All good things must come to an end

Well I think it finally happened. I think we have had our last visitor for the summer :( So Sad....I love it when friends come into town! This time it was one of my best friends, Mark. The last time we saw Mark was at our wedding over a year and a half ago (unacceptable!), but I guess sometimes nagging does pay off because I have been consistently asking him when he was gonna come see us :). He finally gave in and came to visit this past weekend. We tried our best to show him a good time.

The first full day he was here I took him to Huntington Beach to walk around. We ate at the Sugar Shack for breakfast. I had never been there but it was really good. I can definitely see why there was already a line at 10:00 Am. We walked around the shops at Main St. and the little booths set up along the beach. I love going and seeing all of the people selling their handmade items. There is jewelry, Art, clothes and my favorite...The peanut lady! She poses peanuts on a piece of wood and then adds a grass skirt or a hat and writes along the bottom "Hula Nut" or "Baseball Nut". Mark bought his mom one with several little nuts huddled together that said "Family of Nuts". Haha I think it's such an oddball thing. I love that she is actually making some money off of this. After enjoying the beach for a while we went back to the apartment and cleaned up. Then that night we saw the first of three movies we saw that weekend, Tropic Thunder. I must say I actually enjoyed it. I didn't have terribly high expectations but i thought there were some really funny moments. I wouldn't recommend it for those who are ultra conservative, but if you don't let yourself get easily offended you should check it out.

The next day we headed out to Dana point to ride some Jet skis. That is always fun! We stayed out on the water a little longer than usual and because of that both mark and I couldn't walk right the next few days. It was quite comical. Just getting out of a chair took twice as long as normal. (I just wanted to thank you again Kevin for all you did to get the boats ready. I know it was a headache and I really appreciate it :) Later that night we went to see Pineapple Express. I liked this movie too. I wish I could recommend it to everyone, but I can't. It did have lots of language and well obviously it is about drug use. Not for young audiences.

Sunday we went to church. Mark got to witness what it is like for us to teach Sunday school (well really Kevin) to the 12 and 13 year olds. After church we came home and watched almost every video on you tube and played games. It was a very relaxing Sunday.

Monday morning Kevin had to fly out of town. Mark and I rented some Kayaks and I took him to see the Moon Jellyfish. I had only been once before but I thought it was so cool that you can actually touch them. That night we walked around Downtown Disney and saw The Dark Knight on IMAX. Of course that was amazing!

I really didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked and as you can tell from some of these pictures that when I did get to take some, not everyone was on their best behavior :)

Mark it was great to have you here. Thanks for taking them time to come visit. I had a great time and I hope you had as much fun as you said you did. I'm sorry I'm not a better tour guide. Maybe next time I will be more familiar with the area and know more things to do. I guess it is our turn to come and visit you. Hopefully it won't be another two years before we hang out again.

Seriously?

This weekend I flew to Birmingham to be in my best friend Monica's wedding. Here is what happened during my travels...

Thursday, July 31st, I was supposed to fly form Orange County into the Chicago O'hare airport at 2:45 PM, but due to weather they flew me to Milwaukee where we sat on the tarmak for 45 minutes waiting to be given the go ahead to fly into Chicago. My connecting flight to B'ham was scheduled for 3:50 originally, but since they had been postponing flights due to weather, I figured my flight was probably delayed. I was right and I ran to the complete other side of the terminal as fast as I could hoping to make it in time. When I got to my gate the departure time switched from 5:00 to 5:25 to 6:00 until finally they announced that there was maintenance issue and the flight was canceled. I went to try and get on another flight and there was NOTHING flying into b'ham, Huntsville, Montgomery or even Atlanta that night. I had to stay overnight and they weren't going to cover my room, but I informed them (with tears running down my face) that my flight wasn't canceled because of weather it was mechanical issues. They promptly checked and then gave me a free room voucher along with a free dinner and breakfast ticket. So...I had to stay the night in Chicago. Meanwhile Kevin was already in B'ham waiting for me.

The next morning I had to fly into ATLANTA because I had to make it to a rehearsal for the wedding I was going to be in and the only flight they had to B'ham flew in late. So Kevin drives to Atlanta and picks me up at the airport. I go to the baggage claim and NOTHING. My bag did not get on my flight! I was so frustrated with the whole situation that I was just a ball of emotion. We went to the baggage attendants trying to get some answers but all they could say was it will probably be on the next flight to B'ham since that is where is was originally headed.

So...Kevin and I drive to B'ham and immediately drive to the mall so I can buy some clothes to wear to the rehearsal. I had to buy and skirt, top, shoes and even underwear! Luckily I had my friend Elizabeth there with me to pick something nice out. After I grabbed what I needed we drove to Elizabeth's parent's house (where we were crashing for the next few nights) and I quickly took a shower, got dressed and borrowed make-up from Elizabeth. That too was in my luggage :(

I made it to the rehearsal and Kevin slipped out to head to the airport hoping to find that my bag had arrived from the only Chicago flight of the night....NOPE! Still no bag. The next morning was the wedding and the only thing I could keep saying was thank goodness I carried my bridesmaids dress on the plane.

The morning of the wedding Elizabeth and I went to Sephora and they saved me by giving me a wonderful make over (at no charge) and then we drove around praying to find a decent hair salon to put my hair up the way Monica wanted it. We found a nice place and when we told them my story they were very understanding and helped me right away. When my hair was done I had to run back to the house and throw my dress and shoes (that I borrowed from Elizabeth's mother) on and run to Monica's house for pictures.

The wedding itself was beautiful! I joke that Monica is such a princess and she definitely got her fairytale wedding. I loved seeing the Arabic dancing and traditions. She looked beautiful and both she and Kyle looked really happy. I was also excited to see some of my good friends that I hadn't seen in a while. It was good to be able to catch up with them.

That night after the wedding when we got back to Elizabeth's house I walk in and I fall to the ground. There was my bag. Elizabeth's mom said that had brought it at 10:45 that night...Sheesh!

We were scheduled to fly out the next morning (Sunday) and before we left we went to Church to say hello to some more friends. Then we were on our way to fill up our rental car with gas and drive to the airport. THE CAR DIES...it is 98 degress outside and we are stuck on 280. I call Elizabeth but she and Lee have already headed out of town. We end up getting a ride from her younger sister, Mary. We told the rental car company we were leaving the car there and they could come and get it. We dropped the keys off at the airport. The good news is...We made it to Orange County with out a hitch and our bags came with us. I'm glad that I could be there for Monica and Kyle, but I think it is going to take us a while before we are ready to fly across the country again.