Family Reunion 2008!

Ok, it's taken me forever to post again because our internet is so slow it takes forever to download pictures but I finally am buckling down. This year during the week of Fourth of July week we had a big family reunion for my Dad's side of the family at our house. We had a great time to spite having the stomach flew rampage through the entire family. I have an amazing family. We went to the beach, had water fights, were able to participate in the program of and attend the baptism of my 8 year old cousins, had a talent show, played games, and just enjoyed being together. Since I just posted pics on our family blog go ahead and click on the link to see pics.
http://dgriffithfamily.blogspot.com/

Memories!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Hearst Castle!

Last week while my cousins were here my sister Callie, my cousin Christina and I planned to go to Hearst Castle (an amazing mansion located build by William Randoph Hurst, who was a big newspaper man in the late 1800's, on a hill top along highway 1 close to San Simeon about an hour north of San Luis Obispo) anyway the Hearst family donated the "castle to the state of California and they give tours of it. It is popular tourist destination in our area and since I haven't been in about 10 years I decided it was the perfect opportunity to go. Turns out Thursday morning on the way to meet Callie and Christina at the castle I, my body decided it was time for a change of plans...and I had to pull over and be sick on the side of the road....so I called Callie who was already there and asked her to have the ticket agent exchange my pre-paid ticket for one for Tuesday of the next week instead. So Tuesday I headed out for my solo visit to Hearst castle (since it was a last minute change of plans everyone I invited couldn't go) which I was ok with. I decided when I order they tickets to try tour number 2 which I had never been on before. It was an adventure. Here 5 highlights from my journey:
1. I was the only person waiting in line to board the bus when I first arrived but fortunately a couple who were on their honeymoon joined me shortly. We got to linger and ask questions alot more since there were only 3 of us.
2. On the bus ride up to the castle they play this happy music that reminded me of Disney land that really put me in the mood for a good time.
3. When we arrived at the castle and began our tour we started with the outdoor pool but on the other side from where tour 1 starts. There were 3 deck chairs arranged by the pool that we got to SIT ON...I could almost imagine I was lounging by my gigantic, amazingly cool pool.
4. Our tour guide kept sharing with the young man in our group (the one who just got married and who is from Quebec and speaks french) the Spanish words for things...and the poor french guy kept being like "cool" and looking slighly confused as to why he was doing that. Our tour guide didn't quite get it, I mean come on the guy is French not Spanish and it seemed he was having a hard enough time following everything in english.
5. Our tour guide thought I was hilarious, smart and very witty. When he pointed out that Hearst was building this castle during the depression, and I said that it must have been nice for the local economy to have so much work...he just about died, how could I be so clever...wow...what kind of people are normally going on these tours?
So if anyone ever is visiting the central coast, give me a call and we'll visit the castle together it's a great time!

The Best Complement Ever!

My cousin Ross has always been one of my favs. He is 20 years old and is developmentally disabled. He is a smart guy and knows more about politics that I could ever dream of.
This morning when I was getting ready for church he came into the bathroom where I was putting on a necklace and said "Tara you look so pretty, you could be a member of the first family"...It took me a second before it dawned on me "oh he means the first family as in the president of the united states, first family" we then proceeded to have a conversation which decided that I would need to be the first lady since I'm good at organizing parties...plus I don't think there's a chance my Dad will ever become president. Knowing my cousin Ross and how much he loves politics I know this was one of the highest compliments he could give. It was great!

Presenting.....

I don't know how many of you know this about me but I have been talking about buying a car for quite sometime now. First you should know that I've had 2 cars so far in my life, both were old and both were paid for with cash...and both had major problems with in just a couple of months after purchase. So I decided my main priority was buy something that would be reliable and that I wouldn't have to worry about for the next couple of years as I'm attending grad school. At first I wanted something cheep really really cheep but reflecting on past experience and knowing I would most likely get what I paid for I decided to go for just cheep and leave out the really really...then knowing that still might not be good enough I started thinking about purchasing a new car....but a cheaper model. I thought and thought about it, prayed about it, talked to my parents and trusted friends. I had no idea there were so many critical choice to make: new or used, brand names, type of financing, private owner or dealership..... I finally settled on an amount that I thought was reasonable and went through the process of getting financed. Then Last Friday I got pre-approved and the "green light" to start seriously looking. Since I had obligations all day Saturday and Sunday was out because of church ...I woke up stressed Monday morning knowing I needed to find a car...knowing also that I started camp on Tuesday which would both make things complicated and leave me with little car shopping time. I spent all Monday morning calling people, looking things up on the Internet, looking through car buying magazines and calling on advertisements. I made contact with the owners of this beautiful 2005 Honda Civic with only 25,000 miles on it! I went and took it for a test drive and really liked the car and felt really good about going foreword with the trying to buy it. It took 4 days and a lot of phone calls and coordination but by 3 pm on Thursday I was the owner of a brand new (to me) car! I'm so excited. I've decided to name her "kit" after kit on the knight rider...because she's black and because I think it's a cute name. So here she is...Isn't she beautiful?

Great Day of Garage saling!

Today my sisters, my mom, and I went garage saling with my Grandma and 2 of my aunts. Garage saling with Grandma Donna is a tradition in the Griffith family, when we were growing up we would all get up early on Saturday morning and head out to Grandma's house for a quick breakfast of waffles and then head out to see what deals we could find, it was something that was looked foreword to by all. Lately though, to be honest, it's been awhile since we've had a really great garage saling day...so I tried not to expect too much as we headed to Grandmas house at 7am this morning. I was pleasantly surprised however because it turns out today was the day to garage sale we all found quite a few exciting treasures! Here (pictured above as a pile of junk) is a few of mine: a heating pad(the cover was pretty gross but I just took it off and thew it away and sill cover it with a pillowcase)-25 cents, jeans(in good shape)-75 cents, a purse(brand new with tag still on)-50 cents, a Roxy book bag(looks brand new)-a dollar, a book- 50 cents ("the memory keepers daughter" I've read it before and wanted to own it), 2 beach hats-a dollar each ($2), A bunch of scrapbook stickers and paper- a dollar, a battery powered lantern-Free, and a silver bracelet-$3 for a total of $8. It was an amazing day of garage saling, not only did it restore my faith in the possibility of great garage saling days but I also had a great time with family and got some great stuff without spending more than $10.

Alright Already, Here's my Elbow!

So after several requests for another body part post I finally figured out something clever enough to use... so here it is my elbow/arm. For those of you who don't know or can't tell because I forgot to rotate this picture before posting this is the left turn signal used by bikers and motorists without blinkers. This Friday will be the last day of school and an end to my current job since I will be starting grad school before schools starts again in the fall in the fall. I'm really sad to see it end I love my job, I love teaching, I love the children, and I enjoy my co-workers as well. But I wont have to much time to be sad because a week from Monday I will begin my job at a local summer camp which is what I'll be doing until the end of July...and then I'm not sure...except that I'll be moving about a month later...somewhere in there I have to buy a car, find an apartment, etc, etc, etc....so this is just the first turn this summer will take. Wow, I hope I'm ready for this, here it goes ready or not!