Going the Distance: My First Full Week in California!

Several weeks ago I took an entire week off of work for the very first time and went to visit Alex. This was the best decision I made in a LONG time! Normally my visits go by way too quickly and we are rushed to fit everything in, but having a whole week allowed to just relax and spend time together while also doing all sorts of fun things! Here are the highlights from my trip:


Saturday
I arrived in Los Angeles bright and early Saturday morning. Alex had training for the outreach program he's involved in, so I took a nice long nap and relaxed until he was done. Later that afternoon, we went to a barbecue with Erik and Alaina, Alex's roommates. I learned to play ladder ball...has anyone else ever heard of this game? Apparently people play it at tailgates, but this was my first time playing. Basically, you have two ladder-like contraptions and small ropes with golf balls on the ends of them. You stand at opposite ends of an open area facing one of the ladders, then throw each rope and try to hook it onto one of the rungs of the ladder. The top rung is worth one point, the second one is two, and the bottom one is worth three. Once you've made your three attempts, one of your opponents next to you has their chance and tries to sling theirs onto the rungs for points, while also trying to knock yours off and reduce your points. You have another teammate and opponent on the other side who try to do the same thing with the ladder on your side of the "court." Hopefully that explaination wasn't too confusing, because it was really fun!
We also had some delicious food, and it was really nice to meet Erik and Alaina's friends. From there, we went to the LA Dodgers game....my first one! The tickets were cheap, it was a nice night, the fans did the wave about 10 times in a row, and the Dodgers won! All in all, an excellent start to my trip.


Sunday
I love Alex's church in California. I blogged about the first Sunday's sermon in my last post, so check it out if you haven't already. I think about it every day and need to keep repeating to myself, "Better than I deserve."
After church, we had a really yummy brunch with our friend Clayton and his girlfriend, Tala. Alex and I went to high school with Clayton and Alex played in a band with him, so it was great to catch up and also meet Tala. The last time I saw Clayton was when we both happened to be in the exact same museum in Paris in 2008...it is crazy how small the world is!
After brunch, we headed up to USC because Alex played in a saxophone quartet for someone's doctoral recital. USC campus is so pretty, and I got to meet some of Alex's saxophone friends and hear him play. His awesome friend Ben took this picture of us that I really like!

Monday
Monday was a lazy day, which was just what I needed! Alex and I did some errands, and while he was in class, I worked out in his apartment gym. That evening we watched School of Rock, one of our favorite movies!

Tuesday
I spent a large portion of Tuesday taking it easy (which I was so thankful to do for a lot of this trip--I needed a break!), worked out again, and then cooked dinner for Alex. I made pork chops, asparagus, new potatoes, and sourdough bread. I still have a lot to learn, but I really enjoy cooking and baking, especially for him! : ) We ended the lovely evening by watching our favorite movie, I Love You Man. I can never watch it without Alex and am pretty sure we quote it daily.

Wednesday

Wednesday was an epic day! Alex and I crossed a major item off of our bucket list and went hiking! We went to Solstice Canyon in Malibu and hiked for several hours before deciding it was time to eat lunch. The weather was gorgeous, the views were incredible (as you can see from the pictures), and it felt like such an adventure. We had never done anything like that together and I loved it!

After meeting our exercise quota for the week, we had lunch at the Malibu Country Mall and saw a horror movie being filmed! We walked in the back of the shot and hung out there for a bit before we were asked to move. It was cool! We then took a stroll along Malibu Beach.
That evening, we went on a fun date--Barnes and Noble, one of our favorite places, and Indian food. It was delicious!


Thursday
I relaxed and read a ton on Thursday. I love reading but hadn't been doing much of it because of "life" getting in the way. My trip allowed me to read again, and I've been making more time for it in the several weeks that I've been back home. Sometimes it just takes a little vacation to rejuvenate you!
Alex cooked for us that night. He made his amazing stir fry, and then we finished the evening with Jersey Shore and smores.

Friday

Alex and I hit up a different beach on this day that is just a few minutes from his apartment. It was gorgeous. I wish I could go to the beach all the time! There are all these homes/apartments right along the beach, and we were wondering just how much it costs to live there. If you're curious, too, we saw a sign that had an apartment (or maybe it was just part of apartment, who knows?) for rent for $3,000 per month...unreal!
We made Tex-mex that night and called it an early night because saturday was going to start bright and early..

Saturday
Saturday was VERY epic! We woke up at 5:45 a.m. and got all dressed up for my childhood friend's wedding, then hit the road for San Diego! We stopped in Irvine at Cars and Coffee, which I've enjoyed attending in Dallas with Alex, and now we've been in California too. I think we should take some serious roadtrips and try to hit up others around the country too! ; )
From there, we drove the rest of the way to San Diego and made it to the naval base for the wedding. The ceremony was beautiful, right on the water, and Rachel looked gorgeous and so happy! It felt surreal to be there. Rachel and I were best friends as little girls, and her family moved to Michigan when we were 7, followed by California. We lost touch for a while, but had reconnected thanks to social media. I literally hadn't seen her in 16 years until her wedding day! Thank you, Rachel (now Mrs. Rosner!) and the Bourne family for including Alex and I in your special day!

After the wedding, we headed to Pasadena for dinner with Alex's community group. They were all so nice, and it was great to see the kind of support system he has there. We finished the day by stopping by a party in Beverly Hills, then finally headed home and crashed after our epic day!

Sunday
My last day : (
We went to church again, and it was another great sermon...I want my next blog to be about it and how it applies to my life these days. I also met a former Horned Frog next to me, which was so cool! After church, it was time for lunch and then Alex dropped me off at the airport. It was so hard to leave him after a wonderful week together, but he will be home in a month and I feel so fortunate to have had all that time with him. An exciting thing happened while I was in the airport...Gerard Butler was on my flight back to Dallas! I was staring at him and was literally five feet away from him at the gate... I could have been a crazy fan and touched him, but I played it cool. Still wish I had gotten an autograph or photo, but oh well...celebrity sighting success!

Alex asked me what my favorite part of the week was, and as far as activities, it was definitely our hiking excursion. I felt so alive and got to marvel at God's beautiful creation. The best part of my visit, though, was just getting to essentially live with Alex for a week and everything that our days encompassed. I hope to never take him for granted, even the little things in our daily routines, because I know what it's like to be apart, and it's hard.

Looking forward to my next California trip!

Valentine Weekend in Los Angeles

"The best love is the kind that awakens the soul, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds, and that's what you've given me." -The Notebook

This past weekend I was able to get a great deal on airfare (thanks to my friend Renee for giving me a heads-up!) and fly out to Los Angeles to spend pre-Valentine's Day weekend with Alex. This was our 7th Valentine's Day to celebrate together, and it was wonderful! The weekend went by too fast, as they always do, but we were blessed with beautiful weather, lots of things to do, and, of course, each other.

I arrived in LA Thursday evening at about 10 p.m. (midnight in Dallas.) The flight there was nice because there was no one in the middle seat, and I talked to a really interesting guy at the end of my row who was from Bombay and knows six languages! So cool. Alex picked me up at the airport, and we always laugh about my arrivals because the LAX airport is crazy! It has made me appreciate DFW so much! Instead of a cliche, romantic greeting after not seeing each other for a month, Alex has to pull up to the curb, and then we throw my suitcase in and jump in the car, with people honking, buses everywhere, and parking guys yelling. Very romantic, haha! This time was no exception...it keeps things interesting! : )

Once we got back to Alex's apartment, we spent the rest of the evening catching up, cuddling, and relaxing. We also opened our presents! Alex got me pink sparkly TOMS! I love them!! I have always wanted TOMS but never knew which pair to get. I didn't even know they made pink sparkly ones, so he did an amazing job! We stayed up late (2 a.m., also known as 4 a.m. Dallas time!) and then slept in a little bit on Friday morning.


Friday afternoon we went to The Grove, a huge shopping and restaurant area in LA that celebrities frequent. We didn't see any celebrities, but it was really fun to walk around and browse the stores. Alex was a good sport and went in the American Girl store and let me reflect on all the dolls I wanted as a child. We also went through the farmers' market there, which was really cool and reminded me of this huge marketplace we visited when my family was in Hawaii last summer.


That evening, Alex cooked us a delicious stir fry dinner, and then we went out with his neighbors, Alana and Erik. We decided to go to James Beach Bar & Grill, as it is a major place in our favorite movie, "I Love You, Man." If you haven't seen it, you should, but the main characters Peter and Sidney go there and eat what are supposedly the best fish tacos in the world. Because of the fame the movie has brought the restaurant, the fish tacos are pretty pricey now, so we just went for drinks and to enjoy the atmosphere. It was definitely a happening place, and we had a great time with Alana and Erik! While there, we also ran into a girl from Coppell that I went to middle school with...how crazy is that?! Fun night, and we watch that movie all the time, so it was really cool to visit!




The amazing weekend and gorgeous weather continued on Saturday, so we went to the Getty Center, a museum that you have to ride a tram uphill to visit. In addition to a ton of paintings, sculptures, and other art inside, the outside overlooks LA and offers beautiful views and gardens. We could see everything! We picked an ideal day, because we overheard so many people say that it was normally not that clear. We walked around for quite a while, and ended the afternoon laying on the grass and relaxing. After we left there, it was time for our Valentine's date : ) Alex cooked another delicious dinner, and we had wine and watched The Notebook...my idea, of course, but luckily he is a wonderful boyfriend and watched it with me. We also had Samoa ice crea for dessert...try it if you haven't, trust us on this one!




Sunday came all too soon, but we made the most of our last day. To continue the movie-themed weekend, we went to Angels Knoll, this pretty park in the middle of downtown. It's up on a hill, and there's a trolley that takes people up the steep incline. In the old days, people paid a penny to ride it, while the poor people took the staircase. Alex and I decided to be poor people and get a little exercise! The park was so pretty in the middle of all those buildings, and what we know it as is the park from the movie (500) Days of Summer, another one that we really enjoy. In the movie, the couple comes to that park often and sits on this bench. The bench is now famous and has a plaque on it, so we of course had to sit on it and take pictures! It was really cool and another absolutely gorgeous day!



After Angels Knoll, we walked around downtown a little more, saw where the Staples Center was already set for the Grammy's that night, and then went back to Alex's apartment to get ready for his concert and my departure. : (

Saying good-bye is so hard, and it definitely was this weekend. The best news is that Alex will be home in just a few weeks for spring break! We had such a great time that I wasn't ready to leave, and I miss him already. It's hard to be away from people you love, but it really is true that being apart makes you appreciate your time together so much more. Thank you, Alex, for an amazing Valentine's weekend. I love you so much!