HapPy HoLiDayS

For the Thanksgiving holiday I stay in California instead of flying home.  This year I spent Thanksgiving day having dinner with Doug's family.  I always end up making my own turkey for Thanksgiving so I can have leftover turkey sandwiches.  I also made a homemade apple this year and ate the whole thing myself, it was that good.  The next morning, Doug and I ventured out into the madness of the black friday sales and ended up coming back home because it was absolutely insane out there.  We got back up at 5am that morning and ended up getting everything that I wanted but without the hassle of the lines and all the people. 

Thanksgiving Dinner

Black Friday Buys

Homemade Apple Pie

 We didn't get out of school until the Dec 22, which is typically late but considering I had the week after off it was extrememly nice.  I flew home early on Friday morning, so early that I had to ask the security guard at the airport if I could get through because I had a flight at 6.  She must have been in the holiday spirit because she let me through, otherwise I think I would have missed my flight. 

I flew into the Salt Lake airport only to catch the Salt Lake Express to take me to Idaho.  Mom and Dad picked me up at the gas station that it drops you off at and to my suprise Teresa had come into town and brought Niya.  What a nice surprise!!!  The whole family was home again for Christmas and it was really nice to see everyone.  On Christmas day, we waited for Teresa, John and Niya to get to the house before we opened presents.  It was so cute watching Niya, she was just trying to figure out what was going on.  Later that evening, we have our traditional Christmas dinner with my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Bob.  We usually have it at their house but decided to switch places. 

I spent a few days hanging out in Blackfoot, and then made my way over to Burley to spend a night with Teresa and John.  Mom then took me to Twin Falls, so I could visit with Allison and Ryan.  Allisona and did some shopping.  I got some really great stuff and a cheaper sales tax rate.  I wish I could have spent more time with everyone.  I went to Boise on Friday and spent the rest of my time at Mama Jo's house.  I didn't have a car which was different but found a way to get me one to drive.

For New Year's Eve, I hung out with Erin and Greg.  I went over to her house to visit and then went up to the Boise foothills to another one of her friends house.  We were out by the bonfire looking out over the Boise Valley.  It was so beautiful and peaceful up there.  After midnight struck, we left and I went home to bed.  Later on that week, I met with friends to visit and have dinner, and I can't forget that I had to walk CJ and Marilyn to school. 

As I was packing to leave, I was extremely worried that my suitcase was going to be too heavy since I was bringing back more than what I came with.  I had 2lbs to spare and had to stuff clothes in another bag to make it all fit.  The break was nice and long and I had a really enjoyable time.  I hope that 2012 can bring more good times like 2011 did.

she's rolling over

Niya and her pillow pet

Christmas

Opening presents

Niya got Dr. Suess books'

My favorite girl

Me & Allison and our matching headbands

Me & Ryan

Happy New Year
Me and Erin

BSU vs. San Diego State

So I was debating on whether I wanted to go down to San Diego for the BSU game and asked Lovern (a guy I work with) if he wanted to go.  So we bought out flights and bought game tickets and decided to head down.  We stayed with his mom who lives in Cornado, so we didn't have to pay for a hotel room.  We took Friday off from work and flew out on Thursday night.  We went shopping on Friday and stopped by some Brewery that Lovern wanted to stop at.  On Friday night, I met up with Christina and had dinner at an amazing Italian resturaunt.  We waited for an extremely long time but it was so worth the wait. 

On Saturday, we went down to Randy Jones Sports Bar and Grill to enjoy some pre-game food and watch football and enjoy the company of other BSU fans.  We then rode the trolley down to the stadium so we wouldn't have to worry about parking.  Our seats were really great and we were around other BSU fans so that made it nice.  BSU ended up winning the game and afterwards, I went down to field level to slap hands with the players.  I also slapped hands with Coach Peterson, I was kinda start struck for some odd reason.  I even got a photo opp with one of the players that I knew as well. 

On Sunday, we went down to Lefty's Chicago Pizzera.  Lovern is a huge Bears fan and they just so happened to be playing the Chargers.  So we went down there to watch the game and enjoy the Italian beef sandwiches.  The Italian beef sandwiches were pretty awesome.  I wanted to try more but the sandwich filled me up so unfortunetly I didn't get to experience the Chicago style pizza or enjoy a Chicago dog.  I had a really great time only to come back an enjoy a week off for Thanksgiving break.

Italian Beef Sandwich

Bears Fan at Lefty's

Pre-Game meal @ Randy Jones Sports Bar & Grill

Team coming out on the field

Gettin ready to tear up my Italian Beef sandwich

HaPPy HaLLoWeen

I usually don't dress up for Halloween but I was inspired this year to do it and so I decided to go back in time and be a chic from the 80's.  I had Teresa make me the tutu, I made the shirt with puff paint, bought the rest of the stuff and even had my hair crimped to top it all off.  The kids at school totally loved my outfit and even told me that I looked like a grown up teenager!!! haha.  Lovern was "White Goodman" from the movie Dodgeball.  In class that day, we had a class competition in dodgeball so his costume was fitting. 

Cal vs. USC

So a guy I work with asked me if I would be interested in going to the Cal vs. USC game.  I jumped at the opportunity at going.  I've always wanted to go and watch Cal play and they just so happened to be playing USC.  Since Cal's field is under construction, they are playing at AT&T park, where the SF Giants play.  So I went with Andrew, who is another guy I used to work with because he loves watching Cal and knows his way around San Fransico better than I do.  So we rode BART and then caught MUNI down to the stadium.  We had awesome seats, however we were behind the USC band and by the end of the game I was really tired of hearing them play. 

a ViSit FrOm bAcK hOme

Erin and her sister Chelsea came into town to visit and take care of some personal business.  I took a day off from work to go to the doctor because I got bit up by some bug at school and I wanted to make sure that I wasn't allergic to anything.  It also happen to work out that I got to enjoy the day off as well with Erin and Chelsea.  We went to IKEA and other shopping stores and then had a late lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen. 

The next day we went over the San Francisco early ad walked down the Pier and to the wharf.  On the walk back more people were out so we took a detour and walked off the main street and found ourselves deep in the shopping area.  I was in heaven with the Ross store in SF, there were rows and rows of size 10 shoes, which in other Ross stores, I don't have that many options.  And oh the rows of purses!!!!  Then off to a couple of other stores and then off to some Brewery that Erin wanted to go to.  It felt like we walked 5000 miles, but in reality the total trip that we walked was 9 miles.  I had an enjoyable time but damn my feet were hurting on th way home as well as the next day.

Raiders vs. Patriots

National Anthem by Brian McKinght

me & Dougie enjoyin the game

Kickoff with another sold out stadium

Tom Brady

The following week the New England Patriots came into Oakland, and yet again this was another team that I wanted to see.  It was another sold out game and the weather was awesome.  The week before the weather was rainy and overcast, so it was nice to enjoy the game in the sun.  The Raiders were doing a great hanging in with the Patriots, but with the interception and penalties it killed the Raiders going into halftime.  The Patriots came back out after halftime doin what they do best and ended up winning the game.  I still had a great time even though they lost.

Raiders vs. Jets

Mark Sanchez

Tailgaiting in the parking lot

Sold out stadium

Enjoying the game

Kickoff after Raider touchdown

First home game of the season for the Raiders against the Jets.  I wanted to go to this game because former BSU player Kyle Wilson plays for the Jets.  It was an awesome game with great seats, great company and an added bonus with the Raiders winning.