home for christmas

This year we spent Christmas with my family in Alpine. It was so fun having Mike join in on all my family's traditions. I love being home for Christmas!

Some of the highlights from the trip:

-dinner at little america with my grandparents

-family christmas eve program

-new pajamas

-pull-aparts for breakfast

-playing rock band with parker & blake

-talking to our missionaries {sister zwick & elder adams}

-staying at the cabin & skiing with the adams'

-cafe rio & movie with the whole family

-holding baby johanna {my friend, ashley's baby}

-shopping with my mom

-eating out at our favorite provo spots {spicy thai & nicolitalias}

Here are a few pictures from christmas morning:

mike loving his new kindle

me & my new wallet

ash, matt & jeff

ash & her new running shoes

dad & mom with their new presents {camera & waffle maker}

jeff & his new headphones

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

jeff comes to visit!

The weekend before Christmas my brother Jeff came to visit us! It was so much fun spending time with him and showing him our new home. We had a great time filled with awesome food, shopping, and sight-seeing. I didn't get many pictures, but here are a few from our fun weekend.

Dinner w/Jeff & Daniel at Delfina {yummy pizzeria in the mission}

Christmas shopping in Union Square {my favorite spot in the city; and yes, the tree is real!}

Thanks Jeff for coming to visit us! Who's coming next?

{christmas pictures coming soon...}

about that blog...

Yes, I have been neglecting the blog world. Ever since we moved here I feel like all my free time/weekends are spent grocery shopping, doing laundry, cleaning our apartment, sleeping, and gearing up for another hard work week. As such, the blog has been sitting at the bottom of my list for a very long time. But I feel a need to document this time in our lives, so as busy and hectic as it is, the blogging will continue!

We are loving our new home here in the bay area. We live in a cute little apartment in Emeryville, right across the bay bridge from San Francisco. Mike works in Emeryville and I work in the city (most the time...depending on the client). We both work pretty long days throughout the week. And although we are both getting awesome experience and learning a ton....we live for the weekends! We have a great ward, and are lucky to get to go to church right next to the temple. The food here is fantastic and the weather is perfectly fall-like all year round. (but I must admit I am missing the snow a little bit...)

After living here for three months now, I've learned a few things:

-You can never predict traffic

-I do not like chicken feet

-An open seat on the BART makes my day a million times better

-Timmy Lincecum is amazing

-Rain boots are a must-have item

-Baking is so much easier at low altitudes

-Target (as much as I love it) is even better with shopping cart escalators

-Coming home to Mike is the best part of my day :)

Here a few pics to begin my blog catchup...

{preseason 49ers game}

{mike's 24th birthday}

{three fun visitors}

{golden gate bridge}

back in the bay

We made it to our new home in the bay area. We got here on Friday and have been moving in all weekend. Minus a couple breaks for Bakesale Betty's and sushi...the food is the best here!

Mike starts his new job tomorrow, and I start in a week and a half. In the mean time I'll be busy shopping for my new business clothes and decorating our apartment.

I'll be posting pics soon of our big move and our cute apartment as soon as we get internet (and we don't have to mooch off the nearby marriott :)

boating & ben folds {july 17}

We had such a fun time boating with mike's friends. Despite the choppy water, we wakeboarded anyway. And we found the inner surfer in mike. I just love boating.

{sometimes it takes a few tries to get a good picture...or get mike to smile}

Later that evening we met up with the Adams family and went to the Ben Folds concert up at the Deer Valley resort. He performed with the Symphony and it was absolutely fabulous.

*Side note: Last time Ben came to utah {april 23 2008} mike and I were both in attendance, but failed to see eachother & rekindle our long lost love, so it only seems appropriate that we went to this concert together :)