Day at the Beach

This picture is NOT going to go where it is supposed to so it is just going to stay up here at the top!

Saturday I went to the beach with the pastors family from the church I have been attending out here. Their tradition is to go to the beach the week of their daughters birthday every year. Being the last week of March it is pretty cool but not too bad. When we got there it was nice and warm (not the water though!) but it cooled off through out the day. We had a wonderful time. We had lunch and supper there so we were there for several hours. It snapped a few pictures with my phone. I didn't know how well they would turn out but I was pleased. I couldn't really see what I was taking a picture of very well because of the sunlight on the screen. I don't have much time for posting right now but it has been so long I figured I had better get a few pictures up. Here they are...

Joseph with his seaweed. He collected that stuff all day!

Beautiful Sunset

I think this is my favorite of the pictures. Those two dark spots are Joseph's piles of seaweed.

The fire and the top of Hannah's head. It really was a lot colder than the pictures make it look!

My dirty feet

Pastor Curley very relaxed!

Maybe, just maybe, I will actually get some pictures on here now. Maybe...

California is...

... a totally different world! I went out for a walk through the neighborhood for the first time this morning. It was SO beautiful. The temperature was just right and the sun was shining so brightly. The neighborhood where I am living is quite nice. Almost all of the houses out here are stucco. The homes are so beautiful. I wish I was good at describing things so I could tell you about it, or if I had a camera here I would just take pictures. But since neither is the case you will just have to take my word for it that is beautiful. If you go straight back from my house the hill is pretty steep so  the houses kind of look like stair steps. All the homes have a Spanish flair to them.  They have beautiful arch ways and colorful tiles. I saw a light (almost white) house this morning with pink trim. Most of the time I would gag at the very thought of pink trim on a house, but this house was so beautiful! The architecture is totally different out here - and I mean TOTALLY.

I saw several lemon trees while I was out this morning. There are citrus trees all over the place out here and no one does anything with the fruit. There is a loaded lemon tree straight across the street from my house. Chrissy told me I should just go over and ask if I could have a few of them. I am trying to get up the nerve to do that. I will probably get brave enough about the time the lemons are all dried up and ready to fall off the tree. 

Anyone want to come visit me while I am out here and go exploring???

An Other Day

There really isn't much new to report today. I woke up to rain this morning. It sure does rain a lot here for being "Sunny California." I don't really mind the rain though. I have always kind of liked rain. They really need the rain out here so I am not complaining. Though, the locals are complaining. Doesn't make any sense to me. They are warning about running out of water and then they whine and complain when it rains. Pathetic.

When I left the library I decided to go to Barnes and Noble. My GPS said it was about 4 miles away. No problem. I start following the directions. It was acting SO strange. It told me "prepare to arrive at destination in 500 yards" (or what ever distance it said) but I wasn't even on the right street and I knew it. Then it said arriving at destination. I start looking around. If there is a Barnes and Noble I should be able to see it right??? They don't usually stick those in the middle of houses! I was in a residential area. I keep driving down that street (which was NOT Colorado Blvd. like the GPS kept telling me) and pretty soon I come to a sign that says "Welcome to Los Angelous." Now I am thinking "This isn't where I wanted to be!" I drove a little bit farther until I
found a good place to turn around. Then when I went back by the same area it told me AGAIN that I was at my destination! That thing is crazy. It tells me how far before I need to turn at the top of my screen. Yesterday I would be stopped at a red light and look at it and the distance before my next turn would keep counting down... .4, .3, .2, .1, "turn left now" Mean while I am still sitting at the same red light and haven't moved so much as a foot let alone .4 of a mile! I finally just found a place to park so I could look at it and figure out what was wrong. I think it wasn't getting a good enough signal. When I started holding it up instead of having it lying in my lap, it started working. I did find Barnes and Noble but I didn't go in. It was just a little shop. The parking was pretty much non existant so at that point I decided it was just time to go home. GPSs are wonderful when they work! At least it was a nice day for a drive and I got to explore some more of the area!

It has been so long since I have written a post I don't really even know where to begin! Tomorrow will be three weeks since I landed at LAX. Sometimes I can't believe it has already been three weeks and sometimes I can TOTALY believe that it has been three whole long weeks. I am finally getting into a sort of rhythm of things. I have finally gotten used to the fact that in the evening when I am watching TV Dorothy sleeps. When I go to bed she wakes up and turns the TV on VERY loudly. :) It isn't nearly as bad as it was at first. She keeps it down a little lower and I have learned to sleep through it. It was bad the first little bit when she kept turning the TV on at 1 or 2 in the morning! Yikes!
Dorothy is a sweet lady. She is so easy to please. She likes to eat just about anything, and since getting her meals is pretty much my main responsibility it is very easy!
A friend of mine has talked about a friend of hers that lives out here. When I came out to visit Rob and Chrissy a couple of years ago I wanted to get a chance to meet her but she lived too far away. When I got out here I kept thinking I should get in contact with her and find out where she lives because I couldn't remember. Sunday I was talking to my friend and she told me I should meet this girl while I was out here. She told me the name of the town where she lives. I couldn't believe it. She lives in the next town north from here. It is less than ten minutes away. Of course, out here there is no devision between one town and the next. When I talked to this girl this morning (I guess if I gave her name it would be easier to follow, it is Maryrose) she said she lives right on the border of the town where I live! Craziness! My parents and I were really hoping I would meet a girl while I was out here that I could do some things with. I have already become friends with the pastors family at the church I have been going to. They are a very sweet family and I have enjoyed getting to know them.
Dorothy has been telling me over and over and OVER again to make sure I see everything I can while I am out here. I hope to but I really hate to go a lot of places by myself. Local things I will do but I am not adventurous enough or maybe I should say stupid enough to go touring LA by my self. :) We will see what works out.

Until next time,