With visits to 12 states and 2 countries, plus 8 weddings, 8 Chargers tailgates and 6 Major League ballparks, we never lack for a good time! But, I don't think any of you ever worry about that! ;)
Our year kicked off with a bang (literally) and never stopped. Here we are celebrating the New Year with our friends in downtown San Diego.
One thing great about living in San Diego (well, besides the 330 days of sunshine and beaches) is living so close to Avi's family. Avi's parents are all just 5 miles from our house.With so many great things they do for us, it was nice to celebrate them in a party honoring their 40th Anniversary (and I thought our three years of marriage was a long time!). The formal event also celebrated Santosh's 65th birthday and retirement. You can also see our nephew, Josh and nieces, Saraya and Jordyn have really grown up.
Because of our warm weather location (OK, I'll stop rubbing it in), we get many visitors. It's always fun to reconnect with friends while they are here. Here we are with Avi's college friends Mark, Ray and his wife, Karen.
We also had another of Avi's college friend's Tom and his wife Teresa take a break from Cleveland to enjoy some San Diego sunshine. Here we are at a winery 30 miles north of our house.
Although it's great living in San Diego, I dearly miss my family in Montana and North Dakota. So, it is always a huge treat for me any time I get to see them.I was so excited to have my sister, Starla and our niece and nephew, Alicia and Tyler come to visit. Here we are at the San Diego Zoo with our newest friend in the background.
Then, a week later we headed to Phoenix for our annual Spring Training baseball trip where we met my parents. Here's us before the game on St. Patrick's Day (thus the green shamrock beads and green beer).
Avi had the honor of standing up for his dear friend, Dan Rech in his wedding in June. Here they are at the pre-celebration (aka bachelor party). All other pictures were deleted from the camera, so I'll just assume this one encapsulates the whole weekend! ;) Just kidding! They enjoyed a fun night out at the Phillies game and whatever comes afterwards.
We always love celebrating our friends' weddings. In May we were double booked, so I went to Montana for my cousin, Amy's wedding and Avi went to Phoenix for Mike and Shannon's. He took the camera and this is one of the pictures from the night.
Then, in June we had back to back weekend weddings, so we decided to make a road trip out of it. We flew into Washington D.C. and enjoyed a Nationals baseball game. Ironically, they were playing the Padres. Padres lost...bummer. But, we still had a good time.
From there we drove to Wilmington, Delaware to celebrate with Dan his new wife, Tiff. The Rechs are an amazing family, so we loved spending the weekend with them.
After the wedding it was on to Philadelphia for a Phillies/Giants game, Atlantic City for my first East Coast Vegas experience and then to New York for a Mets/Phillies game.Then we headed to Niagara Falls for some R and R. Avi wanted to go to Toronto for a Blue Jays game, but I said no more baseball, let's just the two of us relax (what a concept)!
We stayed at an awesome hotel overlooking the falls. Here's a view from our room - WOW!
We took a boat ride so we could get up close. Here we are in our rain suits.
The final stop on our trip was Cleveland for a wedding of Avi's former Arthur Andersen co-workers, Mike (Champ) and Julie. It was fun to reconnect with everyone.
Back home to San Diego for a few weeks and then off for our Midwest road trip. We started off in Fargo to visit my sister's family. Alicia and Tyler are the best, so it was fun to see them in their various activities. Here we are at our nephew Tyler's baseball game. You can look for him in the Majors in 15 years. That's his goal! You know I'm a believer in dreaming big, so I'm all for it! :)
From there we traveled to Minneapolis for my good friend and fellow workout buddy, Jen's wedding.
Our next stop was to visit, Jill and her husband, Brent in Wisconsin. We went hiking, took the boat out on the lake and then had a BBQ with her parents, Nick and Mary. The Rassbachs are another awesome family, so we enjoyed the visit.
Some of my best memories of Minneapolis (well, besides all those crazy nights out) was the wonderful co-workers I had at Carlson Companies. We still keep in touch and were able to get together for a quick BBQ before flying back to San Diego.
In August, Avi made a big decision to leave his current job for an exciting opportunity at Amylin Pharmaceuticals. He had the chance to be part of an SAP (software for those of us non-techies) implementation. He has been very happy with his new job.You were probably wondering with all of these pictures if we ever work! Hee, Hee! My job has become a lot more flexible as I have taken my business almost entirely online. For those of you that haven't seen the website, you can check it out at CallenFitness.com. I love working from home and have thoroughly enjoyed all of the challenges and excitement that comes with having your own business.
Things will be incredibly busy this coming January and February as I launch two new companies. If you ever want to keep updated on everything you can sign up for my newsletter on the Callen Fitness website. 2008 will definitely be a big year for my business.
We celebrated our 3rd Anniversary with a fun weekend getaway to San Francisco and Napa/Sonoma. The whole weekend was a surprise and Avi used his ultimate party planning skills to create an amazing weekend. Here we are in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Here's us at the Giants game. You knew there had to be a baseball game in there somewhere. ;)
Fall brought with it football season - Avi's favorite time of year. In September we flew out to Boston with Avi's brother, Babu and our sister-in-law, Jacki for the ultimate sports weekend - Yankees/Red Sox on Saturday and Chargers/Patriots on Sunday. Here's us at Fenway. Yes, I'm sporting my Twins visor for all you Minnesota fans! ;)
Unfortunately, the Chargers got blown out, but we enjoyed the game and the stadium, despite the heckling from fans (maybe our attire had something to do with it).
Our final big adventure of the year was an 8-day trip to Mexico with my family. We flew into Cancun and drove 45 minutes south to Riviera Maya. While we were there we swam with the dolphins, went snorkeling and visited the ruins in Chichen Itza - our second "Wonder of the World" in two years - not bad! Here's a couple pictures from the trip.
Outside the entrance to the EcoPark.
As you can see, it has been an exciting year for us. We feel truly blessed to be surrounded by wonderful family and friends and to have the opportunity to travel.
2008 will be a big year. I'm excited for the expansion of my company and Avi looks forward to the Chargers playoff game(s) (hopefully)! As always, we always welcome visitors to our home.
Enjoy the holidays and here's to a happy and healthy (yes, had to throw that in) 2008!
Avi and Jeanie
