Kelsey's First Birthday

We have the cutest niece EVER!!!! She just turned one and we went down to L.A. with Grandma to celebrate. Nicole made her a chocolate cake to mash her face in, but what a priss Kelsey was. Barely putting one finger in the icing! So mean ol' antie Holly got a grand idea... the next time she went near the cake with her finger, I shoved her whole hand in the cake, then she got the idea and started digging in (with help from me, totally humanitarian I am, and so be it if i got to eat cake with my hands too). Uncle Justin picked out the best gift, a stuffed penguin that is also a book, Kelsey was loving it.

Kelsey loving on her older girlfriend, so happy!!!

Our Anniversary

Congratulations to us! We made it a year!!! Ok, well we've been together for three years now but now we've been together in matrimony for a year. We decided to celebrate by getting out of town (well I decided for both of us) so San Fran here we come! Little side note: I didn't find out 'till after that it was gay pride weekend and one of the busiest weekends there. And let me tell you I have now seen enough public nakedness to last me a lifetime.
We went and saw Wicked. SO GOOD! Go see it if you can. Even Justin loved it and i'm trying to wean him into musicals.
We also went to the Asian Art museum where Justin was able to see the actual practice swords of his favorite samurai, as well as the five scrolls he penned about life and how to live honorably. (Yes he got teary eyed)
We walked, and walked, and walked, and walked. We figured out we probably logged 16 miles in two days, but it was worth it. I don't know if i'll ever go back, it was cool to visit, but when I feel like i'm going to be mugged in broad day light in a public place, i usually don't feel all that safe. But we managed to come home without incident on Sunday night. (And slept most of Monday).
All in all it was a really fun whirlwind trip. Check back for pictues soon!
Love you all and thanks for supporting our marriage.
Holly (and Justin)

Ever want to be a super hero?!

I came across this video last night when I was watching the world championship of martial arts on TV and had my computer in front of me. I started looking up some of the compeditors and came across this irish girl. Just wait until she starts doing her kicks!
Chloe Bruce

A Little Update

So far the fire has burned some 3,500 acres. It split at some point yesterday with the hot spot above us moving into Montecito (this is a pic of it, now we're on the front of the hill, then there is a canyon behind us that burned in the last fire in Nov., then another mountain after that and this fire is actually on the canyon of that mountain behind us now, so i hope we're in the clear, Montecito is to the right of the smoke which is where they're worried it's heading) and the other hot spot is hopping the 154 freeway and moving into Goleta. Right now the fire boundaries are butted up with the Gap fire from last July and the Tea fire from last Nov. We seem to be out of harms way at this point, but you never really know.

Oh, and by the way we just had a 4.2 earthquake hit in Ventura, God... are you trying to tell us something?!

Some sad news, the home that Justin was working at and helped the residents evacuate on Tues. burned down last night. I don't even know what to say, I was just there on Monday and got to meet the family, they were so happy to be getting their house remodeled, just purchased a new living room set to go with the new floors. Kim, you and your family are in our prayers. If anyone wants to donate anything to this family, we will gladly take it for them. They have a teenage daughter and dogs.

This was taken from the freeway, we live somewhere behind this palm in the front.

Taken at Milpas and Canon Perdido, this is our neighborhood. It looks bad but the fire is actually not on the immediate ridge behind us, but on the south facing ridge after that.

This was taken outside our house, looking north at our neighbors house.
Yet again we are a little too close for comfort, we have our living room full of bags and such just in case we have to leave. So far we're just on the cusp of the evacuation (again), and the day gives us false hope because it's the sundowner winds that happen after 4pm that are really hurting us. We didn't leave last night but we made Grandma leave just in case, she refused to leave her car here if she had to leave so I made her leave while it was still daylight.

Just another fire!

This time thank goodness we're outside the evacuation warning area. Some friends of ours weren't so lucky, good thing they still hadn't unpacked from the Tea Fire evacuation. Chris, Steph and Madisen you're in our prayers. 

I don't feel very realaxed though, I had just gotten my wisdom teeth removed an hour before the fire started and had to come home and get our stuff ready just in case. Justin was working right where the fire had started!!! The street he was on was the first one closed (Tunnel Rd @ Holly Rd). He first helped his clients evacuate, Kim was the only one there and her daughter and husband had to hike all the way from Foothill Rd. to come help her. 

When they got there Justin left and went to his OTHER clients house to get her stuff as she couldn't get through the barricades. He even managed to catch their outdoor cat before it mauled him and he had to let it go. Finally after dropping off his tools at our storage (because he had a ton of stuff up there as he's been working at that house for 3 weeks now) he made his way home around 7:30pm. By that time the danger for us was pretty minimal. It seems the fire is moving away from Santa Barbara but you never know! 

Donate Blood!!

So Justin finally donated blood with me!!! It's only taken me 2 years to convince him to come with me.
Reasons why it's cool to donate:
1. You get free cookies and juice!!! (And on Wed. nights here in SB you get free pizza)
2. Everyone is really nice, and you can never be too funny, they'll always laugh at your stupid jokes.
3. You can only get turned away if you've been to a malaria ridden country, have a fever, have a low cell count, or got pierced or tattooed within the last year. (PS if you're not sure if you can donate for any reason you can always call them and a nurse will let you know, anonymously)
4. Depending on the donation you can watch TV play on the Internet or even see a movie (for the 2hr long donation)
5. They give you an online profile and you can rack up points towards prizes!!!!
6. They almost always give you a gift cert. for a free pizza or a small box of See's candy.
7. Free cholesterol testing (okay, so not that cool, but interesting info!)
8. They give you stickers that say things like "Be nice to me, i donated blood" or "I donated today, Take me out to dinner" (my personal fave) and a colored bandage (to coordinate with your outfit, how stylish)
9. YOU GET TO SAVE LIVES!!!!

Basically, you all should get off your butts and donate, it doesn't take long and only hurts for a second. If you need moral support I will gladly join you.