shane and sal live long beach

Slumber Party!

2012-02-15T16:25:00.008-08:00

Remember how stoked you'd get when your mom let you have a sleep over??

I do. And this weekend, we ladies gave ourselves permission.

I met up with these awesome girls after work Friday.

We dined at a tasty Mexican place on PCH and watched the sun go down over chips and salsa.

Then we saw saw the ultimate chick flick, "The Vow."

Although we did have some qualms, overall we really liked it. We all cried...some more than others...(you had to be there).

Next, we settled in at this rad place (Sarah's family's Laguna Beach apartment). We had a gab fest until the wee hours of the morning. Well...1:30am seems really late for me now! My late night, early morning rock star life is faaaar behind me.

What did we do in the morning? What else? EAT! Its was pretty delicious.

Sarah's little sis, Sandy, met up with us later and she and I hit the beach. We tossed around the frisbee,

played a rousing beach volleyball game with a group of strangers, and then topped it off with a no-wet suit dip in the ocean!

Just what the doctor ordered.

This little excursion really renewed my thankfulness for my friends. I don't have sisters, so girlfriends are soooo needed!

And I'm so lucky to have them! Thank you Sarah, Amy, Dara, and Sandy! Love you all.

24 hours of...fun?

2012-02-13T16:48:00.000-08:00

I was asked to accompany the youth to the stake snow trip last weekend. Shane was so nice and agreed to go with me (we both have callings with the youth). And thank my lucky stars he was there...

We met at the church and swapped cars with the YW Pres, who has a mini van to fit lots of teenagers in. We bravely headed into the Friday afternoon traffic, towards the mountains. After 3 hours in the car (1.5 without traffic) we were finally heading up the hill to the campsite. And then we hear a sound...a bad sound. It quickly got worse. We pulled over, popped the hood only to watch smoke billow out into the cold air. GREAT! With a car full of hungry, antsy kids (myself included), we start flagging down passing cars asking for coolant because we believe the car has over heated. Cell reception is terrible and we can't reach of anyone from camp. After about an hour someone finally gets our message and rescues us! We find out we're only 2 miles from camp. Soon after, they somehow get the van started and get it up to camp. Whew.

We scarf down some chili and hang around in the lodge util MIDNIGHT. But not without some awkward karaoke and chili stomach aches.

I head over to the women's stake cabin only to find that it's freezing cold due to broken heaters. So I drag my stuff (mattress pad included) over to the girls' massive cabin, full of every girl in the stake. The iPod is pumping and the hour is late. But at least it's warm! I am finally able to shut it down and get to sleep around 1:30.

5am. Everyone is fast asleep. At least I think.

I am awoken by the most excruciating scream I HAVE EVER HEARD. Someone is in real trouble. Someone has found a dead body. Someone sees a bear in the cabin. Someone is getting attacked.

I sit up, ready to stare fear in the face and be heroic.

The bathroom door flies open. One of the LEADERS is standing in the doorway and shrieks, "I'm standing in PEE!!!" Yep. Pee. The toilet had overflowed and she was standing in pee. Pee was the dead body.

By this time every girl and leader in the cabin is awake. I can tell this leader isn't planning on taking care of this situation quietly. I get up, put on my boots, walk in the bathroom and close the door behind me. I calm the pee-footed lady and start sopping up the pee water. The toilet is really plugged and it takes me some hard labor to get the water level down. After a half hour I send us both back to bed.

7:30 am. "It's 7:30 everybody! Breakfast is at 8!" says lady pee-foot. It's not. It's at 8:30. I finally roll out of bed, into the bathroom and here are some things she says during face washing and teeth brushing: "So are you talking to me?" "You'd do the same thing if you were half asleep standing in pee!" "Well, I just like funny stories." Uh huh.

Back to the lodge for breakfast. One of the leaders is a mechanic and he looked at the smoking van. He doesn't think we should drive it home. The awesome just doesn't stop coming!!

Luckily, Shane had recently upgraded to AAA Plus, which tows up to 100 miles. It's 96 miles to Long Beach. 2 hours later I'm sitting in the back of a tow truck with "Larry from Ucipa." (We sent our kids home with other stake members.) Once again, I thank my lucky stars Shane was there! I went right to sleep in the back of the bumpy truck and woke up right where I started.

What an awesome 24hrs, huh?! Hey, it makes for a "funny story," right?

Friday Surf Day and more...

2012-01-30T16:17:00.000-08:00

I need to take more pictures.

I don't have any new ones for you, but this one makes me happy!

And it's very telling of our weekends lately.

We LOVE to surf and it puts us in high spirits.

We decided to take Friday afternoons off so we can surf together. This was our second week of Friday Surf Day, and we can already tell we made the right decision. It's our favorite activity. I'm really proud and thankful to Shane for braving the cold waters and paddling out to surf the big waves. He's awesome and it makes me so happy to do something together that we both love so much.

After our surf session Friday, Shane took me to a fun local play:

Saturday we had another fun surf session with my brother Alex.

I got frustrated because I was using a tiny, difficult surf board, but then Shane traded me for his longer board and I rode some sweet waves. When we were packing up Shane says, "So, Sally catches and few waves and the world is great again." He got me.

This is our chosen surf spot lately, the Huntington Beach cliffs.

It was 80 degrees and sunny! You just can't beat it. Really.

Then we went to a really great baptism where both Shane and I shed many o' tear.

Afterwards we went to the movies to see...

I felt like I was on a ledge the whole two hours. We give it a thumbs up.

Sunday was a beautiful day of rest.

Now back to work! "Drop and give me 20, you hoodlums!"

Quotable quotes from the children in my life.

2012-01-28T17:00:00.000-08:00

"Guys! Guys! We forgot the cuddle!!" - First grade boy during a flag football game.
"My growing pains are really hurting today." - First grade girl, holding her side ache during warm up run.
"My doctor said that if I don't stand in the shade...I will SHRINK!" - First grade girl on a very hot day.
"I just prefer academics. P.E. should NOT be mandatory." - One of MANY funny quotes from a very smart 3rd grade boy (2nd picture down, on the right) who hates P.E. He has founded his own "Global Airlines" and takes people on flights during recess. He gives me quizzes on the capitals of the world daily. He's 7. He's going to be rich someday.
"Let's do the DNA play. We'll cross through each other and form DNA!" - 7th grade boy in the huddle during football game.
"Each shot is a parabola." - Same 7th grade boy during basketball.
They crack me up.

Goodbye Guam...

2012-01-06T16:36:00.000-08:00

Hello New Mexico!

My parents and little bros have moved again! My dad recently retired from the FBI after 25 years of bustin up the bad guys.

To my delight his new employment has brought the family closer to me!! He will be doing Chinese counterintelligence work at the Sandia Labratory in Albuquerque.

They came for a few days to meet the newest grandbaby,

Iver, so we were able to sneak in a Christmas Eve surf sesh!

It was a beautiful afternoon with a huge pod of dolphins hanging out with us:)

After surfing, we flew to Albuquerque to meet my parents for Christmas!

They had the apartment all decorated and ready for us, it was awesome.

We spent the week snowboarding, rock climbing, longboarding, watching movies,

school shopping, exploring the new city, and maybe pulling a few shenanagins...

Snowboarding is what the boys were most excited about moving to Albuquerque

(other than being closer to their 3 older siblings of course!)

So we hit the slopes hard (2 full days!).

It was a total blast! It was sunny, warm, and beautiful. Sam and Joe were kicking bootay.

We took a beautiful hike on the mountain side right behind my parents' new house.

(Yes, they already found the perfect house and will be moving in soon!)

It was a great way to finish an awesome week with awesome people.

Thanks to my parents for being SO generous and making it super

memorably epic Christmas break.

Here's to seeing you four WAY more often!!

To see more pics http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100278932708589.2501694.17809381&type=1

(Snow, surf, skate video coming soon...)

26?

2011-12-18T22:20:00.000-08:00

26. Yep, I'm now on to my second 25 years. Weird. But hey, at least birthdays give me an extra excuse to really party it up! The night before my birthday we had dinner with friends Mike, Kayla, Micha and Evie, who bought us dinner and a birthday cake! They're so fun and thoughtful.

On the morning of my birthday, I went on a nice solo surf session. Then Shane surprised me at work bearing gifts! He is so nice and so cute; I was happy to get to show him off to everyone at work:) That night we went out to dinner with Alex, Morgan, and Iver - so fun.

The next day we went snowboarding!! Sarah, Bryant, Kyle, Shane, and I piled in a van and headed up to Big Bear, about an hour and half away. It was a dream. Finally it pays off to be from Idaho! I loved every second of the day. Shane did amazingly well, having only been a handful of times. Sarah and Bryant are new to the snow and are both catching on great (I won't mention Sarah lost control and came FLYING down the mountain at one point...and somehow came away alive. hilarious.) And Kyle is at the same level as me, so it was really fun to ride with him.

P.S. Be sure to notice my really hip 1989 red ski jumpsuit that I snagged from a Goodwill bin.

I love California. I love my friends. I love my husband! 2 days of awesomeness. Here's to life as a 26 year old!

Thankful for Thanksgiving

2011-12-06T15:43:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for Thanksgiving, to give me an extra reminder of the abundant blessings a very loving Heavenly Father has given me.

I'm thankful for my girls, Sarah and Sandy, who I'm positive were meant to be my sisters, just a little later in life. I'm thankful we coincidentally all wore matching denim shirts to our surprisingly fun Thanksgiving-eve bowling night.

I'm thankful Sarah was woman enough to do the Long Beach Turkey Trot, and that she, Sandy and I laughed through the entire thing. I'm thankful Shane and his friends ran it too, and that Shane rocked it.

I'm thankful to have both my older brothers and their families close by. I'm thankful for the generous and totally awesome Roberston family, and that they had us over this year. I'm thankful for my 2 sister-in-laws who I admire so much and love to be around. I'm thankful for my cutest niece and nephews, who I didn't know I could love so much. I'm thankful for surfing, and for the most epic post-Thanksgiving family surf session ever.

The list could go on forever:)

Catalina Dreamin'

2011-11-28T12:27:00.000-08:00

We bought some ferry tickets on groupon to Catalina Island (a small island 20 miles off our coast) a few months ago and decided we better make it happen!

We bought the "romance package!" Beachfront hotel, sparkling cider and chocolate, dinner, movie...

We did all that, PLUS:

- took an awesome zip line tour with an ocean view (something neither of us have done; turned out way fun and not too scary).

- explored the entire town on mountain bikes.

- did a sweet hike in the mountains with an amazing view at the top.

Talk about a getaway! Super fun.

Here are some photos and footage...

Musings of a first time marathoner

2011-11-17T17:37:00.000-08:00

Can you find us??

I don't know what I'm going to write here because I can't figure out how to even come close to describing the marathon experience. It was the for SURE the hardest thing I've ever done. And it was BY CHOICE!! What was I thinking?! Anyway, I'll tell you a few things about it, but I won't do it justice.

Alex, Morgan, and Iver were awesome enough to come up to join our support team. We drove up with them, met up with Brian and fam, drove to Santa Barbara, picked up our racing bibs, went out to eat and then Bri and I were dropped off at a hotel. The awesome ladies I run with were able to fit us into one of their rooms so we could attempt a good nights sleep with no kids. Attempt FAILED. We were so jittery and anxious; 4:30am couldn't come fast enough. The women in the group have run a million marathons (this was one ladie's 44th!) and they know that it's best to get an early start and not be rushed.

Finally, it was 7:15, and after MANY trips to the port-a-potty, Shane, Kiristi, Alex, Navy, and Audio made it just in time to cheer for us as we crossed the starting line!

My nerves got to me. I didn't feel great even for the first few miles. So, right then and there I had to get focused and realize it wasn't going to be smooth sailing. I got in the zone and didn't mess around. Brian, on the other hand, was completely stoked and joking around the whole time I was with him. It was great to have him run with me, to keep my spirits up. He was so nice and patient and helpful to me. I like to think it was good for him to run with me so I could keep him from going too fast and burning out too soon J.

Our support team was amazing. I seriously can't say enough about how much I needed them. They were there at several spots along the course, cheering loudly and smiling and excited. It was such a boost to see Kirsti's smiling face, Shane's funny signs and excited smile, the kids' cute "Go Dad Go" shirts, Morgan calmly holding Iver, and Alex eager to see what we needed.

A few mid race notes: I didn’t listen to music-it just kind of made me irritated; I almost puked when I took my first gel (luckily, there was a guy on the side of the road who let me steal his bottle of water, which saved me in that moment); the course was pretty (didn’t really notice), and a little hilly (really DID notice); everyone was really nice to me: family, friends, and spectators.

When we hit mile 17, Brian started to pick up his pace, and Alex ran with me. I could barely talk at that point and I desperately needed to get my mind off the insanity of what I was doing. I asked Alex to tell me stories and that's exactly what he did until mile 21. It was exactly what I needed and he was awesome, even though he had an injured foot, bad knees, and an aching back. What a trooper. Shane took his place at mile 21 and started in on the stories. He got me through the dreaded half-mile steep hill at mile 24. Yeah, how CRUEL is that?! But it didn't really matter. Hill or no hill I was in pain and just had to will my body to keep moving forward.

It was exactly what you call an "out of body experience." It was like my body was diconnected from my brain. It was totally crazy. Shane really got me through those last miles. Really. He kept the one-sided conversation going with a cheery disposition. Then he took off before we got to the home stretch so he could sprint and catch me coming across the finish line. When they told me I only had .2 miles left, I thought, "POINT 2 MILES?!? I don't know if I can make it!!" And I was serious. Somehow, I had a little kick right before the finish line...don't how that happened. But holy cow was I relieved to cross that line (4:01). RELIEVED. And dead.

I was so happy it was over and so happy to see everyone while standing still. Brian had come in 4 minutes before me and all the other ladies were waiting to hug me. My support team was there taking pictures and smiling big for me. I had finished my first marathon and it felt GOOD. It made me happy to think about my parents, being proud of their kids for carrying on the marathon legacy. It's a rite of passage for an Osborne to run a marathon:)

Will I run another you ask? If you had asked me during or right after the answer would be HECK NO. But now that it’s been 5 days, the answer is for sure. I even think I’m nuts for saying that.

HUGE THANK YOU to:

My family support group. You guys were amazing and you made the experience so much better and more fulfilling for me.

My running women! You ladies are seriously inspiring and got me ready for that race no problem. You were so encouraging, warm, and friendly. You took me right in, no questions asked. I’m lucky to know each one of you!

Brian! My bro. My broham. My broski. Thanks for talking me into doing this crazy thing. I had a blast talking the talk with you, doing those long training runs, and running the race with you. You’re a stud muffin. Literally.

E.W.M. (Events Worth Mentioning)

2011-11-15T16:47:00.000-08:00

It was a wonderful family affair as my brother Alex blessed his baby Iver last weekend. Both Alex and Morgan are Spanish speakers and have joined their local Spanish ward. It was a cool experience to feel the spirit there and to see how much Al and Morgan are loved by the ward members. After the blessing, we spent all day hanging at Morgan's parents' house eating awesome food and playing ping pong. We feel lucky every day to part of such an amazing family.

My dad came to the states on business and was able to stop in for a day to meet his newest grandson! He stayed with Iver, while me, Alex, and Morgan had a fun little surf sesh. It was a magnificent evening, as you can see.

And lastly...a little guilty pleasure...I dragged Shane to see Chris Brown! It was funny. We stuck out in that crowd, let me tell ya. But it was really fun dancing to all the hit songs and watching Chris perform. He was legit. Thanks to Shane for taking one for the team:)

Legends and Creepers

2011-10-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

Weekend report:

Friday night we were able to watch 4 tennis legends play in person! I surprised Shane with tickets to show him how proud I am of him! (It has been 2 years this month since he opened the doors of his Real Property Management office! He's come so far and he's pretty amazing if you ask me. Totally proven himself). We watched Agassi beat McEnroe, and Sampras beat Courier. Then we got to witness one of the biggest rivalries in the history of tennis - Sampras vs. Agassi. We moved down to the floor seats and watched Sampras win in a tie break! Way awesome to see them play in person.

Saturday night we braved the local haunted house!

We went with our fun friends Kayla and Mike Delano, who snapped these shots of us in line. These creepy guys were outside and spooked me pretty dang good a few times. (I was sitting on a chair in line because my legs were shot after running 18 miles that morning! My longest run ever - it went well, surprisingly. Meanwhile Shane had an awesome 3 hour surf session with my bro Alex.)The haunted house was fun, but not nearly as scary as some we've been to in Idaho and Utah. But it was a fun night, nonetheless.

Running in my sleep

2011-10-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

So, I'm running a marathon next month. Yep. My first marathon ever. My brother Brian signed up and talked me into it. I think he's having a suburban-dad-life-crisis.

There's a studly woman in my ward who invited me to run with her hard core ladies running group. She's been inviting me for years. Here's why it's taken me this long to join them: they run at 5am! But I need major motivation to train for this marathon...so I am now a 5am runner. I didn't even know 5am existed before now.

I get up at 4:45, I'm home at 6:30...and back to sleep at 7:oo! It's hilarious, I know. But since Shane and I are kid-less, Shane's his own boss, and I don't leave for work until 9:30...we haven't gotten that "early to bed, early to rise" thing down quite yet. We're enjoying it while we still can!

So, I'm literally running in my sleep. My workout is done before I even wake up for the day! Pretty awesome actually. I'm having a really fun time running with this group of strong women, and I'm getting pumped for the big race!

Thanks Brian, for having a suburban-dad-life-crisis.

Summer+family+surf+adventures=heaven

2011-10-05T13:50:00.001-07:00

This summer was heavenly.

These are a few of my favorite moments:

Here are the rest of the photos on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100161364900419.2478484.17809381&type=3

Alex is a dad? Woa.

2011-10-03T16:31:00.000-07:00

Yep. It happened. Just call him pops.

Doesn't he look like a natural?

Iver Lachlan Osborne was born on September 24th, weighing in at 8lbs 5oz, measuring 20 inches long.

Morgan was a champ and didn't take long at all getting him into the world. I mean look at her!! Who looks that good after labor??

We were pretty excited to meet mini-Al.

We fell in love with the little guy right away.

Morgan, being the photographer that she is,

has already taken some darling shots of the newest member of our fam.

This one of the cousins is my favorite. It kills me!!

You can be sure that it will be blown up and on my mom's wall tomorrow:

Doesn't get any cuter!!

Let's hear it for the BOYS!

2011-10-03T16:03:00.000-07:00

3 cheers for these 3 guys!

Kyle and Bryant are Shane's business mentors (and best buds). They started a Real Property Management franchise in Huntington Beach, then helped Shane start his own in L.A, and for that we'll be forever thankful. They recently hit a milestone in their business and invited us to their celebration! It just so happens that Shane hit a big milestone too, which made the food taste even sweeter.

We went big, dining out at a majorly fancy steakhouse (soooooo delicious). We toasted to our business men and had ourselves a grand ol' time.

Us ladies are really proud of these guys for working so hard, making it happen, and bringing home the bacon.

Mrs. Harris, the new P.E. teacher!

2011-09-14T16:40:00.000-07:00

Who would have ever thought this sweet, dainty little princess would later become a P.E. teacher??

Since surf instructing is only a summer gig, I have been emailing my resume out at least a few times a day for the last several weeks. If you haven't heard, the job market isn't so hot right now. So, when I got a response from a private school looking for a P.E. teacher/after school sports coach, I was careful not to get too excited. I went in for the interview, gave my spiel, and...the guy says, "Well, we'd like to invite you on board. Can you come in tomorrow at 10?" HA! I pulled my jaw off the floor enough to tell him, "Okay, what should I wear?" It was crazy.

So, today is day #6 of my new PE teaching career! The school is Called Camelot Academy of Arts, Science, and Technology. It was a tutoring company for gifted kids, until they bought a small private school that was going under about a year and a half ago. It only has 60 kids, ranging from Jr. Kindergarten up to 9th grade. It's in the city of Orange, and my hours are 10am to 6pm, Monday through Friday. These guys really focus on academics. They're looking to beef up the athletics department (I have no curriculum except a list of 6 sports!), so I'm going to see what I can do with these nerdy, um...wait, I mean....smart kids!

Check out the school website: http://www.camelotprep.com/

Here's a little video I made to show Shane around the tiny campus.

I'm excited, thankful, and I'm already making friends at my new school :) I'll keep the updates coming.

Beach camping + Beach rock climbing!

2011-09-08T17:09:00.000-07:00

Sadly the summer is over :( I had the GREATEST time ever with the fam. Once I get all my pictures in order, you'll see! But in the mean time, here are a few fun things we've done since...

San Onofre surf campout:

Totally amazing. I had THE BEST two surf sessions of my life so far. We headed down to this famous longboarding spot with our friends Randal and Lindsay. We surfed for a solid 3 amazing hours, it was like I was in surf heaven. Then we got some good food, came back and made the best peanut butter banana s'mores ever. Next we camped, woke up early to some amazing views, and headed down to a bigger spot for another epic surf session. Best waves of my life. To top it all off, back at camp we cooked a tasty hot breakfast!

Rock climbing in Malibu:

My brother Alex and his darling pregnant wife Morgan are rock climbing enthusiasts. They took us to the RADDEST climbing spot EVER. As you can see, you get to climb right on the shoreline! I felt like I was in a movie. Al and Morg had some fun friends in town and the 6 of us tried to take it all in. We had some pizza, some great conversation, and some fun climbing.

(I won't mention that I'm a weenie when it comes to climbing!! I freeze and panic every time! I know, it's surprising. But sadly true. But I still like it and am determined to get over that weenieness.)

Loving our adventures lately!

Epic (super busy) Summer 2011

2011-07-16T12:53:00.000-07:00

Yes- I've been terrible at updating my blog lately. And terrible at commenting on yours.

But I have good excuses! I've been super busy doing some fun things. Here are a few, lots more to come...

TREK! Shane I were asked to be "Ma and Pa Stuart" to 10 kids on our church's youth pioneer trek. We pushed and pulled handcarts for miles in the hot sun through the mountains, getting a taste of what the pioneers went through. We learned to appreciate our showers, beds, houses, cars...It was tough but awesome!

Mom turned 50! For Nan's 50th birthday, I took my mom on an awesome run/hike overlooking the ocean.

Then we went paragliding in Malibu!! Hopefully I made her feel young:) I had a total blast.

THE FAMILY IS HERE!!! Alex and Morgan have returned from Australia and are going to live with Morgan's family in Orange County for a while, and we are SO stoked about that. Sam, Joe, Rod and Nan are here visiting from Guam for the summer, and it is fantastic.

We've already spent some AWESOMELY fun family time together. And there's a LOT more to come.

I have been floating around, so happy to have everyone together. Love it!!

(Rod and Navy not pictured. On the left, Teijia, Kirsti's sister was visiting - 4th of July party!)

Above: Beautiful Ventura bike ride.

Below: Boogie board session with Sam, Joe, Alex, and Caleb (Morgan's little brother).

Above: Sam and Joe meeting me after work on the beach!

Below: 4th of July morning surf session I'll never forget. Huntington cliffs: me, Shane, Brian, Alex, and 7-month pregnant Morgan. It was the first time Alex, Brian, and I had all been surfing together! The sun was shining and I would not have wanted to be anywhere else.

Summer is definitely my favorite time of year :)

Pirate Paarrrrrrty!

2011-06-29T16:46:00.000-07:00

Sarah, Sandy, and their mom Nancy recently hosted a fun pirate party! We ate while listening to pirate music, and admiring each other's goofy outfits. Shane looked homeless.

Then a few of us girls hit the dance floor. It was way fun. That's one thing I miss about being single - dances! So, I really needed this dance session.

Another fun thing: we set up our photobooth! It's a new business venture Shane and I are undertaking:) It went well - it was great to have a run-through party. We've now worked out the kinks and are ready to start booking!

We'd love you to LIKE our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Seriously-Fun-Photo-Booth/211442778876839

Thanks!

Wedding time.

2011-06-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

On June 4th, these 2 giddy kids tied the knot!

My cute cousin Annie married Billie at the Oakland temple, and I was lucky enough to be there! Everything about the wedding was awesome - check out some of the beautiful pictures: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150230803879761.331566.675249760

They were SO happy, they looked SO good, and the reception was amazing! Best dance party ever.

Plus my mom came all the way from Guam. What a treat!

Dirty 30

2011-06-13T17:27:00.000-07:00

30 doesn't seem so old anymore! Last week, my man hit the big 3-0.

He got THIS sweet new ride

(we have been looking for a car for a while, and we just happened to get it on his birthday! I'm not that awesome.)

His buddies took him to K-1 Speed where he raced high speed, indoor go carts.

He loved it so much, he couldn't stop raving about for the next 3 days. It was pretty cute.

Later, we partied in this awesome backyard (thanks Dara and Nate!).

The guys watched the game on the big screen in the hot tub (yeah, I know, so sweet), and the girls gabbed it up. A fun way to celebrate 30 years of fine living!

Stay tuned to see how we topped it all off!!

(you didn't think we'd let a 30th birthday pass by without doing something crazy did you??)

Memorial Day Weekend Warriors

2011-06-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

This year, Memorial Day weekend was jam packed full of fun activities.

We started off with horse back riding in Huntington Beach! It was fun trotting along in the fields. Although it wasn't too impressive to a guy who's best friend growing up had a bunch of horses right down the street...Still, he said he enjoyed seeing guys walking around with cowboy boots and spurs :)

Next we went to a murder mystery dinner in LA! We got all dressed up in our 20's style clothes and set off to be detectives. It was funny and fun.

However, were were glad we didn't pay full price (groupon saves the day!). It was worth it to me just to see Shane looking so cute in that outfit!

We finished off the weekend with a day on the beach! We met at the end of my block, which is this awesome little spot. We kayaked, paddle boarded, played volleyball, and ladder ball. Not to mention a sweet BBQ. It was such an American way to spend Memorial Day. We loved it!

We're some pretty lucky kids.

Summer Surf Instructor 2011

2011-05-29T12:32:00.000-07:00

I'm officially a surf instructor! When I was thinking about this summer, I decided I need to do something opposite of what I have been doing for the past year and half. I wanted to do something in my field (Recreation Management and Youth Leadership) and something active and busy. And it would be a super bonus to involve my most recent passion: surfing. So, I've been checking out all the local surf schools/camps. Surf Academy (surfacademy.com) seemed pretty awesome and pretty legit. Here's some snippets of an email I received form them:

Aloha!

This email is to announce the interview for Surf Academy employment going forward for Summer 2011.

You're receiving this email because you have expressed interest in working for a kick butt company, teaching squeakers how to surf all summer long. Awwoooooo!!

The physical test consists of an ocean swim, a paddle, a soft sand run, and we want to see you surf. This test is timed.

We're looking for GREAT PEEPS (especially chicks. Chicks seem harder to come by in the surf world) to make our already radical program even BETTER. :-D

Aloha!

I went to the tryouts last Saturday and it was intense! And super fun. I really enjoyed the vibe.
The director is a 30 year old surfer girl, who is the daughter of the founder of the company (a 1970's women's surf champ).
I will be working with the kids surf camps:

Surf Academy’s kids surf camps are for ages 9 – 17. Give your Wahine (Hawaiian for Girl) or Kanaka (Hawaiian for Boy) the chance to learn ocean surf sports from an energetic and well-trained safety minded staff. Our instructors include champion surfers, lifeguards and moms. Your child will love the personalized attention that our low student-to-instructor ratio provides, and you will love the peace of mind knowing that safety is priority. Surf Academy Surf sports include surfing, ocean swimming, paddling, bodyboarding, body surfing, beach games, and ocean safety. Campers are provided with all the equipment required including, soft surfboards, wetsuits and colorful rash guards to identify them as part of our program.

Sounds like a job made in heaven just for me.
I'm really stoked! It's going to be Monday through Friday from 9am-2pm in Huntington Beach.
I'll keep you posted with how it goes!

Rain or shine, we love the beach.

2011-05-18T15:16:00.000-07:00

Saturday was gloomy, but we hit the beach anyway! We are lucky to have such radical friends.

We (Shane was there, I promise) had a fun afternoon in Laguna with 4 other families. They have awesome beach wheel chairs- Katie had a blast. We explored the tide pools, caught crabs (get your mind out of the gutter), had a ladder ball tournament, ate some good grub, and the kids played in the water. It makes me excited for a summer on the sand!

Fred+Dorothy Forever!

2011-05-17T10:24:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday, Dorothy's awesome husband Fred passed away. He was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease (a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement) about a month before he died. We are all recovering from this huge blow. He was such a legend and a rock in Dorothy's life. He lived 88 very full years. He and Dorothy's 67th wedding anniversary is this month!Sarah, Fred's granddaughter, has posted a great blog if you'd like to know more about this great guy: http://ahulllotoffun.blogspot.com/2011/05/grandpa-fred.html

After his memorial at the local Catholic church, there was a luncheon at Dorothy's place. It was a really nice afternoon. They have such an awesome family and really great friends. They all came up to me and said, "YOU'RE Sally?! Ohhhhhhh! I've heard so much about you!" It's pretty funny. I really do feel like I'm part of the family now...at least a cousin or something :) They're all so good to me!

Below are Fred and Dorothy's 4 great kids. Nancy (Sarah's mom), Fred, Greg, and Hank (the guy who is my swim coach mentor and boss).

Thanks to Shane for taking some time off to show some love. And thanks to Sandy for always thinking I'm funny (AKA "creepy").

My girl and sister, Sarah.

Now that Dorothy doesn't have her trusty Fred around, she's going to need 24 hour care. That means I'm off to find a new adventure (a new job). Dorothy and I have become very great friends (don't make me cry!) and I'm going to really miss being with her every day! However, the time is right and we will continue to be buddies. Wish us both luck!! We'll need it.

Sunday Ship Wreck

2011-05-09T10:50:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh, how I love Sunday walks with Shane.

This past Sunday afternoon we decided to check out an old shipwreck in beautiful Palo Verde. Palo Verde is located in between Long Beach and L.A.

It's full of huge coastal cliffs, amazing views, and million dollar mansions. We headed out on a trail we found online.

(Below, Shane is wincing while he gets his bum knee warmed up for the trek).

We found some pretty cool spots along the way.

After walking on these rocks for about an hour and 45 minutes

(it was way farther than I thought, my bad, Shane's knee), we came to the wreckage.

We found a spot to climb up to the road, without walking all the way back on the rocks.

It gave us the chance to check out the ocean view mansions...

...and the beautiful sunset.

If you're wondering if we walked all the way back to the car...we hitch hiked.

Sunday ship wreck success!

Funny/Awesome

2011-04-28T23:17:00.000-07:00

A few funny/awesome things lately:

We live in a ward full of elderly folks (the famous Leisure World is in our ward boundaries!). It was inevitable that sooner or later one of them would take a liking to us! This cute lady is someone we sit by occasionally at church, we help her out to her car when she needs it, she brings us bread to church,, etc. You know, the usual old lady/young couple relationship. So she leaned over to us one day and said, "You know, I don't think you need to be sick to get a free meal. I want to have you two over for dinner."

This is the first thing she showed us when we got there:

Peekaboo the tortoise! She's had him for 25 years! She keeps him on her porch. She then showed us her pictures of her friends and neighbors holding Peekaboo, from the recent "Coming Out" party she threw for him. Yes, tortoises hibernate for 6 months a year, and when it was time to come out for the the spring she wanted to celebrate! Hilarious.

We went in and she had a candle-lit, 3 course meal for us. It was really cute. While we ate, we learned ALL about this cool lady:

-She came to America from Sweeden to be a nanny at age 24, on a dare from her boyfriend.

-She moved to Vegas and worked in the tables in the Casinos.

-Married her husband, not knowing he was LDS, later was baptized after MUCH work from the Elders.

-When her husband died, she forwent a Realtor and sold her house by herself to her needy neighbor kid.

-She buys season tickets for the USC football games every year, decks herself out in USC colors, and tail gates with her girlfriend before every game.

-She's going on a trip to Thailand for the 3rd time this fall.

The list goes on... pretty funny/awesome experience.

Next funny/awesome thing:

The other day I was getting on the scooter and spotted something nice hanging out of a garbage can (I can't help it). It was a pair of brand new pajamas with the tags still on. I found a bar code from Marshall's, so I decided to take them back and see what happens! I got $17 worth of credit and these sweet kicks were $30, so BAM! My new favorite shoes for $13. Just call me Thrifty Sal.

I hope I have more funny/awesome blogs in the future :)

Adventures in Hollywood

2011-04-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

While waiting in line to see this awesome lady at Jimmy Kimmel...

we were entertained by THIS guy:

The two of us, in heaven, dancing to our favorite diva, Robyn :)

A few days later, while waiting in line to see THIS guy (Legend, Paul Simon to be exact):

We made friends with THESE 2 guys (we recognized them, and they hopped in line with us - it was around the block!):

The guy on the right is Josh Meyers, brother of Saturday Night Live head writer and Weekend Update anchor Seth Meyers. Josh was on MADtv and the final season of That '70s Show. He told us that he just finished a role in Peewee Herman's Playhouse on Broadway - pretty cool!

The other guy is Hayes MacArthur, star of our most recent favorite show, Perfect Couples (which has been cancelled!! Total non-sense.) He's hilarious and awesome on the show.

He's married to THIS lady, Ali Larter, best known for Legally Blonde and Heroes, whom he introduced to me inside the show:

The concert was amazing. It was at a club - we were standing about 20 feet away from Paul! Here's some footage:

Cheers to Adventures in Hollywood!

Lehi comes to Long Beach

2011-04-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

Shane's parents, Lewis and Toni, and aunt Mike came to party with us! They had so much fun last year that they came back for more :) We had great time. Shane took them straight from the airport to Laguna Beach, where they explored and stayed over night in Dorothy's apartment. (I had to miss out due to my aqua aerobics class, which is going well by the way!)

We enjoyed a leisurely, Sunday coastal bike ride to the pier. My favorite!

Monday, we hit up 6 Flags, Magic Mountain! Yes, Toni and Mike are coaster lovers! They couldn't wait to feel the thrill. We lasted until about 3:30. Not bad!

Tuesday, we hung out with Jay Leno! I gave the ladies some insider tips, and they ended up getting this sweet photo with the man himself!

We were lucky to have Bryant and Sarah join us in our adventures.

Afterward, we went out on the town and got a little crazy. (Click on this photo to check out this statue's nice glutes.)

And of course, the trip wouldn't be complete without some beach bocce ball, in the beautiful Long Beach sunshine.

Big THANKS to Lewis, Toni, and Mike for making the trip down, treating us to lots of dinners, and being game for our shenanigans! We all had such a good time, I think we should petition to make Lehi and Long Beach sister cities.

Hiking Yoga

2011-04-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

My good friend Lindsay is awesome. She recently bought a Groupon for her and I to try HIKING YOGA! We headed to the Santa Monica mountains ready for an adventure. It was exactly what it sounds like: hike, stop, do some yoga, hike, repeat. SO FUN!!!

It was a beautiful afternoon, a great hike, and featured some amazing views.

I'm not sure if you can tell I was having fun...

I had never done yoga before, but I really liked it! As our instructor (a struggling actress, what else?) guided us, our bodies and souls became connected with mother earth. Haha! But really, I could use some weekly yoga in my life. I think it would be good for me - mellow out a little :)

Shane would not object to that.

Thanks to Lindsay for this radical new experience! I had a total blast.

Anyone who is coming to visit: you can expect to go on this hike! And maybe by then, I'll be able to teach you some yoga too!

Life Latley

2011-04-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

Life lately has been fun! Mostly because my bother ALEX came to visit!! For those of you who don't know, Alex is living in Canberra, Australia, earning his masters degree in International Relations. AND...his cute wife Morgan is PREGNANT! Yes- we're very excited to get another niece or nephew!

Alex was in town for week, checking out some future job options, and we were lucky enough to get to play with him! We went surfing in San Clemente with Morgan's brothers, who schooled us on the waves :) We had a total blast.

Shane and Laura (Morgan's little sister), cheered us on from the sidelines. Sadly, Shane tore his meniscus surfing about a month ago. HUGE BUMMER. But he's been slowly recovering and has been KILLING it at work!! Last month was his biggest month EVER and I'm SUPER proud of him. Really, he's owning that biz.

Dorothy and I have been having some good times lately. She calls me her "fashionista." I get to dress her (she has closets full of fun things!), and shop with her lots. The picture on the left was "Red Cross Day." The picture on the right, she's wearing what she calls her "Oprah Shirt" because it has a beautiful neck line :). We found it shopping at a thrift store, which is one of our favorite activities.

Above, you can see her happily watching the golfers (me included) at the driving range. We've got to come up with things to do every day - so why not have some FUN, right?! Often, I'll set her up on the beach while I go out for a surf session. Other days, we'll go to the movies, read books on the patio, stroll through the mall, get our nails done...it's tough! And we go to lunch just about every day. Because of that, you can find me sweating it out in her living room to Jillian Michaels workout DVD's!!

Below is a piece of original art given to me by one of the cute kids in my pee wee soccer class at the Jewish Community Center. I've been teaching soccer every Monday to a group of 20 3,4, and 5 year olds! The first day was INSANE, but I've been slowly getting things under control week by week, and I think the kids are getting close to understanding the no-hands rule! Hallelujah!

Also, I am still teaching swim for Dorothy's son, Hank, every week at a pool on the beach! It's not easy, but it's fun and drains my energy - which is a GOOD thing!

That's all for today's Life Latley Update.

Basking in the glory of TENNIS champions

2011-03-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

Last year we went to our first professional tennis tournament, and we loved it so much we were back again this year. It's held near Palm Springs and it's a big deal. All the top tennis players in the world are there showing their skills.

We paid good money for these nose bleed seats!! But it was actually a great view. It was so much fun to be there in person, cheering with thousands of other tennis fans. The energy was pretty awesome in that stadium!

We got to see the #1, #2, and #3 players in the WORLD! Roger Federer, as shown below, is Shane's favorite. Sadly, he lost in the semifinals. But it was just an honor to watch him play. King Fed. Fed Ex. The Fedster.

Then we watched World #1 and Armani model, Rafael Nadal, get beat by Novak Djokovic. It was an amaaaaazing match. These guys are insane!

A BIG THANKS to Tania Robertson, Alex's mother-in-law, for hooking us up with a place to stay! We were fed and housed by Tania's sister, Kerry, at her sweet home in Palm Springs. It really put our weekend over the top! Until next year...we'll be watching tennis on the internet :)

Getting fancy in Venice Beach

2011-03-17T14:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday night, I was hired to drive a friend of Dorothy's to Venice Beach for a party.

I dropped her off at her party and had a free date night with this good looking fella!

We had a lot of fun walking around, checking out the town. There were some wild, funny things as shown above.

And then there were some super awesome, really modern, creative things as shown below.

We finished out the night dining at what we both decided was the fanciest restaurant we've ever been to. We wanted to go big, and we did. Holy cow. When we put our names in, they took our cell number and called us when our table was ready. But it wasn't a table; it was 2 stools at the "communal." It was packed and loud and swanky. The waiter came up to us, dressed in nice street clothes, and gave us menus we did not understand. Shane says, "So, we normally eat at Wendy's." HAA! The waiter gave us the rundown and we did it up. Homemade sodas, an appetizer of fine cheeses, orange zest goat cheese ravioli (5 ravioli to be exact), and chicks+fries. It was a fun/funny experience- we were in another world. And then we got the check - you don't want to know!

Overall, we decided we're very glad we live in Long Beach. But we had an awesome night out - bring on the old ladies who need rides!

Water Aerobics? Jewish Community Center??

2011-03-03T12:05:00.000-08:00

Since I finished school last year I've been working on becoming a certified fitness instructor. It's been a lot more tricky to get into the field than I anticipated. Lots of money, time, training, and schmoozing involved. But, I've finally gotten my foot in the door! And my foot is in the door of the Jewish Community Center, teaching old ladies water aerobics!! I taught my very first class this morning. And boy was it funny. I don't know if they're going to come again...I think I may have even killed a few of them. Taking care of my old friend Dorothy has definitely helped to prepare me for this new adventure!

Wish me luck:)

Race on the Base

2011-03-01T15:41:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday I completed my very first (sprint) triathlon! Shane was planning to do it with me until he injured his knee while surfing 3 weeks ago, dang it. But he was awesome and calm when I showed up to the race unprepared! Maybe I didn't do much triathlon training, or register correctly, or catch the pre-race meeting...but luckily in the end my schmoozing skills came in handy once again. I got my number pinned on just in time!

Shane hobbled around getting my bike in place, cheering, and filming. What a guy.

The race was a reverse, sprint triathlon, to be exact. I ran a 5k, biked 12 miles, then swam 200 meters. A perfect beginner triathlon. It took me about 1 hour and 23 minutes. 4th in my age group! I've decided I want to do it again next year, more prepared and with less messing around during transitions. It was fun!

Here's a little footage:

Brynne + Cade come to Cali

2011-02-28T15:02:00.000-08:00

It was a sunny summer day in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. I was 12 and had just moved into town from Spring,Texas.

As usual, I was riding my bike, following around my older brothers and their friends. When one of the boys spotted his sister, Brynne, he swiftly introduced us and ditched me with her!

AND BAM! Brynne+Sal=friends forever. Thanks for ditching me guys. Really!

(click on the pictures to enlarge)

Brynne now lives in Post Falls, Idaho with her husband and 2 cute boys (with another boy on the way!!).

She and her 4 year old, Cade, flew in for a 5 day Long Beach par-tay! Cade and I became fast friends.

We hit up the hot spots, starting with kayaking and paddle boarding the Naples canals.

Next, we cruised the beach bike path to the famous Long Beach Aquarium!

Cade loved it. Nemo fish and sharks were his faves.

And of course Disneyland! It was Cade's first time and he was pretty much mesmerized the entire day.

Other things we hit up: the beach playground, Sarah's house, In-N-Out, and Wahoo's Fish Tacos.

We gave her the real Long Beach, California flava!

THANKS FOR COMING BRYNNE! That was an epic 5 day friend extravaganza.

V-Day Shenanigans

2011-02-16T15:45:00.000-08:00

My Valentine got creative and surprised me with this sweet new house plant!

It's called a money tree and it's really rad. Love it!

After a super romantic pizza and Sprite dinner at home, we joined these two hooligans for a little dessert!

First a toast...

Then a chocolate FEAST! Raspberries, strawberries, cheesecake, and rice crispie treats.

We know how to do it right! (I'm not going to pretend that I didn't make myself sick. Oops.)

And then this happened:

Such a darling Valentine's couple.

Blades of Glory

2011-02-08T09:59:00.000-08:00

Sarah's sister, Sandy, recently returned from a mission in the Philippines. She's a lot of fun.

She was on the DANCE TEAM in high school and happened to keep ALL of her snazzy outfits!

So when I threw out the idea of ice skating, naturally, we decked ourselves out in her dance outfits and hit the ice.

Please notice Shane's right pant leg and Bryant's "Blue Steel" face.

All the 13 year olds couldn't stop giggling and pointing. It was awesome.

Drum roll please...the grand finale....

BAM!

Watch our Wipeout episode tonight!

2011-02-02T12:28:00.000-08:00

You can now watch our ENTIRE Wipeout episode without commercials,

in one 43 minute Youtube video!

Enjoy watching us be goofy.

DT GF

2011-01-27T14:50:00.000-08:00

Deseret Towers Girlfriend

This Ashely Mckell Bardsley.

She and I lived next door to each other our Freshman Year at BYU. She is totally awesome.

A lot of laughing happens when we get together.

She was on business staying in the nicest hotel in Laguna Beach, so I cruised down to hang with her!

The hotel had super fancy robes, so we wore them down to the hot tub:)

Long live college friendships!!

Anatomy of a Long Beach Sunset

2011-01-24T10:53:00.000-08:00

Last night I documented the sun setting as I rode my bike down the beach.

It was amazingly beautiful. Check it out!

Oh, and yes, I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt on January 23rd.

Bring on the new year!

2011-01-13T15:49:00.000-08:00

It happened: The 2nd Annual Build a Better Burger New Year's Eve Party!

We all got our creative juices flowing for a friendly competition.

I'm pleased to report that my Classy Cowabunga won the grand prize this year! I got lucky.

I'm excited to find out what adventures 2011 has in store for us.

Happy New Year!

5 YEARS!!!

2011-01-11T10:23:00.000-08:00

To celebrate our 5th anniversary, my dear, sweet husband took me to see

West Side Story at the Pantages Theater in LA.

So so awesome! We loved it, even though Tony dies at the end.

Can you believe we've been married 5 years?? So crazy.

Even though when I did it, I was a freaked out little 20 year old who's head was spinning,

I made the right choice. I love being married to Shane more than anything.

If you can't tell, we kind of like each other:)

Christmas in the Holy Land

2010-12-30T10:28:00.000-08:00

Shane and I just spent 10 days in Utah! It was an fabulous Christmas and we're so glad we got to go. THANKS to Toni and Lewis for being such great hosts and helping us pay for our plane tickets!! You guys are sooo nice, and we loved being with you guys.

I didn't have my camera out a lot on the trip...but here are the few that I came away with.

We took Shane's sisters kids out for some bowling and ice cream. They are super cute kids and we were stoked to get to party with them.

I got to go snowboarding 3 DAYS!!! I have sorely missed this favorite activity of mine and it was amazing to get to ride again in the best snow on earth. I went on my own the first day, then with Shane, and then with my bro Brian! Thanks to my parents for the birthday money for my lift tickets! I can't really explain how awesome it was.

The last pic is displaying my excitement about the new surf hoodie and booties I got for Christmas!! Thanks Mom and Dad!! So excited to use them.

Other things: Shane hunted with his Dad and brother, we met our new nephew Nixon (Shane's brother's new son), went to fun family parties, visited Papa and Grandma, spent the night with grandma Juanita, got to see some very missed friends, played Kinect with the kids, and saw True Grit.

Thanks to everyone who fed us and played with us!! We love you all.

25 and Alive

2010-12-16T15:33:00.001-08:00

First of all, I want THANK EVERYONE who gave me a shout out on my birthday! I have really great family and friends, and it felt awesome to feel the love. Thanks, you guys! I mean it.

To celebrate my 25th year on earth, my dear old friend, Dorothy Wise, organized this great outing! She took us all out to the cutest restaurant, and I got the star treatment.

It was so sweet and a very fun time. Thank you ladies!!

After blowing out my candle and receiving some radical gifts (I was blingin!), I went on a solo, sunset stand up paddle board adventure around Naples Island!

I have a new friend who lives down the street and has offered to let me borrow her board anytime! It was a perfect birthday activity. LOVED every minute of it.

Then my wonderful hubby (who surprised me with a brand new scooter helmet before I left for work!) took me out for a romantic night on the town.

We went out to eat where he presented me with this crazy awesome, super legit, chunky GOLD WATCH! I spotted this trend a while back and Shane paid attention. He's a very thoughtful gift giver and I love him a whole lot.

He topped the night off by taking me on a ferris wheel ride overlooking the ocean in beautiful, downtown Long Beach. It was awesome. My birthday was awesome.

Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone! Here's to being 25!!

Whoa. I'm 25.

Holiday Harris Hotel

2010-12-13T10:03:00.000-08:00

We recently spiffied up our apartment - mainly a new rug, a new couch and pillows, and a new TV

(thanks to Shane camping out at Wal-Mart on Black Friday!). My dearest mother has been hoping to see pictures of it. She helped me realize that we needed an Extreme Makeover - Living Room Edition. She just wants the best for her sweet, only daughter ;) Since the re-do, we've gone a little wild with having people over! It's been really fun.

So if you're in town, come on over to the Harris Hotel!

Dolphin Mania

2010-12-10T11:16:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I bought half priced whale watching tickets (Groupon.com- sign up today!).

Last weekend we finally used them!

I surprised Shane, because surprises are always more fun.

He hadn't ever been out on the open sea (before Guam this summer), and he's a nature boy.

He was stoked. We cruised out of beautiful Dana Point...

Though we didn't see any whales, within the first ten minutes, Shane spotted a SHARK! Yep, a 5 foot black shark just creeping alongside the boat. Pretty cool. Then about 15 minutes later we landed right smack in the middle of a HUGE pod of dolphins. I mean HUGE. There were thousands of them churning the water.

The captain told us they love getting a ride from the boat current, which gave us a super close look!

We had never seen anything like it, and it was pretty amazing.

We saw 2 more pods of different types of dolphins while watching the sunset.

It was so beautiful and the perfect way to spend a few hours on a Saturday afternoon with your main squeeze.

This video will show you how crazy awesome that HUGE, wild pod of dolphins really was!

Check it out, especially if you have Bieber Fever.

I bet you can guess...

2010-12-08T11:49:00.000-08:00

Yet another Justin Timberlake encounter.

Julie and I crusied to Hollywood for a taping of Lopez Tonight (TBS show hosted by George Lopez).

Julie is a fellow JT fan, so we were pretty much a couple of giddy tweens.

If I learned one thing from being in a band, it's how to schmooze.

We ended up being seated in the FRONT ROW; the best seats in the house! We were pretty excited.

Nicki Minaj, Jo Frost, and Khloe Kardashian also made appearances. Nicki was pretty dope!

Look for the JT episode on the 16th.

You may even spot two googily-eyed girls fanning themselves in the front row:)

We gave thanks!

2010-12-02T10:19:00.000-08:00

This year our good friends, the Hulls, invited us to spend Thanksgiving with them in Redlands, California. Bryant's parents took us in like we were their own!

I decided that we needed to start the day with a hike! So we drove up early and found this cool spot. Shane was a good sport, as usual, and we bulldozed right up the mountain. It was perfect weather and there were awesome views. FUN.

Below, you'll see our 3 attempts with the camera timer. Check out that lake behind us!

After our hike, we headed to the Hull's wonderful home. The company was great and the food was delish! We really enjoyed being in the fun, family environment. A big THANK YOU to all the Hulls for having mercy on us orphans during the holidays :)

We ended our Thanksgiving weekend with a fun date to Knott's Berry Farm with our friends, Randall and Lindsay. Even though we got rained on and sick from the rides, it was a fun outing!

I have SO MANY things to be thankful for and I'm happy to celebrate a holiday that helps me focus on those things. 3 Cheers for Thanksgiving!

She does it again

2010-11-18T15:25:00.000-08:00

After seeing Robyn a few months ago, it was so awesome that we knew we could never not go to her shows. Last night we got sweaty and hoarse, loving every minute of her show. (The picture above was last summer when she played an acoutsic set at Borders in LA!)

In other news, Biggest Loser trainers Bob and Jillian were dancing 2 rows in front of us! Shane is a huge Biggest Loser fan and I regularly workout to Jillian's workout DVD's. So that was pretty fun for us. We said hi to them afterwards, and they were super nice. They are fellow Robyn lovers so we like them even more now.

Here is Robyn opening up her set:

Encore!

I'm still dancing.

MC Audio is born!

2010-11-10T11:35:00.000-08:00

That's right! I'm an aunt again! Auido Ingstom Osborne was born Monday, November 1, 2010. Kirsti handled it like an old pro, had no epidural, and Audio was out within an hour of arriving at the hospital! Shane and I spent the weekend in Ventura getting to know our newest family member. He's pretty dang cute, if I do say so myself.

It had been a few months since we'd seen Navy, and it was super fun playing aunt and uncle again. We miss her!! Here she is dancing ballet with her grandma and playing at the park. I took some footage of one of her serious ballerina sessions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RczjTDBzTug

My little niece and nephew! I'm a very proud aunt. Navy is a crack up - below you can see her eating her post-church meal in her underwear, braids, and heels. She decided Audio needed some more coverage while he was peacefully sleeping on the couch. "Just ONE more thing, mom, I'm just gonna put ONE more thing on him." Haha! Let the games begin!

We loved this beautiful Ventura lookout spot. The view was amazing, especially at sunset.

Here's a little video I took while we were there enjoying the evening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv_qJhtXwus.

It was a really great weekend. Brian took us to his surf spot and we had a long session on Saturday morning. He's getting really good already! He's a natural. Shane and I took Navy to see Megamind. In Navy's words "that movie was FU-U-U-U-N!" Brian took us to his office at Neff, the awesome company he designs for, and showed us all the radical stuff he's been working on. Here's the website he designed, check it out: http://www.neffheadwear.com/

Thanks to Bri and Kirst for having us! We love the new little guy tons already. Can't wait for his debut album as MC Audio.

Halloweekend!

2010-11-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

Shane and I had a very Halloweeny weekend. Lets take a look, shall we?

First off, we hit up the ward trunk or treat in these random outfits. We had these wigs and these matching pants...and wuala! 80's hippies? Sure. Anyway, Shane and I played some tricks on the munchkins while running the fishing for candy game. Then we gave out candy from our scary trunk - take a look! Shane's masterpiece.

We ditched the kids for the after party to play Mafia with all of these cool people. You all should totally play Mafia at your next party - it was surprisingly super fun!

Saturday (after an awesome surfing session), we headed out for another Halloweeny night. But not before we transformed into our alter-egos.

After a funny dinner out with friends who were not dressed up, we spent the evening at Tim and Jenni's, our friends from Wipeout (Tortoise and the Hair, 3rd place). They went ALL out for this party and there were some awesome costumes. Hide yo wife, hide you kids...my personal favorite.

Dwight: It was only a cat.
Angela: You don’t like them.
Dwight: Cats do not provide milk nor wool or meat.

Happy late Halloween! From me and the Assistant to the Regional Manager.

Great Urban Race

2010-10-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

What is The Great Urban Race?

The Great Urban Race is a wacky urban adventure. Teams of two solve twelve clues, have a wild city adventure and complete fun challenges while discovering the city in a fresh way.

http://www.greaturbanrace.com/

Last Christmas, one of Shane's gifts to me was registering us for this awesome race! This weekend the big day finally came. We headed to San Diego decked out in our 80's gear. Some of the other costumes were pretty dang awesome.

After checking out the clue sheet, Shane and I headed out to get our race on. It's designed to take the average team between 3 to 4 hours. Racers are only allowed to travel on foot or by public transportation - no bikes, taxis, hitch hiking, etc. Needless to say we covered a lot of ground!

We used a map that we snagged from a hotel and Shane's phone to help us make our way around the city. It was up to us to decide which order to complete the clues; the goal is to map them out in a geographically smart way and not have to backtrack. The clues were were fun and sometimes pretty tough to figure out! Having a digital camera is required - we had to return to the finish line with pictures doing certain funny things along the way and at different clue destinations. It was super fun.

I swear I never finish anything without some sort of injury. Check out my blistered toes and bleeding heel!

We finished in the middle of pack, tired and happy. What a sweet memory. We want to do again next year with some friends!

Funny/cool story: Our team name was "Moose on the Loose" and the girl who signed us in instantly exclaimed, "You guys are Mr. and Mrs. Moose, from Wipeout! I love that team!!" We smiled and confirmed that we were, and we thought it was pretty fun to still be recognized for Wipeout. Then at the end of the race we saw the same girl and said goodbye to her as we were walking to the car. She stopped us and said, "So, what inspired you to dress up like Mr. and Mrs. Moose?" Haha! We laughed and told her we were Mr. and Mrs. Moose! She didn't believe us so I pulled up Shane's shirt so we could prove it! The girl freaked out and took a picture with us. She said, "This is like, the best celebrity sighting of my life!" Ha! Pretty fun, eh? We thought it was pretty cool.

Overall, awesome day. Thanks for a radical gift, Shane!

WEEKEND TOP 3

2010-10-18T12:39:00.000-07:00

This weekend was another very lovely Long Beach Shally weekend. I love it here and I love my husband.

Enough of that, on to the WEEKEND TOP 3 (I just made that up...) We experienced 3 new awesome things this weekend that I'd like to share with you all, my dear friends and family.

#1. Little Saigon Massage

We went with some friends on Friday night to a dark, pretty sketchy strip mall in a place called Little Saigon to get a one hour massage for $20! It was quite the experience. We entered through a sheet veil into a very dimly lit room jammed with massage beds and Vietnamese people who don't speak English. I laid next to Shane as a Vietnamese man worked me over! It was funny and relaxing and funny.

#2. Cottage Cheese Enchiladas

On Saturday I had some leftover rotisserie chicken from Costco (the best!) and we were having the missionaries over for dinner. So I decided to make chicken enchiladas and found this cottage cheese recipe (Shane suggested we try it). It was AWESOME! I'm not taking the credit - this recipie is the bomb. Here's the link, you have to try it! http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cottage-Cheese-Chicken-Enchiladas/Detail.aspx

#3. Red Tide at night

We decided to walk by the ocean on the way home from a friends house and we saw something AMAZING! Red tide is an event in which estuarine, marine, or fresh water algae accumulate rapidly in the water column and results in discoloration of the surface water. And it looks really cool at night - the waves light up like the Belagio in Vegas! And when we walked, the sand lit up under our feet. SO COOL!

Those, ladies and gentlemen, were our WEEKEND TOP 3.

Giddyup!

2010-10-12T15:52:00.000-07:00

As you know, Shane grew up in Utah. Which means he grew up going to the rodeo. So when he saw that a rodeo was happening in LA, naturally he bought us tickets.

Luckily for me we got our friends Aaron, Dorothy and their little guy, Cormack, to come along with us. Me and Cormack are buddies.

Saturday, we had an awesome day: a church service project, beach volleyball, and surfing (Shane came with me and owned it!) Then Sunday we took a leisurely bike ride in the beautiful Long Beach sunshine.

Check out this Segway tour! It cracked us up.

Cheers to another golden weekend with my boyfriend!

PS. Props to Shane for working so hard, doing sooo great, and not working weekends anymore!! HiphipHORAAAY!

St. George Birthday Bash

2010-09-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

Shane's best bud growing up, Layth, is married to Lou and they live in St. George. Layth's 30th birthday was last week and Lou decided it would be best if we drove up to surprise him for a weekend celebration! We decided she was right.

Little did Layth know that Shane and I were awaiting him at his favorite restaurant. He said, "So what are you guys really up here for?" He didn't believe that we came up just for his b-day. What can we say? We're dedicated.

This is little Ty. He's the darling offspring of our dear friends. We had fun playing aunt and uncle for the weekend.

On Saturday we hit up the lake! It was really awesome. Hot weather, lots of fun toys, good food, and fun new friends. Layth and Lou have a great group of friends who took us right in and were really nice to us. It think it was mostly because we were on Wipeout...but, hey, I'll take it.

My two favorite parts of the lake day: learning how to ride a stand up jet ski (a little trippy to learn, but super fun once you get the hang of it!) and cliff jumping (just like the old days on Tubbs Hill in Coeur d'Alene!)

Saturday night everyone came over for pizza and some Mr.and Mrs. Moose action. We watched our Wipeout episode and gave everyone the play-by-play inside info! It never gets old:)

A big thanks to Layth and Lou for letting us stay in their awesome house, play with their cute kid, share their fun friends, take us to the awesome lake, and feed us such good food! We had a blast - can't wait to visit again.

Bringing sexy back to my life

2010-09-12T14:49:00.000-07:00

Justin Timberlake and I meet again! Okay, not really "meet" but we were in very close proximity. It all started while babysitting, watching 'N Sync on TRL. JT crooning in a wife beater, earings, curly bleached locks. I was hooked. Shane took me to see him in concert in 2007 (best night EVER), and then last year we sat in the front row at Jimmy Kimmel while JT was a guest. And now,THIS marvelous evening:

Justin has a clothing line called William Rast that he started with his best friend, Trace Ayala. It's a pretty awesome collection and if I was rich I'd be decked out in William Rast. So Friday night was "Fashion Night Out" in LA and New York. Justin made an appearance at Nordstroms in Santa Monica to promote his clothing line. He said hello, made some jokes, and gave away some free stuff from his line.

Excited.

My husband gets an award for the night. He was the best! He left work way early to come pick me up and drive to Santa Monica. He waited around for 2 hours in the middle of a swarm of eager girls. He saw some girls interviewing people for JustinTimberlake.com and sent them over to me to be interviewed! And yes, they interviewed me:) Stay tuned for that; I'm thinking Monday it will be up.

After the Nordstroms appearance, me being the insider that I am, knew that he'd make another appearance down the street at his William Rast store. We headed over and saw it was exclusive and you had to be on the list to get in. Luckily, with all our experience being poor and dipping our toes in showbiz world, we've learned how to schmooze! One of the girls working for JT spotted me outside and just brought us right in! It was pretty rad.

The store was pretty small and we were in the very front. These pictures are all taken by me! We were so close we could smell his hair gel. Pretty unreal!

Yes!

I made friends with JT's cousin and met his best friend...so yeah, I'm getting close to meeting the man himself :) After the appearance, the JT.com girls took me and another guy out front to do a "fan battle!" It was funny. We took some photos, introduced ourselves, and then we were asked trivia questions on camera. Of course, I won. Then I asked his cousin, "Don't you think the winner of the fan battle earned a picture with Justin?" She said she thought I was right! So she went to the back and showed him the video! He said "Oh, she's from Long Beach, I dated a girl from Long Beach."(he's talking about Cameron Diaz by the way) But to my extreme disappointment his cousin said he was with his friends and about to leave and he had had a really long day, yada yada...so no hand shaking or picture :( But it WILL happen! I was so close, so now I'm very determined. Overall it was a super awesome evening. Thanks Shane, for being my supportive, fellow JT fan! I love you!!

Party in the USA

2010-08-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

Summer is my favorite time of the year, for many reasons. But the main reason is that I get to hang with my fam!! They decided to come for a "quick" trip to the states from Guam so Sam could go to EFY and my parents could see their families. But lucky for me, it ended up being a not so quick trip! And we didn't waste any of that time sitting around - we partied it up!! It was awesome, to say the least. Here are a few of my favorite photos:

A HUGE THANK YOU to my parents. You guys are seriously so awesome. Thanks a million for spending all that money and time on us! It really made our summer, and you know it! We love you and can't wait till you come back.

To see the rest of our photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2355596&id=17809381&l=4027081d19

Surprise Bungee Hike!

2010-08-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

So, my family from Guam came to the USA for some vacation and I was lucky enough to hang out with them for several weeks! It was awesome (blog coming soon). But all good things come to an end...and Shane knew I would be bummed. Being the sweet husband that he is, the day after they left he whisked me away on a romantic "hike." Yes, we did hike, but what he didn't tell me is that we would be BUNGEE JUMPING! We hiked 5 miles into beautiful San Gabriel canyon, outside of LA, and jumped off of the "bridge to nowhere."

The hike was sooo pretty and really fun. We waded through the river several times on our way.

Although I have to say the way down was much more enjoyable than the way up - cause I was FREAKING OUT! Since this was a surprise, I was not mentally prepared like the rest of the jumpers.

But I gathered myself and made the literal leap of faith. It was insane. And it was awesome.

(That guy helping me up seriously had to be my shrink before the jump! Couldn't have done it without him - he is good at his job.)

Shane's extreme tank top and short shorts gave him all the courage he needed. He loved it.

We have great footage of both of our jumps on our youtube page: www.youtube.com/sallyandshane

After jumping, we headed down below the bridge to enjoy the beauty. We watched some jumpers and took a few dips in the awesomely clear mountain water. We were loving being in the mountains for a change.

Thanks, Shane, for a rad surprise! I'm not mad at you anymore, now that we're both still alive. I guess we have to go sky diving next? Maybe I'll surprise you.

Robyn

2010-07-24T10:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy summer so far! It's going by so fast...Here is something awesome that happened. Our favorite Swedish pop star Robyn is on tour and we could not miss it! (Don't know her? You will know this song). We decided to avoid crazy LA and opt for her show in Solana Beach, near San Diego. It was a super pretty, really cute, nice little town. We felt like we were in the Truman Show.

She was totally incredible! Shane and I loved every minute- we could have watched her all night long.

She came out in a full on Robin (from Batman and Robin) costume. It was awesome. And then she striped down into this wild outfit.

Most of her stuff is electronic dance pop music. But that doesn't mean her voice isn't amazing.

This video will impress you.

Guamtasitic!!

2010-07-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Guam could not have been more awesome. I seriously have to best family ever! It was amazing to get to have quality fam time in such a beautiful place. Here are 5 of the zillion awesome pictures taken. Check out the rest on my facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=17809381&aid=2342428&s=0&hash=95cec764aecfcb7a5ea5aa7549a4a42e

If we're not friends - add me!!

I really can't say thank you enough to my parents. THANK YOU!!! Love you guys!

River House + Toys + Friends = Party

2010-06-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

Our friends Randal and Lindsey Southwick are the bomb. They invited us again (we went last August) to spend Memorial Day weekend at their amazing river house on the Colorado river!! Saying that we had fun is quite an understatement.

We relaxed on the porch, enjoying the warm weather, river view, and good company.

Not pictured: Rousing games of pool and ping pong, hitting buckets of golf balls across the river, and tasty BBQ dinners.

Time to hit the boat!! My favorite.

Cute little Gewn! (Ryan and Becca's very chill daughter)

Extreme tubing with Becca! My elbows were nice and raw afterward.

Shane and I tried wake surfing for the first time. It was so fun! Below you'll see Lindsey working it like an old pro (she doesn't even need the rope!) and me trying to stay up!

My boy.

Me and Ryan wakeboarding. Check out Ryan's big air!

Two sweet shots: Kiffy taking a head dive and Ryan cruising in the sunset.

I put together a short video of footage from the weekend for your viewing pleasure! Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PPGLDaN4xI

Amazing 3 days! We're already excited for next time! Thanks again Randall and Lindsey!

Hallelujah, I'm a college grad!

2010-05-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

It seems like just yesterday that I was on a plane from Beijing to Provo totally freaking out. I left my family in Beijing and was on my way to start life on my own at BYU. But my, how life has changed since then! After 3 years at BYU, the band decided to do summer sales and play music in California; little did I know we would never move back to Utah! I was determined to finish my degree, though I knew it wouldn't be easy. After several custom made online courses (during tour and recording!), a 4 month swim coach internship, an emergency week long school trip to Provo, and finally, statistics and algebra at Long Beach City College, I DID IT! I now have a bachelor's degree from BYU in Recreation Management and Youth Leadership.

When I came home from my last final, Shane had this surfboard waiting for me!!! He is so cute and thoughtful and awesome and the list goes on. I've already tried out my new board a few times and it's the BOMB!

I love it. I love Shane.

(I got this sweatshirt from the DI right after I found out I got into BYU. I was so excited, I had to have some official gear! It was only right to wear it on my last day of school.)

I thought my surprises were over with the surfboard, but I was so WRONG! The weekend came along and I thought we were headed to the Hulls for a typical afternoon BBQ and I walked into THIS:

My friends and husband threw me a surprise graduation party!! There was graduation music playing as I walked through the clapping tunnel of friends. It was SO awesome!

Fun friends, great food, awesome decorations, no more statistics... I was feeling pretty dang good.

I was so delighted that Dorothy and her wig came to congratulate me!!

Cute girlfriends.

Cuter husband.

A HUMONGOUS thanks to Shane, Sarah, Bryant, Nancy and everyone who came to celebrate with me!!

You guys are the best.

And lastly, I'd like to thank my husband and my parents for being such huge supporters of me finishing school. I truly could not have done it without you three. I love you all!!!

I will close with this message someone wrote on my group graduation card: "Congratulations. Welcome to the real world." That made me laugh.

May Madness

2010-05-25T12:39:00.000-07:00

It's time to let you all in on some of the things we've been up to this month:

We had a relaxing night out with these friends. We ate some delicious BBQ and then went back to our place for some dessert and practical jokes;)

If you all remember, I hang out with Sarah's grandma Dorothy full time for my job! I am really loving it. Sarah had an afternoon free of her kids and got to come out to lunch with us! It was really fun. We're a rowdy threesome.

Does everyone know about Cafe Rio?? Well, it's an AMAZING Mexican restaurant that started in Utah and whenever we're there we make special arrangements to go and chow down. To our great delight, it's expanding! They recently opened one up in Costa Mesa, 25 minutes down the road from us! So we made the trek with fellow fanatics Sarah and Bryant to savor their specialty: sweet pork. It put us all in a great mood, as you can see in these photos:)

Sarah and Bryant have been together 8 years and had NEVER been mini-golfing together!

Shane and I were honored to be instrumental in changing that fact.

Aren't we both darling couples? I know, I know...

Yes, we were playing with a bet on the line, and yes, the Hulls did buy us McDonald's hot fudge sundaes.

We're up for a re-match any day, you two!! Cause we had a lot of fun. Thanks guys!

Disneyland Dating

2010-05-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

It was a sunny Monday afternoon and I thought,

"You know what? I want to go to Disneyland."

And the cool thing is that I could! So I did. And I took my boyfriend with me.

Shane had never been to California Adventure, so I took him straight to the Tower of Terror.

I didn't tell him anything; it was really funny. Shane shrieked through the whole thing. Awesome.

Have you seen these crazy huge turkey legs? I had been wanting to try one since my birthday, so I did! It was pretty tasty for the first few bites...but then we went on some rides and...not so good.

But we had to!! Now we know.

Overall, a successful afternoon Disneyland date!

Two for the price of one

2010-05-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

Toni and Lew. Nope, not life partners in the usual sense of the saying. Not my two Dads, either. Yes, there's a history of unisex names given to the women in my family. But regardless of how you address them, they're two of the greatest parents in the world! And today, we get to celebrate them both.

So...Capeetan Lewis, aka King Lewie, aka The Dance Machine, aka the #1 hunting and fishing comrade, turned 59 today. Q: Do you know what they say about a guy who's 59? A: HE'S ALMOST 60! Jk, pops. Thanks for being such a great Dad. I can't tell you how many times my dad gave me his fishing pole so that I could keep fishing, while he sat on the banks of the Green River for an hour or two trying to get the snags out of my line! We love you and look forward to many more trips together in the future.

And now my dear mother! I could spend an hour on what an angel she is just for putting up with King Lewie. What a wonderful woman she is in so many ways. An amazing seamstress (she's done plenty of fixes on my trousers), the best movie watching partner (entertaining because she gets scared so easily), a real pain in the neck when we're playing card games in the trailer (watch out, she'll getcha when you least expect it), and always a nice hug, warm bed, and a hot meal when we cruise through town. Thanks for being a great friend and awesome mother.

We love you both so much,
Shane + Sal

Word to your Mother

2010-05-09T13:58:00.000-07:00

My mom runs,

and bikes,

and kayaks,

and rollerblades,

and cliff jumps,

and hikes,

and scuba dives,

and longboards (yikes!),

and dances,

and teaches,

and lucky for me, she mothers.

What doesn't she do!? I could not have asked for a more awesome mom.

I couldn't even begin to list all the reasons I'm thankful for you, Mom! Happy Mother's Day! I love you!

Guns and Fire!

2010-05-04T10:20:00.001-07:00

Did I get your attention? You were worried for a minute, admit it.

Shane decided he needed to brush up on his shotgun skills. He took friends, Bryant and Kyle, to have some boyish fun with guns. The good news is, nobody got shot.

Later we hung out here:

A really awesome lady in our ward lives down the street from us and her backyard IS the beach!

She kindly let us have a bonfire at her place and it was a great success!

We had fun chowing hot dogs and s'mores, listening to my sexy husband perform, and chatting it up. Thanks to all our friends for coming to party with us!

One more sweet Saturday for the history book of Shally.

Big sister Sally and big sister NAVY!?

2010-04-28T10:50:00.000-07:00

BIG NEWS!!!!

Kirsti is about to have another cute pregnant belly!!

She's due in October :)

And this little firecracker is going to be a big sister!!

(This is a picture of her dancing at a huge break dance battle in Rexburg where her dad also danced. If you haven't seen the video, you just HAVE to watch it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56hQFvml5tA&feature=player_embedded

I've never seen anything cuter.)

2nd piece of exciting news:

Shane and I are going to GUUUUAAAAMMMM!!!

We're going to do a lot of this:

And a lot of exploring in this:

And we're definitely excited to learn how to do this:

I can't wait to be a big sister for 2 weeks in Guam!!! We leave June 12th.

Thanks to the most amazing parents in the world for the BEST graduation present EVER!!!

(I will be officially done with my degree on May 18th!)

Needless to say,

I can't wait to be an aunt again (so happy for them!!)

and I can't wait to live it up w/ the fam in Guam, baby!!

Good times ahead!!