We're Moving to Pasadena!

The front of our new place!

It's been so long since we posted. Karin spent January, February and March applying and interviewing for eating disorder specialist jobs and then decided to take an opportunity in the Los Angeles area! I finish my work at UC-Davis in 8 weeks and start at The Bella Vita (The Beautiful Life) on July 6th. It's an eating disorder treatment center (intensive outpatient program, partial hospitalization program and a new 6 bed residential house . . . which was partly why I was hired). I'll be Program Manager for the residential house in La Canada Flintridge (a suburb of L.A.). The head office though is about 100 feet from the Pasadena city limit (literally in Eagle Rock). 

This weekend we drove down to Pasadena and area towns to take a look at 6 rental properties. We didn't necessarily expect to make a decision that day, but ran into a lovely place and we were too afraid that it would get snatched up. Nothing else came close to it! It's a duplex in a beautiful historic neighborhood called the Highlands. We get the top floor of this 1924 house with lots of windows a couple of balconies and tons of space (more than we've ever had - 1300 sq. feet), hardwood floors and close proximity to hiking.

Our neighbors downstairs are a young couple with two small children (one is 3 days old as of Saturday). The wife works for Warner Bros. and the husband is a documentary filmmaker. Our neighbor in the house next door is a lawyer for Warner Bros. Our landlord is about 3 houses away and said that the church across the street (which is also GORGEOUS) had paparazzi all around it because someone from "The Hills" TV show was getting married. We can see a huge beautiful round stained glass window on the church from one of our bedroom windows. Apparently it lights up at night. In the neighborhood, the houses are cute as buttons, very gardeny and we're so glad that landscaping is included in our rent, so that we don't have to keep up with the Joneses.

:-)

Dining room and kitchen

Livingroom and back patio/yard

Christmas in Oklahoma 2008

Niece Madigan and nephew Dalton in Bricktown with us one night.

Karin's dad and mom in front of some other outdoor Bricktown decorations.

Karin with her old college roommate, nurse Shanda (Karin lived with Shanda the year she met Matt).

College friend Renee and childhood friend Holly. Renee and Holly were college roommates our freshman year. We all have our birthdays in November and use to celebrate them together.

The Lawson Family!

Costa Rica December 2008

Our fabulous hotel, which faced some beautiful mountains.

Here is Karin (while Matt's at work) visiting La Paz Waterfall Gardens in Varablanca, Costa Rica. The butterflies above are also a part of the park. They breed so many varieties. The first picture is of a row of cocoons, all of the same breed. Some are still in progress and some have since emerged! Walking in that room was like a fairyland. The butterflies were all around landing on us, walking and flying around. There were all shapes and sizes and colors. It was amazing!

(Above) We visited a small cart painting factory. These carts are a traditional way to get goods up the hills using oxen to pull them.

(Below) We had 3 hours to explore the hot springs of the Arenal Volacano at a nearby resort. We would only stay in for a few minutes at a time and then wander around the trails. 

We quickly put this blog posting up before we left for the airport. We have a few more pictures to share. So, keep an eye out for Costa Rica Part II after Christmas. 

Thanksgiving in Napa 2008

Grapes on the vine!

Matt and I were able to go on an extended Thanksgiving/birthday getaway to Napa (valley, county and town). We had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner on the Napa Valley Wine Train, which is absolutely beautiful. It slowly took us from Napa (town) to St. Helena, which is another town that is home to multiple large vineyards and wineries. 

We were one of the first ones on our car (that's why it looks so empty). The train was actually pretty full and when we made our last minute reservations, there were only 10 spots left.

Above is Matt in the dessert car. It was nice that we actually had to move around, so we could see more of the train. The dessert car had small upholstered chairs that faced low windows with a sill for your drinks and dessert plats, but no tables.

Here we are outside COPIA, a well-known food and wine education center. Unfortunately, it had been closed due to debt. We didn't know and were planning on taking their Wine 101 workshop.

Bailey the Unknown Reindeer

Found this video on You Tube and thought you all might enjoy it as much as I did.

Turkey Trot Pictures

The posting below has our stats, but here are the pictures that Misty took after we finished.

5K Turkey Trot

We ran the Davis Turkey Trot this morning. It was really foggy, which was pretty fun to run through and it made for some pleasantly cool weather. The route was enjoyable, starting on city streets in our downtown, alongside railroad tracks and through a park.

Our stats:

Karin was 70th place in her female age group. 1313th place overall with a time of 35 min. 46 sec.

Matt was 52th place in his male age group. 1376th place overall with a time of 37 min. 2 sec.

Needless to say it was a much bigger race in terms of amount of people than the previous one. There were 1969 participants in just the 5K alone. They also had a 10K, a 5K Baby Jogger, 1 mile Walk, 1/2 mile kids fun run, and a 300 yard Toddler Trot. It was also more high-tech than the previous race. We had timing chips attached to a shoe, so that it clocked our individual time based on when we actually crossed the start line. Since there were so many people participating, we didn't get to the start line right away.

We also had some surprise support waiting for us at the end. Our friends Misty and Adam were there at the finish line taking pictures of us! We had no idea that they were going to do that. It was really sweet. I'll post pictures as soon as we get them.

Learning About 5K

So, they posted the race results and there's a little slideshow as well. We're not in any of the pictures, but it still gives you a flavor of the event. Besides the 5K walk/run, there was also a 10K and kids' fun run. Here's the link:

Run For Your Lives

Looks like according to official results, Matt was 9th in his age division and ran the 3.1 miles (or 5K) in 35 mins. and 44 secs. I was 13th in my age division and took 36 mins and 41 secs. It's amazing that Matt was only a minute ahead of me, because I never saw him, except for the first few moments of the race.