So last Friday, Sarah and I, joined by (interestingly enough) both our mothers headed for Los Angeles (more Valencia really) at about 7:30pm. We finally arrived at our hotel at around 4am Saturday morning and went straight to sleep. Later that morning, running on around five hours of sleep…we got ready and headed over to Magic Mountain. While we never did get around to riding the Goliath (pictured above), I was able to ride my first metal roller coaster ever which was great fun to say the least. In fact, that was about all we did…started out with a little swing ride, then upgraded to a wooden coaster and then finally we did a few metal coasters. We had hoped to ride quite a few more rides but due to the unfortunateism of being in a line for three hours and, later that day, being attacked by heavy winds (and, thus much dirt in the eyes), as well as being rather exhausted, we decided to leave. In fact, the wind was so bad that when we were in line for the last coaster (we were going to ride) we heard a loud metallic creak and, minutes later, everyone started to leave saying they closed the ride. So, reluctantly, we left…but it was for the better because it seemed like some of the other tall rides were closing as well and it was dinner time anyway.

The rest of the weekend was fairly relaxing…sleeping longer than any of us have in a long time on Sunday and meeting up with my good buddy Alex on our way out. And we made it out just in time because that very Sunday one of the (now many fires in southern California) was darkening the sky just northwest of Magic Mountain. Anyway, despite the fun being cut short, the trip was still well worth it because I can now say that I’ve enjoyed a metal coaster, got to see my good friend…and of course there was the general good time in fellowship we were all able to have.

It would seem things have gotten to the point, again, where work is rest. That is to say, sitting at my computer at work is most assuredly the most restful thing I do lately, save sleep. Now it is nice that work is actually calm enough that it can be considered restful but there is a big deadline to have as many pictures ready for the website as possible in about a month (out of somewhere around 10,000) and anyone who has a job that involves sitting at a computer all or most of the day knows that it isn’t as restful as you might think. It can actually be strangely tiring. However, when life gets exceedingly busy…the comfortable office chair ain’t so bad.

Now I suppose you could say that the busyness was partially self induced but good things came of it. I mean, yeah…Amy (my sister) getting married the weekend before last wasn’t exactly optional and was well worth it. Especially seeing her all beautiful and happy like that. Not to mention getting to see my brotha Danny and dancing with my Sarah (which is always a blast!). Needless to say, I’m very happy for Amy and Dave (her husband). And of course there’s school which started just last week and can’t really be helped. But during this already busy time…I found something else to make myself even more busy. Ironically enough, its been almost a year from when I last tried this. If you recall, just under a year ago, I (well, my parents really) purchased a Prelude which ended up getting totaled just a week and a half later.

Anyway, if you haven’t already guessed, I bought another Prelude…only this time it’s a ’98 (so newer body style), and it has much fewer miles. However, interestingly enough, it’s white again (as you can see in the picture) but the paint is actually worth taking care of this time. That and I exercised a bit more patience. But so far it’s been a great car and wonderful to drive and…believe it or not…infinitely better than my last one. I guess you could say Danny put the bug back in me when he came down here for Amy’s wedding (showing off his 2000 Prelude) but you’re only looking at part of the story if you don’t also take into account that back in the day, Danny didn’t even like Hondas…back in the day when I went on and on about like a crazy man about my dream car, the Prelude, and not some classic muscle car. Anyway…cross your fingers…if you don’t see a post on here within a week and a half from now, we’re golden.

Well, I’d be lying if I said things haven’t been unusually busy lately. And I’m not going to lie. At any rate, it would seem that a bunch of things kinda happened all at once within the last three weeks. For starters, I had the wonderful opportunity to join Sarah’s family on a week long trip to north-central California where we camped near a lake for the first half of the week and stayed in the small town where Sarah grew up for the second half. Since we were camping by a lake it was only natural that there was a boat involved. There was plenty of tubing, water skiing and even wake boarding, which I hadn’t done before. Needless to say, fun was had by all. Not to mention the good time there was just chillin’ with Sarah and getting to know the rest of her family. On the last day before we left the lake, we all went to Big Trees State Park, home of California’s giant sequoias, which was simply amazing (as you can see in the picture above). The second half of the week was more relaxing as we stayed with Sarah’s aunt and uncle in the small town of West Point (not to be confused with the military academy). Ended up helping her dad and brother rebuild an aging deck on a rental house her parents own which wasn’t so vacationish but still good bonding time. We also weren’t terribly far from Lake Tahoe so we had the opportunity to spend half a day there and it was certainly worth the trip. Yes, indeed…the whole week was a blast and riding to and from in the back of the truck (with a mattress in the bed and a camper on the back) made it that much more fun and adventuretastic!

We got back in the morning on the Sunday before the fourth of July and just kinda relaxed for awhile until Sarah and I joined my family for the momentous occasion of moving all my things to a new house where I am now living with three other guys (finally lol). Let me just say that so far it’s been pretty nifty. Yeah, we don’t have quite all the amenities found at our parents’ homes but it’s a pretty nice, comfy place and so far it’s been a new and exciting experience and certainly a blessing. Not that living at home was by any means bad…it was just time. Now all we really need is a washer and dryer.

Anyway, the fourth of July was especially special this year because not only was it our first forth (yes, first fourth ) spent with a significant other, it was our four month anniversary lol. And we had the day off which can only make things better. So we celebrated independence day, our four month and the day off all in one by going out to lunch and then watching the phirewerks later that evening. Good stuph!

Finally just this passed weekend, we went camping yet again! Yeah you might think we’re crazy but it was actually pretty fun and rather relaxing (which is how camping should be). Sarah and I left on Friday morning with my dad and headed up to the white mountains (yes, in Arizona) to join about 18 other people from the college group. It was near a lake again and there was a boat but it was a much smaller lake and the boat was a small fishing sort (I never rode in that one). But we spent lots of time kinda hiking around and finding cool places near the lake to just chill (as seen in the above picture). And then, of course there was plenty of good ol’ sitting around the campfire and everything that goes with that.

At any rate, yes, that’s what I would call a packed two weeks. I’m actually looking forward to things kinda settling down and chillin out a bit more. Because as busy as we humans like to be…there’s something to be said for simplicity.

Yayuh! As the title suggests, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend Spirit West Coast in again this year and believe it or not…it was even better this time around! Got up early Saturday morning (memorial day weekend) and made really good time…arriving at the Del Mar fairgrounds in San Diego at around 1pm. The best part was that I got to bring Sarah along with me, as I’m sure you gathered from the enclosed picture. After we arrived we immediately went to the beach where we were able to relax for a while after the somewhat long drive. Then that night we were able to see Delerious (who is really cool in concert) and Newsboys (a big part of going to SWC in the first place…and well worth it!). By the time those concerts were over…we were exhausted so we went back to camp and slept almost immediately.

The next day, we spent more fun times on the beach, went out to eat and finally saw Kutless and Third Day…both really cool in concert as well…especially Third Day. Then we hung out the rest of the night until it was time for bed.

Finally, on the last day…we explored around San Diego a bit, visited Point Loma…which was really neat (as you can see in the picture of the wonderful view from there), shopped at Target and finally headed home. It was overall just a really nice and relaxing time for Sarah and I to hang out and have fun. It was especially cool to see Sarah enjoy the music so much! Great times!

In other news, Sarah and I had the opportunity to feed the homeless last Sunday which was really neat. Sarah is a veteran but it was more of a new experience for me but it was still awesome for both of us. It was really cool to just see how happy those people were to have people like us willing to help them out. Very good times!

Interesting things are afoot indeed. Good things though! In fact…things couldn’t really be better! Basically, the thing is, Sarah needed a job because the people at ROSS were rather uncool to her…like “hiring” her and then conveniently not being able to fit her in anywhere. Yeah, I thought so too! Totally lame. Anyway, the other thing is…we, being Horizon, desperately needed someone to come in and take pictures…because I just don’t have the time anymore and we’re kinda in a crunch to get as many pictures up as possible for the new big fancy website we’re about to put up. Kinda crazy…I actually feel rather busy at work lately…which is nice lol. At any rate, as you have probably already guessed, Sarah and I are now coworkers…which is definitely something I never thought would happen. She started Monday and has done exceedingly well taking pictures, not that I ever doubted her. And, of course, there’s the coolness of simply being able to see eachother a little more.

Speaking of Monday, for the first time in quite a while I got the chance to chill with Jay and Joel on Joel’s roof. We were able to catch up and chat for awhile which was cool. Good times.

In other news…this weekend I was able to go to my second wedding with Sarah…but this time, Sarah was a maid of honor which made it pretty special. It was a good reminder of just how blessed I am…seeing her all “gussied up” like that. That and there was plenty of general dancing and everything. Good times indeed!