woodland hills home

Just when we finally got everything situated in our new place (the pictures hung and the packing boxes thrown away due to our limited storage space) we find out we're moving again! That's a whole other story but I just wanted a reminder of our cute little 550 sq feet home and of all the good and hard times we shared here. 

One nice thing about the move to Woodland Hills is that we finally upgraded to a new couch, bed/mattress, and tv stand after getting rid of our well loved craigslist furniture we had for 4 years. 

Cutie place all decorated for Christmas! 

We enjoyed little perks of the apartment like working out together every night and then relaxing in the hot tub or playing tennis together. 

The months we lived here were definitely the hardest we've ever experienced. There were a lot of tears shed here during the crazy couple months of change and disappointment but I also grew spiritually and was able to support Sam in a way I haven't before and it made us closer than ever!

weekend adventures in la la land

It's not our beloved San Diego, but we've found some fun places that have made LA feel like home. We're also not as close to the beach as we once were but we try to go every weekend to our happy place (that is when Sam's not working on Saturday's).

The first two weekends in Woodland Hills, Sam was working so the third Saturday after Sam finished work at noon, we headed straight to Malibu because we didn't want to miss out on the perfect 80 degree beach day and it was our first chance to explore the beachfront properties and find our new surfing spot!

The next Saturday we explored Venice Beach and ate at a cute little restaurant where one of Sam's clients gave us free donuts. 

One Sunday we went to the temple with the missionaries to help with an investigator discussion at the visitor center. 

On a rainy Wednesday night we found a Christmas tree to take home with us. 

We explored Point Dume one weekend and it was beautiful! We did the little trail hike and then stayed to watch the sunset from the trunk of our car. 

 One Sunday night we took an offloading adventure up Mullholland Drive to the Topanga State Park Lookout. 

A night where we had our missionary friends over. They're literally the only people besides family who have been to our apartment. 

long overdue life updates

-WE GOT A NEW CAR!

We said goodbye to our well loved, well used minivan/partyvan/surf mobile and upgraded all 250,000 miles to a new Jeep so now Sam actually looks like a working middle class professional when he drives to work.

-SAM PASSED THE CA BAR!

It was a 40% pass rate which is super impressive for all those who passed!

We met up with our law school buddies in Irvine to celebrate with dinner, treats, and good company.

-WE SURVIVED THE WOOLSEY FIRE. 

Mandatory evacuations got as close as 6 miles from our home.  

 -SAM GOT SWORN IN!

We went to the oath and swearing in ceremony at the Pasadena Convention Center where Sam was made an official CA lawyer!

Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions and change over here!

thanksgiving in LA

Look who came to visit us for Thanksgiving! Before we even found out we were moving to LA we had planned on celebrating in LA this year and it all just worked out hunky dory because they were able to see the new crib in all it's 500 square feet glory. 

Wednesday we braved the LAX traffic to pick up Meg and then had dinner at Lemonade and explored Abbott Kinney street in Venice. Sam was able to get off work at a decent hour and meet us there. Then while we waited for Sara's flight to arrive from DC at 1am we went to a movie.

Thursday morning we slept in, had breakfast in and chatted. Then we walked around Downtown Disney before our traditional Buckley Thanksgiving dinner out.

On Friday morning we visited the LA temple and then stopped at The Grove to brave the Black Friday crowds and eat at the Farmers Market. Then we went to watch the sunset at the Griffith Observatory in true LA LA Land style. 

Saturday we met up with Sam's fam at the Santa Monica pier and showed them our apartment and went out to dinner and prepared for our talks to give Sunday morning. 

It was a great time seeing both of our families and we're happy that people are still willing to visit us even though we don't live in San Diego heaven anymore.