San Francisco with some new friends

Last Friday I went to San Francisco with a couple of new friends. I met Tiffany at a church we visited during Christmas. She invited me to go with one of her friends to check out a few places in the city. We went to an Italian bakery, Italian delicatessen for some really good salami, a restaurant for chicken and of course... homemade ice cream. It was nice to get out and hang out with some girls in the area.

Stinson Beach

This is where we went on our way home. We didn't give ourselves a lot of time to walk around a whole lot but we were able to see some of the beach. We'll have to go back when we are dressed for the beach haha. The sand is so fine and it was a really nice beach, not too crowded. Since we went on our way home the sun was setting and it really was beautiful. I found a few sand dollars and we just walked around the edge of the water. All together we had a wonderful trip and it is great that it was so close to home. I'm already thinking of all the things I want to do when family or friends come to visit!!!

Searching for Sand dollars

Walking on the beach

Waves at Sunset

Sea weed!

Muir Woods

 Here are a few pictures from our adventure yesterday afternoon. After church we decided we would go on a hike since the weather was perfect! We looked online and Muir Woods is only about 45 minutes away. We only had time to take one trail that took us 1 hour to complete one way and about 45 minutes on the way back and we wanted to check out Stinson Beach but, the trail was very nice, the woods were beautiful, and the view when we got to the top was amazing! We definitely are going back to check out another trail sometime soon!

At the top with an ocean view

A very old tree!

Golden Gate Bridge

4200 Feet long!

 After going to the Science Museum we went over to the Golden Gate Bridge and said we were going to walk across the whole bridge. By the time we got to the first column it was dark and cold so we took a few pictures and started walking back haha! We'll have to go again sometime and walk all the way across!

The Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco

No U Turns?

The Science Museum and Golden Gate Bridge

Yesterday we decided to go on a picnic after trying out a new church. We got back to the house and decided that it was way too cold to go on a picnic even though it was not cloudy. So, we ate a quick lunch and went to Golden Gate Park which has a science museum. Here are a few pictures...

 

Christmas Presents

I know it's a little late now that it is already Jan. but I thought I would show you a few of my Christmas presents that I go this year. This year along with some other gifts my mom sent me a table runner that she made along with 4 cloth napkins and napkin holders. She made one for herself and also my older sister so we could remember each other during the holiday even though we were not able to be all together. It was really nice to have something on the table during our Christmas dinner that reminded me of home, even though there was no family faces sitting around my table. 

The next gift is a nutcracker. My grandmother sent me some money to buy something special like a ornament, by the time I got to a store there was nothing left. I found a nutcracker and I thought it would be perfect since Antonio and I had went this year to the Nutcracker. It was not something that reminded me of home necessarily but it will remind us of the great experience we had this year at the ballet. It also has 2010 painted on the stand.

Finally, Antonio and I decided to go in together on our gift this year and buy us a nice camera. Antonio researched for weeks and figured he better buy the one he thought was the best since we are going to be taking so many pictures from no on. I still use at times my little Sony but this camera really does take awesome pictures...the only thing is learning how to use all the cool stuff it has! Antonio really has been playing around with it and has been learning how to use it properly. It was hard to take a picture of the camera so here is a cheesy photo of me in front of a mirror..haha. So, here are a few pictures of my gifts!!!!

LAKE TAHOE!!!

For New Years we decided last minute that we really were going to go to Lake Tahoe and try snowboarding!!! We checked out the lake and and learned how to stand up on our snowboards without falling, which was hard but by the end of the day we were doing a better. This was the first time we had ever been snowboarding and thought we should take a class before we hurt ourselves on the mountain. On the way up the mountain you take a gondola and the view was amazing!!! We had a great time learning to snowboard and hope to go back again before the season is over to try again. Lake Tahoe was so pretty, especially because it had just snowed so all the trees were covered in snow and the mountains were also perfectly snow covered it made a great view!!! We had such a great time and it was a great way to start our new year together!!! Hope you all had a wonderful New Years!!!

Beautiful Lake Tahoe and the Mountains!

Here we are before another round on the bunny trail

Me falling on my face

On the lift to the "Big Easy" slope, which is a bit harder than the beginners trail

He was really getting the hang of it!

Practicing on the Beginner's slope

The "Big Easy" slopes- for a bit more of a challenge