Natalie Livingston Day!

It is official - December 11th, 2008 was proclaimed as "Natalie Livingston Day in the City of Vista"! I actually had my very own day! It was an honor that they Mayor of Vista and City Council gave me for being awarded Manager of the Year. On Tuesday I went to the City Council meeting and they Mayor read me my proclamation and presented me with it! It was pretty special, since not a lot of people I know get their very own day! My boss gave me a princess crown to wear all day, and I took most of the day off too! Also, our new niece Isabella was born on "Natalie Livingston Day" (Congrats to Russ and Justina and big sister Sophia)! Here is a picture of me at the council meeting shaking the Mayor's hand! I hope you celebrated!

2 years of marital bliss!

Happy Anniversary to us! December 10th was officially our 2 year anniversary. It seems like just yesterday we were newly married - time sure does fly when you are having fun! Jeff and I had a great celebration together. He planned a romantic dinner at Orange Hill Restaurant. It was a fancy place overlooking the entire county and the food was fabulous! It was very romantic, and a fun time to reflect on our past 2 years and talk about our future. Jeff also got me a diamond necklace and I surprised him with the Wii game console. It has been forever since he has played a video game, and I thought it would be something fun we can do together! They are super popular this year, so I was lucky to get one before the Christmas rush! All I can say is what a wonderful two years it has been - definately the best 2 years of my life! I have the best husband ever, God has truly blessed us both! Happy Anniversary to us!

Here are some pictures from our dinner:

Pricky! Pricky! Pricky!

My cousin Pricky (her real name is Jamie - the Pricky nickname is a long story from when we were kids) came out to Cali to visit from Colorado! It was so good to see her finally. We haven't seen eachother since our wedding - 2 years ago :-( We had a great time of lunch and catching up! Thanks to Randy for the new airline benefits! Good times!

Bonnie's Christmas Party

Every year Bonnie (Jeff's mom) hosts her annual Christmas Party. She invites her best friends from high school and all of their kids, and their kids...We ended up having 28 people for dinner! It was a fun evening of catching up, eating good food, and playing Don't Forget the Lyrics Game - Christmas Version (thank you Kristan - it was very funny). Here are a few pictures of the family and group.

This is the picture we took for Bonnie's Christmas card. From Left: Jeff, Me, Steve, Bonnie, Dan, Kristan & in front Justin, Brooke:

Here is a group shot of the "grown kids" on the stairs. From bottom to top: Jeff & I, Debby & Jeff, Wendy & Mike, Dan & Kristan, Eric & April! This shot is a family tradition!

Thanksgiving at the desert!

I know it has been awhile, and I have a few events to catch up on...First, Thanksgiving. Jeff and I had a wonderful weekend. We enjoyed the Thanksgiving dinner that Bonnie cooked and then left super early Friday morning for the desert and a weekend of dirtbike riding! The weekend was quite memorable. Jeff rode his new bike for the first time. Jeff used some restraint in climbing hills on his bike (it is his new mild & married side :-). Brooke (our niece) rode her quad for the first time by herself - she is 4 1/2! We completed a teambuilding activity of pitching our first tent together, and I got sick :-(. Enjoy the pictures!

Here we are trying to get a family photo before Thanksgiving dinner - the kids weren't too excited!

Here is our fabulous new tent!
Jeff on his new bike - very HOT!
Awe! Dirtbikers in Love! Kissing through the helmets!
Natalie and Brookie (before she had me get off and rode around by herself!)

Manager of the Year

I am pretty excited - I am officially the City of Vista's Manager of the Year for 2008! A few weeks ago I was told that I was nominated and over the last weekend while on our fishing trip I received a phone call from the City's Awards Banquet with the news that I was the winner! I was pretty shocked, it is a very cool and prestigious thing! On Monday Jeff took me out to dinner to celebrate and I finally got my award (see below). I also won some pretty cool prizes including a stay at a Bed in Breakfast and some pretty other neat things! I haven't been able to see the nomination form that my boss wrote about me (so I don't even know really what I did yet), but hopefully I'll get to see that soon! Yeah for me! It is nice to be recognized and appreciated!

Here Fishy, Fishy!

All I can say is what an amazing weekend! Jeff took me up to the Bishop area to go fishing down the Owen's River. It is absolutely beautiful up there - as you will see by the pictures! We had such a good time. Friday morning we got out to the river and organized all of our gear. I caught 10 fish on Friday and Jeff caught somewhere around 16. Jeff would have probably caught a lot more, but he was the most wonderful husband helping me with all of my issues like tangled line, loosing lures, and getting the fish off the hooks! It was so relaxing and peaceful - it is always so much fun to be in nature. On Saturday my dad and brother joined us up there to continue the adventure! It was great to hang out and spend time with them. I am so glad they were able to come. Also on the trip was Jeff's brother Dan, his Dad - Steve, Dan's Father-in-law - Mike, and his friend- George, so yes, I was the only girl on the trip. I originally told Jeff to just go have a guys weekend, but he really wanted me to go (and I did too). To be able to see the scenery that inspired Jeff's Grandpa's (Pop's) famous garage mural was priceless. The trip definately involved a lot of hiking and at some points seemed more like a safari than fishing, but it was all worth it. They were all memories that I will never forget. See some of my picures below:

Here I am all decked out in my fishing gear (note the red boots w/ white polka dots!), and the view behind me is amazing:


Here Jeff and I are before we started our adventure - so many fish! so little time!

Here is Steve (Jeff's Dad) in all of his fishing gear!

Here are Jeff and Dan (Jeff's Brother):

Here are the Livingston guys as we packed up at the end of Day 1.

My dad and brother (Corey) joined us for Saturday and Sunday. Here is our group shot before the fishing began:

My love with a rainbow trout!

This is what I mean by it feeling like a Safari:

Here I am with one of my proud fishies! I learned that I have a personal "I got a fish" dance and song too! It just came to me every time they took my bait!

Here Jeff and I are at a peaceful point in the river - beautiful!

You can see my dad fishing in the background of this beautiful scenery - He loved to stand in the water and try all of his different types of bait / lures!

Absolutely amazing scenery (and it was better in person):

I am not exactly sure how or why Corey ended up on the floor (you'll have to ask Corey or Jeff). But this picture shows the carpet in the hallway of the hotel - trout and fly rods and line - very appropriate!

We enjoyed yummy dinner both nights and crashed super early around 8:30 - they were long days of fishing! Also before we left Bishop we stopped at Schat's Bakery for some tasty bread and sandwiches! All I can say is what a trip! Thank you to my husband for taking me and to my Dad and brother for coming along too! It was very special!

All Dressed Up...

On Saturday evening, we went to a Halloween Costume Party at our friend's Doug & Jen's house (Doug sang in our wedding). Last year we won one of the costume awards, so we knew we had to go big this year. We decided what would be better than to go to Doug & Jen's party dressed up as Doug & Jen themselves (you have to dress up as a pair/couple). We really studied the details from clothing and shoes, to accesories, and even the key phrases that they both use. When we walked in Doug's face was priceless. It took him a minute to figure out what was going on, and then he loved it! He immediately yelled for Jen to come outside to see us! And what do you know, we were voted again for Most Creative! The night was fun with lots of fun costumes & friends to enjoy...

Here we are as Doug & Jen before heading to the party...


Here are Dan & Kristan (Marc Anthony & Cleopatra), Doug & Jen (Kermit & Miss Piggy), & us!

Here is Jeff & Doug

And finally the whole group...You can see there were many awesome costumes including: Transformers, A Rabbi & Nun, Brad & Angelina, The tortoise & The Hare, Col. Mustard & Ms. Scarlet (from the clue game), and many others! It is amazing what people think of...we had so much fun!

And we are glad that Doug and Jen enjoyed seeing us as themselves. You know "Imitation is the biggest form of flattery!" Hope you enjoyed the pictures, leave a comment if you have a minute!

Scenic Afternoon

On Saturday, my Dad and Susan came down for a fun afternoon. We enjoyed lunch overlooking the Dana Point harbor and then went to our favorite beach spot to enjoy the scenery and take some photos (with Jeff as the tour guide!). Below are a few photos from the afternoon. It was a beautiful day and the water was awesome shades of aqua! This was also one of the spots that our engagement photos were taken at. There really is no such thing as a bad photo at this spot!

San Clemente Sunset

Last night we joined our friends, Wes & Jessica, for dinner at Fisherman's on the San Clemente pier. We picked the perfect night. The weather was mild, the sunset was AMAZING! The clouds and colors were stunning. See a few of my favorite pictures below...

October Wet Set

Last weekend we ventured out to Wet Set! We invited Jeff's parents, my mom & jack, my brother Corey, and we had 5 dogs with us! It was an interesting weekend. The weather was cold and windy on Saturday, but thankfully Sunday was beautiful! I think everyone enjoyed themselves (it is hard not to out at Wet Set)! Here are some pictures to share our weekend:

Me and my mom - hanging out on the dock!

My mom and Jeff's mom chatting on the dock:

Me and Jeff relaxing with a nice beverage!

All of us playing boche ball (not sure if that is how you spell it):

The pugs sitting pretty for a picture (had to bribe them with some treats)

Gretel, Hanzel, Bear, Angel:

Jeff and I enjoying some fishing - even though none were biting!

All the dogs (including Barkley - the only non-pug of the group):

Jeff practicing his swing (ask him about his attempts to swing one handed with a drink in hand!)
My brother braving the cold water and wakeboarding - he did a fabulous job and was getting air by the end of the weekend.

The entire group!

Thanks to everyone for a fun weekend! We are sure to have more pictures from our fun events this weekend! Love ya!