love.

Carrie Underwood has once again made me fall in love with her. Her latest album "play on"....soooooo good. if you're ok w/ listening to country songs...please consider purchasing it. favorite song off of the album (for right now....) "Change".


....sorry for the bad quality. it was the best i could do w/ what little time i have.

in other news....i've survived 3 days of work at Bank of the West.....and still don't know a thing :) yay new jobs.

time for ANTM. (that's code for: america's next top model)

o.m.g.

i haven't posted in a while....in fact over a month. sorry for the hiatus...i don't really have an excuse. laziness i guess/lack of inspiration. but here i am....after 3 oreos....ok.... 4 oreos... & a big glass of milk i'm ready to let my fingers fly.

Since i've last updated, quite a few things have happened.

Item #1: My lovely friend angela came to visit me for a couple of days. It was so good to see someone from home.....it was a great cure to my homesickness and we had alot of fun seeing the sights and laughing alot. Highlights from the visit:

-Day full of museums (legion of honor & the De Young)...I felt a little like Ferris Beuler, but...the great thing was i didn't even have to fake sick!


Probably favorite of the day...by Monet.



Angela staring at the wall.

-Alcatraz. This was a first for me, and I loved it. I wrote a 15 page research paper on this place in 9th grade....and didn't retain a bit of information, so it was fun to re-learn everything about the prison & it's history.







On the boat heading to alcatraz...



The Rock...golden gate bridge in the background


Typical Alcatraz Shot ......sometimes you just gotta go :)



View of the city from Alcatraz



Delightfully foggy morning in San Fran

We then ventured to the italian district and ate yummy gelato and sandwiches....

after that the decision was to ride accross the golden gate bridge on bikes. I had never been actually on the golden gate bridge...but for some reason this excited me. I'm not a bike person either as most of you know...this was so out of character but it ended up being my favorite activity of the week.

pretty. uggo face on my part...but it was so fun.

.....look familiar? that's right folks.... the Tanner household. I could just imagine little Danny, Michelle, Joey, Jesse, D.J. & Stephanie eating dinner around the table....and then comet (the dog) comes in and makes the family complete. ........ presh.

I'm glad i have friends who are willing to spend time w/ me even when i live so far away... i wouldn't mind seeing more of you :)

That same week, I was offered & accepted a job with Bank of the West as a full-time teller. This is the type of job i've been looking for (let's hope i was looking in the right direction....) It will be monday-friday 8-5 which is nice and consistent. which i love. I will remain working at banana republic, where i was just promoted to Merchandise Presentation Lead....basically i'm working with all of the visuals in the store (manaquins, images, etc) and helping w/ all of the merchandising aspects of the store as well as helping w/ shipments, and closing the store and all that fun jazz. It'll be more responsibility than i have now (and more money :)) . i'm excited to learn more about that aspect of the retail business. So i'm going to be busy with work....but i'm hoping it will pay off in the end.

I'm learning to enjoy going to the singles ward out here..... church hasn't always been my cup of tea, and some days it's still a struggle, but i've come to realize that i need to swallow my pride and just do it. Although it's been interesting, to say the least, everyone is very nice and very..... utah :) seriously, everytime i walk into that ward i feel like i'm back home. everyone has some sort of tie to utah.

anyways....as far as i know, that's all that's happened lately. I'm a little sad to be away from home for halloween for the first time....never thought i'd actually miss having trick-or-treaters come to the door... but i'll do my best to eat some yummy candy...even though it's against my "Flat Belly Diet" rules. whatevs. it's a holiday :)

i'm done boring you.

quote of the day

"I hope my dad doesn't hate me when i tell him i want to become a porn-star"
-Girl at Chevron/Mcdonalds combo in Milipitas California. Said to her friend who is shoving a burger down her child's throat.

now THAT's class act.

....i continued to enjoy my double cheeseburger mini-meal.


i'm learning to love this place :)


happy friday!

wicked.

i'm going to it.

on wednesday.

6th row.



:)

firsts

so...it's been a week of firsts for me....we'll start on sunday.

I decided to go up into the city and attend "Opera in the park" which featured the San Francisco opera company.




It was at Golden Gate Park, which i had been to once before in my life. The IDEA of the concert was great.....but halfway through i just realized that it's not as much fun if you can't understand what they're singing....but it was fun to people watch. I learned the "Essentials" for picnicking....according to bay area residents:
1) Wine.
2) More wine.....and cheese.
3) whole loaf of sourdough
4)Cutting board & knife to cut the loaf of sourdough
5)A Centerpiece (yes....like one you would put on your dining table....)

....i felt a little inadequate with my water bottle and fruit snacks. but maybe next time i'll be a little better prepared...without the wine of course. Along w/ making a visit to the park, i did my first "city" parking job on the street. It actually wasn't too bad....my little car fits nicely into smaller spots...and thankfully the spot i parked in on was a little on the larger side of small spaces. i drove straight into it :) no parallel for the rabbit! woot woot. it was fun to walk around the park and become more comfortable with the area.........but yes, i'm going to hell for not attending church on sunday. There's always this week right?!...don't judge.

After the opera, and seeing all this food around me, i was ready for some lunch. so here comes confession #2....i purchased my lunch....on sunday. although this wasn't a first for me (confession #3).... it was my first time at this little sandwich shop called "Little Luccas sandwhich shop" in south san francisco. Discovered this little place thanks to "Yelp" (my new favorite i-phone app/website...it's how i've found all my delicious foods). The sandich was everything BUT small. seriously...this place puts gandalfos to shame........i'll just show you:



this thing was MASSIVE....and so delicious. i can't wait to go back......i think i'm still full from eating it...and i'm not even kidding.

My next "first" came at work........... i'm learning just how sheltered life was back in Utah (which really is NOT a bad thing) but I was in the back getting ready to leave work for the day, and some male coworkers of mine were discussing their fraternities (....that's a whole new world for me that i hope to never ever have to deal with) and then one of them turns to me and says "yo, mike (yes.....the new coworkers i have use "yo" on a constant basis...as well as "man" and "bro") do you drink?"...referring to alcohol. I'VE NEVER BEEN ASKED THAT BEFORE!! i felt so cool when i said "Nope..." it was just like all those seminary/primary videos that i watched. so...even though i didn't go to church and i bought something on the sabbath....at least i don't drink alcohol right?! earlier that day i was asked if i drank coffee as well..which i don't because, like i explained to my coworker "the smell of it makes me want to vomit"...if you don't agree...cool.

I think my final "First" of the week came yesterday..... not having any clue where to even begin searching for a job my lovely sister-in-law Kaylinn suggested i go with the temp agency route. i had been considering doing this but just hadn't gotten around to it.... her little nudge inspired me and so i set up appointments with TWO different agencies.....might as well right? i don't know why, but i always thought of temp agencies as kind of ghetto/cheesy/whatever. and....from my experience thus far....i was right :) but i'm hopeful something good will come out of it. I really wish that i was getting paid enough at banana to survive out here....but that's just not happening. my favorite part of the temp agency experience was when the secretary was complaining to her coworker about her ex-boyfriend (i assume).. "all he wanted was a sugar momma, and I ain't goin' to be that! if anything, he should be my suga' daddy!"....coworker nods and purses her lips "that's right sister." :) i love people.

so yes, i'm having fun....and experiencing alot of firsts and really starting to get into the groove of things, leaving more time for me to just relax. which i love. i'm all caught up on my reality tv shows, and watched the amazing "Vh1" divas show last night which included almost all of my favorite female artists: Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Adele, Leona Lewis, Jordin Sparks, India Arie, Melissa Etheridge, and the list goes on and on!....yes....Miley Cyrus was also in attendance, and i admittedly.... enjoyed her song! gasp!

i'm done rambling....but remember that story about the guy on the public transit who ate his cheesecake factory leftovers (or scroungings from the dumpster) with his hands although a fork was 2 inches from him? ...well i stumbled upon a picture of him in all his glory that i sneakily took:

he was fun.

the end.

oh...p.s. if you haven't yet, check out my newest blog creation photogblahg.blogspot.com if you're bored.

BYE!

INTERNET!!!!! oh..and first week or so of life in california.

so.....yes......i finally have the internet at home. it's a delightful thing. Since i have nothing better to do tonight until 8 pm (big brother..and then project runway) i thought i'd update the OW (online world).

OK so while i did update a little bit ok...it was picture-less....so this will be picture-full.

I Drove out here on August 28th, 2009 with my wonderful father who offered to help me move.



we spent that friday night at my brother's house and then got up the next morning to head down to Santa Clara, my new hometown.

After arriving at my lovely apartment home and unloading all of my belongings from my tiny little lovely car we headed out to find some furniture: first on the list: a bed and a lamp (no overhead lighting in the bedrooms.) so....we went to IKEA.......big mistake. This place was a freaking nightmare on saturday..... but i somehow survived and escaped w/ a bed and a lamp. my apartment was still very bare at this point:

(box look familiar BYU records office?)




Dad left sunday morning and i was all on my own! my roommate wouldn't be arriving until later that week so i had alot of time on my hands. The next couple days were spent doing more furniture shopping, essentials shopping, movie watching, napping, job hunting, eating typical single male food:

(otter pops have saved my life....once again.)

etc. I kind of waited to do all the sightseeing stuff til my roommate arrived so that i didn't have to do it twice. After spencer's arrival and more shopping, my place started to look a little more like home. My roommate (spencer) lived in the city last year for his internship so he knew of some good places to sight-see.

One night we went up to a beach near the city to view the golden gate bridge. It was pretty incredible to see the bridge right up close. I had been to san francisco once in my life, but we didn't get that close to the bridge during that trip. This was an AMAZING view.


We had to hike down to the beach, and on our way we had to cross an old military base.... this was my favorite grafitti :)


After this little trip we were starving so we "yelp"ed a good place to eat near our house and stumbled upon this little indian restaurant just down the street. The reviews made it sound amazing....and let me tell you....it was. It looks like something that escaped from the toilet, but i assure you, it tasted like heaven. hands down the BEST indian food i've ever tasted.


The next day was sunday, so i went to church (something that's a little difficult for me at times, but i decided to grin and bear it (is that the right phrase?)) and it ended up being OK. I felt like i was back in utah....everyone seemed to have some sort of contact w/ utah in some way...and yes...the BYU football game was discussed in elder's quorum. i guess it really is true: the church is the same everywhere you go. After church i was missing home and sunday dinner's with the family so i decided to cook up a decent sized meal to make my apartment feel even more like home. I made the main dish (parmesan chicken) and spencer worked on the rest. it ended up being pretty tasty! since we don't have a kitchen table yet...we ate out on our deck where we put some folding chairs and a small table and the food was delicious! only thing that was missing was my loud and lovely family...but hopefully sometime soon i'll be eating w/ them again.



I had an "on-call" shift that monday morning at banana...and thankfully i was told i didn't need to come in. So we decided to go into downtown San Francisco. Thankfully spencer knew his way around a little bit and got us there. we decided to try to use public transportation to get there...and...well.... i won't be doing that again. Yes, it would maybe save me the hassle/money of driving into the city...but i'd much rather pay $15 for parking then have to sit on stinky/dirty/germ-ridden public transportation seating surrounded by crazies. some of my favorites from the day were:
-the people who started asking those around them if they wanted some beer, cause they had plenty.
-The homeless man who asked us for money on the train and we simply said no.
-The man who was eating his leftover cheesecake factory dinner w/ his hands (....and left his fork in the container)....i'm still trying to decide if he paid for the meal or if he dug it out of the garbage.
-The overly confident girlfriend who was drilling her boyfriend for answers that he just couldn't seem to answer correctly....ending in a temporary breakup
-my all time favorite: as we were sitting on the train, some sort of juice started dripping on spencer's shoulder....we've named it "the chicken juice"

and all that came just on the public transport into/out of the city! while in the city we did some cool stuff. shopped around at some of my favorite places (H&M, Urban outfitters, Banana etc.) all of these stores were HUGE compared to those back in good ol' utah and it was fun. for a while. then we decided to go down to fisherman's wharf and get some food. to get down to the wharf we had no other choice but to ride one of those trolley cars, which while yes they are tourist attractions and kind of cheesey, that ride ended up being kind of fun. We went up and down the crazy-steep hills of san francisco while holding on to the outside of the trolley (it was completely full, we had no choice) we drove past lombard street and saw some really cool houses in downtown before we arrived at the wharf.

This is me hanging out of the trolley. so fun. but a little expensive. (expensive seems to be a recurring theme in my life now.)

One of many street performers we saw. This was a One-Man-Band. pretty cool and impressive.



boats everywhere.


Alcatraz


While looking out at alcatraz we also saw a group of Polygamists! it was great! ....can't wait to go back to the city and do more sightseeing/people watching.

Since then i've survived my first day at Banana Republic out here. It's a nice little store (smaller than the one at home) that seems to remain very slow.....which i don't mind. It's definitely a different feeling store than the one at home but i'm sure i'll get used to it. Everyone i worked w/ seemed to be a little older so i'm hoping there are some younger people so that i can you know...socialize w/ people.

I've also been doing a little more shopping here and there and just got cable/internet/a couch yesterday . so life is progressing well and i'm enjoying my time here. next stop: find a job that will pay me enough to survive out here :)


Still now exactly how i'd like it....but it's definitely getting there.


Yes, i'm missing people at home...but i'm enjoying my time learning and growing. For now, i'm just trying to get caught up on all my reality TV.. project runway and big brother tonight. can't wait.

p.s.: LOVED the season premier of Glee last night. can't wait to see how the show unfolds.

i'm alive.

well...my internet time is limited...i'm sitting in starbucks and paid $3.99 to use their wi-fi for 2 hours. whatever. i was desperate. i'm sure i could've found free somewhere else, but i'm too lazy. it's been entertaining to watch people interview for a job at "Spencer's Gifts" right outside the window. classy :)

SO....i made it! moved into my apartment on saturday w/ the help of my wonderful father. Then went shopping for the essentials. Stopped by Ikea...which was seriously a nightmare.... i will NEVER go there on a weekend again. so many people. and yes, pretty sure i was the only white one there. Anyways, after surviving that nightmare, i ended up w/ a bed...and a lamp. woo hoo. i was well on my way to apartment beauty :) anyways.... things have been good here. except for the DMV...which was another nightmare, but i'm learning as i go.

Today i've been applying for jobs online and will shortly be going around town hoping to find other job opportunities. Yes, i will be working for banana republic. but after speaking w/ them yesterday, i won't be making enough/working enough hours to sustain life. so...second job: here i come again :).

I would post pictures but i forgot my camera at my apartment....so be patient and once i get internet setup, i'll post some lovelies of my beauty of an apartment.

I now know where the goodwill is, Walmart, ross, & chili's so life is good. Who could ask for anything more right? i only feel slightly white-trash and am loving every minute of it.

time's almost out.........bye.

bittersweet

so...i'm sitting here in my now shell-of-a-room. I just finished packing everything away into my shiny new car....and i'm surprised that it all fit.....sad to think though that every single belonging i have fits into that car.



i don't even know how i got it all to fit...but i'm not going to complain, and just pray that my car survives it all.

I've been kind of apathetic the past few days. Seems like things haven't really hit home to me yet that i'm actually moving. I'm not sure when this will actually hit....but i'd prefer it sooner than later so that i can just get it out of the way and move on :) I'm kind of an emotional person and would rather it all just hit at once. I've had a few minor breakdowns the past couple of days. just realizing that i wouldn't be seeing some of the people that i care most about in this world for a long time. But i realize that it's not the end of the world and this really will be a good thing for me. Thanks to technology i'll be able to keep in touch w/ all my loved ones and i'm so grateful for that.

So what's ahead? i don't even know. Plan is to leave here around 8:30 or 9 tomorrow morning and head to my brother Joe's house. My dad will be riding w/ me so i'll at least have some company. Hopefully we'll be arriving around 7ish. We'll spend the night there and then head to santa clara bright and early saturday morning...and that's when (i assume) the real fun will begin. I am not taking any major pieces of furniture so i'll be shopping for that as well as unloading all of my wonderful things into my new place.

It all sounds so exciting in retrospect....but i guess we'll see how it pans out. I feel like i've kind of put this wall in front of my eyes and am just taking things as they come. Hopefully once i'm settled i'll be able to better see what's going on around me and take it all in.

I'm hopeful i'll get some sleep tonight. I'm feeling pretty beat so i guess that's a good sign.

Again i need to thank all of my family members and friends who are supporting me throughout this process. It may not be the smartest decision to leave all of these great things behind, but i feel it's what i need to do. I feel like i've made a good decision in regards to where i stand in life right now and i'm excited for the future. I can't wait to find a school that i like and to really delve into the program that suits me best. Until then, i'll just keep chugging along and working my life away to pay for rent. :) yay. this should be a fun adventure.

Next time i blog it'll be from sunny california..... be excited.

hiatus.

sorry for the hiatus folks. It's been a crazy busy couple of months for me, and i realized today that some important things have been happening and will be happening in the next couple weeks and that i really should update the online world :)

as many of you know it's been in the plans for me to move to california to go to school (eventually :)) the plan was and still is for me to move out there and become a resident so that schooling will be cheaper. SO back at the end of july, my friend spencer and i headed out to california to find a place to live. spencer recently graduated from BYU and was offered a job out there, so this made the roommate situation ideal. I needed a place to live and didn't want to live w/ creepos, so thanks spencer for not being a complete creepo. anyways.... we went for a very quick/stressful/successful weekend trip to northern california to scope out a place to live. After 2 very intense days of searching, we found a place we both felt would be good and put a down payment on the place. YAY!!!!! that was step number 1. best things about the future apartment?
-Washer/Dryer IN-UNIT!!! quite the rarity out in california we came to discover.
-Pool
-Hot Tub
-Fitness Center
-Right Next to a CEMETARY!!!!! morbid? no. smart? yes. it'll be SO quiet!!!
here are a few pics of the place....from the website so it looks a little nicer than it actually is...but i'll def be posting some before/after pics of the place once i move in.




Bathroom: No Nasty Glass sliding shower door=Happiness




One of the 2 bedrooms. I'm getting there first so...i get the big room :)




Dining room right off the kitchen




Kitchen. not my fave look. but ALOT nicer than most I saw




Pool Area...you best believe i'll be out here daily, workin on my tan :)


So yeah... found a place to live which was marvelous. Then, i went and talked to a Banana Republic to see if I could transfer to their store, and thankfully it was the right timing and I will be transferring to that store when i move out there. The apartment is located in Santa Clara (about 45 min south of san francisco, just west of San Jose) and i'll be working in Los Gatos which is about 15 minutes east of Santa Clara. I will then begin to job search once i arrive, but at least i have something to hold me over til i find something a little more stable. San Jose University is close by so that is definitely an option i'll be looking into as far as school goes.

somewhere Along the way i decided to start another blog. I've realized recently how much i absolutely love photography, and feel like i should share my love of my life through photography with the online world. if you have a chance, check it out. if you don't that's ok. mostly i just need an outlet.

www.photogblahg.blogspot.com

So....the decision was made that unfortunately (....:)) the 1994 Isuzu rodeo that i've been driving for the last couple of years probably wasn't the best car option for me in this big move....would the rodeo have made it to california? yes. in one piece? i'm not so sure. So, thanks to my wonderful dad, i was able to get a new car (thanks dad!!!) it's a 2007 Volkswagen Rabbit....and i'm in love. This little feller had everything i wanted: hatchback, sunroof, ipod dock, low miles, pretty. I feel like i got a really good deal on it and that my research paid off. Only unfortunate news about the car is that we decided not to register it while here in utah (to avoid paying registration twice) and so i haven't been able to drive it much..... legally at least :). So i'm excited for driving freedom/bliss w/ this little beauty and hopefully it'll be named soon.








So i've been saying goodbye to friends and loved one's the past couple of weeks. My last day at Banana Republic was a couple Friday's ago and i miss those people so much. I only worked there for about 9 months, but i grew to love each and every person i worked with. They threw me a little goodbye bbq up provo canyon and it was nice to be with everyone. my favorite coworkers were there, but unfortunately only got pictures with a couple of them.



This is Tiffany. I love her. She and I clicked from the get-go and we were able to make fun of eachother and work all at the same time.



This is Chanel. She and I definitely became great friends throughout my time at the university mall BR. She quickly became my closest work friend and i'm grateful to have worked w/ her. basically like adding another big sister to my life. presh. i know.

The other night some of my closest friends that i've known since Jr. High threw me another bbq and i was able to invite some close friends from BYU. It was great to see everyone all together.... unfortunately i forgot my camera and am relying on them to post the pics to facebook so that i can have them.......they are slacking.

Tomorrow is my last day at BYU and i have such bittersweet feelings. This job has been one of the only constant things in my life for the past 3 years and i've learned so many things while working there and made so many amazing friends along the way. The records/registration office made BYU bearable for me, and i couldn't be more appreciative to all who contributed to my success within that office. I learned not only professional skills but life skills along the way, and i'm truly grateful to everyone i've had the chance to work with. I will love and miss everyone....but it's time for me to move on.

I drive out of here on friday with all my possessions and my father in tow.

With all this change happening i have so many mixed emotions. Happy. Sad. Excited. Nervous. Anxious. Scared. Confident etc. etc. Utah is my home and will always will be, but i'm so excited to branch out and explore. I can't wait to find my new favorite place to eat. To go grocery shopping for myself. To find my favorite place to meditate. To have easy-access to the beach. To be less than an hour away from Wicked. To make new friends. To keep in touch with old friends. To learn. To grow. and most importantly to live life to it's fullest. i feel like you can't grow without pushing yourself. Without putting yourself in uncomfortable situations and slowly making them comfortable. I look forward to the next year in santa clara, and hopefully many more years of learning and growing.

i will be documenting every step of this move both through photos and words, so....be excited :)

california....here i come.

sad day...

the entertainment world lost 2 greats today: Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson (not yet confirmed, but rumored). Both major Icons in American pop culture. I remember watching farrah on Charlies Angels while growing up, and listening to michael jackson ever since i was little. RIP friends. good thing everything you ever did was recorded and i can find it online :)