Camper's Delight

Over the weekend, Rob and I successfully completed our first camping trip with just the two of us.  We packed way too much, considering that we were gone a little less than 24-hours, but at least we didn't forget anything. 

On Friday morning-ish, we drove to the Los Angeles National Forest and found our camp site.  Our campsite was quite swell, including a fire ring, picnic table, cool cut down tree trunks, and hiking trails to the of side and behind us. First thing we did when we got there was set up camp. 

Rob with our little tent.

Then we went for a hike behind our new home,

cooked some tin foil dinners over the fire,

watched the sun go down,

 and of course, made s'mores.  Rob only ate one before saying he had too much sugar.  I lost count of how many I had, but I know it was atleast 5. 

 The evening was definitely the most fun.  We both agreed.  There's just something really cool about building your own fire, making food over that fire, and then sitting around talking until you are the last campers in your area that are still awake.  We may never be extreme campers, but I can forsee some more camping adventures in our future.

Some People

Working in the Admission Office at Pepperdine, I sometimes have the opportunity to see the whacky things that applicants send us.  Here is a gem that I stumbled across today.

1) Some guy submitted a picture of himself in a magazine... modeling. He attached a paragraph to it explaining how he was eating lunch at Whole Foods one day and someone came up to him and asked if he would like to do modeling for a magazine (small, no-name magazine). He later goes on to write, "Although some days I had to wake up at four in the morning and shoot in 48F weather while playing with freezing cold fountain water, the experience was more rewarding than I could have imagined".

Really?

Did he seriously want the people who would be deciding his fate to read that? :/

Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend. 
Me and the Mr. are going on a short camping trip and then just hanging around the area for the 4th.  :)

Birthday Shout Out

Happy (belated by 1 day) Birthday to this stud of a brother-in-law.  We hope you had a fantastic day!!

I can only aspire to have a Halloween costume this cool in October

Happy Saturday

     Rob is in Boston.  He left last Sunday night and comes home tomorrow. I can't wait until he gets home.  I am dying of boredom.  I ran all my errands and did everything I wanted to do by 12:30 this afternoon.  Good going on spacing out my events throughout the day to keep busy.
     Rob is in Boston looking at a business.  I think I forgot to mention... Charlottesville, VA is out of the game.  Boston is now a possibility.  I think it's a small possibility, but still there.  I have only been to Boston as an embryo, but I think I would like it there.  Rob said it was awesome.  We'll know more on Monday.  I think.

     And here is another awesome lifeguard tower.  I took the pic after my run along the Santa Monica boardwalk yesterday morning (yes, I faked an appointment and took the morning off from work).

And now I leave you with deer.  Fake deer.  On a large plot of land near the public library.  Some of the people in this little town are nutso. 

     Happy Saturday.

Californ-i-a

Since we are realizing that our time in the beautiful state of California will most likely be coming to an end soon, Rob and I have been trying to do all of the things that people who live in LA should do.  Last weekend we made some pretty good progress.

Last Friday I had the day off from work, so we started our weekend with a hike on the Hollyridge Trail.  It was a great hike- not too tough, gave us a pretty close view of the Hollywood sign, gave us a wonderful view of Los Angeles (although it was pretty polluted and/or foggy that day), and we also had a few run ins with wild life.  We saw horses (which were actually just part of a tour group), a big snake, a bright blue baby snake that was literally like 2 inches long, lots of lizards, and some cool birds. 

Hike: Recommended.

After our hike we didn't want to go home, so we just drove and drove.  We ended up finding Chinatown so we got out and walked around for a bit.  My favorite thing there was this old man on a bench who was playing some kind of oriental string instrument that made cool Chinese traditional-sounding music.  And I liked those hanging red lanterns too.  To be honest, it was nothing too special (at least the part we were in) but it was definitely something to experience!

San Marino was our next stop, but I have no pictures from it.  Seriously, what a cute little city!  Like maybe even a dream place to live.  At least that's what we thought based on the 4 streets we saw.

A couple other fun things we have recently done include impromptu trips to the beach,

I love, LOVE how all of the lifeguard towers are painted in cool and colorful ways this summer.  Well done Los Angeles County!

and going to a movie in the Forever Cemetery.  On Saturday nights they play classic horror movies there (I feel this date idea would excel in Provo), so we decided to saddle up and make our way down to Hollywood to see Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  Despite having a hard time finding comfortable, long-term sitting positions on our picnic blanket (couldn't lay down because people in front of us had beach chairs we couldn't see over), it was really a lot of fun.  We packed our picnic basket and cooler with some tasty food, had a good time people watching (there were some very unique individuals there), and enjoyed the somewhat cheesy, old-fashioned lines in the movie.

Movie at the Cemetery: Recommended.

Thank you for providing us with hours and hours of fun, California.  We <3 You.

Something new, Something old

Not much is new.  The latest on the job frontier- we are looking at a good possibility of moving to Charlottesville, VA.  However, we have come to learn that "good possibilities" can quickly turn into things of the past when you're doing what Rob is doing.  So... we'll see!  I'll keep you updated.

And on another note, I was looking through some old pictures the other day.  It was actually over the weekend when Rob was in VA and I was home alone.  I didn't have anyone to help me be responsible and go to sleep at a normal hour, so I stayed up until like 1:30am just looking through all of our old photos. (Hm, maybe that's not late to you hip folks (eh hem, Alisa), however, that is way past my bedtime!)

Does he seriously not look like a baby in that first picture?!  And one day, I can see us looking back at that picture and being like "oh man, remember flip phones?! we used to think those were so cool."

One at my house at BYU-H, and one at Malibu Beach.  We've been fortunate to live in beautiful places a lot of our married lives, so we joke that we will end up in North Dakota when we settle permanently.  And notice my body language in picture 1. haha.  Can't get too close. ;)

The first one is from a date we had in Hawaii (renting mopeds all day) and the other is from a graduation dinner for the MBA students at Pepperdine. 

It's kind of funny/interesting to see how we've changed over the past 4 years. 

I'm thankful for cameras.  Digital cameras to be exact.  It's fun to have lots and lots of pictures from life's adventures.

ANDREW!

     Ah, how could I forget...My stellar little brother, Andrew, just got called to serve a mission for the Church in Rancuaga, Chili!!  After opening his call, he said that he thinks that this is the perfect mission for him. He's really excited for it.  He leaves on August 18.  Can't even believe it! 

     I didn't think I'd be around (via phone) to hear him open his call since we were in the process of leaving the marina at Lake Powell and losing phone reception, but luckily we were there long enough to be part of the moment. I wish I could've been there in person to see him open it, but...what can ya do.  I'm so happy for him!  He will be an excellent missionary.  Two thumbs up, Andrew!

The picture he submitted with his mission papers.  Looks very wise behind the wall of books.

Powell, as in the Lake, not Colin

Rob and I just got back from a fun week at Lake Powell.  (Well, Rob is in DC and I'm back in CA, but that's another story.)  When I go to LP, I kind of feel lame because I don't wakeboard, water ski, surf the wake, cliff jump, or get in the water past 6pm (because then the sun isn't out long enough and I feel like I won't warm up).  So I am kind of lame.  BUT... I still had fun exploring canyons with Rob on the wave runner, swimming (before 6pm), playing Bananagrams (and winning twice!), sleeping under the stars (yup.. that's right), taking lots of pictures, hiking, and watching other people do the brave things.

a.) Banana Boating b.) Rob and I on the boat- that is a reflection on the rock (by my head), not frizzy hair c.) Learning to surf the wake d.) After our hike. I just thought it was a cool picture e.) On our other hike. f.) Rob

And this is part of the group that we stayed with on the house boat. Actually, this is only like half of us. We hiked up a pretty good ways behind our "home" and made it to this place.  Excuse my face- I was trying to look tough. ;)

The weather was perfect (100F everyday and not one storm), the company was delightful, the food was tasty, and this chronic sunscreen wearer even got some sun. Good times had by all.  Many thanks to the Buhler's for letting us tag along.

Memorial Day Weekend

There are not enough long weekends in the work year.  Seriously.  Unfortunately this past long weekend started out with two love birds sick in bed/the couch... the entire day with food poisoning.  But luckily it was gone in time for the real weekend to begin!

On Saturday Rob and I went to Santa Monica.  All day.  I really don't even even know where the day went, but before we knew it, we had been there 8 hours.  Time flies when you're having fun, I guess.

We went into all sorts of stores on 3rd Street, including this fun one called Lush.

We enjoyed the sun.  Take 1, take 2, take 3. 3 unsuccessful attempts.  The sun was SO bright.

We walked over by the California incline to get a good view of the sunset.

We went to the Pier and played some arcade games.  As you might suspect, Rob was the winner...every time.

And then we just walked around.

It was all quite pleasant. 

Sunday started with church, and then later that day we had a nice bbq with our neighbors and friends, the Wuehlers.  It was a beautiful day so we ate our culinary delights outside in the Commons area.  

The last day of fun ended with a day at the beach.  We drove about 7 miles, or 25 minutes (thumbs down for traffic), to Zuma Beach and enjoyed a wonderful picnic, people watching, reading/sleeping for Rob, chatting on the phone for me, and then called it a day.

Until next year, Memorial Day.  Until next year.

The Slovenes

Last week we had the Slovenes staying with us (as I like to refer to them).  It was a girl, Petra, that Rob baptized, while he on his mission in Slovenia, and her mother, Barbara.  (Petra actually studies at BYU now, so shot out to Rob for being such a good missionary.)  They are seriously such fun people, and really, really easy house guests.  It was a joy to have them stay with us for a few days!  I had to work all last week so I didn't get to see them too much, but Rob got to play tour guide for a couple of days and show them around the area.  On the last night that they were here, we all went down to Malibu Yogurt for some frozen yogurt (which I might add may be the culprit behind mine and Rob's sickness the next day) and then went down the to Surf Rider Beach.  It was such a beautiful night (sight-wise, not necessarily temperature-wise)!

the view going down the hill from campus

Rob, Barbara, and Petra

Rob and Kat.  And just an FYI... I was wearing a tank, a long sleeve shirt, a running jacket, a sweatshirt, a fleece jacket, and a scarf.  That may be why I look a little bulkier than normal.  Apparently no one else thought it was as cold as I did, but I'm glad I had my layers.