Cali.forn.i.a.

So as I mentioned previously, I was in California recently. Everything was wonderful. 

I have so many stories. and pictures. I think I took around 350 on my digital and 2 rolls on my SLR which ended up being around 50 pictures. So around 400 total. yeah. It felt reallllly good.

Yeah pretty much everything about my weekend was just incredible. We left thursday night from rexy and drove alll through the night. I was supposed to drive the last leg of the drive, but I ended up not having to and we arrived in the OC, CA around 7 am. We had breakfast as my dear friend Alissa's cousins house and then went over to the hotel to shower and get ready for the beach. It was a slow start though because obviously everyone was exhausted ha. We went to Newport Beach which was about 20 minutes from our hotel. It was sooo gorgeous.

Just to give a little background on the people I went 

with were all on the football team I played for (Mariah, Erin, Alissa), minus one (Jake). But he's the brother of one of the girls, so he still kind of counts. We all played football on the beach and tossed around a frisbee, which kind of got old fast because you cant do much with only 5 people. But it still felt really good because its been forever since I've thrown a football AND football season is over! So I've been going through major withdrawals. Mariah had never really been to Cali before, nor seen the Pacific Ocean so we, minus erin (because she doesn't like getting in the water), all played in the waves. It was soooo much fun! The water wasn't even that bad. It felt really good too. We went out pretty far, and I think some of the surfers thought we were crazy because we didnt have any wetsuits on. I got hit pretty hard a few times and got a couple mouthfuls of salt water, which makes me want to throw up just thinking about it cuz I hate hate salt but thats another story. I called it quits after getting hit pretty hard one more time and just lay on the beach with erin. I got some more really great shots, one of which Spencer made really pretty.

Anyway, we went to In N Out and saw people of all statuses there. We sat really close to these GQ looking business men who literally ate like 3 different meals. I get so full after one burger and fries. I love their fries by the way. Oh also, the GQ guys had baller cars. Mercedes. Fact. I touched it. So smooth. We all crashed at the hotel after that. 

That night though, Alissa and Jake went to their family's house and Mariah, Erin, and I went to Anaheim and walked around Downtown Disney for a while before we met up with one of their friends. On the way in there was this old beat up van with this old creepy fat guy sitting in the driver's seat with the door open. He was scoping out everyone that walked by and his whole vehicle was filled to the brim with full trash bags, some of them regular and some Disney bags. It was so bizarre looking that I couldn't help but stare for a sec but then I had this overwhelming feeling that wasn't the best idea. It was so scary! I was positive he was some sort of rapist or something. He literally sat there all night long, but when we came back he disappeared! Downtown Disney was a super short trip though. Mostly we just window-shopped. Which I hate.

Saturday we traveled another 40 minutes or so to Hollywood. I've never been there, that I know of, and neither had Mariah so it was a really fun experience for all of us. We saw the Kodak theater of course, which was shut down for the Oscars coming up soon. I guess. We went to Hooters for lunch, which is always an interesting experience. It was only my second time at Hooters and for the record, the first time was back home in Tennessee and the wings and the waitresses in LA are so much better. Ha ha. We also took a gander at Sid Grauman's Chinese Theater.. AMAZING. It was kind of surreal to stand there where all these major starts have been, stood, placed their hands and feet, etc. I found all my favorites and held hands with each of them...

Dick Van Dyke

Frank Sinatra

Johnny Depp

Humphrey Bogart

Hugh Jackman

Robert Downey, Jr.

                   Bing Crosby

Marilyn Munroe

Anyway, after that we went shopping and I got hit on by a bum. He told me I could take a picture of him with my SLR so I did. But he asked me if I believed in genies and he made it sound like he thought my camera was a magic lamp. He also said if I was in town later that he'd take me out for dinner when he got enough change. He told me several times that I had a nice nose. He also offered me his jacket because mine was soaked from the rain. He was legitimately crazy, but still very nice. But I wasn't going to get to know him any further than I did. Haha.

That night I slept over at my friend Jenna's. She used to be my roommate and now she's back home working to save up for her mission. We just caught up and told stories. It was really nice. I miss her a lot. I went to church the next day at my friend Hillary's ward. Because it was her farewell and Jenna was singing. It was sooo good and sooo nice. Jenna did fantastic and Hillary's talk was awesome. She's going to Chile, and she was always kind of mad that she wasn't leaving till late (she got her call in October) but after the earthquake she said she thought she was supposed to wait so she could help out with that and clean up. Makes sense. We went over to Hillary's house after Sacrament though, to have lunch and say goodbye. We ate lasagna and salad and garlic bread.. OH it was so good. The goodbyes were hard because Alissa and Hillary are best friends and cousins, so they're really close. I almost cried myself. 

Hillary and Me :-)

Jenna and Me

So we took off after that. On the way home we passed through Vegas, which I love. Wish we could have played there a little. I also learned how to "thizz" (youtube it) which was soo hilarious. We also stopped in Baker, Nevada and had the wonderful experience of seeing the World's Largest Thermometer. 137 ft I think it was? I'm not sure. I think we also hold the record at the St. George McDonald's for largest order. We had at least 50 chicken nuggets. 4 fry orders. And some sandwiches and drinks. Nuts. I met Jake and Alissa's grandparents. Makes me miss mine. But we arrived safely after dropping Jake off in Provo. And I still have no phone.

Thizzzzz

I touched the top. Thanks to Jake.

Road Trippers. 

L to R

Erin, Jake, Alissa, Me, Mariah