White Elephant Party

White Elephant Attendees...

Last Friday (the 12th) I went to probably the most entertaining White Elephant party I can remember. Chris is a student, a lieutenant in the Navy, at NPS and his one of the nicest people I have ever met. He can make conversation with just about anyone. He and his wife had a Christmas party over at their house. I met lots of students and their wives’ and we all ate really good food. During the White Elephant game, there was lots of stealing and laughter; especially, when people started getting competitive over a remotely controlled skunk!!! I guess you had to be there, but it was hilarious!! I hope they have a party next year, too.

Saturday, I watched Anthony swim again. He’s doing great! The rest of the day was spent sending out Christmas gifts, buying gifts, writing Christmas cards, etc.

Sunday after church, Julie, Anthony, and I went to eat at one of our favorite breakfast restaurants, First Awakenings. Then they came over to make gingerbread houses! My sis’s friend, Mel, came over to help, too. Then, we all watched the Cowboys win and move into the Wild Card game!! Woo hoo!!

Your Three Words

ABC and Good Morning America does a segment called "Your Three Words," that features all kinds of different videos people take of what is important to them. My nephew, Brady, was on ABC.com with his video and then on December 13th they aired his video on Good Morning America!! I'm bummed I missed it, but here's the link to it:

http://ugv.abcnews.go.com/Player.aspx?id=6453566

It's only ~2 minutes long, check it out. You'll probably have to cut and paste link into your browser for it to work. Brady is the last video in the set. Above are the screen shots I took of the video. Brady is living proof!! I love that little guy, he's sooo precious!! :)

fun filled weekend

This Friday I went to the movie called Australia. It was an epic adventure filled with a little bit of everything: romance, action, suspense, etc. I loved it! It is 3 hours long, which I wasn't expecting, but it was worth it! Saturday I went to Anthony's swim class and he is swimming very well now. I'm very proud of him. Then, I went with a friend to what we thought was a Christmas party at a winery, but we were a day early! Opps!! So, we stayed and did some wine tasting. That night was the annual Ornament Party. This year it was held at the La Playa Hotel in Carmel. We had our own room and that even had a decorated Christmas tree. As usual, the girls who put it on did a great job! It was fun to see the girls, it had been too long...

Anthony's Birthday!

Go Raiders!

After the game, we were still smiling!

Anthony and his Mama

Group shot

The shark cake, with a leg (aka a cracker) hanging out!

The car ride up Anthony was between Dre and Mel.

Anthony blowing out his candles.

November 30th was my nephew Anthony's 7th birthday!! My friend Caitlin, hooked us up with free tickets to the Raider's game that day. When Anthony found out that we were going to the game on his birthday, he was in the shower, and he started jumping up and down and dancing, saying "oh yeah, alright, woo hoo!!" So, Julie, Anthony, Melissa, Andrea (Dre), and I went up to the game on Sunday. Alberto was sick and couldn't go, which was really sad because he's the only real Raider's fan out all of us! We had a good time eating hot dogs and watching the game. Unfortunately, the Raider's lost the Chief's and it made Anthony really upset! :( That night, once we got back home we had cake for Anthony. He wanted a ocean cake with a shark in it and he also asked the Baker to put red in the cake...like blood!! He's such a boy!! Julie didn't allow any "blood" in the cake, so we eat pieces of a more peaceful (less violent) looking cake. :)

Thanksgiving weekend

Wednesday night Sarah and Ryan came into town and we went to Island's for dinner. Thanksgiving morning, Sarah, Julie, Melissa, her friend Vinnie, and I did the Turkey Trot/Run at Lover's Point. It started at 8am and no one was allowed to wear watches. Everyone had to run or walk towards Asilomar and then we had to turn around and try to make it back to Lover's Point exactly one hour later. We actually were only a minute or so off! But, we didn't win the prize. That's OK, it was a lot of fun. Then my sis and I went to her in-laws for a tasty feast. We watched the Cowboy's destroy the Seahawks! And, then Mel came over and we watched movies the rest of the day/evening. Friday evening, we met up with some Class of '97 people downtown and that was great! It has been a long time since I've seen some of those people!!

Zarin's Wedding

On October 26th, one of my best friends from high school got married in Berkeley. Zarin and J.P. (now he goes by just Patrick) dated back in high school and kept in touch over the years. They got back together almost 2 years ago and they tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony. They were dressed in traditional Afghan dress and then for the reception they were in traditional American dress. It was a blend of both cultures and absolutely amazing!! I'm waiting for friends to email me pictures and I hope to be able to put up pictures by next week.

Raider's Game

Isaac and Anthony

Little Raider's fans...

Alberto and the boys

I just want to preface this post - Most people who know me and where my family is from, know that I am a die-hard Dallas Cowboy's fan. Always will be. Doesn't matter if they have a terrible season or if they are going to the Super Bowl, I'll always be a fan. Anyways, my sister's husband is a HUGE Raider's fan. The foundation office at NPS was giving away free Raider's tickets and I was able to get 6 of them. My sister, her husband, his sister, my nephew, his cousin, and I all got to go to McAfee Stadium on October 19th to watch the Raider's play the New York Jets. I was sooo excited to see Brett Farve - he's a living legend!! I assumed the Raider's were going to lose. This game ended up being what will probably be the most exciting game of the Raider's season. Not only did the Raider's beat the Jets, they won in OT!! We had such a great time!! :)

Vacation! part 3 - back in VA

Ships docked at Norfolk.

Mom, Montie, and Me windblown after the boat ride.

Monday, October 6th, my parents and I went back to colonial Williamsburg and it was much more pleasant weather than the beginning of September. We went to the house that the Rockefeller’s lived in. It was interesting to find out that it was actually John Rockefeller and his wife who invested over 60 million dollars (during the Depression) to restore that part Williamsburg to colonial times. That night I slept over at Matt & Montie’s. It was fun to spend some quality time with them The next day Montie, Mom, Dad, and I took a boating trip all through the James River. We saw Fort Monroe, Norfolk, and other locations on the Chesapeake Bay. Wednesday I flew back home, ending my vacation. I was sad to leave my family. :(

Vacation! part 2 - DC

Two of the guys Dad fought in the war with.

Dad in front of the Vietnam War Memorial

Women singing in Korean in front of the Korean War Memorial


Cody, Mike, Dad, Matt, and I after the race. Dad even wore the a shirt to match Matt and I.

Dad, Matt, me, and Mom after running by the Pentagon.

Friday morning, October 3rd, Mom, Dad, Matt, and I left for DC. After checking into the hotel, Matt and I had to pick up our bibs for the race. We walked around the Expo a little and then decided it was time to see the sights. We walked around the Mall – almost all of it!! We took a few pics in front of the Capitol and walked by the Washington Monument and reflecting pond. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the White House, it was a little too far away and we didn’t make reservations to go inside. The Vietnam Memorial was very special for us. Dad was a Chinook pilot during that war. He was able to find the names of two guys he worked with. V One died in helicopter while talking on the radio with Dad. Dad said the guy was talking and the radio suddenly went silent. Dad flew over and saw smoke and the wreckage. It was a pretty emotional for me; I can only imagine what my dad was feeling deep inside. But, I guess he’s had many years to work through those emotions. I’m just thankful God blessed my dad and he made it home. I’m glad we went to the Vietnam Memorial, it is beautiful tribute to those who didn’t make it home. The Korean Memorial was unexpectedly emotional, too, even though I don’t think I know anyone who was in that war. As we walked up to the memorial, a group of Korean women were singing a sad Korean song in front of the site and they were surrounded by wreaths of flowers. Their song was haunting and even though most of us watching didn’t understand their words, you could feel their sorrow. The last stop for the day was Lincoln Memorial, which is quite impressive; picture really doesn’t do it justice. Saturday was spent going through various Smithsonians’. Mom, Dad, and I went into the Science and Space Smithsonian for the first half of the day and then to the Natural History Smithsonian the second half. It was overwhelming. Really one needs to spend all day in just one and really take everything in. My favorite parts were space exhibits and the rock, gem, and precious stone exhibit. Matt spent most of that day with his old co-worker, Mike and his son, Cody. After a long day of information overload, we went to a California Pizza Kitchen and loaded up on carbs - yummy!! Matt and I shared a pizza and pasta dishes…talk about carb overload!!! That night we drank a lot of water and went to bed early. Sunday morning, October 5th, we were up bright and early for the race. The Army 10-Miler starts at the Pentagon which was just 2 blocks away from our hotel. So we got there about an hour early and somehow we ended up at the very back! But, me and my bro ran ~11 minute miles so we ended up passing a lot of people. We didn’t break any records, but we finished!! :) I was sooo happy, I was pretty nervous about this run and I was relieved when it was over. I felt really good until the end. I had only trained running 8 miles, so around the 9th mile all my joints started to tighten and tense up. Other than the last mile, it was actually a very enjoyable run. My bro entertained me the whole time. I don’t think he was hurting at all, then again, he’s used to running 9 minute miles. I’m very proud of us for finishing together!! After the run we cleaned up and drove back to Williamsburg, VA. I took it real easy the rest of the day and watched movies.

Vacation! part 1 - VA

My bro at work. He looks good in his uniform! :)

A replica of the fort at Jamestowne in the 1600's.

I got in really late on Tuesday, September 30th. Wednesday morning, my parents and I went historic Jamestowne. We went to a well done museum and it was very informative. I stopped by Matt's work and we went for a practice run. We had dinner over at Matt and Montie’s. As usual, Brady was very entertaining. Matt and I stayed up watching one of his crazy sci-fi movies, it was very silly. Thursday we went to Yorktown and had lunch along the James River. Then we went to the Yorktown Visitor’s Center and learned a little more about colonial history. An important point I had forgotten about, if it wasn’t for the French, we would not have been able to fight off the British and become our own Country. That night, Brady, Matt, and Montie came over and had dinner at Mom’s and Dad’s.

Tampa....again

Starting September 22nd, I spent another couple of days in Tampa going to a conference. It was fun to hang out with co-workers, but the conference/expo was disappointing.

Tahoe

Boats on the lake

The beach on Lake Tahoe

The girls after one of our yummy meals

I picked Amy up on Thursday, September 18th, night from SJC and we drove up to Sarah’s house in Petaluma. We spent the night there and then drove up to Tahoe on Friday morning. We picked our Sacramento, Jane, friend up along the way. We ate delicious dinners both Friday and Saturday nights. We all went for a long walk on Saturday, it was beautiful. Sarah won money at Black Jack at the casinos!

The Final Grape

At dinner at parents’ house, my 5 year old nephew, Brady, was entertaining us. My dad, who loves to tease, was pretending to steal Brady’s grapes. Brady was getting annoyed. He gave everyone else at the dinner table a grape except for me and my dad. Then, he pulls a grape from the vine and holds it up and says, “This is the final grape. Whoever doesn’t get it will go to the dark of shame!” He dramatically hands me the grape (to teach his Papa not to take his grapes). We cracked up laughing! Where do kids get this stuff from?! :)

Virginia

Oh no! Brrady and I are experiencing the guillotine, like in Colonial times...

William and Mary had a 200 person band!!

The Christmas section of Yankee Candle, where it snows!

We arrived in Richmond, VA, September 10th, and I decided to ride with Mike into Newport News. Well, unfortunately, I miss read the directions and we took the long way. Instead of an hour, it took us 3 hours!!! Luckily for me, Mike was in no hurry and didn’t get mad at me at all! What a good friend! Finally, we found the way to our hotel and it was lunch time so we ate and then I took a nap because we didn’t have to meet up with group until 7pm. I got to hang out with my parents for a couple of hours that afternoon and that was a nice “bonus” visit. The next two days were spent at Ft. Eustis and the experiments went perfectly. My brother even stopped by for a visit and met some of my co-workers. They were surprised to meet another Verett! :) Friday night, instead of flying home I went over to my parents’ house in Williamsburg and my mom made some home cooked food (yea!). Saturday we walked around old colonial Williamsburg. It was very hot and humid so it made it quite uncomfortable. We ended up leaving and I went for a short 2 mile run that afternoon. Saturday night we went to a William and Mary vs. VMI football game and it was a blow out. We left after the 3rd quarter because William and Mary’s team was up more than 30 points. While walking home (and making a stop at the WaWa for some ice cream) my sister-in-law got stopped twice by people who thought she looked like Sarah Palin!! We thought it was funny, but true! Montie had her hair up and glasses on and she does resemble Governor Palin. They are both pretty women. The next day, we went to Church and then to the biggest Yankee Candle store I have ever seen!!! It even snowed (real snow) in the Christmas section!!! After lunch at Olive Garden my weekend get-away was over and I had to go to Tampa for a meeting on Monday.

New York/New Jersey

I "heart" NYC!

Me and Kyla :)

Dinner in Little Italy with friends!

Times Square

Grand Central Terminal is beautiful!

My traveling buddy, Mike, along withnAlex, Dave, and Herb looking at the view of NYC.

I arrived in Newark Airport on Saturday, September 6th, in the evening and it was raining like crazy. Tropical storm, Gustave was moving through the area and there were reported 2-4 hour delays at all the airports. Somehow my flight was only 20 minutes late! This was a nice surprise; I thought we would not be able to land so quickly or at all. A nice, but very nervous taxi driver took me to my hotel in Jersey City and I was happy to get there safe and sound. Sunday was sunny and warm and I didn’t have to meet up with co-workers until 2pm. A co-worker whom I seem to travel with a lot named Mike, and I took the PATH train over to Manhattan and did fun tourist things. We saw Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and Grand Central Terminal. We walked everywhere and had a great time. The only store I allowed myself to go into was Sephora. Monterey doesn’t have any of those stores, so I walked in and was encircled by beauty products. Even though I don’t wear a lot of makeup I was in awe of my surroundings. I bought a few things and decided to leave while my total was still under $100. Mike and I hopped back on the PATH train to Jersey to meet up with some co-workers. As it turns out Alex (the head of these experiments) only needed a few of us to help him setup antennas on the ship, so he let the rest of us go. Mike was tired and I needed to get a run in, so we went back to the hotel after a stop at Starbucks. That night, a group of us hopped on the train just after one stop we got off in a cute little town called Hoboken. We ended up at a restaurant a long the water and that was recommended to us. On Monday, we found our way over to the shipyard docks and spent the day boarding a huge container ship that was the length of at least 2 football fields. That experiment could have gone better and it was exhausting. Walking on hard steel all day is really painful for feet! That night we went back over to Hoboken and went to another restaurant, where we sat upstairs and dined on more delicious food. Tuesday, it rained in the morning for two hours and it put a damper on the experiment. We eventually got some tests done and then called it quits early. This was nice because I got to go back to the hotel and relax before heading back into the city. That night I was escorted into New York by Mike and two other Coast Guard guys that were participating in the experiments. We met up with my friends from the OC, Kyla and Jeff. They were vacationing in Little Italy randomly at the same time I was there. We went to the little apartment where Kyla and Jeff were staying and got to check out an authentic New York-style apartment….very small!!! But, they were able to rent it way cheaper then they could a hotel for 7 days. Afterwards, we walked around Little Italy until we found several restaurants that looked good. We were trying to decide between 2 across the street from each other, when both hosts walked out and tried to convince us that we really wanted to go to their particular restaurant. They were battling for our business. When we were still unsure, they started offering us “extras.” One offered us a free bottle of wine and the other finally offered us a table outside, which is what we really wanted. We had a wonderful Italian dinner on a sidewalk in New York with great conversation. I was really happy to spend time with my friends in New York!!! The next morning we had an early morning flight to Richmond, VA to continue the experiments.

Briana's Baby Shower

Briana and Enza due within the next 6 weeks!

We ate a delicious meal in Josie's beautiful home!!

Marisa with one of the twins!

Happy Shower, Bree!

Saturday, August 30th, was Briana's Baby Shower. It was a beautiful!! Her mother-in-law's house is gorgeous and she cooked amazing food!! I think everyone had a great time. I cannot wait to meet the newest addition to the Tringali Household!

12 mos and 3 wks apart...

Me and the birthday girl!!

The party at Gianni's

My sister and I are only 12 months and 3 week apart. Her birthday was August 29th and we had a party at Gianni's . I made my mom's Texas Sheath Cake and we had yummy pizza!! I hope she had a good day! Love you, Sissy!!

Summer sickness

Well, I'm just now finally feeling better after being sick for almost 3 weeks!!! I started feeling bad in Tampa at the beginning of August and it only got worse. I couldn't take off time because I had to be in Camp Roberts all last week. It was 100 degrees and dry and dusty, which didn't help my cough that already sounded like a smoker. I went to the doctor on Saturday and he finally gave me drugs. I slept all weekend - I literally took 3 hour naps and slept 10-11 hours at night. Between drugs and sleep I feel human again and went to work today. I haven't been cold/flu sick in almost 3 years, so I hope my next bout of sickness will be in another 3 years because being sick bites!!

8-8-08 = My 30th Birthday!!!

Jeff's home-made mac and cheese - delicious!

Sarah at Club Bud in Angel's Stadium

The girls being silly after breakfast at Wilma's Patio

Jessica, Jenny, Colleen, Nana, Sarah, Me, and Kyla

I showed up to Jenny's where she and Collen had made a poster of all of "my men" ;)

Blowing out my candles...

My birthday happened to be on 8-8-08 this year!!! I shared it with the opening of the Summer Olympics and with good friends. I was in Tampa for work and flew straight to Orange County to celebrate with some of my favorite people! Sarah and Kyla planned an awesome 30th b-day weekend for me. Kyla picked Sarah and I up at the airport and we went to Jenny's house for appetizers and cupcakes and then went out to the bars. The next morning we went to my favorite breakfast place on Balboa Island, Wilma's Patio. After that we rallied for an Angel's game and hung out at Club Bud. Angel's destroyed New York, so that made for a fun afternoon. That evening we had a gourmet BBQ at Kyla's. What more could a girl ask for? :)

Summer in Seattle!

Sarah and Ryan standing in front of fish-throwing, Pike's Market!

Jo, Me, Ry, and Sar eating yummy hotdogs.

Amy, Sarah, Joanne, and I.

While waiting for SuperBad to start we played cards. :)

I have been to Seattle 3 times, but always during fall or winter. This year Sarah, Ryan, and I planned for a summer visit to the usually rainy city and it was a blast!! The weather was gorgeous ~70-80 degrees!! Unfortunately, my flight out on Thursday night was delayed due to really bad smoke caused from all the Forest fires. Luckily, Joanne was trooper and willing to pick me at the airport at 1:30 in the morning! Joanne and Amy planned a weekend of sight seeing and fun. Friday (both Jo and Ames took off work) and Saturday was action packed with activities: we all went to Pike's Market (where they throw fish), stopped by the first Starbucks, we drove by one of the Deadliest Catch boats (Ryan loved that), we took the Underground Tour of Seattle (very interesting, actually), and went to an outdoor movie. It was an awesome weekend with good friends and it was bummer to leave on Sunday. Thanks Jo and Amy for an wonderful time!!!