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