30 the new 20?

Well, I guess I'll find out because I turned 30! on August 12. Maybe it will seem true since I still think of myself as 23.

I love my birthday and I've kind of gotten jipped out of a fun birthday for the last five birthdays for one reason or another, so I told Nate that this year, since I was going to turn 30, I wanted a really great birthday. Poor Nate, I told him this back in April because I was already thinking about it and I figured I would give him plenty of time/warning. I think I made him a little nervous because a couple times after that he would say that he just needed a couple of ideas or a hint at the kind of birthday I was hoping for. So I told him that I wanted it to be an all day long celebration, it didn't have to cost a lot of money or anything, just as long as we were doing something all day. Well he did a perfect job because I had a GREAT!!! birthday.

My actual birthday was on a Wednesday, right in the middle of Nate's finals, so the day long celebration was planned for the following Saturday. But the day of my birthday we invited some friends to a bbq and I had a lot of fun planning the menu and preparing everything. We went to a park for the bbq but unfortunately it was unusually cold that day so it wasn't as enjoyable outside. So for dessert we moved the party to Chad and Brittany Ericksons' house so that the kids could be put down for bed and the party could continue. It was a lot of fun to spend my birhday with our friends.


Nate was so cute, he went to the park before me to meet our friends while I finished up the last of the food and when I got there he had the table all set up with a tablecloth and everything.


Josh and Natalie Whiteley, Brittany, Chad, and Paige Erickson, Procs, and Jenika, Brandon, and Seth Davis




I've wanted to try making a red velvet cake from scratch so I figured my birthday is a perfect excuse. It seemed to turn out, although, not the prettiest frosting job. I was pretty excited.



The Saturday celebration (which was all a surprise):

First thing, my first present - some Converse Jack Purcells. I have loved those shoes ever since high school and I have a pair that I've had since my freshman year in college that are pretty old and trashy looking but I love them so much that I still wear them. Nate doesn't really like it when I wear them so, now I have a new pair!


I guess it isn't any wonder why he didn't like them very much.




Breakfast at Patrick's Roadhouse, a place in Santa Monica that we had heard about and been wanting to try. Very yummy!

Next we went for a bike ride around the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, but we forgot to take pictures there. After that we went to a soda fountain in a pharmacy in South Pasadena that a lot of Nate's classmates love.




Hands down best reuben sandwich we have ever had.


We ordered the chocolate lovers sundae and had no idea it was going to be so big. It was as big as my head!


Back home for more presents - a little, bendable tripod that I have wanted for a long time


A really nice griddle/grill/panini maker that we had been admiring at a Williams Sonoma earlier this year. I was completely surprised!


We relaxed by the pool that afternoon and then the day ended with a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. I've wanted to go there since I saw it on a movie when I was little. It is a beautiful outdoor amphitheater. And to make it perfect, they played one of my all time favorite pieces, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and then ended with the 1812 Overture, with the USC marching band and fireworks. It was so incredible. It was the perfect ending to a perfect birthday. Thank you so much bud!!

5!!

Well it has been five wonderful years. Nate and I just celebrated our 5th anniversary on August 6th. Crazy to think that five years ago we were freshly married. A lot has happened and changed since then. I can't imagine spending the last five years with anyone else. Just a few pictures from the past years . . .


One of our first dates 2003


August 6, 2004


2005


2006


2007


2008


2009


We celebrated by going to Santa Barbara for the weekend. We went the weekend before our actual anniversary because Nate had finals the day of and weekend after. We had so much fun there and stayed in a little cabin at a place called El Capitan Ranch. It was situated perfeclty between Santa Ynez and Santa Barbara and it was such a cool place. Most of our trip was planned around food. We had so many suggestions for good places to eat we couldn't help but plan around eating, and we still have more places to go back and try. We documented just about all of the food we ate. But we did manage to squeeze in a hike, walking around old downtown Santa Barbara, walking along the beach, and checking out a farmer's market. We definitely want to go back and go on more hikes and bike rides and, of course, try more food. It was such a great trip and a great way to celebrate our anniversary.


Our little cabin.


We went to an Italian place in Santa Ynez called Grappolo. This was not what I had pictured in my mind when I ordered it. So when they brought it out we just started laughing. But I will say that the flavors were really good. I just think that next time I will get something that's a little less of a man's meal. Nate's dish was absolutely delicious. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of it.


,S'mores outside of our cabin.


Obviously a posed picture, but that is what he really looked like after his first sip of really good hot chocolate.


As you can tell, I am incredibly excited about my dutch pancakes from Paula's Pancake House in Solvang. I am such a sucker for pancakes. And they were sooo AMAZING!!


Our hike took us by a vegetable farm. It made me homesick for my parents' garden.,


The beautiful view from the lookout point on our hike.


Waiting in line forever at La Superia Taqueria, a little, but well-known, taco joint.


Finally we got our food. It was pretty tasty. They make their corn tortillas fresh, right there.


We had to try the ice cream that was named one of the top ten ice cream places in the country by Time magazine, or maybe it was Newsweek. Regardless, it was so yummy with lots of flavors, we decided that we had to go back the next day and try some more.


We went to a beach called Thousand Steps. You go down tons of steps to get to the beach and the view was just incredible the whole way.


It was a really cool beach, not very crowded.


We ate at a place called the Boathouse. It was right on the beach and had a really cool feel to it. We forgot to get pictures of our yummy food at this place. Oh well. We took this picture there instead.


This is the outside of a place called Cold Spring Tavern.


And this is the scrumptious food that was inside it. I had french toast with homemade bread and Nate had an omelet made with locally produced food. The atmosphere was really fun.


The farmer's market was not very big but it was really fun. We saw some purple baby artichokes that we'd never seen before. We also bought some heirloom tomatoes. We ate them when we got home and they were sooo good! It's been awhile since I've had homegrown tomatoes.

That was pretty much our trip.

On our actual anniversary we went to our first Dodgers' game. Our stake had tickets that we could buy for pretty cheap so we took advantage of it. Our friends came too. It was a lot of fun. And the Dodgers won in the last inning on a home run. Pretty exciting.

Our Super Dodger Dogs. For a hot dog, it was actually really yummy.


Hanging out at the game with great friends.
We had such a fun anniversary! I love you more than anything Nate!

Nate's birthday, Yosemite, home, etc.

Nate's birthday was on April 3, and to celebrate we went to Disneyland for a little bit to get his free tortillas and the $69 certificate for annual pass holders, which you can get on your birthday. It was fun. We're going to go to Newport Beach some time to finish celebrating. We're dragging it out.

Happy 29 bud! I love you!

For Easter I decided to cook my first ham. I don't know why but I forget about ham even though Nate really likes it and I like it a lot when it's prepared by boiling it. So, that's what I did. I also made augratin potatoes for the first time. We had our friends Josh and Natalie come over for dinner. I guess I was feeling ambitious because I also tried making rolls as well. I don't have a lot of practice with yeast and I was trying a recipe for the first time, which made for a bad combination. Let's just say they didn't rise and turned out more like dog biscuits rather than rolls. But we ate them anyway.

The dog biscuits (yes, this is the size after being baked.)


Oh well, they tasted good.


Games after dinner with Josh and Natalie.

Stephanie (Nate's sister) and Brock and their cute little girl Rylee came to visit us for a weekend. It was a lot of fun. Too bad the weather wasn't better for them. Nate and I got to watch Rylee while Steph and Brock went to an Angels, Red Sox game. We all went to the beach, went to a nice dinner (thanks guys!) and 3rd Street Promenade. It was a lot of fun. So glad they could come to visit.


Nate and Brock tried surfing but the waves were really big that day - not the most successful day for two beginners.


Hangin' out with Rylee.

After finals, and for the beginning of Nate's two week break, we went to Yosemite with our friends the Ericksons and the Davis'. It was such a fun trip: a cabin in the park with a view of El Capitan and Half Dome from our porch, some beautiful hikes, incredible waterfalls, games, a bear sighting, and tons of good food.

Bridal Veil Falls


The lower half of Yosemite Falls. So amazing!


No matter how we tried, we could not get a picture without my hair in Nate's face. There is so much power in those waterfalls that it was so windy and misty, you couldn't help but get a little wet.


Beautiful Half Dome


Vernal Falls - We hiked along side and to the top of the falls and then continued on to the top of Nevada Falls. It was so misty during the part that takes you right next to the falls that I had water dripping from my nose and the trail is full of puddles.


The top of Vernal Falls


Everyone

From Yosemite we drove 14 hrs. to Orem. The first five hours of the drive were on slow, windy, hilly roads. I thought I was going to puke, even when I was driving. But we finally made it at 2:30 a.m. We had a nice visit home. We spent a lot of time with family, got to see some friends, I went to two baby showers, Nate went 4-wheeling, we got to go to the baby blessing of Cuz (Rachelle) and Dusty's little girl Marley, went to Jenn's graduation, went running up the canyon, and I had my mom help me try the roll recipe that I failed on for Easter dinner. They rose a little more but not like they should have. We decided it was a lame recipe. So I feel a little better about my dog biscuits.

Me and Cuz with Marley


Nate and Max Jarvie feeding the ducks


Jennie, Me, Jackie,Steph, and Selena at Jackie's baby shower


Out to dinner with my sisters and my mom.

Nate got accepted for the Army scholarship for school so they will pay for the rest of our tuition and he will be a dentist for the Army for four years after school. We are really excited because it will be really helpful in a lot of ways. Nate was sworn in after we got back from Utah.

My Lt.

I'm tired of blogging so that's it for now.