BYU Graduation

I can't believe I graduated a year ago! Right now I was finishing up my last set of finals as an undergrad...

Ok. So this picture isn't from a year ago, but for a good reason. First, there is no winter graduation at BYU.(These pictures were taken in May when we went back up to Utah for Bry & Katlyn's wedding. Luckily my cute husband still had his cap and gown from summer graduation.) Second, I was rushing home so I could do this:

Regardless, I can't believe it has been a year. I actually kind of miss BYU and really learning valuable things! I don't miss finals or homework though!

Christmas is in the House

Last week I was helping set up for the ward Christmas party and we found TONS of decorations under the stage at church. We had 4 different trees, but all of them were missing something. They were going to throw away this tree because it wasn't very big and the stand was missing. However, I decided to take it home to Christmafy our apartment. It was great because we didn't want to buy a tree to fit our very tiny space because later we would have to buy a bigger one, and we aren't going to be home around Christmas anyway. However, I still really wanted one. So this was perfect! I got a bunch of lights and ornaments they were throwing away too! So Merry Christmas to us!

The best part was that I didn't tell Jeff I had got it. I was planning on setting it up while he was at school, but scheduling didn't work out. I couldn't take it any more so I made him go in the bathroom to get ready and told him he couldn't come out til I said so. It was great. He was super surprised and even happier when I told him I got it all for FREE!

Christmas Party Weekend

Well this weekend was quite busy with 3 Christmas parties, but it was a lot of fun too!

Friday night we had the Drayson Center Christmas Party.  It was a formal event where they had a nice dinner and a group performed the story of Jesus' birth with some beautiful songs. They also had an acapella group {that one of the dentists from my office was in and I had no idea!} sing a Christmas arrangement.  It was very nice but I wasn't able to get any pictures from the event.

We left that party early to make it to our church Christmas party.  The theme was "Christmas in Nauvoo".  They had the gym set up like a town square with a bunch of different stations.  There was story-time with Emma, a bakery, post office to write missionaries letters, pioneer games, tin shop to make ornaments, edible bricks, and a cool rubber band gun game. Everyone had a great time and of course we had great cobbler for dessert!

Saturday was my office Christmas party!  Our boss has been planning it for awhile but decided to keep it a secret from us.  She texted us the night before to tell us what to wear: exercise clothes and stuff to freshen up for dinner.  All of us girls met at one house and she texted us the address at noon and we had to be there by 12:30.  We pull up and see her Pilates studio.  We had a private session with the trainer that was so much fun.  I actually got to do it for 2 hours because we had to go in 2 groups because there weren't enough machines {see pictures below}.  It was a great workout and I want to go back! After that she sent us to Kelly's Spa at the Mission Inn in Riverside.  They made us drinks and let us sit in the "relaxation room" for a bit and then we all got 50 minute massages.  The best massage I have ever had!  We got ready from there and had dinner at Mario's Place across the street, where our spouses met us and we met up with the dentists.  We had a great 4 course meal that included huge steaks!  After, we all walked around the Mission Inn to see the pretty Christmas lights.  It was so much fun! Great weekend to get us in the Christmas Spirit.

Thanksgiving

My parents and my brother came to our house for Thanksgiving.  We ended up driving down to San Diego on Wednesday and went to this random Watershed Visitor Center in hopes of learning about Tijuana. We got a few good tips and headed that way.  We parked on the America side and walked across the border for some great shopping.  (Come to find out later it is super dangerous in the border cities right now and lots of people have been killed...oops. Everyone was nice to us.) On Thanksgiving, we rented Segways and rode them up and down Mission Beach.  So much fun! We decided to stop and play tag in a park at one point and while I was driving away from Dave, I somehow hit a bump and totally wiped out.  (You aren't supposed to go over anything that is taller than an inch). Not only was my butt bruised, but so was my ego as a bystander informed me that it made his day.  No worries, because later Dave was trying to see how fast he could make his go and my mother decided to stop in the middle of the sidewalk.  Dave was looking down at the speedometer and ran straight into her and he flew off his onto the cement.  My mom's and mine had a couple wobbly wheels after those accidents, but still a great experience.  We drove up through Carlsbad on the way home (to see where I would have been if I hadn't got married to the greatest guy every).  We ate our Thanksgiving dinner at TGIFridays and then played some cards when we got home.  Friday we went to Six Flags and had great weather and few lines! Dave even admitted to riding unique rides that he liked! Success. We got to stop at this neighborhood called Thoroughbred on the way home that is known for its extravagant Christmas lights. Saturday was a bunch of shopping while Dave did homework.  Sunday was my mom's birthday so we made her breakfast, went to church, had delicious homemade vegetable soup, put pictures up on my walls (finally), and played some more cards. My parents got up really early Monday morning and headed home.  It was a great week and we got a lot done!

Jay Leno

A couple weeks ago my friend Erika found out she got tickets to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.  We have been trying to get tickets to all the shows taped out here since they are free and this was our first lucky find.  Jeff and Erika's husband, Drew came with us. (It was actually really hard to convince Jeff to go because he had to miss the Tofurkey bowl for his school where all the dental classes play football against each other.  Jeff was their quarterback last year and had helped them win.  They weren't real happen when they found out he was going with me instead...) Anyway, we get to Burbank around 2pm.  We ask the lady directing people where we needed to go to pick up our reserved tickets and she told us to go to Guest Relations.  We get there and the guy tells us he will call off people's names at 2:45, so we just hung out.  Close to 3 they finally have the list and we get to the front of the line and the guy says we aren't on the list.  He said we were supposed to be outside in the line we had passed earlier.  I was a little angry and told him he should have told us that an hour ago when we walked in! We go around to the front of the studio and the line is gone.  We get to the gate and tell this girl that we have reserved tickets somewhere and need to get them.  She also tells us that our names are not on the list and that she can't let us in without tickets.  She asked if we had a confirmation email, but Erika's printer wasn't working, so we didn't have it.  She asked if we could pull it up on our phone but Erika couldn't find the email. So we were basically out of luck.  The girl asked her supervisor what to do and the lady was in a hurry so she told her just to give us the "guaranteed tickets".  So we get put in this line of about 25 people and notice these two huge lines of people in another area.  We had no idea if they got in first or if we did. Luckily, we did and after all of that we had an awesome time.  Jay was super funny and it was a unique experience.  The guests were Jim Parsons, Meghan McCain, and Tom Morello with Ben Harper.  Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but here are a few from outside:

Halloween & The Party Rock House

Jeff didn't think the picture I posted from Halloween showed his costume well enough.... So here is a better one of him.  Notice the graphing calculator and every type of pen in his pocket. 

Also, on Halloween Eve we decided to go to this house that has been all over the news for having Halloween lights synced with music.  What better night than the night before Halloween? Wrong.  This house is in Riverside, so we left a little early because we figured it would be crowded {understatement} and the guy only plays the music for 30 minutes a night, so we didn't want to miss it.  We parked like a mile away and started walking in the general direction of the house and were met with a huge crowd.  We couldn't even see the house.  We started hearing "rumors" that the band LMFAO was there filming because the house plays their song.  We also heard they were filming a Kia commercial.  Come to find out (an hour later when the music never started), that both were correct. We eventually got close enough to see the house and the band driving a Kia car back and forth.  However, we never got to see the house actually play the music and dancing lights.  Here are a few pictures from the night:

You can see the Kia car in the drive way and the giant light floating above.

At least there were a few good houses decorated along the walk back to the car.

Newlywed Review

So I have been meaning to start this blog since we got married... I finally sat down and had my friend Erika show me how to make it look presentable.  And here it is.  So as my first real post, I will do a quick overview of the last 10 months:

We got married December 18, 2010.

Honeymoon in the Bahamas!

We got to go on a yacht around Newport Harbor with all the  LDS Dental Students.

The twins & Michael came to visit! Jeff got to take them to Six Flags and some other fun places.

We went to a Dodger's game. Nose bleed seats explains their happy faces. hah

We went to Santa Barbara with some of our friends! Had a bonfire on the beach the first night.

Went on a sweet bike ride around the town.  Me and Jeff got to ride tandem!

These are our good friends the VanWickles and the Nelsons at the Santa Barbara Pier.

We went to Zion's National Park with some of our friends from BYU.  

We hiked the Narrows!! So much fun.

We went to an Angel's game, but really it was because they were playing the Mariners.

Trevor came to visit when he got home from his mission!

We got to go flying in Doug & MaryLou's plane.

I got to fly for a little bit of it!!

I went to Girls Camp with my ward.

A bunch of my girl friends and I did a "mud run".

A bunch of the dental boys and their families for Halloween at the Trunk r' Treat.

We figured we could wear our regular clothes for Halloween...

 Sorry it was so long, but we have had a great 10 months!! Hopefully I will stay on top of this and the posts won't have to cover so much time! Until next time...