July Fun!

So July has gone by in a whirlwind. I don't know how it happened so fast. I got back from Texas at the end of June and thought that July was going to be a quiet and relaxed month - but that was not the case - and I think I'm pretty glad.

Right after I returned, Heather (my old roommate from Greenville) came to visit. She was here over the 4th of July and right before her 28th birthday. So we decided that it was a birthday weekend and we were going to live it up! It was a really great time! We went to Universal Studios on Thursday and spent basically the whole day out there - TJ joined us, which doubled the fun. It was great to hang out with them and just be silly the whole day!

On Friday, we had a special treat - our old friend Dave Banks happened to be in LA, and met us at the UCLA campus, after I took her on a tour of campus. After meeting Dave's coaching friend, Brandon, and his wife, Tye, the five of us headed out to Hollywood for Pink's hotdogs! We had to wait about 90 minutes before we got to the front of the line but it was a fun experience and we enjoyed the dogs! Heather and I took Dave to the airport and then headed back to Beverly Hills to meet up with TJ and his girlfriend Emily, who was visiting for the weekend. We went to Sprinkles cupcake bakery for a little treat and then headed out to Century City to see "Public Enemies". This was the perfect "Heather Day" because it included all things she loves! Heather loves hot dogs and cupcakes, Johnny Depp, and Gangster movies. This day included all of it with the added bonus of including TJ and Dave, who Heather hadn't seen in a long time. It was such a fun day.

Saturday was the 4th of July and the only things we had left on Heather's list of things she wanted to do were: Fireworks and Beach. We picked up my friend Dave (from school) and headed to Huntington Beach, to accomplish both goals! After a looooooooong search for a place to park, we finally found a free space (both available and at no cost!) a little over a mile from the beach. We were already glad Dave was with us, but he ended up carrying the cooler full of ice and food, so we were even MORE glad after that! Despite the long walk to the beach, it was a really fun day. The sun was shining and even though there was a breeze, it wasn't too cold (though as the afternoon progressed, we got progressively colder!!). We found a great spot and enjoyed ourselves relaxing in the sun. Later in the day we packed up and headed to a spot where we were blocked from the wind by other people in bigger tents, and where we had a great view of the fireworks. The firework show in Huntington was INCREDIBLE! It lasted almost 30 minutes and even though we were kind of far away, we were close enough to enjoy it!!

Heather left on Sunday, after church and lunch at CPK. It was a great visit and reminded me how much I miss hanging out with her! I'm glad I got to celebrate her 28th b-day with her!

Other notable July fun!
* My friend Shannon, who is a Hall Director at Baylor, was on vacation in Portland and LA. She stopped by one afternoon and we had a really fun visit. She toured campus while I was in a meeting and then I had the opportunity to introduce her to Linda Sax (my faculty advisor) - I was really glad for that chance, because Shannon is preparing to apply for PhD programs and I'd love to have her here at UCLA! :) We ended up going to dinner with Dave and then hanging out at his apartment until late into the evening. It was really fun to have her include me in her trip out west!

* One of my friends from school turned 40, and invited a bunch of us to celebrate with her at the horse races. It was especially fun for me, since Grampa used to take us to the track when he and grama came and visited us in Seattle. AND, I had a little bit of luck! I certainly didn't come out ahead, but I was one of the three people that won some bets on a few races - and we had a great time all in all!

* I have had the great opportunity throughout July to spend a lot of time with TJ. TJ was one of our Greenville College football players back when I worked for the program, and he is just one of my favorites! He's left now and headed back to Greenville where he will work as an assistant coach for the season, but it was great to have him here while he was able to be. We saw a lot of movies, ate a lot of food and just generally were hilariously ridiculous together while he was here. I will miss him a lot!

So out with July, and in with August. I have high hopes for what August holds. And I hope that my next update will not only give more updates on the various summer activities I've been doing - but also I'd like to share more about what I'm reading and learning.

Pictures in the next post!