quick update...

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last week, but CJ & his bro, Trevor were in H-town so we were busy going out into the real world rather than indulging in the blog world...

Just a quick update for the posts to come:

Hike up to the falls at June Lake

Mist Trail hike at Yosemite

Stay tuned, full stories & (lots) pics coming soon!

sand

CJ and AUD visit Santa Cruz, 2008.

CJ and I had plans to go to a night game for the SF Giants.

Since the weather was beautiful, we decided to make a detour earlier in the day to a Santa Cruz beach.

There is nothing more awesome than relaxing on the beach, listening to the waves crash in, tasting the salty breeze, and burying your toes/feet in the sand.

I love it, I love it, I.love.it.

NorCal beaches unfortunately have relatively hot sand & cold water, but oh well.

Even though right now the weather in Northern NV sucks (snow? really?!)

I still like knowing that Summer 2012 has arrived.

donuts

CJ and AUDs Save the Date photos.

This weekend I had to go home so that CJ and I could take our "Save the Date" photo.

Every time I head home, I always have a list of food that I'm craving.

This time around it was Philly Cheesesteaks and (random, I know) donuts...

More importantly, MAPLE BARS!

mmmmm... I want some now. =)

Thanks to my (soon-to-be) awesome father-in-law, Carl, 

CJ and I got some great shots for our Save the Dates that we will be sending out soon...

Here are some teasers, enjoy!

I want some maple bars!!

Miss Vacaville

CJ and AUD at the 2008 Miss Vacaville Pageant.

I've entered the Vacaville Fiesta Day's Pageant twice in my life: once for Teen and once for Miss...

When my mom encouraged me to enter the teen pageant, I can't say that I was gung-ho into beauty pageants (like some of the other girls), but I guess there was a superficial girly part of me that wanted to wear a shiny crown... Clearly, I didn't enter for the right reasons.

(BTW, the winner was a girl that never showed up to any rehearsals & I pretty much didn't see her face until the night of the pageant... She was bred to do pageants. In fact, years later she won Miss California -- Some girls are gung-ho on the pageant biz! I thought that all pageant systems were biased after that).

When I entered the Miss Vacaville/Solano County pageant in 2008, it wasn't for the same reasons... 

Actually it wasn't for any particular reason, I think I was bored & needed a challenge. Plus, I knew I'd get to meet a lot of people and possibly get a chance to do volunteer work around Solano County.

When I told CJ, I thought I would get a "Why would you do that?" response, but instead he said "That would be fun, you'd do great!" and the rest was history.

Not only did I do everything on my terms, but I'm almost positive I won from my interview.

During my reign, I not only loved my pageant sisters, but I especially loved the volunteer work. 

Including: fundraising for the Arts, feeding the hungry, lighting Vacaville's Christmas tree, etc. 

There was so much! 

I've heard from several pageant girls people that I am nothing more but "the girl next door" pretty.

Not "pageant" pretty...

With the Mayor of Vacaville at an event.

The one thing that I most appreciate from winning Miss Vacaville was the community service.

& it might be strange because that isn't what most girls take away from it...

It's helped me to realize my full potential on what I can do for my community & beyond.

Which is why I've decided that after I get enough nursing experience, my goal is to volunteer in a third world country.

Who needs "pageant pretty" when you're doing good in the world?

Thank you CJ for all the support, love, encouragement, and massive amounts of photos!

(Maybe I can convince him to volunteer, too!)

Here are some of my greatest friends to support me!

weird revelation

CJ and AUD school-ified.

You know when you're in school and all you want to do is hurry up & graduate so you can get out?

I was totally that person in college... All I wanted was to graduate and be an "adult" already!

Boy, was I wrong!

Now that I'm an "adult" (it's still in quotations because I'm not entirely convinced I'm a real adult yet)

all I want to do is go back to school!

I miss my classmates (here's to you, Julie M.!)

and learning from my knowledgeable instructors

and practicing my skills in sims/skills lab

and the pressure of a big test or paper (now I'm just talking crazy)

and clinicals when I was responsible but not really responsible

and most of all, I miss this...

Studying with CJ in the library every Saturday all day long... zZzZzz

Always found a chance to steal little moments like this to take a quick pic!

Who knows, maybe once CJ goes to law school I'll end up going back, too.

We'll revert to old times when all we'll want is to graduate; the world will be right again!

mmk, well back to wedding planning! Seems to take up every free moment of mine...
hummph, adulthood.

happy place

CJ and AUD bike June Lake, 2012.

If you've read the post about our new bikes (here), then you know that CJ and I are proud owners of Trek mountain bikes.
Where is the first place we take our bikes?
Duh! June lake!

First of all, it was the most perfect day ever. Sun was shining, sky was blue, wasn't too hot.

On the way to June lake there's a stretch of road (highway 395) going into California that gives you the most phenomenal view of the Eastern Sierras.
It always gets CJ all giddy because he knows we're going to those mountains!
We ended up stopping for a photo op.

After our photo-op sesh, we set off to June lake!

I love this... so so much!

My beautiful bike!

Happy place.

After a most excellent ride, we decided to head back to the town to grab lunch...

Got this shot while driving back... Pictures don't do this place justice!

Several of my coworkers have recommended The Tiger Bar, so of course, we tried it out!

CJ and his french dip w/ fries

Me and my chili-cheeseburger w/ homemade chips

You can read our review for The Tiger Bar & Cafe here.

This day was definitely an awesome day and I wish that every day was like it.

All in all, we're still in love with June lake & now we're in love with our Trek bikes!

Ode to M.C.

Oh, how we love thee, Mono Cone.

Your burgers & shakes are great, it's known.

We can feel the calories building up.

It's so delish, who cares? Fill my cup!

We could eat you every day, that would be nice...

though sometimes a day we visit you twice! (true story - don't judge!)

With every bite, our mouths yell "whoopee!"

Oh, Mono Cone, how we love thee.

Located in Lee Vining

How can you choose? Better question: is it too much to order everything on the menu all at once?

I am holding in my hand an oreo peanut butter shake... aka audrey's heaven on earth shake.

CJ was focused on the food that he couldn't even look up for a picture

What CJ was looking at eating during the previous pic... His is a coconut shake

Fried pickle chips w/ ranch... don't dog em til you try em!

strawberry buttermilk (yes, buttermilk aka auto-delish) shake

Pastrami burger... I salivate every time I look at this picture, this burger is soo good.

I'd live in this place if I could...

You can read our yelp.com review here

doubles

CJ and AUD first double date w/ CHRIS and IRMZ, 2007.

Irma (aka Irmz, Homie I) is my bee-eff-eff. 

You may recognize her from a previous post (here) about her now completely adorable baby boy. 

Irmz is happily married to Chris (aka Christian, bee-eff-eff-in-law).

This power couple started dating before CJ and I.

It took a while for us to finally get together for a double date... Granted, we did the "couple's hike" at Point Reyes (which you can read here) but still... A double was needed with the bee-eff-effs & their RM's.

(Just fyi, "RM" is a returned missionary)

When we finally got together for a double date, it was awesome!!

We watched the temple pageant and afterwards went to Fenton in Oakland

which I tried for the first time & LOVED! Ice cream is delish.

We're so tanned compared to our "RM"s. =) oh the memories...

Four Falls; love at first drop

CJ and AUD visit Four Falls.

Pre-CJ times I couldn't even imagine natural water slides. How amazing it would be to spend your day out in the wilderness, free of charge (cost of gas/food/short hike), and slide down a rock into a water hole? Could.NOT.imagine.

Fast forward, CJ took me to Four Falls... We went with his sis, Juliann.

The trail to get to Four Falls is by Georgetown, I think the actual city is called Quintette or something.

No signs anywhere, it's mostly a place that you'd find out by ear.

Park on the road, hike for a couple miles until you finally get to the falls.

Beautiful green/lush landscape around you, icy cold water --  perfect for 100+ degree days, complete freedom to enjoy however you'd like: 

going down the falls, laying out in the sun, hiking around the area, anything your heart desires.

WE'RE HERE!!!! HOORAY!! (Some days, ie weekends/holidays there are a lot of people)

Great pic to see how the falls look.

Here's a video of us sliding down!!

Four falls is a hidden gem that I am so lucky to have experienced (more than once).

I can't wait to find the hidden gems in Nevada & Yosemite this summer!!

summatime

CJ and AUD enjoy Vacaville CreekWalk, 2008.

When I was Miss Vacaville, I realized how great a city like Vacaville is.

Though the city isn't small, the community still seeks to keep people involved.

Vacaville's Fiesta Days were the highlight of my reign, a weeklong celebration that is jam packed of family fun!

The Vacaville CreekWalk is located in a popular area of Vacaville where they hold festivals throughout the year (especially through summer but they also have the Christmas Tree Lighting there).

During summer, every friday night there are concerts at the CreekWalk where you can eat/drink/dance... it's great fun! (You can see the 2012 schedule here)

CJ and I would go every now and then (when the weather wasn't sweltering) and we always had a great time. I forget how long it goes on, but I remember that we would be out long enough for it to get a little dark so we can star-gaze a little bit.

One of the first times we've ever gone.

Having a little too much fun on our little blanket.

If you ever go to a concert at the CreekWalk here are some necessities: lawn chairs and/or blanket, water, food/snacks, & of course, family & friends!

MAY; tis the season to be sunny!!

CJ and AUD summer adventures.

Hello all & welcome to the first of May!!!!!

I'm super excited because May reminds me that summer is around the corner which means

summer adventures!

If you haven't noticed already, CJ and AUD adventures happen year-round, but the majority of our adventures happen during summertime.

I love summertime!

I don't really love when the weather is over 100 degrees, but I love the fact that it's warm enough to go out and explore! I especially love water adventures. Nothing beats relaxing on the beach, sliding down some natural water slides, or just plain wading in the pool.

SO, May 2012, I love you. Please do not disappoint.

Spending time out on Stinson beach in 2010.

P.S. May 4th is also a special day... It marks my 6th month of nursing experience!! =) SO legit!

P.P.S. Apparently Hawthorne has the largest celebration of the year on Armed Forces Day weekend, so I will get to enjoy that for the first time! Can't wait! (Plus, the hospital does "Staff Appreciation" week around that time -- should be fun!)