Zavoral Villa!

Our Saturday, we began our trip with a tour on the USS Midway. Mom and Dad R were in town for the wedding, so they came with us and some of Jeremy's friends from work. It was really, really cool. I can't believe how huge the thing is and how they were able to get planes to take off and land on that thing. The craziest part is how they cram all the military guys into the ship. I would never be able to do that. It was funny to see them show planes and ship technology from 1991...as if it was ancient artifacts. There was so much to see and learn! I wish we could have stayed on the ship longer, but we had to go to a wedding! The wedding was for a distant cousin on my mom's side. It was really nice, on a beach in la Jolla. The best part is that- thanks to Uncle Lyman- my cousin Amanda was there!! She has always been one of my favorite cousins because of her spunk and energy. I still laugh out loud thinking about her as a four-year-old sauntering around grandma's backyard, pu...

Jeremy and I have officially made it through two weeks of craziness with the new school year. Other than me not coming home from work before 8:30pm, things are going pretty well. I've still managed to make us nice meals for lunch. I make 5 meals on Sunday and put them in lunch packs for the week. And I've kept up on laundry and housecleaning, so that's super! Jeremy is in full swing with his MBA program. He is currently taking 3 classes: microeconomics, financial accounting, and management communications. He goes to class TTH nights and works with his group of classmates for projects and homework assignments on Fri&Sat. He's been learning about some neat businesses, and today he read a chapter about the effects of child labor in developing countries. Now he is pretty convinced it's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be! This week, things might get crazier because my new Children's Chorus will start. I have a whopping 62 students that have agreed to come...

Since I was hired at my school, I've been very fortunate to have multiple articles in the press about the music program that I've built. It's a wonderful opportunity to be a part of it! I've had two neat appearances most recently... In July, an article in the Orange County Register was written about a Preschool Music Event that I helped host at our school. You can click here to read it. This September, in the Orange County Family Magazine, an article that I wrote was published on page 84!! It's an advertorial section called "Experts Speak Out." Don't get too excited for me, as "advertorial" means that our business paid the magazine to put the article there, but it's still pretty neat to see my words in print. The school marketing director said that she wanted me to be featured. That's quite a compliment considering there are 9 music teachers that teach at all of our school's campuses. Below is the page with a picture of my studen...

View on Catalina Island over-looking the ocean and toward the mainland. We could see Huntington Beach from here! Four years. That sounds like a long time. To us, it feels like it's only been one or two. And here's something to prove how newly-wed we still feel. Things we said to each other our first month of marriage that we STILL say to each other: I can't believe I was able to get you to marry me. I love how we don't have to say goodbye at the end of our date! I'm going to be with you FOREVER? That's so cool! You are the perfect person for me. So who's gonna be in charge of taking out the trash? You are so hot! Being married to you is so fun. Did you think it would be this fun? To celebrate, we were able to take a weekend trip to Catalina Island. We see the island almost everyday from our beach, so we decided it was time to actually go there. It only took 1 hr and 45 min to get there from our front door to the hotel on the island. Cool! In addition to the...

Tanya came to visit us with her boyfriend a couple weeks ago!! We had a very fun time together. We all got along really well. Here's the highlights: Downtown Disney. We began to discover that all 4 of us are easily entertained by water fountains. And Chris was the only guy who could climb the jumbo legos. The beach and boogie boarding. The boys spent a lot of time in the water while Tanya and I talked and tanned. Main Street. Too much walking for Tanya. Movie night at home. Church. Venice beach. Those skateboarders are so entertaining! But that freak show was kind of scary. Hollywood. Tanya was so excited to find Harry Potter's hand prints! Hopefully it made up for all the walking. Griffith Observatory. We had a little kissing photo shoot. First Tanya and Chris, then me and Jeremy. And we also learned! Thai dinner. Yum! Chili's lunch Music Around the World Day. Tanya came to my school with me to see me teach a Mommy and Me music event. She seemed to really enjoy it. Tanya a...

"We're live in 20 seconds!!" That's what we heard as we rushed into the studio where the live filming of America's Got Talent, Week 8, Night 1 was taking place. With only 15 more seconds left, the stage crew hollered at Jeremy and me to get to our seats. A few weeks before, I found the show on hulu.com (since we don't have real TV) and soon became an avid viewer. When I found out that the finals would be filmed in Hollywood, I went online to get tickets. They were free! All we had to do was show up no later than 4:00 pm and wear "hip" clothing (yes, that was in the instructions, mentioning that we could get turned away if our wardrobe wasn't cool enough). Not sure if our clothes were up to par, we panicked when we were still on the highway at 4:30. LA traffic sucks. When we finally got to the studio, we were shocked that they still let us in, but it was standing room only. I guess they figured our clothes were more of the second-class type. As w...

Highlights included: Three itty-bitty baby elephants, 4 older baby elephants Watching the elephants for a LONG time, splashing, walking, nursing, taking mud baths, creating mud-sunscreen, beautifying their bodies with mud, eating grass, shaking the dirt off of their grass heaps, chomping, pooping, bellowing, trumpeting, and more. The "journey into Africa" ride The steel band performance Being hot (it hasn't really gotten hot yet in HB, so it was nice to feel some heat!) Drumming with the African acrobats. Jeremy and I actually gained a little audience as we jammed out with one of the African drummers. And I learned a few new patterns! Nature Walk Making clay figurines Watching all the kids' different reactions to the animals, performers, plants etc. Critiqueing the variety of parental strategies displayed throughout the park- something very easy to do when you don't have your own kids :-) Not rushing