Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Arizona with my family.  For the Thanksgiving meal, it was my parents, Nonny and Poppy, Jeff, Jessica and Mark and I.  Melanie, Aaron and Sadie weren't there, and we really missed them.  It was a small gathering but it was still great!  Afterwards, we all went to the dollar movie theatre and saw The Dark Knight.  It was so fun to all go see a movie together, I don't even remember the last time we did that.   Jessica and I went shopping on black friday, now I know why they call it that.  That night we made smores around the firepit in the back yard.  The rest of the weekend we hung out and relaxed.  I was able to see my good friend Shay who I haven't seen in a very long time because she lives in Boston now.  Mark was able to go to a Suns game with Jeff.  We had a great time with family. We are so grateful that we were able to spend that weekend with them.

Jeff told us to do this and we listened

Family

Jeff loves his sisters

With Nonny and Poppy

SMORES

My Best Friends Wedding

Mark and I headed down to Arizona on Thursday night after class for one of my best friends wedding. We didn't get into Glendale until 1:00 am, boy were we tired! I had a hair appointment Friday morning and ran some errands with Mark and my sister Jessica. That night we went to the reception of Brandon Dawson and Alyssa Coniam. It was great to see them, and of course Liz and Daniel. After we left the reception, we ran over to a dinner in honor of Catherine and Brian! It was at Buca di Beppo, the dinner was great. Saturday was the BIG day, Mark and I were able to be in the ceremony with them, which was so neat for me! That night was the reception, we went over early to take pictures. It was at the Renaissance Hotel in Glendale, by the Cardinals Stadium. The NY Giants were in town and staying there, Mark got to meet some of the players. The reception was a dinner and dancing, it was really fun. Vanessa and Lisa were in town for the occasion, it was great to see them because it had been so long. We had a really fun time in Arizona with friends and family. We really miss having friends and family around. I was sad to leave Arizona, but we are heading back tomorrow for Thanksgiving!

The Married Couple

With the Bride

Friends

We "decorated" their room

Mark and some Football Player

Reception Dinner

Frustrating Fun

For one of my school projects, I had to go to a museum and write a report about it. So I called the Getty Villa Museum to make sure that they were open on the day I wanted to go. On Wednesday, we drove all the way from Irvine to Malibu, a good 45 minutes. When we got there, they said it was not open to the public, but we could go to the Getty Center which was another 20 minutes away. I was really upset because I had been told that they were open and it was perfectly fine for us to go. So for those of you who know Mark, he tried to sell them on letting us go in anyway. They weren't budging, so we called and complained and ended up having to go to the Getty Center, but we got free parking. It was a hassle getting there but once we got there we had a good time. They museum is on a hill in Los Angeles, so you park at the bottom of the hill and a tram takes you up to the museum, which I found really interesting. The museum was really pretty, it overlooked all of LA. It was huge, I was surprised at how big it was. There was so much great art there, it is really cool to see stuff that is so old and so different. Honestly, I really wasn't looking forward to going, and even though it was frustrating getting there, we really enjoyed it.

I think this bed is pretty amazing

This is my favorite, the little boy is adorable

California Fires

I'm sure by now, you all have heard about the fires going on here in California. I know that it is not the first time they have had huge fires here, but I have never been here to experience it. With all of what is going on with Prop 8, I can't help but wonder if our Heavenly Father is trying to send a message. I know that might sound funny, but I really do think that is part of it. I am sad for all the people who have lost their homes and may continue to lose their homes (right now I think the fires have destroyed 1,000 homes). Being from Arizona, I have never really experienced or been around something so devastating. It is just crazy and really sad, I hope and pray that they will get these fires under control and put out.

I went to grocery shop yesterday afternoon and by the time I got out the smoke was over where I was. I took some pictures that I will share.
On a lighter note...Mark and I are still enjoying Disneyland and California Adventure.

A Flat Tire couldn't keep us from Disneyland

The other night we went to get annual passes for Disneyland. While on our way, we got a flat tire. That delayed us 30 minutes. Luckily we live in California and they have highway patrol that helps with these kinds of things. About 10 minutes after pulling to the side of the highway, they pulled up behind us and changed the tire. We had no idea that they even had a highway patrol that did that. A nail had gone through and put a tiny little hole in the tire, it was so small that we didn't even have to buy a brand new tire. Mark took it to a shop and they patched it up and put it back on. We feel very grateful for that.

We were still able to get our Disneyland passes and go on a few rides before it closed. It was Mark's first time at Disneyland! So he finally got to see what he had been missing out on.

Mark's first time at Disneyland

We went back to the next day and spent 8 hours at Disneyland and California Adventure.

We love going to Disneyland, it is such a fun way to spend our extra time. It really is the Happiest Place on Earth!

The picture on Tower of Terror

A Baptism

Last weekend we went to visit Mark's cousin Jenny down in Encinitas.  Her daughter, Jessica, was baptized.  After the baptism we had dinner at their home, with family and some of their friends.  It was a fun and special day.  We enjoyed getting to hangout with Charlie.  He is so funny and cute. 

Charlie "pounding it" with Mark

Charlie and I

A Fun Weekend

Mark and I have been so busy since the day we got back from the honeymoon, but these last couple weeks have been especially busy.  We moved into our apartment, I started school, we are both looking for jobs, Mark is working on school applications, and we are working on becoming residents of California.  It has just been crazy busy.

But we got a break from all the craziness.  This past weekend my older brother, Jeff, came for a visit to surf for his birthday!  He stayed with us in our little apartment.  We had fun while he was here.  We had a weekend of relaxing, we went to the beach, Mark had his first surfing lesson, we went shopping and we made tinfoil dinners with a bonfire at the beach.  Mark and I enjoyed having him here with us, and we hope that he had a fun birthday weekend!  My camera died the one day I brought it to the beach and so I only got some pictures of our bonfire. 

First Blog

So we've decided to get a blog.  Since we are going to be living away from family and friends, we figure this is a good way to stay in touch and let people know what we are up to. 

We just got home from the honeymoon and have been busy looking for places to live in Irvine, California.  We finally found a place and will be moving in tomorrow.  We will be happy to finally get settled into a place.