September - November: A Summary

September through October proved to be busy months for us!  We worked on the house from the day we received our keys (Sept. 21st), up to the day our carpet was installed (Oct. 31st).  Below is a video of our renovation. :)

November slowed down with the house, but not with our social lives.  November 7th was Matt's an my 3rd wedding anniversary.  He was so sweet, he surprised me with a dozen red roses delivered to our house, and told me to be ready to go out at 7:00pm.  He asked my mom secretly to babysit Emilee, and when he got home from work, he took me to a surprise location dinner.  We ate at the Pomona Mining Company, with a beautiful view of the valley below.  I'm such a lucky girl!

Close to our anniversary though, is Matt's 30th birthday, on November 9th.  I had been planning to throw him a surprise party on November 10th, and have his best friends from out of state fly in to spend the weekend with us.  On his actual birthday, our friends Nick and Katie and I took him out to dinner to the Melting Pot as a decoy.  Everyone else he invited gracefully declined (he had no idea it was because of his party the next day).

During dinner, I stayed in touch with our friends who were flying in.  I left our home's side door unlocked for them to come in, and when we got home from dinner, you can imagine the surprise on Matt's face to see his friends from Iowa and Oregon sitting on our couch!  He thought THAT was his birthday surprise.

The next day, our friends took Matt out as planned, so that a few of our friends and I could start setting up the house for the party.  There were a few hiccups, along the way, but we got the surprise we had hoped for!  It was a fun party, and great way to also show off our newly finished home.  After the party, we took the time before Thanksgiving to finally relax in our new home.

Thanksgiving we spent at my parent's house, and had a wonderful time!  The next day, we packed up and drove up north to Porterville to spend Thanksgiving with Matt's Aunt, Uncle and cousins.  We had a wonderful time introducing Emilee to Matt's side of the family.

December has been busy as well, and we are looking forward to Christmas, a trip to Colorado, and the New Year.  All that to come in my next post!  Have a Merry Christmas everyone!!

Love,
The Ott Family

A New Year!

January has been nothing short of wonderful! After enjoying a full season of festive holiday decor, Matt and I got started on our spring cleaning. I had no idea how much stuff we could hide in our little one bedroom apartment! It was amazing! We took a full carload to Goodwill. I can't help but remember the faces of the people there, as each bag of donations kept coming out of my little Saturn! It reminded me of Mary Poppin's bag that had no limit to what it was able to hold! Overall, this was such a great way to freshly start the new year!

Speaking of the new year, one of my resolutions has been to transfer all of my family's home videos to DVD. Knowing that VHS tapes deteriorate over time really concerned me. Luckily, my grandparents have a VHS to DVD converter. Matt and I spent a full weekend visiting with my grandparents, and watching old home videos as they were recorded. It was so fun seeing how young everyone was! My most cherished video we recorded was of my dad when he was a baby in 1959. This video had been transferred before from film reels to VHS tape, with music added (the original didn't have sound). I kept thinking how priceless this video was, and how Matt's and my future children will get to see videos of when their grandparents were growing up! I have one more video like this to transfer still, of when my mom was a baby. Overall, it was a wonderful way to spend time with my grandparents, and I believe we got through one third of the videos so far!

On a different note, I just started a new job! My dad's company, Bernards Builders, was in need of an Interim Executive Assistant to fill in while their main assistant is on maternity leave. So far... I love it!!! The drive isn't too bad, I drive about 35 miles to Ontario. In a month, I will be transferred to Bernard's Brea job site to fill in for another employee for 3 months. After that, and God willing, I'm hoping that an opportunity arises for me to stay. :-)

We are still waiting to hear if someone has been hired for the Monterey job that Matt interviewed for last month. Our friends, who know one of the employees there, have said that the position still isn't filled yet, and that there is still a possibility Matt could receive a call. Matt and I both are not getting our hopes up, but we are told that they are known for taking a long time. It took them a month after Matt applied to set up an interview.

Other than that, I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying your New Year as well!

Love,
Candace