It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

THANK YOU MOM! You are the best!

Thanksgiving

For the Thanksgiving weekend we went out to Thousand Oaks to spend some good quality time with the family. On the actual day of Thanksgiving we went up to Santa Barbara to my Aunt and Uncles house in Summerland. We spent the day eating fabulous food, listening to my Uncle Ron, cousin Makenna, and Dad playing some music, and playing games etc. Also there was a nice walk on the beach which Kelley and Makenna and I ended up missing most of! :) It was a great day! I sure LOVE my cousins! Also, I made my very first pie ever and it turned out delicious. It was an Apple-Ginger-Cranberry Pie and I got the recipe here at the Williams Sonoma website. Yummy. Here are some pictures of it.

The Big Blue Bus

Parking in Santa Monica for the whole day ranges from $5 to $7, as you can imagine, this has been adding up to be quite the bill just so that I can go to work. It has been driving me crazy because it's a nice chunk out of my tip money and I don't make very much hourly (or in tips compared to a stylist). I have been debating going on the bus because it takes longer, buses sometimes make me sick from all the stopping and going and braking, and because it kind of scared me, not sure why, but it did. Anyway, I was inspired this week to be brave and try taking the bus anyway. It wasn't that bad, I didn't get sick, it wasn't that much longer, I got to do more walking because of it which I have missed since living in LA, AND the best part is, it only cost me 75 cents each way! That makes it only $6 a week and I don't have to pay for gas! That saves me roughly $80 a month! Might not sound like a lot, but it is when you are a newly married couple with dental school in the mix. It makes me happy to think of the money we are saving plus I feel like I have overcome my bus fears so that feels lovely too! :)

Pumpkins

Pumpkin carving is one of my favorite things about Halloween! I don't know why, but I just love it! Here are our masterpieces this year!

Disneyland

Well, I haven't put up any pictures in a while, so I figure it is about time to do that! :) First of all, my Mom, Lisa, Taylor, and I went to Disneyland a few weeks ago for Taylor's 6th birthday! It was awesome! Taylor had never been before so it was super fun to see her excitement about everything. She hadn't even been on ANY type of roller coaster before. I got to ride with her on her very first one (the Matterhorn). It was pretty funny. She got really nervous and as soon as we were about to go into the dark she heard the abominable snowman roar and she covered her eyes for the entire time. She liked the ride, but not the dark and the snowman! I remember being super scared of him too when I was little. Besides being scared of some of the rides, she had a great time and was a pleasure to be around the whole day. It was nice that she was old enough to really appreciate what was going on. What a fun day!

Here we are before going into Honey I shrunk the Audience. Taylor didn't enjoy this one too much!

Sorry I am blocking everyone in this picture. Taylor wanted to be in the front but they wouldn't let her because she is too small.

My mom and me on the carousel

Taylor trying to pull the sword out

Taylor and Lisa. Taylor got to have her face painted at pixie hollow. It was pretty cool

In front of the castle. I tried to get a good picture but the sun was right in their eyes. Oh well! :)

Taylor driving on Autopia.

This is right before we left. Taylor looks excited!

I didn't take too many pictures, so that's all for this post! Thanks Taylor for letting me come celebrate with you! Love you!

It's Official

The NBA tip off was today. This means that for the next 8 or so months of my life, basketball will be my background noise.

Oh Thousand Oaks, we love you

Sometimes when we go home for a visit, I sincerely wish that we could pack up our things and move out to Thousand Oaks. The only downside is that Clark would have to commute to school and that would suck, so we won't do it. I guess we will just have to live with our overcrowded circumstances for now and try to love where we are. It's difficult when such a beautiful place is not too far up the road. But then again, at least we can get away for weekend visits every once and a while.
Here are some reasons why Thousand Oaks is the best...
*The weather is perfect
*It smells heavenly
*You can drive a few minutes down the road and be at the head of great hiking trails
*Good beaches are close by
*They have the city planned amazingly well, so well that you don't have to worry about overcrowding
*LOTS of church members who are super strong and amazing
*Lots of open spaces
*Good shopping
*Family

I could go on, but I won't we just really love it there