Life update...

Ah wow, I suck at blogging. Well, here are some updates...

My parents sold their house. Then they came out to look for a house. Then they found a house, had their offer accepted, drove out here, closed on the house, and moved in. Except that my dad had to go back to VA to finish out this year at work. Sooo yeah. My mom lives here now! And my dad will come out around Christmas. I've gotta say, it's pretty great.

Along with that, Hans and I will be moving out to Saratoga Springs to live in my parents' basement come December. It'll be nice to have more space, although the commute will take some getting used to.

Besides that, what have we been up to...let's see...lots and lots of football. Oh, we went to the Train concert in September. And it was awesommmmme! Hans will tell you otherwise...it was his first concert and I don't think he was one for the packed crowd. Also, he doesn't really like Train. But he likes me, so that's why he went :) It was cool because it was a smaller venue (Gallivan Center in SLC) so the bands all kind of interacted with the audience. I had a lot of fun, except for the many, many, drunk people, one of which kept whistling loudly in my ear, and another of which almost got in a chick fight. Like, seriously, it was actually pretty scary. I think what happened was that the lady in front of me bumped into the drunk chick's husband, and so the drunk chick had a spaz and started swearing at the other lady and trying to fight with her, so finally she left, and the husband was trying to calm her down so she took a swipe at him. Then he took a swipe back and she swore at him and stormed off. I didn't see her the rest of the time (thank goodness). Lesson: if you can't handle alcohol, don't consume it. Other lesson: Train is awesome in concert.

And speaking of concerts, I also get to go to the All-American Rejects/Boys Like Girls concert on Tuesday! I'm excited...that was my first concert back in 2006, and it was a blast. Really rough, because apparently BLG, Motion City, and the Format are extreme moshing music.... (?) ...but fun nonetheless.

And finally, I turned 24 last week. It's weird being this old haha. I mean, I know it's not old....but it's the oldest I've ever been! :D haha. But really...I hope that eventually I stop feeling old and just start feeling normal. I dunno...maybe once you become an adult, you just feel old for the rest of your life...makes sense...right? Anyways, for my birthday, we had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (mmmm California Club Pizza....) and then we went to the Haunted Forest in American Fork. The Forest was fun, but also not as fun as it used to be...it's possible that I'm getting to old for that too haha. And then Hans bought me Just Dance 4 with a Kinect for our Xbox. Yeah, he did a good job. Probably because he's awesome? Yeah, probably.

K I'm really going to try to be better at blogging!

Vegas Vacay

Hey there. So apparently I'm really bad at blogging. Oh well, at least it's here for whenever I'm feeling...bloggy.....

So we got back from our vacation to Vegas a little over a week ago. It was sooooo nice to just do nothing for a whole week! And sleeping in every day was very much needed. We spent most of the time going to the pool, playing video games, and checking out the malls and the strip. But some of the highlights include:

1. Hans taking me to the Eiffel Tower Restaurant for our anniversary...

The menu

The view from our table

Complimentary dessert--delicious mousse!

Hazelnut chocolate mousse cake. omgsogood.

...and then going to a drive-in movie double feature: Dark Knight Rises and Spider-man. Which was romantic in theory, but drive-ins are better watched in non-compact cars...

2. Going to see the Hoover Dam...

...and driving through the cute little old town part of Boulder City on the way back:

3. Walking through some of the awesome hotels and casinos:

4. Stopping by the Las Vegas sign:

5. Eating delicious FRENCH PASTRIES!

6. And floating in the pool and the lazy river:

Then, on the way home, we stopped in Navajo Lake for the weekend with Hans's fam, and since we were in the middle of nowhere, we got to see the Perseid meteor shower!

Overall, I'd say it was a successfully relaxing vacation :) Now, if only I could just trade my job for a permanent vacation that I get paid for....hmm....



See more pictures on my facebook :)

Oh hey.

Well hi there. It's definitely been a while. I figured that as long as I can't sleep, I might as well write a post updating you all on what's been going on.

So I quit both jobs that I had at the point in time of my last post (Bella Baby and La Jolla) and am now working at Myler Disability as a legal assistant. It sounds a lot fancier than it is. But it's full time and that's what I need right now. Myler Disability is an advocacy group for Social Security disability claims. I started out in the call center (everyone has to) but was promoted last week to hearing management! This means that I handle the clients' claims once they get their hearing scheduled. So far it's just been a lot of training, but I already like it better than the call center. Because let's face it: call centers suck.

So that's pretty much what's new with me. Other than that I think I've become pretty boring. Oh I guess I've had a few photo shoots lately...that's been fun. I shot my first solo wedding, and it was great! It probably won't be up on the blog for a while though, cause I'm swamped! But keep checking :)
http://kristinaileenphotography.blogspot.com/

Hans is just working as usual. He'll be starting grad school in the fall at BYU and he said he's excited to be able to not work and just focus on school. So hopefully this new job ends up being something I really like, because I'm gonna have to be the money maker for the next couple of years!

Other than that, we're planning a vacation for our anniversary week in August. We'll be going to Vegas and got a sweet hookup on a hotel thanks to my parents' time share trade. I'm super excited, but mostly just because it means no work and lots of sleeping in for a whole week!

That's pretty much it for us right now. Although I am anxiously awaiting the sale of my parents' house, which is currently on the market. The sooner they sell, the sooner they can move out here, which I'm so excited for :) For one, I haven't seen them on a consistent basis for like 6 years (I know that's what grown-up life is like, but seriously...it's kind of crazy!) and for two, when we move in with them I won't have any sleeping problems due to people watching loud movies ;)

Think Twice

Hello. So for any of you who don't know (or who didn't notice my facebook status), my purse got stolen this past Saturday. It was stolen from a room that was supposed to be locked outside of the laser tag arena at Nickel City. You see, when you go to play laser tag, you are taken into the room where you get your gun/vest and the attendant tells you to leave your stuff under the rack that you take your vest from. They tell you this every time. They tell you this because they then proceed to lock the door and stay in that room until your game is over. Unfortunately for me, the girl that was running laser tag that night was apparently a complete idiot and let some girls in to look for their "cigarettes" in the middle of our game. After they looked, they took my purse. I can only hope that girl was fired for her idiocy. But the point of this post is not whose fault it was or how it played out. The point is, there are some people out there who think that stealing is a good idea. I could not tell you why they think that. Maybe they grew up in such a situation where stealing was not demonized as it should be. Maybe they are trying to impress friends. Maybe they desperately need money for whatever reason. Maybe they just have no soul. I really don't know. But when you steal something, think about this: how will that affect the person you're stealing from? I know that if you're stealing someone's stuff, you've probably dehumanized that person anyway so as to not feel guilty. But really, consider this:

My purse contained the following:
-Keys to my car and house (including a little teddy bear keychain I got from New York when I went there with my family over Christmas break)
-My wallet (including not just my cash and bank cards, but a whole host of other cards, including my temple reccommend and a mini diploma sent to me by BYU. Also, I guarantee I'll never find another wallet like that one. It was my favorite I'd had in a long time)
-My cell phone (including many photos that I had not downloaded on to my computer; notes about photoshoots, books I wanted to read, ideas I'd had, etc.; my calendar, which is basically my brain; and all my work schedules)
-My iPod (lovingly named Fred II after my first iPod, Fred, who died of natural causes)
-Various lipsticks, chapsticks, and a necklace that I had just rediscovered
-And last and possibly worst, my camera (which I had owned for seven years, which contained recently-taken photos, and which I could still take better photos with than most people can with their fancy new cameras, even though it was so old and only 6 megapixels. It was the best point and shoot ever. That was my FIRST digital camera. Knowing I'm a photographer, equate that to me losing a beloved pet.)

So, aside from looking at the actual items stolen (amounting to over $1000 worth in losses), look at the memories that were stolen from me. But of course, the thief never would have thought of that. Because if you are so depraved as to steal someone's belongings, then you are probably past feeling anything about anyone besides yourself. So I just wanted to say that if any of you are for some reason considering stealing something from someone, or if you are ever tempted, just take a second and think twice about it. Not only are you breaking the law. Not only are you demoralizing yourself. But you are hurting someone. And you never know how that will affect them. Luckily for me, most of those things can be replaced, and eventually, I'm sure the hurt suffered at the loss of those memories and precious things to me will heal. But say my circumstances had been different. Say that camera had been given to me by someone now gone, whose photos on that camera had been all that I'd had left of them. Maybe that's a little extreme, but you get the idea. You never know how you're hurting someone. So, thieves, wherever you are, I invite you to rethink your life choices.

And if I ever see you again in real life, you'd better be fast runners.

The value of a quiet spot.

Maybe because I grew up an only child, I never truly understood the true value of peace and quiet. Never in my life (besides when the nephews/niece came to visit) have I had to wake up to screaming children or the pounding of feet. Maybe that was a disadvantage for me...obviously I'm going to have to put up with it someday. Except I swear if my kids make enough noise to make it sound like the house is caving in, they're going to get in trouble. Because as much as I didn't realize it until now, I very much value my quiet time. This is something that I have unfortunately come to realize of late because of my utter lack of it. The most quiet time I get is when I work at the hospital in Mother/Baby (yeah, ironic that the quietest part of my day is in the section of the hospital with all the screaming babies). Today was the first day in a couple months that I've actually been woken up by my alarm instead of the sound of my ceiling being pounded to pieces, and I suspect that that was only because I've been so exhausted this week that I slept right through it, because there was the pounding about twenty or so minutes after I'd woken up. And it's not just in the morning that that happens. It's at night, too. And it's constant. Not just a couple thumps and we're done. It literally sounds like the stampede from Jumanji is running around upstairs. Since I grew up with a very low noise level, I have a hard time concentrating when there's any sort of loud noise. I could never study when there was music playing, I find it difficult to focus in a room full of chatting people, and I'm having the hardest time getting any of my book read in my current living situation. Which is a real shame, because I very much enjoy reading. I can't tell you what I would give for a comfortable, sound-proof room with a big, cushy couch and some large windows (to let in the beautiful and rarely-seen-in-my-apartment sunlight) at this current moment in time.

I swear I'm never having visitors when I get my own house (please please please let that be a not-too-distantly-in-the-future acquisition!). Or maybe I'll just have a separate guest house so they can't disturb me with their absurdly over-the-top volume.

That being said, maybe I should look at this as a blessing...so I can acclimate myself to high noise levels...for the future....

No but let's be serious. The sooner I get my own place, the better.

What George eats for dinner...

So, pretty sure I had never seen anyone more famous than President Hinckley (not that that wasn't awesome) until last summer, when I saw James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley) at Universal Studios in Orlando (see this post). Well, here we go for famous person number 2 (or 3 I guess, since Fred and George were 1 and 2).

So usually I don't work on Monday nights. However, I was scheduled tonight (Divine inspiration? Entirely possible), and when I got to work, who should I hear had a reservation there, but Jason Alexander! That's right, ladies and gentlement, this character right here:

Best known for his role as George Castanza on Seinfeld. Apparently he's in town doing some sort of acting seminar at UVU. Well, kids, I about flipped out. In fact, I did flip out. And definitely acted like a creeper for the rest of the night. He came in at 6, and I watched him go back with his little entourage to the private terrace dining area. Then, I went back to the kitchen and giggled myself silly (a ridiculous nervous reaction that I sometimes have). So then I spent the rest of the night creepin' on him through the windows and trying to get a picture from the bakery (there is a window that separates the bakery and the terrace). I did, however, get to go into the terrace to deliver food to one of his group members (thanks to my awesome manager for that one).
So around 8-ish (when I was in the bakery creepin' again), he and his entourage quickly got up from their table and made to leave. So, like a good little stalker, I went and walked out to the main dining room, trying my best to come up with a fast plan to get a picture or video as Mr. Alexander walked by. Well, as he got to the front, the server who had served his party asked if she and the managers could get a picture with him. He obliged, and I shot up to the front and leaned against the wall hopefully. And THEN, after they took their picture, I asked if I could take one of my own, since my dad is such a HUGE fan. And then he was like, "what, are you not cool enough to be in that group?" And I was like, "apparently not, haha," and then, after some height adjustment (he about came up to my shoulder), we took a picture. AND HERE IT IS:

That's right folks, I met and took a picture with freakin Jason Alexander!! KRISTIN FTW!!!! Anyways, this moment totally made my week. I kind of felt like I was living out my dad's dream (he is LITERALLY the worlds biggest Seinfeld fan. I'm not exaggerating in any sense. In fact, that's probably a gross understatement). So yeah. Freaking awesome night. Oh, and for those of you who were wondering, he had the salmon (with no sauce) and diet coke mixed with cranberry juice. So, if you want to eat like a star, come on in to La Jolla Groves and try our oven-fired salmon :D

The obligatory Valentine's Day post.

Hey friends. So I'll be honest. I'm only posting about Valentine's Day to brag. Hans did an excellent job this year, and I just want to show off :)
So first of all, we had to celebrate on the 15th this year, since Hans was working on the 14th. No big, it's not like the date actually matters, it's just a fun excuse to go out and give each other stuff. So I got home from work on the 15th and hurried to get ready, since we were supposed to leave once Hans got home. Well, I get done with my shower, and what do I see when I exit the bathroom?

That's right. My cutes husband smiling at me from next to a carefully displayed vase of beautiful flowers and the BIGGEST box of chocolates I've ever seen. Seriously. It's hard to see in this picture, but here's one that I took for scale purposes:

See?? It's GINORMOUS! I was...astonished, I think is the right word. AND....this part just made my heart melt...the flowers, Hans explained, were chosen specifically because they were our wedding colors. HOW FREAKING CUTE IS THAT?!? And you think guys never think about detaily stuff like that. That's why Hans is so awesome.

Beautifulllllll!! And they really are light purple. I know they look pink. But they're not.

So then that night, Hans took me out to Macaroni Grill (he picked, I told him I would have no part in the choice. LOVE IT.) And I had the most DELICIOUS meal of my life. I THINK it was called Chicken Scallopini. But I can't really remember. But in any case, it was delicious, and I reccommend it to ALL OF YOU.

 Soooo yeah. It was pretty great. Oh and then afterwards, we went to play laser tag with some friends, which is a new weekly hobby that we recently discovered. It was actually kind of funny...Hans's friend texted him to see if we wanted to laser tag as usual that night, and Hans (being ever so thoughtful) texted me to see if I wanted to, since it was "Valentine's Day" and all...and I honestly did, so I told him yes. And this, he informs me, is why he likes me so much...because I'll go play laser tag with him on Valentine's Day :) True love.

And now I will leave you with more photos of my giant box of chocolate. I hope you can tell how excited I am about it. I'm not even halfway through eating it. (Not to mention the box of Belgian chocolate I got from my dad...I'm such a lucky girl :)  )

A note on restaurant service

Dear world,
Let me just start out by saying this: if you cannot afford to tip your server, then you cannot afford to eat out. Go eat at Burger King, Tabo Bell, Zupa's, or Costa Vida, where tipping is not necessary.
Now that we've covered the basics, let me explain how to tip, since obviously, a lot of you have forgotten. The STANDARD for tipping is 15%. That means that if your server is STANDARD, you should give them 15%. If your server is, in any way, above average (say, extra friendly, gives you good recommendations, refills your drinks, etc.), you should tip them 20% or more. ONLY if your server is INCREDIBLY below average should you tip 10%. And by this, I mean that your server either COMPLETELY ignored your, or very obviously spit in your food for no other reason than that they felt like being an idiot to you. If your food took a long time, NINE TIMES OUT OF TEN, it was NOT your server's fault. DO NOT penalize them for this. Most of the time, they are in the kitchen, trying their hardest to get your food out to you faster. IN ABSOLUTELY NO CIRCUMSTANCE should you EVER tip your server under 10%. You might think you're making a statement, but let me tell you what you're ACTUALLY doing. You are SCREWING OVER YOUR SERVER'S LIFE. In case any of you don't know, servers make approximately TWO DOLLARS an hour. That's not even a THIRD of minimum wage. In other words, SERVERS RELY ON TIPS. So when you think you're being smart by not leaving any sort of tip, or leaving your pocket change, you are not only RUINING that server's night, you are also WASTING THEIR TIME, because they could have spent that time they spent on you taking care of another table that actually knows how to tip. So next time you go out to dinner, think to yourself before hand, "Hmm, do I have the money to leave a decent tip for my server?" If not, rethink your decision to dine at a restaurant, and maybe go pick up some Lean Cuisine from the grocery store. Thanks.

Much love,
Kristin

Yay Hans!

So Hans just got accepted into BYU's school psychology grad program! I'm so ridiculously happy for him, I knew he could do it! At this point we're just waiting to hear back from U of U, because that's our other top choice, but as of now, we at least have some sort of a plan! ...which is much better than having a wishy washy plan and like 10 back-up plans haha :) Anyways, short post. But I am so, so, SO proud of my amazing Hansy. YAY!!

Just a short rant...

I don't know what it is that makes people think they can tell other people how to do their job. I mean, okay, if you're in the same business, and you're genuinely trying to be helpful because you are also good at that job, that's one thing (still sometimes obnoxious, but more generally acceptable). But when you literally have NO IDEA what you're talking about, you probably should not try to give others advice on what THEY do for a living. For instance: I have been doing newborn photography for almost 2 years. I have photographed literally HUNDREDS of babies. I also have a degree in photography. So yeah, I'm pretty good at photographing newborns. I know what I'm supposed to do because there is absolutely no variation in my routine from baby to baby. Soooo thanks for all those "helpful" tips you're trying to give me, random relation of mom in hospital, but I'll be completely honest, I'm pretty sure I'll be fine without them. I mean, were you in there when mom was delivering, too? Maybe telling the doctor that he should do something this way or asking if he's sure that will work? No. I didn't think so. So kindly stop bothering me with your obnoxiousness. Thank you.

I'm just gonna put this out there...

Sometimes, people are just stupid, and there's really nothing you can do about it. It's just kind of a fact of life. And it's frustrating, because sometimes, you really just want to do something about it. But all you can really do is just let the stupid things they do roll off your back. This is something that I am working on. Maybe it's a blessing that I have to work on it, because then, later in life, I'll be better at it.

Also.

I want a house.

Like, bad.

Not a big, fancy house. Just a small, cute one that I can decorate. Mostly thanks to Pinterest, I now have all these cute decorating ideas that need to be expressed somehow. And that only way that they will be able to be expressed is if I have a house. So, at this current moment in time, that is my top want. (Besides going to Paris, which is ALWAYS my top want). Unfortunately, that probably won't happen for a while...so I'm going to need to find some other way to creatively express myself. Maybe if I got a sewing machine....

East Coast Christmas

Well, Hans and I are back from break with my fam. I'll say that only one of us is really happy to be back. The other one misses her family quite a bit :( However, the trip out was definitely worth it! I had such a great time being with everyone and we did sooo many interesting things! We flew in on Christmas Eve, and then my sister and her kids came up on Christmas. Christmas at my parents' house was, as usual, amazingly perfect. Beautiful decorations, yummy snacks, a delicious Christmas dinner with perfectly-cooked turkey. I could probably do that every day. No joke.
So then the day after Christmas, we went to Mount Vernon (George Washington's Estate). I'd been there before, but it was cool to see it again now that I'm older and can appreciate it more. It really is beautiful...right on the Potomac and surrounded by acres of fields and forests.

After Mount Vernon, the girls went shopping while the boys went to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum. Luckily my dad was on top of things picture-wise (much to Hans's dismay, I'm sure :)  )

Tuesday, we went to the Holocaust museum. It was a really cool experience; they have a lot of really interesting stuff there. Then at the end, they had a video of Holocaust survivors telling their stories. They were so sad to hear, but so amazing at the same time. 

Wednesday, the kids left. While Rachel and mom were taking them to the airport, dad, Hans and I went to the National Museum of American History. I think this is a really cool museum. They've got all sorts of things from American culture throughout the years. The first thing that we saw was the ACTUAL AMERICAN FLAG that inspired the national anthem. Tell me that's not so cool! I couldn't get any photos because it was a low-light room to preserve the flag, but trust me when I saw that it was awesome. We also saw stuff like the original muppets, Lincoln's hat, and old trains and cars. There are a ton more photos of this on my facebook, but here a couple just to give you a peek:

Lincoln's hat:

Sweet old car:

In an old timey train station...which one is real?!?

After the American History museum, mom and Rachel met us at the Spy Museum! This museum is also very cool. Unfortunately, it's not free, but it's kind of worth it. You get to see all kinds of sweet stuff that's been used by actual spies! And there are interactive activities where you can pretend to be a spy. You also have to assume an identity a the beginning and remember everything about your identity so you can be tested on it later. It's a super fun place and I definitely recommend it to anyone visiting DC.

The next day, Thursday, we set off for New Jersey to visit Missey et. al. and to go to New York. Along the way, we got to stop in Gettysburg for Hans. Hans has been wanting to go to Gettysburg pretty much his whole life. He said it was like going to Disney World for him haha. First we got to go in the museum, which included a movie, a cyclorama (which was actually a HUGE painting covering the whole round room, that was painted in the early 20th century by a French guy. Too cool), and a bunch of really neat old stuff from the battle. One of my favorite things was a pair of opposing bullets that had collided in MID-AIR!! How cool is that?

Part of the cyclorama painting:

Fused bullets:

After the museum, we went out to see the battlefield. The museum took a lot longer than we'd expected, so we didn't get to see the whole battlefield, just the Confederate side and a tiny bit of the Union side. It was really neat to see the landscape where the battle took place and to see all the different monuments for each Confederate state.

Hans scoping out the battlefield:

The Virginia monument:

The Georgia monument:

After only a few short hours in Gettysburg, we continued on to NJ. For anyone who's thinking about visiting Gettysburg, IT IS A FULL DAY'S TRIP. Don't expect to just spend a couple hours there, like we did. The museum takes at least 2 hours, and we were rushing. Then the driving tour takes something like 3 or 4 hours, and I'm sure that doesn't count you stopping and looking around. There really is a lot to see.

So we got into NJ and were able to spend some time just hanging out with family. Then the next day (Friday), we went to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, which I was really excited about because as many times as I've been to NYC, we've never thought to do that tour. Unfortunately, we were already pretty museumed-out by the time we got to Ellis Island (I'll be honest, I didn't know it was a museum), so we only spent maybe half an hour there and didn't really take full advantage of it. But it was still cool to see.

So then after Ellis Island, the boat took us over to the Statue of Liberty. This ended up being a kind of poorly-timed visit because the Statue is currently being renovated, and no-one is allowed inside. Still, it was awesome to see it up close. I took about a billion pictures (duh). It was also really neat to see Manhattan from across the water.

The other cool thing of the day was that we got to see the New Jersey 9/11 memorial, which I didn't even know existed. But it's there, right by the terminal for the Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty tours. We were originally going to go to Ground Zero, but apparently you need tickets, and none of us knew that until the week before we left, which is too late. So it was cool that we at least got to see one of the memorials for 9/11. It was a really pretty, but relatively simple memorial with all the names of NJ residents whose lives were lost inscribed on it. And in front of it, they had pieces from the actual structures of the towers.

Saturday, we went into Manhattan. For any of you that were keeping track, Saturday was New Year's Eve. Yeah, we went into Manhattan on New Year's Eve. That wasn't on purpose, it was just accidentally poorly planned. Luckily, though, we went in the morning and it wasn't TOO crowded, although people were already starting to gather in Times Square (imagine just standing there ALL DAY just to get a good spot for the party....crazy!). So anywho, we walked around for a bit, then got lunch at this random little deli/sushi place, and THEN we went to see WICKED!! For anyone who hasn't seen this, I highly reccommend it. I mean, it's definitely not Phantom or Les Mis, but it was definitely a good one! Interesting plot, great set and costumes, and really amazing singing! Overall, definitely a must-see.

So after the play, we drove Rachel to the airport (sadface) and then returned to Missey's house to wait out the new year. And I must say, this new year definitely started out better than last (if you don't know that story, ask me, I won't go into it here).

Then Sunday, we drove home. I think we ended up driving a weird way (thank you, weirdie GPS), and so found ourselves driving through Philadelphia. Well, this was very exciting because I didn't think we'd be going this way, even though I'd asked if we could, because another one of Hans's life goals was to eat a Philly Cheesesteak from Philly. So as soon as I realized where we were, I quickly looked up a list of good cheesesteak places (ah, the wonders of a smartphone), and navigated us to not just any old cheesesteak place, but the cheesesteak place that started it all! Pat's King of Steaks...how cool is that?? The guys who started this place actually INVENTED the Philly Cheesesteak. Another Hans Life Goal accomplished...with bonus points!

Yes, that the line wrapping ALL THE WAY around the building. Philadelphians take their cheesesteaks seriously!

Hans's first official Philly Cheesesteak:

So that was pretty exciting. Other exciting events on the way home included seeing the Ravens' stadium and the Eagles' stadium (which was literally right next to the highway and had a game going on when we passed it. Win.), making three total NFL stadiums that we saw on the trip (we passed the Giants' stadium while in NJ).

Monday was our last day in VA :( but it was definitely not wasted. We went shopping and SHOOTING! That's right, folks, I actually shot a gun. My dad took us to a shooting range and we all took turns shooting his old 9mm and revolver from his cop days. And I won't lie, we're all pretty good shots. Although right when I was really getting the hang of it, we ran out of ammo for the 9mm and had to switch to the revolver. Let me tell you, shooting a revolver is just not fun. Hans liked it because it was smaller and fit his hand better, but I very much disagreed. Since it's smaller, it's got a lot more kick to it, and it hurts when it pulls back :( But that's okay, because we had fun anyways, and now I know how to shoot a gun. Dangerous :D Ha.

So anyways, then on Tuesday (at some unearthly hour of the morning), we flew back to UT. Sad, sad. But it really was an amazingly fun break! If only real life could be like that all the time :)