By Request of Two Special Birds

Two little birdies have hinted that I've been a bad, bad blogger since my last post was nearly 4 months ago. So away we go!

To go all the way back to my birthday in March, Brian and I enjoyed a little camping trip near Ventura, CA. The weather was a little cool at night, but warmed up so nicely during the day. There was a disc golf course right within the park, so we spent one day playing a long round. It was definitely a peaceful, enjoyable 31st.

April brought a visit from my lovely friend Shawna to LA. She and I had a great time just enjoying one another's company, biking around and seeing some sights. It felt so amazing to have one of my girls out here with me. Rejuvenating, in fact. The weather didn't quite cooperate as we had some of the windiest conditions at the beach that I've seen since I lived here. Whole sections of the bike trail were covered with mounds of sand and the waves were huge. Kind of cool because the beach was so empty. One day we went down to Playa Del Rey and there was literally not a soul on the sand.

In early June, I finished my first class at West Los Angeles College. It feels good to have that ball rolling. Going forward I'm going to take three classes this fall, but it will only be two at a time. There is a program for working adults where the courses are given in half the time for the same credit. It's just a more intense class schedule to achieve the same knowledge in less time. I think I'll be able to handle this since I wasn't really challenged in my last course at all. People always ask what I'm going to school for and I still don't know for sure. Nursing school is one of my primary contenders right now. I've long considered this career path, but never quite had the gumption to go forward with it. Now that I'm back in the medical field, my interest in nursing has piqued once again so I'm looking into it. For the 2010-2011 school year, the classes I plan to take will work whether I choose nursing, an associate degree or bachelor degree. Therefore, I just need to focus on the year at hand and not get too ahead of myself.

Also in June, I visited Minnesota for a really quick trip. I really did not get to see everyone I wanted to, nor spend enough time with those I did see. To be honest, it was almost more frustrating that way than just staying in LA and missing everyone from afar. The whole 4 days are an absolute blur. I'm hopeful that future trips will be a little more lengthy so I can really get quality time with my loved ones back there.

The Fourth of July was sure interesting this year! Brian and I went down to Rancho Palos Verdes to our friends' new house there. For those who are unfamiliar, this is an area south of LA up on a huge hill overlooking the Pacific. Giant cliffs run along the entire area and the views are absolutely amazing. The day started with all of us preparing what we needed for a day down at resort beach near their house. We carried down coolers, a little grill, food, chairs and lots of other stuff. Remember the big cliffs I just mentioned? Well, we had to walk down a switchback type path to get down there. We all no more than sat down in our beach chairs and cracked open our first beer, than to see a paramedic rushing down the hill. More paramedics followed, along with resort staff and police officers. Our friends went to ask a woman nearby if she knew what was going on. She, in fact, was the one who called 911. When she was walking around the rocks next to the beach where we were, she discovered a woman's body down in the water! The emergency team quickly discovered the woman was no longer alive and they told us we had to evacuate the area so they could remove the body! Of course, it is horrible to hear of such a thing, but we were all concerned with our pounds of heavy supplies we JUST brought down the hill. Fortunately, the resort staff came to help us out and even got us a golf cart to take our coolers and heavy items up for us. We really know nothing about the woman, but heard it is a common spot for bodies to be found. Ew. We took our celebration up to the house and camped out there for the day and night.

July itself has been racing by with a million different events from bbq's to birthday parties. The first weekend in August, Brian and I are going to Toronto for a mini-vacation. He has a conference there, so I'm flying in when he's done and we're going to hang out for the weekend. We plan to visit the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, which I'm really looking forward to. This will be our first vacation together that doesn't include visiting family or attending some one's wedding. I'll do my best to update my blog when we get back from vacation with some photos!

Until next time!