Guerisoli Girls Trip - San Francisco and Napa California

I can honestly say that I may have just had one of the best weekends ever. Ever. EVER!

My sister in law, Amber, and I have been trying to orchestrate a Girl's trip in the Guerisoli family for quite awhile now. I guess since Randi graduated from BYU, everyone finally felt it to be justified, so thanks for graduating Randi!

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I have been nervous about leaving Brooke (for the fist time) for awhile now, but after a few hours and a glorious plane ride by myself... yeah, I was alright with it! We flew in to San Francisco thursday night and after a great dinner at an Italian place, we drove to Napa. We spent friday wandering throughout the Napa Valley. The drive is worth it by itself, but the peace and serenity of that area, not to mention the amazing food, darling boutiques and people-watching just caps it off. Ok, but maybe no kids and being with just "the girls" capped it off, too.

Mother in law Vicki, Newest Sister in law, AnnElise, Randi, Amber, Me

Me and my wonderful Mother in law

Beautiful home boutique in Napa

Amber and AnnElise in Yountville (Napa Valley), which apparently has more 5 star restaurants than anywhere in the nation.


Randi and Amber - beautiful girls!

One of the reasons I have been so excited for this trip is to be able to be back and enjoy all the food that I have missed so terribly since being in Texas. Well... excruciating stomache pain the day before I left landed me in the ER the night before. The doctor thought that I may have ruptured an ovarian cyst but wasn't sure. Anyways, I didn't have much of an appetite until the last day but tried to enjoy it as much as possible.

We ate at this darling Hamburger joint in St. Helena (also in Napa Valley). I always love a good burger!

I'm getting a little out of order... After spending the day in Napa, we drove through San Francisco to our hotel in Burlingame. Amber is able to get great hotel rates so the hotels were fabulous.

The next day we spent the day doing a few "touristy" things in the city. We hopped on the trolley in Union Square and headed to the wharf to do a boat tour out on the bay. I have to say that it was really fun being back and getting to be a tourist after living there! And very nostalgic for me, too. I was really missing the Bay area the entire weekend.

AnnElise and I before church (sorry... out of order again!)

Beautiful Randi at Dinner receiving her graduation present from Aunt Shelley. Which just happened to be Grandma Edna's wedding ring. Randi is their only Granddaughter so it was very special.

Friday night we went to Wicked!!!!! This was for sure the highlight of the trip. I was on the edge of my seat the entire show and just soaking it up.

Giselle (AnnElise's Mom who spent two days with us because she lives in Vacaville), me, Randi, AnnElise, Aunt Shelley (who lives in Walnut Creek and came to Wicked with us), Amber, Vicki

Guerisoli girls after the show

Riding the trolley (fun to do this since we never did when we lived there!)

Before the boat ride on Fisherman's Wharf

Like I said before, it was fun being a tourist, taking pictures of the Golden Gate!

The City skyline

Okay, isn't this a cool picture?!

Saturday night we ate at the Cliffhouse restaurant.

I loved eating there because we also never did while we lived there. We exchanged gifts on Saturday night and really enjoyed each other.

On Sunday, we went to church in Berkeley! It was wonderful to be back and see so many people that I love, even if for just a few minutes!

Brent picked me up at the airport late last night and I walked in to see flowers on the table and the garage all cleaned out and organized with a new shelving unit put up! This was such a surprise since we've been needing to get it organzied for awhile. Yay for wonderful husbands.

Thanks Brent for letting me go, thank you Griffeths for watching Brooke, and thank you Guerisoli girls for going (and putting up with my crazy driving all weekend)!

Back to the Bay

Just got back from a quick 48 hour trip back to the bay area! Do we miss Berkeley so much that we had to return? We miss some things, but that was not the reason, although it was very nostalgic for me to drive through. We went for a weddin'. Brent's little brother got married to a lovely girl named AnnElise who is from Vacaville, 40 minutes from Berkeley. Brooke was terrible on this trip. Our hotel was less than desirable, saying it was "really gross" would be an understatement (it was cheap). But the wedding was beautiful, and time spent with the ones we love is always priceless! These pictures aren't great, (my camera is weird sometimes) but are they a beautiful couple or what?

Dear Berkeley Friends,

"I'd like to be the sort of friend that you have been to me. . . I'd like to be the help you've always been glad to be; I'd like to mean as much to you each minute of the day, as you have meant, old friend of mine, to me along the way."

L to R: Jenn, Rachel, Erika, Becca, Kelly, Karen, Britney, Me

at our "Goodbye barbeque" that Karen put on

These girlfriends (and a few others not pictured here) have been my lifeline here in Berkeley and I am saddened at the thought of leaving them behind. Lets just hope that there are girls who are this fabulous in Texas. I could write many words about each of them, things I have learned from them, and how they have inspired me, but I won't for the sake of boring any readers. They are all amazing women and I feel grateful to be able to call them my friends.

"The Tastle" part II

Well, he did it! He graduated! We're done! We had a really fun day. Take out sitting for 3 hours in 95 degree weather (poor Brent in his gown!) and we had the best day with our parents. They all traveled from Utah and we're so grateful they came. My Mom and I decorated the door and the apartment this morning and after graduation we had a great dinner! A few fun pictures from the day... (and the first of our "goodbye" posts)

Berkeley is Beautiful

The title of this post was chosen carefully. I am in a reflective mood and have many bittersweet feelings that I need to write down, or spout out, or share with "the blog world." Brent came home tonight gleaming because today he finished MBA school. He is done with every final, has given every presentation, has written all of his papers, and has said goodbye to the Haas School of Business. And for some odd, strange, and weird reason I was in disbelief. How did that happen? We just moved to Berkeley. Brooke was just barely born. Heck, we just got married. But wait-we've been married for 4 years, still... reflective.. how did that happen, where did the time go? We now have a child! (I KNOW how that happened.) And now we're done with graduate school and we're supposed to just say goodbye to "the student life" and enter the real world of more bills, more kids (this implies nothing in the near future), maybe a mortgage, and more real, adult responsibilities? I digress-

Brent started studying for the GMAT in 2005 and the preparation for MBA school began. He spent many months including many saturdays taking online courses and practice tests. He took the test and did much better than his goal! Our plan was this: MBA school at BYU with (hopefully) a scholarship, get an awesome job in Utah to jumpstart his dream career, and settle ourselves in the Beehive state for good. But when his score was as good as it was (sorry to brag) we both realized we should probably look at other opportunities. So, he decided to apply to Berkeley. Just like that. It wasn't that I thought he wouldn't get in, but I never thought in a million years that we'd come here. In fact, I was pretty against it (don't judge me, any 'berkeleyites' reading this.) I was born and raised in Utah. I'm a homebody. I like being where I'm comfortable. And Berkeley was going to threaten my level of comfort and perfect homeostasis in Utah. Well, he got in, and it was a pretty strong affirmation in both of our minds and hearts that brought us here. Yet, still opposed and cautious (me, not really Brent). A month and a half went by and I got a job here and pretty much had to pray that I'd be able to make it throught the day. Yes, it was that bad. But it fulfilled it's purpose for the first year because a week after I started, I found out I was pregnant, and I qualified for their excellent maternity coverage. Looks like someone was watching out for me. My life consisted of spending two hours a day on BART, 8 hours at the office, bed at 8 p.m. (I was prego) church being the BIGGEST highlight of my week, and any 1/2 hour that I was lucky enough to spend with Brent in his very busy first year. Oh, and counting down the days on my calendar until Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring Break. Ok, so anyone still reading... I guess I was a real "Debbie Downer!" ha! Hopefully you won't think different of me. And here is the 'meat' of this post:

As I have moved from one experience to the next in my life, the same cycle seems to take place. Example: I'm nervous at the beginning, in the middle of it, I look forward to the end, and at the end, I'm sad. What an interesting phenomenon! We have spent only 21 months in Berkeley and it has taken me until about month 17 or 18 to realize this and that I need to LIVE IN THE NOW. Brent and I have learned and grown beyond what we ever pictured for our time here. It has been hard. There have been challenges. Business school is busy, Berkeley is expensive, and certain health problems haven't helped. But all that matters in the end of each era of our lives is what we've learned, how we've grown, and the lessons that we'll never forget. And speaking specifically about Berkeley: the amazing people that changed our lives (too many to name, but if you're reading this you're probably one of them), a place that we had our first child and began the quest of learning to be parents, learning to live on a very tight budget, making the most of the limited time we had together, the beauty and grandeur of the San Francisco Bay area, the incredible food and fun that was eaten and had, the way that Brent and I will be forever changed for the better because of being here, living here and experiencing life in this way. I don't know if we'll ever come back and live in the Bay area, but I hope we are able to visit. But for all of these reasons, and many more, to me, Berkeley truly is Beautiful.

The Wine Country

Yesterday, Brent and I took our first trip to Napa to see the famous grape vineyards. It was only about a half an hour away and so nice to get away from the business of the city. A lot of the houses looked just like this one, just pristine and beautiful. We found ourselves salivating at all of the beautiful homes and dreaming of when we'll be in a home! Brent especially loved how Colonial and Victorian they all looked.















This is the entrance to a family's private vineyard. You can't see it very well but it was just as beautiful as we imagined, similar to Tuscany! When we got far enough out on the outskirts of Napa, there was a road just full of individually family-owned vineyards. Growing up doing that just sounds so dreamy! But, somehow I think M.B.A school at Cal-Berkeley won't end up taking us to run our own vineyard ... but it was sure fun to take advantage of visiting while we live here.