Happy Fall Y'all!

I know, I know. It has been FOREVER since I have updated this blog. What can I say? Life got in the way. Let me catch you up on everything going on in the Mason Household.

Jonathan left for work in mid-June for Hawaii and spent 2 months in the beautiful city of Waikiki. Talk about a tough job! It wasn't all fun and games but he did have the chance to really explore what Hawaii has to offer with its plethora of beaches, waterfalls, and hiking trails. Seemed like almost every day I would get a call from Jonathan telling me about his adventures of exploring Oahu. I was only a tiny bit jealous ;) When he got back in August, he refused to watch any movie that took place in Hawaii as he developed Island Fever by the end of his trip.

While he was gone, I had the chance to really turn our home into something wonderful to come home to. I painted, and I painted, and I painted. The one thing I couldn't stand about our condo in Virginia was how white the walls were. I felt like I was in an institution and tried as hard as I could to bring color into the house. Our landlord refused to let us paint and I hated it! I decided to really take advantage of the ability to paint our home in California and I think it turned out wonderful. I settled on a soft sandstone beige and went hog wild on as many walls as possible. It took a good week to finally get it exactly how I wanted it. I think it is so much more warm and inviting than stark white walls that feel so abrasive. I also got a little island fever and painted our master bathroom lime green!!! I know what you are thinking, and I probably would too if I haven't seen this wonderful color of bright green. I love black and white damask (if you attended our wedding you will understand this) and our bathroom is mostly black and white with a shower curtain decked out in black and white damask. I thought this beautiful shade of green would really make the room pop! Its awesome to wake up in the morning and walk in the bathroom and have the walls scream "GOOD MORNING!!!!". Its probably my favorite room in the house. I know Jonathan was shocked to see my choice as I usually have a more reserved shabby chic style of decorating.

I also spent a lot of time in the garden working on our veggies and herbs. The tomato plant blossomed with a large amount of tomatoes all summer and I practically had to give them away so they wouldn't go to waste. I dried Basil, Thyme, Oregano, and Catnip all summer long and I have a huge reserve for the winter months. I'm excited to expand our garden next spring while Jonathan is away again.

Although most of my summer was spent counting down until Jonathan would be back, I had a few visitors to pass the time. My good friend Mike, from college, came down from Los Angeles for a weekend and we played tourist through the Zoo and La Jolla to see the Sea Lions. At night, we hit the town and tried out some restaurants and bars that I had been wanting to visit since moving to SD. Sarah, Jonathan's baby sister,  also stayed for a week and I helped her with her big move to Los Angeles for City Year.

I guess the best part of being on my own in a new city was it made me go outside of myself to meet people. I got to know some really awesome ladies who were also on their own for the summer. We had a few dinner dates and it really gave us the chance to bond. I was so excited to finally meet new friends. Since meeting my new friends my weekends have been full of social engagements and its really made a difference in our quality of life.

After Jonathan's return it seemed like our social life had just exploded with things to do: concerts, ceremonies, parties, and formal functions. Every weekend there was something to do and I LOVED every minute of it! I can't stress how much different it is to have a social life and how it positively effects your over all happiness.

Dave Matthews Band Concert in Chula Vista

We also had the chance to go on a "Mini-Moon". There never was a good time to take our honeymoon after the wedding and we always promised that we would take the time. We still haven't really had the chance to take a full on Honeymoon, so we have settled on taking multiple "Mini-Moons" instead. Our latest was to Sequoia National Park, Paso Robles, and San Luis Obispo. The first day we went on a 7 mile hike through Sequoia National Park to see the HUGE Sequoia trees. It was absolutely breathtaking to see the gentle giants of the forest that have been around for hundreds of years. After our hike we drove down from the mountains to Hanford, CA and had dinner with our old friend Christian!! It was great to catch up with each other considering we haven't seen him since living in Virginia! The next day we drove over to Paso Robles and got to serious business. And by serious business I mean we went winery hopping!! We visited three wineries that day with the hopes of visiting a few more the following day. I'm not sure if its the climate of the west coast or what, but I absolutely love red wine now. I used to drink strictly dry whites (and none of that sweet rieseling or moscato crap! yuck!) but I have absolutely fallen in love with the red wine of California. After a quick nap at our hotel in San Luis Obispo we caught a cab downtown to the Thursday Night Farmers Market. This was like no Farmer's Market I have ever been to before. They closed down an entire street and had vendor after vendor of local produce along with restaurants and entertainment. We had the most amazing mac-n-cheese from one place and a yummy grilled sausage from another. The whole street was full of students from the local college showing off their new Greek Letters as I assume they just finished Rush. A really awesome experience that I recommend to anyone visiting the San Luis Obispo area.

The first winery of the day at a 3 legged cat named Boris.

Unfortunately we had a rude awakening the next day when I literally woke up with the worst pain of my life. After having horrible stomach cramps and not being able to keep anything down along with other issues, I was worried that I would become dehydrated and with that comes even more issues.  So we decided to take a trip to the local Urgent Care. The doctor was having a hard time figuring out what was wrong with me because I was having some signs of an appendicitis or food poisoning but I wasn't running a temperature. He exhausted all his resources including a pregnancy test for an ectopic pregnancy, which I assured him could not possibly be the problem! Finally after consulting with another doctor and making me cry with a pressure test on my stomach he sent us to the ER with a possible appendicitis. The redeeming factor of going to the ER was the immediately put me on a Morphine drip to take care of my pain. A CT scan indicated it wasn't an appendicitis and probably just an intestinal infection and then sent us on our way with a prescription for pain medicine and anti-nasea. After getting through the night acting loopy on pain meds we decided to cut the mini-moon short and head home. :( After taking a trip to my doctor a week later she decided that my family history had a lot more to do with my episode than an appendicitis. My mom, dad, and both brothers have had issues with ulcerative cloritis, ulcers, gall stones, and acid reflux. I also had some acid reflux in college. She decided to put me on Zantac, Prilosec, and a bland diet. Yuck. She also did some blood work and did some other tests and I should find out what we are dealing with soon. I'm finally starting to feel better (I think the medicine is doing its job) and it will be nice to have a glass of wine as I am also on a no booze diet. After we got back to San Diego, we decided to make the most of Jonathan's time off work and finished up our Mini-Moon at SeaWorld.

Sad that this ruined our "Mini-Moon"

This is Janna on Morphine.

I had a Nurse in Training try to do the IV on the right. He never got it in and the Trainer did the one on the left. I had the bruise on the right for 2 weeks and it got bigger and several different colors. 

SeaWorld

I guess this brings you up to date on what's been going on here. Jonathan will be working a lot this month so we will be spending a lot of time at home together. We are definitely looking forward to the upcoming holiday season! We hope to see family and take a trip or two. I promise to be more dedicated to the blog =P

All Our Love,

Janna and Jonathan

How does your garden grow...

Hello All!
Sorry I haven't updated in some time, as I have been pretty busy with life itself. I wanted to share with you all one of the things that have been keeping me busy for the past few months. Jonathan and I decided since we live in such a temperate climate, we should have a go at gardening. Many herbs and vegetables grow well in San Diego which helps with the cost in general of eating healthy. Because I have been out of work, one of the things I like to do to keep me busy is cook. We decided an herb garden would be something we could benefit from to spice up our healthy meals (pardon the pun!).

We started out with small seedlings of Beefeater Tomatoes, Cilantro, Rosemary, Thyme, Basil, and Catnip for our four legged friends. The ground here is less than desirable when it comes to gardening, so we decided to use pots to keep it easy. Here is a picture of the garden after potting all the seedlings.

I also decided to have a go at planting some flowers. In the past I have had a rough time keeping them alive, but I figured the climate here would probably help me out.

Within no time our plants started shooting toward the sky! We were able to pinch off bits of the plants to add to our meals and I have to say it was a million times more flavorful than anything I have bought in the supermarket. I don't think I will be able to go back to store bought herbs.

Also, the tomato plant started to get blooms to show the arrival of tomatoes! 

Before too long the plants were HUGE and we could snip of bigger bits to cook with. Here is a picture of our first bushel of Cilantro.

Finally our Beefeater Tomato plant has started to produce tomatoes! Unfortunately some of them have been invaded by some bugs, so I quickly researched a homemade pesticide to spray on the tomatoes. For all your gardeners out there, here is the recipe for the pest repellant and also some pictures of the new tomatoes.

Ingredients:

1 head of garlic minced

1 tbsp dish soap (non-bleach)

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 cups water

Prep:

Mince garlic and add to other ingredients.

Let sit over night.

Strain mixture and put into spray bottle.

Spray those pests away!

Today I started harvesting Basil and Catnip to dry and store. Fortunately, its a very dry climate and we have a big storage room I can hang them in. I couldn't figure out why I was saving my panty hose (I never wear them) and realized they would come in handy for hanging the plants to dry so they aren't damaged in the process. 

Unfortunately, our Cilantro plant bit the dust while we were away on vacation. It just got too hot and it went into shock. Sadly, it was my favorite herb to add to my meals. On the bright side, the plant has started to flower; and hopefully I can put it into a bigger pot or flower bed where the seeds can come back next year as new plants.

The next picture is the garden as of today. There is still a lot more harvesting to do with the Rosemary, Thyme, and Oregano; and of course the tomato plant is thriving into a HUGE bush. My next goal is to figure out what I can do to keep the tomato plant upright with all these tomatoes flourishing and adding weight. 

We are very pleased with how our garden has turned out, especially considering this is my first time growing anything! My latest indulgence is adding fresh Rosemary and Basil to red potatoes and red onions in a sauté pan and cooking them with extra virgin olive oil. I know I'm not the first to do it, but it is amazing and even more amazing with the fresh herbs. 

Also, my flowers are growing quite nicely!

Thanks for reading and I promise to update with all our adventures of the last few months! Stay tuned! :)

Love,

Janna and Jonathan

A little homesick but definitely finding our way.

It sure has been an adjustment the past 2 months living on the west coast. Not only the time change, climate, and topography but also the west coast way of life. One thing I've learned from living in larger cities is everyone has a place to go and they are in a hurry to get there. Completely different from the slow southern lifestyle I grew up in. The south is known for being a bit slower. What people don't realize is its not an intellectual slow, but a relaxed lifestyle. You will get there when you do (and you always get there), and things will get done eventually (but they always get done). 

I will be completely honest; I miss it. A lazy saturday afternoon (after you have cleaned the house and mowed the lawn) sitting on the porch swing sipping a sweet tea or walking through freshly cut grass barefoot. I can smell it. 

We have been slowly falling into routine. Weekdays are spent with Jonathan working hard and myself looking for a job while completing the things that need to get done so we can enjoy our weekend together. 

Our most recent date night was trying out a little Thai restaurant in downtown San Diego and then going to "Rock of Ages"- a Broadway Musical. If you haven't seen it yet and love great 80's music, then I highly recommend it! I hope to see a few more musicals that are coming to the area this season such as Mamma Mia, Chicago, and Wicked. 

Jonathan also likes to take advantage of the Mission Trails Park which is located practically in our backyard. There are over 40 miles of trails with several different elevations. He is using the park to train for a marathon in the upcoming months. I like to go also, except when we go on the trails where I feel like I'm going to fall to my death off the side of a mountain. Jonathan says I overreact, but I think its a healthy fear of heights. 

We were finally able to buy a new car this past weekend. The ever faithful Elantra seems to be showing her age, so we came home with a 2009 Honda Accord with excellent mileage and just the right amount of gadgets. We like to call it the "Great Compromise of 2012" because I got my sunroof and Jonathan got a great price. 

Although we are a bit homesick, we are definitely finding our way around and becoming "California-ized". Hopefully we can bring a bit of southern comfort to the west coast! ;) 

Air Show Season Begins!

This past weekend we traveled to the small town of El Centro, CA for the first Blue Angels Air Show of the season. As Pensacola is the home of the Blue Angels, El Centro is the winter training home where they develop the show and hone their skills. It was really exciting to see the Blues in an entirely different environment than we are used to seeing them. The weather was beautiful with highs in the 80's and lows in the 50's to cool you off. The desert sure is different however in its beauty and climate. The heat was a dry heat, so by the time you broke a sweat it would dry quickly. Definitely not the humid heat we are used to on the East Coast. We were lucky enough to get VIP wrist bands which allowed us to enjoy the show from a chalet complete with tent, drinks, and food! Definitely not sweating it out on the beach like we are used to and I recommend this route for any air show in the future! We had a really great time getting to know a lot of new people and spending some quality time together. Here are a few pics from this weekend's show. Enjoy!

Jonathan was very excited that Star Wars was represented.

Fat Albert was in the shop, so they brought out Fat Ernie? I was very disappointed as Fat Albert is my favorite aspect of the Blues' Show.

 After getting back home to the kittens, they finally forgave us for leaving them. It did take a can of tuna to persuade a peace agreement. All is right with the world again.

"Jerry wants YOU to give him some tuna."

We hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Stay tuned for more adventures!

Love,

Jonathan and Janna

(and Jerry and Brian of course)