RIVER RATS

Drove up north for my move to Sacramento, but my first stop was to meet my family for a whitewater river raft trip on the American River. My first (unofficial) familiarization trip! Steve Markkanen drove up as well and we had a blast on the river. Kelly braved the very front of the raft for these shots. Dad and Markkanen were next in front followed by my Mom and Metro, then me towards the back. Our guide, Ravi, got bounced around on this set of rapids called "Hospital Bar"...it looks like he was about to fall on top of me!

Dance, Dance, Dance

Dancing the night away in Monterey...a lot of my dance friends came out to send me off in style before my move to Sacramento. Thanks to Robbie, Laurie, Wil, Margarito, Torsten and Mary Beth for dancing and to Matt & Kate for coming out to show support!

Shot Shots

My last night in Monterey before the big move to Sacramento and a bunch of my friends met me at Sly McFly's for a night of dancing!!! My friend Robbie and I often go there and we have a tradition of buying a shot when we first arrive so it doesn't seem like we're free-loaders just using their dancefloor. Once the shot is done, we're out boogie-ing for the rest of the night. My other friends decided to join in to celebrate my last night. Following the shot, you can see that I have this bitter scrunched up facial expression...but that went away when I started dancing! :)

The Lovely Matt & Kate

So here are a few of the engagement shots I took of my good friends Matt & Kate while we were on our convertible Big Sur trip. I'm just glad the scenery was as beautiful as the couple! :)

One More Big Sur Convertible Breakfast Trip

Sunday, Sept. 2 was my last full day in Monterey. The weather was spectacular and I wanted to head down to Big Sur for breakfast with my friends. There's no better way to do it on a sunny day than in a convertible!!! This has been a bit of a tradition between Markkanen and I when we both have a free morning and the weather's good. Thanks to Matt & Kate for supplying the convertible this time so that Markkanen could check out their wheels. We headed to Big Sur River Inn and had a yummy breakfast. After that, I took engagement photos of Matt & Kate and then finished the afternoon with some Bernardus Lodge wine on Markkanen's deck.

Going away party with my Co-Workers

Ryan and Lina hosted my going away party for work and it was full of good food, good people, and good times. I'll miss everybody at MTR, but plan to visit often! Didn't take many pictures, but took a few of Brian and Kate holding sleepy baby Maddie. Thanks again to all the Monterey crew for organizing and participating in a great send-off party!!!

SMORES!!!

After the wine tasting, we were running out of wood for the fire pit. Matt & Kate went to get more firewood and they also picked up chocolate, marshmellows and graham crackers. We had ourselves a lovely smores party to top the night off!

Malbec Wine Tasting

In honor of my last week in Monterey, a group of us decided to get together for a wine tasting at The Lazy A, my friends' abode. Everyone brought a bottle of Argentine Malbec wine since I'm into Argentine Tango. Each bottle was wrapped up and numbered for anonymity and we took notes on the color, bouquet, texture, and taste. There's a picture of Markkanen actually eating a carrot...I've been on his case to eat more fruits and veggies lately! Then me looking all confused while trying to decide the appropriate notes for wine color. At the end of it, we each selected our favorite number, then did the big unveiling. Thanks to Steve & Suzanne for hosting!!!