Hiking in Redwood Park

This past weekend was beautiful so I decided to forget about studying and go hiking with friends in the hill up behind the Temple in Oakland. Here I am as we started out.

We picked the perfect time of year to go hiking. It was beautiful and green but the ground wasn't muddy...plus the weather wasn't too warm or too cold. Here is Jared, Erica and I along the trial.
Here's my roommates Erica and Krista and I in front of a beautiful overlook along the trail.

I took this pic of Krista, Erica and Jared ...it seems like the type of pic that should have a caption reading something like "The road of life is greater, when shared with friends"....lol. so cheese ball.

Have you ever wondered where all the goats have gone? Well it turns out they all live in the hills behind Oakland. I've never seen so many goats! There were hundreds of them in a pasture along the trail. Crazy.

It was such and amazing spring day! I love California!

Here I am enjoying the beautiful surroundings.

Here's the lake we hiked around.

We hiked along this stream for most of the way. It was so pretty.

Krista and I both ran out of water about half way, but not to worry we found this cute little drinking fountain in the woods.

As we headed back the sun shone through the trees and it was so pretty!

One last look back as we headed into the parking lot exhausted but quite satisfied after our day in the fresh air and nature!

Give me a BREAK!

So I know probably most of you are on board with the whole twilight phenomena thing. I've gotta say that I've read all the books and liked them all (minus the 4th which I thought was LAME). I also thought that the movie was quite entertaining, much better than I thought it would be. I recently have run into several individuals that thing Twilight is super lame and insist on talking about it while watching a scene from my copy of the movie (which they put on). I think this is lame.
My point in this post is not that everyone should like Twilight (I really couldn't care less) it is that in general I think it's super LAME to insist on making fun of something just because it's popular and almost everyone else likes it...if you don't like it FINE but don't insist on making it a big deal like you are so cool due to the fact that you don't like it when everyone else pretty much does. GET OVER IT! Like what you like, let others do the same, make fun of things you hate with others that hate them in privacy.
Anyway that is all I have to say about that.

Abe and Isabelle's Wedding Reception!

This past weekend I went home for my friends Isabelle and Abe's wedding reception. My sister Callie and I both ended up wearing shining shirts. Here we are looking pretty!

The flowers were really pretty!

The happy couple totally got there groove on during their first dance.

I had fun hanging out with my friends Mary and Myriah (M&M)!

Before she threw the bouquet, all the girls had to line up and dance under the brides Vail!

Then all the singles guys came up and picked up Abe and threw him up in the air. It was a really fun reception, good friends, good food, and lots of fun dancing. I'm happy for Abe and Isabelle want a great couple.

Spring has Sprung...in the land of 1 million cats!

The past couple of weeks I've been taking walks in the evening when I came home since it's still light when I get home! The flowers in our housing complex are beautiful (we have gardeners)!

They are so beautiful....

I especially love the blossoms on the trees!

These one smell heavenly!
So when I'm walking I mostly walk around my complex for safety (I do live in Oakland)...on my walks I've noticed the folks living in our complex have an unusual amount of cats. I once saw 7 or 8 cats just in our neighborhood. They always stare as I walk by as if they know I'm a cat hater. Today when I was walking a car drove past me that had an "I heart Siamese" bumper sticker since 4 of the cats I saw the other day were Siamese took a 2nd look. As the car rounded the corner and pulled into a parking spot the cats came running... a woman stepped out and said "kit...kit...kit..." turns out all those cats were hers...and they recognize her car...it's kinda gross.

Ward Spa Night!

A few weekends ago my ward had a spa night...upon first look at the poster I thought...oh it must be a RS activity. Come to find out it was for the whole ward. I decided this activity deserved further investigation, I was in. When I arrived I looked around the room to survey the possible activity options I found there was: Massage, manicures, facials, and waxing. I decided to start with nails! Courtney the girl who did my nails did a fabulous job and I started getting excited.

After nails I moved on to waxing and then facials. Waxing was very satisfying. The girl doing it used a microwaveable wax that required no strips it just hardened and you could peal it off. She did a great job. The facials were amazing as well. Here's my roommate Erica looking kinda scary with her organic honey/yogurt facial. It was lovely to sit with cucumbers on my eyes and relax. My skin felt so SOFT afterward, I even convinced one of the guys to do it with me!

Last I went for a massage...provided by young men in my ward. Honestly I thought It was kinda awkward but the effect overall was satisfying. It was an amazingly relaxing way to end my week.

Here's my eyebrows after waxing...looking good.

My nails after my manicure!

My thumb even got a little flower, so cute.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

As many of you know I'm a really big fan of St. Patricks day.
It's one of my favorite holidays (2nd probably only to Christmas).
Here is my reasons:
-I love that it happens in the spring, just when it's getting warm and you want to be out in the sunshine and everything is green and growing!
-I love that you get to dress up!
-I love it because there is no stress associated with this holiday, in that you don't have to buy gifts or throw a party or worry that it's coming up and you aren't prepared.
-I just love it.
This year I loved my St. Patty's day outfit so I thought I would post some pics.

I really like this one because my pose looks kind 80's.

Here's a close up of my tights with shamrocks on them! Man I love st. Patricks day. Hope you all had a wonderful Day!

Sometimes thing fall into place!

You know every once in you have one of those days where things just seem to go right? Everything falls into place. I got up late because I was soooooooo tired (I hate adjusting to daylight savings by the way), but ended up getting to school in a timely manner and having time to pack my lunch. In Anatomy I understood everything and when we went down to lab was able to identify the muscles we learned. During lunch I hung out with friends and got some school work done. After school I went to do some errands. I wanted to go to a real grocery store (these are few and far between in this area...I'll tell you about that another time) so I drove to my nearest grocery store where I knew there was also a drug store where I could maybe copy I key that I've been meaning to copy for months...so I drove over and walked in and there it was, right in the entrance, a key making place where the guy was just finishing up with a customer just in time. He copied my keys in a jiffy and I was on my way. At the store they had several things I wanted on sale and I got the last one of one of my desired items! When I got home the weather was beautiful so I went for a walk. When I got back to my apartment I got ready for institute and actually looked cute. Our lesson at institute was entertaining and spiritually uplifting. Afterward I hung out and felt I felt comfortable, like I knew people I even flirted a bit! Ahhh life is good.