I've realized that Fall in Fort Collins is a little different than it is in Utah.  Well, the colors, anyway (everything else is pretty much the same).  While Utah has mostly bright oranges and reds, Fort Collins has bright greens and yellows.  Last year, I kept waiting for the oranges and reds to come and I had always thought that it was cut short because of the early snow storm, but now I'm just realizing that we don't have those colors here.  It's still very pretty, just in a different way.

We've had some beautiful fall days this week, and luckily I was able to enjoy them even more than normal (I got done with work early Thurs and Fri because of Parent/Teacher conferences .... yet another reason I LOVE my job).  On Thursday we took Sal for a nice long walk around the neighborhood and Friday we went on a hike.  Here are the pictures from both outings:















We were right about the big tree in our front yard, that we would have TONS of leaves to rake in the fall.  We've been trying to do a bag a day, but still can't keep up with all the leaves!


I don't mind raking too much though, especially when there's a gorgeous sunset for me to enjoy!

So last week we were in San Francisco!!  We went for a couple different reasons:

1) There was a conference there that Brody was interested in going to (SOCAP or Social Capital), so he could do some networking and get some contacts for possible job opportunities for when he's done with his PhD in 3 years.  Isn't he a go-get-er??  I love that about him.  In my opinion and from my experience, having connections is the easiest way to get the kind of job you really want.

2) Neither of us had ever been to San Fran and we've heard nothing but good things about it.  Plus, my job was willing to let me take an entire week off.  They are the best.  Did you know that schools have substitutes for office people too, not just teachers?? Who knew.

3) Our good friends Nate and Kim live in Oakland (which is just outside of SF) and they were generous enough to let us stay with them the entire week!  Nate and Kim are our oldest friends as a married couple and we  always have a lot of fun with them.  We had only seen them once in the last 3 years, so we just couldn't pass up this wonderful opportunity.

We got there Saturday afternoon and left the next Saturday morning.  Apparently getting into San Francisco from anywhere is expensive, whether you drive (tolls and parking) or take public transportation, so we only went into the city for sight-seeing purposes 2 of the days and spent the rest of the time in Oakland.

Saturday: Got in around 4:00 pm.  Went to a Vietnamese Restaurant for dinner, saw the city of Oakland, got the yummiest ice cream I've ever had (and I'm not usually a HUGE ice cream fan) and went to bed early (lame, I know, but Brody and I only got 4 hours of sleep the night before)

Sunday: Went to church in the morning, took a quick nap (finally felt refreshed) and spent the rest of the day in San Francisco.

Monday - Thursday: Brody was at the conference and Nate had school those days too (he's going to Medical School), so Kim and I just hung out together during the day.  We worked out, went shopping, watched movies, went for walks and did a session at the Oakland Temple.

Friday: The conference was over, but Nate still had school, so Brody and I spent the day in San Francisco together.  That evening we went to a festival back in Oakland where there was lots of yummy food and interesting people.

Now for the pictures . . . . . . . .

The 4 of us

Alcatraz 

There was a really cool lake right by their house that we walked around a few times  - the next few pictures are from that.

Frozen Yogurt

At the festival (we came across another creepy horse with red eyes! This time is was black and a unicorn - instead of blue like the one at the Denver Airport)

Kim is an amazing photographer and wanted to take our pictures while we were there. She did an great job and I can't wait to see the rest of the pics!  You can see her other work here.

Pretty garbage can -- there were many of these around the city (Oakland, that is)

Awesome McDonald's in SF

Look at this Palm Tree!!  It's being completely taken over by vines.

We just happened to be dowtown during a military air show.... it was so cool!  Those planes are so fast and I can't believe how close together they fly!