Sorry for the long delay between posts, we haven't had too much going on recently... and we've been thoroughly distracted watching 'Lost'.
Work has been going well, and I'm finally getting to the point where I can meaningfully contribute (there's a whole lot to learn and get accustomed to before you can really get much done). I've got my own office, fully equipped with two brand new computers, and a fully stocked soda refrigerator is just down the hall :)
As Paige mentioned in the previous post, I've been playing basketball on Tuesdays (regularly scheduled pickup games after work on-campus). The first week I was downright awful, making about 2% of my shots and turning the ball over just about every chance I could. Last week was quite a bit better, and while I still didn't shoot the lights out, I handled and distributed the ball pretty well (and played some halfway decent defense).
Aside from actual sports, I've also been playing some virtual golf. Several friends and I have picked up 'Tiger Woods 10' for Playstation3 and have been enjoying some friendly online competition. The combination of the great weather out here and the fun I'm having with 'fake' golf is almost making me consider attempting to play some actual golf one of these days... we'll see...
Paige has been cooking almost every night, and I must say that she's getting pretty darn good at it. It's pretty much the routine for me to come home, say 'Hello', fire up a round of Tiger Woods while Paige cooks dinner, and then we both sit down and watch Lost for a few hours (halfway through the third season).
Anyways, that's my quick update and a rundown of the routine, hopefully we'll have some more exciting things to tell you about soon...
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!!!!!!
Haha, yes I'm a huge dork! Scott and I are so excited that today is the big day!! We have been preparing for the last week by watching all of the 5 movies preceding the one that comes out tonight! I wish we could have gone to the midnight showing last night, but since Scott has to do this silly thing called work, we decided to wait until tonight to go. I can't wait 'till tonight!
Other than watch lots of Harry Potter, Scott and I have not really done anything too exciting since the last blog. Last weekend we went shopping (surprise, surprise) to try to find accessories and things to hang on the walls. Even though all of our furniture (at least the furniture we have gotten...) and stuff is in place, it still doesn't really feel complete since all of the walls are bare, picture frames and vases are empty, you get the picture. I'm sort of OCD and like things finished, so its driving me crazy that the house is still unfinished. But i KNOW it is going to take a while, and we can't buy everything now, so I'm trying to be patient and focus on the beautiful things we already have!
We have finally found throw pillows for the couch and the bed! This is sadly a huge accomplishment since we have probably bought and returned at least 10 pillows already! Any by "we" I mean "me"...Scott has long grown tired of the process, and his new response is, "if you are happy, then I am happy"! Haha, I think he's just really tired of coming home to new pillows everyday. We also now have a chair to go with our couch!! Pottery Barn delivered the chair on Tuesday, so we now our living room is a little more complete. We are still waiting on our loveseat (keep your fingers crossed that it fits...) and our ottoman/coffee table and end table. Apparently those take like 2 months to assemble for some reason, so we aren't expecting those to arrive until the end of August. We are very happy with our choice on the chair! I think it goes very well with the couch and looks really good in the room as well. I also used some Pottery Barn credit to buy some accessories for our master bathroom. So overall, we are definitely making progress on the house, and it is slowly, but surely, coming together!
On the pharmacy front, I have contacted Wal-Mart, and I am meeting with Emmanuel (my district manager) sometime in the next two weeks. I am hoping that I will have some idea of when I will be able to take my NAPLEX by the time I talk to him. However, he told me not to hold my breath on anything moving quickly with the CA Board of Pharmacy since they are understaffed and have to deal with the entire state of California...and to make matters worse, CA is bankrupt so they have cut their work week down to 4 days. Therefore, he told me not to expect to be fully licensed for another 2-3 months...boo :( However, since I have sent in everything they have asked for very quickly, and since I sent in my original application 2 months ago, I am hoping that the process will move a little more quickly for me. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
The other thing that we are working on right now is trying to decide which gym to join. We have gotten some free trials to several of the gyms and we are currently in the process of trying them out. I went to a Zumba class yesterday at 24 hour fitness. I loved it!! For those of you who don't know, Zumba is pretty much a dance/aerobic class where you pretty much do Latin inspired dance moves mixed with hip hop and a little bit of some other stuff...honestly, I have no idea what moves you are really doing, but it is so much fun and a GREAT workout! I highly recommend going and trying it out if your gym offers it! And don't let insecurities stop you because you pretty much just laugh the whole time because no one but the instructor can actually perform the moves properly, but its a really good time trying! If you're curious, click here to see a video that shows people doing Zumba. Another positive that came from doing Zumba is that I met a girl there that goes every week and she usually has a friend that she comes with, so hopefully I can make some friends there too! :)
Our neighbor Cathy brought over a yummy cobbler yesterday too! Budding friendships everywhere! I have talked to her a few times when we have both been outside. She and her husband are both attorneys, and her husband is a lawyer at Google. They seem really nice, so we are looking forward to getting to know them better!
Scott stayed after work yesterday and played basketball with some guys from work. He always really enjoys playing basketball, so I think he's really excitied that they do this every week! So maybe Tuesday will be Zumba day for me and basketball day for Scott! We'll see, but we're slowly but surely getting out there and meeting people!
Here are some pictures of the new things in the house that I was talking about earlier.
This is our couch and chair from two different angles. The lighting isn't great, so everything looks a little darker than it is. As you can see, we desperately need something on the big blank walls...
This is our bed with the pillows I have FINALLY chosen! Once again, we desperately need things to hang on walls! If anyone has any suggestions, please let us know!!!
This is the master bathroom. I got the accessories from Pottery Barn. I still think it needs a little something, but oh well...once again please bring forth any suggestions! There I am in the shower taking the picture! :)
I forgot to brag on Scott earlier, so I'll do it now. For those of you who don't know, Scott built this center piece from scratch a few years ago to put his TV on. Since it was a little big for our living room space, we were puzzled with what to do with it. We had finally decided to put it in the garage for storage. We had been planning on getting a little table or something to put under this window, and then Scott got the bright idea to try putting this "TV stand" under the window. I think it worked very well!! And actually, it saved us from buying two pieces or furniture. We were also trying to figure out what we were going to do with all of our DVDs and media equipment, and we had decided that we were going to have to buy some sort of media stand. However, we didn't end up having to since Scott had actually specifically designed the shelves to be the perfect size to hold DVDs! So here is our old TV stand that has been made pretty on the top by beautifiul wedding gifts and functional on the bottom as a place to hold all of our movies! Also, you can see my herbs growing in the pot on the left :)
Other than watch lots of Harry Potter, Scott and I have not really done anything too exciting since the last blog. Last weekend we went shopping (surprise, surprise) to try to find accessories and things to hang on the walls. Even though all of our furniture (at least the furniture we have gotten...) and stuff is in place, it still doesn't really feel complete since all of the walls are bare, picture frames and vases are empty, you get the picture. I'm sort of OCD and like things finished, so its driving me crazy that the house is still unfinished. But i KNOW it is going to take a while, and we can't buy everything now, so I'm trying to be patient and focus on the beautiful things we already have!
We have finally found throw pillows for the couch and the bed! This is sadly a huge accomplishment since we have probably bought and returned at least 10 pillows already! Any by "we" I mean "me"...Scott has long grown tired of the process, and his new response is, "if you are happy, then I am happy"! Haha, I think he's just really tired of coming home to new pillows everyday. We also now have a chair to go with our couch!! Pottery Barn delivered the chair on Tuesday, so we now our living room is a little more complete. We are still waiting on our loveseat (keep your fingers crossed that it fits...) and our ottoman/coffee table and end table. Apparently those take like 2 months to assemble for some reason, so we aren't expecting those to arrive until the end of August. We are very happy with our choice on the chair! I think it goes very well with the couch and looks really good in the room as well. I also used some Pottery Barn credit to buy some accessories for our master bathroom. So overall, we are definitely making progress on the house, and it is slowly, but surely, coming together!
On the pharmacy front, I have contacted Wal-Mart, and I am meeting with Emmanuel (my district manager) sometime in the next two weeks. I am hoping that I will have some idea of when I will be able to take my NAPLEX by the time I talk to him. However, he told me not to hold my breath on anything moving quickly with the CA Board of Pharmacy since they are understaffed and have to deal with the entire state of California...and to make matters worse, CA is bankrupt so they have cut their work week down to 4 days. Therefore, he told me not to expect to be fully licensed for another 2-3 months...boo :( However, since I have sent in everything they have asked for very quickly, and since I sent in my original application 2 months ago, I am hoping that the process will move a little more quickly for me. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
The other thing that we are working on right now is trying to decide which gym to join. We have gotten some free trials to several of the gyms and we are currently in the process of trying them out. I went to a Zumba class yesterday at 24 hour fitness. I loved it!! For those of you who don't know, Zumba is pretty much a dance/aerobic class where you pretty much do Latin inspired dance moves mixed with hip hop and a little bit of some other stuff...honestly, I have no idea what moves you are really doing, but it is so much fun and a GREAT workout! I highly recommend going and trying it out if your gym offers it! And don't let insecurities stop you because you pretty much just laugh the whole time because no one but the instructor can actually perform the moves properly, but its a really good time trying! If you're curious, click here to see a video that shows people doing Zumba. Another positive that came from doing Zumba is that I met a girl there that goes every week and she usually has a friend that she comes with, so hopefully I can make some friends there too! :)
Our neighbor Cathy brought over a yummy cobbler yesterday too! Budding friendships everywhere! I have talked to her a few times when we have both been outside. She and her husband are both attorneys, and her husband is a lawyer at Google. They seem really nice, so we are looking forward to getting to know them better!
Scott stayed after work yesterday and played basketball with some guys from work. He always really enjoys playing basketball, so I think he's really excitied that they do this every week! So maybe Tuesday will be Zumba day for me and basketball day for Scott! We'll see, but we're slowly but surely getting out there and meeting people!
Here are some pictures of the new things in the house that I was talking about earlier.
This is our couch and chair from two different angles. The lighting isn't great, so everything looks a little darker than it is. As you can see, we desperately need something on the big blank walls...
This is our bed with the pillows I have FINALLY chosen! Once again, we desperately need things to hang on walls! If anyone has any suggestions, please let us know!!!
This is the master bathroom. I got the accessories from Pottery Barn. I still think it needs a little something, but oh well...once again please bring forth any suggestions! There I am in the shower taking the picture! :)
I forgot to brag on Scott earlier, so I'll do it now. For those of you who don't know, Scott built this center piece from scratch a few years ago to put his TV on. Since it was a little big for our living room space, we were puzzled with what to do with it. We had finally decided to put it in the garage for storage. We had been planning on getting a little table or something to put under this window, and then Scott got the bright idea to try putting this "TV stand" under the window. I think it worked very well!! And actually, it saved us from buying two pieces or furniture. We were also trying to figure out what we were going to do with all of our DVDs and media equipment, and we had decided that we were going to have to buy some sort of media stand. However, we didn't end up having to since Scott had actually specifically designed the shelves to be the perfect size to hold DVDs! So here is our old TV stand that has been made pretty on the top by beautifiul wedding gifts and functional on the bottom as a place to hold all of our movies! Also, you can see my herbs growing in the pot on the left :)
Thursday, July 9, 2009
I'm back!
Hey everyone! I am so sorry it has been so long since you have heard from me! I'm going to try to give a brief catch up on what I've been up to for the past 2 weeks.
As Scott has told you, my parents came last week for a long 4th of July weekend. We had such a great time! We did as much as we could possibly do in the brief time they were here. My mom got here on Tuesday and we pretty much just ran errands around town. We started the changing my name process, but I'll talk more about that ordeal later. My dad got here on Wednesday and we just rode around Mountain View and came home and ate the dinner and cake I had prepared to celebrate his birthday! We spent Thursday showing my parents around Mountain View and the surrounding towns and walking around the cute little downtown Mountain View.
Friday was the beginning of our day trips. We woke up early and started the drive to Napa Valley! Scott had planned us out an adventure to 4 different wineries and a tour at one. It was an amazing day of wonderful wine and very yummy food!
On Saturday, we set out to go down to Monterey and Carmel. They are such cute little towns on the beach with really cute downtown and wharf areas! Once again, had a wonderful lunch of clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl (I don't think I'm EVER going to get sick of that meal!). When we got back to Mountain View we headed down to the Amphitheater which is down the street from Google and Microsoft. There is a really pretty park next to the Amphitheater where you could watch the fireworks from if you didn't buy tickets to sit in the Amphitheater, so that is what we did. It was an amazing show! They had the symphony playing and the fireworks went along with the symphony! They were by far some of the best fireworks I have ever seen!
On Sunday it was off to San Fransisco! We started out going to the train station and riding CalTrain to San Fransisco. This is super convienient when you are going to see the Giants since it lets you off right at the Giants stadium! We got to see a great game (for Scott and me) with the Astros blowing out the Giants!! Scott and I sported out Astros t-shirts and must have brought them some luck :) After the Astros game, we headed down to the wharf area where we got some wonderful seafood and, of course, a sunday from Ghiradelli!
On Monday we took my dad to the airport :( It was back to the real world and Scott went off for his first day of work. My mom and I made it our mission to go and find the perfect patio furniture for our little front porch. We went all over the Bay Area, but finally found the perfect one at target! It's a cute little black wrough iron table that is the perfect size and has two little chairs that go with it! Here is a picture...
The shadow is kind of weird, but hopefully you can get the idea! I LOVE them! Scott and I sat outside last night and drank some wine at our new table :)
Yesterday (Tuesday), we took my mom to the airport EARLY in the morning. After Scott went to work, I started the wonderful task of getting my name sorted out. Here's the deal with that...First I went to the social security office and took my birth certificate, marriage license, all that jazz, and asked them to change my name to Paige Prestage Blackburn. They did this no problem. The next day when I went to get my California drivers license, I took them all of the same info, and they said absolutely not. They aren't supposed to change a first name unless there is a court order to do so. So then I had my social security card with "Paige Prestage Blackburn" on it and my CA drivers license with "Kimberley Paige Prestage Blackburn" on it. Well the California board of pharmacy won't let you sign up for the board exam unless the name you sign up with and have in their system matches your ID. My old name is the name in their system so I need to change my name in their system. In order to change my name, I have to have an "EXACTLY" matching social security card and drivers license that I can make copies of to send to them. ughh!!! Haha, so yesterday, I went back up to the social securitiy office (which by the way is very similar to waiting at the DMV) and waited in the LONG line to go BACK and change my name AGAIN. The little man who helped me was not at all friendly, and was extrememly angry that they person who had helped me before actually allowed me to change my name to Paige Prestage Blackburn in the first place. Oh well, I am officially "Kimberley Paige Prestage Blackburn" now...quite a mouthful, but I guess its the best I can do. I'm thinking of going to get my name changed but apparently its a lot of money and takes a long time, so I just don't know if it is worth the effort. We'll see...
So after I finally left the social security office yesterday, I went off the the DMV to change the title on my car so I could get California tags. That took about 2.5 hours, but FINALLY I have a California license plate!! Woohoo!! Haha, funny note, I had to get a smog check in order for all of this to be able to go through...not something you have to really do in Mississippi...
Here is my new car tag!
Scott and I also took a trip to Lowe's to get some wiring for him to set up his new sound system for the TV and for me to get some plants to put at the front of the house. It took forever, but we finally settled on some pots and flowers to place on either side of our front door! When we got home, I got to do something I've never done before...pot plants! Haha, I'm sure it was quite a funny sight to see, but I think I did an okay job! They make me really happy :) Here is our new and improved front porch!
And the close up...
I think it gives it a nice homey touch! Well I'm off to start studying for the NAPLEX :( I promise to blog more frequently now that I've slowed down a bit! Sorry this was so long, but there was a lot of catching up to do! Miss everyone!!
As Scott has told you, my parents came last week for a long 4th of July weekend. We had such a great time! We did as much as we could possibly do in the brief time they were here. My mom got here on Tuesday and we pretty much just ran errands around town. We started the changing my name process, but I'll talk more about that ordeal later. My dad got here on Wednesday and we just rode around Mountain View and came home and ate the dinner and cake I had prepared to celebrate his birthday! We spent Thursday showing my parents around Mountain View and the surrounding towns and walking around the cute little downtown Mountain View.
Friday was the beginning of our day trips. We woke up early and started the drive to Napa Valley! Scott had planned us out an adventure to 4 different wineries and a tour at one. It was an amazing day of wonderful wine and very yummy food!
On Saturday, we set out to go down to Monterey and Carmel. They are such cute little towns on the beach with really cute downtown and wharf areas! Once again, had a wonderful lunch of clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl (I don't think I'm EVER going to get sick of that meal!). When we got back to Mountain View we headed down to the Amphitheater which is down the street from Google and Microsoft. There is a really pretty park next to the Amphitheater where you could watch the fireworks from if you didn't buy tickets to sit in the Amphitheater, so that is what we did. It was an amazing show! They had the symphony playing and the fireworks went along with the symphony! They were by far some of the best fireworks I have ever seen!
On Sunday it was off to San Fransisco! We started out going to the train station and riding CalTrain to San Fransisco. This is super convienient when you are going to see the Giants since it lets you off right at the Giants stadium! We got to see a great game (for Scott and me) with the Astros blowing out the Giants!! Scott and I sported out Astros t-shirts and must have brought them some luck :) After the Astros game, we headed down to the wharf area where we got some wonderful seafood and, of course, a sunday from Ghiradelli!
On Monday we took my dad to the airport :( It was back to the real world and Scott went off for his first day of work. My mom and I made it our mission to go and find the perfect patio furniture for our little front porch. We went all over the Bay Area, but finally found the perfect one at target! It's a cute little black wrough iron table that is the perfect size and has two little chairs that go with it! Here is a picture...
The shadow is kind of weird, but hopefully you can get the idea! I LOVE them! Scott and I sat outside last night and drank some wine at our new table :)Yesterday (Tuesday), we took my mom to the airport EARLY in the morning. After Scott went to work, I started the wonderful task of getting my name sorted out. Here's the deal with that...First I went to the social security office and took my birth certificate, marriage license, all that jazz, and asked them to change my name to Paige Prestage Blackburn. They did this no problem. The next day when I went to get my California drivers license, I took them all of the same info, and they said absolutely not. They aren't supposed to change a first name unless there is a court order to do so. So then I had my social security card with "Paige Prestage Blackburn" on it and my CA drivers license with "Kimberley Paige Prestage Blackburn" on it. Well the California board of pharmacy won't let you sign up for the board exam unless the name you sign up with and have in their system matches your ID. My old name is the name in their system so I need to change my name in their system. In order to change my name, I have to have an "EXACTLY" matching social security card and drivers license that I can make copies of to send to them. ughh!!! Haha, so yesterday, I went back up to the social securitiy office (which by the way is very similar to waiting at the DMV) and waited in the LONG line to go BACK and change my name AGAIN. The little man who helped me was not at all friendly, and was extrememly angry that they person who had helped me before actually allowed me to change my name to Paige Prestage Blackburn in the first place. Oh well, I am officially "Kimberley Paige Prestage Blackburn" now...quite a mouthful, but I guess its the best I can do. I'm thinking of going to get my name changed but apparently its a lot of money and takes a long time, so I just don't know if it is worth the effort. We'll see...
So after I finally left the social security office yesterday, I went off the the DMV to change the title on my car so I could get California tags. That took about 2.5 hours, but FINALLY I have a California license plate!! Woohoo!! Haha, funny note, I had to get a smog check in order for all of this to be able to go through...not something you have to really do in Mississippi...
Here is my new car tag!
Scott and I also took a trip to Lowe's to get some wiring for him to set up his new sound system for the TV and for me to get some plants to put at the front of the house. It took forever, but we finally settled on some pots and flowers to place on either side of our front door! When we got home, I got to do something I've never done before...pot plants! Haha, I'm sure it was quite a funny sight to see, but I think I did an okay job! They make me really happy :) Here is our new and improved front porch!
And the close up...
I think it gives it a nice homey touch! Well I'm off to start studying for the NAPLEX :( I promise to blog more frequently now that I've slowed down a bit! Sorry this was so long, but there was a lot of catching up to do! Miss everyone!!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Taking Advantage
Sorry for the long delay in between posts, we've been keeping busy again this week.
As we said in the previous post, our first visitors (Paige's parents) arrived on Monday and Wednesday, and we've kept busy ever since.
I'm sure Paige will do a much more thorough job of describing this week's events, but I'll do a quick rundown with some photo gallery links.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were fairly laid-back days, mostly filled with showing Nat and Cindy around town and taking care of things at the townhouse.
Friday, however, we took a trip up to Napa Valley, which was awesome. We visited four wineries for tastings (Clos du Val, Chimney Rock, Pine Ridge, and Mumm), including a really great tour at Pine Ridge. Lunch at Bistro Jeanty was also fantastic. The pictures can be found here.
Yesterday we took a trip down south to Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea. We walked around both of the downtown and beach areas, and then headed to the 17 Mile Drive. Our driving tour included a quick stop at Pebble Beach, including a photo-op at the 18th green. The pictures can be found here.
Today will include a trip up to San Francisco where we will see the Giants take on the Astros and hopefully find a good place to eat. Details to follow...
As we said in the previous post, our first visitors (Paige's parents) arrived on Monday and Wednesday, and we've kept busy ever since.
I'm sure Paige will do a much more thorough job of describing this week's events, but I'll do a quick rundown with some photo gallery links.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were fairly laid-back days, mostly filled with showing Nat and Cindy around town and taking care of things at the townhouse.
Friday, however, we took a trip up to Napa Valley, which was awesome. We visited four wineries for tastings (Clos du Val, Chimney Rock, Pine Ridge, and Mumm), including a really great tour at Pine Ridge. Lunch at Bistro Jeanty was also fantastic. The pictures can be found here.
Yesterday we took a trip down south to Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea. We walked around both of the downtown and beach areas, and then headed to the 17 Mile Drive. Our driving tour included a quick stop at Pebble Beach, including a photo-op at the 18th green. The pictures can be found here.
Today will include a trip up to San Francisco where we will see the Giants take on the Astros and hopefully find a good place to eat. Details to follow...
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