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An update on the 101 in 1001 list:

066 - Go wine tasting in the Bay Area.
On Friday, I met up with RV in Livermore to visit the Wente Vineyards. I’d tried a few of their bottles before, so it was fun to go out there and check out the place. Unfortunately, it was rainy, so it was a little gloomy out. Didn’t take as many pictures as I’d originally intended. We spent most of our time in the Estate Tasting Room, trying two of the three flights they offered for the day.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I really like a light cab. Syrah and Merlot aren’t my kinds of wine. After hanging out at the Estate Tasting Room, RV also drove me up to the Vineyard Tasting Room to check out the scenery. From the car. I’m not about to slosh around without rain boots [still on my list - $28 at Marc by Marc Jacobs]!

Another one off the list!

It almost seems like I’ve worked on my list left and right. I don’t mind it at all. I’ve shared with RV a few of the items on the list, so he’s helping me out with them.

See here: The Top 500 Passwords of All Time. If you are using any of these passwords, change it immediately!

Just passing along the message.

I’m clinging to RV like static these days. Must make the effort on NOT being like that. Working a billion hours will help. He’s also going to be taking classes again soon, so our time together will be limited. I’m wondering if the clingyness is due to: 1) insecurity or 2) enjoying all time spent together. Might be both.

Will discuss further if it becomes an issue.

In other news, I just came back from a trip up to visit his father for the holidays. It was a 2.5 hour drive away to middle-of-nowhere California. An interesting man with a very quirky personality. I can see now what characteristics that RV gets from both of his parents.

An update on the 101 in 1001 list:

092 - Visit Hearst Castle.
So I already crossed this one off the list, but I wanted to put up the photos taken during the visit. Of course I brought the camera! So far, in the last few weeks, I’ve had better luck with working on #32. Got some use out of it on the drive down to LA/OC and back up.

032 - Go on a photo excursion at least once every two months with the Nikon D40.

Other Hearst Castle + Drive photos: here.

No MacBook ownership would be complete without some ridiculous Photo Booth photos. Here are a few of RV and me, just messing around with the various settings:

Oh, I finally made it! It’s New Year’s Eve, and I have an entry for every single day of this year. Congratulations to me!

*pat self on back*

*removes the link*

I have some cooking ahead of me today. In fact, water is boiling as I type this. RV loves having people over, so what better way to start the NYE evening than with dinner and friends. We have a ton of stuff on the menu, so while he’s out shopping for the rest of the ingredients, I’m getting some stuff done too.

It has been a fast year. That’s really all I can say about it. One of the toughest in terms of work, but everything else seemed to fall into place rather nicely. I passed two of the four exams. Two to go. Jaw surgery is going to happen in 2009. Seems like I’m moving full speed ahead.

Made some great friends who are there for me and always up to doing just about whatever. I remember how I used to look for that. Well, found it! It was an extremely fun summer that I tried to keep going through the fall and winter, despite how busy our schedules got. I told myself that I’d put myself out there and date in 2008. I did that. In fact, I signed up for some online dating site that a bunch of my friends ended up signing up for too. Kinda neat time in our lives. A new experience. Dated a guy for a little bit, but then I met RV, and a relationship sorta just sprung up out of the blue.

My 101 in 1001 is back in full force! I’m crossing things off here and there. I hope the economy improves, but I’m not counting on it. Just gotta learn to save and make do with what we’ve got.

Alright, back to cooking!

An update on the 101 in 1001 list:

092 - Visit Hearst Castle.
Crossing this one off the list! RV and I visited Hearst Castle on our way up from Southern California. Rather than stop by on our way down, we decided to squeeze this into the latter half of the trip. Actually, the morning after Christmas, we tried to reserve two spots online for Saturday afternoon. There were two spots open, so we were about to reserve that. However, to make reservations, you have to create an account and log into the site first. By the time we had that all set up, the two spaces were gone! What are the chances of that!?!

So we were both a bit disappointed. We could either reserve an early morning slot or wait until Sunday. Waiting wasn’t really on our list, so we decided to leave LA early. We would stay in a motel or inn nearby the night before and just head over to Hearst Castle from there. Unfortunately, because we had late dinner with Carlos in Hollywood, we ended up not leaving LA until 10. The drive was quite long, and when we arrived in Morro Bay at 1am, we were stuck with very few options on where to stay - whatever was open. Meh. The place was alright, except the pipes weren’t clean, so the water was all gross and rusty.

We woke up bright and early the next morning to drive up to Hearst Castle. Our reservation was for 8:40, but since we arrived 15 minutes early, we were able to squeeze onto the tour group ahead of ours. Great views. Interesting tour guides. Freezing cold fingers. It was $20 well-spent. And now I can cross #92 off my list.

Not long after RV dropped the L-word on me, I was throwing it back at him. Sometimes it felt like the right moment to say it. I was probably using it more than he was. Things are going well. At the same time, I’m beginning to sense some hesitation within myself. I’m not quite sure how this is all turning out. I see him so often that I’m beginning to feel a little antsy. I think he sees it too. As much as we love spending time together, it just becomes that - coexisting, rather than experiencing something fresh and new. On the one hand, being able to be that comfortable with each other is very nice. But still, I like to keep things exciting. I know that things will be different when I’m working my butt off again and will have less time to spend with him, so for now, I’m enjoying all the time we can spend together.

We are spending this evening apart. We’ll see each other later tomorrow when we head to the De Young Museum.

Photos are from the day after Christmas. We watched the sunset over Los Angeles from Griffith Park.

Photos of the sky the day before Christmas Eve during our drive from LA County to Orange County.