Takeoffs and Landings

Unfortunately for Jeff, he has spent the majority of June in an airport.  This is his 3rd week traveling and I can tell he is ready to come home and stay home.  He started in Chicago for a week and the past 2 weeks he has been in Colorado. Lucky for us we got to take a weekend getaway to San Francisco in between his trips! My dad took him to the US Open (golf) there while my mom and I took it easy and explored the city!  Well....since we have been there many times (my parents lived there for many years during the life they shared together before the children came) my mom and I found the closest Nordstrom which was convenient for us, a 5 minute walk from our hotel!   Obviously mom and I didn't come out until we met the boys for dinner! 

I was super excited about my luggage!

CHEESE!!!! We are lame!!

It was a very short, but fun getaway! I am happy to say when we got back, I started my new job and I love it! It is exactly what I was looking for.  I am the Executive Assistant to the President...pretty fancy title I agree! The people are so nice too.  It's going to be a tough job, but I am up for the challenge.  After having a 2 week unemployment break, I decided being a housewife is not for me, at least not yet.  Penny and I found our ways to be entertained though.  Anyways, I am very excited about my new job...but even more excited for....

MINNESOTA!!

I was daydreaming the other day about playing with the bubbies and enjoying some time with Niki and Mike! It's going to be an awesome trip! 

Birthday Weekend and more...!

After a whirlwind of a month, May has come and gone! Jeff planned a wonderful birthday weekend for me. Unfortunately, we did not take enough pictures. But I did get a shot of my beautiful roses!

My mom and dad took me to lunch at one of my favorite restaurants and we got to celebrate my sister-in-laws birthday as well seeing the movie The Avengers and having a fun dinner at Oscars! Love those triple dates :) Why didn't anyone think to take a picture?!

Sunday, Jeff and I hiked with the Penners, it was so beautiful!

On Memorial Day, our friends Angie and Tyler and their two adorable girls Adalyn and Kora came over for a BBQ.  Again, I need to start taking more photos. This is getting ridiculous! I did get this one :)

These girls are my favorite! :)

A lot has happened in the past two weeks....for one, I quit my job! First comes cheers, then comes panic then comes the accountant husband crunching numbers in an excel sheet calculating to the exact date and time until we can't pay the bills and lose our house. It isn't very long...

And as I have come to find out, things work out for the best! I have a new job, an even better job that I will start in a couple of weeks! (The husband can relax now) 

Thanks everyone for the support! This has been a crazy month already, but we are looking forward to the future!! Plus, Minnesota is coming up so soon, and I cannot wait to play with my nieces and nephews!

Happy Summer!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you

For all the love and support from my last blog post. We truly have the best family and friends :)

Blogger Confessions

Lately I have been going through past blog posts and looking through my Facebook on things that have happened over the past few years.  The great thing about social media these days is it’s like a scrapbook of my memories. Helping me to remember events in my life I forget too soon after they happen.  The bad thing I realized is I only post the good things that happen in my life. Sure, I complain here and there about Jeff working too much or when I felt school was taking over my life, but I really never post about real issues in my life.  I guess I would like to keep my problems private because everyone has problems and the last person I would like to be is that person that gives a play by play of their days. (We all know who you are and please I do not want to hear every detail about why your day was bad…Get over it your life doesn’t suck!) 

I ran into a family friend the other day that I rarely get to see anymore these days and she told me how she has been following me on facebook and loves all the pictures I have been posting of all Jeff and I’s trips we have been taking.  She said our life looks so wonderful together and she was so happy for me that I was living a perfect life.   I was appreciative of her comments, but it made me think of how I have been portraying my life to the public.  My life is wonderful, I agree but PERFECT….we are far from it! Jeff and I have our problems! I struggle everyday to try and do the best I can to make it in this world because life is hard. Harder than my parents could even prepare me for! I certainly do not want sympathy. Jeff and I have made life decisions that have made our life difficult.  But those decisions we both made because of the future we are building for our family. It is no picnic to both work full time, own a home, take care of that home, take care of each other and then fit in time to see our family and friends, which never seems to be enough time. I especially wish I could make more time for them! Our family and friends are the support we need when times get tough.  I feel like Jeff and I had to grow up over night and there are times especially lately where I do not have any control of our lives.  The past 6 months have been incredible. Life hits you fast and Jeff and I are both trying to hold on to something just to get through. I turn to my husband because of his strength to get through it. He tells me it is because he can turn to God when things are more than he can handle. I admire this.  

At Christmas, I was able to have a long talk with my brother and sister-in-law about God.  I confess this is all new to me. Not because I have never wanted to, but because I have never knew how.  They told me to pray.  My initial thought was that’s it? I just pray? It seemed too easy to pray and then have all my problems solved.  I wanted to believe them. Their faith in God is one I always have admired. Rest assured, they knew what they were telling me to do. I explained to Jeff that since I really didn’t know God, I didn’t want to rush into anything I wasn’t ready for.  I would treat it like a first date.. I wasn’t going to take this lightly and Jeff knows I use my humor in serious situations. So I attempted to pray.  I had no idea what I was doing or if there was a proper way to pray. One day I just started talking.  I did feel better to just talk it out, but because I didn’t have any feedback I felt this one-way relationship could not go on for very long. I needed to know I was doing this right.  I started praying a lot.  After a few months, I started to get frustrated. I broke down, I was yelling this time.  God would hear me for sure if I screamed at Him. It’s worked on other people, I was convinced it would work. “Can’t you see I am doing the best I can here! I need guidance!” Of course you all probably know or realize how foolish screaming at someone is.  It didn’t work. I was left in a ball crying because I felt or heard nothing.  I felt like a child with tantrum not getting what I wanted. What I thought I deserved.  I turned to Jeff.  I knew he found it funny my ideas on how I was trying to connect to God. He was very comforting explaining how it takes time and I need to have more patience with myself. I wanted to give up. I figured because I was not raised in a church, I must not deserve to pray to God. We have not built a relationship since I was a child, therefore we will not start when I am 23. In between all my frustrations, Jeff and I got a letter from someone I will not name here.  All I will say is I am so lucky to have such a wonderful, loving and caring family. This was one of the most sincere letters I have ever received.  I don’t think they realize how much it helped.  I wish I could say it solved all our problems and we lived happily ever after without any problems, but we know that isn’t what happens.  Life is not a fairy tale and it is not supposed to be.  This letter gave me hope and the push I needed to not give up.  

I guess what this ramble was meant to say is our life is not perfect and I hope to never come off through social media as being perfect.  We have hopes and dreams that we are working hard on making come true.  This comes with struggle, but we have been fortunate enough to sometimes enjoy the ride in beautiful places.  On the worst days, it is so comforting to know Jeff and I have about 15-20 people we could call in an instant and immediately receive the support we need.  Not everyone gets this and for some reason we do.  God has answered that prayer without me even consciously thinking it.  I am starting to think God has a sense of humor and one day I will be able to connect the way that some of you have already been able to.  It might not be tomorrow, but one day it will happen. For now, I will take a deep breathe and keep trying to do the best I can. 

Catalina!

To celebrate Jeff's Birthday AND the end of another busy season, we planned a weekend getaway to Catalina! Jeff had only been on a canoe trip there and I have never visited so we thought we would see how it was.  Let me just say, this was one of the best trips Jeff and I have ever been on.  Little did we realize this little piece of paradise was only an hour away from us!!


We left early Friday morning and took the ferry from Newport Beach.  I guess I wasn't thinking very clearly because I didn't take any dramamine not realizing that in order to get an island you must cross an ocean. The second we left the bay it was over. I quickly took dramamine and a whole bunch of ginger chews and spent the whole hour and 15 mins in misery! It was awful. Poor Jeff even had sympathy nausea for me.  Once we got to dry land it was beautiful and after a short nap (dramamine knocked me out!) we started our vacation.  


We spent the weekend exploring the island, eating delicious food and enjoying a few days away from reality. Saturday we did a 8 mile hike to the top of a mountain where we could see both sides of the island.  It was gorgeous! We had lunch at the top where we could take in the scenery.  


Sunday Jeff insisted we had to play a round of miniature golf! He takes it very seriously while I just well...smack the ball as hard as I can! 


Catalina was great! I can't wait to go back...maybe take a few friends or family with us!! Who wants to join?!

So pretty!

I have a pretty hot husband!

Memorial / Botantical Garden

Views from our hike!

Views on the other side of the island

On top of the mountain!

"But when I climb up to my island peak,

Escape awhile the madding world of strife,

I envy not a earthly thing, this life,

Which sometimes calls, is sweet clean of its cares

By friendly winds, and once again I smile,

At, truly, life seems sweet - a thing worthwhile"

A little miniature golf

Lunch views

Thank you Catalina!

The view leaving Catalina :)

To all my favorite Mom's out there!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Mother's out there!! I am so grateful for having my Mom who has been there for me for everything. I really don't know where I would be in life without her support. I am also fortunate enough to have an wonderful Mother in law who has welcomed me into her family from the start. I am so lucky!! 

And to (now) 3 of my beautiful sister in laws who are being celebrated today for the amazing mothers they are and will be (Emily!!) I love you all!

Spring time!

I am beyond excited to say that busy season is almost over!! Jeff is exhausted and I think it's official to say he is "over it."  


So we took a mini vacation getaway for Easter with my parents so he could relax for 2 days.  I went a day early with Mom and Dad and my brother Justin and Craig came as well! We stayed at the La Quinta Resort. This place is beautiful, we used to go every Easter as kids, but have not gone in over 10+ years.  I mean, just look at the pictures!!

The highlight of the trip for Jeff was golfing on Sunday.  He said he had been "dreaming about it for weeks."  ----I'm starting to think he is in a committed relationship with golf. :)

It was a beautiful Easter weekend! 

The weekend getaways didn't stop there.  This past weekend was my dad's 60th birthday.  My mom's 60th birthday is this Friday, the 20th.  Being 6 days apart has been extremely helpful for my brother and I over the years!  We wanted to plan something different and fun for them so a few weeks ago (while also filming Stupid.com videos) we took some nice photos of the "kids" to frame for my parents.  For some reason, the photo shoot turned into just plain ridiculous even doing the chu-chu train.  We are not a serious family obviously!

Here is one good one though!

We surprised my parents and took them up to LA and had them stay in a nice hotel.  The big surprise was taking them to the LA Galaxy game to watch David Beckham.  It was so fun! We definitely would love to go to more soccer games. Jeff and I want to join a league now.

David Beckham "bending" it!

We leave for Catalina in 2 weeks to celebrate Jeff's 26th birthday and the end of busy season! 

Nap time!

I read an article that just made me laugh and think of my Morris family, titled, "5 Reasons Why You Should Take a Nap" 

1. A nap restores alertness. The National Sleep Foundation recommends a short nap of 20–30 minutes “for improved alertness and performance without leaving you feeling groggy or interfering with nighttime sleep.” 



2. A nap prevents burnout. In our always-on culture, we go, go, go. However, we were not meant to race without rest. Doing so leads to stress, frustration, and burnout. Taking a nap is like a system reboot. It relieves stress and gives you a fresh start.


3. A nap heightens sensory perception. According to Dr. Sandra C. Mednick, author of Take a Nap, Change Your Life, napping can restore the sensitivity of sight, hearing, and taste. Napping also improves your creativity by relaxing your mind and allowing new associations to form in it.


4. Reduces the risk of heart disease. Did you know those who take a midday siesta at least three times a week are 37 percent less likely to die of heart disease? Working men are 64 percent less likely! It’s true, according to a 2007 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Dimitrios Trichopoulos, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, who led the study said, “Taking a nap could turn out to be an important weapon in the fight against coronary mortality.”


5.Makes you more productive. Numerous medical studies have shown workers becoming increasingly unproductive as the day wears on. But a 2002 Harvard University study demonstrated a 30-minute nap boosted the performance of workers, returning their productivity to beginning-of-the-day levels.

So if these aren't reasons enough, the article also talks about famous people who needed naps! Thomas Edison, John F. Kennedy, even Eleanor Roosevelt

This got me thinking about the majority of the Morris fam that take need a nap everyday. I only wish Jeff could slip under his cube and take a nap since there are many days where he needs one.  I am a huge fan of naps as well, probably why I fit so easily into my Morris side.  Over the years, I have started taking photos of the family napping. Here are just a few:

Dad is the winner of all nap taking

Penny can join in on the fun

 "The babysitters" -

Sunday nap's 

 The Scott's nap as well ;)

March Madness!

It's March! Halfway mark for busy season! We are almost there... March always feels like an extremely long month. Not much will be going on this month for Jeff and I, but we started out the first weekend enjoying the beautiful weather! The time change happens this Sunday and I am beyond excited for this.  I have been looking over different plants and flowers to garden for spring/summer in the yard. I might do a herb garden on the side of the house.  We will have to see how determined I am about gardening this year.  


Saturday, we did our first 5k together.  Jeff and I have really been into running lately, (we normally get into fitness for about 2 weeks and then get bored) so for us to be sticking to a routine is amazing. We decided to do the "Finish Chelsea's Run since it means so much to us.  It was a great day and you could really feel the love from thousands of people in support of Chelsea's parents.  

Jeff and I are now wanting to a do a few more 5k's and maybe even increasing the distance.  Half marathon maybe??? Hah. Let's not get to ahead of ourselves!

We have a few upcoming trips starting in April and we are definitely looking forward to these! It looks like we may be staying in the states this year! 
April - Palm Springs
May- Catalina Island, and maybeeee Austin...(my best friend is moving there!!)
June- San Francisco
July - MINNESOTA!!!!!!! 


Anyone else would like us to visit?? :) 

L.O.V.E.

February. The second month of year and smack dab in the middle of busy season for the hubs.  It's not that I never look forward to this month, it is just a month of short days and cold weather. (You know like low 60s) We need a coat in the morning! I decided to find out some information about February to try and enjoy the short month more.  Here we go:

Fun facts about February (The month of Love)

• Time to celebrate Black History Month 
• Feb. 6th is Waitangi Day in New Zealand (wahoo!)
• Feb. 20th is "Love your pet day" (I think this should be everyday)
• Feb. 28th is National Tooth Fairy Day (That hard worker needs a day off)
• The flower called Snowdrop can be seen in February and is said to be a sign of Hope
• February is National Chocolate Lover's Month (I celebrate this daily no matter what month it is, but I am glad to know we have an entire month dedicated for chocolate)
• Feb. 14th (TAKE A GUESS!)

Normally Jeff and I do very little for Valentine's Day.  This year, despite Jeff working 60+ hours, he really wanted to do something fun that we both could enjoy. So we planned.  Jeff and I both know, he is not a romantic! Don't get me wrong, I love this man and when he tries he puts his whole heart into it, but planning something sweet is not his forte.  In his defense, Valentine's Day was on a Tuesday....I mean come on. But Jeff did great! We had such a fun day.  We woke up super early and he made a delicious breakfast...Egg in a nest in the shape of a heart. SUPER cheesy, but my mom gave him the idea a week before and he said he had to go all out.  We normally never do gifts, but we did this year and he got me a beautiful rose gold watch.  We both went to work and I got off early to make him a delicious dinner.  I wish I took a picture of it, I roasted my first chicken and I'm surprised by how good it came out.  It does take a few hours, but totally worth it and so much cheaper. (I am still new to this housewife thing!)
We stayed up late (is 10:30 late??) and played video games. YEP I got him a new video game..no worries Mom, its not a pow pow game...we both can play this one! 


It was a wonderful day! Thanks Hubs!!

You get the idea!

So pretty!!

Of course, this is who our real Valentine is :)

One of my favorite Morris traditions

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Time for Chinese Food :)

Update... :)

Ok it is a new year with new resolutions to break...although I am determined to stick with at least one! I am going to blog more this year. Alright... I am going to TRY and blog more this year. Update on the past couple months of our lives?

Lets see:

September: Jeff and I took a trip to Tuscany with my parents. It was beautiful. I could post all day long about the countryside and visiting London for 2 days, but lets take baby steps! Here is an awesome picture to remember it by:

October: Came back after 10 beautiful days in Italy and came back to reality. We celebrated 7 years together on the 14th. (Yep, we still acknowledge this date) We also got to enjoy some Halloween fun with our friends Angie & Tyler and their little one Adalyn who is 2 years old!

Jeff is Clark Kent and I am a ladybug :)

Tyler was Captain Hook, Angie was Smee (She is pregnant for the belly!!)

Adalyn was the cutest Minnie Mouse you ever did see :)

November: This was a busy month! My youngest sister-in-law Jenna had her bridal shower during the first weekend. I had so much fun since my other sister in law Niki came from Minnesota with her youngest baby Calvin! Jeff (and Penny) got to babysit while we all went to the shower.

Fun with Uncle Jeff!

2 of my wonderful Sister in Laws!

The rest of the month was tough, Jeff was pretty much out of town the entire month for work. He went to Irvine, Arizona and Vegas! Vegas he was gone for 10 days, so I flew out there for the weekend and we saw a Cirque du Soleli show. He came home the night before Thanksgiving! This was the first year I made an entire Thanksgiving dinner with help from my Aunt and my cousin. I now have so much more appreciate for what any person who has ever made a big dinner such as Thanksgiving. It is a lot of work, but worth it when you sit down surrounded by your loved ones. The day after Thanksgiving, Jeff and I along with my Aunt flew to Denver to visit my mom's side of the family! We were there for literally 48 hours to go see my cousin in the Nutcracker! She is a senior in high school and this was her last year being in it and since we had never been able to see it, we made sure to fly out there! It was great to see my Grandma, all my cousins and aunts and uncles! This was Jeff's first time to Denver as well. We hope we can go out there again really soon.

December: Christmas time already?! I was SUPER excited about Christmas this year. It was an on year for Jeff's family meaning all of his siblings would be together! The best part was Niki and her family were staying with us! They have 4 kids, which also meant SANTA was coming to our house this year! The first night they flew in Jeff and I got to babysit all 7 of our nieces and nephews! It looked something like this:

I loved every chaotic second of this night.

The best part about Christmas morning was seeing the happy faces on those kids! (well first Camille crying...but 20 mins later when she was happy!!)

Christmas was the best! We also got to spend time with my family during the day and then came back to our house where we had the whole Morris crew over for dinner. (Pics to come when I steal them from my sister in law :)

After Christmas, we had no time to slow down as Jenna was getting married on the 28th! It turned out beautiful! I can't wait to see the pictures from the wedding Jenna looked amazing and now all the Morris kids are married!

The whole family celebrated New Year's together and brought in the New Year at 9:47 PM. (The kids had to go to bed sometime!) Niki and I almost didn't make it as we were falling asleep on the couch at 11:57. We toasted and crashed in bed! The 10 days was so much fun. This is a Christmas I will always remember. They left on Tuesday and when Jeff and I got home for work, our house was too quiet. We looked at each other and said well we could start cleaning, we could start putting our house back together, we could even clean up the kitchen. Instead we crashed on the couch, cuddled with our Penners, listened to music on our new surround sound (courtesy of Mike's help!) and really took the moment to appreciate the time we shared this year with our family. This year was a roller coaster and as we begin a new year, I know there are a lot of adventures in front of us. Opportunities to be taken, mistakes to be learned, but most importantly living and appreciating the life we have created for each other.

"Nobody said it would be easy...they just promised it would be worth it."