The new place

So here's the new place:

Cute, right?!  Except this isn't our new place.  It's the place across the street from our place.  But I think it shows that we are actually in a decent area now.  Yay!

We really like the area around the new place.  Some stuff around us:

A full size horse statue in front of someone's house.

An angel walk signal guy.

Leaves on the benches at the library park.  The classy way to deter skateboarders.

This one has special meaning to my mom's side of the family.

 

I'm not sure if you can tell, but this is painted onto the side of a building.

 

This old school phone booth still works!  And check out Charlie Chaplin inside!  There is also a plaque inside reminding you to act like a proper gentleman or lady!

We have never been to this bakery, but it must be good because every time we drive by the parking lot is full and there are at least 15 people in line!

This one is for my dad.  If he knows you are calling he will answer the phone saying "Joe's Bar and Grill."

 

This used to be railroad tracks, but they turned it into a big jogging trail.

So there you have it.

Thanksgiving

T and I stayed in Southern California for Thanksgiving.  It was kinda rough for me because Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  But it actually was just fine.  This is how we spent it:

We went to Zuma Beach in Malibu.  I had never been there, but T produced a commercial there a few weeks ago.  A picture he took with the mighty, mighty iphone at the shoot early in the morning:

The drive there was lovely.  You would never guess we were close to LA.  The road was so windy and beautiful as we went up the (small) mountain.  The houses on the side of the road were so crazy.  Some were brand new and huge and beautiful.  Some were seriously shacks.  Some looked like cabins.  All mixed together.  And we didn't see a single grocery store.  How do these people live?!

Most of the Malibu beaches are at the bottom of cliffs.  Like this:

 

 

It was 80 degrees at the beach so we hung out for a long while.  Even though the temperature was perfect on the sand, the Pacific Ocean was frigid so we only got in up to our thighs.  We spent most of our time lying on the warm sand.

There were some crazy ocean currents:

The view as we were leaving:

 

Then we had Thanksgiving dinner with the ward.  We drove through downtown, like we always do, to get to the church.  Except downtown looked SO different.  It was the golden hour.  Downtown usually looks like a dump (because it is) when you drive through it.  But it was just before sunset and the light was hitting the buildings and they were shimmering and reflecting and LA looked beautiful.  Like a movie.  It seriously made me gasp.  This is the first time I have used the words "downtown" and "beautiful" in the same sentence in reference to LA.

Anyway, the meal with the ward was fine.  We brought homemade pumpkin pie squares, key lime pie, and real whipped cream.  I ate a lot, but not enough to make me feel sick.  In other words, just the right amount for Thanksgiving.  Then we decorated the institute for Christmas.

It was strange to have Thanksgiving without the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (my cousin M helped with it this year!), the fat newspaper with all the ads, family, Miracle on 34th Street, family, five kinds of pie, three layer jello, family, games, and football.  But it was still a good day.  We have lots to be thankful for.

P.S.  I wish we had some shots of both of us, but T's little camera is broken and we can't take self-portraits with his nice big lens camera.

S had a birthday, shout hooray!

Ohmygoodness, I had another birthday.

Okay, that's not really a surprise because everyone has a birthday once a year.  This birthday is sort of a milestone, but... I don't know how to describe it.  First of all, I don't feel that old.  I still think of myself as 17.  I still look 17 - I was asked a few weeks ago where I was applying to college.  I probably still act like I'm 17.  But I'm not 17.  I'm lots older than 17.  And this greatly weirds me out.  I just thought I would have it more together by the time I was this age.

I had a pretty laid back birthday.  T had to work (he works A LOT!) so I just hung out at the house.  My parents send me some fun surprises (thanks, Mom and Dad!).  I made lasagna for dinner and my mom's cheesecake for dessert.

 I have no idea how to take good pictures of food.

 

 T doesn't like cheesecake - so I ate the whole thing by myself over the course of four days!

Earlier in the day T brought a big box into the apartment and put it under his desk and told me not to look at it.  I was so excited.  I love surprises!  I tried not to think about the box for the next five hours.

Before I opened the box T gave me a card that said, "Since we probably won't make it to SLC for Christmas, I thought it would be nice to bring some Christmas to our apartment."

And I seriously said, "Oh my gosh!  Is it snow?!"  To which T had a good laugh.  I really did think it could be snow.

Inside the box were a bunch of small brown boxes.  The box I picked up said "Winter Carols" and "Holy Family."  I had no idea what it was and I made some joke about how I hoped that wasn't referring the Obamas.  Except I opened that box and saw Joseph from the nativity.  And it wasn't just any nativity set.  It was the set we saw together in Park City in the spring.  I thought it was the most beautiful set I had ever seen and said I loved it.  And six months later T remembered and bought it for me!  Of course I cried.  I love it and we put it up on top of the server right then.  As you know, my photos are incredibly less than professional, but here it is:

Check out our family and friends in the background! Ooops...

I'll take some better pictures of it at the new place.

The set is called "Winter Carols" and the company is Demdaco.  I think they are the same company that does "Willow Tree" figures.  The pieces are beautiful.  They look like wood, but are heavy like porcelain but are definitely not porcelain.  Each piece also has a beautiful subtle gold shimmer finish.  I absolutely love it.  T is amazing!  And it's our first Christmas thing together (besides my engagement ring from last Christmas!) so I love it even more!

We aren't done moving yet, but tomorrow we are putting up all of our Christmas stuff and buying a tree!

Anyway, we finished my birthday by watching part of the first season of West Wing, one of my favorite TV shows of all time.  T had never seen it before but he likes it!  We watched the whole first season in a month.  I love West Wing because it is fast paced and intelligent and has excellent dialogue. 

So, pretty much an amazing day.  Even if I'm not 17.

Dear Bloggy

Dear Bloggy,

Just a few things I have to get out:

Is it bad that I think the best radio give away ever is a Marie Callendar's pie with a chance to win a getaway to Snowbird resort in Utah?

We will probably be moving again in two months.  Even though we aren't done moving this time.

I ate two cartons of raspberries in two hours.

I have to buy a major appliance.  I'm pretty sure I'm not grown up enough to be doing stuff like that.

When people tell me I have long hair I say "thanks" like it is a compliment instead of a fact.

I think I gave myself a concussion.

I'm scared all the "babies" will forget who I am.

It doesn't feel like Christmas.  It feels like early September.

That's all.

heartslash S