Merry Christmas!

It's finally winter in california

It's almost Christmas and we are just now getting the cold wet weather that i love so much. One of my favorite things to do is lay in bed with the hubby and listen to the rain fall. To me that is Romance at its best.

We finally went out and brought a real christmas tree. There is nothing like a real tree and its smell for the holidays! After getting the tree home it was up to Bill to get the lights on the tree. If you know Bill, you know this is a very important part and the way it's done is just as important. Lets just say We got a 5 ft tree and i do believe Bill used about 600-700 lights, Go Big or Go Home......

Once the Lights were on (after a little difficulty) We got to pull out all our ornaments and start hanging them on the tree, now the one thing that i have control over in the house is the christmas tree. Every year we decorate the tree with Tinkerbell on top and the the following ornaments are either Tinkerbell, green, or silver. Bill has sneaked a few other ornaments in over the past three christmas: like a palm tree with christmas lights, a cop uniform, a snowboarder. all things he finds very important. (he's so cute) Along with those few variations we also pick up a christmas ornament from places we visit and those also get put up on the tree, i guess you could say it's one of "our" holiday traditions.

All in all the Tree is up and looking great, The presents are under the tree and waiting for Christmas Day!

1st Annual Turkey Bowl

Six Orange County Police Agencies: Tustin, Fountain Valley, Orange, Garden Grove, Westminster, and Fullerton, got together early saturday morning to play in the 1st of many annual Turkey Bowls!

Tustin was the host this year for the CHARITY double elimination Flag Football game named "The Turkey Bowl." It is a flag football game that raised money to feed 100 families for Thanksgiving.

All the Agencies played hard but only one was able to come out of it VICTORIOUS, and that was Fullerton PD. They Started their First game against Fountain Valley at 8am and played their last game against Tustin at 2pm.

Bill didn't play unfortunately he was sick so he stuck with coaching duties(i feel like he did an ok job at it too). Me and some of the wives of the players sat on the side lines watching & cheering on our teams. I have to say even a friendly game of football with cops turns into some great competition which makes for good entertainment!

here is the link to the article in the OC Register: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/officers-fullerton-tustin-2238944-police-hazel

WHS Class 1998 Reunion!

Saturday the 22nd was Bill's 10 year high school reunion. It was held at Lucky Strike Bowling Alley at the Block of Orange. It was really a lot of fun, and great food!

The Graduating class size was just over 300, and about 85 people ended up going to the reunion. We had the "banquet" room all to ourselves. The banquet room consisted of 6 bowling lanes, a lounge area and a photo booth. Bowling and all the food was included except for Drinks. They Served Pizza (which was SO good), Steak strewers, and a veggie platter.

Once Bill and I showed up, we met up with some of his oldest friends who we still keep in contact with, Ryan and Kurtis. Kurtis, his girlfriend Andrea Bill and I all bowled 2 games, i won both by a landslide! It helps that 1. i wasn't drinking and 2. i used to bowl every tuesday night.

After we Bowled, ate, and mingled the night away, the reunion was coming to a close... So what do WHS graduates do you ask??? We all head over to the local Sports Bar Michael's and keep the reunion going!

It's funny how 10 years can change certain people SO much and then others look the exact same. I know Bill and I probly look the same as we did in High School. It was a real treat for me to meet some of these people bill hung out with, i now can put faces to the stories i've heard. I'm so proud of Bill, He got to fulfil his dream by becoming a cop, something every person there remembered that was all he wanted to do while in high school. Life truly doesn't get better than this!

the night would not have been complete without ryan taking his shoes off at the bar, and then ending up sleeping in our spare bedroom!

Twilight....

It's a Love/Hate Relationship...

Last night or should i say early this morning I went to go see the very much anticipated movie Twilight. We had a pretty good size group going (10 of us all together). I was excited to see this movie bring to life the love story of Edward and Bella. Along with the entire Cullen Family.

I was very pleased with the movie and just as disappointed with it at the same time. The Books are just so GOOD. The imagination of Stephenie Meyer through out the twilight series as been amazing, they truly are wonderful books i could read and re-read over and over again. The Movie along with the actors had VERY big shoes to fill. I think the casting was perfect, and the way all the characters were portrayed stayed true to the books, BUT... they really could have done so much more with this movie.

So many great parts were left out and unnecessary things added in their place. Prime example is the scene where the students did blood typing, that's one of my favorites... it was replaced in the movie with a field trip. The scene in which Edwards walks into the sunlight(in the meadow) did not do the book justice! The way he shined in the movie was well done, but i felt like the scene it self was rushed... along with most of the movie.

Some things i did love about the movie, were the words on the page did transfer to the Silver Screen. My favorite scene in the movie was the baseball scene and i think that was done to perfection! also i just loved Emmett, he was just like the book (in the smalls parts he was in). And the scene in which Bella meets the entire Cullen Family is PRICELESS!

In the end, the movie is good but the book is better (as in most cases.) I know i'll buy it when it comes out on DVD, i also think i'll go see it again in the theatres. It's just fun to see a book you love so much come to life, i can only imagine how Stephenie feels.

Tag....

I was tagged by one of my new favorite persons Laura, and since I've never been tagged before i thought "hey why not!" I always enjoy reading other people's blogs. So i guess here it goes!

Seven random or weird facts about ME!

1. I hate going into pets stores and walking by the aquarium section, it totally freaks me out i don't know what it is about aquariums that gives me the willys but every single one does.. also to go along with that fear i would rather open my eyes underwater in a swimming pool with out goggles then with, it just doesn't feel right being able to see that clearly underwater, that also gives me the willys .

2. I like to read true crime books, i have a interest in murders and murderers. I read about serial killers and wonder "how did they become something so evil" i guess it's a little sick but reading about this stuff is a guilty pleasure of mine. (must be the "cop" in me)

3. When i was in seventh grade wood shop class i was making a wooden owl and sliced opened my middle finger on my left hand using the ban saw. The worst part was that in the middle of the night i ended up ripping off the butterfly stitches and bleeding all over the place. I now have a very faint white scar on that finger.

4. I married a man i met in college, come to find out Bill not only lived around the corner from me growing up, we went to the same school, we knew all the same people, but our paths didn't cross till many years later. I always tell him our paths didn't cross sooner because if they had i know i never would of ended up dating him let alone marrying him.

5. I'm a bit OCD, bill makes fun of me for it but I'm SUPER anal. Things have to be in their place and I'm constantly doing the laundry and the dishes.(i hate a pile of dirty clothes or dishes in the sink) At work first thing i do is rearrange my desk(i share with another girl) to they way it's suppose to be, then i can begin my day.

6. My favorite website is Wikipedia, i love looking up random stuff on it, i say I'm "researching" my co-worker Chris says it "surfing the net" either way I'm always on there. today in fact i "researched" the following: The Marquis De Sade, The Bastille, Styrofoam, Changeling, Onion Fields, and mad king ludwig castles. I could easily spend hours on wikipedia looking up facts. it's very entertaining for me! Often dictionary.com is wikipedia's companion.

7. Even though I've graduated college, gone to school and taken my State Board exam for cosmetology (i'm a licensed hair dresser) i still work at dodge my high school job and do hair on the side at home. It's been 8 years at dodge and i don't really see myself leaving anytime soon. I think this place has a way of sucking people in and never letting you go. it's reminds me of the song "Hotel California" Lets just say most of the guys i work with still say "this is just a job to get me through school.... they all have been working here 15 plus years and are NOT going to school anymore!

Tag... You're it!

Stephanie D.

Lori

Kelly

Lani

Josh and diana

Steph

Tasha

An Early Mid-Life Crisis!!!

Bill has had his mid-life crisis, and he's only 29! We are really excited to let our friends and family know that we brought our 1st new car!!!

October 27, 2008 Bill and I purchased his "DREAM" car. A Dodge Charger R/T. We had this great opportunity at my work (Glenn E Thomas) to buy a new car at a great price, and since bill and i have been talking about getting his car it really did feel like perfect timing. We got the top of the line fully loaded R/T Road and Trek package. I've never been a huge fan of dodge vehicles, but man this car is SWEET!

I think some of our favorite features are: The sunroof, Touch screen Nav/Radio, The rear TV (when kids enter the picture we'll really love this one!!!), The great sound system plus Sirius radio (something bill's been wanting) oh yeah and the 5.7 hemi 8 cyl engine. Let's just say bill has a lead foot now.... good thing he has a "get our of jail" card in his back pocket...

Over all we are just super excited and enjoying our "luxury" car, something that is new to Bill and I. It sure has been a blessing in my life and in bills to have found each other, and being able to enjoy life's little pleassures!!!

Pumpkin Patch

It's that time again! Halloween is like my FAVORITE holiday, for many reasons. One of those reasons being..... Finding the best pumpkin in the Patch.

Bill and I decided that last night we should go out and get us a pumpkin, i mean it's just tradition. So we called up my little sisters to see if they wanted to go with us, and they did.

Elise, Jenny, Bill and I headed over to the pumpkin patch at Goldenwest College. I just love that pumpkin patch. I think I've been going to that one since i was a little girl. Once we got there we just had to take some pictures to document our fun! I took a picture by the height pole, as usual I'm still only 5'5. I was hoping to be a little bit taller, but seeing that i haven't grown since the first year of high School i don't see that happening anytime soon. After that we started looking for the best pumpkin in the bunch.

Now there are a few things to look for when choosing the best one. Bill and I like to have a sizable stem still on the pumpkin, Plus it has to sit right NO wobbling, we also like our pumpkin to be wide enough for a good face and tall enough so the mouth isn't sitting on the bottom of the pumpkin. Finding the right pumpkin is like finding the right partner in life, you have all these perfect ideals of what you want but ultimately when you see it you just know it's the right one for you.

Once we found our pumpkin (which didn't take long) we stopped by the barn animals to look at the little baby goat, he was so cute! i wanted to take him home, but Bill said "not a chance". I think Elise liked the little guy too. As for Jenny she was hitting me up for quarters so she could ride on the little rides they had there. That child will always be a kid at heart, man do i love her!

We hung around there for a little bit just walking around and looking at all the fun stuff they got going on at the pumpkin patch, after about an hour give of take a couple of mins we took our 3 pumpkins up to the counter paid for them and headed back home.

Height Pole

picture on the hay loft me and my sisters

our perfect pumpkin

Mia and Bill

Elise, Jenny, and Mia amidst all the pumpkins


Looking at the barn animals

The baby goat

Jenny on one of the rides

A Productive Saturday...

Saturday i had the day off and thought to myself.... "I'm going to be very productive today! Bill's at work which leaves me to do whatever i want with no cares in the world." If only things would turn out the way you plan.

My Saturday started off great. Got up at a decent hour balanced the checkbook, finished all the laundry (i mean wash, dry, fold AND put away.) Along with the laundry i got the kitchen cleaned yah! Those are my two main jobs in the Hughes household. After working so hard i realized i deserved a break and since my back had been killing me the last couple of nights i ran the idea of getting a massage by Bill and he said GO FOR IT!

Well you didn't have to tell me twice i hung up with bill and immediately called the Spa and book an appointment within the hour. Let me tell you it was nice, could of handled a little more pressure but over all the knots were worked out and i was feeling GREAT. So now that all the house work was done and my back feeling better i hurried off to target to pick up something and then i was headed to the market. If anyone knows Bill and I, you know that he does ALL the cooking. I was feeling so productive and wanted to do something very nice and special for him. So i had a dinner and evening all planned out for when my hard working husband got home.

This is were my oh so productive day took a turn for the worse. So I'm over at target getting cleaning supplies, toilet paper, halloween candy, you know just stuff we need and i check out and head to the car, mind you I'm in my gym clothes i wore to the spa and still have all the oils and lotions all over my body. To my surprise when i try to start the car it DOESN'T start. Yep here i am running around excited with the perfect evening planned out and I'm stuck in the target parking lot trying to get a hold of my husband who is not answering my calls. Now i know he's at work but come on, you think if the wife calls you a couple of times in a 10min period it's probably important.

So giving up on Bill thinking to myself "he'd better be arresting some bad guy or else!" I call my dad and he and my mom are at the other target just leaving. He tells me to hang tight (like i can go anywhere) and he'll drop off my mom at home get the jumper cables and be right over. I guess it didn't really take him that long but if FELT like hours! My dad shows up and we open the hood of my car and the sight we see isn't promising. My battery is totally corroded so Dad and i had to clean it off and after a couple of tries we got my car started! So off we went back to my parents to put my battery on a charger.

Thankfully i have wonderful parents. A dad who helps me out when I'm stranded and a mom who takes her daughter to the market so she can still make a special dinner for that hard working husband. So my mom, brother nick, and i head to the market. We pick up all the ingredients and head over to my house to start the dinner. I made Pot Roast with carrots potatoes and onions, and a healthy salad. My mom and brother both help me get it all peeled and in the roasting pan so that i would be cooked and ready in the 3 hours that Bill would be coming home.

After what started as a productive day then turned into a small nightmare, Bill got home and i greeted him at the door wearing a nice "dressy" outfit with dinner on a candle lit table and a quiet evening staying in together just to enjoy each others company. Over all a day that started Perfectly ended Perfectly.

K9's and Fireworks

Saturday Bill and I took the family (dad, mom, gerry, nick, elise & Jenny) to the 21st Annual Police K9 show in Anaheim. It was a really good time, and i think that my family really really enjoyed it.

At the K9 Show they run through skits to show the audience why police dogs are important and how they are use in the field. A couple of things the dogs are trained for are the following:

Finding Suspects

Finding Drugs

Finding explosive material

Finding Guns

These are just some the of the things these important dogs do. It was actually really neat to see the dogs in action. The dogs don't seem like they are that powerful, but once you let them loose to run after a "suspect" they go full force on dragging them down to their knees. These dogs bite down and don't want to let go. they bite and shake (which always reminds me of sharks) its that type of aggressions that makes these dogs fearful. Let me just say i would rather give up then have the police send in their dogs, because there is no escaping a well trained K9.

After the K9 show was done they had all the Orange County Helicopters fly by, that was pretty cool but i wish they could have landed or done more tricks but it was a small stadium which wouldn't allow that. To end the evening they had a very impressive Fireworks show that lasted a good 20 mins i would say. All and all the evening was a success!

Blah....

Do you ever feel like life is just blah?

I don't know why but sometimes i just feel so blah. It's not that i don't always have something on my plate, i just feel like doing nothing and that nothing is really going on. I don't know if it's the fact that we are in October and the weather STILL hasn't changed or if I'm just getting in one of those moods either way i need to get out of this slump and get going. I have much to do!

-get fitted for my sister's wedding (which is in may so i have time)

-clean the house and get up Halloween decorations

-help lea move and unpack the house

-get ready for mom's birthday (thankfully her gift is wrapped and ready.)

(i'll post pictures of it after sunday)

-get this work project done....(will it ever be done?)

this is just a short list that should be done this coming week but who knows, maybe i'll just push it aside till later!

Dexter....He's so Dreamy

I'm Obsessed! It's official. So a few weeks ago my sweet father in law sent me both season one and season two of this show called Dexter. Its about a guy named Dexter who works for the Miami Metro Police Dept as a blood splatter expert, the twist he's a serial killer! But he's a killer with a moral compass. He only kills the "bad guys."

So Bill and I have been held up in our house every night watching this series, lets just say we got the show about two weeks ago and we only have 3 episodes left on season two, the good news is that season three starts this Sunday! I can't wait and you bet I'll be done and ready to watch!

I don't know why i love this show so much, but i do. It's just so well written and interesting. I love the Characters especially Dexter and his girlfriend Rita. Bill i know is partial to the Cop Sgt. Doakes, he's absolutely entertaining and bill has made the comment a few times he wants to aspire to be just like Doakes. Personally i think Doakes is a little to salty, but then again he sure does know how to do good police work. If you haven't seen this show i highly recommend it. It's so worth it!

Dexter, Rita, The Whole Cast

Play Ball!

(Lani, Erika, Jacky, & Me)

Take me out to the Dodger's Game, Take me out with the crowds!

Last night our Owner Bob (Mr. Davis) set-up a work outing (no pun intended) to go see a dodgers game. It was really a lot of fun. A great team building experience. The plan was for us all to drive down together in a bus, unfortunately i threw a wrench in that plan and insisted i drive myself. I hadn't been feeling good so i didn't want to get stuck there without a way to get home early if i started to feel sick again.

Not only did we get free tickets but we also were sitting in the all inclusive all you can eat section. That was awesome, dodger dogs and coke, popcorn and peanuts all the essentials for a good ole baseball game the American favorite pass time. I being the social butterfly that i am did not sit still long enough to have any idea what was going on with the game, i still don't know if they lost or won. After meeting up with nick in line he grabbed a drink and hot dog for me and we sat and ate that's about all i saw of the game. It was back to socializing for me.

At one point i made the mistake of going to sit by my boss Adrian, heaven knows i love em like a dad but he then made me his fetch girl (not that i really minded) I went to go grab him and Clay a drink which left me standing in line for like 20 minutes, the upside i made some new friends, a couple of kids under age trying to talk me into getting them a few drinks, sad to say but i just couldn't do it.

Once back in our seats i handed over the drinks and sat next to the big boss Bob, there i stayed for the rest of the game, i think bob has been introduced to a side he' never seen of me. hopefully i didn't scare him to much with the constant chatter and playful name calling with all my other co-workers. Poor Scott and Allen. I mean come on when a guy brings a man purse (his binoculars case) I'm going to razz him just a little.

Well i left a little early because i started to get a stomach, whether it was from earlier or the hot dog and 3 sodas I'll never know. But besides the point Jacky and Erika left with me, lucky them they got to hear about my dating stories from my pre-married days! Poor poor girls. Thankfully we didn't get lost and got home in a jiffy. All and all it was a great night!

Nick & Me, Roger Nick & Lani,

Adrian & Clay, The Group

Green Fields

For as long as I've know Bill, he's been dying to try the most usual food possible. We went on a cruise for our honeymoon and there he tired cow tongue, jerk chicken and goat. So for Bill's birthday i decided to take him to a Brazilian BBQ place called Green Fields in long beach.

It was a very fun and interesting evening. Our good friends Jill, Steve, and Joey came to celebrate as well as bill's brother and Sister Don & Kristin. It's a buffet style type dinning with a twist. All the side dishes and salads are found at the salad bar, but ALL the meat (which is the only main course) is served by waiters on sticks. they carve the meat right there at the table for you. It was pretty cool, and I'm by no means a meat eater.

They served a lot of beef and all of it was pretty good. We tried everything! We had beef tender loin, garlic steak, salt & pepper steak, sirloin and top sirloin. We tried lamb, and pork tender sausages, Bill made me try the duck and the quail. They weren't as bad as i thought they'd be, but they were REALLY greasy. I think bill and Joey enjoyed the quail the most, i say this because they couldn't stop playing with their food. Boys will be boys.

After stuffing ourselves for almost 2hours we decided our belly's couldn't take much more. Then the dessert tray came out and right then and there i knew i was getting dessert. The choices were as followed: Black forest cake, double chocolate cake, carrot cake, new york cheese cake, lemon sorbet, and a molten coffee cake.

I had the lemon sorbet that came in a champagne glass, it was SO good!!!! Bill had the black forest cake but didn't enjoy it so much because it had cherries in it. But he really enjoyed Joey's double chocolate cake. Kirstin & Don had the carrot cake and said it was delicious. Over all the dinner was a wonderful time, and i think the best part was when joey told our waiter that it was bill's birthday. The waiter and a few others came over and sung to him. The waiter was killing me because he came over and shoved a candle in bill have eaten cake, it was classic!

Steve & Jill, Don & Kristin, Bill & Mia, Jill & Joey