Friday, June 14, 2013
In Review
A year ago today, I left Iowa for California. Becky took the day off work, and we went for breakfast at the Bluebird Diner. She helped me make all my last minute preparations, pack up my car, and strap my bike on back. We cried.
I picked up Christy, my travel buddy, and we set out across the country. I still have great memories from our trip, getting to see Erin P in Des Moines, my family, and my friend Cari and her family as we traveled west. Touring the Kearney Arch, Boulder Colorado, seeing Mike the Headless Chicken, Hoover Dam, Zion National Park, and looking for geocaches along the way. The beauty of Colorado and Utah. The feeling of strangeness upon entering California and realizing that it wasn't just vacation and I wasn't going home. That this was the end of the trip for me. It felt so foreign. I felt homeless - so in between places. No longer belonging in Iowa, but not yet belonging in California.
The last year hasn't exactly been an easy one for me. I think the hardest part is that I found it to be a very lonely place for quite some time, even though I had a couple of people that I already knew here (for whom I am very thankful). I know it takes time to build new relationships, but it was so much harder to leave behind all the friendships I had built in Nebraska and Iowa than I thought it would be. I felt so lonely having to suddenly do most of life by myself when I had such a great group of people that I did all of life with for years. I didn't realize how extremely blessed I was by those friendships until I left. And I'm so thankful for the blessings those friends have continued to be by how many have worked to keep in contact and who have come to visit! It just felt like I spent months explaining to strangers (and everywhere I went, there were only strangers) who I was. Although it was okay at first, it became rather exhausting. I think it took until March for me to feel like myself again in general. It also seems to have taken me some time to get the hang of being a postdoc. If I've even found it yet! But it's getting better.
I did get used to San Diego and the bigness of the city and the number of people more quickly than I initially anticipated. Although I'm still not so sure about parking lots sometimes! It doesn't feel as big and packed in here as in other larger cities. That has helped. I certainly have gotten used to the weather, and love that there are things blooming here year round!
Things have not all been sad and lonely though! I have now established more friendships that I'm so grateful for. I've found a church home where I have been able to get involved and find some great supportive people. I've had the opportunity to do a lot of fun things in the area, which I've posted about over the last year, and some things I haven't managed to get on the blog too! And even when things are lonely and hard, I know that God has been with me all the way, increasing my trust in Him. And that He has been so good to give me all the good things I have here to be thankful for!
I don't feel homeless anymore. I now feel like I belong. And I'm excited to see what the next year brings.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Rollercoasters!!!!
Well, I've been waiting for this since I didn't really ride any rollercoasters at Universal Studios earlier this year. :) A trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain!!
I found out quite by accident that my friends at church, Juan and Juliana, really like rollercoasters too. Thus, we decided a trip was in order to Six Flags to ride some!
It's north of Los Angeles, so we had quite a drive to get there. But it was well worth the trip. We had originally hoped to arrive at the park when it opened to see if we could beat the rush and get a few short lines, but it didn't work out so well! That place was so packed by the time we arrived! And the lines - Oh my. One of the lines we waited in was 2 hours long! I know this probably seems like nothing to anyone who has ever been to Disney World, Universal, other Six Flags, or Cedar Point. But I'm used to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City (years ago)! I can only imagine lines getting that long (maybe) on the two water rides in the middle of the summer. So for me, it was a bit crazy. At least all the lines weren't 2 hours long!
We feel like we made out pretty good though. During our day at Six Flags we rode six rollercoasters. And they were pretty good ones too! Terrifying and awesome, at the same time. There were a number more that we didn't even get a chance to ride at all, so I'm pretty sure I will have to go back!
Here are some pics Juliana took of the three of us at the park (waiting in that 2 hour line!) and a really great rollercoaster-scape as we left that evening.
In other news, I saw my first jellyfish outside of the zoo a couple weekends ago in the bay. I think it was dead, as it was just kind of floating near the shore, but it still looked pretty cool! And I gave my first attempt at trying to make some structure out of sand. I think its a little unfair to anyone who has actually built a castle out of sand to say that I tried to build a castle. It was more like one turret of what could have been a castle. Gotta start somewhere, right?
I found out quite by accident that my friends at church, Juan and Juliana, really like rollercoasters too. Thus, we decided a trip was in order to Six Flags to ride some!
It's north of Los Angeles, so we had quite a drive to get there. But it was well worth the trip. We had originally hoped to arrive at the park when it opened to see if we could beat the rush and get a few short lines, but it didn't work out so well! That place was so packed by the time we arrived! And the lines - Oh my. One of the lines we waited in was 2 hours long! I know this probably seems like nothing to anyone who has ever been to Disney World, Universal, other Six Flags, or Cedar Point. But I'm used to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City (years ago)! I can only imagine lines getting that long (maybe) on the two water rides in the middle of the summer. So for me, it was a bit crazy. At least all the lines weren't 2 hours long!
We feel like we made out pretty good though. During our day at Six Flags we rode six rollercoasters. And they were pretty good ones too! Terrifying and awesome, at the same time. There were a number more that we didn't even get a chance to ride at all, so I'm pretty sure I will have to go back!
Here are some pics Juliana took of the three of us at the park (waiting in that 2 hour line!) and a really great rollercoaster-scape as we left that evening.
In other news, I saw my first jellyfish outside of the zoo a couple weekends ago in the bay. I think it was dead, as it was just kind of floating near the shore, but it still looked pretty cool! And I gave my first attempt at trying to make some structure out of sand. I think its a little unfair to anyone who has actually built a castle out of sand to say that I tried to build a castle. It was more like one turret of what could have been a castle. Gotta start somewhere, right?
Saturday, April 20, 2013
The March "march" of friends
Haha! Punny. :) Okay, maybe I'm the only one laughing at the title, but that's okay. I call it this because I had the great pleasure of hosting or seeing several friends in close sequence this last month here in San Diego!! It was quite delightful! I think I'm still running on residual friend-visit happiness. So that has been the highlight that I thought I should share!
First, an unexpected visit from my friend Jen who was visiting with her parents. It was a total surprise to have them in SD, and such a wonderful blessing! I got to hang out with them for a while, and it was so good to catch up with Jen about our lives and all that has happened since we last saw one another and encourage one another. I don't have a picture for this one, but it was a fantastic start to March!
The visit did give me the opportunity for the first time to drive myself across the Coronado Bridge, which I've been a bit apprehensive about. Its a little tall. :) And long. But it was just fine. Just pick the middle lane, and stare straight ahead!
Just a few days after this surprise visit, the second friend arrived (a planned visit!), my friend Jennifer! Yay! We have known each other since the early days of my starting graduate school, and Jennifer starting medical school at the same time. What a blessing it has been to be friends all these years, and to have her come and visit on her not-so-frequent time off.
Jennifer is a self proclaimed Food Tourist. I totally love this. So am I. I just never thought to call it something so neat. So she came with a number of food goals in mind. We thus traveled about seeking fish tacos, tapas and sangria, Italian food from Little Italy, seafood, Thai food, and of course dessert from Extraordinary Desserts. I like finding new restaurants, and we found a couple places which I think call for a revisit! Additionally, Jennifer likes projects. Which means I benefited from a cleaner, more organized apartment by her visit! How awesome is that! You know your friends are good friends when they will help you clean and re-organize. It also meant a trip to Ikea. :)
We didn't just eat though. We also visited the Cabrillo National Monument at Point Loma. We went climbing around on the rocks where my brother and Dad and myself did some investigating back during their visit in October, but Jennifer and I found if we climbed down far enough, we could get to these tide pools which were really cool! Some of the tide pools were like having a mini aquarium cut out of the rock. Little fish, and crabs, and sea plants (yes, that is the scientific term for them, haha) all in this water-filled crevice in a rock. We had quite a good adventure there. We also spent some time on Coronado Island and its beach, Imperial Beach. We found a cute little coffee shop there with a back porch that had a painted wall by which we enjoyed our coffee. It had such neat character. I really enjoy discovering little places like this! I'm glad I got to discover it with such a good friend!
And then, five days later, Becky and Karen arrived for a visit! Becky and Karen are also both friends with Tomomi, my friend here in San Diego that I stayed with when I first arrived. We all know each other from church in Iowa, so it was rather nice to all hang out together. Becky stayed with me, and Karen with Tomomi, and we got together to explore Old Town and the San Diego Zoo, and Little Italy. Of course Old Town means sampling the Mexican cuisine, and Little Italy the Italian. Always more eating! Here we are in Old Town.
Additionally, we just spent some time together and my apartment or Tomomi's condo, cooking for each other and chatting, ect. Becky and I found a sushi place, which marks my first eating of sushi in the 9 months I've been on the west coast. How terribly sad! Since we used to eat it all the time in Iowa! Sadly the weather wasn't super fantastic, so there weren't any great sunny beach days, although Tomomi did take Karen and Becky to explore the cove and the bay.
It was so good to have my old roomie come and visit. I miss having her around so much! While there are things that are nice about living alone, there are also many great things about being able to live with a good friend, and I really miss those things. It was so good to be able to stay up late and have all the conversations like we used to! Just catching up on our lives. And talking theology. And Dr. Who. :)
Well, now I suppose I have some time to wait before I get more visitors. Thanks to everyone who has come. It has been so great to have you all! Being here has made me realize how absolutely blessed I was by friends in Iowa. First, that I had so many dear friends who I did all of life with. I think I had to try to be alone, I didn't have to try to put much effort into being around great people! And second, that our friendships were so dear that so many have made the effort to come here and see me. So blessed!
First, an unexpected visit from my friend Jen who was visiting with her parents. It was a total surprise to have them in SD, and such a wonderful blessing! I got to hang out with them for a while, and it was so good to catch up with Jen about our lives and all that has happened since we last saw one another and encourage one another. I don't have a picture for this one, but it was a fantastic start to March!
The visit did give me the opportunity for the first time to drive myself across the Coronado Bridge, which I've been a bit apprehensive about. Its a little tall. :) And long. But it was just fine. Just pick the middle lane, and stare straight ahead!
Just a few days after this surprise visit, the second friend arrived (a planned visit!), my friend Jennifer! Yay! We have known each other since the early days of my starting graduate school, and Jennifer starting medical school at the same time. What a blessing it has been to be friends all these years, and to have her come and visit on her not-so-frequent time off.
Jennifer is a self proclaimed Food Tourist. I totally love this. So am I. I just never thought to call it something so neat. So she came with a number of food goals in mind. We thus traveled about seeking fish tacos, tapas and sangria, Italian food from Little Italy, seafood, Thai food, and of course dessert from Extraordinary Desserts. I like finding new restaurants, and we found a couple places which I think call for a revisit! Additionally, Jennifer likes projects. Which means I benefited from a cleaner, more organized apartment by her visit! How awesome is that! You know your friends are good friends when they will help you clean and re-organize. It also meant a trip to Ikea. :)
We didn't just eat though. We also visited the Cabrillo National Monument at Point Loma. We went climbing around on the rocks where my brother and Dad and myself did some investigating back during their visit in October, but Jennifer and I found if we climbed down far enough, we could get to these tide pools which were really cool! Some of the tide pools were like having a mini aquarium cut out of the rock. Little fish, and crabs, and sea plants (yes, that is the scientific term for them, haha) all in this water-filled crevice in a rock. We had quite a good adventure there. We also spent some time on Coronado Island and its beach, Imperial Beach. We found a cute little coffee shop there with a back porch that had a painted wall by which we enjoyed our coffee. It had such neat character. I really enjoy discovering little places like this! I'm glad I got to discover it with such a good friend!
And then, five days later, Becky and Karen arrived for a visit! Becky and Karen are also both friends with Tomomi, my friend here in San Diego that I stayed with when I first arrived. We all know each other from church in Iowa, so it was rather nice to all hang out together. Becky stayed with me, and Karen with Tomomi, and we got together to explore Old Town and the San Diego Zoo, and Little Italy. Of course Old Town means sampling the Mexican cuisine, and Little Italy the Italian. Always more eating! Here we are in Old Town.
It was so good to have my old roomie come and visit. I miss having her around so much! While there are things that are nice about living alone, there are also many great things about being able to live with a good friend, and I really miss those things. It was so good to be able to stay up late and have all the conversations like we used to! Just catching up on our lives. And talking theology. And Dr. Who. :)
Well, now I suppose I have some time to wait before I get more visitors. Thanks to everyone who has come. It has been so great to have you all! Being here has made me realize how absolutely blessed I was by friends in Iowa. First, that I had so many dear friends who I did all of life with. I think I had to try to be alone, I didn't have to try to put much effort into being around great people! And second, that our friendships were so dear that so many have made the effort to come here and see me. So blessed!
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Fun in February
Well, as promised, I tried to have more fun in February. I think it went pretty well!
First off, I joined two of my fellow post-docs at work, Connie and Audrey, on a trip to Los Angeles to visit Universal Studios - Hollywood. Now, this is the first time I have ever visited an amusement park that is connected to movie studios. Yes, this does mean I have never been to Disneyland. Happily. :)
I didn't really know what to expect. I'm used to the good old fashioned rollercoaster-containing sort of amusement parks, so I was pretty excited about doing some screaming on stomach dropping hills, or going upside down and such. Alas, I was mistaken. There were only even 7 rides or something.
A number of the rides were well done, like the new Transformers ride and The Mummy ride. But they weren't the rollercoasters I expected. A lot more wearing of 3-D glasses and watching screens! Jurassic Park, however, was a water ride and didn't have screens, and it had big motorized dinosaurs. It was pretty freaky at the end. You totally thought the T-rex would get you before the raft went plunging down the waterfall. And the Transformers 3-D stuff was pretty awesome. I think I was actually convinced a few times that I was moving, even when I wasn't! One of the neat things is that there is a tram that will take you on a tour of the Studios and the backlots where all these sets are located for filming. Like the Europe sets. Or the New York city rows of Brownstone houses. Or the City Hall that some years and a few makeovers ago was used in Back to the Future! Pretty neat stuff, actually. Anyway, now I can say I've been! And of course, I had to be the tourist and get the picture with the Universal globe.
The next weekend I took advantage of the fact that I live next to the ocean and went with a couple gals from church (Eileen and Esther) on a whale-watching adventure! We did get lucky on our boat and we found two California grey whales, apparently on their southward migration to Mexico. They would come up for air and surface 2 or 3 times quickly and then dive back down for a longer period of time - like 4-5 minutes. We got to hang around and watch this for a few rounds before we had to head back. It was cool, however we weren't nearly as close as we were in Hawaii. Not the best picture opp, but here is a tail of one of the whales! We also saw dolphins, and pelicans, and seals, so I'd say it was a pretty good trip. Additionally, when we were coming back the Bay from the Ocean, there was this awesome boat with all the sails and such as you imagined one would have seen, say about the time they were exploring the new world. It just happened to be sailing past Point Loma when we passed it, which is this area of land that separates the Bay from the Ocean (I suggest looking at a map to get the idea!). It is the spot where Juan Cabrillo, an explorer in the 1500's, first set foot on land on the US West Coast. Therefore, the really cool old-looking ship passing Point Loma seemed rather perfect.
First off, I joined two of my fellow post-docs at work, Connie and Audrey, on a trip to Los Angeles to visit Universal Studios - Hollywood. Now, this is the first time I have ever visited an amusement park that is connected to movie studios. Yes, this does mean I have never been to Disneyland. Happily. :)
I didn't really know what to expect. I'm used to the good old fashioned rollercoaster-containing sort of amusement parks, so I was pretty excited about doing some screaming on stomach dropping hills, or going upside down and such. Alas, I was mistaken. There were only even 7 rides or something.
A number of the rides were well done, like the new Transformers ride and The Mummy ride. But they weren't the rollercoasters I expected. A lot more wearing of 3-D glasses and watching screens! Jurassic Park, however, was a water ride and didn't have screens, and it had big motorized dinosaurs. It was pretty freaky at the end. You totally thought the T-rex would get you before the raft went plunging down the waterfall. And the Transformers 3-D stuff was pretty awesome. I think I was actually convinced a few times that I was moving, even when I wasn't! One of the neat things is that there is a tram that will take you on a tour of the Studios and the backlots where all these sets are located for filming. Like the Europe sets. Or the New York city rows of Brownstone houses. Or the City Hall that some years and a few makeovers ago was used in Back to the Future! Pretty neat stuff, actually. Anyway, now I can say I've been! And of course, I had to be the tourist and get the picture with the Universal globe.
The next weekend I took advantage of the fact that I live next to the ocean and went with a couple gals from church (Eileen and Esther) on a whale-watching adventure! We did get lucky on our boat and we found two California grey whales, apparently on their southward migration to Mexico. They would come up for air and surface 2 or 3 times quickly and then dive back down for a longer period of time - like 4-5 minutes. We got to hang around and watch this for a few rounds before we had to head back. It was cool, however we weren't nearly as close as we were in Hawaii. Not the best picture opp, but here is a tail of one of the whales! We also saw dolphins, and pelicans, and seals, so I'd say it was a pretty good trip. Additionally, when we were coming back the Bay from the Ocean, there was this awesome boat with all the sails and such as you imagined one would have seen, say about the time they were exploring the new world. It just happened to be sailing past Point Loma when we passed it, which is this area of land that separates the Bay from the Ocean (I suggest looking at a map to get the idea!). It is the spot where Juan Cabrillo, an explorer in the 1500's, first set foot on land on the US West Coast. Therefore, the really cool old-looking ship passing Point Loma seemed rather perfect.
Monday, February 18, 2013
January Ups and Downs
I'm sorry for not keeping up on this better! I have so much to catch up on. But I have a few free hours since it was President's Day and I sort of had most of the day off. So here's some catching up.
I did eventually get over my Christmas break sickness, just in time for my January up! Which was my friend Katya from Iowa City visiting San Diego for a math conference. Oh, its nice living in city where your friends travel to for conferences. :) 'Cause it means I get to hang out with them! Katya stayed with me and commuted down the conference center and we had quite a nice time sharing our evenings and most of a Saturday together. We saw some of the sights of San Diego. Below is a picture of us checking out La Jolla Cove. And I even got to sneak in and see Katya present her research too! We had such a nice time chatting and learning that we had more in common than we knew! Including the fact that we have coordinating rain coats! :) Thanks for coming Katya!
But some of the month was rather down. I know that I just got to see a lot of my friends and family over Christmas, and had one friend had just come to visit. But nonetheless, I was really really missing friends. I think it was mostly because I'd been having some frustrating weeks at work trying to push things forward and feeling like I was getting nowhere. And making mistakes. And in the midst of the frustration, I just needed a close friend's couch to cry on. And that couch (or a varied possibility of a few peoples couches) is 1500 miles away. So I was feeling quite lonely.
But February will be better! I'm taking some good advice from a friend and trying to get out and have some fun (with people). And trying not to let the frustrations at work get me down. And I can look forward to visitors again in March! I think I have truly been blessed with the best friends ever.
One of the neat things that I did get to do already in February is to go with a gal at my church to an orphanage in Tijuana with a group of others from San Diego. It certainly helps me put the frustrations of my life in perspective to spend a day with some kids from two years old to teenagers who don't have any family and have it much worse than I do, and who can still smile and have fun playing jump rope. Hopefully I can make it down sometime again. Maybe it will be good motivation to try to brush up on my high school Spanish :).
I did eventually get over my Christmas break sickness, just in time for my January up! Which was my friend Katya from Iowa City visiting San Diego for a math conference. Oh, its nice living in city where your friends travel to for conferences. :) 'Cause it means I get to hang out with them! Katya stayed with me and commuted down the conference center and we had quite a nice time sharing our evenings and most of a Saturday together. We saw some of the sights of San Diego. Below is a picture of us checking out La Jolla Cove. And I even got to sneak in and see Katya present her research too! We had such a nice time chatting and learning that we had more in common than we knew! Including the fact that we have coordinating rain coats! :) Thanks for coming Katya!
But some of the month was rather down. I know that I just got to see a lot of my friends and family over Christmas, and had one friend had just come to visit. But nonetheless, I was really really missing friends. I think it was mostly because I'd been having some frustrating weeks at work trying to push things forward and feeling like I was getting nowhere. And making mistakes. And in the midst of the frustration, I just needed a close friend's couch to cry on. And that couch (or a varied possibility of a few peoples couches) is 1500 miles away. So I was feeling quite lonely.
But February will be better! I'm taking some good advice from a friend and trying to get out and have some fun (with people). And trying not to let the frustrations at work get me down. And I can look forward to visitors again in March! I think I have truly been blessed with the best friends ever.
One of the neat things that I did get to do already in February is to go with a gal at my church to an orphanage in Tijuana with a group of others from San Diego. It certainly helps me put the frustrations of my life in perspective to spend a day with some kids from two years old to teenagers who don't have any family and have it much worse than I do, and who can still smile and have fun playing jump rope. Hopefully I can make it down sometime again. Maybe it will be good motivation to try to brush up on my high school Spanish :).
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The Christmas Update
Perhaps a bit belated, but better late than never!
So, last post I said was, and I quote "hoping for a bit of snow" when I went home for Christmas. I just really wanted to point out the part where I said a bit of snow. Because it dumped 7 inches on Omaha the day before I flew home for Christmas, and I got blamed for it because of that comment! :)
Despite the snow, I did make it home okay, and it was quite lovely to see all the white for Christmas. I had quite a good time, and spent a lot of time in a car getting to one place or the other! I made it to Grand Island, Nebraska - 2 hours west one day to see some dear old friends there. Then the next day found myself in Des Moines, Iowa, - 2 hours to the east to meet some of my Iowa City friends there as well. Of course I got to see a few wonderful friends in Omaha as well, and was there just in time to celebrate my brothers birthday.
My friend Ester here asked for some pictures of snow, so I got some in Des Moines. Even though most of you know what snow in the midwest looks like, I'll post them anyway (since I don't have any pics of people from the trip)! It was quite beautiful to see the snow hanging on the boughs of the trees. I'm glad I got to see snow, but I'm even more excited that I only had a 12-day winter and got to come back to Southern California!
So, last post I said was, and I quote "hoping for a bit of snow" when I went home for Christmas. I just really wanted to point out the part where I said a bit of snow. Because it dumped 7 inches on Omaha the day before I flew home for Christmas, and I got blamed for it because of that comment! :)
Despite the snow, I did make it home okay, and it was quite lovely to see all the white for Christmas. I had quite a good time, and spent a lot of time in a car getting to one place or the other! I made it to Grand Island, Nebraska - 2 hours west one day to see some dear old friends there. Then the next day found myself in Des Moines, Iowa, - 2 hours to the east to meet some of my Iowa City friends there as well. Of course I got to see a few wonderful friends in Omaha as well, and was there just in time to celebrate my brothers birthday.
My friend Ester here asked for some pictures of snow, so I got some in Des Moines. Even though most of you know what snow in the midwest looks like, I'll post them anyway (since I don't have any pics of people from the trip)! It was quite beautiful to see the snow hanging on the boughs of the trees. I'm glad I got to see snow, but I'm even more excited that I only had a 12-day winter and got to come back to Southern California!
Other highlights were that the Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake from Thanksgiving made a debut at Christmas dinner as well! Yum, Yum. Christmas was just the four of us in Nebraska City this year. But we got a Christmas evening tour of the powerplant Dad works at. I've never liked walking on grates on the sidewalks in big cities. I didn't like it any better when the grated metal floors we were walking on were about 28 stories up! Not my cup of tea. But it was neat seeing how it all works.
Lastly, the Christmas trip home ended up in a trip to Kansas to see all sorts of family from both sides. We had a bit of a Christmas celebration with Grandma and aunt on my mom's side, until I started feeling horrible and we had to end it! We also got to see an aunt and my awesome cousins on my Dad's side. But sadly, I didn't get to see as much of anyone as we usually do after I got sick. That was a huge bummer.
I did spend New Years Eve in Omaha though, with my general New Years Eve peeps - Katie, Danielle, and Nick (although we were minus a Jon). It was great to continue the tradition! Early the next morning I flew back home, ready to leave only because I wanted my own bed! I was sad to go. It was so good to see everyone I got to see, but sadly I missed seeing a number of people I had really hoped to see. I guess it gives me a good excuse to come back as soon as I can! I miss you all already!
Sunday, December 16, 2012
December in San Diego
Whew! It has been a busy couple of weeks, as the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas often is! I thought I should get on here and post something before I'm back in Nebraska for Christmas!
So, December in California feels quite different. The first few weekends, I was running errands on the weekends in a short-sleeve shirt with my car windows down. Rather warm, I must say :). We actually just had a cold front though. I think it was only like 58 degrees during the day and it rained (proper rain, not the misty stuff these San Diegans seem to think is rain). :) Oh so horrible. It does really cool down at night though. Once the sun is gone, it can get down to the low 50's and maybe 40's. Which is chilly if you have forgotten your coat! But yeah, I know. That's nothing. I'm not complaining, believe me!
So, just like fall, without the cold in the air, it really doesn't seem like December! There are Christmas lights up, of course, lots of lights wrapped around the trunks of palm trees and such. And lights on houses of course. I even got festive and decided to decorate for Christmas! (see the picture below). I got out ALL the Christmas decorations I own, and it fit all in one picture! Hehe. And yes, that is a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. Hehe. Just for the record, the purpose is to look sad. So please don't go make it your goal to buy me Christmas decorations (Melissa already threatened such things). I really just put this up so I can smirk at the thought of the expressions on the faces of all those of you who usually give me a hard time about my lack of decorations!
So what have I been doing? Well, for Thanksgiving I ended up celebrating at my pastors house with a bunch of random people. I even met a couple from Nebraska! How bizarre. It was a lot of fun. I made this Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake, which was so awesome! Good riddance pumpkin pie! Cranberry cheesecake is the new awesome! I also have now hosted the first ladies game night at my place with some gals from church. We had a great time playing Crazy UNO. I lost quite badly. But it was fun. And it turns out that they have Ugly Sweater Parties in California as well, so I attended one of those. I don't really have an ugly sweater, so I just decorated this red sweater that I have. I put silver tinsel around the neck and bottom. I got out of the car at the party, and another one of my friends pulled up, got out of the car, and we realized that (without trying) we matched. Great minds think alike! But she did have better socks. Red and white stripeed ones. Next year. . . next year. . .
Additionally, I went up to Escondido one weekend to meet a great aunt (by marriage) that I'd never met before. She and her husband took me to the Safari Park up there and we all had a good time. They were both so sweet. And the Park was really cool. They had baby elephants, and baby gorillas, and it has a whole different feel than the normal Zoo. So, next visitors who want to go the zoo, I may try to convince you to go the Safari Park instead!
Despite all this lovely weather, I am looking very much forward to coming home for Christmas. I really am hoping for a little bit of snow, but am mostly just glad to see my family and whatever friends I can! Merry Christmas!
So, December in California feels quite different. The first few weekends, I was running errands on the weekends in a short-sleeve shirt with my car windows down. Rather warm, I must say :). We actually just had a cold front though. I think it was only like 58 degrees during the day and it rained (proper rain, not the misty stuff these San Diegans seem to think is rain). :) Oh so horrible. It does really cool down at night though. Once the sun is gone, it can get down to the low 50's and maybe 40's. Which is chilly if you have forgotten your coat! But yeah, I know. That's nothing. I'm not complaining, believe me!
So, just like fall, without the cold in the air, it really doesn't seem like December! There are Christmas lights up, of course, lots of lights wrapped around the trunks of palm trees and such. And lights on houses of course. I even got festive and decided to decorate for Christmas! (see the picture below). I got out ALL the Christmas decorations I own, and it fit all in one picture! Hehe. And yes, that is a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. Hehe. Just for the record, the purpose is to look sad. So please don't go make it your goal to buy me Christmas decorations (Melissa already threatened such things). I really just put this up so I can smirk at the thought of the expressions on the faces of all those of you who usually give me a hard time about my lack of decorations!
So what have I been doing? Well, for Thanksgiving I ended up celebrating at my pastors house with a bunch of random people. I even met a couple from Nebraska! How bizarre. It was a lot of fun. I made this Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake, which was so awesome! Good riddance pumpkin pie! Cranberry cheesecake is the new awesome! I also have now hosted the first ladies game night at my place with some gals from church. We had a great time playing Crazy UNO. I lost quite badly. But it was fun. And it turns out that they have Ugly Sweater Parties in California as well, so I attended one of those. I don't really have an ugly sweater, so I just decorated this red sweater that I have. I put silver tinsel around the neck and bottom. I got out of the car at the party, and another one of my friends pulled up, got out of the car, and we realized that (without trying) we matched. Great minds think alike! But she did have better socks. Red and white stripeed ones. Next year. . . next year. . .
Additionally, I went up to Escondido one weekend to meet a great aunt (by marriage) that I'd never met before. She and her husband took me to the Safari Park up there and we all had a good time. They were both so sweet. And the Park was really cool. They had baby elephants, and baby gorillas, and it has a whole different feel than the normal Zoo. So, next visitors who want to go the zoo, I may try to convince you to go the Safari Park instead!
Despite all this lovely weather, I am looking very much forward to coming home for Christmas. I really am hoping for a little bit of snow, but am mostly just glad to see my family and whatever friends I can! Merry Christmas!
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