Yosemite

At the end of July, my mom, sister, and brother were in our neck of the woods. My sister had a friend's wedding in Oakland/reception in Sonora to attend. My mom drove Brittany and her friends here for the wedding (and for some sightseeing). Brian flew in just for the weekend. We all stayed in Sonora at a cute little hotel there. The day after the big wedding day, Brittany and her friends went to a fun little lake in Sonora for the day, while Brian, my mom, Ricky, and I went to Yosemite for the day. I had heard from a lot of people that Yosemite was awesome, but I didn't know what it would be like or what to expect. I was happy with what we fit into our one full day there. We saw many of the waterfalls. They were so pretty! We first saw Bridal Veil Falls. It was pretty and not much of a hike to get to it. Then we hiked lower Yosemite Falls. It was so nice to sit at the bottom and feel a little mist from it! Lastly, we hiked Vernal Falls. Vernal Falls was definitely the big hike of the day for us. It was so uphill and so hot! Then, we made it partway and saw this little view of the falls still so far away. It was kind of a disappointment after all that. But we could luckily fill up our water there and then continue onward. I'm so glad we did. We walked right up by the waterfall with the mist from the falls just soaking us! It really cooled us down and gave us the energy to keep going! Then, we got to the very top of the waterfall! It was so amazing to have made it to the top of it! We relaxed and ate some snacks before heading back down. It was a full and amazing Yosemite day! Here are a few pictures:

Right when we arrived in Yosemite, Ricky spotted a bear! We pulled over to see it. It was enjoying a snack from this tree.

so pretty!

On our way up Vernal Falls - you can see how soaked we got!

A happy squirrel relaxing at the top of Vernal Falls

Berkeley and Oakland

Oh wow, I think we are a little behind on our posts. Well, we just went to Oakland recently, but I realized I didn’t even post about our last Oakland trip! Ooopsy. This most recent trip was quite short, we just went to the temple. Due to working a lot and getting free food often at work, my pants have not fit me very well. So I decided to get a new pair. Brooke ordered me some off Amazon, but they were not quite the right size. Additionally, the fabric was quite thin, not what I would expect from $50 plants. Fortunately, I think returning them will be easy since Brooke used Amazon wardrobe. I had to hide the tags though when I wore them in the temple, which was probably a little humorous to watch. After going to the temple, we went to the smallest taco bell I have ever been to. It had 3 or 4 little 4-person tables. It had a sign “15 minutes only,” as in “you can’t linger here.” I finally tried a quesarito, which I was a little disappointed by. The mini chicken quesadilla is pretty good though. And of course the beefy fritos burrito with 440 calories for 1 dollar is the best value. I think this is turning into a fruglife post though! Anyways, the last trip to Oakland was very different, as you will read!

So we went to the Hotel Claremont in Berkeley where my friend works. It was a gorgeous hotel and he showed us around. We watched a guy saber a champagne bottle in the hallway. We chatted and reminisced about old times.

I don't often give 10/10 for a dish, but I found a 10/10 dish here. The Chicken Bao Buns are amazing. The chicken was perfectly crispy, the bun soft and amazing, the kimchi added punch and the cucumber added a fresh element to the dish. A perfectly crafted and executed dish.

After visiting Berkeley, we went a few miles to Oakland to visit the temple. Brooke needed to use the restroom, so we walked into the visitor center. I sat on a bench while I waited for her. While there, a senior missionary approached me and asked if I was there for the performance. I said I wasn’t, and he replied “you should be” and handed me a program. I asked when it started and he said 7 pm, in just 10 minutes. I told Brooke what had happened, so we decided to stay and listen. I’m glad we did. The artist was a piano duo called happy dog duo. They played 4-hand piano pieces. They were quite skilled. It has been a while since I went to a musical performance. At times the music was so soothly, I felt like drifting away into sleep. They played a piece called “fairy garden”. In my mind, I really did travel to a green and lush garden, with happy gnomes and fairies. Other music was thought provoking and deep. During the music, I realized that I had been stressing about some aspects of life and the music made me feel almost weightless at times. It was a very nice performance.

Apparently there are lots of performances at the temple visitor center. Brooke and I wish we knew about them earlier.

Our big announcement

June San Diego Trip

So in June I took a trip to San Diego to see my sisters’ high school graduation.

The drive was pretty long, but not uneventful. In Gilroy, I saw some smoke in the distance, and as I got closer, I saw two cars pulled to the side of the little two lane highway. As I got closer still, I saw a fire, probably 30 yards in diameter or so, and then in the middle of it, I saw a white pickup truck engulfed in flames. It was a crazy sight. As soon as I saw this, I heard sirens behind me, so I pulled over to the dirt on the side of the highway. After the police passed me, I started to drive again, but stopped as the officer made a 3 point turn in front of me. As soon as the path was clear, I took off and got out of there. A small line of cars started forming on the other side of the highway. I didn’t capture any pictures of the event (hopefully for obvious reasons), but it was quite a sight. After I got on I-5, the drive was pretty normal, not much happened.

When I got home, I was pleased to see the family cat Sia. She had run away from home some time ago and I was glad to see her safe at the house.

The Monday after I got there was not very eventful, it seems most people have work on a Monday in the middle of the day. I wasn’t an exception either, as I did a few tasks on my work laptop. I still managed to meet up with some of my friends in the afternoon and got some Mexican food. Mexican food in San Diego is the best (Well ok, sure my times actually in Mexico were a little better haha). Anyways, I also got to play Overcooked 2, which was a total blast haha! I would highly recommend it. The premise is simple, you and a small team have to cook food in this game. It takes intense levels of coordination, otherwise everyone is just running all over the place. We started to really get the hang of it. Before long it was 1 am haha.

Tuesday was the day of the actual graduation. There was a nice breeze and the ceremony was nice. We went out to a ramen place after. I had sushi as it was still summer and I wanted something cool.

Then my brother and I spent 3 hours washing, waxing and cleaning my car. It looks great now. I think this is the first time I have waxed my car.

Well, shortly after I got there, it was time to go home. The ride home was pretty uneventful except for my stop to get gas in LA. I had to go to 3 gas stations to use a bathroom. And then I hit 20-30 minutes of traffic just to get back on the freeway. So that part was a nightmare. I don’t know how anyone lives in LA! haha, just kidding. Lots of people say that about California in general.

A day in Fresno

Before the Oakland temple was dedicated, Ricky and I made a trip to Fresno to go to the temple there. The drive there is unique and pretty, but also pretty long. We drove past fields of crops in Gilroy (tons of garlic - it smelled so strong!), stands of fresh produce, and then through the mountains and past a beautiful lake. I think the drive was about 2 hours 20 minutes.

Finally, we made it to the temple. It was the smallest temple either of us had ever been in! It was tiny! Everything was on one floor! It was beautiful though, and the grounds were really pretty.

After the temple, we went to Dog House Grill to eat. It was very popular, and for good reason! Ricky got the tri-tip sandwich, which was alright. I got the pork rib meal, which was amazing! We both loved the ribs, and there was a generous portion of them! The meal came with a salad and garlic bread. We were both stuffed!

We ended the day going to Woodward Park to play some disc golf. The park is huge, and it took us awhile to actually find the disc golf course. It was a huge course, definitely too advanced for me, but still fun. 

Oakland Trip

A few weeks ago, we went to Oakland to attend the Oakland temple open house. The temple has had some work done on it and will be rededicated soon, so it was open to the public for tours for a period of time. We hadn't been to Oakland in quite a while and had never really explored Oakland by ourselves before. I think we were both surprised by what a fun and cute place it is! It was super humid and very green, so it reminded me of the east coast a little, just with how green it was! It seemed so much greener than San Jose! San Jose is so dry like 11 months of the year. Even with all the rain this year, it's only been green and pretty for like a couple weeks in January or February. Anyways, we drove to Merritt College where we could park, then we got shuttled to the temple in a school bus.

In the school bus

On our way to the temple

The tour started in the stake center next to the temple, which is huge! It had a big auditorium where we sat and watched mormon ads while they took group by group out to head to the chapel where the tour would start with a video and an introduction from a tour guide.

Just watching the mormon ads in the mini conference center

The stake center was just so huge, it had this courtyard and two stories

Then, we followed our tour guide over to the temple. He showed us through each room and talked about what the various rooms are for. Afterwards, we admired the view and walked over to the visitor center.

The view from the temple is amazing!

The flowers outside the visitor center were so pretty!

The Christus in the visitor center

Here is a video of what renovations were done to the temple: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd0x3PP0zNM&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3zDaZ_ZA_vK6iz8lq9ssPqw0ZliQoP0_U-prIAIeTjEPvCumVrkNHYoHg

After the open house, we went to get food at this cute Mexican place. It was a really cute atmosphere, but Ricky thought the tacos were a little overpriced for their size.

Driving home in the rain

Overall, we decided that Oakland is a cool place and we think it would be really fun to live there!



A few unrelated updates and links for you:

-Ricky has started a podcast! I am so impressed with him and how legit it sounds. It is really fun to listen to, so give it a listen here: anchor.fm/thefruglife

-We love using mypostcard to send postcards to family and friends. Ricky came up with a link you can use to get $3 free, so you can send your first postcard free! Here's the link: https://www.mypostcard.com/en/invite/ANOTHERBORINGYOUTUBECHANNELXCRG

-Lastly, you might remember that we mentioned in a previous post (awhile ago) that we had some exciting news coming up. That news will finally be announced in September!!! (No, I'm not pregnant)

My 26th Birthday

My birthday weekend started on Friday when I got out of work. I had a staff development day at work so I got out of work earlier than normal! I got home and got a birthday package from my family - a scooter! This is just what I wanted for riding to work! I wanted to take it out right away and give it a go. We rode over to the Habit Burger Grill to get my free birthday burger!

The next day we went to San Francisco. We went on a small hike and explored some nice views of the Golden Gate Bridge. We also got pizza!

Sunday was Easter, but we didn't do too much to celebrate, besides church.

Monday was my actual birthday! I rode my scooter to work, which was very enjoyable and much better than walking. After work, Ricky and I went to Denny's for my free birthday meal. It's a fun little birthday tradition although Denny's isn't really the best. Overall, it was a pretty good birthday, and a fun birthday weekend!