Jamie Mehaffey v. Jamie Gold in poker

Bob's aunt runs Commerce Casino poker tournaments and from time to time she can get us in for free to play Texas Hold 'Em in tournaments. This weekend Bob is out of town and since Bob's brother also couldn't make it my sister-in-law and I decided to make it a girl's poker night. Am I good at poker? Mmm... not really, I mean I won the family trophy once but that is not saying much. I practiced for a while online and was encouraged that right before we left I won the online tournament (even though it was just against the computer).

Anyway, my aunt kindly sat us at the top dog table, meaning the people high up in the tournament-- some people were really good, but it was more the show table. There was this guy at the table who everyone kept wanting to talk to, etc. I thought he must be a high up business guy. His name was Jamie, just like mine... Anyway, Jamie and I ended up going hand to hand, no one else was betting. He went all in, so we turned up our cards; he had a king and a nine, and I had pocket fours. The next card turned up was a four, and I ended up beating him putting him out of the tournament.

When he left the table, I turned to the guy next to me and asked who Jamie was. This is how our conversation went:
Me: Who was that guy?
Guy next to me: (Laughing) You really don't know?
Me: No.
Guy next to me: He was the world champion in 2006
Me: World champion of what?
Guy next to me: (Laughing, again) Baseball. What do you think? Poker. He won the most money ever at a poker tournament. 12 million dollars in 2006.
Me: And I just beat him?
Guy next to me: Yeah, what a story
Me: Luckily I didn't know who he was, I might have been intimidated
A few minutes later-
Guy next to me: This table is for special people. How did you get here?
Me: Thanks a lot, what makes you think I'm not special?
Guy next to me: I didn't mean it like that, I mean it's for the people who really know what they are doing. Have you ever really played before?
Me: Only against my family or online, but I got here because my aunt is running the tournament.

Once again, it's about who you know. I would not have ever had the chance to brag about beating Jamie Gold, world poker champ 2006 if not for the proper placement at the table.

surprises

Bob has been full of surprises lately. The other night I came home to having a pool in our backyard (it was a kiddie pool, but hey, it still cools you off) and he had put out candles, lights and the umbrella. We enjoyed a wonderful home-cooked (by him) Italian dinner!

Then the next night he surprised me and took me to Pagent of the Masters. I had always wanted to go so he surprised me with tickets that he got through our friend James who is in it. The big painting behind us is the one that James is in so we are doing the same pose. In the picture below is James in front of his painting. Pagent of the Masters was even more amazing than I had pictured and since James is so nice, he took us backstage to see the characters, costumes, and backgrounds. It was such a great experience.

The best of NC

While I can't touch on everything we did, here are the highlights: White water rafting-- I rented this super awesome shoes so as not to get my good ones dirty and wet. We rafted with Dan and Eva who were so gracious to take us. It was a lot of fun even though Dan kept yelling, "Paddle girls", when I was paddling my hardest.

Bob fell in love with the rivers there. There are so many outdoor things to do-- fishing, kayaking,etc.

This is the wonderful Dan & Eva Steward who were so hospitable and such a blessing to us personally. We hardly knew them going in and got to know them so quickly. They were an amazing encouragement to us.

This is Asheville's Farmer's Market which operates 7 days a week and is indoors. They have the most amazing looking fruits and vegetables. I loved this place. I particularly love the one I took a picture of because it says, "Come on in y'all".

Even the squirrels have a slower lifestyle in NC. This squirrel just happened to be chilling under the umbrella as we walked by. This is in Charlotte where my cousin lives. It was so wonderful seeing her again and she was so gracious to allow us to stay with her.

So overall we had an awesome time of exploring, laughter, fun, and renewal.

The Hike

Bob and I were driving along Blue Ridge Parkway (which is kind of the equivalent of taking the 1 up CA except with no ocean) and we stopped for a spontaneous hike. It said it was about 2 miles. I didn't let the fact that I was in a dress stop me, but I did feel quite ridiculous wearing a dress and tennis shoes. (Gives a whole new meaning to walking skirt, huh walking friends-- maybe we should come up with a walking dress-- it worked!)

We stumbled across a lonely red mushroom...

And after we had walked through forest and rivers we came upon part of the trail that took us through a cow pasture. I know my husband looks superimposed here, but he is not, he was within touching distance of this cow and I took the picture right before the cow looked at him and attempted to follow us with me yelling that we were going to die. For some reason Bob also looks angelic, don't you think? Maybe the camera captured his true nature :)

Bridges have spoken to me a lot lately, I think because of the significance of spiritual growth. There are so many bridges in our life that we have to cross to become who we are, and I feel like I have crossed so many, particularly in this last year. I like to take pictures of beautiful bridges to remind me of these important times in my life and to symbolize what I have gone through. We crossed this one on our hike.

Bed & Breakfast

We went to a bed and breakfast in North Carolina in Valle Crucis (The Valley of the Cross) which was absolutely incredible. Our room overlooked the river and we had this awesome whirlpool tub. What really won our hearts though were the amazing fresh baked chocolate & peanut butter chip pecan cookies AND zuchini pecan pancakes in the morning. We met some great people over breakfast who were trying to convince us to move to NC. I fell asleep in a hammock on Bob's chest in the afternoon listening to the river. It really was amazing.

This was the view from our porch of an apple tree and an old shack.

The Boone House

This lady-- Sharon-- was our favorite part of the Boone plantation. She told us a beautiful story in Gullah (an African culture/language) and then translated it to English. She had a beautiful heart and we enjoyed watching her and talking to her. And of course she had to embarass us a little and call us up to dance and sing part of her song in front of others.
Because of the rain, we decided to buy a huge umbrella and make the best of it. This is a picture of Bob in front of the plantation house. We were a little disappointed because this is not the original house.

Here is a picture of one of the slave houses with some of the things the slaves might have owned. The houses were the size of a small room. It was amazing to think of all that had really taken place there just a couple hundred years ago.

more of SC

Bob found two little friends to play with in the park ( I didn't have the heart to tell him they were statues)

Then I found a friend to just sit and chat with for a while. She was really nice to let me borrow her hat for the picture.

This was an original cobblestone road in Charleston. It was beautiful, but hard to walk on and even harder to drive on.

We found a store called Palm Avenue, so of course we had to take a picture since that is the name of our street.

Many of the churches there have cemetaries, which are both beautiful and somewhat creepy. It is amazing to see the history that is available there, and it is a good reminder of how mortal we are. I take it that the people that attend these churches are reminded of their mortality whenever they go to church.

charleston

We came across the part of Charleston near the ocean. There were a few really neat fountains there and we got to enjoy the swinging benches that they had there. It was raining a little bit, but it made the area seem a lot more serene. We were enjoying the swing until I started to feel seasick :( That also could have had to do with the plate of fried green tomatoes I ate along with a fried fish sandwich and fried okra... who really knows. It feels like a whole different culture down here. We are really enjoying everyone's friendliness and hospitality but have decided to stay away from fried foods for a while.

South Carolina-- a detour from North Carolina

Bob and I took a red eye flight to Charlotte, North Carolina. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep and the time change bumping us 3 hours ahead didn't help. This is a picture of our sleepy faces after we finally arrived.


We were given a "sports car"-- an eclipse for our rental car. While it is not truly amazing, it is the closest thing we will have to a sports car, so we thought it timely to take a picture of Bob and his hot rod.


We were really hungry by the time we arrived and after passing about 4 waffle houses we decided to stop at one. Well, you sure get quantity for your money. Now I am able to say I ate southern cooking including grits, which were very good. After we left, we passed other waffle houses about every exit. These things are placed here like Starbucks are where we live!

It started pouring on our drive to Charlston, South Carolina. It is a humid rain, but wet nonetheless. I was determined not to let it ruin our day.

Here is the church and here is the steeple...

Here is a picture of our room that we are staying at in Charlston. As I write this we are resting here in the air conditioning getting ready to walk the town in a while. What we have seen on our drive is absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait to explore! I will post more pictures later.

Travel Pants

We all know that every traveler has to own the right kind of pants. For me, jeans just don't cut it when I am taking an airplane. Especially overnight. I don't want to try to be sleeping in an already uncomfortable place in jeans. And since it would be weird to wear pajamas on a flight, I rely on my trusty travel pants. They are pants with a purpose. It sort of reminds me of Friends when Joey wears his Thanksgiving pants (Phoebe's maternity pants) so that he can eat whatever he wants and they will keep stretching. These pants are made of stretchy material so that they move with me and I feel oh so comfortable in them. If you are a traveler and don't have travel pants, you need to spend some significant time thinking about investing in a pair. They make the experience quite a bit more pleasurable. So when I leave for North Carolina on a red eye tonight, you can be sure I will be cruising in comfort in my travel pants. Now for the hard part: do I choose black or brown?

Jessie Woods is now Jessie Gipson!

We just went to Jessie's beautiful wedding in Crystal Cove. It was on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. It was wonderful to see old friends and to see the new lives that everyone is making.

One of my favorite parts of Jessie's wedding was the mariachi band. Since we were right next to the dance floor where they performed, we got front row seats... except from behind. You can judge whether or not it was the better view.

Congratulations Jessie and Craig!

trees

There is something so deeply spiritual about a tree. You cannot look at one without thinking about how much it represents life, growth, and hope. A strong tree leaves me feeling peaceful, and to think that they all started so weak and small.

I especially like flowering trees with bright yellows, oranges, pinks, or even white. God's creativity is so amazing and there is nothing so beautiful as nature. This is a tree in Carpinteria that caught my eye.

farmer's market

I love farmer's markets and one of the things I was really excited for this summer was to go. They have them all over the place in OC, one for each day of the week. Have I gone down here once though? No. The only one I have gone to is when we went to visit my brother in Carpinteria. The best peach I have ever had.

tennis

Tennis is emerging as the sport to be pursued in our household. My mom and I decided to take tennis lessons to improve our skills so that one day we can beat my dad and Bob (who already have the basic skills). We went to buy tennis rackets and I knew I was in love when the lady pulled out a pink and red one. Nothing else mattered except I knew it was cute and it would make me happy. My mom got the same racket in blue and I constantly remind her how much cuter mine is. We then attempted to try on the tennis outfits in which my mom mostly laughed at, but I was smitten over a pleated tennis skirt. However, I departed with it sadly, coming to the conclusion that although very cute, I would feel rather silly playing in it. Especially because most of the other people at our lessons wear sweat pants.

Anyway, I am loving the sport, and am loving it even more when my shaky back-hand happens to go right in the spot where my husband can't reach it :)

card party

For the last couple of years, I have (sort of) been in to making cards to send to people. One of the moms whose son was in my class was part of Stampin' Up and she made amazing cards. She got me started on my own kit but my cards never turned out as lovely as hers. I resorted to buying the cards that she made to give away.

My friend Gina also really likes to make cards and she has taught me that if I go simple, they might not turn out as beautiful, but I actually enjoy doing it. Many of our "play dates" involve me going to her house to borrow her amazing stamps and other fun things.

A few weekends ago one of her friends planned a card-making party where each woman brought her own supplies and taught the others how to make the card she had planned. With about 7 different women there, we each walked away with 35 new cards. What a great idea it was and so much fun!

lull

Okay, so I went through a blogging lull for a while. Perhaps that is because there is only so much that stands out in life. I guess I will just have to start looking at things in a new way. I have completely avoided blogging for a while and now here goes again...

I joined facebook today at the prompting of my mom (above all things). I am feeling a little bit guilty and shameful about joining for a few reasons.

1. I swore I would never be that person. I don't know what bugs me so much about myspace and facebook, but I always felt like it was a waste of time, which it proved to be since I spent the last half hour looking up people I haven't talked to in years. Gee, let's think... isn't there I reason I haven't talked to them in years?

2. I actually convinced myself that I will use it to talk to my family but I don't really think that I am going to have the drive to navigate doing that and the blog. And apparently I am back to enjoying the blog again.

3. I don't know if I want people looking me up, but I signed up nonetheless. I just think it is sort of sad that our major contact with others is through posting pictures and typing. But, I guess, here I am doing the same thing on the blog. And it's better to be connected in some sort of way than none at all, right?