HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Keith and I went to a Halloween party last night with some of his friends from the law school. Keith went as a swashbuckling pirate (in an outfit that slightly resembles Jerry Seinfeld's puffy shirt incident). My favorite part is the stick-on mustache.














I went as a sorceress (no, not a witch - that would be too unoriginal!). While this costume might not win a prize for most creative, it did fulfil a childhood dream of mine; not having to incorporate a coat or umbrella. When I was little I hated having to cover my pretty costumes with a coat and balance both my candy bucket and umbrella. California is a great place to celebrate Halloween!

Six Flags Family Reunion

Keith, Jacob, Sam and I all met last weekend for a quick weekend trip to southern California. It was about a four and a half hour drive each way for all of us (except for Sam) to meet in the middle at Six Flags. It was great to be together again.









We had a great time together. The first day at Six Flags was super crowded. We rode 3 rides in about 8 hours. It was bad. We spent a lot of time in line. However, on the second day, we got through the lines in about 20 minutes each. It was much nicer.








It was "Spookfest" at Six Flags, so the whole park was decorated with giant spider webs and pumpkins. At night they pumped fog into the walkway and there were roaming zombie and monsters out.









There were also cool shows. We watched 3 guys ride their motorcycles in this giant cage all at the same time. I've never seen that in person before. It was impressive. And a little crazy.

I took this picture after we had been standing in line to ride Superman for over an hour. We were about to go into Superman's lair, where you board the ride, and I wanted to take a picture before we got on. Little did I know that it would be several more hours before I'd ever leave Superman's lair. The ride broke down for a few hours while we were stuck inside (or I assume so, since they never made a formal announcement) and there didn't seem to be any way out. We stood inside the fake-ice building forever before we got to go on the ride. It made me nervous to go on a ride that had just been broken, but I figured I'd feel even dumber for standing in line for hours and not going on the ride. So we went, and we survived, and it was awesome. It was so fun that we decided to ride it again. Thankfully, the second time we only had to wait for 20 minutes. 

This is the ride we waited three and a half hours to go on - and it lasted about 30 seconds. (Notice it is pitch black out now.) We were strapped into a car that got up to 100 mph in 4 seconds and then shot straight up into the sky before doing the same thing in reverse. At the top of the vertical ramp you get this amazing weightless, flying feeling. That little blip at the top of the ramp is Superman himself.

After all of that waiting in line Keith and Sam discovered that they could have just come to the gift shop to meet Superman.

My 28th Birthday!

Keith and I celebrated my birthday today by taking a day trip to San Francisco. It was a wonderful, beautiful day. This is the view from the Bay Bridge driving into the city.

We ate lunch at my favorite restaurant in San Francisco - The Cliff House. Lunch was incredible as usual. I had the "macadamia nut crusted halibut" and Keith had the Ahi Tuna. This is the view from our table. 

After lunch we went out to the deck behind the restaurant to enjoy the view and sunshine. I love this picture, but I can't help notice that my "squint wrinkle" is much deeper now that I'm 28! :) 

After lunch we drove to downtown San Francisco. We enjoyed the sunshine and walked along the waterfront to Pier 39. It was such a beautiful, warm day. It was like having a summer birthday - like I'd always wanted as a kid. 

We got an ice cream sundae and hot chocolate for dessert. It might seem like a strange combination, but I highly recommend it to any chocoholic. It was a great end to my birthday trip to San Francisco. 

Becoming Californian

Keith and I moved from Seattle to California on August 13th. Here are some of the things we've been doing since the move. 

We took this picture only minutes after walking into our new apartment - 30 floors up. We enjoyed the view for a while before going to a hotel for the night because our belongings weren't being delivered until the next day - due to a completely disasterous situation with the moving company. I was just glad our things showed up at all. 

This is how things looked when we were done bringing our things in the next day. So much for the view! :) 

This is the view from our new bedroom. The sunrise is spectacular coming up over the Berkeley Hills and campus. 

Once we were all moved in we had to become official California residents (scary, I know!). That meant new driver's licenses and license plates for the car and motorcycle. We spent about 4 hours at the DMV to get everything done. Keith and I both only missed 1 question on our tests and were glad to have this over with.

This is the view I see most often. This is the view of campus from the window of the Scandinavian Library where I study and work. I spend almost all of my time on campus in this library. Almost everyday is as sunny and beautiful as it looks in this picture. You can't beat this weather. 

On Memorial Day we decided to take a mini vacation. Unfortunately one of my professors decided to hold class on the holiday, so we didn't get started on our vacation until 4:30. Once I was out of class we drove over the Bay Bridge into San Franciso and across the Golden Gate bridge to Stinson Beach. Fortunately we had plenty of time to enjoy the sand and sun while we watched the surfers ride the waves. 

...but we decided against going for a swim! 

Our new ward meets in the multi-stake center next to the Oakland Temple. It's a beautiful place to visit every week.

We went to our first Oakland A's baseball game with some friends of ours from school. It was our first time cheering for a California team. They lost, but we had a great time. 

Since it was "fan appreciation night" they let everyone come down on the field after the game and watch a fireworks show. It was fun to see the stadium from the player's perspective. 

The fireworks were amazing! It was like a full 4th of July show.