Thousand Steps Beach

The boys





Check out the SUN!!



For Family Home Evening this week we went with some friends to Thousand Steps Beach. We didn't take pictures of the stairs but I think it is something 250 steps. It is such a pretty beach. We went with The West Family and the Lyon Family. The boys skim boarded while the girls took pictures. I also should have taken pictures of the houses that were lining the cliffs to this beach. They had their private stairs to the beach.





P.S. Who wants to come out for the 4th of July. We here it is pretty amazing and no one has jumped the chance o stay at our house!

Birthday's, Firsts, & Family

For my birthday we went to Disneyland, it was so hot and packed but it was fun. We had reservations at the Blue Bayou. I got the Filet Migon which is delicious!




Friday night we celebrated my Birthday with our friends and Matt's sister and her Husband. We went to Rec Robin! It was delicious! I love that place, and for those of you who read my sisters blog she went there for her birthday dinner too, we didn't plan it either. The place was in a mall so we went shopping and I got a pair of pants from the Levi store. They were 50% off and they fit perfectly! Thanks Mom for the B-Day present!





We also got a "family birthday present" or something this year. Matt was going to get me a beach cruiser for my birthday but some how he walked out of the deal with one of his one. That's my stinker husband. Some how he always takes me shopping and ends up with something for himself too.

So with our new beach cruisers we can enjoy sunset rides on the beach!!!






On Saturday Matt went out and took pictures of our neighbors surfing. On the way home he got me a surf board from a garage sale. He thought he was going to score himself a board but when he bought he the guy shouted to his wife "Hey Honey, I sold your board" So he realized that I had just gotten a new surf board and not him. He came home with it and I was pretty excited to use it that day. Matt's sister Allison and her Husband, Justin came with baby Emily to spend the day at the beach with us.



After we went to my new favorite produce market, Growers Direct (check out what they had to say about it... Growers), we were able to head out there. The day was perfect, it was really sunny but by the water not too and the water could not have been more PERFECT. I was making fun o the guys going out there with full body wet suits. So we all get lathered up and Matt, Justin and I head out with my new surf board. I figured I better start learning soon since we life in Surf City, USA!! So we are out there, the waves were Enormous compared to San Diego waves which is what I am used to, I hop on and they hold me until a wave comes. Here comes the big wave, I catch it, they yell stand up and I freak out but get up to me knees (according to Allison on the beach) all I know is next I was doing flips in the water and the leash is wrapped around my neck. I was FREAKED! I start picturing all these different scenarios of what MIGHT happen. SO I finally get up, I gain control of myself sort of( I am near tears b/c this water is incredibly scary. ANOTHER wave comes and I get taken out again, this time though the board comes back and hits me an puts a huge gash on my stomach.



Needless to say I was terrified and crying. We went back in and decided my cut was pretty cool. I will go back out just not in Huntington, the water is too rough. About an hour later Matt's cousin Jordan came down with his wife Larissa to enjoy the beach and and have a bon fire.



We did a little photo shoot with Emily. She was so happy it was a lot of fun!





Saturday night we wanted to do a bon fire on the beach but apparently we needed to be there at 9am to reserve one of the 300 hundred. After searching for the lucky spot we decided to head back to our place and have a BBQ with our foil dinners and S'mores. They were delicious!


This Morning while I was in the shower getting ready for church Matt comes in and tells me I have a meeting with the Bishop 10 mins before church. My first thought was thats cool and I'm getting ready early so we will be fine. Well things didn't go as planned, like I couldn't find my ring (DRAMA) but I still ended up waiting for him. So I got a new calling! I am A Relief Society Secretary. I say "A" because I am the second one they called, I guess she is pretty busy. I am very excited for this, I wanted to be in the Relief Society or Young Womens. I can't wait to start meeting everyone! After church we took naps, everyone in the family room next to a fan and still burning HOT. I know you guys in AZ are really boiling but here we have no AC so when we have no breeze coming thourgh the house it gets pretty warm. We went out to the pier to watch people surf. There was about a million people out there not to mention a street preacher calling all people to repentance. Oh and he was wearing a Hurley shirt. I tried taking pictures of Matt but he shut down the paparazzi.






I know, I know you all want a close up. So if the people want it, I have no choice but to deliver. Enjoy the close up.

The big 25!

So Today is Stacy's Birthday! Everyone give a shout out to her!

Stacy is so funny. All we do when we are together is laugh, just ask Matt!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Big Sis (but smaller when you think about it)!

Sewing is Done!

Thanks to my WONDERFUL Mother we got all the sewing done. We did the family room, kitchen and bedroom curtains, plus the duvet cover which was the easiest! I haven't finished decorating the bedroom so I didn't take pictures of it.

Family Room



Kitchen



This is what we had to do in order to save space. I have about enough counterspace for nothing! It is honestly ridiculous. I don't even have anything on the counters to keep it open but really there is nothing I can do. We use our stove for everything, we don't have a microwave due to not buying one and lack of space so we are always getting pots and pans dirty. Which doesn't make clean up easy since we have no dishwasher!



These are decorations...adding to the homely feeling.



YES! We painted the kitchen ORANGE! Yes it was the brightest color at Home Depot! We love, when you walk into the complex you can see our kitchen glowing. Its so funny! These shelves Matt made with a tiny help from me. They turned out so good and we LOVE them.



Somehow our table ended up fitting. I love love love how it looks against the orange, and the table runner matches the curtains. We made that too!



The rest is pictures of the decorations we put up. Most of the stuff we already had so it was really nice, we did do some fun shopping, thanks to our wedding gift card we still have to Target, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and Crate and Barrel we were able to get some cool stuff. I want to paint the wall in the family room green. We will see when that happens though.











This is my favorite flower arrangment. I love the colors and the picture is so fun!




So just a few things about where we live. We are literally 3 blocks to the beach. We have gone once to the actual water and Matt has gone more to surf with some friends from the complex. We live in a complex with 14 different places. 11 of those people are LDS. It is so nice, its like instant friends for us! On both sides of us are babies...one is about 2 months, the other is 14 months. They are so fun and I get to play with them all the time. They tell me they do BBQ's in the courtyard down below but that hasn't happened yet.

We live in what they call down town Huntington Beach. We are about 10 blocks from Main street where there are a bunch of shops. They are all way too exspensive but on Tuesday nights they have a market. All these different vendors come out and sell vegetables, fruits and flowers. Its so fun. We have gone a lot and every time we end up with delicious food!

The temperature for us is usually in the high 60's so just perfect. We don't have air conditioning which is funny for me to think about having it my whole life but its not like we would use it. Everything in our house is gas which is different for me but I like it. Every time we cook the fire alarm goes off. We haven't had anything burn or smoke fill the air so its weird. We have taken them off but need to figure out a way to cook with out them going off.

We are having so much fun here and glad to be out here. Matt's work just got a lot more business which means they have work for Matt so we always love that! He loves his job and I don't think he would trade it for any other job right now.

Our ward is great, we have made a lot of friends. The Bishop said last Sunday that there are 52 young couples in the ward! It doesn't seem like that but we are excited to meet more people! So far we always have something to do at night and have kept ourselves pretty busy.

If you have any other questions about what we are doing let me know. Sorry for all the pictures, I'm very excited about how it all turned out!

Last week and Saturday!

Last week Tuesday we went to Disneyland with Paula and James. It was a blast. The lines were fairly short but it was never hot! We went on Splash Mountain the most probably because it had the shortest line, the boys loved to see people get wet and one time we literally walked on the line with a fast pass. We kept passing all these people, at least 200 people seriously. Then when we got to the area where you get in the log the worker had these 3 people get off the ride so we could get on. It was pretty wild but it never happened again.

On Wednesday Paula, James and I went to California Adventure. The lines over there were definitely short and it made for a good day. We were exhausted from Tuesday but it was fun. Hopefully pictures to follow. We didn't take our camera but our friends got some good shots.

On Saturday, Matt and I braved driving the Los Angeles. The drive took about 40 mins with no traffic, so not too bad. We went down to see the fashion district. We had heard about this from friends in our ward in Gilbert and couldn't wait to go. We got enough fabric to cover 3 windows with curtains, a table runner, re-cover our head board and a duvet cover. I am so excited. My Mom is coming tonight and staying till Friday so we can get sewing. It is going to be such a blast!

Here is a sneak peak.....


Family Room



Kitchen



Bedroom!



P.S. The Fashion district has all these fabrics on ultra sale...There are about 20 stores with all their fabrics for $5 or less a yard and one store we went into looked like a 2 store Joann's full of fabric! It was INSANE! Anyone need fabric? I bet I could find exactly what you want even if you send me a picture of it!

Actual San Francisco

First thing we went to .....



This was Monday, we rode around on the city bus for a little bit, I guess enough time to take a kissing picture!



These guys were at pier, them and all their friends hang out an yell at each other! It was so cold and stinky but for some reason we stayed around looking at them for a while.



I think you can tell where we went here!



So right in the middle of all these tall buildings we see this sign! I was so excited, too bad we had already eaten other wise I would have eaten there for sure! I am an All American Girl. Anytime I can get my hands on a burger and fries I am pretty much the happiest girl! I don't know if a lot of you know that about me!



Just a fun shot of the city so you can see how packed it was!



We went to see the San Francisco bridge, but it was so foggy you couldn't see it. It was actually in the background there. Notice I am wrapped in a blanket, You wouldn't believe how cold it was!



Anyone recognize this guy?




Yes we got to go visit Pixar. It's in a city called Emmeryville (sp?). Matt's friend, the groom works there. It was so fun to see all the cool displays they had. There was lots of restricted areas like where the people actually create. We did get to go see office's and they were pretty cool. Some people had a tuff shed as their office, everyone had walls painted all sorts of color. They could do what ever they wanted. One office had a shark going through the wall. We could see the tail and in the office was the head! It was WILD!



Wall.E is the next movie coming out. Matt's friend did a lot of work on it so we are pretty excited to go see it!



Sorry for the picture overload but the weekend was packed!

Weekend in San Francisco!

So we moved out to Huntington Beach on May 10. The very next Friday, May 16 we drove up to San Francisco to see one of Matt's friends get sealed in the Oakland Temple. While there we went into town. We have just a few photos to share. Oh by the way, the weather was SOOO hot on the day of the wedding then the very next day it was Freezing cold!




The Happy Couple! Mr & Mrs Speirs!






This is James and Jacob Speirs and Matt. Their parents went to BYU together. Thats how long these families have been friends!



BYU roommates!




James and Paula Speirs. They got married 1 week before Matt and I. We love hanging out with them but times are rare because they are in Provo. They spent Tuesday and Wednesday with us though, we went to DISNEYLAND!!!



You know who we are. The reception was at the Zoo and the room had such an amazing view of the city! We helped set up so we both were kind of tired and didn't look so hot! We had a blast though and we are so happy we drove up there!

What Did We Do For Our Last Night in Phoenix?

Matt loves to cook and he so SOO good at it. One thing he has made multiple times is Pizza! It is always delicious! There is restaurant in Down Town Phoenix that Matt has wanted to go to for quite while. I picked him up from th airport on Thursday night and we headed out there. Of course we had to take the camera!



We went to Pizzeria Biancos! It was delicious! I was impressed with how inexpensive it was. We got a salad (spinach with strawberries) and a cheese pizza all under $20. we got bread with vinegar to start that was to die for! If you are looking for a little place to eat go for it. The ONLY problem is that they are open from 5 - 10 and we had to wait an hour at 9 o'clock. Other then that is GREAT!

What Does it take to Be Married To Christi Mouse

Its an awesome job that takes Matt and the Giant Peach!!!



So, now I will conclude my previous post with :

Part II: The amazingness

So our first year has been pretty amazing. We have been on many trips. We went on a cruise, went to Oklahoma, to Boston, to Florida, to Utah, to Tucson (Christi was chasing after Tiger Woods), Christi's first Suns game, went camping, baby sat Grace and all the other 59 things we blogged about already. Don't forget Disneyland - hopefully we'll go there 10 more times so expect a some serious blogging from that.



So here are a few of my favorite Christi moments.

10. When she would have no patience with the kids in nursery who liked me better.


9. How she asked every single kid what they were for Halloween, and how she managed to act surprised and excited no matter what their response.


8. When we were in her parents ward for church and some how swooped two babies and we ended up holding a set of twins during Sunday school


7. How she lets out this super frustrated grunt and gets me super worried and its usually over something silly like she accidentally clicked on the wrong link.


6. That she expects organized behavior from school districts.


5. How she smiles when she runs.


4. When we were playing soccer and she completely shoulder tackled another girl.


3. Whenever she makes mac 'n cheese or beef stroganoff.


2. Whenever she helps me to get something done approx. 10 times sooner than if I were left to do it on my own.


1. She was getting totally excited to run at the golf tournament to stay up with Tiger, and how she crept up to the ropes to see Tiger nail a 40 ft put.



I love Christi and am so excited for year 2!!!!

Some say the First Year is the hardest...

To those who say that I say nah. Come with me, this is Matt posting (sidenote: it is often difficult for me to figure out until half way through the post who is the poster), on an exciting journey to recap our first year of marriage.

PART I: The Hardship


May 5, aka Cinco de Mayo - We chose the biggest party day of the year because that is what we intended to throw. So for all in attendance they know that the party started at like 9:00 am and by about 9:00 pm everyone was all crashed out and so it was early to bed.

Honeymoon: Cruise to Mexico (please see post)

May 19- Scott and Alicia's wedding in Oklahoma, a state located near Texas, the big state that wishes it was its own country and so do I (just playin Mason).

June - Trip to Boston - very fun trip see previous post.

Then sometime in June we found out that I was going to get laid off again previously laid off in Feb). The first time it had an emotional toll on me. I loved the company, had many friends there and intended on being there a long time. This time I had taken the necessary steps to avoid such heart break.

Aug - It was a week before the big day came and I didn't have anything lined up for work. My boss received an email that he forwarded to me and it was a job opportunity. I responded, had an interview on Monday and was offered the job on Wednesday, to start the following Monday.

October - The new job was with a company that manufactures and installs wrought iron doors. I was to be the manager of the iron installs and customer service. Then about 6 weeks later rumors started to float that the company was going to declare bankruptcy. Then within two weeks they did and I'm out a job again.

At this point I could only laugh and think things are starting to get ridiculous. I’m calling shenanigans on life.

So due to some phone calls and quick thinking I set up a little business partnership and am and finishing out some iron door installs for one of our biggest clients, which happened to be the same company I got laid off from in August. Pretty coincidental huh!?

So that is working fairly well for a couple months while I am trying to decide a better route to go. I had a conversation with one of my friends and he asked me if he thought the Lord was trying to tell me something. I decided that, you know what I think he just might be. So I decided that I needed to make an appropriate career course correction. I started to feel that if I had begun to head down a path and that if I continued I was going to be thousands of miles away from where I want to be when I set out on my journey.

The course correction stage was a very important one, and one id did not want to go wrong on. However, when you have bills that need to be paid and a wife to support, time is definitely of the essence.

January - So now we are past the wonderful Christmas holiday time and things are not looking promising yet, you could say we were flying through some turbulent clouds. A bumpy ride and we couldn’t see in front of us. My jobs are pretty much coming to a close, I have a few thousand dollars of work to do still but after that I am not sure what to do to get me back on track. To our dismay, we found out that both the company I was in a partnership with, and the company we were working for were declaring bankruptcy. Talk about a double wammy. Now we have no more work coming in, lost out on a few thousand dollars and now all of a sudden everything feels pretty urgent. I was already feeling like I was slightly off course in my career and now it’s like the plane was struck by lightning.

Luckily, thanks to a wonderful blessing, Christi was promoted at work. It was a financial raise as well as an increased work load so she was probably making about four times as much as she was before.

I decide that it is definitely time to return to my roots. I start talking with an old college buddy and he is telling me about his company that does consulting work and it is 100% doing what our degree was in. To me it sounds good, almost too good to be true. The job is basically the exact course correction we need to make. It would get us back to our bearing, even down to one second of a degree (1/3600th of a degree) that I feel we need to be heading.

Feb - Fly out for an interview. The offered me the job and we had to compare that to several other options in AZ and we felt that moving to California was the right thing to do.

March - Leave my wife in AZ and head out to California in search of gold, or at least to start my job.

May - Happy one year and moving out to Cali. We are very fortunate to be making this trip via Uhaul and not Handcart.


So that is a recap of some of the events of our one year. Some might say that was hard, some might say it was eventful, I say at least now I have something to bear my testimony about next month to my new ward.


Afterthought: This message goes out to anyone who reads the Thompson's Blog. In a post Stacy made the comment - Sometime in February, he finally found a new job. -

I found, and or was offered nearly 10 jobs in that time period. None of them were quite what I wanted for they would not have made the course correction that I felt we so dearly needed. So I feel that if anyone was entitled to say that I finally found a new job it was my sweet wife who had to endure through so much.

So now I’m gonna try and steal that comment back. To do so I will continue to piggy back off of Pres. Uchtdorf's talk A Matter of a Few Degrees, at the Priesthood session - I would like to say that I FINALLY have a new job and we’ve made the course corrections necessary to get us back on track and I am no longer drifting a few degrees of my career destination.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday RaDean! We hope you have a fabulous day!

RaDean is Matts Mother and she is an Amazing Women! She is always serving others and of course has ALWAYS been willing to help us out! She pretty much cleaned our whole house when we moved! She also cutes my hair and waxes my eye brows!

Happy Birthday!