jobs, guitars, mexican food, and family

so we graduated a little over a month ago. and since then we've been trying to figure out what to do with ourselves. we have applied to lots of jobs, watched lots of football games (byu cougars, provo freshmen, and otherwise), and answered lots of questions about when we're getting jobs. we're working on it.

austin had just started on a little freelance work when we got three quick leads on job opportunities. one of them was very very exciting to both of us: taylor guitars in san diego. first of all, there is the company's great name. secondly, anyone who knows austin also knows that music and guitars are second only to laura in his heart (maybe a close third behind byu football in the fall). and third, laura's family lives in southern california and would love to have us closer.

so when taylor guitars called about an opening and an interview, we packed our bags and put together a great little mini-vacation!


outside the taylor headquarters in el cajon (just east of san diego). yes, those are palm trees -- something we could get used to.


before the interview, we took a tour of the factory along with a dozen or so other taylor guitar fans. this room was where a lot of the wood for the guitars is stored. the guide said that there is over $2 million worth of wood in that room on any given day.


one of the unique things about taylor guitars is their use of automatic and mechanical processes in their guitar-building. here they have a machine that is programmed to do sanding and buffing.


this was one of the more fascinating machines which was used for all the detailing work on the guitar necks and fretboards.


this machine is carving the neck and heel blocks -- the automated process allows for very high consistency in all the different models and sizes of taylor's guitars. but all the fine details and inspection are still done by hand, one by one.


this machine does the bending of the sides of the guitar -- a process which is very difficult and time-consuming if done by hand.


some assembled guitar bodies awaiting finishing/coating.


this machine was probably our favorite. it's hard to see the whole process, but it is applying the finish/coating to the guitars. it was really fun to watch.


some finished bodies and necks awaiting assembly. austin saw some really pretty guitar woods and finishes. the tour was really fun and was worth the day trip to san diego.


we decided that we couldn't be so close to the coast and not visit, so after the tour and interview we drove into san diego and spent a little while at the beach.


more beach pictures!


austin's dad gave us a recommendation of a mexican restaurant to try out if we were going to be in san diego for dinner. it's a little place called el indio and we can now recommend it to others ourselves. great mexican food! we both agreed that if this place was in utah it would have long lines every night. it probably does here too, but we had an early dinner. yum.


emily and david were happy to spend some time with their sister -- we lucked out that the kids' october break was the same week we came!


we were also lucky enough to see one of emily's soccer games on our way out on saturday morning. her team is the "lady vampires" and they destroyed the team with the extremely bright neon pink/orange jerseys.


maybe we'll get to go to more of emily and david's soccer games this year? we'll see...

- - - - -

we had a great trip and it was fun to see laura's family -- even for just a couple days. luckily we were spoiled this summer and got to see them three times here in utah. so it was our turn to make the trip for sure.

we're not sure what is going to happen with the taylor guitars job (the interview went well, so we're hopeful), but we had a great trip and feel like it was definitely worth it regardless.

we stopped and saw the second half of braden's football game when we got back and quickly realized that we like the october weather better in southern california than utah -- we were very unprepared in short sleeved shirts!