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Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends! If our Christmas postcard lead you to our blog or if your one of our few repeat visitors welcome back! If you just stumbled onto our blog then welcome!

Scroll down to see a sampling of our adventures...

Halloween

After years of out doing Kristen with my Jack-O-Lantern carving skills, Kristen finally stepped up to the plate and knocked one out of the park!

Blue Angels and Fleet Week

During the annual fleet week in San Francisco, we went up to Grizzly Peak to watch the Blue Angels perform over the bay.  Turns out the idea was better than the actual.  Normally, we go to Fort Point under the Golden Gate Bridge to watch the Blue Angels.  We didn't realize that the Blue Angels don't fly that close to Grizzly Peak so the jets were really just specs in the sky.

But, it was a really beautiful day to ride around with the convertible top down!  I was even able to apply some good old fashion Boy Scout skills and help bandage up a little kid that cut his leg.  I used my handy Chevron first aid kit that was in my trunk.  This led to a rather long conversation with a complete stranger about crude and gasoline economics.  I think I was a good ambassador for Chevron that day.

If you can make gasoline you can make beer

After a year of talking about brewing some beer, I finally got around to doing it.  I had some help from my friend Randy Miles.  Randy and I did Chemical Engineering together at A&M.  So you'd figure two chemical engineers should be able to brew beer.  Turns out the process of brewing beer was actually pretty easy. Now, I can't say the art of making good beer is all that easy.  Our beer was basically drinkable, but I think we'll need to refine our techniques before we quit our day jobs.

New Fabric

Check out the handy work we did today. Recovered all our kitchen chairs for less than $5, total!

2007 PFV

PFV= Prejean Family Vacation

My amazing family (all of them!) decided to take a vacation together. We did the family vacation thing a few times when we were little, but this was the first one since my cousins & I have "grown-up." We had fun tubing the Comal & Guadalupe Rivers. I made some delicious adult beverages to enjoy along the way..yum! The ENTIRE family went to Schlitterbahn one day. It was kind of a fiasco getting the whole ticket situation organized, but once that was done we had a blast! The highlight of the trip for me was visiting with my maw-maw, aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters, & mom & dad every evening since I don't get to see them very often. I also learned how to make a "flaming dr.pepper"...thanks Mark. It's always nice to learn such a useful skill:) I can't wait for the next PFV (Hawaii anyone??)

-Kristen

Danny's Wedding

In July, we went to Galveston, Texas, to attend a good college friend's wedding. Danny Jackson was my roommate for 3 years at A&M when we were going through the Corps together.  He met Janet (his new wife) while doing is grad studies at Southwest Texas State.  We had a great time celebrating their wedding and getting to know Janet.  

Danny and Janet got married at this cool old chapel on Galveston Island.  But now that I think about it cool isn't the right word to describe the chapel.  Turns out the day before the wedding the chapel's AC unit broke.  Unfortunately, they didn't get the AC fixed before the wedding so we crammed 100 people into a 100 year old church and nearly roasted to death.  It didn't help things that all the groomsmen where doing shots together before the wedding so we were all sweating bullets standing up there.  But I wouldn't have traded the day for anything.  

It was also great to hangout with all our Corp of Cadets buddies from years ago. It was awesome to hear their stories and finally meet some of their wives/girlfriends.  Danny and mine's good friend Patrick Ester was even able to go after his wife surprised him with tickets to come to the wedding.   

One of the funniest parts of the weekend was after the rehearsal dinner all of the Danny's and Janet's friends went bar hoping in Galveston. We all had a great time enjoying adult beverages and reminiscing about old times.  The highlight of the night was Kristen finally getting to experience the joy of being the designated driver amongst my old crew.  Lets just say my sides where hurting the next day from the non stop laughter of our antics.  I think our friend Matt even made friends with the McDonald's drive thru attendant...

Despite bringing our camera with us we failed to take a single picture of the weekend which was quite a bummer.  Sadly, a few weeks later Hurricane Ike blew through Galveston. The old chapel that had survived the 1900 Hurricane also survived Hurricane Ike.  Maybe FEMA can finally get that AC fixed???

5 Year Wedding Anniversary

Well, we did it!  July 5th, 2008, is our 5 year wedding anniversary!  We remember that day so fondly.  We sort of celebrated our anniversary a little early this year back in April when we went to Maui. But, that didn't stop us from doing a few special things in July.  

First, Kristen made her own creation of our wedding supper. She did an awesome job recreating our reception meal.  Which is really funny considering we didn't even get to eat at the reception since we're to busy partying with all our friends.

After our dinner, we went to a play at the California Shakespeare Theater.  The play was at an outdoor amphitheater located in the Orinda Hills.  It was a really fitting play called "An Ideal Husband."  It is an Oscar Wilde romantic satire (I guess a classic romantic comedy).  It was a really entertaining play set in a beautiful outdoor theater.  

An awesome way to remember our wedding day!

Relay for Life

Kristen, Tifanie, Matt, and myself volunteered to walk the San Ramon Relay for Life.  We thought this would be are really cool event.  We volunteered through Chevron.  Chevron gave us shirts, hats, and other stuff.  But when we got there we were all 100% unimpressed by the Chevron presence.  We were the only Chevron yahoos there.  We made the most of the event.  It was fun to just walk, talk, and get caught up.  Tifanie used to work with me in the Long Range Planning group at the refinery. But she's moved to San Ramon to work in the Downstream Planning Headquarters and I've moved to the Refinery Short Range Planning group.  We walked 2 miles and hatched the idea to start up a bocce ball team. 

 

Relay For Life

Josh & Katie's Trip

One of my best friends from Sulphur, Josh, recently came out to SF with is girlfriend Katie. We had a great time checking out San Fran, Napa, Giants game, and Muir Woods. It was made even better when Josh proposed marriage to Katie at the Mondavi winery. It was a great weekend. Some of our best times were just hanging out at my house getting caught up. We also had a lot of fun playing Monopoly.

Check out some pics


Can't wait for the big day.

Chevron Power Couples!

Look at these fine folks!! Future Chevron, AT&T, and teaching stars at our friends' Barbara and Greg's wedding.

Maui 2008

We just got back from a 4 day trip to Maui. We had an awesome time! Maui is a 180 different than Oahu. It was more resort centric. We stayed at the Sheraton Maui, which was an excellent choice.

However, it wasn't 100% roses from the start. Our United Airlines flight was delayed 3 hrs prior to take off due to a leaking oil pump. This wouldn't normally bother me much except they didn't discover this leak until we were pulling out of the terminal for take off. So we were stuck on the plane for 3 hrs while the ground crew changed the oil filter. Luckily that was our only setback the entire trip.

After arriving in Maui, we got a rental car and started out for the Sheraton resort. It was on the west side of the island so we had a little bit of a drive ahead of us. On the way to the resort there was a lot of traffic so it took us a little over an hour to get there. The traffic and airline delay basically killed a day we had been counting on at the beach. But it was no big deal because we used the time to get settled into the resort. I guess since we got in later in the day the only rooms available where the suites. So our earlier misfortune turned out to be cool because we got upgraded to a suite. The suite was pretty cool. It came with a nice little living room set, kitchen table, and double porch.

The first night we went to Lahaina, which was 10 miles to the south of our hotel. Lahaina was a frequent stop on our trip. It has a lot of cool little restaurants and shops. The first night we went to Kimo's. We didn't have reservations so we "had to" sit out on there deck and have cocktails and watch the sunset. It's not a bad place to be for an hour waiting for a table. The cocktails hit us both pretty hard because all we'd had to eat all day was our Starbucks breakfast sandwiches and coffee. Needless to say we had a really good time at Kimo's!

Our first full day started out pretty crazy. At 3Am the evacuation alarm started going off in the hotel. But at 3:02 AM the all clear was sounded. Since we where on West Coast time and I'm used to getting up at 4:30AM, I was wide awake. Turned out to be not a big deal, because it gave me some time to get caught up with my sister who was wide awake at 9:30 AM Sulphur time. Kristen got up at 6:30 and we went off to the hotel breakfast buffet. The buffet came with our air/hotel/car deal we got through the travel agency. It was a nice buffet with all kinds of good things. The best part for me was watching all the little birds hoovering around the breakfast area (we sat outside under a big awning). They had been well trained to watch when people pushed their plates away or left their table. One bird even stole Kristen's french bread one morning! It was quite funny. But they were camera shy. When I had my camera out with a bait plate on the table they wouldn't come by.

The beach right outside of our hotel had was next to the Black Rock area which was supposed to be some of the best snorkeling on Maui. After all the fun we had last year with snorkeling we knew that snorkeling was one of our primary focuses on this trip. We headed out to the beach and decided to purchase a cabana from the hotel. This was really nice and worth it considering we spent all day on the beach. We snorkeled 4 times each time going to a different spot along the Black Rock cove. The water was fantastic! Not sure exactly what I saw but it was really cool. But after swimming all day we both paid for it at dinner and the next day. Our arms were on fire. We had sore muscles all along our forearms and shoulders. But it was well worth it.

For dinner we went back to Lahania. We went to IO's which was supposed to be a Hawaiian-Mediterranean fusion. The food was really good and they had a live Hawaiian contemporary singer there that was awesome. But we didn't listen too long because we were spent after spending all day at the beach and sharing a bottle of wine. We were ready for bed.

The next day we decided to get the cabana again. This worked out really great, because our muscles were still really sore and the current was much stronger. This limited our snorkeling a little. The second day were were graced with by the presence of this giant sea turtle just feet away from the shore. I practically swam into the turtle he was so close to use. Really cool! The second day we also discovered the pool side bar that was steps away from us. So we made several trips to the bar for the drink of the day! Repeating the phrase "Just charge it to the room!"

For dinner, we went to the Feast of Lele luau. This was a really cool adventure. It was a 5 course dinner timed with 5 act show that took us throughout the South Pacific. We both really enjoyed the open bar, acts, and show. Well worth the price of admission.

On our last day we had a 9:30 pm flight so we spent the morning at the hotel pool which was a lot of fun floating around the lazy river. Then in the afternoon we went to the Westin Spa. It very relaxing. I was really intrigued by the steam room. It was my first experience in a steam room and I found it to be very relaxing. Kristen really liked the tranquility room that was esstentally the waiting area before your treatments. It had an awesome view of the ocean and fruit/veggie infused water and gourmet teas. After the pampering, we went shopping in Whaler's Village (a little shopping area next to our resort) and Lahania.

From there our vacation was over. We made our way back to the airport and flirted briefly with getting bumped from our flight for a $600 United voucher. Our second trip to Hawaii was just as incredible as the first!

Check out more of our Maui pictures...

A's Game

Back at the St. Paul School Casino night (Kristen's school), we won 4 tickets with field passes to an Oakland A's game. So we invited our friends Matt and Tifanie to join us at the game. Non of us are huge or knowledgeable baseball fans, but we like any chance we get to hang out and drink beer. It was pretty neat to watch the players take batting practice up close, but out tour guide wasn't very enthusiastic. And, I think we put him off a little when none of us really had a favorite player. But it was a cool experience.

New Gig at Work

I've started a new gig at work. It's a pretty exciting time for me. For the next month or so, I'll be the crude and gas oil scheduler. I'm responsible for working with our crude traders and schedulers in Houston to ensure the refinery has all the crude it needs. I'm also responsible for making sure all the intermediate imports and some product exports. Its a pretty fast paced job and a great learning experience. The only bummer about this new gig is that I have to be at the morning refinery coordination meeting at 6:40 AM, Monday thru Friday. I have to be coherent and prepared so that means getting to work between 5 & 6 AM, yuck! Its been pretty funny the past week when I talk during the meeting my voice is all scratchy and horse. So I've started talking to myself/sing along with the music in the car on the way in to get my voice back each morning before the meeting, LOL!

After that I'll transition to the Area Operating Planner. I'll be responsible to making the monthly business plan for the refinery. It's going to be a really incredible experience. I'll be working with the entire supply chain to optimize raw materials and products. This is exactly the kind of job I've been working for over the past few years. I'm really excited, wish me luck!

Maui Bound!

We're headed to Maui in April!!! Keep a look out for pictures and the scoop.

Crawfish Boil!

For over 5 years I've wanted to have a crawfish boil out here in California. After the 400 lb crawfish boil last spring at Klaire's graduation party I felt prepared to try one myself. For Christmas I got all the necessary equipment to do a crawfish boil. With all the equipment in hand I found several crawfish shippers on the Internet. I decided to go with the Louisiana Crawfish Company. We ordered 15 lbs. which were shipped overnight right to our front door. The crawfish arrived alive and very clean. We were really excited about the ease of the entire process. We had Matt & Tifanie over to enjoy the experience. We boiled crawfish, potatoes, and corn. Matt & Tifanie got a major kick out of the entire process. They blogged about it on their website. Their from Boston/Arizona so this crawfish thing was new to them. For me the crawfish needed a little more seasoning, but for a rookie boil I think everything turned out really well. Taking a step back, its really amazing to get live crawfish shipped straight to your door all the way in California from Louisiana.

Poor Aggie

Aggie has finally recuperated from a rather rough patch he went through recently. It all started out when he wasn't eating and was very lethargic. After $600 worth of tests we found out Ag had an enlarged heart, slipped disk in his back, and about 20 bladder stones. The vet suggested not treating the heart and back issue. However, the bladder stones were a major problem requiring surgery. $2000 Surgery! We decided take Ag to another vet for a second opinion. We were very happy with the second vet, Dr. Johnson. He's Ag's new vet. His estimate wasn't much better by the way, $1200. Still way too much.

So we talked with a third vet (well in training) Kayla. We're both very impressed with Kayla. She was very helpful and professional. She suggested talking with the Southwest Louisiana Vet Clinic in Sulphur to get an estimate. This turned out to be a really good idea. They were very helpful and accommodating. Their estimate was only $600. Winner, winner! The next thing we knew Kristen and Ag where boarding a plane headed for Sulphur! (Aggie wishes to thank his Maw Maw for courtesy airline miles to help make this all possible!)

Ag's fully recovered now and full of energy! He's now on a special diet to prevent bladder stones from coming back. He's also on a special shot regime to help rebuild cartilage in his hip.

One more episode in the Poor Aggie Saga!

Jess's Visit

Here are some pictures from when Jess came out to visit. We had a great time! We braved torrential down pours in San Francisco to visit the Museum of Modern Art and Legion of Honor. We went to the Punchline to see Joel McHale from The Soup. The next day we did Napa. We had a great time visiting the wineries. After that Jess and I spent the day checking out Stanford and Berkeley. It was a great weekend! Visitors are always welcome!

Yes, We Can! - Si, Se Puede!

Two very cool videos that pumped me up.

Back to the original design

After a month of the black color scheme, I decided I like the original better.

Favorite Super Bowl Ad

This was my favorite Super Bowl ad!

Peas in a Pod

Kristen and Aggie love to nap!

Kooza! Cirque du Soleil

In January, we went to Kooza, a Cirque du Soleil show, at AT&T park. Well, the tickets said AT&T park, but it was really next to it.   It was a really neat combination of high flying acrobatics that you used to see at the Circus.  It was a very interesting show.