Zac's Visit in April

Since Zac posting enough pictures of the Dodger game and him tasting the ocean here is the rest of what we did while he was out here.

Here is Zac on the Rim of World, or at least the highway. We drove up through so of mountains because it was hot in the valley where we live.

Here we are enjoying beautiful Lake Gregory to bad it wasn't opened yet for swimming.



On Monday we headed back to the beach, this is Point Dume which is just north of Malibu.

After the beach which headed home instead of taking the interstate (freeway) we drove up through the mountains this time overlooking the San Fernando Valley.

We enjoyed having him out and hope he had a great time as well. Hopefully these pictures inspire other visits from family.

Dress Update

A quick update on the dress I have been working on. I have to sew the top and bottom together put in a zipper and hem it. So I am practically done, I think. I have had it tucked away in the closet for a couple of weeks now so I need to pull it back out and finish it.

Finally I am busy!!!

I am so excited after almost a year of attending my ward I finally have a calling. I know the anticipation as to what it could be is killing you so drum roll please......I am a team teacher for the CTR 8 class. I am happy to be serving in Primary and I think I get the best bunch the seven turning eight kids. The day I got the calling I was thrown in as their substitute teacher talk about fun. I had to prepare a lesson in 10minutes. But I get to be fully prepared for all of my future lessons.

P.S. Zac came out to visit this past week. So stay tuned for pictures. Although I think I might wait and let him post pictures first.

A New Project

I have been sick and tired of my dresses/skirts for a while now and I just haven't been able to find anything I like. Maybe I am too picky or maybe there just isn't anything out there worth buying. So I have decided to sew a dress. I found a pattern a couple of weeks ago and I bought some material on Monday and cut everything out now I just have to try and put it together. I have made clothes before but only a few things plus I always had some help from my wonderful mother however she is a couple thousand miles away now instead or down the street. So I can't have her show me how things are done or do it for me like she has in the past. So I will have to do this one on my own and maybe with only a few phone calls.

Happy Anniversary

I can't believe it has been 3 years seen we were married. A lot has happened in 3 years we both finished our degrees at Purdue, lived in three different states four if you count Indiana, moved 4 times one across country and we are both working full time, and enjoying every minute we get together. I am not sure what I expected 3 years ago, but I know I wouldn't have done anything different. We have grown so much and experience so much together; and I am looking forward to experiencing so much more with my wonderful husband.

Finding Joy

I really enjoyed Sacrament meeting this past Sunday. One of the talks was about finding joy, or making the most of your circumstances. This idea really stuck with me, probably because I haven't really taken the time to appreciate what I have out here in California. I often find myself feeling homesick or just miss calling some place home, although California is getting close. So I have been thinking a lot about what I enjoy about California instead of what is missing.

First I have a job that has and is providing wonderful opportunities, not many people can say they supervise/run a department at my age (just in case you were wondering I am the microbiology supervisor for a laboratory). Second, there is so much beauty to be found in the mountains and the surrounding hills, I love watching them as they change between the wet and dry seasons, not to mention the ocean, and the mostly wonderful weather. Lastly I love that so many of Tucker's co-workers have citrus trees in their yards. Last week Tucker brought home 2 lemons the first we used to make lemonade the second I used to make 2 Lemon-Meringue Pies (my favorite actually I can't think of a pie I don't like). Yes one lemon, produced 1 whole cup of juice more than enough for 2 pies.


This is not me trying to make a lemon look larger than it is, I am just trying to put the lemon's size into perspective. My pies also look beautiful so far there has not been any weeping from the meringue, but I have to wait until to tomorrow to see if they taste as good as they look.


So all in all I am trying to make California feel more like home by just finding and doing what makes me happy.

Catching Up

So it has been awhile, mainly because nothing exciting has happening in the last couple of weeks. Now that Tucker has Mondays off it is a little harder to find time to blog on my days off and during the week I am usually to tired to even turn on the computer. The last couple of Mondays Tucker and I have been exploring the mountains that surround us. First we checked out the Cleveland National Forest and did some hiking below are some of the pictures we took.


The following week we stayed closer to home and hiked through the San Gabriel mountains, back towards Eaton Falls (pictured below). This hike was more adventurous we were continually walking back and forth across the creek. It started out as a dry bed but by the end we had to cross by stepping on the dry rocks. At one point I missed a rock and ended up with my leg in the water so I spent the rest of the hike when my pant leg wet up to my knee. I was freezing by the time we reached the falls it was only like 65 degrees outside.