It's a Cali Christmas

Christmas 2012!

No snow, No Christmas tree, no stockings, this year for christmas was very different for me. With recently moving into our own place, we didn't have much money to do any shopping or give gifts to other people. Other than exchanging gifts, which we were only able to do by the grace of God, and the money some our family helped us out with, the only other person we got to get a gift for was my mother.

In early November we found a ceramic painting shop, its one of those well known chains, Color Me Mine. I had been to these kind of places off and on throughout my life, so I knew how they worked, but I hadn't seen one in Cali yet, and Michael had never done it. So I thought wouldn't it be nice if we made something together, then I was like... "Hey, how about we do our designs on something?" Michael was all for that. So we were just looking through the stuff they had to paint and I saw all the plates and platters and thought, wouldn't it be great if we did something for my Mother, considering how much she has done for me all my life and how much she has done for the both of us while we have been together, and Michael thought that was a great idea as well, so we decided to do our designs on a plate/platter for my mother.

So we picked out a platter, and I started mapping our first move out on it, while Michael went to grab us some food.

All-in-all it took us five visits to the Color me Mine shop and over 30 hours of work, almost every weekend up until Christmas and we pulled it off!

For those of you who don't know, my Husband and I do work with markers for fun, we have a thick sketch pad, and we do these designs while watching movies, passing the sketch pad and markers back and forth, taking turns. (almost all of our work is in one of my blog posts, I think its the pumpkin post from October) but this time what we did was we worked on it at the same time, just different sections. so we both do out own thing, although we do touch each others up, make changes sometimes.

Anyways back to Christmas.

So my Mother loved the plate, and since we saw her and some family on Christmas eve, Christmas day was just us. For the very first time we got to do whatever we wanted, and damn it was nice :)

After we woke up, we started off the day by making cinnamon rolls and bacon, then watching Elf (probably my favorite christmas movie ever) then we decided to open our gifts.

I had gotten Michael some toys that reminded him if his childhood, and one was for the both of us, Play-dough :) he had picked them out from a trip to Toys-R-Us we had the month before. 

I also got him a sweatshirt, looks a little like a letter jacket, just with nothing on it except the colors red and black, and a really nice wood box for him to keep all his small valuables (watches, flask, cuff links, etc)

and he ended up getting me a necklace I wanted from Forever 21, it's metal but looks like lace, a brown, leather looking studded purse I had wanted, and a record player with two record :) which I had wanted a record player for years, so I was super excited! and it is so cool looking too, its bright red and looks like an old fashioned radio, which in fact it doubles as a radio. How cool right!

We ended up doing more things all day, I wont go too much into detail, but we had some pretty great food and just had fun with each other, relaxing and stuff.

We ended up making scalloped potatoes with ham, and a salad, and wine. It was really nice! Especially since we both love scalloped potatoes with ham! It may even be a tradition every christmas :)

So we ended up having a wonderful christmas, the only down side was we wasted a couple hours with Michael trying to fix something on the computer, and he had been getting sick the last couple days so it wasn't really feeling at his best.

But everything was just wonderful! It was nice having a relaxing Christmas, and even though in some ways it didn't feel like christmas at all, I'm still very thankful for my Husband and our mini christmas we had together, in our new apartment :)

P.S. I'm still going to try and put up the Christmas eve photo shoot soon.

Christmas Baking and the Party Thereafter

*sigh* I've been procrastinating... knowing I should post something, but just haven't felt up to it.

My christmas was pretty good, although the couple days before it were stressful and tiring.

The post is about the Sunday before Christmas, the 23rd, and some of Christmas Eve.

So the Sunday the 23th was set aside for baking. My husband and I thought it would be nice to make some cookies for Christmas and my aunt's Christmas party, and since it was a Sunday he could help me. BUT He had to finish up Christmas shopping and get some stuff we needed to finish up the cookie recipes.

It ended up taking way longer then intended, one thing led to another, something forgotten here, something needed there and bam its suddenly 4:00 in the afternoon and my husband is just getting home.

So we didn't start the cookies until about 4:30, but then I had already started on one of the cookies, but still needed some stuff so I couldn't get far.

Our plan was to make Red Velvet Sandwich cookies, Sugar Cookies, and Gooey Chocolate Butter cookies.
We started with the Sugar Cookie dough, and got it in the fridge, and

Since the Red Velvet cookies were the only ones that didn't need to be refrigerated prior to baking... we logically made them first.

just so everything is laid out and you all can understand our situation a bit better, you need to know a few things:

1. The numbers on our oven dial are all worn off, so we have to guess where to put the heat at. 
2. We always set the timer a few minutes before they say to so we remember to check on the cookies. and 
3. Right now we only have crappy cookie sheet pans from the dollar store, so they're really small and heat up fast.

Now, back to my story.

So we put the cookies in and set the timer early, wait... and when we go to check on them, guess what we find... they were burnt to a crisp! only about 8 good cookies, and well since these are cookies sandwiches, that only makes 4 cookies, and i cant bring 4 cookies to the party. So I'm freaking out a little.

Michael calms me down saying the rest of the cookies will turn out just fine. Now it's really late in the day around 9 or 10 PM and we decide its time to start working on the sugar cookies. So I pull the dough out of the fridge and start pulling it apart, rolling it into little balls and placing them on the cookies sheets. This fills about 4 cookie sheets, so instead of putting 4 in all at the same time we put only two in, on the upper wrack (because thats where the Red Velvet cookies did ok) to make sure they don't burn and we can see if anything goes wrong.
So they're in the oven baking, and I'm checking up on them like crazy, and over the span of about 8 minutes I notice that they are not spreading out, and they smell like biscuits... and now that I think of it, they looked like biscuits, So again I'm starting to freak out a little inside, and I usher michael over so we can pull them out and try them.
and guess what, they tasted like biscuits! Little round ball biscuits, that were slightly sweeter than normal biscuits, but they had a flakey biscuit texture, and were not-at-all cookie-like. So I'm freaking out, and Michael is wracking his brain as to why this might happen. Without coming up with any logical reason for why they didn't turn out like they should, we decide to put the last two pans in the oven and make the rest of the Biscuits, while I start on the third cookies, and Michael finds a new sugar cookie recipe and starts making the batter.
at this point its around 11:30 PM and were both super tired, I'm rolling the third cookies into balls, then powdered sugar, while freaking out, not knowing if these were going to come out disasterous too. and Michael is almost done with the batter for the second sugar cookie try.
so we pop these last cookies in.

 Since we were both really tired from the really long day, we put the second sugar cookie dough in the fridge for me to bake by myself in the morning, other then try the third cookies and see how they turned out the only thing left for me to do was make the icing, which I didn't want to do without Michael because with my Neuropathy I cant always stir things real well. So Michael started on the icing, while I waited nervously by the oven, hoping with all my heart these third cookies would turn out.

and BAM they did!!! Yay! The Gooey Chocolate Butter Cookies turned out fantastic! Although we couldn't find out till the next morning because in all honesty me and my husband couldn't taste anything anymore... if you know what I mean :p (sampling lots of sugary things, sensory overload)

So the next morning, Michael is off to work, and I wake up bright and early and immediately start in on the second sugar cookies, I'm thinking to myself, "this is a completely different recipe, no way these can't turn out", so I'm all happy-go-lucky. up until the point where i pull them out of the oven and guess what I have in my little oven mitts.... BISCUITS!!!
OMG. You could not believe how frustrated and confused I was, I called Michael right away, and told what happened and neither of us could come up with answer as to why this was happening, so then I called up my Mother, and tell her this long tale of woe :p and She is just laughing her ass off at me, and then going through the list of "did you do this?" ... "yes" ... "did you do that?" ... "yes" and by the time we had gone over everything it basically came down too, we're just going to have to keep trying it and tweaking the recipe somehow.
But I'm sitting there like, what am I going to do for the party, so she tells me to just put icing on the biscuits and nobody will care, they will still be good. So I giggle off my woes and decide to do that.
When I was done icing the biscuits, I tried one... and guess what happened,
they tasted good! Now they still weren't the exact consistency of a cookie, but damn its like over night they magically changed into more of a sugar cookie.

so i guess it all worked out, especially for us since we liked them, and not a single person other then my mother tried them :( so we were stuck with them all. which is cool for us, but on the other hand I really wanted to see what people thought, I mean I did make them especially for this party. Oh well, we will definitely be making the Chocolate Butter cookies again and figuring out the sugar cookie problem.

Onto the Party!
Really the only thing to say is me and my family, and their friends, are very different, and even though it's not visible I don't really get along with them. I'm going to leave it at that.
Other than that, my aunt Marie had some stuff she didn't need anymore and gave us some extras for our new place.
which we appreciate so much because already the stuff she gave us made a big difference.
she gave us a bookshelf, a little fold up chair, a coffee machine, a crock pot, a side table and a lamp. Praise the heavens! We have a bookshelf and a side table! and oh how they have made a difference!
so that made the night, OH and i almost forgot, for christmas she gave us a pot and pan set, target gift card, and she had won a mini pie making set at an auction and didn't want it so she gave that to us as well :)

so we have been extremely blessed by that and may I add we have been extremely blessed by all the other help we have received from family, so thank you all!

Here are a couple updated pics from the apartment

I shall post another post later on, of the photo shoot my husband and I had Christmas Eve! I know its a little mixed, but I have yet to work on the photos and this post is already pretty long, I think it best to separate them. Happy New Year everyone!

Achieving the Christmas Spirit

My husband and I had been trying to think of ways to make our new apartment christmasy, since we weren't going to get a tree, it was a little bit of a hard thing to do.

I really wanted a tree, but by the time we had some money to spend on it and had moved in, we would have had it up for like a week, then had christmas, then taken it down at some point after, and with it being just so close to christmas we decided it wouldn't be worth it.

So right now the presents are on a red blanket in front of our couch, which isnt bad, it just doesnt exactly bring enough holiday spirit into our new place. well we ended up getting some things at target that i thought would help, but then the next day target put almost all their christmas stuff on sale, 50% off to be exact, so I had michael take back a couple of things (one needed to be exchanged anyways, and the other we had decided to get a different one) and pick up the things that were on sale, so I ended up getting the sweater platter i wanted for like 7 bucks, a beautiful red designed table cloth for our new (goodwill) table, and since the vase I wanted was sold out we got the rest of the money on a little gift card, so I'm going to go back Saturday and see what's on sale, since I couldn't go when Michael did.

The other day when we went shopping Kohl's, they were also having a big christmas sale and I got this bowl filling stuff that I put in a cake serving thing as a table/coffee table centerpiece. 

Please excuse all of my explanations, they are very sloppy, lol I've been at a loss for the right wording today :p

Anyways with those things we had gotten, there was at least one last thing I wanted to add. There were  these three wick candles from Bath and Body Works, that were buy 2 for $20 (they're normally $20 each) and they had this scent I absolutely love! Called "Twisted Peppermint", it smells like peppermint cupcakes. Perfect for setting a holiday spirit mood in our new place.

And that it did. With the candles, the table cloth, the centerpiece and the platter, our presents out in front of a clean living space (the rest of our box's are behind the couch) and cookies soon to be made, the place finally feels suitible to have christmas.

Because really, having no snow, or tree, or lights or stockings... it's hard to feel the christmas spirit, and its one of my favorite times of the year so im very glad we were able to achieve at least a smidgin.

now hopefully we can make cookies, and get stuff to have a nice christmas dinner too :)

all the glory goes to God though, in no way shape or form would we have been able to pull this off without his blessings and providings! To be able to get a free couch and $30 dining table the week before christmas, and get a little money from my grandparents to help out with some things we need, is all such a major blessing!

Thank you Lord!

If I dont get another blog post in before Christmas, 

I hope you all have a blessed and Merry Christmas Everyone! 

Wine Ice Cream

Well I think it's safe to say that that was the worst apocalypse EVER! lol

So now its time to talk about some other things...like....

Wine Ice Cream!

I saw a picture of ice cream up on Facebook, the other week, claiming it was wine ice cream, and at first i was like, idk... I've never heard of it before, plus as far as I've been told you can't freeze alcohol, so it sounded fake. But just to be sure I checked the internet and sure enough, THERE IS WINE ICE CREAM! Totally blew my mind! I was so excited at first, until I realized that its only sold in like 5 states, and there all in the northeast other than texas. BUT, good news, apparently (for a ton of money that I am willing to spend someday soonish) you can get it shipped. You have to buy 4-6 of them at a time, but they will then fly it to you overnight packed with dry ice.

now I know spending $8 bucks on each ice cream, then spending like $65 on shipping is a bit much, but I think it will be worth it to at least try, I mean when I was on their site looking everything over, it sounded like this wine ice cream is a sensation and everyone loves it like crazy. So I think I would be willing to spend some money on it at least once, but of course not right now, we can't really afford it, and plus it's the winter, might as well wait till the summer.... oh and wait 'til we get a fridge with a freezer :( (still hasn't happened yet)

Anyways I wanted to throw that out there, incase anyone else doesn't know about this and wants to also get some (perfect girls night) ice cream shipped to them :)

this is the companies webpage with all the info about the icecream, and where an how you can buy it :

http://www.mercersdairy.com/Wine_Ice_Cream_home_page.php

Oh and they inform you on all the media it has gotten, I would say its impressive, but hey... I haven't heard of it 'til now, and I'm not exactly sitting under a rock if you know what I mean.

Playing House

WE HAVE OUR OWN PLACE!

Yay its finally happened, my husband and I are living on our own. In a perfect apartment, that's in a great area! We so close to a lot of things now, one of which being my husband's place of work, its only about 9 miles away :) so that's great! and were only a mile away from a huge 2-story mall, surrounded by everything we could need, including some of our favorite restaurants.

But even the apartment complex is super nice, especially for what were paying, I mean compared to MI prices, it's like we should be living in a house for this rent, but Cali prices, were doing great! 

Were in a gated apartment complex, that has a pool, Jacuzzi, pond, with tree's and greenery everywhere! 

All for under $1000/month (like I said, here in Cali for a one bedroom apartment, usually expect over $1000 a month in rent) idk how everyone survives, but hey, God is definitely providing for us! Woot!

Now it did suck at first because we don't own a fridge and it didn't come with a fridge, we are still actually working that out. Since we still don't have one, right now were ok though because my step father lent us his old mini fridge.

The other thing that kinda sucked, is that we left the couch, my lazy boy, and the bed frame (for reasons i think i talked about in either the last post or the post before that... I think)  and we didn't have a dinning room set, set before last night we have nothing to sit on except the bed. The only furniture we own and brought was the two book cases and our dressers.

Then a few days ago I told Michael we should go check out Goodwill and see if they have anything we could use, and so we looked it up and there was one 4-5 blocks down the road, so we decide to go check it out and for some reason all there furniture was weirdly over priced, all except for this one dining table. so we looked it over, and there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it... in fact it was a really nice table, some nicks in it here and there, but nothing too bad... and it was only 30 bucks.

we had to leave it, because with our mini cooper we really had no way of transporting it...so we left, and all i could keep thinking over the next couple days was how amazing and cheap that table was... like it was meant for us.

So then the other day Michael comes home and says, hey my boss is getting rid of a couch and wants to know if we want it and BAM! we got a nice couch handed to us for free, Michael's bosses son John had a truck. So for Michael helped John move a couple things, and John ended up helping bring the couch over, AND was completely fine with grabbing the table while they were at it.

So last night we ended up getting a nice couch (I still want to replace it someday, but for now it's perfect) and a dining room table! All for 30 bucks! WOOT major blessings right there!

On ANOTHER high note, my aunt has some stuff for our apartment that we get to go through next monday at her christmas party, and that's always fun :) so were definitely looking forward to that!

One thing that kinda sucks, is since we can't afford much right now because the apartment and utilities kinda sucked us dry is we aren't able to get a christmas tree this year :\ but thankfully my grandparents sent us a little money so we were able to get each other some gifts for christmas :)

Thanks Grandpa and Grandpa!

But its been really nice playing house so far. Cooking, cleaning, having the place to ourselves, finally being able to do Explicit stuff freely ;) *giggle* No more walking up and down stairs to go to the bathroom or grab something to eat, which was really starting to be a problem with my knee. It's also nice being able to finally use our own dishware, and have only our own food around, i finally feel able to cook. Sure i'm still not super fond of it, but the kitchen is our domain now and its nice.

For now we're doing good, health-wise though its not so great, my doctor is finally taking action on my diabetes and I've had a huge list of problems since last I saw her so im seeing her every week to get everything taken care of and so she can monitor the new insulin I'm taking. 

I have an appointment with her tomorrow to hopefully finally address my x-rays.

Which needs to be done because my knee and neck have been in so much pain, also I need to get the diagnosis and paperwork to my lawyers because next month is my disability hearing.

So even though I'm hoping all goes well, I'm also hoping I get a diagnosis to that we have some answers before next month, and of course so I can get treatment.

New Beginnings

So everything's worked out, and we're officially moving out tomorrow.

It's been a long time coming for sure!

It's been pretty nerve wrecking this past week, especially since I've been working with my doctor on a lot of things. So I've been dealing with health stress on top of it.

But I think were doing good, tomorrow morning I have an appointment to get a birth control implant in my arm which hopefully won't screw me over like the Depo did, and my hormones will get back on track, but I'm a little nervous for that because I actually don't know how they're going to get it in my arm or if its going to hurt :\

Other then that, were going to be loading stuff up on the truck and in the mini cooper, and moving stuff all day. Sadly the apartment doesn't come with a fridge so were going to have to go fridge shopping as soon as we can.

The apartment complex has wifi for everyone, but one of the managers told us that it may not reach our apartment, so that is one reason I wanted to update everyone now, incase we don't have internet in our apartment, I'll have to find a good spot outside to do some stuff or head to Starbucks or something.

we will see I'm not going to worry about it much right now.

But hey, this is major exciting stuff. First time my husband and I will finally have our own place, finally living within a mile of a ton of place to shop, get food, have fun, etc.

 it's kinda crazy to think that other than the two months I stayed with my dad before I came out here this is going to be the longest I've ever been away from my mother, I see her everyday...and now I'm going to be living an hour away, I mean I'm glad its happening, its about time, but my mother has been the biggest support throughout my life other than my husband. 

it's just going to be a weird and pretty big change is all.

But I think were ready, like I said I'm definitely excited to be close to a mall, some of our favorite restaurants, and a Starbucks, woot woot! Sad that we won't be near snow for christmas, but at least we can go visit snow when I visit my mom. Oh, another perk is we're an hour closer to the beach so hopefully we will finally make it down there :)

Anyways its late, I gotta get to bed. Long day tomorrow. Pray all goes well, that we have a smooth move and nothing is lost.

and I'll be back on when I can.

P.S. I wanted to add this photo somehow and I forgot to last week so here it is. This is the day we found the apartment :)

This May be the Start of Something New

DECEMBER!!!

One of the worst months for change, especially when it involves finances. But if this all works out for the best, then I guess it will be a great christmas present for both me and my husband.

So it looks like me and my husband will be spending christmas in our own place :)

We may not be able to afford anything else but I guess that's ok. It's been a long road to this point and it's been long awaited, and the rest of our extra money is going towards our trip in June so other than the presents I've already gotten my husband christmas looks to be covered.

BUT it's not set in stone yet, were putting down the money today to save the apartment, but Michael still needs to work over 40 hours this week so we can get the apartment. It's a little scary because we're only able to save the apartment for a week, we can afford it until the next paycheck, and that doesn't come through till the 12th (that's why he needs to work so many hours this week) and on top of that the 12th is our move-in date, so we won't find out if we will have enough until a day or two before we plan to move-in :\ 

Sounds tight, I know, we're praying over everything and hoping for the best, but it should only be this tight this month because almost all our other monthly bills and stuff come through within the first 2 weeks of the month, so since this is crammed in there, and there's an extra 300 for a down payment so it's taking a little more outta us since it's the first month and all.

but like I said, we are working it all out :)

Monster High

So the husband and I decided to be big kids last week and went to Toys R-Us for the first time in years.

We gave each other a budget of $20 to pick out whatever we wanted then give it to the other to wrap and give it right back to us for christmas, may sound silly but it was fun :)

It's so interesting to see what toys stuck around as popular since I was a kid and all the new ones that have been added... but my golly did I find the coolest thing.

Monster High Dolls, there dolls that are the children of the famous monsters, Dracula, the mummy, werewolves, frankenstien, they even have a steampunk girl :D 

With all the hype over Vampire Diaries, Twilight, Teen Wolf, etc, it makes perfect sense, I just thought they were so cool, especially since they made them characteristic, and beautiful, not gross, or weird at all. The gargoyles daughter has speckled skin and wings, the sea monsters daughter has webbed hands and feet and some fins, some of them have fangs, and so on.

With my little budget I ended up getting one, I couldn't resist, and no I'm not going to be saving up for dolls all the time, but I do want Rebecca Steam (the steam punk doll) and maybe the gargoyle girl, I forgot her name but they're so fantastic :p

The Long Overdue Doctors Visit

The overdue doctors appointment was today, I haven't seen my doctor since march. Took me a long time for a few reasons, but I finally had to see her since all my prescriptions were up. Which for a diabetic isn't so great, thankfully the nurse practitioner signed off for enough insulin until I was able to get in with my doctor :)

It was a well needed visit but I was nervous out of my mind, my health hasn't been great and I had a list of problems to talk to her about, thankfully I was able to get a appointment at the end of the day so I could get as much time with her as I need. The visit went great, I got all my prescriptions filled, most my questions answered, some dosages and meds changed and thankfully she is really taking an interest in my health, because I'll be going back in a week, and maybe every week after that for a month or so to get things under control.

I'll also be getting blood work done in a month, and I got X-rays done after the appointment, because I'm having some trouble with my knee, and even though I have scoliosis, I seem to have an abnormality with my spine at my neck area... it may be from bad posture for too long, and it may be worse, but it is something that I am freaked out about, and needs fixing. So in both situations please pray they find something, I know most people pray that they don't find something, but I've been through a lot of health stuff and the most frustrating thing to go through is a bunch of tests and all come back normal, so they don't know what to treat, and/or they think you're lying about having problems.

Actually, not finding anything after tests is the second most frustrating thing, the first is doctors thinking you are lying or complaining about completely real problems. 

*sigh* but thankfully thats where my wonderful doctor comes in, she knows all-to-well how one problem leads to another and how my problems really are serious, she is the best!

and I am very blessed to have a docter that, even though is very high in demand, still has time for me and all my problems, and cares for me also. I've been through so many hospitals, emergency rooms and doctors... and 85% of the time, im been treated like trash while dealing with the medical staff... I'm not trying to be judgmental, I'm only trying to explain my experience, so you might understand why I'm a little doctor-phobic.

So finding the woman who is my doctor now, is very much so a blessing!

Hopefully I will have more news on my health next week, and that it will all work out and I will get help with the things that need fixing :) all-in-all it was a good day!

A Chance Encounter and the Intertwining Connections Thereafter

God always had a plan for us, sometimes he leads us on paths and we just go with it not knowing that something that started small, could ever lead to something big, meaningful and life changing.

Many many years ago after an enrichment day, everyone had left and my mothers car broke down, we would have been stuck there for hours, when Jennifer Hare pulled next to our vehicle (another homeschooled mother in enrichment days) and offered to take me home to play with her children (Elsa, Eliza, and Emma) until she could come pick me up. My mother took her up on her offer thinking that i was already friends with her daughters and i went off had had a fun day at the Hare's house. Even though my mother later realized she sent me off with strangers, that chance encounter started a close friendship with Elsa. Eventually when they moved i had a hard time with that, but a couple years later they came to visit, and brought there cousin Hannah with them, i had met Hannah briefly a joined birthday party for her and Elsa, but i didnt know her other then that, and that visit, in bringing Hannah with them, started the friendship between me and Hannah. we had a lot of differences, but god had a plan for our friendship that was unseen then.

After our friendship had blossomed, Hannah invited me to her birthday party where i met some of her friends(Jim, Ariel, and Ariel's siblings) , then seeing how we got along, invited me later to Becca's confirmation of her faith (if im not mistaken, it was awhile ago) there, my life was changed forever, because there is where i first met my husband Michael :) He became one of my best friends, and 2 and a half years later, we started dating. a little over a half a year later we were engaged, and a year and a half later we were married!

Its very interesting how god brings people into your life. Sometimes he takes them away, and its sad, but you should always remember that he has a plan, you just dont know what it is.

Thank you Elsa, for helping me find Hannah, and Thank you Hannah, for helping me find Michael.

Our Favorite Couples Bonding Hobby

These are a couple of the close up shots I took of our pumpkins.

Which I'm really glad we were able to get these photos, because at this time the bigger one is ca-put :p Actually making a little mess in our place, the little one is still intact, but its outside for now.

As far as our art projects go, Michael and I are working on something really special right now, but I can't talk about it until after christmas :( once christmas comes around I'll have plenty of pictures to share.

But there is a collage below of our past work, sure it's not art gallery worthy, but its a great couples bonding hobby we have :) once we get our own place were hoping to frame them. We have a few more that are a work in progress that need to be finished up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

some of our past work ^

The Importance of Getting Out with your Spouse, and the Horrors of Dealing with Hairstylists

Saturday Michael and I decided to get out for a bit, get some fresh air and grab a bite to eat. We only really planned on getting out of our PJ's to grab some food, but we ended up finally taking photos of our pumpkins and some nice fall pictures of us. Had a nice late lunch at Hot Shots the local coffee shop up here in the mountains, then headed across the street to Starbucks to grab a coffee (I know we were already at a coffee shop but I like knowing what i'm getting myself into and I can usually trust Starbucks to produce good coffee). For the first time in a very long time I ordered A.) Something new that I've never had before, and B.) Something hot, which I almost never do, even in the winter I usually have cold drinks. But i love eggnog, and i was feeling adventurous, so i got an eggnog latte, and oh did it hit the spot!

Altogether even though we didn't do much it was very nice to get out with my husband. Really I think the little things really matter in a marriage, especially getting out, even if its just to take a walk in the park or take a random road trip. I understand that once you get older, and you're both working it can be hard to get out and do things together, but I think its really important to have date night at least once a month. It keeps things fresh, exciting, it also helps put focus and importance on your relationship and each other.

For people like my husband and I, who are free on the weekends, I would say even if you're not feeling it, force yourself to get out once a week. No matter what your doing, getting out and about is a great bonding Opportunity. My husband and I always have the most fun getting out, I mean we have fun at home too, but unless were super stressed we always benefit from getting out together, and with our new car its super nice to have a lot of the freedom to be able to do that whenever. Especially since I'm cooped up at home all week.

I ended up going out with my mom on monday, I wasn't really looking forward to it, but I really needed a haircut, and I just wanted to get it over with, since they stress me out... and for good reason, my history with hairstylist's lately have never seem to fully listen when I describe what I want done, even when I bring in pictures my hair gets screwed up, this time also, but it didn't turn out bad just too short. 

I was planning on going in and getting info on getting a perm, which the lady I got stuck with, was a bit rude, like i should already know what to expect, and was stupid for not... and its hard to know what to expect with a short haired perm since I know what a perm does and I've seen pictures of my mother when she had hers, but my mother and the lady kept telling me how many different perms there are and stuff, so i looked up loose perm and went through and downloaded all the pictures I wanted my hair to look like, then while I'm showing her, all the kept saying was, that's with a curling iron, that ones a curling iron, that one too... so every picture I had was not actually a perm at all, so naturally I was like... so do you have any pictures so i know what to expect? and she was like annoyed with me, like why should they have pictures... and she goes well people usually know what a perm is when they come in asking for one.........

THANKS that's SOOOO helpful!...not.

anyways after 15 mins of trying to get information about a perm, she finally tested my hair to see if the perm would hold, and apparently it wont, since I bleached my hair last march and it hadn't fully grown out she said all it would do is fry my hair.

so I just got my hair cut, which I gave her the picture of the length and style I wanted, I told her that with bangs, and she had such a hard time angling the back, and arguing with me, like I didn't know what I wanted, that another lady had to step in and take over because she understood what I wanted.

but even then she cut the front part of the angled bob like an inch and a half longer then the picture showed... so yea I'm not going back there.

I feel like every time I go to get my haircut this is the type of hairstylist I get...every time :\

but I'm getting used to it, it will for sure look like I wanted it to once it grows out a little more, so i'm making the best of it.

(phone photo, ill have more later)

After that me and mom ended up going to target and shopping for awhile, we didn't find anything good but Michael ended up meeting up with us there and taking me off mom's hands, (Since he knew we were in the area and headed over after work) so she could go grocery shopping and we could finish up shopping at a couple other stores. I did end up finding the shoes I was looking for but they were a bit more expensive then I wanted to spend at the moment.

Other then that I got a beautiful infinity scarf, and I met a new friend. At least I hope we become friends, she seemed real nice and like we would get along.

We ended up eating at the macaroni grill for dinner, which we had never been so it was a nice new experience, and since the waiter screwed up a couple things on our order we got free cheesecake :)

So it was still all in all a good day, and again...a nice time out with my husband :)

P.S. Sorry for my ranting, I just always seem to have a rough time when it comes to getting my hair done, and I wanted to explain what happened this time so you might get the gist on why I get stressed when I need a haircut.

Hoping for the Best as we Look Forward

Its finally starting to feel like November. Last month we had a couple days that went really cold and even brought snow, but since then its been quite warm and nice out. Yesterday it was dark and gloomy and cold enough to shut the windows, then later in the afternoon it started rainy, it was a beautiful gloomy day, but it rained all day and night from what I can tell, and this morning I woke up to find it start snowing a bit. Looks like its finally starting to get cold outside, at least cold enough to be considered winter.

(INSTAGRAM PHOTO!)
On a happier note, my husband noticed how down I have been, and how I had the shopping itch and gave me a little money to get myself some clothes, so yesterday I ordered a couple shirts and scarves from ebay, and I'm hoping to go down the mountain shopping with my mother next week for shoes. I need some, I do have a lot of shoes, but the problem is I have boots, I have heels, and I have sandals or gel flats, I dont have anything for everyday use anymore, the shoes I usually use for everyday use are these wonderful black flats, but they have little holes in them and there all rubber, so there not exactly something for colder weather.
and they're the only shoe I have for comfort other then boots, although I do need so new boots soon, the black boots I have, have gotten to narrow for the calves (they have always been a bit tight so with gaining weight it just made them worse) and since I've used them every winter for....idk over 5-6 years... so they're kinda beat up, I do have some winter ankle boots, but with the snow I wont be able to use them all winter.
But hopefully we will be moving down the mountain soon so I wont have to worry about that.
speaking of moving, we're continuing to look into places, Michael is supposed to check out a place today or next monday that might be a possibility. But I'm not sure its what we want, I mean the place looks great, and its a 13 month lease with the first month free, with $850/mo rent... but its still a bit far from my husbands work place, over the year we would only have (around) 5 thousand miles left over to do extra things... and as I've been told, it's not a whole lot. So we're praying about it, and continuing to look for places.

But... *sigh* ....its that time of the year when I'm antsy to do something, but nothing is satisfying to do.
Like, I wanna start up knitting again, but every time I do, a week later I get frustrated with how long it's taking and stop again until a month or a year later... I really want to finish the scarf I'm making. I guess we will see how it goes this time around, first I'm going to have Michael check the yarn for spiders though because they love the basement, they try and find warm places, and I haven't checked that place for awhile, and... I HATE spiders.
I'm really hoping I can stick to it this year though, and get it finished, I haven't finished a scarf it a long time. Sadly I gave the first one I made to someone who I'm not really friends with anymore, and really wish I had saved it for myself or a closer friend, but I did end up making one for my husband the first christmas we started dating. But ever since then I haven't been able to finish one, and I've never made one for myself, so I started one for me a couple years ago, just... haven't had the patience to finish it.
also my hands cramp up pretty easily doing things like the dishes, certain things on the computer, knitting, etc. so lots of breaks and good luck to me :)

Another thing, I've been meaning to finally take some pictures with my husband and our pumpkins, it took awhile at first because we have been artistically working on them and they weren't actually done until the night before halloween, but since then it's just been because were busy, and/or sick. but I'm hoping we can get all gussyed up and take pictures this weekend, not sure with this weather though, if it doesnt let up were not going to be able to, which has me a bit worried since... well pumpkins die and i want to get the pictures with them when there nice and strong and healthy...not squishy :p
so hopefully we get our butts off the couch and get these pictures done this weekend, even if were sick, or the weather is bad.

(another instagram photo, its the only one I have of the pumpkins right now)
As you can tell, we got white pumpkins, which before this October I didn't know existed, but they were perfect for coloring on.

Little Fall Photo Shoot

Did a little photo shoot with my tripod for Lookbook after i went out to lunch with my mother.

nothing spectacular, but i thought i would share :)

Night out with the Red Bow Heels

Went out the other night with my husband to eat and grab a coffee. It was a pretty random outing, considering we were in our casual clothes and on our computers at home until 7pm when we decided to go out :p 

Since it was a night outing and we don't do that often I decided to wear my somewhat new red bow heels and mini skirt... I love how the heels look, but hate how they fit. I have a hard time putting them on, they seem to fit good at first but they're a little big.

Now, I am a huge fan of pumps, but have a hard time wearing them, with my diabetes and joint problems, wearing heels can be painful right from the start, not to mention I have weak ankles... doesn't really help much. I have such a hard time understanding how women can go out clubbing in stilettos or pumps, least of all walking everywhere like celebs do. I have to keep reminding myself that they don't have feet problems like I do, but I still wonder how different is it really, ya know?

my dreams of being a supermodel were never very realistic anyways :p lol. But it would still be nice to not be in pain going shopping at the mall... standing in line at a theme park, or just wearing some heels out to dinner with my husband.

Another down side of pain is it wears thin on your patience and nerves, so not all our outings are fun, littered with rainbows and unicorns :p but we had a good dinner at Red Lobster.  My favorite thing, the highlight of every visit, is the $7 bowl of Heck-yes-lobster-bisque!!!

The shoes are from Charlotte Russe, so they're not great quality, but they are what I can afford. I think it's safe to say I wont be wearing them much.

Its a Orange Spice Autumn

Over the last few months my husband and I had been stressing about getting a new car, not sure if we should or if we should fix the one we had or what, since the car we had been using had broken down several times with expensive fixing costs over the past year. The main issue was at the time michael didnt have a job, and to find a job we would have to put more money into our car, but we didnt want to do that because it's a piece of sh*t, but we couldn't get a new car... well because michael didnt have a job, so no money. Then last month michael started a wonderful job, and we started getting money, but... we needed to pay people off and save up, and all that fun stuff so we still didnt know what to do.

last week we decided to go looking at cars, we figured if were going to look into something new, then its going to be a vehicle that we both wanted, otherwise we might as well go used. I hadn't been hearing anything from the Lord on the matter so I wasn't sold, but it seemed like Michael had been hearing leasing for the last couple weeks, (I was skeptical because I didn't know what was all involved in leasing) so we decided to head to the Mini Cooper dealer in Ontario to talk to someone about our options.

Sufficient to say, we got a Mini :) we talked to one of the dealers, and we got approved for a lease, we prayed about it, and we both felt good about the decision... which it was a hard decision to make because we wanted this vehicle so bad that we didn't want that to cloud our judgment or block our God receptors...lol *giggles* God receptor... anyways but it was an all-day process that led us to believe that this was in God's plan and he would take care of us financially as long as we trust in him.

So we ended up turning in our piece of crap car in for $1000 which helped for the down payment, and left the lot in our new Mini! Which I gotta say, is amazing! Less gas, smooth ride, brand new everything, I mean it was newer then new, it's a 2013 model... and IT'S NOT EVEN 2013! Crazy right! 3 Year lease with cheap monthly payments and when the lease is up we're hoping to buy it.

To me it seemed like renting it, but apparently to the dealership is ours... they see it more as ownership so I guess I can say the car is ours!

it's fantastic having something this new, my mother and step-father are leasing a truck, but other then that my family never had new vehicles, not saying we always had junkers but they were always used, same with Michael, so this kinda blows our minds. The only thing I don't like is we only have a certain amount of miles we can use per year, so we need to look into moving soon, because A.) The car won't work well up here in the mountains for winter... I don't even know if we can put chains on it, and B.) we don't have the miles for Michael to drive to work and back every day, so now are next focus is moving out and down the mountain. Which is exciting and very scary :p

But for now we are doing ok. I will hopfully be bringing more pictures to come, I haven't had the time so far since michael has been gone at work during the daylight hours. But I will try and get some up soon to show you all the features, and get y'all jealous :p

Until next time! Happy Autumn!

-

Old car (far crappier then it looks) inside was ripped apart in a bunch of places and stains, no radio or any way to play music, always breaking down, and no AC, and btw it was like this when we got the car, couldn't afford much and it seemed to run fine at the time, wasn't long before it started breaking down all the time though -

New car! -

Btw the color is called Orange Spice.

At Least We Got a Taste of Fall

There are some things I really miss about Michigan, the lakes, especially lake Michigan. the Victorian/historic houses, the antique shops everywhere, I mean sure there are a few around here is not like there are no antiques in California, but back home there all over the place, and the apple cider mills (Uncle Johns Cider Mill in St. Johns and The Country Mill in Charlotte MI, where I'm from) those are the 2 most prominent ones for me because they were near by, but there are more.

I'm sure a lot of people don't understand the huge attraction especially if your from California, an apple farm out here Isn't really the same thing, but back home, we went every fall. Not only are there apples and pumpkins, but fresh doughnuts and cider.

Man, they're the best doughnuts you have ever had, it doesn't matter if you have had fresh doughnuts before because there not just any fresh doughnuts.

Most places out here in Cali or places like crispy cream, sure make them fresh and they're good, but at a Cider mill, they're not big chains, or mass distributed, there the places home recipe...its a huge appeal and big deal going to a cider mill back home.

Well out here not far from were we live is Oak Glen, a little apple farming town, that we (me and my husband Michael) decided to try out last Saturday, sadly, no doughnuts, only apply pies and stuff (not a huge fan of apple stuff other then doughnuts and cider) but we did have a good time. Cute place with a lot to see, some Great cider, which we forgot to pick some up for home :( 

but still it was a nice day out, we took some good pictures and ended up getting a couple pumpkins.

Oh and before we went, since we have to go down the mountain to get there we met up with our new married friends Gladys and James for lunch at red lobster. Of course I got my favorite Lobster bisque, and after we got a nice group shot together, pictured below.

altogether it was a nice time out, and even though it was disappointing that there was no doughnuts and we forgot cider, we were still very happy to have gotten the chance to get out on a date day together and get some pumpkins.

Back in the Game

FINALLY In the mood to write something up. I missed last months MMH and I just figured I would skip one since I'm so late, so I'll try better to remember this months. 

With Michael's new job, we were able to get my WoW account back up and running so I've been kinda stuck on that, especially since Mists of Pandaria came out, been extra busy with that... at least on the computer :p...gosh I need to get out more.

Anyways you may not understand I thing I'm about to say, but hey WoW is apart of my life so I'm going to take a little time to talk about.

I'm not a great player or anything, Michael helps me out on a lot of the technical stuff for raiding and such, but I really only raid for the achievements, I do enjoy it sometimes, its just high stress and you usually have to deal with a lot of elitist jerks (people who expect you to play perfectly otherwise you're a shit player... so basically a bunch a guys with sticks up there asses :p ) but sometimes what you get out of it is worth it. Other then that I love to PVP (Player Vs. Player), Alterac Valley is my favorite battleground, and maybe its because its one of the ones that the Alliance are best at.

With MoP coming out I haven't been able to try the new BG's yet, too busy leveling, gearing, and doing other stuff that needs to be done, lets just say a lot of stuff got changed around with the new expansion and now you have to do a bunch of repeatable quests called "dailies" daily to get rep so that you can do more dailies to get good gear for raiding and other things, also a couple of professions are a bit more involved, like cooking. Now you have your own farm, and you grow crops too for cooking.

One thing that's nice for me is the dungeons aren't as hard as they made them in Cata (the last expansion) i think hard fights and mechanics should mostly be left for raids, so I'm glad a lot of the heroics are a bit easier.

2 weeks ago I reached 90, I was the first in the guild to do some, and I'm pretty sure I'm the first in the guild to be geared enough to do LFR (looking for raid) so I feel pretty accomplished, so other then dailies this week I've been working on Pet Battling, which is kinda weird, everyone talks about how its so much like pokemon, and I don't really care for it, its tiring, but there are a lot of achievements so its something I need to do.

MoP wise... I love the expansion, everyone for months talked about how stupid it was going to be, how stupid playing panda's was... but really, there pretty kick-ass, the graphics are pleasing to the eye, the area's are beautiful, the dailies, and dungeons are fun. I thought cata was fun, but at the same time very scattered, I feel like this storyline is pulled together and tied in, without being everywhere. I did like what they did with cata, but the areas where all in different places, so you had to take portals everywhere and sometimes it took forever to get from one place to another, and the heroics and raids were effing difficult :\ which was cool for awhile....but I still haven't gotten 50% of the achievements I need. also the areas got tiring to quest in quick, you never really wanted to finish an area.

so I like the changes they made.

Even though I haven't written much lately... to tell you the truth I don't have much more to say, been a bit cooped up here for the last few weeks, haven't really done anything else... other then deal with health issue's. I was supposed to go out yesterday with my mother to spend some time together but the night before i got sick, really bad sore throat all night, so were hoping to do something tomorrow.

Its gotten really cold over here, one week I'm wearing shorts and a casual short sleeved shirt, then then next it just dropped and my fingers are freezing off and I'm playing wow snuggled in a blanket with my fuzzy socks and my asymmetrical or a Hoodie (which BTW I never wear socks unless I'm cold or I'm wearing tennis shoes which i never wear) so i hope it lets up a little, I don't wanna be feeling this weather for another month :p

Oh before I go, please pray we can get out car licensed and insured soon so me and Michael can do things, that a new car would come our way, and that the financial blessings would keep pouring in.

Thank You Lord for all that you have given us!

Well that's all I got for today, hopefully I'll be writing soon of some fun outings I've had this month :)

until then, God bless!

All You Can Eat Sushi Time!

So the other night I got to meet up with my step-sister (whom I never see because she lives in Las Vegas) and her friends for sushi. Which the place we went to is AWESOME, I've been there a couple times before, and it is like all you can eat sushi for $20 for lunch and $26 for dinner... which considering it is amazingly tasty sushi, thats not a bad price.

I ate like 3 whole sushi rolls, and I got to take some home for Michael.

I kinda got the impression that my sister didn't really care if I was there or not, but it was nice to get out, interact with people, and grab some amazing sushi!

A Day with my Dad

Almost 2 weeks ago, on Labor Day, I met up with my father and his fiance Darlene for the first time in 2 years. They came to California because Darlene's son went into the Marines earlier that summer and He was graduating the following weekend, so the whole week was family week at the marine base in San Diego.

They came in a day early to come visit Michael and I for a day. Just to clarify my father and Darlene live in Michigan, where I grew up.

We met up at the diner in Running Springs and I got to show them around the hot spots up here in the mountains. I took them up to Keller's peak, so they could check out the all around view, I knew my dad would love that. Then we headed over to big bear, where we stopped at the Sugar Pine Bakery, my favorite place to get baked sweets, then headed into town to get some lunch since we were all starving.

We ate lunch at a little restaurant in the village, and caught up for a while. Then walked down to the Copper Q to grab some coffee and talk more before our dinner reservations at the Peppercorn Grill (my favorite restaurant up there)  I was hoping to take them around Big Bear a bit more, show them a couple places, but we ended up using all our time sitting and chatting it up.

We ended the evening by eating dinner at the Peppercorn Grill, and heading home. It was a nice drive home because they rented a little convertible, and it drove smooth and fast, and my father knew how to take advantage of that :p

All in all it was a very nice visit. We had a great time out, and it was good to finally catch up and see each other. Oh and I got to wear my new shoes for the first time, my new lace, lace up booties that Michael had gotten me for my birthday.

One Year Anniversary at Universal Hollywood Theme Park.

Ok I have a lot of catching up to do, other than last months MMH, I've been procrastinating writing up my recent adventures... so lets start with last month, on the 25th. It was our one year anniversary, we had saved up a little money all year to be able to do something, albeit not much since we had a few emergency's that needed the money, but we tried our hardest.

We ended up going to Universal Studio's Hollywood Theme Park in for the day, and since there was a discount for southern cali locals, we ended up getting year round passes... so other than a handful of black out dates, we can go whenever we want, and all we have to pay for is food and any extras we get... gotta admit its pretty spiffy :p

As long as we use it of course, its about an hour and a half away so gas would be a bit much, but hey for like a date night once every month or so, thats not bad :p

The only thing I wasn't too keen on is that they had more shows than rides, I had been to adventure island that's connected to Universal Theme Park over in Orlando and it was like all rides and they were awesome and this wasn't like that at all. Yea it was cool, and fun to explore... but I was still disappointed in the ride department, let me take you on a little tour with pictures.

All the main stuff and shows were on the upper deck, and outside is City Walk, which you don't need tickets to get in and most the parking takes you right to, which I gotta say was one of the coolest parts, they had restaurant's of every kind, one was Bubba-gump shrimp, which the only place I've ever seen that was when I was in Chicago years ago, and they had stores like I'd never seen, one's that I had only ever seen in the magazine and didn't even know there was actual stores, and other cool store's I'd never been too, like one was just for socks (picture later on) But Michael had never been to the Hard Rock Cafe, so we ate there.
Food wasn't that great, but hey, that's the Hard Rock Cafe for you, more of an experience then a great place to eat at and I figured he had to try it once to at least say he has been :p

Then we found this awesome candy shop... with some of the coolest things there, we agreed to come back and raid the store at some point, lol we just couldn't do much of city walk since we had a full day ahead of us at Universal, so NEXT TIME! woot.

Since we couldn't waste our whole day in City Walk, after the candy shop we headed over to the theme park to get things started, got through pretty quick and I gotta say even though its lacking in rides the place is still pretty amazing. Movies sets everywhere, with shops, and shows, which we weren't able to see any that day unless we wanted to forgo a ride, and we wanted to try them all at least once. When we got done with all of them it was too late, so thats another thing for next time. As I was saying, that place was pretty decked out, I think the rides were more like effect experiences than roller coasters because it was a theme park more then an amusement park and so they focused on a lot of things that their studio was good at, so the whole place is more of a huge movie experience.

so after we explored a bit of the upper deck (not all of it because it's huge) we headed down to the lower deck, which I'm pretty sure is actually Universal Studios. Because there was a lot of stage buildings that were not used but the theme park, and you could take tours. but anyways the way to get down there was pretty cool, you actually took a bunch of escalators, as pictured below

First ride we went on was the Jurassic Park ride, which was a huge mistake because we got soaked...should have done that one last :p oh well...anyways the ride wasn't my favorite, you kinda went up a hill to float around a river a bit with robotic dinosaurs around us and a narrator who talked about how we had to escape, then you go in a blacked out building with sirens, you halt to a abrupt stop...and a TRex thrusts his head up right in front of us, scaring the shit out of everyone (did I mention we were in the front row) and then you go over the edge super fast and I swear it was like 90 degree angle... and then you get soaked by the splash you make coming down... but I didn't like it much, I mean I'm glad I did it, just to say I did it, but I'm not a fan of the ones that build way to much anticipation while you wait to go over a scary edge, not my thing.

After we went on right to the next ride. The Mummy ride...now both lines said they were like hour waits and I think we got in a lot quicker, I think the Jurassic park line was only a half an hour and mummy maybe 45 mins...so it wasn't too bad, I was really hoping this ride wasn't like the last, I mean I didn't expect to get wet or anything but I was hoping it was more of a roller coaster, which it actually was. Now it was inside a building so there is only so much you can do, but this one was more of a speed thing, whipping you around a bit and going fast with cool effects popping out at you. I gotta say it was my favorite, it was throughly enjoyable, a little short, I wish it lasted a bit longer, but I do wish to go back on in next time for sure! maybe even a couple times through.

after I really needed a drink, so we got waters, and headed over to the newest Transformers ride, which the estimated line time is said was an hour and a half, and we figured since the others were pretty quick it shouldn't be too bad... well we were very much mistaken, for we spent over 3 hours in line, and we would have left sooner but once you got inside you really didn't know how long the line was, there was sooooooo many rooms the line weaved through, that we were hoping with the 2 couples behind us the around the next bend would be the ride... but it seemed it would never end.

Now normally people just get really tired of standing for that long, but it was really bad for my 1/4th of the way through because I have bad Circulation in my feet so I was in sooo much pain.

the ride itself was cool, it was an amazing 3D simulation... that was really impressive, and I'm glad I have done it at least once, but I'm not sure it was worth the wait... it really didn't help that we went on a Saturday :p but hey at least now we know how long the line actually is once inside the building... because you would never expect it considering how long you actually wait on the outside.

Once we finally got out, we headed to one of the little museums before heading out, which had some costumes from universal movies through the ages, and a large Paranorman exhibit, and a little Coraline exhibit as well.

After we thought we might have enough time to head over to Hollywood Blvd, check out the stars and get a picture with the hollywood sign behind us, so we headed out, not before getting matching anniversary leather engraved bracelets that said "One Year Strong" as souvenirs, and heading back through City Walk. We were surprised at just how busy it was, really it was just as bustling as earlier in the day, except totally different crowd, men in suits and ties, women in stilettos and tight dresses, I mean there was still tourists lingering, but it was definitely Date/party town, and once we got further in there was also a concert going on, the whole court yard was filled with people, it was pretty amazing.
it was definitely a cool place to come to and we would have stayed and had dinner, but we wanted to catch the hollywood sign before it got too dark...so we left...(big mistake)

After we left we headed to hollywood blvd, and about 2 blocks away in a dark neighborhood our car broke down. Pretty much left me devastated, because one, we couldn't afford to fix the car again or get it towed, and 2 we were SO CLOSE to everything.
Basically the rest of the night we spent at a Burger King until 12 waiting for my mother to come pick us up after a helpful young woman helped us figure out what was wrong and get us to burger king.
and then we didn't get home until around 2am.
it was a long stressful evening, the Burger King wasn't in a nice part of town and a couple suspicious people came in the throughout the night, one including a homeless man who had come in asking people for money then got in a fight with I think the manager, telling him to leave or he would call the police, and to my surprise the homeless man didn't leave, he just sat there and cussed out the Burger King employee.
I admit, with everything going on, and knowing we couldn't afford to get the car fixed, I stressed out and cried, I was tired and sore as well...and for a while we didn't know if mom was going to pick us up, and we didn't have money to be able to stay at a motel, so it was scary for a while.

We finally made it home, got the car brought back a few days later by the help of a friend's friend, and it turned out to be nothing major so we got it fixed for now. Oh and it took me around 4 days for my feet to recover :p

So what a strange long trip our one year anniversary was.