October at College

Clearly some of the most sensational college experience stories thus far have revolved around weather simply because we Californians don't have weather.  Well we do, but it's normally beautiful or at least mild.  Heather has Instagrammed a couple of morning pictures from her apartment which I have included here.  I can't believe it's snowing in October! She surprises me with a cute photo now and then like the one with her soda. And I send her photos of funny things like this sweatshirt. Allison Boyack had a Stranger Things Season 2 premiere party, and Heather was invited. What a fun thing to do for a ST fan! I decided to make Halloween cards to send to her and the HB church girls which was fun. I don't know if the girls liked them, but it was fun to send them. Heather put together a casual costume that she could wear to school during the day from a Marvel comic movie called Donnie Darko.  She was excited about it. Heather and her two friends have really been in to the show "Riverdale," and they decided to dress up as Josie and The Pussy Cats for Halloween night.  They didn't go to any parties, but they did go to Soda Vine and hang out for a bit in their costumes. Heather isn't much for the social gatherings because she doesn't know anyone, and many of the gatherings are very crowded. She's having some claustrophobic symptoms and is a little panicky. But she is still finding some fun here and there. She bought some decorations for Halloween to put with the ones we bought when we first got to Utah. I love that she loves to dress up and to decorate like her momma does.

Weather Woes

While our daughter freezes in Idaho, we continue to have weather of our own going on in CA. It's normally not THIS hot in October, but boy are we getting it. The temperatures make for beautiful beach vistas like these I snapped from the top of Superior Ave in Newport Beach. I had two doctors appointments this month, and the view was magnificent both days.  Let's turn down the heat already! Someday we're really going to need to put in air conditioning.

College Girl Experiences

Heather is still experiencing weather for the first time. It snowed on her on the way home from church the week it turned cold (pic 9/19/17).  Snow in September??? Ludicrous, right? In other news, Heather's immediate roommate is still a bit of a mystery and gone a lot. The girls in the room next to her are also gone a lot. But the sisters, Madeline and Ozma, who share the first bedroom clicked with Heather right away over cosplay and conventions. Their dad is an illustrator and attends many conventions. The girls were going to Salt Lake Comic Con and invited Heather to go with them and stay in their SLC home over the weekend. Heather bought a shuttle pass and Comic Con badge for Saturday 9/23/17. What a blessing to find fun friends so fast! They had a great weekend. Heather already had a cosplay outfit with her, and she ordered a broom to complete the ensemble. My heart is happy that she has found sweet girls in her apartment that make each day more fun.

First Week In Rexburg

Heather called me on her first day of class to let me know she was eating under the willows. I loved knowing exactly where she was because I had seen it and walked the area. It is such a beautiful place for a break, and she had packed a lunch and was relaxing waiting for her next class.  How lucky is she? Unfortunately, within a few days time, Rexburg weather took a little turn, and Heather was quite chilly.  Jenna had given her a cashmere scarf for a graduation present, and Heather was using it! The wind is chilly and the temperature dropped almost 30 degrees in the day time. I spent some time on-line this week ordering warm sweaters and under layers as well as other things she might need to stay warm. We need to get this kid outfitted for some chilly weather!

Sports and Burgers

Jenna set at her tournament today and Heather ran at OC Champs (top runners in So Cal). Jenna's gym was air conditioned; Heather's track was not. It was a hot, hot day at about 100+ degrees. We met at Jerry's Wood Fired Dogs in Ladera Ranch near Jenna's tournament for dinner. It did not disappoint.

Weather and Braces Off

Crazy day with crazy weather! The wind and the rain were so strong. Our neighbor's construction portapotty upended in our driveway.  There was a beautiful double rainbow and...JENNA GOT HER BRACES OFF! WOOOOOO-HOOOOOO! Look at our beautiful girl! What a smile!

Christmas Eve!

Christmas is almost here! Decorating is done. Cinnamon rolls are made and presents are wrapped. It's been raining and cold. Heather was so bundled up in this picture getting ready to walk the dogs that we laughed at how she's going to be so, so cold in Idaho if she can't handle 50-degree weather. Sariah has been really mellow, and she seemed to like being near the Christmas tree and the presents.  Can't wait for Santa to get here!

November Tidbits

11•4 All of our prints from Judy's photo shoot arrived and are now in frames

 11•6 Southern CA has been on mandatory water restriction for a few weeks now. We can only water lawns twice a week, and many people have decided to let their lawns die. The huge, lovely green lawn at the Los Angeles temple is a reminder that we are in a serious drought situation. Kelly snapped this while driving by. It's hard to believe the grass has all died. Hopefully the drought won't last too long with the predicted rain this coming year.

11•12 It seems like we talk about weird weather a lot. We had late heat this summer which caused the Plumeria tree to bloom later. And now the cold weather is coming in little segments. This morning there was frost on the lawn under the blooms on the tree. The contrast was striking.

Weird Weather Continues

Did we talk about the weather before Facebook and Instagram? I'm sure it was weird, but now that I have the ability to snap a photo and share my weather frustrations, it seems like we have more weird weather to make and occasion of.  This week has been HOT.  It's not the only hot week, but it's just miserable and muggy, and that makes me grouchy.  I usually say, at least once a year, that I don't live on the East Coast for a reason. Humidity stinks!  We've had 90 degree temps, it's rained, it's been 80+ degree temps in our bedroom (while it's raining outside)...just yuck.  They sunsets are usually beautiful, so there's a plus.  And our dear neighbor invites us down to swim which we love her for. We're trying to stay cool and hoping the heat wave moves on through.

March Comes in Like A Lion

The first week of March has brought with it some weird, weird weather. When I taught first grade we used to do a weather unit in March where we did an art project with the saying, "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb." We explained that the old saying meant some crazy weather in the beginning of the month, which we usually attributed to rain or wind.  This year we got SNOW! After a day of some chilly, rainy weather, my friend Kim was on the pier the morning that the hail and freezing rain was so extreme that it appeared to be snow blanketing our beach right here in Southern California!  And to continue the lion-like fierceness, with in a day or two, we were experiencing a heat wave the likes that we got out the swimming pool months in advance. How much for extreme can we get? We will have to keep guessing and make sure we keep all the wardrobe options available for use!

 We also said goodbye to our Element this month. This has been an awesome, super reliable car since the spring of 2003 when we drove it home. With nearly 200,000 miles on it, it has seen beaches and mountains and everywhere in-between. It has been Kelly's low-mileage commuter car all these years which is why the mileage is so high. It's hardly been in for an oil change. It has truly been a dream. After we sold the Kia, I used this as my vehicle instead of buying another new car. We were going to turn it over to Heather in a couple of months, and decided to see about repairing a few things to make sure it was up to safety standards for her to be driving it. The cost of repairs were going to be well over $3,000, much more than the car was worth. We decided to sell it and got a pretty good deal with CarMax. It will most likely be used for parts as they don't make this car anymore. We'll be looking into another car, but we're grateful to have the truck for me to use in the meantime.

And finally, it's track season. Heather is getting back in the groove. She will concentrate on 300 Hurdles and the 100 Hurdles this year. She is pretty happy about that and likes the hurdles. Not so much the 100H, but she'll practice.  The 300H is a pretty tough race, and she's showing some potential. The fact that she likes it is even better.  We'll see how she does!

Cold and Sunsets

Cold weather, but beautiful sunsets.  Can't ever get enough.

It has been so hot!  We've been spoiled by unseasonably cool weather such that when the real summer weather hit, we were not ready for it.  I took some photos off my weather app today which showed the weather at 9:00AM, noon and 2:00PM.  It's like we moved to Hades.  The dog even knows when to go lay prone in front of the oscillating fan!  The only plus is that the heavens present a fabulous show every night around sunset.