Just Married!

The Needles Lodge @ Snow Basin Resort

Reno Rewind Weekend

So it's december 13th, and I woke up this morning to more flowers blooming!



The holidays have officially started, and I am still finding it very hard to believe that they're here! This year has gone by so fast! The weather here has been gorgeous, my daily uniform has been t-shirts and flip flops! No white Christmas this year!
Now on to the Reno Rewind Weekend! This might be a long one! We got back yesterday, and for a short road trip it was pretty epic!
I did get to see some snow in Reno this weekend, the drive up there was fantastic! We traveled the 395 and it was a clear trip the whole way up and barely any traffic... Along the way we got to stop at some fun places and enjoy some of the most breathtaking views!


Outside Mojave on the 395
The Sierras

Lake Mono
Our Hotel, The Grand Sierra in Reno

It took us a little over 8 hours (with stops) to get to our final destination, and our hotel was awesome! Ryan's friend Chris got us a three room suite at the Grand Sierra, our bathroom was no joke the size of our living room and had two showers! Talk about spoiled! ;) After we got settled in Ryan got cleaned up and headed out to sound check at The Alley while Alexis and me hung out in the suite and got ready. Alexis' husband hit a quadruple jackpot while we were getting ready and cleaned out a slot machine before the show, luck was definitely on his side that night!

We got to The Alley just before the doors opened and we were greeted by a pretty big crowd at the door! (I got to say "I'm with the band" and bypassed the crowd, I loved it! lol)



The show was pretty insane, not what I expected at all! People literally went nuts as soon as the bands started up, and even more so when Ryan's band hit the stage! The crowd went so crazy they crashed a security barricade and the show was almost stopped in the middle of one of Sworn Vengeance's songs! Go Ryan! Actually, all the bands were pretty amazing! They all deserve a pretty big pat on the back for the show they put on! :)


Ryan and me behind the merch table before the show started.
Tony being... Well... Tony!
Ryan getting geared up for his set.

I finally got to meet Ryan's old friends Jose and Amy, it was so nice to finally put faces to names, Jose even got on stage and rocked out with Ryan and the band for a song!



Here are some more photos from the show...



Glen and Jason babysitting me during Ryan's set!
Alexis, my partner in crime! :)

Chris, AKA the jackpot king! He's also Alexis' hubby.
And finally, some shots of Ryan on stage!






All the bands rocked it! The show lasted until about 12:30 am, then we all headed over to the Peppermill for casino omelets and hot chocolate/hot tea! (Reno was freakin' cold! I have turned into a total wuss when it comes to the cold ever since I moved from Utah lol) We pulled a pretty late nighter that night, it was almost 4 am when we finally got back to our hotel and crashed.

The next morning we got up early, yes, I said early (bleh), to get ready to meet everyone for breakfast before we hit the road...


The cutest little rockstar in training I have ever seen!
Our boys after the traditional "Day After Mayhem" Program breakfast.


We got on the road about noon after the breakfast, and we decided to take the 395 back home. We stopped at the chocolate factory and loaded up, seriously, we have like three pounds of chocolate and ice mints laid out on the kitchen table right now!



The place was pretty awesome, tons of homemade goodness, and they had one of those weird giant miners on the hill behind their store!




After that we made a quick drive past Lake Topaz...



And then a few hours later we stopped in Historic Bridgeport for some of the most delicious burgers at Rhino's, right across from the old Bridgeport Inn...




The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, we were on a mission to get home... But we did run across the historic Western Film Museum on the 395...



Wow, this really was a long one! I was going to add some other updates to it, but I think I will hold off for another day! I took a ton of photos from our awesome road trip weekend, you can view them all here...

Reno Rewind Weekend Part 1
Reno Rewind Weekend Part 2

So I guess that's it for this post! Take care! :)

Fall?

Being a Utah girl, the California Fall is something I am still getting used to! So far I have learned that the trees rarely turn that hue of red that makes them look like they're on fire, the air is not crispy and spicy, and I will not be waking up and scraping the frost off my car windows anytime soon! Today, it's 97 degrees, my air conditioner is running and there are flowers still blooming in the pots on my patio! I feel like like I am living in the Twilight Zone! This is so not what I am used to!



It's tough! Let me tell ya! ;) I don't think it will take me long to get used to this, I do not miss shoveling, or driving to work in the freezing cold! But I will miss seeing all the fall colors on the mountains and I will definitely miss playing in the snow!

Family Photos!

So one of our favorite things about visiting Olvera Street is the Luchadores masks, so while Rachelle, Boyd and Austin were here we thought it would be fun to take some family photos wearing the masks... Here is the outcome, pretty funny if you ask me!


Ryan and Me!
The Family! Ryan, Keira, Boyd, Rachelle and Austin
Jack was none too pleased to be in on the action!
Boyd taking a picture of me taking a picture of him in his super sweet mask!
Rachelle and Austin (Rocking my Disneyland Ears!)

It's Been Awhile!

Ok, so I know I said I would be better about posting, and I really did have good intentions, life just got in the way! I hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween, I know we did! My sister and her family came out to visit this week to see the sights, it was so nice having them here! We took them to Disneyland, and showed them the sights in Hollywood and Olvera Street, including one of my favorite spots, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where you get great views of Paramount Studios, the Hollywood Sign and the Griffith Park Observatory.


Rachelle and Austin outside the Haunted Mansion
The newlyweds waiting in line for Space Mountain (The Ghost Galaxy edition!)
Me and Austin on Mr Toad's Wild Ride!

This trip was Boyd's first trip to California and Disneyland, it was Austin's first trip to Disneyland as well!
Ryan and Boyd hamming it up!
Yes, Death wears Mickey ears!
The whole time Austin was here he was hoping for a celebrity sighting, and as the days wore on we were worried he wouldn't get one... Until... Miss Taylor Swift herself decided to shut down Hollywood Boulevard for an impromptu concert (for her NBC Thanksgiving Special, you'll be seein' us on there), we couldn't have asked for a better star sighting than that!



Talk about bein' in the right place at the right time!





All in all I think we had a pretty fun time, we were very sad they had to leave :(

Later that night we got into our scariest garb, and traveled down to Hollywood for the annual Dia de los Muertos celebration at Hollywood Forever, talk about a fun time! If you ever find yourself in Los Angeles when this is going on you should go!


Ryan, me, Gus and Cesar Partying at the cemetery!
One of the many alters there...

Every kid's worst nightmare!

Ryan and me outside the Cathedral Mausoleum where Valentino is entombed.
The Golden Girls Altar... Seriously, that's Blanche, Sophia and Dorothy!

I took soooo many pictures while were there, I wish I could post them all, but this post has way too many pictures as it is! I hope you enjoyed, and yes, I will try to post more in the future... I have a lot of catching up to do!