Europe Trip

OK so I realize this is a bit late in coming since my last blog moment was over a year ago but here goes. I thought I'd put in a few pictures of Europe and maybe a few of Christmas. I'm working with a new computer so hopefully it will be smooth sailing to upload the pictures!

On the bridge overlooking Neuschwanstein...aka Sleeping Beauty's Castle. It rained like crazy that day!
Artistic shots of the castle
All four of us in front of Hohenschwangau...King Ludwig of Bavaria's parent's home (King Ludwig built Neuschwanstein).
One of the rooms of the Residence Museum in Munich
In front of the Frauenkirche church in Munich.

Lisa, Amy and I in front of the gondolas. We look pretty good for flying and not sleeping much!
The Cecchinato family. I ate lunch with them in Padova after attending church in the Padova ward (one of my mission cities). It was so great to visit and catch up with this fun family.
The bridges...so pretty
Great artistic shot of Burano (one of the islands next to Venice)
The Dirty 30 girls...with our dirty 30 apparel before the 5 am flight. Looking chipper!

Disneyland November

My friend Eboni wanted to go to Disneyland for her birthday so of course I said yes! We brought her little nephew Micah with us. He is so adorable!!! We made the mistake of taking him on 2 scary rides first (Pirates and Haunted Mansion) so from then on if we went inside a ride he'd start whining, "Outside. Wanna go outside. Outside. Wanna go outside!" Oops! I hope we didn't ruin Disneyland for him!

Fear or excitement?!?! Depends on the ride I guess!

You gotta have a mouse ears shot!

Princess Eboni on her birhtday--complete with a crown and a handsome prince!

Snow Patrol Concert

Me and a few friends at the Snow Patrol Concert. We had amazing seats! Amy (the cute girls in front in the red sweater) got them the day the tickets went on sale.

The view from row 8!...where we were sitting!

Smiles on all our faces!

Halloween 2009

OK Just a few pictures of Halloween this year. I wore my Sleeping Beauty costume that I made when I was 16. It still fits and I just had to wear it! I bought a wig at a costume store since my hair is in the "short" phase and went to a boat dance. We cruised the San Diego harbor as we danced till 2 am. I am on a night shift schedule so I was wide awake the whole time!

"La Jolla Barbie" and "Sleeping Beauty". Yes they are both wigs!
My prince charming.

Some of my friends who went to the dance too: Front-Natalia, Wendy. Back: Aurora, April, Beth and Amy.

More fun pics...Nick, me, Bryonny, Amy, Beth, Natalia, Wendy and April.

Boston 10/2-10/10

In October a group of 3 friends and I went to Boston for a week. We stayed at a cute Brownstone apartment that we rented for the week. It afforded us a nice amount of living space and each of us got our own bed. I put the pictures in wrong so the first day is at the bottom of the post and the last days at the top. Oops. just scroll backwards for chronology. While there we rented a car and drove to many of the surrounding areas including Ipswitch, Essex, Marblehead, New Hampshire (the state), Plymouth, Cape Cod, Sandwich, Salem, Lexington and Concord. It was a super fun trip!
Yes. That is the best icecream ever. Found exclusively at PICCO's in Boston's Back Bay

Bike Tour. We went on a 3 hour bike tour that took us all around the Charles River and over to Cambridge and Harvard. It was a fun way to see the city.

Salem witches.

Not all witches live in Salem!

House of Seven Gables where Nathaniel Hawthorne got his inspiration for the book.

House of Seven Gables itself

Bunker Hill Monument. 394 stairs and yes we climbed every one. Our legs hurt for literally a few days afterwards!

Someone famous's grave. We visited a lot of graveyards...including one at night during a haunted ghost tour in Plymouth.

Louisa May Alcott House. Don't we look like 4 little women?

Historic Walden Pond. It was beautiful. The leaves were changing which was so lovely too

Boston Temple. It is gorgeous inside and out.

Dunkin Donuts. There are 83 of them in Boston. Literally one on every other corner! We had no idea why there were so many till we tasted the white chocolate hot chocolate...and then we understood. Can I get this in California?

Eating sandwiches in Sandwich!

The Mayflower II-a replica of the original. Yes we got to go aboard too!

Atlantic Ocean at Coast Guard Beach. It is apparently one of the top 10 beaces in the US.

We had a bit of fun with the camera!

Topsfield Fair-oldest fair in the States

Very cool castle that I so wanted to go in...only open on the weekends though.

Though it looks like an exultant stance, it is actually a reflexive move after getting my feet dowsed with Atlantic ocean water. My sock was soaking the rest of the day!

Pumpkin patch at Russell Orchards in Ipswitch. We went there to pick apples and they were so yummy!

Site of the Boston Massacre

Our cute apartment we rented for the week.

Our first day was rainy! Thank goodness for umbrellas and rain coats!

Trying to figure out where we are and where we are going!

Mike's pastries (previously my favorite treat place in Boston but this has now been 1-upped by PICCO's--the best icecream I've ever had!!

The start of the Freedom Trail. Lisa was our "tour guide". She loves history so was a wealth of information. We'd ask her... " and why do we care about this place?

Watching the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Hawaii!

In August my friend Brooke and I went to Hawaii. We hit Oahu and Maui. Here's just a sampling of the fun we had!







The rainbow bamboo tree! Along the road to Hana we saw tons of cool vegetation like this!

































At the PCC with our plumeria leis and head pieces

Hiking with Carol Lamberti and her son Aldo. He needed to do a 5 mile hike for scouts so we joined them. It was a beautiful hike through bamboo forests, weird trees and a hidden pool.

Snorkeling was one of our favorite activities. This is near Black Rock where we saw huge sea turtles!

Hooked up to the zipline with one of our guides ensuring safety!

Matsumotos Shaved Ice...there is a scoop of icecream in the bottom of the dish. So good!

This is the waterfall at the Seven Sacred Pools. We swam in the fresh water and played in the waterfalls.

One of the pretty spots on the Road to Hana.

Ziplining! Here we are in our gear ready to go. The zipline tour was on the side of the Haleakala Volcano and was a lot of fun!

In front of the USS Bowfin Submarine. We toured it when we went to the USS Arizona memorial.