SYTTYCD

So You Think That You Can Dance is on tour (anyone want to go see them with me?). Have you not missed these faces and dance moves??

Premium M&M's

I first heard about Premium M&M's on this blog and if you know me at all you know that I had to go buy some that night to try out. Okay, they were good but it made me wonder:

Are these chocolates for the sophisticated candy eater? Should I be ashamed to eat regular M&M's?

Thoughts??

Party Time

Doug started his first week of classes last week, he is way excited but exhausted. These first couple of weeks they have them there all day and there is not much down time. To cheer everyone up, the school had a carnival on Friday night and the families were invited, that included my parents that were in town. We met up with some friends and went to meet the hard working men. First things first, we ate. Then we got down to some serious business like bull riding. Here is a short video of all of us friends, including my mom at the end.



After the carnival and jumping on the blow up trampolines, we decided to go hang out at the 3rd street promenade. There was a man showing off his dancing skills and he decided to teach Doug and a couple other white guys how it was done. Have a look and tell me what you think.

Make New Friends but Keep the Old.....

It has been hard leaving all my friends in NYC and I love that we are continuing to keep in touch. I had breakfast with Kendra Smoot this morning and gave her an extra long hug goodbye knowing that I wont see her again for awhile. What has helped is meeting new friends like Heather. We bonded right away over watching Gossip Girl!! Her husband is in the same program as Doug so they will be busy studying while we are going about more important business like enjoying southern California. Yesterday we took out our bikes for a new ride to Venice Beach and enjoyed a little sun time. On the way back we saw something cool. A car had hit a fire hydrant and this was the after effect (pictured in the back). Here is to old and new friends and strange things always happening.

LA Fair

Trust me, you have not been to a fair until you go to the LA Fair.....it was huge. Doug and I went with Doug's mom, Katie last Friday. We had planned on going for just a couple hours but we ended up having so much fun, we stayed for eight hours. We did a lot of shopping and got some way cool things. We also:

Ate A LOT of food...you know the greasy, not so good for you but taste so good kind



Saw a lot of animals














Took fun pictures

Watch the pig races

Watched the horse races

Thanks Katie for such an eventful day and to Bruce's client for getting us free passes!!

Good friends make me happy

As reality is setting in and I know that I no longer live in NYC, but am now a California gal...my mood has been a little somber. To cheer me up a dear friend, Kendra Smoot, called while she was in town for work to have dinner. Doug and I jumped at the idea and took her out for a night on the town.


Also....another good friend, Josh Schmiesing, invited us out Friday night. Josh and I grew up together and we have been friend’s sense 7Th grade. He has lived here in California for about six years but is now moving to Washington. Not really good timing for us but I was excited to meet his new wife and to have Doug meet him as well.


I have been so blessed with such great friends and the thought of that truly makes me happy. If you have great friends, tell me about them.

San Francisco

Doug and I spent the day in San Francisco last week. I now know why everyone falls in love with the place, it was quite exciting.

We stopped and took pictures at the Golden Gate Bridge













Took a tour of Alcatraz















We also walked around Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square. We ate at Pier 39 and drove down the Lomcard Street. It was a great day.

Northern California

Doug and I were invited to go spend the week in Northern California with his cousin Curtis and his wife Tamara. Yep, her name is Tamara Hall and she happens to be the coolest chick around. We thought that we would go enjoy the week but we had no idea how nice it was going to be. We stayed at a place called Bodega Bay and all I have to say is "wow". It was just beautiful and we were right on the beach. Here is just some of the beauty:









We enjoyed some kayaking out to see the seals









Laying out and walking the beaches









Great food












And really enjoyed our time with Curtis and Tamara













It is going to be really hard to end this month and a half vacation.

For more pictures, click here.

Yum....Split Pea Soup

I am a huge fan of Split Pea Soup which is weird because I don't like vegetables, but I stopped trying to explain myself a long time ago. Doug and took a drive to Northern California last week and we were told that we had to stop at Andersen's Split Pea Soup Restaurant.

We were not disappointed.

Appreciation #16

It is when you leave great friends that you realize how much you really miss them and that you really never showed enough apprecaition for them.

This weeks appreciation goes out to the beautiful and talented Kendra Smoot. Kendra is one of a kind and amazing in every way. The first time that we ever met was at a Halloween party that her and her husband Seth where hosting. I was impressed with her right away. Her kindness is overflowing and her smile lights up a room. They were blessed with a beautiful little girl named Stella and I admire the way that Kendra works with her and has so much patience. I miss our walks through Fort Tyrant Park and Kendra just listening to whatever rant I chose to go off on that day. I can't even count the times that Kendra would show up to my house with an adorable wrapped gift just to cheer me up on a bad day. She always knew when I needed cheering up, even meeting me on the street when I got off the subway with really bad news. I just cried and she listened. For my birthday she decorated my whole apartment true to Martha Stewart's standards, we were all impressed and Doug thanks you as well. Kendra is a true friend and I strive to be more like her everyday.

Labor Day

We decided to stay in town for Labor Day because we are only five minutes from the beach and we wanted to just relax. Doug's family came and enjoyed the day with us. We walked the 3rd street promenade, got some lunch, then walked down to the beach. Doug and Jason enjoyed the water and body surfing while Katie, Bruce, and I enjoyed the sun. We were able to watch the sun set which was just beautiful.

We also enjoyed a walk down the pier.



I am getting used to living here.

Sunday Mornings

We have to adjust to a lot of new things sense moving to California. One of them is what to do on Sunday mornings. Doug no longer has meetings all day and church starts at 1:30 pm (yay....we are in a student ward). One of the ideas that Doug came up with was a pancake for breakfast loaded with peanut butter and jelly. He has such a hard life.