What we have been up to...

Well I did it! In June I graduated from UCSF with my Masters of Nursing as an Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. It was so wonderful to have family out to celebrate with us. We loved paddling around our city, eating at a few favorite restaurants, and chatting in our apartment. It meant so much to have my parents and Chris's family out for the big day and definitely made it special. Thank you everyone for coming! We can't wait for your next visit.

We spent an afternoon in Golden Gate Park





We ran the bridge



We rode the F Train down by the Ferry Building


We took the tour of Alcatraz




We enjoyed a sunny day at AT&T park for an afternoon Giants game



We walked around The Palace of Fine Arts





We played at Crissy Field



The Big Day








We played on Baker Beach



Then we enjoyed some time crossing the bridge and driving to Stinson Beach



Thanks again fam for making the trek out and for the great visit. We love you and miss you, xo.

It's Raining Men...

On this Father's Day, we wanted to thank our dads for all of their love and support. You have been great examples of faith, hard work, and humor. We wouldn't be where we are today without you. Words can't express how grateful we are for you, but hopefully these pictures will bring back many fond memories we've shared over the years.

We love you!!!

A Day For Mothers

Dear Mom,

Our hearts are full of love, gratitude, and appreciation this day as the world celebrates you. As my mother, you have been the perfect example of charity and sacrifice.

You have always been on my sidelines cheering me on in life and your warm hands comforted me when I needed them. You have always been a great example of faith and have taught me by your example how to serve others. One of the greatest lessons you taught me was to be humble, to never seek for more than what I needed, and to be happy and grateful for what I have. I admire and appreciate how you always put our family first.

You taught me the strength of women and encouraged my independence, you always had a listening ear and good advice during moments of discouragement. From you I have learned the importance of hard work, enjoying life, finding my own path, and finding excitement in the future. There are many qualities and characteristics I have gained from you.

Most importantly, you taught me about the life and example of my Savior. You taught me to rely on the Holy Ghost and be obedient to the principles of the gospel. You taught me the importance of keeping the commandments and trusting in my Heavenly Father. You taught me how to be a missionary every day for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

I never questioned your love for me and am now learning more of the depths of that love. You are not only my mother, you are my friend. You loved, nurtured, and cultured me and allowed me to grow into the person that I am now. I am so grateful for you. I love you with all my heart. We love and cherish you.

you can't win them all...

This is a lesson I have been taught from a very early age, but I wish I didn't have to relive it this time. Michelle and I flew to Utah to watch Real Salt Lake play against Monterrey in the CONCACAF Champions League Final. This was the biggest game in RSL history and we wanted to be a part of it (I interned for the team for 2 years when it first came into the league and wasn't very good, so this was a pretty neat experience). A majority of people in the US Soccer community were also calling this the biggest club soccer match in US history. Let me put it into perspective....no US soccer club had ever won the tournament (let alone make it to the final) and by winning RSL would go on to the Club World Cup and play teams from all over the world (Barcelona, Manchester United, Estudiantes, etc.). To add to the excitement, this two-leg final only required that RSL win at home (unbeaten in 2 years), or just have a tie at less than 2 goals (because they tied 2-2 at Monterrey). Needless to say, we were all very optimistic and in good spirits.










The pre-game festivities were fantastic!




Kick-Off

The team ended up loosing 1-0 on a goal coming from Monterrey at the very last second of the first half. RSL had the majority of the scoring chances, but couldn't put one in the back of the net.

Despite the loss, the atmosphere in the stadium was the greatest that I had ever experienced (including games seen abroad), I was so proud to see my little ol' Real Salt Lake come so far in just a few years (when I interned there we didn't have our own stadium and hardly had more than 10,000 people out to a game, but for this game there were 20,000 screaming die-hard fans), and most importantly we had the opportunity to catch up with family and friends that we hadn't seen in a long time (this aspect of the trip made the feelings from the loss dissipate very quickly)!

The Curious Case of Max Tivoli

I usually don't read a lot of books, but as of late I have come across many great stories and have become quite a book worm.



Thanks to an interesting article from 7x7 magazine about the local author Andrew Sean Greer, I picked up the book The Confessions of Max Tivoli. This book was the premise for the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and was 100% fascinating.

Unlike the movie, the book is set in San Francisco and it was interesting to learn more about the city as it changed during the late 1800's and into the early 1900's. The story originates from the written confessions of an individual who was born as an old man, has aged backwards, and is now writing his life's story to his loved ones before he inevitably passes away. Max Tivoli has been in love with Alice since he first met her as a little girl when she and her mother were living as tenants in the Tivoli building. He loved her independence, strength, and beauty. Max's mother had one rule for him, "be what they think you are" and Max only broke that rule three times. First, when as a child he was playing with his best friend Hughie. Hughie believed him and stuck by him through thick and thin, and proved to be his one true accomplice in life. Second, when he wanted to tell Alice he truly loved her. She, on the other hand, did not believe Max and escaped the city with her mother to Seattle. Finally, he began to write his confessions as the last testament of his life as he has found Alice for the third and last time.

The movie was great in that Benjamin was able to see the world and experience life as a "regular" human being, but I really liked that the book followed Max in a more intimate way, and that the author really developed the characters of those closest to Max. I would recommend this book to anyone. Andrew Sean Greer did an amazing job building a captivating story line and did an even better job infusing plot twists and turns that unveiled more and more secrets about Max's life all the way until the end.

Max learned a lot from life as he saw it through a different lens, but he came to understand that in the end we all go through the same emotions and have the same desires. "Grow old and wise, my love....do not be alone. It does no good to be alone."

If you like Pina Coladas......

Every year Michelle and I try to get away for a small anniversary vacation. This year we ventured to the Virgin Islands in pursuit of some sun (not so much of that in SF). We had never really thought about a trip to the Caribbean, so we were greatly surprised at how much fun we had!
The Virgin Islands consist of 3 US Islands and 3 British Islands. They were first discovered by Columbus during his journey to the Americas and were later inhabited by Europeans (mostly Danish). The US Virgin Islands were sold to the United States by Denmark in 1917 for $25 million and are now considered US Territories.
We stayed on the island of St. Thomas which is the most populated of all the Virgin Islands. We also did some island hopping to St. John, Virgin Gorda, and Buck Island. Because the islands are so small, very little can be produced within the territories. This in turn causes everything to be quite expensive, especially for tourists who are charged a premium for everything (the $20 taxi rides were the most head-scratching). Good thing our hotel ended up having all inclusive dining (a nice surprise to us), so we took full advantage...Michelle had a Pina Colada in hand virtually the whole trip!

Day 1: A visit to downtown Charlotte Amalie and Island Tour.


Our little ferry boat from the hotel to downtown.


Fort Christian is the oldest standing building in the Virgin Islands and served as a town center, a government building, and even a jail at one point.

After venturing around the downtown district chock full of jewelry shops, we hopped aboard an island tour to see more of the views, sites, and loosely coined "world-famous" drinks, tacos, BBQ, and anything else that might be sold to tourists.


A view of Charlotte Amalie from the hillside.


British Virgin Islands off in the distance.


A view of Magen's Bay.


Magen's Bay...voted one of the top 10 beaches in the world by National Geographic.


Voted scariest beach by Chris Skinner thanks to all the pelicans doing their Kamikazee dives for anchovies.

Day 2: British Virgin Gorda and The Baths

This is the sad story from our trip. We had been looking at pictures on the camera from the night before, and I forgot to power it off before going to bed. Once we arrived at The Baths, we were so excited to take a zillion pictures, but were saddened to find out we had no battery left. We tried to use our underwater camera, but it doesn't do this place justice. I would go back to the Virgin Islands for this place alone...it was one of the most amazing places I've ever been.


The best our camera could do...see more pictures here

Day 3: St. John

This is another of the US Islands and is located just east of St. Thomas. We enjoyed St. John much more than St. Thomas because there were less people, the beaches were better, and it just felt a little more relaxed, plus Michelle found her highly sought after fedora hat in one of the shops! If done differently, we would have stayed on this island instead.


Trunk Bay


These kept us busy for a while.


St. John's Bay

Day 4: Buck Island snorkeling

Our last adventure took us to Buck Island for some snorkeling. After an hour sail boat ride, we were primed to swim with the aquatic wildlife. Too bad we ran out of underwater camera film just as we got really close to some of the bigger endangered sea turtles as they were coming up for air.


The closest thing we have to a picture of the sea turtles. This was another unique experience that will stand out from our trip.

Day 5: Relax and take advantage of the "all-inclusive food and drinks" one last day.


Morning Star Beach...this was the beach for our hotel where we often spent parts of each day sun bathing, swimming, and pigging out.


No trip of ours is complete without a gripping game of Boggle. Good thing this 4-letter word was on both of our lists!!!

Just a little holiday

Well in twenty-four hours we will be on a plane on our way to this beautiful place.



We are both so looking forward to a little R&R, it has been a busy and stressful few months with work and school. I finished another busy quarter of graduate school and Chris has been busy with a few new responsibilities at work. Needless to say, we plan to enjoy every moment.

Not a whole lot on the docket for this trip, but I think that is what a beach trip is all about. We will be spending lots of time on the beach and splashing around in that crystal clear water.



Is that even real? Guess we will just have to find out and post a few pictures of our own.

And we can't miss out on the Baths of Virgin Gorda. I am sure I will enjoy spending a little time paddling around in these rock pools.




And what beach trip isn't complete without a little of this, minus the man speedo of course.


I seriously have been looking at pictures everyday for the last month, but seriously, can you blame me?


We can't wait. It will be a wonderful way to celebrate our anniversary. It has been a wonderful three years, I wouldn't change a thing.