Los Angeles

McKay and I flew to California this weekend for an optometry interview. We were only there for two whole days and it was rainy the whole time. Total bummer, I thought CA was never supposed to rain. Here are some shots from our flight.

We flew into Long Beach where Norman and Jeremy picked us up.

Our view from our hotel window... big messy palm trees (but very very cool)

We were only a little nervous at the beginning of the day, but after 8hrs of lecture we were just ready to get it over with. But once he walked into the interview room I just about had a stroke right there in the lobby.

This picture is of McKay and all the other kids who were being interviewed that day. It was kinda funny too because McKay is actually a minority in optometry; white males are NOT common. 75% of people in optometry schools are women and 60% are asian. I have never had a woman optometrist before, I wonder where they all go?

Here is the nearest apts to campus I think they are cute but we are not going to live in Pomona (where the school is). Apparently Pomona is #2 for crime in LA county with #1 being Compton. Rent averages $1500 per month around here and that's just the tip of the iceberg. The opt students who talked to us about "campus life" said we were so lucky that we have such a great deal on parking, only $400 for the year. haha. They were sure shocked when we told them we only paid $10 for a year at BYUI and a few of them decided they were moving to Idaho.

After the interview we walked down a street near the campus and got these cutie little shots.

We sat in this restaurant for a while while we waited for our ride to come pick us up. The people there were very nice and one woman who worked there told us that she was going to quit smoking because she hates going outside in the "cold" (60 degree) weather.

Out-of-business sushi restaurant windows...

Very weird random hat... on an antique store. I have yet to figure this out...

We went out to eat with family and I tried cow tongue!!! It was sliced like pastrami and put on a sandwich. I this must be a california thing.

After the stressful interview day we went to Disneyland (for free!!). What a perfect way to end an interview weekend... by screaming your guts out.

Since we have never been to Disneyland we didn't know what any of the rides were like. So we didn't know what to expect when we got in line for "Fairy Land". It looked like a maze with oversized flowers, plants, and other stuff. When it was finally our turn we went into the "maze" turned around the corner and saw these girls with a little fairy outfits who declared "Here we are!" Jeremy, McKay and I just stood there, staring, but stopped when one finally responded "You guys didn't know what you were getting in line for did you?" Definitely not.

Jeremy and I trapping McKay in the middle... he he!

Nice hat McKay, and what is with those gunshot holes in your poncho?

Portraits

Currently Sharon has me working on a secret photo project and it has been keeping me busy. We also went out got some pictures of her and these two are my favorites. She is so gorgeous!

Sharon's sister, Becca, asked me if I would take a picture of her for her modeling/acting agency thing. So here is the picture but dealing with the agent has been a freakin pain in the neck. But I didn't say that...

Is the term "Winter Wonderland" appropriate after Christmas?

A couple of days ago everyone in Rexburg had trouble getting out of bed because it was FREEZING!! But horrible things called "responsibilities" forced us out into the cold. So on my way to work and I stopped the car a couple times to take these shots. This first one i just took while I was driving; hence the dirty cracked windshield and the windshield wiper. The rest of pictures I actually stopped the car and walked into 3ft of snow.

I stopped by this christmas tree farm and it was totally awesome!! I think I actually saw claymation Rudolf and a Burl Ives Snowman hiding behind some trees.

The frost/snow was much more interesting in the early morning like at 8am, there was a lot of fog too, which was really awesome but by the time I got out it was mostly gone.

The cold weather actually wouldn't be so bad if everyday was this pretty

Very very bored

Life in the winter seems so dull, maybe it's just because it is snow everywhere and nothing to do. Or maybe it is because I am out of school and there is nothing to do. Well for whatever reason I can't find a long term solution to my boredom. I have tried reading some books to alleviate this problem, but I can't read in healthy doses; I read ALL day for 6 hours straight or nothing at all. If you have nothing to do I HIGHLY suggest reading The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and the Poison Study; those are my favorite books as of lately. I also read the Kite Runner and it was a very powerful and filled with a lot of culture, but a little disturbing and left me a little sick to my stomach at parts... but it was good. If any of you have recommendations out there please... i want them.

The rest of this post is random pictures. Basically I just dug around for old pictures in my computer and found some I liked. Usually I don't post random-picture-posts but oh well, hopefully it will cure my boredom and some of yours too.

Story #1: Sharon, Amanda, and I went to Target. They were buying skinny jeans. I wanted to try some on too. They bought some skinny jeans. I bought skinny jeans.

The End

This first picture of Sharon and I at Wingers with our newly purchased skinny jeans (and our smashing shoes (not new)).

This isn't a very important picture but it is just further proof of our skinny jean phenomenon.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... "

Awwwww.... Isn't McKay CUTE! He is the real McDreamy!!! And he just turned 26, what an old fart!

my wallet up close and personal...

Out for dinner at Wingers. One of the two great sit-down restaurants in Rexburg. No wait, make that three (Wingers, Applebees, Frontier Pies)

Cool cones in the summer breeze.

Weddings in Utah

I had two weddings to hit in one weekend, first Kyle and Samantha's. where I met up with several long lost friends (like Susan). And sorry, I have no pictures of the bride and groom because I was just talking to people too much. It was very fun though.

Anything look familiar? YAY!

After Kyle and Samanthas wedding I was supposed to hit up my old roommate Emily's wedding but I was a little late, stuck in traffic, and ended up getting totally lost and frustrated and didn't make it. Isn't SLC supposed to be the easiest city to drive in? Apparently not for me. I don't even know where North is (well I can figure it out, but I have to think about the roads and the numbers for like ten minutes and by than time I'm in some crazy part of town). This is what I need McKay for. He is like a human GPS and is like "oh we are on 18th street, lets just turn here..." and BAM he finds it. I'm like "Holy CRAP we are on twohundredeightythousandthnorthsouth street!!!! No one said anything about THIS street?!" And talk about other confusing streets, North Temple St, South Temple St, East Temple St, North West Temple St, South East Temple St, Really Really Temple St, Honestly This Is The Real Temple St and every other combination you can think of. And I'm not trying to make excuses but I'm pretty sure my problem is an eastern thing; where North doesn't matter, 5th means 5th and not 500th, and the roads go in circles, squiggles, and other such patterns so you just memorize where you are going instead of coordinates.

I just feel really dumb and very guilty for missing Emily's reception. Luckily Maren lives nearby so I crashed at her house for the night (thank you!) and then drove up to Idaho the next day... all by myself... totally boring but a little bit therapeutic considering the hecticness of the previous day. So it was nice. But in remembrance of that awesome car ride to Idaho, i made the best video ever. I'm sure you will agree. AHAHAHAHAHAHA

BYU basketball

I think I went to the wrong college. I never knew I was missing anything until I went to a BYU basketball game with my friend Susan. It was really fun and I loved it. But I guess it is a little to late now... oh well.

I am not BYU, more like BYU-I but no one will notice

We arrived extra early so we could get some good seats, and no one was there.

Our gate thingy. No, I do not know that guy, he just waltzed right into my picture

My view (when everyone was sitting down)

Old ladies dancing to "Love Shack" for the half time show. One 93 yr old woman had a solo and did the splits! Insane!

My attempt at a panorama

So BYU ended up winning and so did I because McKay sure was jealous when he heard about this adventure! HAA HAA!!!

New years day

We went sledding at the sand dunes and it was pretty awesome. McKay and Jason built a jump and it was pretty epic. Since everything was white we had no depth perception at all. You would think that you were about to walk on flat ground, but you would really end up falling down a hill. It was pretty fun.