california:the details

so before it gets any later in life...i thought i'd post the california details!! here is a picture of the three of us. ((don't mind my blechy hair it was the day we travelled and i totally didn't do anything to it that day)) it's veronica. me. and stephanie. veronica is the blessed one to live in california. and stephanie is the one who blessed me as a great travel buddy!

that was us at chinese theater in hollywood. we drove aroundn LA awhile looking for hollywood/walk of fame...and finally found it. only after going the 'wrong way' and stumbled across...

beverly hills. it was cool to see the sign that's in all the movies and such. we drove down rodeo drive and saw some fancy schmancy stores and people. and then got some gas and found hollywood. turns out we should've turned right when we thought it looked 'better' to turn left. lol.

hollywood walk of fame was fun to see. and i was surprised at how less crazy it was then NYC. i was excpecting it to be super crazy. but it wasn't. there were people. but not as many as i thought. it was fun to walk around and see the stars in the sidewalk. and just take in the sights. of course i also found some little goodies for the kiddos. who i missed like crazy. i cried wednesday when leaving them. breigh had a hard time leaving me too. but i cried. she cried. thankfully shaun held it in until he drove away to cry. :) i would've really broke down seeing him cry too. i'm a big baby like that. or uber sensitive i guess. either way i missed them all. and was thankful for cell phones because they could call me whenever they wanted.

i was also glad to have one of the five with me. evaleigh made it easier to leave the others, knowing i'd have at least one of them with me. miss evaleigh also had the great pleasure of turning six months old while in california. here she is...

i can't believe how big she is!!

we also were blessed to go to two different beaches our first full day. i loved this picture.

just the peace and beauty of it. ahhh. i remember walking along the beach with my two sweet friends amazed at the beauty and the love of our savior. God created each and every single beautiful thing we saw. and He knows exactly how many grains of sand were on the beaches. the EXACT number. that amazes me.

i could literally walk/sit on the beach all day. something about the sounds of the waves. mixed with the sun. it was so amazing. truly amazing.

the first night we stayed up til wayyy late. we stayed up til 2 cali time. which was really 4 our time. and we had both gotten up around 430 our time that day. so we were up for 24 hours. but it was SO fun talking with stephanie and veronica. and laughing. and crying. and just pouring out our hearts with each other. the next night we were a bit 'better' and didn't stay up as late. but we did do devotionals together. it was so much fun to sit and fellowship and do the devotions together. i saw so much of my friends' hearts by doing that, and i know it was God blessing it all. words can NOT express the blessing those two ladies were to me on that trip.

on our second and last full day we took a trip to solvang. (i took zero pictures here. grr) and then to santa barbara. i loved this picture of the palm trees. that was another part of the trip i loved. seeing palm trees!!

it was such a blessing. and the trip went way way way way way times a million way too fast. but in the same sense i was missing my family at home terribly so i was also excited to see them again. ((but not excited to leave the sun and no snow))

in solvang we found a cute little sock shop. yes socks. i have never seen so many socks in my life. but we found some super cute socks for us to buy...

the premise of this trip was that we could enjoy cupcakes at veronica's house. so we called it cupcakes in cali. and then found these super sweet cupcake socks. so now everytime i wear them (as i am now) i can remember my equally as super sweet friends and trip.

i was sad to leave california. but it wasn't good bye...but see you again. we're praying about driving out there as a family to visit veronica and her family again. veronica and her super hilarious husband and three sweet little girls were the most gracious hosts. and made us feel right at home. i couldn't have asked for a much better trip.

i can't wait to go back. i've told shaun we'd move there in a heartbeat if God ever opened up a door to do so. it is beautiful. the vineyards. fields of strawberries. the ocean. the ranches. everything. was just breathtakingly beautiful.

i know this post was a 'cliff notes' version of my trip. but truly words can't even express everything God blessed me with on this trip, so it's hard for me to even put it into words. i have an entire album of pictures on my facebook if you'd like to see the rest here.

and before i go...i want to wish my hubby, who was so wonderful to bless me with the vacation...a super happy birthday!! he's 30 today! :)