BenandChara

4th of July with friends downtown

2011-07-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

We headed to downtown San Diego to spend the 4th of July with friends

Joe and Sophie look like gangsters who are about to cap someone

Stacey by the pool

me, chillin with drink in hand

and chillin with carson

Here is where I need to Photoshop Brandon in

hanging in the hotel

the crew in the elevator

and of course

made an awesome crunchy chicken salad

made carson do pushups

which then turned into a pushup contest

another one to Photoshop Brandon into

the girls hanging out

Riley giving the universal stop-taking-pictures-of-me signal

the whole gang

the girls

the cute family

and the fireworks

Family day

2011-04-21T07:21:00.000-07:00

Just some fun pics from our last family day

Breakfast at Hash House A Go Go

2010-10-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

Epic Camping Trip ver 3.0

2010-08-20T09:59:00.000-07:00

Every year all my Washington and Oregon friends head south, and all of my California friends head north and we meet somewhere in the middle and have an epic camping trip.

This year we went to Jedediah Smith state park in the Redwoods up in northern California.

Here are some pictures

Chara is certified!

2010-08-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

no, not crazy

Chara is a certified trauma nurse!!

She is super smart and passed the really really hard test on the first try.

Congratulate her next time you see her, and hopefully its on in the ER

Ben

Backpacking to the Devil's Punchbowl

2010-07-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

Now that summer is here (even though we are still in full June gloom mode) I hope you will take the opportunity to get outside and have an adventure.

We threw some gear in our packs, called some friends and went out on a last minute backpacking adventure to Cedar Creek Falls and the Devil's Punchbowl just outside of Julian.

The hike in was easy as it was all downhill. We got a little lost and took a couple slightly dangerous shortcuts but thats all part of the fun.

We camped out by the creek and gazed at the stars that night.

The next day we hiked down to the bottom of the falls and swam in the punchbowl. The water felt so good and the rope swing was a blast.

The hike home was some work. It was all uphill and in the heat of the afternoon. We brought lots of water and took some breaks to let the breeze cool us off.

We stopped just outside of Julian to get some amazing sandwiches and found a fudge place that sold jalapeno fudge which was ridiculously good so we bought some.

Once we got home, showered and unpacked we were exhausted. We had plans to go visit family up in LA but that turned into napping on the couch with our puppies.

We had a blast and I hope you take some time to have a last minute adventure this summer. Just throw some food and water in a bag and go for a hike. Get outside and enjoy the beauty.

Ben..

See all the photos from the hike

spring is coming...

2010-05-10T23:06:00.000-07:00

The weather hasn't fully caught up yet, but spring is coming.
My garden has grown like crazy!
I finally posted some pics of the garden project at my new site http://www.trulysimple.com/

Cowboy Monty

2010-05-03T14:24:00.000-07:00

no we didn't buy the hat.

A visit with Scotty

2010-04-18T08:46:00.000-07:00

Our friend Scotty is moving down to SoCal with us and he came down to visit us and to interview at the college near us. We had a great visit

Monty Likes Scotty

Went to Moonlight beach for some fun and smores

throwing the ball around

nice sunset

hanging around the campfire

3 pretty girls

Big Family Easter

2010-04-10T13:28:00.000-07:00

naptime

2010-04-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

Meet Monty

2010-04-01T15:10:00.000-07:00

This is our new dog Monty.

He is terribly ferocious

He likes leafs

and he's awfully cute

Meet our new dog Monty.

2010-03-31T12:37:00.000-07:00

Sledding with the family on Valentines Day

2010-02-18T22:18:00.000-08:00

We all went up to the mountains to go sledding on Valentines day.

6 kids + 8 adults + $2 inner tubes = the most fun we have ever had.

These are the most fun pictures you'll ever see.

Chara took all of these photos and they are all great. The rest of the pictures are on facebook.

11 years ago today

2010-01-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

We were married.

these are not the droids you are looking for

2010-01-08T22:57:00.001-08:00

Some good simple food rules

2010-01-05T12:07:00.000-08:00

saw this and really liked it

When it comes to our diet, we often get advice to “eat healthier” or to “eat more fresh foods and less junk.” But those recommendations are too fuzzy to be effective. For people to change, they’ve got to know exactly what’s expected of them.

Enter Michael Pollan, whose Food Rules are clear and pragmatic:

#11 Avoid foods you see advertised on television.

#36 Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.

#58 Do all your eating at a table.

For more rules and Pollan’s explanations for each one, check out this article.

If you are trying to change behavior at home or at work — even if the change has nothing to do with nutrition — you’d do well to use these rules as a template.

Think i'll try to incorporate some of them into this next years resolutions of eating healthy

Ben...

Vegas baby

2009-12-13T22:15:00.000-08:00

Vegas was great. The Muse concert was amazing. Chara and i both getting sick was unplanned for and not all that appreciated. But we had a good time and are happy to be home

Christmas Desserts

2009-12-07T22:38:00.000-08:00

Despite cutting my thumb with our new knives that are WAY too sharp, i still made some awesome desserts

Chocolate Eclair Dessert
Eclair Dessert recipe:

Ingredients

3 individual packages graham crackers
2 (3 ounce) packages instant french vanilla pudding mix
3 cups milk
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (16 ounce) package prepared chocolate fudge frosting

Directions

Line the bottom of a 9x13-inch pan with graham crackers. In a large bowl, combine pudding mix and milk. Stir well. Stir in whipped topping to pudding mixture. Spread mixture over graham cracker layer. Top with another layer of graham crackers (you can frost these too) and remaining pudding. Top all with a final layer of graham crackers and frost with chocolate frosting. Refrigerate until serving.

Apple Crumble Pie

This was just some apple crumble mix thing i bought at the store and added butter to. no recipe.

December Nights

2009-12-05T23:02:00.001-08:00

December Nights in Balboa Park was awesome. We had a great time with friends, had some great food and just had a great time.

More Pumpkins

2009-11-03T00:00:00.001-08:00

Pumpkin Carving party

2009-10-30T09:18:00.001-07:00

The Nail and Sail

2009-10-05T19:41:00.001-07:00

OK here's the gist. You get 2 hours, a limited ammount of materials (wood, nails, caulk), you bring your own tools, and you build a boat, and then decorate it, and then sail it against the others

this was our first year of entering the Nail and Sail which was apart of Oceanside's Harbor days and it was a blast. We had so much fun...despite the outcome of the boat.

The 3 man build team consisted of myself, Joe and Kevyn

I know how to work a caulking gun

Joe rocking some lumberour boat coming together

Kevyn was the man with the woodworking

and this is what we made...

The team by our creation
All you need is love people...

And here was our epic sailing adventure caught on video:

And then our boat was in the dumpster...

next year we will win it all..

I love this...

2009-09-29T11:27:00.001-07:00

Epic camping trip 2009

2009-09-13T15:01:00.000-07:00

A little late in putting these up. so many good pictures from the trip.

We are home now from our epic camping trip of 2009. We went back up to Lake of the Woods OR and camped out there for about a week with all of our friends. Some came up from San Diego with us, some from OR and some from WA drove down. We had an amazing time hanging out with friends and enjoying some great weather and beautiful scenery.

Here I am hanging out in a new hammock i bought. Carson and Madison were helping me test it out.

Wrestling in the hammock did some fun things with static electricity.
Beautiful sunset on the lake our first day there. We had great weather and no rain.
Scotty and Manessa looking out over the lake.
Joe and Sophie Helen by the lake
All the little kids caught frogs
Chara with Carson
Joe rented a pontoon boat and we toured around the lake
Chara and Riley looking so cute
everyone on the boat having fun
All the kids had a great time
Stacey had to do a bit of work so she had her phone out a lot.
the kids loving the water. Actually it wasn't horribly cold.
see! not too cold. we all went swimming
we even bathed in the lake as there were no showers, much to Charas shegrin and desparate attempts to find one.
Stacey jumping in.
Stacey and Madison
the gang looking good
and the whole swimming gang
Then came the pie eating contest. Staceys aunt Sherie brought us up some amazing food and a couple of pies
the kids dug right in
even Riley
Then it was the boys turn...
we showed the kids how to do it
yummmmm
Joe was to not be outdone
i think James won though...
Staceys mom attacked Stacey with a piece of pie
Chara was not happy about the bug situation. There were no mosquitos thank goodness, but the gnats were not pleasant around dinner time. Here she is keeping them out of her cup
cute picture of Jerry and James around the campfire
and just a fun picture of James
Me telling stories around the fire
Chara and Chelsea by the fire
And the big group picture
the big group silly picture
the big group serious picture
Family picture - Stacey, Carson and Madison
Family picture - Scotty, Manessa, Marissa, and Hallie
Kids picture - Jonathan, Marissa, Cameron, Carson, Madison and Hallie
Family picture - Brandon, Chelsea, Jonathan and Cameron
Family picture - Joe, Sophie-Helen and Riley
Family picture - James and Jerry
Family picture - Ben and Chara
Family picture - Ben and Chara the rock star
Riley and Chara
James and Carson
and some wood chopping action
so strong
even stronger
teaching the boys
super tough
he's going to hurt himself
And our last day at the lake we had some beautiful mist and a nice cool 41 degree weather when we left.
and yes we went for a dip in the lake in the 41 degree weather before we left because we are hard core like that.
Awesome trip. Long drive home. Can't wait til next year

Outsidelands Music Festival

2009-09-13T14:57:00.001-07:00

Our epic summer adventure and roadtrip began with a stop up in San Francisco to see the Outsidelands Music Festival. This was a 3 day music festival held at Golden Gate park. There were 6+ stages and tons of bands to be seen over 3 days. We saw a lot of great bands and walked our little feet off all over the park.

Lenka was one of our favorites that we saw.
Cage the Elephant was great.
Dave Matthews played on Saturday and they were awesome to see again.
The weather was great the first 2 days and got quite chilly on the 3rd day.
we are just the cutest.

Last chance to vote is today

2009-09-07T17:50:00.000-07:00

The voting is closing today so if you haven't please vote for my
panels for the next SXSW.

http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/index/4/q:ben+cote

Thanks
-ben

Awesome camping trip

2009-09-07T16:31:00.000-07:00

We will post more pics later but we have had an awesome camping trip
up in Lake of the Woods OR. We are heading home now and yes it's a
very long drive.

Here is a beautiful sunset on the lake

Epic summer road trip - day one

2009-08-28T09:47:00.001-07:00

Ok so we totally ran out of gas on the first day of our roadtrip. We
drove up from san Diego to san Francisco yesterday on day one of our
trip. Our car, a prius no less, has some issues with the gas tank. It
beeps to tell me to get gas and the. Proceeds to run out of gas 5
miles later. It should beep when I have 2 gallons left and thus
aproximately 90 more miles of driving, but not so much.

As luck would have it we stopped on the 101 right by a farm that has
thier own gas pump on the farm. So after some nice farm folk and a
gallon of gas that got us back on the road and down to the next gas
station which was only 2 more miles down the road.

After that we made it into san fran with no problems and we settled
into an awesome house we are renting. We are staying right by golden
gate park which is where the Outsidelands festival is taking place and
that's why we are here.

Looking forward to seeing some great bands this weekend

Ben

night out..

2009-08-22T17:57:00.001-07:00

so thursday ben and i headed out to the greenday concert down in SD.. - now i never would have called myself a 'huge' greenday fan.. but - after they ran around on stage for 2+ hours and put on the most amazing energetic show i have ever seen - i became more then a fan.. - in fact - ben had to stop me from quitting my job, dropping everything, and following greenday on tour..
they were pretty entertaining and put on one hell of a show..

the begnining

billie joe.. my new hero..

the crowd loving it..

pyrotechnics..

Vote for me!

2009-08-19T16:27:00.001-07:00

Time to vote my friends

I have two ideas submitted for the next SXSW conference and I need your help in voting for them so they will get added as part of the schedule.

As you may or may not know, I am working for a great new company called OneRecovery and we are pushing the boundries of online social networks and issues of recovery and healthcare. We are learning a ton during this process and meeting a world of amazing people and we'd like to share that information with others that may be interested.

In that effort I have put together 2 panels for the next SXSW (South by Southwest) interactive festival. This is an amazing event where very smart people of all areas come together to talk technology and its impact on all of us.

Please take a minute to vote for my panel ideas by giving them the ole thumbs up. It only takes a minute to sign up to vote. And if you have some nice feedback for the comments that would be great too.

thank you

Ben

a weekend getaway

2009-08-13T19:14:00.001-07:00

last weekend me and some ladies from work decided to get away for a girl weekend.. we headed up to the american river for some good old river rafting.. we rafted with a company called whitewater excitement. This company provided us a beautiful campsite for three days, two days of serious rafting, and 5 excellent meals. we rafted all day monday and tuesday, and then headed home tuesday afternoon..

sunday afternoon we road tripped it up..
here are the ladies unloading the van

marek and april 'helping' set up the campsite

we had a beautiful campsite called 'the meadow'

the view from our campsite

april enjoying some smores

Our second day started with the 'tunnel chute' - which is a tunnel that 'was blasted through by gold miners in the 1800s in order to divert the flow of the river away from the famous Horseshoe Bend. The Bend forces the river to be squeezed into a 100 ft long, 12-foot wide cascading spillway. The river then flows underground through a navigable tunnel.'
This rapid was the most fun.. the command our guide gave us was pretty much 'sit down and hold on'..
tunnel chute: the set up

tunnel cute: submerged

tunnel chute: the recovery

tunnel chute: success

this rafting was a blast.. we pretty much rafted only class III or class IV rapids, and we did it successfully.. we managed to never flip our boat. We did accidentally lose one of our rafters.. lizard was trying to demonstrate how slippery the boat was and managed to slip right off the front of our boat.. no worries - working as a team - we quickly had the lizard queen back in our boat where she belonged.. - other then that we stayed safe and sound, and had the time of our lives.. -
we had so much fun we are planning another trip as soon as possible.. - only this time i might might let ben come along.. after seeing the pictures - ben was not thrilled at being left at home all alone..
either way - we had the best time.. and looking forward to our next adventure..

Comic Con 2009... where the nerds gather

2009-07-27T18:39:00.000-07:00

Comic Con blew through San Diego this past week with throngs of nerds and geeks in all their costumed and smelly goodness. Chara headed down to check it out.

and for the record, Chara wanted to go, not me.
Captain Morgan and...??
couple of star wars peeps
two little costumed brothers holding hands... super cute
casual dude with a huge sword...
more costumed folks being interviewed
and a wonder woman
not sure...
again.. no idea..
some batman characters with great costumes
a small GI Joe skirmish
lots of nerds, lots of geeks, lots of fun costumes.... its a lot to take in

camping with the kids.. and the dirt.. and the bugs..

2009-06-28T15:18:00.000-07:00

this weekend we packed up our camping gear and headed out to palomar mountain for a weekend of camp fires, dirt, rocks, smores, and bugs.. lots of bugs.. we met up with stacey and her kiddos.. and as a bonus my sister and her fam joined us.. this was my sisters kids first real venture into camping.. and it was a success... - isaiah was right in his element - and by the second day of camping was head to toe dirt - and loving it.. thank goodness he wasn't driving back in my car..

carson teaching isaiah how to put up a tent..

jesse and the gang learing about the dangers of mountain lions.. - deborah was not thrilled about the 'big cats'...

carson and isaiah hiking

more hiking through nature.. there was poison oak - so we kept to the trail and told the kids to avoid touching anything green..

the kids in a cracker eating contest..

the kids learning about nature

a smaller version of rock climing..

the boys showing off thier muscles

now the girls turn..

the gang at the end.. packed and ready to go home and shower..

Pismo Beach Camping trip

2009-06-11T19:19:00.000-07:00

We made our way up the coast to Pismo Beach for a quick weekend camping trip with Stacey and her family. It was a nice drive and a great quickie camping trip.

Setting up the tentCarson climbing on a tree
Chara unpacking
Chara in our tent
Helping setting up the big family tent
me in my cowboy hat
Carson is the most photogenic kid ever!
Playing in the sand with Carson
Madison building sand castles
whales playing just offshore
beautiful sunset
great pick of Chara and the kids
again gorgeous sunset
even more beautiful
seriously how cute is that kid?
the cutest family ever
and the cutest couple ever
after the camping we hit up a farmers market in Pismo Beach. Chara got a massage while i took some pictures
some pictures...

It was a great weekend and we wish we had more time there. We'll definitely be back

Fleetwood Mac Concert in LA

2009-06-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago we all when up to LA to see Fleetwood Mac at the Staples Center. We had some great seats inside a private box thanks to Jesse.

Here is the whole fam outside Reanna and Jesses house in LA

All the girls with Steve

and the two daughters with their Dad

and their crazy dog Booby

I couldn't bring in the big camera so not a lot of pics from the show, but here is one from my phone.

They played all their songs and everyone had a great time

MIA

2009-06-07T18:31:00.000-07:00

we have had a very busy two weeks - which is why we have been absent from the blog - sorry bout that..
the last two weeks have included:
work, a girl trip to palm springs, some work, an amazing fleetwood mac concert, more work, and a camping trip to pismo beach... we just got back - and i am showered, and ready to relax.. pictures to come..

weekend getaway

2009-05-18T13:52:00.000-07:00

last week ben and i heard that jason mraz and dave matthews were going to be playing at the MGM in vegas.. him and i both had the weekend off - so ben and i booked a last minute hotel, got us some tickets.. and road tripped it out to vegas for an amazing show..
hanging at the concert

you can't tell - but that's my boyfriend jason mraz

Disneyland with the Sister and family

2009-05-16T13:27:00.001-07:00

My Sister Jeanne and her family came down to California for a little vacation and to use their Disneyland passes before they expire.

we went up and visited with them for a day and did Disneyland and all that

Here is Chara and Maddie shooting some aliens on Buzz Lightyear
And here is the girls on Jeanne's new favorite ride California Screaming

we had a good time visiting with them and are very happy that we don't have to do the 18 hour drive back up to WA

and when i look at you i throw up..

2009-05-07T22:14:00.000-07:00

this week i am so over vomit.. two nights ago - everyone of my patients vomited - including two different patients who had both ingested a liter of fluid that was a mix of cranberry juice, water, sprite, and contrast - (this mix is often used when people are getting abdominal cat scans).... there was pink vomit everywhere.. then last night i had a pt who had been drinking some cocktails, fell down and hit her head, and there was blood everywhere..
so - after three days of work - after all the pink vomit, and all the blood - i am so looking forward to the next three days off..

this will make you smile

2009-04-28T21:59:00.000-07:00

watch the whole thing. Its worth it.

Playing For Change | Song Around The World "Stand By Me" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

Easter. 2009 edition

2009-04-17T08:02:00.001-07:00

Easter 2009 in pictures

The egg dying begins

Chara's beautiful purple egg

some of the eggs in processDeborah and Steve working together

More helpingthe making of

Isaiah and Reanna

The kids getting ready for the egg hunt

And they are loose and on the hunt!

As fast as their legs can take them

very exciting

Kelly Ann is kicking ass

The girls are so excited with their finds

Kids unloading the eggs to find the goodies inside

Deborahs all about the cash

Noah is happy with his cupcake

Cutest couple ever award

They are pretty cute too

And i am an awesome pool player. look a that technique!

better late than never...

2009-04-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

this year - because of our busy schedules - my girls and i were a little late getting together for our secret santa gift exchange... but we finally found time and had christmas in march..
the late christmas did not disappoint, and we spent most the night laughing and exchanging stories about what it's like to be a real nurse.. - and i did realized the one bad thing about not being in school is that i don't get to spend as much time with my ladies.. i sure miss them..

melody celebrating her culture

Momma jax with her flower power

the lizard queen sporting a light up crown

the gang

Keaton wants a dog beach

2009-03-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

We love taking keaton to the beach and she loves to swim, but the only dog beach around us is 20+ miles away in Del Mar. So we are working to get a dog beach up in Oceanside.

http://www.friendsofoceansidedogbeach.org/ set up a walk today to get dog owners and lovers down to the proposed site and walk along the area to raise awareness. Keaton had a ball with all the other dogs. She got quite tired on the walk and we stopped here at the harbor

Lots of dogs turned out. Big and small. Here are the small ones

Here is the BIG ones. this guys is horse!

New addition

2009-03-27T23:36:00.000-07:00

My pretty cousin gave birth to Maverick Bradford Hawes, born March 20th at 9:12am.

9 lbs 21 1/4 inches long

Congrats to Joe and Kristen, he is beautiful.

you don't hate children right?

2009-03-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

so here's the deal. kids are cute. we all love them...more or less.

But we can all agree that they shouldn't go hungry....ever.

so click this linkand go to http://www.pledgetoendhunger.com/

all you have to do is sign up with an email and then Tyson will send 35lbs of food. And it works. They've already sent trucks of food to local shelters and they want to send more.

so do it. now. go to http://www.pledgetoendhunger.com/ put in your email and tell someone else about it. thats it. do it now.

working girl

2009-03-12T08:51:00.000-07:00

last night was a full moon - and not only does that mean the crazies come out to the ER - but apparently so do the sickos.. and by sickos i mean really sick patients.. last night at 11pm we were simultaneously doing CPR on two patients while another one of our patients went into labor - last night was busy - i was exhausted and so over it by 7am.. thank god i don't have to go back tonight.. i think i have earned my three days off..

daylight savings bonus

2009-03-08T08:22:00.000-07:00

i worked last night - and thanks to the miracle of daylight savings - at 2am - it all of a sudden became 3am... thanks to daylight savings time - we sprung forward - and i got to leave work an hour early - and now i am showered, in bed, and ready for a nap..

Fun Family Day in LA

2009-03-01T21:22:00.000-08:00

Headed up to LA today for some family fun time. We all went hiking up in Runyon canyon in the morning.

It was a beautiful day. Very warm out. We should have not forgotten our water in the car.

Thomas was looking as cool as ever.

the dogs had a great time too. Here is Lex cooling off with some water.

disney day

2009-02-27T14:25:00.000-08:00

ben and i took advantage of some time off - and spent the day at disneyland.. i was having a fun time - but aparently mister ben was not.

Don't call us...

2009-02-27T14:03:00.000-08:00

We finally got tired of only answering our home phone to say, "hi please take us off your call list and stop calling us. thanks"

So we just canceled our home phone. If you are trying to reach us please use our cell phones, skype, twitter, email, etc. That should be enough ways to get a hold of us.

A day in the life...of our dog Keaton

2009-02-22T13:55:00.000-08:00

Dance party (in the shower)

2009-02-10T14:28:00.000-08:00

the kids came over and really liked our new shower with speakers in it. so they had a dance party in the shower.

fun in the sun

2009-01-31T20:26:00.000-08:00

friday ben took me on a hike in torrey pines.. it's a great hike that has an awesome view of the ocean..

the whole time i felt like i was in an episode of lost.. i kept look around to see if i could find 'the others'

happy hikers

and for the perfect end to a perfect day - my friend danni - who is an amazing massage therapist- came over to give me the most wonderful hour and a half hot stone massage.. i could not have been happier or more relaxed..

taking advantage

2009-01-31T20:01:00.000-08:00

sometimes ben and i forget how lucky we are to live in southern california.. today was a gorgeous warm day -
so we took advantage and met up with our friend stacey and her fam - and we all headed down to moonlight beach and had us some beach fun, and ended up with with great food around a bonfire..

carson running from the waves..

ben and carson making a sand castle

ben, maddison, and carson - ben was the king of making smores tonight..

at night it got a little chilly - so we snuggled up by the fire..

nice sunset

2009-01-29T18:53:00.000-08:00

click on the picture to see it full screen and see the sail boat in the sunset.

we are just cute...

2009-01-27T19:56:00.000-08:00

This picture requires no explanation.

It is done...

2009-01-20T14:05:00.000-08:00

The major remodel of 2008 (and a little of 2009) is done...mostly

Still have to put up blinds, but thats about it. The shower door was installed yesterday and now we can use our awesome shower. The room looks great. We are very happy with it. It was A LOT of work, but it came out really nice.

Here are some more pics

More fun with Brandon and Chelsea

2009-01-16T10:32:00.000-08:00

i think i'm still recovering from our adventures with Brandon and Chelsea. But it was so much fun. Here is the gang at Disneyland outside of our new favorite ride "Midway Mania" and if Brandon and Chelseas kids are reading this, No your parents did not go to Disneyland without you and they love you very much.

we are so cute. and Chara is pretty too.

Brandon and Ben working on a turkey leg

and before all of that we hit up our friend Mike's birthday poker party where Chelsea kicked ass and took 4th place out of 47 people. Here she is at the final table going all with aces and getting beat by the guy next to her with an off suite jack eight. Yeah he took out the next guy with an off-suite ten four. He was just lucky.

10 happy years

2009-01-10T09:23:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was our 10 year anniversary. Yep. 10 years. can you believe it? We are going on a cruise for our anniversary but are waiting for it to be a little warmer. So for a quick getaway we headed up to Solvang for a little visit and some wine tasting.
Our friends Brandon and Chelsea decided to come down for last minute visit and crash our anniversary. They just keep inviting themselves along places and we can't stop them. (actually we love them) Here they are tasting some wine.
and some more.
and then we hit the "As Seen On TV" store and bought some crap
and we ran into a HUGE dog. 170 pounds and growing.
walking down Solvang
then we hit Santa Barbara on the way home
a bird
a bigger bird
and then i took my wife out to a nice romantic dinner at In and Out. Yep i'm a classy guy. we took Flat Stanley with us.
10 happy years. Here is to 10 more.

lost and found..

2009-01-03T19:38:00.001-08:00

ben and i adopted keaton about 10 years ago from a humane society - and we were never really sure what kind of dog she was.. after years of having her we guessed we had a rodhesian ridgeback - but were never really sure.. a couple weeks ago i was walking around a flee market in la - when i saw someone walking a dog that looked excatly like my dog.. so i had to ask - what kind of dog it was..turns out these people had what they called a 'boerboel'

when researching boerboels - i learned that this breed is a mix of Rhodesian ridgeback, bull dog, and bull mastiff - which all look a little like my puppy - and all the research said that boerboels are very good watch dogs, loyal, and loved children - which are all very true of my puppy - but - when i read that these dogs 'require an extraordinary amount of human attention and companionship' - i knew i had found my dog..

yep. Thats our 100 pound lap dog that must be sitting on your lap at all times

New Years Eve 2008

2009-01-01T10:58:00.001-08:00

Twas the party of the year. Or at least the end of the year. Poor Chara had to work that day so we did not get to the party until very late, but there were still many good times to be had.

Here is Chara, Rhianon and LoanJosh, our gracious host, and Chara
Earnest, Daniel and Chara
Rhinanon with all her drinks
a nice kiss for me
Earnest and his milk dance
Josh and i dueling it out with our cameras. Mine survived the night. His...not so much.
Earnest and Chara
late in the evening everyone crashing on the couch
it was a great party. we are all really tired today.

Happy new year everyone!

Christmas Eve with the fam

2008-12-24T21:20:00.000-08:00

Drove up to Trevor and Loans for a quick family get together for Christmas eve. We got the kids some great bow and arrow sets.

Here are all the girls

and the whole family picture

and all of these pictures were taken with Chara's new SLR camera. Its quite nice. expect some awesome pictures from us now. And Chara got me a new iPhone. Its very fun as well.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Company Holiday Party

2008-12-21T07:38:00.000-08:00

Yes its true i don't work for a company now, but we have a tradition that the "old school" DivX employees get together for our traditional old school party like we did 8 years ago. This time it was back on the same beach where it was held 8 years ago. Beautiful day in December and just a bit cold.

Here is the gang that could make it. A lot more kids now.

and check out that sunset. not a bad drop for a fire and some smores.

december nights

2008-12-06T13:44:00.000-08:00

one of my favorite things about christmas is 'december nights'... every year ben and i head to balboa park, where we enjoy the museums, some international food, some christmas decorations, and some hot apple cider.. this year trevor and loan came down to join us - and we met up with our pal stacey and her cute kiddos..

loan, trevor, and ben all bundled up and ready for fun..

loan enjoying science at the science center..

our christmas card this year - complete with borrowed kids

kettle corn - yumm...

This just makes me wish i had a little french child

2008-12-04T05:52:00.000-08:00

cutest thing ever. can't stop watching it.

Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo.

I would just have them tell me stories all day

from: http://thesisterproject.com/smith/si-jetais-la-cigogne-if-i-were-the-stork/

Bedroom/Bathroom remodel update and the bright red shower from hell

2008-12-04T04:51:00.001-08:00

Project update: Still kicking ass and almost done.

Here is Keaton helping by laying on the piece of drywall i laid down to cut. She is feeling a bit neglected these days and is resorting to these tactics for attention. too cute.Shower pan is done. thats the concrete shower floor. Also all concrete board is up on the wall and the seams are sealed.
Now i get to seal the whole shower to make sure it doesn't leak with this pink pepto bismol looking stuff.
and it goes on hot pink and dries bright red
Here is the bright red shower from Hell. Its ready for tile and be finished. just need to finish texture and painting the ceiling first.
and Chara helped me put in the new window. its amazing how much better the new windows look than the old ones.
And i grouted the new bathroom sink counter top the other day. Its looking really good. almost done with that too.
all the drywall is up and done. just need to finish mudding and sanding to get it ready for paint.

Then its paint, tile and carpet and we can call this project done. getting close now.

Turkey Trot

2008-12-04T04:45:00.000-08:00

Before all the thanksgiving Nerf gun wars and eating of too much fun we did the Oceanside Turkey Trot. Its a 5k downtown Oceanside on the beach. The weather was perfect as it just stopped raining long enough for us to run. We had a great time and will be doing it again next year. Here is a great picture of me and the left top part of Chara's head.

a thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat

2008-11-30T19:21:00.000-08:00

for thanksgiving this year - we headed up to the sisters in LA - and had an awesome dinner and got a chance to celebrate isaiah's birthday..
i sent ben to buy isaiah's present - and ben came back with a bunch of nerf guns - which ended up being a big hit. the kids as well as the adults were running around shooting at each other - it was a fabulous time.. at one point it was war - and all the kids were running around trying 'get' uncle trevor - and trevor was running around defending himself with a wiffle ball bat, and a nerf bat - i was cracking up..
the nerf war of 2008

because it was isaiah's birthday as well as thanksgiving the theme was pirates/transformers/kung fu panda
here deborah and i were pirates - ready to eat our turkey

to relax after the war and dinner - we watched a movie..
uncle ben and deborah watching kung fu panda -

more thanksgiving fun

2008-11-30T19:09:00.000-08:00

isaiah and his auntie kai - enjoying some mario cart -

dance party

uncle trevor and kelly ann

auntie loan and noah tearing it up

it's all fun and games till someone loses an eye

2008-11-26T20:50:00.000-08:00

today is the second time i had a pt who came to the ER with an injury from playing the wii... apparently it's an epidemic..

poker party fun

2008-11-23T18:40:00.000-08:00

this weekend we headed up to my brothers for some poker party fun.. we had good food, good people, and lots of fun.. it was a great way to spend a saturday night..
ben rockin trevors new oakleys - getting ready to 'bring it'

dano and gil concentrating on thier games

at some point in the night we busted out loans cotton candy machine..

the fam

the black hole

2008-11-19T19:06:00.000-08:00

growing up in my household, if you misbehaved, you had to write sentences... my mom often choose bible verses for us to write about a hundred times or so.. one of my moms favorites came straight out of the book of philippians 'i will do all things without grumbling and complaining' - with as many times as i had to write that verse over and over - you think i would have learned by now..
but poor ben had to remind of that sentence multiple times today - because on average i complained about every 3.5 seconds this afternoon.. (in my defense we are two months into a project that ben said 'shouldn't take that long' - and this weekend the santa annas and all the construction dust created the perfect storm for my sinuses - and my allergies went into over drive..)

here are some more pix of all the fun:

ben tried to hang a door about 9 times with no success.. we kept measuring and remeasuring - eventually we even bought a new door thinking that the old door must be defective - which was not the case.. we finally called our friend kevyn who came over for reinforcements.. kevyn figured out that we had a rogue 2x4 - which was not straight, and was causing all problems.. so big thanks to kevyn for saving the day..

ben putting up cement board.. good times..

me doing the most thankless project known to man.. to me - this is my least favorite job.. ben had me 'mud' in some nail holes from the dry wall he hung, and then i had to sand them over - and mud them again... it was very dirty - and dust got everywhere..

so after spending a couple hours helping ben - i realize that i should not complain.. because he has been working on this project non stop for the last 8 weeks - and i realize that next time overtime is offered at work - i am totally taking it - and paying someone who knows a little more about construction then i do..

Bedroom/Bathroom remodel update

2008-11-18T09:37:00.001-08:00

I'm taking lots of pictures, just not posting them sorry

Progress update: I'm kicking ass

Drywall is up. Chara helped me tape and mud. she is also very conscious about plumbers crack
its starting to look like real walls and stuff

Started the shower panwaterproof membrane is down and drain is installed
next comes the cement board on the walls. trying to do an elliptical curve in the piece above. those are tricky
shower niche in the wall
niche finished off
our shower valve
thats it for now. shower walls are almost covered. next is to finish the shower pan and finish up the dryall with sanding and such. so much fun.

california dreaming..

2008-11-16T20:14:00.000-08:00

i hate to brag but - the weather this weekend was fabulous.. it was sunny and 91 degrees both saturday and sunday - ben and i took advantage, enjoyed, and headed to the beach both days.. gotta love california..

double duty

2008-11-04T13:25:00.001-08:00

ventured out in the rain this morning and voted (someone had to cancel out bens vote).. no long lines as expected - the only delays were due to people who don't normally vote not knowing how things are done..

then headed to day two of jury duty - and was promptly excused.. - apparently most lawyers don't want ER nurses on their jury...

so today - i have done my civic duty x2 - and now i am ready for a nap..

go vote....right now

2008-11-04T08:33:00.001-08:00

go vote

right now

get up

go outside

go to your polling place

and vote

unless you live up in the mountains and you know your vote doesn't count anyway.

food and friends

2008-11-03T19:20:00.000-08:00

for the first time in months all of my girls had the same day off together.. so we headed to an amazing restaurant by the beach and had an awesome lunch..
i really miss these gals - and am so happy that we got to spend some time together..
mis amigas

tis the season

2008-10-31T15:22:00.000-07:00

just another reason why halloween is so awesome..

I voted today

2008-10-30T22:40:00.001-07:00

now Chara is threatening to make me sleep on the couch.

New window

2008-10-26T00:45:00.002-07:00

nothing is easy with this project. This window especially caused me to say some bad words.

Here is the old hole for the shower window.

Here is me making that hole bigger.cutting stucco is super messy too
nice new big hole.
luckily i have the best neighbors in the world and Don showed up at just the right time as my wife ditched me to go shopping. Don and i put in the window. Here is Don's hand
and the window installed.
i need another day off already.

I am Joe the Plumber*

2008-10-26T00:45:00.000-07:00

*but i do not owe any back taxes and do not support John McCain

Project update:
Did some of the plumbing for the new shower. here i re-routed the water lines to the new valve

Here is the new valve. Its on the opposite wall from the shower head so i had some crazy pipes going to and from. a lot of plumbing but hopefully it will turn out cool.

Here is the pieces building for the new shower body sprays

Here it is completed. I had to create a loop to have it all pressurized correctly. fun times

almost done with all the plumbing. i don't like plumbing that much.

Concrete is just messy

2008-10-17T23:40:00.000-07:00

whether i'm cutting it out or putting it back it its just messy and not that fun. Especially the lugging around 90lb bags of concrete from the floor onto a cart, from the cart into the truck, from the truck through the window into the bathroom etc. Its just not fun.

Anyway finished the plumbing and put in the concrete to fill in the holes.

Safety First

2008-10-17T23:38:00.000-07:00

so among the many blisters and bruisings i've sustained from this remodel this was the worst injury thus far. Working late into the night and very tired i was finishing framing up a wall. I had put a clamp up on a beam and then stood up on a step ladder to do something and WHACK stepped up right into the clamp with my forehead. my glasses went flying and i was very dizzy. That was a good sign to call it a day.

now i got this sweet cut on my forehead.

The major remodel project of 2009

2008-10-16T21:14:00.000-07:00

I have too many projects going on but this one i've been putting off for a long time. Its one of the last major remodels and one of the last rooms in the house we haven't touched yet. I've been putting this project off for a while because A. its huge, B. its a lot of plumbing work (and i don't like plumbing work), and C. its HUGE.

I've been taking pictures thus far but have not blogged yet so here is a quick update as to where i am on the project thus far.

Here are some little before pictures:

Chara came home one day to all of our bedroom furniture distributed throughout the house and thus began the great project. she was not happy with this surprise.

our very tiny bathroom

Here is our tiny bathroom before. i need a wide angle lense
took the shower door off and gave it away on craigslist.the shower
and i started tearing into the shower

removed all the tile on the floor and unhooked the toilet
dismantled the vanity and removed italso gave this away on craiglist
and here we started tearing into the walls
all the tile and drywall removed from the showermore drywall removed and shower pan removed
that thing was heavy
old bathroom shower area gutted
old bedroom gutted. carpet gonethe dog helping

removed old shower wall moved the toilet water feed. Yes i'm moving the toilet on a concrete slab.

and now the big fun of the project and one of the big reasons why i put it off for so long. moving a toilet on a concrete slab is not fun at all. at all.

I rented this beast. gas powered concrete saw. super loud, super messy and the exhaust fumes almost made me pass out every time i used it. so much fun.
first cuts
more cuts
after many hours of cutting and taking breaks to breath fresh air i got the main area cut for the toilet. those concrete chunks are heavy!

I have a video of me cutting i'll try to put it up later. But this was definately the hardest part of the project. The saw hooks up to your hose to allow water to the saw. but the water feeds were broken and had holes everywhere so water sprayed everywhere but the saw it seemed. I was a complete mess.removing the concrete
I'm also moving the sink so i had to make way for a new drain line. that means more cutting.took it out in one big heavy piece because i was tired of cutting
a sledgehammer in the right place broke it up
and here is the final trench
here is the re-worked toilet and sink drain plumbing

framing up the new shower/bathroom wall
moving another wall for the new sink area
moved the wall switch to accomodate for the new wall location
installed a new light/vent for the water closet area
and here is a random shot of the new wall in place with some of the old wall removed.

and thats mostly where i am to date. I got the lights installed in the shower. Today i am finishing the plumbing of the toilet and sink drain and filling in the foundation with concrete. then i'm finshing moving the second wall and getting the new sink area wired in with electrical and move the water lines to that area as well.

Lots of fun thus far. More pics to come i'm sure.

Its October so time for some fires!

2008-10-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

Seems like October is the times we have the fires here. Here is the second one in two weeks in the same area. This one is closer to houses and is coming up over the hill into some housing areas. This view is from my neighbors house.

Don't Vote

2008-10-03T15:21:00.000-07:00

Remember to register to vote if you haven't done so already

at least some things are getting better...

2008-10-03T15:19:00.000-07:00

Yummy yummy lobster

2008-10-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

I may not have a job right now but i'm putting dinner on the table. Lobster Dinner!

step 1. catch a lobster. Did that last night.

step 2. Kill lobster. Not pretty, but required.

Step 3. Eat yummy yummy lobster. Thats how i'm taking care of the family.

Julian Bluegrass Festival

2008-09-29T16:14:00.001-07:00

Ok catching up on blogging from Scotty's visit down. We went up to Julian a cute little mountain town outside of San Diego for the Julian Bluegrass festival. It was very cute.
They had some great bands.Chara just wanted to talk about Obama all day.
We ran into Sara Petite a girl i went to high school with who now has a bluegrass band.
These guys were goodHere is Scott Sara and I
Chara is encouraging everyone to register to vote.
Then Scotty met Miss Julian. She really was stupid. Her mom was even worse.
Then we stopped at this little BBQ place for some dinner.

Worst BBQ ever, but best chicken pot pie you have ever eaten. And the apple pie is amazing.*cartoon bubbles for sarcasm purposes only*

**Chara hereby in no way here or on any other planet endorses Barack Obama for President**

***But Ben does***

San Diego Baseball game with Scotty

2008-09-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

The next night we headed down to San Diego to watch the Padres play again. This time it was at Petco park downtown San Diego.

We met up with Stacey and her family for the game
Scotty teaching Madison how to cheer
Carson sitting on my shoulders
we ate more healthy food
My friends Matt and Jess showed up as well
me and the kids
Scotty and Madison

Dodger game with Scotty

2008-09-29T15:36:00.001-07:00

Scotty and I headed up to LA for a quick tour around and a Dodger game. We hit up Santa Monica for some sights before the game.
we walked around the pier and 3rd street promenade

Then we hit up Roscoes Chicken and Waffles for some good dinner before the gamethe best food on the planet.
Then we went to Dodger stadium
beautiful day and sunset right before the game
we took my brother in law, his father and his son Isaiah for his first baseball game
the game was great. We watched the last placed Padres beat the Dodgers
And during the game Oregon State beat first placed USC. So along with rooting for the padres Scotty flashed his Oregon shirt at some Dodger fans that were talking about the USC game. We instantly became thier best friends. They wanted to talk with us for the rest of the game. We narrowly escaped with our lives.

And we left with a beautiful LA skyline.

Fishing with Don

2008-09-24T15:29:00.001-07:00

Scotty and I went fishing with our neighbor Don this morning. Here is our adventure.

We got up really early and went out to the lake.

Here is Don and Scott
And here we are with the poles in the water
It was a beautiful day
And here is the first fish caught. Yes i caught it. Yes its massive. I have really big hands.
Don then caught one and many more after.
Scotty finally caught one as well.
Here is another of Don's catches
Here is Scotty fighting a monster
and another one in the net
Here is a double catch by Don and Scotty
Here perhaps is the smallest cutest fish ever. The worm to catch it was bigger.We had a great time fishing at the lake. Caught a few. Had a few nibbles. No real big catches today. But we did get to watch skydivers jumping all day and had a fun day at the lake.

Trip to WA - The Puyallup Fair

2008-09-15T21:49:00.001-07:00

while up in WA we it up the Puyallup Fair. Its a great time with great fair food and fun things to walk around and see.

Our friends came out to the fair with us. Here is James and Jerry wearing their cowboy gear.
we all did the big yellow slide. Here are the girls, Chara, Chelsea and momma Jane.
The girls again in front of a duck
Chara and Chelsea at the beer/wine garden. we spent a lot of time there.
and then after Chara was tired and was pulled around in a wagon.
and then she was very tired and done with the fair. Her and Brandon protested their tiredness and we left shortly there after.
we had a great time with great food and great friends to hang out with. I wish we could have stayed up in WA longer and could go to the fair again. I think Chara will never want to go to the fair again. But she did enjoy the food and wine tasting.

Our trip to WA - The Poker Party

2008-09-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

We had a little get together at Brandon and Chelseas house for a poker party and to hang out with friends.

Here is Chara with PaulChara, Tracey, and Stacey on the floor
More girls on the floor
Gretchen, Brandon and Tracey in some more dancing/partying
Stacey, Tracey and Brandon dancing
Gretchen and Chelsea big hug
Ben, Brandon and Stacey
And the whole gang.

and we're back

2008-09-14T21:33:00.000-07:00

ben and i just came back from from five fabulous days in washington..
it was a quick trip - and tons of fun - and now we are tired..
so - more pictures to come.. must nap frist..

chelsea and chara - having fun at the beer/wine garden

Rockclimbing with Shawn

2008-09-07T13:21:00.000-07:00

finally went out climbing. Its been too long. Shawn and i headed out to Dixon Lake. Here is an 11 roof i tried too late in the day. My forearms were toast.

Here is another tricky maneuver i'd like to try earlier. Shawn is trying to get his feed on the teeniest ledge ever to stand up and reach the smallest handhold ever. it was fun to try.

I'm the best cook ever

2008-09-03T18:23:00.000-07:00

I love to cook. And since i have all this free time now i get to cook a little more. Here is a recipe i stumbled accross and made the other night and it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I highly recommend giving this one a try.

Mexican Chicken with almond chili cream soft tacos

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons sliced almonds
2 tablespoons ground Ancho Chili pepper or spicier chili pepper to suite taste
Plus one tablespoon chipotle pepper if you want
4 (6 ounce) skinless boneless chicken breasts (or turkey, that's what i used)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 or more garlic cloves
1 cup fat free less sodium chicken broth
2 table spoons Crema Mexicana (supermarket cooler section)
Fresh Cilantro
Flour tortillas

Combine the almonds and chili pepper in food processor. process until course meal texture.

flatten each chicken breast to 1/2 inch between plastic wrap or zip lock bag (I used my new rubber mallet i got at Harbor Freight)

heat butter and oil in pan. cook chicken around 5-6 minutes each side.

remove chicken and keep it warm.

add garlic to pan and cook one minute stirring constantly avoid burning the garlic. scrape the pan to loosen the brown bits. (Deglazing the pan)

add almond and chili mixture and salt, broth and bring to a boil

cook until liquid is reduced to 1/2 cup. About 3 minutes.

remove from heat and stir in Crema Mexicana. pour over chicken that you cut up into strips.

assemble tacos with chicken and cilantro and lettuce.

---------------------

thats it. It sounds like a lot, but its not that hard once you get started.

Chara LOVED it and I did too.

Ben...

Last chance to vote...

2008-08-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

If you haven't already i'd appreciate a vote for my ideas in the SXSW Panel Picker.
Voting closes tomorrow so do it now if you have a spare minute. It only takes an email to sign up.

and thanks for all those that voted for me already.

Ben...

Our Oregon camping trip adventure

2008-08-25T10:14:00.001-07:00

When i was younger and gas was cheap my friends and I would drive hundreds of miles to go camping in some far off place. We decided to relive those adventures this weekend with a last minute camping trip to Oregon. Myself, the wife and my friend Stacey and her family all drove up from San Diego to Lake of the Woods Oregon to camp while my friends from WA all drove down to meet us. We got the short end of that stick on driving. California is one really long state!

Here are the pictures:

The friends from WA kidnapped my friend Scotty from Oregon on their way down.Sunset on Lake of the Woods. The lake was beautiful
Scotty and Chara sitting on a log by the late. Chara is enjoying her juice box.
The kids snuggled by the fire
the dog snuggled on Logans lap
Me taking Carson swimming.
Bodie sitting on Chara's lap.

Chara and Logan posing with hatchets
Then all the kids joining in on the wood chopping competition
it was a great camping trip. It was a LOT of driving for a little of camping, but it was really great to see friends and spend some time in a beautiful place. And much better than sitting at home all weekend.