Whale Watching

Logan and I have ALWAYS wanted to go whale watching. Our friends JoAnne and Steve Lorda called one day, and asked if we wanted to come with them to Monterey to see some whales, and we JUMPED at the opportunity. It was great. I was really nervous about the boat ride, that I might get sea sick, but luckily it was a BEAUTIFUL and very calm sea day. The weather was just right, and I couldn't believe how peaceful the ocean was. Whenever I'm out at sea, I am amazed at how big and beautiful the ocean is. It's so amazing. To see just a small glimpse of the ocean, and how big it is. Our world is just so huge.

We saw some very cool things. Hundreds of dolphins. Tons of Sea Lions. An amazing jelly fish. THE strangest and oddest looking animal, a Sun Fish, several Humpback Whales AND a BLUE WHALE. The Blue Whale was the biggest deal. Our tour guide said we were EXTREMELY lucky to have seen a Blue Whale, because it is VERY rare to see one. We saw a young one... 60 feet long (1 ton per foot - 60 tons in weight!!!) - and that was a YOUNG Blue Whale!!! I was absolutely amazed at the length of this animal. Of course, we couldn't get too close to it, but it was close enough that we could really see the size and some details on it. It would come up to the surface and dive back in, and it seemed like forever for the whole back side to come up and back into the water. Absolutely amazing. Here are some pictures of our day on the boat.

Logan and Felecia

JoAnne & Steve

Sea Lions

Here it is... the BLUE WHALE!!!

Look at the length of it!! and that's just PART of the back.
Amazing..!

The BLUE WHALE exhaling

At one point we saw a school or a pod of dolphins.
About 500-600 dolphins.
It was sooooo cool!

Some of themn got much closer to our boat as well.

It's hard to see this picture of the Sunfish.
But google it, and you can see how strange looking this animal is.
I guess it lays flat at the surface of the water,
waiting for jellyfish to go by, to eat.
Then when it wants to swim (which we saw), it turns sideways, or right side up, and swims. WEIRD...

Here's some of the Humpback whales we saw.

exhaling

Humpback's tail

look at that!!! so close....

I would recommend it for everyone!!! it was a great experience.
I just hope if you do go, the water is as calm as it was for us.
Maybe we were lucky, we didn't get sick
(but there were a few people who did get sick....- I can't imagine them if it WASN'T calm!!)

Tag! I'm It!!!

How fun is this to be tagged!!! I was actually going to update my blog tonight, but after getting tagged, I decided to do this, and I'll update another night :) Thanks Weswie ;)

3 Joys:
1) The weekend - I love my job - but I love home too. We've been on some great dates lately, and those only happen on the weekends :)
2) Sleeping in. Although, on weekends I tend to not be able to sleep in any later than 7:30 or 8am, but it's still nice to not wake up to an alarm.
3)ALL Holidays. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patty's, Memorial Day, 4th, Labor Day, etc... It's just nice to have a day that's different every once in awhile.

3 Fears:
1) SPIDERS
2) Bad News about a loved one
3) Moose (when I'm within 50 miles of where they live)
4) Cabo San Lucas boat ride to Lover's Beach (long story, and terribly frightening) {I added #4, I guess I fear a lot}

3 Obsessions:
1) Being organized (there is a place for everything!) - my poor students...and husband!
2) Shoes
3) Checking my sisters' and Leslie's blog with hopes that they have updated (yet, I rarely update mine)

3 Surprising Facts about me:
1) I can't stand handling raw meat (chicken, beef, pork, especially hamburger.... it's just gross and nasty)
2) I lived in Mexico on my own for 6 months (fun, scary, and probably wouldn't do it again).
3) I burp and toot in front of my husband. He loves it, and I love the freedom of it!!! aaaah

Ok, now I tag my sisters Amanda and Lea (Cath, you already did this right??? if not, you're tagged too)!

My Classroom

I'm really excited about my classroom this year.
Full of color and liveliness!!!
I had a lot of fun being creative and setting it up.
Notice, 14 desks :) LOVE IT!!!

Our Home

Some of my family wanted to see pictures of what our home looks like now that we have our own stuff and decorations... here's a few...

The living room.






















The Dining Room





















The Kitchen (with my apple green kitchenaid :)

















Our Bedroom
















My car fits in the garage :)

Latest update on us...

So, I've been kindly informed by my brother-in-law Scott that he doesn't enjoy going to our blog because it hasn't been updated since MAY!!! I know, I know.. It just takes so much time sometimes... but we are updated now. whew... that took awhile.

For some things we don't have pictures on:

Logan's job: well... things are CONSTANTLY changing with the Law Enforcement job search. Just when we think something is good to go, we find out that agency is on a hiring freeze, or Logan surprisingly didn't pass something, or they've decided they don't have the budget for new officers. So... we're waiting again. The CHP is ready to hire Logan. He went on a ride along, and enjoyed it, but kind of felt the city departments were more for him... Fortunately... the CHP wants you to be positive about working for them, so he was able to put it off for up to a year. If he decides he wants to go that route, he can let them know anytime, and they'll finish his background, and he'll go into the next academy (which are every 3 months). Oakland has gone on a hiring freeze (to double check budgets), and we're waiting to hear back from Hayward... All the rest that he passed have gone on hiring freezes till further notice (frustrating). So we'll see.

Felecia's job: After 5 years of working for Challenger School I have resigned from my position. The "company" (not school) has gone through so many changes in the past 2 years that it is no longer the company I originally got hired with. I left on good terms of course.. but am glad to be free of the stress. I have found a new position at a new Private school here in Fremont (5 miles closer!), Stratford School. I am teaching 2nd grade again - which I am THRILLED about... and I will be starting on Sept 2nd. I spent this last week, setting up my classroom, and I can't wait to get started. I have 14 students!!!! (different from the 28 I was going to have at my other school). Very exciting. So far I can tell I am really going to enjoy it here. They seem to be a lot more customer and employee oriented. I have only gotten kind words and support so far from the management and training... which is very very very refreshing. I will keep you posted on how it goes... and also post some pictures of my classroom (whish is very bright and colorful!!!).

Us: We have enjoyed decorating my parent's home, that we're renting, with our stuff (pictures later). I love having my own stuff again. We are very happy, and enjoying married life. We're still waiting for babies to come into our life, but meanwhile we are enjoying a lot of time together, and a lot of fun dates and hopefully more trips.

We went on a GREAT date this last Friday. We got an email for 1/2 off tickets to Comedy Sportz, so we drove down there and found a Thai restaurant to eat at. Logan has never had Thai, and I'm a huge fan, so we ventured in. It was AWESOME... I recommend it to anyone who lives in the area. The decor was beautiful, the service was great, the food was FABULOUS, AND we got to sit on the floor... they had a section with tables, but we were adventurous, and sat in the section with cushions on the floor. It was a lot of fun and different. Then we headed to Comedy Sportz and enjoyed a great night of laughs. What an enjoyable evening. (Unfortunately, we forgot our camera, so next time we do it, we will definitely take some pics and post them).

New Baby Chloe

My good friend Christi (and her husband Bill) had their baby two days ago. Here is Chloe Elise Carrington. She is just adorable with dark thick hair and big beautiful eyes. She was so aware for a 2 day old, and awake for the whole hour we visited.

Simon Visits!!! (oh Amanda and Scott too :)

Logan's family is all very local, but most of my family is out of state. However, Amanda and Scott are only 2 hours away, so they came down for a weekend to hang out... AND they had 4 free tickets to the Exploratorium... so we went into the city and had a really good time at all the exhibits... The rest of the time we enjoyed watching Simon, holding Simon, playing with Simon, getting Simon to smile, and observing him doing some firsts... what a cutie!!! Here's some pictures from the weekend.

We had a picnic at the Palace of Fine Arts before the Exploratorium.

















































I could have played with this black sand and magnet for hours...
I actually did for about 10 minutes.. so cool. I want this in my classroom




































Here is our shadows kissing on the wall...
You pose and there's a countdown for a flash...
and this stays for about 25 seconds. cool






















Logan drinking from a toilet.. ugh

2 years!!!

I am in complete awe that we have been married for 2 years!!! I just can't believe it. Not a week goes by when I don't think "I can't believe I am married!"... We celebrated our 2nd anniversary on August 18th... Logan surprised me. I got home from work, and he had two outfits laid out for me on the bed, with a note saying - Get dressed and meet me at PF Changs for dinner. I met him there, and he was waiting for me in our own private corner with these flowers (one rose for each year, plus one for this next year). It was very sweet. We had a great meal, and I came home to find chocolate covered strawberries waiting. What a romantic!!!

My Parent's New Resort

So, my parents FINALLY got up and left California. They found a new home in Saratoga Springs, Utah, right on the lake. It's absolutely beautiful, and great weather with breezes from the lake. My mom finally has a home that will fit her whole family when we come home, and more. Her kitchen has BEAUTIFUL views of the lake and the mountains right behind. We felt like we were at a vacation rental the whole time. At the beginning of August, they had a big gathering to celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary, their new home, AND my Grandmother's 90th birthday party. We had many guests, many family members and past friends from Mass., Calif., Idaho., Utah., etc. We really enjoyed our stay, and all the millions of nieces and nephews running everywhere, making lots of noise, and enjoying one another. It was a lot of fun.



















the backyard















Preparing for the party in the kitchen.

















Dad's own Waterfall












































A view from the balcony





















Look at that view from the deck... and look at those fun kids...















The birthday girl, and her hubby Clair
















Us and a lot of the kids

















cousins!
















Mom in her new kitchen!




















Taylor and her fish face (cute???)
















SUPERMAN!!! (Mason)
















More Cousins!















Uncle Logan put her to sleep (so sweet)




















Messy face Dallen!
















Baby Isaac (so cute :)




















Cute Smile AbbyGirl!




















Gabriella (so shy at first... and a complete crack up and wild once she gets to know you!...)
















Malia





















Bethany




















Catherine, Wes, and Jake
















Here we are in their new home.

















SO Taylor loves to suck her thumb.. which is great - she pacifies herself... and she also puts her other hand up above her other hand when she's tired.. we think to feel her breathe out of her nose - it must be comforting.. SO CUTE