A Bright and Sunny Week, and a Cold and Cloudy Beach

This past week was not particularly exciting, because my main focus was work and school. I've been playing catch up with school because I seriously needed some extra points, so that has kept me busy. Plus just keeping up with everything... Like sleep for example. I slept for six hours on Friday, I crashed about 2 and woke up around 8. I turned my alarm off twice and then just decided to sleep on. It was very refreshing though. I needed a day to get away from everything and have a good long time to just relax.

Hair Colors, Tests, Lawn Adventures, and Ladybugs

I got creative and crawled into a bush for this shot. The clouds were awesome. We get some wicked ones around here.

Spring has arrived! This is the street going into my house and it is so beautiful.

This is step one of our backyard.. Up to my ankles just off the porch. It was crazy.

No, it's not a robot. It's our lawn mower. that's how deep our grass was. We almost lost the mower a few times haha

TA DA!!! It's so pretty now and you can actually see the fence.

From our back porch (compare to picture above of forest) is now mucho improved.

My hair started out blonde..

Then changed to a reddish brown colorAnd is now at a real brown color that I like a lot. It's gorgeous!

Well, I am a bit behind on keeping this thing up to date. Well, if you couldn't tell by the title, I have now gone another shade darker for my hair. I finally got it to the shade of brown that I like and I think I will keep it this way for a while. Laura did the dying for me, after I did hers of course. She has gone to a very dark brown, and then the bottom half is black. It is a subtle difference, but looks really good.
I have had lots of tests in school the last few weeks and am happy to say that I have done well on most of them. There is one I don't want to talk about, but I am very proud of myself and all my hard work. And if I did awful on a test (which I admit, I did on a few..), then I did as much extra credit as I could so that I could boost my grade. Hopefully it helped! Ok, now off my soap box..
Work is finally picking up and I'm getting more hours than before. I now have a set schedule which excites me because I am now guaranteed at least twenty hourse a week. Not much, but still more than i had before! Still the same, I am job hunting to see if I can use my extra time wisely. I am looking for a waitressing job, and have actually found a few places that are hiring.

I am very excited to announce that we got a puppy.. Well sorta. Her name is Dutchess and she is an eleven year old German Shepherd and she is actually really big, though we all just call her Puppy anyway. Well, it's Keith's mom's dog, but we are watching her for a few months and we decided taht we needed to unbury our backyard so that when she went outside we didn't lose her in the shrubbery. I borrowed a lawn mower from Colton's family and we all went to work. Me, Laura, and Shane all hit hyperfocus together and cleaned the entire yard. It's not that big, but when you have to mow it, it seems much bigger. We stayed out for an hour and a half with Shane mowing and Laura and I going around the perimeter where the mower couldn't reach and pulling out weeds, some of them almost as long as my leg. It was actually a lot of fun and the ground was damp from recent rain, so everything mostly came out well. We had to clean out the mower quite a few times because with the wet grass it made it very hard to get it to work right. We have about five bags of grass and about three of just weeds. It was a lot of work, but oh my it looks amazing! I have posted here pictures of before and after so that you can see the difference..

Laura gave me the nickname ladybug because I would point out every ladybug that I came across. In our little backyard, there were tons! I saw probably at least thirty and I kept running out of names. I was very intrigued though because I remember working in the yard at home and was always excited to find a ladybug. One bug that I actually enjoy finding..

That is about all that is exciting for the last few weeks. Enjoy pictures!

Birthdays and Motocross

The trickers that were the 'half time' show.
So in light of reading the next picture's title first, this is one person that was not only on a small bike, but it was a teeny bike. He was hilarious to watch go around the track because he could barely sit on the bike without his feet hitting the ground..
To explain the picture above.. for one race they did a spoof where it was older people but on little tiny bikes, so this is the starting line and you can see how big they are and how small the bikes are.
My only clear picture of people jumping the very end, but if you look at the videos below you get lots of live action shots.



There were actually two highlights to this week! The first one is that my adorable niece is a year old! On February 19, Eva Bug celebrated her birthday and though I didn't get to talk to her because she was asleep by the time I called, her parents were both very happy that she had a good birthday and I got to see lots of cute pictures :)

The next exciting thing that happened, if you couldn't figure it out by the title, is that we got to go to a motocross event yesterday at Arco Arena (the Delta Center of Sacramento). Keith scored some free tickets from school and took quite a big crowd out there. It was me, Keith, Laura, Jacob, Jeffrey, Robert, Beau, and Beau's roommate. We all got to sit together up in the nosebleed section (which actually really wasn't that high because the arena is pretty small... So it actually had a perfect view). It was hilarious to visit and spend some time with my roommates and to make some new friends.. I have cousins that do racing for Almond Racing, but I didn't know much about the sport until last night when I was asking everyone around me questions so that I could learn more. I learned the hard way that the white flag means last lap and the checkered flag means that there has been a winner already. The winner usually does something cool over the last jump of the race and in all my trying to catch it, I kept trying when the checkered flag went up, but by then everyone had slowed down and the trick had passed me by. I got some good pictures and videos which are posted on here just to show you how awesome it was. There was a cool 'half time' show of trickers that set up a steep ramp and did tricks. I got a video of the final run where they all do their best trick and some good still photos too. We saw some wicked crashes and there was also one rider who had to be taken off the track on a stretcher because he crashed so hard. In that heat, they put up the red flag which meant that everyone had to get off the track, wait for the injured rider to be removed, and then continued racing in the order that they were when the race stopped. I was awed at how much cool stuff I learned and by the end of the night, I wanted to get out on the track and try it myself.

After the show we went to McDonald's after Laura made us all crave McFlurries. It was an exciting car ride that I had to battle to keep my shoe on my foot and not have it tied to anything.. I eventually lost because I am no match when Laura is holding me down and Jacob has my foot. My shoe was tied to the seat belt and my sock was stuck into the window.. Luckily both were rescued in time, so that I still have them. I enjoyed spending time with friends and seeing something new.

An On Time Post for Once!!

This is adorable Eva Bug at Christmas, she is getting so big!
This is my ENTIRE family. We finally have a picture of all of us together, left to right: Brandon, Dad, Shannon, Me, Logan, Eva, and Rachel. Unfortunately.. Mom is taking the picture, but I have lots of pictures with her in them too!! This was at my Uncle's cabin with like three feet of wonderful snow to play in!


Well, this week hasn't been too thrilling but I will post anyway because I am trying to form some sort of habit.. School was extra crazy because I had a test in every class that can have a test.. I had a biology and statistics test on the same day, then a Psychology quiz the next day. I know I did well in Psych, and I am sure I got an A in Stats, and actually did well in biology too! It was very nice to have the weekend free of stress because I had Skyler and Daniel come into town on Thursday night. I don't have school tomorrow, so I didn't have to worry about homework or anything while they were here.
We hung out a lot and just caught up on times missed. Friday was spent piled on our couch just talking and filling each other in on what has happened the last few months. I went to Chili's with Sky and Daniel Friday night while Laura was at work and we had a fun time joking around and telling stories. Saturday we (Laura, me, Sky, Daniel, and Shane) all took an adventure out to the Roseville Mall which is HUGE! We took like four hours just to walk around the mall, only going in a few stores. It was great fun to see all the stores down here and window shop. Saturday night we spent calmly at home watching movies and lazing around. Sunday morning Daniel and Sky left very early because they had to brave the storm to get home on time. It took them four and a half hours to get through Donner's Pass, usually an hour and half to two hours at the most. I spent all morning on my computer updating them with weather and traffic and making sure they were safe. They blew a tire in the pass, but made it out ok.
Saturday morning I got to plan with Jacob, the guy Laura is dating, to plan a special surprise for Laura for Valentine's Day. He came over to our house before he went to work and put a dozen roses in her car for her to find. I came out and opened the car for him and talked to him a bit. It was so cool to see the surprise on Laura's face when she found the flowers in her car. It sure was tricky! I have been plotting behind her back for a few weeks now helping him out in deciding what to do and how to do it. It was a very cute idea and I was happy to help!
I have been trying to squeeze in hours at work this last week because not many were given to me to begin with, and with no school it will be nice to get in an extra day to work! This week is Eva's birthday and she is going to be one! I can't believe it has already been a year since she was born.. I remember the day like it was yesterday! Well, this next week is filled with school and work and I will hopefully stay on top of things and post next Sunday. Until then, Arrivederci!

I'm Very Behind, So I'm Not Even Going to try to Catch Up..

It poured rain today and afterwards the clouds cleared and we had a gorgeous, perfect rainbow! It was so bright, you could see all the individual colors.

Well, to sum up the last four months in a few quick sentences.. I got a 4.0 for my first semester and survived my finals. I got a job at Aeropostale in Arden Mall and only worked there for a few months because I was seasonal, but I got some freaking cute clothes while I was there! Laura got a job there as well, but not the same location as me. I went home for Christmas and had a blast visiting friends and family alike. January was a flash of lots of spare time because I was between jobs and semesters. Now I am a full time student at American River college, I'm taking Stats, Biology, Core Conditioning, Personal Safety, and Psychology Human Development. I love it all! I'm so happy to be back in school and learning again. I missed it dearly. I got a new job at Target thanks to my roommate Keith who currently works there and got me the go in to call for an interview. I work as Instocks and I love it. I have enjoyed learning new things and working with new people. I also get to train on Plano and learn something different and new. I enjoy working at Target and have a good day every day of work.
Well, today I have been feeling very nostalgic so I am going to post some videos and pictures that I found that mean a lot to me. These are a look back over a lot of time this last year I believe.. I will now try to update this at least every two weeks. I update my facebook probably every day, you think I'd have a little more motivation for this one haha.
This last week has been filled with working and getting ready for my first two tests which were today. On Saturday I went up to Cisco Grove with the ward to go sledding and see that snow really does exist in California. We got up there and donned our gear and hit the slopes. We had a gigantic tube that fit three people and we had a blast cramming as many people as we could on it to go down the hills. Well, after practicing control on the little hills we headed over to the monster hill that was basically the side of the mountain. I went down it on the tube with Patrick and Colton, but I'm the only one who made it to the bottom of the hill and that's because I was injured and couldn't move to get off. I fell into the hole in the middle and slammed the snow when we went over a jump. I bruised my hip bone and have been on the mend with lots of ice and TLC since then.
Well, one of the videos on here is of Eva, my niece and just last week I found out that she is gong to be a big sister, and not only that but to TWINS! I am so excited that Rachel is having twins! But all growing up I wished I had a twin and that I could have twins, now she is living my dream, but that's ok :) Shannon and I decided we may as well be twins because we have so much of the same taste and are so alike. She just came a few years early.. My other twin is Laura and living with her has been very interesting. We get along most the time and I love having her here to talk to and go through life here in California with.
Oh, and on the light of new things that have happened in the last few months, we got a new roommate. His name is Keith and he is 23 and goes to UTI with Laura and Shane. Actually, Laura met him in class because they had a class together and she thought he would be a good person to live with, so she brought him over to show him the house and we all got to meet him. We couldn't find any downside to him moving in so we let him.. He moved in on December third and it has been very interesting getting used to having someone new in the house. We have our usual traditions with us three, so now we get to do everything with Keith too and one more person makes it lots of fun. It has been entertaining living with him and he has introduced rock band into our house which makes for some very fun nights with me, him and Shane. (Laura has sworn off guitar hero and rock band) He has been fun to get to know and it's been great having our house finally full instead of one ominous empty bedroom.
Over Christmas break I got to fly back to Utah and spend five days with my family at my uncle's cabin up in the Rocky Mountains by Strawberry Resorvoir. It was a blast and we had to snowmobile in the last four miles, that was quite an adventure! I got to stand on the sleigh on the back with Rachel and Eva in front of me. We had our share of snow with 1 foot Christmas Eve and 2 feet Christmas Day. It was very nice to spend time with my family because it had been so long since I had seen them. We had fun playing games and chatting. I was then home for another week where I got to spend time with my friends that I've missed and got to go to two missionary farewells of my friends that are leaving. James Lawrence went to Honolulu, Hawaii, and Carson Williams went to the Dominican Republic. It will be a long two years without these two! I went to a few parties for New Year's and this was my first year to get a New Year's Kiss! I rode the train home the next day and had a really good time on the sixteen hour ride through desert, salt plains and mountains alike. It was a beautiful ride and I made some friends along the way.
Well, along with living with three UTI students I sure get my share of work on our cars, particularly Laura's. She has a '98 Chevy S10 Blazer and over this last month I have helped her replace her ball joints, idler arm, wheel hub, bang out her back plate, change her oil, change my oil and some other random small jobs. I have gotten use to greasy hands and I love to get down and dirty and learn new things. It has been an educating experience with her learning so much just from asking her questions and her willingness to teach me.


I loved being home for the holidays so that I could spend some time with my siblings!
Chantel and I were living it up on the 'wedding stone' in front of the Salt Lake Temple. While in Salt Lake I went to Temple Square to see the lights. It was beautiful and so much fun to hang out with friends!
Next, it was Bryce's turn to take a picture with me in front of the temple.
This is probably the cutest picture of Eva ever, I was using the smile shutter on my camera which will only take pictures when it detects a smile, so I smiled the whole time and just waited for her to flash one so the camera could capture it!




Top: This is me getting my finger too close to Eva who immediately opened her mouth and bit me. So I tried to wiggle my finger out and this is what I got!

Second: This was a few weeks ago at a tumbling gym and I have been learning arials for a while now and I'm finally getting them figured out. I learned how to throw back tucks a bit different, so there is me trying it out and doing better than the cheer prep!

Third: This is an amazing stunt that we were going to do for the field opener last year and our group was the only one who did it right. Notice when Marlies comes down she is still holding the Arabesc, she doesn't need to touch the ground because we are amazing enough to be able to get her back up there. This is by far my favorite stunt and my favorite group! I miss my girls!

Bottom: This guy's name is Hawk and he's a famous tricker here in Sacramento. He was at the tumbling gym doing tricks and parkour and we were talking about corkscrews, which is the trick that he does, and I got him to do one for me. His are so high and so pretty! I want to learn one!

One of These Days I Will Catch Up With Myself.. Today Is Not That Day.

The four guys from Forever Plaid. Left to right: Sparky, Jinx, Frankie and Smudge

Same guys but now you can actually see who they are:) Top to bottom (cuz it's a closer picture): Smudge, Jinx, Frankie and Sparky

Sunsets here are gorgeous. We don't have mountains for the sun to set behind, but when we have clouds the colors are extraordinary.

I miss my kitties:( I'm going through animal withdrawal. Laura and I are talking about kidnapping our neighbors cat haha

They did this song with toilet plungers and they would suction to the stage then pull them up for hte pop sound and it went with the song and all. It was so great! I think this was my favorite song.

Well, I have been on a few dates the past few weeks so I will tell about those first. The first one was a corn maze with my friend Colton. it was in Dixon which is about 20 minutes West of here. It was GIGANTIC!! It holds the record for the biggest corn maze in the Guiness Book of World Records at 40 acres, but that was last year. This year it was an amazing 43 acres of corn confuzing fun! Well, we went with some people from our ward and succeeded in getting terribly lost, of course. I liked just going whichever way looked appealing, but then they started cheating and used the map. I am impressed at their amazing skills cuz I was just following along. We finally managed to get out and it only took us an hour! It was very easy to get lost and a lot of fun. It was my first corn maze experience, besides the haunted corn maze when I was ten whcih I dont' want to talk about haha. then we played on the giant pyramid of hay bales which consisted of being the top of the hill and then once we got to the bottom a mad hay fight ensued. I am still pulling hay ouf of the pockets of my jacket..

The next most exciting bit of information is that I got a job, possibly two. I was in a time of despair so I got a priesthood blessing by my home teacher Derrick. I had positive outlooks the next day. I had a few callbacks and two interviews before I got to the interview that gave me the job.. I made some calls to theatres around here to see if they needed stage hands. One called me back and hired me on as a house manager. I get hired by chance and not only that but to a manager position! It's called the Cosmopolitan Cabaret and it's in downtown Sac. Benny (the manager) let me come to a show to see what it wasl ike and I took my friend Rachel. WE had such a blast! It was a show called Forever Plaid and I was laughing so hard the entire time that by the end my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. (If you want more info about it you can to got he site http://www.calmt.com/) My other job possibility is at the wonderful Target. I applied to one and found out that Laura goesto school with the overnight team lead. I got a great recommendation from the HR representative from Mom's target and landed an interview:) I would haev gotten the job but I'll be gone too long for Christmas, so I said that I was willing to change my vacation if it meant that I got the job. I will nkow by tomorow if I still get it. I sure hope I did!

For Halloween I went over to my friend's house with a group of people and we watched the Grudge(which was stupid..) and played Apples to Apples until all hours of the night. I gave out candy to our trick or treaters (all two of them..) But as soon as I left our house was shut down and darkened because Laura was hiding from them.. haha.

Well, fall has officially come to Sacramento for the rain has arrived. Last week it rained.. all week. It was so great though. I love rain, so I had a blast playing in it and getting wet everywhere I went. It rained so hard that just from running into a store from the parknig lot my hair was dripping byt he time I got in.. It hasnt' rained much since, but it's suposed to rain tomorrow. It's gonna be great!

Well, I'm going strong in school an doing great in all my classes. It's been a good first semester of school and I only have about a month left before finals week and I'm done wtih my first semester of many:)

Birthday Week and Shannon Visiting

The beach we camped by drown in fog.. The dark line in the middle that extends to both sides of the picture is the jetty that had the stupid foghorn.. and lots of fun tidepools with crabs and starfish
The infamous Golden Gate Bridge..

This was Shannon's idea but I put it up here because it grosses out Bryce when I do something flexy:-)
This is my 'I'm trying to gracefully kick the water and don't ask what my arms are doing' kind of picture
We got fresh California strawberries from a stand down the road and I accidentally overcooked the chocolate, so I was just getting it with my fingers, eating a strawberry and licking my fingers. Shannon came over and tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around like this. I couldn't get away with siphoning all the chocolate for very long..
This is my entire group I went camping with (besides me, but ya know what I look like) from left to right: Patrick, Colton, Rachel, Peter (punk covered his face), Phil, Emily, and Shannon

Blue Angels' famous pyramid formation.. Yikes that's close
"You have good lines" ~Shannon
Who would that be?? None other than Lord of the Dance!! AKA Shannon
Yes, a true treehugger
And KICK!

A heart drawn in the sky by two planes flying side by side, then when they split let out the streamline and do a side flip to get the two sides of th heart, then the third plane (stil in the picture) that comes through for the arrow
Fighter jets that have pretty colored streamlines:)
HUGE FREAKING PLANE. I cannot even describe it.. I'm not close to the Golden Gate Bridge and this is how huge it is in my picture..
If you look really close you see the two planes about the center of the picture that are so close to each other as they cross paths!!
THE BLUE ANGELS!!! HERE AT LAST!!

Well, I haven't written in quite a while, so I'll just summarize the last week because that is realy the only exciting part of October. October 10 to October 19 Shannon came to visit me for my birthday. While she was here we did lots of shopping, visited San Francisco, went to the river, camped on the beach, swam, tanned, and she even came to school with me! I got some extra money for my birthday so I went shopping and got a Roxy jacket, 2 pairs of Hurley shorts and a new pair of shoes:) Shannon also picked up some things because it can't be a vacation without shopping.

Last Sunday we went to San Francisco and Laura and Shane came with us. We left about nine or so and the trip went smooth until just over the bay bridge, then we hit traffic. It was very slow and went across some of the bridge until the toll boothes. We could not figure out why there was so much traffic because usually Sunday is the off day, but not this one. After some thought we realized there wasa 49ers game (after seeing hoards of people driving with 49er memorabilia all over their car or on their person). Though not only that, but there was a parade and it was also the conclusion of fleet week so there was an airshow all afternon featuring the Blue Angels. After driving all over the stupid island because roads kept closing right in front of us, we paid a ridiculous $30 to park and headed to Fisherman's Warf. It was wicked watching the stunt planes out over the bay. I had Shannon's picture and the screen is broken, so I took a ton of pictures of sky because I would guess where the planes were. I need to work on my guessing skills quite a bit. The Blue Angels had an hour of the total show and did some amazing thigns. They made a heart with the smoke, flew straight up then would fall back, fly amazingly close to each otehr, and of course the infamous pyramid of all six planes. I got a few good pictures, but it was dang hard to get because they would be in and out of the shot before I could snap it.

I didn't know much about teh airshow, so I researched it when I got home and found out that the Blue Angels are F-18 Hornets and the whole thing started in 1943 to keep the civilians interested in the airplane programs of the military. over 500 million people have seen the shows and that number is constantly increasing. They have a practice area in Nebraska over lots of deserts so that the sound from the planes doesn't bother the neighborhoods. They got low quite a few times and it was like an earthquake, it was so loud! I was fascinated by it all, so I didn't shop much because I was out on the pier craning my neck skyward to see any sign of a plane. We were going to drive over teh Golden Gate Bridge, but by the time we were leaving we were very ready to go home. Too many people to want to stay in teh city any longer.

Little did I know but Sacramento is also known as the city of rivers. True, we only have two, but they sure are big and have a lot of parks to explore and visit. I am only a few miles from the junction where teh Sacramento and the American river connect. Shannon and I went to Discovery Park which is set on the river and has a couple boat docks, a beach, and a big open park with huge trees. We went picture happy and had lots of fun on the trees and wading in the water. The water was quite comfortable and it was nice to wade, so nice in fact that it was all we could to do resist jumping in fully clothed.

My ward planned on going camping in Bodega Bay on the 17th and 18th, but a few days before it the trip was canceled. We were really mad because that is what I had planned for two whole days! Plus, not camping on the beach really put a damper on our spirits. Luckily, there was a group still going and I knew about it! So we still went. We left Friday afternoon and crammed into Phil's car and Peter's truck. There were a total of eight people going: me, Shannon, Emily, Rachel, Phil, Peter, Patrick and Colton. Five of us were crammed into Phil's car and I got very sick from his driving. After driving all over creation to take teh round about way to the camping site, we finally spilled out of the car and set up camp. For there only being eight of us, there was a huge camp site so we had plenty of room. We started setting up camp and after getting all of the tents laid out Phil realized taht he didn't have the poles for his tent. So, we improvised and put his tent under a tree. He tied the middle of it to the tree and I went up to help him and noticed small gold hooks. So I grabbed the hooks and started hooking them up to the tree. Soon enough, Voila! a tent appeared. I figured out how to move the tree jsut right to not pull the tent too mcuh. We were a hop, skip and a jump away from teh beach so I went down to explore. I loved it. A smal cove, small waves, ripples in the sand, and quiet(except the stupid horn that went off every 8 seconds to warn boats that there was a jetty and to not run into it. the lights on the end must not have been enough..) One by one everyone else came down to join me. We watched teh sunset and played int he waves. I got a little excited and got in up to my knees and turned my back to the waves. I had one hit my knees and go all the way up to my waist.. so I was a bit wet. Peter surprised me when he came up behind me and picked me up around my waist, holding me precariously high over the waves and threatening to throw me in. Luckily he didn't, but teasing continued and the punk stole my phone and I had to chase him all over the beach to get my phone, hoodie and shoes back. I sure got my work out becasue he has long legs and catching up to him, no matter how fast I am, is quite dificult. Colton came late because he had to work, and once he got there we set up a fire and it blazed quite big. It was very warm though! We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. I probably had about ten marshmallows,but only two s'mores. They got addicting real quick. About eleven Patrick, Emily and Rachel all headed to bed, but the rest of us stayed around the fire to talk. After a battle over the closest chair, Peter ended up sitting on me, but to make things more comfortable I ended up sitting sideways over his lap as an agreement so that we could both sit in the chair. After about twenty minutes of sitting like that Phil caught on and forced himself into Shannon's chair. Poor girl.. It was everything she could do to get out of his lap and get out of his reach. He was really rude and really annoying the whole trip. By the end of Saturday everyone was against him. He really got on all of our nerves and we were al ready to leave him behind. That's all I'm going to say on the matter becasue i could write an entire entry about why we all hate him.. We finally went to bed about 1:30( after I had fallen asleep curled into one of the camp chairs already)

The next morning we all woke up to French toast, a warm fire, and hot chocolate. We just sat around the fire and chatted for a few hours to wake up and to get warm. A thick fog set in overnight, so in the morning everything was wet. It was interesting to step into shoes taht had puddles in them.. It made it really pretty, and finally started to lift right as we left. After much pushing from Phil we packedup camp and were going to head to a beach. We figured one clsoe, but when Phil told us he said it was an hour and half away. We're on the beach and we're traveling how far to go to the stupid beach???!!! Thankfully, Shannon and I got to drive in Peter's truck (Dodge Ram 1500) instead of cramming into Phil's Toyota Corolla and listening to him talk and talk and talk... So we headed south and at least we finally did get to cross the Golden Gate Bridge, but we had to pay the stupid toll.. Then we drove through the heart of San Francisco which took forever because there's always traffic there. We get almost to the end and get a call from Colton that his truck broke down and he's about two miles behind us. So Phil asks us to go back and get him while he makes his merry way down to the beach. Cursing all the way, we flip around and head back through the traffic, and over the median to get to our friends, and of course, right when we get there the truck starts working again. Gotta love irony.. We were ready to just go home, but I honestly wanted to go to teh beach, so we headed down to Pacifica. I had said we could go to one that I knew, Rockaway beach, that I had been to before, but it wasn't a swimming beach. Little did I know that Pacifica is the next beach jsut south of Rockaway, around a giant outcropping of rock. So we went down and got some food, donned our wetsuits, and went running full till into the water. Ha well sorta.. It was nice with a wet suit, so after being swept off my feet in knee deep water I ran in to join in Patrick and Colton who were swimming without wetsuits (yes, they're crazy.. I know). At first I was just swimming, then I tried boogie boarding. I didnt' catch any waves, but it was fun to ride. Colton didn't last long cuz the water was way cold, so it was just Patrick and I and we decided to head closer to the group because we had been pushed very far down the caost by a riptide.. So as we were getting out I got pummeled by a wave as tall as I was and when I peeled my wetsuit off I had showers of rocks come out. Forget having sand everywhere.. I had rocks. I changed quickly otu of my swimming suit and into the only dry clothes I had.. Shorts. We got back to the car and Colton gave me his pajama pants and they were so nice! Such a relief from freezing in my shorts.. It was a fun drive home with Peter. shannon was out cold after the Bay Bridge and so I talked to him the whole way home... Mostly about how mad we were at Phil.

We got home and showered, then met up again (but just Colton, Patrick, Peter, me and Shannon) and watched Surf's Up at Colton's house.. By the end of it though only Shannon adn Patrick were conscious. We hadn't slept much the night before, so we were all exhausted, I curled up on the floor and was out cold, luckily I made it through most of the movie. After the movie Colton pulled me down toward where he was and started tickling me! Then Peter joind in and hit just the right spot that I couldn't even move I was laughing so hard. Luckily I had Shannon there so she gangedup on Colton, but it was a lost cause for me because Peter isn't ticklish. We talked a bit more and then headed home to our nice warm beds. It was a very fun weekend and I was hit on by every guy I went camping with :) Made it very fun though, and now I have a lot more friends than I had before.. I'm happy to have had the chance to get to nkow more people.

Throughout the week we went to the pool by my house and laid out to tan. The first day we jumped in the water, I had stuck my foot int he water and I knew it was cold so I told Shannon not to. We got to the side and jumped in together. We were both hyperventilating by the time we reached the side and frantically climbed otu. The water was ice cold!!! With the last few days of wind we've had it made the water super cold.. We didn't get in again the whole week haha

Sunday Shannon took me shopping so that we could get something for me for my birthday. I got some very cute plaid Hurley shorts from Macy's on sale, and some cute heels from Payless. Taking Shannon to the airport was bittersweet, and I can't wati for Christmas when I get to go home and see all my family. I miss everyone so much!! Sunday night I frantically did homework because I was very behind.. I had a Psychology test on Monday (I think I did well), a Sociology test today (no comment) and a Nutrution test tomorow (Yikes). So now I am back in swing to get a job and to focus on school. There's tons of pictures, because I did a lot and haven't written for a long time. Enjoy!!