Lauren's uncle John

This is a video of Lauren's uncle John who is from Wisconsin. As you watch, keep in mind he was only paid (yes, he was paid for it) $100 for the advertisement. Enjoy!

Funny Video

Very busy lately!

Lately things have been going at about 100 miles an hour! I am currently trying to overcome bronchitis...which is definitely not a fun thing to go through. I am realizing how valuable sleep is since I have gotten very little of it the past four days. If only the coughing would go away...

We recently celebrated Lauren's birthday which was a lot of fun. We spent the weekend up in Sonoma, CA which is in wine country. We had some great food and got to do some shopping.

Shopping...the dreaded word this time of the year! Last night we braved the malls and I am thankful that I only brave the mall one time a year. The mall is crazy! Anyways, we are almost done with shopping which is good. We also recently put up our Christmas tree which is always fun.

That's about it for now. We are staying in the Bay Area for Christmasas Lauren has lots of work to get done in the ER. Here are some recent pictures.



Lauren putting up some ornaments on our tree.



Casey laying in one of his comfortable seats in our house.



Both of us with the tree behind us.



The final product...without a tree topper!



Our Christmas picture this year with Casey looking on in the corner!

We had a fun weekend

So this past weekend, Lauren and I had a lot going on! Thursday we headed down to Monterey, CA for a conference that Lauren had on pediatric obesity and the management thereof. While Lauren was at the conference, I got to hang out in the hotel and cruise around Monterey. Thursday night we ate at one of my favorite spots Bubba Gumps. Here are some pictures of the scenery down by the ocean in Pacific Grove near Pebble Beach.











The beach was absolutely amazing down there and it was so clear. We stayed at one of our favorite hotels as well, Embassy Suites. It was kind of random to run into those dear, but it was cool. I also got to go see the Monarch Butterfly place where there are thousands of them migrating.

Friday night we headed up to San Jose to a retreat that our church was having for the ministry that we are a part of, the Professionals Ministry. Basically, it is a ministry that combines single working professionals and young marrieds with no kids. We stayed at a fantastic spot called The Hayes Mansion. Here is a picture of the spot below.



It was a great time where we got to hear a lot of lessons on "Changing the World" by changing ourselves first. A lot of our friends were there as well which was fun.

On Saturday after the retreat, we went over to my parents house to celebrate Aubrey, Marilyn, and Lauren's birthdays! That was a lot of fun as well. All three of them have birthdays in November, so to make it easier, we celebrated them all on one day. Joshua brought his new girlfriend (which I think he was thoroughly embarrassed by)to the partyt and she got to see our family all together for the first time. Here are some pictures from our time at the birthday party.









Joshua and his new girlfriend Erlinda (sp? above



A Picture of everyone chillin on the couch...

Fall is setting in

So now that fall is setting in, I am able to sit back and reflect on what has happened the last few months. I started a new job as a speech therapist in a high school and I am absolutely loving it! It seems as though the freshman just get younger and younger and more immature as I get older. I have 54 kids on my caseload that I see every week (it definitely keeps me busy). Having that many kids on my caseload makes the weeks fly by. Lauren is a few precious months away from finishing residency and life is going by quickly. I remember dropping her off for her first day of medical school back in August of 2000. Six years later, she is almost done with all her training and her crazy hours. Can't wait!

My youngest brother Andrew, turned 19 years old...meaning that there is one teenager left in my family (that's seems weird). Lauren's birthday is next month and we are planning on a fun weekend in Santa Rosa, CA up in wine country. We also have a weekend trip scheduled for November to head down to Monterey, CA for a pediatric conference that Lauren is attending (I just get to enjoy the hotel and amenities). Before I know it...Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here and it will be time for the College Bowl Games.

Something else exciting happened...I got my first coaching job. I will be the head coach for 8th grade boys basketball at a middle school right down the street from the high school that I work at. It should be a lot of fun.

Besides all of that, I am sitting here watching the St. Louis Cardinals win the World Series! Go Cardinals!!

Life as a Speech Pathologist

Frank Caliendo on Letterman

Check out this video...the impressions are hilarious!

Sweltering hot camping trip

So last weekend we went on a camping trip with some other couples from our church and it was a hot one!!! We were excited to break out our newly purchased tent and air matress (makes a big difference when camping). We stayed at Lake Del Valle which is in Livermore, CA about 35 miles from where we live. The only thing was that it was so hot! Last Saturday it got up to 118 degrees...not too refreshing while you are in a tent. We still had a lot of fun even though we were exhausted from the heat. We were pleased with our new tent and how spacious it was and we were also glad that we were at a lake...because without that; it would have been unbearable! Check out the pics:



Lauren and I waiting for breakfast...



Alvin and Tim cooking some eggs and potatoes



Lauren and her friends staying cool in the water!



Me and some of the guys camping out in the water



Chillin at the campsite (that's our new tent in the background)



Dancing around the fire

Canoe Trip

A few weeks ago we went on a canoe trip up to the Russian River up in Wine Country with some friends. We went to this place called Burkes Canoe Trips. We had a blast up there. I will have to say that Lauren and I did a lot better job steering the canoe this time than the first time that we did it a few years back. Anyways, I wish that I had some pictures to post, but I was too afraid that the canoe was going to tip (it didn't) that I didn't bring my digital camera! We have a few fun trips coming up so I'll be sure to post more pictures and post more oftn.

SF Giants

A few weeks ago Lauren and I got to go to a SF Giants game which was a lot of fun. We were hoping ot see Barry Bonds hit home run #714, but he didn't do it the night that we were there. Oh well, it was still a lot of fun and the views are great!

Andrew's Graduation

So earlier today, my youngest brother Andrew, graduated from high school! It was very hot outside. We went out to Chinese food afterwards which is our families tradition after a high school graduation. I am attempting to load a few videos for the first time from my digital camera...so we'll see how it turns out.

Graduation!!!

So recently there has been a lot going on here on the homefront. I had my big exam to graduate for my masters that was 7 hours long! That's right, 7 hours. It was nuts, but I passed it and it is over with. On Thursday June 8th, I finally graduated with my masters degree is Speech and Language Pathology from California Sate University, East Bay. I am currently finishing up the last of my clinical therapy hours which will be finished on July 6th.

My grandparents were in town for graduation as well as my in-laws so we were busy! We had a big graduation BBQ party last Saturday with about 40 people over which was also a lot of fun. Here are some pictures from both events. I should also add that I got a job starting in the Fall at a high school being their full-time speech therapist! Can't wait to start getting a paycheck...



A picture of me and my grandparents...it was so cold out that they had to go sit in the car with a heater!



Lauren and I after graduation.



My parents along with Lauren and I.




Friends at the graduation party...



More friends at the party...



My two brothers and good friend Ken.

Mom and Dad's 50th Brithday!

Last night we celebrated my mom and dad's 50th birthday's at Maggiano's, Little Italy , which was an amazing restaurant in San Jose. We had about 21 people there to celebrate and the food just kept on coming! We had a wonderful 5 course meal. Happy 50th to my both my mom and dad!



This was the roasted chicken that we had as part of the dinner.



This was my favorite of the night; the salmon! It was some of the best I've ever had.



And of course dessert. This was called a profierale which was a homemade pastry filled with vanilla bean ice cream and topped with hot fudge. That was just a small sample of the food that we were served.



Here is a picture of my parents at dinner...



I attempted to get a picture of the entire table...but I couldn't get everyone in the shot.



Micah and Marilyn at dinner.

Yosemite

Last month we got a chance to go to Yosemite for a few days and it was absolutely amazing! The waterfalls were the fullest we had ever seen them. The first day we got there it was sunny, and the second day it rained in the afternoon and evening. We still got a good hike in though.



This is a picture of "bridelveil falls" right as you come into the park. It was beautiful...



This is half dome with snow on top! There was still a lot of snow at the higher elevations in April.



This is a great picture of upper and lower yosemite falls. Upper Yosemite Falls is over 2,000 feet tall, which is the largest in North America.



Here is Lauren and I after a short hike in front of lower yosemite falls.



Here is another good picture I took of upper yosemite falls. Overall it was a very fun trip and we can't wait to go back and see more waterfalls!

Evolution of Dance

Back from Vacation

So we got back last night from vacation and we had a great time relaxing and eating some good food! Down in LA we got to go to Seal Beach and enjoy the ocean a little bit. We also went to Knotts Berry Farm, which is a theme park down in Orange County. I think I still have a headache from the rollar coasters. The highlight of LA was being able to see the The Huntington Library, Estate, and Gardens It was such an amazing place to visit.



This was one of my favorite pictures of the "desert" part of the gardens. Aren't those cacti cool-looking?



This was part of the Japanese garden that was also just so amazing.



This was a tree called a "Wisteria Tree." The tree only blooms for 2 weeks out of the year!



The center also had an entire bonsai garden which was really cool to see the different types of bonsai.



A Picture of Lauren and I along with her parents in the Japanese gardens...



This is a picture of the Guttenburg Bible. It was one of the first things ever printed by Guttenburg, who invented the priniting press. The Library was pretty amazing itself...it had over 4 million books; 2.5 million of them were rare. The library also contained letters signed by Abraham Lincoln and stuff from Shakespeare. It was all pretty amazing to see.

Huntington was a huge collector and he left everything to the state of California because he wanted it all turned into a museum. His uncle was one of the "Big Four" of California who established the Pacific Railroad and eventually began the government of CA. It was a lot of fun being there!

Vacation!

We are now on vacation...which is very nice! Lauren has been sick the past 3 weeks which has not been very fun for her. She is starting to get better, so hopefully she'll fully recover soon! We are down here in the "Real OC" (Orange County, CA) for a week and then off to Yosemite for a few days. It is nice to sleep and see my wife! With our crazy schedules and sicknesses, we have not had a lot of time together lately.

Lauren is currently shopping right now and I am typing up a 17 page paper that is due on Monday...by email. I am trying to get it out of the way with so I can enjoy some fun in the sun down here. We have a few fun things planned, but besides that...just hanging out and relaxing. There will be lots of pictures to post once we come back home....

NCAA Tournament

Last night was rough. Duke, the team I had winning the entire tounrament, lost in a very big way to LSU. Then Gonzaga, another team I had going far in the tournament lost as well! I am not doing so good in my brackets anymore. Oh well, now it's time to cheer for UCLA. Go Bruins!

finals....are over!

So, finals are finally over. I don't really get a spring break because of my internship though. I am currently interning as a Speech Language Pathologist at San Ramon Valley High School. It is a lot of fun and I am hoping that the district will hire me for this fall. I only have 3 more weeks of this internship and then I start my second one...which I just got confirmed this past week! I am going to be interning at the Aphasia Center of California I will be working with adults who have had strokes and helping them to rehabilitate their speech and langauge skills. It is definitely going to be a lot of work, but I think it will be fun.

So, the end of school is finally in sight. I am graduating on June 8th...if I pass everything. There is one more big exam I have to pass in May called the "comps" which are about 7 hours long! Not looking forward to that.

Besides that, I am taking a few days off for 2 of my favorite days of the year: the NCAA basketball tournament. So far there have been a few upsets including Oklahoma who I predicted to go to the "Elite Eight." Ouch...that one is going to hurt me in the tournament pool. There have been some exciting games so far; I guess that's why they call it "March Madness."

finals...

...are not fun. only a few more grueling days!

Snow!!!

Yesterday and today have brought some strange weather here to the Bay Area. It has been really cold and yesterday there was snow a few miles from where we live! I journeyed up to the hills to walk around in the snow and it was really cool. It reminded me of when I use to live in Chicago and Boston. Here are some pictures I captured while out this morning.



It was really neat to see some kids and parents out there who had never seen snow before in their lives. Hopefully it will start to warm up soon though. Last weekend it was 75 degrees out!?!?!