Rock City

Since Colin and I both get the weekends off we've been able to get some hikes in. (I just have to say the Staples in San Francisco is ssllllooowww, but they close at 7, Saturday's 11-3 and closed Sunday, thank you Financial District) Anyways, our first hike was at Rock City in Mount Diablo State Park with the Wood family. Colin keeps his car in Berkeley so first we had to take BART out there to pick up his car, then we met Becky's family to head up to Rock City. We climbed some small and large boulders, wandered through some trees and hiked up to a look point. From the top of the rock we hiked to you are able to see Livermore county and over 20 more counties from the top. The kids hiked with us the whole way! Jonah kept climbing on everything he could, Isaiah did too but insisted on sliding down all the rocks on his bum, resulting in his jeans getting holes. Analynn kept saying she was too scared to go on the rocks, but half way through she was Merida from the move Brave and was brave enough to jump and climb on the rocks. After the hike we drove up to the Diablo Valley Overlook and took out Colin's binoculars to see all the way to San Francisco Bay!

Isaiah, after the climb to the top of the rock

Colin

Jonah & Isaiah

Rock Caves

Analynn

Asian

We had a lot of fun at Mnt Diablo and can't wait for all the other hikes we will get to go on here in California.

Wishing & Working Out

Since I still don't have a job, just kidding, I had to resort to getting rehired at Staples. I know everyone keeps saying it's a paycheck and yes, technically it is, but I feel like I've taken a step backwards. Ok, maybe for lateral, but still, I just feel like a failure :( . Even though I have a job I've had a lot more time on my hands. Time spent at the gym or miraculously, blogging again. Since exercising regularly again, all I can do is think about all the cute workout clothes I can eventually fit into.  Here are some of my, 'can't stop thinking about these inspiration/goal setting items'.

 A variety of things I need to acquire for maximum gym time.  

Water Bottle for easy drinking

Cute Gym Bag to carry everything in

LuLu Lemon Yoga Pants, to look sexy in

Nike Shoes, I'd love shoes that actually fit

Headphones, for me to watch Millionaire Matchmaker or Pregnant in Heels

Graduating From Kindergarten

Since I am now in the Bay Area, I get to be close to The Wood Family. And attend the events I wasn't able to in Utah. 

Isaiah & Mrs. Helms

Savannah & Isaiah

A couple weeks ago I got to be at my nephew Isaiah's kindergarten graduation. He's a goof in the class and all his classmates and his teacher just love him. After the graduates walked in hand in hand, they sang a song about going to 1st Grade and then his teacher handed out their Kindergarten Diplomas. 

Isaiah, four Cliffords & a Monkey

Afterwards there were cookies and Caprisuns for refreshments. Isaiah had four cookies and kept asking for more. He finally settled on taking one home in his backpack to eat later. Isaiah cried before we left because he's going to miss his teacher and school so much. But he'll realize its summer and how fun it can be! 

Congratulation Isaiah Wood!

A Leap To San Francisco

 I'm sure most people have heard that Colin and I moved to San Francisco! He got a job, three days after he graduated, to work as an Enivornmental Planner for Transcon Environmental. We packed most of our things, sold the rest, and after two weeks we made the 12 hour move to San Francisco on May 27th. Without any complications (besides a fickle tarp), we made it to California safely.

 Within a week we found a place to live, with 3 other people in a 3 bedroom, one bathroom place in the Mission District.It has the classic bay windows, fireplace, built in hutch, and even a gorgeous courtyard with a friendly cat. 

 It's been almost three weeks since we've moved in and we just recently got a bed. We were sleeping on tatami mats (basically bamboo mats) since we moved in. But on Sunday we were ready for an actual bed. So we went to Berkeley and ended up getting an amazing pillow top mattress. Colin was pushing for a Full but I convinced him to get a Queen. It was worth the investment. The bed sits  waist height for me so I literally get to jump into bed at night. Also, my phone is broken :(. But have no fear, my phone insurance is covering it! And that means I get a brand new Nokia Windows phone. I feel like I'm actually cool that I'll have a touch phone and not a BlackBerry.

 We've done a lot of wandering around San Francisco and I've been searching for a job (which is a lot harder than I thought it would be).  We visited Coit Tower, the beach, golden gate park and have walked around our neighbourhood a bit. I've also been able to visit my sister Becky and her family! I even got to go to Isaiah's Kindergarten Graduation! (Newsflash: stay tuned for my next post).

 Other than that we've been enjoying San Francisco and Colin love his new job. We need to put together a Bucket List of things to do in the city. Which hopefully we'll be here for a long time :)

Things

It's been a rough long couple weeks. I've literally been trying to blog for awhile now but my lovely stupid computer is dying on me. Anytime I do anything it doesn't like, i.e. playing videos, uploading photos or even a website that has too much flash, it poops out on me. Leaving me with a solid black screen. I try hard not to throw it at anything solid, my couch is acceptable. So I now decided just to use Colin's old Mac. Other than a dying computer all I have to show for these weeks is writing a Volcano paper and some retail therapy. Also I've started doing p90x, I know it sounds extreme right. But I finished two weeks and cannot wait to keep this awesome routine going. Along with recent purchases, I bought my ticket to Canada and I'm leaving March 15-22! Next planned trip will be to California to see Becky and her family. But for now I have to focus on the next few months to get through my classes and make as much Nut n' Bolts as I can.

New Watch, to tell time New Ring, with 8-legs
Book Reading, with Bond, James Bond
Working Out, with Tony Horton
Nut n' Bolts, ruining my P90X Progress

My Life As Of Now

The New Year hasn't brought a whole lot of change. Basically January is just another month for me. I'm one more summer semester away from getting my associates degree and then off to who knows where.

January has brought some good things though. My dad came to visit from Ontario. We all got together at my apartment, ordered The Pie pizza and played Quelf. I got to spend some genuine time as well, my dad and I went to Blue Lemon for breakfast. Coffee and a bagel for me, french toast with blue berries for my pops. Afterwards we just wandered around Salt Lake for a bit enjoying each others company. I miss him a lot, but luckily I'm planning on visiting Canada in March.

Other than school I've been trying to get my apartment looking a bit nicer. Mainly by adding artwork. My dad bought Colin and I a map from Ikea that I've been wanting for years now and it looks amazing in our living room.

Also I made some original art, but there's a bit of a background story to this one. When I was eleven, my mom and I took a trip up to Canada, just the two of us. We spent a couple night at one of her old friends house, John and Darlene Erwin. We went for a walk with John and I picked up some leaves on our way. When we got back John suggested I press them. So, we got cardboard, wax paper and rubber bands and put the leaves together to press them. I've kept them in the cardboard for twelve year now and finally decided to do something with them. I picked up a frame from Ikea and used left over pages from my fashion project book and put them together.

Ode To The Hobbit

My brother posted the official trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and I seriously cannot wait a year. If anyone achieves time travel before December 2012, let me know. I had to write a post specifically for this trailer because the book holds a dear place in my heart. Here is a quick leap into Emily's 6th grade past.

In grade six I had Mr. Soto as a teacher, and I can easily say he was the best teacher at Northridge Elementary. Not only did he hold puppet shows in his class room, taught us all about Egypt (this section really got me interested in Egyptian history), on cold recess days he would turn on his tv with an image of a fireplace and let us make hot chocolate. One of my favourite things we did as a class was read The Hobbit. All of us in our desks listening to a tape of The Hobbit. Back then I imagined this book a bit differently, but what I love is I can distinctly remember exactly how I imagined Bagend. It wasn't as luxurious as it really is, my version was just a hole in a green hill with a big tree on it. I also imagined Gandolf much younger. Besides all the fun memories what I enjoyed most was the fact that this class, and reading this book, made me really start to love reading. I know my mom and dad would read to my sister and I at night, and we'd always go to the library for book, but The Hobbit made me want to read, and imagine new worlds and be apart of different stories. So thanks J.R.R. Tolkien for writing awesome books, and Mr. Soto for incorporating such a great story into your classroom! Well now that my little story has come to an end so shall the epicness that is The Lord of The Rings, here it is!! The Hobbit Trailer!!!!!!



Ok now I want to go watch The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Extended Versions. With a ton of caffeine.

Fashion Final

I had my fashion final last Monday, Math final this Monday, Psychology final Today and Biology final on Friday...But for now I feel a little relieved of stress since I have to only focus on one more test. And then I can start to worry about Christmas which, by the way, is only 7 days away! Is anyone else stressing? So with that, I wanted to share some of my fashion projects. Mainly just my two favourite ones.

Fashion Project Numero Uno: Making My Own Fabric. (This sounds a lot cooler than it actually was. I just drew out my own fabric and different % of fiber and how it was died. But I still had fun!)

Garment: High waisted stretch jersey pencil skirt, grey satin top and burgundy leather jacket with pointed lapels and matching insole in jacket.

Fabric: Maroon and mustard. 64% polyester, 27% viscose, 6% cotton.

Fashion Project El Doso: An Accessory. (This one was extra fun because I've been watching Project Accessory now that Project Runway is over, so I got a few good ideas. Anyone else watch that show? I'm loving Nina Cortes and Diego Rocha...seriously check it out.)
After numerous attempts at my original weaving idea of the rolled book pages, I decided on a simple kinda pan flute look. It turned out nice, but looks a lot better on. I ended up sewing the old book pages together and using ribbon for the rest, and the spine of the book for the details.

So there you go finals done! And the Christmas season can begin.