Cowboys

Not only am I a Dallas Cowboy football fan, but I like anything cowboy!  Look at this great find from the thrift store!  When my daughters were young, we watched hundreds of Sesame Street episodes.  I wouldn't say Big Bird was their favorite, but cowboy Big Bird....yeehaw!

Nicolas Sparks

It is always fun to meet the person behind the pen!  Such was the case for me last Friday when I headed up to Borders book store for a book signing of Nicolas Sparks new novel "Safe Haven".  Little did I know it would be such an event!  The store was packed and they had run out of his books!  Thankfully I had brought along my copy of Dear John and he happily signed it for me! 

Geraniums

I don't know what it is but geraniums seem to grow so easy for me.  I never have to do anything to them, just an occasional watering and pruning and they look just beautiful all the time.  The leaves are always green and pretty colored flowers come and go.  I have learned to plant them in containers otherwise they just take over the area.  If you have a hard time growing flowers....geraniums are the way to go!

Another fun Cal game

Here I am writing about another fun Cal game.  Even though Cal lost, the game was a blast.  My daughter was on the field photographing and I was having fun in the stands with my friend from kindergarten.  This time the game was in Reno at UNR in a beautiful stadium on a beautiful evening.  The fans were great and there is just something exciting about being at a football game! 

Cal Football game

There is such a great feeling about being in Memorial Stadium for a Cal football game.  To think that years and years of football have been played here is so exciting.  It is also super exciting for me because my daughter is a photographer for Cal....Go Bears! 

San Francisco

One of the most beautiful cities in the world is San Francisco!  San Francisco here we come!  This visit we took another free walking tour, the best deal in town!  We walked the wharf and learned so many exciting trivia facts.  Of course we then had some of the famous Boudin Havarati cheese bread made right there on the wharf, so yummy!  There is so much to see and do in San Francisco, I could go back again and again.  If you go be sure to check out the billboard near AT & T park on 2nd and Brannon....that is my daughter's photo,  woot woot!

Professional Women's Soccer

Wow!  I went to my first women's professional soccer game on Saturday, what fun!  I would not even know about WPS....Women's Professional Soccer....if it wasn't for my daughter photographing them.  Let me tell you, the game is exciting, the venue is beautiful and quaint, the fans are wonderful, the sponsors are terrific, and the players are amazing!  The one voted best in the league is Marta and she plays for FC Gold Pride....she is incredible to watch in action, she is right up there with Landon Donovan!  I won a free T-shirt too!

Brazilian Blowout

Now if you are like me, you have no idea what a Brazilian Blowout is....but now I know!  It is a process that "improves the condition of the hair by creating a protective protein layer around the hair shaft to eliminate frizz and smooth the cuticle."  They say it leaves the hair shiny and smooth and frizz free and lasts up to 12 weeks!  The reason I know all this now is because my daughter just got a Brazilian Blowout today at the hair salon.  It took a couple hours, but she is really happy with the results! 

Cal Game

Ever since our daughter began inviting us to Cal games, we have become Cal fans....Go Bears!  The stadium is fantastic and we have great seats and great people seated around us.  My husband loves watching the game and I like looking for my daughter somewhere on the field photographing the game....and I like going and getting the yummy stadium food!  The first game this season Cal won 52 - 3, was so fun to watch all the touchdowns and hear the cannon after each one.  Later we drove to San Francisco to see my daughter's photo on a billboard....now that is super exciting!  

    

Uncle Ray and his buddy Bill

Everyone who knows Varnell refers to him as "Uncle Ray".  He really is my Uncle and he is quite the character.  He considers my husband Bill his buddy and the two of them are quite a pair.  I am thankful that my husband helps so much with taking care of my family, Uncle Ray would definitely be lost without him.  Here they are posing for a photo near the VA Hospital in Sacramento.  What a happy guy when he is with his buddy Bill!

Gas station sight

You never know what you are going to see at a gas station!  My husband spotted these unique creations while we stopped for gas and of course I just had to take a picture.  Alot of time and effort went into making these beauties, I sure am glad they needed to stop for gas!

Costco

If you are ever lucky enough to be a Costco member or a friend of a Costco member you will know what I mean by making a meal while shopping there!  They always have out free sample tastes of some of the foods they offer and for some reason they usually all are delicious and we walk out with them in our basket.  Today was no exception....ham and cheese sandwiches, baked potato chips, green tea, tri-tip steak, Louisiana hot links and brownies.  Sadly the brownies were cooking when we went by and all gone by the time we went by again, but the other samples were delicious!  One of our Costco favorites is Tony Roma's BBQ ribs and Will's San Francisco style potato salad....so easy to fix and super yummy! 

Recycling

Recycling just got easier!  No more waiting in lines, no more driving up and seeing they are closed for lunch from 12 - 2 or closed at 5 or closed on Sat and Sun....yep that is right, a recycling center open 24 - 7!  Recycling just makes so much sense and now it is so fun!   

Chick-Fil-A

I know what you are thinking....look at the grease on the box.  But that is peanut oil, not palm oil, so not as bad as most and the taste makes Chick-Fil-A (pronounced chick phil aaaa) one of the my favortie chicken places around.  Not only do they serve delicious food fast, they are very affordable.  We never can leave without having their tasty chicken nuggets, perfect for sharing!  My mom loves that they serve Diet Caffiene Free coke and I love the Diet Dr. Pepper.  They also have a yummy carrot raisin salad that goes great with their delicious chicken salad sandwich.     

Uncle Ray's 82nd Birthday

Today was the 82nd birthday of my Uncle Ray!  It was such a fun time at his favorite place....Hometown Buffet!  What made it so fun was family!  Here is a group photo of my beautiful family!

Thrift store find

I love thrift stores!  You can find so many treasures and just seeing some of the items for sale brings back so many great memories.  I love the search, the treasure hunt!  If I had tons of sheds they would all be filled with my thrift store finds!  But the fun is in the search, for instance, we bought these bowls new awhile ago and now are on the lookout for more.  So exciting to find one in great condition....and only 50 cents!

Extra Batteries

Boy, if there is one thing I have learned with using a camera....always have extra batteries.  I recently missed out on some great photo moments because my batteries had no charge left in them, such a bummer!  It used to be so simple for me.... stock up on AAA batteries from Costco, heavy but so worth the weight.  Not only that, but I could run into most any convenience store and purchase AA batteries.  But not so simple now, many cameras have "special" batteries....rechargeable yes, but not so easy to find an electrical outlet at an event or while outdoors.  My daughter had the perfect solution....invest in a second backup battery!  Now I can take twice as many pictures, yay!      

Mrs. Grossmans Stickers

One of my favorite factory tours is Mrs. Grossmans Sticker Factory in Petaluma.  You enter a beautiful lobby with stickers decorating the walls.  The tour guide starts you off watching a video to learn about their process of making stickers.  The tour guide in the video is Mrs. Grossman's dog, Angus, who rode around in my daughter's car with the previous owner!  The next 20 minutes are spent walking the factory floor seeing all the machines up close.  Dogs abound because Mrs. Grossman allows the employees to bring their dogs to work!  At the end of the tour you are given an array of colorful stickers and all the supplies needed for a sticker art project!  Later you can peruse the wonderful store! 

Photo Bombing

My friends and I love to travel but don't like our pictures taken.  We came up with a great idea, bring along a stuffed animal and put it in the photos!  Works great and you would be surprised how many people love to be a part of the action in the placement of our stuffed character.  We have since learned from my daughter that this technique is called "photo bombing".   Here we are enjoying the beautiful Pacific Coast drive along Highway 1 near Manchester Beach.  What a fun time!

Camping Fun

There is nothing like camping!  Out in the fresh air, early to bed, early to rise!   A cozy sleeping bag, starry starry nights, a warm fire, waking up to the sounds of birds chirping and a Coleman stoves cooks up a yummy meal everytime!    

Summer fun with Kelley, Tamar and Hanna

Most everyone loves summer....most likely because we remember the months of not having to go to school!  As I get older I appreciate summer more and more because it seems to be when friends and family can visit.  Today was one of those special days where we had a nice surprise visit from my daughter's high school friend and her friend Hanna from Sweden.  It was a fun visit and so nice to see their smiling faces!

Laundry

Now I realize some of you might hate having to do laundry, but I really enjoy it.  I feel very fortunate to have a washing machine and dryer in our home and we are blessed with nice weather so I can set alot of things outside especially during these nice summer days.  They will dry very quickly and smell so fresh and clean!  Another fun thing about laundry....socks!  I love seeing the jumbled mess of clean colorful socks and then matching them up one by one....a fun matching game! 

Monday Barbeque

Anyday is a great day for a barbeque!  Somehow food always tastes so much better when it is grilled and just the smell of a barbeque brings about a happy feeling.  We had all the summer fixins too....watermelon, french bread, macaroni salad....yummmm!  And I had a nice surprise when adding pickles to the salad....the perfect miniature sweet pickle!           

Sunday Afternoon

Hello blogger world! Here is is, Sunday afternoon and I am starting a blog. My daughter gave me the idea, even helped me choose a name for the blog. You are probably wondering why I chose "Expert in Me" as my blog name. It is simple, really... I love to share! If I know of something fun to do to make life grand, then I would like to share it with you. I am not an expert in anthing, nothing, nada... except... I am an expert in me and what makes me happy. So maybe somehow, someday, somewhere, someone will read my blog and feel happy... and not only just feel happy, but be happy! This was a very happy afternoon for me. My daughter was home, my husband was home, and my mom came over for a visit. Just being around them makes me happy!