mlk day.

for the holiday weekend, the browns, the culbertsons, ricks and i chose to spend time in san francisco. we left saturday night and stopped to have dinner in berkeley at the cheeseboard collective. the food was delicious and the live music was really fun especially when the singer started doo wopping. the girls then stopped at anthropologie and paper source to do some quick shopping before heading to daves parents home. that night we played balderdash and dominion and started the movie stranger than fiction.
on sunday morning we went to sacrament meeting and then drove to the mission. in the mission we explored some thrift stores and then ate lunch at bar tartine. bar tartine was a very interesting dining experience. the food was very good with very interesting flavor combinations. ricks was a huge fan, i wasnt as much but i still enjoyed it. after lunch we went to explore the legion of honor museum. out of all the museums i have been to in sf, this one had the least appeal to me. however, it was really exciting to see so many rodin sculptures, some monets, and a suerat. the legion of honor had some really beautiful views, as well. we left the museum just in time to catch the sunset at sutro baths.watching the sunset was beautiful. the ocean is so crazy to watch. the waves are frighteningly powerful. after such a beautiful sunset, it was time for something a little sweet and so we headed back to the mission to get ice cream at birite. and, duh, it was delicious. it was the perfect way to end the day in san francisco. we drove back to our "hotel" and roasted hot dogs and mallows, played more dominion, and finished stranger than fiction.
on monday we started the day at ghiradelli square... although we didnt get anything! surprise! we then wandered until we found the sea lions. the sea lions are a favorite of ricks and mine and they were very rambunctious this day which was very fun. we ate lunch at boudin (clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl) and then drove (for our first time!) across the golden gate bridge - i decided it is cooler to look at than it is to be on. we drove up to the marin headlands and stopped a few times along the way at various viewpoints. we then hiked to the top of the fort barry battery mendell where there was a great view of the city, bridge, and ocean. afterward we drove a little further and hiked to the point bonita lighthouse. as we crossed the tension bridge to get to the lighthouse, the bridge would sway back and forth! scary! again, it was such a beautiful view and so fun to watch the waves roll in to the rocky shoreline. we then made the trek back to davis where the rest of the holiday was spent preparing for tuesdays classes.
our adventures over the weekend were memorable and very fun. we love the browns and culbertsons and love to play with them. as always, we cant wait to go back to sf!

pics:

The GG in all her Splendor

Point Bonita

Husband and Wifey: A Portrait

Suerat

Sutro Baths at Sunset

(i failed to take any group shots. oops.)

five.

for family night yesterday, ricks and i wrote out our 5 year plan. i think that putting all our hopes and dreams and even expectations into writing like that really helped me to realize how much happens in such a short amount of time when you first become an adult.
just in the last 5 years i went from an 17 year-old girl wrapping up my senior year of high school in orem, utah to a 22 year-old married college graduate and MLIS candidate living in davis, california. and those are only the formal changes to say nothing of the less noticeable, gradual changes that have taken place over the last 5 years. i like to think that i am a totally different alexis now than i was then and i think in a lot of ways i am. i know in some areas i have certainly improved and become wiser and yet, at the same time, new flaws have creeped into my life or perhaps are only being noticed for the first time as i have worked away the more noticeable imperfections.
i think what im trying to say is that 5 years from now, i hope i can look back on the challenges i faced and the way in which i handled them and be proud. i hope that i can quit yearning for attributes i once had, as i sometimes do, because the present me is the best me and with each future trial and challenge that i overcome, i will only get better. i really am proud of myself and how far ive allowed myself to come in the last 5 years and im grateful to god for how he has pushed me and yet, at the same time, handled me so gently. i have definitely faced some major personal hurdles that have left their mark on me but those are there only to serve as a reminder of what i am capable of and im quite ready to face the next 5 years with gusto! i know it is cliche, but in all seriousness, bring it on!

ucd and wsu.

i havent written an update about school in a while so...  here it is! ricks has officially started his 4th semester of law school. more and more he is leaning towards practicing environmental law and finding a niche within that field of law. it is likely that he will pursue a enviro law certificate here at davis and may even pursue an environmental llm post graduation from uc davis. (an llm is essentially a masters degree for lawyers). of course, none of this is written in stone but is only an assessment of our current feelings.

i have begun my second semester at wayne in their mlis program and i still like it. i am hoping to receive a digital content management certificate. this will allow me to pursue a job in any industry that has digital content that needs managing, which is everyone. i could end up working at a school, a library, a business - really, anywhere.

we are blown away by how quickly this process is going but have to remind ourselves that we still have a lot to accomplish before moving on to the next phase of adult life: joining the workforce. we still have nearly 3 semesters, graduation, the bar, and maybe even an llm to go before that becomes a reality for us. but really that only translates into about 2.5 years at most which i think we are realizing will fly by!

our favorite movies of 2012.

I think all you know that Alexis and I both really like movies. In fact we each took classes in our Humanities degrees learning about film and cinema, and I wrote several research papers dealing with film. That said, we have watched many of this year’s movies and this is our awards list. It is important to note that because we are on a tight student budget we only see movies that have merited out attention, and pass our content vetting (we don’t use the MPAA ratings because they are mainly political and not very substantive, but we do use parental guides from IMDB and other sites). To get our attention movies have to either have over an 80% on www.rottentomatoes.com orwww.metacritic.com. Both of these sites aggregate critics reviews from over 100-200 different publications ranging from Salon to the Wall Street Journal (and other very non-artsy conservative publications). Rottentomatoes aggregates reviews based on qualitative merit, and metacritic aggregates reviews based on quantitative merit. That said, with the law of large numbers we feel our vetting process is pretty sound considering we don’t have the time or money to see everything. Here is the list. 

Best Movie: 
1. Argo (rating PG-14, on our scale, the only objectionable stuff in this show is language. In fact, if it came out in the 70s it would be a soft PG) 
1. Zero Dark Thirty (rating PG-16, potentially objectionable content: “enhanced interrogation” of terrorist detainees, language, dead bodies) 

Note: It has been an awesome year for CIA movies! Alexis and I really cannot determine which of these movies is better, so they both get our movie of the year award! The acting in both these movies is outstanding, the directing flawless, the pacing perfect, the writing is tight and focused, the editing shows the perfect amount to keep things moving but does not drag down the pace of scenes, and the cinematography is great. 

Runners Up for Best Movie in order: 
3. Silver Linings Playbook (rating PG-15, Language, innuendo) 
4. Django Unchained (Rating R, strong racial based violence that scratches the surface when it comes to the horrors of slavery (note this violence is portrayed as being an evil thing), other western violence, strong language: swearing and derogatory racial terms) 
5. Moonrise Kingdom (rating PG-13, references to marital affairs, minor language and a little innuendo (less than you would hear in the halls of a UT school, way less than you would hear in the locker room of a UT school), young teens kissing) 
6. Skyfall (rating PG-13, minor violence, minor language, minor innuendo (for a Bond movie it is very clean))
7. Wreck It Ralph (rating G-PG, minor crude humor like the kind a 4 year old would make) 
8. Lincoln (rating PG-13, language, portrayals of racial discrimination, dead bodies) 
8. The Dark Knight Rises (rating PG-13, minor language, scary scenes, comic book violence) 
8. Avengers (rating PG-13, minor language, comic book violence, flirtation)

Note: We did not see Les Mis, Brave, Hitchcock, Promised Land, and Perks of Being a Wallflower because they did not reach an aggregate of 80%. We did not see The Master because it had sexually explicit material. We have not seen the Life of Pi because the source material was boring and overrated.

Best Directing: 
1. Ben Affleck: Argo 
2. Kathryn Bigelow: Zero Dark Thirty
3. Wes Anderson: Moonrise Kingdom

Best Actress (The movie industry is extremely sexist. There were not enough roles written for strong women characters this year and, as a result, our nominees for both best actress and best supporting actress are limited by our selection from Hollywood. However, the women that we chose did an extremely good job. But there were only 3 performances to choose from and, as luck would have it, they all did well!). 

1. Jessica Chastain, no question: Zero Dark Thirty
2. Jennifer Lawrence: Silver Linings Playbook
3. Noomi Rapace: Prometheus

Best Actor:
1. Daniel Day Lewis, no question: Lincoln
2. Bradley Cooper: Silver Linings Playbook
3. Jamie Foxx: Django Unchained

Best Supporting Actress:
1. Sally Field: Lincoln
2. We haven’t seen Les Mis, but Anne Hathaway is reportedly amazing
3. Jacki Weaver: Silver Linings Playbook
4. Jennifer Ehle: Zero Dark Thirty

Best Supporting Actor:
1. Robert Di Nero: Silver Linings Playbook
2. Michael Fassbender: Prometheus
3. Jason Clarke: Zero Dark Thirty
4. Javier Bardem: Skyfall
5. Cristoph Waltz: Django Unchained

Best Acting as a Cast creating a clear synergy between cast members, basically the sum is greater than the whole of its parts
1. Argo
2. Django
3. Zero Dark Thirty
4. Moonrise Kingdom
5. Avengers

Best Writing (Adapted and Original combined):
1. Christ Terrio: Argo
2. Mark Boal: Zero Dark Thirty
3. Quentin Tarantino: Django Unchained
4. David O. Russell: Silver Linings Playbook
5. Rich Moore, Phil Johnston, Jim Reardon: Wreck it Ralph

Best Written Scene:
1. Quentin Tarantino: Django Unchained, “The Raid”
2. Tony Kushner: Lincoln, “The Congressional Debates”
3. David O. Russell: Silver Linings Playbook, “Dinner Party”

Most Overrated Writing:
1. Lincoln – the thing that held this movie back from being great was the writing. The focus was spread over 2 very compelling topics which spread the film thin. If the writer had chosen to focus on either just the 13th amendment or just the man, it could have been spades better. 

Best Cinematography:
1. Django Unchained 
1. Moonrise Kingdom
2. Argo
3. Zero Dark Thirty

Biggest Surprise (in a good way):
1. Silver Linings Playbook (we were expecting a romantic comedy but found an insightful, funny movie)
2. Wreck It Ralph (we were expecting a love letter to video games but found that it had much more depth, good writing, beautiful cinematography, and strong character development)

Biggest Letdown:
1. Prometheus (we were hoping that Ridley Scoot would reinvent sci-fi again, no such luck)
2. Lincoln (the writing really killed it (in a bad way)/mom and dad Davis used their phones the whole movie)
3. Django Unchained (we both love Tarantino so much that, even though it was one of our favorite movies from the year, we were still slightly disappointed (ie not as good as Inglorious))

Best Movie Moments:
1. Seeing The Avengers after a Constitutional Law final and wanting to “smash” everything
2. Watching Lincoln with mom and dad Davis while they texted and answered phone calls in the theatre
3. Seeing 2 movies to celebrate 2 years on our anniversary

Notable Movies that we happened to see, but didn’t make our “bests” list include The Hobbit, Bourne Legacy, Looper, and Pirates: Band of Misfits. Also, we have yet to see Beasts of the Southern Wild and are planning to do so. 

a truckload of photos. enjoy.

my dad and ricks at communal.

take 1. 

take2.

take 3. there it is!

lunching with babies. 3 babies. craziness.

elli and her nutty hair.

ethan, who always is wearing a smile!

a rare but sweet smile from amelia.

bundled up and ready to go!

bundled up, buckled up, and ready to go.

breakfast at treasure island.

adriane.

motsu, stefan, and paulina.

dad, mom, dan, and alicia.

stefan and paulina.

me and carnation polar bears.

ricks and flowers.

merry christmas from the bellagio.

joel robuchon.

when i sent my mom our christmas list, we jokingly added that we wanted to go to vegas and eat at joel robuchons 3 michelin star vegas restaurant. if you arent aware, joel robuchon is a french chef and has been named the chef of the century. he has the most michelin stars of any chef in the world, 28 in total. michelin stars are awarded to a small number of outstanding restaurants. the restaurants are awarded between 1 and 3 stars. essentially 1=good, 2=better, and 3=the best of the best. being awarded a single michelin star is quite a feat and it takes great mastery to be awarded 3 stars.

our playful request was granted and we were able to go to vegas at eat at joel robuchons vegas restaurant!

we were able to meet the head chef (who is an MOF) who arranged a special menu for our group.

the menu was as follows:

amuse bouche: chilled corn soup with a little heat served with smoked duck, savory marshmallow topped with chives and a thin crouton.

appetizer: foie gras and violet artichoke salad with parmesan shavings.

main course: beef cheeks and red miso braised in cocotte with autumn vegetables or black cod with a yuzy daikon velvet puree

side: buttery potatoes

dessert: mango and strawberry shortbread cookie served with coconut ice cream or bitter chocolate suffle with vanilla ice cream

mignardises: a selection of tiny, bite-sized desserts

the meal was amazing. i dont think we fully understood or were prepared for that meal. i know my palate wasnt quite mature enough for the interesting interplay between textures and flavors. however, it did take food to a whole new level for me; of course, nothing tasted good for a week afterward because nothing could possibly compare. we have found that it is so exciting to eat food and enjoy it at all levels of preparation. joel robuchons restaurant is truly fine dining and it was very exciting to experience the best of fine dining. we also revel in experiencing the best of street food as well. essentially, when food is done well, we get excited.

many thanks to my parents for allowing us this culinary adventure!

ONE MONTH: 12/10/12 - 1/10/13

the past month has been crazy busy. there is so much that happened. i'll just share the highlights here which still makes for a stupidly long post.

12/10-12/14
ricks marathoned his way through 3 finals! craziness! i packed for our 3 week trip and got everything in order to leave.

12/15
lunch at communal with my sisters and parents. we spent the evening watching the bourne legacy. that movie has the longest chase scene known to mankind. it was a bit ridiculous, really.

12/16
my dads side of the family gathered for a christmas party! i made mousse. it was fun to see everyone. we made it a point to show paulina the tizzle wizzle show.

12/17
we finally got to see ricks' parents. we went to see their new house which had just been framed and afterward they took us to see Lincoln and out to dinner.

12/18
all my siblings, their spouses, and my parents, along with an investigator from my brothers mission that was visiting, gathered to drive to Vegas together in a 12 person van. it just so happened be snowing like crazy that night so it was one of the longest drives to Vegas that i have ever taken. super uncomfortable (the van), but super memorable.

12/19
VEGAS- in the morning we all gathered for breakfast at the TI buffet before heading out for the day. we walked up and down the strip trying to fit in as much as possible! ricks had never been so everything was new to him. probably the most memorable part of the strip was racing to see the bellagio fountain and arriving just as the show finished. luckily we were able to catch the next show which was nice. however, while we were standing there, some idiot rode up on his board and asked if we want to buy some weed. ricks may have said some choice words... next, we had reservations at joel robuchons. when the fountain show ended, we intended to rush back to TI to change and drive to MGM Grand. however, motsu (my brothers friend from japan) got lost. so, half of the group stayed at the bellagio waiting for him while the other half of the group went to treasure island to see if he showed up there. (btw, he speaks no english). long story short, we found him and made it to the restaurant in time for our reservation. that dinner deserves a post unto its own. suffice it to say, it was magnificent. after dinner we got the chance to see cirque de soleils ka. it was a pretty awesome show with a crazy stage.

12/20
the cursory rest day post vacay. we watched oceans 11 to stretch out vegas.

12/21
ricks was a lawyer boy this day and i went with my mom to the leonardo exhibit in slc.

12/22
once again, we gathered the fam together and ate! round 2 was a catered dinner with like a bajillion courses and wayyyyy too much food. the drink was super memorable as well as the wasabi amuse bouche.

12/23
after 2 long years we finally got to see cyndi and jed again! we were able to attend leighs blessing and then spend a lovely few hours chatting and catching up. man, we love them and their family. it was so nice to reconnect.

12/24
christmas eve. it snowed alllll day long. luckily, the roads were magically clear so we had no issues driving all over the valley. we spent most of the day at neals house. we played dominion a few times with kenton, merrill, and hampton which was super fun. those boys are so smart. they are destined for great things. we ate really well and enjoyed the company of the davis family.

12/25
christmas day. it was such a joy to spend the day with my parents, my siblings, my nieces and nephew, and even the stupid dog and to just enjoy each others company and soak in the best part of life: family. we ended the day with a homemade mulled cider sorbet that i have craved everyday since.

12/26
finally i was able to get my bean burrito with extra cheese from taco amigo. i am addicted to that stuff. we also went to see wreck it ralph which is probably my favorite animated movie ever. it was so good. i actually really loved it.

12/27
this was another marvelous day with cyndi and jed and mindy and clint and kiddos. we were able to eat lunch at the dodo but only after waiting for a few old ladies to finish their convo so we could take their table. it only took an hour and a half... afterward we went to the living planet aquarium. on our way home, cyndi and i stopped at ikea while the kiddos rushed back to orem to go swimming. we finished the night with pizza, stone age, and spot it. it was a pretty stellar night.

12/28
i went to lunch with my sistahs while ricks played lawyer. that night, we played games with the davis'. im pretty sure everyone was tuckered out as it was pretty low energy. fun, nonetheless.

12/29
our 2 year anniversary. we celebrated with 2 movies: django and silver linings playbook. we had super high expectations for django and although it was really good, it wasnt as charming as some of tarintons other movies. pretty heavy subject material. however, silver linings was a surprise win and we are super glad we chose to go see it. way funny, too. we ate crabcake and steak at flemings which was delish, of course.

12/30
sunday means family dinner. i freaking love my sisters babies. they are so cute.

12/31
ricks played lawyer while i went to the hobbit... which i enjoyed. we spent new years eve at alicia and dans and lit those fire lanterns and made pomegranate sorbets.

1/1
we celebrated the new year traditionally by launching rockets and eating cocoa and hot dogs. this is such a fun tradition that my family still carries on from when i was little. even though it was frigid outside, it was a lot of fun. that night we spent some time with my grandma ruby before visiting our good friend, will. it was nice to catch up with him plus we learned why people watch, do, and care about sports.

1/2
i spent this day tending to some pretty cute babies and it was so fun. they had some new bouncing play gyms that when they are in them, they just giggle and giggle and giggle and it is pretty hilarious to watch. that night, we met up with my cousin lindsie and her husband jonny. we ate and then went to see django again. liked it the second time, too!

1/3
ricks was a lawyer boy again and i spent the day with my mom and then i went with some cousins to see the new adobe building in lehi. it was very impressive.

1/4
we went to the temple as a family this day and completed some endowments for family names. afterward, we caught up with lindsie and jonny again and saw their newly completed basement/man cave. it so fun to hang out with the mendenhalls. we love them. also of note, i got my toffee smart cookie fix.

1/5
we went to see wes and danae. as always with the snows, we ate well, played some fun games, and had really good conversation. the snows are the kindest, best people to walk the earth and we are so glad to call them friends.

1/6
the big event of the day was sunday dinner which consisted of dans bbq baked beans and bacon wrapped smoked chicken, ricks' pulled pork, moms coleslaw, and my buttermilk corn bread. that dinner was so good i could have died and gone to heaven. yuuuummm.

1/7
on our final day in utah we went bowling, ate lunch with grandma jane, shipped some things, saw adriane again, went back for more moochies after wes introduced it to us, and then got on a plane and left utah.

1/8 - 1/10
back to school. back to school, to prove to dad that im not a fool. i got my lunch packed up, my boots tied tight, i hope i dont get in a fight.

and thus ends the longest christmas recap in the world.

disclaimer: i listed the things that we did and we certainly stayed busy the whole break. however, the best part of the break was simply spending time with family and good friends. the things we did were fun but more important are the memories attached to the listed activities. we miss utah not because of the weather (sarcasm) or because of its amazing attractions (again, sarcasm, although it is getting better) but because so many people that we love are still there. home truly is where the heart is and our hearts are permanently tied to utah. each day was filled with love and happiness as we saw and interacted with loved ones. i am so grateful that i have a relationship with so many great individuals and cannot wait to see them again!

merry christmas to all!