Hello, Blog. Part 4

Okay, this will be the last post of my travels (and everything else I've been behind with)...

We left off on Wednesday in Julian.......

Thursday: Disneyland! I was so excited to go. I seriously feel like a kid every time I go. Jon doesn't understand my love for it one bit because he has hated the other two times we've gone (the only two times he's ever been). There's just something about it though. My family had annual passes growing up, so we went often as kids. I was soooo scared of all the big rides (except Splash Mountain.... how the heck did I ever get on that one when I was scared of Thunder Mountain and the Matterhorn??? I can understand Space Mountain, except my sister described it much different/scarier from what it really is.). Anyways..... we got there about a half hour after it opened, and we didn't get into the parking garage, so I thought for sure it was super busy already. But NOPE! It was the PERFECT day! I was so happy. We were able to go on all the rides we wanted to WITHOUT fastpasses (although, we got some anyways). There was not a single wait longer than 20 minutes. We got on all the big rides (except Splash Mountain- my fave!!!!! It was closed... and I didn't get to go on it last time we went either!!! :( I was pretty sad about that.). The best part of the day for Jon was when we went to the Golden Horseshoe Saloon and watched Bill Hill and the Hillbillies. I had never watched any of the shows they've had in there before, so this was a first for me. I knew Jon would love it though because he is really into bluegrass music (WHYYYYYY?!?!). They were very funny and entertaining though, even if it wasn't my taste of music. Later, I ruined the whole day for Jon by going on It's A Small World (I hate that ride, but I figured he needed to experience it ONCE in his life. hahaha).

First ride of the day! Space Mountain. :)

Indiana Jones! Funny thing: every time we got off the ride, it broke down! We lucked out both times.

Waiting for Bill Hill and the Hillbillies show to start...

Not a very cute picture.........

Had to get a picture of Jon in front of the "Disneyland Fire Department." Maybe next time, I'll take one during the day when you can actually see everything.

Friday: We went to the World Famous San Diego Zoo with my Mom and Ry! It had been a while since I'd been there, so it was fun to see all the new stuff they built/are building. Ry was a real pill that day though, so we didn't stay long and get to see much.

We took the sky buckets across to the other side of the park (which we wanted to do the opposite way since the back of the park is downhill, and you have to walk uphill to the front of the park... but Ry was a pill that day, remember?).

This polar bear was showing off. I've never seen them come so close before, but you could tell he loved all the attention!

I've never seen the pandas so close before either. They are usually hiding because they like the quiet.

Baby gorilla.

Saturday: Jon got up early to go on a hike with my Dad. My Dad loves hiking, but he doesn't get to do it much anymore without any kids at home. So he was very excited to have Jon to go hiking with him. I took them up to Ramona and dropped them off.... and it was a very interesting day for Jon. Haha. He thought my Dad was going to die/have a heart attack/etc. They hadn't gotten very far into the hike, and I guess my Dad was struggling already. My Dad's legs got so weak during the last bit of the hike that he decided to go down the hill by sliding on his butt. Haha. He eventually sent Jon to go ahead to the Lake Poway food area to buy him a Diet Coke and try to call us to come pick them up. Jon took some pictures while they were up there....

You can see the ocean in this one.

We drove back on the next Monday. The weather was horrendous in Utah. I'm just glad we got through Cedar City and those passes before they closed the I-15. But we probably added at least an hour to our drive because of the weather. It got bad again near Nephi, which I hate because we were getting SO CLOSE to Provo, but we had to slow down again due to the snow.

What we've been up to since then: Jon has been finishing up his online classes this semester. He got accepted to the Fire Academy for the summer semester (starts May 7th!). He also got a job mowing lawns for rich people in Alpine, Cedar Hills, PG, AF, etc. We are lucky because his boss was okay with Jon getting off early MWF for the academy and finishing in August, when (hopefully) he'll be starting the Paramedic program. I really have not been doing much other than babysitting Ryleigh and Young Women's. My younger brother gets home from his mission next week!!! I'm headed to San Diego (without Jon this time) for his homecoming talk on Mother's Day. Jon and I are thinking of heading to St. George next weekend for some alone time/break from Utah County before he starts up his never-ending school, where we will never be able to go ANYWHERE (he has classes on Saturdays too).

I Hate Snow!

I just thought I'd share this wonderful Christmas carol that I just found.

It sums up my feelings about snow perfectly:

1. Oh, the traffic outside is frightful,

Accidents aren't so delightful,

I'm stuck in this stop-and-go,

I hate snow, I hate snow, I hate snow.

2. Cars are having troubles stopping,

Each other they keep popping;

I am moving so really slow,

I hate snow, I hate snow, I hate snow.

When I make it back home tonight

How I'll hate going out in the storm;

Because cutting wood really bites,

But I need more to stay warm.

3. Traffic is slowly dying,

While I sit here I keep crying

Cause it just won't end, I know.

I hate snow, I hate snow, I hate snow.

When I make it back home tonight

How I'll hate going out to the store;

And the crowds that I'll have to fight,

I am sure that they won't have any more.

4. Oh, the blizzard outside is frightful,

Snowflakes aren't so delightful,

I'm trapped with no place to go,

I hate snow, I hate snow, I hate snow.

These are two places I'd much rather be:

A Little Behind, Sorry!

Okay, this may or may not be a long post depending on if I have enough time to type it all out. I'll try to add pictures (none taken by me because I'm still working on getting a new camera) so that this long post won't be too boring. Now...where to begin? Hmm...

Well, we'll just go with spring break last month! Jon and I drove down to Poway (in San Diego) on Tuesday, March 16th. We arrived in warm, beautiful Poway around 9-10 PMish (we left after Jon's classes).

Photo taken by my little brother on my wedding day at the Stone's residence (the reception site).

I was so happy to be back in San Diego. We were outside at night, and it was perfect weather. We didn't need jackets nor long sleeves. I love San Diego weather. The next day, Wednesday, Jon and I went for a walk around my parents' neighborhood because my Mother went into the dentist, and it was WARM... no, it was HOT. When my Mom got home, we headed over to visit my grandma.

My cute grandma. Photo taken by our wedding photographer. Don't mind the fact that my eyes are closed. It was bright!

We visited a bit with Gma, and then she took us all out to lunch at the best place EVER... Pat and Oscar's!!!!

Photo taken from P&O's website. Look at that yummy food!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing.... until the evening, when we went to pick up Jon's sister and nephew, Lacey and Kaden, at the SD airport.

Photo taken from Lacey's Facebook page.

I started getting a sore throat that evening, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from having fun at Disneyland the next day! Unfortunately, for whatever reason, my body would not go to sleep that night. I don't understand why because whenever that happens, I usually am stressed out or worried about something. This was neither. I just couldn't sleep, which made Disneyland not so fun the next day. I maybe got about two hours of sleep. It was miserable.

On Thursday morning, we headed up to Disneyland! We had a late start to the day because Kaden was VERY cranky (he did have a long day before and was now in an unfamiliar place). Well, I'll be honest, he was cranky most of the day. We got onto plenty of kiddie rides, but he would only go on with Mom. He would be upset if she wasn't near him, which made it difficult for her to ride some of the bigger rides that he was not allowed on. It wasn't until after dinner that he finally was happy. We took him into ToonTown to play. He had so much fun there! He opened up more to Jon and me and was okay without Mom. Success! Kaden did well on some of the scarier rides (Matterhorn, Pirates, Haunted Mansion). He only got scared when someone screamed in the Haunted Mansion's elevator/growing room. Unfortunately, I was having a hard day because I was SO TIRED and sick. I wanted to go on Splash Mountain, which we had fastpasses for, but around 8 or 9, I was ready to go home. Everyone was exhausted.

Friday was our rest day. We slept in and lounged around for a bit. Then we got ready to go to the beach! So off to La Jolla Shores we went. I was the only one willing to get pretty far into the water with Kaden. Yes, the water is always cold in San Diego, but you get used to it after a bit. Jon had fun with Kaden when the tide went in and out.


Photo also from Lacey. Cutest picture of my husband and nephew, right?

After we were done at the beach (when we were hungry for lunch), we headed back through Mira Mesa in hopes of finding real filipino mangoes for my husband, who served in the Philippines. We thought we found some because they were called "Manila Mangoes," and they were yellow. Unfortunately, after buying them and eating a few, I realized later that day that they said they were from Mexico. Ugh. That was misleading! Poor Jon.

On Saturday, we went to California Adventure. Kaden was much better this time. Lacey was able to go on all the big rides, while Kaden stayed behind with either Jon or me. It was a much better day for everyone.

Sunday was the day we left and drove back up to cold Utah. I was sad that our trip was so short. None of us wanted to leave, but Jon had to be at work on Monday. Anyways, Lacey and Kaden stayed with us the next week. We didn't do a whole lot here (she had already been to Temple Square). We did take them into the Provo Canyon and up near Sundance Resort because Lacey wanted to see what a ski resort looked like. She couldn't imagine people skiing down the mountains since she had only seen the west side of the mountains, which are pretty steep. We did go to the Hogle Zoo one day so that Derek's (Jon and Lacey's brother) girlfriend could meet Lacey. Awkward? Yes, because Derek is in Boston.

So that pretty much brings me to now. I've just been going to school and babysitting my niece. Nothing too exciting. Actually, Jon is done with his current job NEXT WEEK! So that is very exciting. He's going back to wildland firefighting this summer because he just couldn't handle his job, and because I told him he could do it, if he wanted. I felt bad for him, okay? I just want him to be happier. May 1st is when he'll be on call. And as much as I don't want to spend the summer alone, please pray that he'll get called to lots of fires because we're hoping he earns enough money for us to survive on for a year. He starts the fire academy in the fall (if he's accepted). Then he'll be doing the Paramedic program January through August, I think (spring and summer semesters). That's also if he gets accepted. Although, we kind of want to leave Provo for St. George, so he can do the Paramedic program down there. And because we don't want to go through another winter up here. Anyways, so that is why we are hoping for lots of fires- because he won't be able to work full time during his schooling.

I miss....

the beautiful San Diego temple:


driving down Pacific Coast Highway:


fun times at the ocean/beach:






random trips to Disneyland/CA Adventure:












concerts on the beach (or concerts in general):


my natural sun-bleached blonde hair (it definitely has NOT been that light in a long time! thank you Idaho/Utah 6 month winters...):







I keep seeing pictures of people at the beach on Facebook, and it makes me miss San Diego. Maybe I can convince Jon that we have to live next to the ocean in the future!! :) It would be especially nice if it was near Disneyland/Disney World because I would love it even more.