CALIFORNIA TRIP

saturday, june 22, 2013

i was more than excited for this opportunity to spend 3 1/2 weeks with jenni and ryan in pasadena.

walking thru the airport, i spied a photo opp for my girlies.  :)

(one of our favorite movies....of which we have memorized many endearing phrases)

i LOVE flying...and traveling in general. 

(probably because i don't do it enough for it to be mundane.)  

it was an interesting flight. 

 most of the passengers on board came from germany...

and were completely knackered out.

before we even took off,   

the guy sitting next to me

gradually slumped into my shoulder 

more and more

until his cap eventually hit his waist which jerked himself awake

and

then the whole process was repeated again.

and again.

and again.

i think he felt bad for me

because he purchased a $3  bag of cashews for me when the snacks appeared.  

yes!  i DID snap a picture of him doing this.  haha.  

i was the 4rth row from the back of the plane.

the last 3 rows behind me were spanish families all traveling together.

can i say they were loud?

everyone around me had to snicker at their kids,

singing to the top of their lungs,

listening to music with their ear plugs in.  :)

annoyingly cute.  :)

other than that, and lots of delays on the runway,

i had a 5 3/4 hour direct flight.  :)

upon arriving LAX, i found the fly away bus headed for union station.

i really wanted to use public transportation directly to their house in pasadena

(because i find it fun to stretch myself like that).

however, it was too late.  the gold line to pasadena was not running anymore.

like clockwork, my wonderful SIL, ryan, was waiting for me as the bus pulled in. 

he looked so good with his long california hair.  :) 

jenni was anxiously waiting at home...about 1/2 hr. away.  :)

as ryan pulled into their parking spot,

jenni jumped out and surprised me! 

we squeezed the pudding out of each other!    :)

she had been thru SO many health issues, as well as a hospital stay,  

in the last 6 months since i'd seen her.  

oh!  how i'd missed her!!!! 

there was a cute  table outside their apartment door...

with candles lit

awaiting my arrival.  

jenni had pulled out all the stops!  

i felt SO welcomed! 

i LOVED the welcome message on their door!  

and...

the welcoming entrance way.  

(complete with rolled towels stashed in a bucket on the floor

for guests to take to the pool).  

i absolutely fell in love with their apartment!  

every room had big open windows with a cool night breeze refreshing us.  

they showed me the whole right side of their apartment 

which was my bed and bath.  

i LOVED my accommodations!  

jenni wrote a welcoming message on my window

and had fresh flowers from the food bank.  

(the breezy night air blew the incredible smell of those star gazing liles  over me as i fell asleep).  

she thought everything out in detail for me.  <3

there was Kleenex by my bed.  

(both our noses are broke...and she understands me well.)  ;)

there was an adorable basket of gifts for me

the  medicine cabinet was filled with everything from contact solution to tylenol.

a special hand made card sat on the desk by my bed.  

i was overwhelmed!  <3

 jen made the cute sign hanging over my bed.  <3

it was very late....

but we snacked on popcorn before bed.

my luggage contained birthday gifts but they would have to wait.

ryan, did however, enjoy his deer jerky 

which he mother sent along.  :)

it was a delightful way to go to sleep.

open windows.

perfect temperature.

and

praises on my lips 

for ALL my blessings!