San Diego

I enjoyed my time in California. I took a day off of work and K and most of her kiddos and I drove to San Diego on a Wednesday evening. We spent the night at an Airbnb there so that we could maximize our time in San Diego the next day. (The kiddos had off of school on Thursday for some reason or another).

Our first stop on Thursday morning was Cabrillo National Monument. It had some pretty spectacular views from this place!

The buildings you see across the water is downtown San Diego.

Enjoying the view!

Point Loma Lighthouse!

This is a statue of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. In 1542, Cabrillo led the first European expedition to explore what is now the west coast of the US.

After we walked around a bit and saw the lighthouse and statue at Cabrillo National Monument, we drove to the tide pools nearby. 

Once we parked near the tide pools and started walking to them, we soon realized that it was going to be a bit of a walk to the pools and debated whether or not we should go. We decided we would continue on to the tide pools.

I forgot to put on sunscreen at this point and wish I hadn't forgotten, but I'll write about that later in this post.

There were some pretty views on the way to the tide pools!

K and I!

At the tide pools!

After we were done at the tide pools, we all needed food. We decided to eat at Chick-fil-A. My nephews got these cute glasses in their kids meal and I had to post pictures of them here because they looked so cute in them. :)

After we ate, we went to Balboa Park in downtown San Diego. We meant to walk around the park for awhile and maybe visit a museum or two there but that is not what ended up happening. 

Near the entrance of the park was a playground and we decided to stop there and let the boys play for awhile. At this point, though, I suddenly really had to go to the bathroom.

Well I was glad for a moment when I saw two restrooms within walking distance in the park. But guess what?! Both of them were closed due to remodeling and I was super annoyed. There were some outhouses near the restrooms, but when I looked inside them, they were so gross that I couldn't bring myself to use them.

So K stayed with the boys at the playground and M and I looked up restrooms in buildings nearby. The closest one we could find that might let us in was a Whole Foods about 3/4 of a mile away. 

And to make a long story short, M and I walked to the Whole Foods and thankfully I made it to the bathroom.

Once M and I got back to the park, though, K mentioned that she wasn't feeling great either. So we gathered everyone into the van and drove to a different part of the park and found a restroom that was open.  

(Also about the picture above, as I was trying to find a restroom I saw what looked like an angel Moroni (but with wings) sticking up from one of the buildings near the park. We obviously didn't go to it but I later looked up to see what it was and apparently it's an events center where they have parties and receptions etc.)

Although we were planning on doing more stuff in San Diego, K and I decided it was time to head home since both of us weren't feeling well. We stopped by the San Diego temple on the way back, but alas the grounds were closed. This picture was taken from outside the fence. 

We made it back to K and T's house!

My sunburn was very painful. My arms and legs ached for a few days afterwards and sometimes the pain kept me up at night. I highly recommend putting on sunblock if you're going to be outside for an extended period of time.

I enjoyed our day in San Diego even though we had some unexpected adventures while there! 

And this is my last post about this California trip. Thanks K and T for letting me stay with you for three weeks! It was awesome getting to spend time with you and your family!

California Beach Time!

I got to spend three weeks in southern California in September. I stayed with my sister, K, and her family. I worked from there and got to spend time with my sister's family when I wasn't working. It was awesome! The weather was lovely the whole time I was there and I got to go to the beach a couple of times.

K, S, J and I went to Newport Beach one Saturday evening. There was quite a bit of traffic getting to the beach this evening. And finding a parking place was quite difficult but eventually we found one just as someone was pulling out.

The beach was nice! The part of the beach we ended up at was not very busy. I read my book, waded into the water a little bit, chatted with my sister, played with my nephews, and just enjoyed the sound of the waves crashing on the shore.
 

 My adorable nephews!

 

K and I!

 

On another day I borrowed one of K and T's cars and drove to Salt Creek Beach. 

 

Lots of birds hanging out on the beach too! ;)

I walked the whole length of the beach. I think I parked somewhere in the middle and when I was done I had walked over 5 miles.

It was a nice day to visit the beach. I did sit for awhile here but mostly I just walked. I got sunburned here since I didn't put on sunblock. Oops. 

I'm glad for the time I got to spend in California with my sister and her family. I don't get to see them as much since when I'm in Virginia and they're in California, we're so far away from each other. 

Stay tuned for one more post about California. 

Pajama Bottoms

It's been over 18 months since the pandemic started. When my company said it was time for us to work from home, I continued to get up at the same time and get dressed in my normal work clothes even though I was working from home. (With all of the craziness happening at the beginning of the pandemic I think it was a way for me to keep some sort of normalness in my routine.)

But one day last week I decided to wear pajama bottoms for work and now there's no going back. ;) I will no longer be wearing jeans while working from home. I will be wearing a nice top with pajama bottoms. It's awesome!

Me trying to take a selfie of my pajama bottoms with nice top. 😂

BYU Spectacular

Tonight I went to my first live performance in over 18 months. Can I just tell you how much I missed live shows and how much I love them?!

As soon as I heard that Brian Stokes Mitchell was going to be at the BYU Spectacular this year, I made sure I was going to still be here in Utah and bought a ticket to go!

Just in case you didn't know I love Brian Stokes Mitchell. This was actually my sixth time seeing him perform live. He has such a pure, beautiful, and powerful voice that I can't help but going to see him perform live whenever I can.

Although Brian Stokes Mitchell was the headline act, he wasn't the only performer tonight. The whole show was amazing! BYU Vocal Point, Noteworthy, BYU Young Ambassadors and the BYU singers sang a few songs, the BYU ballroom dance team and the Cougarettes danced and the BYU dunk team performed some cool tricks! They were all so energetic and awesome!

I forgot how happy seeing performances live makes me feel!

I went with my sister and part of her family. 

I'm so glad I got to go to the performance tonight! It was awesome and it made me happy. :)

California Sealing and Family Time!

A few weeks ago, a few of us family members gathered in California to see my three adopted nephews being sealed to my sister and brother-in-law in the temple. Yay!

We stayed in California from a Thursday to the next Wednesday and it was a great time filled with lots of family time.

H, Dad, Mom and I decided to drive to California from Utah.

 Some of us siblings with Mom!

The siblings who made it to California minus M.

Mom and Dad and some of the grandchildren. Aren't they adorable?!

I really didn't take a ton of photos while I was there, but I have a few.

All of us outside the temple after the sealing (including some of K and T's friends)! The sealing was a lovely and beautiful experience.

 K and T and family outside the temple!

We were pretty busy while we were there but a few of us made it to the beach. 

We didn't get to stay very long at the beach but it was lovely and I'm happy that we got to go!

An old school pay phone at the beach. It didn't work but the fact that it was still there was a blast from the past. ;)

One evening, we left the kiddos at home (with some older kiddos babysitting) and the adults went out to eat and then got ice cream. 

The dinner was pretty good but the ice cream was awesome!

For ice cream, we went to SomiSomi. None of us had ever been there before, but I think we all enjoyed it! It was unique.

Two of my beautiful nieces at SomiSomi with us! 

It is a Korean ice cream shop!

I took time off of work to go to California and I'm glad I did! It was nice to spend some time with family and not have to worry about work for a few days.