Sunny San Diego?

Well, San Diego wasn't necessarily warm or sunny during 90% of our trip, but hanging out with my parents, eating great Mexican food and sea food, riding beach cruisers down to the pier, dressing up like members of the Mormon Battalion, touring a real-life naval sailing ship from Portugal which was built in 1915 and which was on its way to Somalia, seeing Pandas and Koalas at the San Diego Zoo, watching Shamu, dolphins, and sea lions do tricks at Sea World, getting soaking wet on the Atlantis ride (and not having to wait in line because everyone else was smarter in the cold weather), going to Coronado and pretending to me Marylin Monroe in "Some Like it Hot," watching the sea lions and harbor seals bask in the sun (during the one sunny day) on the beach, and going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead were definitely worth it, even if Sunny San Diego wasn't as sunny as we had anticipated. The only thing I could have wished for was a longer stay. I miss you mom and dad!

P.S. For those wondering, the tall tan guy in our pictures is Eric, Brian's younger brother, who we took on the trip with us. Besides sleeping an impressive amount in the car, Eric was the only one prepared with a phone charger and also went to the Padres game with Brian when I wouldn't. He was a lot of fun to have along and we are glad he came!

Uncanny reemblance don't you think?

Thumbs up for such a great trip!

Memorial Day Fun in the Sun

Finally...something interesting to blog about. After the drudgery of school and work, Brian and I were finally able to make it away for a weekend. Brian and I, along with Rich and his fiance Maria, headed down to Las Vegas for the weekend. Originally we were going to spend Saturday on Lake Mead, but those plans didn't work out. Like the resourcful people we are, we pulled together some other plans that turned out to be just as fun.


On our way back we stopped at Sand Hollow. It is a little lake by St. George, but it has some great cliffs to jump from. Problem is, you have to swim quite a ways to get to this island. It made me realize how out of shape I am. This picture of Brian cracks me up.....

Brian is about to do a back flip here, but the camera man got a little too anxious.

This is what we call synchronized cliff jumping

On Saturday we hiked up a canyon in Red Rock. The day was hot, but had a nice cool breeze. We stopped to do some artistic yoga along the way. We are so zen.

Those Vegas thugs will strip your car in seconds.....Brian never even noticed--he's such a focused driver.

Rich was kind enough to throw a rock into a stagnant pool at just the opportune moment, splattering me with moss--literally from head to toe.

Maria and I clinging for dear life.

We had a great trip--great company, great food (thanks to my wonderful aunt Shelly who waited on us hand and foot, and to my uncle Russ who even made us grilled ribs on the BBQ) and beautiful sights. What more can you ask for? Oh yeah....a pet to bring home. That's right, we collected some tadpoles on our hike and they made the long journey home with us. Brian dubbed ours Buffalo Bill---in honor of his western heritage. And that wraps up our successful memorial day weekend.

How was yours?

Finals

Brian has been preparing feverishly for finals. I am glad he is being so studious, but dropping your husband off at 7:30 and having him come home at midnight is not very fun. You'd think it might motivate me to use my time wisely and get more done.....you'd think.

Brian did have his final oral argument for one of his classes last week and he did very well, so I am just going to brag a little. He received a score of 98/100 and this is what judge Lisa Freeman had to say about it....

"Great! Your style is impecable, very calm, persuasive style. Your argument on special need was excellent. Overall, fabulous work."

I'm no English teacher (oh wait, yes I am) but I think words like "impecable" and "fabulous" are pretty strong adjectives. Way to go sweetie! Hopefully your finals go just as well.....



Just rememebr, no matter what, I am proud of you.

Dogs, Signs, and Birthday Parties

Brian and I want a dog. We can't have a dog. Solution? Give Brian's parents a dog for Christmas....
This is Oakley, a Black Lab Alaskan Malamute mix from....well, Oakley. I don't know how, but with the help of Emily, Matt, and Eric we convinced Brian's parents to take her.

Who could resist such a face?

Brian and I found this sign downtown. We got a good laugh out of it.

One of my best friends, Kati, had a Birthday this month. As is tradition we went to P.F. Chang's. Jeff, her husband, arranged the whole thing and it was a successful surprise, and so fun to see everyone! The infamous three had to get a picture together of course! Wow, I didn't realize how badly I needed to get out in the sun, I am WHITE.

Brian and I love P.F. Chang's....I'd suggest the Shrimp with Candied Walnuts, it is amazing.

The Brians of the Family

So we have two Brians in our family, and they are both quite adorable if I do say so myself!

Brian's Many Outfits and Other Random Stuff

I know that these pictures are a little late since they were taken around Christmas time, but they were just too great to pass up so I thought I'd share. First, Brian shows off his many fashionable looks for the winter season.

First, we have the "Lumberman" look. This unique and manly look is created by an oversized earthy green coat over a pair of tight overalls. Of course, a lumberman will never be found without a good pair of sturdy boots, as we can see. To top it all off we have a bright red woolen cap and an offwhite scarf. Set the model (Brian) in a rustic log cabin, and men everywhere will be clamoring for this winter ensemble.

The next look is titled "Mystery of the Orient" and brings out the mysterious side of the personality. Here we have Brian sporting a silky blue tunic, and although it is hard to see, a pair of puffy purple pants. For this outfit the headwear is essential. A sparkly purple turban topped by a red velvet and bejeweled hat makes the outfit both flashy and regal. Next to Brian you will see me sporting a similar outfit, this one titled "The Sheikh."

This was cetainly Brian's most classic look for the winter season. Brian brings Santa back with this red number, complete with jingle bells and a full length beard. I must say, Santa has never looked so good. And last, we have the "Snow Nerd." This outfit, with its short snap-button jacket, tight pants, ski goggles, and bulky gloves, is both charming and laughable. Add Brian's, I'm-so-excited-to-go-play-in-the-snow-I-don't-care-what-i'm-wearing smile and we have an outift that screams both "cute" and "nerd." I just had to share this picture because it is funny. We found this coat in.....(drumroll).....that's right, my basement. For those of you who don't know, you can find anything you want in the basement, as long as you are not too particular. Many times I have been asked the question "Where did you get that?" and with a sigh I can only reply "I found it in my basement." Anyway, this coat is just a little bit big. In fact, it is so big that Brian could zip me up inside with him.
If you can't tell, I have been writing fashion articles for work during the entire month of February.....

BYU basketball.

Well everyone this is Brian. You may have logged on expecting some story about something girly like flowers or scrapbooking, or painting....but that's just not going to happen today (actually if you wanted a blog about those things you probably shouldn't have expected Mandy to post about them either. Just saying...)

Well B.Y.U. may have lost to New Mexico, but at least we got the sweet indoor shades that proided us with entertainment prior to the game starting.

At least BYU dominated last night in Utah, which is good news in case you didn't hear. I happened to be on campus, and I saw the score and got really excited. I called one of my friends in Provo and said "I can't believe we're winning by that much!!" only to get 500 angry Utes staring me down as I slowly left the student building with all eyes on me. Sometimes being a BYU fan in Salt Lake can be tough!

Other than that nothing too much else to report. We are enjoying living in the basement of Grandma Joyce's house, and law school is, well its law school. Today we talked talked about defeasible future interests in real property. Sounds exciting right? But oh well my other classes are good and we're both getting excited for the summer which can't come soon enough. Thats all for now.