easter sunday

he is risen! we kicked off easter sunday by going to horizon park chapel (the place we call our church now...even though we haven't been there in for-ever.) it was great to be back. we also had a surprise visit straight from dublin, ireland...bono! ya know, from U2...it was crazy. apparantly our pastor, rob, is friends with him...who knew. we didn't know bono was christian, much less showing up to speak at our humble little homeless-outreach downtown san diego church. i always love easter sundays. i found myself thinking about what was going on at the church i grew up in, good ol' rolling hills community church! holidays like easter always bring more people to church. we watched 5 people accept Christ, and it was really cool. i was thinking, looking back, they can say..."i accepted Christ the day i saw bono." haha. people might wonder about that story. i thought i'd post some pictures of our casual easter afternoon. we walked to the park with the kids (ok, dogs) and spent some QT... it was a beautiful day in san diego and the dogs love going anywhere with us :) hope everyone had a most fabulous easter weekend (last weekend, I know...I started this post a week ago and am just finishing it now...where do the weeks go?)

bono (of course our camera was in my purse like always, but i felt too guilty to bust it out while he was talking...i didn't want to be that girl. i found this one on the internet, but for the record he was wearing glasses like this in church. he was also sporting one dangly earring...i guess he can get away with that!)

afternoon at the park. rollin' with the homies...both dogs love to roll in the grass and it is so funny to watch.

chillin in the shade

my two favorite boys

and i'll leave you with this adorable picture of the little easter bunny abigail...she's just way to cute. we sure love her a lot :)

one

we went to pala resort spa and casino tuesday-thursday of this week to celebrate one year of marriage! we needed the restful time away and enjoyed every minute of it. here are some photos of our mini-vacation:
they decorated our room with this banner and a rose :)

the indian reservation, pala, is located a little south of temecula. this is the view from our room.

some relaxing pool-time was reminiscent of our honeymoon! we layed out, ordered food and drinks poolside...it was great. matt played golf on wednesday and i got a massage at the fabulous spa.

i enjoy a little slot machine action from time to time. this was my favorite machine...it was exciting! matt played some poker, and was super successful at the blackjack table! it was fun to watch him play. i think he would have killed me if i busted out the camera while he was belly up to the poker or blackjack table..sorry no photo of matt to share. only me being a dork.

buffet tuesday night...and that was only his first plate. i believe matt said something to the effect of "i could throw up, i'm so full" as we were leaving.

the buffet food was mediocre in my opinion...but look at this dessert spread! this was a big square and ALL four sides of this thing were nothing but dessert. now i was in heaven ;) wednesday night we went to a nicer italian restaurant in the casino also. it was pretty good.

matthew surprised me with an anniversary band!! i LOVE it. i love it. and might i mention a surprise like this is hard to pull off considering i manage the finances..he had to get tricky ;)

i got him a new cleveland golf bag that he wanted, a matching golf towel, and some balls (golf...balls...that is...hehe). this last photo was on our way home today from pala...a brief stop for some roadside avocados! reminding us we were close to home, in good ol' southern cali.

we can't believe it has already been a year since our wedding! you know what they say...time flies when you're having fun!!
xxoo matt and whitney (ok mostly whitney, but matt says hi)

not so pretty in pink

THEY AREN'T EVEN PINK! That's right...in case you were wondering like we were...pink slips aren't pink. Generic white...how boring. On Saturday we got the pleasure of waiting in line at the post office to collect our certified mail, ie. "pink slips" Does anyone know why they are called that? I wish they would have been pink for cryin' out loud. That would just make more sense.

We went to happy hour Friday night with people from work. The appropriate venue was "The Pink Elephant" right in our own neck of the woods...isn't that cute. Matt and I with our beverages at the Pink Elephant with a toast to our lay-off notices.

These are some colleagues of ours. Rachel teaches 7th grade science and Christopher is the 8th grade science teacher on my team. He's a walking encyclopedia, it's pretty awesome.

Our principal, Dr. Carmen Garcia, and I pose for a picture. She is doing everything she can...fighting hard for us!! She rocks for coming to hang out with us. (I just noticed from this picture we have the exact same color hair.)

On Saturday, we got to hang out with FUN friends who were in town including Em and Ryan Hartford and Jim and Kenz Abraham. Em had to take a test in LA for Med school...she is graduating this spring!! It was so fun to catch up (way to quickly) on the life of the Hartford's! We all went to Panera for lunch Saturday. Group photo in Panera. Jim thinks we're number 1 :)

We were able to talk a little bit with close friends about our current job (or lack thereof!) situation. We were encouraged. Matt and I have had some great honest conversations about our fears, worst case-scenarios, and our big sense of hope. I will tell you this, friends and family...it will take a hell of a lot more than this to tear us down! We will be taken care of and not forsaken. We love and support eachother. When one door closes, another opens. Regardless of what the outcome may be, we are more fortunate than others. In this time of waiting, we are trying to remember patience. In this time of uncertainty, we are remembering Grace.
Thanks for keeping up on our lives...we love you! xxoo

misinformed

matt and i both found out today that we will be receiving pink slips from the district...strickly based on the number of years we have in the district. apparantly 5 years isn't enough to give us job security. we are a little shocked and don't really know what this all means. we have to go through an appeal process, etc and i have no idea at this point if we will be teachers next year. we are going to try to stay positive because they have to "over pink slip" and then hire back. we might be okay. more to follow, but just wanted to share my a-little-bit-sad heart.

hallelujah!

Sadly, as most of you probably know, education in California and our whole Nation is down to bare bones in terms of funding and staffing, not to mention opportunities for our students. While we tried hard to remain calm, it has been a stressful time for us both in the education field, waiting (and waiting.....) to hear about our jobs. It has been nothing but number crunching, projected enrollment, and hire date and credential checking. Yikes.

Matt called me the other day after a budget update meeting and when I answered the phone, the first thing he says is, "Do they make shopping carts that will fit us and 2 dogs?" While he is a funny one, and got a laugh out of me :) we have both been pretty unsettled for a few weeks. That's another reason why I love my husband, he makes me laugh in a time when I really wanted to cry.

Drumroll, please.........We found out TODAY that BOTH our jobs are safe at our school site for next year!!!! Our principal literally just now walked out of my classroom after giving me this FANTASTIC news!!! I was happily grading journals on my prep, and when she walked in, my heart started beating so fast...I didn't think a personal visit would be good news at all. When she told me I still had my position, I jumped up and hugged her I was so happy and relieved!!! Matt called my classroom this morning because he talked to her earlier and he is safe also. PHEW.

Praise the Lord for taking care of us. We are grateful.

photo blog numero dos

Trying to get you up to speed here! Last weekend I, Whitney, (need I clarify?) got to partake in a fun little surprise!! My very dear friend Crystal and her husband Jonathan moved to Colorado almost 2 years ago. We had been roommates for many years through college and after, so I missed her very much! My friend Lynsdy and I flew out to surprise her for her birthday (well, we got there 3 days after BOTH their birthdays...they share a bday!) We planned the whole thing with Jonathan, and it was soooo much fun to pull off!
Crystal when she first walked in the door and saw us sitting in her livingroom

The night we got there, we went to PF Changs for a late dinner!

We went to Red Rocks, an awesome natural outdoor concert venue...it was the most beautiful day Denver had seen in a while...high 70's! This was our "goofy" picture :)

Jonathan and I "tapped the Rockies" when we went out downtown Denver Saturday night :)

We got to meet a lot of Crystal and Jonathan's friends..it was great!

We woke up Sunday morning to beautiful snowfall! The born and raised southern Cali girl scraping ice off her windshield! I had to take a picture :)

Us girls braved the snow to go out to breakfast...it was so fun...and cold!

We had such a fun time hanging out as old roomies! :) It was Matthew's idea for me to buy a ticket to go visit...good idea Matthew!!

photo blog

We have so much to catch you up on these days!
A lovely afternoon a few weekends ago at Fiesta Island with the pups.

Can you tell the dogs are not into posing for pictures? They wanted to go run and play! Come to think of it, my husband is not into posing for pictures either...huh.

I tried to turn this shadow picture, but it wouldn't work. I loved the pup between us. sorry you have to turn your head sideways.


My mama came to visit, and we had SUCH a great time hanging out with my Auntie Chris from Maine and my cousin Heather from Florida! We had my cousin Josh's wife Tanya's baby shower...but I forgot to use my camera that day:(

my mom and aunt are so silly together, but pretty cute. they cause a scene everywhere they go :) ps. i had to break it to my mom, the Oregonian, that it's not cool to buy the In N Out Burger Tshirts anymore.

From left to right, Heather, Aunt Chris, my mom, me

My cousin Christopher beating up on my mom...she deserves it!

It is so much darn fun (and a little crazy) when our family is together! Unfortunately, we reside in ALL FOUR corners of the US...Oregon, Maine, Florida, and San Diego. You'd almost think we did that on purpose! Anyway, It is always awesome to spend time together.
Photo blog number TWO coming soon!!! I have more events to blog, but no more time tonight :) xoxo