Hawaii Post Soon!

We just got back last night and I leave tomorrow for Boise to visit my family for a week! The trip was amazing, we had such a great time!!!!!! Once I get back from Boise I'll be able to spend a little time blogging about it.

Warming Up to California

Okay, so I have to admit that I'm warming up to the idea of living in California again. It's crazy because when I left many years ago I didn't think I ever wanted to come back, and we came out of necessity for Ryan to have a job but it's turning out to be not so bad. Yes, it has its downfalls (which I won't mention because then I might realize I don't like it as much as I think I do!) but there are some perks to living here too. I was watching "Bridget's Sexiest Beaches" on the Travel Channel and she was talking with a guy in Laguna Beach who said to give California a year and you'll never leave after that. Well, on June 7th we'll have officially been here a year (for me at least, Ryan hit the year mark in January) and I'm staring to wonder if that's going to hold true for us . . .

Here are some things I'm enjoying about California:

Magic Mountain-What's there not to love about 16 roller coasters, quite a few of which are so exhilarating I feel like I'm going to die when I ride them! Tatsu is by far my favorite

XGames-Boys on bikes, need I say more!!!

The fantastic salon I have found called Garrett Markenson Coiffure, it seems uber-fancy but its really laid back and everyone there is wonderful, they even offer you snacks and Pellegrino!
I love my new hair style, and its not as expensive as you'd think it would be.

The swimming pool-Our pool does not look like this, but I have rediscovered suntanning (I wear sunscreen!) and swimming as very enjoyable activities

Year Round Outdoor Activities-Whether its running, mountain biking, dirt biking, hiking or camping, we can pretty much do it year round here. This is Malibu Creek State Park, a place where we've gone mountain biking before

Sprinkles Cupcakes-Red Velvet = pure bliss!

San Diego Temple-I've been to quite a few temples and they are all amazing and beautiful, but this one, to me at least, tops them all-It's absolutely breathtaking, inside and out

Bare Escentuals Boutiques-Forget having to buy online, I can go to the actual boutique and get professional makeup tips, try new products and have a blast!

Westfield Shopping Centers-They're the best!

Sushi, sushi, sushi-So many good places and we've only gotten started trying them all out!

The Beach-Love Zuma, what's there not to love about the beach!

I'm sure I can think of more, but that's my list for now. We'll see how I feel after spending more time here. It's always better to look on the bright side of things, so I'm trying to find all the good things about being here!

Okay, okay

I will try to update this weekend, mostly it will be about our time spent with our niece who came to see us during her spring break.

New Update

Coming soon . . .

Quick Update

Summer's approaching quickly here in Southern California, it's already been in the 80's quite a few times since January! Most days its in the low 70's but soon it will be getting hot!

We're going to Hawaii soon, I can't wait!! I need to start getting a tan!

We still have no idea where Ryan's next project with his job is going to be, and we probably won't know until June/July-ugh!

Not much else is new, just working and trying to have fun on the weekends. I'll have 8 weeks off for the summer and I can't wait to go to Hawaii, go to Idaho to see my family there and just lounge by the pool and gather up my sanity before another school year begins!

Catching Up

It's been a while since I've posted anything because for the most part we're just living daily life that consists of working and trying to get out on the weekends. We've done some fun stuff lately so I thought I'd post some pictures. As far as if anything is new with us lately, we're going to Hawaii in 4 months (yipee!!!) and we'll probably end up moving in 5-6 months when Ryan gets a new project assignment. We won't know anything about that until June so right now it's something I try not to think or worry about (yeah right but I can try!).


Ryan is on a vintage beach cruiser bike kick, so he searched for a while and eventually obtained a few. They need some work but are definitely cool and have a lot more character than most other people's bikes along the beach. About 3 weeks ago it was 80 degrees at the beach on a Saturday so we took our bikes for a ride! Now it's been raining and really cold so it was nice to get out in the sun while we had the chance.

Pathway from Santa Monica to Venice

My ride

Ryan was given tickets from someone at work for the NHRA Drag Racing Winternationals in Pomona. It's the beginning of the racing season and the first event of the year for the racers. It was a 3 or 4 day event, with most of it getting rained out, but we managed to get there and see some racing before they had to cancel due to the weather. This was at the beginning when it was packed. As soon as it started raining it cleared out so fast, but we stuck it out and they dried the track which allowed for some more races. I didn't think it was going to be very fun, but it's the craziest thing. These cars are LOUD, even with really good earplugs, and when they zoom by you it feels like a sonic boom and your whole body shakes from the inside out. Its an amazing feeling and I've never felt anything like it. The first time they went by it made my eyes water and I felt like I was going to explode from the inside! I would definitely go again if we could get cheap or free tickets again!

What a hottie!

This is John Force's team's area in the pits. He and his daughters are the only drag racers I've ever heard of because we would sometimes watch their show "Driving Force" on A&E, I don't think its on anymore though. One of his daughters is signing autographs here. We didn't bother to stay and get one because it wasn't that big of a deal, but their area was definitely the most crowded with people waiting to meet and great with the Force team.

This last weekend we went to an LA Kings hockey game. I had never been to one, Ryan got to go a few months ago with free tickets from work and I wasn't able to make it. Again, I'm not a huge sports spectator so I wasn't sure how fun it would be, but I really enjoyed it. It's crazy how they fight and there was a pretty big brawl where they were pulling each others helmets off and just punching the crap out of each other. It was actually really entertaining! The game was tied up by the Kings in the last couple minutes of the 3rd period so it went into overtime. No goals were scored during the 5 min so then they had to go into sudden death when each team chooses 3 players and its just one person shooting and the goalie defending. The oposing team, Edmonton Oilers, went first and scored a goal, then the Kings didn't, then the other team scored a goal again for the win. Everyone was so disappointed and I found it quite amusing since I wasn't really rooting for one team or another. I'd like to go to a Kings and Sharks game just for the fun of it sometime.

After the game we headed towards the beach to watch the sunset. It was so pretty but really, really cold! The air coming right off the water is really wet and cold and it just chills you to the bone, very different from the dry cold of Idaho.

brrrrrrrrr!

Some bubbly to celebrate Valentines

I love my handsome hubby, he's the best ever!

Tickets are bought!

We bought our tickets for Hawaii about a week ago, and its only 4 months away now until our vacation. Woohoooooo!!!!!!!!

Oops, I forgot a pic!

Here is the Oakland Temple on Christmas Eve-so beautiful! It's been so long since we've seen it at Christmas time and I couldn't let another Christmas pass without seeing it.

Christmas and New Years

Christmas

Our nieces and nephews and cousins, they're growing up so fast

New Year's Eve at Six Flags

Batman ride-one of our faves!

Happy New Year!

This year for Christmas we headed up to Fremont (only a 5 hour drive!) and visited both sides of the family. We managed to visit everyone except for my parents (missed you guys tons!) but hopefully we'll get to see them next year. I missed having a white Christmas this year.

On New Year's Eve we went to Six Flags Magic Mountain and it was a blast! There were barely any lines so we hit almost all the rides multiple times! Despite the fact that it's California, it was very cold. We were all bundled up and when we left my car said 42 degrees. It's very humid here so it felt so much colder than Idaho. This was the first year they hosted a New Year's party, and since we have season passes it was a cheap night!

Hope you all had a good holiday season and have a great 2009!