Grandma O.

 

Today marks four years since my beautiful Grandma passed away. In all honesty, losing her was so much more difficult than I ever imagined it would be. But with time comes relative healing and the ability to think of her and instantly smile instead of cry. 

My family knows that we were incredibly blessed to have her in our lives for 69 years. Of course we wish we could have had her here forever. Instead of listing all the wonderful and unique qualities she had as my Grandma, I want to share some of the wonderful and unique memories I have of spending time with her.

Dear Grandma, some of best memories I have were filled with you:

Marcus and I flying alone to visit Tacoma for 2 weeks every summer

Going to the Commisary and getting to pick out whatever treats, food, and candy we wanted

Begging you and Grandpa to score my dives off your diving board, over and over

Eating the the local Mexican restaurant, you decided to say "How fast was she? Faster than SWOOSH!" and managed to spit Mexican rice all over me and my face. Then you laughed until you cried.

Not packing pajamas when we came to visit, because we would sleep and lounge all day in your t-shirts/nighties

Waking up to my favorite breakfasts, homemade and not

Watching you and Leona play Yahtzee, yelling and smoking

Playing Sorry, over and over

Eating popsicles after every dinner

Wandering around the Tacoma house and looking at all the little decoration and crafts everywhere

Listening to yours and Grandpa's stories about how poor you were at one point, and I always though you were joking/lying

Driving home from SeaTac with Grandpa in the little maroon Camry with the super soft seats, and you would be waiting outside in the driveway or on the porch stairs with all the animal figurines in the front yard

Believe it or not, getting slobber kisses each night before bed

Playing "burr-tickles" and scrating eachothers backs in bed - in a train and then we would all switch so it was fair

Listening to suspensful old-time radio stories in the bed

Watching Game Show Network and old movies with you in bed or on the couch

Hiding with Marcus once Grandpa got home from work

Tony Roma's...no explanation needed

The way you loved that stupid "Cheesburger" song

You would play "Heart and Soul" with me on the piano

And of course, you would always slip Marcus and I money as we left and told us "don't tell Grandpa"

You were simply, the best Grandma I could have ever hoped for.

circa 1994? she managed to look classy on Christmas Eve despite our best efforts to ruin a wonderful holiday with our clothing choices

You loved your grandchildren and great-grandchildren unconditionally

Father's Day weekend 2008, the last time I hugged you. We spend a lot of time together that weekend and I am forever grateful for those few days.

50 years together

There was truly no one like you.

happy birthday gabriella!

My beautiful niece is 6 years old today. How does this happen? How?!

This seems like only yesterday.

Gaby was born 5.13.2006, the day of my senior ball. This photo was taken the next day, a Sunday, at the hospital. There was really no feeling like it, being an auntie for the first time.

Gaby, you are so very bright, not to mention gorgeous. You go with the flow, you never complain, you help your little brother learn new things, you look up to your older brother who is such a great example to you, you are everything a niece should be. I am so proud to be your auntie.

Happy Birthday D!

Happy 4th Birthday to the cutest little guy and nephew in the world! 

Feeling blessed to have a happy, healthy, and of course ADORABLE nephew (and niece) to love!

soon-to-be S

Well, I said things could and would be changing! But turns out, not in the way I figured they would.

Chico has been incredibly warm this winter - evidenced by our weekly hikes in Bidwell with the pups. After our quick little Christmas jaunt to the Bay Area, we were soon back up here, hiking (sweating) in the 60-something° weather and letting the dogs frolic in Horseshoe Lake.

We traveled back to the Bay Area for New Year's to celebrate our 5 year anniversary with a Raider game (thanks Dennis!). We stayed with Kevin's mom, grandma, aunt and her family and rang in the New Year in San Leandro - an adventure in itself. 

Chloe's first New Year!

 

Pups' first New Year!

   

We met up with Daniel, Ryan and Nicole to tailgate and headed into my first NFL game! It was exhausting but so much fun. I got to see Sea-bas in action (Polish pride) and cheer my butt off  (they lost). Happy 5th Year together, Babe!

  

   

 

So we headed back up here and as Kevin transitioned from being a full-time construction management student to looking for full-time work in construction, we continued our happy, simple, little life.

Not going to lie - some things were great about having a stay-at-home boyfriend. I came home from work to clean dishes, vacuumed carpets, clean laundry, and so on. But Kev likes to feel productive, so we worked on sending out resumes and applying for jobs pretty much anywhere.  As everyone close to us knows, we love it here and I love the people that I work for, and while we were of course willing to move if it meant a good job, we would have loved to find something here.

Well Kevin had an interview with a company in San Leandro a few weeks ago. That weekend I drove home early on Saturday morning to have a Spa Day with my mom and 3 sister-in-laws (our Christmas gifts). We had a wonderful day at the Livermore Spa, preceded by a very classy brunch at Ihop, where we indulged in pedicures and massages. 

As this was my first professional massage, I had no idea that my hair would feel like a jar of olive oil afterwards. So after a quick shower, myself, and some of the fam went to Forno Veccio in Pleasanton for a wonderful dinner. We topped off the night with some Trivia Pursuit and yummy wine.

I left bright and early the next morning to come back to Chico. The drive to and from Chico to Pleasanton is so engrained in our minds now - its almost relaxing. Although tele-porting would still be easier. Well anyways, Kev and I planned to head to Bidwell on that Sunday afternoon to let the dogs burn off some energy and enjoy the beautiful day that it was. 

We drove to the park with the three dogs in tow (we were fostering Tru from OTCHS to give him a break from the shelter) and joined many other families in Upper Park - it was seriously a gorgeous day. As the dogs ran around Horseshoe Lake, getting muddy and wet and sandy, I looked at Kevin in total contentment and felt incredible lucky to be there, at that moment, with the person I love and dogs that I can't imagine life without. I was also feeling somewhat tired, from driving so much in the last 24 hours, and was not up for the longer hike up one of the trails that we normally take. So we were walking around the lake, chasing after Tru as he went to go meet all the other dogs, and throwing sticks for B&L to fetch from the water. 

Next thing I know, I am watching the dogs run around, and Kev says "Hey Babe" to get me to turn around. I turn around, and there he is, down on one knee holding the most beautiful ring, and asks me to marry him with the biggest smile on his face. 

OMG. I don't even think I said 'yes' right away. I was in such complete shock that all I could do was drop my jaw and say "oh my God." As my friends know, I have been dreaming of that moment for so long. I have known for quite a while (years) that Kevin is 'the one.' And here it was finally, and I just couldn't believe he was actually proposing! The tears started flowing, and he was down, in the mud, on one knee still-and we shared that moment that is so indescribable. It could not have been more perfect. I honestly did not have a care in the world-we were in one of our favorite places, I had no idea where the dogs were, or who was watching, or what we would do next-but I said 'YES' and we just relished that moment for as long as we could.

January 29th, 2012

Kev's dirty/mud knee

Our first engagement card, from G&G Landucci

 Writing this now, it has been almost a month since we got engaged and I still can't believe it. We wrangled up the pups and the phone calls began. I called my mom first, who was also quite shocked (it has been over five years..), and we called our entire families and called/texted our closest friends. On the car ride home from Bidwell, Kev told me all about how he had talked to his dad and mine in the last couple of weeks, and my Dad gave him the go-ahead to pop the question. We decided to head to go out to dinner at the Sierra Nevada Brewery, but first things first, I needed a manicure!!! DUH.

Pretty, huh? I think so. Anyways, this past month has just been nothing short of wonderful. We are relishing our excitement about being engaged and truly blessed by the kind words we have received from our families, especially our grandparents. Although we both come from families of divorce, we have been lucky enough to witness the second marriages of our parents and the marriages of our grandparents, who have all celebrated 50 (and more) years. We look forward to as many years together as God gives us.

Plus, there are so many more changes to share! More to come..

Here we come!

Well, we are almost on our way home for the holidays. Our silly little tree a-top the dog crate is officially dwarfed by the presents ready to be given to family and friends!

In the next three days our itenerary should resemble something like this:

Chico - Angels Camp - Livermore - Pleasanton - Castro Valley - Pleasanton - Livermore - Modesto - Chico.

The pup's (Bodie and Lily) itinerary looks something like this:

Home - Wacky Wags Boarding and Daycare - Home!

We will miss you pups, but you will be well-taken care of. See everyone soon!

Holiday rush

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind.

It all started when I got a call from the OTC Humane Society about a woman wanting to meet Tasha. The lady lives in Chico and was researching possible dogs for her father, who had recently put down his 19-year-old rat terrier. So on a Tuesday evening we took Tasha to meet the whole fam. On that Friday afternoon, we drove Tasha out to her possible new home in Ord Bend, which is a very small town between Chico and I-5. We spent an hour or so with the woman's father and his girlfriend as Tasha ran around the house like crazy. It seemed like a great place for a little doggy, but she still wouldn't let the couple even hold her. We left thinking that she had a 50-50 shot of being adopted by them. Welp, the very next day we got a call that they were already at the shelter in Orland filling out the paper work.

So after almost three months, Tasha was adopted. It would be a lie to say that we weren't very sad, but we kept telling ourselves that this was the best option for her. So, we had a few more hours with her before we drove her out to her new country home.

It all happened very quickly, but we were very thankful to have her be adopted before finals week and not during. So we put on some smiles and thought positive thoughts as Kevin hammered through his finals and I finshed up my papers and tests. It seemed like the longest week, but then it was over. I thought we would have time to relax, but we had to get busy knitting and crocheting.

I had planned to make something for (almost) everyone in my family instead of buying gifts to save money. Kevin decided to do the same. So we set out to finish up the 20 something gifts we had listed in about a week and a half. Kevin knitted so many scarves, and I took to knitting or crocheting one beanie after another. The result...

I don't even think that was all of it, since we were knitting right up until the Christmas Eve. We were so happy that everyone really liked their gifts and all the hard work - and sore fingers- paid off. Since Christmas I knitted a beanie for myself and one for Kev, a surprise (sort of).

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with our families in the Bay Area. Then on Christmas day we went to Kev's Grandma and Grandpa's house in Modesto for a wonderful dinner and family time. Then Kevin braved one of the worst driving experiences of our lives, driving in the pouring rain from Modesto to Angels Camp in the dark, definitely not doing that again!

We got to spend some time with my niece and nephew, and spent the night in Angles Camp. Daddy made us an awesome breakfast in the morning and we were on our way.

Thankyou to everyone in our families for the great gifts, your support, and love. It's great to be home :)

Now we are getting ready for my step-brothers wedding on New Year's Day. Grandpa bought me two nights at the Rose Hotel downtown, so Becca and I will stay there Thursday and Friday night, thanks Grandpa! Can't wait to ring in the new year with a big celebration, a great new dress, and some of my favorite people.

Also, Kevin an I will be celebrating 4 years together on the 1st. Can't wait for many, many more!

Lately

Kev and I spent most of Thanksgiving Break here in Chico. The Sunday prior to TG, Kev and I made our first (very own) Turkey! It turned out AMAZINGLY yummy, we we're very proud of ourselves. While he tended to the bird (thanks Grandma Landucci for all the baking tips!), I worked on the side dishes. Yum yum yum.

Not bad lookin' huh? The rest of the week we just hung around the house, ran errands, relaxed, and went for a walks around  the neighborhood and campus (I had to renew and check out some more books from the library for another research paper). Kev got to show me a concrete slab that he helped create for one of his classes, that's it in the pic of him below.

Thursday morning we got up bright and early to head "home" for the real TG. We were nervous to see how Tasha interacted with Kev's parent's dogs Max and Petey. Tasha stayed at their house in Livermore while Kev had TG with his Dad, Stella, his sister and his Nana and Papa. I went to Roseville to spend the day at my Aunt's house. We had a lovely meal, but I couldn't wait to see Gaby, Dominic, Grandpa and Bubba.

Gaby is already writing upper and lower-case letters, spelling names and words, and drawing very well for a 4 year old! I couldn't believe how well she can write and draw, I was a very proud Auntie. And of course, Dominic has so many words. We stayed at a hotel and went back to Bubba's (my Aunt) for a Friday morning brunch (also very yummy). Thanks Bubba for two great meals and a happy TG :)

I met Kev in Modesto on Friday to visit his grandparents. Tasha got to meet the whole gang-Grandma and Grandpa Landucci, dogs Henry and Slinky, but the cats Rocky and Grace evaded her capture, lol. Tasha seems to do very well with male dogs, she was interested but more laid-back than I thought she would be. Slinky seems to be very fond of Tasha, he even sent her a little love e-letter! She was very flattered, but we're not sure that she is looking for "anything serious" at the moment (she is, after all, up for adoption). Hehe. But we are so glad she was able to make a friend! Anyways, I was able to get a few cute pics of the love-birds.

We spent a few hours catching up with Grandma and were glad to see that Grandpa Leo is recuperating well from his hip-replacement surgery. Wishing him quick and less-painfull progress!

It's a very rainy Sunday evening here in Chico. I have been crocheting like crazy since Kev's Grandma gave us a bunch of yarn and needles. I'm having so much fun learning. This lady is a saint. Her blogs, YouTube videos, and instructions are amazing. She has taught me everything I have crocheted so far. I plan on posting a picture here soon of all the items I have made.

We have one more week of school, then Finals Week. Wish us luck!