Orange you glad I didn't say banana.......

I just really love oranges in the winter time. So, Jasen and I bought several pounds of California local oranges and here is the picture of them in our fruit basket nearly half were already gone). Meg ate so many while she was here that I thought she might turn into an orange!

A few updates

It has been crazy busy at the Trutter-Smith household! I'll do a quick reminisence of Halloween to start......

Matt spent Halloween with us this year, and as you can see he dressed as a pirate! I did the pirate make-up (not too shabby) after digging through my makeup to find some old eye liner pencils :) We met up with Shannon (Jasen's sister), her husband (Lance), and their son, Camden. Steve and Robin joined us with thier little baby (Eva) and we all walked the neighborhood together. It was a gorgeous Halloween night and the kiddos managed to acquire quite the pile of candy! Roxy dressed as a moose, although I was a bit dissapointed in how her costume turned out. Jasen pointed out it looked more like a moose humping Roxy, instead of her actually being a moose. Oh well, at least she tried! :)

Most of month of November I could be found studying every minute of every day and night for my board exam which I took November 22nd. No, I am not taking my medical board exam....that would be Lindsey...in a few years....No, I am took the board exam to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Most people don't know what that is, and if I try to explain it I'm sure you still won't understand.....so let it suffice that it sounds impressive :) So, I will find out if I passed the exam probably around the beginning of January. Crossing my fingers! (Passing is based on a bell curve.....yikes!)

Next was Thanksgiving, and we hosted this year for an intimate party of 5. :) Meg came with her friend from Chicago, Bailey. Shari joined us and we had a delicious feast! With Meghan and I both on the gluten-free diet, I accomodated the meal so that we could both eat just about everything. We made 4 gluten free pies (2 pumpkin, 1 chocolate-pecan, and 1 apple). We bought the crust frozen from whole foods, and Bailey said (and I quote), "This is the best pie crust I've ever had!" Jasen did a phenomenal job with the turkey...it was amazing! Shari used gluten free cheese crakers in the green bean casserole for Meg and I, and it was brilliant! We ate way too much, and when Meghan thought she might explode, she somehow reasoned that one more piece of pumpkin pie would be the cure.....it was not. I think the walk helped though! Oh yeah, and Share bought Meg and I some vintage aprons from ebay. We had been looking for aprons for all of our baking and cooking in the kitchen....who would have thought I would even be wearing an apron! Not I! ;)

Meg, Bailey, and I braved the Black Friday crowd and it was completely worth it.....we found some killer deals! I managed to get some of the Christmas shopping done, but still alot to go!

I moved my christmas flight, and so I will be flying out on Thurs, December 17th. I return Janurary 4th. Jay is so sad, but being really supportive. We will celebrated our Christmas next weekend, the 12th.

Can't wait to see everyone for Christmas in Illinois!!! :)

Harvest Time

It is time for the apples to be harvested yet again! This year seems to have flown by :) I guess time flies when you're having fun....or working hard! I talked Meg into going with us, because I love going up the hill to see the barrels of apples, fresh fruits, and fall colors! We packed a picnic, although we were not quite prepared for such warm weather! The sun was shining (as usual) but the temp was near 80. We started off by hitting the chocolate shop at High Hill. Meg bought way too much fudge for us to eat, and I had to have some chocolate covered almonds and peanuts :) It was a yummy treat! Meg and I also found some delicious salsa and pumkin & apple butter that we bought at a very large family farm called Boa Vista. On our way back down the hill, Jasen stopped at a small organic farm where I bought a sweet pumpkin to make pies for thanksgiving, and apples to make an apple crisp! I wish it would have been a little cooler weather, but all in all it was a really nice fall day! :) See more pics!

Jay-Dawg's Birthday :)

For Jasen's 26th birthday this year we celebrated by going to a fun Mexican restaurant named "Mas." We had a party of about 15 or so friends and family, and it was really great to see everyone! We wish the Trutter clan could have joined us! After dinner, everyone came back to the house for some drinks and to just hang out in the back yard. It was a really beautiful evening- the weather was just right for a night outdoors. :) Since Jasen is on quite the golf kick, I bought him some shiny new golf balls and a Titleist hat that he has had his eye on.

Happy Birthday, Jay!

Chicken Who?

A lot of happenings since the last post, but most notable is our long weekend in Tahoe! Jen, Andrew, Jasen, and I bought tickets to a concert and booked a room over Labor Day weekend at Lake Tahoe (South Shore). The band is a new group of old musicians - Chicken Foot! The singer is Sammy Hagar (sp?) and the drummer is Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers)....and then there is some guitarist who is amazing and most talented, whose name escapes me at the moment. :) Anyway, the concert was a good time -at Harvey's outdoor arena with a full moon and beautiful weather!

Actually, the weather was amazing the entire weekend, so we spent much of the time outside....no not hiking.....but drinking at sidewalk/street side bars! haha. Jen and I did some girly shopping and we also layed out at the hotel pool. Of course, Jay and I had to manage some gambling, and I must say that my bad luck (or rather poor strategizing) and Jasen's good luck balanced out. Therefore, despite our MANY hours of gambling, we came home pretty much even steven!

Have any of you tried to rationalize or calculate gambling? Well, let me just say that I tried to do so on the roulette game, and lost about $80 in less than 4 minutes (or however long it takes to spin the wheel twice). Like I said, luckily Jasen hit big to recoup my losses :)

We REALLY wanted to take the gondola up to the top if the mountain, but we just couldn't justify $30 a person. So instead, we watched the empty gondolas go round and round and we cursed the company's very poor business sense!

Believe it or not, the best place we ate at was completely on accident, and it was Wolfgang Puck express - for breakfast! I had the best omelet there that I have EVER eaten. I highly recommend that restaurant if you get the chance to try it! I don't think that we have Wolfgang Puck here in Sac locally.....

Anyway, it was an amazing getaway, and very relaxing. Sorry only a few pics.....waiting for Jen and Andrew to email me theirs!

Bonjour! Comment ca va?

A few days after I returned from my visit to Illinois, one of my very good friends surprised me with a last minute visit from Switzerland! Isabelle and I worked together when I lived in Switzerland and I hadn't seen her since I left Europe....nearly 6 years ago! I can't believe it has been that long. So, Meg also decided to join us as we did a little travelling and relaxing. They both stayed here at the house (Jasen was thrilled to be outnumbered by strong willed women). Isabelle has lived in Switzerland for much of her life, and was born in Africa. However, she speaks English very well, and with a British accent! It was also a great opportunity for me to practice my French, and I can't believe how much I still remembered :)

Meghan and I were both entertained by Isabelle's impressions and opinions of the California-American culture, and of her funny names for things, like "boot" instead of "trunk." I have never been told that "the groceries are in the boot." Haha :)

She was truly shocked by the amount of restaurants and by the frequency that people ate out. She very much liked our discount stores, however, and I introduced her to Ross and TJ Maxx where I think she spent more than her travel budget! We, however, did not eat out much because I am trying to really get away from that since I think it isn't very healthy and not too easy on the wallet either. So, every night we cooked fabulous meals, opened a bottle of wine, and enjoyed lots of conversation! It was really great!

Although Isabelle lives on the French boarder, where they make wine unlike any place in the world, I still thought it would be nice to take her to Napa. She agreed! I wasn't sure how it would stack up against France, but Isabelle found it to be very nice and she enjoyed it quite a bit.....maybe a bit too much. She is definitely a light weight! My wonderful friend Katie, who is a Napa VIP, took us on the royal tour. Meg went too and we packed a picnic which was delicious with a bottle of wine! It is close to harvest time, so we were able to see the grapes on the vines- Beautiful!

It was a great week of being with friends and I was so sad to see both Isabelle and Meg have to go :( I am now inspired to go back to Switzerland for a visit, as there are several other friends there I would love to see! (PS- Isabelle still has my cat (who I had named Voltaire but mostly called Stinky) who she renamed "Kitty" and she is doing very well! I would love to see Kitty as well some day!

Summer Vacation

I know that this blog post is long over due, but this summer has just been flying by! As usual, we made a trip back to Illinois to hang out with my family who I miss dearly :) I flew back to my parents, and then a week later, Jasen and Matt joined me for another week of family fun! Ha! Lindsey was visiting from Grenada, Meg was visiting as a way of avoiding CA traffic, and Ben was there, of course, for free food and lodging. All in all, it was a very full house!

I had a few things on my priority list for my two week stay. First, I wanted to spend 50% of my time laying in a pool with a Corona in hand. Second, I wanted to do a whole lot of nothing. Well, for those of you who have ever lived in the midwest, you know that there really is no purpose of watching the weather channel- or planning anything outdoors, since the weather there can change in a heart beat. It is simply unpredictable. Pretty much the entire trip the weather was overcast, cloudy, and cool (70s were the high!). We even had some rain and thunderstorms. Oh yeah, and don't forget some humidity! Therefore, I spent very littly time at the pool :( This was a disappointment, but I still managed to drink plenty of Corona's. I also still managed to do not a whole lot of anything.

We played alot of backyard games, like redneck golf, bags, and horseshoes. There was even a little bocce ball and golf! We ate at all of our favorite Springfield restaurants, including D'Arcy's for their famous horseshoes- Matt's favorite! But, what kid wouldn't love a burger covered in fries and then smothered in cheese sauce, right?! It goes down pretty great with a beer, or in Matt's case, a root beer.

We went wine tasting at Uncle Lauren's new wine tasting room - almost opened- and in a town that was "Dry" not two years ago. We also had fun staging "Manny" around the yard - can you find him in the pics posted here?

I really enjoyed my visit in Illinois. It is always nice to catch up with family and friends. We also celebrated Grandma T's 91st birthday (although she insisted we turn the candle's around, so her cake said 19). Happy Birthday Grandma!

I ensured Granny that when she turns 100 her pic is going in the newspaper! She was not a fan of that - but maybe if I put it in as her 20th? haha.

A camping we did go.....

Yes, more camping! It seems to be the most economical way to get away and have a little weekend vacation. I'm determined that we don't camp any place twice...at least for about 2 decades, since the camping sites in Cali seem to literally be endless. So, this time we chose Collin's Lake, which is about 2 hours North of Sacramento. The usual suspects went with us...and before the summer is over I'm determined to get Meghan to go, too, even though she continues to proclaim that she hates camping. I keep explaining to her that we don't exactly rough it when we are camping. With John's trailer and amazing cooking equipment, we eat like kings!!

I don't think it was one of our top 10 camp sites, but we had fun and we had a great view from our camp site. The sites were like stadium seating, for lack of a better term. So, our tent was backed to the ledge and so we had a direct view of the lake and mountains. It was really beautiful! The dogs enjoyed the lake, as always, however it was pretty hot on Saturday so I chose to mostly stay out of the sun (that was my excuse for my mid afternoon nap, anyway) :)

Sherry and Scott's daughter, Brooke, is 2 years old and so she entertained us with her "that's mine" and "Mommy, I want an otter pop" - which by the way, otter pop is apparently the brand name of the off brand push pops I ate as a kid. Who knew!

We drove back early on Sunday, which was father's day. We are always so exhausted when we get back from camping, even though we really don't do much. I guess it is all of that fresh air!

Extreme Home Makeover: Kelly Edition

I have recently started re-decorating the living room at our house. This experience is proving to be less like an HGTV home make over show, and more like an episode of Lost. Let's just say it's much easier to design a room when you have the help of an interior designer and a behind the scenes crew of 8 people to complete projects in a 24 hour period.

While I feel like I have a sense of what my style is, I tend to forget that Jasen has an opinion as well...a sometimes clashing opinion. I've also consulted my sister Meghan to help me make color choices and to help with details in the room. Here is a picture of the beautiful picture frames that awe found at Aaron Brothers- which I HIGHLY recommend. That store is a gold mine!

We've also finally decided on a paint color (to be paited in July, when I am off work), added different throw pillows, bought a new rug, and switched out lamps. More pictures to come, once we have painted.

Oh, and I also had my sister paint some pictures for our bedroom. I have to decide whether to put them in the bedroom or to use them somewhere else in the house. Didn't she do a great job? I supervised and gave my two cents, of course :)

Also, I have to add this hilarious pic of the two sugar addicts of the family.....the picture speaks 1,000 words.

Jenner & Yosemite & Meg's Bday.....oh my!

Well, I should have updated this blog a couple of weeks ago, but things have been so busy! I am way overdue writing about my Mom and Dad's visit out to Cali from April 30-May 10. Hopefully I can remember things accurately....if not, I'll just fill in the gaps with whatever comes to mind :)

Mom and Dad arrived on a thurs, and the very next day Jasen and my Dad headed up North for the annual "Fishin Mission." Now, the title of this excursion leads one to believe that fishing goes on....en contraire.....it should be called the Drinking Mission! As Uncle Tom says, it sounds like they might catch a few fish to go with a lot of beer :) - Good one! But seriously, they are supposed to catch some fish, but to my knowledge this rarely happens. Instead, about 80 guys gather for 3 days of eating, drinking, and recreation (darts, washers, etc.) On this particular weekend, it rained.....and rained.....and rained..... Jasen said the lake rose 7 inches in three days!

Meanwhile, in another rainy part of the state, Mom, Meghan, and I headed North up the coast to a little town named Jenner. "Little" may be an understatement, as the population of Jenner is 107. It was a really cute bed and breakfast, and we had our own cottage near the ocean. We could, however, barely see the ocean because of the rain and fog. But, we made the best of it, and drove down to Point Reyes, which is a national seashore. Also, allegedly one of the best beachcombing spots in the world.....I couldn't tell you though, since we barely saw the beach. But, like I said, we made the best of it! We did see some beautiful Eucalyptus trees, some quirky birds, and we had some good laughs. All in all it was a fun trip, but we were glad to get back, and be out of the rain!

After a few days of drying out, we decided to travel to Yosemite for three days. It was Dad's first strip to Yosemite, and it was a beautiful time of year to see the park! The scenery was breathtaking, with all of the waterfall in full force, and we got a lot of exercise! The hikes were more difficult than we expected some of them to be, but they were always worth it in the end, as the scenery was just like a postcard. Glacier Point opened up the day we entered the park, and I highly recommend making the drive for the view! We stayed at the Tanaya Lodge just outside of the Mariposa Grove Park entrance. After some clever manipulation of the reservation system, we were upgraded to a cute little cabin with a deck - we really enjoyed it!

The end of Mom and Dad's say concluded with a bar-b-que and a celebration of Meg's birthday. She's an old lady at the age of 24 :) (This is a correction, as I had previously stated she was 25 -sorry Meggo!) We had a few friends and family over and just enjoyed the wonderful (dry) weather! It was a nice last few days, and as always, it felt like the time went too fast! With Matt and Meghan here too, it was nice having a house full of family! We hope you come back soon, Mom and Dad! :)

Spring Break!!

Well, it was my spring break (since I work for a school district, I am privied to a spring break now) and Jasen took a few days off so we could have some R&R. Since it was Easter, my birthday, and our first anniversary, we did a lot of celebrating with friends and family, as well as some traveling.

For my birthday, Jasen took me to Reno for a night, where we had an amazing dinner and did one of my favorite things....gambled. Although we didn't strike it rich, we did have a great time! We stopped at Cabella's on the way home, which is an "outfitter" store that I had never been to before. It was quite the store....so huge it probably should have its own zip code. We stocked up on some much needed camping supplies for the summer. We thought ourselves very fortunate when we spotted a washer game that we had been talking about building with my dad. For those who don't know, Washers entails throwing......you guessed it........washers.......into a square container that also has a smaller round opening in the center. Anyway, it is very fun....especially when you are drinking :)

The following weekend, we went camping at Dillon Beach near Bodega Bay (Central California Coast, North of San Fransico). We (Jasen and I - Matt couldn't go on this trip because of school)went with a large group of friends (Jon, Sheri , Scott, and their daughter, Andy, Jen, and a few additional friends of Jon's who we met there). Let me start by saying that it was a wonderful and relaxing trip, and I definitely want to go back again soon. However, the trip started off on the wrong foot when, at about 4pm on the friday we arrived, the wind picked up, the temperature dropped, and my exact words to Jasen were "This may be our first and last night camping here." The prediction was high 70s, so we were all caught off guard with the weather. In fact, it became so windy that we ate dinner and spent the evening playing card's in Jon's trailer. Also, Jasen and I have a larger summer tent....not so much built for high winds, and so two of the tent poles snapped! One was a main tent pole and the other one a minor pole. Luckily, Jon had a spare tent (he is so prepared!) so we slept in that, which was good since Jen and Andy don't really have room for us and Roxy, and their dog!

As I'm sure you can see by these pictures, it was an amazing beach. The sand felt like powder and the water was beautiful. There also happened to be free roaming cattle, which would walk right up to the campsites....oh yeah, and we had to watch our step! At about 3pm one night I swear there was a cow having a midnight snack right outside of our tent!

At sunset, we climbed to the top of one of the amazing sand dunes to watch the sun go down over the ocean. There were sand dunes as far as the eye could see. The beach was very large and quite wide, so we enjoyed just lounging on the beach or throwing a frizbee. Roxy loved running up and down the beach and it was fun to watch her play with Jen and Andy's dog, Tyson. It turned out the be a really amazing camping trip....definitely one of my favorites!

11th Birthday Party for Matt

On March 22, Matt turned a whopping 11 years old :) Matt being the sweet and humble child that he is, requested only a few simple things for his birthday.

1) Snow mobil'in

2) A peanut butter cup cake (His words exactly)

3) Shopping with Grandma at A&F (geez, these kids start early with the brand names)

So, the weekend prior we took him snow mobiling (see previous post). And Grandma took him to A&F where he purchased his very first pair of ripped jeans along with several other "cool" t-shirts. I was left with figuring out this "peanut butter cake" thing - but I always enjoy a challenge. I elected to do some searching on Google to start. Low and behold, I found an amazing recipe for a Reese's peanut butter cup cake and baked it the night before we had our birthday gathering for Matt. Being that Matt loves to help with baking, he helped out with most of the cake, but I put the final product together to surprise him. Click here for the recipe :) It was relatively easy! I must say that the cake DID taste just like a Reese's peanut butter cup, and Matt complimented my baking skills endlessly! :)

We had family and friends over for a bar-b-que, presents, and of course, cake n' ice cream. Although the weather was touch and go, it was overall a really great day! Matt ended up getting lots of nice things, among which, his very own pool cue and dart set, for the shark that he is! (I taught him well -haha).

Happy Birthday Matt!!

Snow Day! 3-14-09

We finally made it up to the snow this year, and we had a gorgeous day for it! Jeff (Jasen's cousin) has several snow mobiles and heads up a snow mobile club, so Jasen, Matt, and I headed up to the Tahoe Forest to have some fun in the snow. Matt also brought up his new sled that he got for Christmas, so we tied it to a snow mobile and pulled him behind.

The snow mobile trail is actually a road that leads up to Tahoe (through the Tahoe Forest) that shuts down to traffic during the winter, as the snow isn't plowed past a certain point. Forestry grooms the trails for the snow mobile's and so it give us literally miles and miles of trails to play on! The snow pack on these trails is 10 foot at some points - I saw the top of a road sign level with the snow I was driving on! The views were absolutely beautiful, and we couldn't have asked for better weather.....sunny and high 40s.

Matt was allowed to drive, with Jeff tandem. Jasen and I road our own, and I was a little nervous since I hadn't ridden in such a long time. But it came back to me pretty fast....and fast we went. Riding along cliffs and narrow trails as we increased in eleveation I was a little nervous, and glad that Matt wasn't riding solo. :) I overheard Jeff explaining to Matt the "rules" of sledding... Rule number one: "Don't hit anything!" Well, no one hit anything, but at one point I was the tail end of the pack when my snow mobile overheated and died. I couldn't get it started again, and was wondering how long it would take Jasen to realize I wasn't behind him. Just when I was contemplating how fast a bear might eat me, Jasen came around the corner. :) I was very glad to see him....It was a long 5 minutes in the middle of no where by myself!

The great thing about Sacramento is that we can go visit the snow for the day, but then at the end of the day, we can go back to warm sacramento :) We had a great time, and slept like bears that night :) haha. (rate my cheesy last liner...1-5: 1=super cheesy, 5=clever, Kelly is a genious).

Check out more pics...