Balut

This event had to have a whole blog of it's own. Today, Sunday the 30th, Andy ate a Balut. "What is a Balut?" you ask. Well this is a yummy treat in the philippines. It is basically a hard boiled egg, except with the fetus of a duck!!! It was gross. As you can see from the pictures. First you peel the shell off the top. Then there is this juicy stuff, which we were informed is the "soup." You drink the "soup" then the fetus is able to slide out of the shell. When it is out you can see the form of the duck. Sometimes they even have the beaks. This one, I did not see a beak. The fetus you eat whole. I don't know how Andy choked it down but he say it was not that bad. I guess now he can say he's had it before.

November Fall Days, well ...sort of fall

This month, it seems like we have had a lot going on. At the very beginning, we went hiking with Bill, a friend of ours and the boys got to do a little fishing. Andy was very successful that day catching 5 fish. As you can see from the picture, they were tough ones to reel in. Some how he managed :) It was nice to get out into the "mountain" air away from the city and smog.
We were also asked to take a guys boat out in order to run the gas out of the tank be fore he stored it for the winter. We gladly accepted this favor! Our good friend Matt and their son got to come along. The boys were able to do a little wake boarding while Katie was the designated flag girl. Andy caught some major air. I think at least 3 inches :) He was a little rusty. It was fun anyways. Katie got to take the boat for a little spin. It was a beautiful boat and we were lucky to be asked to take it out.
Katie painted a mural in one of the local churches here in Rancho. The wall was HUGE and a little daunting to finish in a weekend. All in all, it was fun to paint and the church really enjoyed it. Maybe the next time she is going to paint a 26'x8' wall, she will make sure they are okay with it taking more than a weekend. Another art project Katie has going is creating the design for a rubber stamp company. If you would like to check them out (or even buy some) the web site is www.whimsystamps.com. There is only one set available right now. At the end of this week, set two should be up and set three a few weeks after that. Hope you enjoy!
Last of all, we have a member of the family that has not made the blog and he is really jealous. We need to introduce the 3rd party in our home... Chongo. Chongo is a beautiful black lab. Andy got him when he was only 6 weeks old. Now he is a graying 8 years old. He is a great dog. He enjoys laying on his living room pillow, going for walks and eating the food Katie hands to him under the table.
That is about all for the November update. I will let you know when December is posted

Well, here we are in our 3rd month of marraige and we are still going strong:) We have been very busy lately it seems. Andy's business is still doing very well. It seems the more jobs that he gets, the more jobs he receives. People are so happy with the work he does that they are eager to send him to their friends. He is constantly learning more about the business and techniques. Lately, the santa ana winds have proven to be a bit of a challenge. Those are the best days for office work. All in all, he is working very hard.

Katie is still working at the Doctor's office. The commute has become a bit of a chore so she is currently in the hunt for a new job. She has a contract with a rubber stamp company, illustrating animals to be made into stamps. The first set is in production right now and should be ready for the market very soon. She continues to try to find her way into the children's book market.

We have just become members of a church just a mile away from our house. It is called Summit Ridge. It is a new church plant, so it is smaller, but that is one of the reasons we like it. We have been able to join a small group that meets on Thursday nights. That has been nice to meet new faces. Everyone has been very warm and welcoming.

The pictures that you are seeing are part of the opening night of the Ontario Reign. We were able to get season tickets to the new local minor league hockey team. Andy played hockey we he grew up, so it's always been a big part of life. Katie didn't have much to do with Hockey before, but she loves sports and this one is really growing on her. The arena is brand new and very nice. If your ever in the area, you will have to join us for a game.

Chongo is doing well. He takes frequent naps and eats his food. He likes to remind us that he is here by leaving his hair EVERYWHERE!! His new game is to not let us type on our computers while we are working by nudging and flicking our hands with his muzzle.

All in all we are doing very well. We miss all our far away family and friends. Much love to everyone.

Blessings

Our wonderful house in Lovely Rancho Cucamonga

So we have been here for a couple months. We have been meaning to get this blog going so that our family and friends can keep up with the "Sowa Life" In this blog we are including pics of our pad. We got absolutely blessed with the house that we are in. We found it on good ol' craigslist.It is a great 3 bedroom house. We got it for a great deal (for california) and love the place. We are in a cul-de-sac in a very quiet neighborhood. This is a small change from Katie's last place in Hollywood :) All our neighbors are very warm and friendly. We have a green belt that runs through the back yard that leads to a nice park. There is a nice bike trail that , once we get bikes, we will love to use. There are lots of other parks around here too. Also there is a great outdoor shopping center less than a mile away called Victoria Gardens (which has Bass Pro Shops, which Andy loves). Chongo, our dog, likes the place too, except for two things. There is no grass in the yard, and the house is almost entirely hard wood floor ( which is  always entertaining for us as he slides into walls and runs like scooby-doo, but not so fun for him). We are pretty far inland here which makes for very hot days. Lately, we have had triple digits in September. The beach is only about an hour's drive away. We found a great church in our community. It is held at the local high school. It is called Summit Ridge. It is a smaller church that just started about a year ago. The teaching is great and the people are very friendly. Over all, we are settled and loving life here in 12733 lucerne ct.

 

Our Blog

Well here is the beginning of our blog spot. We have family and friends all over the country and we would love to give everyone a little peak into our life post marriage. We have just about made it to two months and there are tons of memories ahead. Please keep up with our lives as we venture one day after the other. 

Thanks

The Sowas