I'm baaack...

...and with a new addition! Our sweet little Emma was born on May 14, and we couldn't be happier. Or less sleep deprived. 

Just as a recap, I thought I would cover the highs and lows (also known as our Outtakes) over the last few months.

The Good

Clearly, one of the best things to happen was Emma's arrival. 

Dave graduated from the academy and is now working in jail - his hours are kind of crazy, but he's got some good stories!

We moved! To Huntington Beach, and we LOOVE it! Taking walks by the beach and to Main Street are our favorites.

The Bad

The amount of dishes in my sink - it's getting a little ridic. Don't even get me started on the laundry.

My daughter's resemblance to Kate Goslin...

....and her already awesome, non-posed dirty looks. #getawayfromme

August and September Outtakes

Last time I did the monthly outtakes, I saved the worst for last. And I didn't like it. So this time, we're starting off with the bad news.

The Bad

Summer ended...meaning work started. So long summer!

During the Fall of 2009, I went to Jerusalem for a study abroad. Every year when fall rolls around, I miss Jeru SO MUCH. I miss the people, the food, and mostly the sense of peace I had while there. Working on getting that back. Here's a few of my favorite pictures. 

 {in front of the pyramids in egypt} 

{dome of the rock with the greatest group of girls}

{beautiful sunrise after hiking mount sinai}

Now, this next bad one isn't necessarily bad for me. It's bad for you...for our whole country. I'm worried for what lies ahead. The future leaders of America wrote these answers on a 5th grade states/capitals test.  

little mexico. for reals.

The Good

Went to Hawaii for 2 WEEKS with my family in August...and Kauai is absolutely one of my favorite places on earth.

Celebrate our THIRD anniversary - we're old! :] We went to Le Creperie (where we went on our first date) and Disneyland.

Didn't drink one drop of soda the ENTIRE month of September! 

And finally....Dave got into the academy!!! He was hired with the OC Sheriff's, and started on September 23rd. We are both so excited (and nervous)! It is six months long - lots of studying, lots of physical exertion, and LOTS of writing reports. 

Now that it's October, I can officially break out the Halloween decorations! And this picture. 

Happy October!

I'm a terrible blogger...

...but you already knew that. So let's just recap the month of July and move on. One of the blogs I read does something called The Outtakes for each month, where she lists the good and bad things that have happened for her. Here are our July Outtakes:

The Good

Spent a week with Dave’s family at Clear Lake.

We had awesome seats for an Angel’s game.

Prepped for and went to Girl’s Camp - I loved it!

Holly came home for the summer!

Planned for Hawaii with my family - on Grant’s list: hike something, pizza, cookie, sand, waves. Grocery list or vacation plans?

The Bad

At the Angel’s game, a fly ball came right to Dave - he tried to catch it while also holding a sandwich. He barely missed the ball...but successfully sent his food flying, like...

Got rained on while enjoying an outdoor movie and s’mores at Girl’s Camp.

Only went to the gym five times during the month of July....

This picture from a day spent in San Francisco. Alfalfa in the flesh.

And one more thing, which is not necessarily bad...I've noticed that all pictures of Dave and me are the same. Evidence:

so, we tried something new. 

#weareboring

January

I can't believe that January is over! This month has FLOWN by...but that's okay because I am SO excited for February - Valentine's day, going to the Santa Barbara lacrosse tournament to watch the BYU women's team play, and lacrosse games finally starting for the team I coach. 

So...before I get too excited about this next month, I'll do a recap of January!

• At the end of December, Dave got a job working for Chase Bank as a personal banker! We were SO excited for this because it meant that we got to move into an apartment! Dave's parents graciously let us live in their home for about 5 months after we moved from Utah, which was so absolutely kind of them. But we were happy to have some sense of independence again :]

• So, we found an apartment through one of my dad's clients and moved in on January 12th! It's great - two bedrooms, big kitchen (soooo much bigger than our apartment in Utah!), and it has a pool, although it has been a little too chilly to use. Here's a few pictures of it:

This is what you see right when you walk in - living room in the front and kitchen farther back.

That little doorway on the left leads to our bedroom. 

The closet that you can see in our room on the left is huge! It takes up the whole wall, which Dave was obviously thrilled about. 

The other bedroom is across from ours, and we use it as an office. In between the two rooms is a bathroom. Pretty much everything in there has a sweet 70's vibe to it, but it's my favorite room in the house because of one very special feature: the heat light. One of the switches turns on an awesome red light. I couldn't make a post about our apartment without putting up a picture of me in said red bathroom: 

I was told that everyone looks like Satan in the red light by my little 6-year-old cousin, Adam. I'll admit that the light is very flattering (ha).

And finally, a sneaky, through-the-window shot of the pool:

• I had been looking for a job EVERYWHERE. Seriously, everywhere. And I finally was hired as a Substitute Aide in the ABC School District. After about a week of subbing, I was offered a permanent aide job in an elementary school, and it is PERFECT! I am a resource teacher, but I basically do whatever the teachers need me to do. I go to all upper-grade classrooms. I needed to find a part-time job because of lacrosse, and this one goes from 8AM-12, meaning I am still able to coach! 

• Finally, Dave and I got new callings in our ward. Dave is the secretary for Young Men, and I was called as the Girl's Camp Director, if you couldn't tell by my pins :] We are both excited to work with the youth!

For the past few days, I have been in awe of how blessed we are. Writing everything down here makes it much more obvious. Everything seems to be falling into place, even though it seemed as if it never would. Doesn't it always work like that? Anyway, I've really been trying to have a more positive, happy, fearless attitude, so I'll leave you with a few quotes that have been inspiring me lately. 

Happy February!

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2012

Also...my sweet husband got me this for Christmas:

via

This journal is different from a normal one; each day you only write a few sentences about what happened. It allows you to reflect on what you did each day over a five year period. That probably doesn't make any sense so...click the link for more info :] I am excited because it is going to help me keep one of my resolutions - to write in my journal everyday. Thank you, Dave!

Sometimes...

...after an interesting week, you just need a laugh. This stuff has made me smile this week.

Dog shaming...so hilarious.

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And finally, this video. Enjoy.

Oh! And I almost forgot...my mom got me these earrings. They definitely made me smile!

Hello!

Hello everyone! I am super excited to start blogging, although I can't promise that I'll be very consistent :] I mostly wanted to begin a blog as a journal, but I also think it's a great way to keep everyone in the loop about what's happening in our lives! Hopefully I'm able to update it weekly with what's happening, things we are loving, and other exciting news.

We'll backtrack a little...I'll start when it all began: August 20, 2010.

We were married...

...went on a sweet cruise for our honeymoon, moved to Utah, and started school.

 Then we went to football games...

had more school, and kept going to MORE school during the summer. We are fast forwarding pretty quickly - next we went to Clear Lake with Dave's family and then to Hawaii with mine, where we celebrated our first anniversary.

We started school AGAIN, and celebrated our 2nd Christmas together...

Then came student teaching...

...and FINALLY...graduation!

Soon after, we did our first triathlon together :]

We are now living with Dave's parents in Southern California trying to find jobs and an apartment...and that's the past two years in a nutshell!