, I did it... all 28.44 miles, all 2,280 feet of climbing. I did have one little mishap... you guessed it, I fell off my bike. I'm not sure, but it may be even more embarrassing than the first fall I had. You see, as we climbed the Rams Horn (that's the part we added on - it's about 2 miles of steep) I was suddenly swarmed by a massive cloud of gnats. Those little suckers stuck with me for the entire climb. I spent a good deal of it not focusing on my rhythm or breathing and focusing instead on swatting. It was awful. On the final ascent (the steepest part, I might add), one of those little suckers made his way under my glasses and got stuck in my eye. I was so busy trying to get him out that I stopped pedaling and tipped right over. Don't worry... I'm just fine... some minor scrapes and a little sore. My ego hurts a lot though... to Mike's credit, he did a damn good job about not letting me see him laugh. I know if the tables were turned, I probably wouldn't have done as great a job!

Even with Gnatfest 2011, I'm super glad we did this ride - it's been something we've talked about for the last few weeks. I did a really good job on my descending - I hit 35.8 MPH at one point! Since descending scares me the most, I'm really glad I'm forcing myself to practice it... I'm feeling better and better about it!

I had grand plans of taking pictures at different points throughout the ride, but as it turns out, I was just trying to keep myself on the bike. Maybe once I get a little better I'll remember to take pictures - the beauty of living where we live is that our rides are absolutely stunning...  most of today was along a little creek-river and in the woods!

Fiddletown Fiddlers' Jam

Today we headed into Fiddletown for the 60th Annual Fiddletown Fiddlers' Jam. Last year we were there at the end and missed the contest, so we made sure to get there early this year. Each contestant plays three songs - a hoedown, a waltz and a tune of their choice. We only watched the kids contest and the beginning of the teens because it started getting so hot.

They have a great idea, it's just not entirely executed well. You see, they close down the main street and set up the stage at one end. While that sounds great, it turns out to be really hot. They buildings on both sides keep any sort of breeze from reaching you and they only set up four umbrellas, so you roast in the sun. If the organizers of the Jam were to ask Mike and I, we would suggest that they use the beautiful park as a venue, while still keeping the vendors and food on the main street to drive people into the businesses. That's just our humble opinion.

I took approximately two pictures. Ok, not approximately... I took two whole pictures:

Mom & I Before I Started Melting

Gigantic Fiddle On The Fiddletown Community Center

Mike and I came home, took a nap and spent the rest of the day out working in the yard. I planted the wisteria I bought yesterday as well as the artichokes. I'm two wisteria closer to my secret garden! For those of you wondering, I have a fenced in orchard, thanks to all the crazy critters that want to eat my plants. I decided that I wanted to grow wisteria all along the fences so that it looks like a walled in orchard. Only twenty something fence posts more to plant!

The Creature Chronicles Part 3: A Snow White Moment

Today was seriously beautiful. The weather has cooled down a little bit (this morning it was in the 60s) and the animals of Sutter Creek decided to come out and play. I'm serious, I felt like Snow White:

A whole little herd of deer were hanging out just outside of the house... munching on some grass. I tried to get my camera to get some pictures, but every time I moved past the window they looked like they were going to bolt and I decided that you've all seen deer and I should just enjoy the moment. They looked something like this:

A little later on, I decided to head down to the grocery store and had to stop in the middle of the road so that a flock of turkeys could cross. By the way, for those of you who have followed my struggle with how to pluralize "turkey" (turkies? turkii?) over the last few years, I finally looked it up. How do you say multiple thanksgiving birds? Turkeys. Now you know.

Anyways, as if that wasn't enough, I had a ton of hummingbirds hanging out tonight. I definitely felt very immersed in nature today... I think they were all coming out to enjoy the slightly cooler weather!

Life Is Too Short

Today I attended a funeral for a lady that Mike has worked with for the last few years. She was a wonderful, kind woman who died of cancer far too young (only 40 years old). She left behind a husband and a sweet little 8 year old boy.

What struck me most about her service was that it was standing room only. That's right, she packed the house. I hope that I don't die for a long time, but I hope that when I do, I've touched so many people's lives that they don't fit in the church.

I don't really have a whole lot more to say about it - I wish I had something witty or earth-shattering to say... but it was just sad.

Rest in peace, Merritt.

Air Show Recap

As promised, here's the post about yesterday's air show... fortunately, it's pretty darn boring. In fact, it was the least busy air show I've worked in all my time with CERT. That's a really good thing when my work equals being an EMT. While I did get some good hands on experience, we actually did not send anyone out by ambulance on my shift... that's definitely a first and the cooler weather played a big role in that.

The air show organizers did a pretty neat thing to commemorate 9/11... they asked the crowd to hold a moment of silence as a C-130 Hercules flew overhead and dropped 15,000 flowers. It was really pretty... like it was raining rose petals. It was a very moving moment at the show, followed by the jets flying in the "missing man" formation.

After a long day, I ended up with a migraine (I think this one was caused by the pressure change) since we had some hefty thunderstorms roll though last night. Poor Shadow was a mess... he sure doesn't like thunder and lightning!

Ten Years Later

Never Forget. 9/11/01

I honestly can't believe it's been ten years since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. It seems like just yesterday I was storming out of my bedroom, angry because the phone was ringing so early in the morning only to see a stricken look on my college roommate's face. The phone call was from relatives from back East, calling to tell her they were ok but that something had gone horribly wrong. We spent the rest of that Tuesday in front of the TV; horrified by what we were seeing. The thought of going to class never even crossed our minds.

Twin Towers Burning

There are only a few events in my life that I can look back on and remember with crystal clarity where I was, what I was thinking and how I felt. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was probably the first real disaster that impacted my life. September 11 is also one of those events. As Alan Jackson put it, "Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)"? That's really what it did feel like for a while - like life was going to stop.

I think the September 11th attacks were so scary to me because they were unlike anything I'd ever known before... the 1989 earthquake was Mother Nature doing all the damage and destruction. This was real people hurting other real people. It's still very hard for me to believe that that kind of evil exists, but it does.

So much has happened in the last 10 years. That college roommate is now married and has a beautiful baby girl. I moved back to Northern California, got a new job, fell in love, bought a house and got engaged. I even picked up my EMT certification. I often wonder if 9/11 in some way inspired me to join the CERT program and to become an EMT. While it wasn't first and foremost on my mind, I do have to say that I continue to be inspired every day by the brave responders on that day. Not just those who died, but those who travelled from all over the country, just to do what they do. The image of three firefighters raising the flag at Ground Zero (reminiscent of the flag raising at Iwo Jima) is haunting to me.

Finally, I want to wish my parents a fantastic 35th wedding anniversary. While I think it's so important to never forget the tragic events of September 11, 2001, plenty of other wonderful and amazing things happened on that day. We shouldn't forget, but we also can't dwell forever and life goes on. Mom and Dad, I hope you guys have a wonderful anniversary today - here's to 35 more!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Last night Mom, Dad, Kati, Cyndy and I headed down to Sacramento to watch the Rivercats take on the Reno Aces in the playoffs. Dad got tickets from Groupon - like half price. I think I might have to check this Groupon thing out - I always hear about people getting amazing deals! Our seats were three rows back on the third baseline... prime foul ball territory! I don't think I've ever seen Kati pay more attention to a baseball game! I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty focused myself. I could just picture breaking my nose or hand or something 42 days before my wedding... thankfully, that did not happen! The game was a good one... they played really hard because if they lost, they were out of the playoffs (they won, by the way). It was really fun!

Today was a pretty mellow day. We had plans to take the boat out, but the boys all ended up with overtime shifts. Kayla is home visiting this weekend, so her and I headed down to Mike's station to have lunch and hang out a little bit. We also made a stop at the AT&T store where I finally got the blue tooth speakerphone for my car. I've been thinking about it for a while with all the driving that I do, and finally bit the $120 bullet. It takes a while to charge up at first, so I only tried it for a couple minutes to call Mom. So far, it's well worth the money!

Tomorrow is my favorite CERT event of the year - the California Capital Airshow. Not only do I get to see planes doing amazing acrobatics, but I get some great EMT hands on experience. That said, don't look for a post about it until Monday - I've got a special September 11th post planned.

Happy Period

My aunt Eva sent me this today... I've seen it before and meant to post it, but deleted the email and was too lazy to do any sort of research on it. I think the "inbred hillbilly with knife skills" part is hilarious! Thanks Eva!

This is an "actual letter" from an Austin , Texas woman sent to Proctor and Gamble regarding one of their feminine products. She really gets rolling after the first paragraph. This was PC Magazine's 2009 Editors' Choice award-winner for the best letter sent via e-mail.


Dear Mr. Thatcher,

I have been a loyal user of your 'Always' maxi pads for over 20 years and I appreciate many of their features. Why, without the LeakGuard Core or Dri-Weave absorbency, I'd probably never go horseback riding or salsa dancing, and I'd certainly steer clear of running up and down the beach in tight, white shorts.

But my favorite feature has to be your revolutionary Flexi-Wings. Kudos on being the only company smart enough to realize how crucial it is that maxi pads be aerodynamic I can't tell you how safe and secure I feel each month knowing there's a little F-16 in my pants.

Have you ever had a menstrual period, Mr. Thatcher? I'm guessing you haven't. Well, my time of the month is starting right now. As I type, I can already feel hormonal forces violently surging through my body. Just a few minutes from now, my body will adjust and I'll be transformed into what my husband likes to call 'an inbred hillbilly with knife skills.'

Isn't the human body amazing?

As Brand Manager in the Feminine-Hygiene Division, you've no doubt seen quite a bit of research on what exactly happens during your customer's monthly visits from 'Aunt Flo'. Therefore, you must know about the bloating, puffiness, and cramping we endure, and about our intense mood swings, crying jags, and out-of-control behavior. You surely realize it's a tough time for most women.

The point is, sir, you of all people must realize that America is just crawling with homicidal maniacs in Capri pants... Which brings me to the reason for my letter. Last month, while in the throes of cramping so painful I wanted to reach inside my body and yank out my uterus, I opened an Always maxi-pad, and there, printed on the adhesive backing, were these words: 'Have a Happy Period.'

Are you f------ kidding me? What I mean is, does any part of your tiny middle-manager brain really think happiness - actual smiling, laughing happiness, is possible during a menstrual period? Did anything mentioned above sound the least bit pleasurable? Well, did it, James? FYI, unless you're some kind of sick S&M freak, there will never be anything 'happy' about a day in which you have to jack yourself up on Motrin and Kahlua and lock yourself in your house just so you don't march down to the local Walgreen's armed with a hunting rifle and a sketchy plan to end your life in a blaze of glory.

For the love of God, pull your head out, man! If you have to slap a moronic message on a maxi pad, wouldn't it make more sense to say something that's actually pertinent, like 'Put down the Hammer' or 'Vehicular Manslaughter is Wrong'.

Sir, please inform your Accounting Department that, effective immediately, there will be an $8 drop in monthly profits, for I have chosen to take my maxi-pad business elsewhere. And though I will certainly miss your Flex-Wings, I will not for one minute miss your brand of condescending bullshit. And that's a promise I will keep.

Always...

Wendi Aarons

Austin , TX

Movie Review: The Hit List

Yesterday Mike and I watched "The Hit List" starring Cuba Gooding Jr. My parents recommended it a few weeks ago, so I added it to Netflix, but it's pretty much been sitting next to our TV since then.

Director: William Kaufman

Main Actors: Cuba Gooding Jr, Cole Hauser

Synopsis: (from IMDb) A disgruntled man creates a hit list with a stranger during a drunken night out and must then race to try to save those he marked for extermination as the bodies begin to pile up and all fingers point to him.

Rating: This was definitely a good movie. Cuba Gooding Jr sure does play a good creepy bad guy. A little predictable in the ending, but entertaining to say the least. I really liked Cole Hauser's performance - I don't remember him from any other movies, but he's a really good actor. I'd say rent this one (duh, since it's already out on DVD). There are definitely several lessons learned (ie. don't make a hit list in a bar with a drunken stranger).

Running Advice & A Party

I've been working really hard lately to try to be better about the whole working out thing. Once I get past the lazy part, I really do feel better, stronger, and healthier. It's just those first couple of weeks of getting into the swing of things. It's also hard for me to find the time - normally it's a 5am kind of thing and let's be honest, no one really feels like working out at 5am. I think most of the time my body doesn't even realize we're working out until about halfway through because it's not awake.

That said, today we were going to ride our bikes but got a little lazy. It was just before noon before either of us really got motivated. Mike decided to ride the hills around our house, which sounded like no fun to me, so I decided to run them. The run itself felt pretty good, besides the fact that it was hot out. I did a couple miles, came home, took a shower and ate some lunch. Then I laid down for a little nap and when I woke up, I had a headache. I'm still trying to figure out if it was the running or the heat or some sort of combination. I drank lots of water before and after (but not during, since it was only 2 miles).

Runner friends out there, do you ever get headaches from running? Have you figured anything out for preventing them?

In other news, we headed over to Kati and Nate's place for a little "Summer's Not Over Until We Say It's Over" / housewarming party. They've done some really cool things with the house since they've moved in - the latest addition is new windows in the breakfast nook. It looks great! They had lots of yummy food and it was really fun to hang out for a bit since everyone has been so busy this summer!

Blog Makeover

Well, as you can tell, I decided to give my blog an overhaul tonight. It's now September and I'm totally feeling the whole fall thing, even though it was close to 100 degrees out today. Not to mention, it's pretty much our wedding theme, so I thought I'd tie it all together!

What do you guys think?

I do have a question for all of you other bloggers out there - does anyone use the Google Ad Sense? I'm trying to figure out if you actually make money off it and if it's annoying or not. Let me know!