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Post-Debate Rally

After the Debate on the 7th, we planned a rally for about 500 people. This pic is of Laura and I. Laura is like the event coordinator whereas I basically plan for the Governor's involvement. We have a pretty good system. Laura did the decor and was obsessed with her balloon trees. Too funny. : )

True Friendship/Goodbye to Sam

For the last six months, my beloved Sammy boy has lived with Amy and Christy, two dear friends from church. When I was in a bind to move to Sacramento in less than two weeks, they graciously opened their home to my kitty that I wasn't ready to part with permanently. They loved him and scratched him and put up with his bad litterbox management and in doing so, showed true friendship to me. Knowing that he was shown such love by these girls has made it much easier for me to part with him again...

Aunty Amy O'Donnell (soon-to-be Burcaw) and Sammy-boy.

Aunty Christy and Sammy in their spot on the couch. Apparently, that's where Sammy liked to be best in order to get some good scratches.

As you can see, Sammy really is the world's fattest cat. Hopefully, his new brother and sister will keep him energized and it will help him to lose some weight!

It's a sad sad, but happy day.

Just found out this morning that my mom found a new home for my Sammy-boy. The girls who have been watching him are both getting married and Saturday is their moving day, so I really had to cram to find someone to either give him a temporary home or a permanent home. Since I don't know what I'm doing next, I decided to see if there was someone out there who could love him a lot and give him a happy life. We found her! She's the hostess at my parents local restaurant and she has two other kitties. She loves fat cats and is excited for Sammy to come and live with her. I'm just glad that she'll be able to give a lot of love and affection for my little guy. It's bittersweet, but for the best...

Cute pic of me and my sissy

Just found this pic of my grown-up sister and I at a recent wedding. She's so pretty!

Went to the USC game last night!

Went to my first USC football game last night and got hooked up with some ridiculous tickets. A coworker and I sat with Mike Salmon (brother of former Angel, Tim Salmon) and his wife in the 8th row between the 40 and 50 yard lines. During the third quarter they gave us their field passes and we watched from the sideline. It was pretty AMAZING!

CRP Convention in LA

Last weekend was the CRP Convention in LA. It was fun because I was there working all weekend, but still got to see my CWLA girls! The Gov had three appearances on Saturday, so I was running around like a crazy person, somewhat, but then on Sunday, we did an event at the First AME black church in LA, and it was so awesome and so energizing!!!

Me and Jennifer on Friday at a CWLA meeting. Such a sweet friend who I miss very very much when I'm away in Sac!

The Freyerettes in action once again!

Best girlfriends!

Me at work on Friday in the CFS staff room. We had two staff rooms up and running at convention that were staffed all weekend long. Fortunately, I was able to be mobile and still get work done. All weekend, I kept thinking how crazy and weird my life has become. I'm having an amazing time, though, and I'll never forget these times!!!

Bus Tour

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the big green bus traveled through southern CA recently and Aunt Corinne brought Grandma and Grandpa to a stop in Temecula. Because the event was so crazy, they skipped out and came and saw the bus for a few minutes. It was so neat to show them what I get to do...sorta. : )

My cute Grandpa Wally and Grandma June on the bus with me!

and Aunt Corinne, too!

Lake Powell - 06

Haven't had much time for the photo blog, but I do have a smattering of new photos to share with the world!!! Below are some fun pics from the Johnson Family Houseboat Trip.

My cute Dad!

He'd probably tell you that this is his favorite place in the world -- in the driver's seat of the boat with his kids in tow. : )

Rooster Tail!

For those of you non-skiiers, getting a good spray isn't that easy, you have to cut hard and get a good lean, which is tricky. I try to out-do myself every time I get out behind the boat and am pretty proud of this one! : )

Daddy's Girl!

Me and my lil bro (hard to believe that he'll be a dad in the winter!)

Lincoln Juarez

The annual Gala was in May and it was a Carnival theme. It wasn't a huge success like last year's, but we got to wear cute masks and dress up! : )

JJ and Clare - Masked Ladies!!!

My Going Away Party Invite

My coworkers are the BEST! Look what the ridiculously-talented Krissy-pooh (and Clare) sent out to the whole staff... I LOVE the girls I work with and will miss them tremendously... sniff, sniff...

Farewell to the Roaring 20s!

Last weekend, my friend Rebekah turned 30 and so we threw a "farewell to the roaring 20s" party. It was a blast!!! Everyone came dressed up, she had it catered, and there was a DJ. It was a really fun and creative idea for a 30th birthday... too bad she beat me to it! : )

JJ and Rebecca #2

Our small group from church -- FLAPtastic!
JJ and Rebekah #1, the birthday girl

Clare's Bachelorette Weekend in San Francisco

Wow, this weekend was wild! Eight of us girls traveled to San Fran for Clare's bachelorette weekend and we had a blast. It started with St. Paddy's Day at an Irish Pub where we saw priests doing shots and drinking many beers. Then we went to H&M for some serious shopping. That night, we went to a fab dinner that was followed by and even FAB-er dessert at Ghiradelli!!! On Saturday, we went to Sears Fine Foods for a breakfast of SWEDISH PANCAKES and then we walked down to the warf and shopped around before we went and had massages. On Saturday night we went to AsiaSF where "gender illusionists" performed burlesque shows, etc, etc, etc. : ) The night ended at Mel's Diner - yum! On Sunday, we shopped some more and took a trolley ride. Here are some pics!

Ghiradelli -- I'm salivating just thinking about it!

Jennifer, me, and Clare getting all-dolled up and ready to go out.
me and Kristen (Ang, I included this one for you!)

I was thirsty

Enjoying my very first trolley ride

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.

Missie Turned 21!!!

On January 15, my baby sister turned 21 years old! It's so hard to believe, but she is a beautiful young woman with a lot of sass, too!

My mom and I took Missie out to the Pala Casino and Resort (gotta love those injuns) on the afternoon of the 14th and we got massages at their fabulous spa! Then we went down to dinner, then back to the room for a nap and dessert and a movie. At midnight, we popped open a bottle of champagne, then hit the casino running! I won 60 bucks right away and then stopped playing because I'm totally lame. : )

On Sunday, we woke up, and went to the Temecula wine country for some tasting and treats. We had a blast. Here is the proof!

It's midnight and she's LEGAL!

On our way down to the casino! On Sunday morning, I gave her her long-awaited gift. A green Longchamp bag that she'd been wanting.
Missie the lush at the Thornton vineyard. It was actually pretty yummy. I think I bought three bottles there. : )
Dinner at Maggiano's with 30 of her closest friends and family!

My Weekend

I had a super fun weekend and wanted to share some pics! My friend Rebekah and I (and her boyfriend Matt) went up to Snow Summit yesterday to get a little snowboarding practice in before our Mammoth trip with the singles group at church. We're both beginners, although she's had some good practice! I haven't been since college, but I'll be going a few times this year and have really wanted to get into it for a while, so I decided to buy a board with some Christmas money and make the commitment to go for it. I really surprised myself and made it down the mountain with no injuries and only a couple of wipe outs! By the end of the day, I was feeling pretty confident and I've decided to take a couple of lessons later this month!

Snow Babes!

My friend Chrissy had a birthday on Saturday night at Buca di Bepo. She had about 25/30 people there and we had a great time eating AMAZING food and just hanging out.

Our friend Hunter didn't realize that he had his hand on the butt of a naked lady statue! Ha!

Lisa, Jereme, and I at Buca

Our small group minus Rebekah. : (