No whining in Wine Country.

Hello internet!!! Okay so Super Bowl 49 was super awesome. I decided to root for the Patriots because I had liked them since I was little. As a child, I was indifferent towards the Seahawks, but since they are often viewed as a rival to the 49ers, I don't think I'm allowed to like them. So Patriots it is!!! My awesome dad sent me the coolest Patriots shirt ever in the mail. Love it! 

We had a marvelous predictions poster going, that Sydney made and it was fantastic! So many categories. I ended up winning, not only with the most correct answers, but also with the EXACT final score in the end. 

So I got a sweet trophy. 

The finalized poster. 

The Super Bowl is always so fun for me to watch and so fun to enjoy it with good friends!

For my 20th birthday, I decided to throw a 20s themed birthday party. Genius, I know. In the morning, I went and got a blowout, then after my appointment, Sydney, Annabeth, and Madalyn (Annabeth's niece) met up with me and we went to La Encantada to window shop and then ate at Zinburger. Then we went home and got everything ready for the party! Which is a lot of stuff.

During karaoke, I treated everyone to my favorite childhood performance piece, Reflection from Mulan. For those of you who don't know, I used to sing this song on the playground VERY dramatically when my best friend and I were fighting. I was very self reflective. And attention seeking. Not much has changed. ;)

Party people. 

The next day was my real birthday. It was Sunday, so we went to church. #blessed

When we came home, Sydney and Annabeth treated me to a rainbow confetti photoshoot. It. Was. Heavenly. I love being pampered and it was so great! There are so many photos on Facebook already so I'll spare you all of them. 

The next day, Monday, was very interesting. I had a free pizza coupon from Pizza Studio for my birthday, so I headed over there for lunch after work. There isn't much parking there, so I parked next door at Jack in the Box. When I was walking to the restaurant from my car, I was looking down for a split second, and I walked straight into a street sign. This seriously made my whole week suck. I think I gave myself a mild concussion. I had a horrible headache through Friday, was nauseous, fatigued, very dazed, and overall just felt yucko. My headache is finally going away, it only hurts when I move my eyes. Don't walk into street signs, kids. 

On Friday morning, I FLEW HOME!!!!! My dad's older brother and his family (wife and two kids) live in Hong Kong. They decided to come to San Francisco/Napa for Chinese New Year, so my grandparents and I flew out as well to spend some time with them. 

I got to be reunited with my cutie pie best friend Charlotte. 

Wilbur and Dewey felt left out so they cuddled with each other. 

On Saturday, we drove to Napa and met up with the family for dinner. 

I took pictures on the drive because it was beautiful and I was bored. 

We went to a restaurant called farmstead and it was so delicious!

It was on a cute little ranch and I loved it!

My mom is a certified hottie. 

Mac & Cheese

On Sunday, we drove back up to Napa and went to Oxbow to people watch and get some lunch at our favorite, Ca' Momi. 

This spice place is the best! This is where I get my spice blends that I put on EVERYTHING. Seriously. 

I don't know what these were, but they were cool looking. 

Our lunch!

Fresh burrata with roasted veggies and bread.

Endive salad with pear and blue cheese. 

Wood-fired pizza with mushrooms and taleggio. 

Prosciutto, Arugula, and Parmesan. 

Kelly and her Uncle Keith.

Julia at Duckhorn Vineyard. 

Kelly is a cutie!!

I have to fly back to Tucson tomorrow! My trip was fun to see everyone and to meet Kelly. I enjoyed a break from reality but now it is time to get back to the grindstone before Spring Break!

School Daze

Alright so as it appears, I haven't blogged since the very beginning of the New Year! So after we got back to California, school started back up again for everyone in San Ramon and I had about two weeks left in town before break. 

One day, Kristi, Dallin and I drove over to Richmond and met up with some sister missionaries there and took them out for lunch. It was awesome because the mall was so ghetto and there were so many fun stores to go in. We rode the carousel and everyone in the mall loved it. We went to one of those Mongolian barbecue places and it was amazing!!

At some point while I was home I made some Shrinky Dinks too - that was exciting. 

One of the best parts about being home is picking up my dad from work with Dewey. Definitely the highlights of both of our days!

To celebrate my 20th birthday (early), we went to Mangia Mi. What an amazing restaurant! Love it. We of course got bruschetta. 

And I got my weird menu creation which is Chicken Parmesan on top of penne with Gorgonzola cream sauce. 

La invited the elders and some friends over for dinner and made us homemade pizzas and some Lao food. Once the elders had left and the party died down, she gave Dallin a crash course in Southeast Asian food, which was awesome because we got to try it all. 

On Sunday, it was my dear beloved friend Dallin's farewell talk. He rocked his talk so hard and I know for a fact he is rocking it in the MTC!!! Looking forward to getting his first email tomorrow. 

I came back to Tucson for school on Monday and I had a couple of days to get settled and meet our new roommate (!!!!!) before school started. Heather is awesome by the way. 

One of the most exciting things that happened to me that week was that my Birkenstocks I had ordered around Christmas came in the mail! I can honestly say that I have worn them at least once a day ever since getting them. They might be ugly, but they sure are comfortable!!

I had my first day of class on Thursday! I am taking four classes this semester and so far they are all awesome! I am in Children's Literature (which should be a breeze, because my mother happens to be a children's librarian), Math for Elementary Teachers (Part 2), a class on Classroom Methods and Instruction, and Spanish 330. 

That Saturday, I went to my third laser appointment. They are coming along swimmingly and I am having great results but HOLY HECK does it hurt!!! Still so freaking painful. Some parts of my legs are starting to hurt much less because the hair there is already gone so there is nothing for the laser to target. But I assure you, it is still VERY VERY painful. 

This past Wednesday was a very special day because Dallin entered the MTC!!!!!!! He'll be there for 9 weeks which is until March 26th! Long long time. His first email should come in tomorrow so then I'll know how he's doing but I guarantee he is absolutely loving it! 

Here, enjoy this Cambodian flag that I drew on the letter I gave him. Mine was a lot sparklier because I used glitter gel pens. 

School has been pretty normal throughout the week so I'll spare y'all the boring details. But there is a monarch cocoon outside of the SALT center so now my work days will be spent monitoring this little guy! I think we have to come up with a name. Comment name suggestions plz. 

 

On Friday after work Sydney and I played around with her new camera and audio equipment and she filmed me singing/playing guitar. That night we went to a YSA activity but there were a lot of people and not a lot of campfire space, so we went to our friend Caroline's friend's house where there was a firepit and hung out there for a while. 

Saturday morning I went to the WOW Fiesta on campus which is a book reading/author presentation for children and I read aloud to the little youngsters. I have to read to kids twice this semester so I figured I would knock out one of mine early! Afterwards, Sydney and I went to Fired Pie because we had a coupon for buy one get one. I have been to three of these "build your own pizza" places and this one was definitely my second favorite. (Sorry but Pizza Studio is still number one)

Afterwards, we went back home and assembled the poster for Super Bowl predictions, and watched If I Stay. Then today was church and normal stuff!

Until later homeboys.