Thanksgiving Weekend in Cali

So for the actual Thursday of Thanksgiving we went to Mike's bosses house. Good times, good food, lots of wine. Then on Saturday Janell and Andy came up and we watched the Mizzou game (hello! Tigers #1 in the BCS...we're hoping for a national championship), had a quick Thanksgiving dinner over half-time, and then went out in Old Town Pasadena to celebrate Mizzou! Good times all around.

Except for Zoey...that's right. We aren't sure what the 'ole girl got into, but on Sunday she was sick as a dog (pun intended :) As you can see from the picture, Mike took really good care of her. Tucked her in, because we all know the way to get better is to stay warm. We really are "those" people with our dog!

Top 10 Things We're Thankful For This Year

1. Each other.
2. Zoey.
3. Our family and friends.
4. That all of the above have their health.
5. That we live in California. Even if it's just for a short time, or if it's a long time, Mike is "living his dream" and we are enjoying all that LA has to offer...including a warm Thanksgiving!
6. That MU beat KU and is headed to the Big 12 Championship...and maybe more!
7. That there hasn't been an earthquake yet (we stilll don't have our earthquake kit).
8. That we get to go home for Christmas and spend it with our family and friends.
9. Our new, L shaped couch...it's real nice.
10. That we live a pretty good life and feel pretty fortunate about it.

Our PCH Day: Laguna to LA

On a whim we decided to drive up the PCH from Laguna on Saturday. We didn't have any plans and we thought it might be a fun way to see some of California we hadn't been to yet. We were down in Laguna because we had to pick up Zoey from Aunt Janell's. Janell had been watching Zoey while we were out of town for the week (Janell totally spoiled Zoey) at Mike's dad's funeral. It had been an exhausting week and we just needed some nice relaxing time. Driving up the beach was the best! It was a great way to get Mike's mind off the previous week and also reminded us why we moved to California.

We started the day at our favorite dog-friendly, Laguna Beach restaurant: Madison Square Garden Cafe. They have great food and the owner loves dogs. Zoey likes going there because she gets the hook up on treats!

After lunch we headed north and ran across a dog park beach in Huntington Beach. We think we actually saw Zoey smile here! It was great and we can't wait to go back. I'm sure on the drive Zoey will stick her head out of the sunroof multiple times, as she really loved doing that on the drive!

We ran across a unusual chapel on our drive called Wayforth Chapel. It's this glass chapel on a hill overlooking the ocean. We could only visit for about 10 minutes because they were about to close it for a wedding, but we definitely want to go back. You can go there for meditation and they also have special ceremonies for Christmas and Easter. If we weren't married, this is where I'd do it.

Sometimes it's best to just take some time out and relax...enjoy every moment and not rush through life. It's kind of like that saying...stop and smell the roses :)

Halloween

Halloween in California is warm! Janell came up for the evening and after we had dinner we sat outside and waited for the trick-or-treaters. We had a ton of kids come by! We actually were being too generous with our candy at first and towards the end Mike assumed the role of "candy ration man." Only one piece for all kids...yeah, they loved him. We tried to dress Zoey up like a mummy by wrapping her in toilet paper, but it really just ended up looking like we tp'd our dog (see picture). In the end, she settled for being a lap dog--no costume necessary.