Ahhh, Paradise.

Ryan hit the waves today on a surf board for the first time. It was exciting! We went with two of the other guys from his work and had the best time. Seriously, I can't think of a day better than this--we worked out this morning at our gym, walked over the farmer's market a couple of blocks from our house, ate the best peaches ever, picked up our friends, and surfed all afternoon (well, okay I was more of the camera girl...most of you know how I feel about cold water). We even found a hot tub and pool at a nearby hotel (the things you do when you're in the company of three boys...) to relax in after an afternoon in the sun.



Those are our three guys. Ryan's the one in the middle. It's practically impossible to get a photo of all three up on a wave at once!

It was seriously the perfect day. The guys were talking about moving back here next year and buying wet suits and boards. Any other takers??

The Rainbow State

Hey pals, greetings from the rainbow state and thanks for reading our blog. Erica and I have been having a great time in Northern California.

I thought you all might like to hear a little story Erica hasn't told...

A couple of weeks ago we decided to go to our favorite beach near Pacifica. Well we didn't realize it at the time, but it is actually a "clothing optional" beach and we all know what that means. Erica and I were just minding our own business when we see this big old fat naked man walking along the shoreline kind of coming towards us. (Clothing optional at this beach really just means weird naked old men) The next thing I know he's talking to me, and Erica has taken off sprinting in the opposite direction. Well he started making small talk and all I could think of was I am in the middle of some public beach talking to a naked man. Gross!!!! So I asked him why he didn't wear any clothes and if he was ever uncomfortable. He started talking about being a hippy and weird stuff like that. Anyway - Luckily Erica started calling to me from a distance and so it gave me a chance to get out of the situation. I don't think we'll be visiting that beach any time soon.

Anyway - we really are enjoying our visit to California and hope to make it a permanent place to live (Randy and Cheri have offered to subsidize our rent!) J/K. (Today we had a great ward activity and afterwards worked out at our gym, Vivre. If anyone wants to see pictures of our gym they are at www.vivrepa.com)

Work is going well

All the best,

Ryan

Wet Suits and Boogie Boards

Ryan worked hard last week and even got some overtime in. We expect the same thing this week even though he'll be working with a new team auditing a new client. On Friday night we went golfing near by with three of Ryan's fellow interns, all from BYU, and on Saturday we all went to Santa Cruz, where we spent the afternoon at the beach, went to dinner at Pizza My Heart, and found a hot tub to relax in for a few minutes at the end of the night. Ryan's intern group at E & Y is surprisingly close, and it's been fun having fun people to do things with out here.

By the way, last week we enjoyed THE nicest dinner with Dad and Grandpa and Grandma at the infamous Fenton's! We are blessed with so much love and support from both our families. We love you all!

Meet Pete

Meet Pete. He is one of our spider friends. Today I discovered him while blow drying my hair. He resides directly above our dresser, which is where I do my hair and make up every morning. It's hard to tell from the picture, but he is just smaller than my fist. I noticed him for the first time today, so I think he just barely set up shop there. (Note the web in the pic—he's not planning on going anywhere) After determining that I couldn't reach him with a shoe, I have since watched him all afternoon making sure he doesn't take a mad dive for my make-up bag. So now you've been formally introduced to our newest friend.

PS. I don't think I'll keep this post up long because the picture freaks even me out.

Happy 4th!

We love fireworks! Last night Ryan and I braved the traffic (not to mention parking!!) and headed into San Fran for fireworks over the bay. We walked around Pier 39 and then over to Ghiradelli Square, where we found a little piece of grass among the crowds and sat down for the show. We had the best night! We met up for a little while with a couple of Ryan's intern friends, but mostly we just wondered around remembering everything we did there on our honeymoon! To us, downtown San Francisco on the 4th of July was Times Square on New Year's Eve. It was full of people, performers, music, and energy!




Toward the end of the fireworks show we booked it up to Ghiradelli and were first in line for some delicious hot chocolate (though Hatch's in Salt Lake beats even Ghiradelli for the world's best hot chocolate, FYI), right before the restaurant filled with people!

What a great holiday.