One Man's Junk

When we decided to move out of our apartment in Walnut Creek to live with family, it was the perfect opportunity to de-clutter. My goal was to move to Arizona as a minimalist. That turned out to be hard to do because I have a lot of junk...uh...I mean...treasures. I figured it was time to dump some of it. Then the bright light went on and I thought, 'Hey, I should have a yard sale.' So, I gathered stuff from what seemed like all corners of the earth: our apartment, the Hunt's storage, the Hunt's garage, my grandma's garage, my grandma's attic, and my parent's attic.

Before the big day arrived, I read several articles on how to host a successful yard sale. 

Here were the most popular suggestions...

You gotta be organized 

(So, I got 4 hours of sleep and woke up at 5am to try to accomplish this...)

Avid yard salers like a good 'flow' 

(Definitely worth doing, but a pain, especially at the end of the day when it looks like a tornado came through)

Make sure prices are visible 

(Which I didn't do...tried, but those darn early birds ruined that plan)

Always, always have signs leading to your yard sale 

(I worked on so many colorful signs the night before. I woke up that morning and started setting the yard sale up in the driveway, only to realize that I had trapped in all the cars that were going to be used to set up signs...major FAIL)

Despite not utilizing any of the above suggestions, the yard sale was actually a real success. There was a mad rush at 8am when we opened the gates and it seemed as though things didn't really start dying down until noon. This was what it looked like after said-mad rush. I promise it was more organized an hour earlier...

While the whole yard sale thing was hard work, it totally paid off. We ended up making several hundred dollars that day (it all went to paying for my board exam, but whatevsy). And it was actually kind of liberating to see all my treasures go.

Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't sell everything. I came across things that were just too good to let go. Take a look at my Senior Will from my high school days...

Seriously? What kind of friends did I have that gave me the nicknames Hoochie mama, Skanky, and Pissy? And I had to laugh at all those pet peeves I listed because I instantly remembered exactly who I was talking about when I originally wrote it. Passive-aggressive much?

Anyway, thanks to all my family who let me store random things in random places in their homes. By the time we leave for Arizona, it will really all be out of your hair. (It's okay, I won't be offended if you do a celebratory dance.)

Meeting Jabari

With the NBA finals going on, it felt like every night revolved around some basketball game. Not complaining at all. In fact, basketball is probably the one sport I could watch live or on TV forever. It may be because I've played the sport for years...or maybe because I can actually understand strategy...but maybe it's because it is one "guy" conversation to which I can contribute. I guess that makes me feel cool. Whatever.

So, lately, Tanner and I have been following Jabari Parker, a now senior-in-high-school-basketball-phenom. Oh, and he's a Mormon. I think I first really heard about him after this big SI cover and inside story where it describes him, his love for the game and his faith. Really interesting read.

Doesn't it seem as though, in our church, someone always knows someone who knows someone? Well, I am that first 'someone.' So, get this...John Hunt knows a guy...who was the bishop of Jabari Parker's ward when he was a kid.

Lucky for us, Jabari was in town a couple months ago competing against other great high school players. We had originally planned to meet him after one of his games, but were called over at about 10:30 at night to come and meet him privately. Needless to say, I was sort of frantically running around scrambling to change out of my pajamas and into something a little more appropriate. I mean, I was going to meet the best high school basketball player since LeBron James!

At just 17, he's already got people asking him for autographs and pictures. We only stayed for a little while, but you could tell that this kid is super humble. What a great representative for our Church.

The next day, we headed over to watch him play. 

Didn't get to see him dunk, but it was still fun to watch some quality basketball.

It was really cool getting to meet him and watch him play. 

Hopefully, one day, when he's a superstar, we'll get to say, "Yeah, we've met him. nbd, though."

The Jabari Update: He recently tweeted his top picks for university...

"UK, Stanford, michigan state, Kansas, Florida, Duke, BYU, Georgetown, Depaul, UNC. No order."

Any guesses?

Day Date at Santana Row

A couple of months ago, Tanner and I decided it was time for a date. We sometimes forget us married couples need that once in a while. So, we hopped in the car and made our way to Santana Row in San Jose. But, not without the proper hydration first...

On a side note, Tanner has gotten me hooked on Red Bull. I always used to think they were disgusting. I was also afraid I would start to feel my heart palpitating if I drank one. But, lately, I've started to love them. Actually, I have them rarely enough to say that I love them. So, just on special occasions I love them. :) 

Anyway, Santana Row is this neat outdoor shopping/dining experience. I've only been there one other time and when we do go, most of the time we just window shop. But it's fun just to walk down the streets, lined with beautiful flowers, lights, and comfy seating areas. You can even play a life-size game of chess!

The best store we visited was the Tesla Motors exhibit. Although I'm still a bit skeptical, I have to admit it was pretty awesome.

We decided to have an early dinner on the patio of Pizza Antica. We enjoyed fried artichokes, caesar salad, and pizza (of course). Pretty delicious (although my fave is still Amici's). 

After walking off our dinner, we started to panic (yes, panic) because if we drove back home, we would miss the Lakers/OKC game on TV. This was one we could.not.miss. Fortunately, the Row has an outdoor bar. 

After a hecka long wait, we caught the second half of the game as we sipped on some virgin mojitos and watched the Lakers dominate the Thunder. Tanner was pissed. 

Despite the outcome of the game, we had a great time eating and strolling the streets. 

Here's to hoping Arizona has cool places like this...

Take me out to the Ball Game

Several months ago, Tanner and I talked about going to a Giants game at AT&T Park. I really wanted to get in at least one last game at that awesome stadium. Well, time passed...and I forgot about it. Then, I remembered, only to find out we probably couldn't afford it. I was guessing we'd have to settle for another A's game at the Coliseum...

...but lucky us, my parents surprised us with tickets to a game! And, to make it even better, it was a Battle of the Bay game. Perfect! I knew nothing would be sweeter than seeing my Giants beat the A's on their home field.

So, we tried something new and took the ferry from Jack London Square straight over to the park. So easy. And so convenient. Plus, you get great views of the city.

The gang on the ferry.

Hayley & Tanner

What was fun about the ferry ride was that you've got both Giants and A's fans mixed together. Perfect combination for some pre-game banter. And then you arrive at the stadium...if you can't tell it was like the perfect day for baseball!

I think my grandma has trained me well because I could watch baseball anytime, anywhere as long as it's the Giants. Fortunately, they were good to (most of) us that day and beat the A's in a 4-0 shutout. Can't get much better than that! Thanks, again, to Dad & Jane for showing us a good time!

While on the ferry, we were asked who's fans we were...A's or Giants...

To which I responded,

"Well, I'm a Giants fan."

"And my husband is an A's fan."

"But somehow our marriage works."

Lillian's 80th Birthday

In early April, we celebrated Lillian's 80th birthday. The big surprise of the day was when Wayne and Lillian walked into Lark Creek to find their two sons (one, who had traveled from Florida and the other from England). And they had no idea they would be there. It's always fun when you can legitimately surprise someone. Props to Faye for organizing everything!

The party for the birthday girl continued back at the house with a beautiful cake, a win-money-for-right-answers-about-Lillian game (awesome!), and an opportunity for some family photos.

Happy Birthday! Glad we could spend the day together!

Girl's Trip: Chicago

In the Hunt family, it's tradition to have separate girl's/guy's trips. In times past, the girls have traveled to awesome destinations like New York City and Denver. This year was no different. 

Helloooo Chicago! 

I had been there once before when Tanner and I went to meet up with his sisters right after we got engaged. But this trip was sooo much different. It was my first time with all the Hunt women without the husbands around. Can't lie...I was a little nervous/intimidated. I'm not exactly sure why. Fortunately, I have awesome in-laws and those feelings instantly became a thing of the past.

It seemed as though every day was filled with eating, shopping, and more eating. Did I just say 'it seemed as though?' Actually, what I meant to say was that's how it literally was. But those are two of my favorite things, so it was fine by me.

Caramelized apple french toast with a brown sugar/walnut crumble and vanilla bean sauce.

The greatest (and I mean, THE greatest) meal I had was at the Ralph Lauren Restaurant in downtown Chicago. And what did I have? Soup and salad. That's right. But it was a.may.zing. The soup was a creamy mixture of cauliflower and blue cheese. Sounds odd, but it was like the best thing that has ever touched my lips. 

And the dessert was over the top. Their coconut cream pie was to die for. We pretty much licked the plate clean. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

 Had enough pics of food? OK...

Don't mind the butt photo bomb...

Loved getting to spend time with this cutie! She is the happiest baby I've ever met! No joke.

Some of the greatest women I know! I seriously love them!!

 

Had to put in just one more pic. Sprinkles. 'Nuff said.

Loved spending time with family. Loved spending time in this fantastic city. Loved that I was blessed to pass a big test the day after I got back.

A NorCal Birthday Weekend

For the last 4.5 weeks, I have been on a family practice rotation in the real Northern California. :) Arcata, to be exact. And I was living even further north near McKinleyville. The rotation itself was a great experience, working a lot with the Native American population. I learned a lot about the culture which was cool. The two down-sides: Tanner wasn't there and my birthday fell on one of the weekends. Fortunately, my husband is awesome and drove the 5.5 hours to be with me on my birthday. Here's a look at what we did...

Thanks to electronic medical records crashing, I was able to score that Friday off. We decided to pack a picnic and do all of our outdoor stuff that day. We drove up the coast a little ways to take a hike through the redwoods. It's crazy to see so many HUGE trees!!

After the hike, we found a coastal picnic spot with a beautiful view of the ocean.

Then, like real tourists, we drove a little further north to take a picture with the larger-than-life Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe. :) That is literally all we did - got out, took the pic, and got back in the car and drove off. And along the way, we were able to see several of these elk standing right next to the road...just chillin'.

After all those adventures, we went back to my apartment, took a nap, and then went to a nice dinner thanks to Yelp.

One of the nurse practitioner's I was working with had suggested a couple of places to eat. So, the next day, we tried one of them out... Renata's Creperie in downtown Arcata. Little did we know, this would be the most amazing creperie! Yum! Pictured below are The Righteous Babe (raspberries, strawberries, and nutella) and The Hungry Farmer (rosemary garlic semi-mashed potatoes, ham, and jack and feta cheese). We also ordered one with just cinnamon, sugar, and butter, which was also a-ma-zing. I know we are pigs, but you would have done it too...trust!

We walked around the Farmer's Market briefly, before deciding that the on and off sprinkling of rain was going to make it an "inside" kind of day. So, we checked movie times and caught a matinee of In Time - interesting plot at least. We had dinner at another recommendation of the NP, but this one was a dud. Fortunately, we were still high off Renata's to care.

Our last adventure of the weekend was really unique. I had heard of this Finnish Cafe and Spa, so we decided to check it out. Basically, they have like 15 private outdoor hot tub/spa areas that you individually rent out. While you're waiting for your hot tub, you can enjoy the live music in the cafe. And once it's ready, you take your drinks - hot chocolate in our case - over to your hot tub and enjoy! It was pretty neat. The hot tubs look something like this...

Tanner headed out the next day after church, but not without visiting Renata's one last time. ;) Overall, it was a great birthday weekend and definitely one I'll never forget! Thank you to my wonderful husband! Here's to one year older and one year closer to graduating (which means no more rotations)! :)

PS - I should mention that my parents came to visit me the following weekend. I know...spoiled little birthday girl. We also had a fantastic time - eating, antique-ing, shopping, and more eating! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures, but it was great seeing and catching up with them. Couldn't have asked for anything more!