London

For the long weekend Ryan and I went to London to see Laurel (my cousin) and to see London. Here is the play by play:

Friday-

We arrived in the middle of the day dragged our stuff into town and dropped it off at Laurel office. She still had a few more hours of work so we ventured out for a little bit.
- Our first stop was St. Paul's Cathedral. We climbed all the way to the top and captured some awesome views of the city. The Cathedral isn't bad its self.
- we walked across the Millennium bridge to the Globe and The Tate museum. The museum was really cool.
- we strolled along the Thames
- we meet back up with Laurel and tubed it back to her apartment for dinner. We had Indian food from a restaurant near her place and it was super yummy.

Saturday:

- we strolled down Portobello road munching on chocolate churros

- stopped by the BYU London Center and snooped around to see where Ryan lived for 4 months

- wondered through Hyde Park, the Serpentine Gallery, and by the Albert Memorial

- for lunch was went to a restaurant in Covent Gardens area call Navajo Joe (very English ;)

- After a quick stop by Laurels apartment we hopped on the train out to Hampstead Heath. The evening was perfect for frolicking in the grass.

- We had a delicious dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant and then we headed home.

Sunday:

- Our first stop was the Somerset House which was awesome. We enjoyed the sunshine in the courtyard for a little bit and then headed inside to see the Skin and Bone exhibit (displaying where fashion and architecture meet).

- next we crossed the river and enjoyed lunch at Wagamamas. (so good, thanks Jill for the suggestion).

- we wondered along the river passed the London eye, London aquarium, and back across the river to Big Ben and the Parliament building.

- we made our way though a St. James park, down the Mall and ended at Buckingham Palace.

- We finished the day off with Regency park and a stroll through the gardens.

- We were all a little tired so we went back to Laurel's, had pizza and relaxed.

Monday:

- the weather was very rainy so there are not many pictures from that day.

- We spent the morning in the National Gallery (an amazing collection).

- We walked around Trafalgar Square and Westminster Abby.

- We had a warm lunch in the Soho area at a hip diner and headed back to Laurel's to pack up.

We had such a great time. Thank you Laurel for letting us stay. I already want to go back.

A beautiful Day

If you live in New York go outside today it is BEAUTIFUL.

I have the best husband in the world

I am not even a mother but Ryan took wonderful care of me this weekend. He let me sleep in on Saturday and he took me to a chick flick (Made of Honor) on Saturday night. On Sunday day he let me read my book while he made me an amazing meal (Osso Bucco, Saffron risotto, asparagus, and ice cream with home made chocolate sauce and toasted coconut), and to top it all off he bought me flowers. I feel so lucky to have him. Thanks Ryan.

Saturday Tradition

(Lake Tahoe)

Ryan and I have a favorite tradition of listening to a radio show from back home every Saturday. Its good old folk music that makes us miss the west. So have a listen if you are interested. Just click on the link, go to Listen Live, and podcast. Risky Biscuit Hayseed Hoot

(Jill the "First Year Spanish Love Song" is from the May 3rd broadcast)

Happy Cinco De Mayo

Santa Barbara here we come

This is where we are moving in September. It looks pretty nice doesn't it?

Last weekends adventures

I am having issues downloading pictures so you are just going to have to use your imagination.

We had a true tourist weekend. Ryan's parents brought his Grandma to New York and we packed everything we could into 2 days. They arrived on Saturday afternoon and we went to dinner at Craft Bar and then to see Mary Poppins on Broadway. (To be honest I have never seen Mary Poppins the movie so the musical was new and exciting.) Sunday we had breakfast at Alice's Teacup, showed Grandma our apartment, we went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, got ripped off by a Taxi driver, had lunch at Witchcraft, road the big red double-decker tour bus, got on the wrong tour bus, got yelled at by a crazy tour guide, went to dinner at Blue Smoke, enjoyed the view from the Top of The Rock, and topped it all off with a frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity. On Monday we finished our tour of the island by doing the uptown loop on the double-decker tour bus jumping off just in time to get cookies and jumping back on. Now it is Thursday and I am still trying to recover. SOOO Tired! But it was really fun. We also discovered that it is tough to be a tourist in this city. We are glad that we live here and can enjoy the sites of the city on a much slower pace.

Weekend Get Away

Ryan and I just got back from a great weekend away. We flew to Palm Springs, CA to be with my family for Easter.

This spider was in our shower. But as soon as my mom unloaded an entire can of bug spray on him and he was flushed down the toilet we were ready to relax.

We went to dinner, played golf, went shopping, played tennis, swam, read, talked, played Wii, died Easter eggs, and watched TV. It was a really fun weekend, and it made me miss being closer to my family. On Easter Sunday we went to church and then went to the country club to have brunch. The buffet was yummy as usual. Dan, Steph, and little S (family friends) joined us for golf, swimming, and Easter Sunday. It is fun to have little ones around to hunt for eggs. I think we are all getting a little old to do the hunting.

Nicole and Mom

Little S and Dad

Ryan and I

Nicole and I

She is so cute

U23D

Last night Ryan and I saw U23D and it was AWESOME!!!! It was the coolest thing next to actually being at the concert. I love U2 and it just reaffirmed my love. If you live in New York go see it on the IMAX at Lincoln Square 13.

Happy St. Patrick's Day. I hope everyone has a great day. I also have to say that I love when Google dresses up for holidays. It just makes my day. I love holidays!

We had a pretty quiet low key weekend but one funny thing we did was watch The King of Kong; Fist full of Quarters . It is a crazy look into the world of video games and I highly recommend it to anyone.

I promised pictures

Albany (The Egg)

Me and Jill (New Paltz, NY)

Us

On the steps of the state capital in Albany

Sunset over the reservoir in Central Park

Mom, Dad, and me in the Park

Us again

Mom and Dad in Boston

Isn't Ryan strong

Two more Congratulations are in order

We now have two more options.

Ryan got accepted into University of California Santa Barbara and the University of Oregon

Congratulations!!!!!

Congratulations!!!

Ryan was accepted into the PhD program at University of Washington.

Congratulations!!!!

Now our future is really up in the air, but we are lucky to have options.

Catch up...

Here is our past month in a nut shell because I have been such a slacker.
1. We had a great Valentines dinner at Destino, a yummy Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side. They even gave me a rose.
2. The weekend after Valentines day we rented a car with some friends and drove to Albany NY. We took lots of pictures, walked around in the cold, and had a great dinner at a local restaurant.
3. My parents came to visit us for a long weekend at the end of February. We ate a lot (BLT Market, Gramercy Tavern, Alice's Tea Cup, Bouchon Bakery, Union Oyster House, I told you we ate a lot), went to the Frick museum (which I loved), drove to Boston for the day stopping at Yale, Ikea, and Harvard, did a little shopping, took a long walk in the park, and just enjoyed being together. It was a great weekend and I love having family in town.

Those are the major things that we have done. I will post pictures soon and I promise to be better at posting.

Happy Valentines Day

(don't these little eclairs look Yummy)

Investor Dinner

We had our Investor Dinner on 1-24-08 at the Museum of Natural History. It was a nice evening but the best part was the employee get together afterwards.
Amy, Joelle, Bethany, and Me

Joelle, Me, Bill, and Bethany

President Hinckley

We are grateful for President Hinckley's example, leadership, and love.

"To you, this day, I affirm my witness of the calling of the Prophet Joseph, of his works, of the sealing of his testimony with his blood as a martyr to the eternal truth. Each of you can bear witness of the same thing. You and I are faced with the stark question of accepting the truth of the First Vision and that which followed it. On the question of its reality lies the very validity of this Church. If it is the truth, and I testify that it is, then the work in which we are engaged is the most important work on the earth." President Gordon B. Hinckley October 2007 General Conference

I love Three Day Weekends

I love having an extra day in the weekend. I vote to have three days every weekend. Saturday night we sent to a little burger joint downtown called Stand and it was beyond yummy. Great hamburgers and shakes to die for. I had an apple pie milk shake that tasted like they mixed a slice of apple pie and ice cream in a blender. It was GOOD! I also saw the movie 27 Dresses this weekend which is a great chic flick. I hope everyone had a good three day weekend as well.