Soaking in the California sun

Its about time I update you all on what we’ve been doing lately. The last week couple weekends have been so fun. We really try and get out on the weekends whenever we can because during the week we have to stick around Stockton in case any of Gabe’s techs need anything. Last weekend we were planning on driving out to Yosemite. Its been something that we’ve really been wanting to do, but the weather has not been very good, so once warm weather was in the forecast we jumped on the opportunity. We hopped in the car and typed the address into the GPS and we were set to go. Once we saw that it would take us over 3 hours to get there it didn’t seem so fun anymore so we ended up changing our plans. Gabe installed in a city called Sonora, which he said had a really pretty lake so we headed there. Sitting and dipping our feet sounded very relaxing!


The road trip was nice, we drove along the agriculture fields guessing which kind of tree was which, I was always wrong… Except I do have the grape vineyards down by now, they are EVERYWHERE! The town was pretty, it was in a more mountainous area of California and the overlook of the lake was nice, but there wasn’t anywhere that the public could walk down to it so we just pulled up to one of the docking areas and sat and looked at it for a while until we got bored. We drove into town where the historic old main street was and walked up and down the street. It went a little like this: antique store, antique store, clothing store, restaurant, antique store, saloon. Repeated over and over again. The folks of Sonora must really love their antiquing! I was really excited when I saw the first antique store, it was filled with little random trinkets, old card games, lots and lots of china, antique clothing (I would never ever ever buy an antique bra, but apparently some do), military memorabilia, doilies, collectable toys and the list goes on. The first couple antique stores were interesting, but then after so many, you start to get sick of the musty smell and all the sudden china isn’t so exciting anymore.

They were interesting people in Sonora. Because of all the saloons, there were a lot of drunkards. And older antiquing folk of course. There was a band playing in the park and although we tried to keep from looking too much, it was hard to miss the woman wobbling around in her baggy clothing pouring her water bottle over her head. Yep, she was there when we came out of the candy store so we booked it as she tried to call out to us for help. And… our time in Sonora quickly came to an end. We had a really really fun time though, despite of our experience, and I would do it over and over again. I LOVE the memories!!

Since our first lake experience failed, we wanted to go and find another lake. We drove out about 5 minutes and found one except there wasn’t any way for people to walk down to the edge of it so we stood on the bridge and took pictures anyways.
(sorry about the sideways pictures, I couldn't fix them so I'll attempt another time)

This last weekend we went out to Monterey and Carmel. I have heard a lot about the place and how beautiful it was so I’ve been itching to go there for a while now. People were right, it sure was beautiful! It was like a perfect balance between ocean/beach and camping/hiking. I cannot wait to get back out there again! Like are like a bazillion pictures to share with you, but I couldn’t resist posting them all because it was just so pretty.

This was the first beach that we visited and my personal favorite. We saw it on the way to where we were going and pulled over to the side of the road and found it. The sand was pretty rough and pebbly, and it made your feet hurt, but I liked it because there weren't very many people there and the waves were huge and the color of the water was beautiful. I could sit there all day and listen to the waves crash.

The beach is Gabe's happy place. He had such a big smile on his face when we first caught glimpse of it.

Below is where Im telling the ocean to "bring it on". Gabe told me that these waves were the kind that pull you into the ocean if you stand too far into it, so I was afraid to stick my feet in.

Next stop was Point Lobos Natural Reserve. It was a foresty park with lots of trails leading off to look offs and really pretty views. There was one trail that I knew I wanted to go on, the China Cove. It was supposedly a little secluded beach that lots of people had said was prettier than beaches they'd been to in the Carribean. Unfortunately the trail was closed for maintanance. We took off down the road and took one that led out to sea lions.

Can you see the blobs out on the rock? Sea lions. Such lazy creatures. On our way down the steps to the sea lions we saw this little guy. He was extremely friendly and wasn't afraid to come right up to us. Gabe thought is was the funniest thing, it made his day.

See the blobs again?

This was one of my favorite shots, I thought the colors were gorgeous!

Once our legs tired out, we drove back down to a different beach, Carmel beach. There was a lot more people at this beach, but the sand was much much softer on the feet! We sat and dug our toes in the sand and then walked along the shoreline. Gabe had fun skipping rocks and making his feet numb standing in the freezing cold water.

We found this very odd shaped peice of seaweed so we pretended it was tail. Doesn't it look like one?!

Bye Bye ocean, you will be missed. We will definately be back soon!

Happy Birthday to Gabe!!!

A couple of days ago we celebrated Gabe’s 24^th birthday. This was the third year that I have celebrated his birthday with him. Gabe and I, well we have different ideas of a birthday celebrations. Growing up in my family we had birthday parties, we made birthday banners for each other, we got to choose our cake and what to eat for dinner. We even got to choose a special birthday cereal. I LOVE making a big deal out of birthdays! I just think that it’s a day to be celebrated to the extreme. It’s a special day! Every year I have spent Gabe’s birthday with him I have tried to hype up the day more and more to try and get him more excited about it. I visited him out in Chicago when we were dating the first year, and I don’t remember celebrating that year. But I do have a horrible memory… And last year out in Alaska he insisted that he work on his birthday so we celebrated with cake later that night when he got home. This year was a big step in progress I think. I wanted to get him excited and told him he could do ANYTHING he wanted on his birthday. That’s how it should be, right? After throwing a lot of ideas out there, he decided to just relax at home and do some of the things he likes. It was a great birthday! He took work off, woke up and I made him scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, opened presents, played his game during the day and watched lots and lots of old cowboy movies on AMC, ordered in pizza for dinner and had carrot cake later that night.  

Opening presents. He got new pants from Buckle and some slush mugs. You should watch the original commercial for them, it is pretty rad. 

 Carrot cake for the birthday boy.

Happy Birthday Gabe!!!

Its a sad day

Today is a sad day for sure. I had to take these pretties to UPS and send them back.

I was very excited picking them out and awaited the sound of the door bell every morning to see if they had come. I even scored a great deal on a new "lucy" running top that was more than 50% off. I was super excited to start running again. You see, I get runners high VERY easily. I get a huge feeling of accomplishment when I finish a tough run. Living in Provo we didn't have easy access to a treadmill and I don't really enjoy running pavement. Mostly because the majority of Provo likes to run outside. I thought being out here would really get me back into the swing of things. I had all sorts of plans. But once I slipped on my brand new shoes and top, I started to doubt if I should really be doing this. My body isn't as young as it used to be I guess. Nowadays when I run I tend to get injuries fairly easy. Then I have to stop running to recover and I have to take a lot of time off, I get frustrated and can't do any other exercises because of it. So after a lot of going back and forth, I made the decision to quit. So I traded in those cute shoes and bought some omega oil to help improve my joints instead. Guess its all about the long run.

Confession Time

I have a confession.

It’s quite pathetic really.

Since being married for almost a year and a half I can count the number of times we’ve eaten at our kitchen table on 2 hands.

It’s currently being used as a desk, a closet and a filing cabinet. It’s a weird habit that just happened. I guess we really do love our coffee table!

Creating Balance

When Gabe and I were living in Provo we each had our own responsibilities to take care of during the day, he had school, I had work. And as soon as our responsibilities were taken care of for the day we loved to just relax and hang out together at home. It became very hard to get out of the house and do anything after about 4:00. If I had any errands to run during the week, I would get them done right after I got off work and then rush home to hang out with Gabe. It was a great way to end every day. The time we spent at home together became such a necessity for us and I started to strongly associate being at home with Gabe as relax time.

Well, this takes us to today. The first week out here Gabe was working really long hours every day, 12-15 hours. And I had so much time on my hands I didn’t know what to do. Now that things are all settled and organized, we get to enjoy the beauty of this job, almost an unlimited amount of time together. This was one of the main reasons that we wanted to come out for the summer. I have all the time in the world to do whatever I want to do. I love baking. I would love to get better at cooking. I love fashion and would like to pursue that more. I love health and fitness and would like to develop better habits. I love painting and would like to expand my etsy shop. I love my religion and would like to build on my testimony. I love the outdoors and new places and would like to spend more time exploring and site seeing. I love reading and would like to read more books.

But I have become unmotivated. Whenever Gabe isn’t out working, I just want to embrace the time we have as a young married couple and take advantage of every minute. But even after he leaves for work, I still sit around and “relax.”  The sun sets and I’m getting ready for bed and I look back on my day and I feel so unproductive. I love the fact that we are so blessed to have all this time to get to know each other better and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. But I also should realize that I can still do things while Gabe is home and still be spending time with him. I am becoming a dull person and I would really like to develop my personality more. I saw this on someone’s blog yesterday and it was exactly what I need to help balance my time better.

I think this will help a lot. Lets give it a shot!

San Fransisco!

As you all should know, we made it safely out to California. As was expected, this first week has been stressful getting settled, organized and getting all of the technicians trained. We celebrated my birthday last weekend by going out to Outback Steakhouse on Friday and watching a movie and then Saturday night after Gabe got home from work we had some cheesecake. We didn't bring any wrapping supplies so Gabe got creative with my presents and hid them around the house and then we played the "hot and cold" game as I found new clothes under couch cushions and in cupboards. It was very sweet :) This week has been really really busy working but we did find some time to squeeze in some fun and make the trip out to San Fransisco. There is a pluthera of photos:

Our first hippie sighting, which was later followed by a gay parade sighting.

Alcatraz in the background here. We hope to make a trip out there sometime this summer.

I was hoping that in this building they would show how to make the chocolate or have chocolate samples or statues made out of chocolate... But they didn't. Chocolate to come later though :)

Here is where the chocolate tasting begins, probably the best chocolate shake I have had in my life.

The view atop the San Fransisco Bridge. Beautiful, but oh so windy!

The famous Lombard Street. It was a lot smaller than I had expected!

San Fransisco was such a cool place to visit, we LOVED it! There is so much to see there and I have a feeling we will be going back to visit quite a few times this summer. There is so much culture there and so much to see. It was a blast!!