I've joined Facebook!

Just to let you all know when you check this blog, I am now on Facebook, which I absolutely LOVE! I will continue to up-date my blog and keep it current, about once a month unless there is something news worthy going on. I will do my best to check my Facebook at least once a day, so that will be the better way to contact me for now.

To those of you who have been confused by Ari returning to Colorado to work for the up coming festival; it's just that. We are only going to be there for one week during a festival when the police department needs extra help. Ari is certified as a police officer in the state of Colorado for three years after his last day of work, so technically, he is still a cop even though he hasn't been working as one for the past several months. We will be coming back to Cali and returning to our routine here once the week is over. Since Ari's brother shares the house with us, he is taking care of Mokee for us while we are gone, so I don't have to worry about the house or my Kitty! : )

Well, I guess that about covers it...did I mention how much I am loving Facebook? If you haven't signed up for it yet, what are you waiting for!?! It is WAAAAY easy, it walks you through like three steps and you're good to go. Give it a try, what have you got to lose? : )

As always, lots of love,
~the eddy's

Whew! Where Do I Begin!?!

Life has completely gotten away from me these last couple of months! Let's see... Um, well I don't quite know what I did, but I hurt my back and was having a difficult time simply walking, so I had to take some "sick leave" with work...thank God that Ari's mom Alice is so understanding and gracious because the some sick leave has turned into over a month! I had to have an epidural of cortisone two weeks ago on this next Monday. : ( Ouch! An epidural, (at least for me) is a spinal cord injection of a strong anti-inflammatory. For this procedure, the doctor has to put me to sleep using what's called "twilight sedation," which just means that I am completely out, but they keep me just "out" enough that I can continue to breathe with out having to be intibated, (no tube down my throat.) Any way, the procedure took about an hour, and then once I was awake enough, Ari took me home where I recovered with bed rest for the first day or two and then slowly eased back into normality. I am still in a fair amount of pain, so I still haven't returned to work! I feel like I'm going to go crazy!!! It is really hard for me to sit still and stuff. Plus, I feel really badly about not working because Alice definitely needs my help at the restaurant. She has been so graciously understanding, I am extremely grateful to her for that. Ari has been taking very good care of me and making sure that I don't over do it around here. God bless him! He has been going to school and taking care of everything around the house too! I am a very blessed and lucky girl. : )

Otherwise life has been busy and stressful. Sharing our home with Ari's little brother is forever challenging, to say the least...basically it completely sucks. I don't want to say too much...to be careful who might read this, and to keep from sinning! : ( Bottom line is that we are constantly having to draw our boundery lines and continuely hold people to them. This becomes very frustrating and tiresome. Tension seems to be thick around our house on a regularly, and that is exhausting. I am extremely glad that Ari is only going to be in school for this one year, and he will be graduating the end of October! As soon as we are financially able, we are going to get a place of our own. It looks like we will be here in L.A. for another year or so, until Ari has regular work in the film industry, and then, God willing we will move back to Colorado or to Washington, where ever God opens the door. It seems like we will always need to keep a small apartment here in L.A. so that we have a place to stay as Ari's work requires. Ultimately we would really love to purchase a home in the Camas/Washougal area, it's just always going to be home to both of us, and it is where we want to raise our children, etc... It is really quite strange to be in such a mercurial place at this point in our lives...we ernestly thought that we would be settled in to our own house with at least one kid and living a "normal" life for all intents and purposes. God has led us on this crazy adventure instead, so we are holding on tightly and doing our best to enjoy the journey, and all that! (what-what!) : ) I must admit that the weather is phenominal and we have thoroughly enjoyed living so close to Disneyland and the Ocean!!! We live just two or three miles from the beach and about a 30 minute drive from Disneyland - where we hold a year-round premium pass! We have quite honestly visited both parks, the CA Adventure and Disneyland proper an average of three times a month since moving here.

Looking ahead - This next week we are flying back to Colorado for Ari to work one of Telluride's festivals for his old department and so that I can visit my friends and family. I quite eagerly looking forward to seeing my mom and my sister! I get to stay with Jess and her husband for most of the week, I think that I will only get to spend one night up in T-ride. Ari is looking forward to "being a cop again." : ) It must be extrordinarilly strange to go from being a "civilian" to being a police officer for a week and then back again. This has been the longest period of time that I have ever gone with out seeing my mom and my sister - over eight months. : ( It has been a really hard and very lonely time for us all, one week just isn't enough!

O.k., I'm just going to put this out there for all of our friends and family: You are all welcome to come and stay with us in our home if you would like a Californian vacation...remember that we are mere minutes from the gorgeous Pacific Ocean, Universal Studios AND Disneyland!!! We have a spare bed room that is just waiting to be filled! : ) (and that part about it being tense around here, well, it's not THAT bad, I don't think any one else would really notice.) :>)

Well, I think that about covers it as far as up-dates go...I will do my best to keep you all in the loop when there is anything news worthy.

Love to you all,

~the Eddy's

Happy Greek Easter!

Hi everybody! How are you all...I know it's been forever since I've bogged, again! Life is extremely busy just with the day to day stuff, work, Ari's school, etc... So, Greeks, at least the Orthadox Greeks, celebrate Easter a week later than traditional Christians so Ari and I got to celebrate two this year! This picture is us over at Ari's Mom's house where she threw a huge bash for every one. Here is Ari's cousin Ari...yes, they have the same name, but totally different personalities. ( I got the good one!) Then, from left to right, Agape, a family friend, Veta, Ari's Aunt, (my Ari's, cousin Ari's mom.) and then a friend of the fam whose name I don't know. At all the parties, they always end up dancing! It's really fun to watch and occasionally get dragged into...they have even danced on table tops when they are feeling crazy! : ) It's a Greek and middle eastern thing, but it sure makes a party a lot more fun!

This is Amar, my brother-in-law and his girl friend, Grecia trying to stay warm after the sun went down.

Our Friends are Coming!!! Our Friends are Coming!!!

Hello All! Ari and I are doing great, just working and going to school and enjoying the California sunshine! I actually sunbathed yesterday! : ) For the entire four years that we lived in Telluride, I never once layed out in the sun...I don't even think it ever got warm enough to want to! Needless to say, I absolutely loved it!

Our wonderful friends from Telluride are coming to spend a week with us for their Spring Break with their three children and I can hardly wait!!! Jay and Lisa are our very dear friends that we met while we lived in Telluride. They moved up there in 2006 when Jay had got hired at the Telluride Marshal's Dept. as a deputy with Ari. The first time we met we totally hit it off! They are near our age and they've been married since they were 19! They are Christians and they have three really great kids. Lisa is one of me best friends, she is wonderfully loyal and sincere and she is just plain fun to hang out with! Lord knows how desperately I needed a friend while we lived up there, and He brought me a wonderful one in Lisa! : ) They will be here on Wednesday the 8th and staying until the following Monday. Ari and I are going to take them all over. Of course we are going to Disneyland, to the Zoo, to the beach, shopping at one of the World's larges malls, to down town Hollywood to see the "Walk Of Fame" with all of the stars on the sidewalks and the world famous Groman's Chinese Theater, aka the Kodak Theater. That is the place where the Oscar's are held each year. Ari is even going to drive them all of the way up to the giant white Hollywood sign up in the Hollywood hills!

In other news, Ari is excited about this segment of school because they are specifically studying directing, which is his ultimate goal for future employment, etc... I am so unbelievably proud of my Husband for being brave enough to follow his dream! I knew that he was talented enough to bank our future on him working in the field of directing after he finishes school, but now that I've gotten to see him in action I am really blown away at how amazingly talented he truly is! He amazes me daily with new story ideas and he is very gifted in writing the dialog into the screenplay. Personally, I would find the writing of dialog to be near impossible, what with all the back and forth conversations...trying to set the proper tone for the scene, trying to make it funny or serious, or sad or scary...I would be at a complete loss. And Ari isn't just capable of writing, he is really GOOD at it! I am so impressed and proud! Besides Ari being a great student, he is also such an amazing husband! I really am blessed and fortunate to have him as my Husband and my Best friend.

I am working four days a week at Aliki's Greek Taverna...no it's not a tavern, we don't sell any alcohol, it's just Greek for diner. I have found that I really love meeting all of the customers and getting to know the "regulars." It has been a good thing to have something to do after all of these years being a house wife! : ) (I have been wonderfully spoiled!) Quite honestly, I cannot wait until Ari is out of school and I won't have to work any more! : ) I feel terrible admitting that, but it's the truth!

Say, I just remembered something that I wanted to blog about! Ari and I went for a walk along the beach this last Sunday and to our amazement and great joy, we got to watch a pod of dolphins fishing and playing right out in front of us for over an hour! They gave us a wonderful show jumping and leaping and having so much fun with one another. I wanted to go out and swim with them so badly! There were probably between 12 to 18 of them romping around out in the surf! It was awesome to watch them do these jumps in tandem, perfectly matched as though they'd choreographed a show just for us! It was incredible, I could hardly tear myself away from it when we had to leave.

Well, that just about catches us up for the time being. We love and miss all of you.

Ari and Kristen



P.S. Please Pray!!!

For those of you who know my Uncle Scotty, he isn't doing well at all. He has cut off all of his friends and family, not answering or returning phone calls, etc... and he lost his job at Lowe's about four weeks ago. I have no idea if he is even alive right now because the doctors told him over a year ago that he would die if he drank at all, and he has been on a serious bender since February at the latest, probably before that. Please pray. The last time I spoke with him was four weeks ago. Thank you for your prayers for both he and I...my heart is very heavy and sad.

Here's the Restaurant!

I've had requests to see some pics of the restaurant and everyday life, etc... so that you can get a better idea of what it's like for us here in Los Angeles. (Honestly, I still cannot believe that I actually live in L.A.!!! Never in my life would I have ever thought that I would live here...any where but here!) Any Hoo, this is the out side of Aliki's Greek Taverna, it's located right near Los Angeles Intl. Airport.

This is the inside, it's shaped like and "L", so this is the long part. : )

This is what you see right when you walk in the door...well, this and my smiling face! : )

Alice and Ari hanging out at the "family table." Strangely, some times people ask if they can sit at our table, which is a little weird to me, especially because the dining room is set up a little differently now and there is only the one table near the front so it's really obvious that it's not for the general populous.

The Restaurant Cont...

Antonio the Chef, he's quite a character! He has been a chef for Greek restaurants for over 20 years so he totally rocks!!! Every time a new customer comes in, they rave about the food and promise to tell all of their friends about our food...by the looks of it, they have been! We have more than doubled our daily business in the last month!!! It is becoming too much for one chef and one waitress to deal with, which is actually a real blessing since our Ari and I are financially supported by the work I do at the restaurant.

This is Lopez...he does EVERYTHING and he does it well, actually his nick name is the Professor because he knows exactly where every little thing is, how everything works and how to fix things when they don't work! He is one of the hardest working people that I have ever met. Lopez works all day long, sometimes seven days a week doing all of the behind the scenes work that allows the restaurant, the farmer's markets, the on-line olive oil shipping business and the catering to run smoothly and for us to be successful. Besides being a very hard worker, Lopez is a very kind and helpful person. I feel really lucky that I get to work with people that I genuinely like. : )

Antonio and I during a break in the action! : ) Some days it is so horribly busy that I am actually RUNNING to get people their orders, etc...because it's usually just Antonio doing all of the cooking and me doing all of the hostessing/waitressing. I don't know how he manages because he works mon-sat 11 a.m. to 1o p.m. and he is the only Chef we have! At least Alice and I can take turns and give each other days off here and there.

We usually grab a quick meal between the lunch rush and the dinner crowd at the "family table" up near the cash register. Lupe' is the one in the middle, she does a lot of the behind the scenes work to help with the food preparation for the farmer's markets and she has been entrusted with a few of Alice's secret recipes for some of our "specials" we serve in the restaurant. : ) (Seriously, I don't even know any of the family secret recipes yet! Alice keeps telling me that she wants to teach me a few...we'll see.)

Happy Birthday Alice!

We closed the resaurant for the night and had a very fun time at Alice's (Ari's Mom) birthday bash!!!

From L to R; Grecia-Amar's girlfriend, her little sister Leni, Alice, Amar and our step-neice Jazmine.

Alice and her boys

Ari, Alice and me...I know that I look like a bit of a freak here, I was actually in the middle of a laugh...check out all of my teeth!!! : )