I'm thankful for...

As Thanksgiving has come and gone, I have had much time to think about what I am grateful for this year. I am, of course, thankful for my job, friends, a roof over my head and a car that just keeps on runnin’, but this Thanksgiving, I am most thankful for my family.

Living in Los Angeles hasn’t exactly been the easiest thing for me. I often find myself missing out on many family activities, and if it wasn’t for my amazing husband, I think it would be a lot harder to deal with. Luckily, my family and Brett’s family have taken many opportunities to visit us over the past year, and I’ve loved every minute of it.

So, thank you to all of my family out there. I love and miss you all!

Summer has arrived!!

Woot woot!! Summer is finally here...in November. Better late than never though!! Brett and I took advantage of the warm weather last night and decided to take a drive to Dockweiler Beach to make a little fire, watch the sunset and roast some mallows and Starbursts.


There is something magical about having a fire on the beach...or just being at the beach, really. Brett says that feeling is the continent exhaling and, after living in California for a year now, I have to say I agree. Well, I agree someone is exhaling...I definitely exhale and relax when I look at the ocean. :)

Writers Block

Do you ever have a moment where you feel like you are completely and utterly stupid? Where you mind goes completely blank and is in disarray all at the same time? I seem to be having one of those days.

You see, Brett and I were asked to speak in church tomorrow, but I can't manage to make my talk make sense. No matter how hard I try, it just gets more and more scattered. And I am getting more and more frustrated...

How is it that all my years spent in school becoming an English major are forgotten? Sigh...I have a feeling I will be very sick tomorrow. Problem solved!!

Birthday Weekend!!!

Last Friday was my 24th birthday, and boy oh boy was it a fun one!  I have had some great birthdays over the years, but this one was awesome!  I have Brett, my family and friends to thank for that!!

The fun started on Wednesday.  I came home from work to find a new laptop waiting for me!!  My old computer had been dying for quite some time…and now I have a brand new one that works perfectly!!  I am now the proud owner of a Sony Vaio (sp) and I am loving it!  I haven’t quite figured out all the great things it does just yet, so I’m constantly amazed at some of the stuff I can do.

Brett’s parents were in town for the week, so we all went out to dinner on Thursday night. We ate at a small Italian place in Santa Monica.  “La Botte” was the perfect place to spend a birthday dinner.  The food was great, and the service was even better! 

On Friday, I was supposed to meet up with Amanda for a mani/pedi then lunch…after a little spill of green nail polish at the salon, we decided to skip the nails and go straight to lunch…

Friday night Brett and I headed down to Laguna Beach to stay at the St. Regis.  Words cannot express how amazing the hotel was.  It reminded me of our time spent in Hawaii for our honeymoon.  Ok, Hawaii has one up on Laguna…but still, it was beautiful! 

Saturday, Brett and I spent the day lounging at the beach.  We explored tide pools, got a little sun and rewarded ourselves with some yummy gelato.  Then, that night we had dinner with friends at El Cholo (one of my favorite Mexican restaurants here…).

I am so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life!  Definitely one of my best birthdays yet! 

No, Dad...

Yesterday, Brett and I decided to go to Venice Beach to play a little basketball. Now when I say “play basketball,” I really mean just shoot around…and when I say “shoot around,” I really mean Brett shoots and I rebound, watch, and sometimes…if I’m feeling courageous…shoot.

Anyway, we were at Venice shooting around, and this little boy comes and stands on the court with us. Brett stops, and asks him if he wants to shoot with “us.” The boy, of course, says yes, and they started taking turns shooting. This went on for a while, until a man (we assume it was the boy’s father) came over and started talking to the little boy.

While the boy was distracted by his father, Brett kept shooting. He had moved out to the 3-point line and was sinking 3 pointers one after another. Every single shot he put up went in. It was like magic! The little boy, his father and I all stood there watching Brett shoot. Suddenly, the little boy yelled out, “Wow! He must play for the NBA!!” The boy’s dad laughed a little, and told his son, “This man (Brett) didn’t play for the NBA, but he did spend a lot of time practicing to get that good.” I couldn’t help but smile as the little boy argued with his dad about whether or not Brett played for the NBA. He kept insisting that no one, except a NBA player, could make that many shots in a row.

It was cute watching that boy admire Brett for his talent, and I am sure Brett will forever be thankful to that little boy for letting him fulfill his lifelong dream of playing in the NBA.

Loud Music and Screaming Fans

Last Thursday, Amanda and I went to the Taylor Swift concert at the Staples Center. Amanda, being the awesome friend she is, bought the tickets months ago, and I had been looking forward to the concert ever since...and it was awesome!

Right away, we had a little celebrity sighting. We passed right in front of Lisa Rinna...she was on Dancing with the Stars, Days of our Lives and a few others back in the day...I was super excited to have recognized her.

Anyway, the night only got better from there. Between our celebrity sighting, nachos, pretzel, Zebra popcorn (which is amazing)and all of Taylor Swifts costume changes, crazy backdrops(her flame backdrop is pictured above...this was during 'Picture to Burn') and random appearances in the crowd...the concert rocked! We didn't have the closest seats, but T-Swift did an amazing job at making sure everyone in the Staples Center had the chance to see her up close and personal at least once. Oh, and what? Taylor managed to make it rain in the Staples Center? Like actual water...It RAINED! And the rain had words in it...CARAZY! Oh, and did I mention that Katy Perry stopped by to sing a song with her?

I think it goes without saying...T-Swift rocks!

Girls Night Gone Wrong...

Wow, life in L.A. has been crazy busy! I was lucky enough to get a job quickly, and I am now working as a personal assistant. I love my job, and the woman I work for is great! Working as a personal assistant has given me the opportunity to become familiar with many different areas of Los Angeles, and I am very thankful for that!

Amanda and I haven’t really had much luck making girl friends since we moved here, but one of Brett’s friend’s girlfriend (is that right??) named Kjerstin (yes it is spelled correctly) has kind of become one of our friends. Anyway, last Friday night, we decided to have a girls night where we would meet up and go to dinner and a movie. Kjerstin, Mallory, Caitlyn, Amanda and I all met at the Landmark(I think) and had a great dinner at this little bar called Bourbon Street…fyi, their chicken sandwiches are great! We ended up making friends at this bar and dinner took longer than we had planned, so we decided to see our movie at Century City (another mall).

We all split up into our separate cars and headed over to Century City. Now for those of you who don’t know, parking in California is crazy! Luckily, the mall has a huge parking garage…only Amanda and I parked in the farthest parking spot from the movie theater…without knowing it. By the time Amanda and I figured out how far we were from the theater, our movie had already started. We started hurrying through the mall trying to figure out which way the movie was and finally found it! We were so close! We only had to go up one set of escalators to get there.

Amanda and I hopped up on the escalator and decided to walk up the stairs to get there faster. Things were going well…We were going to make our movie…until I caught my toe on a stair and fell down. The sound of fabric ripping caught my attention as my knee started to throb. At the top of the escalator, I pulled up the leg of my pants to find a small hole in my knee.

After running around looking for bandages, talking with the security guards (who were no help) and realizing that Kjerstin had an intense earthquake kit in her car that was better than the first-aid kit the mall had (seriously...it was ridiculous), we finally decided to take me to the ER to get my knee checked out. I was hoping that I the doctor would take one look at my knee and tell me that I was simply being dramatic (as I often am) and then send me home. Sadly, I was mistaken…Two child-like doctors, a funny nurse, millions of phone calls to my parents, sister and Brett...and eight stitches later…I was able to leave the ER and head home for the night.

Our fun little girls night had started out so great, but unfortunately the fun didn't last all night. I guess next time I need to make sure I’m on time for the movie…or learn to walk…whatev :)