Saturday in LA

The San Diego temple was closed for two weeks so Aaron and I decided to go to the LA temple on our day off. We met two of my Santa Barbara friends for a session. The session was huge!! 190 people and it took almost 3 hours. Poor pregnant Lori was ready to be out of her seat. We had a great time and I can't wait to go back! Too bad it's located in LA.

I know the sun is not helping in this picutre, but a wedding party was hovering near by so we had to be quick.

We wanted to make the drive worthwhile and stay in LA all day, so we hit up the Getty. It stays open until 9pm on Saturdays and is free after 5 so we spent a few hours there in the evening. Aaron had never been to the Getty before so it was fun experiencing it with him. Hopefully we can do a full day in the future.

One of my favorite things about the Getty is all the impressionist art they have. I've always loved impressionism so that's my first stop. And the Getty lets you get close to the paintings! I got in trouble once at the Guggenheim because I was standing too close to a Van Gogh. Up close is the best part of a Van Gogh!

Monet's haystacks.

Van Gogh's Irises.

The bottom left corner of Irises. I zoomed in as close as I could get. I love the detail and the impasto technique!
Doesn't this look like a photograph? Unfortunately I forgot to note the artist. Anyone know?

Another great part of the Getty is all the furniture from the impressionist era. They had a beautiful panneled room set up from a sitting room in Europe. Can you imagine sleeping in this bed? All I could think about is how I got my sheets at Ross...

SDSU v. BYU

Our entry into the SDSU v. BYU game was gratis due to Sandys' sports connections at State. The arena was sold out that night, but we found some seats a few rows up and watched a great game.

Here is the student body supporting the missionary effort...

Even though I didn't go to either school, it's nice to see BYU win because State is always a wee bit uncalled for and humility is a good lesson!

hello Disney

We participated in Disney's Give a Day, Get a Day program by doing service for the San Diego Oceans Foundation. We stamped storm drains to help raise awareness that all storm drains in the county lead directly to the ocean. It was trial and error at first, but we got the hang of it and whipped out enough to go to Disneyland for free. We are excited every time we drive past 'our' storm drains. I enjoyed it and would do it again!

oh canada

Here are just a few pictures of our trip to Canada for Christmas.Two of Aaron's brothers greeted us at the airport with this sign they made. Since Aaron didn't have his camera ready when we were coming out of customs, his brothers kindly re-enacted the moment at home.

Christmas dinner in the barn at Gpa B's and Gma L's. Apologies for the blurriness. side note: ever think pictures don't look like you? i feel like this does not look like me. moving on...

Bundled up to go tobogganing (sleding in america). The trip was cut short due to an injury and the fact that we broke all our tubes. Obviously I wasn't taking any chances with the cold.

thanksgiving

A picture with some favorite folsom friends in St. George after an early morning temple session. The best part about driving to Utah is seeing the Staggs!
Gma is the best.

it's raining outside

and i forgot my umbrella.
and i wore a white shirt.
and i'm wearing my suede leopard print shoes.
dang it.

perfection at what cost?

I saw a Newsweek article on the decade's biggest airbrushing scandals (you know, the magazines photos where the person has lost about 30 pounds or has lighter skin?) and that led to another article by the magazine on retouching grade school pictures. Say what?!

"It surprises me so much when a mom comes in and asks for retouching on a second-grader," says Danielle Stephens, a production manager for Prestige Portrait.

A second grader needs retouching? I can't think of a case where that is necessary or remotely a good idea. Awkward grade school pictures are a rite of passage! How sad and totally depressing. It's distressing that people feel the need to be so perfect, but even more heartbreaking is the idea that a 7 year old will be introduced to that superficial world via his or her mother. The only message being conveyed to the child is that they are not good enough. The thought that I wasn't pretty enough for my parents never even occurred to me. Oh heavens. What is this world coming to?

aaron + jimmer

we went with sandy and steve to the sdsu vs. byu men's basketball game on saturday night. (i'll be posting a picture of some student body members dressed like missionaries...) it is state's biggest game of the year. the arena was sold out and it was loud. sandy verified that beating byu is state's main goal of the year. it was a great game and byu won by a close shave.
aaron developed a crush that night on jimmer, number 32. i'm pretty sure all male byu basketball fans love jimmer because he really is the man. he scored 32 points that game and was throwing 3 pointers in every one's faces. loved it. loved jimmer. we decided after the game that we are happy our tithing is making jimmer's basketball career possible. he's a sight to behold.

wow. has it really been almost a month since i've posted anything? sorry. it's been busy/i've been lazy. i have pictures to post. perhaps i'll get them ready tonight. anyway, we're back.

13 going on 30

was the theme of the birthday party we attended last night for the cutie on the left. I dusted off my skort and Aaron pulled out his best flannel to take us back to '95. He could barely look at me with my mom bangs. But, that's exactly how I used to wear them. I'm wearing a ladies Canadian tuxedo with my Canadian at my side. Classic. Happy Birthday, J! You make work bearable. Thank you!!

Editors note: I just noticed '27 going on 40' was the title of my last post. Apparently my age is all over the place these days.

27 going on 40

i stole two of these from another player (he was happy to be rid of it) at a white elephant gift exchange on saturday night. two huge packages of quality toilet paper? for free? yes, please. people were laughing and asked if that was my brand and i said, free is my brand. aaron shook his head, but i felt like i got the best gift! with just the two of us i won't have to buy toilet paper for a long time! i know this probably says lots of things about me, but i'm excited!

Air Jordan 11

Apparently these shoes are a big deal. All I know is I've never paid this much for a pair of shoes and girls are supposed to spend the most on their shoes, right? The "Space Jams" make their debut on 12/23/09 and Aaron will be the first in line. Literally. He's camping out. And so am I. The fact that all these shoes in the entire country of Canada have already sold out on pre-sale has him freaked out. He wants to be front and center at Foot Locker when they open on Wednesday at 5am.


I've never camped out at a store before. Not even for discounts on Black Friday and there are no discounts with this shoe. Am I excited? No. Am I being a good wife and going with him? Yes. If I was at home I wouldn't sleep anyway because I'd be worried. I'll be sure to take pictures and share the joy with you. Surely the government cannot have questions about the vailidity of our marriage if I'm willing to do stuff like this...

not that kind of girl

aaron and i gave one another gym memberships for Christmas. he'd been wanting one for awhile, but i think they are too pricey. lucky for him (and for my body) we found a great deal through costco. aaron wanted to go to a yoga class the other night, so i put on my happy face knowing i would not enjoy it. i was right.

i'm more of a pilates girl, but i can see and feel the benefits of yoga. it's everything else that comes with yoga that bothers me. the diehards, the music, the silly phrases. when our instructor wanted us to concentrate on mother earth and father sky a snort almost escaped my lips. the whole time i was itching to go running and hit the weights. i could not get out of there fast enough, but aaron wants to go every two weeks. i guess i can do that. right?

i'm still too lazy

to post my Thanksgiving pictures. maybe i'll just wait for Christmas and new years and have a photo trifecta to display. sigh.

yes, please

While shopping at the WS outlet I picked up their latest and greatest hot chocolate. This container retails at $19.95, which is about $14.95 too steep for me. But, it was 50% off and I had gift cards so a debate began in my mind.

A helpful side note at this time would be to know that I am super picky about my hot chocolate. Not just any will cross my lips. I'm not a snob, but rather most are too sweet and make me sick. I'm not a milk chocolate fan and most hot chocolate resembles milk chocolate, so I pass. Starbucks is my only safe zone. But, the side of this container boasted, "The chocolate is an artisanal bittersweet variety by Guittard, San Francisco chocolate makers since the 19th century. It liquefies quickly and consistently in hot milk". Liquid bittersweet hot chocolate? Count me in!

The decision? Oh, baby, it is just as it says. Aaron took one sip and was unable to continue. I forged on and was delighted with each swig. If you like hearty hot chocolate as I do, this is your brand. Just find it on sale.