A Little Out Of Place

For our first weekend of the new year, Joe and I went to the Jazz vs. Golden State Warriors game. It was one of the Christmas presents I gave to Joe and it was so hard to keep it a secret. Anyway, we made a whole day out of this event. We rode the train into San Fran to do some shopping at the huge Westfield Mall and ate dinner at a delicious Mexican restaurant. Then we rode the train into Oakland for the game. (P.S. the train is SO much easier than driving! I love not paying for parking or dealing with the crazy traffic and congestion. I don't think I'll ever drive into the city again.)

Waiting for our train. My first time riding the BART!

Such a handsome husband.

Anyway...back to the game. It was a blast. Joe and I were 2 out of maybe 4 Jazz fans in the entire arena. No exaggeration. It was super awkward to be the ONLY ones cheering, but it also made it really fun. We got lots of dirty looks but that just made us cheer louder. It was a close game and the Jazz ended up pulling ahead at the very end; the won by one point. It was awesome, but we kept our celebration to a minimum so we wouldn't get beat up by angry (drunk) fans. (There was a minute when I thought we might, those fans were NOT happy.) Such a fun day.

Apparently we got to the game a little early (30 minutes...). Eventually it filled up.

This was the half-time show. 4th graders, all Asians, soooo cute & funny.

And then we came home to find this parked in front of our apartment. This is clearly a very nice Mercedes...

Nothing but classy.

Holiday Highlights

I miss Christmas. Here are a few of my favorite moments from the holidays:

• We chose to drive home to Utah instead of flying so our trip began at 6am on the 23rd. Believe it or not, I really enjoyed the drive (probably because I only drove for 2 of the 12 hours...thanks Joe!) Anyway, I thought it was really fun and we were blessed with great weather. We did have to take a detour near Reno because of a crash but it took us around the north tip of Lake Tahoe (which I had never seen) so it wasn't all bad.

This was the best picture I could get of the lake because someone refused to slow down.

•  Christmas Eve morning we went to breakfast at Little America with Joe's family - an annual tradition that I am extremely supportive of.

Little America with Joe's cousin James and his brand new wife, Chelsey!

•  Christmas Eve is also Lindsay's birthday so we always try to do a big celebration for her. My mom makes the most delicious prime rib dinner and then we all play games and laugh til we cry.
• Every Christmas Eve, Joe "plays Santa" for Elder Andersen's family party so I went along and played Santa's helper. He's such a great sport and he did a great job.

Love me some Santa...

• We slept at my parent's house that night and did Christmas morning with my family. It was an early start with so many little kids in the house but so worth it. I asked Kayden if he heard Santa during the night and he said "No but I saw Rudolph and guess what? His nose really does shine that bright! Then I saw Mrs. Claus...she came down the chimney to get the carrots for Dasher and Dancer because they're the best leaders." Never a dull moment with that boy. 
• Joe and I spent the rest of Christmas Day opening our gifts from each other, going to church with Joe's family, opening presents with them, and eating a delicious turkey dinner. We are so blessed to have such great families that spoiled us rotten.
• The day after Christmas I went shopping with Marci and my mom, a tradition we've done as long as I can remember. When I was younger I used to be just as excited for after-Christmas shopping as I was for Christmas Day. We found some pretty good deals and had a lot of fun.
• That night Joe and I headed up to Logan to hang out with our friends up there and to eat at Cafe Sabor - one of our fav's. 
• The next day was a girl's day with Jenny including lunch and pedi's. That night I went to dinner with Jenny, Kristi, and Megan and was once again reminded how much I love my friends. I love seeing them but it makes me so sad that I don't get to hang out with them regularly. I'm especially sad that I won't be around when Kristi has her baby :(
• The rest of our visit was filled with friends, family, laughing, sickness, home cooked meals, playing games, italian sodas, lack of sleep, sushi, shopping, crafting with Marci, and spending much-needed time with nieces and nephews. We finally got to see Eliza - Joe's sister's darling new baby. Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend as much time with her as we would have liked due to both of us being sick. She is so sweet and adorable though. My house was crazy with Kayden, Koby, Alta, and Mila but we loved every second of it. 

Welcome home hug from Koby. He's not a cuddler, so this is quite the gesture. Brought tears to my eyes.

Kayd. He's getting way too big :(

Kayden and Joe - they would play together all day if they could.

Kisses from Koby

Cute baby Mila. Such a cutie.

Joe's bff's.

Frenemies.

Look at the sweet face...

For the Italian Cream Sodas. I'm addicted.

The hubs. Love him.

Wedding Bells

I feel like I have so much to update everyone on, but instead I've decided to post about our wedding while it's still somewhat fresh in my mind....

Joe and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple on September 23, 2011 at 9:40 am. Yes, it was early, and that was the result of a compromise! Joe wanted to get married earlier and I wanted much later but neither of us wanted to feel rushed throughout the day and it ended up being perfect. So many of our good friends and family members were able to come to the wedding and it made the ceremony so special. Elder Neil Anderson is a good friend of Joe and his family so we were lucky to have him perform the ceremony - it was amazing. He made it so personal and meaningful. I missed having my brother Jaren there (he's in Afganistan) but he was able to call me during the Luncheon to congratulate us - that meant a lot. Thank you technology!

After greeting everyone outside the temple and taking lots of pictures, we headed over to Little America for our Luncheon. It was beautiful and Joe's mom did such an amazing job planning everything. Joe and I asked a few of our siblings and friends to give little toasts/speeches along with our parents. Everyone did such a wonderful job. It was emotional and meaningful and so amazing. The best part was having so many of the people we love all in the same room. (We showed a video at the luncheon but I can't get it to upload on here. If you want to see it check out my facebook...)

After the luncheon we had our reception in my neighbor's beautiful backyard. I've always wanted an outside garden reception and it was absolutely perfect. My parents and sister were so amazing throughout all of the wedding planning - it wouldn't have been possible without them. Marci helped (OK dominated) a lot of the DIY projects that I wanted at my wedding and I'm so lucky to have such a talented sister.

The weather was so beautiful all day and we were able to spend the day with everyone we love. It all kind of seemed surreal and I was so happy that I would finally be spending forever with Joe. We both tried to take in as much as we could but everything seemed to pass by so quickly. I could go on and on about how perfect the day was but I'll spare you from any more cheesy details. It was simply amazing and I couldn't have asked for anything more. I'm so happy to be married to such an amazing man

We have a wedding video too, but of course it won't upload either. (Again, check FB) F.Y.I. - it is amazing. My sister's friend did our engagement story and wedding video and Joe and I were SO happy with the finished products. He was so good to work with and he spent the ENTIRE day with us so he wouldn't miss a thing. His name is Kamron Jenson and if anyone needs a wedding videographer anytime soon I highly recommend him! Our photographer, Brandon Flint, was amazing as well. He is one of Joe's good friends and it was so much fun working with such a talented friend. Major perk: taking a trip to Cali in July to see Joe and take our engagement pictures. So so lucky.

Thanks to everyone who made that day so special!

Surprise!

Last week I was lucky enough to go home to Utah for a surprise visit. The trip was last minute and only a handful of people knew about it beforehand, but I was so excited. The main reason for my visit was for my nephew Kayden's 6th birthday. He had a big Star Wars birthday party planned and lots of (constantly changing) ideas for what he wanted for his birthday, but when his mom asked him what he wanted more than anything, it was for me to be able to come to his party. And who am I to deny him that? Not to brag, but I don't blame him. After all, I'm his favorite aunt :) Lucky for Kayden and myself, Lindsay was generous enough to fly me home for the weekend. Kayden had no idea and it was so much fun to surprise him and the rest of my family. I don't have a picture of us from the party because 1. I'm not the best at taking pictures, and 2. It isn't easy trying to get a 6-year-old to hold still for even a second at his own birthday party...but here are a few pictures so you can see how cute this little man is.

I love this kid so much. He's growing up waaaay too fast, especially now that I don't get to see him very much, but I'm so happy I was able to fulfill his birthday wish (mostly thanks to his mother...thanks Linds!!!) Happy birthday Kayd!

Days Off

Joe's work schedule is kind of crazy these days. For the next five weeks he is teaching Saturdays and Sundays so weekends for us are now Wednesdays and Thursdays. It throws off our week a little bit, but it actually works out fine for now since I don't have a job (and that is the ONLY good thing about not having a job yet, but that's a whole other story). Anyway, this was his first week of teaching, so after working ten days straight, he was ready for some time off and I was ready to finally hang out with him!

Wednesday was wonderful. I started the day off with a job interview. I won't get into that, I'd rather just celebrate when I actually do get a job. After that we headed into the city for lunch at Barney's - a really yummy burger place here. I'm not a huge burger person, but this place is delish and their sweet potato fries are to die for!

After lunch we went to the social security office to...drum roll please....CHANGE MY NAME! I'm now officially Kara Brooks Jeppson!!! To be honest, it doesn't feel too different because I've been telling people my name is Kara Jeppson since day one of our marriage, but it does feel nice to make it official. The whole process was quick and easy...not at all what I was expecting.

After the name change was the best part of the day: Joe and I went to the Oakland Temple! It was my first time there and it. was. amazing. It was so beautiful and I'm so lucky to have a husband that can take me there. Luckily, the Oakland Temple is only about 35-40 minutes from our house so we'll be back very soon.

Next we headed to Berkely to La Mediterranee, one of my favorite restaurants here in Cali. It's authentic Greek food and I love it so much! We finished the day off with some yummy ice cream from Ici, a little shop in Berkeley. They always have new, different flavors to try but the best part is the fresh, handmade cones with chocolate poured into the bottom. So so so good. Such a perfect day.

Halloween

I love everything about Halloween - the costumes, the cooler weather, the spookiness, and the abundance of my favorite food (candy). For Halloween last year I was still in college, and amidst deciding what to dress up as and which party to go to, I was also getting ready to say goodbye to Joe. He moved to California on Halloween day last year...talk about scary!

Halloween last year. I was a hunter, he was a deer. Turned out it wasn't as obvious as we thought it was..

Anyway, I knew Halloween this year would be very different than past years. We didn't dress up or go to any parties but I did buy candy in the hopes that some trick-or-treaters would come by! (Unfortunately, we were gone when any trick-or-treaters might have stopped by so I guess I'll be forced to eat all that candy myself...) Instead we went out to dinner to celebrate the anniversary of Joe's big move! It's amazing that a whole year has passed since then but I couldn't be more pleased about where we are in our lives now; and I'm SO SO happy that the long distance part of our relationship is over. My ideal fright night didn't quite turn out as I had planned (we didn't even watch a scary movie because someone doesn't like them), but this Halloween definitely beats last year!

Oh, and it's still 75 degrees here, so I guess I can't associate Halloween with cooler weather anymore... I think I'll be fine.

Sister Time

I have now lived in California for exactly three weeks so it was definitely time for a visit from my sister, Marci. She came out last weekend for her UEA and we had a blast! I don't know if she can actually call her visit a vacation...because aren't vacations supposed to be relaxing? With all of the shopping, eating, and touristing we did it was anything but relaxing.

On Thursday we went to Alcatraz which is so awesome and everyone needs to do it if you ever come out here. They have audio tours led by the actual guards and inmates and it is worth every penny. It also helps that I'm really into all things creepy like that. I would love to tell you all about it, but I'd rather you all just come out and do the tour yourself.

The big building behind us is the prison cell and behind the fence is the rec yard. Believe it or not, the gardens on Alcatraz are actually really beautiful.

Friday was a big shopping day. We went to the outlet mall in Petaluma and the malls close by my house; we were very successful (depending on who you ask...Joe doesn't think so). That night while Joe played Halo, Marc and I went to see Footloose. It was hilarious and cheesy but we loved it. Luckily there was only about four other people in the theater so we felt comfortable enough to do all the singing and dancing right along with the movie. Joe missed out big time.

On Saturday we went for a traditional bagel run - my dad would be so proud. Joe went to the U of U game with some of his friends so Marci and I went to the Westfield Mall in San Francisco. That mall is gigantic. For real. We were there for almost 5 hours and we only made it to about six stores.

To be fair, we got sidetracked for a while by this drag show. It was very...entertaining.

After the game we met up with Joe and his friends and went to a fancy Italian restaurant for dinner. Joe refused to let Marci leave without eating at Ghiradelli Square so we stopped there on our way home. It was delicious!

The Nob Hill Chill. So so good.

Last, but definitely not least, we ate our little hearts out. One of the best parts about living somewhere new is all of the new restaurant choices. I had fun taking Marci to all of my new favorites, and trying some new ones. I love eating out and I am well on my way to doubling my weight.

Thai Food including pumpkin curry.

Sol Food - Authentic Puerto Rican Cuisine. Hands down the best restaurant out here.

Sol Food again. Yes, it is that good.

Gaspare's Pizza. Worth all the calories.

Thanks for visiting Marc!!! This post just made me really hungry...