Boating!!!

Travis and I have been looking at boats for a month or so now and we finally found one! It was a good find and it was hard shopping for one because our budget was only so much and so it meant looking for privately sold boats. We found a bunch on Craig's List in our price range but most of them just weren't kept nice and had tears in the upholstery or were not the layout I was looking for. We went this weekend to look at one and ended up getting it. It is really clean and seems to be well taken care of even though it's 18 years old. We took it out on Whiskeytown Lake and it was SO much fun! It feels really good to have our own boat so we can take it anywhere. This weekend we are going to Konocti on Clear Lake with my family and then the next 3-4 weekends we'll be up at Trinity Lake before the summer is over. We are looking forward to many memories with our boat.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today is our 3rd anniversary as Mr. and Mrs. Brunner! Even though Travis and I have been together for 11 years, we haven't been married that long. These last 3 years have gone by very fast and our relationship has definitely evolved. It's funny how you can be with the same person throughout your life- but things are always changing and exciting. At least that's how I feel about our marriage- there are always going to be ups and downs, it's just that there are always more good times than bad. We've grown together a lot more these last 2 years than ever before and I'm so glad that I chose to share my life adventures with Travis- he definitely makes my life more enjoyable- he's always making me laugh and I'm looking forward to one day celebrating our 50th Wedding Anniversary!

Kristen's Baby Shower

I helped host Kristen's baby shower this last weekend and it turned out so great! It was a lot of fun, great people and great food- so that's always a good time. Katherine and Erin were able to come up for the weekend - I think I've seen Katherine more in the last year than I ever have in years before! I have been so lucky ;) Kristen got so many gifts, it was fun to watch her open them all- I can't believe she's going to be a Mom to a baby boy very soon! I know she'll do great :)

Summer 2009

I realized I haven't blogged in sooooo long! I thought I didn't have a lot of things planned this summer, but so far it has been very busy. Travis has been golfing a lot and I have been enjoying the sunshine that we rarely see in Humboldt County and working 2 Sundays a month- so that takes up some of my weekends too. I've only been up to the lake once so far, but hopefully we make it up there at least a couple more times before Labor Day.

I have been enjoying seeing Landen at work and watching him grow into a little boy and not a baby- he is becoming very independent and that's always fun to watch him grow up. He is constantly saying "Yan Yan do it." He calls himself Yan Yan- he can't seem to get the "L" to come out right ;) I also have been really enjoying taking Sandy on walks in the afternoon after I get off work- it's nice to be able to do that in the daylight before Travis comes home from work. She is getting to be a better dog (slowly but surely) and she's starting to calm down a bit- which I'm so thankful for!

Last weekend my family rented the McCullough's home in Salyer- they are renting it out as a vacation rental for the summer. It was very hot and it was fun to hang out for the day. I was only up on Friday because I had other things planned for the weekend, but it was fun watching Landen in the pool and just being able to hang out and read and sunbathe for the day - even though it was over 100 degrees!

Oahu, Hawaii

Well where do I begin? Travis and I just got back from the best trip ever! It all started with plans to go to Cancun, Mexico the first week of May. Well when the swine flu became a scare, we looked into changing our plans and were able to do so with no cancellation fees. So, we decided to go to Oahu and stay on Waikiki Beach! I was so excited because I have never been to Hawaii and Travis has never been to the island of Oahu, so we were thrilled. We have never gone on a big trip like this together, and it was so worth the wait! We felt like we were on a honeymoon (3 years later!) and we did whatever we wanted to do and everything we wanted to do. I have posted a bunch of pictures so get ready!

This is our first picture the day we arrived in our hotel room. We booked the hotel room on priceline and got a pretty good deal. It didn't have an ocean view, but we weren't in our room all that much so it was perfect.

This is the view from the pool at our hotel. As you can see, the hotel was right across the street from the beach! It was so neat being able to just walk directly onto the beach and directly into the ocean without wearing a wetsuit- I've never been to a place where you can do that. Our hotel was in a perfect location- right in the middle of all the shops and all the beach activities.

I don't know which is more funny- Travis's white hairy chest- or the old man's hairy butt!!!

We were walking along the beach one day and this monk seal was just sunbathing- pretty cute ;)

This is just a picture of the Waikiki Beach strip in the background- I think my head is blocking our hotel- but you can see the strip of hotels behind us. We did a lot of walking and exploring the beach front.

This is an eel that I saw when we walked out onto a pier. It was really neat looking- there was a man snorkeling about 3 feet from it! We were able to look down and see so many colorful fish.

We went on a catamaran for a sunset cruise one night. It was really fun- all you can drink!! This is my attempt at an artistic picture ;) (I hope you're proud Betsy!)

Again, on the sunset cruise.

This was one of the highlights of the trip for me. We hiked up Diamond Head crater and this is the very top. You can see Honolulu and Waikiki Beach behind us. The hike was pretty short (.8 miles I think) but it wasn't made originally for tourists so the path is pretty narrow. You have to go through a narrow tunnel to get to the top and then there are a few lookout spots, but not a lot of room. It was originally for military lookouts and holds a lot of history. The view of the inside of the crater was really breathtaking.

We rented a car one day and drove to Hanuama Bay to snorkel. It is supposedly the best snorkeling spot on Oahu, and the tourists definitely come here! We were able to go out in the Bay and see lots of fish. The problem was that Travis doesn't like to snorkel that much and I have to put my head up and take a breather every few minutes because I think I get kind of claustrophobic!! Anyway, we did it for about an hour and it was a great experience- it's only the second time I've snorkeled so hopefully I get more and more comfortable with practice!

We had lunch near Hanuama Bay at Kona Brewing Co. They had a great passion fruit wheat beer that I really enjoyed, and Travis, well you know- enjoyed them all! ;)

We took a shuttle one day to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It's a big park where they have different sections for different cultures. They share the traditions and ways of each culture. We learned about Tahiti, Tonga, Fiji and Hawaii among others. At the end of the day, they put on a Lu'au and above is a picture of the roasted pig. We also were able to try traditional Hawaiian food. At night, they put on a show and performed traditional dances from the different cultures; it was really entertaining!

This is the entrance to the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor. This day was so interesting- it was really moving to see the history there and to know that there are still people alive that witnessed those events.

We also went on a tour on the USS Missouri- the battleship the Japanese surrendered on ending WWII. It was interesting seeing how the Navy lives on the ships- Travis was really interested in the missiles and guns on the ship!

This picture was taken at our hotel on our last day :(

To top off our trip, on the way home Travis upgraded our plane tickets to first class! That was quite the experience- they just keep the drinks comin'!! It made the flight a little easier for me because I pretty much SUCK at flying;)

I was so happy Travis and I took the time and money to do a trip like this- we have never really made saving money for trips a priority- but now we are! It's interesting how things happen in life and things happen for a reason. I was supposed to be pregnant at this time and going on a trip like this would not have happened. It was so nice spending the time with Travis too- we get so used to our daily routine at home and doing our own things that it was so refreshing to spend all my time with him and we enjoyed every minute of it! It made me realize even more that I love our life together and things just seem to keep getting better and better!! I can't wait for whatever happens next.....

Happy Birthday Sandy!

Today we celebrate my dog's 2nd birthday! Well there isn't really a celebration, but I thought I'd make a post just for Sandy. We also don't know the exact day of her birthday, it's supposedly in March- so we decided March 15th would be her birthday ;) Travis brought Sandy home in June of 2007 from the pound. The pound told us she was a lab mix (aren't they all) and that she would get to be about 40-50 pounds. Well as you can see in the picture below, she is about 90 pounds and she supposedly has some great dane in her as well as cattle dog. She is a constant adventure in our lives. There has been many good and bad times, but overall I'd have to say that I love having her around and she really is a sweet dog and tries hard to be good. She has had a few run-ins with other dogs and then there's dogs that she absolutely loves, so it's sometimes hard to figure her out! She is such a big dog that it took me a while to get used to her size when she began to grow so quickly- I had a hard time getting her to obey me. Travis doesn't have a problem getting her to listen and I have worked harder to be more stern with her. The last 6 months or so I have really gotten to enjoy her more becuase she does listen to me more. I get to take her to work with me and she has her own yard and she just loves it so much- she's always so excited when she gets out of the truck at work.

Here are some pictures from a few months ago (you can see our old carpet...eww!)

This picture is of the first day Travis brought her home- she was about 3 months old.

Celine Dion

Last weekend my great friend Kristen and I went down to Walnut Creek to visit Katherine and we saw Celine Dion in concert at the HP Pavilion center in San Jose. It was an awesome girls weekend and Celine Dion was so great- she's got such a powerful voice and is very entertaining. The concert was supposed to be in November but she cancelled because she had laryngitis- so it has been a long wait to finally get to see her! She sang every song I wanted her to and changed her outfit like 6 or 7 times! She's got quite the body and definitely knows how to perform!


We didn't have the best seats, but the stage was set up so that there wasn't a horrible seat in the whole arena. This picture is of her dancing and singing on top of the piano.


The next day our friend Erin came into town and we all went shopping and stopped to get manicures/pedicures. No- I DID NOT get a pedicure- I hate people touching my feet and I don't understand how that can be a good feeling ;) The manicure was great though!

I had such a great time visiting Katherine. I really miss that she doesn't live closer but it's so easy for Kristen and I to take a weekend road trip to Walnut Creek. It's such a nice town and the shopping is so awesome! We always have so much fun planning where we are going to eat too because they have all the chain restaurants that we don't have up here (thank goodness!). We enjoyed PF Changs, In-N-Out and The Cheesecake Factory! I'm looking forward to the next trip!