A Few More Photos

My friend Sarah T. just sent us her reunion weekend pictures, so I thought I would post a few more. Thanks Sarah!

Surviving the Plague, Time with Friends

I'm back! After a terrible case of strep throat, which I barely survived, I'm back to the blog and able to report that I am a huge believer in anti-biotics. When you open your mouth to find that your tonsils are touching each other and covered in fuzzy white patches, it's enough to make you lay on your couch and cry (which I did). It's also enough to make you call in sick for two days (which I did) and run to the doctor (which I also did). But after 8 days (and two more to go) on antibiotics, I am my old self again. Thanks goodness for Alexander Fleming and his brilliant discovery!

Anyway, I was thankful to survive the plague and feel better enough to join my four closest college friends for a reunion at Huntington Beach. It's a great story, actually. The five of us met our first week of college at Biola, almost exactly 10 years ago. One of them was my randomly assigned roommate, one lived directly across the hall from us and the other two lived at the other end of the hall (though not together). Who's to say exactly what drew us together, but here we are, ten years later, still friends. We felt it was high time for a reunion, since we haven't all been together, when it wasn't some one's wedding, in a REALLY long time. And weddings don't really count as a full reunion, since someone is the bride and she isn't around as much. With that in mind, at the last girl's wedding in April, we decided we just had to schedule an official reunion. In college, we called our selves The Posse, so The Posse Reunion was planned for October 21-24.

We split the tickets to fly the two out of state girls in town and we had the best three days at our family's little place in Huntington (where the five of us have been MANY times before, both during college and after). We ate at the Sugar Shack (twice), walked on the pier, shopped at the new Forever 21 and talked and talked. It was such a wonderful time with ladies that I love dearly and know me very well.

In addition to lots of talking, we also managed to take a few pictures. We're silly, but we love it!

Every looking happy and nice. From L to R, it's Jess, Sarah S., Tali, Me and Sarah T.

This one is our first attempt at the "confused, what's happening look." Sarah T. had a hard time holding it together, which made me have a hard time holding it together!

Success!

And a victory picture for the brilliance of our photo shoot.

I love you ladies! And thanks, Sarah S., for sending me the photos!

McCurry Bi-Annual Walk

Last Saturday, we completed our 2nd McCurry Family Walk, making me feel confident in saying we have established a new family tradition. Twice a year, the McCurry family plans a long walk through an urban area. In March, Ian, me, Heather and Rob headed to San Diego for a 13 mile walk through Downtown San Diego.

This past weekend, Ian and I planned a 9 mile walk (everyone agreed 13 miles was just a bit too long) through Downtown and other parts of Long Beach. It was a great success. We had perfect weather, lovely company and ended at George's for some delicious food!

This picture shows Ian's aunt Carlene out front - she is training for the Breast Cancer Walk in San Diego - and the rest of us (even little Rowan in the stroller), except for Rob who is taking the picture.



And here is me, his handsomeness (aka Ian) and my in-laws strolling in Lighthouse Park. Doesn't it look like so much fun? It was!

Discount Deals

My friend Melanie in DC first introduced me to Groupon. It's a great, simple, noninvasive way to learn about deals. Every day, just once, they email you a special. If enough people in your area agree to buy the coupon (thus the Groupon name), the deal goes through. I've been a member (which is free) about two months. So I've seen about 60 deals. I've only bought two, so it's not like everything is amazing, but I did get $50 at the Gap for $25 (which is how I stayed on budget for Ian's b-day gifts) and $40 at the Auld Dubliner for $20 (I just took Ian there for a fun date this week). It's a fun way to try new things and save money!

The other thing I like is restaurant.com. They sell gift certificates for restaurants at a discount. You can buy low amounts, like $10 for just $4 or you buy much higher amounts, like $100 for $40. And they're good restaurants too, like Claire's at the Museum, Cafe Sevilla and others. Try putting in your own zip code and see what comes up in your area!

I wouldn't normally think of myself as a bargain shopper, but as we hope to some day go down to one salary, I think I'm going to need to be creative in our spending, especially if we want to do extra, fun things.

Anyone out there have their own ways of saving? Please share!

Foggy Mornings

Aren't foggy mornings so great? True, sometimes they can give you the blues (especially on a Monday), but as I sip some hot tea this morning and look out my window, I love seeing the fog rolling around Long Beach. Even though the weather report says it's going to be high 80s all week, I am enjoying this moment right now.

It's Almost the Weekend

Is there anything better than Friday, late in the afternoon, when the weekend is just minutes from starting? I submit that there is not! (Name that comedian.)

This weekend, Ian's parents are coming in town for the 2nd go at a new tradition of long family walks. Last March, we walked a half marathon on a course my father-in-law created in Downtown San Diego. Tomorrow, we are walking a 9 mile route that Ian and I created in Downtown , along the waterfront and into the Historic homes of Long Beach. The weather should be nice and the company great, so we're looking forward to a fun time.

Then Sunday afternoon, we're off to the Pumpkin Patch with my sister, Mary, and her family and Ian's sister, Heather, and her family. Should be very fun, especially watching Sam in the petting zoo and on the giant slide.

Aren't weekends the greatest? I wish it could always be the weekend. Though I suppose we wouldn't feel that way about it if that were the case.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Yesterday, Ian and I were feeling a little sad. So what did we do? We went to the Happiest Place on Earth. And did it work? You betcha! I love the Disneyland, for so many reasons. I've had a annual pass for probably a total of 8 years and I still did three things yesterday that I've never done before. That's just one of the things that makes the Magic Kingdom so magical - there is always something new to see or do.

Part of what was so fun about yesterday is that we went for 7 hours. We very rarely go for that long. And we got to be there at night, which is just so romantic. =) We got there around 3 and went right into California Adventure, hoping to get Fast Pass tickets to the World of Color. They only had tickets left for the 10:15 show, and even though we were there for the long haul, that was still a bit too late for us.

So instead, we went on Grizzly River Run (new thing #1). It was super fun! We did get pretty wet, but it was sunny and warm yesterday, so it was no problem. And you know what else was great? Even though it was a 40 minute wait, I got to talk with Ian every minute of those 40 minutes. That is another great thing about Disneyland - it's fun and it's interactive. Disneyland is truly a great way to really spend time with your spouse.

After that, we went to the Bakery Tour (new thing #2). Like the nerds we are, we watched the whole video on how they make sourdough bread. And like the food junkies we are, we ended our tour by buying a loaf of the bread. So delicious!

Then we went on Soaring Over California (thank you, single rider lines) and ended our stay in California Adventure with a trip to Burr-bank Ice Cream Shop (new thing #3). We split an ice cream sundae and it was delicious (Ian had lost a bet and the stakes were that the winner got to pick both of the special treats at our next Disneyland trip, so I was in special treat heaven!).

I won't go on to detail out the rest of our trip, but it did include a Fast Pass to Indiana Jones, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (Ian's favorite D-land ride), a trip on Big Thunder, the Matterhorn and Ian's first full experience of Fantasmic. Side note - why do parents, who arrive at the very last minute, still expect that their child should be able to worm his or her way to the front, just because they're a kid? Maybe it's because I'm not a parent, but I got there first and I don't care that your kid can't see. If it was really important, get there sooner and wait like the rest of us. And I'm short too!

That part was a little crowded, if you can't tell, and I was a little disappointed because they replaced the AWESOME, huge inflatable Ursala with just a screen version joined by the two bad side-kick eels, and they weren't nearly as scary. But it's still a great show - nothing beats the part where the fire spreads across the river and even though you're 200 feet away from it, you can still feel its heat.

So we can home quite cheered up. Yay for Mickey and the Magic Kingdom!