What's in a name?

What's in a name? This is not something I have given a lot of thought to in the past, but considering the activities of the last couple of months, it has been in the forefront of my mind.

I was born Carrie Grace Sharoff, grew up this way, graduated high school and college this way, got my PhD this way. I never thought I would change it, but once I met and married Chris McLean, I knew instantly that once we were married, I wanted to have the same last name as him (lucky for both of us he did not have a weird last name). Not really totally sure what to do about my body of scientific work,  I decided to keep Sharoff for science and McLean for everything else. . . we will see how this works out!

This past weekend, Chris and I traveled to Michigan for Chris's brother's wedding.

We had a great time bopping around MI, spending time in Ann Arbor and East-Lancing, and meeting/spending time with family. This weekend I got to really test-drive a ton of new names, and I loved them all!

I got introduced countless times as "Chris's wife". Loved it.

I got introduced as sister-in-law for the first time. Loved it. (crap, no photos of my new sister-in-laws, must do better photo journaling next time!)

Most notably though, I got to be called "Aunt Carrie" by my 5 new nieces/nephews. I particularly loved this one.

"Aunt Carrie, watch me jump in". Ok!

"Aunt Carrie, take my picture". Ok!    Call me Aunt Carrie, you get your way instantly!

"Aunt Carrie, take our picture with Uncle Chris".  Ok, twist my rubber arm.

I remember how much I coveted the attention of my Aunts and Uncles at those ages.   I am happy we were in the same position and able to spend some quality time with them.  I particularly loved when Toby asked me what I did for a living and I told him I was a scientist.  His next question was, "have you ever blown anything up?".  After a long pause I said "no", but I instantly realized there is still plenty of time for that!

We also got to met our nephew Count.  He is adorable and full of love.

We enjoyed taking Count for a run and wandering through the grass and trees.  We also introduced him to the playground.  Yes, we are crazy.

We had a fabulous long weekend.  We enjoyed great coffee, time with friends and family, and wonderful moist cool(ish) air.  Coming back to Arizona was hard.  Luckily we have wonderful animal to come home to.

Stay classy San Diego

Chris and I decided to escape the heat in PHX and take the family to San Diego for a few days. We came home from work on Friday, packed up ourselves, the dogs and Dodge (yes Dodge came too), jumped in the truck and drove the 6 hours to SD. We got in late but we were happy that we were going to be able to get up and see the Pacific Ocean in the morning.

On Saturday morning we found a suitable place to introduce the dogs to ocean water. We chose Mission Bay because we figured the waves would be small and we would be able to see how the dogs like the Pacific. Everything about the experience was perfect. It was cool (bordering on cold for this thin blooded AZ girl), overcast, and not crowded. Rocco is a champion swimmer so we were sure he would love the water. Adriane, however, is a little timid around water so we were unsure if she would like it. But really, what is not to love?!

The animals played tugs and fetch for hours, it was great!

We also got to experience the finer things that are not available in AZ like Pete's Coffee (note the hot coffee, not iced, another vacation treat!!)

The next day, everyone was ready to step up their game and try the ocean.

There were hours and hours of tosses and romps in the waves. We brought out the big guns (aka high class dog toys) for such adventures.

Rocco was in love with the waves. He even learned to body surf!

Adriane, on the other hand, was a little freaked out by the waves. By the end, this was her version of water play:







All in all, it was a wonderful and fun beach trip.

Walking around town, we realized that our pups were dressed in 80's attire. Nothing wrong with a retro look!



Chris and I recharged our batteries and where happy to relax. (google, please create a "fix my hair" button, thanks.)


Everyone is exhausted, we will sleep well tonight.



Oh, you were probably wondering. . . yes, Dodge liked the ocean too!