Love, Life, & Games of Chelsea & James

2nd Year Send-Off

Friday, March 15, 2013

Last Friday night we attended an event at James' medical school called 2nd Year Send-Off! It's a party that the first year students put on for the second year students as a good luck & farewell for them to go off on their rotations for 3rd & 4th years. It's kind of like med school prom, but no dancing. Cocktail attire, live music, casino games, prizes, photos, & food! This year it was a 1920's theme, but not everyone dressed up. The food was decent--chicken, pasta, & potatoes, catered by Oggi's. I was a little hesitant about going just because of the casino games, but James told me they play with fake money to get raffle tickets to win cool prizes like an ipad mini! I don't even like the concept of gambling, but I was interested in winning the ipad mini, so James & the boys played Texas Hold'em for the majority of the night. James won a lot of "money," so we entered a lot of raffle tickets into the ipad mini jar, and put a few into the Target giftcard jar, and AMC Theater gift card jar. It was fun hanging with the girls and watching the boys be boys haha. I am excited for the professional photos to come out...we are posing with mustaches on sticks props, hats, feather boas, etc, and we should have a cute couples photo and group photo as well.Also, they haven't emailed the names of the winners for the raffle drawings yet. I will let you know if we won the ipad mini! It was a memorable night though, I'm really glad we went :)

James, Nicole, & Chad showing off the
orange wristbands = no drinking.
Pink wristbands = drunk.

Playing Blackjack

Live 20's music from the band

Trevor

Disneyland

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Our first trip to Disneyland together was so fun! I'll tell the story through pictures:

We drove to Anaheim on Thursday and encountered stop-the-car-on-the-freeway traffic for about 20 minutes due to a car accident 2 miles ahead. James met a new friend. Also, as we were driving into LA, we noticed a humongous fire! The smoke and the sunset was beautiful but I feel bad for those who were affected by the fire. We made it safe and sound to our extended stay hotel. We loaded up on some groceries (hot pockets, ice cream, cereal, milk, and snacks for Disneyland) and spent a relaxing night in our hotel.

Friday we woke up early and walked over to Disneyland. We got there before they opened the park, which was great for us because we covered about half of the park in our first 2 hours there!

We first went on the Finding Nemo ride which was super cool because we went underwater in a submarine and got to see Nemo & Dori! Then we did the Star Tours ride (I got a little motion sickness towards the end but not as bad as I thought I would get). Next we did SPACE MOUNTAIN--the most fun "thriller" rollercoaster at Disneyland. I really liked that one. I couldn't stop laughing because it was pitch black and so loud with the music and everything, but ask James, he could hear me cracking up haha.

In the submarine for the Finding Nemo ride

Next we hit up It's A Small World. Yes the song did get stuck in my head for a good remainder of the day. It's fun to see all the different dolls singing in the different languages in all the different countries...but it was the most fun for me when we got toward the end of the ride...we turned a corner and all the dolls are dressed in white and there's a huge smiling sun...James turns to me and says completely serious, "Is this heaven?" BAHAHAHA I laughed so hard! It's true. All the children from the different countries dressed in white all singing together "It's a small world after all" with a huge smiling sun = HEAVEN. But for real, it totally seemed like it was symbolizing heaven. Kinda cool. And awesome.

It looks pink but it was all white and glorious haha

Next we went on Alice in Wonderland's spinning tea cups. Not sure what the exact ride is called, but you know what ride it is--it's the spinning teacups! We had fun trying to spin as fast as we could. I especially like these pictures~we just look so cute in our teacup.

We then proceeded to ride the Matterhorn (bobsleds), the Jungle Cruise, Tarzan's Treehouse, and then INDIANA JONES! The Indiana Jones ride is James' favorite since he was a kid. He went with his dad when he was like 9 and he got the driver's seat in the jeep with the fake steering wheel. This story is so cute: James was nervous and told his dad "dad I don't know how to drive." Aww so cute! He was all nervous about the ride because he didn't know how to drive. Good thing the ride does all the driving for you, that is a bumpy crazy adventure! I LOVED this ride too, I was totally giggling and laughing the whole time. I really felt like I was on an adventure. After Indiana Jones we had a $20 not-worth-it lunch of a burger, fries, and salad. After lunch we went to Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, walked around the Main Street shops, then sat down on the sidewalk for the parade to begin! I saw Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Aladdin, Genie, Ariel, Aurora, Snow White, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Belle, Tiana, Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Tinkerbell, Mary Poppins & Burt, and the chimney sweeper dancers (my favorite)!

The last ride we went on was Splash Mountain! Oh my goodness we waited forever in this line because they closed the ride during our fast pass time and we watched the parade, blah blah blah so we had to wait in line for about 40 minutes. The family in front of us spanked their kids...and I started getting bad allergies from the mildewy moldy water from this ride. My nose was driving me crazy & I kept sneezing. We finally got to ride it and we got a little bit wet, nothing too crazy thank goodness. It was fun though and I took a snapshot of the screenshot picture they took of us. Sorry for the poor quality!

I loooove James' face haha!

We rode all the rides we wanted to ride, our feet were killing us, and we just wanted a little R&R, especially since by this point my allergies were dripping down my throat (ick). We walked back to our hotel, James was kind enough to make me some Kraft mac-n-cheese, butter & milk & all, and we relaxed & went to bed after an exhausting but super funtastic day at Disneyland!

Here are some more castle pics, all similar, that I just love:

We slept in the next morning and then drove to the beach! Lemme just tell you, the weather was PERFECT for a beach day! We took the advice of the hotel concierge & headed to a non-touristy beach. We drove to Newport Beach and camped out at Crystal Cove State Park. It's super cool because this is the beach where they filmed Treasure Island, Herbie Rides Again, and Beaches! So pretty! The waves were rolling and surfers were surfing, the sand was warm, there were rocks with mussels we could explore on, and there were only a few people on the beach. We had a beach picnic of hoagie sandwiches and sour cream and onion Pringles and Gatorade. We layed out, we went for walk on the beach, and we dipped our feet into the ocean (it was freezing, no wonder the surfers wear full body wet suits). Oh I was also blowing my nose like crazy because my allergies were killing me even though I took Claritin and Advil! I sat there with a box of tissues and a plastic bag haha. We were there for 3 hours...during prime time...wearing very minimal sunscreen....YEP we got burned! Poor James' legs & poor Chels' arms & ankles! Haha we look absolutely ridiculous, pink as a flamingo! Oh well, hopefully it turns into a tan.

Saturday night we tried a new place for dinner! From the tv show Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives--Mama Cozzas! Check it out here! It is a really tasty family-owned Italian place. James ordered a sausage pizza and I had the lasagna with minestrone soup, salad, and garlic bread dipped in Mama's sauce! It was very tasty!

After dinner we walked around the Anaheim Garden Walk. It's an outdoor mall with shops, restaurants, and a movie theater. I was still feeling a little under the weather due to the crappy allergies so we went back to the hotel, finished our ice cream, and watched Inception!

Sunday (today) we drove back home. We had a wonderful time in Cali with our Disneyland and beach adventures. We are glad to be home, and guess what? My allergies are 99% gone now.

Home sweet home.

finally finished finals

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Wahoo! James has finished his finals for this quarter! He took his last final exam on Friday and boy were we happy! He did very well this semester if I do say so myself. So proud of my man! Here's what we did on Friday...

1) We bought a car.

2) We decided to move to a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment in our complex.

3) We went out for dinner & made dessert with our friends Jake & Hailee Oman.

Great day, right?

We have been looking at buying a new (used) car so that we have a second car for when James begins his rotations (in July). It is a 2012 Ford Focus that we found in Utah! So guess where James is now? On an airplane flying to Utah...I know, I know, I JUST got him back and now he's gone again. But no worries, he will be back on Tuesday with our new car!

It's crazy and a little scary to make grown up decisions sometimes. Same goes with transferring to a bigger apartment. The prices are down right now, so we'd only be paying $60-$80 more a month to live in a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment. Right now we are living in the smallest model Sagestone has, so we are excited to be getting a little bit more space. We probably won't move until the middle/end of March. Again, another grown up decision, and it's bittersweet because we will be moving on from our first home together!

It was SO nice to have a date night with the Omans! We have been wanting to get together with them since we both moved into the ward at the same time because James & Jake are in the D.O. program together, and Hailee & I just clicked. We've had such busy schedules that we never got together just the four of us (we've all hung out together in a big group). We went to Chili's for dinner, then came back to the Oman's apartment (they live in Sagestone too, in the 2 bedroom model we are looking at), and made pizookies! If you don't know what a pizookie is, you are missing out on one of the most delicious desserts ever. A warm chocolate chip cookie baked in a little skillet in the oven covered with ice cream and hot fudge! They were so rich and scrumptious! They introduced us to the tv show The Big Bang Theory & we were laughing like crazy. It was so good to see the boys relax and have a good time. Thanks Jake & Hailee for an awesome night!

Saturday, after I got off work, James and I went to Last Chance to buy some Ecco shoes for his dad. I bought some dark lavender tights there for only 97 cents and wore them to church today! We also browsed around at Marshalls and Bed, Bath, & Beyond because we were feeling inspired by our new soon-to-be apartment. We came home to eat Korean food & watch Taken 2. Friday we had gone to the Korean market and bought Mandu (Korean potstickers), Nongshim Onion Rings (like Funions), Aloe Vera juice, Pepero Almond (Korean version of Japanese Pocky cookie sticks), and Korean Ramen. We ate the Mandu, Aloe Vera juice, and Pepero (the onion ring chips were eaten and gone on Friday they were so good haha). We enjoyed watching Taken 2! I think I liked the first one better, just because you weren't expecting what would happen. That was our relaxing night!

James will be back on Tuesday with the new car, I will be busy with work and school and cub scouts, and then Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday we will be gone on vacation! Stay posted for an update next week!

P.S. James just got called to be on the Scout Committee. I am now a Cub Scout Den Leader over Bears, and James is on the Scout Committee and being an assistant coach to the ward basketball team! Oh and we are still the ward librarians until they release us...yay for ward callings!

Valentine's Day 2013

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Valentine's Day 2013 included:
♥ James surprising me with pretty red roses, lavender daisies & lavender carnations, a big heart shaped box of Russell Stover chocolates, and a bag of my favorite Dove Chocolates with the caramel centers! Thanks babe!
♥ Crazy school day for me, crazy school day for James
♥ Decorated heart shaped sugar cookies given to us by our friends Sam & Emma Beckstead, thanks y'all!
♥ Free movie popcorn for our matinee showing of Safe Haven, the new Nicholas Sparks movie based on the book which I have read. We both liked this movie! Very romantic for V-Day :)
♥ Homemade gift exchange between my hubby and me. I gave him 2 photo books made from Shutterfly & he wrote me the sweetest love letter I have EVER received in my entire life. It made me cry and fall in love with my husband even more if that is even possible. I LOVE you James!

celebrating valentines day early

Monday, February 11, 2013

This year we decided to celebrate Valentines Day early because James has final exams in 2 weeks and needs to be studying as much as possible this weekend. So this last Saturday we went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It was James' first time and he really liked his burger & fries...of course he would order a burger & fries. That's what makes him my James. After devouring 4 bread baskets in 20 minutes, I felt pretty good that I decided to try their "skinnylicious" menu. I ordered the white chicken chili. I did not like it as much as my recipe, but it had an interesting spicy flavor that reminded me of Moroccan chicken (even though I have never had real Moroccan chicken before, just the Pinterest crockpot recipe which was an epic fail). We did not order any dessert, and definitely didn't order any cheesecake because we are not cheesecake lovers. Then why did we go to The Cheesecake Factory? It just seemed to have a Valentine's ambiance to it...even though when we got there it was crazy crowded & loud. I'm making it seem like we didn't have a good time, but really we did. I promise! We had fun just catching up and being out. I wore my new dress that I bought from downeast basics that I absolutely love. We walked around the mall afterward to find costume tanks for the dancers in my dance practicum. No such luck, but I did order some sparkly tanks from Charlotte Russe online when we got home. We ate Reeses chocolate hearts & watched The Office. It was so nice to just relax and cuddle and talk. The pictures also show us in our Valentines Day Sunday church outfits~I am wearing my beautiful new dress again! Our plans for Thursday include ordering a free Papa John's pizza & going to see the movie Safe Haven~a romantic movie for Valentines Day! Until then, have a great week filled with love!