Kaepernicking

Michael was most excited about Day 2 in San Francisco.

This was the day we checked stadium #2 off of our NFL tour list.

*You can read about our first NFL tour here.

This time it was Candlestick Park.

We were lucky to be able to tour this stadium before it closes this August.

^^Can you feel the excitement??

This tour was completely different than the tour in Seattle.

For one, this stadium has been around since the 60s, while Seattle's is much newer.

That means that it holds a whole lot of history.

It was an incredible tour, and if you are in San Francisco before August, you should go.

^^View from one of the suites.

Unfortunately the field was not painted, we were pretty bummed.

Why are there dugouts on a football field you ask?

Because long ago it was actually a baseball park.

See! Interesting tour!

^^This is our tour guide. 

He was great, but I forgot his name.

And those are the doors. The doors to the home locker room.

After the Seahawks tour when we got to go into the locker room last minute, this was old news.

The locker room was pretty great though.

Especially the part when the tour guide told Michael who's locker he was sitting inside.

IMG 5544 from Brittany Johns on Vimeo.

Again, he was so excited.

Out of all the 49ers, Kaepernick is the one he talked about the most.

It was pretty great.

^^I'm doing that weird leg thing again.
I can't explain it.
After the locker room, we got to see the media area (which was tiny!)
and then go out and walk on the field.

Part of the history with the 49ers are all their Superbowl championships.

Of course, they don't keep the trophies in the stadium except on gameday,
so the closest we got were these high definition pictures.

Like I said, it was an excellent tour.
Kind of a bummer that we just checked one off and it will be closing.
I guess that means we will have to go back to San Francisco and tour the new one in the future.

After the tour, we made a quick stop at Fisherman's Wharf for lunch at In-N-Out.
Again, Michael was super excited.

As soon as we finished the burgers, we were off to the Golden Gate Bridge.
This is the part of our trip that I was most excited about!
This bridge is one of the most iconic places in America, and I've always wanted to see it.

^^Driving over the bridge.
We were not prepared for how difficult it would be to find the perfect picture spot.
First we stopped at a terrible lookout spot that was packed with tourists.
The pictures aren't even worth posting.
1) You can't even really get the bridge in the picture.
2) Random people were in every one of our pictures.
and 3) It was crazy windy so I looked like a mess.
I did manage to get this great picture of some more boats though:

After getting lost in the tiny town across the the bridge, we finally made it to the perfect picture spot.
Luckily for us, someone was pulling out of a parking spot right when we pulled up.
Parking is literally an issue every where in this city.

^^Definitely worth the wait.
Almost every city I have been to has a structure that I become obsessed with.
In Paris it was the Eiffel Tower.
In Seattle it was the Space Needle.
And apparently in San Francisco it is the Golden Gate Bridge.

^^It took quite a few tries to get this photo.
As I said, it was super windy.
Especially way up on this hill.
We found some nice guys who wanted a million photos of them, on several different cameras too,
which made it a win-win for all of us.
As we were driving back to our hotel, we stumbled upon Lombard Street and decided to drive down it.
But first, you have to drive up it.

^^This picture doesn't do the hill justice.
It was so steep.
The worst part was the stop sign halfway up.
Michael might have panicked a little bit.

Later that evening we went to a little Italian place that I had found on Yelp.

^^This place to be exact.
It was close to our hotel, so we decided to walk.
As we were walking, we passed the cable car station, and there was one just sitting there.

^^The driver was so sweet and offered to take our picture.

So yeah, we didn't actually ride a cable car.

The line was way to long, but this picture means I can check it off the list.

By the time we made it to the restaurant, I was wishing we had taken a cable car.

This is the hill we climbed to get there.

^^We came from down there by the water.

It was a long hike.

I was pretty sure I was going to pass out.

We made it though and the food was excellent!

I got the ravioli with tomato cream sauce, and it was to die for.

I will probably dream about that sauce for the rest of my life.

It was so good!

Of course, we couldn't end the day without a Ghirardelli sundae, this time it was salted caramel!

So delicious!

It was another perfect day in sunny San Francisco!

Everywhere You Look...

Over a month ago Michael and I took a trip to California.
We went because Michael's good friend and college roommate was getting married in Sacramento.
After looking at ticket prices, we decided that if we were going to pay all that money to get out there, we might as well stay awhile and make a trip out of it.
We decided to leave on a Thursday, and return on a Monday.
You know, just making a long weekend out of it.
It wasn't until we were on the plane that we realized that this trip is the exact same length as our trip to Seattle this past August.
Two vacations in one year? (our year calendar will always be August to July)
Oops!
We weren't sure what Sacramento had to offer for 5 days, so we chose to stay in San Francisco.
I was so excited!
I had never been to California, and out of all the cities, this is the one that I would want to visit first.

Early Thursday morning we were off to the airport.
After a bit of a long flight, made longer by all the fluids I drank and the lack of bathroom usage,
we made it to San Francisco.

Had to document this from our flight.
Michael reading!
He finished the entire book, and loved it.
As soon as we landed, we went to pick up our rental car.
Michael was so excited that he had gotten us a sedan instead of a coupe.
We quickly found out why the sedan was such a great deal:
The streets in San Fran are tiny.
The parking lots are non existent. Literally.
And if you happen to find a parking spot, you will be lucky to fit your sedan in to it.
Oh and bonus - our hotel charged us $40 per day to park there.
Cool.

Our first stop in San Francisco was Alamo Park to see the Painted Ladies.

My early childhood self was thrilled.
I always thought I would feel just like Michelle Tanner running around in the grass,
and somehow I look more like Aunt Becky.
I'm not complaining, it was just a weird realization.

^^I had a great time looking at the Ladies, and taking lots of pictures with my Uncle Jesse.
Of course, we couldn't leave that part of town without seeing the actual home of Full House.

^^The years have changed it just a little.
Next, we were off to check in to our hotel, and freshen up a bit.
We had both been pretty warm at Alamo park, so we decided to change.
Bad decision.
The one piece of advice everyone gave us about going to San Francisco was "bring a jacket"
Well, I brought a jacket with me, but the bare legs under my dress were freezing!
Our hotel was smack in the middle of Fisherman's Wharf, and it is the best place to stay in the city!
There are so many great restaurants and entertainment places within walking distance.
Our first restaurant choice was Boudin Bakery, thanks to a recommendation by Michael's cousin.

^^This guy is making the best sourdough bread I've ever tasted.

^^They even have sourdough bread animals.
Michael and I both opted for the bread bowls with soup.
They were amazing!
Lick the bowl clean type of amazing.

^^Clam Chowder

^^Tomato...yum!
We after dinner we spent time walking along the pier, and seeing the sights.

^^Pier of seals
There were so many.

^^First view of the Golden Gate Bridge

^^I have a thing with boats, and piers at sunset.
There's just something so peaceful and quaint about it.

^^It was windy, we were blocking Alcatraz, and I'm doing something freaky with my legs.

^^One last view of the pier and our favorite restaurant.
By sundown, I couldn't handle shivering anymore, so we went back to the hotel for another change.
This time I took everyones advice and wore a jacket, and sweater, and a scarf.
Our last stop of the day was Ghirardelli for sundaes and hot chocolate.

I chose the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate,
and Michael chose the original sundae.
Both were delicious.
We also both got a free square of chocolate on our way out of the store.
The perfect ending to our first day in San Francisco.

Friday's Five

It has been way too long since my last Friday post.

Things are finally starting to slow down around here (at least for this week)

and I'm hoping to get on another blogging spree,

and catch up with some of the things we have been up to.

There is no better way to do that than to summarize the past few months into 5 main points.

1) Feeling Fresh

Hydrangeas are my absolute favorite.

Especially fresh ones.

And even more when they are in my new white pitcher. 

2) Welcome Wreath

I made this little wreath for Claire's most recent wedding shower.

For her and Trey to hang on their door and welcome people into their new home.

Did I mention that I love hydrangeas??

3) Celebrations for Claire

Did I also mention how much I love this girl??

Her wedding day is getting so close, and I am getting more and more excited!!

This picture is from her shower at Memorial,

where her and Trey opened gifts for an hour and a half without stopping.

They are already so blessed, and I know their marriage will be too.

4) Wedding Wishes

This was the most special gift given at Claire's shower.

A note written by her late Nana, sending her beautiful wedding wishes

from many years ago.

So special.

5) Gangstas

This is currently one of my favorite pictures.

Michael is just adorable.

He is one good-looking gangster.

Happy Weekend!!

Happy Birthday Sister

Today is my sister Bailey's birthday.

She is 24!

Exactly 23 years and 11 months ago, I was doing this.

Not too many years later, our entire lives were consumed by all things Barbie.

And somewhere along the line we grew up into adults,

and even more than that, friends.

I love you so much, Sister, and I hope you have the most wonderful day!!

Happy Birthday!!

Oh! The Places You'll Go!

After several refusals, my mother finally got me to agree to speak at Ladies Day.
How did she do it??
She had one of her best friends ask me, knowing I couldn't say no.
It worked, and so I've been working stressing the past couple of weeks to get my lessons together.
Ladies Day is an annual event at my home church that has been going on since the year I was born.

Ironically enough, I had never actually been to a Ladies Day.

Every year I lived at home, I was the child care,

and once I moved to college, I was never available to be there.

Needless to say, it was more than a little difficult to prepare for something I had never been to.

Lucky me though, I am married to a guy that has a gift for preaching and teaching.

There is no way I could have made it through these lessons without Michael.

I would create an outline of what I wanted to say, and he would 'sermonize' it for me.

And 3 days before the event when I decided to completely throw out one of my lessons, 

he helped me to re-write a newer better one.

^^Each and every detail of the day was so perfect.

The theme I chose was "Oh! The Places You'll Go!" based on Proverbs 3:5-6.

Everything was decorated with maps, and globes, and other travel objects.

The favors were Eiffel Tower keychains, which if you know me, you know it is perfect.

And the food, oh the food!

They had different recipes from all different countries...

and each one was amazing!!

^^This was less than half the room of ladies.

Yikes!

The last count I heard was that there were 94 women there.

This picture is during my 2nd lesson when I gave everyone time to share with each other.

It was a special moment.

^^In the words of Eminem, "on the surface I look calm and ready"

But really, I was sweating buckets.

^^Some incredibly important women in my life.

I really did feel unworthy to be teaching them, but am so thankful for their kindness and encouragement.

^^She was my flower girl in our wedding.

It meant so much that she was there, and listening to every word I said.

She even called me 'awesome'!

^^Just reading a little Dr Seuss to the ladies.

I had no intention of reading the book, or even referencing it, but then I read it.

And I loved it, and I just had to share it.

I used the book to share some practical applications in the second lesson,

while the first lesson was based entirely on my theme scriptures.

^^The best part of the day was having both my mom and my mother-in-law there to support me.

These are two women that have been such important influences in my life.

I have seen them go through many journeys, 

some good, some more difficult,

and I have witnessed the growth of their faith through these journeys.

I am so thankful to have two wonderful, strong, loving women to help guide me as a wife, and one days as a mother (though sooner would be better for them on this one)

I am so blessed to be their daughter.

All in all, the day turned out to be pretty wonderful!

Its amazing the ways that you are blessed, simply by trying to bless others.

I was so blessed by the women that were there: whether my old teachers, mentors, babysitters, or friends, they all mean so much to me, and my spiritual journey.