In July my Grandma and Grandpa Archuleta were vacationing in Oceanside. I got to hang out with them a lot while they were down south. One day we went to Mission San Luis Rey and walked around downtown Carlsbad. Another day they came down to Coronado and we went to the Hotel del for lunch.
My mom was down in Carlsbad also for a few days. While everyone was here we went to Old Town San Diego for the day. I really like Old Town because there are tons of amazing Mexican restaurants, historic buildings, and fun things to do. We went to lunch at Cafe Coyote and then walked around for a bit. When bought tea and coffee, did some olive oil tastings and then of course went wine tasting. It was a really fun day.
We finished off the night by going to the Harbor House for dinner in Seaport Village. Aaron was able to join us since he was off work.
Thanks grandma and grandpa and mom for all the free food and hanging out with us!
Last month Sarah and Ben came down for a weekend. One day we all went to Coronado Beach. It was Ben’s first time at the beach! When we first got there he really liked playing in the sand. Then, of course, we wanted to see if he liked the water too.
Look at him triumphantly run out there. He’s actually wearing a rash guard that I bought for him for Sarah’s baby shower.
Well it turns out he doesn’t like the water. 
I think it was just too cold. Don’t worry Ben, I don’t like the cold Pacific either! I haven’t been in in years. Now he’s running away from the waves.
Ben’s sad because he’s just not old enough to appreciate the waves yet. He also kept rubbing his face since he was crying, hence all the sand.
Sarah also tried to take him out …
But got the same result.
So the rest of the time, Ben just played in the sand under his umbrella.
Yep. Black.
It’s one of my favorite colors to wear. Always has been. Black was even one of my wedding colors.
I have always wanted to paint my fingernails black, but I’m not too sure it looks professional in a work setting. A few weeks ago it occurred to me that now is the perfect time to paint my nails black, I don’t have a job to go to every day. I went to the store, bought some polish, and did my nails.
The next day I got an email asking to come in for an interview. My first interview since I’ve begun looking for a new job. The polish had to go.
I’m waiting to hear back about a 2nd interview, hoping maybe to get more interviews in the future … so I painted my nails black again, hoping the same thing will happen.
I’ll let you know. Right now I’m enjoying my black nails, they somehow fit me really well.
Our nephew Ben likes to play with kettlebells and hang out with the guys when they workout. He is so cute! He can push them over and can even pull around the little 18 pounder.
Last week I took pics of the moonrise over the Coronado Bridge. I was at an organ concert in Balboa Park the day before (yes, like church organ, I’m old at heart, what can I say) and the concert MC pointed out that it was rare that a full moon would rise over Spreckels Pavilion at a certain angle. While driving home, I noticed it was right over the bridge.
PERFECT picture opportunity!
So the next night I looked up the moonrise time and took all my gear to the park. I hadn’t taken night photos in awhile, but I got there early for some practice shots. I think some of my shots turned out really great. They’ll be part of my Coronado collection 
(For those of you unfamiliar with San Diego, the bright lights in the background is Naval Base San Diego, where Aaron is stationed.)
No this is not a joke.
Aaron really did start a blog.
Amazing I know.
His blog is called Strength-Function-Fitness. It is all about him “re-training” in the basics. Doing strict perfect push-ups and pull-ups for example. It’s about doing exercises correct, not just cheating in your form so you can attain a higher number of reps. He also has set new goals in the bench press, squat and deadlift.
Check it out and leave a comment about what he is doing!
http://strengthfunctionfitness.wordpress.com
This past Saturday, Aaron and I spent our first 4th of July together. He was in Hawaii and Dubai the times before this one.
Over the past month we’ve discovered that Coronado is the place to be for the 4th. We knew that there would be no way to successfully leave and come back to island, so we walked everywhere. We started off our day going to the Coronado Parade. It’s fun being in a military town for the 4th. Many veterans live here and it is truly their day to shine. There were veterans from Iwo Jima and the Pearl Harbor attack, military marching bands, and fancy old cars. One of my favorite floats was one in which a group of soldiers, dressed in WWII uniforms, re-created Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. It was very moving.
Then we went to the park and Aaron tried out his new slosh pipe that he had built the night before. The usual quiet park was PACKED with people and tents. It was crazy to see people there so early, just to bbq and have a good view of the fireworks. After that we got ready for our own bbq at our apartment. We had some friends over to eat and watch the fireworks on the bay, which is only a short walk from our apartment.
It was a pretty good day overall. We were happy we didn’t have to drive anywhere, every parking space was taken in Coronado. I’ve never seen so many people on the island!
Enjoy the pics!
Today I chopped off 10 inches of my hair to donate to Locks of Love. I decided to cut off my hair again awhile ago, but decided to grow it out for a few more months so it wouldn’t be so drastic when I finally did it.
I went to La Dolce Belladonna Salon and Spa in El Cajon because they are an official Locks of Love salon. Diane did my hair and it turned out amazing! I kind of was getting nervous while I was waiting for my appointment, but I’ve had my hair “shorter” before and I kept reminding myself that I can always grow it out.
My head feels very light now, but my hair also feels really healthy. I am still getting used to it. I run my hands through my hair all the time, and now the hair runs out really quickly.
Aaron has never really seen me with short hair so I am exicted to see his reaction. I know that he likes my hair straight rather than wavy, so we’ll see his opinion on this soon.
Aaron Wolf!
I am proud to announce that Aaron won MBody Strength’s fourth Suburban Warrior Challenge this past weekend in Huntington Beach with a time of 1 hour, 8 minutes and 15 seconds.
You can go to their website to see exactly what the Challenge entailed, but here is a snap shot of it:
The event included a 3.25 mile weighted hike, push ups, kettlebell push presses, and the kettlebell figure 8 to hold exercise. Men had to carry a 60lb pack and 18lb kettlebell and perform all exercises using a 53lb kettlebell.
I was sad to not have been there to cheer him on (yet I was at an exciting wedding for my cousin Rebekah, pictures to come. And no, Aaron didn’t skip the wedding to do this event, he was finishing Search and Rescue Swimmer school the day before). I made him promise, though, before I left, that he would dedicate his win to me (especially because that day was our 6th month anniversary). I don’t know if he shouted it at the top of his lungs like he promised he would, but he did win like he said he would before I left on Friday.
The prize for winning was a 53 lb kettlebell. Aaron plans to keep participating in events like these and of course win.
Below is a video that MBody Strength put together about the event. Aaron is wearing brown shorts and a white shirt. There are about 3 quick shots of him and then you can see him talking at the end.
