Weekend Adventures

We had a nice weekend of running a few errands and visiting with friends and family.

Saturday morning we got up early to take Michael's car in for some scheduled maintenance.  A bit of a stressful day, that ended well. :) Sunday afternoon we made a trip to the beach with two friends. It was a lot of fun, and such a gorgeous day. To be honest, I am actually looking forward to going for walks on the beach, sitting and reading in the sand, people-watching while I tan... All things that normally wouldn't be so easy to do if we lived farther away from the beach (traffic would be nightmare if I left the beach too late).

While we were apartment hunting, I kept repeating to Michael how if we were going to live smack dab in the city I wanted to live somewhere that was "walkable". My word for describing an area that had a lot shops, grocery stores, etc., within walking/biking distance. Even though I consider myself a fairly introverted person, I do enjoy walking to nearby stores, crossing paths with strangers and such. I guess its the residue from my this dream I had when I was about 14. I had daydreams of moving to New York City and just living this fabulous life, where I had a fantastic apartment, walked to my awesome job as an artist of some sort, and took the subway everywhere. And I was the beautiful and mysterious girl on the subway...

Needless to say, that is no longer my dream. My dreams involve much more rural scenery. Maybe some pigs, horses, cows, and a huge garden with little babies running through it with dirty feet and chubby faces. And my handsome husband off chopping some wood without a shirt on(TMI?? :P)

Although, now that I'm learning my way around our area, I'm starting to see the bright side of living here (I'm done complaining, I promise!). I see a lot of people walking to and from work in our neighborhood, or just out exercising. That gets me excited to walk to the store, ride my bike (when we buy one) to get a cup of coffee, or just walk around the city. Things that were really difficult to do at our last place, since everything was pretty far away.

I also dropped off our old apartment keys to our manager. It was sort of bittersweet. Even though most of our neighbors weren't really on the friendly side, our manager was really nice and worked really hard to make living in the building comfortable. Not to mention, that will be the apartment we'll always remember as our first home together. I imagine us looking back with smiles on our faces and thinking, "Remember that teeny apartment we lived in right after we got married???" It was a small but comfy and clean home for us newlyweds.

So it is the end of a chapter in our lives, and the beginning of a whole new adventure. I'm excited to be side-by-side with the one I love.

I'll be back soon with the photos of our home tour, so come back soon!

That's Life. That's Marriage.

We are in. I'm now a West LA-er. Something I never thought I'd call myself.

The entire time I've lived in Los Angeles (about 13 years), I've lived in the valley. If you're not familiar with LA, the valley is more suburban. It's still pretty busy and can still have a lot of traffic, but it is generally slightly cheaper to live there and isn't as crowded as the rest of LA.

Well, we are now smack dab in the middle of the city. For someone who really wants to live on a farm in the middle of nowhere, I've been having a tough time adjusting.

There are a lot of angry drivers here. A lot. It doesn't help that I tend to take it personally when people are rude drivers or are visibly upset with me while driving. I'm working on just letting it go, though. I know it probably has nothing to do with me (usually, I think!), they're probably just having a rough day.

But that is life. And that is definitely marriage. Making sacrifices, compromising, and remembering what it is all for... the one you love. That is what I keep reminding myself. And when I look at that handsome guy with his perpetual smirk and dreamy eyes, and his tender heart, (ok, I'm done with the mushy stuff) I'm glad to do it.

He doesn't have to drive in hours of traffic to and from work anymore, to come home exhausted and just mentally worn out. We have more time together, and it's a whole new area to explore together. That makes this more than worth it.

I'm slowly starting to see the perks of living here. Just the other night we found a cute little hole-in-the-wall Mexican/Salvadoran restaurant that ended up having delicious food. There are a ton of cute little places like that around us. One of the things I didn't like about where we used to live, was the lack of independently-owned coffee shops. Sometimes I just want some delicious espresso, and it was also a drive to get to a really good coffee shop when we were living in the valley.

Also, our apartment is so much more unique than our last place. It's old and it has tons of fun little nooks and storage places. I also love that it's on the first floor since that means no more dragging piles of laundry up and down stairs.

It'll take some getting used to, but I'm sure I'll grow to love it. Or, we'll realize it just isn't the place for us and we'll move.

I definitely want to share a photo tour of our new place just as soon as we've got everything set up and put away.

See you on Monday with a new post!

Photos From Our Trip and An Update

scenes from our trip to San Antonio

Since returning from our trip to Texas, we have had a busy weekend around here. Packing up, hiring a moving company, getting our new apartment in order...

It's exciting but a little scary, too. Even though we'll still be living in Los Angeles, we'll be about 20 miles from most of our family. Because it's LA, 20 miles can sometimes mean an hour or more of drive time to see any of them if there's traffic. I just keep reminding myself that moving out of state (which we eventually would like to do) would mean an even longer trip to see our families, so it's really not too bad right now.

Speaking of moving, boy do I want to move out of California. Actually, I mostly just want to move out of L.A. I went through a time where I just loved Los Angeles and everything about it. I couldn't imagine what the heck anyone else did for entertainment or how they pretty much survived anywhere else in the country. Oh to be young again... :P

Don't get me wrong, I do still like L.A. (not trying to bash the city or the people in it!) I have a lot of family here, I have a few good friends, and Michael has a great job here. It has it's perks. But it's just not for me anymore. Have you ever felt that way before? Like a place--physical or not--that once was THE place for you, no longer isn't?

We've talked a lot about moving and where we might want to live, and what we would do once we got there. It's amazing to dream. I love the fact that I even have this dream. I remember being a little girl and thinking of things I wanted to do one day, the places I wanted to go, the people I wanted to meet. But as I grew up, my tastes changed, my life changed. I stopped dreaming as much and just focused on getting myself through things like college, jobs, becoming an adult, etc.

Now that I feel like I've come through a lot of those bumps, I feel like a kid again! I just have all these hopes and dreams of places I want to live, the sort of home I want to raise our children in, the farm I hope we can have one day. It's amazing and terrifying at the same time. Sometimes I catch myself wondering (and sometimes getting frustrated, if we're being honest here) why God still has us here in L.A., when we both want to move to a more rural and family-friendly area.

Then, I remember this verse: "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." (Rom 12:12 NIV) And I am reminded that the life I have now is not the life I would have chosen for myself, but it is better than any of the situations in which I could have imagined myself. Why wouldn't the same be true of the gifts and joys that Christ has planned for us?

The Night I Almost Barfed In Baggage Claim

Yup. I almost threw up in the middle of baggage claim last night. Michael and I just returned from visiting my family in Texas (which I will post about very soon). I was feeling so nauseous when we got off the plane I didn't even want to open my mouth, for fear the contents of my stomach would burst out. I wasn't sure if I actually needed to throw up or my stomach just felt funny. As Michael and I walked towards the baggage claim area, I kept scanning the terminal for the nearest trash can. I kept picturing myself barfing into one of them and people staring and pointing and small children being frightened. I REALLY didn't want to be sick in the airport.

While Michael waited for our bag to come down the chute, I found a nearby bathroom and locked myself in the stall to see if I actually was going to be sick. I stood in the stall and just stared at the toilet hoping the sight of a dirty toilet would make me sick. The toilet was spotless, of course. It looked cleaner than my kitchen counter (which I obsessively wipe down). I actually wanted to throw up since I figured it'd make me feel better to get whatever was making me sick, out of my body.

I stared at the toilet a while longer trying to imagine it a disgusting petrie dish, full of all the worst kinds of bacteria. Nothing. Nada. Eventually, I went out to join Michael again and wait for our bag. Ugh, I felt awful!!! There were a TON of people near us and I couldn't find a trash can away from where everyone was gathered.

On top of my upset stomach, my body ACHED. On our flight out to Texas, I wasn't chilly in the plane, at all. Granted, we were flying in the middle of the day, but I didn't get cold once. On our way home, I was wearing the same pants and light jacket I had worn on our flight out. Let me tell you, I think it was probably 40 degrees in our plane from Colorado to California. I was shivering the ENTIRE time. I walked off that plane a shivering, nauseous, exhausted mess.

Eventually, we were in the car (with the heater blasting) driving the 30+ miles to get home. I tried thinking of puppies, candy, my favorite movies, anything but what might be about to burst out of my belly. Suddenly I was yelling "GET OFF THE FREEWAY, I'M GONNA HURL!" Michael got off as quickly as possible and thanks to his car door locks (who would but a Rubik's cube as a car door lock?? I'm exaggerating but that's what it felt like), I almost barfed all over myself. Luckily, I managed to get the door open and threw up in a gutter with cars zipping by behind me. Gross. I despise throwing up. I literally feel like I'm going to die when I have to throw up.

 Sighhh... What a night.

With that being said, I definitely will be sharing our trip out to Texas and all the photos I took with ya'll. I will just be spending today resting a bit and recovering (did I mention we had turbulence the entire flight??).

Thanks for stopping by!!

Morning...

it's my favorite time of day.

cooling some boiled eggs on the window sill

via instagram: thelavenderfield

Have a wonderful weekend! See you next week. :D

The Great Moving Adventure of 2012

And so begins the great moving adventure of 2012...


We went out and purchased some packing supplies yesterday, and began packing. Ugh. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude through it all, but I mostly just feel like throwing everything away and starting fresh. I know I'm just saying that now... but seriously. I REALLY don't like having a lot of unused stuff around, so thankfully we don't have a lot of junk around here.

this guy was picking up some tools while we were buying our packing supplies :)

We do have a lot of paper, though. M's got a ton of important papers we need to keep for a while, so that makes it feel like there's more stuff. Me? I angrily shred my important papers up and throw them away ASAP (at least that was I did during wild days). Not saying it's the best system or anything, I just take out any stored up frustration and anger on old legal documents, bills, etc. I tear them up to pieces and throw them out with a final "Good Riddance!"(please don't follow suit, I enjoy living dangerously).

Yesterday afternoon we started packing up knick knacks and things on our shelves (and when I say "we" I mostly mean M did the packing). Although, I did start packing up my vintage Pyrex dish collection. I thought they might only take up one box, maybe two... Har har! My collection took up three whole boxes. By the time I was done, I had resigned from packing duty. Actually, it was time to make dinner by the time I was finished, but I do wish resignation from packing was a viable option.

M started off doing most of the packing because I had been having a really awful stomach ache. It started as soon as I finished eating my lunch earlier that day. I realized that I had had the same ache the night before and a couple days before that after eating a slice of very cheesy pizza. After thinking about what each of those meals had in common--that I could possibly eliminate from my diet, so that the pain wouldn't come back--I came to the horrific conclusion: DAIRY PRODUCTS, AKA: CHEESE, AKA: ALL THE FOODS I LOVE.

NO.

But seriously, dairy??? Noooooo!! I love cheese, and I've never had an imitation cheese that didn't taste like (and look like) plastic! Now, I have no idea if I'm actually lactose intolerant or maybe just going through some weird stomach bug (no, i'm not prego), but I decided to eliminate dairy from my diet for the next few days to see if the stomach ache stays away. ::sniff::sniff::

I'll just be sobbing in a corner... gnawing on some soy cheese, if anyone needs me...

I'll let you guys know how it all goes. In the meantime, does anyone have any really great dairy-free products that actually taste good?? I'd welcome any suggestions!

Thanks for stopping by!

Weekends and Apartment Hunting

What an absolute adventure this weekend has been!

Our weekend started on Thursday afternoon with a trip to Old Town Orange. We walked around, window shopped a little, and Michael got a haircut at a really great barbershop. The men in there were older, and looked like they had been cutting hair since they were my age. It was really neat. They told us about all the cool cars they used to own, and how much they paid for them when they were brand new (one guy paid $1900 for his brand new Chevy!!). Michael really enjoyed it since he had never gotten his hair cut at an actual barbershop.

photo by michael :)

Bright and early Friday afternoon we took off to continue our apartment search. You never realize how exhausting sitting in the car, driving around, writing down phone numbers can be, until you do it. My back was aching, Michael's legs were really bothering him, too. We were pretty exhausted, all around. 

As the day carried on, I was starting to feel a little discouraged. Most of the landlords we spoke to didn't really seem all that eager to rent their apartment. A lot of them were really rude and didn't want to take time out of their day to show us the apartment.

stopping for lunch and a churro

The apartments we did see were also not very nice. One apartment we were able to get inside of, looked pretty well taken care of outside. Once we got inside, it wasn't so bad--just on the older side--but the floors sloped down toward the center of the apartment. It was so strange! They made a V that ran down the length of the apartment. If we had tried to put furniture in there, it all would have wobbled. :/

The day did get better, though. We went over to Michael's uncle and aunt's home (near where we were apartment hunting) to babysit his son. Michael's uncle and aunt were going out on a little date and we were happy to babysit for them. Their son is such a crack up and he's a lot of fun to be around.

teaching michael to play the piano

Needless to say, by the end of the day on Friday, it was so nice to fall into our warm bed and sleep.

a drive-by night sky

Saturday started off a little slower. We knew we wanted to see some more apartments that day, so while I drank some coffee, Michael got some phone numbers and addresses and started calling managers and landlords. Nothing. Zip. No one was answering their phones.

We found some places online that looked really promising. We found one place that had French doors and a cute patio, but no one would pick up. We decided to drive down to the west side and see who would call us back. Eventually, a couple managers called us back. One said he would be available shortly to show us his place. We were pretty excited to see his apartment since it's only one level and it has only 4 units, total. A nice change from the the 30 unit building we currently live in.

When we got there, there were two other people to see his unit. I was so disappointed. As soon as I walked in, I loved the place. It was older, but had so much charm and character. Wood floors throughout, a shared garage, tons of storage, original tile in the kitchen. I loved it! The landlord told us he had just put the "For Rent" sign out the day before, and he suddenly had tons of people calling him, wanting to see the place. I felt like crying.

We had been searching of and on for a month, not really seeing anything that we liked a whole lot. Here was this place, that was old, charming, cute, and even had a front AND a back door. But I had to remind myself, Michael and I had been praying a lot about finding an apartment. I had to remember that God was in this, and we would find a place. Our whole reason for leaving our current apartment is so that Michael doesn't have to drive in an hour and a half of traffic to and from work. It's exhausting physically and mentally for him, and it's just not worth it, for us.

I wanted this apartment so much. The landlord was really friendly and wanted to know more about Michael and me. We told him we were married just under a year ago, and why we were moving to this area. He really seemed to enjoy learning about us. When we told him we loved his unit and were willing to put a deposit down that day. He said, "Ok, if you have the money, it's yours."

AHHH!! I wanted to scream! I was so exhausted from looking. I had been suffering from headaches and getting car sick every day from swinging my head around and quickly looking down to write down phone numbers, while in a moving car. I was so happy!! Michael was too, soon he would be home after work in under 30 mins.

in our new living room!

I am so thankful. I love the our new home, and I can't wait to move in! I will be sharing some more pictures of our new home, soon, so be sure to stop by!