First Day of Spring!

Sacramento has these gorgeous "sour cherry" trees everywhere! They are so beautiful when they are lined up right next to each other down a street. It makes me think of the cherry blossoms in DC. They do give sortta bad allergies though- the only down side to them.

I've gotten to do a lot of traveling around northern california and the sacramento area for my job lately. And in both areas I've been going to, I am shocked by how beautiful and diverse the state of California is! While nothing compares to the view of Pipes and Swamis in Cardiff, there is something to be said for foliage, mountains, snow and the smell of fresh air from all the trees up here in northern california. I was out in El Dorado Hills, which is about 60 miles west of Lake Tahoe, in the rolling hills and trees, and it was gorgeous right at sunrise. Breath taking. Last week I was up in Shasta and they have huge orchards of olive groves up there. The smell is wonderful! I've never smelled olive groves before, but now I love it! It's amazing to learn and experience new things and the move to Sacramento has provided such a great opportunity for that.

Harrison has been here for a whole week now! Time is flying by! My mom was so gracious enough to stay for this week also and watch Harrison during the day (along with being my personal assistant!). I don't think I could have gotten through this crazy, hectic week without her help! She is amazing and I thank her for all her support! It was great to see her, spend time (alot of time) talking, good therapy sessions. I was sad to see her go, and even sadder that I didn't get to spend as much time as I wanted with her. But hopefully she will be able to come up again soon!

I've got plenty of pictures to post of Harrison's first week, but no time to do it. I'll get around to it this weekend. So check back soon!

The Ultimate Peep Show

I have to admit, I stole this off my counsin, Aly's blog because I thought it was too cute- I couldn't resist! How funny is it with the yellow chicks "lounging." Very creative!

Anyway, just wanted to say: 24 MORE HOURS UNTIL HARRISON AND MY MOM GET HERE! And I can't wait- can you tell how excited I am!?

My mom is flying with Harrison up here and will be spending a few days with us. Neither of them have been up to Sacramento yet, so it will be great to show them both around. I'm trying to get work done so that I can take some long lunches next week to visit with them during the day. We'll see how that goes- I guess blogging doesn't give me much of a chance to get work done, but it's a stress relief, and thus a necessary part of my life!

Since Harrison won't be with us on the actual Easter Sunday, I'll be making the easter ham and dinner this weekend. I've never done a ham before, but I can't imagine that it's that hard. So wish me luck! And if anyone has a killer scalloped potatoe (aka "funeral potatoes") please let me know!

Tennis: the new hobby

Grandma Allen would be proud! James and I have started playing tennis! Even as I write this blog, my right wrist and elbow are so sore from our first nights game. We have some tennis courts just across the street from our house up here in Sacramento. I've played somewhat when I was younger- even went to tennis camp during the summer. But its been a very long time...We tried playing a real game, but since neither of us are very good we decided just to hit it back and forth and practice our swings for the first night.

We told Harrison about the new tennis rackets we bought- and he was very excited. He asked for his own, and ofcourse we've got one for him. He really loves trying new sports, and I really admire that about him. He loves to play golf with us, and has probably grown out of the set of golf clubs we got for him 2 years ago. He also loves playing catch with Dad and basketball also. I think he's got a great athletic talent and I can't wait to see what he'll do with it in junior high and high school.

It's Only Wednesday!

It's only Wednesday, and I've already:
1. survived my first court appearance in Sacramento
2. travelled to and from Phoenix
3. Seen all 3 of my brothers
4. drafted and filed a motion to compel on a case I know nothing about!
5. gotten in some quality suit shopping
6. house-hunted
7. and fallen deepier in love with my husband.

I'm exhausted, to say the least. I haven't written in the blog for a while- mostly because so much has been going on I can't decide what to write about!
So far, my new job has been going great. I have so many cases to work on and so much new law to learn. Tomorrow, I'm spending the whole day at a conference in downtown Sacramento- it should really force-feed the new laws into my brain and help with some of my new employement law cases.
James and I got back late last night from Phoenix. We were there attending my grandfather's funeral. He had passed away last Thursday, while snow skiing. I guess you can't really ask for a better way to go then doing something you truly love to do! It's always a time for self-reflection when someone passes and this time was no exception. It's been a mentally and emotionally exhausting week. I can't thank James enough for the compassion, understanding and unconditional support he has shown to me. It's an unfortunate thing to have to go through, but it does bring people closer together. And thanks to Kimberly for pug-sitting Sammie while we are away!
On to happier news:
Harrison starts spring break in a little over a week and we are so excited to see him! This is the longest we have gone without seeing him, I think. It's been close to a month now! And it will be almost 6 weeks by the time he finally gets up to Sacramento. We get to talk on the phone to him almost every day, which at first was difficult, but now he has gotten use to talking on the phone so much, and is a lot more chatty. We really can not wait to have for a whole month and I'm so excited to have him home again.

I hope that everyone has been able to stay far away from this horrible flu that is going around. Family in Phoenix had it, Harrison has it in San Diego, and my boss has it in Sacramento! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we don't get it- and we're also drinking Airborne by the gallons! (Yes, I think that Airborne really does work!).

Pug-a-palooza!

James' mom and step-dad are here today, to see the new house and they have brought their 3 pugs with them. So, I've got 4 pugs running around my house and they are keeping us entertained!

New House pics

Here are pics of the new house in Sacramento. It's way too big for us and is going to be a monster to keep clean. I'm going to buy a new vacuum right now! There is so much white carpet! But I'm happy to finally have a dishwasher that works and a huge laundry room and pantry. The living room and formal dining room will be empty for a while, considering we never have had to buy furniture for those rooms. We'll probably wait until we actually buy a house, rather than rent one to invest in furniture for those two rooms. (Or we'll wait until my mom wants to get rid of her furniture and kindly take it off her hands!)

Opps! What a mess!

We accidently left the trash can in the kitchen when we put Sammie in there for the day! This was the outcome! And Sammie was so full off of kitchen scraps he didn't eat for 2 days. We won't make that mistake again!