Black Friday!

We had a great day-after-Thanksgiving day. It started at 4:30am getting up to go to Old Navy, which opened at 5. We let Matt cut in line with us, got Jeremy some new pants, and then were out pretty quickly since the men's side was relatively calm. After getting home around 5:30 from our only shopping destination, we (of course) went back to sleep!
At 9:30 we joined the Short family in their 15-passenger van on an excursion to Yosemite. We survived the winding roads, passed through the amazing tunnel, and arrived at the beautiful lookout in the Yosemite Valley.
The giant Sequoia trees were huge!
We ate lunch near a little waterfall and walking trail, but in the van because it was so cold.
We visited the Yosemite Store where it was very difficult to find a bathroom that wasn't closed. On the way out of the valley, we took some pictures at Bridalveil Falls.
It was a beautiful and breathtaking day, yet very tiring. Many naps were taken in the van.

It was super crowded in the park so this may not become a Black Friday tradition, although shopping in the early morning certainly will continue!

Did you get any great deals? What are your day-after-Thanksgiving traditions?

Fall

The leaves on the trees are beautiful this time of year. I have a hard time concentrating while driving sometimes because I am looking at all of the wonderful colors surrounding me.

Our house has a big ginkgo tree in the front. I love it because it reminds me of my old house where we had three ginkgo trees in the front. It also provides nice shade during summer evenings and now is a bright splash of color on our street.




Unfortunately, since it is fall, all those leaves have to come down. That means raking. (I can't imagine all the raking my dad had to do with THREE! I do remember making his work worse by jumping into the piles and then seeing tons of black trash bags piled in the yard.)


We don't own a rake, and we certainly weren't prepared for all the yard work we'd have to do since we moved from an apartment to our very own house.

Thankfully, our next door neighbors have some great kids because this weekend they knocked on our door and ASKED if they could please rake our leaves. They said they did it all the time for the old owner of the house. Well, SURE! They did a great job, but wouldn't you know it.... the very next day our grass was covered with yellow leaves again! Hopefully they'll come over again and we can give them a little thank-you gift!

Bodering on Boredom

So lately I've noticed that I have to really stretch my mind to figure out what to blog about. Nothing in our lives seem all that exciting at the moment. We've already moved from our first apartment to our first house, we've blogged about our first pets, we haven't been on any trips lately, no more crime in our neighborhood (let's keep it that way, knock on wood!).....

It seems like instead of experiencing the excitement first hand these days, we get to see others enjoying their moments of joy. For example, our last post was about our newlywed friends, Leslie and Jason.

From the weddings to the babies...



Here are some pictures of our adorable new family member, Maycee Givens. She's one month old already! And parents Rob and Cody are just the cutest Daddy and Mommy.

My BFF, Lauren Green, is expecting soon. It is so fun to see her blog with ultrasound pictures and a baby crib with bedding. I can't relate to the whole baby thing yet, but I am so excited for my family and friends, and I can't wait for my turn!

Hmmm...what else?

We washed Jazzy.



Jeremy tried a new recipe with jalapeños (with some modification because me no likey bacon).


And.....that's about it....for now!

Weekend of Wedding

On Friday we went to the wedding and reception for Leslie Hansen and Jason McOmber, a couple that we have been friends with for a while. They are the cutest couple and it has been really neat to see the development of their relationship.

I met Leslie about 2 years ago when Micah brought her to our weekly "12:01am donuts" (don't you miss that Lauren?!) and we grew closer last summer when we became the Beans (Chili Bean - Christie Bessinger, Lima Bean - Leslie, Jelly Bean - me). Jeremy has known both Leslie and Jason for a while because they all grew up in the East Stake.

Well, this weekend all started Thursday when I went to the East Stake Center to help Leslie set up for the reception (actually all the prep started earlier but whatever). I wish I had pictures of her adorable polka dot tablecloths and her tents with colorful paper lanterns. Leslie is so creative and she planned and carried out everything all by herself! Later that night, Leslie took us bridesmaids out to dinner and then we finished setting up the reception.

Friday morning, Leslie and Jason were sealed in the Fresno Temple. They looked absolutely perfect for each other. We then took pictures outside of the temple, had a luncheon at the Sierra/Fowler building (the McOmber family hosted it and the food was great!), and then we took more pictures at a member's beautifully landscaped yard. While I was posing for photos, what was Jeremy to do? No worries -- he was busy helping the photographer hold the light reflecting screen things. They loved his work and his willingness to help!


Jeremy and I were able to go home and take a nap cause it had been a very long day so far. Then it was time for the party! Our feet were definitely hurting by this point so we bridesmaids took off our shoes and helped collect presents from the people standing in the large receiving line. Jeremy was great and helped collect/buy supplies to decorate their car and apartment. After everyone else had partaken of the wonderfully catered food from Luna's and most of our duties were done, we got to sit and enjoy the food.



Towards the end we loaded all the presents into a van (I was getting itchy fingers at all those pretty and big gifts!), then we were very ready to say goodbye and good luck to the bride and groom and head home. After a group watched them drive off in their decorated car, we got into our own car and rode off into the night.

I was never one who extremely enjoyed going to weddings or receptions (it tends to make single women feel even more alone), but I have always loved being a part of the wedding party and seeing the joy of the families and couple. Looking back I feel really bad towards my cousins and other family or friends who have been married because I didn't understand the excitement or significance of weddings, especially temple weddings. Now that I have experienced the excitement, the nervousness, the stress, the wonderfulness of it all, I have noticed that I am much more understanding of what people are going through. For Leslie's wedding I couldn't wait to hear her talk about her ideas and decisions or help her get everything ready. I know I can't change the past, but I do wish I could have done the same and been more excited and understanding for past weddings.

The point of this post? I'm not even sure but I do know that going to weddings as a married person definitely makes me feel happy that I am married and reminds me of all the wonderful feelings that we felt almost a year ago. Instead of being a reminder of being single, weddings are now so romantic! Also, I figured it was time for an update and this is the most significant thing that has happened in our lives lately. The reflection at the end of this post is kinda apologetic and silly but it's nice to get my feelings out there. I'm sure I'm not the only post-wedding mind changer! Plus, I'm tired of all the anti-Prop 8 stuff happening, so with that it's time for more pictures.