Europe 2009 - Part 1

Actually - it's really part 2 because I'm doing these entries a little backwards. I went to Europe for thanksgiving yet again! I flew into Lisbon, Portugal and then headed to Spain! I'm blogging about the Spain portion first.

We relied quite a bit on Rick Steve's for our trip. I never really plan that much before these European vacations so a book always comes in handy! What I loved about Ricks Steve's book is that he has all these self-guided tours in it so you don't need to pay extra for the tours when you go places. Just follow along in his book. We used it quite a bit.

So - we took the night train from Lisbon to Madrid. I've done night trains before but never paid for the bed. The beds are such a good decision. Got to Madrid rested enough to actually do something!

Here we are are Km Zero in the center of Puerto Del Sol...pretty much the middle of Spain.

Puerto Del Sol

This was the BEST pastry shop ever. We stopped here just about every time we walked by.

Me and Mckay eating delicious pastries!

Plaza Mayor

I thought this guy in the Plaza Mayor was hilarious! The things people do for money.

Walking around Madrid.

Mckay and me in front of the Palacio Real

Attempting to be Egyptian in front of the Temple of Debod (an egyptian temple)

The colors of the trees were amazing! I love fall!

I travelled with Candice (a girl I knew from BYU) and Mckay, my friend from CT. And then Candice's boyfriend met up with us a little later in the trip. This is us with the Palace in the background.

Madrid's very own leaning/twin towers....

Day 2 in Madrid was much more relaxing. This was about the middle of our trip and we were getting a little tired so took advantage of the fact that we had to be in Madrid for 2 days to relax. Mckay and Candice went to the gym of our hotel and I went for a run outside. I ended up finding this awesome park. It had a 1600 meter track that went around the park. In the center was a couple of driving ranges, futbol fields, and parks for kids. They even had a "stretching" zone with these cool structures for specific stretches. If I lived close to this park, I would probably go just about every day.
Eating Paella in Madrid somewhere. I was not a fan. I don't know if I just happened to have bad Paella or it's just not as good as I thought. I've had some in the US and loved it - but it was different. This was hands down probably our worst meal. Oh well..

Mckay decided to get a European haircut.

Candice and I just hanging out and waiting for Mckay to be done.

The finished product!

We needed to rent a car because the next day we were heading down to southern Spain! So, we found this great deal for a car online from SixT. I read some reviews online and they were horrible!!!
But we decided to chance it anyway because it would save us a ton of money if it worked out fine. There were all these reviews online about people getting charged ridiculous amounts of fees. But we didn't have any of those problems. Everything worked out great! And our Volkswagen was great!
The best part of Madrid was being able to go to a Real Madrid game! They played Zurich and won of course. It was so much fun to be there. We had great seats (9 rows from the field).

Mckay was of course in heaven!

And I made sure to wear the appropriate attire. :)

Day 3 of spain (day 6 of our whole trip) - we were on the road headed towards Granada.

We made a little pit stop in Consuegra to check out the windmills.

How cool are these things?

Then we made it to Granada and went to the Alhambra! Very cool place. It is massive. So much to see. Unfortunately, this was also our worst weather day so our desire to be outside for long periods of time was not the greatest. It was so rainy.
One of the rooms in the palace. If you stand in one corner and whisper, then the person standing in the opposite corner can hear your whispers! There is a place in Grand Central station that also does this. We had a little fun whispering to each other.

Love this picture

A view of the city from the Alhambra

Walking around Granada. Such a quaint little city. I really liked it.

The next day we headed south to Tarifa, Spain (very souther tip of Spain). This is also where the Mediterranean sea meets the Atlantic Ocean! So - to the left of me is the Mediterranean and to the right is the Atlantic Ocean! We didn't go touch the water, but apparently they are different temperatures. Pretty cool.

Those mountains behind Mckay and me is Africa!

On the rooftops of Tarifa, Spain

The ferry we took to Morocco! Just a quick 40 minute ferry ride!

Europe is on the left, Africa is on the right!

So typical.

So - Tangier, Morocco! Wow! Quite an experience. Mckay hated it. I didn't. But I also didn't love it. It was interesting. Would I go to Morocco again? Yes, I plan to. But probably not Tangier. The minute we stepped off the ferry we were harassed by locals one after the other of men trying to be our tour guide for money. We were aware that this would happen (thanks to Rick Steve's) - but wow, I don't think I realized how relentless they would be. We seriously (and literally) had to run away from them. We finally lost them when we turned into a local market.

Arabic is their first language, but french is their second language. So thankfully I could understand signs and talk to people if I needed to. We walked around the non-tourist area first. And no one was bothering us which was great. We saw people selling live chickens and lots of interesting (and gross) things. Mckay hated it. We eventually found ourselves in a more modern part of town and got some grub.

FYI - shrimp in Europe (or at least Portugal, Spain, and Morocco) always comes with the head on. Gross. Thank you North America for cutting that off for us. It's much appreciated.

This was a mosque with all the muslims exciting after prayer. By the way - they announce that is time for prayer over loud speakers throughout the city.
Right beyond this point is what is called the "Casbah". There were lots of small, winding streets that you easily got lost in with lots of little shops were every bugs you to buy their stuff.
We got SO lost in the Casbah! Mckay was getting so frustrated and hating the place even more than he did in the beginning. We just kept heading downhill and eventually made it out! We then raced for our ferry because we didn't want to get stuck there after dark. We made it just in time...and I took this picture as we sailed away! So - I've now been to Africa! After next year, the only continent I will have yet to step on is Australia.

This road separates the Mediterranean and the Atlantic!

The Atlantic - I just liked this picture.

This picture gives you an idea of how close the 2 continents are!

On our way back from Tarifa, Spain to our hotel - we made a little pit stop in Gibraltar - a little piece of the UK all the way in southern spain! It's pretty much that big rock.
It was weird to just be in the UK all of a sudden. Everything in English and Pounds. Strange! We didn't really stick around...we just wanted to say we went!

Welcome to heaven (aka - our hotel!). We stayed here a couple of nights and it was amazing. The amazing part. We got it for 65 Euros! Yep - that's right folks - we got a steal of a deal!

It had gigantic chess, mini putt, a million pools, and the freaking beach!!! How amazing is that?

And this was our "apartment" as they called it! 2 bedroom, 2 bath, full kitchen, living room, washer/dryer, everything! It was amazing!

How can you not love staying here? I only wish we could have stayed here all week!
I even got to put my feet in the Mediterranean! Unfortunately it was a little too cold to put much more than that in.

We sadly left our hotel Saturday morning to head to Sevilla, Spain!

What a fantastic city! I loved this place. I only wish we would have had more time to visit! I just loved the city. The architecture and the atmosphere. Everything about it. I want to go back some day.

The Cathedral. One of the largest in Europe.

Inside the Alcazar! Amazing place.

Eating tapas and churros! so yummy.

Another picture of the cathedral

One of my favorite sites in the city - Plaza de Espana. So amazing.

We left Sevilla kind of late and headed up to Madrid because our flight was leaving the next day. We finally made it to Madrid at about 3am and decided to try the Formula1 hotels Jason and Ashley told me about. It was no beach resort...but it did the job.
It took me a while to fall asleep. The walls/door is not very sound proof. And you could smell cigarette smoke through the door. But once I was asleep all was well. And my flip flops came in handy for the public showers. I think formula 1 hotels are a fantastic idea though. Only about 30 Euros for a room!
The last day we pretty much just headed to the airport! We were going to swing by the temple..but woke up a little too late. This was the last picture of the trip..waiting to board our flight back to NY!

It was a fantastic trip! And I continue to still love Europe! I've been every single year the past 5 years. I think if I go in 2010 that I really, really want it to be Greece! Greece or maybe Norway and Sweden. Any takers?

Christmas Fun with a Party Planner

I happen to live with a party planner. No, not her profession - but it should be. She has planned at least one party every month since I moved in and she always has the next idea on her mind!

Christmas was the perfect excuse to put together a party...so my wonderful roommate Lauren planned an ugly sweater christmas party!

Lauren, Gloria, Me, and Kristine before everyone else arrived.

My roommate Jenine has TONS of christmas decorations all over the house. Lots of little things here and there that she collected over the years I guess. It was nice that the decorating was already done for us for our party.
Lauren made ginger bread men for everyone and we had lots of other yummy food.

I was SO ready for the party to start!

This guy won one of the prizes. A bit much, don't you think??

Cary, Gloria and Me

My gorgeous roommate and party planner Lauren! We made our shirts. Hers was amazing...the tree even lit up!

This was my favorite "couple" of the night! Pretty sure Brian was ready to throw me out the window every time I referred to him and his partner. :)

Bradshaw loves his Canadians. (He was wearing a sweater made in Canada)

And just 2 days AFTER the ugly Christmas Sweater Party...we had a roommate dinner! Annette has the 12 days of christmas china set that she wanted to use and Lauren got a huge ham from work for Christmas...so naturally, we had a little get together!

Scary picture, I know. But the ham was really good. Actually - all the food was!

So was the desert! Lauren had some of her delicious chocolate cake her grandma sent all the way from Canada. And I made some Tarte Au Sucre (Sugar Pie) - a quebecois desert. It was so good!

Party planning and hosting can get a little exhausting (which I definitely was after this weekend)....but I am so grateful to have a roommate that loves to be social! If you ever need a party planner, I have her number!

Oh....and this is what happens to me when I'm tired from all the partying - I rock out to some Celine Dion Christmas music...

Progressive Dinner

I live in EPA (East Palo Alto). I usually just tell people I live in Palo Alto and then they think I'm rich. Then when I clarify that I'm actually in East Palo Alto, they give me a look like I'm crazy. I guess it has a reputation of being the "ghetto". But I think EPA is just fine.

We decided to have a little EPA progressive dinner with all the houses in our area with members from our ward. Lauren (my roommate) planned it and it was a success.

Walking from the hors d'oeuvre house to the salad house.

Karen with her lovely salad.

At home getting ready for the main course

We had grilled salmon, tri-tip, veggie kabobs, asparagus, corn and green beans. We out did ourselves. It was amazing!

Enjoying the delicious dinner

And then to the final house for a little desert!

Do Si Do

Our ward had its annual Hoe Down in November. So, I've never been to a "hoe down" before...but I was all about putting on a cowboy hat and learning to square dance.

My friend Dave is in charge of our newsletter and so he thought it would be funny to get foreigners opinions on the whole Hoe Down experience.... I was a little confused because I'm just from Canada so it's not like I haven't seen people eat chili and square dance before.

In fact, when I was a little kid I remember going to church and watching these old people square dance. They would use our church to practice. I would just sit and watch the caller and try to learn what they were saying. The Do Si Do wasn't new to me! (oh..and don't worry..my friend dave definitely quoted me as saying that.)

I kept looking and listening to our caller trying to figure out what it was. It didn't take too long before I realized it was a Shim. Shim was great. Got us all dancing the do si do.

Me and my roommate Lauren! Yeehaw!

Canadians on Ice

I LOVE skating. Always have.

My roommate, Lauren, and I went skating for FHE one night. We are both Canadian and so naturally we love to be on the ice. She grew up on hockey skates and I was more of a figure skating kind of girl.

In fact...for my non-canadian friends that didn't know - I used to figure skate when I was younger. For 5 years...until I was about 10 and decided I wanted to play basketball instead.

I kept trying to find an area on the ice that I could spin around...

That's the one lame thing about public skating - you can't try to jump and spin very much. I need to find a rink that I can actually do more than skate around in a circle.

Halloween

Halloween has been becoming my favorite holiday over the past few years. Trying to think up a costume and put it together (I hope I never resort to buying one) has been so much fun. I had a few ideas running through my head this year, but I didn't have much time so I had to think of something I could throw together quick. I made my way to walmart, threw some stuff in my cart, and an hour later came up with this.....

It was so easy. I bought some blue scrub pants and cut off the bottoms and used the part that I cut off to make the overall part by safety pinning it on. I found some perfect blue suspenders at Walmart and just cut some of that yellow craft foam and taped it on to make the yellow buttons. I found a cheap $3 red had at Walmart and used the foam to make the Mario "M". Oh..and I also had some white gloves. And voila. It took a lot less time than last years costume and considering the time I had to throw it together, I was very happy with how it turned out!

Gotta love the fact that Patrick went as Gumbi! Can always count on him to have a bit elaborate costume! ha.

I was still in Connecticut over halloween. Josh and Colleen decided to throw a party. They invited some of their friends, had lots of food, good music, and a little singstar of course. I hung out there for a while and then headed over to the Pratts who were also having a little shindig at their place.

Me and Mckay - He went as Bleeker (Nicki was Juno). Those shorts were something else.

Me and my pimp Barrett.

Even Lucy was dressed up for the occasion!

Laura wanted to give the Juno stomach a try. Ha. It looked so real. But I'm sure Bishop S. was happy it wasn't!

I love the Pratts!! They are always a lot of fun! I mean...just check Annie out! She cracks me up!
Here's to another successful halloween in Connecticut!!! I need to start thinking of next years costume! :)

"Home"

I was never so excited to be at JFK airport as I was at the end of October! I was flying back to go to Josh and Colleen's wonderful sealing....and a big part of me felt like I was coming home (not exactly - but a close second). Everything about Connecticut and New York is comfortable to me. It just felt great to be back "home"!

Saturday Mckay and I made our way to Manhattan for Josh and Colleen's sealing. I didn't get any pictures of the happy couple...but just know that the the ceremony was perfect and they looked amazingly happy! I love them to death and was so happy to be a part of their day!

I spent a lot of my week staying with these 2 amazing people - Laura and Bishop S. They are empty nesters now so they had lots of room for me! I just felt lucky to be able to spend so much time with them. They were so generous to let me stay with them. They even lent me one of their cars for the week!

One of my first days there, I definitely made a stop at my office. I walked through the doors of our floor and my friend turned the corner and yelled my name. It wasn't long before there were 10 or so people crowding the door to say hi! It was SO wonderful to see everyone!!

Of course I went to lunch a few times with my fabulous friends. Maya, Susan, and Carolyn were some of my more devoted lunch friends. They are pretty much my Samatha, Charlotte, and Miranda (and yes - I'm claiming Carrie) and we met at one of our usual places... Kotobuki.

I love these women! Work would have been so dull without them in my life! It was so much fun to catch up and eat our most favorite food! Sushi!

If you ever go here...You must have the Gyoza soup. It is Amazing. And the sushi is simply fantastic. I still have yet to find a place I like quite as much. And yes, we ate ALL of this...

I spent a total of 10 days in Connecticut. Some people thought I was crazy to spend that long. "What are you going to do?" they would ask. But it wasn't long at all. It flew by. I slid right back into my old life - I went to my old gym, hung out with my friends, went to my stores, went to my old office. With a few exceptions, it almost felt like I never left.

One night a few of us from the ward went to this pumpkin festival thing in sleepy hallow, NY - where they have all these pumpkin carvings. It was something else. The sunflowers were my favorite.

Jesse, Me and Audrey at the pumpkin thing.

I also went golfing a couple of times. Laura took me to her club one of the days I was staying with her. And then later in the week, a couple of my co-workers convinced me to go with them to Great River.

They have absolutely no problem taking a day off work to go golfing....and who am I to say no to that!? The weather was pefect.
And the course was definitely beautiful! Who wouldn't want to spend the day surrounded by this?

One of the nights I was there, Mckay rounded up some people and we headed into Manhattan to hit up Koreatown for another awesome night of karaoke. It has seriously become one of my favorite things to do.

Mckay and I sang a duet...or two.

Colleen and Josh were having a blast!

My favorites!

Ethan was a star. Can I just say how much I love this kid?? Seriously. He is the greatest. So much so that I even asked him to marry me so I could quit my job. If only he wasn't a whole decade younger than me! oh well..! :)

After Karaoke we walked around the city for a while before we headed back home. It was an awesome night and perfect way to spend a night with some of my favorite people.

I got to spend a lot of time with Mckay which was great. We used to hang out so much when I lived in CT. He coaches a little football team now in Norwalk and I was able to go see his game.

And of course I had to make a little run to Stew Leonards! I love this place! Love their chocolate milk and few other amazing things!

I spent the latter part of the week at Josh and Colleen's. I love their house...which is right on the water. This was definitely my favorite spot in the house. I loved just sitting, relaxing and looking out the window.

My week in Connecticut was fantastic. I loved everything about it. The best part about it though was that it also made me grateful that I had moved on. Change is such a good thing and something we all need every once in a while. So even though I sometimes miss CT terribly, I am very happy to be where I am.

Squeeze Inn

I finally made it up to Folsom to visit Jason and Ashley and meet little Paisley! I had a great weekend hanging out with them and cathing up.

Paisley is so much fun... And once she found my shoes, phone, and purse...it did not take long for us to bond. She obviously has good taste.

While I was there, we headed over to the Squeeze Inn. This small hole in the wall joint in Sacramento. Do you see the cheese on that thing?? It was amazing. It was featured on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" on the food network.








It was SO good. Doesn't Jason's face just say it all!? :) Of course it's not something anyone should eat all the time, but it's definitely worth trying! Paisley was also a fan..

I also got to see a lot of the other Tanner's. Charity hung out with us all day and we joined up with Jenna and Casey to watch the BYU game. It was a fantastic weekend! I need to take advantage of the fact that they live so close to me now and visit more often.

It was so nice of them to let me come visit...espescially when they were busy waiting for the forth member of their family. Turns out I missed the arrival of little Spencer by only a few hours! It wasn't long after I got home that I got a text from Jason saying that they were on their way to the hospital!

Jenna

As soon as things calmed down at work, I was on the first plane to Utah for a recruiting thing at BYU and decided to extend my trip and drive up to Idaho to see the newest addition to my family - my niece Jenna Mai.

She was only a few weeks old when I saw her. So cute!! It was fun to hang out with Dave and Kim on their home turf as well. I usually only see them in Texas during the holidays.

We did a lot of relaxing and just hanging out. Which was exactly what I wanted to do. I also wanted to take a trip up to Rexburg to see Ricks (err..I mean BYU-I) and everything that had changed since I was last there.

It will always be Ricks to me though. I graduated a year before it make the change to a 4-year university. Wow..I guess that dates me.

A LOT and I mean A LOT has changed since I went to Ricks. Even since Dave and Kim graduated from BYU-I, quite a bit has changed. The upstairs of the MC is now like the Cougareat in Provo - except way nicer. Who would have thought it would ever look like this....

Remember the days when all they had was pretty much Tomasino's? The bookstore is all new and massive. Just about everything in the Manwearing center is different. Except this....

The bowling alley! You gotta love the fact that you can take a bowling class in University. Pretty sure most non-LDS schools are jealous of this fact.

Not really sure what the point of riding your bike on campus is if you have to go as fast as you walk.

I even got to see one of my girls from CT! It was a lot of fun to catch up with Kelly and walk around campus with her. She always has the friendliest smile which made her one of my favorites in my ward back East.

We made it over to the old Hart building and of course I had to take a picture with the Viking! They are building this whole big auditorium right next to the Hart building because there isn't enough room for devotionals anymore.

Here is a picture of the 3 of us after our tour of campus! It was a gorgeous day. We then took a ride around town. There are lots new stores and restaurants. But thankfully some things haven't changed....

I had a roommate that would always go here and get a kids meal. It was conveniently located just across from our parking lot! :)

Oh...and I have no pictures - but Idaho Falls has also grown a lot! I'm pretty sure there was only a Chili's, Outback, and Mongolian grill place there when I was going to Ricks. Now they even have a Cafe Rio - (aka: Heaven on earth).

I saw lots of other wonderful friends while passing through Utah. I had lunch with my mission president and his wife, saw Wes --one of my favorite mission friends-- and his wife in Idaho, I saw Kelsey (pictured above), and was finally able to meet Johnny (Emily's little boy who is in the picture below) and Anna when I stayed with Joni and Brock one night. And got together with Jana, Heather, Nicole and Em for dinner one evening. And even spent one night with Julie when I first arrived in Utah. I think that is everyone I saw...Anyway, I got to see lots of great friends I hadn't seen in a while.

Thank goodness I'm on the west coast and get the perk of free recruiting trips to Utah again! It had obviously been way too long since I'd seen everyone!

Stanford Sundays

After I moved here, Sundays quickly became my most favorite day of the week. It was the one day I had to myself. My day to relax, clear my mind, and do anything but work. My Sundays in Connecticut were always so busy with meetings and visits until 6 or 7 at night.

But it has been a completely different story here. Done by noon! It's been amazing. Especially when I started working a lot of hours. Sundays saved me and my sanity. I usually went on a walk and found myself at a park near the apartment I was living at when I first moved here. I would just lie on the grass and read or listen to my ipod. Best. Feeling. Ever.

One Sunday I made my way to Stanford campus and found it was a perfect place to spend an afternoon.

There were lots of people relaxing on the grass, having picnics, playing volleyball, walking dogs. Everyone just out and enjoying the sun and day.

It is still cool to me that I live somewhere with Palm trees. Growing up in Canada, palm trees symbolized tropics, vacation, warmth - everything life in Canada was not. The street pictured above is called Palm Drive and it leads right to Stanford Campus.

This is the Stanford Memorial Church (which I just recently found out is referred to as "Memchu"). We had the Institute Christmas Concert there this past week so I was able to go inside. It's quite a beautiful church.

It's a nice campus. It definitely has a different feel than its East Coast counter parts. Very different architecture.

I loved just wandering around campus. The weather and scenery were perfect. It was yet another fantastic Sunday. I live in such a great area. The weather is always SO nice here. And there is so much to do. People are always out biking, hiking, running. It's wonderful.

Surprise!

Shortly after I moved here, I came home to these....

Nobody ever sends me flowers! So I was more then shocked to find that they were indeed for me! Turns out they were from 2 of my most favorite people in CT - My wonderful bishop and his wife. I just love them!

Steve and Janet come to SF!

I was so happy when I found out that Steve, Janet and the kids were planning a trip to San Jose just 2 short weeks after I moved there. Janet is originally from San Jose and her parents still live here so they were coming for the Lindsey family reunion! As a side note...I've now lived in every area where each of my in-laws are from (CT, CA, and ID!).

I don't think they had any idea just how happy I was to have them here! It was just so nice to see familiar faces in this new, strange place! Janet's parents were kind enough to invite me over for dinner a couple of times and let me hang out with their family while everyone was in town. Steve was here over his bday so I was able to help celebrate that as well! Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures then...but I have quite a few from our day in SF!

We started the day at Pier 39 and watched all the seals! Some of them were quite funny...fighting and chasing each other. It was entertaining to watch.

Even though I only live about 30-40 minutes away from San Francisco, I realized just how different the weather is up there! It's freezing! The wind is so strong and it's cold - even in the middle of July in the middle of the day. It made me grateful to be living in Palo Alto where the weather is next to perfect every single day of the summer!

After Pier 39, we walked along Fisherman's Wharf and towards the Mechanical Museum!

I had a lot of fun in here! They had all kinds of old arcade games! It was fun to walk around a put in quarter in the machines to see what they would do. I was excited when we found this hockey game! Steve used to have a hockey game like this when we were young!

And Austin found his favorite game....he loved riding the mechanical horse! It seriously put the biggest smile on his face ever!

We walked out of the museum and there was this guy dressed up in this creepy costume that would pretend to chase after people. It was funny to watch everyone run away from him!

We then made our way over to the famous Lombard street......

And we passed this sign....and I had to take a picture for obvious reasons!

Next stop was the Golden Gate bridge. We walked on it just enough to be over the water and then we decided to head back. It was freezing up there!

And what better way to warm up then get some Ghirardelli chocolate ice cream at Ghirardelli Square!?

It was delicious! And the perfect end to a great day!

The Road Trip

What I love about having a blog is that it is the easiest way for me to remember what I was doing when. It's the best kind of journal of events you can have because just a few clicks away is a nice little recap with pictures. The problem is that when you don't do such a good job at keeping up to date...you end up having to do a ton to get caught up. So here it goes...


Here are the pictures from my road trip across the country. I've driven across the country 3 times now. To/from BYU and now to California. I'm pretty much a pro. I've done every trip by myself too. Not the most ideal of situations...but it leaves more room in my car for my stuff. :)

Mom and Dad were life savers packing up my apartment! Seriously would have died without them. We managed to get everything cleaned out by about 4pm the day before I was leaving. And I said goodbye to my home of 4 years and headed over to Jennah's to get some good sleep before the long journey!

I left around 7am from Jennah's and captured a picture of my mileage. 206,183 KM (not miles).

I could even see out the top of my back window! Not bad..considering I was living in a 2 bedroom apartment by myself. I downsized A LOT. This picture was of course taken on the first day when I wasn't completely sick of driving....

I was going to try to capture pictures of all the states I went through...but I wasn't very good at it. By the time I realized the sign was there - i was already passed it before my camera was on.

I drove through 16 states: Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Texas, Texas (it felt like forever), New Mexico, Arizona, and California!

My drink of choice....and what pretty much kept me alive: Good ol' Diet Dr. Pepper! And my roadmap: The blackberry (love google maps!).

Almost to my first destination...just one state away!!
My first day I drove all the way from CT to Canton, GA (just outside Atlanta) where Sharon, one of my bestest friends, lives! The drive took me somewhere between 14 and 15 hours. I was actually doing great until I was about 20 miles away from Sharon's house when I hit this dead stop traffic! Luckily Micah (Sharon's husband) was able to tell me a way to get around it!

I was so happy to get out of the car. And ready for a day of R&R! I spend 2 nights in Canton. It was great being able to spend some time with Sharon and her family! Her boys are so much fun....

We spent the day out by the pool! This is the pool for their sub division (or whatever you call it). It was awesome! Look at this place... Slides and everything. You don't even see it all in this picture!

It was exactly what I needed. I slapped on some SPF 2 and lay in the sun. Best feeling ever!

I joked with Sharon about how I felt like I was in the middle of a reality show - "The housewives of Canton, GA". Basically, all the moms get together at the pool every day and chat/gossip while their kids play around. Not going to lie...I could definitely live like that.

After the pool, Sharon and I went to dinner for some girl time! It was great being able to catch up. I need to visit her more often!

Saturday (June 27th), I left GA and headed for my next destination...Dallas, TX. Janet's cousin was kind enough to let me crash at their apartment before making the rest of my journey to Austin! I was grateful to only have to drive 12 hours to Dallas instead of the 15 hours it would have been to Austin!

Sunday morning I woke up and made my way to Austin just in time to watch my amazing Nephew, Jacob, play in the all-star tournament of his baseball league. He did great! And it was SO much fun to watch!

They played 2 games in a row and ended up winning the championship game! It was such a great game! Way to go Jake!!

hmm...i really, REALLy miss that tan I had. (California has done nothing good for my color! weird.)

I loved being able to spend some time with my nieces and nephews! They are getting so big! I spent a few days in Texas. I stayed at Kathy and Dans a couple of nights.

And then moved over to Steve and Janet's to spend some time with them and the kiddos.

We of course had to go bowling. I'm pretty sure I've gone bowling just about every time I've been to Texas. I swear it's one of the boys favorite things to do! Aren't they just cute standing there! love them!

I spent about 4 days in Texas. It was a very nice break from driving. But then I got back on the road and headed for Phoenix, AZ! Another 15 hour and LONG day! Probably my least favorite of the days for several reasons. 1- Texas never wanted to end. It just kept going and going and going. And 2 - I got a speeding ticket (in Texas). I was going 92 in an 80. The cop showed no mercy!

This was what I looked like before getting the ticket. Cruising, talking on the phone, leg up..nice and relaxed. PS - thanks to those that kept me awake by calling every once in a while! Even though the books on cd worked wonders (seriously converted to them!)....a phone call every now and then was the perfect pick-me-up!

In Arizona I stayed with a former mission companion of mine! It was fun to go to dinner and catch up! And so nice of her to let me crash at her place! She was even supposed to leave town that night, but stayed just so I could see her! Friday, I spent the day hanging out with Reidster before he had to catch his flight to China!

Then it was back on the road - heading to Los Angeles to spend July 4th with a couple of my favorite people - Brian and Ali!!

I loved the fact that Phoenix was only 6 hours away from LA! Talk about breeze of a drive! It felt SO short! I spent Friday and Saturday night in LA. It was fun to spend some time with Brian and Ali! I didn't really take any pictures....just this one! (Brian - didn't you take a picture of us on your camera??? Can you send me that??)

After church, I made the final leg of my trip from LA to Menlo Park, Ca. The drive took about 6 hours. I was so relieved to be out of the car, but a little anxious about the fact that this new, strange place was now supposed to be home. It was a very weird feeling.

And there you have.... 6,275 km's, over 50 hours of driving and 16 states later....I finally arrived! Longest road trip ever!

Just Hanging Around

I think I took the 4 months or so before I moved for granted. I had the "good life" back then. Getting to work at a reasonable hour...you know, just in time to go to lunch with your co-workers. Being super productive for a good 4 hours or so...and then heading home at a reasonable time. Having time to go to the gym and hang out with friends! Oh...those were the days.

I was secretly hoping that schedule would continue with only slight modifications - like maybe getting to work a little earlier and having better weather to enjoy after work. But there have been a lot more than just slight modifications. I'm back into that dreadful busy season of tax accounting. Working all day and all night. And wondering why in the world I ever decided to choose this career. Yes, I'm having serious doubts about the whole career path I'm on.

So - if any of you have ANY good ideas for me....let me know! My only requirements are that I can have my life back for most of the year. No more insane busy season hours. And I'm totally willing to go back to school for another 2-4 years if need be. Anything to get me out of this life-sucking job I'm in right now. IDEAS PLEASE!