We are friends and we are laughing

Aaron and I went to Julian for the afternoon on Memorial Day. It's an hour east of San Diego, in the mountains. Julian is an old gold mining town which has decided to stay firmly put in the late 1800's and the apple orchards take over the area in the fall. The town is known for it's pie and surrounding wilderness which lends to hiking and camping. 30 seconds before we left the house, we realized the battery on Aaron's camera is dead, of course, so I'm using random internet photos to memorialize our day.

Here we have a winding road entering Julian.

Random photo of Main street with it's Old West/biker feel. This picture does not do downtown justice. There are old historic buildings and really cute B&Bs all over.


All in all, a good day of exploring. I'll be heading back in the Fall for the apple frenzy. Maybe it will feel just a BIT like Apple Hill?

so Aaron and I decided to go to a Padre's game and show our home team some love. I think Petco Park (where the Padres play) is brilliant because it has something for everyone. For families and people like us who don't like sitting in uncomfortable plastic nosebleed seats there is the "Park at the Park" which is an actual park inside the stadium. It has a huge grassy knoll for people to sprawl out with blankets and a mini baseball diamond for kids to play ball in. Since you can bring food in the stadium it is perfect for a picnic, which is what we did. Best of all, the seats are only $5 a ticket and you have a great view. The picture below is from our seats.

I know all caps means i'm shouting, but i really am shouting, so it's appropriate.

We had our appointment yesterday and the officer who conducted our interview said she was going to approve Aaron for a green card! YEA! I was pretty nervous going down there again and worried (as usual) about all the details. I calmed a bit then became even more apprehensive when we saw all the other people arrive for their appointments with their ATTORNEYS. oh heavens. We didn't have any hired legal help and I seriously began to question if we should have gotten some. Aaron reminded me that we said a prayer in the car so it would work out and I tried to calm down.

The whole process was odd and I won't detail it here, but it was a solid mix of scary and casual. Aaron should receive his green card in the mail within 30 days. Granted, this is only a conditional green card and in exactly two years from the day it was granted to him, we have to take action to have the conditional status removed or he can be deported (don't even get me started on all the stuff we have to do for that), BUT we are so relieved and excited. I was on the verge of tears when we got out to the car. The whole process seems fake and far away (this is not part of your fantasy of getting married when you are a little girl...), but really this is your life they are deciding and she could have said no and we would have to move and leave all our friends and jobs and life here in San Diego. I can't imagine being separated from Aaron, but I can't imagine him not being able to join me to visit our family and friends in America. I am so thankful we are done with this hurdle and are safe for now. What a blessing!

A while back Melissa made a request, via comment, for some wedding pictures. I'm sure she thought I didn't read it or forgot or didn't care. It's none of those. I just am lazy and hadn't gotten around to it. Mostly because I haven't gotten around to doing much with my wedding pictures. Too many things on my plate, but it is a project on my back burner. So, Melissa, these 3 are for you.
Note: I'm a huge fan of candid shots, so I won't say these are the top 3 of what I had to choose from because I have a ton of great pictures, but I like these little snapshots. I stuck this one in for all you Folsom alumni who might be checking out my blog. Sandy and Sis. Stagg probably won't like the fact that they have pretty smiles in all the others and I chose the laughing one, but see the aforementioned note regarding candid shots.

aka: my nephews and niece. I was going to include this and the Music and the Spoken Word in one post, but I realized I had too many pics and they deserve their own post, anyway.

Ava is such a serious girl. And I think that's why I love her so much. A girl after my own heart. She reminds me I need to lighten up. She's adorable and wonderful and I did see smiles and laughs this weekend, but she usually has her poker face on. Just adds to her charm in my opinion. (And this is my blog, so my opinion goes). Also, she becomes very somber when she sees a camera in her face, but who of us likes a camera shoved in their face?


Next up is Drew. Side note: The longer we are married, the higher Aaron's stock goes up in my book. I say this because I am constantly amazed at how good he is with children. He will be WAY better with our kids than I will be. No jokes. He always knows just what to say and kids are looking at him like he's a hero. Case in point is Drew. Drew has known me longer than Aaron and we are blood relatives, but that doesn't matter to him. He barely spoke to me all weekend, but he was playing and laughing with Aaron 5 minutes after he arrived. I guarantee Drew never would have posed for the camera for me.

My company flew me out to Utah this past weekend for a fixed asset software training seminar on Monday morning. I know, totally interesting, but not the subject of my post. Aaron came along for some family bonding with my Grandma coming down from Brigham City and Shelly, Jarrod and their crew came up from Spanish Fork. On Sunday morning some of us attended Music and the Spoken Word. Some of us had never been, some hadn't been in a long time, and one had never even been in the Tabernacle. We were so lucky to have the orchestra there as well. Makes me miss playing a musical instrument!