i'm getting bad at this!

hi all!

sorry that it's taken so long for me to update! umm, let see... what has been going on?!

a couple of weeks ago there were a couple of shoots for work so i was out of the office for about a whole week! it was so awesome! they went really well and it's always nice to be on set! i was pretty wiped out from the shoot that week, but i helped tory out on his shoot that saturday! mannn. i was tired on sunday! last weekend i helped joel out on a shoot, that was a lot of fun! i love being on shoots!

my car is due for a DMV renewal and in the state of california you have to get your car smog tested every year. such a pain! this year they put that i had to get my car smog tested at a "special" station, there were only 3 in Berkeley that i could go to. i went last weekend to get this done. not only did my car fail the smog test (boo!) it cost a wopping $90 (my last one was $30)! wooooof. he said that i needed to go get it fixed and then come back. everything is always closed on the weekends so i was starting to stress about taking off work, etc. tory offered (cue superman theme) to bring my car to the shop and got it fixed for me! wahoooooo! so... about $300 later, blehk. hopefully when i take my car back to the smog test station this weekend it will pass and i won't have to do anymore work on my car! it already sounds way better than before, so i really really really really reallllllllllly hope that it passes. sheesh. what a pain in the butt. where does this money GO?!?

i gave my boss 2 months notice last week that i would be leaving my job in order to go to europe, want to begin freelancing, etc. it went... interesting... i don't know. haha. she said something about not knowing if they would be able to keep me on until then, so i panicked and told her that maybe i could do this part time when i got back. who knows? i don't think they will want me to do this part time. i think they will want someone full time, but who knows. all i know is i'm ready to start freelancing PA or just freelancing in general. i know for a fact that i've out grown out this job. i'm ready for a change and i'm tired of being in admin asst. roles, doing data entry all day. i just don't feel fulfilled/happy and i'm willing to try the freelance thing to see if it works out. hopefully, it will! i'll keep y'all updated. my boss was happy about the europe trip though, so that was good! we'll see what happens!

this past weekend was great! tory and i had our 4 year anniversary!!! can you believe it!?! me neither! so, on friday night we went out to dinner at Anchalee. this really good thai place within walking distance! after that we just hung out at the house and watched tv. it was really nice!! saturday was a friends housewarming party, so we went to that! that was a lot of fun! then on sunday, we had an oscar party and that was a whole lot of fun too!! it was a great weekend. yesterday morning, i wasn't feeling so hot though. i threw up a couple times in the morning and i was like bahhhhhhhh, so i had to call into work. i don't know if it was something i ate or what! it was also nice to have an extra day! i think this weekend, we're just going to try to save some moola for europe. so that will be nice to have a nice and relaxing weekend after having such a busy one last weekend! i'm looking forward to it!

well, i guess that's about it for now! i'll try to update sooner than this next time!! sorry about that!! hope everything with y'all is great!!!!

love and miss you all,

jenn

it's almost 2012?!?

hey everyone!

hope y'all are doing great and had a wonderful holiday!!

i had a great time at home! it was nice to be home for a little bit, even if it was for only a week! i spent most of the time hanging out with my family. it was nice to see everyone and then i got to see the bradley's a couple of times, so that was nice too! it's so weird how we all grow up so fast! i also got to spend new years eve with tory's family. that was a whole lot of fun! cassie's daughter, kyleigh, has grown so much since i saw her last! it's so crazy! i had a great time with tory's family! always do! they are too much fun! we spent christmas day with my family and we had a good ol time. it was nice that everyone got together for it.

laura, sarah and myself went and saw 'the girl with the dragon tattoo' and HOLY CRAP. it was awesome! i had seen the swedish version, and it was good, but not as good as i thought they could've made it and the american one, i feel bad for saying it, but dear lordy it was soooooo much better! sooooo awesome. i want to see it again! it made me remember how much i love film! ekkk! one of these days hopefully i will have a hand in making an awesome movie like this one! one of these days!!!!

i get to leave work at 1:30pm today! wahoooo! there is no one here and i've done pretty much all the work i can at this point! wahooo! i'm ready to leave early and to have a 3 day weekend! now that's the way to come back from a vacation. i worked 3 days this week and will have monday off! wahooooo!! i think i'll probably catch up on some cleaning today! maybe bake something off pinterest! ahhhhh!

i'm excited for this weekend! it should be a blast being new years and all. i'm excited to be spending it in the city again! it's so funny to think that this time last year we were on a cruise! man, that sure was fun! well, i think this year we're going to go over to geraldine's (phil's girlfriend) place, she lives in north beach. so, i'm pretty sure that she's going to be having people over.. hahah, if not, our plan is to still go over to the city. i bought a dress on-line for new years, but ekkk i don't know anymore. i tried it on and tory wasn't too thrilled, but oh well... i bought it, so i'm going to have to wear it! hopefully i won't get laughed at. this is what it looks like: http://www.fredflare.com/APPAREL/BB-Dakota-Champagne-Sequined-Debora-Dress/

it's a little to flashy for me, but oh well. i bought it on-line and can't return it. it's a little too big, which i think is why tory was like, gah. but, oh well! i'm wearing it and there's nothing anyone can do about it! bahhhhhh!! i'll be sure to post pics!

oh! tory and i exchanged gifts before we went home! tory got me an awesome backpacking backpack for europe!! i'm beyond excited! he did a lot of research on it, so i'm sure it's going to be perfect!! :) i'm really excited. he's the best!! i got him a throwback tottenham jersey from 1983-84 (that was the main thing) and then i got him some little things.

well, i guess that's about it for now! i'm so excited to see what 2012 has in store!! wahooooo!!!

have a great and happy new years everyone!!

love and miss you all,

jenn

we're going to Europe!!!

hey everyone!

sorry for the long delay! thanksgiving was a great success! we had about 12 people over for dinner and then scott and joel came over later to play some games! i took off the wednesday before to make pumpkin pies and make sure i had everything ready for the big day! i struggled with the 22 pound turkey in the morning, hahaha, getting it in that turkey bag was a challenge, but i think everything turned out great! we had so much food, it was crazy! but i think it was good to have a lot for the size of the group that we had. all in all, thanksgiving has quickly become one of my fav holidays! i was coming down with something the whole week, so that sorta sucked because i didn't get to hang out with tory's fam the last day they were here, so that sucked! merr. but i think they had a great time all in all and i hope that they will come back next year! i ended up cooking: turkey, ham (which i don't think we'll do next year), stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, crescent rolls, gravy, corn, and tory made green beans. i think that's about it... haha. then phil and geraldine brought an apple pie. trent and emily brought some bourbon punch (so good!), a potato dish and another appetizer, so that was nice. we had so much food and it was sooooo yummy! man oh man, just thinking about it makes me want it right now!!

so, in other news.. TORY AND I ARE GOING TO EUROPE!!!! ahhhhh!!!!!! hahahaha. i know, i know.. crazy!?!!!! i sorta got a little tired of work, the daily grind, etc. i've been wanting to go to europe for years now... i don't even know how many. i still haven't been... i've been waiting around for someone to agree to go with me and it's gotten more and more frustrating. the more i thought about it the more i was just like, whatever, i'll book the ticket, if someone can come, great, if not, looks like i'm finally going to do this thing! sooo... about a week ago i was sitting at my computer, frustrated, looked up a europe map, picked random airports to fly in and out of and booked it without looking at any other websites/comparing prices (dumb, i know) but i had to do it. i NEEDED to do it. soooo.. i booked a flight to fly into London, UK and fly out of Lisbon, Portugal. i knew i wanted to fly out of Portugal, but had no idea what city so i googled "Portugal travel destinations" and this was the first city to pop up, so i picked it. hahaha. i am crazy. i didn't even tell tory that i was booking the flight until after the fact. (we had talked about it, but not specifics.) so i think now i am borderline insane at this point. hahaha. he was ... shocked? to say the least when i called and told him to guess what i just did.. hahaha. he thought i had adopted a puppy.. so i guess maybe he was relieved? hahaha. at this point he's still trying to figure it out to see if he can go the whole time. i booked my trip to be in europe the entire month of May 2012. so, hopefully he can come the whole time, that would be grand, but if he can't, i think he is still going to try and come a majority of the time anywho. so, that will be nice!! he is also starting to get really excited about the trip, which i am excited about! soooo.. here are the main places that we are going to try and stop: london, paris, mabye belgium (bruges?), amsterdam, germany (amberg and munich), maybe switzerland (there's a small town tory has found, can't remember the name, but it's beeeeeautiful), hopefully venice, barcelona, madrid (if there's time) and lisbon! a friend that we met at coachella a couple of years ago lives in amberg, so i think we'll get to see/stay with him, so that will be really nice. i know someone who knows someone that lives in barcelona, so maybe we will stay with them. other than that, i think we'll be sticking to hostels/cheap hotels. i don't know what i'm going to end up doing with my job, i guess i'll try and keep it if they want to find a freelancer to fill my spot until i return, but if they don't want to do that, then that's fine too. i can't even begin to tell you guys how excited i am for this trip. i've been wanting to do it for SOOOO LONGGGG and now it's finally happening!!!! i can't wait until tory books his flight so we can really start planning! man.. i'm so pumped!!!! i'll be sure to keep you guys updated about developments, etc.

anywho, tory and i are going home in about a week and i am really excited about it! it feels like it's been forever since i've been home, even though i was just there over the summer, hahaa. it will be nice to be there for christmas this year! maybe i'll even see some snow!! that would be suhhweeet.

well, i guess that's about it as far as what's going on with me! hope y'all are having a good friday and had a great Thanksgiving! hope y'all have a great christmas!!

love and miss you all,

jenn

november?!

hey everyone!

hope y'all are doing good. i'm doing just fine. work has been good. i went on a shoot last week and was able to take part in being a part of the production side a little more. not as much as i would like, but it's something. the shoot went well, so that was good too! one of the director's that was doing b-roll, which was what i was doing for the shoot, told me that she was going to be begging me for a job in 10 years. i thought that was awesome and i hope it's true. hahaha. it's hard going from being on shoots, to being back at this desk job, especially when i don't get to help with any of the wrap. hmph. i just hope something changes soon. i feel like this business is just about proving yourself and what you are capable of to the right people. so, hopefully, if i keep it up, it'll get me somewhere soon!

i'm so ready for thanksgiving, how about y'all? i think we're going to have a pretty good turn out this year! we're still trying to figure out everyone, but as of right now we have: tory's parents, his sister (tam tam) and her husband (jeff), hopefully sam (tory's good friend from home) will be moved out here by thanksgiving, then we have a few maybes, a couple, trent and emily, have been living out here for a while, and zack might be visiting? then maybe phil and geraldine too! then i think after thanksgiving lunch scott and joel might come over to hang out and play games! i'll be cooking all of the thanksgiving food again, so i'm excited about that! i've already made a list of stuff and have already bought a few things because i was super excited and they were on sale! it's gonna be 3 years making thanksgiving dinner! so crazy!!! it's weird not going home for thanksgiving, but i also enjoy cooking for a lot of people! thanksgiving is so much fun! i think as long as you are around people you care about, that's all that matters!

i'm also looking forward to christmas break and a week off! whew, that will be nice! i've already booked my ticket to come home. i'll be home from dec. 20-27th. so that will be a nice amount of time! i'll be going with tory too, so that will be nice! :) it'll be interesting to see how christmas is this year...

hmmm.. not much else is going on. i've joined the website 'pinterest.com' have you guys heard of it? it is AWFUL! all i do is look at pictures of food and recipes! oh man, it's so bad. they also have crafts, but you guys know i can't draw anything for the life of me, so i stick to the cooking. i made these 'buffalo chicken tacos' that i found off there the other day and they were soooooo good. mmmm. i ate way too much and i think tory ate too much as well because he said that his stomach hurt.. i think too much sauce. so, i'll have to change that for next time.. haha. i also made some bread from scratch and with that bread i made cheese bread! it turned out to be very yummy. i also found this killer chocolate chip cookie recipe that the boys (tory, scott and joel) love! so that's good. i have a secret ingredient, so i can't tell you what it is! bahhhh!

i had my worst bart ride EVER since i've been out here yesterday coming home from work. i was stuck on the bart for about an hour... shoulder to shoulder. this dude kept stepping on my shoes, grrrr (that's why i don't wear nice things to work!) anywho. it was just awful. one stop before mine, people kept trying to push their way onto the train, then there was crazy pushing, yelling, it was just so much negative energy, it was awful. when things like that happen, i just can't help but get affected. i'm too sensitive for that crap. i hate it when people can't treat each other with respect, especially when there's no reason to be so negative. another train was coming in like 2 minutes! just wait dag burn it! bah. it was awful. turns out that there was a shooting outside of the bart station at 12th street oakland, which was the real issue with the backup. this occupy oakland stuff is getting out of control out here. i feel like a lot of people just like to protest anything out here, which i think is a little counterproductive. same with all of the bart protests that went on for months.. it just doesn't get anything accomplished. eh, hopefully something will happen soon and these protests will stop, but who knows.

anywho, i'm sure you guys are super bored from reading this. so, i'll let you go! hope you guys have an awesome weekend and an amazing thanksgiving!!

love and miss you all,

jenn

holy snap! october!

Hey everyone!

I hope everything is going great for everyone. I can't believe we're almost halfway through October! Sorry that I've been slacking on updates. Not too much stuff is going on. It's pretty much same ol, same ol.

Tory and I have booked tickets for Christmas! We will be home December 20-27! Wahooooo! It'll be nice to be home for Christmas!

This weekend was pretty mellow. Tory and I went and saw 'Drive' on Friday night! It was really intense, but awesome! I really enjoyed it! Saturday, Tory had "MAN TIME" which was him getting together with his two guy friends, Phil and Steve and hanging out all day! So, I got to spend the day doing stuff around the house, cleaning, doing laundry, and going to Target! I took Z to the dog park, so that was nice. It was nice to have some quiet time! But I was also glad when Tory came home on Sunday morning! :) I cooked breakfast, bacon, eggs, and biscuits, and then we went back to sleep for a long time! Tory had a soccer game Sunday night, so we went to that. Tory has been injured for the past few weeks with an ankle issue, so last night was the first game he's played in for a while! He played goalie for the first half and then played somewhere in the middle for the second half of the game! He did good! I'm just glad that he took it easy! They ended up losing, 5-2. But most games that he has played, he has scored at least a goal! I'm sure next game he'll feel even better! At the game, I met a girlfriend of one of the other players, Emily. She was really nice! It was nice to have someone to talk to while watching the game! Her and her boyfriend have been together 8 years, so it's also nice to hear of people that have been together so long and aren't married yet!

It's been a pretty gloomy/rainy couple of weeks. I hope that the sun comes out for the rest of the week! I had last Monday "off" which was nice, but I didn't really have it off, I helped Tory and Scott out on a shoot! It was really fun and went really well. I helped production coordinate, getting people to sign releases, keeping the talent happy, making sure the boys were on schedule, etc. it was really nice. I really enjoy doing that kind of stuff! I wish I was able to do it full time and to get paid doing it!! One of these days!! Anywho, I ended up being able to save the boys around $100 with moving all of the cars and parking them on the street! I still feel really good about it! I like being able to help the boys out!

This week we don't really have too much going on. My friend, Megan, is having a house warming party on Saturday, so I think we'll be going to that for a few hours.. But other than that, we'll probably just be taking it easy. We don't really have any plans for Halloween yet, or any costume ideas. Hopefully we'll be able to think up something creative soon! Milli Vanilli? Eh, we will see…

I'm already getting excited about Thanksgiving! Tory's family will be coming out, his parents, and Jeff and Tammy, so I'll be cooking the turkey and all that fun stuff on the day of! I can't wait!!!! Thanksgiving is so much fun! By that time, Sam, Tory's best friend from home, will be moved out here too, so I think he might have thanksgiving dinner with us too! Maybe even Scott too! It's going to be a full house, but it'll be nice to have lots of people around. That's what Thanksgiving is all about, right?!

Alrghty, well, I'm going to try to update again soon before it gets to be over a month!! Sorry about the delay! I hope everyone is great!!

Love and miss you all,

jenn

ZOMBIES!!!!

Hey Everyone!!!

Quick update today! My friend, Anna, sent me this link today and I wanted to share, because it was hilarious.

http://bridalmusings.com/2011/08/romantic-engagement-shoot-turned-horror-zombie-attack/

So, I’m thinking that when that time does come... Tory and I will need to do this... Except the zombie will bite me and I will become a zombie too! I think that would be hilarious. Well, just wanted to share!!

Well, while I’m at it, I’ll update again ... Haha.

Tory and I didn’t do too much of anything this past weekend. It was really nice to have some down time, although, now I need to do a crap ton of cleaning before Laura and Bryan come next weekend!!! Wahoo!! I can’t wait!! That should be a whole lot of fun!!!! :) I can’t wait to show them around where I’ve been living and working for the past 2 years!! Very exciting stuff! I think Sarah and Jeff might come around the same time too, but I don’t know their whole plan yet, so I’ll keep you guys updated!! Oh, well I forgot, we went to 900 Grayson for brunch on Saturday. Omg. One of the best breakfast places in Berkeley, in my opinion! I got the chicken and waffles dish. Mmmmm so freaking good. The chicken was so good, the breading was amazing. The coffee was super good too! Mmmm... I could go back right now! I’m sure we will go again soon!!

So, this weekend is gonna be a lot of cleaning!! Saturday night is 80’s dance party at a bar in the city! So, we’re definitely going to do that! I think we’ll go with some of tory’s friends, moose, emily, and a newcomer, zach! He just moved out here... Last night? Haha, he’s in med school and going to be living in the city! We all went to an 80s dance party back when we were in college, so it will be fun to all get together again for another version out here!! I can’t wait!!

Then I think Sunday, Tory is joining a soccer team!! So, I’m going to go and watch him play! I’m excited! I used to go watch him play when we were in college at the beginning of our relationship, so that will be fun to watch him play again! The league is 25 years and older, so... It would’ve been fun for me to join too, but I also think that I’m pretty bad at soccer, so maybe it’s for the best! :) hahaha.

Oh man! Tory and I watched Food, Inc. the other night on Netflix and it made us re-consider everything we do when it comes to grocery shopping/where we are eating, etc. it was a real eye opener! So, from now on, we’re going to try really hard (which is pretty easy out here) to buy local and organic meat and veggies. Well, Tory had the great idea of going to a farmer’s market last night after he picked me up from Bart! Oh man, it was so much fun, except for the fact that I was a gwump (grump) because I had a migrane and the sun was shining in my eye and there was an annoying recorder player who was bugging the crap out of me.. But other than that, it was awesome! Hahahaha. We ended up getting local grass fed beef, 2 bunches of carrots (they looked like bugs bunny could eat them!) some tomatoes, and a PINT of ice cream! Tory pointed out to me that it was ice cream from this place that always makes the “best of” ice cream places in the east bay and I think in the states! Here is the link: http://www.ici-icecream.com/index.html we got a mint chocolate cookie something. So good! And most of the time I don’t even like mint chocolate, so that says a lot!! Then after we went to the farmer’s market, we came home and went for a run! I’m trying to go when tory goes, although I’m not a very strong runner... Haha, but I’m trying! Then we cooked dinner together. Made some chicken breasts in the oven with olive oil and seasoning, some left over rice, and some green beans that we got at Berkeley bowl on Sunday!

Monday I made indian food! Mmm. It was really tasty. There is a really good simmer sauce that I get at Berkeley bowl! I noticed that target started to sell a tikka masalaa simmer sauce too, so I’ll let you guys know when I try it and if it’s any good! Made rice and then got some garlic naan from trader joe’s. Mmmm. It is probably the meal that I eat the most of that I make. I just love indian food! I bet y’all never thought I would say that! It is almost a problem! At least, I think tory is beginning to notice that it’s a problem... Hahah!

I think tonight we’re going to have ground beef tacos with the meat we got at the farmer’s market! I’m excited!!! Mmmmm. Should be mighty tasty. I might even cut up some peppers to put in the meat. I’m excited!! :) I don’t know about meals the rest of the week. I’m sure I’ll cook something tomorrow too.. Then Friday and Saturday are my days off from cooking (at least dinner). Hahaha.

I think I’m going to walk to an animal shelter on lunch today with two girls from work. That should be a lot of fun, hopefully we won’t walk away with a doggie!! Hahaha, or maybe that wouldn’t be so bad...

Well, this has gotten way too long. Sorry folks! Hope everyone is doing great!

Love and Miss you all,
Jenn

it's almost September!!??

Hey Everyone!

Sorry for the delay in a post... Again.. :) I hope you are all doing well. Everything over this way is going good, pretty much just same ol, same ol.

Hmmm, I don’t even know where to start! Not much has been going on, just a lot of work and some living! Tory and I were planning on going to Vegas this weekend, well sorta, he gave me a trip to Vegas for my birthday in May, for a trip to take in August, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Sooo, that sucks, but is understandable. I think we might try to re-schedule for October? Tory and Scott got another job from Google, so they are really focused on that happening right now. I’m glad that Google came to them for another commercial spot. That sure says a lot! I’m really happy for them!

Last weekend Tory and I went to a day of a music festival that was happening here in San Francisco. It was a whole lot of fun, besides it being a little too crowded at some points and some people were just too drunk/on too many drugs, so that was sorta annoying. We got to see a lot of good bands though! We saw: OK Go, Arctic Monkeys, Black Keys, The Roots, Girl Talk and Muse, just to name a few! We had a good time, but I don’t know if we would go again. I think I like Coachella a whole lot more. It’s also in Golden Gate Park, which is really hard to get to. Bart doesn’t take you all the way there, so we had to grab a cab, which took foreverrrr. Thankfully we were picked up by a father and his son in from LA going to the music festival as well. So not only did we get to split fare, we also got a ride! Wahoo!! There was also no in/out policy, so once you were in, you couldn’t leave. I think that’s why the festival became so crowded at one point. It was awful! So, ehh.. I don’t know if we’ll go again. I think we would have to live in the city to get it’s whole worth.

I think this weekend will be pretty mellow. Tory and I will probably meet up with his friends Moose (Trent) and Emily. They moved out here about 2 months ago, maybe even more now. They’re a really nice couple! Tory knows Moose from High School and he met Emily about the same time Tory and I met in undergrad, so that’s fun! Then, Saturday it’s Phil’s girlfriend, Geraldine, her birthday, so I think we’re going to go out in the city Saturday night to celebrate that! I think that should be a whole lot of fun. Going out in the city is always a good time, except you have to leave early to catch Bart back to the East Bay, so that’s always sorta lame... Oh well. I’m sure it will be a good time!! Then Sunday, I don’t think we have anything to do! I’ll probably do some cleaning... Exciting stuff! Laura and Bryan will be coming for a visit in a couple weeks, so I better start cleaning, now!!!

Tory and I have started a new tradition of going out to eat somewhere Saturday or Sunday mornings! That’s always a lot of fun and I think something that we both look forward to! 2 out of 5 or so places we’ve been to so far we can walk to from our house, so that’s extra exciting! I’m sure we’ll try a new place this weekend!

Work is a going... We have a new girl that bugs the crap out of me. Her contract just got extended, which is great for her and awful for me... She might be the end of me...

Well, I hope you guys all have a great weekend and that everything is going great for you!!!

Love and miss you all,
Jenn