SF: Part One

So hey guess what? I went to San Francisco!

I went at the end of September with one of the travel study classes. Art students are actually required to take this one-credit course, which forces us to take 5-days out of school so we can travel some place awesome, walk through beautiful museums and eat delicious food.... Yeah. BASICALLY the best idea the school ever had.

We did and saw SOOOooo much, but I only caught a few things on camera. Basically, my plan to be a cool photographer chick (shooting everything manually) backfired. Auughh. Curse my pride! When I came home I discovered that most of my pictures were blurry and/or exposed wrong. whoops. :( But don't you worry, I fully plan to upload each and every decent picture I have.

Starting with... Part One: Museums

[Don't forget to check out Part 2 & Part 3]

SF: Part 2

Part Two: Japanese Tea Gardens

SF: Part 3

And... Part 3: The Beach

I forgot to mention (but now you've seen) how the ENTIRE time we were in San Francisco, a dark foggy cloud covered the city. We never even got to see the Golden Gate Bridge, other than the 5 feet in front of us as we drove across it. I'm not complaining though. The fog was pretty mystical and awesome. Once we got across the bridge, the skies were clear and blue (go figure). We made sure to stop by Muir woods and Stinson Beach on our way out.

3 days in San Francisco was NOT ENOUGH! I can't wait to go back with Evan in the hopefully near future.

Home = Heavan

I can't believe how quickly my time in Utah flew by. Ten days felt like two, and I found myself on an airplane, glaring down at Vegas, willing the plane to turn around and take me back home again. But when Evan picked me up at the airport, I had to admit that being with him feels more like home than anything else. And I was content.

As a side note, the flight from SLC to Vegas was saaaweet! We were only in the air for 45 minutes, I got pretzels and a drink, AND my whole row was empty, so I moved from my assigned aisle seat to the window seat to enjoy the view :) Not bad. Not bad at all.

Viva Las Vegas!

Evan found an internship, and guess where it is...

Yep that's right. We're heading to sin city and things have been changing pretty quickly around here.


Thursday: Evan got the offer to work for SouthWest Gas in Las Vegas, NV.


Friday: We accepted the internship and sold our apartment contract.


Saturday: We sold our furniture, cleaned out our apartment and hit the road!


Saturday-Sunday-Monday: We spent the weekend with my super cool family in Northern Utah.


Monday: We drove to St. George, UT where we spent the night with my sisters in-laws.


Tuesday: We drove to North Las Vegas and started shopping for apartments. 


Tuesday @ 3:00: We signed a lease and started moving in!




We are excited! Our complex has a super nice pool and fitness center! Observe:

Our apartment complex is new, and it's in a great location. South of us is EVERYTHING, and North of us is NOTHING. I prefer the nothingness to the everything-ness, but having the option is good. And it's a huge bonus that we're right by the highway that takes Evan straight to work in less than ten minutes!


In other news... 

Yesterday was our anniversary! One year of bliss! ;) We ate at Olive Garden on Saturday night to celebrate :)


Evan officially started work today. He works 7-3:30, Monday thru Friday. Which is pretty much the perfect schedule. I can't complain about that!

Wish us luck!

UT, NJ, MN

I left PA for a couple of weeks to go to my brother's temple wedding in Bountiful, UT. I had a great time with my family but I wasn't so sure about being apart from Evan. I guess I kinda like that guy. Hmm... 

THEN, the next weekend back Evan took me to the Jersey shore! We played on the boogie boards, laid on the beach, and searched for sea shells to add to my little brother's collection. I hadn't been to the ocean in 15 years so I was pretty excited about all of it.

Pretty soon we were packing up to drive back to Utah. 

We took a detour to Minnesota so I could meet some of Evan's relatives and see where he grew up. He has some pretty deep roots there, including Nickerson where you can find DeLong Lake and DeLong Road.

What a fun summer it has been!

One of my best, I think.

Just missed it.

So... I missed my flight.

Yeah.

I guess I am a failure. In my defense though, I have very little experience with travel and I didn't expect it to take 50 freakin' minutes just to get through the security line!

Anyway, I ended up spending five extra hours in airports and one extra hour on the plane. BUT I finally ended up in Utah AND I made a new friend, Danielle. She missed the same flight, so we ate breakfast together and ended up talking about the LDS Church for nearly four hours. SCORE! The church is true!!!

I do miss my hubby lots and lots. But I'm having way too much fun to dwell on that.

Philly-delphia

My cousin McKell and her baby Bridger came to visit. We decided to go to Philadelphia and see a few historical gems. Like...

The Liberty Bell

The National Constitution Center

The Senate and House of Representatives Meeting Rooms

George Washington

and Benjamin Franklin...

...Among other things.

We kept it short and sweet

Yay for America!

Mr. and Mrs. Evan DeLong

Evan and I tied the knot. YAY!

No reception, just a beautiful ceremony followed by a simple luncheon with close friends and family [perfection]. Then we honeymooned in Salt Lake City.


Exotic? No. Cheap? Yes.
So sue us. We are cheap skates.

Later we went to Moab with the remains of my family. A.k.a. Dad, Mom and Hunter.

The Rubicon broke. We fixed it. It broke again... We threw a frisbee.

Southern Utah was delicious.

Unfortunately, the care-free fun couldn't last forever. Evan's tedious search for an internship seemed to finally end in epic failure and we started to waste away in my parent's basement.

Then, magically, a job opportunity appeared.

...P&G...

I wrapped giant rolls of toilet paper 12 hrs a day, 5 days a week. Evan inspected incoming pallets for rodent droppings. That lasted two days.

Next!

  

... Levolor...

As you can see, it was no paradise, but besides waking up each morning at 3:45, this job was at least bearable.

But then.... A Summertime Miracle! Our prayers were answered. Evan was suddenly offered an internship and 3 days later we were on our way to Pennsylvania. 

Point A: UT Point B: PA

 

Up-sides to PA: Rolling tree-covered hills, lightning bugs, warm rain, historical architecture, and Philly cheese-steaks. Down-sides: I am a job-less hobo and Evan is never home.

Thus, a blog. Stay tuned for more updates.