March 2013 Highlights

My highlights from the month of March. It was a busy month!

Irvine, CA

A good family friend since 6th grade got married!  I loved her decorations and Princess Bride quotes!

Big Bear, CA

Snowboarding with my brother Micah for his birthday.

Signal Hill, CA

I love running up Signal Hill on a rare clear day in LA county. You can see downtown LA in the distance. 

Wrightwood, CA

Heading to the snow for skiing with Mike. 

Signal Hill, CA

A foggy morning run on Signal Hill. The electric pole in the distance reminds me of the cross and the early morning resurrection that followed 3 days later. 

Westminster, CA

Bridesmaid dress shopping with my sisters. We found one!!!

Beautiful CA sunsets. 

Point Loma, CA

Brought wild flowers to my dad on Easter. He used to always pick wildflowers while running and bring them home. So it seemed appropriate. It was the first time Mike had been to see his grave. 

Too ambitious goal...

My goal of a picture a day was far too ambitious with all the craziness of getting married! So I have decided to post some highlights from each month and see if I can become more regular at posting again. We'll see what happens!!

End of February

February 19 - February 28, 2013

I didn't take many pics the end of February, so here's what I have from the last two weeks.

Pic 1: A fun picture drawn for me awhile ago from the lovely artist Joann

Pic 2: We had dinner with some college friends and to celebrate "my being in love" I got the heart shaped bowl of ice cream :)

Pic 3: yes, you know what this means... My guilty pleasures... Frozen yogurt and the Bachelor...

Pic 4: Dinner with Mike toasting the things ahead with are individual sized bottles of sparkling cider :)

President's Day Hike

February 18, 2013

Mike and I "redeemed" a hike together on President's day. It was great to let go of old memories and make new memories together. These are just a couple pics from the hike.

PS don't just the second one, everyone else was doing it and we didn't carve too deep...

Lent and Love

Wow... Life keeps flying by and I get further and further behind. I started this post awhile ago. Lent, a time for reflecting on God's love and introspectively reflecting on our own lives and love for others, coincided with Valentine's this year. So, on Wed we went to an Ash Wednesday service together, reflecting on God's love and on Thursday, we celebrated Valentine's reflecting on our love :)
Pic 1 After Ash Wednesday service
Pic 2 Heart-shaped cookies and candy for each other.
Pic 3 How much is your love worth?? ;)

A fresh start every day

February 11, 2013
Long Beach, CA

I love the dew drops I see on early morning runs. They look so pristine and beautiful before the daily trials of the world destroy their beauty. I see so much allegory to our lives... Each morning we have a chance to start new and fresh. However, with the pressures of the world: people knocking us around, the heat we face, or just the daily trials, we often lose that glisten. Sometimes we make the mistakes and sometimes others do. But thanks to a Savior who gives us what we need each day (and a good night sleep) we have a new start each morning to let our beauty shine.

Feb 6 - Feb 10, 2013

As the weeks fly by, here are some highlights...

Pic 1: Hail storm in Long Beach. The picture does not do it justice but on Friday we were assaulted with lots of rain, two short hail storms and thunder. The hail caught me by surprise as I was getting to work. The tiny white dots are the hail

Pic 2&3: After over 5 years in Long Beach, I finally went on the Queen Mary. This is a view approaching the ship and a view of the city looking at the harbor.

Pic 4: On Sunday, I made Mike attend a free bridal show with me. We sampled food and cake and got cute bride and groom stickers :)

A glance at the last week...

January 29, 2013 - February 5, 2013
Around Long Beach, CA

Lazy bunny, dew drop covered leaf, a day at the office, new art exhibit at PIEAM, delicious BBQ, yellow polka dots, birthday photo bomb, and a bump on the head... It's been a busy week! The thought provoking ideas for the pics have fleeted away with the week. Hopefully, next time will bring more!

Good times...

January 25 - January 28, 2013
Long Beach, CA

I had good times this weekend, good times... Lets just say avoid the virus at all costs! Hopefully "better" pictures coming soon!

Birthday Hike

Monday, January 21, 2013 - Malibu, CA

Last Monday I went on a hike in Malibu for Susana's birthday. Since it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I had the day off and it was nice to enjoy the outdoors. It was a warm day in Jan, even for CA, so many people were on the trail, but we were able to enjoy a trickling waterfall and a beautiful view of the ocean.

A fun weekend!

Days go by and I miss so many pics. My new goal is to post regularly ;)

Saturday, January 19th, 2013
Saturday was a wedding prep type of day. We drove down to Oside early Sat morning and my little brother took some engagement photos. Unfortunately the lighting wasn't great but hopefully we got a shot or two that were good. In the afternoon, I went to David's Bridal with my mom and sisters. Dress shopping is kind of difficult for a holistic, indecisive person like myself, but I'll figure it out soon. The first pic is a fun picture from the day with my sisters.

Sunday, January 20th, 2013
FINALLY, I went and saw The Hobbit. I love Tolkien and Peter Jackson, so I was excited for another film! At first I was bummed it was a trilogy, but now I'm just excited for the other two!

Beautiful Children

January 15, 2013

On Tuesday, I had a fun day hanging out with Hayley and playing with her two beautiful children. After working with kids all day and then playing with Hayley's kids, I was very tired! I don't think I could be a working mother, at least not working with and having small children... Props to all you moms who balance work and children! Hayley's boys are adorable, so I had to share some pics from the park.

January 9 - January 14, 2013

January 9 - January 14, 2013
Costa Mesa and Long Beach, CA

The days are just flying by! I haven't taken pictures everyday but I do have some fun ones to share!

On Thursday, Jan 10, I went dress shopping for the first time! It was a really expensive boutique where I can't afford the dresses, but it was the start of a fun ladies night. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed. The first three pictures are all from that night. We had wine and cheese, played with an adorable bunny and then finished off with dinner and The Bachelor. It was a great day!

Pic 4 - Mike and I went out for dinner Friday night and tried to walk by the water, but with the freezing wind, our walk lasted about 5 mins :)

Pic 5 - On Sunday I went to David's Bridal with Becky, my maid of honor, my only chance of doing something wedding related with her before she flies off to Rwanda once more. The woes of having internationally minded friends ;)

Let the wedding craziness begin!!

January 7 and 8, 2013 - Long Beach, CA

I don't intend for this to become a wedding blog, but the fact is, I'm engaged! So a lot of the photos over the next six months will be wedding related. To start the likely series off...

Pic 1 - on Monday I got my ring back from the jeweler after being sized! Now I have a sparkly ring that fits :) it's my great grandmother's ring. I love the history, the uniqueness and the beauty :) unfortunately my iPhone cannot focus on something so dazzling so the picture does not do it justice.

Pic 2 - Today (Tues) was my first visit to a David's Bridal. I didn't try anything on but began thinking about what kind of dress I want...

Sick days...?

January 4 - January 6
Big Bear, Long Beach and Carlabad
Friday morning I woke up sick. But crazy me never completely stops. I still filled my weekend with adventures, though slightly dazed...
Photo 1 - Becky and I in Big Bear, the morning I woke up sick :/
Photo 2 - Chicken Noodle soup provided by my wonderful fiancé. He was so good to me while sick!
Photo 3 - forthcoming... From wedding scouting for possible wedding locations!!