The King and Queen of Halloween

We had so much fun last night at Alise (pictured with Heidi) and Brian's (pictured below Mark and MeLissa on the left) Halloween bash! You might remember that MeLissa met them while travelling to Las Vegas back in July. Their Halloween party is the highlight of Halloween for many - and for good reason!

Their house and backyard were decked out with spooky things to send shivers up your spine. They had tons of food and lots of libations that everyone enjoyed immensely! It was a great turn out with almost everyone in a well-thought out costume. We went as the Prom King and Queen which was really fun - any chance to wear a crown and carry around a dozen roses should be taken advantage of! :) For those of you wondering *where* MeLissa got that dress (she received a lot of inquiries on Saturday night), it was her Junior Prom dress and, incidentally, the evening gown she wore in the teen pageant she was in (yes, she subjected herself to such torture - once!)

With so many people in attendance, finding new friends was easy. Although we enjoyed many people's company, we really hit it off with Michelle and Jennifer pictured above (2nd photo from the top on right). Jennifer is a professional freelance photographer specializing in food, people and travel. Be sure to give her a call the next time you need a memory captured.

During the evening, there were two costume contests - one for the children and one for the adults. Everyone enjoyed seeing the children in their costumes and, of course, they all won a prize, but Willy Wonka (3rd photo from the top on the left) stole the show and took top honors.

In the adult contest which was judged by the children, Best costume went to these two lovely vampiresses pictured with Brian and the "guy with the pig nose (4th photo from top on the left)." "The Baby" (pictured below with his wife, the Bag Lady - left) and "The Universe" (4th photo from the top on the right) costume wearers took honors for the funniest and most original costumes, respectively. We heard that we were actually in the running for best costume, too...so we feel very honored about that.

After the costume contests, we all conversed and nibbled some more and then headed home with the knowledge that next year's party is only a year away!

Quilting, Church and Chiropractic

We've been a little busy these past couple of weeks. After returning from our adventure on the Ronald Reagan, Mark began his next quarter at school. It should be an interesting, but less challenging one than the last (according to Mark).

MeLissa has been occupied with her quilting class. She finished her very first block during class last week. It was a practice block and she is quite pleased with the results. She plans to make it into a pillow when the opportunity presents itself. Since then she has begun her first "real" block to be used in her sampler quilt project. We bought fabric for it a couple of weekends ago. MeLissa decided to take Mark's suggestion and picked out a bunch of cute Christmasy fabrics to make her first project extra special (because she adores Christmas as you all know!). This week she will finish her 9-patch identical to the "practice" quilt block (but Christmasy, of course!). She'll be moving onto making a Honey Bee block next...which, to be honest, looks a bit daunting, but she's sure she'll do just fine!

Mark's been keeping busy with school and weekend seminars. This coming weekend he will start his Diplomat program. This is an add-on certification (we know how much Mark likes to add those letters behind his name!) so that he can do chiropractic neurology. His decision to pursue this degree is a direct result of MeLissa's health issues last month where a blood vessel spasmed in her brain (she's fine now, but it was a bit scary in the beginning!). Her chiropractic neurologist has performed wonders and Mark wants to be able to help his patients just as much. We know he'll be awesome!

In other news, we're beginning the planning phase of a Christmas party we're throwing on December 3. It will be a fun night with food and good friends. Our biggest challenge right now is figuring out how many people we can invite before it become standing-room only! MeLissa has started making the invitations and the lucky attendees should be receiving them in early November. We'll provide updates as the plans progress....

Ahoy Mateys!

We weren't home from Canada long before we were again rushing out the door to catch a plane! This time, we were staying a little closer to home with a trip to San Diego, California, to participate in Family Day aboard the USS Ronald Reagan - the air craft carrier that MeLissa's brother Christopher currently serves on.

We arrived in San Diego Friday evening and were greeted by Uncle Max and Christopher who had come to pick us up. We all settled in to wait for our guest, Sterling, who would also be participating in the festivities. After waiting for quite some time, we decided to head back to the hotel since we knew that Sterling would be flying stand-by and might have missed the earlier flight. Once Sterling had joined us, we sat down for a lovely dinner and a lively conversation. And, then, it was off to bed!

On Saturday, we all woke up very early to ensure that we'd be on the base by 5:30 a.m. We made it on board and ventured to Chris's office so he could get some coffee to stay awake since he had just recently been switched from overnight security detail to his former missile systems position. While there, we checked out one of his RAM missile launchers and amused ourselves by conversing with the other sailors and their families.

Once everybody had checked in and Chris had reported that all personnel were present and accounted for, we ventured into other areas of the ship to see what we could see. We spent a good deal of the day wandering from one end of the ship to the other seeing all there was to see. We were amazed at the small amount of space the sailors had to sleep in...imagine a bookcase with a mattress on each shelf - that's pretty much how it looked! We also enjoyed seeing the Ronald Reagan room which had a history of his life laid out in pictures and video.

Our favorite moments of the day were seeing dolphins playing behind the ship, and then, thanks to Christopher being one of the few priviledged individuals who had access to the RAM missile launch area of the ship, being able to be outside when the ship was coming back into port. We were one of the few who were able to do this because the launch area had a spot that was concealed from arial views of the ship which was important because an effort to take a picture of the carrier with its crew manning the rails was in process so the rest of the family members on board had to go into the hangar bay.

When we returned to shore, with the help of some powerful tug boats, we all piled into cars and headed out. Uncle Max decided to call it a weekend and head home once we arrived. The rest of us took some time to rest (and pack in Sterling's case) and then went out for a quick dinner at Brian's Pub in downtown San Diego. It was a great dinner and we were able to eat and enjoy each other's company just in time to rush Sterling to the airport so he wouldn't miss his flight! Since we'd all been up since the crack of dawn, we all headed to bed after dropping him off!

Our last day in San Diego was primarily spent visiting MeLissa's friend Tammy from high school whose husband, Matt, is also assigned to the Ronald Reagan. We all enjoyed visiting with Tammy and Matt and watching the antics of their children Mason and Malea! Then, we rushed off to the airport and returned home so that poor Chris could get some much needed sleep!

Oh Canada!

This past week was fraught with adventures for us! And, they were the best kind because not only did we get to do fun things, we got to do them all with family! We kicked off our adventures on Friday afternoon with lunch at Mimi's Cafe (www.mimiscafe.com) with our friends Matthew and Beth who are on their way to a new adventure in New York. We’re thrilled that they’ll be able to enjoy each other’s company more (now that they won’t each be commuting an hour one way!), but we’re definitely sad to see them go because *we* won’t be able to enjoy their company as easily! Nevertheless we wish them well in their new venture and look forward to visiting New York!

After lunch on Friday, we returned home and packed for our flight the next day. We would be traveling to Detroit where we would stay one night and then venture over the border into Canada for a visit with Mark’s grandmother. When we arrived in Detroit, we made our way to the car rental agency where we got more than we bargained for! Since they were out of mid-sized vehicles, they upgraded us to a Chrysler 300 – a very nice luxury sedan with leather seats, satellite radio and such a smooth ride that when we returned home and drove our car for the first time in several days, MeLissa was wondering if there was something wrong with one of the tires since the ride was so bumpy!

Once we had our vehicle, we headed toward Mark’s Aunt Connie’s house where we would be staying the night. While there, we met Uncle Dickie and Dominick. We all headed out for a late dinner and then returned to the house where we enjoyed discussing a variety of topics with Aunt Connie. It was a great start to our vacation! The next morning, we enjoyed a yummy breakfast and then said our good-byes and headed up the road to Canada where we would visit with Uncle Timmy and Grammy!

Once we finally made it across the border into Windsor, Ontario,(we experienced some delays due to our confusion over road signs and such), we visited the visistor’s bureau to see what there was to do while we waited for Uncle Timmy and Grammy to arrive. When they did arrive, it was fun to see how surprised and excited Grammy was to see us since she hadn’t known we were coming to visit.

We all piled into our respective vehicles and headed to Kingsville, Ontario, where Grammy lives. We all chatted for a little once we arrived and then Mark and Uncle Timmy took a trip to visit the docks while Grammy and MeLissa relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company. It had been a few months since we'd been able to have a nice chat so we had a lot of things to talk about!

Later that day, we were able to see Aunt Inie and Aunt Faye. They were thrilled to see how tall and handsome Mark had grown to be. They hadn’t seen him for such a long time! And, they were also happy to meet MeLissa since they had only been able to see her in the wedding picture that they had received in their Christmas card! We all took a little jaunt out to grab some dinner at a restaurant in town and then, Mark, MeLissa, Aunt Inie and Aunt Faye traveled to Aunt Inie’s house where we could share our wedding video.

When we arrived at her house, Aunt Inie called Cory & Mary Ellen and Jodie & David (Mark’s cousins) to see if they could come for a visit with us. Everyone came over including Katie and Crissy, Jodie and David’s daughters. They were all very happy to see the wedding video…some were even close to tears! We enjoyed each others company for a good while and then we all returned home for a good night’s rest.

The next day, we traveled back to Windsor to visit the chiropractor and Devonshire mall for a bit of shopping. MeLissa was surprised and excited to learn that Northern Reflections, the retail store she had worked in during college, was still in existence (she had thought they had closed their doors years ago!). She learned that the store had pulled back its operations and was only found in Canada and a couple of US locations. She made good use of her find and walked out with a couple of new outfits to enhance her wardrobe. We also made a quick stop by Hooters to grab a hat for Uncle Max who we knew would appreciate it. While we were there, we paused to allow Mark the opportunity to pose with the Hooter's Hum-V which they had given away recently.

That night, after a trip to the grocery store, MeLissa made Grammy and Uncle Timmy dinner with help from Mark, of course! Everyone was delighted with the culinary offerings and enjoyed the opportunity to relax and enjoy each other’s company. Following dinner (and clean-up, of course), Mark, Uncle Tim and MeLissa watched “Be Cool” and then headed off to bed.

Tuesday would be our last full day in Ontario and we made good use of it visiting with family members. Aunt Inie and Aunt Faye were accompanied by Aunt Ann and her daughter, Mark’s cousin, Robbie. It was fun hearing stories they told about growing up and raising their families. Watching for squirrels was also amusing! We headed to King’s Landing for lunch, for which we were joined by another Aunt Ann – you can never have too many! After lunch, we said good bye to Aunt Ann and Robbie and hello to Mary Ellen who joined us for more story telling!

When it was time for everyone to head out, Mark, Uncle Timmy, Aunt Faye and MeLissa all piled into the car and headed to Jack Miner’s to see the geese and other birds that live and visit there. Jack Miner was the pioneered the tagging of waterfowl so that their migration could be tracked in 1909.

After having a good gander (ha ha!) at the geese, ducks and peafowl, we ventured to Leamington, home of the Heinz factory where Aunt Faye lives. After visiting for a while at her house, we returned to Grammy's where we decided to take a little walk. On our way, we caught site of this beautiful Blue Jay.

The next day, we packed up and headed back to Detroit to fly home. We were sad to leave Canada and all of our sweet relatives behind! We'll be visiting again soon we hope. Once we arrived in Detroit, we had a little extra time so we took the opportunity to eat lunch and to explore a few areas of Detroit in our vehicle. Then it was off to the airport and back to California for a couple of days....until we headed off for our next adventure.

Happy Birthday, Mark!!!!

Spread the news, Mark's last year as a "twenty-something" is at hand!!!

Our celebration began by watching an old episode of the Dukes of Hazzard which always makes Mark crack up. Once we were able to drag him away from the TV set, MeLissa and Rick took him to dinner at Ohana Grill for some Hawaiian food! Once Mark's tummy was happy, we returned home so he could open his presents and cards.

Mark's gifts, though not glamorous, were exactly what he was wishing for - some new jean shorts and some new pens, highlighters and notebooks for school. MeLissa picked up two cards (she couldn't choose between the two!) for him as well which he really liked. We've attached the funny card here for your enjoyment.

After slaving away at his board review class on Saturday, Mark returned home to find the products of MeLissa's attempts to make "allergy-free" cinnamon rolls and brownies as well as vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce so that Mark could have a yummy hot fudge birthday sundae! Everything turned out pretty well...all things considered. There's room for improvement in the cinnamon rolls (though Mark thinks they're great as-is) so she'll probably be trying those again soon! All in all, Mark was pleased with his birthday weekend, but MeLissa hopes that this year's celebration will pale in comparison to what she is dreaming up for next year!

Men in Kilts

This Saturday, MeLissa took a little trip to Scotland. Well, okay, she actually just went to the Scottish Games in Pleasanton, California, with Rob and Lisa. Mark, unfortunately was unable to join in on the fun due to his Chiropractic Board exam review course. Rick, a friend that is current staying with us went instead.

This event showcased Scottish games such as the caber toss (it's hard to describe, but it involves throwing a rather large pole - go check the website above for pictures) and the hammer toss. It was pretty amazing seeing how easy some of the athletes made the various tasks look like child's play.

In addition to the games, there was celtic dancing and music performances (a couple of which MeLissa shared with her Papa via cell phone), border collie competitions and many artisans with crafty things to buy. MeLissa especially liked the woven wheat decorations that she saw - so much so that she brought a couple pieces home!

As the day wound down, we all gathered in the grandstands to see the closing ceremonies. It was an awesome sight with several pipe bands joining together to play several well-known songs. It was quite a treat for the ears! If you're in the Bay Area during Labor Day weekend in the future and you enjoy all things Celtic, we suggest you check out this festival!

Wicked Fun!

This past week brought another bit of excitement to our world. We ventured to San Francisco to see a live performance of the musical Wicked. This musical tells the story of the witches of Oz and how they became who they were before Dorothy dropped in.

We highly recommend that you see this show if you have the opportunity! Though we haven't yet read it, we believe you should also check out the book upon which the musical is based because it really is a compelling story. If you'd like a taste of what the musical has to offer, please visit the show's website by clicking on the message title link above. There is a trailer on the home page that really give you a good glimpse of what goes on.

In our particular show, we enjoyed Carol Kane (go search for her, you'll recognize her we imagine) as Madame Morrible and David Garrison (you know him as Steve from "Married with Children"!) as the Wonderful Wizard. Katie Adams played Glinda the Good and Eden Espinosa was Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West). These two ladies did a fabulous job, too.

We hope you'll have a chance to enjoy this awesome show!

1 Year and Counting!

It's been a whole year - can you believe it?!? Neither can we...time flew by! We celebrated our first anniversary by taking a mini vacation to Half Moon Bay, Monterey and Carmel. We began our adventure by staying overnight in a charming little bed and breakfast - the Pacific Victorian Bed and Breakfast to be exact! This little hideaway is fit for a king or should we say The King. Our host, Jeff, was a talented Elvis impersonator after all!

Before settling in at the inn, we enjoyed a yummy meal at the Ono Grill, a Hawaiian restaurant we had discovered on a previous visit to Half Moon Bay. We completed our meal later that night with some yummy strawberry ice cream. This is actually significant because MeLissa hadn't been able to have one of her favorite foods (ice cream, that is!) since before the wedding due to dietary restrictions her doctor placed on her!

The next morning, after being serenaded by Elvis at breakfast, we headed down the coast to Monterey. We made a very relaxed journey and took several stops along the way...

First, we paused at this scenic spot (photo - right) to take advantage of a photo opportunity. Then, we stopped at some tide pools where we beheld some cute crabs and some pretty neat waves crashing into the rocks. Then it was on to Capitola where we stopped to wander around and where we enjoyed some yummy food at El Torro Bravo. Once we had our fill, we headed out for our next stop - Monterey!

We had a bit of a scare when we arrived in Monterey. There was a large gathering that resulted in most of the hotels having no vacancy. Luckily, we finally found a room at the Monterey Bay Inn that had a lovely view of Monterey's harbor. We checked in to our room and then went out to enjoy the town. We found some nifty thing and enjoyed dinner at Louie Linguine's. After dinner, we returned to our hotel for some R&R facilitated by a trip to the upper deck hot tub where we enjoyed each other's company and a view of Monterey at night.

Sunday was our first anniversary! We began our day with breakfast where Mark demonstrated his talent as a comic artist. We bought an Encyclopedia of Lighthouses to commemorate our first anniversary since we used lighthouses as our wedding reception theme. After acquiring this special item, we jumped in the car and headed for Carmel. We took some time to enjoy the beautiful beach there and even caught a glimpse at some squirrels who also were enjoying the beach. After strolling the beach, we stopped for lunch at a deli and then visited a unique art store called Sand Art Designs. The artists behind this business create dimorphic glass jewelry in addition to sand art pictures. Mark's anniversary gift to MeLissa was a heart pendant in lavender and magenta.

Once we were finished exploring the art store, we took a drive along the coast. This drive cemented our desire to return to Carmel for a longer visit when we have another opportunity. Once we had sufficiently explored the town in our car, we began the trek home.

We made a quick stop at the Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey to see what it had to offer. Once we were satisfied, we headed home via Highway One. On the way home, we caught a glimpse of a charming lighthouse that we plan to visit in the future. As always, when we arrived home, Pixie and Banshee were there to meet us! We gave them a little attention and then headed to bed so that we would be well rested for school and, in MeLissa's case, a first day at her new job.

Fortified Virtual Bowling in Yosemite

San Francisco was the place to be this past Saturday (July 23, 2005) . How do we know? Because we were trapped in a traffic jam on I-80 for quite some time with all the other people who wanted in the city. At least we had good company - our friends Rob and Lisa were along for the ride.

This was to be a dual adventure - MeLissa would be retrieving all but the bare essentials from her office in anticipation of her last day on Friday. Then, we planned to go do something - we weren't sure what, but we figured we would decide when the time came...and we did! Unfortunately, we forgot to grab our camera so we've scoured the web for a few pictures of the sites we've seen taken by others.

After grabbing MeLissa's two measly boxes, we all decided to visit Fort Point. On the way there, we enjoyed flying down Franklin street....a street we wouldn't suggest you ride your bike up! We also were able to see many sites of San Francisco, such as the Palace of Fine Arts on our way. You can see quite a few sites of San Francisco here.

We arrived at Ft. Point and were just in time to join a tour that told us all about what life on the fort was like. After visiting all the rooms in the fort and after MeLissa made excellent use of the fabulous acoustics of the fort by singing, opera style, everything she said to the others, we made our way to another "must-see" San Francisco attraction - Lombard street. This street is definitely the most winding road we've ever traveled on!

This short excursion was a perfect prelude to our next activity - virtual bowling at the Metreon! We had a blast trying to knock down pins in both Yosemite and the Roman Columns games. Lisa and MeLissa were the bowling queens, but we question whether luck had something to do with it since neither of us did well in both games!

After we returned to Hayward, we spent some time at Lisa and Rob's house playing with Leo, their black kitty, and watching a comedy video...that is until MeLissa, ever the morning person, dozed off. She woke up long enough to drive Mark and she home and then jumped into bed and continued her dreams.

Each Time I Leave - Chicago 7/17

On Sunday, we enjoyed one final lecture on artificial iris implants. This was a fascinating topic presented by Dr. Francis Price about technology that has emerged which will definitely make an impact in aniridics lives if approved by the FDA. The iris comes in brown, green or blue and has a stationary 4mm pupil all of which serve to provide better light filtering and focus in many cases and which, as an added benefit, also improve the cosmetic appearance of those who receive the transplant. We're hopeful that Mark can take advantage of this technology in the future!

If you would like to learn more about people who have had this procedure, please visit the following articles:

• www.nyee.edu/highlights-2003h.html
• http://pricevisiongroup.com/cruz.html
• http://pricevisiongroup.com/zorn.html

Once we finished packing our things, we passed the remainder of our time in Chicago visiting shops along the Magnificent Mile after enjoying tasty hamburgers at Mike Ditka's restaurant!Unfortunately, "Da Coach" wasn't in the house when we stopped by, but the food made up for it! One of our favorite shops was the Hershey Store. You can see some of what they have at. We enjoyed some yummy brownies for dessert here which had caramel kisses and junior mints in them! We also bought a yummy Hershey cookbook so that we can make some yummy brownies (and other treats) of our own at home!

All too soon, the time for fun was over and we jumped on the train to rush to the airport to make our flight home. We were soon home in California. Our bags didn't join us immediately, but, thankfully, they were delivered by the airline the next day!

Art and Da Cubs! - Chicago 7/16

Saturday's conference "menu" didn't really pertain to us so we took the opportunity to visit some of Chicago's sites. In the morning, we ventured through Millennium Park and watched a ton of people doing yoga. This led us to the Chicago Art Institute where we spent the next few hours looking at all sorts of things. Some of the most memorable were the Chicago Stock Exchange room and various paintings by Manet, Renoir, van Gogh, Cezanne and Monet. By far, the coolest thing we visited were the Thorn Rooms which are mini replicas of rooms from the 16th to 20th centuries. Any girl who dreamed of the "perfect" dollhouse as a child, would absolutely LOVE these rooms....and they're pretty neat from a guy's perspective, too. If you ever travel to Chicago, you must go see these!

Although we spent nearly 3 hours wandering around the museum, we missed a lot of the exhibits...including the American Gothic painting by Grant Wood which MeLissa didn't discover was in the museum until after they left - doh! So, we have yet another excuse to return to Chicago!.

After seeing what we could of the museum, it was time to hop the El Train and make our way to line anyhow because a friendly and helpful Chicagoan told us that the box office usually reopens a couple of minutes before the game to resell the players' tickets which won't be used for that game. Patience is a virtue and it definitely paid off when we got to the box office and were offered seats behind home plate in the shaded terrace area especially since the sun was in full force. Unfortunately, the Cubs lost to the Pirates that day, but we had a great time anyhow!

That night, we joined the other conference attendees for a banquet which featured a silent auction, dancing and lots of tasty food. The silent auction raised over $6000 to help discover new treatments for aniridia and to support the efforts of the USA Aniridia Network in educating the public about the condition. We enjoyed ourselves for a while and then returned to our room to begin the chore of packing for our trip home the next day!

And It Has All That Jazz! - Chicago 7/15

Friday was our busiest day at the conference. We started it off right with breakfast at the Cambridge Diner. The pancakes there are fabulous, the price was right and the service was friendly - which is probably why we went back on Saturday and Sunday morning, too!

We attended lectures on a variety of topics during the day which were all fascinating. We found the lectures on artificial cornea implants, stem cell implants, aniridia fibrosis syndrome and the possibility of regenerating the optic nerve fascinating.

On our lunch break, we visited the Cheesecake Factory at the base of the Hancock building for some tasty sandwiches. We finished our meal off with both dulce du leche and peanut butter cup cheesecake both of which were absolutely fabulous! We recommend them highly!

Our day ended on a "high note" with a visit to Tommy Gun's Garage - a real live speak easy from the era of Prohibition. We were greeted by "Gloves" the doorman and his machine gun. Once we gave the right password (we could tell youz but we'd have to kill ya), we were ushered in to our table. Before they went in, though, Gloves told MeLissa that she should get Mark liquored up so that he could take his place! Lucky for Mark, MeLissa is a little wary of guys who tote machine guns!

Once we were settled at our table, our waiter, Babyface, fetched our drinks and Vito (da Boss) ventured by to ensure that we were enjoying ourselves. When he learned that we lived in California, he took it upon himself to tell us to not go back but stay in Chicago - tempting....very tempting!

Gloves and Vito made a second stop by our table later when Mark was away. Vito told Gloves to stay with MeLissa - something Gloves was more than happy to do - and to let Mark know that he shouldn't leave such a beautiful woman alone if he knows what's good for him. MeLissa was, naturally, a pretty nice shade of scarlet by this time. Thankfully, Mark came back in one piece and without cement shoes!

After a hearty lasagna dinner, we sat back and enjoyed the show. There was a lot of singing and dancing by the gangsters and the "molls." Things got crazy at one point when the police raided the place and subjected several guests to sobriety tests despite the fact that we all were only participating in a church revival service. *wink, wink* He wouldn't buy it - especially when he noticed that the Bible in use was "The Bartender's Bible" - oops. Eventually, though, he got the right motivation (some greenbacks and a bottle of Irish Whiskey) and he went his merry way. At the end of the show, though, he reappeared with a completely different demeanor - he was downright drunk...and quite happy about it, too!