Two Exciting Weeks!

These last two weeks have been busy but full of fun! First we found out something very interesting when it comes to carving pumpkins. Unlike back at home, you can't carve them 2 weeks before Halloween and put them on display. Ross and I carved our pumpkins on a Sunday and two days later they started growing hair and mold. So they only lasted 2 and a half days before we had to feed them to the trash. But we still had fun!

Last week we got to enjoy a visit from my parents and brother. The visit with family started on Saturday the 23. After a quick trip to the airport and a quick lunch that consisted of pizza and beer, we packed up the back pack and were off to Hollywood to hike up to the famous Hollywood sign! The weather couldn't have been better considering we had rain everyday the previous week. So after an hour and a half of hiking to the top, we enjoyed a small picnic of wine, beer, cheese, crackers, and meat (you know....the typical picnic you take hiking). To relax after a 5 mile hike, we enjoyed a nice Mexican dinner with margaritas and then off to the beach to listen to the sounds of the evening surf.

After a 5 mile hike what would be better than walking around Disneyland all day?? Well we got to enjoy just that....something Shaun and I haven't done with our parents for 20 years!! Minus the light mist/rain that moved in later in the evening, the weather was nice and we all had a great time! We even got to see the new water show, World of Color!

And if a 5 mile hike and walking around Disneyland an entire day wasn't enough physical activity, we decided to do a 10 mile bike ride along the coast. But this wasn't just any regular bike ride....we rented a 4 person surrey. Basically it's a bike that looks very similar to a golf cart. Since Shaun and Amanda had to leave that morning, Mom, Dad, and Ross and I got to enjoy this one on our own. We started in Huntington Beach and rode south along the beach to Newport Beach. To replenish ourselves after our 50 min bike ride, we enjoyed lunch and drinks at a bar overlooking the ocean. After an hour of relaxing, we had an hour ride back up to Huntington Beach where we started, but this time with a strong head wind that made it all the more difficult.
Even though this last visit from family dealt with a lot more physical activities, it was tons of fun and we can't wait until we see them again.

To finish out this past weekend, we enjoyed our first costume party for Halloween! Ross and a couple guys from school all dressed up as 1980s wrestlers and I went as the referee. After enjoying a few drinks at the house party, we all headed down to Newport Beach to one of the bars on the coast. I have to admit you feel a little goofy walking down the street going to a bar dressed in a costume. Thankfully we weren't the only ones dressed up so that makes things feel less weird.

And now that October is officially over, the next big even is Ross' birthday! Details on how that plays out will be in the next posting. So for now, below are some pictures from the last few weeks, more to come later.

My Birthday

To celebrate my 28th birthday, Ross surprised me with a dinner cruise! We set sail around 7:00pm and cruised down the harbor along the peninsula. We enjoyed a 4 course meal, a bottle of champagne, and of course dancing! Every time we would go to the beach we would always see these cruise ships/boats leaving the harbor and I thought it would be so much fun to go one of them. So Ross was sweet enough to take me on one! I posted some pictures below. And in addition to the dinner cruise, Ross surprised me with flowers during lunch at work on my birthday!

Not much else took place these last two weeks. But the next few weeks are going to be busy. This coming Saturday I will be taking a class to become a Notary. My boss wants me to become a notary and in California, you are required to take a 6 hour class and take an exam. So I get to do all of that this Saturday.

Ross has his rough draft of his law review article due in a couple weeks so he has been spending a lot of time working on that in addition to mid terms. So like usual, he has been extremely busy.

Next weekend will be something different for us because Shaun and Amanda will be here next Friday and Mom and Dad will be here next Saturday! So excited to be able to spend time with all of them together at the same time! We are planning on going to Disneyland on Saturday and then we are going to hike to the Hollywood sign! So far those are the only two real events set in stone. But I guess that is what is nice about visits from family, you don't always have to have everything all planned out. They are usually easy to please.

Bonfire Pictures

Welcome Home Car!!

After almost 5 weeks and a lot of phone calls, we finally got my car back. Thankfully things weren't too bad with just one car, but it does make going to work and school a lot easier when we each have our own transportation. But since it has been 3 weeks since I lasted posted anything, I have some catching up to do on what's been going on.

Last time I posted Ross had his tryout for Trial Advocacy. He found out the following week that he was one of 20 people that made it on the team. There were a total of 50 people who tried out and they only took 20. So that was really exciting! And now that he is part of Trial Advocacy, that means more time at the school. But this is something he was really wanting to be apart of to help build skills and experience. Law Review is still going well. This past week he finished the first part of his article which was creating his outline. And as for classes, the first midterm is next week so the heavy studying has begun.

As for fun stuff, a couple weekends ago we went to our first movie premier in Los Angeles. One of the ladies Ross goes to school with did stunt work and small acting parts before going to law school. Well this is a B rated movie so it was nothing like the red carpet in Hollywood and it was something that was completed in 2008. She had a small speaking part that lasted about 5 mins but it was still fun to go to. There were 20 of us total that went and we all rode in a limo to the premier and then we went to a night club in Santa Monica for a few hours. Even though neither of us are really into the club scene, we still had a good time.

The following weekend we enjoyed a campfire/bonfire on the beach with a group of friends from school. That was a lot of fun....roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over the open fire on the beach listening to the ocean in the background. The last time we were around a campfire was in the mountains back in Colorado.

So September was a packed month. Now we are moving on to October which means my birthday, Halloween, the start of the holidays, and another visit from the family! Mom and Dad, and Shaun and Amanda are making another trip out to see us....this time together. They will be here the weekend of the 23. So we are looking forward to seeing them again. This time we plan on spending a day in Disneyland and then we are all hiking to the Hollywood sign. Can't wait, it's gonna be a lot of fun!