11.19.2011

Long, (not really) Awaited Update

Well, I realize it has been many a month since I have updated my blog.  Even though I take some time to add pictures from my phone here and there, my writing has waned.  I am going to try to make a commitment to post much more often.

I was thinking about doing a month-by-month update but that may take a while, so I'm just going to do a bulk update with pictures on many things that have occurred in the past few months.

Jackie Me and Megan with our 3D glasses on!
I'm not sure where to start because it's been so long, so I guess I'll start with Labor Day.  Some friends and I took a trip to Hermosa Beach to go to Universal Studios, spend some time on the beach and just get away from the Phoenix Heat.  We had a great time on the beach, enjoyed the King King vs. T-Rex and Jurassic Park Ride at Universal (even though they literally dump gallons of water on you at the end - see picture) Studios and had some great food as well!


After Labor Day, I went to a couple of concerts.  I went to the Ray Lamontagne concert.  Opening for Ray was Brandi Carlile and Vusi Mahlasela.  Craziest part of this concert is that I actually included Vusi Mahlasela in my Orals project at Whitman because he was one of the musical leaders of the anti-apartheid revolution in South Africa... crazy.

I also went to the Taylor Swift concert in mid-October with a bunch of people from work.  THere were a few crazy things about that concert: 1) We were the oldest people there who didn't have kids BY FAR, 2) Two nights of T-Swift concerts in Phoenix sold out in about 15 minutes (15K people at least at each show), 3) We literally had the FURTHEST seats away from T-Swift and the tickets were still over $100.  All that being said, it was probably one of the better concerts I had ever seen!  After the concert, Ours by Taylor Swift is my new favorite song (words and song is a bit off in this video but it's a great song)!

Megan, Me, Catherine, Josh and Jackie

Megan and Me after the run

Along with concerts, my friends and I did a fun mid-run (pictures included) and I got to do a bit of traveling already this fall.  As for the mud-run, if you've never done one or never heard of one, check them out, they're so much fun.  After about 1/4 of a mile we ran up this dirt hill and plunged into mud up to our armpits... so fun!!!  It was the perfect mix of social-atmosphere and fitness!

My first "trip" was to Vegas to hang out with Michelle for her birthday!  It was so wonderful to see her after nearly 2 years of not seeing her.  We also had a great time visiting some of Megan's family and relaxing by the pool!  A great mix of "on the strip" and "off the strip" Vegas.

On Top of Rockefeller Center 



In Central Park
For work, I spent a week in Newark, NJ (which wasn't too exciting, but it was close to NY).  Then, after the work week I spend the weekend in New York with my friend Josh from work.  We did a lot of sight seeing which included doing the Rockefeller Center tour where we got to see the set of Saturday Night Live, the set of Brian William's new show Rock Center as well as all of the football sets that they use to report in the studio!  We took the metro a lot and also walked a TON.  We saw where the twin towers once stood and the new construction they are doing there.  We walked down to see Wall Street (and saw a ton of Occupy Wall Street protestors) and also walked to see the Statue of Liberty!  It was a great trip where I got to see many of the touristy things that I had never seen before!


Right after NY I took a trip to the other side of the country to visit Fam!!!  We had an amazing weekend seeing Mom and Dad's new house, going to the Sounders game, seeing Emily (a friend from college) and enjoying a REALLY relaxing weekend.  I was blown away by the Sounders game: 64,000 holding up their scarves, clapping at the same time, chanting the same chants... truly impressive!


 
Then came Halloween.  We carved some pumpkins, decorated and had a fun party.  There were 3 kermits at the party, a cowgirl, a flight attendant, a "Haboob" (someone dressed up as a dust storm), Elmo, Batman and Kristen Berndt (Yes, one of my friends stole my whitman soccer stuff, put a blonde wig on and came to the party dressed as me...).

Jackie and Chris
Megan and I 



Tom As Batman
ESPY and Drew's Dog Spartacus




Drew Dressed as Me


Okay, now that you have an update on the last few months, here's a quick update on what's going on in the next little bit.
Today, my friends and I have put together a "Turkey Bowl" where we are planning on playing flag football at 1pm today.  After that, my soccer friend and I are going to the US Women's Soccer Game at University of Phoenix Stadium where they are playing Sweeden!  Should be a wonderful, and hopefully relaxing weekend.  Sunday will probably entail a lot of football watching and some University of Phoenix homework!  

Have a wonderful fall weekend everyone.  Enjoy the cold weather because right now in Phoenix it's still about 70 degrees.



2 comments:

  1. Yay for Vegas and a super fun weekend together!! It was SO fun to see your face!

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  2. Hi Kristen,
    My name is Jane and I'm with Dwellable.
    I was looking for blogs about Hermosa Beach to share on our site and I came across your post...If you're open to it, shoot me an email at jane(at)dwellable(dot)com.
    Hope to hear from you soon!
    Jane

    ReplyDelete