Monday at the Zoo

Last week Vince and I spent our day off at the San Diego Zoo, and the next day my legs were incredibly tired from all the walking....up hill, down hill, up hill, down hill. The zoo, though, was a lot of fun. We saw some incredible animals, watched a bird show, saw hippos kissing, took a guided zoo tour, rode the overhead gondolas and walked through the zoo's new Elephant Odyssey exhibit.

Among the cutest animals we saw that day were definitely the hippos (my camera died before we got to them) and then these guys - the koalas and the panda bears, both of which were napping! The San Diego Zoo just had a new baby boy panda born this summer, he isn't out in the panda habitat yet until he grows a little more, I can't wait to go back and see him - who doesn't love a baby panda?

Coronado Island on Our Beach Cruisers

Since we moved to San Diego, I decided that Vince and I needed to pick up a hobby that we could do together when we aren't working - some kind of joint activity that wouldn't break the bank if we did it on a regular basis. We went out on a date night and I brought up the subject - and we almost immediately came up with the idea to get bikes to ride around all the many beautiful spots in San Diego.

So, a couple of weeks ago we started shopping around and found two of the cutest beach cruisers down in Pacific Beach, and brought them home with us a week or so ago. I am beginning to compile a list of all the fun places I want to go explore on our new bikes - all the many wonderful beaches, cute little towns, Balboa Park. I love seeing new sites and what better way to enjoy them then riding around on a bicycle in 72 degree San Diego?

My little blue bike!

Next plan - leather colored seat and hand grips, and a wicker basket on the front!

Vince's retro bike - isn't it adorable? I love it and so does he.

Our maiden voyage was this Monday, we strapped the bikes to the back of our little car and drove across the bridge to Coronado Island (technically not an island... since it is slightly attached to the mainland by the Silver Strand, oh well). We spent the day riding around the quaint little town, along a bike path that runs along the beach over half the island, we got to see ocean, beautiful homes, an amazing view of downtown San Diego across the water, lovely coves filled with sail boats and yachts and all of it with a nice breeze and sunshine. I have to say that it was a most beautiful day and one that I will definitely want to repeat soon! Next time I think we will park in downtown San Diego and take our bikes across on the ferry, it is supposed to be a lovely boat ride.

Can't wait to see where we head this Monday! But until then, I'm gonna continue enjoying our evening rides after dinner around our new neighborhood.

Home

Vince and I made it back home to San Diego from my brother Joel and Emily's wedding in Oregon. It is so nice to be able to say that - "back home!"

We have been so blessed, we live in one of the most beautiful cities in the country, and we have a wonderful home to call our own! I have loved San Diego for years, and had the chance to intern at a church down here for a year after I graduated from college. When Vince and I were married I moved out of the area but my heart belonged in San Diego. I could never have guessed what God had planned, and 3 years after I first moved to San Diego, I moved back - this time with an amazing husband by my side.

Vince and I moved to SD in June of this year to be the Youth and Young Adults Pastors at Faith Community Foursquare Church. This is the same church that I had the opportunity to intern with back in 2006. The church has been wonderful in welcoming us and making us feel right at home. We get to work with amazing kids from jr high all the way through college, we couldn't imagine a better job!

We moved into a great home at the end of June, in a neighborhood called Clairemont, Sand Diego. Clairemont is a pretty central location in the city limits, close enough to get to downtown or the beach within a few minutes. Our neighborhood dates back to the 50's, and has lots of families and a cute old feel. We are still working on unpacking and setting up home, a few of the rooms are still stacked with boxes. The next big project is sprucing up the outdoors, I had a good talk with Aunt Nelle at Joel's wedding about what plants I should buy. I would love to get some colorful plants on the front of the house, and then create a little garden area off of the kitchen for coffee and a newspaper in the mornings - I can't wait! As the house progresses I'll post photos.