Lehi comes to Long Beach

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

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

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

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

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??

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

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: