So far, 2013 has not disappointed us one bit. It has been filled with learning to ski / skiing, working in a floral shop, hosting guests, cooking, jury duty, softball, and softball tournaments.
We begin this blog with our love of food, drink, and friendship. While in California, Ross and I take many opportunities to relish the cuisine that is sushi. Now, we have not gone out for sushi as of late, but below are pictures of when we went out last with my co-worker, Ben. Ben introduced us to Sake Bombs.
The idea here is to pound the table with your fists so that the warm sake vibrates and falls into the beer. Not wanting to create attention towards us …
… we gently poured the sake into the beer, and proceeded to drink.
Moving on, I’m still learning to ski. Below are pictures on our way to Boreal again. After a rough start at Sierra at Tahoe, I needed to regain some confidence in myself. So, we went back to the basics.
Starting our drive up the hill.
Sun rising up from the East.
Roads look a little sketchy, but we’ve been through worse on this mountain.
We thought this was relatable.
Up on the mountain at Boreal. This was the last day we were at Boreal. I had so much fun this day because I was following Ross into the trees and going down dips and going across little jumps (granted, there was no air between me and the snow unless by accident). Boreal had just gotten snow overnight so there was plenty of powder to play in.
After Boreal, we decided to try out Sugar Bowl, which is a few exits before Boreal, but has a lot more Blues. I will try to dig up some pictures from that day, although, I’m not sure we took any because we were fiddling with Ross’s new toy – the Go Pro. If we can remember how to post videos on YouTube, I will provide a link on my blog. You don’t want to miss it, I demonstrate how one slides down a Black Diamond without using skis.
Moving on to work related events, Ross is still doing well at work. No crazy stories as of late other than the usual incoherent happenings of the public. As for me, I have been getting more hours in the Floral Department. The month of February was a doozy, especially the week of Valentine’s Day. Three days before Valentine’s Day, I was scheduled to work from 3:00 a.m. -noon. During the first three or four hours by myself, under the dim glow of a closed store, I made arrangements. I was able to get twenty-four done by the time my help clocked in. On Valentine’s Day, we were wiped out of my $32.99 arrangements and needed more so my manager and I worked overtime. By the end of it all, I was left with nothing but coffee breath, rough fingers, and a headache. Bring on Mother’s Day!
During the week of Valentine’s Day, I also helped a local florist who owns a small shop in Old Town. My manager and I chipped in a few hours of our time because the owner was overwhelmed with orders via internet. She had to shut it down and stop taking orders because she had so many arrangements to make. In the end, she made it through the holiday, but wanted us to be on standby for Mother’s Day.
March has been fun so far. Ross took off for a long week of skiing with Nick Ziegler and Chris Valintakonis. They hit up NorthStar, Alpine Meadows, Heavenly, Kirkwood, and Squaw Valley. Below are a few pictures Ross took:
Looking out above the clouds. (above is Nick)
Chris and Nick
Chris looking out at Lake Tahoe.
Riding in the gondola. 
After skiing for the fifth day in a row, they took a break from it and went for a small hike. (above is Chris)
I think they all had a pretty successful vacation. The idea of skiing in Colorado was being tossed around for next year.
With wind burnt faces and sore bodies, we said so long to Nick and Chris.
Snap back to reality, there was first time Jury Duty to be done. That’s right, I got to skip a day of work to drive down to Sacramento, sit in a room full of people for a half hour, swear in, sit for another half hour until finally the courtroom clerk tells us the Judge apologizes, but we would not be needed for the day. Duty had been served.
Another little tid bit – I bought a small magazine of casserole recipes that I find to be super easy and will last us most of a week. Just to name a few that I’ve made are Chicken’n Chillies Casserole, Chicken Tator Bake, and Texas Style Lasagna. We will soon be rid of you yet Hamburger Helper and Pasta Roni!
So softball started two weeks ago and has consumed our lives ever since. My women’s league won our first game as well as Ross and my co-ed team. Immediately after winning our co-ed game, we headed out on a two hour drive through the Sierras for a co-ed softball tournament in Reno, NV. We stayed at the WorldMark hotel across from the Sands casino. We were invited by a guy we played against in our co-ed league in Auburn. The tournament was called – The Dirty Dublin. This tournament is unlike any other. Reason being, here are some of the rules:
-Each team is allowed one defensive or offensive do-over “mulligan” per game.
-Wear an Irish hat after the 2nd out in the 1st inning and you are worth double.
-Each Strikeout or foul out awards opponent 1 run.
-Spin the Irish wheel and get an advantage.. or dis-advantage.
The Irish wheel really never worked out to our advantage. A team we played had the best spin. If our pitcher walked a guy, he took third base, if it was a girl, they picked up second. Our pitcher wasn’t too hot when the wind really started to pick up. I’m not blaming our pitcher by any means because no one on our team brought their “A” game for this tournament. We lost our first two games, won our third, lost our fourth, and we were out. Didn’t even make it to Sunday.
Nevertheless, we still had a lot of fun. We were introduced to some great new people, an awesome area to play ball, and a SUPER awesome bar and grill in the middle of the softball complex.
It’s a two story bar and grill in the center of it all. This was a really cool place for a ball field. Pictures below show you the inside:
Some good’ol fashion Irish music could be heard all evening.
Beside Ross is Heath. Heath was one of the guys we played with. He was hilarious and much needed comic relief as most of us were uptight about losing. We really wanted to make it into Sunday!
During the Dirty Dublin, I was introduced to Julie, who asked me to play in a women’s tournament the following Saturday. My schedule worked out that I could play. It was a women’s tournament in Sacramento. We didn’t win a single game, but I met a lot of gals who were pretty cool. They were all very welcoming and kept it chill when games became discouraging. Below is the group of women I played with known as – Rockstars.
I will be seeing this group on Thursdays for my women’s league. Unfortunately, I will be playing against them. The lady in red is Julie, who invited me to the tournament, and the gal to my left is Patty a.k.a. Pattio, both who Ross and I played with in the Dirty Dublin. I see Pattio most with the women’s and co-ed leagues. She too is hilarious and has so many great stories to tell.
Well, that sums up 2013 thus far. Easter is this weekend, so I’ll definitely be busy at work. I am in much need of a visit home and am in hopes that it will be in June. We shall see.
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