New chapter

Owen and I moved to CA with the intention of being close to LA.  Living in Brea, we were a good hour away.  Our friends mostly live up north in Burbank or Hollywood, and we found ourselves driving every weekend to meet up.  So, we decided that we needed to find a good location in between LA and Cypress, where I work.  I only had a bazillion criteria when it came to where we would live, the most important...I didn't want to get murdered.

As a general rule of thumb, my mom has had me run possible living locations past my Uncle Harv, who was a police officer down here back in the day.  I would text him different places and he would text back a loving, "run!" "no...probably keep looking"...."let me call an old homicide detective buddy"..."I know cops who wont even go there".  Once, I decided we were going to prove him wrong and went to check out a place that he thought was in a "not so good neighborhood".  It turns out, Uncle Harv knows his stuff.

Finally, we found Downey, a quaint city of 100,000+ about 9 miles from downtown LA, and 12 miles from my work.  Downey boasts the oldest McDonald's in the world and played and integral role in the production of parts for the Challenger.   Moving from Brea (about 30,000 people and sidewalks that sparkled, literally SPARKLED) to Downey was going to be another adjustment in a long list of adjustments over the past year.

So the packing began! We tried to pack a little bit every day- I even wrote out a schedule that we completely ignored that probably would have been really helpful to keep us from getting overwhelmed.  Owen and are both Grade A procrastinators, probably just because when you have to panic, life is more interesting.

Moving Day....take my word for it- everything that could possibly go wrong, did. It's a great story so remind us to tell you sometime!

 Remember that amazing fridge we had to buy when we first moved down?  Well, it's a hundredth of an inch too big and is hanging out in the middle of our kitchen. 

Even though it was a particularly horrible day, it had an amazing ending- we are both very excited for what comes next!

Justin Timberlake!!!!!!

Back in July, my 14 year old dream of dreams came true.  I was going to a Justin Timberlake concert.  To prepare, I listened to his new album in my (car to and from work), I watched "Justin Timberweek" on Jimmy Fallon, and re-watched all of the Justin Timberlake SNL episodes.  Needless to say, Owen was pretty sick of me and Justin.  We sat pretty far away so I couldn't get a good picture...but I was so excited to be within a one-mile radius as him that I didn't really care....


I told Owen just to make whatever face he was feeling...

Jaegarhaus

Owen and I found an authentic German restaurant called Jaegarhaus in Anaheim and decided to give it a try since Owen wont shut up about wienerschnitzel and German potato salad.  Long story short, it was AMAZING.  The cutest lady owned the place and kept coming to our table to make sure we were enjoying our food and would share stories of her adventures in Germany.

This is Dos Boot....for Jordan and Owen....

The wienerschnitzel!

Back to Bozeman!

While in Bozeman, I stopped by campus to say hi to some old friends.  It was SO beautiful and hadn't changed a bit!  I also loved how quite town was...I could tell students had not made it back yet because cows still outnumbered people!

We spent a few nights at Bob and Cathy's but only got to see Bob and Cathy for one of them.  While we were in college, Bob would invite us over for dinner and prepare AMAZING dinners, always with wine and great conversation.  It was so nice to get together and have Bob make his famous mole steak sauce with Parmesan polenta.  

Montana!

Owen and I took a trip back to Montana for Ashley and Michael's wedding in Bozeman.  The first thing we did when we got off the plane, was bury our face in a pine tree and breathe in deep! It was beautiful and we took in as much fresh air and well water that we could!

We spent lots of time with Olivia and Colt, who are both getting very big.  One day, Owen and I were babysitting and thought we could outsmart them by having a "keep your eyes closed contest," where the first person to open their eyes lost the game.  Owen and I woke up two hours later to my mom taking a picture of us both sleeping in the fort we had built with the kids wide awake and fending for themselves. 

Oliva and Owen were best friends...which was stinky for me because I am supposed to be the favorite! Now I have some stiff competition!

My Puppy For an Hour

Sophie would have killed me...and the puppy probably wouldn't have lasted long either....

LFL

Now, before you go getting all judgmental about a bunch of half naked ladies "playing" football, let me preface our conversation with this: Almost all of these ladies could eat you.  Any question about their athletic ability was dismissed immediately. Their bodies were insane.  I cant remember the last time I looked at a football player and laughed nervously because I didn't know how to process the information I was taking in.  I wasn't expecting these ladies to be, well, ladies.  I expected them to go for it just like their male counterparts.  These two teams were so vicious, dramatic, tough, mean....any other adjective that means scary awesome impressiveness...that I can honestly say that I've never been so entertained in my life.  One girl even got carried off of the field to an ambulance on standby! It was like if roller derby had a baby with pro-wrestling and the baby had the attitude of a high school diva-BOOM...LFL. You can't look away.

Oh, Mom!

My mom loves me and sends me random cards so I don't forget it:)

Whaaaat?

In southern California, it's hot- I'll admit it.  Most nights the fan is on high blast, and most morning my makeup melts off of my face before I make it to work.  Recently, keeping cool went to a whole other level... on this particular day, it was a solid 95, but really? I'm not sure if this is because she was so hot she couldn't bear to wear regular shorts or if she is trying to impress the young buck she was talking to (I was rooting for her!). Either way, whaaaat?

Open your eyes!

I spent the weekend in Pueblo with the family and it was fantastic.  I have lots of pictures that I want to share, but these three are the most precious.  Below, I am trying to get a picture with Deezer and KK with their eyes open!

Attempt #1

KK is a very enthusiastic picture taker and always says "Chheeeeese!"

Attempt #2

Deezer coached KK a bit before this one and told her not to yell so hard when she smiled and that would help her eyes stay open...


Attempt #3

Getting frustrated at how many pictures I was making them take, Kennedee said "KK open your eyes like THIS!"

All You Can Eat Baseball

Believe it or not, there is an All You Can Eat section at the baseball stadiums down here! If that doesn't sound like the American Dream then I don't know what does!  Of course, I took "all you can eat" as a challenge!

I was feeling pretty disgusting about 20 minutes later...

Baseball: America's pastime. Do you want to know why? Because of Matt Kemps butt! I couldn't tell you what the score was, but I was always very interested right before the pitch.

Party!

Owen and Rory had a film event in North Hollywood at fancy hotel (on the roof!) As the girlfriends, Holli and I were obligated to get gussied up and support our boys.

As you can see, Holli and I don't know much about movies except for that we like to watch them.  While everyone else was talking on the roof about whatever movie making/acting stuff they were talking about, we were taking selfies in the bathroom mirror...

And partaking in a few choice adult beverages...

We even met up with a few friends on the tennis court (also on the roof) to make sure that the rum they were drinking wasn't poisonous....the things we do for the boys we love.

Arrowhead Lake

Owen, Jake, and I took a trip to Lake Arrowhead for Memorial Day.  I didn't get very many good pictures, so below are three pictures from the trusty Google that do the resort justice.  The "village" is very cute, a few little shops and adorable restaurants.  All of the architecture around the lake was similar and gave it a Germanish feel.  We spent the first day drinking beer at an eatery that overlooked the lake and breathing in the fresh pine air.






We ate dinner at the Saddleback Inn Steak House.  What was most interesting, was the utter chaos that was coming from the kitchen...we literally heard a guttural scream coming from the back, where moments later a sweaty, loud, and visibly flustered waiter sat us in the back by the kitchen.  I am very nosey, so I thought the drama was great- the food was good too!




Here is the best part of the whole trip: Lake Arrowhead is so high in the mountains that, on the way down, you literally look DOWN at the clouds.  It's one of the more majestic things I've seen.

Orange County Mining Co.

Today, Owen, Jake, and I decided to treat ourselves to a champagne brunch buffet at the Orange County Mining Co.

This was where I primarily hung out...

Jerika Visits CA!

Jerika spent a weekend in San Diego and invited me down to catch up! It was great seeing her and her cute tummy that is confirmed to be the comfy home to a baby GIRL!

 She and some friends were hanging out in Old Town San Diego and wanted to visit the Whaley House which is reported to be the most haunted house in the entire United States.  The lady at the ticket counter said that she used to work inside the house, but doesn't anymore because of an experience she had there.

Appropriately, the Ghost Busters were outside just in case any paranormal craziness happened.  I have to say, they had this place on lock down because we didn't see a thing!

Nothing welcomes you into a home quite like a courtroom! Originally believed to be a granary, this room has been a school, a church, a ballroom, and ultimately a room of stone cold justice.

The Study: The desk, hat, and chair are all Mr. Whaley's real life desk, hat, and chair. True blue history!

The first commercial theater in all of San Diego was in the Whaley house.  The Tanner Troupe performed dramas and comedies for a full house of 42.

Jerika and I had to take a picture together on the big stage.  We were hoping we could capture some paranormal activity in a picture, but alas, we had to resort to acting out what would happen if we really saw something...for your entertainment.