day 52

today i felt like going down memory lane. i made blake drive me to citrus heights to hunt down my grandparent's old house. i spent sooo many days at that house playing in their backyard and was so sad when they sold it and moved to lodi. by the way, why would anyone choose to move to lodi? it smells. 

(7116 Hatfield Court)

day 51

today was one of the most tragic days ever- my north carolina family left me... and i didn't even get to say goodbye. tear. 

luckily, in this modern age, i am able to communicate via cell phone, text message, email, facebook, snail mail, and telepathy. so all is well. i just hope i get to see them sooner than later. 

after the fam went home, i think the rest of us just wanted to nap. the past week was SO MUCH FUN, but by the end, i was exhausted. brooke, my mum, and i finished off the night by watching the general relief society meeting, which was so good. it seems like the times i least want to go to church are the times i enjoy it best. 

p.s. president monson is hilarious. 

day 50

family picture day.

(real picture to follow soon....)

(i chose this ancient picture cos everyone looks awful... except cameron... figures. the perfect child. haha!)

day 49

Grey's A·nat·o·my

[grey's uh-nat-uh-mee]

-noun

A television show that every woman in the continental United States never misses.

(courtesy of Urban Dictionary)

it has been three months and three days since the last "grey's anatomy" episode and all i can say is i'm so happy the show has returned to my life. with me at the season premiere were three of my favourite grey's fans: hayley, brooke, and rachael. only seven more days until the next episode...

day 48

who would have thought that the world's biggest corn maze was right here in northern california? 45 acres of pure fun. although there was some discrepancy as to who won the corn maze competition (boys vs. girls), we still had a ton of fun. i would recommend going near halloween when i hear they have creepers in the field ready to scare the crap out of you. 

day 47

tuesday night's activity was seeing the movie, "inception." personally, i'm in love with this movie, having seen it three times in theatres. when i came across this comic, i had to share. 

(those who've seen it and like epic trilogies will enjoy)

day 46

although this is an old pic, it adequately describes monday night. too bad the 49ers lost. 

day 45

after having so much fun with the fam on saturday, we decided to extend it until sunday by having dinner with jerry and elaine's family in folsom. 

boys: watched football

girls: played with maddison

(you really can't get enough of this cute girl)

day 44

the thing i love most about my family (and friends) is that we can act like idiots around each other and think nothing of it. take tonight, for example. after a fantastic dinner of homemade carnitas (thank you beaky!), we played a classic McGhie game, commonly referred to as "Matthew Mark Luke John."

it consists of several people sitting in a circle with an assigned name/number. everyone joins in, repeating a four count rhythm, slapping their legs twice and then clapping twice. the person in "matthew's" spot always starts. on the fourth count, he calls the name/number of someone else who then must "accept" their name and then pass it on to someone else. if someone misses the rhythm or calls their own name/number, they move the to the last position and the game starts over. the point is to become "matthew." 

well, our family is a little different. 

instead of calling out ordinary names and numbers, we play silently using hand motions... animal motions, that is: elephant, penguin, shark, rabbit, horse, monkey, and worm.

i have never laughed so hard in my entire life. watching my mum try and remember everyone's signs (as well as her own) and respond without going out of rhythm is HILARIOUS! one time in particular, we had to stop the game cos everyone was laughing so hard as she jolted and breathed loudly as she hurried and passed her sign. 

we ended up playing so long, that i bruised my legs from slapping them so many times.

 best night ever.

(my battle wounds)

day 43

i must say, "pre-blake courtney" was never much of a sports fan. since being married, however, watching sports has become more and more exciting. i can now see why guys like it so much (though i'll never understand golf). i still remember watching the duke vs. butler NCAA championship basketball game for FHE one night and going crazy in the last 60 seconds as they battled it out to the end.

then... there are those games that just thoroughly disappoint (see below). 

in celebration of cam and hayley coming to visit, blake and i thought it would be so fun to get the four of us, as well as brooke and braden, tickets to see a giants game. classic american activity. we tail gated in the parking lot, BBQing shrimp and linguica, and almost made it in time for the free buster posey t-shirts. what was even more fun was that our ronald mcdonald cheap seats ($10!) put us in the VERY TOP row of the stadium. yes, the players were barely visible, but the view of the city/ocean was INCREDIBLE. 

so, there we were, overpriced kettle corn and cotton candy in hand, ready for a night of amazing baseball... 

what was that? the giants didn't get the memo? nope. game ended pitifully, 3-0 brewers. 

i know, i know. i shouldn't be so hard on them. after all, they did beat the dodgers (!) the night before 10-2 with three home runs. it's just too bad they played so well on thursday and so awful on friday. 

BUT, in spite of not-so-great playing, i must say it was one of the most fun nights i've had in a long time. 

(blake getting ready for some most excellent baseball)

day 42

most of you know that "love actually" is one of my favourite movies of all time, particularly the opening scene. it involves three of my favourite things: friends/family, london, and airports. 

today i felt like one of those people. i have gone without seeing my amazing north carolina family for 18 VERY LONG months. and today, they finally arrived in california, smiling faces and all.

(collin and the adorable maddi)

day(s)... 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41

yes, world wide web, i have returned. i have slacked for a few days due to a missing camera, a nasty cold, and little to no desire to blog, but i promise that day 42 will be full of pictures and updates. i'm traveling to the land of san francisco to pick up my brother, sister-in-law, and adorable niece and can't wait to post about the trek to an fro. much love. 

day 35

my mum is the best. she is painting me this picture. that makes me happy. being happy is nice. 

day 34

brooke is my fave. hanging out on FMYLIFE.com and eating cinnamon swirl muffins with her is the best. 

day 33

introducing.....

ALICE.

the blue beauty i discovered on craigslist. the man who sold it to me says it's a 1958 schwinn and guessing by the amount of rust on it, i'd say he's right. but i am in love. just wish i had found it at the beginning of summer rather than the end...

day 32

there is nothing more attractive than a man in a black suit with a BLACK tie.

especially blake. 

day 31

many thanks to joyce and sam for their air conditioned home and amazing BBQ after our long drive. 

note: we drove 19 hours in two days. do not attempt. 

(no, this is not my husband, but it's what he felt like, i'm sure)

day 30

the reason for driving down to southern california was to see this darling couple get sealed in the los angeles temple. blake's old roommate, brad, and his bride shanyn, are one of the cutest couples around!

day 29

you know you love someone when you're willing to drive to southern california and back in 100+ heat through cities like coalinga (the city that houses 10,000 cows on one farm) with no A/C or radio, so they can borrow your much nicer car and visit the man they love. 

i love you, brookie.

(i lied. there are actually 100,000 cows.
holy crap... no pun intended.)

(this is me melting in the car)

day 28

my grandpa is going to be 91 this year and i think the only thing that's really changed about him is that he cheats when he plays games. but i don't even care. the older i've gotten, the more i appreciate my grandparents and want to spend more time with them. so today, beak and i went and played games with my grandpa. he taught me cribbage. i would explain the rules here, but since he changed them the whole time we played (he won, of course), i'll have to wait until next time. haha!

and i know i already posted about how much i love the temple, but i figure you can never say it enough. 

i LOVE being so close to the temple. blake's and my goal is to attend once a week and since living in sacramento, we are 2 for 2. today we got to the temple EXACTLY as the session was starting so we ran in to see if they'd let us go anyway. lucky for me they did, but poor blake didn't get in. so it was just me and beak. 

such a great day though.

(my favourite lady)

(my love)

day 27

i was sloth girl today. no pictures.

but i did do a couple productive things....

1. learn portuguese: "O homem esta nadando."

2. start a new book: "Utopia"

the end.