a very happy day.

so after 3 1/2 years i finally finished my masters.

i am officially a master of science.

(in counseling)

on december 15th i turned in that bad boy and was officially done with school.

i walked off the fullerton campus and headed to the happiest place on earth.

actually, to be completely accurate, i had been there earlier that day too.

my mom, jule, and the twins had come down from san jose to come to disneyland during all the christmas festivities. so we woke up bright and early to beat the crowds and before 10am we had already gone on space mountain, matterhorn, pirates, the haunted mansion, and thunder mountain railroad.

so fun.

after dropping off my thesis and grabbing some lunch we met back up at disneyland.

amber and her kids and jason and his family had all joined my mom and jule.

it was like a mini paul gustavson family reunion at disneyland.

then it started to rain. jule and the twins had to catch a flight home.

amber, jason, tauna, and all their kids all went home to avoid getting wet.

but i was determined to stay and have my mom and john watch world of color and the firework show.

so we decided to check out the wait at the blue bayou. 

luckily the wait was only 15 minutes.

so we got some food and shelter from the cold.

 my mom had never been so that was really fun.

after dinner we went to california adventure and watched world of color.

then back to disneyland for the fireworks show.

it was a great way to start to feel the holiday spirit.

i can't think of a better people to have celebrated with

or a better way to have celebrated my last day of school.

thanks everyone for a great day.

go navy. beat army.

so apparently there is big rivalry between the army and the navy.

who knew?

(i think probably a lot of people knew that. i am just not one of them)

so in december john and i took a trip out to DC to watch the big army/navy football game.

(which is also apparently a big deal)

it was really cool (and cold).

all the students were in their uniforms.

jets flew over. obama was there. etc.

it was a good game but navy won for the 10th year in a row.

so john was quite pleased.



after the game we toured around DC a bit

(in the car... cause it was seriously freezing outside) ate some yummy food at the old ebbitt grill and saw the home of the obama's.

sunday we went to church in annapolis

 and then john too me to see his old stomping grounds at the naval academy.

and then toured through the incredibly adorable tour of annapolis.

i wish i had taken more pictures of the whole trip.

but i was freezing most of the times and didn't want to take my hands out of my pockets.

all in all it was such a fun trip.

family thanksgiving

this year the entire paul gustavson clan came home for thanksgiving.

it was so fun to have everyone together and to watch all the kids play together.

the weekend was spent enjoying yummy food, playing games, riding the atv, taking family pictures, the aquarium, and just hanging out.

here are some of the highlights:

thanksgiving dinner we had two turkeys.

one traditional. one made in a trashcan.

 

the trashcan one turned out a little over cooked.

but it was a fun idea anyway.

and next time tad will perfect it.

thanksgiving day the grandkids had their own little thanksgiving dinner.

and then were sent off to nap time and the adults had their own thanksgiving meal.

it was so fun to be able to sit down together sans the kids and just talk.

family~ isn't it about time.

anyway... friday john drove up to see what the gustavson family/bay area was all about.

so first thing we did (after hanging out at my house for awhile) was head to santa cruz mountains to see the redwood trees.

but upon the drive up, i discovered that john had never been to santa cruz.

so we changed our plans and headed to surf city.

i was so happy to see that boardwalk was open.

so we could ride the giant dipper. 

so fun.  

saturday, the fam head to monterey to check out the aquarium.

it had been years since i had been there. 

i didn't realize how cool it really was.

after we were all fished out, we went to a near by park and enjoyed some lunch while watching the kids play on this awesome playground.

all in all, it was a great weekend.

i am very grateful for my family.

the end.

Pre-Thanksgiving

so... i am going to be playing a lot of catch up in the next few days on this lonely blog.  

before thanksgiving we had a little pre-thanksgiving dinner with some of our friends. 

we cleared out the living room and set up a (somewhat) grown up thanksgiving table.

 enjoyed some delicious food and great company.

after dinner, we did what any mature group of adults would do in an empty room.

we filled it with all the couch cushions (and a mattress or two from upstairs) and jumped off the loft.

you all know this was not MY idea.

(in case you don't know... i am a huge whimp and get scared of myself or other people getting hurt)

  

but after a lot of coxing and convincing of how safe it really was i eventually jumped too.

and it was fun.

all in all i would say it was a fun night.

too blessed to be stressed.

i have always thought that phrase was really lame. 

but today, that is really how i feel.  

my life has been pretty stressful for the last year or so. 

but i have also been very blessed. 

i just wanted to take a minute to  publicly document what i am most grateful for. 

and today... i am most grateful for happiness

i'm not talking about the happiness i get from eating frozen yogurt or riding a roller coaster 

(although, both of those things do make me very happy)

but rather the type of happiness that brings peace and comfort. 

true happiness. 

here are a few things that make me very happy. 

my faith. 

today, i am so grateful for faith. i am grateful for the guidance it gives me. 

and mostly i am grateful for a heavenly father who knows and loves me. 

with that said...

i am grateful that my life has turned out the way it has so far. 

sure, its nothing how i imagined it would be. 

but somehow its better. 

i've learned and grown so much through my experiences that if i had the chance...

i don't know that i would change any of it. 

my family. 

we are our own kind of crazy. 

and i love it. 

i am super grateful for the loving support of my parents and siblings. 

i am also grateful for eight little monsters that call me auntie april.

i am grateful to be finally graduating.

i graduate in 21 days.  

it feels very bitter sweet. but right now a little more sweet than bitter. 

 i am so grateful for my friends. 

i know everyone says this but...

i seriously have some of the best friends ever. 

and i am so grateful for that. 

and lastly, i am grateful for bikes. 

there really are few bad days that cannot be cured by a late night bike ride. 

i hope you all had a few grateful thanksgiving. 

i love fun.

catching up.

i'm finally catching up.  in case you have been wondering what i have been doing lately.

the following post are what i have been doing when i have not been sitting at starbucks staring at my computer hoping my thesis will write itself.  going to school. going to work. going to practicum.  or driving in my car in between each location.

also.  this video makes me happy. enjoy.