Matt's Big Day

Matt started his Orientation this week. Big day. He'd had a hard time sleeping the night before and had to get up once to get a brownie - cute. However, he did manage to wake up and set off on a big bad dental adventure.

Before Orientation:

After Orientation:
Needless to say, he was a little tired :) He came home and caught up on those Zzzz's he'd missed the night before.

The Ocean!

(Sorry about the little naked boy...I was trying to take a pic of the pier...but, our excuse for everything...It's California.)

The best thing about where we live is the beach! We love it. We can't get enough! Beach volleyball, walks on the beach, the tide pools, the sun, and the sand. We still feel like we're on vacation, but the more days we spend here, the more we realize that this is where we're going home.


Sunday afternoon we took a trip with our pals Christian and Nicki and Jared and Mary. It was great fun. It was our last day before the boys started orientation. They were a little nervous and anxious, but just plain excited for the most part.

Bad Day to Bleed Blue....Regardless of the Shade

Statement: We're Cougars, first and foremost....then Bruins. We bleed blue, two shades now - powder blue and classic cougar blue. Saturday we bled a lot. Both teams got slaughtered. After hearing where our loyalties lie, our friends Jared and Mary invited us over to watch the BYU game. After listening to the season opener in our camp chairs surrounding the computer, seeing the cougars play live on TV sounded amazing. However, I must say that having the voice of Greg Wrublle ring through our new place made it feel much more like home. I mean even the commercials for Utah's own Grandma Sycamore's bread made me feel back in Utah again.


Anyways, we watched the game and cried. We couldn't hold on to the ball, and Airforce could. It was as simple as that. Sad day.

We hoped the day would improve. Surely both the Cougars and the Bruins couldn't let us down....
We set off for the Rose bowl. Of course...we encountered LA traffic.

It took 1.5 hours to get to Pasadena. I could have made it from Bountiful to Provo and half way back in that time. Alas, we made it.


But as we entered the city of pasedina , we began to notice something very odd. All the streets were residential and they were all closed. Signs were posted on every lap and power pole that no parking was permitted. Everyone is essentially forced to park in the General Parking lot which is really a golf course and pay and rediculous sum of 15.00 to park. What a joke. We didn't bring that much cash. We had to go find a grocery store, get buy some gum to get cash back, and then drive back to the Rose Bowl. Once we found parking, and managed to actually get in (you have to enter gate C if you're a student). We were amazed.


The Rose bowl is awesome. It is huge - it seats 91,000 people! Aside from hearing more swear words and crude comments and losing miserably, the game was fun. Football....there's just something about it. Even if you lose...you still love the game.


Now...Cougar football is even more magical than college football in general. Parking doesn't cost you an arm and a leg - you can park on the streets. People cheer instead of cuss. The fans cheer on their own and cause the stadium to quake. The stadium is a sea of blue and always full. And, last, but not least....Cougar fans actually went or go to BYU. Long Live Cougar Football!

Welcome Home :)

I have been amazed by the warm welcome we have recieved here. I feel like everyone has greeted us with open arms. We feel SO blessed to be in this ward. After talking to Lex and Todd (Our professional school advisers), Matt and I came prepared to invite people over ASAP and start making friends. Well, we've hardly had a chance to invite people over because everyone else has been so gracious and invites us over....we hardly have time to reciprocate! Cookies...Dinners...Rootbeer floats...Game Nights...Beach Volleyball...BYU games...Beach runs...etc. Can I say again how blessed we are! We have an amazing ward! Everyone is friends. It's like being in a small town - (sounds crazy and ironic since we live in LA, but hey...) everyone knows everyone. Everyone helps each other. Everyone cares for each other. It's simply wonderful.

We did sealings in the LA temple with Christian and Nicki Hagge and another couple from the ward. It was a fabulous experience. We headed for Malibu to explore some tide pools.


Combination of the Hagges and the beach = good time. We found a clam with a suspicious looking projection, hermit crabs, a lobster in pieces - poor fellow, some cool shells, and some sick surfers. It was so fun to get out and enjoy the beautiful parts of this new place we call home.

Locked Out!

After our adventure driving through LA traffic in a 16foot Penske truck with a trailer on the back, backing it out of a one way street we accidentally turned down in an attempt to turn around due to misguided google maps, and dropping off the trailer where Matt got his shirt filthy and ended up wearing it inside out for the rest of the day (very stylish), we made it to our new home. It's cute. It's empty, but we LOVE it. There's a lot of natural light due to the big windows. We have an extra bedroom. I have my own closet and part of Matt's...what could get better than that? We'll maybe some furniture, but we're cool for now.

After exploring our new apartment, we went to find a parking spot for our big truck - a difficult task. However, as luck would have it, another moving truck pulled away and left us the perfect spot. I stood in the road to save it and we parked our lil civic there too to hold some space. Matt ran a few blocks to get the Penske. As he pulled up, I pulled our car away. Boom. Pretty slick, eh? Well, it was until we tried to open the back of the truck and realized we had lost the keys somewhere in all this slickness. We spent the next hour with our adrenaline pumping, searching for the lost keys. Some guys from our new ward were going to help us unload. How were we suppose to unload, when we couldn't even unlock the back of the truck. We looked. And looked. And looked some more. No success. Right when we were about to call it all off, as I ran by the road, there were those sneaky golden keys, taunting me in road where we had looked at least five times before.

We then were greeted by 5 wonderful guys who helped us move-in. We were done in like 45 minutes. AMAZING. However, we did play rebels and ended up pulling our truck into the complex, right outside our apt. Luckily it was after hours and we didn't get caught.

We were hot. We were sweaty. (We hadn't yet figured out how to turn on our AC). We were hungry. We laid on our backs outside the apt. Magically, Christian (A. one of the guys from the ward who helped us move in B. a first year dental student with Matt C. Now one of our dear friends) showed up and invited us to dinner. Wow. What a blessing. We joined Christian and his wife Nicki for dinner and that was the beginning of our already fabulous friendship. There's just some people you really fit with. Christian and Nicki are that for us. We love them. They warned us not to shop at Walmart - people get shot there. They also warned us not to park the Penske on the street overnight - they'd be unjustly given a ticket.

So, we then set off on another mad rush to deliver the Penske at a 24-hour drop location. I had my first real driving experience in LA. I didn't like it. No one signals. Everybody cuts you off. People go when it's not their turn. It's nuts. I need be be more aggressive. But how aggressive can you be when you're following a 16ft Penske?

We hit our air bed and crashed for the night....


The next few days were spent moving in.... and chil-laxing in sweet camp chairs saving space for the couch we'll get someday.


Explored the Dental School....

And the Gardens...

And found the institute...Matt is taking an early morning institute class for spiritual enlightenment and a free parking pass :)

Oh....Getting settled!

California...Here we come!

After a detour to pick up my letter of rec in Payson, my flood of tears became only a mere occasional drizzle, and the road trip began! Singing, joking, eating, crosswording,and making fun of small-town names-ing, made the drive enjoyable. We were off, off on our very own adventure on the open road.

We'd never seen so many big rigs...They dominate the road.


One of the diesels honked at us...we couldn't figure out what he was honking about. We pulled off an exit. The tires were full. The back of the truck was closed...hmm... We heard a clanking noise once we got back on the freeway and pulled over again. It was the gas cap.
We stopped for dinner in St. George and shared some fabulous Cafe Rio - everything tastes better on the road.
We spent the night in Mesquite. It was the best 18.00 hotel we'd ever stayed at. Clean. Safe. Comfy.
We drove through Vegas...

The California desert... (Yes, We even saw a Mirage like in Fifle Goes West!)


Through the brown, dry, wasteland - If anyone ever thought Utah was brown...
Southern California is only green by the coast.


Through the smog... (Yes...we now live in that brown mist - the pic doesn't do it justice)

To our new Home! Los Angeles, California!

We made it. We're here! And we're gonna LOVE it!

Pack it in the Penske

I never thought that after four months of limbo phase, I'd be begging for more of it. All of the sudden, it happened. It was time to move, and time to say see you soons. We played with Jalyn and Stacy on Saturday night. A mix of Slurpees, Brian Reagan, and some youtube manufactured rape rap made the night unforgettable. As we drove away, I cried all the way to the Orem exit. It has been so wonderful having Stacy Stink so close for the past two years. Birthday celebrations, meals on wheels, dining festivals, sleepovers...memories I'll always cherish. To complicate matters further Jalyn just arrived in Provo as we were leaving. What bummy timing.


Tears at Grandma Balles, Tears during our Father's back to school blessings, Tears sending Brett off to school, Profuse Tears while hugging my dad, Tears while holding my mom, Tears pulling away in the moving truck, Tears while squeezing my sister...Yes, my eyes are perma-swollen by this point. I no longer have blue eyes. They've been red for the past week.

Matt and I rented a Penske truck for the move. I think Matt is very courageous for driving it. The very thought of driving something that large and pulling a trailer terrifies me.

Anyways, we loaded the truck at Mike and Becca's. Ivan and his friend Charlie were fascinated by the big truck.

They loved stomping in it,

knocking the D-rings like door knockers,

and walking down the ramp which later evolved into running down the ramp.

We are SO blessed to have such amazing family. My Grandpa Thacker came down with my dad to help us load. Mark, Parker, Conner, and Hannah also arrived. Of course, Mike, Becca, Ivan, and Jack were already there. We have been overwhelmed over and over again by the kindness and generousity our family has shown over and over again. Pizza, cards, hands to lift boxes, surprises in the moving truck, etc. So much love...

Now, we're ready to roll!