My Much-Needed California Trip

So this past weekend Jeff gave me the best Birthday present ever! I've never really had a break from Mason for more than 24 hours since he was born a year and a half ago, and I was really feeling burned out, so a few months ago when my friend Jene proposed a trip to California...it sounded perfect!

Here's a little history for those of you who don't know who Jene is. We met in El Paso when I was home from college for the summer in 1998. She was just there being a nanny for her sister and brother-in-law, and we became best of friends right away. So this summer is our 10 year anniversary as friends, and we share a birthday too (the 18th of August).

My wonderful, kind, generous (and obviously insane!) friend and neighbor agreed to keep Mason for me last Friday and this past Monday while Jeff was at work, and for her generosity I will be forever indebted. Thank you Rachel!!! Jeff had Mason duty all weekend long, all by himself. From what he's told me, it went really well, and Mason has been so attached to Jeff since I got home, so the bonding time was really good for them! Thank you, Jeff, for being so willing to do that for me!!

So I left St. George around 11:00 on Friday and drove to Las Vegas where I was able to meet up with another long-time friend (Nick) for lunch. Nick and I have been friends for like 15 years now I think. Anyway, he's been such a wonderful, loyal friend, and I always love a chance to see him. Jeff knows and loves him too, so it works out great for me - I get to keep my guy best friend and everyone's happy.

Anyway, after lunch with Nick, I drove on to Riverside, CA to my sister's house. They got Thai food for dinner, which I had never had before. Not sure how much I liked it...way too much ginger and curry for my taste buds, but I did like one of the more mild dishes. It was so fun being able to stop off there and spend some time with Jenn, Ryan, and the twins (Connor and Isaac). It was so good to see them! I wish they lived closer (and my other sibs too, for that matter!).

I stayed there Friday night, then I headed up to meet Jene in Orange, CA on Saturday. Her friend Dallas decided to surprise her with a visit, so all three of us went to the beach on Saturday. Dallas knew of this secret cove in Laguna Beach that no one really knows about, so he took us there. It was soooooo dang cool! We had to hike up and over this huge rock and through some trees and bushes to get to the cove, but as soon as we got through to the other side, the view was breath-taking!! There were probably only 20 people max that filtered in and out of the cove while we were there. It was just perfect!! I spent most of the afternoon lying on my towel on the beach, reading "New Moon"! Talk about a relaxing day! The only thing that could have made it any more perfect is having Jeff there to share it with. He's all I thought about the whole time I was there, because it was the type of place he would have loved.

Saturday night, to celebrate our birthdays, we all went to Joe's Crab Shack in Newport. It was so cool, cuz the harbor is right behind the restaurant, so while we were waiting to be seated (for over an hour!), Jene and I were on the back deck talking, and got to see a wedding going on down on some boat in the harbor. It was pretty neat! Anyways, dinner was so fun...and Dallas paid for our food, which made it even better!! Thank you, Dallas!!

Sunday was another relaxing day. Probably the best day of the whole trip, in my opinion. I went to church at 9:00 to start my day off right, then we headed to Huntington. Jene and Dallas wanted to take their dog Turkish to the dog beach for the day, but I'm not really a fan of dogs...so I decided to enjoy the PERFECT weather, the PERFECT scenery of the ocean, and the PERFECT opportunity for some time to clear my head - I grabbed my iPod and put it on Nora Jones (the best chill music), grabbed my bag, and walked about 20 blocks down to the shopping area in Huntington, across from the pier. It was the most relaxing thing I've been able to do in a really, really long time. No one to talk to, nothing I really had to think about, and no schedule or plans. I walked down the pier, watched the surfers, watched the kids playing in the surf and the people playing volleyball. I sat and watched a group of people play in a drum circle, which was also a really cool experience. It gave me the warm fuzzies to see people of so many different races sitting there together in the circle playing the hand drums - as if none of them had a care in the world. Pretty neat.

That night Jene and I drove up to her sister's house for dinner with lots of her family. She (Christie) made us an AWESOME ice cream birthday cake, then we drove up to Van Nuys to her brother's house where we slept. So here's where it starts to get exciting...

Here's some information most of you will probably wish I hadn't revealed, but it will help you understand the gravity of the situation as I explain the events of the night. So...on vacation I never eat very healthy, so I always get a little backed up, if you catch my drift. By Sunday night, I was in pain and looked 5 months pregnant so I took a laxative before bed. Well, I was only gonna take one, but Sarah (Jene's sister-in-law) convinced me to take 2. Haha. Well, around 3:30 I woke up with all kinds of cramping going on, and realized that if I didn't get in the bathroom PRONTO, we were gonna have a situation on our hands...so I opened the bedroom door, but I heard water running, so I assumed someone was in the shower. I tried to go back to sleep, but by 4:00 I still heard the water running and I was in so much pain that I decided to find a place to go. As I got closer to the bathroom, I realized the floor was wet...and so were my feet, all the way up to my ankles! I turned the light on in the bathroom and water was spraying out from the pipe behind the toilet. My first thought..."CRAP! Now what?! Do I poo outside? No, not an option. There's a doberman outside. I'm gonna have to hold it. Great." SO I woke up Justin and Sarah to let them know their house was flooded (the bathroom, hallway, kitchen, and part of the living room and 2 bedrooms). We got to work with sponges, buckets and a shop-vac, and I went back to bed...still not having relieved my poor intestines!! About an hour later, I physically couldn't take it anymore, so I woke up Jene and asked her what I should do...come to find out, there was another bathroom in the master bedroom. Man, what a relief!! What a crazy night though.

So Monday (our Birthday), we got up and drove to Pasadena to Magic Mountain. We rode all the rides we wanted to ride, then we took off around 2:00. I dropped her off where her car was (in Orange), then I drove all the way back to St. George that night. I got home around 11:00, and I was sooooooo excited that Jeff was waiting up for me...with flowers and a card. What a sweet husband!! I came home to his gorgeous smiling face, a clean house, a sleeping baby, and his loving arms. What a perfect end to a perfect vacation.

It's so good to be home, and it's so good to have a new appreciation for the 2 most important men in my life. I missed them both so much, and I'm so excited to get back into the swing of things here in the real world now that I'm rejuvinated and ready to be a mom and wife again. Thank goodness for friends, the ocean, crab, babysitters, and wonderful husbands!! I love my life.