Things I have learned living in southern California

1) I really like guacamole (but not avocados...I know weird). I didn't eat much of it at all growing up , but i'm a fan and I eat it all the time now.

2)Walmart is not as accepted in southern California as it is in the rest of the United States and I must say I like that. I think I have seen maybe two while living here. Stay strong SoCal they can't take over the world if we fight hard enough haha.

3) California (at least the parts that I have been to) does not have drive through bank tellers. They have the driving lanes, but they just lead to ATMs. This puzzled me because I used to work as a drive through teller. Sometimes when I am in a hurry it frustrates me but in a way I am thankful. Banks are saying "Hey lazy, this isn't McDonald's get your butt out of your car and walk inside".

4) Californians must really love donuts. Growing up in Alabama were really only two different places to go if you wanted donuts, Krispy Kreme or Dunkin' Donuts. It is pretty funny, for California being more "health conscience" there are a zillion different donut shops and they all have names like "Happy Donut". Every time I see a new one I tell Kevin I am going to drive around taking pictures of every one that I see.

5) Not all Americans are lazy. I am always seeing people here running, walking, biking, roller blading etc... It is nice when you see families out being active together. I know this always existed but I see it a lot more here. I think it has a lot to do with the weather.

6) Stereotypes may exist for a reason. Before I continue please forgive me in advance. I don't want to offend anyone but here in California there is a stereotype that I have tried and will continue to try to disprove and that is that Asians are the worst drivers. Unfortunately, I am having a hard time building my case. Every time someone is blocking traffic by going 40 in a 65 and we look to see who it was....Asian. Someone merges into my lane without looking and almost hitting me...Asian. Slamming their brakes with nothing in front of them...you get the gist. If someone could please shed some light on this I would really appreciate it.

7) I miss my friends. Now, I know that is a no brain er but seriously, I miss my friends. I went from being very social to well NOT social. In my old age I have a harder time breaking the ice with new people and I hate small talk. Of course I have made some friends here and I am so thankful for them, but I wanted all of you golden oldies to know how much I wish I could be there for every wedding, every baby shower and well EVERYTHING. If you guys ever need ANYTHING just let me know. I love you!

Well I think that is all for now. I may post more later. Let me know what you think about what I've learned.

Sisters and friends that feel like them

My sister, Melissa recently came into LA for a business trip. Kevin and I took her and her co-worker to the Santa Monica Pier and then did a little sightseeing. It was great to see her and realize how much of my personality (mainly my humor) is because I am an Archer. We live WAY too far away!

another sister, (well in spirit anyway) Liara, came for another visit. This time she was able to stay with us a couple of nights and she brought her friend noelle. It was nice to have to quality girl time at the beach. We walked around main st. in Huntington Beach and all the little vendors beside the pier. I bought a pretty necklace and they walked away with some cool souvenirs and gifts for friends back home. It was cool to show kevin that I am not the only one who knows all the lyrics to ice ice baby and all the salt n pepa songs. COME BACK SOON! You crazy nut! (wink)

A big thank you

I want to say thank you to everyone who has called or text me to see how my father is doing. The last I heard he thought he would be FINALLY get to go home today. Things turned out to be a lot more complicated than they originally thought and they had to do more surgery. I am so thankful that he had such wonderful doctors and nurses taking care of him! I know that everything has turned out the way it was supposed to. I know in my heart that our prayers have been answered. (Dad I know you have gone through so much. You are so strong. I love you and I hope to come and see you soon!)

Every little bit helps

I'm not quite sure who reads my little blog and out of those few people I don't know how many of you know my father or that he was diagnosed with an aortic anuerysm five years ago. Well recently it has enlarged for the first time in five years. The doctors told him that it was time to have surgery. SO...Tomorrow he goes in the hospital for a heart cath and then Thursday he is having open heart surgery. I would really appreciate it if you could keep my father in your thoughts and prayers. It is really hard for me being all the way across the country while he is going through this eventhough I know I would still feel as helpless in Florida.

Dad,

I just want you to know that my thoughts will be with you. I love you and I'm so excited for this to be behind you so you can come and see us in California.

Love Always,

Heather*

Mammoth

I have always been one to try new things. I should specify that I mean physically I like trying new things...not just in general because you won't catch me eating anything that you can find on fear factor :) Anyways, up until the beginning of this month I had never been snow skiing and I really don't know why. I lived in Utah for a year and a half but it just never happened. So when Some of kevin's family were planning a trip we jumped on board. Kevin's sister kirsten, bro-in-law clint, nephews nathan and kyle, father kerry and the two of us drove to Mammoth for a weekend. It was beautiful!!! I think its true about the older you wait to try skiing the more afraid you are. I was pretty excited but when I got to the top of the hill I was pretty intimidated. To be honest I don't think I would have survived that weekend without clint. THANK YOU CLINT!!!!!! He was by my side the whole first day and made sure that I was ok. I hate feeling like I am making everyone wait for me and its tough not naturally knowing what to do. I had a rough end to the first day and I was pretty scared to even start the next day, but I'm glad I did because after I warmed up I had a blast. It was cool to see how well everyone else could ski. It was a talant I didn't know kevin had. I look forward to going again.

Ready, Get Set, Oh No!

Two weekends ago Kevin and I went to lake Havasu, AZ. with Justin, his associate editor and Dave, his new sales guy. Our purpose for this trip was that Kevin and Justin were partners in the Mark Hahn memorial race. It is a jet ski endurance race. Basically, the first team or individual to complete 30 laps around the course win. Kevin thought it would be a good idea for his magazine (Personal Watercraft Illustrated) to be well represented and he wanted to have a first hand experience of what a racer might go through participating in such an event.

Kevin put a lot of pressure on himself getting ready for the race, but no matter how hard he tried it just seemed like nothing could go right. He didn't have enough time to break in the engine. A part was put on wrong and had to be put on the right way two days before the race. The keys to the mule (off roading contraption that was going to be used to pull the boat out of the water for refueling) were lost and we had to hot wire it to get it to start. Kevin's truck got stuck in the sand and we had to have it pulled out, then another truck wouldn't switch into 4 wheel drive and got stuck....the list goes on and on.

The actual race went something like this...All of the boats were lined up in the water. The racers had to stand in the sand and wait for the signal. When the shot fired, Kevin got an amazing start. He got tons of air as he jumped on his boat and took off. We all watched on the beach as the boats flew by. I was getting nervous when I didn't see kevin fairly early on because he got such a good start. Then when I saw some boats on their second lap my heart sunk. A few minutes later I saw Kevin slowly cutting across the water towards us. He looked so defeated. I tried my best to comfort him as the mechanic looked the boat over and discovered that the CPU had gone out on his boat. It was just another thing that went wrong that weekend. He didn't even get to make a full lap :(

Eventhough the race didn't go the way we wanted it to, It was fun to take a road trip and hang out with good company. Next year will go much smoother now that everyone knows what to expect and plan for.

Go to watercraft.com to check out some of what kevin has been working on for the last year!

Finally a second to write :)

Ok so the whole month of January has come and gone and we are already in the second week of February. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I just haven't had much time to sit down and type.

Last month kevin and I started going to the gym. We got free month trial memberships to 24 hour fitness from one of Kevin's coworkers. It has worked out great. Kevin goes and does weights with him and I join a cardio kickboxing class. It pretty much kicks my butt, but its a lot of fun and I can feel a difference. Pretty soon I hope I can actually start seeing one :)

One exciting thing that happened last month was that my friend Liara came to California literally for a weekend. So kevin and I drove up to L.A to see her and Josh Parker who I hadn't seen since I was like 19. It was great. We all went out to eat and then when josh had to go to work the three of us went to see The Bucket list and then movie hopped into P.S I love you. They were both really good movies, but I didn't really know what I was getting myself into because I felt like I spent most of the night crying :)

I turned 26 this year which really makes me feel old for some reason. 25 wasn't bad, but 26 is heading me right towards 30. I had a great b'day though. Kevin planned a trip for us to Santa Barbara because I had never been there. Everyone kept telling me how beautiful the drive was and they were right!!! I kept saying um hey you wanna move here?? It was just beautiful. The hotel was stayed in was hilarious. Kevin thought he had booked us in a much nicer place than he had. When we pulled into the parking lot I could see the disappointment in his face. They were doing construction everywhere and well it just wasn't that nice. As I looked at the print out from the internet I realized that it was only given 2 1/2 stars for a rating. When I told him that he just looked defeated. He thought it was 3 1/2. I didn't care. I was gonna have a fun time. Who cares about the hotel. I just had to laugh when we got inside to see how it was decorated. We made the best of it and it makes for a fun memory. We went shopping and did some sight seeing and we overall had a great time. The girls at work surprised me with b'day cupcakes on my desk and a nice giftcard. Wendi, kevin's semi sister-in-law, called my mom to get the recipe for a chocolate chip pound cake. Which is the cake I remember having most for my b'day growing up. I thought that was so sweet for everyone to try so hard to make sure I had a great bday. I want to thank everyone again for all of the b'day emails and messages. They really mean a lot to me.

Well, I think that is really all to update you on now. Hopefully it won't be another whole month before I get to post again :)