Point Loma

David & I wanted to get out of the house yesterday, so we hopped in the car and I said get on the freeway, I will take us somewhere! We ended up going to Point Loma & to Mission Beach. It was so nice to walk and enjoy the scenery and enjoy a sunset! Here are some of my favorite photos from the night.

 The view from the sidewalk at the parking lot at Point Loma

The Lighthouse

The sun over the ocean

Mission Beach

The sunset with those clouds were amazing!

It was a nice and quick afternoon out, but well worth it and so beautiful! 

Strawberries

David is home and we are enjoying just relaxing at home together. We have been going out and doing fun things, but what we have really been enjoying is baking and cooking!

I feel like I should almost make this blog into a food blog, I just love the food I have been cooking lately. 

Last Saturday, we had the missionaries over for dinner. We had super delicious french dip sandwiches. They are so yummy and easy, but dessert was what everyone was looking forward to as well.

I made CHEESECAKE STUFFED STRAWBERRIES! And yes, they are as good as they sound!

I feel like I should almost make this blog into a food blog, I just love the food I have been cooking lately.

They are a show stopper and only took me about 15 minutes to prepare. 

If you want to make some, click here.

The only thing I would add is if I had it was drizzle chocolate over them as well. 

Today we are making homemade butterfingers for David's marines and I can't wait to try my 1!

Apple Butter

This past weekend I made apple butter. It was so yummy and easy!

All the apple skins and cores

5 1/2 lbs of apple cut up

cooking away

after cooking for 8 to 9 hours

almost 6 lbs of apples only made 2 pints!

It was a very simple recipe.

The only thing I did different was omit the cloves (I didn't have any) & I used 3 cups of sugar and 1/4 cup of honey. I also sliced up the apples in the evening and let it cook all night so it would be ready when I got up in the morning.

I then gave it away to 2 of the sisters I visit teach in my ward. (I had just enough left in the crockpot to sample on a slice of toast).

I'm making more this weekend to give to the last sister I visit & also one for me! 

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day Weekend has come and gone already! I can't believe it's the middle of September already!

I had a great Labor Day Weekend. I took the Friday before Labor day and the Tuesday afterwards off and flew out to NC to go visit David! I forgot my camera, so no pics this time!

I took a red eye flight Thursday night and slept about 2 hours waking up feeling not so well. I made it through the flight though and got some water during my layover at Washington Dulles Airport. I made it to Raleigh, NC and hopped into my rental car and off I went.

I got to Jacksonville around 1ish in the afternoon and headed straight to David's hotel, got a key and went to sleep!

When David got back to the hotel room, we were both starving so we went to one of our favorite places to eat at, Mike's Farm! YUMMY!!!! We loved going to Mikes Farm, not just for food, but for the pumpkin patch, strawberry picking and the christmas light show! You can't forget the small goat and peacock area either! But when we eat at Mikes Farm, you just can't get enough of the homemade mac 'n cheese.

After dinner, we had to go get David some allergy medicine (I think he's secretly allergic to me because every time he comes near me after a school, he has really bad allergies!) Needless to say, David fell asleep immediately at 8:30 pm his time, meaning it was 5:30 back in San Diego! I watched tv, and read, and watched some more tv. I think I finally fell asleep around midnight his time!

On Saturday we saw a good friend who I use to work with. She is now married to a Marine and has a toddler girl. I can't believe in the time I left NC, she 1. met a guy 2. got married 3. had a baby! It was so nice catching up with her and finally meeting the rest of her family.

That night, we went to another one of our favorite restaurants while living in Jacksonville...Shoguns! They are a cook your meal in front of you place (it's getting later so my brain isn't working on the right name right now). We ended up sharing a meal and the steak is to die for!

On Sunday, we were planning on going to church but I forgot to set an alarm and we slept in until noon! I don't even know the last time I slept in until 9 at home, let alone noon! David's hotel room is so dark with the blinds closed. Needless to say, we missed church. We actually missed half the day! That afternoon we had dinner with some friends who were stationed in NC after NM. It was good to see and we stayed until almost 1 am just talking and catching up. Us girls in NM use to have girls nights and our husbands were always calling us around 1 or 2 in the morning to make sure the rest of us were ok! It's so nice when you find friends who even if you don't stay in day to day contact, when you do see each other it's like nothing has changed!

On Labor Day, I was starting to feel really sick (I picked up a nasty bug on the flight out) so we took it easy and met my friend from the previous night and went to a movie. Later in the early evening we met my friend my Saturday and grabbed ice cream.

Tuesday was a sad day, I was really feeling sick, taking medicine but still feeling awful and flew home. It's always hard when David leaves but I didn't think it would be as hard leaving when I left knowing we only had a couple weeks left, but it was still so hard.

I was pretty sick all of the week after I flew home. My ears were clogged until just Monday and I  was coughing really badly and I had a fever!

David comes home on Thursday evening. I can't wait to have my husband home! I have a list of things I need help with in the house!

Japanese Friendship Garden

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine and I went to the Japanese Friendship Gardens. It's a small area in Balboa Park but absolutely beautiful.

We had a pond with fish.

They are pretty big fish and very colorful.

A small tree area but were amazing as they look like the large trees. 

My dad has taken a lot of pictures of doors from the Countries he has visited and I was thinking of him as I took this photo. I love the engraving on the door and the handles.

I really loved the trees.

It was a great little area with lots of thinking time and very peaceful. It was a hot Saturday afternoon and walking through all the shade was very nice.

Special Time

This past weekend, I flew my mom in for some girl time for just us two girls. I don't know about you, but I absolutely love spending time with my mom and I never feel like I get enough time with her as we don't live in the same city. She came in town last Saturday morning. We had fun at the grocery store, making nutella crepes and then we ate at Point Loma Seafood where I will take all of my guests who enjoy delicious but outdoor casual dining. We then went to the San Diego Padres game! We had so much fun, even if we froze and should have brought blankets! Who would have though in August to bring blankets to a baseball game! We won, had a bunch of home runs and did the wave multiple times. Who doesn't love a good baseball game! 

On Sunday, we went to church as normal, but we packed a picnic lunch before we left. We came home, changed and grabbed our lunch. We were on our way to the free outdoor organ concert. It was amazing. We then walked around the little international houses that is only open on Sundays. It was fun walking through about 20 different cottages. 

On Monday, I worked all day and mom sewed all day. Mom had so much fun while I struggled to work and not play! We then went out to see The Help. It was probably almost just as good as the book. 

On Tuesday, I worked int he morning and then that afternoon, we went to our favorite place in Coronado for Pizza. I have been 3 times and mom once, every time I have had something different and have loved it.

Here is mom and I after enjoying a delicious lunch. The weather was perfect and we loved eating outside!

Afterwards, mom and I went to the zoo! If you have never been to the San Diego Zoo, I highly recommend it. It's huge and beautiful. Mom and I took the 35 to 45 minute bus tour and then had unlimited use of the express bus. It was a great way of seeing so much. We saw probably 90 % of the zoo in 2 hours. 

Here is mom & I with Monkey King Stilt Walkers. They looked amazing and were so tall! 

Here is mom getting ready to go see the Panda's. They have added an additional panda since the last time I came, a red panda. They are so cute and I just want to take them home! 

All in all, mom and I had a blast. It was a great couple of days to help me get out of my rut of David being gone and I know mom had a blast as well! I couldn't think of a better way to spend a couple of days with mom!

Busy Busy

It's been busy around here again. That's nothing new for us. It will be slowing down in a day or so as David is leaving until the end of September.

The weekend of the 15th, David & I went to the movies and saw the final Harry Potter. It was really good and I enjoyed it. Maybe when he leaves this week, I will go back to a before noon showing when it's only $6 and watch it again!

We also went that weekend to the San Diego Padres vs. San Francisco Giants game. It was a lot of fun and we won!!! It would have been better if the new doctor from UCLA wasn't bragging about himself the whole time right behind us. But thankfully, we were able to ignore him for the most part!

That Sunday evening, our good friends from North Carolina who are also relocated to California came over for dinner. It's always nice to see them and we always have a good time! Plus, they have 3 really cute kids!

The next week we didn't do much. We normally just relax around the house in the evenings after long days at work.

This past Friday, another couple from church & us went and saw the Maroon 5 & Train concert. It was really good and it was fun hanging out with another couple! It was a lot of fun and it was good getting to know another couple. It was funny because my friend Janelle and I were on our way to church one evening to print some visiting teaching reports when she asked if we liked Maroon 5. We bought tickets that night and her husband said on the way home from the concert that good things do come from visiting teaching! It was pretty funny.

Saturday, we had lots of errands to run as we were getting everything David needed for his school he going to. We came home and a couple hours later I needed to run to target. I had a few things on my wish list were on sale at Target for a really good price. We went over and came back and we were thinking, man the house is really hot. Why did we turn off the fans. We started to try and turn on fans and then lights and realized the power was out. It had been out since 3 and we got home around 4. Thankfully our computer had enough juice in it left for David to finish the last couple of paragraphs of his final paper for school. But then we didn't have internet! He had to turn in his paper on Saturday or he wouldn't get any credit for his final. We decided to drive over to McDonald's and sit in the parking lot to use the free wi-fi! After that, David said since we didn't have power and it was starting to get dark, we were going to the drive in. We saw Captain America. It was really good, except I kept falling asleep. After that we came home to find out the power had just been restored! YAY!

All in all, it has been a good couple of weeks.