The smile that keeps me together...

HELLO BLOGGING WORLD!!

This is Gabriel, I don't think we've met but it is definitely a pleasure. I just wanted to take a quick moment of your time to do a little bragging... you see MY WIFE IS TOTALLY AWESOME! (I'm sure you already knew that... but I just like to say it out loud!)

This little post is to congratulate ABBY for EARNING an "A" in her extremely difficult college Biology class. You see Abby is pretty freaking talented, let me explain:

• Abby is a ROCKSTAR of a dental assistant... she's California RDA certified and has about 60 years of experience (its kind of a family thing...I think she has the teeth cleaning-whitening-fixing-filling gene. I'm sure they'll discover it soon.)
• Abby also is a Cosmetology graduate, she gives some great haircuts and works wonders with hair up-do's... (something I had no idea about...I have all brothers...but she sure keeps me looking nice.)
  
• Now after all that... Abby wants to add to her resume... and maybe you know like...GO TO NURSING SCHOOL. (Prob because every time I go anywhere with the boys I come home bleeding and swollen...ha ha)

So the first step of getting in to Nursing are the required classes, the big BIOLOGY 120...

Honestly, I was a little worried about this one, I know Universities use this class as a "weeder" class to skim the fat off the "health care" wanna-bee class.

It was quite the ordeal, we had to fudge the residency dates, petition to add her to the class (good thing she's super HOTT and had a male professor...), and get the boss lady to let her leave early 2 days a week.

Anyways, she did it all, missed only like one lecture, only cried a couple of times, and really learned the material- (nothing like discussing--in detail--the reproductive cycle with the girl I'll be reproducing with!) jk... that one may have went too far sorry... :D.

!!!!ANYWAYS SHE ACE'D THE CLASS!!!!

Abby is completely legit (new phrase i picked up in the OC) and I think the world should know. She's so freaking talented... there's nothing she can't do, (besides proof read for errors--jk). I'm such a lucky guy...

Here's to you ABBY!

CONGRATS ON YOUR "A!" I love you! You'll always be my sunshine!

Well she just made me an amazing Tilapia-rice-veggie, candle-light dinner.... with a Brownie for an appetizer (my life ROCKS!)

Besos,

GABRIEL

ps. I took that class and only got an A-... she's even smarter than me! (I love this picture... Hailey hurt her foot, Texas is Jealous... I usually hang him upside down... my life is outrageous! jk..)

For the Love of the Game...

On Tuesday night Gabe and I got some Awesome Tickets to the Dodgers game! Thank you Jon and Mckelle!!!! After work, we headed toward the beautiful city of...

We obviously had a lot of time to sit in traffic and make some good conversation...

They call Baseball, "America's Favorite Past time", and for me, that is exactly what baseball means to me. Back in early May of 2008, Gabe and my relationship had just started to really bloom. We had just barely told each other the "L" word, and we really jumped into it, when I invited Gabe and his little brother Roman to join my friends and I on a trip back to Ecuador. We decided to drive to LAX, and since we got there about 12 hours early, we hit up a Dodger's game. We sat at the top of the bleachers, and peered down at the little guys on the field, throwing around what looked like a baseball. I remember sitting next to Gabe and getting all those first butterflies. What an exciting time, falling in love and watching Baseball. Later that year we went to lots of baseball games, and Gabe even proposed on the jumbo tron...

So what did Gabe and I talk about during the 2 hour drive to L.A.?...

Of course I reminisced and Gabe was so sweet to humor me and listen to me point things out that I remembered from our first time together in the Dodger Stadium! We had so much fun! And we were a little closer to the action this time. That's right. Those right there of the bum cheeks of Manny Ramirez. I have never sat close and I was super excited about it.

Now, I'm going to be honest... I'm a little torn. Is it OK to be an Angel's fan and a Dodger's fan? For some reason, as I sat in the stadium and looked around, I felt like I really belonged there. Maybe it was this calling my name....

I love that Fernando Valenzuela played there and that so many people still wear his jersey. Gabe bought this shirt when we went the first time. I accidentally shrunk it (not on purpose) in the dryer. I just get to wear it now...

We loved the game, we talked the whole way home about how much fun we had. I got those excited butterflies again. Only this time, its because not only do I get to sit next to that handsome guy, but the name on the shirt belongs to me!
GO DODGERS!

love,

gabe and abby VALENZUELA

Dear Paula Deen,

Dear Paula Deen,

Yesterday I went to the grocery store and saw Pot Roasts on sale. Of course I picked me up the biggest one and headed home with no recipe in mind. I showed my husband my find. His mouth started to water. He went straight to the trusty internet and googled recipe's for pot roasts. Your picture appeared. We clicked on a video and watched you in all your glory for 5 minutes create the "Harry Connick Jr. Pot Roast". When the movie was over... Gabe turned to me and said, "I'm in love with Paula Deen." Either he was serious, or he just really wanted me to make the recipe. One thing entered my head. "At least he doesn't have very high expectations for the future." Not to be rude or demeaning. I was happy. At least I know that in the future I can gain a few...10, 20, 30 pounds and my husband will still love me, as long as I can cook. Good to know... Then fear entered my head, fear that if I didn't learn to cook, (which I struggle with daily) my husband may just leave me... for you... Paula Deen.

And so... After church I got to work. I rubbed the roast with your special spice, I seared the meat, and I pulled out the secret ingredient from my cupboard. Well, not secret, the Red wine. Gabe was given Red wine for Christmas a couple years ago from a Pipe Hanger Fabrication shop. It has sat in our cupboard since and I had to explain when my mother came to town and gave me the odd look... you see, we're Mormon, and don't even have a cork puller-outer-thingy to open the darn bottle. Don't worry, Gabe asked the girl next door and she glady helped us out with the puller-outer-thingy... I added the rest of the ingredients, well I don't own worcestershire sauce, I'm hoping that's not that big of a deal. I substitued A1... Don't judge me. I'll get it next time... And then I stuck the whole thing in the oven. 3 hours... still waiting. I shouldn't have started so late. When I was done, my husband said, "I'm not in love with Paula Deen, I'm in love with Abby that cooks Paula Deen's recipe's". Sorry for the disappointment, I think I'm gonna hold onto this guy. Just as long as you keep putting your secrets online. Good news is that you might still get him, just not in the same way. He now wishes you were his Grandma. "Imagine the Sunday Dinners", he says. He said that every Christmas would be an "ON YEAR" if you were cooking for Christmas. (I'm gonna give my mom and mother-in-law your christmas recipe book, they'd be mad if they lost us on Christmas... We're really fun.)

Thank you Paula Deen.

Love,

Abby Valenzuela

The Women in Our Lives

I know I'm a little late.... but I just wanted to say Happy Mother's day to the wonderful women in our lives.

We love you.

Cars, Keys, cops... and cereal.

This post is long... And I don't blame you if you don't read it... but I had to write it down. It's too classic of a story not to remember!

Wow... What a day. I am exhausted and here's why:

The day started with loads of potential. I woke up a little later than usual seeing as how my schedule at work has changed. I had until 1 pm to relax, hit up the gym, take our Texas on a walk and leisurely take my time to shower and get ready for the day. Gabe was trying to get everything done before he headed off to Vegas to pick up a big truck he had to drive back for his company. Gabe was at his desk, and even though he was working, it was nice to just have him in the other room. The morning, needless to say was fabulous. Ten o'clock rolled around. Gabe got his final emails in and got all packed up, ready to go. He was going to make some sales calls on the way to the airport. He gave me a big kiss, and headed out... NOT SO FAST. Not with out his keys. He started to look. Not soon after the beginning of his search, he engaged me in the hunt. Within minutes, our house was turned upside down. Looking, Looking, Looking. The keys were no where!!!! NO Where to be found! We knew they were in the house, we had used them the night before to get in. But they were honestly not here. We replayed the entire night, seriously, we acted it out. Then Gabe re-inacted his walk with Texas, hoping maybe they'd fallen out of his sweatshirt. They were gone. What the heck?!!! I've never been so frustrated. And its not like its cheap to get a new key... about the cost of an American Bulldog puppy.... Finally we decided I would have to take him to the airport in the hoopdy... other wise known as the Corolla. Only problem is, my car isn't registered. You see, I actually took it in to the DMV, waited in line, only to find out I don't have the original Title. I only have a copy and California hates copies. So they sent me home, register-less, in search of a TITLE. Of course, its no where to be found in this apartment... (seriously, how do you lose something in a one bedroom apartment?) ((And how do you lose the original and retain a the copy?)) So I had to request a new one, from the Utah DMV, by way of the all American mail system.... I'm still waiting... I cross my fingers every time I get in my car and drive one mile to work every day, hoping my odds are slim of a cop actually catching in that one mile... but now, I had to take Gabe to the airport... 30 minutes away. So about 5 minutes into the drive, we got pulled over... Really? Yes, really. By the police. He said he pulled us over because one of us... was not wearing their seatbelt....and then obviously saw that the car was not registered. We explained the whole bit to him and he actually felt some compassion toward the dorks in the hoopdy. Contrary to popular belief, Nice people still do exist! He only issued us a ticket for the seatbelt... CLICK IT OR TICKET!!! And sent us away. I dropped Gabe at the airport and sat in bumper to bumper traffic the whole way to work. Of course work was anything but usual. Our Air condtioner was out of service, and because the ladies I work with think that ideal working conditions are about Arctic temperatures, we had the Air guy come out. He got on the roof, changed the filter and then charged the doctor a pretty penny. For some reason, Dr. A thinks that I look similar to the Air guy and that next time I could do that filter change in order to save a buck or two... hundred... Really? So she sent me to the roof to see how its done. Last time i checked, this was absolutely not in my job description. I had to climb this insane ladder to the roof, weave my way in and out of gas lines, unscrew the huge box with a drill-a-ma-bobber, and then somehow manuver my way back down the ladder with out breaking my neck. I risked my life in the name of cool air... Never again. By the time I got to Biology, I was exhausted. When I finally got back home, I tore the house apart again, suceeding in nothing. It resulted in me, sitting on the couch, eating Captain Crunch and watching America's next top model. With the sugar running through my veins, I regrouped and was back on the hunt. 3 minutes later... I found the keys, in the shoe hanger-holder thingy.... VICTORY.

Lessons learned. God answers prayers. and I really love cereal.

Thank heavens my day is over and my bed is calling my name.

Life is what happens... when you're not blogging!

Wow!  I can't believe it's been a month since I last blogged!  Life is just flying by way faster than I can keep up with!  It's already been a month since Gabe's birthday... and get this.... It's been a year since Gabe and I moved to beautiful California!  Above is a picture of Gabe and I the day we moved down.  We were trying to find our way on the map... the map of thousands of confusing roads, streets, and freeways.  And here we are a year later... I haven't mastered the map yet, but I know where home is, and that's all that really matters right? 

Well, it has been a fun month!  It started off with a trip to the San Diego Zoo with my Brother Wes, his cute wife Ash, and the most adorable niece and nephew on the planet! I've wanted to go the zoo since we moved down. But I couldn't convince Gabe to go walk around with huge Cali crowds to look at animals.  Thank Heavens my Brother had the same longing to go to the zoo, and invited me down!  What a fun Friday!  

Sometimes I wish I was a three year old again, still fascinated by everything, and seeing the elephants is really the coolest thing in the world. 

We had such a fun day.  (Could have done with out the snake exhibit though...)   And seeing Hays make Colty laugh from wearing the tiger mask made my day. Driving back to Mission Viejo from San Diego was unreal.  The traffic was absolutely, positively outrageous... But this face made the whole trip completely worth it.... (I'm talking about Colton's)

Thanks for letting me join in on the zoo fun Wes and Ash!  I loved it!

Gabe and I found this awesome little restaurant that serves sandwiches, burgers and pizza's.  To be completely honest, I don't even remember the name... I was too busy munching my Cheese-steak sandwich to remember anything.  The whole place was decked to the max in Americana stuff!  

We had a fabulous Easter Sunday.  We listened to the amazing words of the Prophet and felt the love from our Heavenly Father. We also got to see the Easter Pageant in Mesa, Arizona.  What an amazing program.  I have never seen anything like that before.  The life of our Savior came alive on stage.  It was fabulous. 

In one short year, Gabe and I have become quite the Angel's fans.  I especially love baseball season.  There is something about the spring air, the smell of hot dogs, the green grass and the roaring stadium.  I love it.  I always get a nostalgic feeling in a baseball stadium.  I can't help but always think back on one of the greatest night's of all time, when "ABIGAIL, WILL YOU MARRY ME?" flashed up on the big screen at the Bee's game.  Gabe's so sweet.  He takes the time to listen to me relive it  every baseball game we go to, while the other men around keep their eyes focused on the field.  One of the many reason's I said yes!  

We of course had to eat our way through the stadium...

The foot longs and popcorn were especially tasty...

And I made an extra effort to even have Angel's colored flip flops and toes...

Hopefully we'll spend some more beautiful nights in Anaheim, rooting for the Angels!

We've also been enjoying this beautiful spring weather!  I found this little nature walk close to our house.  Texas and I loved it so much that the next day we brought Gabe along with us.  I love all these pictures of Texas on our little hike.  He always looks like Eeyore, but here he's smiling!  To be honest, I think he's panting because he's lazy and out of shape.  But to me, he looks like he's smiling.  So I'm gonna go with that!  

My most favorite boys!  

This is the peace Garden along the path.  We had to take the picture fast before Texas starting investigating the area and ruined the peace.

The hike/leisurely walk along the paved path got a little scary.... not really, but we don't look so tired with our eyes wide open like this...

You can't beat a date night with the guy you love, an in-n-out burger, some french fries, a movie (coincidentally named "Date Night"), a tub, yes a tub of popcorn, a large diet coke... double re-fill, the IN-ability to fall asleep due to the double re-fill, watching dateline and 60 minutes into the wee hours of the morning, laughing out loud because you're so tired you can't sleep and then waiting in the parking lot for Coco's to open at 6:30 for breakfast.... mmmm. french toast.

One of my most favorite Dates of all time.  

Dear Life,

I love you, but please, Slow Down.  Never Mind, I'll just start running.

The Big 2-7 Birthday Celebration!

Happy Birthday to my Handsome, Amazing Husband!!

Last Week marked Gabe's 27th birthday, and it was quite the birthday extravaganza! 

Gabe woke up on his birthday with balloons strategically placed all around the house and on his car.  (Much to Texas' dismay) Texas thought the balloons were predators and in an effort to protect us, at 5 a.m., barked and growled until the apartment complex all woke up.  I'm glad he's here... to protect us from the bad balloons.... 

After work that day Gabe and I headed down to the beach to eat some German Chocolate cake that I had made, (my first cake ever not from a box!  A milestone in my life for sure) And then watched the sunset. We sat on a blanket and drank Martinelli's, and enjoyed the most beautiful perfect sunset. 

I'm pretty sure the sunset was made just for Gabe's birthday.  It was absolutely amazing.  We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful place.  

We topped the evening off with a dinner fit for a KING.  We enjoyed a yummy fish, steak, and lobster dinner out on the patio.  

The next day marked St. Patty's day.  Gabe said he never liked his birthday right after St. Patrick's day.  I like to think that its my lucky day. I'm the luckiest girl in the world to be married to him.  

To celebrate, we ate sandwiches out on our porch with green chips... 

While Texas basked in the sun.  Far enough away from the balloons that they wouldn't eat him.

On Thursday after work we made our way through the awesome LA traffic and picked up Gabe's mom from the airport.  It was so fun to have her in town!  She hasn't been down since we moved, and it was the perfect weekend!  The weather was amazing!  I wish we would have taken more pictures, but we were too busy shopping, eating at awesome restaurants, playing at the beach and chatting away!  It was so fun to have you down Janice!

On Saturday morning, we made our way down to the beautiful San Diego Temple.  What a perfect day!

Janice and I (and an old man) in front of the temple.

By the end of her stay, we were in much need of some beach time.  Unfortunately the fog rolled in and covered the beach.  Texas got to run around for a little bit before we headed home.  And I was able to snap this awesome shot, one of my favorites... I love the beach!!! Thanks for coming Janice!  It was so fun to spend time with you!!!  

I can't believe a year has past since this picture on Gabe's 26th birthday.  We have been on quite an adventure since then! It has been an awesome year, and I fall more in love with Gabe everyday. He is such an amazing person.  I was going to write 27 things I love about Gabe,I will spare you all the mushy gushy details.  He knows I love him more than anything. 

I love you Gabe!  Happy 27th!  Here's to the you, and the next year. I can't wait for all the adventures!