My First Blog! Thank's Amanda & Shannon!

Hi Girls!

Okay so I’m finally going to write in this blog. Amanda has been asking me for months to set one up and Shannon went the extra mile to create one for me with the hopes that I’d keep everyone updated on what’s been going on with the Favro’s. I know that it’s taken awhile to get here, but here I am and by the looks of it, once you start you can’t stop so we’ll see.

Today was noting out of the ordinary. I woke up, went to work and now I’m home. Orrin is making dinner and I was determined to write in this blog so I’m up here typing away while enjoying a glass of bubbly. Its Orrin’s first day off work and yesterday was his 27th birthday so he wanted to celebrate a little.

Things have been really hectic lately, both with work and my personal life. For those of you who don’t know, my parents have been in the processes of “tying” to remodel there Walnut Creek house for many years (12+) without much success due to permit issues. Back in September they finally had all the permits necessary and construction started. They literally demoed the entire house except for a little corner of my parent’s bathroom which “technically” made it a remodel rather than new construction. The house is completely gone and they have started new construction. It’s really exciting; if everything goes as planned they should be able to have Christmas there next year.

Although it’s a really exciting time it’s also hard on them at the same time. They have a 3-4 hour daily commute, which as you could imagine sucks! My Dad is very busy being the General Manager at work and has taken on the responsibilities of the Project Manager at the house. My Mom is also having a hard time, her youngest has moved out of the house and she has had a hand full of medical conditions that have been causing her a great deal of pain. A couple of weeks ago she had to have a hysterectomy after two previously failed surgeries. So far it’s been better than anticipated. The surgery went very well and she is recovering quite well. In addition she’s in less pain than she was before so things look to be getting better for her which is wonderful news.

Back to my youngest moving out, that would be Scott and he actually moved in with us! And, so has my cousin Trevor. He got a position as the Outside Sales Manager for Industrial Hardware (a D.B.A. of Marine Express, Inc.). This has been a wonderful experience for him; I’ve seen him grow up more in two months than I have in a long time. He’s career oriented and goal driven. His girlfriend, now fiancée came up to visit a few weeks ago and he proposed. It was so romantic and I couldn’t be happier for the two of them. Her name is Kelsey and she’s the sweetest thing ever and she’s beautiful! She had been talking about never going to a bachelorette party so one night that she was here, Courtney (Scott’s friend’s girlfriend) and I decorated the house with some of the stuff I saved from my bachelorette party in Tahoe and had a little party for her. It was really fun and brought back some wonderful memories I have with my girlfriends!

Halloween was fun, Orrin was off and for the first time in a long time we actually had plans on Halloween. I was SO excited! It was Orrin’s Nona’s 85th birthday so that Saturday we had planned to be in Santa Barbara for her birthday party. We decided to go down a couple of days earlier because Berg & Clint had planned on being in town as well. Berg & Clint both dressed up as pirates, I was a “good” witch and Orrin was wearing an apron with a plate of spaghetti, two meatballs and a sausage attached. Let’s just say it wasn’t PG13 but it was pretty funny and ended up being a hit. We chilled on Bergs sail boat for awhile and then hit up State Street for a little while. Saturday night after Nona’s party we went to visit Anneli at her place then ended up meeting up with Jake & Melinda (Orrin’s brother & girlfriend) for dinner at this really yummy Italian restaurant down town. All in all we had a great time visiting with friends and family; we love Santa Barbara and always have a great time when we get to visit!

Last weekend was Scott’s birthday so we went to Pismo Beach for the weekend. Back to back weekends are hard but I ended up having a lot of fun. Orrin had to work so Courtney, Trevor and my self dove down together Friday night after work. We ended up meeting Adam (another cousin) in SLO before making it all the way down and were able to talk him into coming with us for the night. It was great to see him, it’s been awhile. That night we went out in the dunes and relaxed by the campfire. Saturday morning we all went out for breakfast and then hit the dunes again. By Sunday I was feeling VERY ready for a shower so we hit the road by noon. We all had a very real wake up call the last morning that made us all uneasy. A lot of the sports we do are considered “extreme” which means there is a certain amount of risk naturally involved however sometimes you don’t always acknowledge them or think that they can’t happen to you. Well someone died, a young boy, only 24 and it could have happened to any of us. A truck was going up a dune and a quad was on its way down, there was a point where neither of them had visibility of each other and they collided. A lot of the dunes are very steep, especially that day since it was storming all night which blows the sand around and changes everything. It’s horrible because there is little that either could have done and it was just a very unfortunate accident. I love the dunes but they have become very dangerous. I wish that they could some how make it safer. We always have spotters and play follow leader but unfortunately out there you are only partially in control of your own safety. It’s made my family think and I think we’ve decided to give Pismo a break and try places that have less rick involved. My prayers go out to the family & friends who lost their loved one and to the young boy who took someone else’s life.

To end things on a happier note, we have plans to be in the city this weekend. My parents got Orrin and I room in the city Saturday night so we are going to dinner and a comedy show with friends and family to celebrate Orrin’s birthday. Then it’s time for Thanksgiving and before you know it, it’ll be Christmas! I’ll really try and keep this updated as much as possible. I really have little time but its fun to let everyone know what’s been going on so I hope to keep this up.

I love you all and miss you; hopefully everyone will be able to make it to our annual Christmas party this year. Were thinking either the Saturday before or after Christimas!! I'll keep everyone posted!

Until next time, much love from the Favro’s