Brrr, it's cold out here!

After living in California for over 6 years, it's not surprising that I have become warm blooded. I agree with my fellow Michiganders when they say I am spoiled or sound ridiculous when I say the 50s are chilly, but I can't help it. I've recently had a couple of friends from Seattle and Denver move to Southern California who thought I was nuts when I told them that come January they will be complaining about the cold. Well, January is here and they've admitted that I was correct (geesh, that doesn't sound childish, does it...).

This week, the temps have really dipped, in fact it was only 35 degrees in Los Angeles on Monday morning! That was the coldest day on record since 1949. In fact according to the meteorologist it's only been 35 degrees two other times in LA history! Needless to say people are go nuts out here. It's funny to hear wind chill being explained. The following Jimmy Kimmel clip was floating around my office today and thought I would share it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6t-EjrtD3U

What's really funny, is the fact that Tyler and I put extra blankets on the bed last night! What will I do if I ever move to a colder climate???

Friday Favorite(s)

So here is my first shot at having a theme to this blog, let's give a big welcome to "Friday Favorites". If I'm able to stick with this theme Friday Favorites will feature a variety sampling of all my favorite things! Which reminds me of one of my favorite songs "Favorite Things" featured in The Sound of Music. Cripes, I'm already digressing, as this week's Friday Favorites is actually about Les Miserables! Over the Christmas holiday my family and I saw Les Miserables, which ending up being my favorite movie of the holiday season!

Ever since 8th grade I have been obsessed with the musical, Les Miserables. I remember putting the soundtrack on my Christmas list that year and was overjoyed when I unwrapped the 2-disc set. My sisters and I must have listened to those CDs at least 100 times.

When Arielle sent me the movie trailer this summer, I was ecstatic and began a countdown to the movie's opening on Christmas Day! The plan was to see it with my family once we all arrived in Michigan and we did just that. Let me tell you all of the anticipation did not disappoint!

After watching an interview with Hugh Jackman and learned that all of the singing was recorded on the set, nothing was recorded in the studio. I was curious to see how that translated on the big screen. It was as though you were watching the play in person, but could actually see all of their facial expressions and emotions. It was amazing! Seeing it on the big screen just sucked you in. The 2 1/2 hours just flew by! The singing was fantastic, in fact I already purchased the soundtrack on iTunes! I loved it so much that I'm even thinking of seeing it again! I recommend it to everyone! For those who've never seen the play or listened to the music, I should warn you it isn't a "feel good" movie. But that being said, it's still a must see! In fact as of yesterday it's even been nominated for Best Picture!

New Year, Similar Resolutions!

Happy 2013! It's been a few months since I've posted anything, let alone since I've blogged on a regular basis. Yet with the new year upon us, I'm cleaning my blogging slate and trying yet again to blog on a regular basis. Who knows, maybe third time will be a charm. I might make it easy on myself and steal from my friends and try a "Wordless Wednesday" or "Thankful Thursday". I think having a theme could help get me in a good routine. I might even go out on a limb and try blogging twice a week! Watch out 2013 I might be successful with this year's resolutions!

I will end this short and sweet post with an ironic twist to life. Last year I began 2012 sitting in a lonely apartment in Laguna Beach, while my husband and sister continued to live our fun "Dublin Life". This year I am very happy to say that I start the year living with my hubby! The ironic part? We are spending our Sunday evening in separate rooms! I'm sitting in our office, with my back to the living room, blogging, headphones in, jamming out to "Feel Again" by One Republic, trying to drown out Walking Dead in the background. Tyler has recently become a fan of the show and knows better than to try and get me to watch a show about zombies! Although he did tell me that the show would pull at my heart strings...yeah right!

I should point out we did just finish watching a movie together, so technically we didn't spend all of Sunday evening apart. I'm just thankful to be under the same roof!

P.S. Here is a picture of our living/office room. I love the open concept, but you can imagine how loud my music is playing in order to ignore the zombie screams coming from the other room ;)

Lynn'm

10 years ago, I met Lynn. Just typing the words "10 years" and I am flooded with memories, all of which put a smile on my face. From what I am told not everyone exits college living with their same roomie from Freshmen year, but when you've got a roomie like Lynn you're bound to never let her go!

Today is Lynn's bday and after looking through my "extensive" library of posts I realized I've never given her (or a few others) a bday blog shout out....so here we go.

I tried finding a picture from our dorm at Ward Hall and realized that was before Facebook, so I had to scan in a copy.

The caption in my photo album read "Lynn and I bonding after bowling"....who knew! I look like a hot mess, but not Lynn she always looks great! Speaking of a hot mess, check out our bedroom :)

Lynn has been the most wonderful friend over the years, putting up with my control freak ways and always being there to support me. Never placing judgment on me, just always there to listen. Happy Birthday Lynn'm! 

Dublin

5 1/2 years ago, Tyler and I drove up to NorCal. Getting ready to make the move from down south, I was very hesitant. I had just gotten settled in Aliso Viejo and was looking forward to spending the summer at Laguna Beach. The Ford "Gods" had other plans for me and as we were driving up the 580, passing 100s of windmills I began wondering if we had made a mistake. The "golden" hills were very green that spring and I felt like we were in Ireland. Which is ironic as we ended up calling Dublin home.

I have come to learn to trust the Ford Gods, as everything happens for a reason and it seems as though everything falls into place.

We began our journey by quickly making some amazing friends amazing friends.....

                                        

We went to concerts in Golden Gate Park

We even tried out a country concert

Went skiing in Tahoe

Started the best Thanksgiving tradition with the Miyalopers

Where food was never an issue....

Celebrated Christmas in our first house

Enjoyed the Andersen Holiday Party!

Were convince to run a 5K (I don't look so enthused)

Camped at Pinecrest Lake multiple times

Enjoyed a little wine tasting

Made it to either a Raider/49er game each season

Cheered for the SF Giants as they won the World Series

And.....

Celebrated our engagement and wedding!

                           
                                 

Needless to say if there were a t-shirt that said, "I heart Dublin" I would buy it!

Happy August

Well, I fell off the blog-wagon pretty easily! Life got quite hectic after my NorCal vacation. It was a great vacation filled with some amazing family time, picture perfect weather, tasty food, wine tasting, and we even squeezed in a couple of dinners with Nick and Bryn!

Then life took an exciting turn when we found out in early July that Tyler was accepted in Grad School! That is when we decided that we would make SoCal our official residency. Yup that's right no longer will we have a vacation property in SoCal but rather a home! It's exciting and nerve wrecking all at the same time. But that being said, we are both excited for the changes!

We decided to take a different housing route this time. We are going to wait before we buy again. This way we can get an idea of the area. Since Tyler will be going to school in Pomona and I will be working in Irvine, we have decided to move to Anaheim, as it's the most central location we could find. I mean it's right down the street from one of the "happiest places on Earth", what's not to love! We found a new construction that was renting 12 units. We're pretty lucky to be living in a brand new place.

Check out our new "Loft Livin'":

https://plus.google.com/photos/111734868586125141617/albums/5765542156121819025?authkey=CJPlqPO3nr6CvwE

Day 1 of 15

Woo Hoo, I'm finally taking my first vacation day of the year! It's probably a couple of month's late, but I'm really looking forward to having a few days off. Plus, I get to spend 10 days at home! Better yet, we get to spend some time with family. The whole Sprague family is making the trip and we've got lot planned. Which means hopefully I will have something a bit more exciting to blog about. Although who's to say expired milk isn't exciting :)