4th of July

About two weeks ago we decided that it would be fun to spend the 4th of July weekend in Tahoe. Neither of us had been to Tahoe before, so we weren't sure the best place to go, activities to do, etc. I did a little research and found a great resort in Tahoe City and we booked it! We decided to just go and play the rest by ear... and it was a great trip!

If you know me, you know I am a planner. So it is very rare for me to say I went on a trip without a plan. But everything worked out great! Lake Tahoe is absolutely beautiful. I decided it was the perfect place for us because a vacation is not complete without water (for me) and mountains (for Brad)...and Tahoe has both.

Here's a summary of our weekend:

This was our resort- "Granlibakken"...yeah, try to say that 5x fast. It had a unique setup where you stayed in separate cabin-like buildings. It was secluded enough to make it quiet, despite the holiday weekend, yet within walking distance to the lake. It had a pool, tennis courts, a walking trail, a fabulous hot breakfast every morning, and a delicious BBQ on the 4th. It was a great little place!
Our first view of the lake Friday morning. I couldn't believe how blue & clear the water was. It is so clear that you can actually stick a white dinner plate 75 feet below the surface and still see it. Absolutely gorgeous!

We parked ourselves on a little beach in Tahoe City for most of Friday morning. We took advantage of the opportunity to catch up on some reading and relaxing! The weather was just perfect, and the water was a pleasant 60 degrees. Friday afternoon we drove down 30 minutes to southern Lake Tahoe, to Emerald Bay. I know I've said it before, but it was beautiful!


Around Emerald Bay we saw signs for Eagle Falls & Eagle Lake. As soon as Brad saw people carrying fishing poles with them to the Lake he was sold. As soon as they told me it was only a 30-40 minute hike I was sold too. We hiked it and even though the fishing wasn't too good in the lake, Brad found success in a stream along the way.

Ready to hike!
Eagle Falls
Emerald Bay in the background
Beautiful Eagle Lake

Saturday morning we rafted the Truckee River. Some professional company with professional quality rafts wanted to charge you $35/person to raft the river. Us, being the bargain hunters that we are decided we could buy our own raft and do it ourselves for only $25. It was definitely an adventure! We knew our raft would be done with if it hit a rock, so we tried to avoid them at all costs. Brad was a trooper and steered us the whole way. It was really fun and the water wasn't even cold. Which was a good thing, because we got really wet.

After our rafting adventure, we decided to drive about 20 minutes and explore the northern side of the lake. We drove to Incline Village, crossed the Nevada border, and trekked down to this little gem of a beach. The pictures don't do it justice, but this water was almost turquoise! I was in heaven. We spent the afternoon relaxing, reading, and floating around the lake in our raft.


We wrapped up the night with a 4th of July BBQ at our resort (all you can eat food, including frozen Snickers... sooo good!) and fireworks over the lake.

Sunday we went to church in Tahoe before heading home. When they opened up the meeting, the overflow was already halfway into the cultural hall. Then they asked the members, not visitors, to stand. I think there was about 30! Everyone else there was visiting, and there was easily over 300 people. It was so cool to see how many people had made an effort to go to church while on vacation.

It was the perfect weekend and a great little trip just the two of us!

2 1/2 years

Last Monday was our 2 1/2 year anniversary! Where has the time gone? In honor of our half-iversary here's my tribute to my terrific hubby.

August 2006 (Look at how young we are!)

Let's start at the beginning: We met at the tender (ie: young) ages of 19 & 21. It wasn’t exactly love at first sight... he asked out my roommate first. (Brad loves it when I bring this up! ) Luckily for me, it wasn’t meant be and the date never happened. After a little flirting and some magic-working on my part to get into the same Statistics class, we were together and the rest was history. We dated for 8 months, were engaged for 4, and have been married for 2 ½ years. Even though I never thought I would get married at 20, I couldn’t imagine it playing out any different.

Brad is the best because:

1. He gets ready in the dark so I can sleep while he gets ready for work.

1a. He sets out my lunch and gets my toothbrush ready because he knows that I push snooze for 15+ minutes and am always rushing to get out the door on-time.

2. He goes to the gym with me (even during the NBA finals) because he knows I won't go alone.

3. He makes dinner on those nights when I just don't feel like it, even though he has a commute of at least an hour and I don’t have one at all.

4. He makes me laugh at those times when all I want is to be angry, and then I can't.


5. He converted me to the sport of Jazz basketball

6. He served an honorable mission and helped change the lives of so many Koreans.


6a.He brought his mission home and has not forgetten about the people. (Example: this post)

7. He is so good with kids... people are always commenting about it. I know he’ll be the best dad ever!


8. He is the spiritual leader of our home with prayer, scripture study, FHE, etc.

9. He lets me have the sofa and always takes the loveseat, even though I am not even 5 feet tall and have no excuse for taking the bigger couch.

10. He always gives me thoughtful gifts, takes the time to surprise me, and gives me flowers ‘just because’.


11. He wears business casual so well (because he’s one handsome dude!)

12. He is an organizer, planner, crazy goal-oriented person. What can I say, we’re two peas in a pod on this one.

13. He took me to the temple on 12/29/06 and every month (except 1) since then.


He’s one great guy, and I'm one lucky gal. I love you Brad!

Various Activites from recent months

Due to my major blog-slacking I forgot to document some fun events from the last couple of months:

1. We went into the city and had lunch with our good friends Ricky and Maggie. We ate at a Yaught Club right across from the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a little windy, but an awesome view!
After lunch they took us to Lombard Street... we were going to park and walk around, but it was a little busy. So we took a picture and kept driving!

After that we went over to the Muir Woods and went on a little hike (haha... or what was supposed to be a little hike). Only 2 hours, and 3 backtrackings later we finished.

We've really enjoyed getting to know Ricky and Maggie. We're bummed that they are moving back to San Diego in a few weeks, but we wish them luck!

2. Our good friends, and most favorite neighbors, the Andrews also moved on us! We knew it was coming but it was still sad to see them go. Before they left we finally had the fondue party we had been talking about for months. We had chocolate & cheese for dipping and oil for meat. It was so yummy!


3. Almost 8 months ago (oh my!), Brad and I drove to Napa to see the vineyards. It was the perfect time of year to go, as they were just changing colors and we got to see everything from dark purple to red to yellow. We stayed away from the wine tasting, so our day trip consisted mostly of driving, but if you know the Hardcastles you know that they LOVE to drive ;)

(This picture is for my dad, whose high school choir was none other than Opus One.)

Memorial Day Visitors

Over Memorial Day weekend Brad and I had some visitors from Korea come and stay with us! I had a hard time with their Korean names, so we gave them American names for the trip: Justin and Spencer (much easier for me!) Luckily for me, Justin's job is to teach English in Korea, so we were able to communicate in short & simple sentences. Spencer (his 10 year old nephew) didn't know any English... but Brad was able to serve as translator and it all worked out.

We had a great time making Korean food, going to church, exploring Berkeley & the Oakland temple, golfing, and eating a great American dinner of pizza and cherry coke. Yum!

Brad also introduced Spencer to the game of football. They went out into our front yard and played catch for a couple of hours. When Brad told Spencer he could take the football back to Korea with him, his eyes got so big and he couldn't believe it. He couldn't wait to get home and show his 2 brothers.

The day before they left, Justin asked Brad what I would like as a thank you gift. (That is a big part of Korean culture.) Brad told him that I liked fruit... so they went to the grocery store and came home with: 5 lbs of cherries, 2 lbs of strawberries, 2 grapefruits, 4 oranges, 10 peaches, and 1 lb of various berries. I couldn't believe it! (Not to mention, he had already brought me a beautiful hanbok dress that was more than enough thanks!) Brad tried to tell him that just a few pieces of fruit would be enough, but Justin wanted to get me a little of everything. It was so nice. We affectionately called Justin the "fruit king" after that.

Despite the language & culture differences, I loved having Justin and Spencer stay with us. It goes without saying how much Brad loved it. His love of Korea has not faded one bit since he returned from his mission almost 4 years ago. He has stayed in contact with many of his converts and friends and calls them regularly. His Korean isn't half bad either!

We really hope we can get to Korea sometime in the next couple of years and see them all!