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A runner with an appetite for adventure!

Feliz Navidad May 29, 2011

Filed under: Computer,Family,Galaxy — Kelocity @ 2:30 pm
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We’ve had a busy summer so far (and only getting busier), so we were happy to be able to spend the Memorial Day weekend at home, just getting some things done. Irving is working on sorting and editing all of our Egypt & Dubai pictures, and it is a painstakingly frustrating task. We’ve both spent hours pouring over the pictures, and I’m glad he’s taking the reins on finally getting that project over with. I’ll have to do a post on computer organization sometime, it’s quite interesting.
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While he was doing that, I deleted my whole computer (after everything was –hopefully—backed up, of course) and restored it to it’s factory settings. Sometimes it’s just good to start fresh and get rid of any bugs you might have. So far so good! Seems to be running faster already!

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When we were about ready to claw our eyes out, we left the house to do a few errands. First stop was Aaron Brothers to get a painting framed. That was one of my valentine’s gifts to Irving! And then we headed to Best Buy to make a very important purchase…..

Our First XBOX! Actually our first gaming system… ever! We’ve never had a PlayStation or a Wii. The last system I had was old school Nintendo. And before that was Atari. Yea, it was about time we bought one. We felt like little kids in the store asking about controllers and games. We ended up with the XBox Kinect! We were very excited and practically danced out of the store. lol
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The best part was that Best Buy was having a sale… buy an XBox and get a $50 giftcard to use on games or whatever later. I definitely giggled at the giftcard. Feliz Navidad!
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We have yet to actually set the thing up, we have a feeling once we do, we’ll never want to stop. What games do you recommend? We definitely want a workout one, and probably LA Noire too.

Last night, We had a double date with my sister, Mikaela and her boyfriend, Chris!
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We all watched the LA Galaxy vs. NE Revolution soccer game “together”!
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Irving and Chris even had a beer “together” while they watched. It was fun to see them and pretend like we didn’t live 3,000 miles apart!

I’m very happy that I’ve installed and updated Windows and all my favorite programs (Windows Live Writer was top of the list!) But I think I still have more to download, catch you soon!

 

Red Rock Canyon May 25, 2011

Filed under: Family,Food,Hiking,Las Vegas — Kelocity @ 2:00 pm
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We slept really well, as we usually do in Vegas (those room darkening blinds will get you every time!)

Poor Irving was dealing with a gnarly cold while we were there. But we came prepared.
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He was a trooper though. I told him that I had a solution to all of his problems:
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I mean, there isn’t much in life that munchins can’t fix, right?
I asked for ONE munchkin and she gave me FOUR!
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Ohhh, how I miss Dunkins! Then we got in the car and headed back over to the Wynn.
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Vegas is full of strange things. Here’s the Palace Station Casino (where OJ simpson got arrested!)
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And the Sahara Hotel is closed! So sad! Another one bites the (desert) dust.
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We didn’t have any real plans for the day, but they suggested a hike in Red Rock Canyon! I’d never been either, so we seized the opportunity!
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Just a half hour drive from the strip, and we were there!
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I just don’t understand why they call it Red Rock Canyon!
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We’re so lucky to have such gorgeous landscapes in our country. I’m really glad we got to see this!
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We started at the visitor’s center and learned a little bit about the area.
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And have a little fun…
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Check out this stitch that I made! This was five photos I stitched into one! (Click to enlarge!)

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There is a 13 mile scenic loop and all along the way, you can pull over and hike. It’s a great set up!
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First stop was the big red rock, duh!
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Everyone climbed up to see the cliffs below…
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But I’m lame and played it safe on firm ground. (When did I become such a wuss?)
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I ain’t going up there! I’m fine riiiiight down here!
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These pictures aren’t doing this place ANY justice. You have to come out and see it in person!

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There were so many trails that looked incredible, and someday, we’ll come back to do them all. But this time, we only did the Ice Box Canyon trail.
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Somewhere in there, there was supposed to be a waterfall!
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It was such a cool hike. Unlike any terrain I’ve ever seen before.
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Sisters!
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We basically hiked on a dried up river bed (oh, spoiler alert, the waterfall was dried up in the desert heat!)
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The whole hike was about 2.5 miles, and in the high noon heat, it ended up being perfect.
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It was fun to scramble over rocks (although I was on the lookout for rattlesnakes!)
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And then we got to the place where the waterfall should have been… The supposed “ice box” part of the trail…
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Hee Hee. I’ll have to come back in the winter to see it filled with water! So cool!
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And then we started the hike back to the car.
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The whole park was gorgeous, if you’re heading out west, definitely make the drive, even if you don’t hike.
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By then it was 4pm and we were starving for lunch! We had bought a groupon for a place called Bambino’s East Coast Pizzeria. It’s owned by Bostonians who opened up a restaurant out here! I was so excited! They even painted their walls the same color as the Green Monster!
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We got some chicken fingers that were DELISH!
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And a pizza that was ginormous!
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Sufficiently stuffed, we hopped back in the car to begin the four hour drive back to LA! This time with a few more passengers!
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Wait, where’s Irving?
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Half way, we were in serious need of some fuel… enter, Starbucks!
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DUDE! Have you tried their new Coconut Mocha Frappacino? It’s amazing. If you like coconut, you will LOVE this!
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What a great weekend! It was fun to experience both sides of vegas. The Pool/Casino/Food side and the Outdoors/Nature side. So much fun!

 

24 Hours in Vegas!

Filed under: Family,Las Vegas — Kelocity @ 8:30 am
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This past weekend, EJ (Irving’s Sister) and Sarah were in Vegas, and since we don’t seem them very often, we jumped at the chance to meet them there! Don’t have to twist my arm!

This time, we stayed at the Platinum Hotel. It’s relatively new, and just a little bit off the strip. We really like non-casino hotels because they are smoke free. It was 1,100 square feet! A whole suite!
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But not much of a view…
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Just as soon as we arrived, we headed straight to the pool! EJ and Sarah were staying at the Encore (jealous!! We stayed there last year and it was aweeeesome!) It was really hot, but they had already staked out a nice spot in the shade. After lounging for a bit, we ordered a pitcher of sangria! I’m usually not a fan, but this one was really sweet and refreshing.
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Their room had amazing views. They had a room on a really high floor.

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Across the street was where the Frontier Hotel used to be. That was the first Vegas hotel I ever stayed in when I visited in 2001 with my family! Sad!
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There was a little of this… brilliant, no?
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And then we headed to New York, New York to watch the LA Galaxy vs. Chivas Soccer game.
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We had some money riding on the Galaxy!
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We watched it from the Sporting House restaurant near the sports book and it was fantastic! The setting was perfect! We had a private booth with our own TV.
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We had a round of drinks, appetizers and entrees and it was all incredible. I’d eat there again for SURE!

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Then we headed to Zumanity. It’s the Cirque show in New York, New York.
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By the time we got out of the show, it was after midnight, and we were exhausted after getting up early, driving four hours, spending the day in the sun, eating, drinking, a soccer game AND a vegas show.

Stay tuned for Day 2!!

 

LA Galaxy with J&J May 9, 2011

Filed under: Celebs,Family,Food,Galaxy,Hollywood Events,Los Angeles — Kelocity @ 11:00 am
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Saturday night, we took Jake and Janie to an LA Galaxy game (sort of a late Christmas gift!) We got to the stadium really early and had fun walking around before the action started.
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Instead of watching the game from our seats, we had reservations at the Stadium Club!
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They had a great buffet and the food was amazing. Everything was fresh and tasted homemade.
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Our seats were pretty good too. A neat perspective on the game.
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Irving loved it. He’s a huge soccer fan, remember?
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Rumor has it that Leonardo DiCaprio was at the game too. They showed him on the big monitor, so I whipped my binoculars out (not kidding) and tried to find him, but I guess he was hiding.
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The game ended at 1-1.
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Hi David Beckham, you looked dapper at the Royal Wedding!
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In other news from the weekend, we saw Jay Leno on Saturday at Menchies! He pulled up in an old Bentley and parked right next to me!
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He said hi, got his ice cream and left. Just a typical Saturday living in LA. We were with Erika and Timmy and Jake and Janie too, it was fun to see a celeb so up close and personal.
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Yesterday, we had brunch at Porto’s in Burbank (so good!) We sat outside and dined al fresco. It was so relaxing and nice.
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Yesterday, we both felt a little blah. Just not motivated, a little sluggish and sad. Clearly, we were lacking endorphins. So we laced up our sneakers, gave ourselves a pep talk, and headed out for a four mile walk. Muuuuuch better. The fresh air and exercise were just what we needed to end a great weekend on a high note.

Happy Monday!

 

30 Day Challenge–My Relationship

Filed under: 30 Day Challenge,Family,Happy,Love — Kelocity @ 4:00 am
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I saw a great list of blogging prompts recently (On Katy Widrick’s blog) and I thought it would be a great way to blast through some writers block. I don’t plan to do this in 30 consecutive days, but I will do them in order.

Here’s the breakdown of what’s to come:
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On July 11, 2009, I married my husband, Irving. Our wedding was in New Hampshire and we just loved every minute. I replay the whole day in my head sometimes when I’m trying to fall asleep. It really was the best day week of my life.
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But our relationship wasn’t your typical ‘girl meets boy, falls in love, gets engaged and gets married’ story. Our courtship was eight years long, and three of those years were long distance. Here’s our story.

September 2001
We met during my first week at Emerson College. Our first encounter was at a party before classes even started. We didn’t really talk until a week after that, but my family rolled their eyes when I told them I’d already met a guy within the first week of school. Our first real ‘date’ was to dinner at Remington’s, a cute casual restaurant next to our dorm.
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Summer 2002
Irving is from San Francisco, but he got a job in Boston for the summer so we could be closer. I was working long hours at a production company, but we saw each other as much as we could, stealing dinners here and there. It was an important summer for us both to grow. We supported each other and lived independently, it was as close as we ever got to actual ‘dating’.
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Fall 2002
Irving moved to Los Angeles for his last semester at Emerson, while I continued in Boston. We talked on the phone a lot and he would tell me about all the fun things he was doing in LA. This set the foundation for the upcoming three years we’d be in different time zones. But since I was four years younger, we both needed the time to grow independently and make sure we were both following our dreams.

Spring 2003
I moved to Europe for a semester, and Irving moved to New York.  A 6-hour time difference was hard (and there were 75 kids in my program and only two phone lines)! But we sent lots of letters and emails. Irving also surprised me in Paris on Valentine’s Day!
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Fall 2003 – Summer 2004
Irving continued to work in New York, and I focused on school in Boston. We’d see each other once a month or so with little weekend trips.
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Fall 2004
I moved to Los Angeles and Irving stayed in New York. We only saw each other twice in those four months (once in San Francisco and once in LA). Irving told me that if I loved LA as much as he did, he’d quit his job and move out west so we could finally live together.
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January 2005
We pack up a minivan and drive cross country together to our new life in LA. We moved into a small 1 room apartment in Hollywood and lived it up. We may not have had jobs for three months or even a bed for a while, but we were together and ready to conquer the world.
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Spring 2006 – 2008
We bought a condo together, our careers were going well and we got used to life as a couple.

January 2008
We FINALLY get engaged! After being together for 7 years, Irving popped the question in Temecula, CA.

July 2009
We got married!

And the rest was history! We loved that we had a few years apart because it laid a strong foundation of communication and respect that we are grateful to have now. It’s been almost ten years since we met, and I’m so excited to see what other fun adventures are in store for us. Only time will tell!
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