9 months in the life of... a Herrick.

First of all, I seriously cannot believe I have not updated since January. So much has happened since then, so I'll do my best to give an accurate update!

As some may remember, I lost my boy cat to a coyote last September. My baby girl cat, Kaluah, went through some seperation anxiety for awhile, but soon got used to being the spoiled "only cat" (kinda like the only child syndrom, considering we still have our dog Saibo!) Until Mother's Day rolled around... Mark's old neighbor didn't know that a cat snuck into her garage and had kittens. Of course when I heard that, the thought of adopting another cat quickly ran though my mind. I use the word quickly because Mark isn't really a cat person. However, he took one look at those kittens and called me right over unexpectedly. I walked into the house and he was sitting in the middle of the living room playing with five little kittens, looked at me and told me to pick one out!!! I couldn't believe it!!! Naturally, since we already had a girl named Kaluah, we needed a girl named Bailey ;) With that said, meet Bailey!



Bailey - 6 wks old




Bailey - 7 wks old



& we can't forget about my Kaluah girl!

My season at work flew by and didn't skip a beat... before we knew it, the end of May was rapidly approaching, and we were all preparing to say our goodbyes for the summer. Bertha, our cosmetologist, threw an end of the season party at her new house which was awefully nice of her! I left fairly early, but hear it was quite the party after I left. Leave it to the Spa family to define the word PARTY! 

Brenda, Katie, Me, Lucia



We toasted to a long season of hard work, great teamwork, fun, laughs, lasting memories, and cheers to looking forward to seeing everyone in the fall for another fun season!


From left to right: Laura's nephew Manuel, Bertha, Laura, Lucia, Hector, Me, Jeanette, Yolanda, Ivette,
Rosa, Katie, Kimberly, Jolene, & Carrie





...Ron walked around with his camera catching the perfect moments... he really is becoming quite the photographer! Here are a couple photos of my Spa Family...



June snuck up on me! But I was okay with that... And just like last year, we planned our 2nd Annual Anaheim trip with our good friends Gus & Sheryl for the Angels vs. Yankees series. Last year was a blast, but leave it to us to make it bigger & better. Our friend hooked us up in the Hilton Anaheim, & talk about customer service! It really made me feel like I was on an actual vacation! We had such a great time... out of the two games we went to, Angels won one and the Yankees won one. No anomosity, just a plain ol' good time! & besides our Anaheim trip...

...June marked the beginning of birthdays, graduations, summer parties, etc... My niece Donelle graduated from Palm Springs High School, my oldest niece Ashley graduated from Kaplan College with her medical assistant certifications, and is now officially nationally certified! And my cousin Kristie renewed her vows with her husband Andres of 14 years. 



Ashley & I at her graduation from Kaplan College - So proud of her!

Mid-June, I was blessed with another beautiful Godson, Ryder William Spero! He joins his proud big brother, Palmer, who turned two in April. I couldn't have asked for two cuter godchildren... here's a couple pictures I snapped of the handsome Ryder William:



Big Brother Palmer :)

Aunty JP & Ryder <3

We were blessed with BEAUTIFUL weather in July, believe it or not. It was a pretty quiet month for us, not too much going on. We went to a few Angels games, hung out with great friends, and enjoyed each other's company. My great-nephew turned THREE at the end of July. Ashley did a great job throwing his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's and let me tell you, Nathaniel had the time of his life! It was really nice to spend it with close friends and family and to see all the kids having so much fun... 



Nathaniel <3

Meanwhile, I took this picture at Nathaniel's birthday party of my brother Jay and his daughter (my niece) Karma... look how big she's getting!

Just last night, Mark and I were talking about how August flew by like nothing and how fast summer is going. Although we had a great summer weather wise so far, August brought some serious heat to the desert - finally. Not that I LIKE the heat, but I would much rather have the dry heat than the humidity, that's for sure! We had a couple birthdays in the beginning of August:

The Morse boys turned ONE! It's absolutely amazing how fast this past year flew by. I can still remember driving to the Redlands hospital to go see Heather & the family when they were born right before my wedding... two of the cutest twinsies EVER!



Left: Ethan - Right: Dylan (with Uncle Mark!)



Left: Dylan - Right: Ethan



Heather (the boys' mom) & I at their first birthday party

Just a couple days later, our niece Dallas turned one, too! I think she's officially stolen our hearts, and is now offically known as "our Princess"! Her Grandmother, Shari, threw her a Yo Gabba Gabba themed birthday party and she had an absolute blast! This little girl as more toys and clothes than I ever had as a little girl! Spoiled, but so worth it!

  

Ashley also had a birthday in the middle of August, so of course we had to go out and celebrate! It makes me such a proud Aunt to think of how far she has come in the last three years... I still to this day tell her that despite our 20 month age difference, I am still her Aunt, and I can still kick her butt ;) She knows what being a sister feels like, but being an Aunt is such a different feeling... indescribable. But yes, Ashely, we are more like sisters... (I'll give you that much!)



Ashley & I on her 24th birthday 2011 :)

Believe it or not, between the birthday parties, and graduations, and every other kind of event we had to go to, we actually did find time to spend with each other! For the second year in a row, Mark played in the St. Jude's Children's Hospital Charity Softball Tournament in Anaheim at Angels Stadium. We went with some friends and Mark's team took second! Way to go guys! We also went to a couple BBQs, Angel games, etc...

Mark, Jake, Heather & Myself on the
way to Anaheim

Laura, Dave, Jake, Heather,
Myself, & Mark at Angels Stadium

Mark & I

Heather & I eating breakfast in the Diamond
Club at Angels Stadium before the tourney



Mark & I at a friends house for a UFC Fight Night

Yee Haw! Cowboy themed birthday party!

All in all, it's been a really great summer. Mark just got promoted at work, we're hoping to move into a house by October, then our first anniversary (which we decided to not go anywhere for, instead have a Sunday football BBQ because the Cowboys play the Patriots! Talk about a great anniversary present from the NFL, haha!). Next thing we know, the holidays will be around the corner, and BAM! another New Year!

I promise I'll try and keep updating as often as possible. Like I said, it's been busy!

Xoxo

2011... here we come!

I really wish I was better at updating this... It's always in the back of my mind; I promise I will be a little more proactive!

The holidays were great! We had Christmas at Kim & Marc's house and it was probably one of the best family gatherings we've ever had. The kids really made my night; watching their faces when they opened their gift was priceless :) Us adults played the White Elephant game and I ended up with a griddle, haha! That was fine with me because I didn't have one. And ironically enough, Mark made out with one of the presents that we brought to the game... I got him an iPod touch for Christmas, and we brought a portable mp3 console so it worked out in his favor! He got me a BEAUTIFUL diamond necklace in the shape of a key, amongst other fun things :)and I absolutely love it & I don't think I've taken it off since Christmas morning! Mark's uncle (& Godfather) got married in the beginning of December up in Arrowhead. On the way out there we stopped at his grandparent's house to visit and exchange gifts since we weren't going there for Christmas this year. The wedding was nice, and there was still a little snow on the mountain!

 

My brother and sister-in-law had their baby girl on the 30th! She is absolutely adorable :) Here are a couple pictures of little miss Karma Rains Fortune...

  

             

 Mark and I had such a busy month, I'm not sure where it went. Between starting softball on Friday nights again, Christmas parties, and family gatherings, the next thing I knew, it was New Year's Eve!

We spent New Year's Eve at Sheryl & Gus' house and had a great time. Only in the desert will a group of grown men play beer pong in the garage with the garage door open on the one night that it drops down to 35 degrees! It was super cold and I wasn't drinking because I had to work the next morning so I decided to spend most of the evening by the fireplace :)

January is a busy month for birthdays! My nephew, Tyler, turned 22 (which I'm still in denial about...) and my sister, Kim, turned... well... that's not important (you're welcome, Kim!). I hit my "quarter of a century, 'you're closer to 50 than the day you were born' mark" a couple weeks ago. My husband completely spoiled me! He got me a really nice Coach purse, a cute pair of pajamas, and one of each of my favorite soda's from Michigan called Faygo! He sent me flowers at work and took me out to dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurant. It was an amazing birthday :) The following weekend a big group of my friends got together and went out for Mexican food and to a bar downtown. We had such a fun time! The next morning Heather, Jake, Mark and I met my nieces and Nathaniel for breakfast. It was such a beautiful day and a great way to end my birthday week :)

So, here we are, wrapping up January and the first month of 2011. I feel that this will be a good year for us...

Xoxo