California Dreamin'

Disneyland is 100% correct in their slogan "the happiest place on earth". I mean, how can you go there and not be like a kid in a candy shop? Seriously though... I love that place! This week has had quite a variety of ventures for Jenny and I. Sunday started with Church in the am (love her Church - and I'm so glad that she has found a home for herself here). After Church we hopped in the CRV and headed down to Santa Monica for lunch. No joke, quite possibly the best salad I've ever had in my life was eaten at a place called Urth Cafe. We also enjoyed some desserts from there, which ended up getting all warm and icky by the time we got to our next destination - Malibu. This state is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I love just driving up and down to coast and seeing what's around. The beaches are packed on the weekends with travelers and locals just wanting to cool off on the surf. The water is the most amazing blue color you have ever seen. And the sand is pristine. I can't imagine a more beautiful drive than that of hwy 1 down the coast of Cali. Amazing!

Monday came with some seriously amazing times. Disneyland!!! We arrived at Disney to a pretty empty parking lot which made us super excited because that meant that park was not that busy. We had to wait in line for our tickets, but once we had them in hand, we literally started walking onto rides. The best part was that we would randomly get these little fast passes from Disney people at the start of the lines so we could again, just walk right on. Jesus loved us! We hit up Star Tours, The Matterhorn (Jenny's Favorite), Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mtn. Railroad, Indiana Jones, Buzz's Astro Blasters, and so much more. The funny thing was that the one line that was the longest was for the random little submarine venture of Nemo. It was like an hour plus wait. We didn't wait for that one... :-)

For lunch we went off to La Brea Bakery in downtown disney. So good! Then it was back to California Adventure where I took Jenny on Tower of Terror for the first time ever. She LOVED it! Then California Screamin' and then back to Soarin' over California. I loved it. We went back to disney that night for the fireworks show and some shopping (LOVE me some Roxy garb!). Dinner was had at Naples Italian. SO Yum-O!

Anyways.... all this rambling to say, I'm having the time of my life here. I often contemplate just up and moving down here as there is nothing holding me back from doing so at this point in my life.
Quote of the day: "Don't dwell on people from your past, there's a reason they didn't make it to your future"

AMEN!! :-)

California Life

California is such a place of wonder and awe. I don't know why it is that each time I come down here I realize how drastically different it is from my home-state. Driving down the freeway the road sides are full of advertisements and billboards. People are in their own world and it seems to be a culture of pure selfishness. However, there is another side to Cali that is just as normal as home for me. The interesting part is the fact that there are literally pockets of people everywhere - everything is very segregated. There are the towns for the asians, towns for the hispanics, and then the white cities. Just crazy that these people can't just live together. Which makes me think, "Hm, racism is still a pretty huge thing in this world."

Okay, so day one in Cali was totally chillax - Jenny and I went off to the grocery store, and Golden Spoon (quite possibly my most favorite frozen yogurt place ever!). Then we came back to the apartment and had dinner, chatted, and went to bed. We were exhausted - poor Jenny still had Florida jet lag! It was a great start to the vacation...

Now day two is where things get interesting. We drove out to the coast and Huntington Beach (it's kind of tradition) and layed on the beach, rented beach cruisers, cruised down to Newport Beach, and then back to Huntington for shopping and dinner. Now normally, we would have been cat called like literally 30 times or more just on our bike ride- but this year no such luck. Are we getting too old? YIKES!! We did have 3 comments, and then a 5 year old hit on us. It was HILARIOUS! Fred's was the place to be for dinner that night and it was SO good after our 11 mile bike ride. After Fred's we came back to the pad, got ready for an outing, then hit the local Pasadena night life. It was so fun to spend some time with Jenny out and about. We went to this fun little lounge called Neo Meze at first, then we hit up another dance club down the street.

This is where things get interesting. So Jenny and I are on the dance floor just hanging out with us. Jenny then bets me that I can get us free drinks in the next 10 minutes. To which I say, "no problem". So we head up to the bar... and sit down looking all pretty like. And sure enough, just about 10 minutes later this older guy (prob around 40) asks us if we can have some drinks... and we're like, "sure". Turns out it was his friends bachelor party (surprise, surprise) and he asks us to take pictures with this poor guy. So we do... and then we're like "we're outie boys". So we leave... and who do we run into on the street? This guy from the club named Jordan. He's totally married... and just chatting it up with Sam and Danielle (our prospective code names). Then he invites us out again with the boys to this ultra exclusive restaurant and bar. Notice that it's about 1am at this point... and we're like ,"sorry, we have to get home". So after telling him and his friend Stewart this like 5 times - we leave. BUT - not without an invite to some pool party/out of control fest at Stewarts house the next day. SO Funny... and SO fun! I loved every minute of it! And I am so loving the California Adventure... more stories to come I'm sure! Love to all of you!

Quote for today: "You're only young once!"

Believe and be Satisfied

Hi Friends... so I came across this little saying I used to have posted in my dorm room long ago and thought I would share it with you. SO Good! And AMEN to it!! :-)

Believe and be Satisfied

Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone,
To have a deep soulful relationship with another.
To be loved thoroughly and exclusively.
But God says to us no, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled, and content with me alone.

Giving yourself totally and unreservedly to me.
This means having a personal relationship with me alone
And being happy with just that
I won’t give you something that will take you away form me
I love you my child.
You will never be united with another until you are united with me, exclusively
Without any other longings or desires
I want you to have the best
Please allow me to bring it to you.
Just keep learning and listening to things I tell you…
You must wait.

Don’t look around at the things you think you want,
Just keep looking off and away to me,
Or you’ll miss what I have to show you.
When you are ready I will surprise you with a love,
More wonderful than you could ever imagine.
You see I am working at this very minute to have you both ready at the same time
Until you are both satisfied exclusively with me and the life I’ve prepared for you,
You are not ready.
Only when you are ready will you be able to experience
The love that exemplifies your relationship with me…
And this my child is perfect love.

And dear one I want you to have this wonderful love.
I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your everlasting union of beauty,
Perfection, and love that I offer with myself.
Know that I love you utterly.
BELIEVE AND BE SATISFIED!



Okay, so seriously... this is such an encouragement to me. The amazing thing is that the Lord does know better than any of us what we need and when we are ready to have it. He brings every blessing into our lives at just the right moment - and He is faithful to His promises to us.

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this." - Ps. 37.4-5