Saturday night in the OC

I went to Joe's Crab Shack on Saturday night for Brittany's birthday. Brittany is the blond on the left of me. I know all of these girls from Fuel, except for Katie Birk on the far right, who I know through Missie. There were about 20 of us there and the bill was a mess, but we had a great time. And Brittany had to sing some song; I think it was I'm a Little Tea Pot. They all went out dancing afterward, but I told them I was too old and too crabby to go to a club. They all laughed and thought I was joking... how ironic!

Katie W, Brittany, me, Chrissy, and Katie Birk

California Republican Party Convention

On Friday and Saturday, I was at the CRP Convention in San Jose. I had to go up for a CWLA statewide board meeting (which I serve on as the Communications Director) and for ClubCWLA. We put on a ClubCWLA event the Friday night of each convention as a way to get more statewide notice of the organization and really show the stuffy conservatives in the party that Republicans can loosen up and have some fun! : ) We always have a really fun band and rock out! At the Board Meeting, we were fortunate to have the Governor stop by for about 20 minutes. He went around our table and shook everyone's hand and then talked to us about his vision. It was pretty cool! Then, later that night, he came by ClubCWLA and thanked all the Republican volunteers who helped to elect him the last night and who are planning to get him reelected! Here are some pics!

Clare and I at the CRP dinner on Friday night.

Julie (our President) introducing the Gov! The Gov speaking to ClubCWLA.
We've got a whole "club-like" set up, with special lighting and everything. Yes, we're cool.
The ClubCWLA gang (minus Clare). We all seem to end up at each of these and put them on. It's a lot of work, but we get a lot of really great publicity for it.

Happy Valentine's Day

My parents are so awesome. When I got to work today, I heard that Cupid had made a delivery for me. These amazing tulips (which smell divine) were waiting for me with a sweet note from my mom and dad that absolutely made my day. This was really needed today, too, because in a few minutes I have to leave for a meeting in Sacramento and I won't be getting home until 9pm. : ( So, thanks Mom and Dad for always being loving and supportive and making me feel treasured. I love you both more than I could ever say!

Mammoth!

This weekend, I traveled up to Mammoth with the singles group from my church. We had about 80 people come and it was an absolutely awesome weekend! I got some good runs in on Saturday morning with my cousin Elizabeth. We are all beginners, but I had a little bit of a head start because the weekend before my friend Rebekah and I went to a two-day all women's snowboarding clinic in Big Bear. It was awesome and we really learned the techniques needed to board. On Saturday afternoon, Rebekah and I jumped on some intermediate runs and were holding our own. And on Sunday, a huge group of us met up with the intention of going together until people's skill levels started to phase off, but I stayed with the stronger boarders and even did 2 BLACK DIAMONDS! It was unbelievable and amazing. I think the trick is just committing to doing turns and going downhill and letting your body react rather than letting your mind freak you out! We had a big Super Bowl party and I made queso (or as I like to call it, the only thing I learned in college) and other assorted treats, which is funny, because I watched like 10 minutes of the game before hitting the lodge with Rebekah and grabbing a beer! : ) Later, we all hit the hot tub and then cleaned and packed up before hitting the road early on Monday morning.

This is is my cousin Elizabeth, me, and another friend.

This is Katie Birkenstein and me on the black diamond. It doesn't look too steep here, but we were literally sliding down the hill at this point and had to take the picture really fast. Ha! (Katie is one of Missie's childhood friends that has been coming to Fuel since the summer.)
Some of my crazy friends doing "snow angels" in their swim suits after some spa time.

CA Fires

On Monday, a fire broke out in Orange County right off my toll road. It's been closed ever since. It's pretty gnarly and some homes have been evacuated. It looks like the fire authority has it moved away from the homes now and that the road should be opened later today, but it's only 17% contained at this point. Pretty crazy!

From the 241 Toll Road

I live right off the 261, so it's pretty ashy around where I live. And the fire authority HQs are close by, so I woke up to sirens all night long.