How do you celebrate the end of a CPA Exam? How about a date night with the husband to eat burgers at Fuddruckers and to see Get Smart. That movie was so funny and exceeding all my expectations. I highly recommend you go.

Not only do I get to celebrate with a date night, but with a long holiday weekend, first with a visit to Fresno to see this girl, her hubby, and her little girl (okay well just the belly bump) and then to Bakersfield to visit my parents and where I get to look forward to brunch with this girl and her family, ice cream with the Welchs (I get to have my Black and White that I’ve even been having dreams about), and then time with Cale’s family as well before heading back home to relax. Could it get any better? I don’t think so.

The dogs are also looking forward to visiting their grandma’s house. They always have so much fun there with their aunts and uncles (both human and doggie).

They get to relax as much as they want

Auntie Lexi

Uncle Hoagie

Burn some calories

Watch Brodie Swim. She would rather not get her hair wet

And Brodie who loves to go swimming with Grandpa and Uncle Brent

How are you all spending your fourth of July weekend?

Tags: Family, Puppies

Test number four is over.  Over!  And until I get my final results, I am going to push CPA testing from my mind and enjoy life!  Last week studying prevented me from doing my exposaroonie, and I was so bummed, but this week’s theme was vintage.  I had to make time for it.

The final choice. It was the first one I was drawn to of all the ones I took.

Have you exposed yourself yet?

Tags: CPA Exam, Photography, Puppies

So it has taken me exactly one year (a leap year at that) but I am now at one hundred posts. Maybe not the best posts per day ratio but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. One year ago today Cale and I were sitting in our living room (heck pretty much the only room in our house besides the bedroom, but anyways) throwing around website names. thecorwins.com? taken. corwins.com? taken. Are we an org? Do we want a .net? mrandmrscorwin.com? No because what about when we have a baby.. Those Corwins? Yes! It was never intended to be a blog as it has turned out. We basically wanted a way for people to find us and know we are alive up here in Northern California (as if it’s as far away as China, right?) and a way to see pictures. Well as I started writing about our home and our pets, I really started to enjoy sharing stories about ourselves and our lives as newlyweds. So it was never intended to be my blog per se, Cale even used to have a “Cale’s Thoughts” area that remained blank until I finally removed it. So now it is Those Corwins as told by Steph Corwin, and you’ll just have to live with it.

I’ve seen several other bloggers commemorate their 100th post with the 100 things about Me. But because this blog isn’t just about me, I’m going to split it up. 33 about me, 33 about Cale, 33 about us and our little family together, and one bonus. Here it goes:

Steph
1. I’m just slightly a perfectionist. Slightly.
2. I only eat chicken and fish meatwise.
3. Always thought about becoming a vegetarian, but to be honest, am too lazy to organize my eating habits enough to plan my nutrition accordingly.
4. My eyes are light blue, and I have been told they are “piercing.” Though the person who told me that was super afraid of me because of it.
5. I hate when people chew gum and haven’t for years (I’m talking YEARS) but recently started occasionally chewing when I’m super-stressed. Cale says I “get an attitude” when I chew gum.
6. I also don’t drink soda, unless Cale gets a coke then sometimes I take a few sips of it.
7. I drink my coffee and tea unsweetened.
8. I used to have a pretty garden until I had no time to water it.
9. Some of the plants are still hanging on for dear life.
10. My idea of a good time is a Saturday where I can listen to loud music while I clean the house until it’s spotless.
11. People say I always look like someone but can’t think who. Then for a while, I used to get Izzie from Grey’s Anatomy while I had lighter hair, and then Pam from the Office when my hair is curly. Then Morgan claims Renee Zellweger, but I’m praying that it’s not the chubby Bridget Jones version, though right now I’m sure it is.
12. Prior to this blog, I used to channel my creativity into making myself new myspace layouts. Often.
13. I’m only 5′3″ People are always shocked when I wear flats because I’m all of a sudden really short.
14. My grandma always tells the story about when I was little and helped her find our house when we were lost. I wonder what happened to that sense of direction? Because now I am always getting lost. We’ve lived here a year and I still barely know my way around.
15. Though it wasn’t until my senior year in college before I finally got the hang of Fresno.
16. I really love breakfast food. I will order it anywhere that serves it. Eggs = yum.
17. I get a sick joy out of finding misspellings in public writing. Signs, published books, news articles. It makes my day.
18. And I hate myself when I read something I wrote later on and see a misspelling or grammar error. I should proof-read things better.
19. I took a wine tasting class in college; those were the best Tuesday nights ever.
20. I have a birth mark on my arm that I swear looks like Africa. Cale says no way.
21. I have a very obsessive personality. I will go through phases of favorite foods, TV shows, etc. and wear them out until I can’t stand them.
22. I prefer bar soap in the shower, unless it’s Philosophy body wash.
23. I don’t own a label maker, but I’ve always wanted one.
24. One of my earliest memories is getting a jelly bracelet taken away from me during preschool because I was playing with it instead of paying attention.
25. Some of my most vivid memories are the few times I got in trouble by people other than my parents. That was always very traumatic for me.
26. Another vivid memory I have is the feeling and texture of my great-grandfather’s buzzed hair.
27. I hate popcorn. With a passion. The smell, the noise, getting kernels stuck in my teeth, and the massacre it does on my tummy if I eat it.
28. If my nails are chipped or unkempt, you know that I am really busy. Because that is something I always try to make time for.
29. I was valedictorian of my high school. I grew up being “the smart one,” “the goody-goody,” and “the overachiever.” Which I would never take back, but sometimes I like to pretend I’m not and see how it changes the way people treat me.
30. I’ve finally replaced chapstick with lip gloss. How girly of me.
31. Sometimes I am a complete sucker for marketing campaigns. Still waiting for my armpits to be pretty.
32. I tend to look at everything through rose-colored glasses. My world is a happy little bubble, and I get seriously disturbed when someone tries to burst it.
33. I pop my toes. and my knuckles. and my ankles. and my wrists. and my elbows. and my knees. and my back. and my neck. and my hips. and my feet sometimes too.

Cale:

34. I don’t worry about much.
35. I eat just about everything, but broccoli and tomatoes less often.
36. I play a smooth 8 from 140 yards out.
37. I have no idea what color my eyes are, and nobody can ever give me a straight answer.
38. My sense of humor allows me to laugh at just about anything.
39. I don’t drink soda either, unless Steph asks for a coke, then sometimes I get a few sips of it.
40. I only drink coffee in frappuccino form.
41. My love of dogs has faded along with the green from our lawn.
42. The grass is still hanging on for dear life.
43. I’m going to see the new Batman movie, it looks pretty good..
44. I don’t watch TV anymore; interactive entertainment (read: gaming) is a different story.
45. I enjoy reading well written books, and poorly written masterpieces.
46. I’ve tried beers from around the world yet my favorite is a microbrew Porter from this place in Sunnyvale.
47. I was a very cynical youngster.
48. I watched Pokemon before it was cool.
49. My philosophy for life is constantly evolving.
50. I have a horrible work ethic; it comes in hot streaks and disappears in an instant.
51. The one thing I miss watching is the golf channel.
52. I learn more about whats going in my life through this blog than most people realize.
53. My realism works to counterbalance Stephanie’s idealism.
54. It’s hard for me to believe that anyone could have read this far into my boring about me, but that’s just the cynic in me.
55. I worked at Chipotle for 3 years and still can’t get enough.
56. I didn’t think I could come up with 33 things about me.
57. Every time I tell someone my major I have to rationalize my decision for them, which really fits if you think about it.
58. I might start my own blog, but first I would need something to write about.
59. The vast majority of my day is spent on a computer.
60. I support the inclusion of golf as an Olympic sport.
61. I’m not very shy about sharing my opinions, and love it when someone with a differing view shares their reasons.
62. I despise dogmatism.
63. Tiger is not my favorite player, but I do admire his skill.
64. I let waitresses at restaurants make suggestions, I figure they know better than any guess I could piece together by reading the menu.
65. Besides the dishes I do everything for the dogs, everything.
66. It took me an entire evening to get this list together.

Us:

67. I always assume I can do something, even if it’s way out of my league. So Cale’s new catchphrase is “I don’t think that’s gonna work.”
68. Our favorite meal to make at home is a taco salad.
69. We go through phases of our favorite activities.
70. There was the ice cream phase. Not exactly healthy.
71. There was the Scene it on 360 phase. Now that was fun.
72. Right now it’s the get through Steph’s test so then we can have fun phase.
73. We love to be lazy together. Or be productive together. Basically we feed off each other.
74. We shop together. Not like that crazy couple on Real Housewives of NY. But yeah. No clothes shopping alone.
75. Cale does the dishes, I do the laundry.
76. We love sushi, Cale gets as many maki rolls as he can, and I stick with nigeri or sashimi with lots of wasabi.
77. We both played soccer in high school. And after a soccer game we ran into each other at the local Sonic Drive-in. And hid from each other. Because that was during our broken up stage. We were mature.
78. Cale and I dated without officially “going out” for a few months. Then Cale finally “asked me out” on Halloween. So for five years, Halloween was our anniversary. Good thing we got married so we now have a new anniversary.
79. We like to go to the races at Speedway in Bakersfield to watch Cale’s dad race and to eat hot dogs and drink beer. In lawn chairs.
80. We do not own a microwave. Our little cottage’s electricity cannot handle one apparently. We really don’t miss having one.
81. We don’t have a dish washer either. We do miss that.
82. We don’t trust our garbage truck that claims it separates recyclables after it takes our trash, so we take our recycling ourselves.
83. Our dogs sleep in bed with us. And sometimes the cat too. It gets crowded.
84. When we were first dating we went to Starbucks a lot. All those carmel frappuccinos did bad things to my waistline.
85. While we lived in Fresno our favorite thing to do was go hit balls at Hank’s Swank and then grab a Hot n Ready pizza on the way home. Don’t forget the crazy bread combo!
86. We love eating at Chipotle; even though Cale used to work there for years, we could never get tired of it. We just miss being able to get it for free.
87. Our favorite snacks are cheese sticks and crackers.
88. Our favorite lazy activity is to watch movies.
89. Our new activity is to go hike up into the regional park near our house. We love feeling so small in the huge space around us.
90. Space is very limited in our little house. We really don’t have a lot of things consequently.
91. All our stemware from our wedding is even still at my mom’s house.
92. Our favorite show to watch is The Office, followed by Heroes whenever it is on, and then Jon & Kate Plus Eight.
93. We try to be as environmentally conscious as possible: all our lights are CFLs, we use cloth napkins, and we buy green products as much as possible, among other things.
94. I have the left side of the closet, and Cale has the right. I only crowd his side a little bit..
95. Sometimes when we are bored, we go for a nighttime drive to see how many deer we see.
96. We are both oldest children.
97. And we each have all the typical characteristics: stubborn, know-it-all, and bossy.
98. At least we understand each other.
99. Oh yeah and we love each other a lot.

Bonus:

100. One of us has really stinky feet. You can make your own assumptions about who that is. (if you guessed Cale you were wrong)

So here is to a new year. Hopefully one filled with more than one hundred posts. And full of love and laughter. All for your reading pleasure. Now how about for a little “What What!” from all you readers because I know there are lurkers out there: parents, family, parents’ friends, etc. How many of you all have stuck around for this year? And my new friends that I’ve made through this journey of blogging. Thank you all. For entertaining, for advising, and for just reading.

P.S. You people on Google Reader, click on the entry and check out the new look around here. And get yourselves some avatars! I want to see your pretty faces next to your comments! It takes like .5 minutes. Gosh did I mention above that I tend to be bossy? I do and I apologize..

Tags: About Those Corwins, Blog Stuff

I have been tracking my stats with google analytics for a few months now, starting after Ashley posted the crazy keywords that led people to her blog. And the day after I signed up I gleefully signed in to see what crazy things were leading people to my blog. Nothing. Then I thought well it must be broken. So I searched for Those Corwins and bam there we were. Sweet! So the next day I signed in to check and there was my one search. And that’s it. And so it went for months, and I saw so many other bloggers discuss their crazy keywords.. and yes I was a tad jealous. Were my posts so mundane? Did I need to work on my SEO to catch these crazy google searchers?

Well hellllllo people I have gathered quite a list of keyword searches. And here they are for your reading pleasure:

bridal shower dress: Well yes I had a very cute one. Please don’t copy it kthxbye.
buying motor homes: Yes I may even have to start searching for my own double wide. Preferably in Fremont in a senior community. Let’s face it: the bay area is too expensive!
shepherds hook fall arrest: I really really don’t know. Other than my pool safety entry, but the fall arrest?
steph corwins: Not quite my name. I guess that’s confusing. See I’m Steph Corwin. Together Cale and I are two Corwins. See the plural and singular. Though you visited a whole thirteen pages. Hope you enjoyed your stay.
“failed opening” inurl:”tag”: Why were you googling that? And do I have that error?
“janet yi” blog: Well Janet Yi is my childhood bestest friend/swim co-captain/practically sister.. Looking for her? If you’re not stalking and just want to see how she is, let me know.
spray paint can hurts fingers: Yes it does! And I’m sure your search led you here. I doubt it stopped your finger from hurting. But I hope it cheered you up a little bit.
“toe cleavage”: Yes I think we beat that topic to death. The post with the most comments I’ve ever gotten. Sad? Are you readers all so starved for entertainment that a little toe cleavage discussion is all you need?
baby eating silhouette: Um. Scared. Morgan go hide.

Tags: Blog Stuff