Musings

Last December, a few weeks before Christmas, I caught wind of a surprise present that Ryan's mom had planned for us.

"It's something that you don't even know exists," I would tell Ryan cryptically. The clue pretty much blew his mind as he dreamt of the possibilities. A new invention? A crazy gadget? Salmon that cooks itself? Then the morning came, and he was handed a small envelope: tickets for us and all his siblings to see Muse in Salt Lake City.

Now however true my clue was (he didn't know Muse was playing a show in SLC!!), I realize that it possibly made the actual gift a little anticlimactic at the time. But after seeing last night's show, I can honestly say it blew my mind.

Every number was blowout big, with fun visuals to match the crazy instrumentals. Even after going 90 minutes nonstop (and if you've ever heard them, you know how high those vocals can get), they sounded just as good as, if not better than, on their album.

eyeball balloons that fall down and pop into confetti--a very good idea

this man oozes musical talent

these people ooze photogenics

While the snow came down in heaps outside, we kept things toasty indoors. Thanks to the Tingeys for such a fun time!

And we're back

We spent a few days last week in Southern California. Ryan was out interviewing with a company, and I came along for the ride. My friend Jenny (thank you!!!) surprised us with a gift certificate to the Beachcomber, a Willy family favorite, so after Ryan's interview we went to celebrate a job well done. Beachcomber is right on the beach at Crystal Cove State Park--you have to walk under Pacific Highway to get to it. We ate right as the sun was setting. It was windy, so they put up a clear tarp around the patio to keep us from blowing away and gave us blankets to lay across our laps to keep us warm. It was great.

We spent the next couple of days exploring Anaheim (where the office is) and the surrounding areas, which included an Angels Game (we watched Disneyland's fireworks show on our way out of the ball park), various shopping malls (hello zara and h&m), plush apartments (and now that we've seen them how will we ever settle for a reasonably priced one??), and, of course, the beach.

The trip can pretty much be summed up in one photo:

We had a great time. But it's always good to be back home.