California Dreamin'

"All the leaves are brown...And the sky is grey...I've been for a walk...On a winters day...I'd be safe and warm...if I was in LA...California dreamin'...on such a winters day."  --The Mamas & The Papas

This weekend we had the chance to escape the short, dreary Utah winter days and soak up some lovely California sun.  We were lucky to have even found the sun there as they were in the midst of a torrential downpour right up until we pulled in and I hear rumors it was supposed to be rainy again today.  But I am getting a head of myself.

The main purpose of the trip was to support Jason's sister as she went through the temple.  She is leaving on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and this is a key part of the preparation.  She had chosen to do it Saturday afternoon in the San Diego temple. So we left Friday afternoon and drove like crazy to try and get to his parents' at a reasonable hour (and we did pretty well, if I do say so myself).

Saturday morning we all made the trek into San Diego.  I've always known the outside of this temple to be gorgeous and unique, but the inside is equally as glorious.  It was a great way to spend our morning/afternoon.  I am grateful that I was able to share in this wonderful family experience.

 

The rest of the trip was spent just hanging out with family and friends.  As a family, we ate dinner at BJ's after the temple.  I also met up with my sister, Ashley, for a while.  She and her husband just moved to southern California for an internship and I had brought some stuff they had left behind.  Then I went and saw a movie (Extraordinary Measures--which I highly recommend to anyone) with my in-laws.  Sunday was much of the same.

Sunday was much of the same, only this time with friends.  First we made a stop at Josh's home (one of Jason's good friends).  I hadn't met him yet, so this was fun for me.  It also helped that we were just sitting in their backyard with the sun shining and me in my short sleeve blouse...ahhh....Anyway, afterwords we crashed at Jimmy and Cassie's for the rest of the day and most of the night.  We chatted, played some Clue (the stupid time cards killed me even though I was SO close to winning), watched a movie, and played lots and LOTS of Wii.  A good time was had by all even though my arm is still killing me.  Guess I need to work out a bit more...or at all might work too.

And that was our trip in a nutshell.  Quick.  Jam-packed.  Lacking in sleep. And a ton of fun.  Now we just have to figure out when we'll be going back!

Out on the Town, er, Village

Last weekend Jason and I needed a break from our apartment (after hours of being cooped up with the pleasant aromas of various cleaning solutions) but we wanted to do something out of "the norm" for us (the norm being movie and/or dinner).  Thus we set off and ended up at Gardner Village-a quaint, old-fashioned style village of miscellaneous shops.

We walked around for a while before the sun went down and saw some of the scenery.  It is actually a pretty fun place considering it is kinda in the middle of nowhere (yet everything at the same time--kinda confusing to explain, sorry!)

We walked through the different shops and even allowed each of us one indulgence.  Jason got a bottle of maple nut syrup which we haven't tried yet, but it sounds divine.  I got a little wooden block with the saying, "My favorite place is inside your hug" written on it to add to the ever-increasing decor of our apartment.

We ended the evening with dinner at Archibald's, a restaurant built inside an old flour mill.  Since they are celebrating their 30th anniversary, we even got 2 free slices of yummy carrot cake!  We tried to take a picture in front of the entrance sign but because it was dark and cold our hands kept shaking too much to get a very good one.  Overall though, it was a very successful outing!

Virtual Tour: Apartment

As mentioned in my previous post, along with the teaching job came a move to a new apartment. This apartment is a lot nicer than our previous one, but until this last week I never really felt like we had officially "moved in." Sure, we've been living here for the past 4 months, but with all of the craziness, we hadn't had a chance to really make it ours yet.

But this last week we officially unpacked the last of our boxes, hung up all of our pictures and shelves, bought another bookcase for all of my books, and spent a lot of time de-junking and organizing. There is still stuff to be done (isn't there always?) but at least it is finally starting to feel like home. Because this was such an accomplishment for me, I thought I'd post some pictures to take y'all on a virtual tour of our "new" apartment.

The Second Bedroom/Den/Storage Room

Two Bathrooms

Kitchen & Laundry Area

Family & Dining Rooms

The Master Bedroom