September Highlights

Will we ever catch up the blog again? Not likely, but I'll try anyway. Looking back at September, here are some of the highlights:

Patrick turned 29! Aditi had promised to make us an Indian meal before she left the States, so what better time to have it than a birthday meal?

We didn't have all the right kitchen equipment, but we did our best to identify substitutes. She used it as her disclaimer for it not turning out quite right. My rebuttal was that the only Indian food we usually have is in a foil packet that we throw in hot water for 5 minutes. Her food was MMM MMM GOOD!

 

Patrick's dessert of choice was devil's food cake, so with Betty Crockers' boxed help, I accommodated his wish. Hopefully his candles will pull through for whatever b-day wish he was aiming for here!

He had a nice little stack of gifts to open, and so far they've all been put to good use too!

Aditi had seen in the movies the "bite lime, take shot, lick salt" method for tequila, so we thought we'd surprise her with an authentic celebratory example.

The next day we drove to Santa Cruz for our friend Sarah's wedding on Four Mile Beach at Wilder Ranch State Park. We were a little concerned we wouldn't make it in time when we hit traffic, but turns out the groom was about half an hour late, and the bride was an hour late (poor Sarah- she was ready on time, but at at mercy of her lagging family members). Everyone ended up being chilly after the long exposure to the ocean draft, but we certainly couldn't complain about the scenery!

The little things that go wrong don't end up mattering much anyway. This is what it's really about! :)

Sarah & Justin's reception was at the University of Santa Cruz Arboretum, which is home to many exotic and unique plants. Even though you could tell it wasn't in-season for most of the fauna, there were still lovely sights to be had along some of the paths we strolled.

....and unusual sights too! I told Patrick this makes me think of something that would be in a muppet movie.

Most of these dry-honeycomb looking plants were brown, but a few were bright yellow and really stood out.

The light of the sky as it approached dusk really accentuated the sunset colors of these flowers.

The centerpieces, decor, everything really captured all the elegant, and none of the cliche, elements of a nature-beach-themed wedding. But there was also a child-like touch to the cake table....literally. :)

 

We had a really fun time at the wedding! Patrick chatted with Justin's friends in a softly lit outdoor courtyard with local brew, and I jammed the night away with Sarah's dance-crazed family. But the three of came together later for a photo finish.

The following Saturday (October 29) was Love Merced- a grassroots style, community care day spreading throughout the Central Valley. It began as Love Modesto by the pastor of a church there, and other nearby cities' church's hopped on board. Even though it is fueled and promoted in large part by church's (that's why we were involved- with our church), it is hoped that lots of organizations and people will get caught up in the movement. Patrick promoted it throughout his department at work and was able to recruit a few of his colleagues, and a professor that baited about a dozen of her students with the promise of extra credit. We all worked together on trash cleanup of a sizable section of Bear Creek running through town.

There was a snag partway through the morning though. Patrick's coworkers Gesha (red shirt), Tyler (unseen in waders in the creek) and myself (middle of the photo) pulled a shopping cart out of the creek and got it up the steep bank. Gesha went back down to grab some trash, but with all the thick brush we were walking on, it was impossible to speculate he would step into a yellow jacket hive. He got my attention when he cursed and started racing up the hill, but I didn't book it myself until the swarm started coming for me too. Tyler ended up submerging himself in the murky waters to escape. Thank goodness none of us were severely allergic, but you never know when you get stung that many times. After we regrouped and Patrick killed the bees stuck in my hair :-/, we began popping benadryl tablets just in case. (When we counted at home, there were about 12-15 on my body, and although it was hard to identify how many were on my scalp, we guessed there were probably about the same amount on my head. I was sore the first day, extremely itchy the second, and about five days later I went in to the doctor because my lymph nodes in my neck were swollen. But luckily everything soon subsided.)

Tyler went home since he was soaked, but Gesha and I were dry so we powered through the pain and drowsiness to help the group retrieve more carts out of the creek. It was actually pretty tricky in places.

After a shower (and a nap!), Patrick and I picked up Aditi for one last outing before her plane left the following day. We took her to Merced Fruit Barn to see the emus (pictured in a prior blog), Daisy the llama, goats, potbelly pigs and other critters while we enjoyed treats from the ice cream stand.

It was sad to say goodbye to Aditi as we felt like we were just becoming a lot more comfortable and close with each other, but at least we have a lot of good memories from the month in general to brighten our spirits!