goodbye 2011, hello 2012

So, a few friends and family have asked me what happened to that blog I started, to which I will remind you, I made no promises.   I've thought about blogging, but that's about as far as I've gotten lately,  'er the last SIX months!.  Hasn't been the biggest of priorities.  
So what have we been up to?  


Here are a few highlights from the last half of 2011: 
Summer:
Our summer with next to nothing to do abruptly turned into spending a month in Virginia and Florida with family and:
-taking care of dearest Dad as he recovered from surgery.
-eating lots of great home cookin' (learned to make Lumpia!!)

(this not lumpia, but we scored big time with lots of fresh seafood.  YUM and thanks Moms! )

and
-keeping up our status as best aunt and uncle in the world (We share that spot with "Auntee Clo-lo" of course).  Family time is SO precious.  

Giving Uncle the stare down.

Jobs: 
1. Gene got one!!!!   SO grateful to God for His provision and for the answered prayers of so many on Gene's behalf.  He's still lovin' it after five months.  Bonus: Co-workers play tennis.  Employees get to wear shorts to work all summer long.  Perfect for Gene and worth the wait.  
2. I've been teaching for 10 years!!!  Whaaaat?!?!  This year is one of the best yet.  I have ONE prep.  In teacher-speak that means 1/2 to 1/3 of the usual daily planning.  First time that's ever happened in 10 years of teaching.  So with all that time to spare, I've been planning more fun stuff for my classes,

Guacamole/Salsa Competition (also happened to be Sunglasses Day)

planning a Costa Rica Spring Break trip for students, and not filling my bag with papers to grade at home that I never really take out of said bag anyway.  I've been able to hang out more with co-workers more than I ever have.  We've carpooled, done movie nights, a day-trip to Sonoma, dinner in SF, a concert, etc.  Love them!  


Travel:  
So besides our trip to the East Coast, we did one other trip late this summer to Yosemite, with Cleo, Adam, Sophie, and Scott.  So fun!!  It was however, bittersweet for me for two reasons:
Reason 1: I've wanted to hike Half Dome for a really long time.  We prepped for the 12 to16-hour hike all summer long with long walks up and down the hills of SF and in the sweltering humidity of Virginia and Florida.   So, once there, we hike, and hike some more, and then we get about 30 min. away from the summit and have to turn around due to the threat of thunder/lightning and rain.  We weren't about to take any chances since a few weeks earlier lightning struck the cables and a girl slipped and fell to her death AND since Mr. Park Ranger had just told us he wasn't going to come rescue us if we got stuck at the top in a storm.  I was disappointed we didn't quite finish.  I've realized something about myself: I really like to finish, reach the top, cross the finish line, get a high five and THEN go home!!!!!!!
Arrrgh!!!!  
I'm over it now.  
And grateful for my wise husband who made the call.  "Safety and family first." he says.  ;)     

Reason 2: Gene left his SECOND wedding band in a shower at the campground.  Gone.  We went back to search, filed not one, but two lost/stolen reports with the Park.  Gone.  Oh, and by the way the first ring got lost in the snow a year ago after throwing rounds of snowballs at me.  At least now, anytime he reminds me I forgot something, I just say two words: wedding ring.  


Thankfully, there were way more sweet parts to our trip than bitter ones:

1. The company.  I'd camp and hike with this crew anytime.

  
2. Renting a van we could all fit in instead of carpooling was a smart idea.  Scott. 
3. Beauty all around.  Doesn't get much better than Yosemite.  Although, my guess is heaven will be better.  

4. September is a great time to go to.  Still warm and way less people.
5. This guy knows how to scare away the bears:  GOOOOOOO!!!!

6.. Camping trips with Scott are FUN year after year after year.   He's our favorite Sherpa.

    
7. All food tastes better when camping, even dehydrated chili mac.  
8. In-N-Out tastes the best on the way home from camping.


I did manage to get home to Virginia the week before Christmas.  Good times were had making Christmas cookies with the nieces

                             

                                                     

 and eating clams, shrimp, and other goodies at the Great Killmon Christmas Eve Coffee Table Seafood Feast:

After years and years of huge, fancy Christmas Eve dinners, we've decided to just throw a Christmas table cloth over the coffee table and chow down.
Gene had to work and couldn't come to Virginia, so I arrived back in SF, just in time for a quiet Christmas dinner of paella and then presents with my love.  

Routine
Yes, routine, everyday life is a highlight for me.  The last six months I've enjoyed carpooling with Gene to work, continuing our long walks on the weekends, lots of shared meals with friends, teaching ESL again, and trying out lots of new recipes in the kitchen.  

So what's in the works for 2012?
A trip for us to Thailand in February, Spring Break in Costa Rica, a college besties reunion, perhaps, wearing earrings more often (my random New Year's resolution) and . . . much more that I don't yet know about.  I kinda like it that way.  


I will try to blog more, but hopefully have shorter post because this one is way too long!!!!  Already got some ideas for upcoming posts:
-Our home sweet home: for those that want to see where we live, and for us to remember our first place,
-Whatever happened to all those summer goals,
-Marriage, Year 1 (I started this blog a year late and I'm kinda weird about it being "complete"  so I might go back to year one to have some memories of what we did, before I forget.)


I know you're beside yourself in anticipation.  Don't hold your breath.

  

  

happy 1st anniversary to us

On July 3, we celebrated our 1st anniversary.  Yay!!!  Hard to believe that this was all a year ago. Time flies. 

So we started the 1st anniversary celebration with a Sunday morning breakfast complete with coffee, bagels and lox, and a conflict.  Yep, first anniversary lesson:  We still sin and need help on special days.  =) Thankfully, we were headed to church afterwards and both got a good dose of sweet conviction and reminders of God's good grace.   
So on the actual anniversary day, we decided to partake in a few festivities that were going on with friends and then celebrate together the rest of the week.  Why just celebrate one day when you can celebrate all week long!?!

We spent the anniversary evening at a rooftop bbq to bid farewell to our friends Ryan and Leah who are moving to Seattle:

Sophie, Leah, me

Ryan and Gene.  (They have the same sense of humor.  Leah and I roll our eyes and shake our heads. . .A LOT!)

The crew.  We love our church!

and our beautiful city

So a few days later we went to a fancy schmancy restaurant here in SF called Quince.  Exquisite.  In fact so exquisite, the thought of taking out our iphones to take pictures of food or even ourselves felt odd.   They did give us a menu.  Crazy good food.

  

So we got an awesome deal on two nights in Napa (Thank you credit card reward points!!!), and with all the money we saved, we ate.    

Rotisserie and Wine:

and ate some more

Bottega:

grilled octopus!

 

 short ribs!

Breakfast at dean and deluca

Brought back memories of Manhattan and Georgetown and Felicity. 

 Got a free slice of Jamon Iberico ($160 per pound!!!!).  It was good, but nothin' is THAT good. 

Bouchon for Profiteroles



With all that food, we were in desparate need of exercise.  So we hiked. 

I really wanted to see a pig in the wild.  Didn't happen. 
We had sweeping views of the valley instead. 

A post-hike foot massage.  Yes, he does those.   At midpoint he took a comparison pic so I could marvel at his accomplishments.  I'd like to dedicate this photo to a college roommate who appropriately named my feet "the dogs".   The dogs live on, Bethany.  =)

Such a fun and relaxing getaway and great first anniversary.  I love how our friend Claire  (married just one week after us) summarized the first year of marriage:  "We laughed, we cried, we got fatter."  Ha!! We resemble those remarks.

It has been a great year for us!  It was simply nice to enjoy each other's company and learn more about each other in the same time zone!!  When I reflect on the past year, two things we've learned (and are still learning) stand out:

First, we learned about God's faithful provision for us this year.  He promises to provide for all our needs, but not necessarily all our wants.  Although there are many things we want, we lack for nothing, and sometimes his saying "No" to something we want is just what we need.  He has good things to teach us and work on in us when we don't get all we want, when we want it.  For us, it's made even the smallest surprises and blessings so sweet!!  

Second, we've learned that marriage, jobs, friendships are good things and very helpful things, but our true identity, worth, approval is found in Christ alone.  How sweet that is!!

Okay, I've also learned that I LOVE being married to Gene.  He keeps me laughing, he keeps our home neat and clean, he keeps challenging me when I need it, he keeps trusting and hoping in God through trials that come, he keeps loving me even now that he's seen the real me--the good, the bad, the quirks, the long strands of curly hair that show up everywhere.   

I <3 him. 

happy father's day

We are so grateful today and everyday for these special guys:
Dad Killmon

Dad Mercado

Thank you both for being hard-working, generous, gentle, strong, faithful to family and really good cooks!! 

Happy Father's Day.  We love you and miss you!!

summer goals

I LOVE SUMMERRRR!!!  I especially love the flip flops, long hours of daylight, sundresses, road trips, fresh tomatoes, sweet corn, beach vacays, grillin', warm nights on the front porch, ice cream, and NOOO SCHOOOOOL!!!  Neither warm nights nor front porches exist in SF and we're having our second winter til July/August, but I'm adjusting. Back to the no school thing.  So what's a girl to do with two months off?  Some summers I've worked or taken classes, and other summers I've brushed up on the Spanish in paradise:  

It's a rough part of the job, but I suffer through it.  And there was this one summer I planned a wedding, got married, and moved across the country.  That one is not to be repeated.  Other summers I've just taken it easy at home and this summer is one of those.  But to avoid countless and mindless hours of aimless nothingness, I've found it's been good for me to set a few summer goals.  I try not to go overboard on the goals so that I can still enjoy the slower pace and the spontaneous ice cream run or lunch out or shopping adventure or Skype time or walk in the park.  In case you're not getting the hint, I'm happy to be interrupted.  

So here are the goals for this summer.  5 of my own and 5 I picked from the Summer Goals Challenge by my fellow teacher/goal-making friend, Kathy.  

Summer Goals 2011

1. Work out 5x a week.  I have all day. I have NO excuses!!!

2. Sort through recipes and make some kind of binder/organizational system (open to suggestions.)  I've got gobs of recipes sitting in a Ziploc freezer bag that I've moved from house to house for oh, 10 years?  Some recipes will be tossed and others, like Aunt Sue's Amazing Crab Dip, need a better place for easy access.  

3. Make vegetables the main dish of the meal 2x a week.  Gotta maximize on all the fresh summer veggies.  This was our first one this week:  Asian Noodle Salad, but went WAY light on the noodles.  (Had flashbacks to eating this at your house, Connie. Miss that. Miss you.) 

4. Read in a different spot other than my couch or bed once a week.  I've got some cafe spots already slated: Velo Rouge, Blue Danube,Tartine, Bazaar.  I need some outside spots. 

5.  Study 3 books of the Bible.  Starting with Hebrews.  

6. Plant herbs on our balcony.  

7.  Make some homemade ice cream (sans ice cream maker).  Gotta find a recipe.  

8. Say YES to summer dresses week.  Wear a dress/skirt everyday for a week.  I LOVE summer dresses and have too many sitting in my closet feeling unloved because of our cool weather.  Gonna try and scope out the weather forecast for a warm week or succumb to wearing lots of sweaters and leggings along with them.    

9. Take a picture every hour of a normal or fun day.

10. Make my own wedding photo book.  I want to make some kind of fun wall art/craft too, but I'm at number 10 and the photo book gets priority.  And making more than 10 goals is dangerous.  

here we go

Okay, we're starting a blog.  And by "we" I most likely mean the "Katherine" part of "we".  We'll see how this goes.  I make no promises.  
   
I avoided it for awhile because. . .
1. It's what everyone does when they get married.  
2. I didn't know what to write about, and didn't want to have 10 posts in a row about what we are eating for dinner.
3. I'm already self-absorbed enough. 
4. Hubs vetoed it.  Yes!!  Easy decision. 

With that being said, I do see how it would be helpful because. . .
1. I do want to have some kind of record of our life together: the ordinary, the exciting, the photos, and the random things to look back on and laugh at or say "Whhaaaat?!?!?!!!"
2. My mom (Hi mamacita!!) has taken on technology this year and gotten a laptop.  She looks at blogs now, and she'll enjoy looking at her daughter's blog, and I'll never see her on Facebook in this lifetime, and it'll help keep us close.   Oh and after each post she'll say: "Jerry, come look at this!" And dearest dad will get to enjoy it too (Hi dad!).  
3. The dear friends far, far away have asked: "What's life like in San Francisco? What's your apartment look like? How's married life? Are you still ALIVE!?!?!?!  (I'm BAD at long distance and we all know it!!).  Hopefully it'll answer some of those questions and help keep us close. 
4. Some local friends are doing some fun blogging stuff like this that I'd like to join in on.  So since I have a summer with next to nothing to do, I'm caving.  Maybe it'll keep us local friends close too.  =) 


So. Here we go.


Oh and the hubs isn't totally opposed to the idea anymore either, but he'll likely only be contributing by being in photos like this one: 


His hotness on our wedding day  

And the Gene we know and love

He said I have to have one with me in it