Fisherman's Wharf

Fisherman's Wharf has changed. Or maybe my memories of the place have dulled with age. It has after all, been a good 13 years since I was last there. But the place seems to have become very commercialized. The charm is still there, but you kind of have to look for it. It was easier to find in the light of a quiet Monday morning than late Sunday night with the natives loud and boisterous over the 49ers win (and therefore entrance into the Superbowl).

San Francisco is one of my very favorite cities...because although it is a unique city in and of itself, it's also full of sentimental memories for me. My grandparents lived in Concord, CA...maybe 45 minutes out. We visited the grandparents every single summer. And though the majority of our vacation was spent in and around Concord, we always took one day to drive into town and explore the city.

After Brandon's gymnastics meet on Sunday we headed from Palo Alto and the Stanford campus back through San Francisco and right down the Embarcadero to our hotel across the street from Fisherman's Wharf. With no school on Monday due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day we arranged a late Monday flight home so we had some time to play.

Some pics of our adventures...

Hey sisters of mine...do you remember when Papa took us to Tarantino's for lunch? I think the only reason I remember it is because I wrote about it in my journal. But here it is!

Oh, Boudins. Y-U-M! We had breakfast here. Sourdough bread french toast and waffles. Oh my.

We were trying to take a GPS guided scenic route to Golden Gate Park. But lost in the awe of finding myself at the base of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge...as navigator I neglected to give Bryan enough heads up and we missed our quick turn off and ended up going across. Which didn't bother me much because strangely enough, I've never been over it! The Bay Bridge, yes...plenty of times, but not the majestic Golden Gate. So our scenic route turned even more scenic than planned. We pulled off into an overlook and took some pics. (New bucket list item: ride a bike over the Golden Gate Bridge.) Our mistake was a bit costly...it took us $6.00 in toll to get back over.

We spent quite a bit of time Monday morning in the bowels of a WWII ship, the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, which is docked at Pier 45 at the Wharf. Okay, I knew Brandon would get a kick out of it and that I'd find it interesting. But wow, I had no idea how utterly fascinating it would be. The history geek in me came out full force. I can't count how many times I turned to Bryan and said, "This is SO cool!" And although I don't think he was at all bored with our tour, more than anything else, I think his enjoyment came from watching how giddy I was. But beyond the history aspect of it all, I also felt extremely close to my grandfather. Papa was a sailor during WWII...was stationed on the USS Savo Island, an aircraft carrier. Being down in the guts of that ship...he was heavily on my mind, as more than at any other time I felt like I finally could grasp a little bit of what it must have been like.

 We went quite a few levels down...we were truly in the very bowels of the ship. Our guide seemed jazzed by our excitement and took us down lower and showed us things that I think most people don't get to see. Did I mention how completely fascinating it was???

Interestingly enough, the interiors of the SS Jeremiah 0'Brien's boiler room were used in making the Titanic movie.

 Brandon was rather enamored of all the guns on top of the ship....anyone surprised?

Beach deprived

If you have to travel for gymnastics meets...might as well turn them into mini-vacations, yes? Luckily for us, there was no school on Monday so we were able to stay an extra day and play in and around San Francisco.

I think this boy is a little bit beach-deprived. He was downright giddy when we pulled up to Half Moon Bay...

It was a little chilly. We are talking about San Francisco in January, after all. But the 64 degrees and slight breeze that felt downright cold to the natives, felt almost balmy to us...seeing as Utah has been experiencing the coldest winter in over 20 years....we're talking frozen pipes and negative temps and all of that. I stripped off my socks and shoes and then rolled up my pants, so anxious was I to feel sand under and between my toes. Brandon was even more adventurous and pulled out his swim trunks. We hadn't even brought a towel but that didn't deter him. I guess if you are an 11 year old boy and live in a land-locked state...a little bit of chilly water is worth the dip in the ocean.

Half Moon Bay was the first place we stopped after stepping off the airplane...even before checking into our hotel. And because to Brandon the beach is such a novelty...playing in the waves ended up being the very last thing we did before heading to the airport to fly home a few days later. This time at the base of Golden Gate Park. (Just a thought....Golden Gate Park. The west coast version of New York City's Central Park?)

Stanford Open 2013

Brandon's been looking forward to this meet at Stanford University for a long time. Being a level 6 gymnast this season meant he was finally old enough/experienced enough to go.

Saturday evening, a few hours after we flew into town, we watched the NCAA mens gymnastics meet being held as part of the same event and in the same building. Three of the level 10 gymnasts from our gym did well enough in their own meet Friday afternoon to qualify to compete in the Saturday night NCAA session. So not only was it phenomenal to watch these college teams compete, but we had homeboys to root for as well.

Brandon competed the next morning. Time for some math....humor me. There were 94 boys from all over the country competing in level 6 (probably about double what we are used to competing against in local meets). Those boys were divided into 3 age divisions. Brandon's was the biggest with 42 kids and he tied for 5th, officially taking 6th place All Around. Looking at the scores of the boys in the other age divisions...there was 1 boy with a higher AA score in the older age division and 4 higher in the younger....which means 10 kids all together. So Brandon had a higher AA score than 84 other kids in this big national meet! Hot dang!

I took a ridiculous amount of pictures. I won't subject you to them all...but here's a few of my favorites:

Brandon will likely not be pleased that I posted this picture....understandably he doesn't like to show moments where he is not at his tip top peak performance. But I think it's a really interesting picture and was kind of amazed that I caught it. While Bryan took video with my phone, I took rapid shots with my camera. I was zoomed in tight and was more or less watching the whole routine from the view finder. So when Brandon inexplicably and uncharacteristically fell out of his handstand on rings, it made me jump. I couldn't see the whole scene...just him suddenly dropping out of center focus in my view....and I had a moment of panic, thinking he was falling to the floor rather than just hanging. The kid rallied. Coach Adam said Brandon did exactly what he would've told him to do, only he did it on his own. He swung back up into his handstand so he could get credit for the skill and then finished the routine.

Getting all chalked up in prep for high bar...while watching teammate and best friend Andres competing his routine.

Proper gymnast good sport etiquette....shaking hands with the competitor on either side of you on the podium. Here Brandon and Andres are laughing about shaking hands with each other...seeing as they are teammates. These two are the same level, same age division so they compete against each other as well as with each other for team awards. They are similar in skill so depending on the meet and event, sometimes Andres gets a higher score, sometimes Brandon. Usually Brandon edges ahead slightly by the time they hit All Around. But how fun that the two can be such good friends, root for each other and be sincerely happy at a good score...despite the fact that they are competitors for the same awards.

After the meet was over we took the level 6 boys to see this cool display in a courtyard on campus near the building they had been competing in. With cameras at the ready and parents still in shutterbug mode, an impromptu photo shoot occurred....

What a good looking group of gymnasts.

Pool Sharks

Trouble, oh we got trouble,

Right here in River City!

With a capital "T"

That rhymes with "P"

And that stands for Pool!

(From The Music Man. Couldn't help myself...the song has been going through my head for days...)

Christmas money always makes my mind spin with ideas. Guilt free money! What to buy? Bryan and I both talked for days about this, that and the other. Mostly our ideas were revolving around individual wants. But then one day a brilliant idea struck me out of the blue. It piqued Bryan's interest when I shared it with him. And the kids were downright excited. (Ex: "Oh Mom! I could get really excited about that!" Excited, see?) and we eventually decided to combine our individual Christmas guilt free money and put it towards a pool table. (Pool/Billiards...is there a difference other than billiards sounds more refined?)

So after doing some research on-line, we took a lunch break one day and went shopping. And what I discovered was that pool tables are much more involved than I realized. So many different brands, different woods, different qualities. When it comes down to it, buying a pool table is buying what can be an extremely well crafted piece of furniture. Strangely enough, it reminded me of shopping for pianos. Do we want a Yamaha or a Wurlitzer? When talking with the various sales people, I was amazed at how much goes into building what I originally had thought was not much more than a simple little game. And granted, though I knew I was willing to pay a bit more for something that looked less like a "toy" and more like something I would be proud to have in my family room, I was still surprised at the craftsmanship that goes into these tables....and that the price range is all over the place depending on what you are looking for (and can afford...we saw a $35,000. table...a Steinway, maybe, in piano talk).

After much discussion, we settled on one....picked out the felt color and the pocket style, splurged a bit for a ping pong table top...and then arranged for delivery and installation the next day. Originally we thought maybe we could install the sucker ourselves. After all, how hard could it be, right? Then we watched the video. And decided that we'd spring for the extra $350. to have someone put it together and level it for us....

I wish I had a before picture of the basement to share. Originally there was a black leather couch facing the fireplace with a rug in-between. And a skinny little accent table behind the couch. The couches in our home have played ring-around-the-rosie and this room is now an officially a game room. Watching the girls turn our home into party central over the Christmas break with friends in our basement each night playing foosball, watching movies and playing games...it made the decision to make this space even more teenage friendly an easy one. We like that they feel comfortable in our home and enjoy being here. Plans are in the works to finally install floor to ceiling, built-in bookshelves along that far wall. Bryan says he can build window seats on either side of the fireplace. It's a work in progress but I'm excited about what's coming. Hopefully this pool table will see a lot of use and not be something that sits collecting dust after the novelty wears off. We're all building up our pool shark skills and have really been enjoying smacking the balls around for the past few evenings. The ping pong table top comes at the end of the month. I foresee some serious tournaments coming up....

Christmas Dance

The big girls-choice Christmas Dance at the high school has come and gone. Rebekah invited a boy who she's been good friends with for quite a few years...Austin. In fact, I think, "Mom...can I go hang out at Austin and Jake's (twins) house??" was the first early teen entrance into de-segregation when it came to hanging out on weekends. So Rebekah was really excited about the prospect of a fun weekend with Austin as her date.

The "day activity" was held at our house. Four couples, eight teenagers. First up, after chowing down some pizza (they even had a prayer over the food...how awesome are they??) they took over my kitchen and made gingerbread houses. Creative and impressive, these houses turned out. And over time a little bit of fun competition arose...to the point that when all was done, they insisted on calling a neighbor over to judge which house was best. What do you think?

The log house on the far right won. And after settling all that, they headed downstairs with snacks in hand to watch "Elf."

Christmas Dance is semi-formal, like Homecoming. Which basically means making the rounds of the formal dress shops. This time Rebekah found a dress at the first place we stopped. Two, actually. She could not decide and we sat there for 2 hours going back and forth, taking pictures and sending texts to all her friends for advice, as well as also asking every other customer and employee in the store! Did I mention how much fun it was? Rebekah is teeny, tiny which means that sometimes finding a dress that fits is complicated. But this store was willing to do all sorts of alterations for not only fit but to also make it modest...and we had such a great time looking through and trying on all the fluffy colorful confections.
 
Once again we went shoe shopping the day of the dance. Because heaven help us if we ever actually find a day to shop for a matching pair of shoes ahead of time. We also forgot about the boutonniere until morning of...so we were scrambling a bit. And though we were a little bit rushed for time, when Rebekah walked out the door to go pick up Austin, she looked absolutely stunning.

 Dinner and pictures at another girl's house. Off to the dance. And then games and dessert (in pajamas they had all brought with them) at another house. Rebekah got home a little bit after midnight and then kept me up till 1:30, inviting me to snuggle with her in bed even, detailing the fun evening. I'm so glad she had such a great time!

Welcome 2013

It's a little scary to make New Years resolutions this year. There are so many things that I feel I should work on or change in my life that it's a little overwhelming. And frankly, I already know that if I try to tackle them all at the same time, I will fail.

Last year was not my best. I have a hard time really pinning down why I feel that way because in many ways it was a really great year. But personally, I did not feel like I put my best foot forward. I would say that I got lazy, and yet I'm not sure I've ever been as busy. And maybe that was the problem. When I was home, I didn't want to do anything but sit. So despite my best laid plans to use my time wisely and be productive...well, I didn't and wasn't. So with my house always a mess and with projects never getting done, I found myself feeling in turns apathetic and anxious. Slacking in my essential things such as personal scripture study, family prayer, consistent exercise certainly didn't help. I felt like I was getting nothing done...and yet at the same time, doing so much that I was flying by the seat of my pants. 2012 was just a strange contradiction all the way around.

I have high hopes for 2013. I'm feeling optimistic and hopeful...feelings that I have had in short supply over the past 12 months. It's nice to feel that way again. To be excited about goals and projects. But I'm wary. What do I tackle? There are so many little things...is there one overreaching goal I could make to kind of cover it all? But here's what I did come up with. And realistically, I didn't come up with it myself...I lifted it from a friend, but it more or less encompassed what I was thinking. And it is this...

Live each day with purpose and passion.

Which realistically means that each day will be different. What can I do that specific day, with all that I want or need to accomplish on my to-do list, to live with purpose and passion? It certainly means that I need to make conscious decisions each day rather than just let the day happen to me. And one thing that I think will be a big help with that...turn off my computer. I spend more and more of my downtime on my computer. Or time that shouldn't really be downtime, but is because I'm tired and don't want to wash the dishes or put away the laundry or go grocery shopping. It's how I de-stress...some people sit in front of the TV, I sit in front of the computer screen.

You are still going to see plenty of blog posts. And I'm nowhere close to pulling of facebook for good. We live in an ever increasingly electronic world. Among multiple other things, I pay my bills, do much of my shopping, research various topics and make travel plans on-line. I write this blog which has become not only my way of preserving a little bit of our family history but also a satisfying outlet for writing which I'm enjoying more and more. I am in charge of both a blog and a facebook page for my singing group, Higher Ground. I am in charge of the stake music website (supposedly...still working on figuring that out.) My husband is a computer guru...computers are a big part of our home life. But moderation in all things, yes? If my computer is completely and totally shut down for certain parts of the day, it won't be as easy for me to find myself drifting aimlessly over to "just check email for a minute" which then turns into an hour. An hour that is not always spent living with purpose or passion.

So though I'm also trying to go to bed earlier, eat better, exercise more, read my scriptures consistently, be a stickler about making sure family prayer happens each and every evening, and be a more present mother and wife...I think all of those things will be easier to do if I make a conscious decision to live each day with purpose and passion. And right now, I'm starting by logging off my computer.