Finally Got a Beach Day!

Last weekend we went to Doheny Beach and met up with Mom & Dad Burr, Matt & Amy and the boys, Tommy & Jayme and the girls, Stephen & Natalie and Marlie, and Terri's brother Todd, along with Jayme's parents. It was perfect weather and a beautiful day. I want to go more often and take advantage of being a Southern Californian! I played around and got some great shots of Marlie and the beach (see the end of this post). The Friday before, we had pizza and hung out with my Aunt Pam and Uncle Mike with their new pup Izzy. So cute. It's also fun to have relatives closer than usual.

Work has been draining, even though I have only part-time work, which is nothing compared to Michael's 50 hours a week. I have to come up with different creative ideas for each class, reading three different novels at a time, and then we'll switch soon. However, it keeps me on my toes, so it's fun. Most of the kids are doing well. I baked them cookies, shared some with the neighbors and also mailed some home to my parents. Miss them tons!

Tonight we walked to a bar around the corner and met up with our upstairs neighbors. We ate a few $1 tacos (taco Tuesday) and played pool. Mike invited him and his girlfriend to church, and the guy at least seems open about it. They're really nice people. I just wonder if they're ready and willing to make some lifestyle changes. It feels good to at least get the invitation out there and make some new friends.

Marlie at the beach

Liz's Pregnancy Shoot

Last weekend I had the opportunity to take photos for my new friend Liz and her cute baby bump :) We had fun being silly and had some heart-to-heart conversation. Liz is one of the nicest people I've ever met and I look forward to continuing our friendship!

OC Summer

As of the 4th of July, Mike and I have been dating for a year! That was our first date, so fireworks are really special for us. We were invited to Jeremy and Vasty's apartment for barbecue, and then we endured traffic to watch fireworks from the top of the Disneyland parking structure. Fireworks are extremely popular around here, we saw tons being shot in every direction from the freeway on the way there. The only downside was that people kept shooting them after 11 PM and we wanted sleep.

The next day was my first day teaching summer school. I was nervous but more excited, and it turned out to be a great day. I'm glad I planned my whole course schedule ahead of time, so each day is full of stuff to do, and being the teacher, it goes by quickly. They're all at least part Vietnamese, some struggle, some are super quiet, some are relaxed, some nod and smile yet they don't understand. A mixed bag. I hope they continue to pay attention! Mike got a promotion at work, but it's more work and more hours. A lot of the material he works with is unorganized and not prioritized, so some of it should be delegated instead of heaped upon one or two people. Hopefully he'll be able to start doing that sooner than later so we can keep our sanity. It's also been rough so far dealing with the heat. Our landlady said if we keep the windows shut during the day it'd keep the heat out and the cool in. Instead, it just makes it stuffy and humid inside. We're dying for AC but there's nothing we can do except stand in front of our fans.

If anyone is planning a Disneyland visit, we're right next door so let us know and we'll meet up! Renee came out for a day and we had a blast hitting up a lot of rides and taking pictures.

In our new ward I realized there is really no one my age to hang out with, so I may not be very social. I hope to spend more time with Vasty and her boys and have occasional double dates with my friend Steve and his wife Melinda, and my aunt and uncle who live in Lake Forest. I'm hoping to balance some me-time with friend-time and husband-time so I can feel normal and not so lonely during the day. I got so used to seeing my parents every day that it's hard to not miss them and get sentimental. Luckily we're visiting them this weekend, yaaaaaaay!!!

Another Crazy Week

After I felt all "caught up" last Friday, the week just blew by again. Especially the weekends, those go too fast. We drove out to Simi to hang out with my parents for the weekend and it turns out Allyson and Peter were passing through on their way to a wedding literally 3 miles from our apartment. I was glad we got to see them for part of Saturday and Sunday nonetheless. On Saturday we immediately started our laundry, washed and waxed Mike's car, got showered and I headed off to Laura's baby shower. It was awesome to see a lot of familiar faces and then I took family photos for Laura and Cameron with Evelyn and they turned out fantastic.

Vasty & Jayden, Laura & Evelyn - their husbands set them up for future husband and wife ;)

Evelyn Rose

Evelyn Rose

Morrissette family portraits

After a quick bite to eat with my family, Dad decided we were taking the second leather couch since they had already found replacements from the first we took for the apartment. The original plan was to come back to the apartment that night, but I was aching for time with my parents so we stayed over another night, which I was REALLY grateful for. I have such an awesome, supportive husband. We spent most all of Sunday with my parents and headed home. I miss them a ton still and hold on to every moment I get since I don't live there anymore. Each day with them is more special to me now than ever, I've turned into a huge sap.

On Monday and Tuesday I was so glued to photo editing that I didn't leave the apartment all day. I've learned this is VERY bad for me to not vary my activities, because even though I was productive, I didn't physically go anywhere so some part of my mind didn't think I was a good girl (which I wasn't, I played hooky from the gym). After a long talk with Michael I got everything out of my system and realized I'm happier when I set goals for myself and make a to-do list. Our whiteboard on the fridge now lists things I can do if I ever linger on only one project.

The learning center I work for seems like they'll be giving me two classes to teach instead of one, which I was warned I may only get one, but no one else prepared a 7th grade syllabus and course schedule but me! So we're in luck. I'm glad to be bringing some income to the table. We were so blessed from the wedding that we have a great start and were able to save a good portion of the gift cards we received. Also work-related, Michael is coming up on his 1-year with SG so we'll see what happens! Our next goal is to get enough combined monthly income to get an apartment or condo mortgage closer to the Irvine area.

I haven't made any fast friends at church yet, and I have Vasty and Jeremy nearby, so I went to visit on Thursday and had an awesome time talking and hanging out with her cute boys. We'll take family photos of them soon, which I'm excited for. I love seeing the shots as I catch them and playing around, and then seeing the final editing product, so cool. I've added that family to my prayers, they're so awesome. That night Mom and Dad Burr were in the area so we went to Knott's Berry Farm, ate at Pink's Hot dogs, and saw a show or two and rode the Pony Express.

Today I drove down to SG and joined Michael and his co-workers for "Sleepy Hour" AKA get paid to build company community and drink and be merry. We got silly on our shirley temples. Traffic in Orange County is horrible. I plan to never drive before 9 AM or after 3 PM if I can help it.

Us outside The Cannery for Sleepy Hour

Getting Settled, Wedding Photos, Little Lantern Photography

Our first few weeks together have been great. I love cleaning house and cooking (ask me again in ten years and that may change, but right now I'm good :) and hanging out with my husband when he gets home from work. Work for Mike has been slow, and then all of a sudden got extremely busy. They'll be moving to a bigger building, still in Newport Beach, by the end of the month. Hopefully he'll also find a niche to work and progress in the company over time. He's great at listening, working hard and making people feel valued and they've definitely noticed that.

I got over my cold fairly quickly, I think it was just my body needing a few days to recover from the wedding and honeymoon rush. It took me a few days to get comfortable being on my own in the apartment while Mike is at work, but I think I'm managing. It's hard to feel productive when you don't have a set schedule each day and don't have to get out of your pajamas... all day. I've managed to make it to the gym, clean, cook, make my 8th grade syllabus for work, organize the gifts we got, and we stay out of trouble with a trip to Disneyland here and there since it's so close, and watching the show "The First 48" on Netflix. We got hooked on the honeymoon when we were cooling off in the hotel room and can't stop watching. Also, I've discovered that since there are a lot of Vietnamese natives that live around here, I'm sorry but there are also SO many bad drivers. For instance, today I saw someone reversing in the middle of an intersection because the light turned from green to yellow. I've also gotten my first (and hopefully last) parking ticket - stupid street sweeper schedule - and am getting used to our neighbors. A few of the people on our street don't have storage spaces, so they take all of the parking space on the street and use their vans full of stuff to park there. Crazy.

Other exciting events include: several times a day, someone nearby plays "La Cucaracha" on a loud car horn; a guy walks around honking a bicycle horn from 2 to 6 or 7 PM selling ice cream; and last week a transformer blew up behind another apartment building and caught several trash cans and trees on fire. I went to the gym, took a hot shower while we still had hot water, and did some grocery shopping until the power came back on. Exciting times! Mom & Dad Burr came over one evening and we made tacos and Terri's famous beans. Yay company!

Last weekend we hung out at my parents' house for a day since they were gone to Nevada for Dad's birthday (He has the same birthday as Terri! Small world :). Junior (Mom's cat) really missed us and was super cuddly. We spent some time at Mike & Diana Gwynn's wedding reception in the evening and then headed back to the apartment.

This week we went to Disneyland, and yesterday all of the Burrs got together at David & Terri's and went out to a local barbecue eatery in Chino called Dickey's Barbecue Pit. The food there is YUM and the meat falls off the bone. Yum yum yum. It was nice to see family after getting used to being on our own.

Yesterday I worked all day on our photography website and got it up and running! It still needs work, but at least we have a portfolio going. Check it out!! The Little Lantern Photography

And, if you have a Facebook profile, "Like" us! Facebook: The Little Lantern Photography

I've been working my butt off editing our wedding photos... it's been SO FUN!! I'm so happy with how they turned out. So far we just have the temple ones edited, and haven't even gotten started on the ring ceremony and reception. Every time I see a photo of my parents and my sister and I, I get weepy. :sigh: Need to visit!!! We'll be visiting my parents this weekend for Father's Day since I'll already be out there for Laura's baby shower. Yay! Here are just a few of our photos. The complete album is here. We'll hopefully be making a private password-access album for families so you can download the full-quality photos for printing.