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When we were visiting Hawaii in summer 2006, I couldn’t get enough of the pineapple there. Diane and I ate it every chance we got! Hawaiian pineapple is just soooo good! They say it’s due to its low acidity. But for whatever reason, I didn’t bring any back with me.

This time, Frank and I made sure to get some when we visited the Dole Pineapple Plantation, and oh my gosh, I am so enjoying it! And because I have a cold, I have an excuse to eat a ton of it for its vitamin C! Yum!

Kiya came home on Monday, the day after we returned from Hawaii. Frank drove to my parents’ house to pick her up, and we’re so happy to have her home!

We gave her some souvenirs from our trip–a pineapple squeaky toy and pineapple and mango flavored dog biscuits from the Dole Pineapple Plantation–and she’s been so excited playing around the house. It’s nice to have her back!

Thanks again to my family for taking such good care of her!

We went to our very first florist appointment last week (thanks for the reference Michelle!) and boy, did I have fun!  I had asked Frank if he wanted to go with me, and surprisingly, he did.  How great!

As soon as we arrived, the florist sat us down and we started talking about style and colors.  To be honest, I don’t really know too much about flowers–the names of them all, what’s in season, what’s cheaper or more expensive.  But I do know what I like and what I don’t like looking at.

I loved the florist!  Even though I didn’t know exactly what I wanted, she picked up on my style and my quirks right away.  She was able to show me things that narrowed the choices down and made it so easy!

By the end of our appointment, we had basically picked out everything, from my bouquet to the centerpieces, and were able to get a quote.  Frank did a great job holding in his shock at the final estimated cost.  He was able to hold it until we got to the car!  =)

So in the end, I think we’ve decided to have the florist work on my bouquet and the bridal party and ceremony flowers, but we’re going to have to go a different route on the centerpieces.  Friends have already graciously offered helping hands, and we just might be taking up those offers!  In the meantime, I’m going to continue scouring magazines and the internet for inspiration…

Because we’ll be going out of town for Felicia and Brycen’s wedding in Hawaii, I drove Kiya to my family’s home in Turlock this past Sunday. This saves us tons of money because we don’t have to board her at PetsHotel (we usually feel so guilty leaving her in a little kennel that we pay to spoil her with Doggie Day Camp and Bizzy Bundles, which are doggie ice cream and cookie treats). We know she’s loving the company of her cousin Max, my family’s dog. And she’s probably having a great time having a huge yard to run around and play in. Problem is, we miss her. A lot.

I’ve called home every morning on my way to work to check on her and then again in the evening. Frank is kind of enjoying not having to take her out on her daily morning and night time walks, but we found ourselves looking at a picture of her on the fridge tonight and saying how much we miss her. If you had asked me before we adopted her if I could ever see myself loving a dog so much, I would’ve said no. She has certainly become such an important part of our lives.

My family is taking such great care of her (thank you so much!)! We know she is in great hands! And it sounds like Kiya is working her charm on my mom. She’s being her cute self and giving my mom fun stories to pass on to us.

We’re counting the days til we see our Kiya baby again!

Here are the final samples of our new radio commercial. It is these that will be airing on Star 101 (101.3 FM), not the old ones. Actually, these commercials are running now!

Last week, I contacted a few General Contractors in the bay area to see if they would be interested in working on our Tenant Improvement project. I sent out about 6 copies of our Design Intent Drawings to prospective GC’s.

Today, I spent the day pretty much talking and meeting with a few of these prospective General Contractors. Boy, to think things are going to get hectic fast is definitely an understatement. If I thought that getting permits from the County Health Dept. and the City Building Dept. was going to be a strenuous process, I was wrong. I think the buildout process is going to kick my a$$!

We need to cut the concrete slab, install plumbing, fill with concrete, build a wet wall, build a dry wall, install electrical components into existing walls, install ceiling panels and lighting, route the gas/water pipe, get sign permits and install exterior signage, build a sprinkler system, test concrete for ph balance, install flooring, paint the interior, install refrigeration and freezer units… and probably a ton more that I can’t remember right now…

To think just a couple of months ago, I was confident that I could manage the buildout process sans a GC! That would have been a huge mistake. There is just so much involved that someone without the experience or the know-how necessary can’t do! The individual components that make up the entire process must come together like a well-oiled machine. It’s like that commercial on tv where the doctor is telling the patient over the phone how to perform the operation he needed. “Umm… shouldn’t you be doing this!?” - So true!

Here are two samples of our new radio commercial. It will be airing on Star 101 (101.3 FM) in the coming week and run for approx 4 weeks.

Today I had the opportunity to spend some time with our friend Noreen, who owns the Dream Dinners store in Alameda, and help her with order receiving and processing. She gets the services of an extra pair of hands while I get to experience one of the operational aspects of Dream Dinners ownership.

This was my first time “working” at a Dream Dinners store, and it was a lot of hard work. There were a lot of boxes and food items to be put away. Noreen says that an order this large is not typical. Each month, Dream Dinners serves a different menu from the previous month. Since is the first week in October, she needed to make sure that she had all the ingredients she needed for the new menu. From 9:30 am to 2 pm, we were breaking down boxes, re-organizing shelf space, dicing 10 lbs of almonds and measuring out 1/3 individual cup full, separating bulk chicken breasts into 3 and 6 serving packages, breaking down a 25 lb of raisins, separating 2 gallons of sweet ‘n sour sauce into 1/4 cup measurements, chopping up sausages, partitioning flank steaks, tri-tip roasts, and pork chops, and some other food prep stuff that I can’t remember right now. There were a lot of stuff! It was interesting to see first hand what’s involved from when the food is received to when customers build their meals.

Although this experience was fun, it was quite humbling as well, for we have a lot of hard work ahead of us. We are so excited to get our store up and running, and we welcome the challenge! More to come on our endeavor.

We decided to go to Claim Jumper for our “10 Months to go” dinner last night.  We didn’t go for the cheese potato cakes (yum!), or for the tri tip.  We went for the cornbread muffins.  Seriously.  Their cornbread muffins are so good!

I got my usual salad and soup combo and Frank got the tri tip.  But we were most excited about the cornbread muffins.  When we were finished with our meal, and totally full, Frank was thinking of asking our server for an extra one to take home.  I said they would probably charge the $1.75 the price tag lists in the bread/dessert display case out front.  Then Frank was actually like “I would pay the $1.75 for an extra muffin to take home.”  Yep, we think they’re that good.

The number 2 is special to me and Frank because it was on the 2nd of January in 2005 that we became “official.” Every month since then, on the 2nd of each month, I’ve done a “Yea! It’s the 2nd! Let’s go out to dinner and celebrate!” I did it tonight when I got home from work, and now we’re trying to figure out where to go for dinner…at least I don’t have to cook. And I like that!

So, a few months ago, when trying to pick a good Saturday in summer 2008 for our wedding, Frank realizes that the first Saturday in August happens to be the 2nd. It was a no-brainer for us to choose that day–8, which is good luck in Chinese (for August and for the year we’re getting married), and 2. It’s just so meant to be!

We officially have 10 months to go until our wedding! We thought it would be so far away, but the time is just flying by!