San Francisco

Yesterday, Scott and I took a day trip to San Francisco. As soon as he got off of work, we drove into the city. Our first stop was Mama's - an amazing breakfast/lunch cafe (I mentioned it in an earlier post).

Scott got this huge omelet.


I got a Monte Cristo. It's three slices of bread with a slice of turkey, a slice of ham, and Swiss cheese. The outside of the sandwich is dipped in an egg batter (like for french toast) and then grilled, so the inside is warm, and the cheese is melted. Then you dip it in raspberry jam. It is the most amazing thing.

We then drove around San Francisco, looking at all of the older homes there. After that, we went to the Palace of Fine Arts and walked around. It is such a beautiful sanctuary in the city, except of course when a bunch of 15-year-olds are there for Quinceanera pictures, and they start crowding around you when you're trying to relax on a bench. Yes, we were fortunate enough to experience that . . . girls in trashy skin-colored dresses, boys in zoot suits, and the main girl wearing a peach frilly dress and a tiara while holding a wand and a bouquet of glass flowers (which she was waving right in front of our faces while talking to her friends). It looked like Disneyland on crack. (Mind you, there were other Quinceanera parties there that looked very classy and put-together.)
After resting a while, we went to Ghirardelli for ice cream. On our way there, we drove past people flying these HUGE kites. They were bigger than our car!

We then got ready to go see Mamma Mia. It was one of my favorite Broadways in high school, but seeing it this time, I was shocked at how risqu'e it was . . . and even though the leading ladies were amazing, the main guys sounded like they would have been the understudies.

Anyway, that was our exciting day in the city.

Why am I doing this?

I want to learn to write, but I am intimidated by the challenge. I have always felt inadequate at many things, but will never improve if I don't push myself to try new things. I pray for help in making my life worthwhile. I want to explore my Patriarchal Blessing's promise of joy that will come to me as I become a writer. Perhaps I am to become a writer for my own personal benefit, or perhaps my writing will eventually reach and touch others' lives. Please, God, help me fulfill my life's mission and to know what thou wouldst have me do. Help me to improve myself and to have courage in attempting new things.

"I'm wicked through and through!"

Last night, Scott and I drove down to L.A. to go see "Wicked" on Broadway. We started out Saturday by going to the temple for a session in Spanish. I was worried the whole time that my headphones were too loud, so I turned the volume down so much that I had a hard time hearing what was going on. After the temple, we drove to Hollywood to see the 2:00 o'clock showing of "Wicked" at the Pantages theater. Now, when people talk about how amazing something is (a book, a movie . . .) I usually ignore what they have to say, so that I don't get my hopes up and end up disappointed with it. I did the same thing with "Wicked" . . . I didn't get my hopes up (even though I was still excited to see it). After the first song, I was hooked, and the play just kept getting better and better. This is in my top-three favorites. It may even be my favorite (It's hard to compare it to something like Les Miserables. It has a category of its own.) After the show was over, we drove back to L.A. to meet Scott's parents for dinner. We kept talking about how amazing the play was, and half-way joked that if it were possible, we would see it again that night. Dennis got so excited about eventually seeing the play too, that all of us drove back down to the theater, so he could purchase tickets for a later date. With about ten minutes left until the 8:00 o'clock play started, Scott noticed a man scalping tickets on the sidewalk. He had four tickets for that night in the fourth row. Scott and Dennis bought the tickets and called Gail and me while we were waiting in the car. They told us to run to the theater because the play was starting in two minutes. So, Scott and I saw the play twice in one day, and are already talking about the next time we can see it . . . it was that good!


This is obviously a picture of William (Bill) Holden's star. I couldn't resist taking a picture of it. My favorite movie with him is "Sabrina" with Audrey Hepburn. I also really love the "I Love Lucy" episode that he's in. It's hilarious (even Scott laughed).

Remodeling Progress

We have slowly been able to put our home back together after Scott's floor demolishing party last week (this party I speak of included . . . just him). Let me start from the last place we left off.

Scott finished taking the tile out of the entry and the guest bathroom. The nightmare wasn't in taking the tile out, but in chiseling off the thin set from the concrete floor. Yes, that is the toilet in the shower behind Scott.

This is me attempting to scrape up the rest of the carpet pad that was glued down to the floor. Apparently I didn't do a good enough job, so when Scott's parents got here on Monday, Gail got down on her hands and knees and redid what I tried to do. It looked much better when she was finished. (Pardon the scandalous tank top.)

Scott's dad, Dennis, spread this bubblegum-pink stuff on our floor that's supposed to keep the tile from cracking with the foundation as the house settles. It dried a rancid red . . . Pretty.

These are the tools that we used to get the thin set off. There were four of us working on it (Gail, our friends Tiffani and Andrew Morgan, and me) for a total of about three hours (That doesn't include the time that Gail and I worked on it earlier). We still didn't finish after all that time, and it wasn't even a very big space. Gail hit her hand so many times with the hammer that it was swollen and black and blue. She's such a trooper!

After the above mentioned amount of time we spent getting the thin set up, our neighbor from two doors down came by with this tool. He plugged it in, and within five minutes, the thin set in the entry was all up. We were shocked, wanting to cry in pain at having spent so much time at a task that ended up being pointless, as well as for joy at not having to chisel away chunks of mud from the floor anymore.

Andrew, Tiffani, and Scott taking turns with the relief party

Laying tile in the living room.

Laying tile in the dining room. The rag is hanging from the chandelier, so they won't stand up underneath it and hit their heads.

The living room: All that's left are the edges of the room. Dennis has to do all the cuts for that while Scott lays the tile.

The hallway and dining room.

The entryway - connected to the dining room.

Gail sweeping so Scott can lay tile. She's such a hard worker and always has a smile on her face.

Dennis cutting tile. Cool apron, huh? It's a trash bag that keeps the water from the tile saw off of him. It looks like an obscure kilt.

Wakeboarding

Earlier today, my brother Brad came up to Folsom Lake to take a youth group out on his boat. He arrived a few hours before any of the kids or other leaders got there, so he invited Scott and me to go wakeboarding with him. Note: I haven't been wakeboarding in eight years. This is partly from not having many opportunities, but mostly from a hurt back.

Scott getting ready to get in the water. He came straight from work, so he was pretty tired. It's so nice that he has the type of job where he can go out on the boat on a Friday morning.

My brother, Brad

No jumping for me. I was just glad to get up. I'm actually surprised there are any pictures of me standing, since I was in the water most of the time. I could only get up with my left foot leading, but once I was up, I wanted the right foot in front. It was confusing trying to sort out my ambi-foot thing. One time after falling, I got stuck on my stomach and couldn't flip the board over. I felt like a crab when it's stuck on its back. I was laughing so hard and trying desperately to keep my head above the water so I didn't drown. I looked like a complete idiot . . . but a funny one.

The water, by the way, was so warm! The thermometer on the boat said it was 80 degrees both in the water and outside.

Scott attempting to barefoot-ski. It's been a long time since he's tried.

This is Scott after he failed at barefoot-skiing. You can somewhat see his feet through the spray, and his sandals are flying in the air. He did a full flip before landing in the water.

Let the Games Begin

Not many people buy a brand new home and then tear it apart a few months later for remodeling. Now that we've redone the counters and backsplash in our kitchen, we're moving on to the floors. We're taking out the carpet downstairs (except for in the family room) and are tiling the entry, living room, and guest bathroom to match the kitchen floor. We were really lucky that the place where our original tile is from still had enough left over from the same batch. Scott, his dad, and possibly a few extra friends will be tiling about 550 square feet of flooring. Needless to say, our home is a mess.

Our entry way: We also have to take out the tile that's right in front of the front door, as well as in the guest bathroom right off the entry, so that the tile running away from the kitchen will match up with it. That will be a day long project by itself.



Our formal room

Wish us luck!

Mommy-Daughter Trip

It has been six years since the last Carter-Edgren mommy-daughter trip. The last two days, we finally had another one. The trip started out with Caitlin, Kathy, and my mom coming up to visit me at my new home. My cousin Dani and her husband Paul also came up for a few hours. All of us went to Pei Wei for lunch before Dani and Paul had to take off.

From there, the Carter/Wilson and Edgren/Perryman girls ran a few errands and then ate at BJ's for an early dinner before taking off to San Francisco. (We first discovered BJ's on our last mommy-daughter trip to Maui.)

Sidenote: I have been telling Scott about BJ's pizzeria since we've been married (almost three years). I kept telling him that if we ever went to Maui, we had to stop at BJ's for dinner because they have the best pizza and dessert (pizookies). . . . Now, Scott and I have lived in Roseville for just over a year, with me always telling him about BJ's in Lahaina. Little did I realize that the BJ's brewery we have driven past countless times since we've lived here was the same BJ's I've been raving about. How did I go for so long without making the connection between the two restaurants? I've been a fool.

Yummmm . . . Pizookie

Anyway. When the moms and daughters got to San Fran, we stayed at Roger and Kathy's home and stayed up late watching the Keira Knightley "Pride and Prejudice" while Roger served us coconut and raspberry sorbet. He was such a good sport.

Just like the old days . . . cheesy poses and sleeping in the same bed. We stayed up for hours talking and trying to remember how to do old dance moves.

Yesterday morning, we woke up and went to Mama's for breakfast. I am not much of a breakfast person, but I am still craving their food almost two weeks later. It is the best breakfast I've ever had. People wait in line outside just to get in the restaurant where they have to wait in line again to order food.

This picture isn't from when we were there. I just wanted you to see the line for people to get inside. It's like Disneyland, only smaller.

We then went to Union Square to get makeovers at Bare Escentuals and to shop. Looking at this picutre, I can't believe how much Cait and I both look like our moms.

While driving back to Kathy and Roger's from Union Square, I decided, with encouragement from the other girls, to get my hair cut. (I'd already been thinking about cutting my hair shorter for about 6 months, but kept it long because Scott liked it that way.) We pulled over on the side of the road at two different salons while Cait jumped out of the car to see if they had any openings for a walk-in. We had success at the second salon.

Katie, the hair stylist, cut off a good six inches.

From there, we met up with our dad's for dinner at Garibaldi's: another great restaurant.
After dinner, we (the girls) went to see Jersey Boys. It was so much fun, and it felt like we were at an actual Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons concert.

It was great to spend time with my mom, Kathy, and Cait for two days. I can't wait until our next trip, but that time we may have to bring our husbands. I'm thinking Mexico.