Monday, March 2, 2015

Birthday Story Part 2

***As I am typing this post, I'm realizing that my blog is turning more and more into a journal. I'm pretty much letting you, the world, read my journal. Kinda weird, right? Anyway, just a thought I had and I'm not sure what to do with this thought, so right now I'm going to ignore it and keep on typing.***

Part 2: San Francisco

The day after the best day ever (aka the day Caleb transformed our apartment into Harry Potter land) we went to San Francisco so Caleb could participate in the National Appellant Advocacy Competition (NAAC). I got to watch him argue against two other teams, and also got to explore the city. When Caleb wasn't busy he got to come with me, which was awesome! :) 

Thursday we flew out, landed in Oakland, used Uber to get to our hotel ( I only mention that part because I have never heard of Uber before this trip. Apparently it's the hip way to get transported around.There, now you've heard of it too) and then hurried off to the court house. Afterwards we didn't have a lot of free time because it was late, but we did get to eat here and walk down to Fishermans Wharf where we heard the sea lions on the dock. 

Friday morning Caleb and his team mates went on a tour of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. I went shopping and walked to the water again and found the Ghiradelli Factory. When Caleb got back we got real touristy and took a tour bus around the city. It was fun to see a lot of different sights and to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge. Our tour bus package came with a ticket to the wax museum so we goofed around there which was really fun. After Calebs argument that night we ate at the Pub at Ghiradelli Square. It was delicious! I ordered buffalo blue cheese mac-and-cheese and he ordered their brisket. Both were delicious! 

Caleb looked so sharp when he dressed up for his arguments. He already looks like a lawyer to me. He and his team mates got to sit in one of the appellant courtrooms in full judge garb. They look so official right?

Wax museum fun with Janis Joplin, Barrack Obama, and Michael Phelps

More wax museum fun! They do an amazing job making these!

Saturday was my birthday! In the morning Caleb and I rented a tandem bike and took it out for an hour. We wanted to make it across the bridge but the rental shop didn't open on time and we lacked sufficient time. I had wanted to ride a tandem bike for a long time so this was very exciting! It was just as fun as I imagined it, and of course, I want to do it again someday. When we got back to the hotel I decided not to go with Caleb to his argument. Once he left I headed out on foot to explore. I was three miles away when he told me he was heading back to the hotel. Luckily I'm training for a half marathon, because I ended up running most of the three miles back to the hotel to meet up with him. I had to hurry because his sweet teammate had something she wanted to give to me for my birthday and I didn't want her to have to wait around for me forever. When I got to the hotel she gave me two pieces of her Edible Arrangement and they were sooo good! I've always wanted an edible arrangement :) Caleb and I took the same tour bus around the city but we got off a few times since we had more time. We ate at a really yummy Mexican food shop,walked around the Haight-Ashbury part of town, and explored the Golden Gate Bridge Park. Once the bus had taken us across the Golden Gate Bridge we got off, walked back across, and the rest of the way to our hotel. It was right around sunset and the views were beautiful! We stopped for ice cream sundaes at the Ghiradelli store before our night was over. 



Our tacos! :) 


You may be wondering why I referred to this post as "How I walked a half marathon around the city of San Fran" Well when I got home from all my adventures on Saturday I was exhausted and could hardly move my legs. I mapped out all the places I had biked, walked, and ran. Our morning bike ride was 6.2 miles.  My morning jaunt by myself was 6 miles but could have been longer since I wandered around shops, streets, farmers markets, etc. Our evening walk was 7 miles. I decided to opt out of the long run I was supposed to do on Sunday. My butt is still feeling it. Yes, I am bragging. Sorry, but hey it's my journal... I mean blog. I can do whatever I want on here. #idowhatiwant 

I fell in love with San Francisco while I was there. Before I left, everyone was telling me how much they loved the city and how much fun I was going to have. I didn't believe them. My non-belief may have been impacted by my negative feelings towards Gonzaga for not letting Calebs team go to Washington DC for the competition instead. I'm a sore loser. But my friends were completely right. It is a beautiful city and I can't wait to go back and do more exploring!


Sunday, March 1, 2015

Why my 25th birthday rocked: Part 1

The past few days have made me feel very blessed. Blessed with good co-workers and friends, blessed with great family, blessed with a great husband and blessed with fun opportunities. (Good thing there are no grammar police around here because that was definitely a terribly written sentence)

Let's start with my co-workers/friends. 

Wednesday the 26th was the last day of the work week for me because I took Thursday and Friday off. When I arrived at work, I saw that my co-workers had brought in all the fixins for a taco bar pot luck. If you know me, you know I love Tacos! Yes, I capitalized Taco on purpose. Tacos are soooo good. These are my favorites around Spokane. These are my FAVORITES north of the Mexico border. Anyways, I love Tacos and it was so sweet of them to do that. I also received a sweet scarf and apron from them. :)


Let's move on to my husband. Wednesdays I help teach Cub Scouts and this week was our Blue and Gold Banquet. I asked Caleb to come along but he said he had school work to do so I went alone. It went long and clean up took awhile to get done, which was a bummer because Caleb kept texting me wondering when I'd come home. Finally, I got done and came home to ... well... something amazing!



Caleb, the little stink pot, had a Harry Potter themed surprise set up at home for me. At the top of the stairs on the door was taped an envelope and wand. The outside of the envelope said, "Sorry this is so late! --A.D" and inside was my very late invitation to Hogwarts and a ticket for the Hogwarts Express. 

As I entered the apartment I had to jump through the platform 9 and 3/4 and as I did so, "Lumos" was shouted and the lights turned on. 

And there was my Caleb in full Wizarding gear with a magic time turner for just in case I wanted to experience everything again ( which obviously I did! I only made him act it out one additional time).


For the next twenty minutes I got to explore my apartment and see all the fun things Caleb had set up for me. It was 100 percent magical! 



And lastly we have....

Unfortunately, I had to. Sorry Myrtle! 

****Cheesey self-reflection time****

I can't tell you how happy this made me. I love, love, love, that Caleb took the time to plan this and set it up. I love, love, love, that he knows me so well to know exactly what would make me smile. I love, love, love, him! Everyday I'm thankful for the path I was put on so that I ended up with Caleb. I'm telling you world, things happen for a reason and somehow or another, things always end up working out the way they are supposed to.

Stay tuned for part 2: Journey to San Francisco or How I walked a half marathon around the city of San Fran.