One Year Already!

On January 26, we celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary! We can't believe how quickly the time has gone. We continue to enjoy learning about each other and laughing together.

To celebrate we took a road-trip up to central California and had a lovely time the whole way. Our first stop was to visit our aunt in Fresno. We had a great time just talking, eating Chick Fil-A and painting a plate together at Color Me Mine.

Our next leg of the trip was up to Lake Tahoe. What a beautiful drive it was! After living in such a highly congested area for so long we were refreshed to see so much open space. It started snowing as we got farther up the mountain. The highway department had a blockade where they were stopping them and requiring snow chains for any two-wheel drive vehicles. Brian and I pulled off and had another first in our marriage... putting on snow chains! What was most funny about this experience was that once we got the chains on and continued down the highway there wasn't too much snow. They plows had already cleared most of it. Oh well, we had an adventure anyway!

In Tahoe we stayed on the 9th floor of a hotel with a view of Lake Tahoe. It was amazing! We sat for a while just taking in the view of the snow falling over the lake. Because the roads were bad, we stayed within walking distance of the hotel. We managed to eat dinner at a casino buffet and watch "Frost/Nixon." This was the very last film that Annie worked on as an extra. You can see her if you know where to look... and if you look quick! The movie was great, and we highly recommend it.

Our main reason for going to Lake Tahoe was for the skiing! A friend recommended a great ski area, and we had perfect conditions. The snow from the night before left a nice layer of powder, and since we were skiing on a Monday, there weren't too many people on the slopes. I hadn't really ever been skiing before, so she attended "ski school." After the morning class I was able to join Brian on the big hills! Well, we skied a green course and a little of a blue course. I didn't like going too fast, and I REALLY didn't like the ski lift. In the end, it was a lot of fun. Brian got to share one of his favorite activities with me. Neither of us was injured, quite sore, but not injured.

We stopped over in Sacramento on our way back to SoCal. We took a free tour of the capital building that was quite interesting and fun. Our tour guide was a real kick. She made a point of taking us by the sign outside the governor's office that shows the growing state defecit because of the overdue budget.

On our trip we spent some of our time in the truck listening to our Chinese lessons. There are times when we really like the language and other times when we wanted to take out the CD, launch it across the highway and drive over it a few times. We know that with Father's help we can do anything, but this is a challenge!

It's so great to have a husband when you need to put on snow chains!

The guys in yellow were charging people $30 just to put the chains on for you!

Ahhhh.... snow.

Our room with a view.

We just love this pose!

This was at the top of the mountain. It looked like we were going to ski into the lake!

Annie is trying not to look scared on the chair lift.

This was a huge lake!

At the California State Capitol.

I loved this picture from the lobby area.

Below is the sign outside the governor's office showing the defecit.

Livin' in L.A.

Rock concerts, movies and summertime, oh my! This has been the past few days for us.

Last Thursday we got to see a friend's band (Tommy Peacock and the Gas) play at the House of Blues on Sunset Blvd. It was quite an experience! There was another band playing when we got there. I'll never understand the type of music they were playing. It was very angry. The lead singer had a nice voice... when he actually sang. Most of the time he was screaming into the microphone. Brian said that the theme of every song they sang was, "Everything sucks." That was about it! Luckily, we only had to listen to about three of their songs before Tommy's band took the stage. They were so much more fun... and more talented. We really had a great time listening to their music and watching them perform. They really put on a show. Of all the time we've lived in L.A. we have only gone to one other concert! We don't get out much.

On Saturday night we went our for a hot date. This is something else we rarely do! Ususally, we just pick up a DVD at the library and put a frozen pizza in the oven. Thanks to the kindness of our friends, we were able to make use of some free movie passes and a gift card to P.F. Chang's. This was our first time to P.F. Chang's, a Chinese-style restaurant. It was nowhere near authentic Chinese! We laughed at how we've become Chinese food snobs. After dinner we walked to the movie theatre and saw "Slumdog Millionaire." The movie was wonderful! We highly recommend it (but also caution that it is rated "R"). It was just a very well-told story. And, it showed a lot about these slums where the main character grew up. Seeing this made us very grateful for all the comforts we have in America.

L.A. has decided that it's had enough with winter and cut straight to summer. Because of the Santa Ana winds that blow in from the desert the temperatures have soared. The highs all this week will be in the low-80s! It's just wrong. Brian and I are very grateful for all the blessings we have, we just wish we could have colder weather. I'm sure that those of you in colder parts of the country might really enjoy 80-degree weather right now. But, I assure you that after five years of almost endless summer we're ready for a change. And, a little rain might not hurt either!

Christmas in Missouri

Christmas vacation was just what we needed! We really enjoyed getting out of the city again and spending time with family. We had a week to decompress in beautiful Missouri with Annie's family. If was refreshing to see all the open spaces and wildlife. We flew into the area on Christmas Day. Annie's mom picked us up at the airport and drove us straight to Christmas dinner.

We celebrated Christmas officially two days afterwards when we went to visit Annie's sister and her family. Annie's sister is married with five kids. The moment we walked in the door we were showered with hugs and questions about when they got to open their presents. Having children around makes Christmas much more fun. Annie's sister made a delicious brunch including her now famous cinnamon rolls. We could have eaten ten of them! Finally, we opened presents. Annie's sister recieved "Mama Mia!" on DVD. We forced Brian and Annie's brother-in-law to watch it with everyone. They were very good sports! And we were all humming Abba songs the rest of the night.

For a large portion of this trip we were just relaxing and visiting with family. What a joy! We really enjoyed playing with Annie's nieces and nephews. Brian has quickly become accustomed to being called "Uncle Brian." We went on a walk through the Nature Center where we saw a lot of wildlife. At the "cave park" the kids ran around in the caves and fed the ducks in the pond. We have really treasured all of these moments knowing that next year we won't be in the U.S. at this time.

Here are some more pictures of our fun:

Baby on the blanket that Aunt Annie made.



Uncle Brian!

Hiking at the Nature Center.

The wildlife at the Nature Center.

"Sisters! Sisters! There were never such devoted sisters."

Annie's mom trying to win at Apples to Apples.

Ugh. Too much Christmas.