Happy New Year!!!

We wish each of our friends, family and readers a wonderful New Year ... I'll be seein some of you soon ... post your resolution in the comment section if you want ... I post mine tomorrow!

Chris and Judith

Spending the day and night with 2 of our closest friends ... ringing in the new year with them again!!! Dawn and I welcomed 2006 and now 2007 with Chris and Judith!

Dinner with Dawn's Parents!

New Years @ Epcot

We are spending the day ... and night at Epcot to ring in the new year with 2 million of our closest friends! We got here at 11am and will leave around 1am (taking traffic into consideration) ... I'll post a few more pictures. Here is Dawn in line to get some bubbly!

11pm and we're frostin the cake!

Dawn is having a GREAT time with this cake. We got home about 30 minutes ago from a wonderful dinner with some friends. Dawn baked a yummy red velvet cake this afternoon and she has decided to finish the frosting tonight! She looooooves this stuff ... and well, I get to eat it! Come on January 1st ... wanna know my new years resolution? My goal is to lose 20 more pounds. I lost 30 pounds for the wedding and that was not easy ... I think that if I set my sights on the 20 pound mark in 2007 it should be pretty "do-able" ... we'll see. I am sure I'll keep ya'll posted on my progress!

As I sat at dinner with some friends tonight I was reflecting on the past 2 years 8 months since I moved out to Orlando. I moved to Orlando knowing ONE person here. I moved to Orlando because it was as close to Tyler and Bryan as I could get. I was working as a manager for Sears Roebuck and this was the closest job opening they had. It took me 3 months to meet Dawn and since then every day has been better than the last. I am shocked to look back on the last 10 months (thats how long Dawn and I have lived in Celebration) and to think of all the things we are involved in. Dawn and I belong to the Task Force that is working towards taking our community to the next level and becoming an actual "City" in the state of Florida. We have met many amazing people through that effort and we are so blessed to have such friendly and welcoming families close to us.

I'll be posting some reflections over the next few days ... 2007 is going to become the "Year of Change" for Dawn and I. I'll exlain more later!!! For now ... I am going to help my wife finish this bottle of wine we have opened!

Merry Christmas my friends ... and for the ones reading this thread I dont know that well ... I wish you happiness and laughter! (I wish that for my friends too!)

Till the next post ...

Dawn at Disney World!

The carousel behind Dawn is made from ginger bread, icing and chocolate! They have a story about how many pounds it took them to make it! Dawn was soooooo excited to see this!

We have a visitor ... Bernardo being a good host!

Our friend is going to Kentucky for Christmas with her fiance and Dawn and I are the lucky ones who get to watch Tinker Bell!!! She is a bossy little 2 pound furry fluff of attitude!

Everyone say hello to Tinker Bell ... her and Bernardo are pretty cute. He tries to play with her and she barks at him. The look on his face when she barks at him is priceless ... its like "Whats her problem???"

Bernardo and Tinker Bell (Bernardo's new Girl Friend)

Bryan behaving at Best Buy!

The 3 pancake breakfast probably was not the best idea right before we took them to Best Buy to pick out their christmas presents!!! I have heard about bouncing off the walls before but these 2 kids are out of ccontrol ... I told Bryan that he needs to settle down a bit so here he is "relaxing" ... thought I would capture this picture ... of Bryan actually not moving!!! We are having a blast in Pensacola!!! On our way to the movies now!

Click on this picture and look at the score!

The Seals are just making the Jacksonville Baracudas look like a high school girls hockey team! Now, I know that there are great high school teams out there ... but they are in high school. The Seals are unstoppable tonight ... its great to watch this spanking!!! Go Seals!!!

Visiting the area where Dawn grew up!

The deer run free in Yosemite Lakes Park ... Dawn is giving me the $5.00 tour of where she grew up.

Driving out to Fresno!

If you dont know where Fresno is ... consider yourself lucky. If you want to know ... Mapquest it. We are heading out to spend some time with Dawn's grandma, Dawn's god daughter, her best friend from high school and a friend of mine for her birthday ... Happy Birthday Cindy! I hope you all are doing well today, I'll post more later, when we pick up Paige (Dawn's god daughter) ... she is a cutie!

I know its bright!!!

Its the best we could do ... here we are enjoying the Sharks loss to the Colorado Avalanche!!! Oh well ... lots of season left ... We'll get a playoff spot!!! Go Sharks!

10 minutes left ... 3 points behind!

Sharks are having a tough time tonight ... they are missing the "Pop" they usualy show when they dominate! Go Sharks!!! Never give up!

Grier about to shoot a penalty shot!

He missed ... if you were wondreing ... Sharks trail ... 3 - 2 ... lots of Hockey left though ... Go Sharks!

SJ Sharkie payed someone a visit!

I have some pretty cool pictures of the Sharks mascot SJ Sharkie giving Dawn her birthday presents!!! I'll post them up tomorrow!

I wanna drive the zamboni!

Preparing the ice .... 15 minutes till face off ... I know I just said 2 minutes ... but that was the practice countdown timer. This time I really mean it ... 15 minutes till face off!!! Go Sharks!

Its Sharks Hockey!!!

Warm up ... pre-game! Two minutes till face off ... God I love this game!

And we start the evening...

Thought we would grab a quick beer before the Sharks game ... headed to the tank in a few minutes!

The start of Dawn's birthday dinner!

Happy 30 Somthingish to Dawn!!!

Today is my wife's birthday!!! This birthday is exremely special to me for many reasons.

1. She is my wife now! This is the first time in our relationship that I am celebrating my wife's birthday. *grin*

2. We are celebrating it in California - Dawn and I both lived and worked in the Bay Area. I grew up just one hour from where we are (San Jose, Ca for those reading that dont know where I am this week) ... we visited my parents this past week, some very close friends and we are 15 minutes away from the San Jose Shark Tank ... (where the Sharks play hockey)

3. This is the first year in our relationship that I am spending Dawn's birthday WITH HER!!! Thats right ... the past 2 birthdays Dawn has had, we have not been together. Dawn's company holds a HUGE global meeting every year during the first week of December! The past 2 years I have had jobs that did not allow me to travel so I had to wish her a happy birthday over the phone ... this year ... WE ARE TOGETHER!!!

Ok ... so now that I am done gushing. Tonight I am taking her to a nice cute french restaurant in San Francisco, then we'll probably drive around downtown for a bit and head home. Its going to be a great night ... Dawn has no clue that I have done up a flower spread, some presents and I just addded an Olive and Cheese plate to the mix!!!

I just want Dawn to know that I love her with all my heart ... she is the best thing that has happened to me in a long long time. I am looking forward to spending many many more birthdays with her!!!

If you get a chance ... drop her a line and wish her a happy birthday. If you dont have her email address, leave her a comment here on the blog.

I hope everyone is doing well and happy. I'll post more tomorrow about how dinner was and our evening! Plus - I'll tell ya about our plans for tomorrow night! Here is a hint - I am going to a Sharks game with Dawn tomorrow night!!! *snicker*

Till the next post ...

I love this city!

I grew up about 25 miles north of here ... I will always consider this city "home" ... Every time I come back to visit I am reminded how much San Francisco means to me. If you have never visited San Francisco I would highly recomend planning a nice 3 or 4 day weekend. There is so much to do, and if you do plan on coming out let me know and I'll give you some highlights you cant miss! I took this picture after I met a couple friends for lunch ... I'll be taking Dawn to dinner here tomorrow night for her birthday. I'll let you all know how the night goes!

Cakebread Barrel Room!

The Wager - The Win!!!

Lindley and I made a bet last year during the NHL playoffs ... I swept all 4 rounds including a miracle come from behind win in game 7 of the finals. Well - the bet was for the 1998 V. Sattui Cab Sav!!! Its in limited release now since they are down to the last few cases and I have a bottle that Brian and I will be sharing next time I am out in LA!

The Best Wine in Napa!

4th winery down ... 2 more to go! V. Sattui is by far my favorite place to sip yummy wine and grab a quick bite to eat! Having a great time up here ... the weather is amazing!

My new wallpaper

Ya think Dawn will let me paper a room with Lagunitas beer labels???

Lagunitas Brewery - The Best Beer!

I was told they dont do tours on Saturdays ... imagine my surprise when I drive up to the brewery and meet the brewmaster who invites Dawn and I into the brewery to drink delicious beer ... right off the line! Don't hate me Brian Lindley ... Dawn and I toasted to you!!!