"Fave Five"

Hey All!! I know I have been terrible in the last few days.  I had a lot of action out here in O-town!  My pops and AWESOME cousin came to town on Thursday afternoon and we spent a lot of time gallivanting around the San Francisco area, which left no time to stay up on the ol' blog!  I will be better this week...promise!

It was so much fun having my pops and cousin here.  Their arrival and our fantastic weekend together is what triggered my "I feel blessed" moment of the weekend.  Fortunately John was able to join us for an hour here or a couple of hours there.  Having John, my pops, and cousin here made me realize how lucky I am to have such wonderful guys in my life.  I was surrounded by three absolutely unbelievable guys (all in their own way) all weekend, and I have two more (my two perfect brothers) back in New York.  How did I get so lucky?!  If only I could get all five of them together at one time.  Someday!  My "fave-five" boys.  I just love them, and I am incredibly blessed.

Just a quick synopsis of the weekend...Friday we did all of the touristy things in San Fran.  We went to the Presidio (where my pops was stationed 40 years ago) since he might not be back to San Fran for a long time.  We also went to Chrissy to get a good look at the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, Lombard Street and we went on a Cable Car ride.  So much fun!  And such a great way to see all the little gems that San Francisco has to offer.  Saturday we went to see THE ROCK (Alcatraz) and then had a very early dinner at an awesome restaurant that sits right on the Bay with a fantastic view of the San Fran skyline.  John had to leave early to go to his meetings, so we finished up dinner and then went home to watch "The Greatest Game Ever Played" on ESPN followed by Dark Knight on DVD (I highly recommend it for the .001% of you who haven't seen it).  Sunday was the game against the Patriots.  Of course

my handsome husband had super high hopes for beating them, but unfortunately that did not work out so well.  It was a yucky game with REALLY yucky weather.  My cousin, pops and I decided it was probably the WORST weather game (of any sport) that we had ever sat through...too bad it was the only one that my cousin got to see out here.  Maybe if we are still here next year (hopefully) we can get him out here for a REAL California weather football game.

Such a fantastic weekend here in San Fran!  We might have as few as 7 more of them here in No. Cal, so will definitely be doing our best to make them count!  That is the completely wonderful thing about moving around and never knowing where you are going next.  It totally makes you appreciate a) all the people who don't live in the same city/state as you and b) all of the wonderful things that each place has to offer and to not take any of your days there for granted.  

OH CHRISTMAS TREE!!

Oh my goodness!! What an awesome weekend!!  Luckily for me, the powers that be in Raiderland decided that John and the rest of the staff didn't need to be at work on Saturday OR Sunday!!  Yes, you read that right...TWO FULL DAYS OFF!!  As soon as we found out on Friday night, we immediately pulled out a pad and paper and wrote down all of the things that we wanted to accomplish in the 48 hour period.  We accomplished some of them...but most importantly...we had the most fun, relaxing weekend that you could ever ask for!!

We started off our fantastic weekend by waking up and making our usual Johnny and Beez hodgepodge breakfast.  Yogurt, granola bars, fruit leather, oatmeal, cereal and on and on and on.  Then we headed to our amazing health club down in Alameda.  That place is so amazing!!  It has a year round outdoor pool that is heated to about 82 degrees...PERRRFECT!  Anyway, we went for one of our infamous swim dates and then a quick trip to the grocery store before settling in to watch a few of John's old colleagues coach in the UCLA v. USC game. 

 After the game and a quick nap(as always) we headed down to this place by the stadium called Santa's Coliseum which is a big Christmas tree lot.  After walking around and searching through all of the little gems, we found our perfect little "first Christmas as a married couple" tree.  We figured since our house isn't exactly spacious, we would get a tree that fit accordingly.  It is probably about five and a half feet tall.  I was feeling ambitious, so after a typical Beez and John "breakfast for dinner" extravaganza we got out our brand new LED energy saving Christmas lights, strung them up, and put our ornaments on.  Of course we had to buy a new tree stand, all new ornaments and a new star since EVERYTHING Christmas was accidentally put in storage(story of my life right now).  

Okay, so I am ALLLLLL about saving energy and saving the earth and all that jazz...but these LED lights are HORRID!  I don't just mean a little bit bad....I mean A LOT bad.  Like, I had the whole tree strung, and ALL of the ornaments on.... John and I sat on the couch admiring the view of our first married couple tree...we both looked at each other and said, "Do those lights hurt your eyes?"  We figured we would try to tough it out because a) we were saving the earth and b) they were already ON the tree...but we just couldn't take it anymore.  We would both have migraines within the hour if left up...sooooo I cried a fake little tear and took the lights down.  Don't worry, we made it ALL better by popping my new fav (orville redenbacher's natural buttery salt and cracked pepper popcorn) and watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  A holiday classic!

The next day we went to Target, got NEW lights, which use 40% less energy(still feelin good about myself), a few more ornaments and MY NEW GPS!!! YESSSS!!! My hubby ROCKS!! I think I got lost in Oakland one too many times which caused him to get onboard the GPS train:-)  I LOVE it!!  I am so excited to go somewhere new:-)  We watched football for the rest of the day, ate lots of good snacks, and took naps on our fantastic couch.  Could you ask for a better weekend?! I was so grateful to have my hubby home for the weekend.  I absolutely CAN'T wait for the off season!!  

It's the most Wonderful Time of the Year

Okay, this one is going to be short and sweet.  I had a "simple pleasures" moment yesterday, which was also coincidentally my "I feel blessed moment."  John took off for San Diego yesterday.  As always, I drove down to the facility to send him off with a big ol' hug and kiss and then continued on to the local Safeway.  Today was different.  There are palm trees that line the entrance to the grocery store (which truthfully I hadn't ever really noticed before) that are the most PERFECT looking palm trees.  Today, they were decorated for Christmas.  I know it shouldn't take Christmas decorations to make me notice beautiful trees, so that taught me a little lesson.   I guess even though I generally take the time to smell/notice the flowers, I can't forget about trees.  Anyway, Christmas decoration generally just put a smile on me face but yesterday these trees really made me sit back and realize how blessed I am to live in such a beautiful place.  Enjoy!!

Go Red for Women!!

Hey All!! Sorry it has been a couple of days...Ooops!!  This past weekend flew by because the Raiders played at home, which means A LOT more time than normal for John and me to have some normal hangout time.  Saturday consisted of an early practice and then an afternoon of college football games.  John went for a bike ride (a BIGTIME rarity during the season) and I made a little thanksgiving treat for the folks at the office.  I highly recommend these little guys...they brought me so much joy to make and they brought the guys a little joy to eat:-)

Sunday-GAME DAY.  The Raiders unfortunately lost to the Chiefs (a game that they definitely could have won).  Poor special teams had a rough day after a fake field goal took a turn for the worse.  They are allowed a mistake every now and then after being the strong force of the team for the whole season.  I say well done special teams:-)

Yesterday was a fun Raider wives day that was the inspiration for the title of this post.  We all got together out at a vineyard in the east bay area called Livermore.  It was called Wente Vineyards, which happens to be the "oldest, continuously operated family owned winery" in the country.  We were taking part in an AWESOME campaign for the American Heart Association that launches every February.  I am sure you have all heard of it, but the basic idea is that women generally think of heart disease as being a "man's disease"...which is FALSE!!  Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in the United States, and the hope is that by making women aware of this fact, they will ask their doctors about the health of their heart and make changes in their lives by making better food choices and exercising regularly.  You ALL know that I am a big supporter of this kind of life...so do me a favor and tell every woman you know and love to make these changes in their lives.  

Okay, I will get off my soap box now:-)  Anyway, we all had our pictures taken wearing all black with a little splash of red in an accessory.  Our photos will be put in an area magazine to bring heart disease awareness to ladies in the area.  Raider Wives Go Red (or something of that nature) will be the title.  I will keep you posted when it hits the news stands:-)  Although we all know I am not a HUGE fan of having my picture taken, I am LOVING being part of awesome programs like this one that serve such a great purpose.  My "I feel blessed" moment of the day is definitely that I am able to be part of such great community service programs, and of course that I have a healthy little ticker that allows me to run, laugh, and live each and every day.  Spread the word, make healthy decisions and keep an eye on all of your little tickers that I love so much:-)

I'm Thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!  The holidays make it difficult to stay on top of this blog thing, but I am going to keep on keepin' up!!  Yesterday was, of course, Thanksgiving.  It was John and my first Thanksgiving as a married couple and it was great!  I started preparing all of the food that could be prepared early on Wednesday night and then got up early on  Thursday and did everything else.  I was in charge of the turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, cranberry jello mold, upside down pumpkin pie, chocolate muffins.  My friend Kiki (yes, we are both wearing argyle:-) )who joined me around mid afternoon made DELICIOUS food including mashed potatoes, salad, green beans, and artichoke dip.  We had quite the little spread!!  John was luckily able to get out of work on the early side and came home around 2:30 or so.  He was exhausted and no one wants a boy in the kitchen during Thanksgiving preparation, so we sent him to the couch to relax.  He DID snip green beans before drifting off to sleep:-)

Everything was just perfect and I was reminded of how thankful I am for John-my other half, the one who makes me whole, and the most perfect husband in the world as well as my wonderful friend who joined us.  I also thought about how thankful I was for my Mom and Dad, my loyal little sis Lucy, and two sweetheart brothers Danny and Matt,(who are all having Thanksgiving today and I am TOTALLY wishing I was there with them) all of my Aunts and Uncles on both sides, my two cousins on my Mom's side and, my cousin(Larry-who is more like another brother), and last but CERTAINLY not least Nana.  I am thankful for my new family-Mama and Papa Fass, John's three brothers JJ, Brian, and Mike, and his sis-Jana, her INCREDIBLE little boy(Colten), and her husband (Bmac).  I am thankful for all of his Aunts and Uncles, cousins and Granny and Gramps.  

I am thankful for all my friends who weren't able to join us yesterday.  I am thankful for those who are more family than just friends, for those who have welcomed me into their homes for days, weeks, or even months at a time,  those who were roommates and now long-lasting friends.  I am thankful for those who have been in my life since elementary school, and have found their way back into my life as one of my closest friends.  I am thankful for those friends who came into my life less than two years ago, but have already reserved a little place in my heart even all the way on the other side of the country.  I am thankful for those who just "get" me.  I am thankful for those who accept me.  I am thankful for those who make me laugh...constantly.  I am thankful for the one who has returned safely from Afghanistan and I am thankful for the one who is about to leave for Afghanistan.  You ALL know who you are:-)

I am thankful for my health and the health of all of my loved ones.  I am thankful for my loved ones who are no longer with us on earth-they are the ones who changed my life by teaching me how to live and appreciate each moment...I am thankful that I have such a phenomenal family and such fantastic friends.  I am just thankful that for whatever reason, God has blessed me with a completely wonderful life....despite my flaws, despite my mistakes, despite everything.  I am so incredibly thankful.

I encourage all of you to write down what you are thankful for.  It is one thing to sit around and ponder...but actually writing it...wow, it is powerful.  I love you ALL. 

Back from Denver!!

I just got back from Denver about 11 hours ago and it is great to be home...but WOW what a FANTASTIC long weekend!!  A little family time is all a person needs to be happy!  John's sister just had her first baby on September 3rd and we finally got to meet him this weekend!  Oh my gosh, he is just the most handsome, perfect little boy that I have ever seen!! He was born at about 4 and a half pounds and now he is up to about 11 pounds...so Mama and Grandma are doing and AWESOME job getting him to be big FASSEL strong:-)  

I spent most of Saturday cooking Thanksgiving dinner with Mama Fass.  We had a great time and ended up getting everything on the table in time to eat.  Of course, we had a large grace period because we weren't going to start eating before my sweet Johnny got out of his team meetings and got to the house, which wasn't until about 8:30 or so.  We finally all got our bellies fed and everyone seemed to have a really good time.  I know I had a blast at my first Fassel family Thanksgiving.  

By far, my favorite part of the day was watching John interact with his new little nephew.  This was the first time I have ever seen him with a baby and it literally brought tears to my eyes.  I, of course, always knew that he would be great with kids because he is such a sweet, caring and wonderful person, but I am happy to report that I can already say that when John and I decide to have a wee one, he/she will have a GREAT daddy.  

Sunday was, as always, GAME DAY!  We got a whole crew together to head over to the Raiders/Broncos game at Mile High Stadium!  John's brother was ALL OVER the tailgating set up.  He went to the grocery store the day before and planned an awesome little spread of tailgating spread!  There were about 7 or 8 of us soaking up the sun , filling our bellies and getting pumped in our Raider gear, which didn't make the Broncos fans too happy, but hey, you can't win 'em all.  We finally headed into the stadium at game time and of course took our place in the nose bleeds because that is where the home team puts the visiting team's fans.  Johnny could see us (barely) and that is all that matters.  For all of you that don't know the Broncos and the Raiders are MAJOR rivals so their games always make for a good time, but this game was BY FAR the BEST football game I have ever been to!  I had John's best friend, two brothers, sister, and brother-in-law to keep me company, which of course made it a BLAST, but it was so so fun being in someone else's stadium and completely dominating them!! WAY TO GO RAIDERS!!  The icing on the cake was definitely the fact that my husband's Special Teams crew were the momentum swingers when they ran back a punt for a touchdown.  Way to teach up those boys Johnny!! You make me so proud!!

I finished off the weekend with some quality Fassel girl time.  We hung out all day, ran errands, ate at Panera (of course), and gabbed and gabbed and gabbed.  I feel so incredibly lucky to have such wonderful people that I can now call family.  The Fassel family is my "I feel blessed" moment of the weekend.  Everyone always complains about how their in-laws are nuts or mean or something bad...mine are UNBELIEVABLE!  Every single one of them!  They are all so different from one another, but all absolutely wonderful human beings.  I don't know how I got to be so blessed to have the BEST husband in the universe AND the BEST "in-law" family in the world...but I am not complaining:-)  I finally got back to the Oakland Airport at about 10:3o and my handsome husband was waiting for me in baggage claim with a bouquet of beautiful yellow roses.  He never stops amazing me:-)

November 21, 2008

Day two and I am still feeling like writing.  Pretty good!!  Yesterday was a very interesting day weather wise.  I woke up at about 5:45am when my hubby left for work (a bad habit I have formed lately), and the sky was gray and the air was pretty chilly.  After puttering around the house for a little I eventually headed out over the hills to FINISH my Christmas shopping (so proud of myself).  At certain points on the drive it would rain and then 500 feet later it would be sunny.  I always like weather patterns like that.   It reminds you that in life no matter how yucky it is in that moment, bluer skies are not far away.  By the time I finished all of my errands and headed back home, the sky was completely clear and I was able to see yet another unbelievable sunset over the city of San Francisco and the Bay.   My faith has always been strong, but it is during times like that that I am reminded that God is smiling on us and has created these beautiful sights to remind us what he is capable of.  I wish I could capture the beauty of the sun sparkling on the water on camera, but it is almost as though it isn't meant to be seen by anyone other than those that are present to appreciate it in that moment.  All that means is that YOU need to get out here and visit to see it for yourself.  My wonderful husband got home a couple of hours later and we were actually able to have a nice Thursday night "date" on our active little street!  The reason why I put the word date in quotes is that he and I have a very different view of what a date than most others.  One of our favorite things to do is make breakfast for dinner, cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie, or a football game (depending on the season).  Last night, we actually left the house for our date, but don't worry, I wouldn't say we classed it up too much (just the way we like it).  We bundled up (because believe it or not it DOES get cold when the sun goes down in CA), went to our favorite local restaurant-its called Asqew (got it to go) and then sat right next to the Christmas Tree that they just put up on our street to eat.  Football season is difficult, and times like that one (where we actually sit up, and eat a meal together) are rare, but the times that we do have make it ALL worth while.  He is the most wonderful husband that anyone could ever want! Above is a little photo from last night in front of the Christmas tree.

Just a little background on what has been going on over the last week and a half or so...

I have been having so much fun!  Myself and a few of the other Raider coaches' wives took on the task of renovating this Crisis Center that is over on the other side of the Berkeley hills.  It is basically like a safe house that  welcomes at risk children that come from unstable home situations.  Kids can be checked into this Crisis Center and there is a fantastic staff that helps look after them until things settle down at their own homes.  There were three bedrooms that we worked on tirelessly for about a week and a half in order to get it all done before Thanksgiving.  We turned three fairly bare, not too exciting rooms into theme rooms that will hopefully brighten up the lives of those little kiddos.  Although we all worked on patching, cleaning and painting all the rooms as a large group, we took rooms to decorate as a small group.  There was a jungle room, a space room and seaside room.  Anyone who knows me AT ALL will know that I of course was ALL OVER the beach room.    We just finished up the project and I am eager to start a new one.  Here is a picture of myself and a few of the coaches' wives in the VERY beginning stages last week.

Of course I can't leave out the weekend of fun that I had with my dear friend who lives across the Bay in San Fran!!  With my husband being down in Miami for the game, we had a good girls weekend in the works for awhile.  She came over on Saturday and we just basically hung around, went to the pool down at my fantastic gym, then ate lunch down in the little seating area on my street.  The funniest part about lunch was that it was about 75 degrees and so both of us were properly dressed in shorts and tank tops.  As we sat there, we noticed the Christmas tree, and then the fact that we were eating lunch...outside...in November...next to a Christmas tree...while wearing tank tops, shorts and flip flops!! What's not to love about California!

As if that wasn't enough, before my wonderful husband left for Miami he was able to get my friend and me Carrie Underwood tickets for Saturday night!  So we of course went, danced and sang our little fannies off and had a BALL!!  Carrie Underwood is ADORABLE and totally brought the house down!! I highly recommend you see her if she ever comes to a city near you!!  We finished the weekend off, the way any Californian would...and should-by going to the beach.  There is this little inlet where the Bay meets the Pacific called China Beach.  It is completely protected from the wind and has a phenomenal view of the Golden Gate Bridge.  Everything about this past weekend was a little slice of heaven and I am so blessed to have such a wonderful friend (who lives so close) to adventure with me.

Beez? Blogging?

Well I can honestly say that I never thought that this day would come.  Me?!  Blogging?!  I never thought of myself as a joiner...but here I am, joining the blogging world.  The inspiration? There wasn't so much of an inspiration as there was a realization that it can be a convenience.  I recently met a fantastic person woman who is in a similar "coaches wife" boat, and she recommended blogging to stay connected to everyone that is scattered about the country in a variety of time zones.  So I write, basically to let you all in on the life of the Beez, and to welcome you to PLEASE comment or email after you read.  That will be my way of knowing that we are connecting:-)