Don't Hate on the Headlamps

Everytime we visit REI (which is WAY too often) Dan wants to buy a headlamp. To which I respond " Headlamps are gay, you will never use it!" Then we were without power for several days and I realized their utility. Dan finally got his much coveted headlamp which he used for our recent Camping Adventure. It was actually super useful, I shall never hate on headlamps again.Dan was "the fire master" and consequently still smells like campfire, 5 days later.
Me wearing the infamous Headlamp, and holding the delicious campfire concoction known as a Banana boat.
Also with us on the adventure was our friends Mark (also a member of the rabid pro-head lamp party) and Leana.
And Justin and Lisa - who found us a great camp site and planned our excursion!
Okay, so just a public service announcement. I work for a cosmetic dermatologist - so I'm surrounded all day by people who really care about how they look. Yet many of them go tanning! The Doctor always brings up Bridgett Bardot - she was a 1960s bombshell who loved the sun - spent years tanning on the French riviera. Now look at her. Yeah, put on some sunscreen.
I love candy corns! So I just had to buy these Hershey Candy corn kisses. And then turn them into cookies per the recipe on the back of the package. They are delicious - the perfect pre-Halloween treat. Okay, done with random tangents. Have a Happy Halloween!!!

The Creepy Couple without Kids

That’s what Dan and I were when we went to PUMPKIN FEST. I read about it in the newspaper, it was advertised as family fun (they just didn't mention to qualify as a family means you must have a screaming 3 year old.) We went out to the Pumpkin Patch in Carmel Valley and it was a madhouse of children, we felt awkward.

They did have many varieties of pumpkins, I liked the cancerous looking ones

I got this cute mini pumpkin

Dan got this giant gourd for us to carve.

And we got the heck out of pumpkin fest in less than 20 minutes.

Later that night we had some friends ( 6 adults and one toddler, it was a full on party) over for dinner and games- despite Dan and I's anti-game attitudes, it was fun. Dan set the table and did such a more ascetically pleasing job than I would have, I had to take a picture:

Lest I not forget: WE ARE COUCH RICH. That was our big joke, someday we'd be like the people up the street and be so rich we'd have actual furniture. Well, the dream came true, here it is:

Now we can only dream of the day we will be TV rich haha. Its okay, I can watch Glee on Hulu, and thats all that matters.

First ever "DAN'S MUNCHY MOMENTS!"

Hello Internet world this is the first ever posting of “DAN’S MUNCHY MOMENTS!” where I, Dan, post about the exciting world in which Lo and I eat in… So look forward to a non-expert opinion on food and some really cool pictures to back it up.

For the first posting of “DAN’S MUNNCHY MOMENTS!” I have chosen a local Chinese restaurant by the name of “DYNASTY CHINESE” (and yes they didn’t have a “THE” in the front of “DYNASTY CHINESE”). It is literally about 300 yards from our humble home (which now has a couch, ‘we couch rich! Wrd!’) Lo and I picked up my friend ‘razer’ (his name has been changed to protect his identity, but not by much) on our way to the “DYNASTY CHINESE” for the first ever posting of “DAN’S MUNCHY MONENTS!” post review. And can I say I enjoyed everything about this place (the others not so much) from the 3D wallpaper, to the extensively ethnocentric Chinese décor (with all the workers in awesome Chinese outfits! Oh and they were all Chinese also!) To last but not least, the food! (Which was sub-par even by my standards, but it was still good). One of my favorite things about this place was the way that you are treated. Upon finishing all the food on my plate (which in the west is considered a compliment to the chef, but I guess we were in the east then) our server stared at me like a fat freak, replying, “WOW! No one ever finishes their whole plate! But I guess you are big, but still, WOW!” Then she continued staring at me with a mixture of awe and disgust. Which I found to be very funny: having someone who is wearing a ridiculous ‘work uniform/costume’ that capitalizes on all the Chinese stereotypes of the last 200 years, look at ME like I was a freak. But the best part of all about the place is that there is an area where you can put on a Chinese costume and sit on a giant gold throne to have your picture taken. As you will see, I had to do such a thing. The man that was helping me in to my outfit was laughing so hard because he told me that I was the first person to act so ‘silly’ (right before he said ‘silly’ he had to pause, I could see in his tight little eyes that he was searching for the right word as to not offend, which was a first in this establishment for me) while taking these pictures.

This is lo and I at our table.

This is the cool 3D wallpaper.

This is my friend 'Razor' holding some very large fire crackers that are apart of the 'decor'.

This me chillin like an chinese emperor.

This is the man that called me 'silly'. He is fixing my hat and telling me thats not how I am to sit as an emperor.

This is me doing it his way, boring :-(.

Oh this is just me being.... 'silly'..

Thank you for reading the first ever "DAN'S MUNCHY MOMENTS!".

Everyone's Favorite Holiday: Columbus Day!

Like any good God-fearing Americans, we celebrated Columbus Day (for which Dan had Friday and Monday off!) in the traditional way: exploration! In honor of the great explorer we too ventured the ocean and discovered new things! Except we didn’t find any new continents, just Big Sur.

I know - you want to know who does my hair so you can get it done there too! It was super windy – the beginning of a storm which has left all of Monterey without electricity for the past two days. Its great! Not.

The greatest find of our exploration: A purple starfish! Dan did save the guy by throwing him back into the ocean, thereby paving the way for a future Sacrament meeting talk.

Since my job is only every other week, and this is an off week, my domestic time filling has returned:

What is better than bananas, chocolate, and peanut butter? Answer: Nothing. In the two months we’ve lived in Monterey I’ve tried no less than 5 Banana Bread recipes (unhealthy, I know). But this one is my favorite! And has the least amount of sugar and butter of any of my experiments. Try it (click try it for link to recipe).

I decided to make some inexpensive Halloween crafts to festive up our house. I saw these glittered pumpkins in Martha Stewart Living, ran out and bought Martha Stewart Brand Glitter, only to discover my pumpkins still didn’t look like the magazine – and that I preferred them in their un-glittered state. Oh well. Also, I watched one of my favorite movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas, to get in the spirit of the holiday. I’m quite excited, I love Halloween!

Changing the world, one Botox at a time

I GOT A JOB!!! After weeks of Jam making and too much Hulu watching, I am gainfully employed. I had begun to lose hope. I received rejection from both Target and Macy's, and only kept from applying at McDonald's because if they turned me down I would have but one choice: kill myself. However, miracles happen. Tuesday I checked craiglist and saw a posting for a Medical Assistant at a Dermatologist office - right up my alley. So I quickly sent off my resume, got a call from them 20 minutes later, interviewed that day, and got hired the next! The Dr only does cosmetics: Botox, laser resurfacing... and liposuction! Should be an adventure. But Im so happy to have a job - especially one I'll enjoy!

I have an Addiction! To magic cookie bars. We make them way too often. And then I try to hide them from myself. But then I find myself searching the freezer and then eating them in frozen chunks. Try them. 
Date Night We found a pizza place we quite like, its no replacement for the Pie - but pretty good.

And we saw Zombieland. Which was actually hilarious. 

Utah, it is the place.

This week I got to go to Utah! Young Lauren would not believe hearing 21 year old Lauren saying, "I miss Utah. A lot. I really want to move there." But its true!

Our primary reason for the visit: our niece! We finally got to meet her and attend her blessing. Dan did a great job holding her, and carrying her up for blessing. He'll be a great dad, many many many years from now. 
We got to go to our favorite pizza place, THE PIE! Our friends Danielle and Jesse drove up, we brought down Dan's siblings and we all had a blast. 
Dan and Tim and the ginormous pizza. Hey, there were 9 hungry adults. And we didn't finish it. 
Me and Danielle. I miss her. Such good times, in our old BYU days....
Me and Danielle are lucky enough to be married to that. I know, you're jealous. 
Other events for which I lack pictures:

- I got to spend several days in St. George with my family - so great.

- We got to go see Kade & Branda who just had a baby! Congratulations to them! 

Adventures of the Long Weekend

Dan had a whole four days off from Army this weekend. So we decided to utilize this time for some projects and little day trips...

I decided we needed some new furniture for our new apartment. But after seeing the prices at all the stores here, we decided spray paint was more in our budget. So lucky Dan got to do lots of painting, he had fun - I promise. 
While dan painted, I made jam. The domesticness of my new life is overwhelming. Note, this jam is made from organic berries from our farmers market. And its delicious. And if you visit, you can have some. 
Saturday we made the trip to the Oakland Temple. It was a forever long drive due to traffic. I know, I shouldn't complain about a 3 hr drive: There are Honduran families that sell everything they have and travel for days... Well for me, who is used to living in Utah and deciding which Temple within a 15 min radius to go to, it was long ordeal. 
The Oakland temple has its own unique flair. We noticed while driving in we noticed this sign that says " No limousines please." I wondered what the heck that was about. Also, as we were walking in to the temple, we saw a group of girls in matching strapless really low/short dresses. I thought to myself, "Interesting bridesmaid dress choices for a temple wedding..."
Its hard to see, because I was trying to take discreet pics and not get in the way of actual photographers - but it all made sense after we got out of our session. The Oakland temple is THE PLACE  for the local hispanic community to take Quinceanera and (non-temple) Wedding pictures. Seriously, there were tons of them.
I know, you're sick of reading. Last thing. We went for our first Big Sur hike, it was pretty cool.

I only look triumphant because you cant hear me wheezing. I'm not in good hiking shape. Poor Dan spent most of the hike waiting for me and "You can do it! Keep going, 10 more feet."
See, isn't this view worth coming out here to see? Can you tell i'm really pushing for visitors? The whole "staying home all day, with no friends, while Dan is at school all day thing" is getting old quick.
The end. Also I look so strange because we did the whole self timer thing and I was still moving. And I'm just generally awkward looking. Hope everyone had a great labor day weekend.