Just Cause...

Saw this guy's photography recently and fell in love with this image.
More images here: Jim Franco Photography

More soon.

Guess Where We Went Today?

Matt and the boys had the day off for President's Day so we decided to head up to one of our favorite family places: Palomar Mountain. Its been raining off and on for the past few days and with the higher altitude and colder temperatures, Palomar Mountain was white with snow. We dusted off some cold weather gear, grabbed the sleds and headed up to the mountains. Here are a few snapshots of our day.

Seamus enjoyed throwing snowballs at everyone - including me. As I was taking pictures, he hit me dead on two times! In the following series of photographs, Matt defended me with a barrage of flying snowballs. Seamus loved it. When I showed him these pictures tonight, he insisted he was trying to catch the snowballs. HA! He didnt have a chance at catching those snowballs. They were coming too fast!

While we drove up the mountain, Finn remarked several times how the snow reminded him of his cousin, Eli. Finn recently traveled to Wisconsin to visit Eli and the rest of the Pawelek crew. While there, my sister Jennifer bought him the coat pictured in these pictures. She intended to keep the jacket in Wisconsin for her own son's future use, but Finn became very attached to it and convinced her to let him take it home. When Matt brought the jacket out this morning, Finn lit up. He loves that jacket! Matt and I think he looks like Han Solo in Empire Strikes Back.

Matt grew up in Western Pennsylvania so he knows plenty about snow fun. Over the years, he's shared with the boys how to make a proper snowman and how to dig a snow fort. He knows what sleds are good and he can tell which type of snow is best for certain activities. Most importantly, Matt can annihilate an opponent in a snowball fight. He's pretty darn accurate and in the following pictures he was killing the boys with snowballs. They were loving every minute of it.

About three years ago, we bought sleds for the boys. Now some of you might think that buying sleds was a total waste of money. After all, we live in San Diego County where its often warm and/or sunny. What many people dont understand about Southern California is that it offers its residents the best of both worlds. Our family lives 10 minutes from the beach, but we also live 1.5 hours from the mountains. In the wintertime, we can experience snow (even ski and snowboard,) but at the end of the day we can return home where the weather is temperate. The sleds we bought the kids a few years ago come out every single winter. So far, they havent outgrown the thrill of sledding. I hope they never do.


Ok... tomorrow its back to the grind. I gotta make lunches and get the kids ready for school.

Happy Monday.

Answered Prayers

Tonight I discovered pinterest.com - a place where you can compile and catalog all the neat things you find on the internet. The catagorization comes in the form of "boards." Once you find something you like, you can "pin" it to your board. Pretty cool, eh? One of my boards at pinterest is called Latin Love. I love Mexican style and culture and now I have a place to save all the images that remind me of Mexico.

While I was finding images to "pin" I decided to Google "Arandas, Jalisco, Mexico." For six months back in 1994, I lived in Arandas - a tiny "pueblito" in the high plains of Jalisco. I was 23 years old but I felt aimless and confused. I had recently graduated from UCSB with a BA in pre-law, but I honestly didnt have a clue what I wanted in life. I knew I didnt want to stick around and live with my parents forever, so I quit my job, sold my car and used the money to live in Mexico. It was one of the scariest things Ive ever done but it was also one of the happiest times in my whole life.

Arandas is located deep in the heart of Mexico. I didnt pick that location arbitrarily. My good friend Lorena had family in Arandas and they agreed to let me stay with them, free of rent, as long as I helped out around their facility. Lorena's aunt was a nun and the facility she ran was a convalescent home for sick and often indigent seniors. For six months I lived with four nuns and helped care for the elderly of that community.

The first couple months were really hard. I cried a lot and missed my family and friends terribly. There were definitely difficulties living in Arandas. I couldnt speak Spanish when I arrived and the nuns didnt speak English. Communication was very frustrating at first. The nuns didnt have a washing machine on the premises. I had to wash my clothes by hand on a rock basin outside. I was lucky to have a shower adjacent to my room, but the water wasnt always warm and it came out like it was flowing from a hose. There were no movie theaters or shopping malls in Arandas. We didnt have a car and instead walked everywhere for the items we needed. It was a very rural area tucked away from the rest of the world - total culture shock.

For the most part, I adopted the routines of the nuns. I changed bed linens when the elderly soiled themselves. I served meals to the seniors who were bedridden. I swept and mopped the front porch every day. I helped do the laundry and washed the dishes after every meal. In addition to the work, there were also religious implications. For six months I went to church every single morning and prayed the rosary twice a day. It was a total lifestyle change. There were definitely periods of loneliness and I was terrified of what I was doing, but during that period of my life I experienced profound growth and clarity. I learned so much about myself and was extremely happy the latter part of my stay. When I returned home, I knew exactly what I wanted in life. I had developed confidence I never knew I had.

Living the life of a nun (even if you arent one) allows a lot of time to pray. Although I was raised Catholic, the level of spiritual devotion displayed by the nuns was new for me. The church pictured above was the place I attended mass daily. Everyday I said the same prayer during the service: "Please, Lord. If it is your will, let me be worthy to meet a good man to love and raise a family with." I prayed this invocation EVERY SINGLE DAY - the same appeal for six months. Nine months after I returned home, I met my husband Matt. It was a totally random introduction and I truly believe that fateful timing was key in us finding each other. One night during those first few days of dating, Matt asked me on the phone if I knew the origin and meaning of my name. I told him I didnt and that it was just a name my mother liked. He shared, among other things, that his name was Hebrew for "gift from God." I was genuinely stunned upon hearing these words. In that moment I knew with everything in me that God meant Matt for me. It was as if he was saying "Lisa, this gift - the one you prayed for - is for you."

Tonight, when I saw that picture above, tears came to my eyes. I havent seen that church in many years, but there is no doubt that God heard me in that holy place.

Happy Saturday.

For Matt

I know you're going to read before I actually get in touch with you. I wanted to tell you Im sorry. Im not perfect, babe. It never feels good to hurt you and I shouldnt have allowed myself to get carried away like I did. I was just frustrated and hurt and it was easier to blame you than deal with the disappointment myself.

On the way to school this morning, this song came on in the car and the boys were singing the chorus so loudly. It felt good to sing it with them, but all along I was thinking of you.
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Nub you.

Happy Valentines Day!

*picture taken on the morning of 2/14/11

I forgot it was Valentines Day today. I woke up really early - unable to sleep. My brain was buzzing. Among the many things on my mind was the fact that I had to run down to the grocery store and get a couple essentials for the boys' lunches. I meant to do it yesterday but got too tired towards the end of the day. Ugggghhhh! As I ran into the store at 6am this morning, I was confronted with dozens of red and pink balloons, flower bouquets and a boatload of candy. It was at that moment I remembered what day it was.

My mother was always great at Valentines Day. Pretty much every year she would give me and my sister a card and/or a small gift. I remember one year she gave me a little red safety pin with a red heart dangling off it. Another year she got us cards full of shiny heart confetti. Her gifts were never grand. She never got me a dozen roses or a piece of jewerly. But for a girl like me - a girl who never had a valentine growing up - her thoughtfulness made me feel very special.

And then there is me. Not only did I forget to do something special for my boys on Valentines Day, I actually forgot it was Valentines Day!

Clearly, this would not do. I had to do something and fast. While at the grocery store, I bought two of the largest mylar balloons I have ever seen. Both were shaped like hearts and each said "I love you." Then I ran next door to the donut shop and bought two pink sprinkle donuts - one for Seamus and one for Finn. I snuck into their rooms (thank goodness they were still sleeping) and put the balloons right by their beds. They would, no doubt, be the first thing each boy would see upon waking up. Then, I set out their donuts with a cup of milk and waited.

Finn was the first one up. He came walking out into the hallway with the balloon flying beside him. He was beaming. When Seamus got up, he too was holding his balloon. He got down from his bed and literally jumped into my arms. There were lots of kisses and hugs this morning from both my boys. And lots of "I love yous" too.

It was the best start to the day that I can remember.

Happy Valentines Day everyone. And lots of love to our family in Wisconsin, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida and off the coast of Baja California. We love you!

Am I My Brother's Keeper?

photo taken in January 2011 at Cabrillo National Park in San Diego.

Finn has been sick for the past two days. He caught a bug on Tuesday night and spent the past two days re-cooping at home. Today the kids get report cards at school and Finn was anxious to view his grades. He seemed much better than Wednesday so I reluctantly let him go to school. When Seamus found out this morning that Finn would be attending, he said:

"Thank God. Im so sick of people coming up to me asking 'Where's Finn? Where's Finn?' Its annoying."

Nothing like brotherly love on a Friday, eh?

Happy Friday.

Me Gusta! -Dazzling Lanna's Etsy Shop

Crikey! I saw these purses today and absolutely fell in love. They are so expensive, but I imagine they are worth every penny. I am seriously DUH-AY-ING right now over these beautiful creations. The custom purses and bags are sooooo freaking gorgeous! Unfortunatley for me I will have to save for months to buy one. Do you love them? I swear, I am so smitten with them it hurts.

Here is the creator's etsy shop: Dazzling Lanna
And here is my favorite:

Here is the link for MY bag (ahem, if someone romantic (hint hint) wanted to get me a little somthin, somethin for Valentines day.): The most awesome purse in the world.

January Almost Killed Me

I apologize so much for being absent the entire month of January. It was a tough month for many reasons:

-For the first time in 11 years I am working regular part time hours, Monday thru Friday. Although its only about 14 hours a week, its been an adjustment having to manage my time and find a new routine that works for me and my family.

-My mother in law, Barb was staying with us in January. Because I was working, I didnt have the same amount of time to visit with her as I normally do. The time I could have spent blogging, I spent talking with her or catching a quick nap. Her being here the entire month was such a blessing for all of us. We all love when she comes out to visit and this time was no exception. Her help while I transitioned back into working was a complete Godsend. While I was out, Barb would empty the dishwasher or pick up needed items at the store. She watched the boys while I ran errands and took Finn to the dentist. Everyday when I walked back home from work, she was waiting at our house with laundry piled neatly on the dining room table. Isnt my mother in law the best? The first Monday after Barb left, I felt genuine loss that she wasnt with us anymore. We miss her already.

-The biggest reason why I didnt blog this month was Finn's report on Mission San Francisco de Solano (see above.) How do I begin explaining this mission project? In a word it was "massive." Finn's report was a two part project that literally sucked up all of his free time and much of ours during the month of January. The first part of the project was a written report. It included a map, a timeline, a 12 term glossary, various illustrations and a thorough bibliography. The bulk of his report, however, centered around answering 12 questions that ranged from " Name three California landmarks closest to your mission and describe them" to "On a typical day at the mission, what did the friars do?" It was a huge undertaking and once it was completed, Finn's written report totaled 28 pages. Yeah, crazy right? The kid is 10 years old and he wrote and compiled a 28 page report! The most outrageous part about this report, at least in my eyes, was that it was completely handwritten in CURSIVE. Dude! If that aint Catholic school torture I dont know what is. The only thing that was allowed to be typed was the bibliography and the title page. Everything else had to be handwritten with black ink in cursive. Let me tell ya, we had some brutal days and nights. There were many tears shed and many frustrations vented. Everyday after doing his homework Finn and I worked on his written report. It literally took weeks to write. I felt the weight of the world lift off my shoulders when he finished it.

Less than a week later, Finn's mission model was due. I was under the impression that the model was due at least two weeks after turning in the report. It seemed reasonable; that report was an absolute bear and I assumed we'd get at least 10 days to make the model. I was wrong. Apparently we were supposed to be working on both the model and the report simultaneously. Upon realizing my mistake, I panicked. Matt had to be in Virginia the following week. We had less than two days with him home to help. Barb and I were going to have to shoulder the weight of the project with Finn. I was stressed. Thankfully Matt built and painted the basic structure of our mission before he left. All we had to do was create the details: the roof, the landscaping, the doors, windows and other miscellaneous accessories. It took us four days to complete Finn's mission, but once it was done it looked good. The coolest part about it was that we all (Matt, Barb, Seamus, Finn and I) all helped in making it.

I'll try to get back into posting regularly. Our lives certainly havent slowed down. They've just become busier.

Happy Wednesday.

Day One: The Great Mission Adventure!

Every fourth grader in the state of California learns about the California missions. In the 1700s, Catholic friars established missions along the coast of Alta and Baja California in an effort to defend the territory for Spain and also bring Christianity to the Native Americans. In addition to learning about the missions in class, many students build a replica model of one mission and write a report on it at home. Its a very big deal and a rite of passage for many fourth graders. Because there are 21 missions in present day California and in an effort to make it fair for everyone, Finn's class randomly chose their missions at drawing. Finn chose San Francisco de Solano - the last mission built in California and the furthest away from our present location. My mother is a teacher and she decided it would be a great idea to drive the boys up to Northern California to visit Finn's mission. Experiencing Mission San Francisco de Solano first hand would totally benefit Finn in writing and building his mission project. Along the way, my mom anticipated we could stop at San Francisco for a day and maybe check out a couple other missions in the area. I am always up for a road trip so I immediately agreed. On December 26th, my parents, Matt, the boys and I began the Great Mission Adventure.

Our first stop was San Francisco. Thanks to new Christmas gifts, the 8 hour drive up North went smoothly. There was no yelling or arguing between the boys. My dad didnt seem to loose his temper with so many people being in such close quarters. It was actually very pleasant. The kids read their new Christmas books and played on their ipods most of the time. My dad and Matt talked politics and sports. My mom finished up a quilt she was making and I alternated between sleeping and reading.

Even though the road trip was brought about because of Finn's mission assignment, we decided to stop in San Francisco for Seamus. Seamus has long held a fascination with San Francisco. He's read tons of books about the city's history and watched many documentaries about the earthquake in 1906, Alcatraz, the making of the Golden Gate Bridge, etc. We arrived in SF in the late afternoon. We were tired from the trip, but because we were spending less than 24 hours in the city we decided to take an hour long harbor tour immediately upon arrival. What a great decision that was! It was cold and I think a couple of us would have preferred to rest in the hotel, but we all got on that boat and sailed around the bay. It was thrilling to ride under the Golden Gate Bridge and see it so close. Our captain was very knowledgable and shared lots of details about various points of interest in the bay. We caught our boat's last tour of the day and unbeknownst to us, it was a beautiful time to see the sites of the city. We got to see the sun set out in the Pacific and see the city lights come up at twilight. It was magical.



The color in the bay during our tour completely took me by surprise. It was perfect. While I can occasionally take some pretty nice picures, I am not schooled on light and exposure. My inexperience that day didnt matter because the color coming off the water was stunning! There were dark rain clouds to the North, but with the sun setting in the west the Golden Gate Bridge glowed. It was such a vibrant orange color. We all remarked how lucky we were to see it in that beautiful light. The pictures below were taken on our tour. I tweak all the pictures I post here on the blog, but those images below came straight out of the camera as is. That is the real, unedited color of the bridge during that hour of the day. I will never forget how beautiful the bridge looked among the water. It was radiant.


We rounded off our long first day with a fantastic meal at Scoma's in the warf and a trip to Union Square in a cable car. When I asked Finn how he liked the ride, he said "It was very steep and hilly. Thank goodness for the hand rails." ha ha I slept so soundly that night. I think we all did.

Day Two of the Great Mission Adventure soon.

Happy Thursday.

What I Like About You!

It's that time of the year again. This year, my wonderful wife is passing a big milestone (I won't say which one) and I think that has her a little bummed. In her honor, I wanted to list just a few of the things that I like (and love) about Lisa. Happy Birthday!!!

1. Lisa loves her family…always. She loves her friends almost as much! Put these together and you have one of the sweetest, loyal, genuine people I've ever met!
2. She makes the best popcorn in the world (Finn volunteered this one but I agree 100%).
3. Lisa loves to watch movie trailers on iTunes. She does this all the time. Very sweet.
4. She loves music more that pretty much anyone I've ever met. It always makes her happy!
5. She always messes up colloquialisms. I've heard things like "It's just a drop in the pan!" Love this!
6. Lisa has a potty mouth. She's gotten better, but still uses naughty words on a regular basis.
7. She loves Volkswagen Beetles. That was her first car (mine too), and she'd have one again in a hot second. Maybe next year babe!!
8. Lisa is almost never on time. Some might see this as a flaw, but I think it says a lot of good things about her.
9. In the Summer, Lisa almost NEVER wears shoes. Flip flops most of the time…bare feet the rest.
10. Speaking of Summer, she lives for it all year long. Lisa loves the heat and hanging at the pool. A real So Cal girl.
11. She has come to love the things that I do. If she went along with me for the ride, I'd be appreciative. But she genuinely has come to love things like Joshua Tree (my favorite place) and the Steelers. Sometimes I think she's come to love these things more than me…really!
12. Lisa is always cold…except when she's not (see #10).
13. She is extremely talented. She can draw and paint and design and take photos and play the piano (maybe next year honey!). Her handwriting is probably the coolest I've ever seen!
14. Lisa can cook. She told me she couldn't when we met, but she can really make some awesome dishes…especially her Mexican rice.
15. Lisa is proud of her heritage…all of it. She is a SoCal girl to the bone. She is Mexican…don't ever make the mistake of thinking she's not!
16. My lovely wife has the kindest heart in the world.

I could continue with this list for a long time. There are so many things I like (and love) about my wife. She has made my life amazing and wonderful!

Happy Birthday Lisa. I love you!!!

December Family Portrait.

This just in! Do you see what is sitting in back of us in this picture? That's right baby: its the Golden Gate Bridge!!! I was so excited to get this last family picture for December. What a year 2010 has been! This excercise in family portraits has been such a rewarding activity for me. I can not tell you how gleeful I am at taking 12 family portraits for each month of this year. A part of me is really shocked I followed through and did it. I am totally going to try to make a go of this again in 2011.

We just got home tonight from "The Great California Mission Adventure." If I can find the time, Im going to write about it tomorrow and include some pictures from our trip. Right now, however, I need a shower and a glass of wine (maybe two.) In addition to San Francisco, the Four McGarveys and my parents visited Sonoma, Morro Bay, Santa Barbara and a little town up north called Cloverdale. We did our traveling over the past few days by car. It may sound kind of crazy being kooked up in a car for that long, but we made some great memories. More later.

Happy Thursday night. :)

September Family Portrait

Better late than never....

Here is our September family portrait. Its taken me a while to post it because I didnt have it on my computer. I had to track it down. Before the Paweleks left for Madison this past September, Miranda's fiance Chris took a bunch of pictures of the family. He took this one of the four of us.

He Had The Time of His Life...

For years now, Finn has asked to have a birthday sleepover. This request began early - like in the 1st grade. When he was younger, I didnt think it was age appropriate. I imagined boys getting scared in the middle of the night and parents being hesitant about leaving their young sons. Finn never gave up hope, though. Every year he asked to have a sleepover, and every year I made excuses why it wouldn't work. On December 5th 2010, Finn turned 10 years old. It was a big birthday milestone and for the first time a birthday sleepover seemed appropriate. The time was right.

On the second Friday of December, seven boys stayed the night for Finn's birthday. Matt and I have hosted sleepovers before, but never at our house. This was our first time and we were understandably nervous. You see, we have a very small house. Logistically, we realized this sleepover would be tricky. The number of kids had to be limited because we could only fit so many kids in our house at one time. Once we figured out where the kids could sleep, the rest of the plans fell easily into place. Pizza was ordered. Rootbeer, grape, and orange soda filled the fridge. Snacks were limited to popcorn, fruit by the foot, tangerines and sugar cookies. The kids we invited were either children of good friends or boys from school that were also in Finn's cub scout troop. Since Matt is the cub scout leader, we anticipated correctly that the parents would feel comfortable with their sons spending the night. An added bonus was that Matt and I personally knew each of the boys well. There were no surprises with the guest list.

The party was loud and the noise didnt really subside until well after midnight, but that was our only discomfort. Nothing was broken - not any kids nor any home items. Only one drink was spilled and it was done on the floor by Finn . The boys played videogames, had nerf wars and conducted bey blade tournaments throughout the night. The last kid fell asleep at around 1:30am and after several nighttime checks, I fell asleep an hour or so later.

I gotta admit, I loved the entire experience. In fact, I felt like I was on a bit of a high the next morning after I was sure things turned out fine. We will definitely do this again, and maybe not even wait for a birthday to accompany it.

The best thing: Finn was in hog heaven. He was so damn happy - it was impossible for him to hide it. There is no doubt he will remember this birthday for the rest of his life. That makes me super happy.

Happy Monday.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1

On Friday November 19th Matt, the boys and I went downtown to our local movie theater and watched a 10:15am showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. It was a long time coming. The anticipation leading up this this day was intense. Not since Star Wars Episode 3 have we collectively and as a family anticipated a movie like we did this one. The kids didnt go to school that day. I kept them home so we could skip the crowds and watch the movie together. They looked so adorable in their Hogwarts uniforms. I was really kicking myself for not buying my own tie and cloak at the Halloween store when they were 50% off. Matt also played hookey from work. To be honest, he wasnt as into the festivities as the boys and I were, but I think he got caught up in the excitement anyway. Matt is the only one in our family who has not read the Harry Potter books. I havent given up hope on him, though. Heck... if I can get Seamus to read all 7 books Matt should be a breeze. I just havent focused on him yet.

Was the movie good? Heck yes it was! I was captivated the entire time. Its a BIG SCREEN type of movie - very cinematic. True to the book it had a different feel to it than the previous movies. There wasnt as much action and it had a much slower pace than its predecessors. At one point during the film, I looked over at the boys and wondered how they were liking it. They seemed into it, but I wanst sure. There is no Hogwarts in this film. I knew they liked the magical school and daydreamed about being a student there. There were no professors or students. There was no tension or intrigue between Harry and Snape. In fact, there was little interaction other than between Harry, Ron and Hermione. After the movie, I asked how they liked it and thankfully, they gushed. The four of us are hoping to go see it in the theater again.

Now the hard part comes - the wait for the last movie. Its going to be released July 2011 and in an odd way, Im grateful for the next 8 months. That last movie coming out is going to be very bittersweet.

Happy Thursday.

Me Gusta! - Handmade Hats and Scarves

I am a cold blooded person and Im not talking metaphorically. I literally feel cold a lot. Summertime is the only time of the year where I feel warm. I have had numerous tests taken at my doctor's and we think it might be due to low blood pressure. We're not sure though. Once it starts getting cold outside, I freeze in my own body. It is not uncommon for me to be seen INSIDE my house with a hat and/or a scarf on. And listen... I live in Southern California. Relatively, it doesnt get cold here. I cant imagine how frigid I would feel in places like Chicago or Buffalo or Ottawa.

Now that the weather is getting colder, I wanted to share some handmade etsy images that have caught my eye. Seeing these items makes me yearn to learn how to knit and crochet. How cool would it be to give gifts each Christmas that I have made? Dama Shan could get a blue scarf. Barry could get a navy and red scarf. Abbey could get a pink one. That would be super cool! My mom can knit and my grandma can crochet, so its kind of in my genes. ha ha I actually have a hook and yarn here in my house at this very moment. Im feeling very inspired right now. Too bad I have so much other stuff to do.

from Dendritic Headwear.

from Lainedesign

from Adornada.

from Pixiebelle

from Babes In a Blanket

from Piquinina

from Lucky In Love Designs.

from One Of Everything.
I have a hat similar to the one above but its lavender instead of blue and green. My Grandma Nena made it for me, like, 10 years ago. I wear it every single year. Doesnt it totally look like something your grandma would make. I (((heart))) it.
Happy Wednesday.