Christmas in Disneyland

A few weeks ago I flew down to Orange County to visit my sister Erica. She just recently moved down to Anaheim and she is working at Disneyland! They were having a Christmas party in the Disneyland park for the employees and their families so she invited me down to go...because let's face it I'm the only one who would! (I'm always up for a little bit of travel!)

It was incredibly awesome. First of all, I got to spend some quality time with my best friend and second of all, I got go into Disneyland and California Adventure for free! It was a blast! They closed down the park early Monday night and we got to go back in for 5 hours. No lines, discounts on food, and no crowds. I repeat.. NO CROWDS! It was awesome. It was a bit cold though even by Nor Cal standards.. in the low 40s, so no water rides. :( Splash Mountain is my favorite but I just couldn't do it! The castle looks so pretty during the Holiday season. It was truly magical.

Other then going to Cali Adventure and DL we pretty much took it easy. Explored around Fullerton and ate some Pinkberry. Being a frozen yogurt connoisseur I will say that it was fantastic frozen yogurt. It's expensive though so that would stop me from eating it daily if I lived close to one. I do wish I could have some right now though. yum yum!

Can't wait to go back down to LA and visit again. Next time we will make it more adventurous and hit up the beach and some nightclubs. :)

holiday season

It's here again! I just love this time of year!

This Thanksgiving was probably the least stressful one in awhile. I did the usual rounds to different family members houses but it just went more smoothly than usual. I spent the greater part of the day at my Grandma and Grandpas house. My aunt, uncle, and cousins from Reno,NV were there too. They brought a new friend with them too.. An exchange student from Japan, Macky. It was his first Thanksgiving so it was neat to show him what it was about. I also made the pies for the occasion.. A yummy apple pie and a new recipe I tried which was a sweet potato pie (so southern!). Both were delicious and I'm not just saying that because I made them! Haha

This weekend I'm doing something pretty exciting... I'm flying down to LA to visit with my sis that just recently moved there. She works at Disneyland so we get to go into the park and have some fun. I have never been during Christmas time, so I'm ecited to see it all decked out. They close th park at 8 on Monday and have a Christmas party for the employees and their families. How sweet?!

I'm not sure what the rest of December holds for me yet but hopefully lots of fun and joy!

Oh and I'm just loving listening to Christmas music 24-7, aren't you?!

birthday blog

Happy Birthday to my blog.

It's lame and hasn't really gone anywhere but maybe that will change when i decide not to be such a lame blogger.

I have things to say but i guess it's just a matter of putting them out there for the world to read.
To be honest I have never liked the idea of people reading my thoughts. For a matter of fact I sometimes in school wouldn't turn in a homework assignment when I knew it was going to be a student grading it. I didn't even want my parents to read my essays. I'm such a weirdo.

I'm starting to change so hopefully I can put more thought into this...

To be apart of it..

Daydreaming about New York again. I think I day dream about it more this time of year. I want to be there, I want to be apart of it. Just like Frank Sinatra. Is it weird that I want to live there and experience that lifestyle? I have never been there yet for as long as I can remember I have dreamed of living there. Walking the beautiful urban streets, watching the people pass by, jogging through central park, and looking over the hudson to see that famous skyline. This is the one thing in my life that has been constant and for someone as indecisive as me.. This is huge. Can you hear it? It's New York calling my name! Be there soon. Xoxo

It's good.

Today I'm happy.

I got a nice haircut. It's my normal haircut but I'm really liking it right now.

I'm wearing a new purple shirt that was only $5.

It's wonderfully beautiful outside.

I had iced chai tea latte.

I'm still smiling from learning how to process and develop my first roll of black and white film.

I'm looking forward to this weekend. I love hump day!
(A Wedding, Harvest fair, Art tours and maybe visiting with family. Looking good!)

And I'm looking forward to cooking dinner tonight.. even though I don't know what yet it will be. I just enjoy cooking more this time of the year.

It's good to be happy. Even with the most simplest things in life. It's what makes it worth living.

Fall Love

Today consisted of :

a pedicure with my mom 

a good lunch with some nice ladies

shopping

chai tea lattes 

old pictures 

knowing exactly why you are the way you are

a clean house

lovely smelling candles 

grocery shopping

cooking dinner

sunday night football

relaxing next to the boy. 

It was a nice day for sure. I love fall. I love the cool crisp air.

I wanna make a pie now. :) 

                                       Anthony and I at the pumpkin patch last year! I can't wait for this year. LOVE!

Just playing around...

I started my photography class a few weeks ago. I'm excited to start learning how to operate my camera better and to process and develop my film in the dark room. I hope i can catch on quick and that i love it... i want to love it. I want and need to find my passions. :) Here are a few pictures from my first roll of film from my new 35 mm Nikon. I just had it developed at Longs (CVS) so I could see how the pictures would come out. Enjoy. 

                                                             The end of Sutton Way
                                                           Out my front door
                                               Looking down Church Street
                                                      Grass Valley- My apartment
                                                                 Colfax, CA- Train Station
                                                       Grass Valley, CA-Del Oro
                                 Grass Valley, CA-Anthony's grandparents victorian house

day of birth

Happy Birthday to me! I turned 23 today. cRaZy! 

My boyfriend always totally spoils me on my birthday and on Christmas. This year he out did himself. 

First he surprised me early with a Nikon N75 QD 35 mm camera.. the reasoning I'm taking a photography class this semester and needed one. Yay! 

Then today after getting home from work he let me open the rest of my presents. The first one was a diana F+ which I'm super excited about. I love the pictures that these cute little cameras can produce! 

But wait there's more... a 50 GB external hard drive. You know because it looks like i'm going to be needing to store a lot of photos! :) whooo... and to top it off this neat ihome thing that you can strap on to your bike and it plays through a speaker. It's a sweet little gadget that I'm hoping to get a ton of use from! 

I love him. And not only because he buys me sweet things... but because he knows me so well. I don't ever ask for anything. He just listens to me when I say I like something. Thanks Anthony, love you! 

And for some memories... My little sister Brittney and I on my 4th birthday... can we say 1990 anyone?! 

9/11

I remember this day so clearly. It was a Tuesday. I was a sophomore in high school. I was wearing my favorite pair of jeans and a pink tank top with my sparkly star belt. I was up early that morning like any other high school student. Turned the TV onto the news like usual and saw that they were reporting that a plane had crashed into one of the world trade center buildings in NYC. I didn't know what was going on. I thought of course it was an accident... until i saw with live feed with my own eyes the second plane crash into the other tower. My step dad was really into watching the news that morning. My mom was still in bed but staggered out wanting to know what was going on.

I left for school and was a bit worried on what was going on. I remember talking with my friends. Wondering if we were next. If a plane was going to crash into our school. We didn't quite understand. In my world history class we just watched the news. Most kids were busy talking with their friends and not paying attention. But not me.. I was really curious as to what was happening.

I remember going home that night and feeling helpless. I wanted to be on the next train (who wanted to be on a plane at this point?) to NYC to help. To be a part of the search and rescue team. To find people alive. I remember writing it down in my diary that night with tears in my eyes. It really hit me hard like most Americans. I was scared, sad, and proud. Proud to be an American. The following weeks at school I wore my red, white, and blue stripped pin on my shirt to show this. A lot of kids did.

To this day I still think about all the people who lost their lives and the ones who sacrificed their lives. I'm thankful for the men and women who helped when I so badly wanted to.
Thank you to those of you who gave so much for our country.



On a more happy note,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DARKIN. :)

Aids Walk 2009

The Aids Walk was 2 weeks ago in the Golden Gate park in San Francisco. It was an absolute beautiful day in the bay! The fog burned off early in the morning and left us with a warm yet breezy day in the bay. 

The walk was a lot of fun. It felt so good to be getting exercise and taking part of something good. I wish we could have raised more money (i'm a slacker) but there will always be next year.. I definitely plan on doing it again. It was awesome! It was a 6.2 mile walk and they had markers at each mile. 

After the walk all we could think about was getting down to the Embarcadero to get a clam chowder bread bowl! It was sooooo goood. And very much deserved. It was an awesome, long, tiring, and satisfying day. :)

  

   From the Boudins bakery on pier 39. delicious.