things to see and do: the baylands and free ice cream

Hello friends,
Something that I always think is a fun challenge is finding cheap (or free!) things to do - wherever I am. I will try to keep you all posted of these things as I find them so if you're ever out and about this area you will know about them too. Today was one of those days of finding a gem. In East Palo Alto right on the San Francisco Bay is the Baylands Nature Preserve. I went there today after reading about the great birding you can do there. I was excited but didn't know what to expect. It was so lovely. There are GOBS of trails including a boardwalk over a marsh to the bay shore and a dock that leads down to a sailing station where wind surfers were taking off. SO cool - almost an unreal experience. I also saw some beautiful birds! I need to get out my guide and identify them but I was able to snap a few pics. Ben and I will definitely be going back there with our walking/running shoes. In addition to my trip to the Baylands, I went to Ikea (it's right across the road.) Did you know when you sign up for their member card you get a coupon for FREE frozen yogurt? It's pretty delish and you don't even have to go through the entire store to get it, which was AWESOME! So a neat walk outside followed by free ice cream - today was good. Here are some pics from the Baylands:

 A song sparrow (I believe)

 The interesting landscape.

 Some shorebirds...anyone know what they are? (If I find out I'll update this.)

 A close up of the song sparrow.

 The boardwalk out to the bay.

 Windsurfers.

 Streakbacked Oriole.

 Again, up in the tree. A chit-chattery little bird.

Pretty gull.

That's it for now, off to start cooking some dinner.
Loves,
Laura

unpacked!

Hello all,
Well, the movers came on Thursday. Though it wasn't nearly as long as it could've been we felt like it couldn't have come sooner. Bless their hearts, these two guys parked a SEMI (with ours and others' belongings) in our tiny street parking lot and lugged our belongings up to the THIRD (basically fourth) floor of our building and to the VERY END of the hallway to our apartment. If (ha, when) we move I don't know how we are going to do it without movers. Needless to say, Friday was crazy for me. Unpacking, boxes everywhere and then finally hanging. We put finishing touches on stuff tonight. It feels good to feel home. I want to do a mini movie of a tour or something to give you the feel of our place but we'll see how that happens. For now, below are some pics of what it looks like. I want to take some more during the day tomorrow so you can see just how much sunlight we get, it's glorious! Also, we are in the process of couch hunting and saving so if you know of any good places around here please advise. (We checked out Ikea today.)

 Before, YIKES!

 Midway through the unpacking (yeesh!)

 There are still a few things that need to be put in place but this is looking towards the corner by the kitchen with our table and my desk. (and a few light sabers and a dyson.)

 Our kitchen with a little piece of Colorado, painted by Ben's amazing grandma.

 Ben's corner, next to the entryway.

 The tv and bookshelves. On the wall adjacent there's an awesome picture collage but that one turned out blurry so more tomorrow. :)

And then the bedroom, nice and cozy.

I'm pretty excited about how it's turning out. We are visiting a church tomorrow, hoping to find one that will be a good community out here for us. So for now I'm off to bed, more pictures tomorrow! Also, the magnolia tree out front looks like it's going to bloom A LOT tomorrow. Hopefully I can get some good ones of that too.
Goodnight,
Laura

almost settled.

Hello all,
I know that we've been a little out of touch lately. This happened for a couple of reasons, 1. We used ALL of our cell minutes (ha, oops!). If you want to actually talk let's gchat or Skype or call after 9 our time or on weekends. 2. We also just got internet on Tuesday, so I've been trying to catch up. I am going to try and use this as a way to keep everyone posted as we get more settled here and also as we start to explore and find out just how cool this part of the country is.

Our stuff is either arriving this afternoon or early tomorrow morning - WOO! We had a bit of a debacle with the movers but hopefully it'll all arrive safely and we can start to get settled in this apartment. Let me tell you, air mattresses are only good for so long. Other than that, it's been great out here, the weather is GORGEOUS.

Ben started his job on Monday and it seems pretty sweet. Especially since EVERY Friday they have a happy hour and the company gave him a pint glass for this purpose. (I'm a little jealous). I've started applying for jobs and am praying for something that's easy to access since we're sharing a car. We'll tackle that once we get there.

I think that's it for now, here are a few pics from our drive in. 

 Surprisingly, parts of eastern California look a lot like Colorado.

 Our neighbor has a FANTASTIC backyard garden, this view is out our bedroom window. The only downside is he has some noisy chickens.

 Harley is adjusting very well to being a window cat. If she isn't being lazy and asleep under the covers you can usually find her in the windows behind the blinds.

Another view out one of our many windows.

Miss you all!
Loves,
Laura