LACMA

So a few of my friends here in CA and I decided to head to L.A. yesterday and visit the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It was AMAZING! We got sort of lost on the way there but thank goodness for iphones and for the good parking lot guy who gave us our money back when we accidentally parked 6 miles away from our destination. This museums is huge and spread over quite a large area so we didn't even get to see half of the stuff there, but what we did see was great! We started in the European art section which featured mostly Christian art which is awesome and creepy and super symbolic. I wish I remembered all the stuff from my art history classes! One of my favorite sections was the Roman gallery. They have some beautiful statues and jewelry and pottery. Ugh I need to go to Rome!

This was an interesting forest of lampost right outside the museum. It would probably look awesome at night!

I also loved the Japanese Pavilion. Such beautiful ink paintings on silk, and some pretty amazing block prints too.
I was so excited about these panels! I actually learned about these in my Japanese art history class. I never imagined I'd get to see these in my entire life!! Oh i love art museums!

This is a beautiful Mary Cassatt piece. She was a famous impressionist painter known for her paintings of mothers and children. She is my high school art teachers favorite artist.

I about died when I saw this chair. Back at Utah State I had to build a chair out of cardboard for a 3D design class and this was the EXACT chair I modeled mine after. I'm not sure why but I just love it so much! Designed by Charles Rohlfs.

Volleyball

Every Monday and Wednesday the guys get together to play volleyball before work. Last week Jake did a killer baseball slide in an attempt to save the ball, and this is what happened to his leg.

Pretty sweet scab eh?

Everyone loves action shots!

This one is my favorite! It's fun to watch him play sports and be competitive in something other than video games :)

Newport

Last week Jesse and Mallory invited us to their beach house in Newport! Wohoo! Jake took a day off of work and we drove down there early in the morning. When we got there it was pretty cloudy so we decided to go see Transformers and wait for the sun to come out. After the movie we spent a lovely afternoon at the beach! Jake and Jesse went boogie boarding and Mallory and I sat on the beach. Jake almost got attacked by a seal (haha!) and every once in a while a dolphin would show up to play in the waves.

That night Mallory's parents took us out to eat which was super nice. Then we walked around the shops at Huntington Beach, ate some ice cream and a frozen banana, and went back to chill at the beach house. We had to leave early the next morning but we had so much fun! Thanks Jesse and Mallory for a wonderful day!

Jake found a kite on the beach in the morning. After about an hour of untangling string, he wrapped it around a toiletpaper roll and ta da!

Mother Dear I Love You So

So my lovely mother came to visit me a couple weeks ago! She was in LA for business but scheduled her flight to leave a few days later so she could visit Jake and me. This was the first time she had been to see me with a house/apartment of my own so it was pretty exciting! We spent most of our time shopping, trying to find clothes for my dad and my siblings. And as much as I loathe shopping, it was great to get out of the house and spend time with my mom! My throat was sore from talking so much! She bought Jake and I tons of cool groceries that we would never buy ourselves but love having them, she took me to Trader Joe's for the first time (awesome!!), and we watched girly movies and ate chocolate. Oh and one morning we played soccer in the park and ran around with Jitters. Then we went home and made freezer jam! Huzzah!!! So thanks mom for a wonderful weekend and for making our home feel a little homier. We love and and miss you tons!

Rainy California

So our first week in sunny California has been all rain. But I love it! It's actually mostly just rainy in the morning, then by the afternoon the sun comes out. It's nice. We went to the beach with Jake's work and it was freezing! But we had hot dogs and s'mores and had a grand time. Jake is getting into the swing of things with work and I am (as usual) job hunting. If I don't have any offers by the end of this week I'm going to have to swallow my pride and apply at some fast food places. Darn it all! We have lots of friends close by and life is just swell! We love you all and miss you bunches!

A Birthday, a Holiday, and a Graduation

First off, I need to express our appreciation to Jesse and Mallory for letting us stay with them while we made our transition from AZ to CA. And for storing so much of our stuff for the summer! We wouldn't have survived without you guys, we owe you big time! So here is what has happened since then.

We arrived in Rancho Cucamonga Saturday evening and went straight to the pool to enjoy a wonderful meal provided by Roy and Megan. We couldn't stay long however since we were pretty sure our pets were freaking out in our new appartnemt. So we hurried home and finished unpacking. The next day was our 1 year anniversary!! YAY! It's surprising how fast the year went. We didn't really do anything special since it was Sunday, but it was nice to get settled into our place and spend all day together since I was flying out to Utah the next morning.
So Utah! I had such a wonderful time. It was so so so so nice to be with my family, it's been too long! My mom and Syd picked me up and we spent the day in Salt Lake. The week was pretty uneventful (but still awesome) since everyone still had school and work, but on Thursday my brother Taylor came! Taylor and I haven't had a chance to be one on one in a long time, and it was so nice to sit and chat and joke about the good ol' days.
Saturday was a momentous day. We were celebrating my grandma's 90th birthday. It was like a family reunion! I got to see lots of family from all over, who I probably won't see again for a long time. And to top off the day, Emma decided to let us take Emery (my niece) for the night! I hadn't seen her since she was a month old. It was fun to see her smile and laugh.
Memorial Day was one of the best days. My family went on hike! It's been so long since we did something like that. We were sad Rory wasn't there though. There were tons of people and we were all pretty gross and sweaty by the time we reached the waterfall but it was worth it! At home we had some hot dogs and ice cream to complete the perfect day.
And on Tuesday my little sister graduated. Congrats Syd! We're all super proud of you. But graduations are really boring, and she was the last one in line.
I flew back to CA the next morning. It was really hard to leave the comfort of my family, but I didn't feel complete without Jake. And he missed me tonnage so it's nice to be back :) Sorry for the hecka long post, now for lots of pictures!
My grandma is such an awesome lady. She raised 11 kids! And my poor grandpa was in a car accident a few days earlier. He's about 95 and going strong!

Cute little Emery! She has eyes only for her dad!

I was trying to get her to smile for the longest time! So I asked Taylor to help, and as soon as he said her name, boom. She smiled. So precious!

Hike Montage

Carson's moment of glory

A Day With Choncho

This is Choncho. Jake found Choncho running around our apartment complex on the day we were moving, and brought him home. I was just a tad irritated. How are we supposed to move THREE ANIMALS to CA and back? All the while keeping him separated from Jitters because neither of them are fixed. Oh and worry about feeding him and watching him, and making sure he gets along with Jesse and Mallory's dogs while we stay with them. And wondering if he'll attack our cat or not. And getting him to the vet to see if he's diseased. AH! All of these questions were running through my head while we drove back home Monday night. Turns out Choncho is fine with other dogs, he didn't eat or drink anything, he's house trained, and he was fine being locked up all night. But I had to put my foot down. We can't afford another dog right now, and I don't want to live with three animals in an apartment. So the next day I dropped Jake off at school and Choncho and I returned to the apartment to finish cleaning. He sat and watched me while I cleaned the bathroom, followed me everywhere, played with the vacuum, and helped me sweep. Seriously. I'd set some treats out for him on the kitchen floor, which he didn't eat. When I started sweeping he picked up the treats and moved them onto the carpet, out of harms way. And that's when I started to like him. He was just a good natured, jolly dog, but I knew if we kept him I'd go crazy. So when Jake finished school we took him to a shelter. Jake went in first because I knew I'd cry if I went, but he didn't have his license with him so I had to go in too. We waited in line, and just before our number was called a couple walked in the door. The man walked passed us but turned around right when our number was called and asked, "are you giving away that dog?" We said yes, so we walked with them outside and told them how we found him and how he was really nice and playful. They were looking for a small dog as a companion for their dog. It was perfect! I was so happy to see Choncho go to a family rather than to a cage. We walked around the shelter afterwards to look at all the dogs and it was so sad. I never would have been happy with myself knowing I'd confined such a good dog into such a sad and scary place. So it was a happy ending. But Jake and I decided that the next dog we get will be from a shelter. There are too many good dogs out there just waiting for a home.

This is what happens when grocery stores double bag. And when two people get very bored on a Saturday night.