Happy Birthday Christina

The Bowen's had a large gathering in honor of Christina's 29th birthday. Wow its hard to believe we are getting so old, I feel like we are barely out of high school. There was about 30 of us who enjoyed the delicious Peruvian food, my personal fav were the fried plantains... so yummy! I can not recall the last time I laughed this much. My cheeks hurt at the end of the night from smiling and laughing. I think karkar, kate, katri and I were the entertainment for the night. We reminisced about some fun times way back in high school. Sometimes I miss those days when life was so easy, we had no commitments, and loads of free time to stalk, laugh, shop, dance, wander target, and talk on the phone for hours. Once again I must say I am extremely grateful to be back in Orange County with my friends and family. What is one of your fun memories from High School?

The Birthday Girl!

The Girls

Kate, Christina, Kim

Jake 

Tag... I'm it.

Jules this is for you. I have actually never done a tag post so here it goes... A few things about me:

1. I LOVE to eat. Most of you already know this about me but I just really really really enjoy eating more than the average person. I love a good meal, I have to eat what I am craving at the moment, and sweets especially chocolate sweets are a must usually on a daily basis. All I can say is THANK GOODNESS for my speedy metabolism and great genes. Side Note: stay far far away from me if I am hungry. I turn into a raging beast.

Chocolate souffle

2. I would be content to live in a bikini year round. This means the sun would be shining very bright, the weather would be warm with clear blue skies, Tim would be out in the water and we would be living life on the beach. The sun makes me very happy and cheerful. What could be better?

Us living it up at the beach

3. There is only one thing in this world that I hate... ANTS. I can barely even think about them! When I was 3 years old I got ants in my pants. I am still traumatized to this very day. Any other bugs or spiders do not even phase me, it is just the ants.

4. I am a busy body, I always have to be doing something, I can never just sit down and relax and not worry about something. I am constantly thinking about something I just can not seem to get my little head to calm down and chill. Basically I just have a ton of energy.

ENERGETIC!

5. I am a bit anal about being organized (well, anal about a lot of things!). Tim has given me a new name... Annie Anal. I organize everything in our home (okay we dont have a home at the moment so our room)from shoes, clothing, dvds, jewelery etc. I just have to be able to see everything, if it is neatly arranged then I can see it. For example; I hang all of my 150+ necklaces on the wall by color, bracelets are displayed in cigar boxes, hats are hung individually this just makes it so much easier to pick out an outfit or just be able to find things.

Me organizing the kitchen in SLC

6. I enjoy seeing new places, meeting new people, and experiencing other cultures. Basically I like to travel, especially with Timmy. I have not yet been to every continent but someday I will have set foot on each of them with my hubby. My favorite places to visit are the ones that are warm and sunny, on the ocean, have yummy food and good treasure- jewelry and cool clothing.

Us in Cabo

So, Now that you know a few random and not so random things about me. I tag all of you 80 blog stockers who read my blog each day and never leave comments. I want to know who you are, what you are all about, what you enjoy and where you reside!

Beautiful Day at the Bay

Now that we have lived away from California we have a greater appreciation for the Beauty of the Ocean. Have you ever taken the time to look around at nature and all that God has created? It truly is AMAZING. The weather has been gorgeous all weekend with deep clear blue skies and views of Catalina Island. This afternoon the Hansen gang came over to enjoy the Bay with us. We all thought it would be a good idea to relax and enjoy the ocean. We chilled on the rocks, climbed through the arches since it was low tide, and walked along the beach all while shooting many photos. Naomi was really loving the crunchy texture of the sand in her teeth, toes and hands. If you would like to join us on Sunday afternoons at the Bay please call us! We always enjoy spending time with all our friends so come on over!

the girls Chrissy, Naomi, and Nic talking on the rocks

Small kissing Tall

One Arch

The Hansen's

Go Cougars!

Friday was a long day... but it is sure was fun. I woke early for an interview in Huntington, met up with Linda for a couple hours, then headed over to see Julie. Jules was in town for a few days visiting so I met up with her for a bit at the Spectrum and again at the Volleyball game. I just love her so much and miss their adorable little family now that we are gone from Utah. Julie has been a very dear friend for many years, both Tim and I admire her for different reasons. She has always been a great strength, example and friend to each of us. Every time I see her with Russell and Sadie my heart is just so overwhelmed with happiness for her wonderful life. We are eagerly awaiting Russell's graduation so we can spend time with them in Laguna for a bit.
The game was INTENSE yet so fun! I must say Tim and I are not BYU fans except when it comes to volleyball... We fully support Russell and the team. We were cheering, yelling at the ref, and just having a good time. Sadie was just as into the game as we were, she would get all excited as the crowd would cheer and she even clapped her hands when BYU was winning! BYU beat UCI in the 5th game! After the game we dinned at In N Out with Joe and Britt. I surprisingly missed Utah for about 2 minutes while reminiscing about attending the Volleyball games at BYU.

VALENTINES DAY

Why do I always make the funniest faces? Nic and Sahba with the yummy dessert!

Sahba and I prepared a yummy dinner for Erik and Timmy. We had an enjoyable evening at their new place in Ladera. I had never cooked lasagna before so I was unsure how it would end up turning out. It was delicious, the boys loved it and went back for seconds! The pizzookie was a good choice for dessert. We could hardly walk at the end of the night after all the eating we did! Thanks for having us over Sahba and Erik!

The Love Birds

SURPRISE... HAPPY 30TH NEAL!

Lisa surprised Neal with a birthday bash at BJ's for his BIG 30! Us and 55 other guests sat on the patio to surprise Neal. The weather was perfect on Sunday afternoon at about 82 degrees. Neal was pleasantly surprised! We had a great time hanging out with Katri and Matt eating and drinking all while taking in the warm sun! I just love being around to celebrate so many occasions with our friends, when we lived away I felt we always missed out on so many events.

Birthday Boy!

The McCann Fam

Love Birds

Katri and Matt

The cake... Neal age 4.

Brit's Baby Shower

Chelsea, Naomi, Chrissy, Nic

Us at Takao

Luke, Kirk, Timmy

The Cute Sign 

Brit and Baby Boy to Be

The Cake

The Flowers

Saturday was a busy day from the start. The weather was wonderful, about 78 degrees all afternoon! I started the day with a walk on the beach in the warm sunny weather, stopped by Katri's garage sale, set up the baby shower with Brit, and enjoyed being with friends all afternoon. The shower turned out very well, Brit loved it and all the girls had a fun time. 

That evening we met up with Kirk and Chelsea, Britt, Luke and Chrissy for sushi. We love being back with all our friends and dining at some of favorite places everyweek. We ended our night at Golden Spoon chit chatting. 

Fun Fun Fun!

The Girls... Leah, Camille, Nic

The Boys... Timmy, Jeremy, James

This weekend we had a lot going on! Jeremy and Camille came for a quick visit from Arizona, James and Leah drove up from San Diego and us three couples dinned at Cabana on PCH.  The atmosphere was casual and very relaxing, I felt as if we were vacationing on Maui enjoyed the ocean breeze and tropical food only the prices were totally affordable!  After dinner we strolled around downtown and I came upon an amazing deal on a cute pair of yellow JC flats ( I have been in search of cute yellow shoes) they were only $9.95! We tried the gellato place in the alley way that everyone has been raving about... it was yummy and reminded me of zizi's.  We had a great time laughing and chit chatting on the corner of PCH, we always enjoy time spent with good friends. Jeremy and Camille we are secretly hoping you move back! 

Downtown LA

Timmy's favorite music store

detailed artwork on the building

the new ride

the look on my face when the jewelry told me to stop cracking my skinny boney fingers

A cute Italian alley down town

One of the gifts Tim gave me for Christmas was a new ring.  Towards the end of January we headed up to the Jewelery District in LA to have my ring made. Joe and Britt joined us for the excursion. On the way up we stopped on PCH to pay for our new car. We spent the day in LA downtown in the Jewelery District and the Fashion District. Britt picked out some great prints for the new bebe's room. The boys shopped at Amoeba, us girls could not part with our handbags (which had to be left at the front of the store which does not insure anything over $300) so we headed across the street for some appetizers.  We ended the day in LA at Rosco's Chicken and Waffles.  I have always been a fan of people watching... my fav of the day was the African American with a grill of gold, a head of dreads and a make shift store (aka a table) outside of Rosco's with a variety of designer jeans, wallets, shoes and beanies - the best was he was smokin a joint like it was no big deal! He and his posse were hilarious and also very friendly.  No big deal as we were pulling away he hopped into his $130,000 E63 AMG. I am in the wrong biz (well I am unemployed) I need to be working the streets selling some goods!  Britt sorry he could not hook u up with those TR maternity jeans. On the way down south we picked up the new ride. Such a fun day!

miss u Jo.

Kirk and Chelsea...

We were so happy to spend some time at the Newport Beach temple with Kirk and Chelsea for their special day. With us all living here again we see alot of them and it is so much fun!!! Congratulations love birds.

Santa Barbara or bust!

Timmy and I celebrated the New Year in Santa Barbara. Nic and Brett as well as Kirk and Chels joined us for some fun. We ate lots of yummy food, shopped till we dropped, surfed, and rode bikes. The weather was amazingly warm, upper 70's! We were all sweating during the bike road along the beach! 

Christmas fun!!

We attempted to get a sibling photo... Drake, Nic, and Katri

Bria, Katri, and Nic decorating cookies

a few of the finished goodies

Nic, Timmy, Katri, Lucas on Christmas Eve.

us being silly

Our days are always filled so much, working, eating, visiting with family and friends, frozen yogurt runs, shopping, surfing. Here a few long over due events I have wanted to post about...

Every year my mom does Christmas Eve. Friends and family gather for fun times and yummy food! My mom always goes way over the top for Christmas and Katri and I just love it! Each day on Christmas we spend the entire with my family and the relatives on my moms side of the fam.  Holly started the tradition of us kids decorating cookies.  Love this day!