Just making lemonade...

When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade... especially if you have to be on an all-liquid diet because of surgery. Sorry Dad. Or especially if you get stranded on the side of the road with a flat and it is so freak'n hot outside (see below). Well dad, at least you had the company of some fabulous feline nurses to get you back on your feet when we went down to visit a couple of weeks ago:

Lucy was quite attentive and always chips in her thoughts.

Gus was there for moral support

After lots of lounging, a game of Risk that I dominated (had to put that in there) and a full day of hanging out with the parentals, we were glad that my Dad had surgery just so we could spend some time with them (jk Dad, glad you feel better!).

Two weeks later we were back for more...

Nothing that I can ever say or type will be able to express the joy I feel about becoming an Auntie... Every time my phone rings these days I nearly fly across the room to see if its an anxious labor call, Rachel screaming, or Matt stumbling over his words to tell me that my sister is having contractions. I am prepared to drop everything at any moment to meet the little kicker who I got to feel move for the first time last weekend in an eventful trip home. Rachel's beautiful shower proved just how much our church loves her with an attendance of 58 people and duration of 3 hours! My mom did an incredible job with the food and set up while Christine was a fabulous coordinator/MC. Mom, you need to upload the pics of all four of us! They were so cute! This is all that I have:

There MUST be a basketball under there!

Belly bump

And what shower would be complete without an incredible spread

Short Cakes is the best thing that ever happened to my taste buds!

There was so much love for Rachel and she got so many wonderful gifts including this little beautify from Momma Ainsworth and Grandma

Thank you Daulton/Ainsworth clan!

One thing is sure about Baby Quinn he will look so handsome in all of that adorable clothing!

No rest for the wicked, immediately after one party we boogied home for a sad but wonderful party to say goodbye to our dear adopted Polish sister, Asta:

I have loved having a Polish sister around to be my partner in crime in the kitchen, beer buddy, and thoughtful friend. You will be so missed Asta!
While Asta is leaving, she left a few of her Polish dance moves with us and taught them to a few friends

He caught on quick!

After church and a wonderful Blue Frog lunch on Sunday, Chris and I met up with Carly for a drive home. Dad thought her tires could use a little air, so after filling up we hit the road. About 60 minutes later, we heard a loud pop. I immediately took over the situation and yelled at Carly to slow down and get the heck over to the side of the road!!!!! Of course she did exactly what I told her to do and we found ourselves stranded on the side of the 101. We were promptly joined by Art, a friendly CHP who noticed our hour of desperation and called a tow truck to change the tire. In the mean time we learned all about him and his family from the comfort and coolness of his patrol car.

After 45 minutes, we had our donut on and ventured off to our seemingly hopeless task of finding a tire place what was open on Sunday. Thank goodness for iphones!
2.5 hours later and after a Taco Bell run, many games of Name Those Movies of That Famous Person (title thanks to yours truly), a 1 hour television update that educated all of us on the entire Casey trial, and giving life updates to one another, we were back on the road. Scott was the champion in the end, who came through with an amazing vegetarian dinner, bottle of wine, and some episodes of Modern Family when we weary travelers arrived home at 9:30 pm. 

But what blog would be complete without a picture of Sully?!?! To say we love this little guy would be an understatement, I am an obsessed mama. The day I took this one he found the sink and we found him napping in there several times. He is just too cute to yell at!

Birthdays, Bling, and Foster Kitty

It was the birthday that never ended. Literally. By the time I got to the actual day of my birthday, I was completely partied out. It all began with a dance party the Friday night before my birthday which began at 8:30 pm and was promptly shut down by the Snaps patrol (group of responsible students who warn you that the police might come) at 11:00 pm. Those 2.5 hours were very well spent tearing it up on the dance floor aka Tim's living room. There are no photos to document this glorious event as we were rather busy getting low.

Saturday we went beer tasting for my "birthday" (everything was for my birthday) and found a delightful place called Tapit where you can drink beer for free... little mini beers. We were so there.

Tuesday night I spent with my close girlfriends doing a progressive dinner. What began with wine and cheese, moved into a delicious dinner and wine, and concluded with chocolate cake, chocolate, and more wine. I submit that there is not a better way to spend a birthday. After the progression of caloric intake, we proceeded to watch Bridesmaids. Hilarious was the consensus. Hm, I think I forgot my camera that night. I did take one photo, and that was with my hand loaded with bling. Let's just say we had a room full of very blessed girls and all of those blessings mysteriously landed on my fingers...

Courtesy of Amanda, Emily, Annie and Alexa.

Speaking of bling, I think it is a good time to mention that this very excited lady...

Who is now staked with a permanent plane by the lucky Brian Calbeck. 

So happy for these lovely friends and as a roomie-alumni, I am ready to share my Annie.

Back to my birthday week... bear in mind that we still haven't arrived at the actual birthday. Wednesday night Chris took me out for my birthday. The evening began at Ventana Grill overlooking the ocean at a beautiful restaurant with not-so-beautiful service. After 2 hours we left still hungry and slightly annoyed:

The evening did improve as we satisfied our hunger with our new favorite late night stop: Enzo's.

 

Grilled cheese and pizza is an awesome way to end any evening

It was a perfect birthday celebration with my favoritest person ever.

The actual day of my birthday, we had a goodbye party for two girls who were moving away from san luis and I somehow got talked into line dancing. It was entirely too much fun but I conveniently forgot my camera on this occasion as well.

Our last bit of news comes with fur, snuggles, and a clumsy personality. Meet the newest member of the Ainsworth family!

Smokey!

Smokey is the most chill, subdued cat we ever met. I knew that when he was plopped on my lap, paws around my tummy, legs tucked under him, unmoving and looking around innocently that I had to have him. Ahem, we had to have him. It didn't take us long to bond with Smokey (we will most likely be changing his name so get ready) and after about 45 minutes we had signed the papers to make Smokey ours. Our move in date to the new apartment was July 9th, but the cat lady found him a foster home (yes, cat foster homes exist) until our move in date so Smokey doesn't have to go back to the shelter! Yay! I am, I mean, We are so excited to be parents we are bursting with joy! Okay, maybe I am only talking about myself, but I think Chris is on board with having this snuggly feline as a permanent fixture in our new apartment.

That's all for now! Sorry for the randomness of this entry, it is late. Love you all...

Trip to oc...

What Mom and Chris do best in Costco... hunt down all samples

Last weekend was ridiculously fun... not just because we were in Orange County during a beautiful weekend with our amazing family and friends, but because I forgot how much I love the the simple things in OC that I often took for granted. For example, Saturday morning we went to Costco. Not trying to trash talk our Costco at home in slo, but the Tustin Costco knocked our socks off. First of all everyone was so stinkin' happy there from the sample woman who kept yelling out (and yes, she was really truly YELLING) "Locks and bagels!!!! Come on and get em!!! Get your locks! They make you happy!" to the man who checked us through the line and kept telling us cheesy jokes (Mom good job on the polite laugh, I couldn't even muster that. I was more laughing at him than anything). The array of samples was undoubtedly far more vast and delicious than what we are used to. (notice photo, this is all that Mom and Chris did)
Aside from our Costco trip, another thing I realized how much I missed was Peter's canyon...

The pregnant sister and I did a little hike.... pretty! The sky was so cloudy and as Rachy and I got a chance to catch up, I remembered how many hikes I had done there as a kid and the good times that we had. I remembered catching spiders with the little bug jars our Mom and Dad bought for us and using the hiking bags that they would load with gear. We often used them when we went camping,  I still have such fond memories... Love you Rachel, I am happy you are my sister.
While we were hiking the men did disc golf. So great to see Matt as he is my first and only brother as of right now. 

Saturday morning we also got to spend some quality time with our Polish sister Asta and we got cinnabons for Mom... Cinnabons are a huge thing I miss. While we had to do some serious sweet talking (thank you Asta) to get the guy to sell us day-old cinnabons an hour before they opened, it was totally worth it. Yummmm... later that day Gus decided that the tortoises have been hibernating long enough. Time to get those shells out of bed!

Post-hike pregnant woman

Following our jaunt around the canyon, we were visited by Chris' sister and had a fabulous time catching up and apparently checking our fantasy NCAA Bracket. Hm. Sarah and Rachel had a great time rolling around on the floor using these little plastic balls to help put pressure on right areas of their back. I watched.

Awwww Ainsworths

 Following these gymnastics, we sat around to a great meal. I love having family meals! They are the best! We ate and laughed and enjoyed each other. Following dinner, we played a lively round of Things. Hilarious, jovial, and Chris wanted me to make sure that we all remember who won. He did. Perfect end to a wonderful OC Saturday. 

We love our family!!!

Another thing I miss greatly is our church. We were able to visit the new Sunday School class that Dad and Andrew Scoble head up, and they have decided on a name for their group. Mom made the announcement to all so if you don't like it, blame her. The Journey. Yes, I start humming "don't stop believin" every time I hear the name mentioned, or even "faithfully, I'm still yooooours", but I think it is a good one. We are all on a journey. It was great to hear the topic on missionaries and it has inspired us to invite our missions pastor and his wife over for dinner on Saturday night! We will keep you posted.

After church and a delicious lunch with the Scobles and Emily Farrell, we came to the meat of the trip. The Laker's game. Well, at least for Chris and Dad. Dad, thanks for being awesome. We had SO much fun with you this trip and miss you so much. They had a fabulous time, had awesome seats, and from what I can tell did the manly bonding. What an amazing birthday gift for Chris!!!!! We are so blessed by our parents!!!!

While the boys were watching yellow and purple flashes, Mom and I headed to Disneyland for our own female bonding. It was a little cold, little rainy, little windy, but so much fun. Okay it was a lot rainy and windy, to the extent we both had umbrellas and were pretty wet afterward, but two cups of hot coffee and a great conversation made the afternoon so worth it. Great conversation Mom, I love you so much and loved getting to hear about your life. I'm praying for you, miss you.

One blustery day...

Hardcore Disneylanders

Following both of our adventures, Chris and I were re-united at an IHOP in LA where Dad graciously dropped him off and we all headed home. When we rolled into slo at 1:00 am we were tired but happy campers. Thank you SO MUCH Mom, Dad Rachy, Matt and Sarah for making our trip so special. We love you all and can't wait to see you again. Nancy and Grandma we missed you then and we miss you now. We need to see you soon we know! Much much love and hugs your way.

Every day, four thousand children die of water-related diseases...

A volunteer helping an enthusiastic young lad use our pump

This past Thursday, Lifewater hosted a booth at the Farmer's Market in order to celebrate World Water day coming up quickly next Tuesday the 22nd. We all wore our yellow "Safe Water for All" t-shirts and got the word out in the community about Lifewater and all that we do. (ps, sometimes when I type Lifewater I miss the "w" key and I type Lifeater, so don't be surprised if you read that haha)  In addition to pretty much freezing our buns off, eating some oily veggie chow mien, almost getting crushed in the Farmer's mobs, and talking to some of the san luis crazies, we had a very successful night. We had a pump set up for kids to play with, handed out free water drop cookies, and gave away free frisbees. We had Field Trainers come (volunteers who we have trained and sent overseas) and talk to people about their experiences, which was so great. I think some of the teens took advantage of the free cookies though, because all of the sudden safe water was the most important thing in the world to them.

We were able to share some facts about water, such as:

Chris and one of my bosses Brian Grant

• Every day, four thousand children die of water-related diseases. (That's about three children every minute)
• 1 in 8 people in the world do not have access to clean, safe water. 
• Two in five people do not have the security and dignity of a hygienic latrine or toilet.
• A study by the World Health Organization and UNICEF shows that almost 20 percent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa relies on a water source that is more than thirty minutes away.
• Water weighs 8.35 pounds per gallon, and many adults and young children carry up to five gallons of water per trip. That means that they carry over forty pounds of water for miles every day. (And that does not include the weight of the babies that many women also carry!) You try carrying 5 gallons of water for 30 minutes and we will see how much you want to donate to Lifewater after that. :)

It sometimes takes an event like this to cause me to stop, sit back, and remember how blessed we are to turn on a faucet, flush a toilet, or even perform luxurious tasks such as washing our faces. I am reminded and blessed to remember why we are here in San Luis, why I am working at Lifewater, and the difference that Lifewater is trying to make. These statistics won't change overnight, but from 2006 to present, the number of people without access to clean, safe water went from 1.1 billion to 884 million. Praise the Lord! I'm so excited to be working with an organization that doesn't sit back and treat statistics like Jane Fonda's plastic-pumped face that will never change.They do something about it! We are movers and shakers!


After celebrating clean, safe water for all, we celebrated St. Patty's day with a beer and some friends at our favorite bar Spikes. (50 beers available and you get a card to keep track of which ones you try! I think I have a whopping 12 punches after living here almost 3 years haha). It was great to hang out with Randy (here with us) and some of our newer friends Adrienne and Richard. Chris used to work with Adrienne and we really enjoy hanging out with them!

We are now getting ready to venture down to Orange County to visit the fam. In N Out is a must on our way down so we are totally stoked. Wooooooo!!!!

Hi, welcome to the blogging world selves

Our lives together have been filled with lots of love, tons of laughter, oodles of adventures, hours of conversations, learning experiences, spiritual journeys, many mistakes, even more apologies, and incredible joy. God has truly blessed us and we are so grateful to be going through life together.

Our little apartment in san luis obispo is where we call home... Chris is blessed with a job at Running Warehouse where he tells customer service reps what to do all day, and I am blessed with a job as an Executive Assistant at Lifewater International, a locally based international non profit.  We attend Calvary slo where our community group and Bible studies are the back-bone of our week. Any spare time we have is spent with our friends, families, at coffee shops, or at Disneyland. I have a passion for cooking, Chris has a passion for eating. Many of our evenings are spent playing nerdy games like Settlers and Dominion, but we do cool things too, like buy locally grown veggies at Farmer's Market and such and go on crazy cruises to Mexico with our friends (you know who you are...) Whether we began with our dating relationship...


















Our beautiful wedding...


















Our blissful honeymoon...

 Or our most recent trip to Disneyland...













we give God the glory for it all and are so thankful we get to have a small part in our friend's and families lives.