Sunday, December 27, 2009

Lindsay's Xmas Surprise




A few days before our first Xmas in San Diego, Lindsay planned a special surprise for us. We went to the Coronado Hotel and did some outdoor beach ice skating. Now this was my first ever time ice skating, and to be honest, I wasn't super syked about the idea of eating it on the wet melted ice in front of a bunch of families. However, after a special blended hot chocolate, I was ready to rock. Lindsay did a great job not making fun of my skating skills (which was probably hard). While I was constantly eying the next rail to grab, Lindsay was speeding around the rink doing twirls. Luckily for me (and to my great surprise) I didn't fall once! I even managed to make it around a few times without the need to hold onto the side.


Hotel Coronado is in the back drop here. As you can see I was really enjoying myself.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Finals are done!



So finals are finally over! I finished up my last three hour exam feeling good about what I had accomplished; now lets cross our fingers and hope for the best. After finals Lindsay and I went out with some friends to celebrate. We went to the Bitter End (how appropriate after finals) in the Gaslamp District downtown.
Lindsay had spotted this amazing X'mas tree in the upstairs portion of the bar. The whole upper level was really elegant. We had a great time celebrating. I couldn't have done it without Lindsay's love and support, she amazes me more every day we are together.
I Love You

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Finals are finally here!!

Brandon's almost done with finals!!! YEAH WHO WEEEEEE!!!!!! Tomorrow he takes his last one! He feels really good about the finals he's taken already...so far so good. If any of you don't know how law school works let me enlighten you....There are no tests all semester so your grade depends solely on the final in the class. The tests are graded on a curve so it doesn't really matter how well YOU do, it matters how well you do compared to EVERYONE else. This makes for an extremely stressful, high anxiety life for law school students during finals week. Brandon has been pretty nervous before each test, but all his loooooooong hours in the library are finally paying off. It feels good for the both of us. After tomorrow I'll no longer be a law school widow! Well, until January rolls around :-)
Brandon and I have decided to stay home (in San Diego) for the holidays. I only have a few days off from work and ticket prices are ridiculous....so, we are of course a little sad to be away from our family and friends during Christmas but are really looking forward to spending some quality time together. Brandon hasn't had a chance to explore San Diego so we are really looking forward to doing some fun things during our time off together. Doing nothing sounds pretty good right now too.
I had to post pics of Brandon pre-finals....I thought I was living with a homeless man. HAHA!



Brandon decided to shave his beard before his first final, but first had to sport the stache..


Saturday morning @ 6:30 am studying before his first final. What I was doing up so early on a Saturday morning is beyond me...


Apple Cup

Brandon and I met David, a Law School buddy, at PB Bar & Grill to watch the Apple Cup game. The Husky Alumni Association rents out the back room for the Husky games. It was fun to share the big win with 60 or so other Husky fans!!

David and Brandon




Bradey's Trip to San Diego

My Bestie, Bradey, came down to Santa Monica for her cousin's wedding in November. She extended her vaca to come down to stay with me for a couple of days. We spent most of her trip wedding dress shopping which was so much fun!! Here's some pics from her visit:

Outside my place

Us and a new friend. He was with a running team and they tried to recruit us. HAHA! Me on a running team?? Are you kidding me?


Before I took Bradey to the airport we went to Hotel del Coronado for lunch. It was a beautiful, warm day!!




Sunday, November 29, 2009

Wedding Update

Family and Friends,

Lindsay and I wanted to send a wedding update to everyone. As all of you know Lindsay and I (mostly Lindsay) have been making arrangements for our wedding in Maui June 23rd next summer. After sending out our save the dates we received such a swell of support and excitement from everyone that we might have to adjust our plan. Lindsay and I want everyone to be able to celebrate with us so we are looking at other possible options. I wanted to send this update to let people know that if you were thinking of making any Maui travel plans in the near future please put those on hold. Lindsay has been working tirelessly trying to make Maui work, but we’ve found with such a large party, things just might not work out. We’ll be making some final decisions in the next few days and we will update everyone immediately. If anyone has any questions feel free to email us anytime.

Love,

Brandon and Lindsay

Friday, November 6, 2009

I'm In The Baby Making Business

I'm excited to announce that I started a new job today that I can't believe I actually got! I applied for the position several weeks ago and wasn't surprised when I didn't hear back, since I didn't have any clinical experience in this field. I got a call out of the blue last week, went in for an interview, then went in the next day to "shadow" one of the docs and got offered the job on the spot! I've been reading and studying ever since. Today was my first day and I love it! The nursing staff is great, the doctors are amazing and more than happy to share their knowledge. I really couldn't be any happier with where I ended up. I feel like everything has come full circle and things just fell into place like they were supposed to. Here is the web address so you can check out where I work.
http://ucsandiegofertility.com/about.html

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Day 4: Coronado Island

Sunday before Amanda, Brett & the kids left, I took them to Coronado Island to spend the day at the beach. We were lucky is was warm enough to get in the water and play. The kids were brave and Bryson tried out surfing and McKenna got really good on the boogie board. It was so much fun! We were all wishing they could have stayed longer to spend more time at the beach, but we're looking forward to them coming back soon!

Amanda, McKenna & Bryson looking for seashells.

Brett pulling Kenna on the boogie board (before she got up the nerves to get in by herself)


Bryson spent most the day playing in the sand.


Bryson showing off his seashell he found.

Thanks for such a great time Amanda, Brett, McKenna & Bryson!! I miss you so much already and can't wait until I can see you again! Love you all!!!

Day 3: Halloween at SeaWorld!

Saturday morning, Amanda and I walked down to Little Italy to go to the farmer's market while Brett and Brandon got the kids ready and made breakfast. We bought some passion fruit at the market (Brett's favorite) and Brett made delicious passion fruit juice to go with the breakfast Brandon made. Thanks guys!! After breakfast we packed lunches and headed to SeaWorld for the day. Since it was Halloween, the kids brought their costumes to change into so they could go trick or treating later in the evening. It was fun to see all the SeaWorld employees all dressed up and all the kids running around in their costumes.


I can't remember the name of this dolphin but it was pretty cool lookin'. It's the dolphin version of Shamu!

Amanda & Bryson in an ice cave in the polar bear exhibit.

Not a very good pic, but these penguins were 3 feet tall and so funny to watch!


Shamu show "Believe". Bryson has seen this show 3 times but he loves it! He sat at the end of his seat in awe. Too cute!

Mission Bay behind us. So pretty!

Brandon & Bryson wearing their 3-D glasses...we were outside waiting for the 4-D show to start.
The Girls

The Boys (Isn't Bryson too cute?? He loves to pose)

Shark tunnel. Pretty cool! The kids loved it :)

Shark jaws


Luke Skywalker & Witch

And more posing...haha

Kenna & I took out our hair so we could shower and she thought we looked like rockstars. I guess this is our rockstar pose...

Day 2: Little Italy

Friday night, after the Wild Animal Park, we met Brandon back at the house then walked down to Little Italy to get some pizza. We all filled up on garlic bread and pepperoni pizza...yummy!




The sunset on our walk down. So pretty!

Day 2: Wild Animal Park

Last Friday I took Amanda and her fam to The Wild Animal Park and we went on an African safari. It was a lot of fun! You got to get up close and personal with the animals. The kids really had fun after they got over the fear of being eaten by the animals. My brother-in-law, Brett, served his mission in Nairobi, Kenya so he was excited to go back to "Africa" for the day.


Ready to go on the Safari!


Aren't Muskrats the cutest little guys??





After the park, we stopped by a fruit stand and Brett bought Ostrich Jerky..apparently Ostrich is the best meat he's ever had. Gross!

Northern White Rhino. There's only 7 left in the world.


Masai Warrior Bryson :-)