3 Years Married Baby & Our First House

Hmmm, it's been a while since I wrote on my blog. Today marks 3 years since we've been married. Those years sure flew by so fast. And this year too has gone by fast too. Can't believe it's going to be May already.

Since moving to California, we've been staying with my in-laws so that we can save up money for a house. It's now been eight months living with them, and we finally found a house. :) I'm real excited to finally move into our first house. However, the process of finding a house was really frustrating. Not only are the houses here very expensive, but trying to find a house that's decent for the price you want was a little aggravating. We're still in the process of acquiring the house. It looks a little shabby, but it's perfect for us for right now (pictures to come).
I've grown to like Simi Valley. It's beautiful (except for the summertime when everything is brown) and quiet. Since coming here, I've met a lot of wonderful people. Though, I still miss Utah and my friends.

(Awesome ladies of Simi Valley)

The Little Car that Could

(Kenzie)

This past Tuesday, September 22, Brad flew to Utah to get our other car, Kenzie that got stuck in Utah when we were making our way to California. The mechanic got it fixed and Brad was able to drive it all the way to Cali. Let me start at the beginning of this ordeal:

We left Utah for California on Monday, August 24, 2009 at 8am, right after I got off from work. I was dreading the long drive to California and it was well-warranted. Since we didn't have any furniture, we were able to fit all of our things in both our Hondas. Brad led the way in our old Honda, Kenzie, and I followed right behind in our Honda Fit. The drive went smoothly and everything seemed alright, until I noticed Brad exiting off the freeway into a rest area just past Nephi.
I didn't think nothing of it, thinking that he just needed to use the bathroom. When I parked right beside him, I saw that he had the car hood up. And then I thought, "Oh crap." Our worst fear had become a reality. Kenzie was overheating and we weren't even out of Utah. Brad met a car mechanic and he was able to inspect Kenzie and gave us the bad news that there was no way that we were going to be able to drive Kenize all the way to California in that condition. The only thing we could do was to try and drive Kenzie to his Grandma's who lived in Spanish Fork. And that was all the way back from where we first started (well, sorta. We started out in Orem, but close enough). I was very frustrated at this thought.
We carefully made our way back and his Grandma graciously allowed us to dump Kenzie in her driveway. I was sad leaving half our things in Utah, but what else can we do. Well, we could've stayed and tried getting Kenzie fixed, but I had a job interview to get to on Wednesday (which I was lucky to get at short notice). Luckily for me, Brad kept my spirits up and stayed positive the whole time.
I guess it was kinda a good thing (for me at least) that that had happened because I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the car ride without Brad in the car with me. He was really sweet because he drove the whole way and didn't once complained. We did stop in Mesquite and stayed the night at Virgin River Hotel. We finally arrived in California Tuesday night, August 25, 2009.
Being from a small island and never experiencing long car rides, it was really a whole new experience for me. It was the looooooongest car ride of my life. For one thing, I'm used to taking the plane to get to far places. What would have only taken an hour plane ride to Vegas took 6 painfully long hours of just sitting in the car. After arriving in Cali, I thought to myself that I was never ever going to do something like that ever. But of course, the reality still remains that it's the cheapest way to get to places. And that sucks for me. At least I got to see lots of cool scenery and lots and lots of desert... :)

Fourth of July at Stadium of Fire

Our Fourth of July was spent at the Stadium of Fire. It's a huge celebration that takes place every year in Provo. Every year we've enjoyed the fireworks from outside of the stadium, but this time we wanted to experience it from the inside. This year they had the Jonas Brothers performing with Glenn Beck as the host. It was truly a spectacular show, though we didn't care for the Jonas Brothers and the high-pitch screaming from all the little girls. Brad and I had to plug our ears the whole time the Jonas Brothers were on stage. Despite that, we thoroughly enjoyed the fireworks display.

Our Cat Companions, Frank and Cain

Brad and I have moved in with Uncle Dick and Aunt Anna in their nice home in Orem. We moved in around May 30th. We initially moved in so that we can watch grandma Jacob while they were away with Court and Matt on their month-long European vacation (yeah, wish I could that. :) one of these days.) We thought that we were finally moving for good to Cali at the end of June, but Brad's start date with Grant Thornton got pushed back to October 19. So, Dick and Anna were kind enough to let us stay with them until September when we would be finally moving.

While they were gone, we had the pleasure of having two cats as companions, Frank and Cain. Frank is Anna's cat and Cain is Jason and Bethany's cat (they live in grandma's basement). It's been fun to have such affectionate and playful cats to be around with. Here are our cat friends:
Frank likes to be around Brad; he esp likes helping Brad with his studying.I thought it was funny how Frank like just lying on Brad.This was especially funny to me. Both guys watching TV. Look how tubby Frank is.
Meet Cain:

He's such a funny cat. He likes to be in tight spots and he'll try to attack you from there; under couches and behind doors.
And like Frank, he likes to be with Brad.One of the cutest things he does is attacking his own tail. He reminds me of a dog. Another thing is when you're gone for a long time, he's super happy and excited to see you. He hugs your legs, rubs his head on your feet. And when you sit down, he climbs on your lap, puts his head under your hand, puts his paws on your shoulders, and then looks you in the eye as if to say, "Why'd you leave me?"

My 24th Birthday

I'm 24!!! My birthday, which was yesterday, was spent picnicking and hiking with Brad in Provo Canyon and having dinner with some of our friends. The weather was perfect. I thought it was going to be a rainy day, because thursday and friday had threatening storm clouds. Luckily, Saturday was perfect. Not hot, like it usually is here in the summer. There were clouds (not rain clouds) that covered the hot sun while we picnicked and hiked. Brad had gotten us a huge subway club, chips, fruit, and best of all, a little oreo chocolate cake. It was yum. The best part of my birthday was that he got me a laptop that I've wanted for so long. My laptop that I got my sophomore year in college died on my last semester of college. It was really sad. So after 2 years without a laptop, Brad finally got me one. I wanted an HP laptop, but a Toshiba works just as well. :)After our picnic, we had dinner at Sam Hawk (my favorite restaurant; it's Korean, mmmm) with my best friends, Ana & Erin, and some of our good friends (Brad's old roommates and their wives), Jacob & Shelly and Joey & Tyla.
All in all, it was a good day. :)

Visiting cousin Tau Jr. aka Kiuga

I finally got to meet up with my cousin Junior. He moved to Clearfield, UT (an hour 15 min drive from Provo) to attend Job Corp. He'll be graduating this November. The last time I saw him was 6 years ago when I left home to go to BYU. He used to be a skinny boy, but look at him now. :D.
He's now a 21 year old young man. I still see him as my little cousin that I grew up with, even though he's not little any more.
We met up with Jr at Job Corp and he introduced me and Brad to his girlfriend, Marie. She's a really nice girl from a little island in Micronesia (I don't think I've ever met anyone from there).
I wish we could have spent more time together, but he had time constraints with his school.
We ended up eating out at his favorite restaurant, Golden Corral (But of course, it has to be a buffet :D).
He'll be going home for the summer at the end of June. We'll get to hang out again when he gets back though. Until then...

Well done Tynishia! You go girl!

I'm so happy and proud of Ms. Tynishia Tufu, speller No. 4. She did amazing; she made it to the 3rd round, but didn't get to the semifinals. It must've been so nervewracking to be up there on stage spelling in front the cameras and all those people. I remember how nervous I was. It sucks because you will always remember that one word that threw you out of the competition. I didn't get a chance to compete again, but Tynishia does. There is always next year to try again little champ! :)

Meet Speller No. 4 at:

http://public.spellingbee.com/public/spellers/2009/4