KPX & Britt2daMAX

Dogs at Work = Happiness

2011-12-10T13:28:00.000-08:00

Recently the hotel I work for became a Kimpton Hotel - Hotel Palomar San Diego! This is so exciting because I have always been a huge fan of Kimpton hotels! They are environmentally conscious, pet friendly, and treat their employees so great (they were on FORTUNE'S "100 BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR" LIST)!! One of my favorite things is we get to bring our dogs to work with us, which is something I've always wanted to be able to do!! Lucky me :)

Here are some photos of Maggie and Buddha hard at work...

6 Years Woot Woot

2010-06-10T19:15:00.000-07:00

Today marks our sixth anniversary! I am proud to say it's been an excellent ride on this roller coaster of marriage. Here is a poem I wrote today dedicated to my one and only...

Wow how six years have flown by,

and I've spent them with the greatest guy.
He is my lover, best friend and sweetie pie,

always making me laugh until I cry.
I can't imagine my life without him,
Life without would be like missing a limb.
He is the greatest and inspires me daily,
One day I will have his baby.

I love and adore you my sweet Kyle,

Not a day goes by that you don't make me smile.

Happy Anniversary Baby!! Love you!

Looking forward to infinity and beyond!

Look-A-Like

2010-06-06T12:09:00.000-07:00

So many people tell us who they think Maggie looks like. Some say Chewbacca from Star Wars. Others say an Ewok. And we've even heard that she looks like The Berenstain Bears (my favorite childhood books). My question to you is

WHO DO YOU THINK MAGGIE LOOKS LIKE????

Ms Maggie May

Chewbacca

Ewok

Berenstain Bears

Easter Earthquake

2010-04-04T23:11:00.000-07:00

Shake rattle and roll. We have felt a couple minor shakes in the past few years that we have lived in California, but today was for sure the largest quake we have ever experienced. It was measured a 7.2 on the richter scale with the epicenter only about 118 miles away from us. Kyle and I spent our lovely Easter morning working at The Sofia Hotel (ugggh), we had just arrived home in our parking lot when we started to feel it. I thought that Kyle was revving the gas and pushing on the break making the car shake even though we were parked. It was super crazy feeling and then we realized it was an earthquake and jumped out of the car. We are all safe but it was definitely a new experience for us. We will keep you posted if we feel anymore rumbling from the earth here in San Diego.

L.A. Trip

2010-01-05T00:26:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend we were able to take a trip to Los Angeles with our friends Pops and Chellor. There were some areas of LA that we visited that I've never seen before. The Fashion district was crazy, it felt like we weren't even in the U.S. We also visited the Old Down Town district which was super beautiful and amazing. We drove to LA live and New Down Town to view the modern architecture. But one of the highlights of the trip was visiting the spot that one of our favorite movies was filmed "500 days of Summer". There is a bench that Tom and Summer visit and we sought out to find that park and that bench. We found it and got some great pics. We also drove around Beverly Hills stalked celeb houses, but couldn't see much because they are covered with some mighty hedges. We satisfied our sugar crave at my favorite cupcake place "Crumbs" and then topped off the night visiting the Hollywood sign. We had a blast and I actually found some cool places in LA that I could live in, who knows Kyle could get an intern or job offer in that city.

Old Down Town LA

Nickel Diner

Mannequin Heads made of marmalade

Sweet buildings intersecting

Buddha is the king of LA

Pops and Chellor walking hand in hand

Bench from 500 Days of Summer

What a view, just need to get rid of those parking lots

Happy Family

Pops and Chellor

Brother and Sissy

Happy girl girl

Buddha is such poser

Proud Boy

Sweetest girl Maggie May

Hooray for Hollywood

New favoriite treat!!!

2009-11-11T18:49:00.001-08:00

I have a confession... I have discovered a new treat. It's amazing! There is this place called Yogurtland, you fill your own cup with yogurt and toppings and they weigh it and charge you by the ounce. It is so delish! We used to have to travel to Pacific Beach when we got our cravings but now there is one in Little Italy and it's open until midnight. I wish they had one of these in Utah for all my peeps back home, I know it would be a big hit!!

Baby here I come!!!!!

2009-08-21T00:02:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited! Tomorrow I get to go to Ohio to visit Kyle for a couple days. He is out there selling alarms for APX and it's been since mid June since I've seen him. I can't wait to be in his arms! Seriously distance makes the heart grow fonder!! So long farewell, I will be back Monday!

Fish Tacos. Tavern Style.

2009-07-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

I have to brag about the best fish tacos I've had in San Diego. There is a little place in my hood called the East Village Tavern. It's only a 5 minute walk from mi casa. And wow are the fish tacos amazing. Let me explain before I moved to San Diego the word fish taco kind of grossed me out, I had no desire to ever eat one. I came here tried one and from then on started my quest to find the best ones. I've had fish tacos everywhere I go and I think by far the tacos at the Tavern are the bestest in the westest. On the taco they put grilled Mahi Mahi, cabbage, guacamole, salsa and the yummiest white sauce that is only used for fish tacos. They are so delish. If you ever come here you must try!!!

mmmmm. mmmmm. good.

Raubach Reunion.

2009-07-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

So last week my inlaws came and visited me. For those of you who dont know Kyle is away in Ohio working with APX. Unfortunately my job wouldn't give me a leave of absence so I am alone here in SD trying to survive without my Baby. It's been nice because his mom visited a couple weekends and then his sister and family came for a week and half. They just left and I miss them like crazy. But my family will be visiting at the end of this week and then I get to go to Utah for 2 weeks, so for now I'm making it through. These are just a few pictures that I took on my iphone at Petco Park. I had so much fun playing with my cutest nieces and nephews: Cayden, Sophie, Issy, Finnigan, and Rafferty. We got to go to the beach and La Jolla and airplane watching by the airport (we call this watching the huge daddies) and The Zoo and The Children's Museum and Yogurtland every night. It was so much fun!! The youngest one Rafferty is starting to talk now, he has the cutest personality, he is hillarious.

Raff is so proud of his crocs, he takes them off and puts them on probably 50 times in a day. This is how they usually end up when he puts them on (opposite feet). So toot!

This is the stud Finnigan on the playground. Such a cute little guy.

Finn was so set on climbing this tree. He has a broken arm (poor guy) but he didn't let that slow him down.

Issy was constantly snatching my phone and taking sneaky pictures of herself. This one turned out really cute.

Kyles sister Ashlee is the most amazing photographer (ashleeraubachphotography.blogspot.com). The whole trip she kept trying to shoot Raff but she could never get a face shot because he would never look a the camera. I was so proud to be able to get this face shot of him even though it's with my non professional phone camera.

Belated Birthday Update

2009-07-15T16:56:00.000-07:00

So I celebrated a birthday last month. Yes I am getting older even though I still feel and act like an 18 year old. I had to work on my birthday and Kyle was in the middle of finals so it just felt like any other usual day. I went to work and had a normal day but towards the end of my shift an awesome surprise came from 2 of the greatest friends (Pops & Chellor). They sent a beeee uuu ti fulll boquet of flowers to my work. It was such a big surprise because to be honest I was expecting nothing for my birthday since times have been tough, struggling through school as starving students. But it didn't end there. After work Kyle had picked up a cake from extrodinary desserts (the yummiest place ever) which was another gift from Pops and Chellor. I tell you they spoiled me! I want to thank you guys for being such amazing friends of the truest kind. After we got home and dug into the cake Kyle surprised me with tickets to the Padres game. I don't have any pictures of that but it was the first game this season that I have been to and it was so much fun!! So all and all my birthday turned out to be a fabulous occassion when it started out just like any other day. Thanks to all who make it so great!

Flowers from Pops & Chellor

Cake from Extrodinary Desserts. It looked so pretty I felt guilty digging into it.

Pictures of Both. (The pictures are from a camera phone cause our camera is broken)

Kyle's New Job

2009-06-03T23:46:00.000-07:00

Ok ok ok. I know that I have given my blog the biggest shaft of a lifetime, and all the people who check my blog have probably given up. I'm so sorry. We have been super busy lately. I've been working 2 jobs and Kyle is doing school full time, working on the weekends and doing APX on the side whenever he has time, plus our camera was experiencing technical difficulties for a while. Our life has had some changes though and I still wanna share those with you if will regain the faith in my blog again.

For starters... Kyle got a new job. He valet parks cars at The Prada Restaurant in Balboa Park. It's a great job and he only does it on Saturdays and Sundays. He does a lot of running and has been having some pretty bad shin splints which he ices regularly but he's still hanging in there and working hard.

Kyle's First Day of Work.

Washington D.C.

2009-02-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

Kyle and I had the wonderful opportunity to go to the inauguration of our 44th president, Barack Obama. It was our Christmas gift to eachother. We luckily had friends there to stay with since all of the hotels were sold out. John, Dave and Erik showed us the town, they were such great hosts. We went all over the place in just 4 days. We went to Alexandria, Arlington, Georgetown, Adams Morgan, and of course all over DC. This trip was so much fun!

Here are the pics of our adventures.

The night before the inauguration we decided to go explore downtown DC. It was pretty crazy, there were secret service agents everywhere. We went to the national mall to check out where we would be going to the next day and this is who we found. Anderson Cooper was broadcasting his show live. Kyle put me up on his shoulders and I was on the show for a few minutes. Nana (Kyles' mom) saw us on the TV back in Utah. Pretty cool.

Inauguration Day

It may appear like it was warm but it was sooooo freeeezing! Around 10 degrees and we were by the river which added the coldness. We got so bundled up, I think I had 5 layers on.

What a crowd.

We were only in the middle of the mall so there was peoples gallore! The teleprompter is what we saw all the action on.

Kyle was so cold he used our blanket as a scarf. We joked saying he looked like a terrorist.

Inauguration night.

We went to downtown Alexandria. It was so charming and the buildings were so old and had so much character. We parked on this little street and walked around.

We found a super cool little pub.

And listened to live music by David Andrew Smith (check out davidandrewsmith.com). He was amazing and played a mixture of his own songs and requests from the audience.

This pub was so chill. Way different from the places in San Diego, where everyone gets all made up just to go out. This was so lowkey, just the way we like it.

We drove around all night checking out cool neighborhoods. We even drove past all the countries emabassy's. My hair was driving me crazy I just didn't want it touching me at all. Here was the result. When I walked into 7-11 like this people thought I was crazy.

Kyle said this ice sculpture was pretty famous. I guess it was on the news and stuff.

The next day since we slept in so late from lack of sleep inauguration day and staying up so late that night we didn't get out to do stuff until about 4 pm. We went and saw the capitol and got some cool pics.

I hate this picture but Kyle had some mad photography skills so I gots to give him props.

Hosts with the mosts. Dave and John were our guides through our nations capital. They were awesome! Thanks so much guys!

I had hand warmers in my gloves, they kept my fingers toasty but my face was in need of help. Too bad they don't make face warmers.

The metro is the DC subway. They have the nicest terminals. Once again these pictures of me are ugly but Kyle's skills rule agian.

This is the worlds longest escalator. It was so scary to look back when we were going up it. This picture was from our iPhone so it doesn't do it justice,

it was never ending, like a bad dream.

Our last day in DC we spent at the Smithsonian's Museum of American History. That place is incredible. You could definitely spend more than one day in it. Here were some of the sights.

Steel column from the world trade center.

The original Star Spangled Banner.

Abe Lincoln's top hat.

Filing cabinet from White Water.

And last of all we visited the White House. Kyle and I had been waiting all day to visit the White House and to our luck when we got there our camera was out of batteries. So we only got to take a few photos with our iPhone so the quality isn't the best.

One of the entrances.

Our trip was such a quick one but we did get to see a lot of sights. We hope to make another trip out there again real soon!

Cancun Mexico.

2009-01-28T10:51:00.000-08:00

Kyle and I got to take 4 days out of our busy schedules and go relax and enjoy ourselves in Cancun. Kyle won this trip through APX so everything was taken care of. We had no agenda, we just chilled. It was so nice. The beach was amazing and the water was so warm. Kyle wanted to play in it all day long. Our camera was having major issues so we didn't get too many pictures, so here's what we have.

First things First.

Pictures of our room. It was amazing and huge.

The view from our balcony.

Kyle was so giddy to be at the beach.

On the bus. We had to take the bus to downtown. I swear the bus driver was ripping us off because everytime we paid he would give us a different amount back.

Dinner at La Parilla. Yum Yum.

This is our waiter. He made our dessert at our table.

Instead of a mariachi band it was an orchestra. There were like 12 people playing instruments. This guy was my favorite. He reminds me of Gus Gus, and he was singing his little heart out.

The best Tacos Al Pastor that I have ever had.

There was a huge festival going on in the square. It was awesome.

This is something that I have never seen before. A dog on a woof I mean roof.

Inauguration in DC

2009-01-21T11:27:00.000-08:00

Kyle and I are in DC seeing the sights and witnessing a part of history. Yesterday we got to attend the inauguration and we are going to see as much as we can of our nation's capitol in 2 days. We will keep you posted.

Can you see us in the crowd? We are behind the person with the flag.

Tis the Season.

2009-01-21T10:33:00.001-08:00

Christmas got kicked off with the pet parade which you have already witnessed. Then there was the Sofia Christmas Party in Coronado. Then Kyle and I hit the road to Utah for Christmas to spend time with our fam and friends. We had so much fun and got to see a lot of peeps, I got to see my b.f.f.'s and Kyle got to see his. I also got to teach some dance while I was there and loved every minute of it (I miss it so much)! Here's some of the workings of our happy holly day!

The Sofia Hotel Christmas Party on Coronado.

On the road to Utah. Every one so comfy cozy for the drive.

The only snow storm we ran into was around Cedar City. It was pretty freaky. Good thing it only lasted about 15 minutes.

Christmas Eve at the Raubach's. We all slept over on Christmas Eve. It was so much fun having all the family together. Santa even stopped by and handed out some early Christmas Eve gifts.

Issy and Santa.

Finn and Santa.

Sophie and Santa.

Cayden and Santa.

Brennon and Santa.

Colby and Santa.

Shelby and Santa.

Kyle and Santa.

Even Buddha and Maggie got to be in on the fun.

All the grandkids. (From top left: Sophie, Brendan, Issy, Rafferty, Cayden. Bottom left: Max,

Jackson, Maggie, Brennon, Buddha and Finnigan.)

Silly little Finn Ginn.

Nana and Papa got all of us scarves and gloves.

Here are the girls modeling the gifts. (Sophie, Britt, Issy and Ja Ja).

Kyle and Nana.

This is what we had to bear all night. The boys all got nerf guns and were having wars. So if you weren't on guard you might get caught in the middle of it.

Brennon getting pelleted.

Miss Maggie May.

This is the temperature that we had to bear over the vacation. And this was actually cool for the temp we did find it up to 78 degrees sometimes. Kyle and I were sweating bullets. We are so used to our house being around 65 all year round.

Cancun Mexico. Arrrriba.

2009-01-07T22:33:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow Kyle and I are going to enjoy 4 days in sunny, beautiful Cancun! Kyle won this trip through his summer job APX. We are so excited to go and relax. Adios.

Pet Parade

2009-01-05T10:22:00.000-08:00

The San Diego Gaslamp Quarter held it's first annual pet parade and it was a hit. There were so many dogs there, at least 200 walked in the parade and there were many more on the side lines cheering. We walked about 10 blocks through the historic gaslamp quarter in downtown. It was the cutest thing ever. I love San Diego because they are so pet friendly and there's so many fun activities to do with them. There were 4 prizes that they gave away at the end of the day. Cutest Critter, Best Pet Costume, Best Human Costume and Best Pet and Human Costume Duo. We were so proud of Maggie because she won the cutest critter award. It was awesome. We won a gift bag with a $50 giftcard to Petco and tickets to all the museums in Balboa Park and other cool things. She even got a sweet plaque.

This is the start of the parade. Maggie is the Grinch and Buddha was an elf. Yes he did ride in my bike basket the whole time and loved it.

This is the cutest bunny. I only thought there would be dogs there but there were bunnies and cats too.

This lady and her dog had such a creative costume.

Here we are walking through the streets. I rode the bike some of the time. Maggie was a hit everyone was yelling out to her, and surprisingly she wasn't as shy as usual, it's like she knew she was special.

All the peeps in the streets.

Grinchie.

Maggie getting her award. The announcer asked if Maggie ever smiles. Ha Ha.

Elf boy just chillin'.

Maggie with her plaque.

Family Pictures.

From the second we put Buddha in the bed to take pictures he was acting like such a poor boy. It's like he knew he didn't win the plaque.

Then we took him out and he became happy boy again.

NOVEMBER 29 & 30 - Home Sweet Home

2009-01-03T20:50:00.000-08:00

The 29th we were at sea the whole day so we basically were super lazy hybernating canyon crest cubs because it was too cold to go out on the deck. On the 3oth we landed in Long Beach in the morning and decided to spend the day in the area. We went to Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and downtown LA.

This cruise is shockingly super!

Kyle and Phil waiting in line to exit the ship.

Bye Bye Vision of the Seas.

Everything fits in the Fit. We loaded 5 people and all their luggage in our little Honda Fit. There was no spare space. We were snug and tight.

Even my feet didn't have a place to be.

3rd street in Santa Monica.

Free Starbuck Hot Chocolate Samples. Yum.

Cheers.

This is one of Kyle's favorite architects house. Frank Ghery.

We stopped by the LA temple to see if there was any picketing going on. It was nice and peaceful.

A beautiful street in the hills.

View of downtown from the hills.

I took this picture while we were driving home. I had to take it so fast so I'm so amazed how beautiful it turned out.

NOVEMBER 28 - ALL DAY AT SEA

2009-01-01T10:27:00.000-08:00

Today we didn't participate in any fun day activities. I went out on the deck to try and read a book and nearly got knocked over the wind was so strong and it was chilly. So Kyle and I basically slept all day. Which is really easy to do since our room was in the dungeon and no light got into it so we would loose track of the time of day. At night we had the captain's dinner again, we went to the show before it. At night we went to 80's night at club viking. I wish I knew about this earlier because I would have packed 80's clothes. It was like so like totally radical!

These are the cruise dancers and I must admit the style was quite razz ma tazz 80's. I wish there was someone here who understood and could laugh with me about it.

Here are the only pictures we have of the formal night. We had a few people take some full body shots but they sucked.

When we got back from dinner we had a visitor. This silly monkey.

80's night at club viking. Shimmer shammer hands. Darrell Yeager. Rave Hairspray. Biff. Convertible Rabbit. Esprit. Guess Jeans. Wild crazy teen cats. Can you think of anymore?

APX for life. Yeah Mo Fo. Erik and Kyle.

Lean like a Chola. Phil taught me this dance move. Have ya heard?

NOVEMBER 27 - PUERTO VALLARTA - THANKSGIVING DAY

2008-12-31T12:45:00.000-08:00

Ok Ok Ok. I know I have been horrible at posting daily but so many things have happened recently that I got to get this cruise over with so I can post those other things. Today it was Thanksgiving day we went to Puerto Vallarta. This is the most comercialized out of all of our destinations. The old down town was pretty cool. That's where we spent our whole day. And then we had dinner at the most amazing restaurant that sits on top of the hill called El Panorama. It was incredible and the views were breathtaking!! So here we go.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Cathedral in Old Town Puerto Vallarta. Built in 1929.

Cheesy pic of the Great Sea Wall.

Kyle snuck this picture of a classroom. They are so cute.

This is the view from the restaurant where we ate.

This was our chef. He cooked the food right by us.

And the finished products.

I ordered tortilla soup because I was sick and it was superb.

This was Ky's meal. It was delicious, I have never had anything like it.

And Dessert.

Our entertainment.

The sunset.

The streets were so small and had cobblestone roads.

Since I was a little sick this day we didn't go to Club Viking. We decided to have hot chocolate on the deck.

NOVEMBER 26 - MAZATLAN

2008-12-21T09:31:00.000-08:00

This was my favorite destination of the whole cruise. We had no plan so we just got off the boat and met this great taxi driver/tour guide who said he would show 4 of us the city for $10 each. That is so cheap. He took us to this beautiful mountain to view the town, then to a flea market, then to see the famous cliff divers (this definitely beats the divers at Mayan), then to a beach resort where we played for a couple hours and got fake tatoos and then he picked us up after and took us back to the cruise ship. He was so dependable and cheap, it was our own personal chauffeur. We hung out with Erik and his girlfriend Summer all day and had a blast. And I ordered shrimp tacos at this little bar on the beach and they were amazing!!! I want to go back and spend more time in Mazatlan. If any of you go there and need a tour guide he gave us all his contact info.

Summer. Kyle. Erik. Britt. This is our sweet ride.

Up Up Up the hill we Putt Putt Putt. Can't believe we made it.

Mazatlan from the mountain top.

The view was amazing.

The amazing cliff diver.

He had to wait for the perfect time when the wave was just big enough because the water was so shallow and rocky. I don't know how they do it and don't die.

This dog was crazy. Kyle and I being the dog lovers that we are wanted to drive past this dog who was sitting in front of a door smiling and wagging his tail. We drove past and Summer said hi doggy and it showed it's scary teeth and jumped at us. It was the creepiest thing ever.

Immaculate Conception Basillica. The main cathedral.

It is gorgeous.

Tatts Baby.

Summer.

Erik.

Kyle. APX for life.

All of the tattoos were super cheesy. I wanted to get a heart with Kyle's name in it but he wouldn't let me. So I went for the super star.

Our beach hang out.

Lorenzo our taxi driver. He is the coolest.

NOVEMBER 25 - CABO SAN LUCAS

2008-12-15T22:04:00.000-08:00

This place is amazing. It is beautiful and the weather was 85 degrees. The water was so warm too. The boat couldn't dock so we had to take tender boats off of the ship. We didn't get off the boat until 1 pm so we only had a few hours to spend here. We got a glass bottom taxi tour of the bay, snorkeled, played at Lovers Beach and had dinner at The Office Restaurant. All of the transportation and tour and snorkeling gear was only $40. We saw 2 blowfish they were a little intimidating and the dinner we had at The Office was incredible and so fresh off the barbie. I want to go back to Cabo and spend more time there!

The view while we waiting all morning to get off the dang ship.

This is on our Taxi boat. In the background there are many pelicans, I think they called it white rock or something because of all the poop from the birds.

Our taxi was sweet.

This was our driver. He was classic.

Our driver was kinda crazy. He just drove through all of the snorkelers and kayakers. We almost hit someone. And through the glass bottom we could see a scuba driver that we drove over. It was O.O.C. (out of control)

Ky Ky on the boat.

The famous arches.

This is right after we got worked by the waves trying to back on the beach after snorkeling. It was a sad sight, I wonder what people thought watching us as we being tossed and turned through the waves.

I just love this picture.

On Lovers Beach with my Lover.

Dinner at The Office.

Delicious Strawberry Daiquiris.

Sippin' on my strawberry straw.

Yes there is a beautiful view in the back, but before you could look at that there were so many venders walking up and down the beach with sad faces trying to get you to buy something. There were so many. These signs meant that they couldn't cross the line, but they stayed there and stared at us, it was kind of awkward. I kind got a little glimpse of what famous people feel like being followed by paparazzi.

Britt the Bandita.

These guys were awesome and played La Bamba for us.

NOVEMBER 24 - ALL DAY AT SEA

2008-12-09T16:04:00.000-08:00

This was the only day that woke up early around 9am and worked out. I must admit running on the treadmill watching the waves roll by helps the time go since I usually have A.D.D. and only last 10 minutes. Kyle and I roamed the ship all day looking for adventures, it was a little too chilly to swim or lay out. This night was the formal din din, we had a blast!

Artic Zone...
This was my favorite thing on board the Vision of the Seas. Unlimited frozen yogurt. But on this ship it was broken 50% of the time so I would have eaten more had they worked.

Kyle is the best cone maker. Here is the big twist he served up for me.

Mmmmmmmm. Yummy to my Tummy.

This is the world's largest game of around the world. There were atleast 20 people playing. It was so much fun. And I'm proud to say that I was the Champ one game!

Kyle serving it up. You've been served.

There's nothing like coming back to a clean room, except maybe a clean room with an elephant friend.

The Captain's Formal Dinner.

Doesn't he look so dashingly dapper? It "suits" him well indeed.

We changed and then enjoyed another night at club viking. Tonight the theme was 70's!

We had a guest appearance from the Village People. Here they are getting freaky with grandma.

I 4 sure love 2 dance!

Club viking was off the chizzy fo shizzy.

The Sofia Hotel

2008-12-07T23:44:00.000-08:00

So as some of you may know I work at The Sofia Hotel. It's a cute, little, elogant, newly remodled, fresh style, single owned, boutique hotel in downtown San Diego. I have a lot of fun there making reservations and doing guest services. We had a contest at work and for some reason with games or little contests the competitive monster comes out from within. I love to compete. But with my past time dance I'm the opposite, I absolutely hated to compete. So I don't know where this competiveness comes from. We had a contest to see who could get the most upgrades, sell the most internet as well as breakfast coupons. I was so into this competition and I am proud to say I came out with the victory! So the grand prize was $300, a free night stay in a VIP Suite, a 1 hour massage from the spa and a $100 gift certificate to our restaurant called Currant. I am psyched!! So here are some pictures of the hotel and a previous stay. There are more to come so stay posted (literally)...

My congratulatory letter.

Here is the hotel at night. She is a beauty. (Yes the hotel is a female).

And a picture of her in the day time.

Da Buddha Boy loves to be up high and look down on his kingdom. We think he is part kitty cat.

Buddha on his throne.

Buddha and Maggie were pampered pets at The Sofia.

Buddha and his mommy enjoying the fabulous view of D.T.S.D.

One of the angles of our sweet suite.

Cruisin' For A Bruisin'

2008-12-03T07:47:00.000-08:00

Kyle and I just got back from a week long Mexican Riveria Cruise with Kyle's APX office. It was a blast! We had so much fun and took over 500 pictures (and don't worry I'm not going to post all of them). But since we had so many fun memories I'm going to dedicate one post per day. Here we go.

SUNDAY - NOVEMBER 23 - FIRST DAY ON SHIP

First Night Dinner...

Nick the pilgrim. In remembrance of the first Thanksgiving dinner.

We went to Karokee and some of the guys did a tribute to Back Street Boys "Everybody, Backstreet's Back Alright"
This is how it started...

And this is how it ended. Shirts off. (Sorry ladies that it's a little out of focus. Ha ha.)

Party at Club Viking

Britt 2 da Max in da house!!!

Ky Ky cutting a rug.

I haven't danced like this in forever. Somehow I got my high school stag dance stamina and danced the night away for like 3 hours, it was "nice, big" fun!!

Bon Voyage...

2008-11-22T11:21:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow Kyle and I are leaving on a Mexican Riveria cruise for a whole week. We get to go to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallerta. The best part is it's free. Kyle won the cruise for being a part of the bestestest office in APX alarm history. So we apologize for giving our blog the shaft for the next week. We will be living it up on the "Vision of the Seas". Hasta Luego!

Buddha is on Facebook

2008-11-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

We decided that Buddha is just too popular in our neighborhood, so we put him on facebook. He already has 23 friends, so if you are a facebooker give the little boy an add.

Came across this video

2008-11-09T23:24:00.001-08:00

Just for Auntie Chelsi

2008-11-09T13:09:00.000-08:00

When Pops and Chellor visited us in September they were so kind to take our dogs out for walks in the morning. But Chellor told us that whenever they would stop at dog dishes around the neighborhood Buddha would never drink from them. Well the day after they left to go back to Utah we were out for our walk and Buddha walked right up to this doggie dish at Heavenly Cupcake and started drinking away. I thought it was so funny I had to take a picture of it and show her that Buddha was not drinking from the dog dishes with them just to prove he is the king, if you want him to do something he won't if you don't want him to something he will. Ha Ha. Such a funny boy.

President Elect: Barack Obama

2008-11-04T21:28:00.000-08:00

It is a beautiful night for Americans, and more so for Humanity at large!

I extend a congratulatory fist bump to all.

VOTING DAY!

2008-11-04T10:40:00.000-08:00

Today is the big day. Who are you voting for?

John McAin

or

Barack Obama

And Why??????

My Man

2008-11-02T02:05:00.000-08:00

Where's Maggie Muffin?

2008-10-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

Whenever I bring the laundry out of the dryer to fold my dog Maggie has to always sit on it. But today was a little different. Can you find her?

G.N.O.

2008-10-14T22:22:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I have had a G.N.O. Last week I went out with Danielle, Kristi, and Karen. Danielle and Kristi work at The Sofia Hotel with me and Karen is one of Dani's good friends. We went to this cute little Italian restaurant called Alexander's in North Park. Our waitress was this little lady who sings fun Italiano songs to the guests. The food was incredible. The people at the restaurant couldn't believe that I didn't want any wine so I had to tell them I was the designated driver so they wouldn't keep asking questions. After dinner we went to my house for a breather and then headed out to the East Village Tavern & Bowl which is just a few blocks from my house and went bowling. It was such a fun night with fun girls!!!

The cute table setting at Alexander's

Darling Little Danielle

Danielle & Karen

Kristi

Psych...

The Girls. Brittany. Karen. Danielle. Kristi.

Our Yummy Cookie Dessert.

Bowling Shoes.

Bowl a Strike Dani.

Kristi aka K Kat. Brittany aka B 2 The Max. Danielle aka Dani Girl.

Coronado

2008-10-08T17:59:00.001-07:00

As you know from the car accident post our good friends Pops and Chellor from Utah came to visit us. After recovering from the accident we did get to do a few things. One day we took the ferry across the bay to Coronado. It was beeee uuuu teee fulll! Here's how it went...

And we're off!

Pops & Chellor

Kyle & Britt

HEEE HEEEE

This is the absolute worst comb over I have ever seen. Poor guy. He permanently had a comb in his hand to brush it over but the wind was taking it's toll on the small amount of whispy hair. It was short hair around his crown but the top hair was incredible. I wish we could have gotten a picture from the front. I had to keep my distance from him because I kept bursting out in giggles.

What a site to see. San Diego is called America's Finest City.

And the view on the ride back.

First Day of School

2008-10-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

Hey we all know that Kyle and I don't have kids yet so our blogs posts are a little different than most of yours. But we still find things to blog about. Today was the first day of Kyle's 2nd year of 5 years of school at New School of Architecture. This is monumental. We are moving ahead in life. I know we are a little later than most with the career thing but it's definitely worth the wait, because Kyle has found something he is truly passionate, motivated and intrigued with. Good luck on your first day!

1st Car Accident

2008-10-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

So we got in a car accident... Our good friends Pops and Chellor were visiting from Utah and yep we got in a crash only their second day here. So yes their trip was altered a bit. Here's the D.L. We had come to a stop in front of Sports Arena (which that night had a big sign in front of it that read "Tonight - Janet Jackson - Get Wit Chu Tour) . The sign was huge and I know that the ongoing traffic had to look at it because you couldn't miss it. Well we did look at it and then saw the red light and came to a stop. The car behind us was completely not paying attention because a couple seconds after we stopped Kyle looked in the rear view mirror and said "Oh Shoot" then KABOOM! It was like we saw stars **** for a second. Then Kyle was asking if we were ok and saying "Im so sorry" then once he saw we were ok he jumped out of the car. I don't know how he had so much adrenaline pumping because the rest of us had the wind knocked out of us and were trying to come to terms. I was worried about my dog Buddha because he was on my lap. But he was not hurt just a little shocked, like the rest of us. Well the car that hit us decided not to stay around and drove off with Kyle chasing it. There was another witness who followed the car that hit us about 2 miles and then the "hit and runner" decided to abandon his car and literally run. We are proud of the Fit because for being a compact car it held up pretty great. As for the injuries... Kyle got seat belt burn on his arm and whip lash on the neck area. Chellor had some bruised ribs (we hope no broken) because her ribs kept hurting. Pops hit his head on the seat belt that hangs down from the ceiling and thought blood was gushing out because of the pain, but luckily no blood just a giant goose egg. His neck and every where got pretty banged up and sore. And I hit my head somewhere, I don't know because I thought my seat belt worked, so I got a black eye and some gnarly whip lash. Buddha walked away with no injuries just a little confusion and shock. And Maggie well she is always shaking and scared whenever we are in the car so I couldn't really tell a difference in her from before and after the accident.

Here's the damage.

And the injuries.

We stayed in bed for 3 days straight. And now we get to deal with insurance, repairs and a detective. Let's hope we can have a happy ending soon... Real soon...

One More Shout Out

2008-09-29T20:37:00.001-07:00

Ok I know that most of our recent posts have been to congratulate my husband. I have one more shout out on this topic. Last summer my husband sold alarms for APX. He was in the Dallas Texas office and this year they were the number one office in APX history and industry history. They had an amazing summer. To congratulate the office we all got to have a private dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Here are some pictures of the beautiful night out. The food was amazing. This is what fine dining is all about! Congrats on a great summer Baby!

One Down, Four More To Go

2008-09-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

I just finished my summer quarter of school and in doing so completed my first year of architecture school. One down, four more to go until I finish with professional bachelors degree in Architecture (Barch). It has been a crazy year of school, lots of projects, lots of instruction and a lot learned from some great professors and incredible peers.

Monday was a special day though, after a week of three all-nighters and scrambling to get things done in time for my final presentation I was given a great surprise from Brittany.

Here is how it all went down....

After doing this:

And hearing from jurors like these:

I went home with some satisfaction in my project and presentation and from the comments that were made from my jury.

Upon coming home and seeing these guys:

I noticed this:

And that:

Which was actually this:

Thank you so much Babe for the wonderful surprise and gift. I love you.

Great ad

2008-09-12T15:48:00.000-07:00

I'm Sorry So Sorry...

2008-09-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

Now that Kyle and I are back in the swing of things I decided to post some of my pictures from Utarrrr Hardy Harrr. Some of you may not know but over the summer Kyle went to sell alarms for APX in Dallas, TX and I got to go home to Utah to teach some dance and complete some more school and last but NOT least spend some time with my fam damily. I had a blast and loved every day!! Since I lost my camera on the 4th of July most of these pictures were taken with my phone and they are all of my babies (doggies). But they are still pretty fun to look at so enjoy...

Oh yeah and I'm sorry that there has been nothing to enjoy on our blog for a long time. So stay tuned for more to come. We will not have another drought like that again!!!

One morning I was sitting on the couch reading my homework and Buddha decided to crawl right on top of my book and go to sleep. I guess he was trying to hint to me that he needed some attention.

Princess Maggie May

My little nephew Riff Raff (Rafferty) just crawled on to Buddha's bed and was just chillin'

I thought he looked so darn tute (cute in Finnigan's language)!!!

Naughty Babies. I let them outside to go potty and this is what they came back looking like. My sister in-laws kids let them in the house and they came running to me in the bathroom. So I'm sorry Ashlee and Arlen for the mess they made.

Scruffy Morning!!!

Yes our dogs sleep with us in our bed and yes we love it. One morning this is the face that I woke up to. It was so cute we had to send it to Daddy so he could miss us even more.

Kitty Kat.

Sometimes we aren't sure if Buddha is a dog or a cat. What do you think?

Golf Cart Rides with Grandma and Chico.

Buddha and Maggie are obsessed with Grandma and Chico. You just say those 2 names and they go crazy. One reason they love her house is because she spoils them and feeds them people food, the other reason is... Well I guess things like this. Golf cart rides instead of walks. Just Chillin' taking it easy with the wind blowing in their hair.

Is that spoiled and pampered or what?

But I must admit they do love their Grandma!! Thanks for babysitting!

Pig Tails.

Kyle will be mad at me for posting the picture of Buddha, oh well. My niece Brianna and I were bored one day and decided that Buddha and Maggie needed pig tails. Aren't they adorable?

Lazy Baby.

Cuddle Babies in the car.

Car ride home.

Buddha had it like a king on our 10 hour ride home to San Diego. On top of all of our belonging we put our comforter and pillows. It was like a massive bed in the back of our car. And Buddha had it all to himself since Maggie either sat on my lap or by my feet. What a lucky boy, he looked like he was in heaven the whole ride.

Only in Texas

2008-08-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

I have never seen so much pride in a state like I see here in Texas.

Wow, I Can Blog From My iPhone…

2008-07-18T01:11:00.001-07:00

This is a test to see if this shiz really works

Geolocate this post

Posted with LifeCast

X Marks The Spot

2008-07-17T23:46:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Brittany and I (yes she did come visit me for the weekend and it was spectacular!) we went downtown to see where spot where John F Kennedy was assassinated. It was a very somber feeling being there on the grassy knoll and seeing the exact spot where he was shot. Two X's mark the spot of the shots that were taken from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building.

A Sweet Pool in Dallas!

2008-07-06T23:25:00.000-07:00

I went to downtown Dallas today, and I must say that this is the coolest pool I have seen in a long time. It is the pool that is at the Hotel Joule on Main Street in Dallas.

Camp Fire Fun

2008-06-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

Upon much request from our other post, I am posting something new since people said that they couldn't look at the ugly dogs anymore. I am finally in Utah and loving seeing family, but I do miss my Kyle. Last night I had a sleep over with my 2 nieces Sophie and Kylie and my nephew Cayden. We had a camp fire and roasted some mallows and made s'mores and then we roasted my all time favorite (if you haven't tried it yet, try it) starbursts. Chellor and Pops introduced me to this delectable delight. Then we slept on the tramp under the stars. I felt like a kid again. I had so much fun and love these kids like crazy!!!

Sophie & Cayden

Blowin' on the Mallow

Kylie Cayden & Soph

Me & Kylie Bug

Kylie Cayden & Soph

Kylie Buggie

World's Ugliest Dog Contest

2008-06-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

Once again the annual World's Ugliest Dog Contest was held recently in California

And here are the finalists:

I was laughing so hard when I read this article off the LA Times website. We have unique looking dogs, but nothing compared to these, it is hard to think that someone actually loves these dogs. Go figure.

And here is the winner:

Happy Anniversary Baby Sha Boo

2008-06-11T21:48:00.001-07:00

On June 10th we celebrated our 4 year anniversary!! I can admit that time flies by when you're having fun (well at least most of the time). I love my dear husband soooo much!! He always has a way of making me laugh and smile. He is my BFF forever, if we could play all day, every day I think we would be in heaven. So baby sha boo this is especially true that I love you!!

(These are the only 3 pictures that we have of our wedding since our wedding photographer decided to run with our money, just like others and get 2 episodes on Get Gebhart on the news from her corrupt business dealings)

Ann & Brad's Wedding

2008-06-09T10:26:00.000-07:00

Nobody knew about our spur of the moment trip to Utah for my sister's wedding. She and everyone else thought that I couldn't get work off to go to it. Tell me, How could I miss my sister's wedding when she is the first to support me in everything I do? Kyle and I flew out friday night. We surprised his sister Ashlee by showing up at her door around midnight. (Did I say no one knew we were coming in both of our family's?) It was so much fun to chill with her and we slept over. The next morning we went and picked up Nana (Kyle's mom) for breakfast with all the kids. She was super surprised and even started crying. After that we decided to go surprise the bride and groom. When we got there Ann was getting her hair done so we surprised Brad and all the kids. My little niece Brianna was so excited she cried too. Then Ann came home. We sat in her room on her bed and awaited her arrival (sneaky). She came home and was talking to all the kids then finally she came into the room. She took 2 huge gasps and then started screaming. It was so much fun!!! We hugged and cried and then got ready for the wedding. It was a small ceremony just with family, but it was still very cute!! They were so happy and couldn't stop smiling all day! Congrats Ann & Brad!

Ann & Brad

Bride and groom hugging Mama Max

My special hug with my sis and new bro inlaw

My niece Brianna hugging her new sister Mikaela

Kylie Buggy (so darn cute!)

A mom and her girls

Ann, Kylie, Brianna and Kami

We call it the "Brady Bunch." Brad's 2 kids Dustin and Mikaela (The 2 blondes by eachother on the front row). And the other 4 are my sister's, Daniel (tall boy), Sean (next to Brad), Kylie, Brianna and Kami (the little one in front is Ann & Brad's daughter).

Gritty & Beautiful

2008-06-04T04:11:00.000-07:00

So over the weekend, we went to Utah for Brittany's sister Ann's wedding. It was so nice to see family and friends and get to be back in the beehive state for a bit.

We made a trip to downtown Salt Lake City to eat brunch and ended up taking tons of photos. So here they are:

DoWnTown is looking charming, love the new "Walker Center" sign

Here are all the accomplices (Brittany, Kyle, Chelsi, & Pops)

Not an engagement pic

Well maybe it could be

Some fabulous benches (not the most comfortable when used like this..)

This brick wall was funny..apparently

Scary stairs

Brittany so hot as a blonde!

Gritty alley

It's a Big World

2008-05-25T19:02:00.000-07:00

The Strip Club... Ooh La La

2008-05-22T18:19:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite restaurants is a place called "The Strip Club" right in the heart of The Gaslamp Quarter. It isn't what you think! It's a grill your own steak house, something that is definitely a neat experience. You order your sides that feed 4 people and then they bring you the raw meat ready to be cooked. So when Pops and Chellor came to town we thought this would be the perfect place to take them. For those of you who don't know Pops let me fill you in, he is a natural born chef-boy-ar-dee. When we lived in Utah he would always whip us up spectacular meals, and a lot of them came straight from the BBQ grill. So when we went out we had to ask him to cook our meat for us. And it was spectacular!!! Thanks guys for a delish dish!!

I Love La Jolla Cove!

2008-05-06T16:29:00.001-07:00

"Hey look how the water does that"

"Hey I wonder if..."

"Yup"

The most evil Austrian man ever, and a totally detached wife.

2008-05-05T02:53:00.001-07:00

I came across this news feed and was absolutely stunned by this evil man in Austria and his doing. Watch for yourself:

Wanna Be On Top...

2008-04-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

I know this show has been on the TV waves for quite a while, but Kyle and I have just lately gotten obsessed. They have playing marathons almost every day on MTV. Once you start watching you can't stop. We will find ourselves sitting on the couch all day just to see who wins. Of course there is loads of drama but my fav thing about the show is to see the pictures. The photo shoots are so creative. It truly is art, I never thought of modeling in that light.

Our favorite top model thus far is Carrie Dee. She is the bees knees. Ha Ha. But isn't she gorgeous?

Are you as addicted as we are? Who's your favorite top model?

Our Experience In New York

2008-04-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

"Start spreading the news..I'm leaving today..I want to be apart of it..New York, New York..These vagabond shoes are longing for stray...Right through the very heart of it...New York, New York...I want to wake up in a city that doesn't sleep...and find that I'm king of the hill...top of the heap...These little town blues are melting away...I'll make a brand new start of it in good 'ol New York...If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere...It's up to you New York, New York." -Frank

Well, we did it. We did it ALL. I am completely shocked that we actually did everything we wanted to do while in New York. In fact, we did way more than we planned on doing and every night we came home we both just took off our shoes and crippled around our apartment in pain until we went to bed and did walked the same way that next morning. Our feet killed each night after painting the town.

So here is where we start. This is where our apartment was. You see, we wanted to get the feel that we lived in the city during our stay, so we opted out of the hotel experience and rented some guys apartment in the heart of the Greenwich Village.

The green arrow is where the apartment was

It was an old pre-war walk up building and we were on the fifth floor. Yup that is five floors to walk up each night after already beat from pounding the pavement of the city.

And the hallways in the building (and the stairwells) were tiny!

We had to lug all our luggage up five flights of stairs when we first got there and it sucked.

Here is what we saw out the window of our lovely apartment

Brittany sitting on the incredibly charming steps of a classic row home in Greenwich Village

Streets of SOHO, which was my favorite neighborhood of them ALL!

The streets of SOHO are made of these full-of-character bricks that over time have warn deep holes in the roads that add to the character of the neighborhood.

Brittany in SOHO

Rockefeller Center in Mid-town

Ice rink at Rockefeller Plaza, the blue light fountain is exactly where the famous x-mas tree is

Incredible artwork is all over the Rockefeller Center, it resembles the progressiveness the nation was experiencing during the time the center was designed and built

Me standing next to the actual model that was used to present the design to the Rockefellers

Oh and hugs are free in the plaza if you dare get close to these creepy scientologist protesters

Brittany at "Top of the Rock" looking North, Central Park can be seen in background

Check out these condos that over look Central Park! Stunning.

Looking South toward lower Manhattan and Empire State Building

This is the cutest kid we saw while waiting for the subway at Rockefeller Center. He's adorable.

Brittany standing out front of Grand Central Station with my favorite building behind

Aghhhh "I lika"

Grand Central with Metlife (formally PanAm building) It straddles Park Ave

Inside the impressive grand hall of Grand Central

Here we sit at the center of the universe "Times Square"

Before leaving San Diego, we won tickets to The Late Show with David Letterman

In line to enter the theater to see the show

We saw Ellen Pompeo, Jay Z and Mary J. Blige. I snapped this pic of Mary leaving the Ed Sullivan theater after the show.

Streets of Mid-Town

Brittany giving this old lady some change. Brittany is such a sweet person eh?

Modern urbanism of Mid-Town

A bridal photo shoot in Mid-Town

CHINA TOWN

Wedding in China Town

China Town streetscape

Brooklyn Bridge close up

Check out how the wooden planks for the pedestrian walk were all cut uneven.

Awesome huh?

Ground ZERO

Temporary memorial wall of the events of 911

Plans for the reconstruction of the WTC complex with the reflecting pools of the two towers

Construction of the WTC site

Funky colors on the floor of the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art)

Dinner at the fancy french restaurant "Pastis" many stars (including us haha) often are spotted at this restaurant in the hip meatpacking district

"So that's what it looks like under the streets of Manhattan!"

Lion King! An amazing show with excellent dramatic costumes.

The view from the theater was incredible.

As the sun was setting I snapped this shot of a water tower on one of the islands in the river

We had an amazing time in New York

And happy to be back in San Diego!

If interested, you can see all the pics taken on our trip at our .mac gallery

click here

Overall my impression of New York is amazing. I love it. Being in the city, I kept thinking of an analogy of how to explain the city and I found the perfect one:

New York is like sports turf and let me explain. Sports turf is a type of astro turf that is part fake grass and part real grass. Real grass is planted in the ground before the fake astro turf is laid down, over time the real grass grows up through the astro turf to make it sports turf.

New York City is like Sports Turf in that new modern ways of transportation, and architecture is growing up through the old Industrial Revolution style buildings.

Even the grid is like sports turf: The tip of Manhattan is the oldest part, therefore the streets are very narrow. Streets have names (i.e. Canal Street, Spring Street, Nassua Street) and are not connected to an overall grid. As you move north up the island the city adopts a grid with Broadway bisecting the grid on an angle throughout the whole island.

Fantastic, nothing more needs to be said.

We are going to New York City!

2008-03-25T23:26:00.000-07:00

Okay so this trip has been a long time in the making. Neither Brittany or I have ever been to the nation's largest city and we are so excited to go. Besides experiencing the hussle and bustle of the city, Brittany is excited to go to a broadway show so we got tickets to see Lion King and The Late Show with David Letterman, I am pumped to go as well.

As some of you know I am architecture student at Newschool of Architecture in San Diego. But, only a few of you may know that I am urban enthusiast and facinated by cities and planning. So with that said, I feel that I am an underdeveloped person (student/enthusiast) not having gone to the city that never sleeps. I am so excited to go
see the things that we have been talking about in class and the things that I have been
reading about for years.

I have this weird calling to New York, it's like this inate drive to be there and experience it. I feel that in the architectural industry (and more so the type of work that I want to be doing when I graduate) I feel that there is a good chance that we will be living in New York for some given time.

Anyway, we will post pics and stories we bring back with us in about a week.

New do to bring in the spring weather!

2008-03-20T00:08:00.000-07:00

Here is a pic Brittany snapped of me while we were waiting for the elevator today. I got my hair did to bring in the nice warm sunny spring weather.

ugh, thats not my shoulder, its my hoody hanging on my shoulder, sort of looks weird.

iChat

2008-03-16T20:25:00.001-07:00

So Kyle's favorite thing to do every night is talk to his sister Ashlee on IChat, Mac to Mac. They will talk for hours, sometimes causing me to lose sleep since our house is only one room, I tend to have dreams about their conversations (cocoa pebbles, rice krispies and peanut butter, the newest discoveries with Mac and so on...) But I don't mind it, I think it's great they get to keep in touch and have such a good relationship (especially since Christmas. Ha Ha)! I do think this Ichat contraption is amazing. I get to see my cute neices and nephews almost like they are here in person. I just don't get to hug them and that's something I definitely miss!! Here are some pictures of our latest favorite thing to do. Well atleast Kyle's latest past time I just pop in every once in a while since I don't really know how to use it.

Fong Gong (Finnigan)

I miss him so much! He's getting so big and talking too!

Buddy (Cayden)

I miss seeing and teaching him every week in Hip-Hop!

This boy is so talented at anything he does,

and he has a new cute smile with his braces off!

Issy and Fong Gong

They just giggle the whole time, I wonder if they

understand that we are so far away from eachother.

Silly Issy

Ashlee has this program called Leopard where they can

make silly faces and talk to us at the same time.

So this what we see while we are talking to them, it's so hard to

take them seriously and we just can't stop laughing.

Sweet Sweet Sophie and Ashlee

That's a big snozer there!

Ashlee (Too too funny!)

WE MISS YOU GUYS!!!

Bike Cops on Patrol

2008-03-14T01:17:00.000-07:00

Okay so maybe I am complaining, but what do you think?

Tonight, after school, class ended and I played one game of ping pong then packed up my stuff and left school. Brittany rode her bike to school today, and I rode my bike to school. It just so happened that she got off work at the same time class ended for me, so I told her that I would bike down to pick her up after work. When we can, we bike home together and chat about the day.

So anyway, I got on the bike, put my Ipod on my favorite playlist and started off. I have to ride through the Gaslamp Quarter to get to the hotel that Britt works at. For those of you who don't know, the Gaslamp Quarter is the neighorhood where all the bars, dance clubs and resturants are. Even on a Thursday the place is packed with people "out-on-the-town. So I pass a few cops on bikes and gave them a respectful nod. A few blocks later, I notice someone biking next to me, I turned to notice one of the bike cops helling at me, telling me to pull over.

When I bike through the Gaslamp I always ride on the streets, cause the sidewalks are packed with people. So I thought he was telling me to pull over cause I was interferring with the flow of traffic, but no, he wanted me to pull over like I was being pulled over in a car. So I pull over, come to a stop and stayed on my bike. I turned my head to see what the cop was doing. He parked his bike, got his flashlight out and slowly walked up to me as if he was looking to see if I had any weird thing to hide or something. "Do you have your license?" He asked. I was waiting for him to ask for the registration too, but that question didn't come. While he studied my license I noticed that everyone on the street was staring at me as if to think...."what the heck is that cop doing?" That was what I was thinking.

So basically this cop pulled me over to tell me that it was illegal to have both earphones in my ear listening to music while biking in San Diego. The whole time he was explaining to me the in and outs of the law in regards to listening to music while biking I failed to think of anything other than all the crack deals I see everyday at the Park/Market trolley stop near my school and all the homeless people that I see urinating and deficating in public, but it somehow seems that this cop was more occupied with telling me that Ipod and bikes don't mix. WTF?

Anyway, I think that he wanted to give me grief cause my bike was cooler than his.

Sailing on San Diego's "Big Bay"

2008-03-10T00:27:00.000-07:00

Today my friend Tom took me out sailing on the bay. It was sunny (like always) and perfect conditions to sail. I had never been sailing before, but was up for the adventure. not long after pushing the 22' long sail boat named "Charlie" I said to myself, "I dig this sailing thing." It was amazing to me that we could spend 5 hours on a boat and navigate through the tight channels near the harbor and out on the bay without using any sort engine. No fossil fuels burnt today.

Here is Charlie, the boat that took me out

Shortly after navigating the harbor channels of Harbor Island we made it to the bay.

As you may have guessed, many boats use the bay and have to share it. Above you see a tanker, we passed it on its way out of the bay. Here are few more pics of some of the boats we shared the bay with today....

San Diego Harbor Police

Cruise Ships call to port right downtown

US Midway also shares downtown waterfront real estate. It became a floating museum after being decomissioned after Desert Storm.

Pirate Ships on the bay

Two pirate ships doing battle (fake cannons fired and all!!)

We also spotted "Abracadabra". This high speed sail boat trains in San Diego; it competes in the America's Cup Sail Boat Race.

Dinner cruise boats

On the bay can be crowded, here is what I mean

All in all, I love the bay. Lots of boats, wildlife, ect, but this is the biggest reason why I love the bay..

Kyle Smiles

2008-03-01T22:39:00.000-08:00

So I got tagged by Shara Pack. And this is definitely a special one cause it's dedicated to my hubby. If you don't know how to play if I tag you by leaving a tag message on your blog you have to answer all the questions and post it just like me! But most of you are experienced bloggers so what am I saying?

Here goes nothing:

What is his full name? Kyle Steven Peterson -- He has a nickname that he just came up with Scanda Asian (cause he's part Scanda Navian in blood and Asian in his heart)

How long have you been married? 3 1/2 years -- June 10, 2004

How long did you date? Well we went to Elementary together and I think it counts considering I had a huge crush on him and I wrote about him in my 4th grade journal. He moved away in 5th grade. We met again in institute starting dating in January 2004, engaged by March 2004 and married in June 2004!! It went fast, but I don't regret it!

What do you love most about him? He thinks of others before himself (I have youngest child syndrome so I'm sometimes a little selfish, he is the youngest too but some how didn't inherit that curse.) His smile is so cute! He is so well rounded, learned, cultered and open minded person and teaches me so much! He dances more than I do, and his moves are off the chart! He makes me laugh! He is a hard worker! He is a loving husband and I know he loves me so much!

What did you notice about him when you met? That he still kinda looked like the Kyle I remembered from elementary. He was so hott, and his smile was so cute! And he gave me butterflies, because most boys didn't at that time!

Who eats more sweets? We both do. Getting a treatsies from 7-11 or Alby Land is one of our nightly rituals.

Who said "I love you" first? He did! But I'm sure we felt it at the same time!

How old is he? Just turned 26

Who is taller? He is, but when I wear high heels we are close to the same height then he will call me his big sister.

Who is smarter? He is. He picks up on things so fast, it amazes me!

Who can sing better? We both are pretty off tune. We like to turn the music up loud and then sing. Then we don't sound too shabby.

Who does the laundry? I do. He has offered but I'm way too O.C.D. about how it's folded and put away that if he did it I would probably have to redo it. It's ok though I actually think it's fun!

Who pays the bills? Me! He does the spending.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you're facing the bed he is on the right side.

Who mows the lawn? No lawn here. We have never had a lawn to mow. And he thinks we will never have a yard to mow cause he wants to always live in high rise urban condos.

Who cooks dinner? Me. The only meal he cooks is breakfast sometimes.

Who drives? Kyle. I hate driving. That's probably why I don't know how to get around here. And since he's out of town right now I'm kinda stranded.

Who is more stubborn? He is. He's super weird about some views (like how cars are ridiculous, city living is the way to live, and dutch bikes - which I gave in to.) Those of you who know him know what I'm talking about.

Who kissed who first? He kissed me on Valentine's Day. I remember it while watching the Horse Whisperer. I don't remember the movie at all (come to think of it, that's probably why he chose a boring movie so we could make out the whole time).

Who asked who out? He asked me out first. He stole my number off of a getting to know flyer that you fill out in institute, and wrote it down on a paper right in front of me but in Chinese that's why I didn't know he did it.

Who has more siblings? I do. I have 2 sisters 6 brothers 9 total including me. He has 5 total.

Who wear the pants? It depends (like Grandma Mimi) on the occasion.

I love my sweetsies yittle Husband! Wo Ai Ni!

Now I tag Annie, Rachel, Angie, Megan and Crystal. Have Fun!!

Happy Birthday (dutch style)

2008-02-27T23:34:00.000-08:00

So in our ever going effort to live a more sustainable lifestyle, Brittany and I have been riding our bikes everywhere we go (instead of using the car). We have found that this is far more enjoyable healthier than driving. Plus it makes you feel good that you ARE doing a little bit to help out the environment. This now is the desired way to travel for us. So, riding the bikes so much has really sparked a great desire of mine. I have always wanted to have a dutch style bike. Ever since I saw my first one I have felt like Wayne on Wayne's World....."Oh yes, it will be mine."

For my birthday this year, Brittany made my dream come true! I proudly race around downtown San Diego-to and from school, to Brittany's work, dinner, lunch, movies, grocery store and everywhere in between on this wonderful bike.

I give you the new Dutch Bike

The bike features a self powered light on the front and L.E.D. light on the back (the small generator attached to the front wheel provides power to the headlight). It has 8 speeds which makes riding around town comfortable. I can go faster than traffic in the city and make it up and down the hills of mid-town and up-town too.

Color is Amazing

2008-02-24T01:38:00.000-08:00

This past week in my design studio we have been studying color. Did you know that about one in every twelve men are colorblind and about one in every twenty women are colorblind?

Are you?

Look at these images and tell me what you see?

And lastly

If you saw the number 74 in the first and 6 in the second you're not colorblind. As for the last image, if you saw something besides an image that looks like a dog, then you have problems.

J/K, the last image has no number in it, just another mixture of reds and blues to see if you are colorblind.

Cool huh?

AMAZING PHOTO OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD

2008-02-15T14:30:00.000-08:00

I came across this amazing photo of our neighborhood (East Village) in downtown San Diego. I added two red arrows to the photo to point out a few things.

The arrow to the right is pointing out the building that we live in. Its called METROME. It's the tan and grey building with blueish glass sitting in the foreground.
The open lot in front of our building will be the new downtown library.

You need to click on the image so you can see it larger, this size just doesn't give it justice. It is an amazing photo.

The arrow to the left is pointing to Petco Park (San Diego Padres' Stadium)

I loved this photo cause it shows the density of the East Village and shows how it ties into the overall prospective of downtown. The tall buildings in the background are in the Core District (business district of downtown). Thats where Brittany Works.

Honey Dos and Donts

2008-02-08T03:23:00.000-08:00

Tonight while I was getting ready for bed (Britt's been out since about one half hour from coming home from work) I went to the kitchen to take my pill so I can go to sleep. While taking my pill I noticed a few objects on the counter top. The first thing I thought of was the infamous Honey Do lists of married life. But what I never realized was that "Honey Don't Lists" exist as well. Here is what I am talking about....

Here is what the countertop looked like as I was getting ready for bed

So here is the "Honey Do"
(These hooks have been here next to the sink for a couple of days now, this does qualify as a "Honey Do" Babe I will hang them, but in my defense, I don't know where to hang them.)

Here in our house, we appearntly have "Honey Don'ts" this is what I mean....

(This means "Honey Don't" cause you will probably mess it up and it will be gross)

And here is the "Honey You Better Not"

So do "Honey Do's" exist in your house? Have you spotted the "Honey Don'ts"? It is an interesting concept.

I've Been Tagged

2008-02-08T01:10:00.000-08:00

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning. 

B. Each player answers the questions about themselves. 

C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.  

10 Years Ago (Feb. 1998):
Ten years ago I was a wicked high school kid living in the riverbottoms of Spanish Fork (just the name alone gets you excited I know. I attended SFHS and had to put up with all the cowboys and their big trucks (sad to say that I had one myself, but mine was nicer than hay-bail-haulin outfits in the back parking lot). I loved to play football, in fact it was my life in high school. I also loved to going to my good buddy Scott Griffiths' house after school to watch Baywatch and eat hot dogs. Camping with friends was among the top of my list of things that I loved to do on the weekends, but since its February I would snowboarding on the weekends at Sundance.

5 Things on my To-Do List today:  

1.Go to Tom Stroman's house in North Park to work on a project for school.  

2.Take the dogs to Petco Park, oh wait there is a rugby tournement this

weekend so its closed. 

3.Need to work on a speech that I have due next week in my public speaking

class. 

4.Meet with a health insurance rep to listen to all my options
5. Any time left over I would love to take the dogs to Dog Beach, and return back to the city just in time to take Brittany some food at work for her dinner break.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire: 

1.Pay up front every penny of the cost of my education  

2.Buy an incredible condo over looking Padre Stadium in Downtown San Diego.  

3.Pay off all my parents, brothers and sisters debt. 

4.Buy a Scion XB for me and buy sister Ashlee a new Hybrid Cadilac Escalade  

5.Take some time to travel Europe  

6.Invest a bunch of cash into my school
    A. Put money toward new studio space for all students
    B   Bring in a few world famous architects to teach ($$$)
    C. Build a student housing complex (school is pricy, and rent is too!!!!)

7.Lastly, I would surprise my incredible step-dad, Ron Clarke, with the most amazing thing he has ever seen cause

he diserves it and MORE!!!!  

3 of my bad habits: 

1.Biting my nails, especially when I am nervous or stressed  

2.Chewing on my soul patch (stubble of sexy hair that grows below my lip)  

3.Waiting until at least 1AM to start my homework

5 places I have lived: 

1.Most memories are from Provo, UT 

2.Most bad memories are from Spanish Fork (or if you're from there you would say, "Spanish")  3.Kaoshiung, Tainan, JiaYi, QiShan, GangShan, YongKang, PingDong.....all

in Taiwan. My favorite was Tainan (lots of culture and history) 

4.Oakland, CA (interesting place, lots of culture, beauty and gun shots)
5.San Diego, CA (best place in California, and the place that I most likely will never leave)

5 jobs I have had: 

1.Two-Jack's Pizza. I was a delivery boy until I got in a wreck and couldn't

deliver anymore  

2.Bill's Appliance Service. Answered the phone and repaired appliances

(you're not a Peterson until you've worked at Bill's Appliance Service) 

3.Ski Tech at Sundance Ski Resort. I tuned skis and snowboards and

fit people with rental equipment 

4.Product Procurement Manager for China Industries (USA), Inc. Spoke a lot

of chinese and got to travel to lots of places  

5.Door-to-Door Alarm Salesman for APX Alarm. By far the worst job I have had to date, but made more money in the four months that I knocked doors than

I would have made if I worked all the jobs listed above at the same time

for the same four months. Great opportunity everyone should do it.  

5 things people don't know about me: 

1.I love slow ambient techno (trip-hop) music, people think I'm crazy, but it just does something to me, and

I yern for that feeling everyday.  

2.I am a huge believer of urban living. I think that suburban areas are an unhealthy way for people to live, and I strongly oppose. I try to avoid freeways and nation-wide food chains.  

3.Since living in Taiwan I have some crazy problems with my bowels, after

eating something that I'm not used to I need to make sure I am within

running distance of a bathroom (just in case)  

4.I sometimes feel that my life is a movie and throughout the day I think of ways that could best capture the moment that I am experiencing. I guess I am a closet photography junky.  

5.I met my beautiful wife, Brittany when she was a little girl in 3rd grade.

She would always ask for "baby bounces" when we played kickball at

Canyon Crest Elementary School. She once told someone that she

thought I was cute and I embarresed her by asking her about it on a

feild trip to Ripple's one day.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years and 10 years:
1.In five years I see myself graduating school with a Bachelors degree in Architecture and Urban Studies from NewSchool of Architecture and Design. Looking for an internship with a sustainable design firm or an urban development firm in New York City.
2.In ten years I see myself having two kids and raising them in a cultured urban environment where they would have all the opportunities that I missed out on when I was young. Hopefully we will be living back in San Diego (or San Francisco) where I can work in a creative and rewarding atmosphere of design. Hopefully by then I would have my ever so craved "Dutch-Style" Bike. I would ride it to work everyday!

On The Move...

2008-01-28T11:48:00.000-08:00

So the last few days have been crazy crazy. Between school and work Kyle and I managed to move to our new apartment all by ourselves. I am very proud of the fact that I lifted all of the heavy stuff with Kyle and I have the new muscles to prove it. Ha Ha. We love our new apartment. It has a better kitchen and bathroom, and it just feels cozier and fresher. It's closer to Petco Park where our dogs love to play and it's a nicer area where I feel safer. Oh and it's only a block from our favorite Gelato Place and Pizza Restaurant. So if you haven't heard from us in a while this is the reason. Stay tuned for a post of the pictures of our new place!

*****NEW UPDATE*****

WE FINALLY HAVE PICS OF THE NEW PLACE

Quick look at the neighbors and the neighborhood (Downtown's eAsT ViLlAgE)

Here is the front of the building, its called Metrome

Here is the zen garden that are so privileged to walk down when leaving and returning home.

Here is the hallway heading down to our place!

We live in unit 513

And here is our small and incredibly cozy condo

In the same room is our TV area. We love it cause we can watch movies in bed

Here is the kitchen, its actually pretty big (only half is pictured here)

Thanks for sharing the past few minutes in our new place, stop by anytime to visit, peeps are always welcome!

Our Caribbean Cruise

2008-01-20T08:25:00.001-08:00

APX (the company that Kyle sold alarms for in the summer) paid for us to go on a cruise in the caribbean. It was a five day cruise that departed from Ft. Lauderdale and went to Cozumel, Mexico then onto Belize City, Belize and then back. This was our first cruise we have taken and we absolutely loved it.

Here is our boat, The Navigator of the Seas from Royal Caribbean International

We sailed out of Florida on Monday evening and at sea all day Tuesday. All day at sea sounds lame I know, but there was so much to do on this boat. Daily acitivities included: Arctic Zone Ice Cream Cones, Ping Pong, Basketball, Rock Climbing, Casino, Dancing, Numerous Pools to just chill at, but don't throw anyone in the pool late at night with their clothes on. Kyle received an official warning from Royal Caribbean International for doing just that (Britt was the victim). Oh and the food, there is endless amounts of excellent food. Tastes great, but way too much available to just gourd yourself.

First stop was Cozumel, Mexico.

Here we boarded a small boat and went for a short cruise up the coast to a National Marine Reef Park. After a short training on snorkeling, we all plunged in the warm salty ocean and set out for a great afternoon of snorkeling. We saw all sorts of beautiful fish, coral and cute little baby sea turtles that looked just like Buddha!! After about an hour of snorkeling we swam over the "ledge". There is a part of the park that drops off from 25 feet deep to 3,000 feet deep!

After the snorkeling trip it was off to "Playa Mia". Which was a private beach resort that had an open bar (all you can drink daquiri's and colada's... virgin). The beach had canoeing, snorkeling, water trampolines, rock climbing (floating on the ocean), beach volleyball and a great mexican buffet.

Our camera ran out of battery, so we don't have any pics from this leg of the trip. Sorry.

After that, we boarded the ship and got ready for the Captian's Dinner. I called it the James Bond Dinner. Basically, it's a formal, swanky dinner where everyone gets all spiffed up and goes to an amazing dinner together.

The Next day we stopped in Belize, if you don't know where it is, it's right below Mexico and next to Guatemala.

Everyone in our group had purchased an excursion to go on zip lines through the jungle, and float on tubes through underground rivers. We decided to do another one, and we were so glad that we did! We took a tour of Xunantunich, an ancient Mayan ruin on the border of Belize and Guatemala.

To get the ruin site, we had to take a long bus ride (about an hour and forty five minutes). The bus ride to the site was okay. The bus looked like an old retired Greyhound bus from the seventies. The A/C worked well though so it was nice. Once to the village (San Ingnacio) we had to take a ferry across a river.

All those guys on the side of the road were selling hand carved slate rocks. We bought one after the tour.

The ferry ride was very short as you can see, but fun. It was on this ferry that we realized that we were deep in the jungle of Belize.

After the ferry, we hiked a short hike up the hill to the ruins. During the hike we came in contact with the Belize National Border Patrol Guards. It was very scary at first, cause we had no idea why these men were dressed in complete camo and were strapped with massive machine guns. After a quick scare, the tour guard explained that the men were here to protect tourists from the Guatemalan rebels (that were only a half mile away) I guess a few years ago they had a huge problem with rebels kidnapping tourists and demanding ransom of something like that.

At the top of the hill, we saw this:

This place was built like around 600 B.C. The name Xunantunich is actually pronounced is (shoo-NAHN-too-nich). The tour guide gave us tons of interesting facts about the site, he said that the original Mayan name of the site is unkown, this name, Xunantunich, comes from the ghost that numerous people claimed to have seen while at the site. We saw nothing of that nature, but the facts did make our trip more interesting.

The steps up the front of the ruin were incredibly steep! The Mayan people were only like five feet tall, but their steps were crazy huge and steep, they claim that this was to show reverence and humility to their gods

Here is a cool shot of just how steep the steps were, check out our shadows on the steps:

On the way to the top we came across some sweet Mayan art work on the side of the ruin.

And finally to the top of the Ruin, this village in the background of the photo is in Guatemala.

That's how close this is the the border. The whole time I was looking for some crazy rebels hiding in the jungle. Serious though, the jungle was so thick and close to the site, I am sure that some crazy rebel could just nab someone from the tour like Jason Bourne, and no one would ever know.

After reaching the top, our friends wanted us to dangle our legs off the side of the ruin for a picture. It really freaked me out to do this, I am terrified of heights, and this didn't help. So here is a shot of everyone laughing at me creep to the edge all while shaking and sweating.

Finally made it to the edge

Our decent

More architectural details and artwork on the side of the ruin

In the jungle on the way down the mountain we saw these crazy leave carrying ants. There were over a million of them, they had cleared a path through the jungle floor like a freeway to transport these leaves that were like ten times their size.

All in all it was an awesome trip, and we believe in cruising (brainless travel as we heard it described by others) and we have the sunburns to prove it.

Take the Quiz, and Share the Results

2008-01-13T18:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, I am challenging everyone who reads this post to take five minutes to take this fun little quiz that I came across. Its pretty interesting, but you need to share the results in the comment area of this post.

Go to FINDYOURSPO T and take the quiz. It asks you questions about some of your preferences in regards to your ideal place to reside. Pretty normal questions will be asked, the answer you give will match you up with the most ideal place for you to live.

At the end of the quiz you will need to give them you name and maybe where you live, but don't be alarmed, I have taken this quiz tons of times and I have never once received any junk mail (well, more than I currently receive) nor any spam emails.

After you have taken the quiz, write down your top ten locations that it gave (agree with the results or not, write them down) then place a comment on this post and share them with everyone.

Mine (Kyle) were the following:

Little Rock, AR

Honolulu, HI

Portland, OR

Baltimore, MD

Las Vegas, NV

Baton Rouge, LA

San Diego, CA

Orange County, CA

Albuquerque, NM

Washington, D.C.

Now your turn.

Christmas Eve Adventure

2008-01-09T09:07:00.000-08:00

Since everything is less expensive in Utah we decided to get our dogs immunizations done while we were there. We got them done early Christmas Eve morning and afterwards everything seemed to be all right. Until we were getting ready to go to Nana's for Dinner and Maggie kept scratching at her face. Well since her beard is old man withers and picks up all dirt in it's path we thought she had something stuck in it. So we gave her a bath. When she is wet she usually looks like a wet rat but instead her mouth looked like Cindy Lou Hoo from The Grinch. Then her eyes started to swell at a rapid rate (like Will Smith in the movie Hitch). So we called Urgent Care and took her in. On the ride she broke out in hives and almost couldn't breathe. The shot her up with medicine and it went right down. They said she had an allergic reaction to the immunizations. After this Christmas ran smooth as a babies bottom, with our little girl girl happy and healthy.

Scatted Scattegories

2007-12-30T18:03:00.000-08:00

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following... they have to be real places, names, things...nothing made up (Like Rachel's)! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. (WHICH BY THE WAY IS HARD IF YOU ALREADY READ THEIR ANSWERS) You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl.

1. What is your name? Brittany Star Rosalie Office Max Peterson (1 pt)
2. 4 letter word: Burp (1 pt)
3. Vehicle: BMW (McMurtrey's favorite Car) (1 pt)
4. City: Beaver, Boxelder .... (2 pts.)
5. Boy Name: Burt (1 pt)
6. Girl Name: Beatrice (1 pt)
7. Alcoholic drink: Budwieser Beer (2 pts.)
8. Occupation: Bus Driver (Mel with his supersonic fart) (1 pt)
9. Something you wear: Baby Bonnet (2 pts.)
10. Celebrity: Brooke Burke (2 pts.)
11. Food: I want my Baby Back Ribs... Chilis Baby Back Ribs (2 pts)
12. Something found in a bathroom: Mr. Bubbles Bubble Bath (3 pts.)
13. Reason for Being Late: Bad B.O. (2 pts.)
14. Something you shout: Bi*ch (1 pt)
15. Animal: Bumble Bee (2 pts.)
16. Body part: Bare Bottom (2 pts.)
17. Word to describe you: Big Busted Blonde Bodacious Babe (5 pts. even though it's not true)
18. Household item: Bread Basket (Moses...) (2 pts.)

33 POINTS BEAT THAT!!!!

Coronado Sunset

2007-12-09T18:00:00.000-08:00

This evening we went over to Coronado Island to take some pictures for one of my architecture classes and just happened to see the most incredible sunset ever. Here are some pics from tonight.

Coronado Beach with Point Loma in the background (you can see the Cabrillo lighthouse on the top of Point Loma)

Buddha posing for this picture

Brittany and I on Coronado Island

Look at those rays in the sunset! Very pretty evening.

Nothing But Nets

2007-12-04T23:21:00.001-08:00

I decided to add this small advertising space to our blog (directly to the left of this post) after I was given an essay assignment on this website and I discovered the true numbers on malaria:

- Malaria infects more than 500 million people each year, and kills more than a million each year!

- Malaria mostly effects children, one child dies about every thirty seconds.

These bed nets help curb the spread of malaria by not allowing the female mosquitos to infect families as they sleep at night. Its at night that most transmissions occur. At this website nothingbutnets.com you can purchase a bed net for $10 and it will be distributed to the most needed areas in Africa.

I urge you to check out this nothingbutnets.net to learn more about the cause

at least two children died from malaria while you have been reading this post, think about that.

Rafferty Laughing

2007-12-01T01:58:00.000-08:00

My sister, Ashlee, sent me this video of Rafferty (her youngest son) laughing. It is funny. Check it out

Kyle's Day Trip to L.A.

2007-12-01T01:18:00.000-08:00

Today I rode the Amtrak to LA to meet up with my buddy Adam Stevenson

This is not him, it was just a statue that I was shielding the rain from.

We went to the MOCA (Metropolitan Museum of Contemporary Art). Then, we walk across the street to investigate The Walt Disney Concert Hall. We were both blown away at the shear beauty of this building. Pictures do not do it justice, but I will try

Then, we said our good byes in the subway tunnel, he took the redline south to Staples and I took it north to Hollywood....and I saw star (in real life)

Then one last shot of the Downtown skyline before I boarded the train and headed back to San Diego. The whole day was rainy, but fun.

Our favorite YouTube blooper video

2007-12-01T01:01:00.000-08:00

We can't stop laughing over this video, please check it out and let us know if you thought it was as funny as we thought

Our City

2007-11-30T16:45:00.000-08:00

As you know Kyle and I live in San Diego now. We love it here, it is an amazing city. It's very urban but doesn't have the crazy feeling some big cities have. These are some pictures of our night out on the town. We went to the roof of this historic hotel and the view was incredible. So here's the city that we admire every night from our family room window.

USS Midway

2007-11-29T17:14:00.000-08:00

My parents came to visit for Thanksgiving and boy did we get to do a lot of fun stuff! We went to lots of fun places, and loved having them here. These are our pictures at the USS Midway, a decommissioned Aircraft Carrier in the San Diego Bay. It's so great to have people here that are familiar faces. So if you ever come to San Diego make sure to contact us and we'll show you around town.

Mama Max was so scared to go down these tiny stairs leading deeper into the ship. And I have to agree with her, it was a bit claustrophobic. I don't know how thousands of soldiers could live on this ship for months at a time. WOW!

Ahoy Cap'n! This aircraft carrier is amazing and it was so neat to see all the planes that have flown in the wars.

Mister Mister get me out of here!!

My Mom got a little tired from a long day of walking so we got to ride the peddy cab. I must admit it was lots of fun!

A Photo Essay I Did For School

2007-11-28T02:32:00.000-08:00

Be Yourself, Always.

2007-11-27T02:52:00.000-08:00

I came across a YouTube video of Frank Gehry explaining a very important aspect of being you.

What do you think about it?

I think that is very important that we are always ourself. Doing that despite of what others think or say is an incredible thing that brings about an amazing feeling of self respect and self value that I hope all who view this video may feel daily.

Carpe Diem. . . . Kyle

For those who aren't familiar with who Frank Gehry is, here are a links to help you out.

Gehry Partners
Wiki

Our "Warhol" photos

2007-11-17T02:01:00.000-08:00

Buddha's new favorite spot to hang out

2007-11-13T23:12:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I placed our leather ottoman out on the balcony to see what Buddha would do. He loves to look out the window where he screams (litterally) at the horse carriage, cats and other dogs. It wasn't long before Buddha figured out he could use the ottoman to get to the higher part (next to the railling) of the balcony and look over on to the street.

So now this is his favorite spot in the house

Besides having a commanding view of the street (his kingdom) Buddha also loves the sea breeze that he feels from outside. His long fur flows freely in the cool harbor breezes.

Toyota Commercial

2007-11-08T21:06:00.000-08:00

Tonight there was a lot of cameras and film workers on our street (Island Ave). I asked one of them what was going on and he said that they were filming a Toyota commercial for Toyota's new line of cars. We saw a couple cars that looked like the Yaris and Sequoia.

Any way here are some pics that I snapped while walking past the set.

Dog Howl o ween Pawty in Little Italy

2007-10-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

Today was great! We got the dogs all dressed up and went to Little Italy in downtown San Diego to attend the annual Dog Howl o ween Pawty. There were so many people and dogs of all likes, all dressed up in the craziest costumes imaginable.

There was an cat walk (ironic I know) set up for the costume contest. We entered Buddha and Maggie in the contest. Surprisingly Buddha won as a runner up. The prize was a big gift basket donated by one of the dog boutique stores downtown.

Here is Buddha dressed in his award winning "Sir Barks-alot" costume.

Maggie was also done up as a French Maid, bonnet included. She didn't win any awards but was so cute and well behaved.

Other dogs dressed up for the competition included

Super heros

Dog the bounty hunter

Bees and bugs

lobsters

cow

and the smallest Yorkie I have ever seen dressed up as Dorthy

The energizer bunny

Fire Fighting dogs

Brittany won a gift basket from Horton Plaza in a raffle draing as well. Lots of good stuff in there.

While walking in Little Italy we met up with Buddha's new friend named "Chopsticks" (another Pekingese)

And here are a few pics that I took while walking back home.

We love our new house in Downtown SD

2007-10-01T00:40:00.000-07:00

Here is our view..... more pics from the inside and out coming

This is looking out our balcony down Island Avenue towards seaport village and The Historic Gas Lamp Quartar

Dog Beach for da Bitches

2007-09-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

I thought that it was so cute that there is a beach just for doggies! We took our bitch Maggie and the Buddha boy to enjoy a day at the beach. We were the proud parents watching our children (dogs) find and make friends. We're sad to say that our dogs are a little anti social. Buddha just wanders around sniffing everything not aknowledging any dogs that come up to him and Maggie won't leave our side. But it is so fun to watch all the dogs running around. I just thought it was the cutest and funniest thing! There are a lot of places to take dogs here in the S.D. and since we don't have kids yet we are loving doing it with the next best thing (our dogs).

Buddha has his own agenda

Maggie is beach certified (because she will go in the water and play).

Padres Fans

2007-09-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

Our new home is 3 blocks from Petco Park where the San Diego Padres play. We are so excited to be able to become fans of a major league team. We have already gone to 4 games and gee has it been FUN!! When ever I would watch baseball on TV I thought it was such a bore but going to the game is so much more exciting! So we are proud to say we are true fans now!

Take me out to the Ball Game!

San Francisco, California

2007-07-31T23:29:00.000-07:00

Well it has been awhile since we have posted anything and a lot has happened since last post.
We have moved to San Francisco for the summer, and more to come.

Evolutions of Dance is a big hit.....again!

2007-02-01T11:56:00.000-08:00

Brittany is performing again this year in the hit production "Rick Robison's Evolutions of Dance" which is at the Scera theater.

I personally have seen the show about four times now, and I must say that each time I see it I am more and more thrilled to see such incredible dancing. The show has Ballroom, jazz, swing, hip hop, break dancing and various other types of dance and entertainment.

The is always a big hit in the valley. You can read an article written about the show that was in the Deseret News by clicking here.

Another very entertaining peice of the show was the personality and musician Jacob Luttrel

Jacob's myspace page

Lehi Project Update

2007-02-01T11:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday G Code Ventures unveild the density model and master plan of the project in Lehi that Frank Gehry is designing.

I was there to support Brandt and his ambitious project.

I can't wait to watch the progress of the project. It will be the most substantial investment in the state of Utah.

Props to Brandt, you've got class brotha!