Wicked

I told Rod I wanted to do a separate blog post about Wicked for two reasons:

1. So I could agree with the rest of the universe that Wicked is AMAZING and
2. So I could brag about what an amazing husband he is.

Rod tried to surprise me with tickets a few months ago, but a couple hours after he bought them I started asking him if we could go while we were in San Fran. He didn't want to seem like a mean husband so he went ahead a spoiled the surprise. He knew I've been wanting to go forever!

The show was incredible! I had no idea the story was going to be so clever, and the singing was fantastic. Rod even enjoyed it. I am so glad we went.

He is the best and I love him. The end.

Road Trip to SF

Tanya and I just got home from a week in San Francisco. We drove there to ship our car to Hawaii and spend time with my sister Danielle, her husband Matt, and our little nephew Brenden.

You know how on road trips it's always fun on the way, but on the way home you just want to be done and the drive is always terrible? This was the best of both worlds because we got to fly home!

Here are some highlights

We live for road trips. There's nothing like being together with our tunes and just talking, laughing, and eating junk food.

We were stuck behind this trailer and asked ourselves - How could that NOT be a dead body? Isn't it so creepy?

We waved to Sister Kelson as we passed by San Jose

Our first morning in the city my sister took us to this hidden park where you can slide down cement slides on slick cardboard boxes. It was really fun except we both fell on our bums and got soaked in the process.

Then we took the little nugget to a baby park to play.

We also took him on the merry-go-round.

And then we had a picnic, fed the ducks, and watched the paddle boaters pass by.

Tan and I spent the afternoon shopping in the Marina District and stumbled upon a shop with the BEST cupcakes in the world. The frosting on mine was Reeses flavored to a T.
The next day we met up with our good friend Dan who now lives in SF. We walked around Chinatown, did some shopping, and ate burritos in The Mission. He introduced us to a bakery in Chinatown that sold these treats - which are pretty much like pure angels rolled in coconut and baked into a warm, homemade roll.

What a cool city. The architecture is amazing and where else do you see a pink house, a yellow house, and a baby blue house all next to each other?

That night Danielle and Matt surprised us by taking us on a sunset bay cruise as a graduation present. It was probably my favorite part of the trip and we saw seals, lots of sailboats, and an amazing sunset.

Our cruise passed by Alcatraz

And we were fed appeteasers and dranks.
It went around Angel Island and some other areas where everyone has a mansion overlooking the bay as well as a sailboat

Then our boat went under the Golden Gate Bridge. It was cold and windy but worth it!

On Monday we got Suzi the Suzuki detailed and ready to be shipped to Oahu before dropping her off in Oakland.

Suzi is currently on a barge, in a box, somewhere on the Pacific Ocean. In the meantime we will drive my parents' GIANT van.

Then we went out for the BEST Thai food we have ever had.

And we couldn't resist playing Settlers of Catan with some fellow gamers.

The next morning we went to Mama's Cafe (tradish). It never disappoints. Waiting in line outside for half an hour is completely worth it.

Then we headed to the beach because it's Brenden's favorite (and we don't mind beaches either!)

It was cold but still a lot of fun. Nugget loved playing in the waves (as you can see)

The next morning we went across the Golden Gate bridge to Muir Woods to walk among the Redwood trees. Tanya had never seen a Redwood. They really are mind-blowingly big and the forest smelled so good!

Thanks to the Peronas for a perfect week!

Dream Day

Yesterday we had a dream day. We woke up at 9:00, watched The Price is Right while eating Trix, and then headed to Seven Peaks for the day - with a stop at the Quiksilver/Roxy factory store in Provo and a pizza buffet down there that we love. We took Tanya's little brother Court. We're trying to squeeze in some quality time with family before we ship out and this was the perfect day. The weather was great and, although we could have done without the crowds, we had a fun time. It was followed by hamburgers, card games, and Wii all night long.

Lake Powell

We spent this past week at Lake Powell on my family's houseboat. We love everything about this place and always have a blast. This year was no exception. The food was epic, the company was spectacular, and the weather was perf.

Because our families are total BFF ever since spending our wedding week in Hawaii together, Tanya's family came too as well as some of my favorite aunts/uncle/cousins.

There was wakeboarding . . .

Tubing . . .

Hiking . . .

Lots of swimming . . .

And of course scenery to boot.

We always have a talent show and this year Tan and I decided to do an homage to last year's Poker Face hip hop dance.

Here is this year's Dance (sorry some of the video is filmed sideways)



And last year's


See you in two weeks L.P.!

We've got to get to the sea

On Friday Rodney and I cleared the last of many hurdles on our way to Hawaii. It was my last day of work, and Rod took the GMAT.

I have worked for IHC for almost five years! I honestly cannot remember what it feels like to not work at a hospital. The only other job I've had is teaching dance (if you can even call that a job).

Rod has spent every waking moment since we got home from Costa Rica studying for the GMAT. He probably won't apply for grad school for a couple years (they like you to have work experience first), but he had the time and knew it would be great to get it out of the way. He did awesome! His score is good enough to get into most of the schools he has been thinking of.

Now the plan: Move to Hawaii until my program is done (next June) and after that, who knows! We may stay in Hawaii, or we may move back to Utah to start saving up for a home and not lose residency (Rod wants to get his MBA at the U in a few years).

We cannot wait for this adventure in our lives.

To celebrate our new found freedom we did the following:

Dinner at Macaroni Grille
Shopping
Shakes
Redbox
Martinelli's

On Saturday we went to the Spill Canvas concert (thanks Gent!) It was awesome. I love going to shows with Rodney.

We don't have much time left before we leave.
We are going to Lake Powell, San Fran, Lake Powell again, and we somehow have to pack everything we own and put it in storage.

Plus cramming in time with family and friends.

We are so happy to have reached this point. It was a long winter!
It's all down hill from here.

p.s. new Jack Johnson CD completes my life right now.

Round 2

We finally got together with Curtis and Ashley on Saturday night and traded Costa Rica pictures with them. Here are a few gems from their camera that I would have included in the original post had I had them at the time. Oh how we miss this trip!

Tennis

We just got back from playing tennis with our good friend Gentry. Tanya and I used to play a lot when we were dating and are glad to be back at it. The weather was perfect today, our shoulders are slightly burned, and we can't wait for a lot more of where that came from. Welcome summer, I'm glad you finally decided to show up!