My Graduate

Brody will Graduate in MAY!!! It is just SO exciting!

With working a full time job that more often than not requires more of your time than the normal full time job would, and because of that it took longer for him to be able to finish---but he still happily went all the way to Long Beach to school at nights & worked hard at it. I am just so lucky that even though he already has a great job that he loves, getting a good education was still so important to him & for the future of our family.

This also comes at the perfect time because of this new great line they picked up (that is such an exciting opportunity for him), work will get even more busy (in a good way).

We are so excited & SO SO very proud of him!! : )

(the photo above was taken at Long Beach State when he had me come to school with him one day & very proudly showed me all around campus. That was a really fun day.)

After the storm...

One of the many beautiful parts of rain storms!

And we got to see a lot of these this past week : )

Posted from my iPhone

Tut, Tut looks like RAIN!!

We have had some crazy storms hitting us all week---bringing very heavy rains, high winds, flooding, falling trees and yes, even tornados (small ones, F1's & 2's, but tornados just the same)!! It has been insane. In the midst of all this Malia & Stuart were in town (I think it has been a couple years since all 4 of us have been able to get together), and wanted to go to Disneyland---and hey, going to Disneyland in the rain was fun when I was 12. So why shouldn't it be any different now right? : )

The weather was fine until we got closer to the park and it started to rain a bit, but nothing too bad, nothing we couldn't handle we thought---and we were going to be inside most of the time anyway, we told ourselves.

Eh, we totally have this under control. We have coats, ponchos, hats, gloves the whole deal.

By the time we walked out of the parking structure heading to the tram, it was starting to rain a bit harder still....

( I stopped while we were still in the structure to take this photo, it was raining so hard at this point and we both looked at each other like, are we sure we want to do this? Especially since Brody has been sick )

Just walking to the tram from the escalators, our shoes were soaked...there was no way around it, the whole area was flooded...

(as you can get an idea of from the photo below...click photos to make then larger. If you click on this one you can see the rain better close up.)

But we stayed optimistic & hopped on the tram to head into the park.

As we were on the tram, one of the heaviest rain falls of this whole storm came rolling in, and there was nothing to save us, no poncho could protect us from its wrath!

We got off the tram and headed into a big gift shop outside of the park to re-group before heading into the park its self---then, we made a run for it into California Adventure!

(The whole area between Disneyland & California Adventure was SO flooded it came over our shoes as we ran in---I wish I had gotten a photo of it, but the image is only in my head) : )

We have never been so wet!!!! We ducked into another gift shop to put our phones and camera into a water proof bag--and made another run for it, to about the middle of the park to meet up with Stuart & Malia at 'It's tough to be a bug',an indoor show.

After the show, we were all heading out to leave "Lake Disneyland" behind us and go home to get dry, when the sun decided to come out. So we stayed a bit longer and went on a couple rides!

(Much different from the photos above huh?)

(After a couple rides Brody wasn't feeling up to it anymore so we hung out in a restaurant for a bit while they went on a ride.)

Some fun photos of the Castle : )

(it was pretty dead in the park, I have never heard it SO quite. Because of that, we were able to get some cute shots of them in front of the castle with few people around) : )

All in all it was totally fun to see them & hope its not a couple more years until we all get together again....but Disneyland in that kind of rain is much different from how I remembered it, but a fun adventure! : )

iShow

Twice a year Brody heads out to Dallas, TX for "The Show". Here, the high end lighting manufacturers (which he reps) show off their new products and Brody's accounts come to see it, and order lots of new things for their showrooms (that would be a fast rundown of it all). : )

They had a great show!!! More foot traffic this year than they have gotten before, which means more orders. Brody's 'The Great Indoors" store hit it's target yet again, so he got awarded & gets a nice bonus---he also got nominated for several awards with Schonbek--and more. It's great that he's really starting to move up and get more and more noticed. I am so very proud of him & how hard he works!!

The best news of all is that they picked up an amazing new line to rep!! It is a big deal for us. In addition to Brody repping this line to his current accounts, he will also take on the landscape contractors (don't know if that is the right term for them), who do jobs with companys such as 'The Irvine Company', when they build new properties (for all outdoor lighting). It is a very exciting opportunity (so good that he gets to give up covering UT and travel less) and we are so very grateful for it!

Here is a little look into the show. With photos Brody sent me from his iphone:

Here is the "courtyard" I guess you could call it.

The next few are of the Holtkoetter showroom. It is high end contemporary line manufactured in Germany.

Entrance to the showroom:

Some live entertainment:

Buffet : )

German Goulash:

This was our favorite thing to eat while we were in Austria and Germany! They make it the BEST!!

Close up of the entertainment:

The entrance to the Schonbek room (The crystal line that he reps, now owned by Swarovski):

The Swarovski lighting showroom:

Part of the Schonbek room:

Geometrix Di Vinci balls

Another part of the Schonbek room:

PS- I realize this may not be the most exciting post for my blog stalkers, but it is for us! : )

Coming soon...

A little look into the Dallas Market, and other random posts! :) ...For now here is a cool photo taken & edited on my phone of Brody.

Posted from my iPhone

27 Candles

Tuesday was my 27th birthday! I thought I would start feeling old by now, but I still feel nice & young....I have a looooong way to go, a lot to learn, a lot ahead of me and I am enjoying each growing day (not that im growing taller, we're talking more personal growth)! : )

I had such a fun Birthday! In order to spend the day with Brody, I drove him around in LA (I LOVE LA, and will always jump at the chance to go) to some of his accounts, and we had a great lunch at Pinks Hot dogs! We topped off the day by stopping at Disneyland "on the way home" (we tried to resist, but who are we kidding, we love the place)!

Here are some Birthday snap shots!! : )

Twenty Ten

2009 was an interesting and great year---and stands out among the others. There were a lot of uncertainties with the economy, the change in government & a trial here and there (with my 2nd miscarriage). I think '09 changed us in a way that the past years have not been able to, and we now see life in a whole new way---and for that we are so very grateful. We learned a lot of lessons, some 1st hand and many 2nd hand, but the biggest lesson we will take into this new decade is that whatever the world may be up to, as long as we have each other, our family, friends, (and most of all) the Gospel, we have all we need for true lasting happiness in this life and in eternity! Come what may, and we will love it! : )

(find Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin's talk, "Come what may, and love it" here)

We spent New Year's Eve at a place that holds a very special place in our hearts, Disneyland! This was our first New Years Eve just the two of us, and with how busy things have been lately, it was the perfect date night! : )

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE New Years Eve, always have since I was young!

It is always so fun to be at Disneyland on this night---everyone has New Years hats, noise makers, dancing, saying "Happy New Year" to everyone they meet....it's just has a fun vibe!

This year they turned California Adventure into 'Club DCA'. It was pretty awesome! A red carpet entrance, with cast members taking photos, fun decor lights everywhere and different radio stations dance areas through out the park!

This was back by Monsters Inc. ride....a 2010 ice sculpture that they used to pour mixed drinks into to chill them fast. Of course we didn't partake in that, but it was pretty, so I snapped a shot of it. : )

On The Tower Of Terror (or when we went last year with Brad & Andrea, "The Tower of Fun" lol). The guy in front of Brody cracked us up....after the first couple drops, he loosened up : )

Party hat and noise maker station. We come every year, and this is the first time I have seen this....It was always a mystery to me where people got them....

This was our favorite ride of the night (Screamin' was closed)...it is the big rocket swing things (that are blurred in this photo) : )

...I just like this photo : )

We spent most of the night here! DaNcInG the night away, it was a blast!!

I even got to join in on the Electric slide...brought back some Stake Dance memories

We LOVED this fire!! They did it a lot and it helped to warm things up. : )

(Here you can see a bit of my awesome sparkle shirt! : )

The fire works were AMAZING!! Best we have seen yet. The funny thing is, they were going in both parks, so we were looking right, looking left, looking right, looking left again..... : ) It was so fun!

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone had a wonderful & safe New Years Eve. We hope that 2010 holds nothing but wonderful blessings for you and your families!! : ) We are so so excited for the new year and all the new and exciting things it will bring!! Cheers to a new year!