Jeff's Birthday

For Jeff's 32nd birthday, we were planning on grilling some fresh seafood. But after slaving the morning away in the kitchen to make his birthday cake, we decided to just go out to lunch and get seafood!

This was the location: The Fish Market

We both heard good things about the restaurant, however the best thing in my mind was the view of the bay. You can see out to Coronado island and the bridge. It is very pretty. The sourdough bread as delicious, and our food was ok. A few days later, I learned the go to items (that neither Jeff and I ordered) that included tomatoes sauteed in olive oil and garlic with mozarella cheese. yum. It makes me want to go back just for that!

After lunch, we walked around the marina for a little bit. There is a Tribute to Bob Hope (above) exhibit that is up permanently. There are a bunch of creepy statues watching Bob Hope give a speech, and playing in the background is the audio of Bob Hope's speech and thunderous applause. It is especially creepy at 7am when there is no one down there!

But we decided to not let this great photo opportunity go to waste, so we got a shot of a little asian girl telling Jeff a secret.

After lunch, we went to look for part two of Jeff's birthday gift: a pair of Persol Sunglasses. We couldn't find the ones he really wanted though, so we didn't get any. Part one was given to him the Friday before his birthday, which was APC Jeans. They are raw denim, and you have to buy them 2 sizes too small and not wash them for 6-12 months. They will look really neat when they are broken in.

Then we went home and had some carrot cake. It was pretty good!!! If you have ever made carrot cake, you know how much of a labor of love it is...shredding the 3 cups of carrots is a tedious task! Well, the batter was all prepared, and I put the cake tins in the pre-heated oven. I didn't realize it was set on broil (because of the dinner we made the night before) so five minutes into the baking process, we smelled burning. Luckily it was salvageable and the cake turned out fine, just a little lopsided.

It was a fun day, and now Jeff is another year older and another year wiser :-)

Birthday Stuff - Amanda

I just realized I never wrote about MY birthday :-)

SO, way back in June, I had a birthday. On the night of my actual birthday, Jeff, my mom and dad, and my friends Kristen, Sydney and Tim went to dinner with me. Our plan was to go to Taco Tuesday at my favorite local eatery, El Camino. My arch enemy (aka. The flamming host who always throws attitude) told us the wait was about a half an hour, so we decided to wait. An hour later, we decided to go to to a place around the corner called The Station. They have delicious burgers and sweet potato fries, and a really neat atmosphere. After dinner, Sydney, Tim, Jeff and I met up with Katie and David (Jeff's sister and her husband who were in town) for a Padres game. We showed up pretty later after having to wait so long to eat and then trying to park downtown. But it was a lot of fun.

Before we went to dinner, everyone met at our house. Katie, David and part of the Tippets crew came by to get their Padres tickets.

Sydney, Me and Kristen out front of El Camino

Tim and Jeff talking outside of El Camino, with my dad in the background.

Sydney, me and Kristen again

This is where we ended up, The Station

Sydney and Tim, waiting for me to open up presents so we can go to the Padres Game

The next day, I had off of work. Coincidentally, it was the same day that Eclipse came out. My friends Tracy and Kellie and my mom came over and watched Twilight and New Moon with me, and we had some really yummy food. Tracy brought over a good pasta salad and a trail mix with both white (edward) and brown (Jacob) chocolate chips...and she also brought brie (as in the new vampire). Kellie brought some veggies and I made a strawberry salad (thanks to Marie for the recipe...I love it!)

We went to the theatre and met up with my friends Shannon and Hannah. They brought me a huge bag of candy, which was pretty amazing. The movie was awesome, best one yet. Can't wait for Breaking Dawn. Afterwards, my mom insisted on taking pictures of all of us by the movie poster in the lobby. It was that moment that I realized that this was how girls half my age (and younger) were also spending their birthday.

Tracy, Kellie, Shannon, Jacob, Bella, Edward, Me and Hannah

Oh, and after we left the theatre, the mall was having a twilight celebration...so more pictures had to be taken. Infact, I even got a chance to take a picture with Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson.

This is a picture of me taking a picture with a cardboard cut out of Edward Cullen. If I wanted to, I could have gotten a FREE 11X17 print of this exact picture. Unfortunately, I didn't go get it, but I am sure Jeff would have wanted it framed in our house...hehehe

It was a really fun Birthday, and I can't wait for the next one!

August Update

Hi Everyone,

Things are going along well down here in San Diego. It has been a very cold summer, which is a bummer for me, because I like really warm weather. The temperatures have been in the 60's the whole summer, which is not very warm considering the humidity.

Regardless of the weather, things are going well for Jeff and me. We are trucking along, training for the Top of Utah Half Marathon. With Jeff's help, I am running faster and better than I ever though. I had my personal best time the other night, when we ran 3 miles in 19 minutes (yikes!). I am sure if Jeff had it his way, he would be running even faster.

We are also planning on going on a bike ride with my dad next year from the Oregon border to San Francisco. Its going to take about a week, and we are going to ride 50-100 miles a day. Should be lots of fun! My dad has been converting my mountain bike to a road bike, and he is doing such a great job. I love my bike right now! I will have to take a picture and put it on here. Next, we are going to build jeff's touring bike...which is going to be even better than my road bike!

This is a picture I took on one of our training rides. There is a bike path from Coronado to Imperial Beach that is 22 miles round trip, so we have been doing that. This picture was taken in Imperial Beach...right next to TJ :-)

Jeff has been restoring an old Rhodes piano that he bought off of some guy on Ebay. It is now sounding phenomenal, and he only has a little bit more to do. That is how he has been spending a lot of his free weekend time lately.

We also just celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary (wow!) and we had dinner at The Marine Room. It is a restaurant in La Jolla that sits right on the beach. During high tide, the waves crash on the windows. Pretty neat! Also, the food is amazing.

This Sunday is Jeff's 32nd birthday, and I am going to make him Angel Foodcake and a delicious dinner of his choice. We are going to go to the mall right now to go pick out his birthday present...which will probably be an item of clothing.

Until next update...bye!