Christmas in California

The holiday season is upon us and sadly we had relatively little time to celebrate in California. With Thanksgiving being later this year and us both flying east later this week our holiday season here was rather brief.

On the plus side we were able to get a Christmas tree just two blocks away. Due to the size of our apartment we had no choice but to get a smaller tree which allowed Jeff to carry it home using one hand, a rather comical sight in itself. As of this writing there has just been a single cat-caused ornament mishap (so far).

We did get a chance to go downtown Saturday night to see the Macy's tree in Union Square. And tonight we'll be seeing A Christmas Carol before Renee flies to New York Monday morning (Jeff heads to New York on Thursday).

And finally, congratulations are in order for the woman of the house because as of this writing she is officially done with her schoolwork for the semester (her final paper needed to be turned in today). Below is a video of her celebrating. Amy C. put it best and made Renee's day when she reminded Renee that she will never be a first semester Ph.D. student again. (That role may be left to Jeff in the future.)

Thanksgiving in Arizona

By virtue of moving west we now live a mere 770 miles from our closest relatives - Renee's Aunt Camille and cousins Anthony and Ashley in Phoenix. So naturally we decided to visit said relatives. After braving a downed power line on a major highway, a monsoon in Arizona, lighting storms in the desert, and rush hour traffic outside Los Angeles on the day before Thanksgiving, we made it to Arizona.

In order to survive many many hours together in the car, many steps were taken to keep ourselves amused, including completing multiple crossword puzzles, listening to our wedding reception music (including "I Love Rock 'n Roll" for loyal reader Janine) and listening to the Glenn Beck Radio Show to balance out our NPR-heavy radio listening habits. We were particularly enlightened by one caller's suggestion to aid the economy by eliminating all debt. Simple as that, right?

After sleeping in on Thanksgiving (which led to Renee missing the Macy's parade for the first time) we went for a run in the Arizona sun, during which we were confronted with the smell of barbecued turkey and chicken, not something either of us are used to in our midwest/east coast experiences. This was followed by a soak in Camille's hot tub, also a Thanksgiving first for us both.

Once Thanksgiving afternoon came and the Lions had lost to the Titans before our breakfast cereal was digested it came time for the meal. Anthony and Ashley cooked an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and entertained us for many hours. Both Jeff and Renee became Rock Band experts and are currently taking offers from music labels across the country.

Additionally, Anthony and Ashley recently got two kittens - Gizmo and Lexi. Needless to say they kept us amused the whole weekend. As can be seen below they took a particular liking to Renee.



Even when Thanksgiving was over the fun was only beginning. In addition to starring in a Rock Band of one Jeff kept very amused with Aunt Camille's actual drumset (he clearly plays best with a cutoff t-shirt) and Anthony and Ashley's ping pong table (a spirited doubles match was enjoyed by all). We also starred in Anthony's soon-to-debut movie on YouTube.





Before leaving on Sunday morning we were able to enjoy some authentic New York pizza (yes, in Arizona) and also watch home videos of Renee and Anthony's Grandma on Saturday night. We made a rule on the drive home to stay at least 150 miles away from Los Angeles, which necessitated a trip through the Mohave desert. At the one gas station within a 100 mile radius we saw a sign that read (paraphrased):

This is a business

We do not choose to be here

It costs a fortune to operate in the middle of nowhere

You choose to be customers

Please do not complain to our workers

Does this mean there are government-subsidized gas stations? Does anyone know if these actually exist? Plus, at this station we encountered the most unfriendly worker we're seen in quite some time. Although we figured that if we had to drive 100 miles round trip to go to work at a gas station where apparently customers complain all the time we'd be grumpy as well.

But in the end we had a great time in Arizona and are very grateful to our Phoenix hosts.

Trail Run

One of the great things about San Francisco is that we're very close to so many different outdoor settings. Yesterday we went for a trail run for the first time in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area north of the Golden Gate Bridge in the North Peninsula. It didn't take us more than 20 minutes to get there by car but it felt like a different world compared to our busy city life.

Happy Halloween!

What more appropriate way is there to celebrate Halloween than by carving an Old English D into a pumpkin? Happy Halloween, everyone.

p.s. - Go Tigers

And they are still alive...

Happy Birthday Amy DePotty!

Looks like it's been WAY too long since we last posted. We'll try to make sure that doesn't happen again. We don't want to lose our one semi-loyal reader (Sutter).

Much has happened since our last online update. Renee is a full-blown student and is very busy with school while enjoying it at the same time. Jeff's job is going well - it was nice to see my company (Knowledge Networks) get some nationally televised recognition by carrying out polls for CBS following all four of the Presidential/Vice Presidential debates (here's a link to the online story).

After having virtually no social commitments for the first couple months that we lived here (and we certainly had no complaints about that) we've been able to see more of our family and friends in the last two months. In mid-September we had a great time in Roanoke, VA for Pete (Renee's brother) and Laura's wedding, despite getting stranded in Washington, DC on the trip back home. It was a beautiful wedding and we had a wonderful time seeing everyone there.



We've also been trying to see more of the city. We rode a cable car a few weeks ago. It was at night so we didn't get a lot of good pictures. But we were at least able to hang off the edge and channel our inner tourist. And last night during a run we visited Coit Tower, which just so happens to be celebrating its 75th anniversary today.


Speaking of channeling our inner tourist we had a wonderful time with Mom and (pre-knee surgery) Dad Lubbers a couple of weeks ago. As cliché as a double-decker bus tour sounds it really is a lot of fun and offers views of the city we've never seen before.


We had a great time with Mom and Dad as it was an excuse for Renee and I to learn more about our city and see places we had yet to visit. And who can visit San Francisco without talking about the sea lions they saw?


Overall we had a great visit with Mom and Dad Lubbers and we wish Dad the best of luck in his recovery from surgery so that the next time he's here he can join us on the famous hills during a training run.


And finally I just like this picture despite having no good reason to post it.

100 Days

We hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Although we didn't see any out of place wildlife this weekend, we spent the afternoon and evening at Pacifica State Beach about a half hour south of our apartment. It's an absolutely beautiful beach that's filled with surfers. We were there from late afternoon to sunset to allow time for Renee to get some schoolwork done.

Pacifica Beach

Labor Day sunset - the official end of summer

On Saturday we went to an Oakland Athletics/Minnesota Twins game in Oakland. Although it was essentially a meaningless game for Oakland, which is out of the playoff hunt, we were surprised at how into the game the fans were, maybe moreso than the Giants-Dodgers game we went to which is supposed to be a big rivalry. (And just for the record, there were two other people in our section alone keeping score. So yours truly was not the only one).

Saturday night was also Fireworks Night, which meant that we got to watch a very impressive fireworks display set to music from the outfield grass.

Finally, we just realized that today was our 100 day anniversary, and that we have been living in San Francisco for 52 days and sleeping in the same place every night. For the preceeding 48 days we managed to stay in 13 locations in 11 different states. Needless to say we've been enjoying the continuity.

Video of the Day

While hanging out in the East Bay today (after going to church in a town called Kensington, just north of Berkeley) we pulled into a side street with what must have been million dollar homes to simply turn around. Instead we encountered a scene we thought was much more likely in west Michigan or upstate New York. But apparently we can't get away from deer even out in the hills of Northern California.