Our trip to WA - The Poker Party

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

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

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

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...

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

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.

After 8 long years...

...I am leaving DivX. Today was my last day. Its time for a change. Time for something new. It has been great working with some great people and doing some great things. Now i am going to time some time to relax, recharge and find some new great people and great projects to work with.

Its the end of an era and time for a new season in life.

Ben...

Vote for me!

no i'm not running for President but i have a couple of ideas in the running for next years SXSW interactive festival.

Please take a second and vote for my ideas. You will need to sign up with your email. Its really quick and i appreciate the votes.

thanks

Ben...

Panel idea #1: Changing the world with technology
Panel idea #2: Telling new stories with technology

Wii monster

This guy woke me up at 0600 saying 'kai - I want to play the game' - we might have created a monster.

family day

tonight the whole family headed to the farmers market in oceanside.. me, ben, and keaton.. as soon as we got to the market - i saw a big sign welcoming us to the market - but clearly stating that dogs were not allowed.. that made me a bit unhappy seeing as we had driven the dog all the way down there.. and then we took a moment to look around and noticed that no one else was paying much attention to the 'no dog' rule - so we joined the rebels - and had us some fun.. i sometimes forget how big my puppy is - but we got lots of comments on her size - and she did great considering all the love that she got from kiddos and random strangers..
the night was beautiful and the food was good - but i'm a little angry cuz i heard i missed the cotton candy booth - and i luvs me some cotton candy..

super good corn

keaton and the dad - going for a walk..


*on a side note - i would just like to point out the unfairness of this 'no dog rule' - listen - i don't think it's fair that i can't bring my dog places - but people are allowed to bring thier children places - it seems a bit unfair to me.. children can be just as unpredictable and messy as dogs - and at least i have my dog controlled and on a leash..

Useful site of the day

http://howmuchwoodwouldawoodchuckchuck.com/


your welcome

pandora's box

i heard an interesting story today on NPR - apparently boxes of wine are all the rage in europe - they are something like up to 50% of the market - while in america boxes are only 9-12% of the market.. the reason for the popularity is that boxes are more eco-friendly than glass - and because of a better seal the wine last longer in boxes .. interesting - made me feel a little better about drinking my little juice boxes of wine..

cheers..

as promised

saturday night my we headed to my sister's house for a surprise party for her husband..
we had a great time partying on a roof top in the middle of LA -
trevor - the designated driver

loan, sister, and the husband


and then on sunday my girls and i had a family bbq - it was so much fun to sit back, relax, and celebrate that we all passed our damn tests - and we are all nurses..
my ladies and i

weekend fun

we had one crazy busy weekend.. and it was fabulous - i promise i will post more pictures later.. but for now i must sleep - and get ready for work tomorrow..

EARTHQUAKE!!!

we are fine

my chair barely moved while i was at work...but it was a fun little wobble.

Wii like to party

Here are the girls Boxing.

Here are the boys boxing.

Jimmy and Liz on the boat

At sushi with friends. Jimmy and Liz are attacking their boat of sushi.

the gift that keeps on giving..

a little over two weeks ago ben got poison oak - which wasn't so bad.. some bumps on his legs and arms - that were itchy - but not too bad.. - but then three days ago - ben's legs just completely broke out in this unhappy, very red, very itchy, poison oak rash - and it now it just wont go away.. his poor legs look like they are on fire.. and according to the internet - we still have two weeks of dealing with this nonsense once the unhappy rash starts.. - lesson learned - poison oak = no fun.. and also impossible to get rid of... nature blows..

12 hours and counting..

i just have 12 more hours of work tomorrow - and then i am done with work this week - i then have three days off -in a row.. it's going to be amazing..

Found my wallet!!!

and only minutes before i was leaving to go to the DMV to get a new drivers license.

whew!

i don't like getting that close to the DMV.

coming up for air

as of today i found out that my ladies and i dominated our state board test -and now officially we are RNs- i can now relax, put books away, and stop studying..

eye candy

this little treat came in the mail today.. thank you mens fitness..

finally done...finshed...last test ever...untill the next one...

Chara took her big nursing state board test this morning

she is done

no more school

no more weekends at home studying

no more note cards

just done. finally done. really really done. now when she has a day off work, its a real day off. we can actually do something instead of studying.

I think i am more excited than she is.

done

just done.

all work and no play..

makes me a very dull girl.. and a little crazy..

update..

it's already 98 degrees this morning - and it's only 10 am.. it's too hot to study..

my girl likes to study all the time

so today - like every other day this week - we headed over to momma jax - to studying for this giant 'nursing' test we have coming up..
we have been good little students and studied and answered practice questions every day... today we spent 5 hours answering and reviewing 200 practice questions.. it was brutal.. and my brain is done..

lizard, jax, and power sitting around a computer - reading questions - then arguing about the answer..

as painful as today was - i'd say it was a success..

on our lunch break we headed out to the back yard - jackie's husband is a lover of all things great and small - and has adopted multiple tortoises - it's always odd to be sitting in a back yard - and to have a tortoise walk right by you..

from the dad

my dad sent me this.. and it made me laugh.. so i pass it on..

Alcohol Study

A recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles in a year.

Another study found Americans drink, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a

year.

That means, on average, Americans get about 41 miles to the gallon.

Kind of makes you proud to be American

all done..

the truck is done and working just fine.. no new car for me today..

update

ben just informed me that he has two wires that need to be re-connected - he's just not sure where..
i'm not feeling the confidence..

on the plus side - if this doesn't work i get to go out and buy a new car today..

business time

ever since we got back from mexico ben's looked like this:


he has been working on putting the truck back together since sunday -
here's the tally:
days worked on truck - 4 (and that's just putting it back together - he spent two days taking the damn thing apart)
bolts broken - 2 and 1 stripped
new tools bought for this specific project - 4

so far the truck is winning... ben's working from home today - just so he can finish this project - so today - in between working his actual job he is somehow fitting in working on the truck..

taking a conference call - on a break from the truck


i've spent the last two days on the couch studying for my state board test..
so - lesson learned: mexico - much more fun then home.. i need a pool and some wine STAT..

and the fun continues

on one of my favorite mexican adventures i got to swim with a sea lion (big thanks to brandon and chelsea for that one)
i had so much fun
here i am bonding with my new best friend


she was so cute - and so sweet.. i wanted to take her home - ben said no


drinks by the pool


getting my tan on

mas photos

our last night in mexico we headed down town - we had some awesome (though somewhat scary food) - then we walked around down town - we had a great time - and ben looked pretty impressive with three ladies on his arm..


ben and all his ladies

our dinner frightened me a little

nicole and lizard with a super cool statue