Development of New Website

Hello all,

This is a message to inform everyone that cares that there is a website dedicated to the whole wedlock process that is viewable by clicking Vincent Wedding 2.0

Link

You can also go to the following link to view more pics.

Engagement

Last night Josh and I met up for dinner after work at La Vienen Rose. It was very romantic and quiet. We had wonderful service and yummy food. Josh got up from the table and when he came back he got down on one knee and I remember saying 'yes'. We are still glowing from the experience.
Here a just a few pics to share this experience.

Papa Vincent's Visit

I will just post pics and Josh can add commentary if he so chooses. Hope everyone is doing well!

San Fran, Labor Day

Hey Everyone!!!
We went to San Francisco to watch MSU vs Berkeley game thanks to Papa Vincent. We met up with Josh' sister Melissa and her boyfriend Joel. The game pics are elsewhere for now. We had a great time. Enjoy.

Desecration of the Sanctuary

Well our titles are converting to another language so I'm trickily avoiding that problem with cut and pastes. Alison will have to see if it converts it on her Macbook. Anyhow, Alison and I came to a conclusion the other day and realized that one television, two people, one of them being a man...equals a BAD idea. Therefore we were considering the purchase of a television for a while. Our first instinct was to put it into the guest room, but try and try as we might...there was not one adequate place to put it, that is if we didn't want it on the ceiling. Plus, there was no cable in the guest room anyway. Then in the mail a few days/weeks ago I got a special sales event invitation for Best Buy. This must stem from the fact that approximately one year ago (+/- 14 days) we bought our oversized refrigerator, which is WONDERFUL with a Best Buy card. This made it so we looked good, as did I due to bump ups in credit scores.

So we went and got quadruple points on a TV purchase last Monday night (late) and brought home a 32" flat panel 1080p Samsung TV. At first we put it on Ali's new dresser, then this morning it was wall mounted. Done so in a way where the only thing you see is the power cable. That is with a DVD and DVR cable box hooked up and usable. So it's slick stuff. These components go between our dresser, where we're going to pull a grandfather to be (God bless his soul) and construct our only little electronics rack, and stain it exactly like our dressers and bedroom furniture. So then it'll look even slicker! Pictures will be posted as we make progress!



Funny fact, last year at this time we were driving through Utah hoping we were not going to run out of gas! One year on 8/19 we've been in California!

Where the heck does time go!

5.4/5.8 Earthquake

Well yesterday was certainly spooooooooooooooky!

I was in the office talking to a colleague and the ground start rolling as the walls started shaking. Spooky crap, anyhow it was one of the strongest that's been felt round here in many years! This happened almost perfectly at lunch time so I (Josh) just went straight home. This was after myself and supervisor checked ourselves in as still alive/present. The whole time I was trying to call Ali and the phones would NOT work. It spooked the crap out of me that in time of emergency the phones don't work, isn't that nice?

Regardless, at home I found pictures were crooked, things had fallen off the wall, off the shelf, and tipped over on the counter. The best was I went to take my meds and opened the cupboard to get a glass and a glass fell out. Miraculously, I caught this glass and it did not break. All things considered it was okay, Ali got through it as did I. So we've both got some steep gratitude to God on that one.

Regardless of all, we Michiganders gone to Californites are still pleased with our new home state. The smogginess, earthquakes, and occasional high heat beat tornadoes, ice cold, and crappy roads...hands down! However, being far from family...especially at moments like this is crappy!

Birthday

Well, tonight (after the spoiling times proceeding) I took Alison to Cheesecake Factory for her birthday dinner. Okay, so it's just a dinner...trust me I understand. But last year at this time we had been out here (Brea, CA) for that and did the exact same thing.

Now the cool part in that is that at that time, we did not live here. We lived in East Lansing, MI...Spartan Village to be exact. But now we're living it up in the OC, the NOC to be exact. But it was cool to do the CF thing one year after and how the whole world, let alone city seems. My oh my how life changes!

The best thing so far, got her the best bouquet of flowers she's ever had before...all I've done is set that darn bar even higher now, shucks!

Sailing

As if the Blues Festival and a California sunset wasn't enough? Today we drove to Long Beach and went Sailing on a 34 foot Sloop. Which apparently is the BMW of Sail boats. Our good friend Bill invited us to sail today. Josh had not sailed before and I have with my good friend Mariah's family and in Colorado. So, I knew I would need to help out. I have never sailed on the ocean so I was pretty nervous, so the following pictures of me are intense concentration, not me being mad. Josh was thrilled and happy as could be. Bill was a great teacher. He said I was a natural which made me feel good. Josh and Bill did pretty much all the work and the day was great. I took pictures of seals too, those will come later. So enjoy a few pics.
Oh and then we went out to dinner with our landlords to the Masala Bowl which we love. It was great company and a nice ending to our day.

Doheny Blues Festival

A while ago Josh asked me if I'd want to go to the Blues Festival that his co-worker was going to be playing and I said sure. Weeks went by and kind of forgot about it. So, this morning we had to get to Target to find lawn chairs and hats and get to Dana Point by noon when Mike played. We made it at 11:50pm parked for free and took a shuttle to the beach. I took pictures of the Festival and some of the bands. It was a great day and laid back. We used 45 sun block and our hats were helpful. We got to see Elnora and Sumthin' Cookin' for the second time, the Robert Cray Band, Pinetop Perkins JJ Grey & MOFRO.
After the festival we wanted to see the sunset. Josh and I saw his co-workers and they suggested Crystal Cove or just beyond. So we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway to Corona Del Mar where we walked down to the beach, let the waves hit our feet and watched families have fun. We watched the sunset and walked back to our car. Great day we had.

Argh

Hi everyone. We keep getting comments that are from people I am not sure we know. Or they are from automatic emails or hackers. So if and when you leave a loverly comment because you are a very loved friend or family member please leave you real name so we know who you are. Thank you mucho! Lots of love and we are still loving the California life especially the weather and our home! Peace.

Easter with Cali Family

Easter in California and with family I have not spent time with or seen in quite a long time. My cousins Lianne and Larry, their kiddies. All 15 of us spent the day together. We had lunch at the Elephant Bar, thank you to Shirley and Alan. Then we had cake and celebrated the April Birthdays; Shirley, Lianne, Paula and Josh. Then watched the kiddos play twister and race. It was a great day and it was wonderful seeing everyone again!