One of the things I've really been enjoying about our new house is the yard. It's been a lot of fun discovering what's lurking in the raised planting beds now that warm weather is here. I left anything that looked 'serious' alone, and have been rewarded. This week we had a couple of tasty potatoes! I did plant my own crop in another area - a 'salsa garden' with tomatoes, jalapenos, and cilantro, plus some zucchini and watermelon.

Another garden surprise - our massive hydrangea is a lacecap! This shrub is a monster, probably 6' x 8', and grows under the redwoods in a corner of the yard. I was excited to see it in bloom, and although I know most people prefer the big round mophead flowers, I'm kind of happy it's different and very cool looking. (Left is a nearly-mature bloom).

It's also been a lot of fun to sit and dream up what we'd like to do - install a patio, an arbor for a hammock, a little deck, a hot tub...

After an impossibly wonderful and romantic Valentine's evening, Frans asked me to marry him, and I said YES (nearly before he got the whole question out). We are both deliriously happy, and I am the luckiest girl in the whole world.

Well, we finally bought a house! And when people say your house tends to consume all your free time, they're not lying. Lots and lots of fun projects to work on. No more lazy weekends for us!

Also, Alexandra turned 3, Breanne and Ryan spent Christmas with us, we had a Christmas open house at the new place (three days after the furniture arrived), Frans learned how to put up drywall, we spent a ton of money at Home Depot, I had a birthday, we had fun at Winter Wineland and I won $40 in the pool at the Super Bowl party. So that should do it until about May, with my current update track record. I'm really going to try to put up some pics of the house before then.

Augh, I'm starting to think I'll never get around to posting new pictures, making real site updates to Alex and Melissa's site. How I hate when work interferes with my real life. Sigh.

Mom and I just got back from Laura & Mike's wedding in Maui. What a great wedding and get-together, so wonderful to spend time with the rest of our extended family! I can hardly believe the holidays are just around the corner. Time to start prepping to make tamales...

Busy summer so far! I had a fabulous girls' weekend in Vegas (ah, Vegas) with Jen. Mom and Dad moved into their new house. Frans and I went to Colorado for Breanne and Ryan's college graduation. Then it was time for the annual Shasta houseboat trip - of which there are NO pictures, amazingly enough. Frans' kids hung with us in CA for a few weeks of fun. Mom and I are counting down to a fun trip to Maui to see the youngest daughter in the Rettig clan get married.

One of these days, I'll actually get around to doing some real updates! At least I've managed to squeeze in some quality Tia time.

Wow, am I ever far behind. I haven't posted pictures of our birthday visit to the Rose Parade with Victor and (in spirit) Marc, Tonya's visit to Sonoma Wine Country, the fabulous first annual Academy Awards party hosted at Kachina Vineyards and co-hosted by Nancy and me, new pictures of Alex, and now we've got the St. Louis Gonzalez clan in town this week. And the Chiao 2.0 is due in a month or so! How will I ever catch up?

Oh yeah, happy 2007! Belatedly!

Our picture album of the Cook Islands trip is finally up, so go check it out!

And not all in a good way. What started with fun and excitement was interrupted by back surgery and various other crises. I've been referring to this as "The Summer of Drama". Thankfully, we're putting it to an end in the best way possible.

How?

With a fantastic vacation. We're headed to The Cook Islands at the end of September for 10 days of sun, snorkeling, and relaxation in paradise. We'll be splitting our time between the islands of Rarotonga and Aitutaki. I can hardly wait! Wow, do we ever need this.

Pictures of the Taste of the Valley 2006 event are up at the Kachina Vineyards website!

Check the News and Events page.

I've never posted on our personal site about a charity before, but this one got my attention for sure. The Dewey Donation System donates books to libraries in areas hit by disaster - fire, tsunami, hurricane, or bad political management.

I couldn't live without books, and I wouldn't want anyone else to have to!

Photos from Keaton's graduation are posted now. Enjoy!!

In what is probably record time for this site, I've posted pictures of Breanne and Ryan's wedding ceremony and reception. Enjoy!

Graduation pictures are coming up next...

Our travel day was just awful, but when we got to Monte Vista, Breanne and Ryan had this basket in our room to greet us.

The pad reads "Thank you so much for coming to spend our special day with us! Love, Breanne & Ryan." The pink-labeled water bottles and the pencils in the basket are personalized with their names and wedding date. Very cute!

We're here, and excited for the festivities!

Go Sharks! Watching playoff games on TV makes me miss our tickets. We might have to make the effort to get down to San Jose for a few games next season.

I finally added some new pictures of Alex. These are the most recent ones I have, which means her site is missing a whole bunch of pictures in between. I'll have to work on that.

As you can see, we're on the final countdown to the wedding / graduation weekend in CO. I can't believe it's already May. Happy early Cinco de Mayo.

On a random web weirdness note, if you haven't visited this website, you need to go. Right now. It's the funniest thing I've seen in ages, and probably a guaranteed weight loss plan if you tried to cook and eat that stuff. As apparently these people can attest to.