UCLA v BYU Game

I'm not a football person. My BFF Brigette and I often commiserate how much we hate football. Her husband Aaron and his buddy always get tickets to the home UCLA games. Ross thought it would be fun to go to one (since they buy extra tickets). When he found out BYU was playing them he was pretty eager to see if we could be Aaron's +2. Even if it's football I will take any excuse to hang out with Brigette and her family, so we made it happen!

And before we knew it A big ol' group of us- 6 adults and one Asher were on our way down to LA for the game. As you might be considering, yes- Ross and I in BYU gear and every single other person in UCLA. That's friendship, no drama just a little rivalry. We did the whole tailgating experience, which was really fun. BYU doesn't really have anything quite like the depth and breadth of tailgating at this game. Aaron and Matt go to these games all season so they are seasoned professionals in the art. They have their ez-up, portable amp, grill, coolers, tables, chairs.



Matt's girlfriend made this awesome cornhole game. You gotta play cornhole while tailgating (says the person who hasn't done either). It was this day that I learned that Brigette and I are unsurpassable and unstoppable cornhole teammates. We were undefeated until Matt's parents came around and beat us out. That's fair.



The food was amazing. The main dish was carne asada tacos which was so delicious we just ended up eating pieces of carne asada. We also had fruit and stuff but tacos are kinda main dishes and appetizers and fruit and vegetables anyways.

I should mention that by the beginning of the game I knew more people in that stadium than any BYU home game I ever went to as an undergrad. It all kinda snowballed. Word got out about the game and then Ryan and Jen were driving from Arizona to come. Then Mom and Dad were on board. Then Ali was flying in from New York to join in as well! Also one of the people I work with is a UCLA alum and came to the game with his family. It was fun to be able to meet up with everyone at different points and say hi.



On the way to the stadium!



The game was incredible. Both teams were undefeated going into it. And for as great a team as UCLA is, BYU was really able to play well.



The game was so close and at the last minute- when for sure we thought sweet sweet victory was ours- we lost it. It was so heartbreaking to be so close! I've never invested myself so much in any sporting game. Even our UCLA friends felt sad for us and we didn't bother with banter afterwards.

The game was so close and at the last minute- when for sure we thought sweet sweet victory was ours- we lost it. It was so heartbreaking to be so close! I've never invested myself so much in any sporting game. Even our UCLA friends felt sad for us and we didn't bother with banter afterwards.



Win or Lose- our spirit nails looked awesome. Top: Jen with BYU and the world's tiniest paw print. Middle: Ali with mixed art of her two alma maters and a variety of paw prints. Bottom: Me keeping things simple.



I wasn't expecting to have so much fun at the game but it was a really incredible experience and fun opportunity to spend time with friends (and eat tacos). Thanks Lucas family for the invite!

While You Were Out

Have I explained on the blog before about how Ross and I never take a vacation together?

Okay, well NEVER is not exactly accurate. But it does seem that my employment and his school are forever at odds.

I came back from my super epic New York trip and everyone was asking, "How did you and Ross like New York?!"



Cos yeeeaaaah, we didn't do that together. We also didn't do this, this, nor any of this. But I'm not here to provide you a comprehensive list of all the stuff I do by myself. That's what this blog is for. Instead I just want to feel happy that Ross finally gets a turn to take a little break. He is officially done with his 3rd year of medical school, he has his Step 2 CK out of the way and he is all but ready to apply to residency. He still has a way to go but you learn to celebrate the small victories.

I kicked him outta the house and told him to use what we have left on those beautiful airline vouchers to visit family and friends in Utah. Our motto, as I am pretty sure I have well documented on the blog, is "If you have the time- find the money."

With 4th year and then intern year of residency and so on, you can't count on ever having time. And the money- well after awhile you stop worrying about having so little- so you just find a way.

He's off on an adventure and I am back at work, or sweltering at home in these warm temps. While he is gone I've been doing a complete bedroom over-haul.

Operation: Organization and Donation.



I have to do this while he is gone so I have enough time and space to make a mess and find a solution. On the right you can see that no matter how hard you try there will always be that pile of stuff leftover. That pile of stuff that you're just not quite sure what to do with.



I am proud to say I donated a bunch^ of stuff and threw away even more. It feels good!

My good friend Mary recently started residency at a nearby hospital. She invited me over for dinner so I made a simple dessert. I brought the leftovers to work and people were beside themselves. Really I think it was just nice to have a pick-me-up now that every one is coming back to work after summer break.



In other cooking endeavors, I thought I would make a special treat for Ross's return from Utah and eventual start of a school/ hospital work again.

I present: Brownie-crust Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake!

It is possible that I went a little over-board with the decorations on the top. Like homemade whipped cream!?

I made a Frankenstein recipe combing and piecing together three different recipes.



It involved a brownie crust, topped with a layer of fudge. Next a peanut butter cream cheese cool whip layer, then some Reeses cups and brownie. After that more of the cream cheese mixture, probably more peanut butter cups, a fudge topping then all the decorations.

It was delicious. It sounds kinda hard but it wasn't at all. Except for the brownie part it was no-bake too! 

Friends: Part II Happy Birthday BFF

After a fun time with Pip & Andrew, Ross and I headed to Palmdale to hang out with my mom before going to Brigette's birthday party. Brigette always throws great parties and has fun themes. This year she turns 25 and decided the perfect way to celebrate her mid-life crisis would be to have a 90s party.

What I love about Brigette is that she always goes all out for her parties! She had fun 90s snacks and treats and Lisa Frank inspired decor, and of course perfect 90s music. Aka the music Ross and I listen to all the time. As we were driving to Brigette's we turned the ipod on to the 90's mix and realized that it is pretty much just the entire ipod.



Whenever I come over I spend a fair amount of time hanging out with Asher, until he needs to go to bed. We played with his TMNT for a while, then some cars, then with Legos. I was talking about his minifigures and asking him if he remembers where he got them from, which admittedly, he does not. But then later when we were playing he was like, "Where is that guy that came with the Spiderman you gave me?" Made me pretty happy that although this kid gets lots of presents from lots of different people, Auntie Kristen's Spiderman Lego set gets remembered. SCORE! Also, I was telling him how much I liked his Yeti minifigure, then before he went to bed he said that Ross and I could borrow it if we want. That, to me is the ultimate stamp of child approval, letting someone borrow your toys. I love that kid!

It was a fun night, and the highlight was finally getting to try one of those cool character ice creams I was never able to get from the ice cream man.



Definitely opted for the Spongebob with gumball eyes. Duh.



Did I mention how epic Brigette's outfit was? Overalls, headband, white ked-like shoes, complete with scalloped socks! Also, she was rocking her tamogatchi pet on her belt loop. Of course Brigette would have an impeccably operating tamogatchi.



BFF!!!

I am so lucky to have Brigette in my life. Her thoughtfulness, big ideas and the ability to perfectly execute them have always made me jealous in the best way possible. She is my forever friend and being her friend is the best! Happy Happy Birthday!

Friends: Part I Hi Pip!

It has been awhile since I wrote a travel log type post. I guess not a whole lot is going on around here, or at least not a ton that I feel is blog worthy. But this past weekend was absolutely jam-packed.

A few months ago my best friend Pip told me that she was coming to California for a family vacation, and that hopefully she would have time to see me. I was beyond excited and I probably screamed a little when I read her e-mail. Pip and I were college roommates for 3 out of the 4 years I was there. Doesn't get much closer than that. I have mentioned her many times on the blog before. Perhaps most notably here. This whole week I have been beside myself, being so freaking excited to see her.

In order to try and but all my excited energy into something productive... I put the finishing touches on this Christmas (I know, I know) present for her. Can you tell what her hobbies are?!



I saw Pip only a couple times, way too briefly, this summer (every visit is brief when you are old roommates), so I was even more excited to be reunited.



We met at a Panera and chatted for a while before finally deciding what to do. That is the great thing about friends. It doesn't matter if you are chatting it up in Panera or traveling the world, the company is what matters! Since we were in the OC, a territory that is still pretty unknown to me, we kind of had to wing it. But we decided to check out Crystal Cove State Park, a territory unknown to all of the parties involved.



We took a walk down to the beach, which was pretty with all the bright flowers.

The sky was pretty ominous, there was about a 50% chance of rain that morning. Ross and I caught some heading down to OC but thankfully that was all. I was in a bit of a panic actually- that when Pip finally comes to California IN THE CERTIFIED DROUGHT, we would have rain to ruin our plans.

But it worked out!

We ended up poking around in the tidepools. It has been awhile! Growing up the tidepools were pretty popular with my family and visiting friends and family, so it was cool to be back, even if in a different location.



As we were looking around a nice older lady stopped us, and stared at us for a moment before asking, "Do you know what you are looking at?" Me, being the daughter of Gary The Science Guy, definitely knew everything. But we chatted with her for a moment and she presented us with these pretty cool little pamphlets about tidepools, tidal zones, and little creature friends. It was geared for younger kids, which meant it was perfect for me. It's a pretty handy little basic guide and is on nice heavy, slick paper so you can cart it along with you. Thanks Crystal Cove Conservancy and rich people with money, you rock!



We all had a pretty fun time and I was impressed with how impressed my friends were. I sometimes forget that I have cool stuff like this right at my fingertips. Pip grew up in Minnesota but has also lived near the sea in Boston and Washington, so it was fun to share a southern California beach with her.



One of my favorite moments was when Pip jokingly said something like, "It exists outside of a touch tank at the museum!"



It was a short visit, because Pip and Andrew had to go pick up family at the airport, but I am so thankful for friends that make time for me in their busy schedules. It was almost surreal to have Pip in my California habitat but so much fun.

2014 Review in Pictures

I am a little embarrassed to say that when New Year's Eve rolls around I don't always feel particularly impressed or grateful for all that has elapsed in the past 365 days.

But this year is different. Last night I was laying in bed, thinking, "WOW! Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and then it's a whole new year!" I've been spending my time off writing and catching up on my blog posts of things that have happened months ago. It has really got me thinking of what a truly amazing year I have had. I tend to be a bit skeptical come my birthday that the next year will be as great as everyone wishes for me. But as I stand on the cusp of 2015, I feel so lucky to have had so many adventures in these past 12 months. I have a bit of a tradition to be held to on this blog. 12 pictures for 2012, 13 pictures for 2013. It feels only right that this year is 14 pictures for the year 2014.

2014 in 14 Pictures!

1) January
Okay, Okay, I already cheated, this collage counts as one photo. January 2014 might have been my favorite month in the whole time I lived in Grenada. We hiked Mt. Qua Qua, which was an exhausting but rewarding adventure. And we traveled to the northern island of Grenada called Carriacou. If you can believe it, Carriacou is 5 x more beautiful than Grenada. If you offered to give me a vacation to Grenada I would debate it, but if you offered me a vacation to Carriacou, I would go in a heartbeat. We also built this little sand-snowman to rub in the fact that we live in a beautiful, sunny, sandy place.

2) February
This might be the most cliche picture of the year: Husband love on Valentine's Day. But when your spouse is in medical school, there comes a point when you stop expecting things or, you end up picking up your own gifts or goodies on your bus trip to the store. On top of that, holiday goodies are always expensive in Grenada. You can imagine my surprise when I came home from work to find all this! My favorite chocolates, and lots of other goodies.

3) March 

In March, my parents visited Grenada. You can read about the whole trip here. It was an amazing and blissful week. It was fun to have my family here to show them the beauty and nightmare that Grenada can be. We took hundreds of photos all over Grenada but I settled on one that is a little more unconventional. An unexpected activity while they were here was hand fishing up at Grand Etang. Pretty freaky, hilarious to watch. 

4) April 

Was a pretty simple month as the pictures tell. Kind of the calm before the storm, the second to last mile in a marathon (I would suppose). I chose a picture that depicts every day life in Grenada. Not a beautiful beach picture, or a fancy dinner, but waiting at the bus stop. I would venture to say that a great part of my Grenada days were spent just waiting for the bus (well and missing the bus and walking/running to the bus). I look at the picture and am struck with fondness and horror, I can feel the sun bearing down on my face and sweat gathering on my body. But even now looking back, it still seems so far away to me. Just waiting with Ross for a bus. 

5) May 

Our favorite place to eat in Grenada was Schnitzel Haus. As I was fed up and ready to leave the island, people would ask what I would miss the most. I would usually half jokingly answer with, "Schnitzel Haus." On this occasion we went out to eat with my friend Krystle who is more likely who I will really miss when I leave Grenada. Here we are with the owners of the restaurant. The most lovely, happy Germans maybe ever.

6 & 7) June 

June might have been the most jam-packed month. And I say that now knowing that moving and securing housing would happen. June was a month of visiting friends and family. Friends in Vernal, family in Utah, family in Kentucky, family in Tennessee. How could I possibly limit the photos from that month?! I already cheated with the collage so I will try to do this with only TWO. 

Could you find two happier friends (read about my Vernal trip here)? I think we are laughing at something Larry said. Most likely.

FOUR of us in one picture. That deserves a post, or check out my entire Kentucky trip here. 

8) July 

I'm starting to sound a little insane and self-imprtant when every month is the next "big" month. But I guess July wasn't BIG so much as it was ultimate happiness when this moment came. I can almost promise that I will never get sick of this picture. The moment when after two years, Ross could finally, and completely take a deep breath. I can't remember the last time I saw him so happy. Read about that moment more here. 

9) August

In August we got to road trip back to California with my grandparents. And as scary as the unknown is, how bad can it be when family is so close? I feel so honored to spend time with my grandparents. They are the coolest, funniest, most generous and caring people I know. 

10) September

As Ross and I settled in, we spent every spare moment with my sister or parents, or BOTH! One trip we took was to see a giant inflatable duck in the San Pedro harbor. We had lunch at the fish market. I still need to blog about it. Even with all the pictures we took with that duck, this one is my favorite. My mom hates pictures and I feel so happy when she agrees to be in one. I love my momma and I love getting pictures with her.

11) October 

I love doing a year review because (and as corny as this sounds) it is really humbling. I think part of that is because compared to last year, this year has been bursting at the seams with family and friends. All the stress and issues in my life fade when I can see I am so constantly surrounded by love.

In October my bestie and her fam forsook their comfortable home to stay in my tiny apartment for a night. It was a blast! I love that family with all my heart and hanging out with my godson brings so much light and life to my life. Being best friends (at least with this girl) means that we often have identical clothing. From our glasses to shirts to pants, we could swap wardrobes and not even notice. A bit ridiculous, yes.

12 & 13) November 

I could go on and on about all the fun things I've done each month, but I realize that is why I have this blog in the first place. I have to remind myself that this is just a review. November isn't often my favorite month, it tends to be filled with the mundane and stressful. But this November was the best month of the year. 

With all the pictures you take on a road trip across america, and all the family and friends you see along the way, I choose this one to represent. It was the longest day of the road trip. And pretty tiring. It takes a special kind of person to be stuck in the car with for a whole week, but lucky for me, I was "stuck" with my sister. My sister who can help me keep a smile on my face even after long stressful days. 

Even with how wonderful the month was, I choose yet another random photo. Because it embodies pure happiness. Ross bought me a large pink donut with sprinkles. My eyes are filled with joy.

14) December

The last month of it all. And on the first day of this month I started a new job. And excuse my vulgar language, but I am pretty damn proud of myself. Probably a little more proud than I should be for being a 25 year old with a full time job. I know that is simply what I am supposed to do, but sheesh it was a feat. And sheesh I am tired and exhausted at the end of the day. I will get the hang of it, but for now I am will keep this beaming smile through adversity. 

So there you have it! I can't believe this year is over. It seems like Carriacou in January was ages ago. It has been an incredible year filled with adventure and plane rides. 2015 has big shoes to fill, but I am excited to see how it can even exceed this year. Come at me bro! 

BFF Best Halloween Party

Halloween has always been a favorite holiday for me. Dressing up and candy. Go figure.

Last weekend my best friend Brigette hosted a Halloween party.

My mom and sister helped me figure out some cool Halloween themed treats to take. I'm a sucker for sweets but lately I've been all about branching out and venturing into the world of savory hors d'ouvres. 

With help I pulled off these, "Lil smokies mummies," inspired by Pinterest.

And creepy brain jello, inspired by myself and childhood. 

Brigette put a lot of time and effort into the party and it was really fun. I'm usually skeptical of  party games but the ones Brigette planned out were a riot. Ross's team was the overall winner and he got a gift card out of it. 

I have to admit, the best part was Brigette and Aaron's costume. 

It put our costume to shame, but Ross and I still worked hard to get our costume together so here is our shout-out. 

We found out that our costume was one that you either got right away... or never got at all. Ross got a lot of, "Caltrans worker?! You need a shovel!" while I got a lot of, "You're a ninja right?"

Wyld Style and Emmett from The Lego Movie, of course. What else would a mid-twenties aged couple go as for Halloween? 

I'm so happy that all four of us get along so well. It's always so much fun to hang out with the Lucas family!!