Congratulations Lisa!

Ryan
Born April 2nd.
8 lbs 4 oz
What a surprise!
(I was totally calling a girl)

Congrats Lisa and Dave! We can't wait to meet him!

Illinois Trip

This is the reason why I confiscated the camera back from Caleb... 

This is one of 2 or 3 pictures that he took while on tour.  No driving pictures, no show pictures, no pictures at Garden of the Gods- only this picture of him looking kind of annoyed in front of a (pretty, at least) valley and a picture of him and Ashton on the beach in like Virginia.

He did manage to take a few pics while with his family when he met up with them and played in Carbondale.  Here is a good one of Caleb and Stella cheesing it up

*Flashforward two weekends to my trip to IL*

I flew into St Louis REALLY late Friday night and my cousin, Lisa and her husban

d came and picked me up.  I had gotten up that morning early to be at set in Paramount, CA (near Downey!!) by 6am, so by the time I got to Lisa's, I was exhausted.  The next morning, we had breakfast with my Aunt Marcia and my cousin Mike. Delicious Monkey Bread.

I then was driven to Illinois to meet up with my brother, Tom, and Annie and Thomas.  Thomas totally loved me, which is good, because at 1 1/2 years old and only seeing him every 4-6 months- it could go either way.  I don't have any pictures because

 I hadn't yet seen Caleb, so I didn't have my camera.

So then Caleb's mother and sister, Rachel picked me up Saturday afternoon and we drove the 5 hours up to Ottawa, IL, where Makaya, Micah, Stella and Levi live.  (Still hadn't seen Caleb yet)

Then Micah drove Makaya, Chris, Harmony and I the hour and half up to Chicago for Caleb's show.  Finally!!!  It was really great to see him after so long.

And that brings me to the part of the trip with pictures...

In Ottawa, we went on a nature hike.  It was sooo nice to be in Fall.  Here is CB...

And here is the reverse picture I had him take of everyone 

else.  (Going up the stairs: me, Mason, Rachel, Stella, Ashton, Harmony, Makaya, Levi, Micah, Chris, Oliver, Diana)

And this was the finale of the hike, a beautiful, serene waterfall 

I was pretty brave and climbed the narrow ledge to the other side of waterfall.  While taking this picture I kept saying- "the backside of water" - or whatever they say on the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland.  I don't think this is a very good picture of me, but I had to post the behind-the-waterfall picture.  I just look at this and feel exhausted by how tired I was.

One of the afternoons in Ottawa, we had a picnic lunch at some place that had a couple of buffalo.  Caleb took this picture of one through the fence... not a bad pic, I think.  He then informed me that when we move back to IL,  we'll have to get a house with 8 acres, because 4 acres is enough land to sustain a buffalo for 1 year, and we'd obviously have to have 2 buffalo.

Week in Review...

Instead of posting a 100 different times about the little things that happened this week, I figured I'd mix it up. I am not sure if I will post like this in the future, but it was fun this time.

On Monday, I had to find a body double for this man...

On Tuesday, I got my hair done like this...
(The color looks a bit off and I don't dig the picture, but it's close enough.)

Caleb had a show Tuesday night and had the car, so after my appointment, I had an adventure with the possibility of riding this home...
(But after waiting for a LONG time in the dark scary streets of Bubank)

But alas, it doesn't run that late, and I called one of these to get home instead...

On Wednesday, at work I booked this show...

And then, I got together with great friends and watched this show...

On Thursday, I made this dress...

(It isn't finished yet- I need to either hem it regular, or add the trim like is pinned in the picture. I made this dress by adjusting the pattern from the teeny tiny dress making it larger and changing the shape slightly- but now I don't know what size it is. Please give me advice on the brown trim or the regular hem. The brown trim matches the piping, but doesn't match the brown dots exactly.)

I also stayed up very late and watched this girl win my favorite Olympic event...

On Friday, I got dressed in a really cute outfit (in my humble opinion) got in the car to go to work... and spilled this all down the front.

So I was late for work because I had to completely change clothes... :(
But it was ok, because all stress was rubbed out by the company provided massage I had at work this morning.


Tonight, I will go see my favorite band ;) play at the Relax Bar in Hollywood...

Caleb's Band... Live at (a cool bar in LA)!

Last night, Caleb and Ashton played at (a cool bar in LA). It was a good show. I love it when they get their name on the sign. This time I finally remembered to take a picture.
Still can't find our camera... so the phone pictures will have to do.

Sound Check

View from the balcony

Rocking out

What a Weekend!

This weekend Caleb and I finally got away to celebrate our 5 year anniversary.

We went to Malibu Saturday morning and hiked in Malibu Creek Canyon. We had packed a picnic lunch and ate it beside a rock pool. After eating (and waiting 30 minutes-haha) we decided to cliff jump into the water. Caleb did it once to test it out, and then I joined him. He went first so that he could wait in the water for me. It was WAY more intimidating than I thought, poor CB was treading water for a couple minutes while I got up the courage. After a couple false starts, I finally jumped in! There is no video of me, but here is one I took of CB's jump. Note the foot grab.

After the hike and cleaning up at the hotel, we went out to a fancy dinner at a restaurant called The Sunset. Our table was at the window and overlooked the beach with of course a pretty sunset. Here is one of the pics we took while waiting in between courses.

Anke Visit

This weekend Anke came to visit us.  We haven't seen her in 7 years!  We had a great time visiting and taking her around LA.  

Here is a photo that I took of LA from our vantage point above the street performers on Hollywood Blvd.

Caleb waiting for his show to start Saturday night downtown

Sweet Cousins and Cowboys

These sweet boys are my nephews Jasper and Levi. They are just about 2 months apart, and I bet will be best buds growing up. Levi is wearing a cowboy shirt I dyed and stitched for him. It isn't a great picture of the shirt, but a cute picture of the boys. I made a red cowboy shirt for a friend's baby shower, but didn't get a picture of it before giving it away.

On another note... I have decided to try to sell some of these shirts, maybe on a site like etsy or maybe CB will design me my own site. Today I went during lunch and stocked up on blank canvases (aka onesies and such). I can't wait to get started!

Baseball by the sea

San Francisco Giants Stadium

(not bad for a camera phone)

Caleb and I have the goal to see the Cardinals play in every National league stadium. Talk about dreaming big. This month, we crossed off another on the list. We have now seen them play in St Louis, in Chicago at Wrigley, in Los Angeles at Dodgers' Stadium, and in San Francisco.

Next month, we hope to see our very first home game at the NEW Busch stadium in St Louis, and we may try to catch them down in San Diego vs the Padres too.

Tree

I love this tree. This tree is in Placerita Canyon in Santa Clarita or Newhall or somewhere like that. I think it is really amazing how the trunk splits from the base and the branches reach out in all directions. This tree takes up a lot of space in the world. Also, there was a bird house perched on a branch, which I thought to be both fun and unexpected.

Stairs

Caleb and I ate at this Mexican restaurant Wednesday night. The salsa was spicy, the ambience was dark and fun, and the bathroom was situated right next to these mysterious stairs. I snapped a picture and let my imagination go wild as to what could be up them. The rich burgundy of the carpeting and the texture of the walls reminds me of an old hotel, with a rich past. Wherever they may lead... they are dark and mysterious and amazing. Maybe I'll go back to that restaurant and sneak up them. Maybe some adventure will ensue... it always worked in the movies.