First Game: Stanford vs San Jose State

Most of you a fully aware of this.....but football season is here! Yeah!! Last Saturday was Stanford's first home game against the San Jose State Spartans. I love that this time of year is here for several reasons. First off, it is finally fall. My favorite time of year even if the Bay Area doesn't even come close to beautiful fall in Kansas. Second, tailgating and football games were pretty much the first regular social thing we did after moving out here and we have enjoyed it every year. Finally, we just really like football games and tailgating!

We started off on the right foot with a well organized tailgate. Beer pong anyone?

Kevin and Colin losing to Sarah and her mom.

This is my new friend Meredith. We met during Kevin's softball games this summer. We hit it off, but then she had to move to Santa Barbara for graduate school. She was in town for the weekend so it was good to see her.
Here is a picture of the Stanford mascot. I thought you might like to see for yourself why it was voted #1 WORST NCAA-I mascot. If you would like to see more awful mascots try the link here... http://www.drivl.com/posts/view/738 Please scroll to the very bottom and read the description of the tree. Hilarious and very true. At least is isn't the official mascot.
Good friends!
This is probably one of the funniest pictures I've seen in awhile. If you don't laugh something may be wrong with you :)
At half-time these little kids came out in Stanford football uniforms and had a scrimmage. They were so freakin' cute! The other Stanford team was in black and there were also little cheerleaders! Too cute for words!

Stanford beat San Jose State and is now 2-1 as we head into our second home game this Saturday against the Washington Huskies. Washington is heading into this game after beating USC last week in a huge upset. It could be an interesting game and a huge win if Stanford can pull it off! We can't wait!

SF Brewers Guild Festival

I'm a little behind with this post....but better late than never. These pictures are from the San Francisco Brewers Guild Festival that we went to a couple of weeks ago. It was a really fun festival where we got to sample beer from local breweries.

A big group of us hopped on the Cal train and headed up to the city. There was a Giants game that day so we were lucky to be able to get seats close to each other.

After arriving in San Fran, we took the Muni to the Ferry Building and then caught a trolley to Fisherman's Wharf. Then we grabbed a bite to eat by the pier before going to the festival.
Here we are outside of the Ferry Building.A really cool part of the beer festival was where is was located at. It was held on board the USS Jeremiah O'Brian, a Liberty ship from WWII. It is one of the few surviving ships that stormed Normandy on D-Day and is one of only two Liberty ships still in operation today. There were some crew members volunteering for the festival and we had the chance to talk to them and learn a little more about the ship. Here is some of our group with Alcatraz in the background.
Eric, Colin, Brian, Kevin, Moria, Sarah, Cara, and Scott.
Another view of Alcatraz.
Kevin and Brian behind one of the cannons (non-operational of course).
There were some really cool beers we got to try while on board. Some of my favorites were a Watermelon Wheat Beer (an unlikely combination but it was really good) and a Coffee flavored Stout. We lucked out and it was a great day in the city. It rained a little, but not until the end of the day.

Scott, Brian, Libby, Jason, and Cara.
Sarah wondering why in the heck we were still on the ship. (There was a long line to exit and it took forever)
After the festival we stopped for dinner before catching the train back home.


Here are Kevin and Colin entertaining themselves on the way home. After this game of slap hands, we started playing charades with a group of Dodgers fans that had come up for the game against the Giants.
It was such a fun day and we can't wait to go back next year.

I can't believe I forgot to mention that there was a U2 cover band at the festival. Amazing. That's all I have to say.

Lab Picnic

This afternoon we went to a lab picnic hosted by the managers/supervisors in my lab. It included the Dublin, Fremont, and Palo Alto labs. It was really fun meeting some people from the other sites since we talk on the phone occasionally to each other. There were hamburgers, hot dogs, and grilled chicken provided by the management and the rest of us brought a side dish or dessert. I decided to go with baked beans and I used a recipe similar to my mom's. I think it went over pretty well. We came home with hardly any left which is pretty good considering someone else brought baked beans too.

One of the best parts of the picnic was the bouncy castle. I think it was originally intended to keep the kids happy....but the adults enjoyed just as much if not more!

This picture shows one of the lab assistants, me, another CLS, and one of my supervisors and a cute kid (he had a mohawk and it was adorable. I think only kids can pull that look off). We were all enjoying ourselves quite a bit!

Then the games began. First off there was a potato sack race! I teamed up with Celernia, the only other CLS (Clinical Lab Scientist) there. As she came into the exchange we were behind, but our sack switch was amazingly fast and I almost came from behind to win the whole thing. Towards the finish I almost wiped out like the kid in the beginning...but I was able to hold it together. Even though we didn't win...second was pretty impressive. Here is a video so you can see the awesome sack exchange! It was so much fun!!!





After that there was a water balloon toss. We would throw the balloon and then take a step away from each other and whoever made it the furthest won. The first round we only completed two tosses, but in the second round we won!!! We went ahead and went for a final toss and it popped on Kevin. Here he is his soaking wet. Better him than me since I was wearing a white shirt. We won gift cards to Coldstone Creamery and Jamba Juice. Those will definitely go to good use.
Here is Kevin enjoying the bouncy castle with one of the lab assistants that beat me in the potato sack race.
A group shot with just a few of the people that were there at the time.
We had a really good time and I got to get to know some of my co-workers a little bit better. I think Kevin enjoyed having a few faces to put with names too. Definitely worth coming to again next year!

Kevin cleaned his desk

About 6 months ago I bought Kevin these new book stands for work that are more sturdy and don't fall when you take one book out. I was hoping to help Kevin straighten up his desk a little bit (it tends to just be books and papers stacked and you can't actually see the desk portion). He finally took the book stands to work about 2 or 3 months ago.

A week or so ago, Kevin acquired a new computer for office use and during the process claimed to have cleaned up his desk. Naturally, I was skeptical. At a BBQ on Monday, I asked a couple of his other lab members if this were true. I was pretty amazed when I heard that it was.

Yesterday, William, sent me a picture as proof so I thought I'd share it with you. Notice how you can see part of the desk. Another lab member Laura told me he put a note on his desk the other day and she was actually able to see it!!



I'm impressed!

Catching Up

The last few weeks have been pretty busy and I've been sort of bad about taking pictures and posting. I did have a few pictures on my camera so I thought I'd at least post a few and catch up on what we've been up to.

In August we went up to Ridge Winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains which is only about 30 minutes from us. We went to celebrate Moria's birthday with a wine tasting and then a picnic.

Us in the picnic area.
Before we left we took some time to walk around and check out the view.

It was a clear enough day that you could see downtown San Jose....very beautiful!Grapes!
Over the past few years I've tried several times to keep plants alive in our apartment, but we lack a good area for the plants to get sunlight and we don't have a balcony or deck so they've always just died. Earlier this summer we bought a new console table and put it by our living room table and finally had a spot. I got some thyme, parsley, oregano, and spearmint and I've actually managed to keep them alive! We've already used some of the spices for cooking and I love having them.

Kevin bought me some Calla Lilies the other day so I put them up there too! I'm loving my plants!

I wish I had more pictures, but I promise to be better!

Great America and other stuff

These pictures are from last Sunday when we went to Great America with a group of friends. We were pretty tired from our drive to Sacramento the day before and just work and everything else...but who isn't up for roller coasters??

It was a hot day and we were definitely up for water rides.

Brian wasn't happy about us going on the 'Crazy Mouse'.
Here is Colin, Jean, and Megan on their way up on the 'Crazy Mouse'.
We did a lot of roller coasters and I loved it. I think that Kevin's favorite part was trying to time spaying water on people in the rafts. Next time we'll have to bring more quarters so they can have at it.

After we got home Kevin realized he couldn't find his keys. He forgot about taking them out of his pocket before going on any of the rides and we thought for sure they fell out on one of the roller coasters. He called 'lost and found' twice and I felt bad but I was thinking..they are gone for good. The next day Great America called him and they had found his keys!!! I went and picked them up on Wed. We are thinking they fell out on this one water ride we did and they found them in the raft we were in. He's just lucky they found him...what are the chances?!?!

The rest of the week was pretty busy just like the last few have been. Kevin has been working long hours in the Lazer Lab and I had to work this last weekend. We did have Sarah and Jonathan over for dinner on Friday night and had a really fun time with them. I was off today (Monday) and had a chance to kind of relax and take care of a few errands.

Kevin had a softball game tonight and I'm so mad I forgot the camera. I made brownies and rice krispie treats for the boys and Kevin had an awesome game. He struck out 4 people and had several good hits! They went into an extra inning, but ended up losing by 1 run. Still a really fun game though. I don't usually get to go to many since I usually work until 8pm. Last game I got to play since they were short one...but I didn't mind just cheering them on!!

Sacramento with Grandad and Grandmom

This weekend was a special treat for us. Grandad and Grandmom were in California and we were able to coordinate things so we could actually meet up and spend some time together. Kevin and I drove up to Sacramento on Saturday morning and met up with them at their hotel. From there we grabbed lunch and had a really really nice time just chatting and catching up with each other. It was fun hearing about their trouble through Utah and hearing other stories from home. We looked at old pictures of Grandad's family and got to hear about a lot of neat history. The stories about my dad were also pretty awesome!!!

Me and Grandmom at the hotel.

Kevin and Grandad.
Me and Grandad.

The reason Grandad and Grandmom were in California was for an anniversary party for Grandad's cousin Bill and his wife Hilda's 50th wedding anniversary. They hadn't told them they were coming and had it was fun being in on the surprise! I made sure to have the camera out for a few pictures. It was so neat being able to see the expressions on their faces when they saw each other.

Hilda was near tears at the sight and I loved seeing how happy they were!
Smiles everywhere!!!
I made it a point to get a group shot right away so I wouldn't forget.

Bill, Ramona, Hilda, and Pete.
At first Kevin and I were nervous about being at a party where we knew no one except for my grandparents...but we ended up having a wonderful time! Everyone was so welcoming and made it a joy to be there. There was also a lot of delicious food which was a bonus!!! Bill and Hilda were both fantastic and it was a blast meeting them.
After we left, Grandad and Grandmom spent a little more time at the party before heading back to their hotel. On Sunday, they went back over to the house and were able to spend even more time with Bill and Hilda.

It was such a wonderful day and we were so happy it worked out for us to see them. Having family out here is such a treat and doesn't happen very often so were pretty excited.

Thanks Grandad and Grandmom for a wonderful Saturday and we hope to see you soon!!