My California Adventure

I'm home for the summer! I'm back in my own room! I don't have to buy my own food for a while! Yay!

Okay, hopefully I've got that out of my system enough to tell you a story.

Today my mom asked if I wanted to come to Michael's with her and Jared and Noah. We got in the car, hopped onto the freeway, and instead of getting off on Mountain like we were supposed to, we kept going. "Surprise! We're going to Disneyland!"

I had planned on surprising my brothers with a Disneyland trip sometime in the next few weeks, and I had no idea that they would do it to me!

We spent more time in California Adventure tonight than in Disneyland. It was a beautiful night and we had a blast. I was thinking about it on the way home, and I'd like for this summer to be my own "California Adventure." Every time I leave LA it's harder because I've come to love the area even more. I don't want to miss out on the treasures that I live so close to! So here for public consumption, is my Spring/Summer 2011 To-Do List:

• Visit the Getty Center
• Disneyland with friends!
• Go with friends to Downtown LA and/or Hollywood 
• Attend the LA temple as often as possible
• Go to the beach more than twice like I did last summer
• (All of the above can also be considered a To-Photograph List as well.)
• Get good at piano again (not LA related, necessarily, but still an appropriate to-do)
• Start making money with photography (You can help me out with that, but that's another post for another day.)

Hysteria is a Symptom of Spring Fever.

I had always been under the vague impression that when Spring came, you would wake up one day to a warm green world, a little rain, and that snow just kind of disappeared.

Nope. Thanks for lying to me, California.

This much snow melts slowly and it floods the sidewalk. The grass underneath it is brown and dead.

I've found that Spring is a bit like adolescence. It's totally different than what you expect. Things are changing at a crazy pace and you're not sure what's going to happen next. You start shaving your legs. Under the right conditions, you want to wear as little clothing as possible.

I will admit that I'm being a tad obsessive about Spring, but this Winter is just driving me up a wall! When I left devotional today to find it snowing, I totally lost it. Maybe you heard me.

"Spring starts in March! WHY is it snowing? I hate seasons!" 

"Spring starts March 20," explained Jenna.

"Shhhh. It's March."
 At this point I realized how loud I was when a lady passing by sweetly told us about how when she got married at the end of April and it snowed that day. I quieted down after that. (Yes, I can be a bit of a drama queen...but you haven't seen anything until you've met my youngest brothers!)  I went home, changed into something warmer than a dress, and looked out the window. More snow. I had had my fair share of outrage for the day, so I just tried to ignore it. Thank goodness for the Rexburg blog. It reminds me why I didn't stay home.

By You, I Mean Me.

 

image via 

 

Have you ever had one of those days that drugs you up, knocks you down, and sticks big needles in your arm? You know, those days when your hair won't do anything and staying awake is a struggle and your plans all fall apart?

(Okay, I went out of my way for the needle, but the fact that I'm still bleeding seven hours later is a sign that the world needs better phlebotomists. I volunteer myself.)

But the thing to do about those days is to:

1. Belt out any old 80s song that comes to mind (Livin' On a Prayer, Alone, and Love is a Battlefield all work very well). 

2. Call your best friends in California because it's the next best thing to a real hug from some people you're incredibly lucky to have the privilege of knowing.

3. Go on an adventure with your roommates because you're out of shampoo and your roots are starting to show. You might not be able to find the right brand of hair dye, but that pot of daffodils is even better. They're a celebration of Spring!

4. Read a TON. Read scriptures, read good novels, read the textbook assignment for class tomorrow. 

5. Try something new, crazy, and potentially harmful. You might discover that your computer screen can double as a dry erase board.

Because you know what? Just because things aren't going your way today doesn't mean that this is gonna be forever. Crap like this may have happened before and it might happen again, but you can totally handle it without becoming a madwoman. Maybe you can even handle it with a little maturity and grace.  It's all for the best. And just think--it could be worse! What if you had the ability to feel awkward? Adding awkward to all the other weird going on would have been far too overwhelming. So maybe today wasn't so bad. It was just flippin' weird. But that's okay because you're kind of flippin' weird too.

Seasons are a Relatively New Concept.

 

image found here

It got up to something like 40º F today.

I went about my day with bare legs, and only my hands got cold. (Tuesday devotional=wore a dress)

The icicles outside my window are starting to melt away.

I can see (albeit dead) grass outside my apartment.

Spring is on its way...just as I'm getting ready to leave. Great. But then it'll be Summer in California! (We only have two seasons there...Summer is from April to mid-November and the rest is Lesser Summer/Sort of Spring.)

But I'm so ready for Springtime. ANY kind of Springtime. Maybe even this one*.


*Don't click the link if you are easily offended by musical comedy involving Hitler. Also, I don't really want this kind of Springtime.