Layton & Lauren

Hello again!

2011-02-15T22:40:00.000-08:00

Layton and I are still in school. We still spend most of our time studying and doing homework. One of the things I really like to do to relieve stress from school is bake. I started a blog devoted to my baking: http://www.ikneadsweets.com Check it out!

Altman/Pio & Hamblins v. Los Reyes de la Torta

2010-09-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

At the suggestion of our friends Zach and Jess, we ventured to a new restaurant this weekend: Los Reyes de la Torta.

Apparently, this restaurant was featured on Man vs. Food. I have never seen the show, but we were more than willing to try it. Plus, Jess and I both did some research on yelp and decided it was a go.

Jess and I each got an agua fresca. I got a pineapple one and she a mango one. They were both good and everyone at the table tried each one. I think the consensus was that the pineapple one was a bit better. Then Jess and I split a quesadilla and a torta. They were both good and there was SO MUCH FOOD! I didn't even eat half of my food and I was stuffed. Not to mention the prices were so cheap! It was a fun place to try and I'm glad we went. Zach and Layton seemed to enjoy their food as well. And of course, we had fun hanging out with Zach and Jess.

Here are Jess and I with our fruity girly drinks :-)

Quick update!

2010-09-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

I apologize to anyone who may peruse this blog from time to time. What can I say - life gets busy. It's not a good excuse, but that's really why I have been a lame-o blogger.

This is what is going on with us:

Layton started his first year of medical school at Midwestern University in Glendale, Az. He has his white coat ceremony this week. I am really excited about it, but he keeps telling me how it isn't a big deal. I'm thinking I'll be lucky to get a picture or two. In any event, Layton is doing great so far and I am so proud of how hard he works!

To be closer to our schools, we are now renting a condo in North Phoenix. We are about 15 minutes from each of our schools. Here is a pic of our new place:

I am still chugging away at law school. This year I am a member of Law Review and I am also a TA. I enjoy both of these things, but they keep me very busy. I think most of my fall break in a couple of weeks will be spent working on my article for LR.

That's pretty much all that is going on with us for now. Hopefully someday we'll have time to do some more exciting things!

Go Cubbies!

2010-04-08T05:46:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Layton and I had the opportunity to go to a Cubs spring training game with Judy and Andrew, my friends from school. It was so much fun! The weather was beautiful, the food was good and the seats were AWESOME - right behind home plate! Thanks again to Judy for providing the tickets and inviting us - it was a blast! Here are some pics:

Objects in this photo are closer than they appear.

The Mesa Dog (or something like that)

Chili, cheese, fritos and jalapenos. So terrible, yet so good.

The husband and I

Our group: Judy, Andrew, me and Layton.

Discover Law & Discovering My Age...

2010-02-07T07:18:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to participate in an event at my school, (Phoenix School of Law), where we hosted a group of high school students in conjunction with discoverlaw.org. The students came to our school and spent the day learning about what going to law school and becoming a lawyer really means. I had the opportunity to be a leader in one of the activities and it was so much fun! The kids got to discuss their opinions and try to persuade others to agree with their stance. Some of the issues they discussed included a school's right to use corporal punishment and a school's right to search a student's personal property (purse/backpack).

During lunch, there was a pizza party and a radio station there playing music. I sat with a group of the high-schoolers from the 1st group to come to my activity. They were so funny! I asked them if they liked the radio station that was there (101.5 Jamz?) and they said "kinda" and proceeded to enthusiastically explained to me the kind of music and dancing they really liked. After a few minutes of me not recognizing any of the singers/dances they were talking about, (I didn't even know some of the words they used existed) I realized how far removed from high school I am! I don't know when it happened, but somehow I made the transition from listening to music while I drive to listening to talk radio, which of course has resulted in my complete lack of knowledge of anything cool (is the word cool even an appropriate adjective these days? or is that out of date too?). Listening to talk radio was torture to teenage Lauren and now I really enjoy it. Before you know it, I'm going to be eating dinner at 3 p.m. and starting my day with an ice cold glass of prune juice!

Moral of the story: I helped high-schoolers learn about getting into college and law school, and they taught me how not cool I am. We all walked away with new goals to strive for.

P.S. Of course I went home and tried to Youtube the dances I could remember them telling me about and I felt a little bit better. (Yes, I am up to date enough to utilize youtube).

I just have to say...

2010-01-19T12:25:00.001-08:00

Again already??

2010-01-11T21:02:00.001-08:00

I start school again tomorrow. :-( No more Law & Order: SVU marathons, sleeping in until whenever I felt like it, reading mindless books (Dear John - soooooo lame!).... now that I think about it, it's actually a good thing I'm starting school again. It's preventing my brain from becoming total mush.

Here's to another successful semester! 1 down 5 to go!

New Years Eve!

2010-01-01T18:48:00.000-08:00

Being the exciting couple that we are, we did the same thing this year to ring in the new year as we did last year. We went to dinner and a movie. We started out the evening by going to Red Robin (I recommend the Banzai Burger if you haven't tried it). Then we went to see Avatar in 3D.

(Layton said the 3D glasses gave him a headache because it was blurry, but I didn't notice. Just a warning to those who are thinking of seeing it in 3D - it might give you a headache)

We really liked Avatar and we recommend it. We also saw Sherlock Holmes earlier in the week. Both of us kind of thought it wasn't that great. So, if you're trying to choose between the two, go for Avatar.

Happy New Year Everyone!

The Christmas Season

2010-01-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas this year was a lot of fun! We started out celebrating a week early with my mom. We went to dinner at Olive Garden and then we went to a performance by the Phoenix Symphony. They played a handful of movements from Handel's Messiah and I really enjoyed it (I'm not sure I can say the same for Layton - I had to elbow him a couple of times to make sure he was awake).

Then later in the week we baked lots of cookies! Layton was a champ and helped me decorate the sugar ones when it was getting pretty late at night and I just wanted to go to bed. As you can see, he was having a blast.

Christmas Eve we went to Florence, Az to my aunt's house for her Christmas Eve Party she has every year. We ate delicious tamales and got to see family. I drove down to Florence and my dad and Layton slept in the car on the way there and the way back. Needless to say, it was a peaceful drive absent of any criticism of my driving.

Christmas morning we had planned on getting up at 4 am and driving up to Eagar so we could get there pretty early in the morning and still have the whole day to spend with Layton's family. However, we had an alarm clock malfunction and didn't wake up until about 7:30. By the time we left our house I think it was 10 a.m. In any event, we didn't make it up there quite as quickly as we would have liked but we made it eventually. And of course we took the time to take a picture in front of our Christmas tree on Christmas morning. See below.

The time we spent in Eagar was a lot of fun. We played Racko, Rummikub and lots of Disney Princess Old Maid. If you remember playing Old Maid as a kid, it was just as passionate among the adults at the Hamblin house. It was pretty entertaining. We also took the kids sledding behind Layton's parents' house. Below are some pictures and videos of our time in the snow. The video of Natalie saying 'Merry Trismas' has become a household favorite.

Layton and Natalie talking sledding strategy:

The best smile I could get from Natalie...

Carson - the sledding champ!

The only picture of Layton and I - yes I forgot to zoom out. :-(

All in all it was a great Christmas. Couldn't have been any better!

Freedom!

2009-12-16T19:45:00.000-08:00

Good news! Yesterday I finished my last final of my first semester of law school! I can't believe I am already done with one whole semester! I can now say that I'm one-sixth of the way done. It was a lot of work, but it was also really interesting and a lot of fun. I spent much of the past few months with my head buried in books, but now I finally have some free time! Today actually, a couple of my law school friends came over and we watched movies and did nothing. It was a major change of pace and such a weird feeling to not have something from school looming over my head while we did it.

Although I'm used to having my days devoted to reading and briefing, I haven't had any trouble filling my first few days off with things to do. Tomorrow Layton and I are going to the temple and then we are going to get some Christmas shopping done. Friday I'm going to Snowbowl for the day with my dad! I can't wait to snowboard! I was only able to go one day last year which was very different for me from years past and I have missed it so much! I took my board down to Ski Pro tonight to get it waxed and sharpened. Now that finals are over, I can once again enjoy all of the fun things that come with this time of the year!

Hopefully on Friday I don't end up like this poor soul. Ouch!

Ode to the Red Chair

2009-07-17T16:08:00.000-07:00

Layton and I ordered furniture a couple of months ago and the delivery date got pushed back and it seems like it's been torture not having any furniture. To be fair it hasn't really been torture, but significantly inconvenient. We only have the big red chair. It used to live in the Den at the Dead End House, but I had to take it with me when we moved into this one because we currently have no furniture except for our mattress and box spring until the pieces that we ordered come. It was fun at first, but we are ready to have some real furniture for this place. In honor of the red chair and the ups and downs we've had with it I wrote the following (hoping a reader somewhere could at least get a chuckle from our misery):

Ode to the Red Chair

For now you’re basically all that we own.

Until our furniture comes, then we’ll leave you alone.

You must get lonely since you’re all by yourself.

Someday you’ll be somewhere new, like next to a shelf.

You’re too small for two yet we continue to try;

Only until tomorrow, when we at last say goodbye.

Your ottoman is where we’ve been eating dinner.

Next, the nook in the kitchen – that sounds like a winner!

You’ve served us well. You’ve been faithful and true.

But quite frankly I think that we’re both kind of through.

We’re definitely ready to have all our stuff.

Waiting on Ashley’s has been a bit rough.

Our furniture comes tomorrow. It’s bittersweet. Actually, it’s not bitter at all, just sweet.

San Diego Dreams / The 4th in RV

2009-07-06T19:26:00.000-07:00

In three short weeks Layton and I will be embarking on our much anticipated trip. We booked the flight, the cruise and the hotel for the time we are staying in San Diego before the cruise. Besides reserving a rental car, one of the crucial tasks we have left is planning what we are actually going to do while in San Diego. Of course there is the beach, Sea World, San Diego Zoo - but is there something super awesome to do in San Diego that I'm just not aware of? Any great restaurants you blog perusers would like to recommend? Suggestions on anything fun to do in SD would be much appreciated.

As for what's going on with us... We just spent the 4th in Round Valley, and it was so much fun. We were going to leave Friday night when Layton got off of work, but we honestly just couldn't stop cleaning and organizing things in our house. So when we finished and realized it was 11:30 p.m. we decided to just leave really early Saturday morning. We got up Saturday morning and made it to Round Valley just in time for the parade. Brett and Kristin were already there with Carson, Natalie and Madelyn. The kids were so cute! I don't know if I've ever seen Carson pick something up so fast, but when the parade participants threw candy he had the quickest little hands on the street! Like the great big brother he is, he would then faithfully bring what he was able to grab and share it with Natalie. It was cute. The kids were definitely good entertainment this weekend.

Layton's mom and I also did some sewing. I won't lie, she did much more of the sewing than I did (I didn't actually sew anything), but I was definitely there for moral support and for cutting fabric. :-) We made pillow shams to match the quilt she made us for our wedding. They turned out so great! This is the only picture I have relating to our trip and this post. I'll get better about taking pictures. I promise!

P.S. I start school in about a month! I'm excited. I love being a student and I can't wait to go back. At the same time, I'm a little scared - law school is supposed to be tough stuff!

Married At Last.

2009-06-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

When we got engaged back in January, I thought June 20th would never come. Then all of a sudden the wedding was three weeks away and I felt like I had done nothing and my head might explode from the never ending, exponentially growing to-do list. Yet, with the help of some great friends, our wedding day was wonderful. We had a great time, ate some great food, had some great times with some of our nearest and dearest, and it was just perfect.

Transitioning into married life hasn't been hard or much of an adjustment (to be fair it has been less than a week). It has actually been lots of fun. Layton and I were so ready to finally have a house of our own. I love our little house and our focus has changed from wedding planning to cleaning and organizing - which is actually pretty therapeutic at times. Things are wonderful and we are looking forward to our luau reception this weekend (PARTY!).

For those of you who love pictures, I know how you feel. We are still waiting to get our wedding photos back, but in the meantime check out our photographer's blog. (www.mybloglovesyou.com) We had the best photographer in the world. Shooting with Rachael was so much fun and she does AMAZING work. If you need a photographer for anything, talk to her. TOTALLY WORTH IT.

This is an adult relationship....My brain is oozing!

2009-04-26T21:21:00.001-07:00

We've done it. We've given in. We have started a blog. And what could be a better way to update people than to tell a quick story about our trip to the Emergency Room a few weeks ago...

While playing in a soccer game, Layton and a player from the opposing team both went up for a header. Unluckily for Layton, the other guy didn't get up quite as high and instead of making contact with the soccer ball, he made contact with Layton's head. As head wounds often do, it was bleeding like crazy and we thought stitches were probably in order.

After driving through Taco Bell because the injured was hungry and Arby's was on the wrong side of the street, we found oursevles crossing the parking lot of Chandler Regional Hospital when Layton commented on how adult we were for going to the ER by ourselves. Then, just as the words left his mouth, he remembered his head was still bleeding and said, "Ugh! My brain is oozing!"

Within a few seconds, our conversation turned from that of two adults to two children. I could blame it on Layton busting his head open, but let's be honest. It was just that of another Monday night for the two of us.

After four glorious hours in the waiting room, Layton was finally able to see a PA who at the last moment decided stitches weren't necessary and used dermabond aka super glue to mend the wound. Had I known this was the course of action we would be taking that evening I would have stopped at Walgreens for the glue, probably taken the time to make the U-turn for Arby's, and gone to sleep a few hours earlier. On the bright side, we took our engagement photos the week before and Layton was happy to have made all of those premiums he's paid for health insurance these past 4 years in college count for something, even if it was just some super glue.

P.S. I wouldn't let Layton wipe away any of the blood before we checked in at the hospital. I was hoping if they saw all of the blood he would look like more of a priority. It didn't seem to work, but at least I was able to get some good pictures with my cell phone. :-)