April 15, 2012

Whoops, would you look at that? I'm still in California!

I was supposed to leave today so that I would have enough time in Rexburg to get ready for the new semester but I'm finding it a lot harder to leave that I originally thought. I'm going tomorrow, no matter what though and although the drive will be straight through, I'll do just fine. Just like I did just fine driving down here on my own in the first place.

(Now prepare yourself for a life changing paragraph)
California is a fantastic place. (Lorie, if you're reading this then you can stop fist pumping the air. Just because I finally recognize that California is great doesn't mean I'm going to stop making fun of it. I'm sorry but that's just part of who I am and as my sister, I know you'll understand.) Really, quite fantastic. If you can get past the palm trees, that is. I used to hold a grudge against California. Who knows why, but I did. I think it had to do with the fact that everyone makes such a big deal about it. (No, Stephanie. No. This does not go on the list of things I hate just because everyone else loves it. I refuse to accept that the list has made it up into the triple digits. Let this one go, I beg of you.) Okay, now that I've admitted those two things, I can continue. My biggest beef about California was the weather. I need variation, I need change. Every other time I'm out here, it seems like the whole week goes by without me seeing so much as a single cloud! How do people deal with that? I like rain, therefore I like places that rain. I can no longer complain though. This week, California presented me with rain three times and even a thunderstorm. I am a happy camper.

Alright, so it wasn't as warm as I had been led to believe it would be, thanks to false advertisement. It was, however, still a lot warmer than Rexburg and I got to go the whole week without wearing a jacket once. That is something to be proud of.

News of the week: I am not applying to Vermont any longer. The deadline for the application was the 15th of April. Woa! Would you look at that! That was today! I had everything in. All my transcripts, all my letters of recommendation and all my information. All I had to do was pay the 55 dollars and send in my essays. It's hard though, to follow through with something when your whole family (except for a few who are exceptional, mind the redundancy, few) is against it and are not shy about admitting it. That is not the reason I decided to not apply. My reasons are my own. I know that happiness is important but I know how strong I am and I know I can survive the next few years. I have applied to other places in Michigan and perhaps I will transfer but it will be somewhere a lot more affordable. I think the happiness of not having school loans to pay off will be a lot more beneficial than the instant gratification I could get from leaving BYUI.

Perhaps as well, I was a bit distracted with my vacation to bother writing those long 1000 word essays. Shhhh... don't tell anyone.

One cool thing about California is that I feel like the state is just as excited for the Avengers as I am. There are huge ads for it everywhere, and I don't mean on television, I mean bulletin board huge.

And this isn't even an ad for the Avengers! This is just a lovely close up on Chris Evan's face for a regular dish ad. I didn't get a picture of any of the Avengers ones but imagine my reaction every time we got on the freeway and I had to deal with seeing such handsome attractive people staring right back at me! If I actually lived here, I would die and early death from heart attacks.

This is all besides the point though, because I'm a bit ashamed of myself. I didn't even realize that the red carpet premiere for the Avengers was this Wednesday. In L.A.
Do. You. Even. Realize. How. Close. I. Am. To. L.A.? I. Am. In. L.A.
All those beautiful, fantastic, talented, crazy, amazing people were within a few minutes drive from me walking on a carpet that I want to walk seeing a movie that I would die to be a part of.  My stalking skills are really out of shape if I missed this. I could have been one of those crazy people shouting from across a fence just for the chance to get a signature. Was it worth it to instead stay put at my sisters  house and play with my niece? Probably, because Evette is cute as a button.

She has gotten huge! If you're looking from a baby perspective. She's still a tiny little human but compared to 'firstbornhuman' size, she's growing so fast. Now she can crawl and stand. I wouldn't be surprised if she starts walking any day now. She and I have been having proper Aunt Lisa/Evette time and maybe, just maybe, she'll remember who I am next time I see her.

Probably not.

Thursday we went to Disneyland! (oh, side note, didn't get into the Disney College Program. Found this out while at Disneyland. Perhaps next year, who knows). Originally we were just going to California Adventure but when we got our free tickets (thanks to having a wonderful sister who technically works for Disney), turns out they were actually park hoppers! So, we got to go to both.





I left the picture taking up to Lorie so sadly they're all still on her phone. It was so much fun though, and Evette was a great trooper, even almost all the way until midnight, when the parks closed.

Funny how even if you get into Disney for free, it's almost next to impossible to avoid spending a bazillion dollars. Hopefully I will have enough money for gas to get home. If not, whoops! No Rexburg for me! Too bad... guess I'll have to stay in California forever!

Today we went to Santa Monica. I've never been to the ocean before during any of my previous visits to California. I don't know why but it's always one of those important tourist steps I always forget to take! This time, we made sure to hit the beach though and guess what! The ocean is cold! Makes me feel a bit more at home. I'm used to cold water, the great lakes are never warm like the mysterious beaches of Florida. We went to the beach and walked the Santa Monica pier. It was so alive with people, I loved it. Something I miss while in Rexburg, people. Real people. People of all shapes and sizes; people from all over the place with different values and styles and colors and personalities. It's refreshing to remember what a unique world we live in.

Leaving tomorrow is going to be rather hard. Especially since once I get back I still have to unpack. I still have to pick up my parking pass, check into my apartments, move the rest of my stuff, pick up and pay for books and pay rent. I still have to do some Chemistry homework and stop pretending that this vacation will last forever.

But that starts tomorrow and today is still vacation. I needed this.