Day 306

I just realized that another month went by; another month where I forgot to wish The Mr. a Happy Monthiversary. Yes, we are those people who 'celebrate' every month with a good 'ole "Happy Monthiversary babe" call, kiss or email. Today, was when I realized we were two days past due... so Happy Monthiversary +2 days babe!

February/March flew by. I couldn't really tell you if I was coming or going during this time, there was so much going on. I do recall a few fun things that Chris and I did; here's the proof!

The Getty Center: February 12, 2011. We celebrated our version of Valentine's Day with a day trip to an incredible property in LA. I had never been to the Getty (I know, after living in LA for how many years, OH WAIT, my entire life!) and have to say, it's a pretty incredible place to go and enjoy the beauty of LA. We actually ran into some friends there, which is so odd in a city with millions of people that you run into someone from your hometown (SMALL WORLD). I've started to really learn how to use my DSLR camera and took some incredible photos of the landscaping and some of the donations to the property.


Absolutely love this view of LA!


Obsessed with this angel trumpet flower; I have a million pictures, no lies!


See, I had to take a picture under it!


We make shadow puppets, but this one took the cake!


Did I tell you that we are the spokes people for RayBan?


LA with all of its smog; I know, but it really is a beautiful city!


What a view of our coast line at night, seriously magical!


Sunset pictures are so romantic!

Late that night, I got a text indicating that my Dad had gone to the emergency room because he couldn't breathe.... and so the story goes....
I left for Vegas the very next day for work. It was one of our biggest trade show's and it's mandatory to go! I didn't really think about anything during that trip; things sounded fine on the home front so I didn't really bother to call. That was something I learned a hard lesson over. I was flying home on Thursday morning when I felt that I should check in on Dad. I got some bad news that he was sent to the ER again and that he probably has pneumonia. As soon as I flew home, I headed over to see Dad. Let me just start off by saying, I've never seen this man look so terrible in my life.

After sitting in the ER for over 8 hours he was transported to ICU and diagnosed with double pneumonia. Chris and I visited him after work and on the weekends. We tried being there every day but boy oh boy was that commute so difficult. So with a long story short, Dad had double pneumonia, H1N1, a blood clot in his leg and his kidney's were not doing well. After 21 long days, he was released from the hospital and sent home. I'm so grateful that he's home, that he can spend his time on his own terms. I'm not going to lie, he's still not the same man he was about a month ago and he's on oxygen 24/7, but it sure is nice to visit without nurses poking and prodding him every 20 minutes. So Dad, I love you and I'm happy you are home and "on the mend"!

Here's a few pics from the hospital!


Dad on his good day.

We joked a lot in the hospital, especially Karen! Had to make the best of a bad situation.

Ahh the little booger hanging out in Grandpa's room; she was really so good!

AND...finally, he came home! He reconnected with the Keekers (our family doggy!) Doesn't he look happy? Shortly after, he was bitching... he's back to normal!


So the last BIG thing that happened, was some major change! CHA-CHA-CHANGES! I left Tarina Tarantino after 8 years. I cannot even believe that it happened but it did! I was offered an incredible opportunity with a line of handbags/small leather goods/belts that I could not resist. It was probably the hardest 2 weeks of my life and one the hardest decisions to make for myself; but after all was said and all was done, I'm so happy! I'm ready for change! My first day at work was March 14th! I took a picture running out the door... YES, just like a kindergarden picture! I seriously was so excited! So that's the big news in life.



I've realized that family is most important and I need to do things that genuinely make me happy in life! I would not take back anything that has happened or the experiences I have gone through. I'm here today because of all of them. So here's to the next chapter in my life; I hope it's filled with love, laughter, happiness and of course family!

Day 286

Ok so shoot me, I've been terrible about blogging and keeping you all up to date. I do promise I will be better in the weeks to come. So instead of doing the rehash from what has happened from almost 100 days ago, you'll see it in the photo montage below...


Christmas Eve Dinner- cookies came later :)


Yes, I got an iPad for Christmas, and YES this is what my face looked like when I opened it. Thanks babe!


Chris always has the most amazing smile. Did you see our yule log on?


Merry Christmas 2010: our first "married" Christmas


What's Christmas without Little Layler's priceless face?


DUCKS gear from the Waycott's. The snuggie comes in handy!


Sisters on Christmas with the Goldstein/Thomson clan


My incredible nephew, Frazier O'Neal Phillips IV: Born on December 30th, 2010. He's seriously the most amazing little boy ever! PROUD AUNTIE


Auntie Jen and Uncle Chris were the first to hold Baby Fraz.


Chris is such a natural at this!


What's New Year's Eve without our besties, The Moser's? This was shot #1


And of course, what's New Year's Eve without rock band?


Home made Churro's by yours truly with all the fixings! They were delicious!


Yep, those are marshmallows in our mouths.


Lots of cooking was done at Casa de Waycott, including home made Tortilla Soup!


Image has been blurred to protect the identity of those who fell asleep too early on New Year's Eve. {in robot voice}


It SNOWED in Santa Clarita! It seriously was the most exciting thing ever!


It piled up on the Newhall Pass.


NYC in January. Snowy, cold and with the love of my life!


He really was so excited to be there. We even got to see WICKED! Thanks Mom and Dad Waycott!


Typical tourist trapped photo


The Empire State Building was so magical. It was the first time I had been there! It even started to snow while up 80 stories high.


Chris walked the city and took some great shots of Brooklyn


He took this one on the clearest day in January!


The night before our departure, the city had a decent snow storm. This was Central Park after the storm; pretty incredible!


The usual picture of The Waycott's (3rd generation) with Starbucks in hand.

Well, that's a quick catch up through January! I'll be posting some additional pictures soon as well as some exciting and well, not so exciting news! Looking forward to a few more posts before it's officially our 1 year anniversary!

Mrs. Waycott

Day 190

What a crazy couple weeks in the "new" Waycott household! Chris and I have been busy getting ready for the holidays and trying to orchestrate all of our destinations for the upcoming events. We embarked on our 9 year anniversary of dating; however I was told that those anniversaries do not count anymore. That's just nonsense!

As many of you should know, my sister is expecting another baby this December... the first boy on the Goldstein/Gold side! We celebrated his upcoming birth with a scrapbook baby shower at a local shop in Valencia. We had a wonderful time and Chris and I are extremely excited to be Auntie Jen and Uncle Chris again. We're looking forward to Lil' Frazi's arrival in late December; however I'm convinced he's coming sooner than Staci and Frazier think!

We've broken another milestone! We've been married for a little over 6 months. It's hard to believe that a little over 6 months ago we were hauling over wedding stuff from our tiny apartment to our parents house to get ready for the big day. Nothing was really done in celebration of the 6 month mark; I ended up with a nasty stomach flu that put me in bed for 24 hours. What should have been a nice steak dinner was a cup of lipton soup. {YUM}

We celebrated our first "married" Thanksgiving, and nothing really was different, other than we had a few extra family members at this year's festivities. It was great to finally meet a few of the Waycott's and reconnect with those I see so regularly. Of course the ritual of HATE YOUR NEIGHBOR {also known as GET NANCY} was played. I came in last place; yes last! I always come in last... I always think it's who I'm sitting next to, but now I'm beginning to think I should play GO FISH instead. So I have a few weeks before the next game, I may brush up on my skills. For Thanksgiving dinner, Chris and I made homemade Butternut Squash Soup. It was delicious and a BIG chore to make. The recipe is quite easy, it's getting to the melon of the squash which was the hard part. We brought over a huge stock pot of soup and it was about finished by the time we cleaned up. We may have to experiment with some more with additional soups in the future.

There wasn't really any big shopping this year on BLACK FRIDAY; thanks goodness too! It was so frigid to stand in line. We heard there were some awesome deals on televisions and kitchen appliances, but luckily we had been fortunate enough to get most of those items from our wedding gifts. THANK YOU!

Last night we attended our 10 year high school reunion which was a blast from the past. I never thought 10 years would have come that quickly, and that I would have attended; nonetheless, Chris. Last minute, we got ready and headed over to the event. It was so great to see some old high school friends and of course the ones I see on regular basis! I was happy to see that everyone was a little more 'grown up' and eager to reconnect with everybody! After all was said and done, I was extremely happy that we attended and look forward to the next one... maybe 15 years but definitely 20 years! I feel a little like my parents, they are always getting together with their classmates from '75!

Lastly, my favorite part of the holidays is decorating and I FINALLY got to do it yesterday! I look forward to it in October when the department stores are hauling out their trees and placing those extra lights around the stores. I ask every day from November 1st through Thanksgiving Day when I can bring out our Christmas tree, and every time Chris says AFTER Thanksgiving! Luckily, Chris and I have everything so organized so it really only takes about 2 hours from set up to tree topper. We always throw on the holiday music and light a gingerbread candle just to get into the spirit of things here. I love the smell of the holidays! This year we documented our set up process for you to enjoy.

Chris and I are so very blessed to have each and every one of you in our lives. You have touched us in so many different ways and have left an impression of memories for a lifetime. We wish you all a very joyous holiday season filled with love, laughter and of course sweet treats. Nothing screams more like the holidays than sweet treats! You know this household will be filled with them. So here's to another 4 weeks of 2010; we'll be sure to make each day count! We love you all!

xxoo,

Mrs. Waycott

Day 173

9 years ago TODAY, Chris 'asked' me to be his girlfriend... little did he know that he would be stuck spending the rest of his life with me. Here's the story in case you hadn't heard...

It was a rainy Sunday in November. I worked at a local day care facility inside the gym taking care of babies and kids while "mom and dad" worked out. This day was like every other. I would get to work, play with the kids, talk with the other employee's and get spit up on. It was pretty chill and every-so-often Chris would come by and say 'hey'. This particular Sunday we made plans to attend a show {concert to those of you who think it's going to the movies} at The Troub to see THE ANNIVERSARY. Chris popped in towards the end of my shift wearing a baby blue jacket that he had recently purchased at Skidazzle. When he came into my work, he was soaking wet... but hesitant to remove his jacket. My co-worker had noticed something handwritten on his tee shirt and asked Chris to remove his jacket to read it. As Chris took off his jacket, it was clearly written on a baby blue tee shirt "Jen will you be my girlfriend"... it was one of the most romantic things that had ever happened to me. OF course I said YES; after all, we're married today!

We headed down to The Troub to see one of our most favorite bands, THE ANNIVERSARY... and that's the story.

I am so grateful to have you in my life today and so happy you 'asked' me to be your girlfriend. Did you realize that only 7 1/2 years later you would ask me to be your wife on a similar tee shirt? I love you Mr. Waycott. Happy 9 years being together and for MANY more to come!

Day 163

Happy Halloween {be-lated} and with that being said, I guess I can start saying Happy Holidays! Over the weekend, Dad and Karen hosted yet another successful pumpkin carving party, fit with delicious chili, {so I heard, because I don't like chili} spinach dip, the new favorite mummified weenies, red velvet cake pops and snacks to feed an army.

We kicked off our day at the pumpkin patch with little Layler's, where we picked out our pumpkins and took some annual pictures. Layla posed a few times before running like a maniac through the pumpkin aisles, and I managed to get a cute smile out of her since all she does is give crazy faces. As Layla and Chris were horsing around the patch, Kim and I had some serious business finding the perfect pumpkin... I was destined to win this year. Every year, I show up, participate with the most amazing design ever AND lose! I just don't understand. Do these other participates not like my designs?

For the past 4 years, I've tried different techniques and this year was quite a year. I used my first dremel drill and got my hair caught in it. Chris saved the day and got it untangled. I also tried scraping the pumpkin to get a 'glow' and realized it wasn't deep enough. The winning pumpkin was from the Gerardo's... they carved the quintessential haunted house with the bats flying in the sky. It was pretty good! Kim came in second with the Evil Queen and Staci came in third with INAPPROPRIATE. No, I will not post it! I should have asked if I received any votes. Here's my pumpkins from the past 4 years, and have to say my favorite is "Allan".

2010: Dia de los Muertos

2009: "ALLAN" {this is my dad smoking his cigarette, AND I should have won this }

2008: Cheese and Mice {mine was #6) and was very MARTHA STEWART of me

2007: Self Portrait {can you see my flower in the hair? No this was not a winner}

Layla showed up that night as Cinderelly for the pumpkin carving contest. She was so stinkin' cute!

On actual Halloween, Chris and I took Layla trick-or-treating! We really hadn't gone since we were kids and had a great time with little Layler's. We went to a few houses by Dad's and then went around the neighborhood where Layla lives. She was so concerned over the monsters {one showed up at the house in costume} and she told her story to every house we went to! At one point, "the monster" had been on the same property as us but Uncle Chris made sure she didn't see him. He saved the day! After all was said and done, Layla ended her night with a full bucket of candy and a sugar high. Glad I get to leave that house at anytime I want!

Chris and I had a fantastic, non-stressful Halloween with our family and look forward to the many traditions in the years to come. So bring on the Holidays, we're ready for you, especially you THANKSGIVING! We're looking forward to seeing some family members we haven't seen in a long time {if in fact, at all}.

xxoo,

Mrs. Waycott