we are family

life shares it's wisdom

when I was biking to Newport Beach yesterday I noticed on Back Bay Trail a grouping of ducks!  I had to stop my bike and take a picture!  There was a mommy sleeping and a group of at least four baby ducks huddled together sleeping.  I inched a little closer, trying not to scare them, to get a better picture.  Another duck, whom I am assuming is daddy, came swimming up to check on his family!! I quickly backed away and continued riding so as not to disturb the little family any further!.... I love you all

a little birdie for mama birdie

I saw this little guy taking a sweet bath at the fountain in University Center, while I was enjoyed a delicious frozen treat!

A Mennonite Recipe for Dinner!

. . .a piece of a great cookbook idea. . . 

* Nick and I have been thinking about things to cook for dinner and add to our collection of SoCal dinners we've had the pleasure of doing together this summer.


*I was checking out the "Mennonite Girls Can Cook" blog to look for dinner ideas and came across this delectable treat!!! We decided to give it a try, and it became a TOP 5 recipe it was so good!!


*Here is the link to the original post:
http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/2010/08/chicken-broccoli-crescent-ring.html


*We will definitely make this again. . . maybe as a party appetizer!!! =)


Enjoy,
~Amanda

celebration

August Birthdays

both of Nick's roommates are celebrating birthdays this week!  Tomorrow, we are having a party for them!  I made cupcakes to celebrate using mom's tweaked "King Arthur Flour" chocolate cake recipe.  They came perfect!

bright and cheery

.h.a.p.p.y. .f.l.o.w.e.r.s.

Nick and his roommate are moving into a new apartment in Corona del Mar at the end of August.  I decided to cheer up the process today!! I biked to Whole Foods for lunch, and then ran into TJMAXX (where I found the vase) and then Michael's (where I got the flowers)... the arrangement will look awesome in their  new apartment with a beach view! It will be a surprise (well sort of-he knows I'm doing a floral/girly thing :P) when they move in.

~Amanda xoxo

routes and roots

biking to Newport Beach

to get from my aprtment in Irvine, to Nick's apartment in Newport I take a nice easy nine mile route.  It is a beautiful, flat trip now that I know how to travel the bike path.  The first (longish) leg of my trip is on PCH, *Pacific Coast Highway rt 1* which is that road that travels the entire west coast. PCH is a busy road, but really beautiful too...and VERY biker friendly because everyone bikes here!

The second, and logest leg of my trip is on Back Bay Trail which takes me around Newport's bay.  I have to go over this long bridge before I start the trail... it's super cute!

In the morning it is cloudy becuase of the Marine layer, which burns off by noon or sometimes earlier depending on how hot it will be that day.

Love

Amanda xoxo

sunsets and sweet dreams

under the California sun

we are so happy

laughing

drinking coffee

in each other's arms

watching the sweet, hot California sun

dip and drop below the horizon

looking in vein for

the green flash, 

but there is enough

spark 

between us

to last a long while...