am I the worst blogger ever?!?

Yeah, I NEVER think to actually share stuff here now that we're all settled into life in South Carolina. But, let me say that again for all you west coasters---Settled. Into. Life. In. South. Carolina.! We've been in our new house for 3.5 months now and it's finally finished (except for the nursery and that's an ENTIRELY different story!) It looks amazing and we love love how it turned out. It's comfy and stylish and totally us :-D

Daniel's been permanently here since the end of August and it's so great to finally be together after his 7 months in Nowheresville, Alabama. I got to fly over to visit him in Aug and he made the loooong drive to Charleston every few weeks. He's finally settling in and starting to go back out on travel a little more now. After taking a co-lead on a blade repair project in AL for the month of August he's proven himself as quite the smart leader (at least I think so and I'm highly un-biased!) There's even a new repair job coming up that's going to require ultrasonic testing and he told the big-wigs he wants to take the lead on it and they agree! Awesome!! I married such a smartypants <3 On the bad side, he tore a disc in his back doing the Marine Corps Mud Run a few weeks ago but, after 2 weeks of walking crooked, he's on the mend and recovering well. He's got PT to do and can't run, but he'll be back on his bike this weekend for a nice long ride. Hopefully it'll be the beginning of him getting back out there.  At least we squeaked in one sprint triathlon this summer and, for not training all year, he did awesome! My wave started way before his so I even had the energy to go back and re-run the last half mile with him to the finish. He always did the same for me!

James Island Sprint Tri July 2010

USMC Mud Run 9/25/10

As for myself, I'm back serving at the Renaissance Charleston and loving being back with Marriott. I'm not super stoked about the insanely early mornings, but after 5 months I'm finally used to it and love that I get off in time to enjoy the daylight. Hopefully I'll move into another department soon; one that allows me to sit down some. These long days on my feet "walking the pavement" have my ankle so damn sore and swollen it's not even funny. I really don't want another surgery, but I need to see a specialist sometime soon to determine what to do. I don't want to be that 30 year old using a cane! I joined a tri club back in March and have met some awesome workout buddies. I've been riding at least once a week, but it's hard on those days when I work 6-9 hours on my feet! Now that the weather is cooler and nice out it's so much better out there!

Of course, on the family front, I miss my family and my home state much! I dream of sunny CA with it's green hills and (soon to be) snowy mountains. I can't wait for my mom and dad and the Hier-Lennons to get here for Thanksgiving. It's gonna be a fun filled week!! Then we'll be going to CA for Christmas and I'm super stoked there---Tahoe here we come!!! Daniel and I have been off the snow now for too long--even he's itching for it! We're already planning our trip to Sugar Mountain in NC to board for my birthday in Jan and we're planning a trip to Sugarbush in VT for Feb. Who knew there was a mtn on the east coast with 2000' vert rise??? I certainly didn't and I'm excited to check it out . (and when did law start requiring all mountains to have "sugar" inthe name??) If we can survive the crap icy snow of Mt Ruapehu, NZ then we can certainly shred it up in the Atlantic NE!


That's all for now, a quick update to cover the past 6 months! Hopefully the next post will have exciting news on the baby front--it's becoming a journey for us but definitely looking positive now!!

Cabo here I come!

It's that time of the year again...no, not spring...it's CABO time!!! Unfortunately, though, this year has gotten a bit messed up. Somehow Cabo Villas' "week 16" and Cabo Bonito's "week 16" don't add up and we're gonna be there the week before everyone else! What a drag!!! Who's gonna join us for the wed night party? or show us where the tortilla and carnitas place is? or go scuba diving with us? Such a bummer! AND to top it off, Daniel has to go to this stupid conference up in Clemson and so he's not going at all!! So lame! I'm so sad :-( This is our yearly vacation where we do nothing but relax on the beach and drink mango daquiries and eat dollar tacos all day long. Sometimes we throw in a random trip to "dinosaur egg beach" ;-) or some random spot...depending on  the lady of the hour...(Daniel knows what I mean) but, seriously, it's the one week of the year where nothing matters, all we have to do is whatever we want; and that involves a lot of ice, sunscreen and beer/rum/taquila! This year it'll just be mi mamá. We're gonna relax, drink daquiries and go to the spa...a new adventure! if you want to check up on us and see how we're doing, just check out our resort's web cams. Cam #2 has a great view of our balcony spa!! Try not to get too jealous people! (if you're looking at the webcam, our spa is the 4th floor...there are 2 above us)
click here for webcam #2!

already 3 months into 2010!

Well ladies and gentlemen, today is Daniel's 28th birthday! Almost 30 I keep telling him. Each year gets better and better for us though. We're planning on starting a family soon...*yikes* and I'm starting to get that feeling of "no matter how prepared you think you are for kids, you're never prepared enough"! Well bring it on little ones!

Daniel and I are back into the grove of things in the south. He's working in Dothan at Walter F George powerhouse; back doing the "site-engineer" thing and overseeing the "damn" rehab. Yes, I do mean damn! It's a long, hard job which keeps him living in and out of hotels, working 10-12 hours a day and not getting enough sleep. At least he's getting paid well for all these out-of-town hardships. We thought 3000miles was too far apart but 500 miles seems almost as much. It's a 7 hour drive to visit eachother! I haven't started working yet, still searching for that perfect job...ok, well, almost ANY job to start helping put $$ away. But i'm able to take the time to get out there and stay in *yikes* Dothan for a few days. Daniel's really getting sick of being at this project and wants so much to move into his new position in Charleston so he's talking to the Savannah District people (Chief of Hydropower) about getting him to Augusta for the interim period. They Chief of Ops and the Chief of Hydro in Savannah have said "OK" and they're finally interviewing for the Chief of Ops position in Charleston, so they should be able to get a final "OK" on moving him to the St Stephens plant sometime in April. I say there are too many Chiefs in the wigwam! At least Augusta is only about a 3hr drive from Charleston, so depending of if I get a job soon, we'll be able to visit more on weekends or I can go over there for a while after I return from Cabo (that's another story!) Of course Cabo is coming up soon, April 17-24. This year will be different with my Dad off in the South Pacific...somewhere between Hawaii and Fiji! Mom and I will have the villa to ourselves...with Rick, Suzan, Cindy, Don and the gang over at Benito Blanco like norm. Unfortunately Daniel has to go to some stupid 'Joint Hydro conference' and give a presentation...I tell him to make sure and throw some NZ, Aus and Cabo pics in just to lighten the mood. 

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 In memory of my grandmother who passed away this week. With love always in our memory. 

Ash's goal:

Time to get moving again!

   

Well, we've been back for a month and a half now and it's been awesome. Back to the land of the cheep burrito and plentiful (free) internet. After a few weeks in CA over the holidays we drove back across the country to Florida, again. This time we went through Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri (and a little of Illinois), Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, back to Alabama then Ashley flew out from Atlanta back to San Fran after a week. 

  

Daniel's currently back in Dothan working at Walter F George plant up near Abbyville...fun times. Back on the TDY bandwagon. At least he's back making $$$ and travel $ and overtime. It's unfortunate though that he has to work there temporarily since it means I can't really do anything for work now. I came out to CA to be with family and work on a few things there. The plan was for it only to have to be a month....so far it's been 2 weeks and we should hear something this week! yay! If all goes as planned we'll be settling down in Charleston, SC. I've already found where I want to work (Marriott Renaissance Charleston) and I've been in contact with them about positions and it's very positive that I'll start work right away. If we get the "OK" this week, I will head out and drive across country AGAIN this time hitting up Los Angeles, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, Memphis, Atlanta and ending in Charleston. At least there are so many routes across this great country!! Hopefully Daniel will be able to fly out and visit my grandparents in AZ with me and then drive across together. All depends on flights at the last minute. We're getting good at going with the (travel) flow! 


CA has been fun for me. I've spent the time busying myself helping Mom clean and organize from the crazy holidays. Finally yesterday I went back to Petaluma to pick up boxes from Dad's and visit family in Santa Rosa. It was weird driving around my home town 'one last time' before moving away for good. (Last time we knew we'd be in AL for only a year) Now we're going to buy a house, have kids and really settle down in SC! 


My dad finally left for his sailing around the world. He'll actually just be in the South Pacific area this year, but they're in Hawaii now getting the boat all prepped for the long haul out. in about a week they'll leave and not see land for 6 weeks! You can see his trip here. So that's about all with us for now. Hopefully we'll be able to keep this blog updated as we make our way to our new home...agian! lol...maybe someday we'll make the drive from East to West!!


new facebook photo album here: 
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2319656&id=6406809&l=b12ab9f589