Nor Cal Peeps

Well, Jake and I were driving over the weekend and we were reminded of the crazy time we drove up to "tour" the area before Jake's big job interview. We joked about how we thought, "I'm sure this city could be fun..."

It is approaching two years since Jake moved up here. February 15, 2008 is when he made the fateful trip. I followed him a few months later (in June) and our lives have never been the same.

What can I say about this place? Well, I have been approached by a middle-aged Indian man in the supermarket asking me if I like to "boogie down" on the weekends; I have heard people talking about living in trees; I have been almost run off the road by numerous Priuses? (Whatever the plural of Prius is); I park next to a car with a ridiculous license plate (see below), Jake and I were asked if we were "gamers" and if we were interested in the newest video games...

But, I think the most telling thing that happened was when an old Israeli lady approached me at Costco. Apparently, I look very approachable sitting and eating my pizza while waiting for Jake to bring some napkins. The lady plops down next to me and begins a conversation. When I explained that I was new to the ares she asked if I liked living here. I explained that it was quite different (ie more boring) than LA and she agreed saying: "The only things to do here are food and sex... food and sex..." Jake and I were very creeped out and left and vowed never to return again.

The Most Amazing Scones Ever!

I try to bake on Sundays so that Jake and I have some tasty breakfasts for the week. These scones are delicious and I highly recommend them to anyone. I made a few changes to a recipe I found in a Williams-Sonoma cookbook I had.

Cranberry-Orange Scones

2 cups flour
3 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
grated orange zest of one orange
8 tbsp chilled butter, cut in pieces
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 dried cranberries

Basically add first six ingredients and then cut in the butter. Add buttermilk. You'll have a sticky dough. Stir in cranberries and then put on floured board. Gently knead with floured hands until you have a soft dough. Pat out dough into a rectangle. Fold the rectangle like a letter overlapping the dough so you've made three layers. Then pat down again. I cut in half and then make each half a circle. Each circle can be cut in six wedges. Bake about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet @ 425 for about 15 minutes.

So darn good every time I make them...

"Tasty," says Jake.

Here's what we've been doing

UNPACKING! It has been a busy few weeks. It started with packing up our old place. We put it off for a while and then had to scramble on Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday while also moving. Here is Jake and one of the days. We only moved across the building, but it was a very tiring weekend. Luckily, we had both places for the weekend so could take our time. I'm so glad that is over.
During the craziness of packing and unpacking I've also had an extremely busy few weeks at school. I had report cards to write (due the Monday after the move) and then parent teacher conferences this past week. While all of that was going on our classroom adopted six crayfish! It is for a science unit we are studying. Last time I saw one of these it was on someone's plate in New Orleans! Notice how this one is missing a pincer. They are crazy lil' things. They freak out and swim backwards (I've screamed multiple times in front the class) and will stand in attack mode with their claws out. Yes, I've picked one up.

As we get the apartment looking spiffy I will post more pictures! We are currently setting up our new bed and there may be a new couch in our future.

What I've been doing....

I have been so busy getting back to work! I know those boards don't look like much, but man they take a long time to put up. These are basically what I stare at when I'm sitting at my desk (those few moments a day I get to sit). Although this job can be extremely stressful, I am still enjoying it...

I have also been LOVING all the wedding photos people send me. We got three different cd's full of photos, not too mention the proof book from our photographer. So far Jake and I love this photo the best:

Thanks everyone for the photos!

One more day of freedom

Some wedding photos to enjoy... not the best quality. But, if you want to see more you can go to www.villagestudio.com and then click view photos at the bottom. Our password is "keljak"

I got my social security card today. Now I'm just waiting on my driver's license and then I have to go into the bank to change my account.

Jake went to get his haircut today... he was finally "allowed" to cut it short. I was making him grow it for the wedding. I asked him what else I should include about him in this blog and he said, "I'm content." I'm not sure if he meant with life or about the blog... and then he started singing the Doogie Howser theme song and pretending to type on a keyboard. Yes, my husband makes fun of me for this blog.

In non-wedding related news: I'm getting ready to go back to work... I report back for Active Board training on Tuesday. There are a few more meetings this week, but the kids don't come back until next Wednesday. I've already been going into my classroom a couple hours a day to get the room looking nice/unpacking boxes.

What A Month!

What a month it has been. I am finally back in San Jose after four weeks of wedding planning, horse races, the Big Day, and a honeymoon! Jake and I had the most amazing time at the wedding and it meant so much to us that people traveled from near and far to be part of this huge day in our lives.

I have a few photos below, but I will try to add more as I get them.

Opening Day at Del Mar was on Wednesday, July 22... Here are my great friends from high school: Megan, Kelly, and Rachel. At this point, all of the wedding planning was done so I was able to have a good time. Jake and his sister and brother met up with us later. Thanks to Kelly for the picture!

I only have the two photos from the wedding (I have to steal from Kelly again until I get my own photos back)
Here is Rachel, Emily, me, and Kelly looking very sweaty from all our dancing!! So fun!
High School Reunion photo at the reception. It was so much fun seeing all the girls.

The honeymoon was great! I was in desperate need of sleep (I couldn't sleep the night before the wedding because of nerves and just being anxious. The night of the wedding I couldn't really sleep because I was still hyped up and excited about the whole day. So, I really needed the honeymoon. Luckily, I was able to sleep on the plane to Ft. Lauderdale and then got a close to twelve hours that first night.

We woke up in Ft. Lauderdale very refreshed... until we walked outside. The humidity! Yikes, we weren't used to it. We walked down the block for breakfast and were sweating by the time we got there! After breakfast we packed up and got a shuttle to Miami (probably just get a direct flight to Miami next time...what were we thinking?!?!)

We loved having a balcony on the cruise ship! Having breakfast on the balcony each morning and sitting there when we needed to get away from the crowds was great!

In the pictures above we are on our balcony. We are still in Miami just about to take off for Grand Turk.
Grand Turk after a day in the sun. Jake needed sunglasses so he bought some cheap ones in a shop when he was renting snorkle gear... ten minutes later he found Prada sunglasses in the water while snorkeling.
We loved The Atlantis!! We want to go back for a vacation with our friends (any takers?) The hotel was huge. We went on the waterslides and rapid/lazy river ride. There was also an amazing aquarium with crazy sea animals. Just a great final day!

It's July!

This morning, Jake took off an hour from work to go downtown to get our Marriage License. I went through a panic when I had to fill out the paperwork and decide what my middle name would be. Dilemma: keep Michele? or Fairchild? or both? Eek! Jake and the lady behind the counter were kind of making fun of me. I ultimately decided on Fairchild, but of course now I'm regretting it. Ha. Oh well, who cares about a middle name anyways?

I hope to have some pictures from Vegas soon...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM

When that last post went up I realized the date... Happy Birthday Mom!

Where we'll be in 35 days...

Here is a beautiful picture of St. Therese. I can't believe I'll be walking up to those doors in only thirty-five days! When I was looking through all my old photos I found other great photos, but I was also searching for the very first photo of the two of us. We think this is it. We look so young! It was April 2006 (we think) at my apartment in Orange County. I remember being very nervous... and Jake looks awkward. But the big question is: why is there a sombrero behind me?

2 More Months!!

Wow! Only two more months until our big day! Thank goodness for the long weekend because Jake and I got so much done. We are sooooo close to being done with invitations... I can't believe I thought it would be a good idea to hand create each one of those babies. Not to mention address each one. Who do I think I am? Well, Jake is supportive... I snap, "Cut this!" or "Glue that" and he does what he can. They will hopefully be in the mail this week!

I just watched Kelly Kloor's (!) wedding video online and it was beautiful. It really makes me think Jake and I need a videographer... hmmm, what is Mikey doing... just kidding.

hello

i'm blogging!  allie is going to make so much fun of me... 

this picture was taken in new orleans at kelly grace's wedding.  it was a lot of fun, but very weird to think that the next wedding we'll be at will be our own!!!  we have been working all weekend on wedding stuff.  we looked at suits for jake, booked a bunch of flights, and have been trying to finish the invitations.  our apartment is cluttered with invitation materials... i can't believe we took on the giant task of making our own invitations.   thank goodness my mom is doing everything else!