love me some california

currently thousands of feet in the air, heading back to salt lake. wasn’t at all ready for departure, but then again I never am when it comes to returning to my life behind the pages of a textbook. this weekend was not at all what it was intended to be, but i ended up spending it with the people in my life who i really care that i never get enough time with. and that just made it simply priceless. the original plan was to have a little getaway trip with my best friends at the beach house near san luis obispo. unfortunately school was selfish and required my best, julianne, to stay home and study for her clinical exam (which she passed-congrats!). christie decided not to go so i planned on making a solo trip up to slo to visit my best friend of fifteen years, juliana, up there in her new home. fortunately, the little sister said she would tag along to keep me company. but before this little trip I got to have a pre-birthday celebration with the WHOLE family at my favorite restaurant, blue fin. all eight of us were there: dad, mom, ashley, nicole & ryan, steph, and the little joshster. it was so, so nice to all be together and i loved every minute of it…and every bite of that goodness roll and waldorf salad. i also go to spend my whole day with mom, ashley, & steph in which i convinced them to see jb’s never say never (yes, i saw it again && yes, it was as good at the first time) the next morning, i said my goodbyes to the parentals and my ford siblings and steph and I took off. It was so good being with steph and just spending time with her, going to coffee bean multiple times, singing justin bieber, and buying a plethora of food ) at trader joe’s. we visited juliana at work where she made us a delish sandwich in which we got our “heat meated.” while steph and i waited for her to get off work we just relaxed in the big beach house and did us some studying. juliana then came over and we just hung out and talked all night. the next morning she took us on some pretty hikes—the weather was beautiful and everything was ohh so green! steph and i headed home sunday night (not before another cb run) and monday I went on another great california run, where I ran into sonny. he was caught by surprise since i hadn’t mentioned i was in town and insisted we went to lunch as he had work off. unfortunately, the other half of my soni’s were away—but i got to enjoy a great lunch with him and jay at lazy dog’s. it is always so nice to visit and see them-they were sweet enough to give me a birthday card (which i’m saving for the actual bday) and i also received a generous donation for my thailand volunteer project this summer. being with them simply made my weekend. i also got to spend some quality time with my homeslice, ashley, who spoiled me with a cart full of trader joes and bought me new running shoes from my favorite running store. [she was also kind enough to tolerate the LA traffic this morning to take me to the airport] and since julianne couldn’t make it for the beach house trip, she took me out to dinner at love sushi. it was so good to see her, but was a bummer we had such short time together as we are typically inseparable—either way, i can always count on her for a good time and a good heart to heart.

excited for blue fin with my lafron

you're too good to me, cb 

my quaint bff forever 

love this annoyance 

homeslice and a fishtail 

roadrunner setup

two of my favorite men

tj <3

overall, i had a great weekend. i came back feeling so grateful for all of the wonderful people i have in my life. being away from friends and family really allows you to see who, in your life, is always there for you and supporting you every step of the way with love and faith. it also makes your time even that much more special when you're finally together. can't wait to see those people again in a few months.

three hundred & five days till christmas.

airports

you know you've done your share of traveling when your computer automatically connects to the airport's wireless internet. currently connected to slcairport.wifi waiting for my plane to board and take me to sweet, sweet LAX. when nana dropped me off she asked why they hadn't put in my own personal driveway straight to portal B. i thought that was a fair question. if i had a dollar for everytime i've been to the slc and lax airport in the past year...well, i would have many dollars. whether it's picking someone up, dropping them off, or coming and going from utah to california to florida to australia etc etc etc...

definitely looking forward to some time with the family and friends. i've got a weekend filled with sushi, the beach house, trader joes, multiple cb runs, three amigas reunion, a night with lafron, homeslice lovin, provoking from the little sister, jlts, not to mention weather that doesn't cause you pain when you step outside, and the list goes on. i'm sad the parentals && newlywed fords will be leaving on the annual-overjamiesbday-cruise on saturday, but happy they will all get a break from their crazy work life! 

time to take off, looking forward to having this in my hands in just a few hours...

312

that's how many days till christmas. three hundred and twelve, almost around the corner...

new blog! yayy. let's see how many blogs i can create before i will actually decide to stick with just one :]

alright so, sad day yesterday. or SAD day i suppose. some of you may know it as "valentine's day". for others, single awareness day. i find it humorous when people ask me what i'm doing for valentine's day. as if i would do anything special or different just because there are pink hearts in every store you walk into? besides eating multiple reese's hearts, that is. which i did. after, of course, going to school all day and then studying for eight hours straight to then be summoned on a last minute journey to the airport to pick up a friend who tells me she arrived at 7:30 when really she arrived at 8:45 and sitting at the park-and-wait for forever and a lifetime having to go to the bathroom with no bathrooms around causing me to abandon my car to run across the vastness of nothing to a lonesome outhouse that was still on the top of the trailer as if it just rolled off the back of some truck. ahh, don't you just love those days? 

on a side note, this face has been on my mind even more than usual after my midnight screening of "never say never" on thursday.

let's just say that it's a good thing that my friend happened to pick me up an "Us" special edition magazine of this boy which included six lovely posters. she was smart to whip it out and give it to me right when she got into the car at passenger pickup. it was also his sweet serenade of a voice that allowed me to keep my sanity while waiting for her arrival.

the last few weeks have been ridiculously busy with the continuous flow of classes, homework, exams, research, grading papers, and endless readings. however, i get to take a little break this upcoming three day weekend and go home to see the family and friends. so, i'm pretty sure i'll be able to make it through the week with coffee bean, blue fin, and trader joe's just days away. the poster of the jbieb above my bed helps a bit too.