California

It has been a long time since I posted!  Work was really crazy for me the past two months because of holidays, vacation time, and trainings we had.  I had to get the same amount of work in a much less amount of time, and it was really busy!  But, it was nice to be able to have time off, too.

Willie was placed in his permanent position at work, and got his first choice, Financial Projects!  He is enjoying it.  Before he was placed in projects, though, they gave the Finance MAPs a week off for Thanksgiving.  We were so excited!  Since we knew he probably won't have time off again for awhile, we decided to take advantage of it and headed to California for a few days.  We had lots of fun! 

We were so excited to be able to spend time with our friends Megan and Josh.  They were great tour guides! They took us to some of their favorite places, including a restaurant named Lemonade with the most delicious Lemonade ever!    

And Rodeo Drive!  It was decorated for Christmas and was so pretty.

We also went to Venice Beach...sketchy!!  This was our request because I kept reading that it is a fun place to visit, and I thought it would be more like eccentric artsy people but instead it was kind of scary, and we made sure to leave before dark.  It was still fun to see it, though.  We saw lots of "street performers" doing strange dances with bowling pins and other such props.  One thing we thought was cool was Muscle Beach, where Arnold used to work out!

Josh and Megan live by the much nicer Santa Monica Pier.  It was such a cute beach!

We got LA Go passes for a day.  You pay one price, and it gets you your choice of a bunch of different attractions.  We definitely should have taken better advantage of it, but were a bit lazy and slept in.  We were able to ride the rides at the Santa Monica Pier with it, and had fun on the Ferris Wheel and Roller Coaster!

After the pier, we headed to Burbank to go on a tour of WB Studios.  It was super fun!  We got to see a few streets where they film lots of movies and TV shows.

Anyone watch Pretty Little Liars?  I kind of love it.  This is the door to Hollis College where Aria's dad and boyfriend work.

We went in a museum of cars from movies.  This is the Batmobile!  We also got to go in another museum where they had costumes and props from tons of TV shows and movies, including Willie's favorite, Inception!  We weren't allowed to take pictures in that one, though.

The town from Gilmore Girls!!

This is the WB water tower.  The trailers in front are for the actors filming the Hangover 2 (or 3?  I don't know).  Apparently the tours before us saw them walking around.  I was sad we didn't.  I had high hopes of seeing an actor, but it wasn't meant to be.  You can get free tickets to shows, though, so next time we go up that is something we want to do!  We got to go on the set of Two and a Half Men, which we don't watch, but it was still neat to see what a stage for a show looks like, and how they do it.   

One of my favorite things was seeing The Central Perk, from FRIENDS!  It wasn't where they actually filmed, but for the Jay Leno show after the series ended when he interviewed the cast, they set it up in this room, and decided to leave it up for people to see.

We had such a fun getaway!

Update!!

This month has been probably the craziest month I have had since the month before I got married. Some highlights include: my car breaking down and needing numerous repairs, our apartment flooding, work being super busy (it is my first month on my own!), and giving a talk and teaching my first Young Women's lesson on the same Sunday!  Maybe speaking and teaching are not big deals for some people, but I am not one of them.  I get anxious!  It all worked out ok though, and I concluded that maybe this is how life is supposed to be.  We're probably not meant to spend our nights watching Netflix for hours.  I know life is only going to get crazier the older we get, and it was kind of good to see that we could survive and get all we needed to done, and actually be pretty happy doing it.  We've also had tons of visitors this month, which has been so fun.  So, amid all of the craziness, we have gotten to spend lots of time with people we love all month, and it has been good :)

Here is some of the fun stuff we were able to do:

Willie got a "Splash Into Summer" pass from work with some discounted and free passes to attractions.  We went and rode the NY NY rollercoaster with it.  I kind of expected it to be like a kiddie rollercoaster...not so.  It was so scary, and I kept thinking "I am too old for this!" as we were riding it.  Which is kind of sad haha.  But in the past few years I just can not handle rides like I used to be able to!    

We went to the Shark Reef Aquarium with our friends from the ward who have a little boy who just loves sharks.  It was pretty cute to see how excited he was.  There is a part where you go in this tunnel and the sharks are swimming all around you.  It was fun!  

Willie's family came into town for a good family friend, Marc Stone's, wedding.  It was so fun to see all of them, and the wedding was beautiful!

 Willie and I at the luncheon

 The fam at the reception with Marc and Alycia

 Willie's mom treated us all to some delicious dessert at Serendipity

The desserts were SO good! 

My mom was in town (at her house in Mesquite) for a couple of weeks.  It was so fun to have her nearby!  While she was here, she took us to see Aladdin at the Tuachan in St. George.  We love the Tuachan, and had a great time.  The play was different than the movie, but so good!     

Loved it!  

Willie gave blood at work and got us free tickets to Recycled Percussion!  It was so much fun, and far exceeded my expectations (especially considering I originally thought he was getting us tickets to a recycling plant...I was super confused about why he wanted to donate blood to get them haha).  Recycled Percussion was on America's Got Talent.  They use all different materials and tools to make music.  

 It is a really interactive show, and when you walk in you get a drumstick and an "instrument" of choice.  You can applaud with them, and they have you play along sometimes, too.  It kind of turned everyone into 2 years olds just banging like crazy on their instruments.  The guy next to Willie was a little slow on following, too.  There would be parts where you are supposed to be quiet when the performers are playing, and we would hear the guy next to Willie banging away.  It was pretty funny.  Our tickets expired the end of August, and we almost didn't go.  I am so glad we did, though!

We also used Willie's splash into summer pass to get into the Adventuredome at the Circus Circus.  We went with our new friends the Longhurts, and had a great time!  

We rode some rides and did laser tag.  My first time ever!  Before we went in, I was saying I hoped I wouldn't end up in last place.  It was fun playing, then when I looked at my final score I got...ZERO!!!  How is that even possible?  Willie tells me it must have been a computer error.  I know I heard the machine say I got hits when I was playing, so I am hoping he is right!  

Willie's sister Marcie and her family came into town, but no pictures :(  It was so good to see them, and we had so much fun with them!!   We also had our friends Charlotte and Chayse and Josh and Megan each in town for a night.  We had a great time with all of them!  It was so fun to catch up with them both.  We have loved having so many family members and friends here this month, and will miss them all! 

Willie and I had our two year anniversary almost two weeks ago.  Normally I would want to do something different and fun to celebrate.  But, with life being so crazy the past little while we didn't plan anything, and that was ok with us.  Dinner and a movie was perfect this year :)  (And also we might use this as an excuse to see a show later..)  We went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory.  Yum!  

After we ate, we got me a Red Mango for dessert (my favorite--it was one of the first places we found when we got here!), and went to a place called Zia Records and got a movie.  It was a perfectly wonderful and relaxing night.  

Later that week I headed out to Minnesota for my sister Alli's new baby, Jude's, baby blessing.  He is such a cutie pie.  I had a great time spending time with my family!  I also enjoyed the amazing weather there.  It was in the 80's the whole time I think, which was a nice change from over 100 here!  Even the breeze is hot here, it is crazy.  Anyway, here are a couple of pictures from the trip:

Me and Emily with Micah and Claire (cuties!) 

Me, my mom, Micah, and little Jude

I wish I would have gotten pictures of the whole group.  It is a rare thing for so many of us to be together, and it makes me so happy!  It was a great trip though, and so good to spend time with everyone!!      

Last bit of news: I got a job!!  I started working as a Developmental Specialist for Early Intervention on Wednesday.  I will be going into homes and working with kids ages 0-3 who have a delay in some area.  I am excited and liking it so far!        

First Two Weeks in Las Vegas

We have been in Vegas for 2 weeks now, and are loving it!  The area, apartment, and ward are all great.  Here is a little of what we have been up to since we have been here:

Willie's Mom and our nephews came for a visit.  It was super fun to have them here!  Jaime and I found an entertainment center at the Salvation Army, and we all played and swam and had fun together!  I wish I would have taken more pictures, but I took this one of Willie and Jude while we were watching a movie before bed.  I think it is so cute how they are in the same pose!    

Willie's work gave all of the people in his program free tickets to a Weezer concert at the Mandalay Bay beach club!  Before the concert, we went out to eat at the Ghengis Grill, a restaurant down the street from us.  It is so good!  One of my favorite places in Maryland where I grew up was the Mongolian BBQ, and this is just like it.  You go through a line and pick your meats, veggies, spices, and sauces and then they grill it up for you.  I loved it.  We will definitely be going back!  

The Mandalay Beach club was a pretty cool place.  They had pools, sand, a wave pool, and a lazy river.  

Us during the concert!  Neither of us are huge Weezer fans, but we recognized some of the songs and it was fun!

Saturday Willie and I went to the Las Vegas Temple.  

Saturday night we explored this shopping area called "The District" near us that is super cute!  It has lots of fun shops and restaurants, and a park for watching outdoor movies in the summer and fall.  There was also a live band playing, and pretty twinkle lights all over!    

All in all, we like Las Vegas so far.  There is lots to do, and every restaurant or store we could ever want is nearby.  The people are super nice and friendly.  The guy at Men's Warehouse told us about this cool used movie, music, and games store and gave us his number so that he could recommend some movies to Willie, and today after church we got a flat tire and this random guy driving by saw us and got out and changed the tire for us because he didn't want Willie to get his nice clothes dirty.  So nice!  Our ward is so friendly and welcoming, too.  Every Sunday when we leave we are talking about how nice they are!

Willie has been working for a week, and he is really liking his job so far.  The people in his program are nice, and he's been having fun touring a resort every day and learning all about it.  He usually gets to eat at a restaurant in the resort they are touring, and do something cool like ride the NY NY roller coaster, or see how the Cirque de Solei stages work (lucky!).  

The only downside of Vegas right now is the roaches...EW!  I could write a whole post on our battle against them and how disgusting they are.  Luckily we don't seem to be infested or anything, just one will get in every once in awhile.  I hear it will only get worse though until it cools down, then they will go away for the winter.  We are getting professionally sprayed next week and then we bought our own professional strength spray to keep up with it after that.  We also sprayed with Raid, and put natural roach repellents and sticky traps to catch them with all over (we have only caught one so far which I take as a good sign).   So, hopefully we will be good.  Besides protecting our house from the roaches, I have been spending my days running errands, unpacking, and looking for jobs.  We miss our friends and family in Utah, but overall it's been good, and we feel lucky to be so happy with our move!      

BYU Grad

This past Thursday and Friday Willie graduated from BYU!  It was such a fun weekend.  Willie's parents came up from St. George, and his sister Mindy flew in from Colorado to support him.  We had such a fun time watching him walk and celebrating!  Oh, and taking lots and lots of pictures :)   

Willie and I before the commencement on Thursday

Willie and his wonderful parents

Willie and his sister Mindy--we loved having her here!

I love this picture of them

Everyone who was able to come to the commencement on Friday (Willie's brother Kenny and his cute girlfriend Jessica, his parents, me, his brother Robbie and sister Mindy)

Willie and I

Yay!  Graduated!

Willie was lucky to have some friends walking with him.  He was able to meet up and sit with our good friends Ed and Amanda, and another good friend from his program, too.  

After the convocation ceremony on Friday.  It was so fun to see him walk across the stage!  

Sister-in-laws!!  We missed you Marcie! :)

Saturday morning Willie and I hiked the Y to work off some of the delicious food we ate all weekend celebrating

We had such a fun weekend!  I don't have pictures of this, but we went to celebrate after each ceremony at Willie's choice of restaurants--Pizza Factory on Thursday, and JCW's on Friday.  We had so much fun going out together, and spending lots of time visiting and playing games all weekend.  Willie's comments about graduating: "It's just good to be done!"  Haha, he is so happy to not have any homework again for a long time!  We have about a month before we move to Las Vegas and Willie starts his job, so he gets to have a nice, well-deserved break in the meantime.  I am so happy for and proud of him!