Welcome!

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Welcome to "Loverbirds on the Go" (previously "The Pando's") and happy new year!! 2013 was a fun and eventful year for us but we sure are looking forward to what 2014 will bring. Here are a few things that we are looking forward to this year:

- Derek graduating from his MBA program at BYU
- Me being half way through my MPH program
- Moving back to California (!!!)
- Derek starting his job at LinkedIn
- TRAVELING AROUND THE WORLD

The last one on the list has us especially excited at the moment and is the reason I decided to change the name of this blog. Although this is definitely our personal family blog, I wanted to focus it a little more on travel. Derek and I are both passionate about traveling. We love to meet new people, experience new cultures, try new foods, and just go where we haven't gone before...whether that be to a new country or to a nearby city we have yet to explore.

Also, much of our time has been consumed with planning a trip through Europe and South East Asia this spring/summer; 13 counties in 7 weeks! We are both grad students so...let's just say the money is not flowing for the time being. We have been taking a lot of time/energy to plan this on a budget and have come across some great tips that we hope to share with others. I am also excited to get other people's thoughts and experiences on these subjects too, so please share!

And again, WELCOME!

Thanksgiving 2013

Friday, December 20, 2013

I'm only a month late in writing about our Thanksgiving...that's not too bad, right? This month has been pretty hectic as Derek and I have both been finishing up our semesters and taking finals. As of yesterday we are done and free for the holidays!
We had such a fun Thanksgiving in Bakersfield, CA where my brother lives with his wife and 2 kids (who happen to be the cutest little niece and nephew on the planet). It was a long 10 hour drive from Utah but it was well worth it to spend time with my family. We played catch phrase for hours, made s'mores over a bonfire, had ping-pong competitions, watched Christmas movies and, of course, ate delicious food around the clock.



I made this video for my family to capture our fun moments together. Watching the video makes me miss them so much! I am grateful to have such an amazing family that I love dearly. They are my favorite people and I love every second I spend with them. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, too!