Hi

Hi everybody, I am Jon, not Diana. I am going to attempt to add my two cents to the blog on occasion, and to celebrate that fact, I made a new header for our blog. I thought it added a Jon-ish flare like nothing else could. Kinda like when you move into a new cubicle at work put a picture of your family up. Not to say that Marty Mcfly is my family (...yet...Marty, the offer's still on the table), but I just thought it would be nice to participate in the family blog that Diana works so hard on. Hope you like it D, cause it took a LOT longer than it should have.

Weekend with Mom

My Mom came to visit us a couple weekends ago....it was so fun. I was looking forward to it for a long time!

We went to Alcatraz....which Jon and I have been wanting to do since before we moved here....my mom coming was a good excuse to finally do it. It was such a beautiful day. Totally worth it just for the ferry ride to the island.

View of Alcatraz...view of San Francisco...from here it looks very similar to the view of New York from Brooklyn. I guess big cities are all pretty similar.

Even with a BAZILLION tourists on the ferry it was still somehow very peaceful.

My beautiful Mommy.

This is the Bay Bridge....you can barley see it, but it's there.

We took the last day tour. It was nice because there weren't as many people. There were some major hills we had to walk up...good exercise.

This is the shower room.

Diana: "That would be so weird showering next to all these people."

Jon: "That's exactly how it was in the MTC."

Diana: "I don't think I would ever take a shower"

Jail Birds

This is inside the prison...there was a huge uprising with the prisoners...turned into a big war. The marks on the floor in this picture are from grenades that were thrown in to try to stop the prisoners.

These cells are so tiny!!! I think I would get claustrophobic!

Some views from the Island.

On the ferry ride home, we looked back and the fog was pouring over the island.

This was so beautiful to experience, the sun setting behind the golden gate bridge with the fog so thick coming in.

It's tradition whenever we go to the piers to eat dinner at Boudin. I think it's one of my favorite places to eat. I always get a gigantic bread bowl with tomato soup. There's a fire outside and it is so relaxing to sip soup while sitting in front of a blazing fire.

While Jon was doing dental stuff my mom and I headed down to Ocean Beach. Everything was so green...we loved it.

I hope I age like my mom, because I think she is so good looking.

The waves were gigantic and it was a typical overcast San Francisco beach experience. It was fun though to sit in the sand and watch the waves.

Ok so I was a bit cold.

I took mom up to Twin Peaks to show her the view. It was such a beautiful and clear day.

We could see the whole city.

Can you see all the white dots in the bay? So many sailboats on Saturday.

My dentist man.

Mom and I went to Jon's lab to see what he does all day.

He was so tired and sick. That's Jon's drawer with all his toothy stuff.

On the last night, we went to Berkley to visit and eat dinner with friends. This picture is of my mom and Linda who have know each other forever.

Linda, mom, and Betz...another long time friend. Thanks for coming out mom! I love you!

Slippery Delights

I saw these when I was coming home from work the other morning...at first I thought it was a snake. I couldn't stop myself from touching them.....slimy!

Halloween

Pre- Halloween our friends the Couch's put together a fun night of pumpkin carving and delicious food eating. Jon and I went to the pumpkin patch by our house on 7th and picked one out before we headed over to Jason and Kristine's place.

This pumpkin patch place had the coolest atmosphere...and really neat pumpkins!

This is little Ben Couch...cutest pj's ever! Jon is so jealous of them...we looked hard but couldn't find any Jon's size.

This is the group of carvers: Rischel and Jon, Jason, Brady, Taija, me, and Jon....Kristine is taking the Pic....thanks Kristine.

Ben's Halloween costume. We got a sneak preview since they were going to Sacramento to celebrate with family.

I think this is the best carved pumpkin Jon has ever done....I was totally amazed!

This is Jon's...evil pumpkin peeking through the blinds.

I think the mummy was Jason's and the Boo! was Taija's.

These are seriously the best pumpkins I have ever seen!

Kind of creepy though.

Halloween

This Halloween was almost a flop. People are way more into dressing up here than in Utah. Jon and I kept on talking about how we wanted to have better costumes than last year, (Jon was white trash, utilizing an actual trash bag, and I was a mummy in toilet paper) unfortunately we procrastinated until the last minute and tried to go to Party City to buy a costume...the line was wrapped around inside the store and outside down the street. We stayed in line for about 15 minutes and realized it totally wasn't worth it. We went home very sad...but started brain storming...and thought up some costumes that were way better than store bought ones...that's a cop out really.

Jon suggested I be a robot...what a super idea! I spent the next day at Home Depot buying dryer vents and spray paint...I was surprised how quickly I was able to put it all together. This is the final product.

Jon was a biker that crashed. Pretty good make up right? I'm proud of my work. So the bone sticking out of his arm took me standing in line for 40 min at Party City....it was defiantly worth it though.

This picture is kind of bad, but this is the line I waited in...it went all through the isles and wrapped around...ridiculous. What a wonderful wife I am.

I wish I had pictures of everyone, but here's the ones I do have: Brooke, Bekah

Taija and Brady

Kristy, Patrick in the back, and Kyle

Ben and Anisha

Rachel and Woods

The only part of me that was visible.

Here's some video of me getting in and out of my robot costume...it's was quite a production. The sound on the fist video is messed up, but you get the idea.

Jon's Way

Not to get too braggy, but have I ever mentioned that I have the most wonderful husband in the WORLD?!

Jon loves everything to be very clean....he decided to clean the burner thingies. He soaked them in ammonia overnight...which worked really well, but stinks like you'll never guess..when he took them out to clean them we both about passed out! I made him wear my N95 mask. It really helped with the smell and made for a great/funny picture.

Girl's Party!

We had a fun night hanging out with the girls at Kristine's house while the boys went to priesthood.

Thanks Kristine for putting that together....so much better than sitting at home waiting for Jon to come home!

Weekend Of AMAZING!

The last weekend of summer before Jon had to go back to school, (and the day after we got back from New York) we decide to go to LA....it was very spontaneous. Sometimes it's fun just to decide to to something and then a couple hours later....DO IT!

So the first day we were there we went to the dreamiest place in the world....Disneyland. Oh man I love living close enough to get to Disneyland in a few hours!

We were like giddy little kids. We were at the gates right when they opened...I think it was 7:30 or 8:00 am.

I'm pretty sure this is the Pirates of the Carribian ride that we went on multiple times....the good thing about going so early is there are no lines!

Of course Jon and I had to drive our own cars, because neither of us was willing to give up the driver's seat.

This was another one of those rides that we did multiple times. It was new to us...and it included laser guns, so how could we resist. Oh yeah and if you know us at all....we are competitive people... so this ride was just for us. Each little two person car comes with two laser guns and a score board. The more things you shoot the more point you get and at the end of the ride whoever has the most points (me) wins!

Jon, you're a cutie.

Our good friends Ben and Anisha met up with us the second day to go to Magic Mountain. It was so incredibly hot! It definitely wasn't SF weather!

This is Jon's sad "I'm really hot" face.

The boys loved going on the water rides....of course we got soaked!

This is the only real ride we had to wait in line for....we came here at the right time! On most of the rides we would get off and run back to the front of the line and ride it again.....we were very successful at making ourselves completely sick!

The Giants Final Game

Who knew I loved going to baseball games? They can actually be pretty exciting... I will admit that I think I love them because Kristine and I always end up chit chatting the whole time...with an occasional shout out to the Giants and to our husbands.

The Giants won their last game...so far all the games I've gone to they have won. (I should probably let them know that I am their good luck charm.)

Another example of Jon and I leaving the house totally matchy matchy and not realizing it until our friends comment on it.

Such a cool view from our seats.

The boys: Jason (Kristine's hubby), Jon (my hubby), Jon, Jimmy, and Dan.

Of course there always has to be a half naked experience in our San Francisco adventures...you can't see very well, but this guy is in a speedo sunbathing on a kayak in front of a bazillion people. Obviously begging for attention....which we gave him.

Bluegrass Festival

Jon and I decided to go to the Bluegrass Festival at Golden Gate Park...thanks Jimmy for telling us about it. We made the hugest mistake by driving...we could/should have easily taken muni, or walked...so we spent at least 45 min looking for a parking place. It was worth it though.

And this is what we should have done...ridden our bikes....can you believe how many bikes there are? You can't even see the bike rack!

It was packed at all the stages...obviously we didn't get very close, but it was so fun to hear the music. I was amazed at how many different types of people were there...I love these kind of things that bring all sorts of people together to enjoy the same thing.

New York, New York....it's a wonderful town...

This is wall street...I was pretty dang surprised/disappointed when I saw how small and unimpressive it was. I always imagined it...I don't know exactly, but not like it was. If I was walking around I wouldn't have even guessed where I was if I happened upon it.

We walked to the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge...I think it is set up a whole lot better than the Golden Gate Bridge. You walk above the traffic instead of right next to it...the view is pretty amazing.

How bridges are put together overwhelms me. Look at how many cables and wires are going all over the place...there is definitely a job fit for every type of person. Oh and by the way, speaking of bridges, the Bay Bridge broke again tonight. I guess one of the cables came swinging down and hit a truck. Thank goodness nobody got hurt...I think I'm going to be scared now every time we cross it.

This is my cousin Marin's son. His name is Charlie...he is so cute and talkative.

I hope Jon has a dental practice with a name this amazing!

Good old China Town...Jon's home away from home.

Everybody was telling us not to go to the Empire State building, because we would be waiting in line for hours. Jon and I are stubborn, so we went anyway....it was amazing! There was absolutely NO line! We walked straight up to it.

The view was so amazing! We could see all the places we had walked to the day before....from a birds eye view.

I've always been too cheap to pay for these binocular things, but Jon popped the quarters in and I am so glad he did. I totally recommend it.

Isn't that so weird how humans decide to live so cramped together? Looking down at New York from the Empire State building reminded me of a big ant hill.

It's so funny/clever how these tourist sites will force you to walk through the gift store...and how incredibly pricey everything is!

Grand Central Station

Jon and I went to the Broadway show of Mary Poppins. It was super delightful.

I look like the ghost of Time Square

So overwhelming...

Some more pics from our Staten Island Ferry ride. Jon is such a good pointer.

Gil took us on a ride around the city one night after work. We rented a zip car..who new they had BMW zip cars...and off we were.

Image from here

This is the Apollo in Harlem. Ella Fitzgerald sang here in the 30's on the Amateur nights. So many famous people started their careers here. Let me give you a list. Bille Holiday, James Brown, Diana Ross, the Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Aretha Franklin.

I love the city at night...there is no way I could capture how beautiful and vibrant it all was with my camera, drivng in a car. You get the idea though.

We drove over the Brooklyn Bridge to enjoy the nighttime view of Manhattan.

The thing about trying to take a picture at night infront of a brightly lit city, is that either we will be seen and the city won't, or the city will and we won't. Oh well

This is what it looked like behind us.

Obviously I am in love with the view.

I think it is so wierd/cool seeing the LDS temple in a big city....I mean I grew up in Utah and the temples there look very....templey. The one in New York is very sleek and fits in nicely...I guess that's what they were going for. I would have missed it if Gil hadn't pointed it out.

This is the cafe we were eating at when a GIGANTIC cocroach ran across my lap.....I can't believe I didn't even scream...that's not like me at all.

I was just previewing my post and realized I didn't put this picture in....I had to show how amazing my hair/bangs are in it! Plus it shows off my beautifully unique hair line.....Enjoy! (taking pictures with bangs+ very windy conditions= amazingly funny pictures!)

New York City

We were lucky enough to have time off from work and school to take a vacation to New York. Thanks to cousins/friends Marin and Gil and of course Charlie we had a lovely place to stay a couple blocks away from time square. Thanks again you guys!

We made a trip to the MOMA. That was definitely our kind of art museum! Photo #1: Mirror Art #2: I liked these shapey stair things #3 Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol.

This hairy unibrow painting was one of Jon's favorites.

Okay these just made us giggle...a lot. I mean come on it's a solid red painting with two lines in it and the one on the right...it just BLACK! The funniest this is we stood behind the guy in the ponytail and watched him study this artwork for a very long time. Obviously I am not cultured enough to get it.

The two things I love about this couch thingy is it is so colorful it makes me happy and it's made up of a bunch of little pieces that are not connected in anyway....and it was comfy!

Another Andy Warhol: I think he was one of my favorites this trip. The picture on the right is by Roy Lichtenstein.

Shout out to Provo...our home town! And I almost peed my pants laughing at the please do not touch sign.

Music collage...super cool....and freaky cut out eyeballs in a spiderweb.

Classic

Time Square: so bright and advertizy!

Gil works at 30 Rock. It was fun to visit the building where one of our favorite shows takes place.

Rockefeller Building: we got to go up to Gills office way up in the 60th(ish) floor....it was an amazing view. Oh and something crazy: Gill was showing us one of the board rooms and the windows were open...and they didn't have any SCREENS on them. So I was able to stick my head out of the window...don't worry I held back from spitting...although I really wanted to.

This was a breakfast cafe we ate at around the corner from where we were staying. It was so cute and I really LOVED the pancakes!

We had so much fun in Central Park. We rented some bikes and rode all around the whole thing. It was so green and pretty. It seemed a lot cleaner than the Golden Gate Park....and it was weird not seeing a bunch of homeless people camping out everywhere....where are they hanging out?

We walked everywhere! We just happened upon the David Letterman studio.

The greatest surprise was that my best friend Jessica was in New York the same time we were. We got to hang out for the day.

We finagled some extra tickets for Jessica and Claire to go to the Daily Show, so we all got to go together! It was so amazing. Oh and the best part is Matt Damon was John Stewart's guest. I was laughing out loud the whole show....I think I was laughing the most and the hardest out of everyone.

We decided not to go to the Statue of Liberty, but be did take the free ferry to Staten Island and saw her from afar.

It was windy on the boat...can you tell?

This is the bull by Wall Street. Can you see how its balls are really shiny? That's because it is considered good luck to rub them....so we rubbed them....just to help out the economy of course.

He he he he

This is us on top of the Empire State Building. I have more pictures to come. this is just a preview. It was absolutely amazing up there!

Boards Celebration

Jon and Brady finished their Boards after studying all summer. We all went bowling that night to celebrate. It was so much fun!

Couples from left to right: Taija and Brady, Jason, Kristine, and baby Ben, Me and Jon, Jon and Rischel.

Somehow Jon and I always end up matching when we go out. We need someone to check us before we go out!

The girls getting ready to kick some trash!

Pacifica

A bunch of us went to Pacifica one weekend to hang out at the beach. The boys all went surfing and the girls chit chatted on the warm sand. What a dreamy day! Check out Ben and Anisha cheesing it up for the camera.

Here's Jon, Jon, and Ben heading out to surf. Jason was there also, I don't know where he was hiding.

Jon trying to ride the wave all the way in...to me.

My sexy surfer man.

Skegges Point

Jon and I have had so much fun exploring new places to mountain bike. Jon took me to one of his favorite place as Skegges Point. It was the hardest ride either of us have ever done. I don't think we will be going to that trail anytime soon.

Driving home was so awesome! The sunset was absolutely beautiful!

Look how cool that is!

Point Reyes

Our first backpacking trip. The Browning and Haynie family before our hike.

The hike was cool because it was through the mountains, but once in awhile we would pop out onto the coast.....sooo beautiful!

I love how everything was so green.

Pay no attention to my chubby weird face and focus on Jon's cheesy face.

Me and Rischel...hiking buddies

Jon and Jon hiking buddies

Jon and Rischel

How cool is that view!

This was the night we arrived at our camp, which was right next to the beach. It happened to be a red tide, which was sooooo cool! I think we played for hours in the sand kicking it around and watching it glow....watching the florescent waves roll in. It was amazing! Later that night the guys tried to build us a fire...unfortunately all the wood we found was wet. This fire only lasted a couple of seconds....and that's only because it was soaked with lighter fuel. It was a warm few seconds though.

On the hike back we stopped at the rope swing and jumped into the refreshing lake. This first picture is me jumping...I'm such a weakling I could barely hang onto the rope.

This is my Jon....obviously not a weakling.

It was a very fun weekend, thanks guys!

Girls Night Out

Girls night out in the city. Jen's b-day....it has taken me sooo long to post this that I forgot who the dinner was for, so I emailed Jen asking her, her reply was "me". Boy do I feel stupid.

Late Happy b-day Jen!

Yummy Greek food.

The group

Big Basin

In the beginning of the summer Jon and I went down to Santa Cruz. We love camping and so decided to camp in Big Basin which is very close. It was so beautiful and amazing. The quality of these pics aren't very good. I just took them with our point and shoot camera, but you get the idea.

Once upon a time we had some delicious black licorice from Trader Joe's. Jon didn't want to leave the licorice with us in our tent over night because of the raccoons and bears. Instead of taking it back to the secured car, he put it in this cupboard. Notice GIGANTIC hole in front of said cupboard! The next morning Jon and Diana woke up and opened the cupboard, and this is what they found....their licorice had teeth and claw marks in it and was half eaten. Gosh dangit you squirly squirls! Diana was still very tempted to eat it because it was her favorite, but her husband quickly threw it away before she did anything silly.

WARNING! This post contains a man in a thong

So...I was driving to work the other day and this is what crossed in front of me! I couldn't believe it....this guy was just wearing a thong and was walking around totally casual. He was even doing some window shopping...don't worry though he was wearing sunglasses, a bandanna, and crocks.

Just another crazy day in the Castro....yes, of course this happened in the Castro.

Rancid

So, I'm obviously really behind in blogging. Rancid came to San Francisco in July and our friend Branden, who is the drummer, invited us to their show in Oakland. It was amazing!

We got backstage/VIP passes which made the experience so much more amazing! I've never felt so important. Thanks Branden!

This is Rancid playing... Jordan did the rad visual effects that played behind them.

It was very crowded

Us enjoying them...

I Lied....

I lied...these are the last couple of pictures from Italy. Again, the boats parked in the "garages" that I think looks so funny.

When we were on one of the water taxis, this massive thing rode by us. It seemed really out of place.

The cutest mini ever. The only picture Jon will ever look tall in... (written by Jon)

Jon and I went to an island called Lido one of the days we were there.....oh man it was so wonderful. We rented one of those paddle boats and paddled around on the ocean for a while and then took naps in the sun.....dreamy.

Ok...now I'm done....I promise no more Europe posts.

Last Italy Post

Isn't this building amazing? I would love to have a house covered in green vines...or whatever those are!

I loved looking at all the boats that were "parked" outside peoples houses. It still is such a foreign concept to me of having your transportation be a boat.

These houses made me so happy when I saw them! Check out those colors.

This was the coolest chimney I have ever seen. Look how crooked it is.

This is Jon accomplishing one of our favorite tasks....eating gelato.

This was on a rainy part of the day, I think the streets look so cool when they are wet.

So we went back to Murano...the glass island...to get a souvenir. We went into this one shop and the owner was so cute. He showed us this glass ornament that, turns out, he made. He was speaking Italian and I was speaking Spanish, but from what we could figure out he is kind of famous....well kind of. He showed us a book that was displayed next to the glass ornaments and his name was in it....I couldn't read it, but his name was there. He was so proud of himself. I bought the ornament and he signed it. It was really cute. I think it's the best souvenir I got.

Jon, doing his thing.....figuring out what public transportation to take to get where we need to go.

Another cool door.

Cool street.

So you know how a lot of big cities have street vendors....so does Venice....kind of......and it's not a big city....anyway....this was cool.

He works out of his boat....even in the rain.

Jon bought us some delicious fruit.

Like I said in another post, there was a eatery next to our hotel that had delicious gelato and calzones....they also have pizza with french fries on it.....just in case the pizza wasn't greasy enough.....and yes Jon got one and ate it. Who would ever have though to do that?

Cool view.

Some famous building that I can't remember what it is.

And another...

And another...

I know this one wasn't famous or anything, just cool looking

Cute Jon face on the bus boat ready for an adventure.

Some more parked boats.

That's one of those traghetos that I talked about earlier that goes from one side to the other.

Gondoliers chit chatting.

So...turns out they are everywhere.

There was this one path that we always walked on....and this guys was always staring out of his window... Kind of creepy.

Later that day we went to the airport to get on the plain to go back to Barcelona....we were there at least two hours early and this was the "line". It was mass confusion and in Europe I don't think people really understand the concept of lines.

Seriously, the whole place was just packed.

My favorite part of Italy

This was the highlight of our Venice trip. Even though it cost a billion dollars, we went on a gondola ride. This was our gondolier.

He didn't sing to us, but turns out the gondoliers go to like four years of college to become what they are. I guess they have to learn a lot of history and stuff. So this guy knew everything. I thought we were just going to paddle around in the boat, but it was also a totally awesome tour as well.

Jon enjoying the romantic ride with his super amazing wife.

We went down the coolest little, narrow streets, or canals. I can't believe how skilled these gondoliers are to maneuver around this place!

It was so pretty and serene in the back allies. I love the architecture of these buildings.

It was funny for me to imagine having my back door open up to just water...there isn't even like a step or anything, if you were sleep walking, you would be in big trouble.

The other thing we loved were all the cool little bridges everywhere.

Some More of Italy

So...we went on this cool walk through Venice and ended up in this square/courtyard thing with awesome old buildings and churches. Unfortunately, I have a bad memory and can't tell you any names...just pictures I took.

This was on the front of a church....it's gold....oh soo shiny.....could barely peel my eyes off it.

I'm sure I've already said this, but I can't believe how many times we spent money to wait in line this trip. It was worth it though. This bell tower was cool; However, turns out they still ring the bells while you are right underneath it. I couldn't hear for the rest of the day. Oh yeah, and they rang for like ten minutes.

This is a view of Venice from the top of the bell tower that has no name, because I can't remember it.

Another view....

And another one...

Bird's eye view of the square.

(I just realized this pictures are kind of boring....but they are good memories for me.)

Cute husband on top of the bell tower.

Husband and wife on top of the bell tower.

Okay, so next we went to this part of the island called Murano. It is famous for it's glass. They do a lot of glass blowing and sculpting....super rad. This is a bail of hay that is made out of glass.

....And this is a spiky, blue, glass thing... and yes I do match it.

The people in Murano were so nice to tourists. They let us go upstairs in one of the glass shops and watch the guys that were bending the glass and making cool things.

See all those colorful sticks in the middle of the table...those are glass and they heat them up super hot and then bend them into different shapes, or stick them to other colors.

Next we went to the glass museum. This mural thing was in the courtyard of the museum....I love the colors...happy colors.

Some more of the glass sculptures outside of the museum.

A pretty window...

We found this while we were walking around...it was on the side of a window...it's of a guy doing glass blowing.

Okay, so this was my favorite! Look at this awesome glass, colorful, Christmas tree! Wouldn't you love to have that as yours? Well maybe you wouldn't, but I would love it.

Pretty cool...

This was on our way back to our hotel in the water bus thing. And this is Mr. Pigeon that was too tired to fly and so caught a ride with us.

The humans catching a ride...after a very fun day.

Italy

View from our plane: this is Italy from above.

When I was little I always wanted to fly through the clouds, I thought it would be so cool. Turns out it's not so cool and it's really bumpy. At least I got a pretty picture.

And here we are in Venice, Italy. I think this was my favorite place on our trip. The weather was hot and amazing and it was totally magical. This is the view from one of the bridges that crosses the Grand Canal.

The water wasn't the clearest I've ever seen, but I was expecting worst. People told us it was going to stink and there would be rats swimming in the water and garbage floating everywhere. Luckily none of that happened while we were there....only the brown water.

Jon was our tour guide on all our little mini trips. He had some books he had brought with him and would take us on adventures. This is his planning face...getting ready to take us on a good one.

I think this was the widest street we ever saw there. It's so weird never seeing any cars....I kinda like it.

We ate dinner at a little Italian place....well duh of course it was Italian....right on the side of water. It was raining, but we wanted to sit outside anyway. We were under an umbrella and it was actually pretty cozy. There was a live band playing romantic music the whole time...she had an amazing voice!

This is our little street where our hotel was. We were right next to the grand canal. There were so many delicious gelato and calzone places on the way to our hotel...I think we got one every time we passed it.

It totally amazes me how the water is just like our roads, in the way that they have garbage boats, taxi boats, public transit boats, and personal boats; However the one thing I noticed is that people just drive where ever they want, there doesn't appear to be strict driving rules.

The coolest little canal/ street things.

This was on one of our many walks...a fellow cannon lover offered to take our picture....one of the few on this trip of the both of us together.

Rad building.

I loved the gondolas! They are so cool and funky looking.

Okay, so here are some pictures of all the different kinds of boats.

That boat big long white boat is the public transportation. Along the streets are stops, like bus stops, and it comes and picks you up and runs on a certain route. The little boat on the right I think is just somebody's personal boat, but the taxi boats look very similar.

Look at these awesome doors!

This was the coolest thing, for a couple of euros you could ride one of these gondola's across the water...it's called a tragetto (spelling?)....if you don't want to walk all the way over to the next bridge.

There we are.

These gondolas really fascinate me. They look like royal seats.

The Palace of Versilles...and some other stuff

This is the Palace Versailles, we took a train for about 45 minutes from our hotel. People told us that Versailles was a really cool place to go to.....Honestly I thought it was kind of boring...but that's just me and I'm not very cultured and so don't appreciate things that most people do. I feel like if I've seen one palace I've seen them all. However, There were some cool things there that I enjoyed....

Jon totally got a kick out of this sign pretending that it was Colbert's (as in the Colbert Report) room.

This is the palace's immaculate garden, you had to pay extra to go through it...so we just viewed it through the window.

One of our favorite activities on our vacation...posing like the statues.

Yep...we're pretty awesome.

I think this is a door that I'm standing in front of. I was kind of obsessed with doors on this trip. Also I am not rocking out to music on my headphones...we got the audio tour.

Pretty, shiny, gold stuff.

I asked Jon if we could have a bed that matched the wallpaper.....he said no.

Yipeeee!!!

After Versailles, we took the train back to this museum called Centre Pompidou. Unfortunately it was closed. Fortunately the outside of it was awesome to look at. and there were a ton of people outside it playing music and doing tricks.

This is the outside of the museum.

If you couldn't tell, it's modern art....one of my favorite kinds.

This is the next museum we went to called the Musee d' Orsay. It's really cool because it used to be a train station. That's it behind me.

Jon packed our European lunch of a baguette and cheese....absolutely delicious!

Jon with a huge bite of sandwich in his mouth.

Some of Van Gogh's paintings....my favorite painter.

From this view you can kind of imagine what it would have looked like as a train station.

This was our favorite sculpture thing there. this was one side of it. It's kind of hard to tell what's going on in just a picture, but we loved how the alligator comes off the main part of it.

This is the back side of it. We looked at these for a long time.

Evil

These were the coolest sculptures. I don't know how in the world they did it, but somehow they sculpted the marble stone over the cast bronze, like real clothes.

France: Part....I can't remember because I've posted so many

This is the view from a little hill we climbed in France. We watched the sun set.

This is a cathedral we walked up to....I can't remember the name, I'm sure Jon does. Anyway it was like the highest hill of Paris or something. It had an increadible view! There were so many people just hanging out and sitting on the steps in front of the cathedral.

Can you see the Effiel Tower behind that handsome man?

After the cathedral we went to get some crepes. Soooooooooooooo delicious! I love the set up there how you just walk up to the window and they make it for you right before your eyes!

Oh yeah, and they are gigantic...

...and delicious with nutella on them, hence the gigantic costco size bottle of nutella.

Ta da! And that is what ended up in my belly.

After our romantic crep eating....we stumbled upon Champs Elysses....we didn't even realize we were there at first becuase....it's just spelled so funny. Jon is standing in a tunnel we were trying to get to the arch de triumph...but they closed it right when we got there.

So we went back and looked at it from a far. Pretty cool right?

France: Part II

The Louvre: I have no idea why they have that big glass pyramid thing, it doesn't really fit into any of the surrounding architecture.....but it sure was fun to walk through.

Glowing Jon

View from the top floor of the Louvre.

Amazing

The ultimate loveseat.

Can you believe this dinning table? I have always loved looking into these mansions!

This is the Queens bed....man this is a good night shift bed to have....you could sleep all day in complete darkness!!!

I can't remember what this was called, but it was pretty dang cool! (it's a model of the Sphinx - By Jon)

This is the Venus statue, we listened to the history of it and the details about it....really interesting.

The gladiator

One of our favorite things to do in the museum was pose like the posers, because if you look at them closely, they really have some silly posses.

This is the goddess Diana...the huntress...just like me!

Seeing the Mona Lisa was pretty cool and frustrating at the same time...

I always imagined it as this big painting, but it was so tiny...however...they put it on this gigantic wall, which made it look even tinier....

not to mention the fact that there were hundreds of people in the way....I felt like I was in a mosh pit getting through there.

Jon doing the posey thing.....mummy style.

Jon thought I would get sick of all the pictures I had of him this trip, but looking back at them....the pics with Jon in them are my favorites.

The Eiffel Tower

So this is the same day we walked for hours along the Seine river in France to the Eiffel tower. It was pretty dang magical!

This was Jon pouting after he couldn't catch the bird he chasing. Jon...you were real close.

The Eiffel Tower

It's gigantic! Honestly I didn't think it was going to be as cool as it was.

This was one of the many times that we waited in line and actually paid to walk up a billion stairs. It was worth it though!

I was completely pooped by the time we got to the top! It was an amazing view though.

Jon soaking in the beautifulness.

We stayed up there till the the sun set.....

and the lights turned on.

Every hour they do a light show that is AMAZING! The whole thing lights up and sparkles.

Notre Dame

I've always wanted to go to there.

Notre Dame was sooo packed! We could hardly walk there were so many people. But it was fun because they were having mass.

This stain glass was the coolest thing I have ever seen. Again, the picture does not do it justice, but it was amazing how the light came through it in the dark cathedral.

Pretty

I caught Jon in a good pose.

This is the front of the building.

This is the side where the flying buttresses were...Jon's favorite part.

This is the back. There's this cute little park, where everybody was relaxing and playing/listening to music.

France

This is the Seine River...our hotel was right by here. The first day we got to France we walked for hours along this river. There was some sort of holiday thing where music/bands were playing and performing all over outside. It was so cool to watch!

Also, we looked at where the Eiffel Tower was on our map...it looked totally walkable! Anyway, that's why we ended up walking for hours.

Yet another picture of Jon and I pretending to take a picture together.

We found the cutest little restaurant with the drunkest owners! It was a cool place though and they provided great entertainment.

The most delicious pesto I've ever had.

Spain: Tosa

We took a day to go to meet up with my family and some friends at the beach in Tossa. Amazing! I almost died getting in the water...I thought it was freezing...Jon says it was "warmish". This is Dad, me, and Amanda doing synchronized swimming. I think we are going to shoot for the 2012 summer Olympics.

There was this castle thing. I don't really know exactly what it was. Mom/Dad a little help? Anyway it was amazing being on the beach and having this in the background.

There's nothing more attractive than just got out of the water hair.

Our friends Neus and Joan...and my mom. And of course my hubby Jon.

I don't know why I feel so special when I see my name on signs, but I always have to take a picture.

We walked up to the castle thing.

This is the view from the almost top.

This is the tip top...such a pretty view.

We ate a restaurant on the beach after and this was our view.

Barcelona: Be aware it's a long post

I think 1 out of every 5 people had this exact hair cut...male or female....I'm thinking about trying it...what do you think?

So...I obviously I didn't take these next two photos, but the building is so tall that I couldn't get a whole picture of it myself...so I borrowed a couple. Isn't it amazing? And guess what?!?!? They are still going to add on another huge tower in the middle that is even taller than the ones already there! I think whoever took this picture edited out all the cranes, because there are a bunch of them all over since they are constantly building.

This is the other borrowed picture...I think this was taken from the park across from La Sagrada Familia...there's a big pond there.

La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona was our favorite! Man this place is amazing...it's is a cathedral that was designed by Gaudi and has been in construction since 1882! It is so complex.

there are tons of cool little details all over...we did the audio tour thing and were there for a couple of hours. I totally recommend going there!

I love the stainglass...this picture does not do it justice at all,but they were absolutely beautiful!

Did I already mention that we love the audio guides?

We had the awesome opportunity to climb the tower...it is so cool!!!! This is the view from one of the towers...so this is Barcelona.

One of the reasons I love this cathedral is I think it looks like a sand castle...although I'm pretty sure my sand castles never look like that!

Jon was so determined to make it look like we were pinching this building...we almost got it.

Coolest stairways ever with a coolest husband ever in it!

This is the stain glass that I loved when I was inside. I don't know if you can tell but it is very colorful.

Okay so my parents and cousin Amanda came to Barcelona for a day to hang out with us. My dad forgot to were a hat, so he walked around with his hand over the not-as-hairy-as-it-once-was spot on his head to avoid sunburn...I though it was funny.

I just can't get over the whole tentacle thing...I really don't think I can ever eat one...my dad on the other hand gobbled this one up. No offense, but ewwwwwwww.

This is a park that Gaudi also designed. I really love his stuff!

This is all made out of stone and looks like it's being balanced....I can't imagine how it's being held up?

That is my beautiful mom...her hip started hurting, so we found some bikes to rent....man being a tourist on a bike is so fun! And your feet aren't killing by the end of the day! Totally recommend it!

My cousin Amanda, my wonderful husband Jon, and my mom.

Another beautiful view from the park.

Okay, so this guy was singing his lungs out...Elvis songs...he was singing in English, but it definitely wasn't his first language..because he was singing some real nonsense...I have a video I'll post later...It's pretty hilarious.

I thought this was the cutest mini doorknob in the world!

More of Gaudi's stuff from the park.

There were so many people around that area that I couldn't even get a picture without a bazillion other people in it.

This is also in the park....it's a really bit park......this mosaic is on the ceiling of the picture on the left. It's so colorful it made me happy.

This is what happens when we have been walking for a trillion hours and my feet hurt...I get grumpy.

This is on a street called Las Ramblas there are a lot of people posing as statues and doing other tricky stuff to get some money. This guys was our favorite! He was so amazing with this soccer ball. It didn't touch the ground for 20 min! He climbed a ladder with it balanced on his lips, put a shirt on while bouncing it on his head, juggled three with his feet! Man I wish I had this guys' ball control. I also have a video of this guy I'll post later.

This is what happens when there are only two of you...you have to take the same picture twice and then pretend like we are sitting by each other.....we have a lot of pictures like this.

And that's a wrap for Barcelona

A Much Needed Vacation-Madrid

My Dad is a Spanish professor at BYU, part of his job is taking students on semester abroad to Spain...the cool thing is that when I was younger our whole family would get to go. I was able to go to Spain when I was six and again when I was 16. I have a lot of memories even from when I was six. My parents went back a couple of years ago, but I was in the nursing program and Jon was in school and we weren't able to go....but this year we did it! Greatest vacation ever!

Mom and Dad

We left to Spain on June 14th and arrived in Madrid on the 15th....such a long flight. We flew on Air France, which was already scary just because of what just happened with the other Air France plane....and then we had about a thirty minutes of MAJOR turbulence, in which the flight attendant who had the most panicked face IN THE WORLD, ran to her seat to hurry and strap in....then continued to look up and down the isle as if any second the plan was going to go down....Jon had been reassuring me that everything was going to be okay...until we saw the flight attendant...and then we were scared for our lives. Don't worry though we made it.

So jet lag really sucks. Jon and I were determined to beat it right away...so we arrived in Spain and around 2pm and went straight to the park in Madrid called the Retiro. They have the coolest grown- up park. Okay, so I'm not quite sure if it really is for grown-ups, but we fit and it was fun. They had these twirly things that you can spin on just by leaning a certain way. You can really get going very fast!....So fast that after spinning on it I couldn't walk straight and fell into some bushes.

Next we went to an old friends house Josephina and Joseph's house to eat dinner with them and their daughter Julia Maria and her daughter Alba...is that confusing? Anyway when we came to Spain the first time when I was six, we lived in the same apartment complex as these guys and became good friends. Rachel and I played outside in the courtyard with Julia Maria everyday. It was good to see them again.

Sharon and Alex

The second time we went to Spain when I was sixteen we were so lucky to have a couple of our friends come with us for the whole spring semester. Sharon and Ruth...then Bartlett, now Rowan and Rodrigues. It was so fun to have friends with us. Anyway this summer Sharon and her Husband Bill and daughter Alex were able to hang out in Spain again. So Sharon and Alex came to dinner with us and turns out even though they can't communicate with language Alex and Alba love playing together. It is really fun to watch them interact.

This is the apartment is where we lived in when I was six. It is always very nostalgic to be there again.

Left to right: Dad, Joseph, Rachel, Julia Maria.

Alex and Alba...Mom and Zoe learning to walk (Zoe that is), my mom is pretty good at walking already.

The girls....it was so nice to see Zoe again...she is growing up so fast! She loves to try to walk now, but always wants somebody's hand...although word on the street is that she just walked for the first time last week all by herself!

It was cool getting to show Jon where we used to live and our Spain friends.

Sunday Flowers

I can probably stop putting explinations to these kinds of posts....basically anytime there is beautifullness near me...I'm going to take a picture of it and post it. These are all right outside of our house....once again I am so lucky to be where I am right now.

Another supper happy flower.

Handsome Jon.
Fields of flowers right outside my door.
Sexy Jon walk.

The new Addition to our Family

George is what we named our new camera. These are some pictures of the first day I went out and walked around Golden Gate park. I basically took a picture of everything I though was beautiful.

Doesn't that just make you happy?





Look how cute thes duckies are! They were totally just hangin' out, letting me get super close to them.




Can you see the bee? It was actually really scary taking this picture because I don't have a macro lense and so I had to get my face super close to the bee.


Once again I am so amazed at the wonderfuly beautiful place that we live in. I don't know if I've just been paying more attention to my surroundings or what....but San Francisco is so pretty!

The Shins

We went to see the Shins in Oakland with Rischel and Jon. Wow it was so amazing!

It was super crowded, but we were able to get up pretty close to the stage.

Okay so I thought at first that there was a fog machine, but no...it was all smoke. The second the lights went out everbody light up. I think that every other person was smokin' weed and blowing in our faces.
I think this picture is hillarious because I think Rischel and I were trying to take a picture of just us, but my Jon tried to sneak in and Rischel's Jon was so tall that his head got cut off. So I tried to crop their faces out, but you can still see Jon's smile.
Of Course we had to go to Cafe Intermezzo...anytime we are near Berkeley

Fred

I came home the other morning from work to this.....it was really cute. Jon is a great snuggler...so great that when I have to go to work for the night...he snuggles with Fred.

He even had his leg over him! I don't know I just thought this was the cuttest thing ever!

Diana proof

I don't know how I have so many pictures still of my birthday...I guess I have a great husband that takes such good care of me...this post is dedicated to Jon...the most generous guy I have ever known.

He got my these orchids because he said he knew how much I loved flowers and loved them to last as long as possible. They are really Diana proof because you only have to water them once a week and they are supposed to last for months! Good choice honey. I feel like this picture doesn't really do them justice, but they are beautiful in real life.

Jon made me my favorite cake...yougurt cake. It was gone in like 5 seconds...also a bunch of friends came over that night and brought more cakes and cookies and treats. Thanks guys!
Traditional birthday breakfast in bed....did I already say that I have the cuttest husband in the world? Thank goodness for bed head, morning breath, and no makeup.Thanks again Jon for all you do and for making my birthday so special that I am still blogging about it a month later! And I'm sorry your bithday sucked so much in comparison...don't worry we'll celebrate big time in Spain next week!

Feathers

These things are my new favorite hair accessories...I bought some feathers to make some of my own....but haven't made them yet...I got this and a brown one, which kind of blends into my hair color....not a bright choice on my part, from etsy. I love etsy!

Thanks for the pic Jon.

Happy Anniversary/B-day

Who had the bright idea of getting married 3 days before my birthday...oh yeah that was me. Jon has been so good to not try and combine the celebration of the two...thanks Jon. So this is our fourth year of being married....it has gone by so fast, but at the same time feels like we have been together forever. It's basically awesome being married to your best friend.

We went to the Cheesecake Factory in Union Square...which is amazing...and wanted a free cheescake so we told them it was also my b-day.
Chompin on some fries.
Jon always gets the most gigantic burgers that I have to squish down for him in order for him to fit them in his mouth! Silly Jon...he is trying to change his ways. If I can give up diet coke...you can give up your burgers!
The resturaunte is up on the top on Macy's this is the balcony view into Union Square.


Oh yeah and this totally made my day! A cat sitting on top of a dog licking a mouse...which is alive and moving....Jon made me check.

Sexy husband waiting for Muni
Birthday/Anniversary girl waiting for said muni
Most importantly.....I feel like a jerk.....today is Jon's 27th birthday......I obviously don't have andy pics yet becuase I am posting this at 3:00 in the am, but call, text, tell Jon Happy Birthday today. Come by and eat some cake around 3pm.

Farm Fresh to You

Anisha did some awesome research and found a Saturday that we could go pick as many strawberries as we could... and take them home for free!!! Good job Anisha. I forget what town this was but it's like 3 hours north of San Francisco....a small detail that Anisha forgot to mention until we were 30 min into the trip...but it was worth it!

Ben was so funny...he kept on picking the green strawberries convinced that they would rippen over a few days like bananas do...turns out he was wrong. We tried to tell you Ben. Strawberry picking is hard to do...you have to stoop over and can't sit because you are always having to move to different strawberry bushes. We picked strawberries for about 2 hours.
The strawberries were huge!
This is the farm where we get our organic produce brought to our front door every week.
Bee hives...I don't think you can see the bees but it freeked me out at first because there is a dense cloud of bees.

The boys
It was such a nice and sunny day.....mmmmmm....sun.
We ended up taking two huge bags packed with strawberries home....we had weeks of straberry ice crea, waffels, pancakes, fruit salad....oh it was delicious!

Jon's new Love

Jon bought a surf board. He has been having fun surfing with his friends. Haynie has been helping him find a board and getting it ready to ride. Thanks for all you help Jon Haynie.

I thought it was funny watching them in the freezing cold getting ready to surf....welcome to San Francisco...thank goodness for wet suits.

Rug Man

This was the kicker to the end of a great Giant's winning game...I couldn't keep my eyes off it! I really had to hold myself back from touching his fur...I mean carpet back...I mean hair. Isn't it amazing? Look at this guy and then try to tell me that you don't believe in evolution...I mean come on...he's basically a bear man.I hope these pictures do justice for what I experienced...I tried to take them sluthefully as to not offend him...on retrospect I kind of whish I would have asked if I could get a picture next to him. Don't worry Jon...I've got my wax ready...the second something like this sprouts...it won't stand a chance.

For those of you are hairy...don't be offended about my dislike of hairy back comments.

San Francisco Giants

About a month ago...on believe it or not, a SUNNY San Francisco day...we went with the Haynies, Couches, the Maxfields, and Jimmy to a Giant's game. It was super fun...especially since we won. I'll be honest the girls did a lot more chit chatting than watching...until the end when it got close then all eyes were on the field.

Kristine and Taija...and Jon Haynie in the back.

Left to right: Jason Couch (little Ben Couch on Jason's front), Brady Maxfield, Jon Haynie, Kristine Couch, and Taija Maxfield......where were you Rischel...probably being the sugar momma. We missed you.

Next to that big mit there is a slide...I really wanted to go down it...but all the little kids were hogging it!

This is actually the first time I've ever been to a baseball game...well a professional one. It was a lot more exciting than watching it on TV. The crowd is not quite as rambunctious as a football crowd though.

Don't ask...I'm obviously really happy about something.

Go D-1's

Little Ben was loving it! He is such a good baby! Jason and Kristine I'm jealous of you little mini-me.

Who Knew?

Who new that eating the skin of a cantaloupe was delicious. Well, obviously it is since my beautiful niece, Zoe, wouldn't give this one up!

Our New Study

Poor Jonjeeboy....Sometimes I just like to relax and watch tv at night....unfortunately this means that Jon can't study in the living room. I felt bad for kicking him out, so I made him a study in our bedroom. I even let him sit on Fred so his bum wouldn't hurt.

For those of you who don't know Fred is my fuzzy body pillow.

Underapreciated Underarms

Why do pits get such a bad wrap? Okay...I know they can me stinky...and hairy, but if cared for properly...they are like a third and fourth hand! I came to this realization at work the other night when I was trying to hold a bunch of things in my hands and I kept on dropping them. I ended up sticking my papers I was trying to juggle under my arms and what do you know my hands were free. Thank you my armpits...I don't know what I would do without you.

Dedicated to my pits who are now as smooth as a baby's bottom thanks to Jen Lowry's waxing skills.

Graduation from a Point and Shoot

So Jon and I combined our birthday presents and got a "nice" camera. I really hope to sign up for some photography classes at the community college. I am still basically treating it like a point and shoot camera beacuase it has the option for automatic focus and all that....I need to learn more before I start doing things manually. It takes way crisper images though than my other camera.

The day that it came in the mail I went to Golden Gate Park for a couple of hours to read the manuel and to take some pictures. There are so many crazy pretty flowers here! Maybe it because I was walking around slowly instead of doing my usual running. Ok Jessica I'm ready for some photography lessons!

Cafe Intermezzo...Berkely

Okay salad and deliciousness lovers...come to Cafe Intermezzo on Telegraph ave in Berkeley...the salads are as big as what you would feed a 5 person family.

I love the atmosphere in there...there is always a line out the door...don't worry it goes fast...oh yea and remember to bring CASH ONLY!

Jon and I shared this and we still couldn't finish the whole thing!

Diana as Jessica

You can either look at these here or on Jessica's blog...where I stole them from.
I love pretending to be Jessica....in her wonderfully comfortable bed...with her wonderfully awesome dog.

Oh Max....I love you.

Trying to eat breakfast with Max on my lap...do you really do this everyday Jess?

Okay so after previewing this blog I realized that it's pretty self-centered...a bunch of pictures of myself. The thing is I always feel so pretty when Jessica takes photos of me....so eat your heart out! You would post pictures of yourself too if someone made you look pretty.