Life so Far

It's been a while, but so much has happened in the last 3 1/2 months that I just must update y'all!  Not to mention... my gramps has been on my case.  So here are 10 pictures of the last 100 days!

1. 

I love Monterey!  A town where the ocean, sailing, and succulents are all a very big deal is the perfect town for me.  I love this picture of the wharf and the blue sky.  I spent a lot of days chillin' around here just looking at the shops, taking walks, watching the boats, and eating seafood.  

2.

Something else cool about Monterey... I made friends!  Weird, I know, but I hung out with a lot of people my age.  In this picture is Autumn, another intern from Sacramento State.  I had a blast going on hikes, visiting the farmer's market, and going out to eat.  I also lived with an AMAZING family named the Leach's.  I love them, although I have no picture with them. :(

3. 

This is a grainy picture of most of my co-workers at CHOMP, the hospital in Monterey.  I was really intimidated at first, but ended up LOVING work at the hospital.  I learned so much about physical therapy and health care in general.  I loved meeting the patients and their families and finding ways to help them.  I also got along well with my co-workers and learned a lot from them.  

4.

This is one of the best sunsets ever.  This big rock in the back is called Bird Rock and is on 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach.  It was the closest piece of ocean to my house and I often walked, ran, or just got lazy and drove there.  By the time November came, I would stop there on my way home from work and watch the sunset.  The closer rock in this picture was my special rock where I would climb up and just watch the waves crash and think about stuff.  

5.

My dear little sister Chelsey got to visit me!  Not only was the weather perfect while she was there, but we got to do lots of fun stuff like drive down to Big Sur and see this amazing bridge.  We did get a good picture with no crazy hair, but this one was better!  We went to the wharf, she met my friends, and we saw Pitch Perfect together, probably the best movie of 2012.  Chelsey is lovin' BYU-I, but it was great to have her in CA too.  

6.

So this is kind of a big deal... I took a job in Santa Barbara, CA working for Aegis Therapies.  Although I will be the first person to die in the next tsunami, I will also really enjoy the beautiful view every day before that.  My friend Andi and I drove down to visit the town and my new job and I just fell in love with it.  I will be working at a rehab facility called Valley Verde and hopefully learning how to surf, sail, and sea kayak!  Another very important detail... there is a Chick-fil-a and Cafe Rio about 25 miles from my new work.

 7.

On Thanksgiving day, MY LITTLE BROTHER CAME HOME!!!  He has honorably returned from a two year mission to the Philippines.  This is mother's first hug and yes... she was that happy!  We are loving having him home, even when he annoys the crap out of us.  He has matured quite a bit, and then sometimes not at all, and that's just the way we like him.  We have been playing tons of games and getting ready for Christmas and stocking up on family time.

8.

This is our first professional photo that I think we all actually like, maybe ever.  Why you might ask... first of all Brittany Nair took our pictures and she is amazing.  Second of all, I picked out the outfits.  We went to Fair Hill, a park by our house, and had fun.  Seriously... Brittany is great.  Here is her facebook info:

https://www.facebook.com/BrittanyNairPhotography

9.

Yet another big deal... I GRADUATED!  I am now an official Doctor of Physical Therapy.  I even got a nice little award from my school called the faculty recognition award, basically for being awesome.  It was a grand day and definitely long awaited.  This picture is of my 3 favorite men at school and my trusty study buddies, Stewart, Donny, and Chris.  We worked hard together and it finally paid off.  Now I just have to study for and pass my licensing exam and I will be in business!  

10.

Last, by definitely not least, I met and started dating someone very special named Junior.  We met in Monterey at church and started dating in November.  Falling in love at the beach is definitely the way to go!  He came to Utah for graduation and to meet my family and friends and everything went very well.  I am very grateful for him and for all that he has taught me in our short time together.  He is kind, respectful, very sweet, and originally from Tonga.  We are going to continue to long distance date and see where life leads us in this new year. 

The Golden State

I have no good excuse for not blogging for so long!  Life has been great and my new place of living has very little wireless internet, so let's blame it on that.  In the last few weeks I have gone to two family reunions, hung out with my sister and parents, gone crabbing, said sayonara to Oregon, moved to Pebble Beach, Cailifornia, started my LAST INTERNSHIP, and I'm loving it all.

Leaving Oregon was hard.  I have loved my family and the chance I had to be close to them.  I forgot how awesome it is to just call up a family member and invite yourself over or get a hug from a little cousin or not have to explain how your colorful family history makes you say weird things.  Here are some pics from my last few days there...

italian soda fun with birgette and stefan

this lady is making my bouquet.  whatever flowers i want for $10 

my poor uncle hurt his hand so me and my aunt Michelle were on crab duty

yes, they can be scary 

me and my cousin Haylee

A few days after all this fun... I find myself in one of the most famously beautiful places on earth!  Thanks to the kindness of a Mormon family that we connected with through a family friend, I am living in Pebble Beach, only 1.1 miles from the ocean and about two blocks off 17 Mile Drive.  It's so pretty, I have even been inspired to start jogging.  I know, crazy.

I'm working at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, locally referred to as CHOMP.  It is the nicest hospital I have EVER been to and I love it.  I work in the ICU and the telemetry unit so these patients are very different than what I'm used to, but it is fun to do something new.  My co-workers are great and the days fly by!

the best part of my new room: storage for scarves and vera

that's monterey baby!

i like these venice-y looking buildings

this is what i get to jog to

just some deer, hoping to catch some golf

SUCCULENTS ARE EVERYWHERE HERE!  and i love it!

carmel-by-the-sea, where houses are named instead of numbered.  it's adorable

and this town is so great that there is a nautical shop, where they only sell horizontally striped clothing and large model ships

berries at the monterey farmer's market

Monastery Beach

Beach Week

Being land locked for years at a time makes one miss the Ocean, but I'm happy to say that this summer I got to see or touch the Pacific Ocean for ten whole days in a row, on four different beaches!  I went to Cannon Beach to be with my uncle and aunt for the weekend, left Monday for work, back Tuesday night for the 4th of July, back to work on Thursday, then Friday night, down to Winchester Bay with my mom's side of the family!  All I can say is... I can't wait to buy my beach house.

Short Sands Beach
Me, my cousin Rachel, and Cannon the dog headed down to Short Sands beach in Oswalt West State Park.  I'm pretty sure this is my favorite beach I've ever been to.  It's about a mile hike in, lots of surfers go there, and it's the perfect place for dogs to run around and have fun!

Cannon Beach
We went to Cannon Beach a few times over the ten days.  It's beautiful and iconic.  We went down to Haystack Rock at low tide and saw some adorable baby seagulls up on the rock.  There was also the 4th of July parade complete with candy and lots of fun.  My cousin is selling baked goods to go on a Washington DC trip next year and we made some scones and cookies to sell at the parade.  Cannon Beachers are always willing to pay money to help a cute little girl!

Arcadia Beach & Hug Point
Before they banned fireworks on Cannon Beach, the 4th of July was the most magical night of the year.  Dozens and dozens of families would go up and down the beach and light off those awesome aerial fireworks that you can only get in Washington.  Even if you didn't have any, you could just go and watch everyone else's.  Now... in the name of wildlife conservation, fireworks on Cannon Beach are banned.  But have no fear, Arcadia Beach is here.  There are still a few families that go down to the beaches south of Cannon to do fireworks, light a bonfire, and enjoy America's birthday.

             

               

Winchester Bay
To celebrate my cousin's birthdays, the Strong and Rounsville families always go down to Winchester Bay for a week or so.  My uncle likes to fish and this weekend we got to go crabbing, fishing, and beaching.  We ate some amazingly fresh seafood, played in the sand, sat around the campfire, made cake pops, and they even gave me crab to take home and make crab bisque!