Sunday, May 30, 2010

Best Vacation EVER!!! Day 7

Day 7: HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN, JIGGITY JOG

Yesterday we came home, and it was at just the right time. There were lots of people in Cali for Memorial Day Weekend, and we're glad we weren't there for the madness. The traffic was pretty terrible between Carlsbad and Vegas, but we made it through and got home in fairly good time. We had such an amazing week together and can't wait to do it again!

Best Vacation EVER!!! Day 6

Day 6: CARLSBAD AND SAN DIEGO

We decided on Friday to go down to San Diego to the Las Americas outlet mall. We were driving south and kept thinking we should be getting close... turns out the exit we took was the VERY last USA exit. We were literally right on the border of Mexico. I wanted to take a picture of the HUGE Mexican flag on the hill, but I couldn't get a good view of it on our way back. We had a great time shopping, and found some CRAZY deals! We seriously love Old Navy now. We wanted to stop at the San Diego temple on our way back to Carlsbad, so we did, but didn't take any pictures because there were scaffoldings covering the whole temple. I'm not sure what they were doing to it, but it was kind of disappointing not to be able to have a good view of the temple. Also, the temple grounds are super small! Some of the smallest grounds I've seen at any temple. Unfortunately there wasn't really even a place for us just to sit and talk and relax, so we didn't stay long. We headed back up to Carlsbad and went to the beach. The water was really cold, but we decided to go swimming. As soon as one wave covered us completely we weren't cold anymore, and we had so much fun playing in the waves for a while! We probably would have stayed out longer but I kept getting salt in my eyes and not being able to see. We went to Olive Garden for dinner that night, which was really nice. We also had a little fashion show of some of the new clothes we got. We know how to entertain ourselves :) We went to Ralph's (which is the California version of Smith's) to get snacks for the way home and as we were leaving there was a huge flock of ducks walking in the parking lot and they would not get out of the way of our car! We were honking and people were trying to shoo them away, but it seriously took so long to get out of that parking lot! DJ wanted to just drive and hope they got out of the way and if they didn't, well... tough luck, but there were kids watching and he didn't want to scar them :)

DJ fashion-showing a new outfit
My new favorite dress! $13!!!
Another great, inexpensive outfit! Originally $60, we paid $15!!!

Best Vacation EVER!!! Day 5

Day 5: CARLSBAD

On Thursday we didn't do much. We slept in, went and bought DJ some new shoes at the Adidas outlet, came back and took a nap, and went to the beach in the afternoon. I was getting some heat rash on my arms and legs from being in the sun so much, so I wore jeans and a jacket to the beach. It was a really relaxed day with not much going on. The highlight of the day was getting a Domino's pizza and Cinnastix for $4. Yep, my husband is a crazy deal finder :)

The beach in Carlsbad

Best Vacation EVER!!! Day 4

Day 4: CARLSBAD

On Wednesday we got up and drove to Carlsbad. We stayed at a hotel that was less than a mile from the beach, which was great! It was pretty windy on the beach, so it was kinda chilly, but the sun was so hot that within 45 minutes of being out there I had burned my legs way worse than the entire time I was in Palm Springs. When we went back out to the beach that afternoon I decided not to wear a swimming suit, just relax on the beach and read. We stayed on the beach until sunset, and it was so pretty! Since there was just the two of us we had a blast setting the camera on the sand and putting the timer on and running out by the ocean to get a good picture of us both. I'm pretty sure other people on the beach were pretty entertained by us as well :)

Yep. This was my life for an entire week. Be jealous.
I think everyone who knows me knows how obsessed I am with jumping pictures :)
Watching the sunset... the background almost looks fake. It was so pretty!
DJ watching the sunset.
One of the pictures we set the timer to take. We LOVE silhouette pictures!

Best Vacation EVER!!! Day 3




Day 3: PALM SPRINGS

Tuesday was our only full day in Palm Springs, and we had a blast! DJ went golfing in the morning at a little 9-hole, par-3 golf course. I went with him and just walked around enjoying the sunshine. I got a great farmers tan :) That afternoon we went to the pool again. We mostly laid out reading books the entire day. I read a 600-page book while we were in Palm Springs. Most relaxing vacation ever? Check!



DJ underwater... with a crazy amount of bubbles
Me underwater... my bubbles were a little more controlled ;)
This was in the pond at the golf course
DJ golfing
And again.

Best Vacation EVER!!! Day 2



Day 2: PALM SPRINGS aka PARADISE

Seriously. Palm Springs is my new favorite city. It's in the middle of nowhere, so when we were driving there we kept saying, "Seriously? Where even IS this place?" And then it suddenly appears and it's so nice! We stayed at Palm Canyons Resort, and it was SO NICE! I highly recommend it to anyone, even families with kids. It was extremely kid-friendly, and also very reasonably priced. Palm Springs is a fairly small town with a lot of older people in it. There's lots of golf courses and a really cute downtown with lots of shops. The weather was beautiful (in the mid-80's) and we had such a great time! We lounged by the pool for a few hours on Monday afternoon and then took a trip to Wal-Mart to get food for the next few days, because our room had a kitchenette in it. It was really really nice not having to eat out our whole vacation.

This is a view of the resort from our balcony.... SO NICE!


Best Vacation EVER!!! Day 1

We just got back from a week-long vacation in California, and I decided that the best way to tell about it would be one day at a time :)

DAY 1: VEGAS

We decided to break up the drive by just driving to Vegas on Sunday and sleeping there for the night. We used Priceline to find a hotel, which DJ basically loves. You just name a price you want to pay for each night and submit it along with how many stars you want the hotel to be and you see if someone accepts it. I think we paid like 22 dollars to stay in Circus Circus in Vegas. I'm not positive cause DJ booked it. It was a decent hotel, but it seriously was a circus. There were SO many people there, and to get to our room you had to take the elevator to the 2nd floor, then walk through this area with lots of restaurants and an indoor amusement park to another set of elevators that took us up to our room. We got free passes for a ride at the amusement park at the hotel when we booked our room, so we rode the roller coaster, which was super fun! It was short, but neither of us had been on a roller coaster for a long time so we had a blast. We decided to walk the Strip that night because neither of us had ever done that. We went pretty early, like 7 or so, so that we wouldn't be out with the crazies that come out later. The architecture of the buildings was cool, but that was really the only cool thing. It was really interesting to people watch, which I love to do, because all these girls were coming out all gussied up to hit the bars, and honestly it was just kinda sad. Everyone was looking for a good time, but I didn't see a single person who actually looked happy. They were just looking in the wrong places. It just seemed to me that everything about Vegas was fake. We were walking back to the hotel and this man was literally staggering toward us, holding a lit cigarette, and he was so drunk that he had peed his pants and probably didn't even know it. It was so disturbing to me that I literally had bad dreams that night. I just can't imagine being so incapacitated that you pee your pants while stumbling around the streets and not know it. My overall view of Vegas was simply: sad. Sad and Fake.


DJ outside the Bellagio
The creepy clown sign for our hotel... it was honestly a perfectly fine hotel to stay in. You didn't have to walk through the casino or anything like that. It's just a good thing I'm not afraid of clowns!
View of our hotel from the Strip. We stayed in the building to the right, which was actually across the street.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

"I can do that!"

Here's the thing. I'm kind of obsessed with making things myself. I get an idea or see something in the store and think, "I can just make that!" And then I do. I can just hear my future children begging me to actually BUY them something instead of always making it. Here's my endeavors from this weekend:

First of all, I have to give a shout out to DJ for buying me this AWESOME computer for my birthday! He's such a sweetheart! I seriously love it!

He also bought me this "Skinit" for the top that even has my name on it :) Love him!
So, I wanted to get a little case for my new computer so that if I want to throw it in my purse (it's a mini, so it will fit) it won't get bashed around and dirty. I've looked online and in stores but haven't found anything I love. Naturally, I decided to make my own. I chose a cute cotton fabric for the outside and lined it with flannel to give it a little cushion. A little velcro and a few accent flowers later, I have a functional, adorable computer case!
This one I saw on Makeitandloveit.blogspot.com. I LOVE that site! This is a little garbage bag that hangs off of the headrest in my car. I HATE having scraps of garbage floating around in my car. In the cup holders, door pockets... gross. This is an easy, cute, practical fix. I got 1/3 yard of this cute cotton fabric 1/3 yard of boning and 1/2 yard of ribbon. This seriously took me less than 15 minutes from start to finish. The front is about 2 inches wider than the back so it can hold more trash, and the boning holds the bag open all the time. I can just bring it in and empty it when it gets full, and even if it gets something sticky on it (barring gum, which won't be spit directly in there) I can just throw it in the washer. It's cute and I love it! (I don't know how to rotate pictures though, so you get a sideways view :])
So I remembered I had this fabric that I bought about 2 years ago thinking it would be an adorable skirt. Unfortunately, it went undone until now. I couldn't get a good picture and it looks a little weird, but in real life this skirt is super super cute! I'm pretty proud of it because 1.) I've never made a skirt before, and 2.) I had no pattern whatsoever and just made it up as I went. It was an adventure and so much fun!

Playing with Savages

A few weeks ago, DJ's family came into town for a wedding and we had a blast! Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Ranee, Jordan, Nikki, DJ and I went down to Saint George on Friday for the wedding, and the weather was BEAUTIFUL! I have to say, the drive home that afternoon was probably the most fun I've had on a road trip. Ranee, Nik, Jord, DJ and I all piled in my car and it was such a party! Nikki quizzed us for a few hours using MapQuest (which, by the way, was like a 5th grade level :] ), we sang a wide array of VeggieTales songs, and ended the trip by jamming out to some sweet tunes. You gotta love a car full of adults acting like they're in high school :)

On Sunday we had a big picnic with the DJ's family, my family, and DJ's Aunt Melin's family. SO MUCH FUN!!! It was great to have everyone together! We LOVE when our family comes to visit!!!


Jord and Dad
AJ and Nik playing games
The whole crew hanging out at home
Sister Pyramid!!!