spoiled rotten...

is exactly how I feel. John was away on business, all week. I missed him. The boys missed him. The overgrown grass in our front yard missed him-ha(more on that later). John got home late on Thursday night. I was so happy to have him home. When I woke up on Friday morning, he said, "I am not sure what you have going on today but just make sure you are home, packed and ready to go by 2 pm." He tried to leave it at that. I convinced him otherwise. A girl needs to know what to pack so she can be dressed appropriately, right? He caved and then told me that we were headed to Reno to see Maroon5 and that we would be spending the night in Lake Tahoe. What?????? Really?????? It was an early anniversary surprise. I was so excited. We don't get to get away very often, just the two of us. It is hard to ask family/friends to watch our children and then once they say "Yes" hand over the laundry list of places that they need to be. My sister in law Heidi told John she would watch them and get them all to their various destinations. SCORE! She is a saint.

I have always loved Maroon5, especially Adam Lavine. It wasn't until we were on the road that John asked, "do you want to know where our seats are?". He found tickets for the 8th row, on the floor. Our seats were amazing! Honestly, at that point, I did not care where we were sitting! I was sold at Maroon5 and a night in Tahoe with my one and only.



























We were close enough to see that one of his tattoo's read Mom-awwwwww :-)!















They opened the show with Moves Like Jagger and they shut it down with Hands All Over and an awesome rendition (with a ton of audience participation) of She Will be Loved. Again, it was an awesome show from start to finish. The entire crowd was on their feet for the entire show. I loved the pace of the show, they went from set to set and the energy was high. I also loved leaving the parking structure after the show, everyone had their windows down with their favorite Maroon5 song blasting from their ster-e-o.

We drove back towards Tahoe and spent the night in a little place right across from the lake.













We found a little cafe and enjoyed breakfast. We then enjoyed a beautiful drive around (part of) the lake. On our drive,we found our next home...until we saw the asking price. It was only 3.3 million-HA!

We spent the rest of the day lounging, reading, lunching and napping on Kings beach. It was a gorgeous Lake Tahoe day and it was just what we needed.













We came home to flowers,cards,a clean house(cleaner than I left it)and a front lawn that had been mowed in our absence. Even Aunt Heidi could tell that the yard had missed John while he was away on business :-).

p.s. I have decided that I am okay with the being spoiled rotten, every once in a while!

Love Day

Well it wasn't just one day...it was several. My Valentine's Day kicked off on the Saturday before February 14th. I was attending Scrappy Hour at Green Tangerines with a few girlfriends, enjoying a GNO. A few hours into our evening, I looked up for a brief second and caught a very quick glimpse of a man carrying a helium balloon. I didn't think too much of it and continued to work on my project. I then heard a few "ooohhhh's" and "aaahhh's" and I looked up. It was my John boy carrying that balloon. It wasn't just any balloon, it was a red and white polka dot heaart balloon :-). He totally caught me off guard, totally out of place for him. He was also carrying a heart shaped cake. It wasn't just any cake. It was a cake that he had baked and cut into a heart shape(I don't own a heart shaped pan)on his very own. The best part of the cake was the fact that he had looked online for a Weight Watchers friendly recipe. It was really very thoughtful and such a fun surprise. He revceived a standing ovation from the ladies(about 40 of them) there and they all clapped as he left and told him that their hubbies had alot to live up to :-). I am glad my friends were armed with their cameras. I will add the photo of John and I that they took, once it is sent my way! o

Then on Sunday, The Young Women from church presented their New Beginnings program/new theme to their parents. They performed a cute skit about Values(Snow White and the 7 values plus 1) and sang an amazing song. You could feel the love. I love these girls, they too, are amazing.



The next few days were spent making Valentine's, addressing Valentine's, baking heart shaped sugar cookies, enjoying Valentine/Friendship parties and sharing treats with our friends and neighbors. What's not to love about this holiday? All of my favorite things being enjoyed at once!








It was a wonderful few days, filled with lots of love and sweet gestures.

summer concert...John Mayer style

AAAAHHHHH...the day finally arrived. I have been looking forward to this weekend since March. I was beyond excited to head to the Bay Area. I got to see John Mayer in concert at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. I met up with my sister, Amber and my cousin, Kerstin. We grabbed sandwiches and were on our way. We met up with our friend, Michelle. Perfect company.

Here are a few my favorite/unforgettable highlights from the JM show.
- Felt right at home at this venue...it was our spot for concerts during our younger years.
- Getting to spend time with some of my most favorite people in the whole wide world.
- Listening to JM songs the entire ride down to the Bay Area and to and from the concert, anticipating what he would play that evening.
- Listening to John Mayer run a sound check while eating our dinner in line...goose bumps for sure.
- People watching...seriously never a dull moment.
- 4 scrapbookers/life artist forgetting their cameras. Okay, truth be told, I had mine but I didn't have the memory card in it...who does that???
- Giggling while taking traditional self portraits, over and over again with our cell phones.
- the {older} drunk cougar women behind us who just should have known better.
- Laughing so hard we almost cried...or some may have slightly peed their pants{see above, people watching}.
- The poor 17 year old boys next to us who happened to be the cougars prey that night...eeeeewwwwwww!
- John Mayer singing Slow Dancing in a Burning Room. One of the two songs(I haven't heard live) I wanted to hear live-YAY!
- singing along to all of my favorite JM songs :-).
- Singing along to Why Georgia with the whole audience.
- texting my friend Mer(she's a BIG JM fan, too) during the concert while Mr. Mayer took a potty break during the show. I have never had that happen during a concert.
- loved, loved, loved how chit chatty JM was during the show. He was funny,charming and very entertaining.
- Favorite songs from the evening were Half of My Heart/Dreams,Slow Dancing in a Burning Room, Why Georgia and Edge of Desire.








I seriously enjoyed every minute of his show. I felt sad when it was over but then quickly reminded myself that I was seeing him tomorrow night at the Sleep Train Amphitheatre :-).

**John Mayer photos swiped from SF Gate(actual photos from our concert)...remember I didn't have a camera. I love the world wide web.
**Friend/Family photos swiped off of my sisters FB account...thanks, Am!