Finding My Sense of Place: Summer is in full swing!

Yes it has been a long time since I actually wrote on here. And that makes it a lot more work to update on everything that has gone down since my last post in June. So I have decided to just post a bunch of pictures of my super crazy busy awesome summer so far. :)

First up was the end of choir for the season. I had my last rehearsal with Shumayela before they headed to Newfoundland and I went to California. I had a blast working with these people this year!

I drove to California with my friend Susan. In Utah we picked up two of my old mission companions Riena and Kelsey. It only took about 28 hours of total driving time. We left Thursday after my work and drove down to Stirling to stay with my Grandparents. After a short little visit and sleep we woke early Friday morning and drove to Utah. A nice visit with some more mission people, including dinner with the Curtis', a missionary couple that served while we were in Ventura. Awesome people! By 11:30pm we were almost ready to hit the road again and head to CA. Riena took the first driving shift while I had a nap. After 2 and a bit hours I took over. A highlight of the drive was going through Vegas at 4:30 am, right down the Strip. It was not crowded or anything so we could leisurely look at the sites from the car. We got into Ventura at about 9:30 am Saturday morning. I was totally exhausted. So after a quick nap we did what anyone would do and headed to the beach. Magic. I love oceans!

Before the day was over I drove to Walnut, CA about two hours away to see a drum corps show. It had been years. But so so wonderful!!! I was in heaven. All the performing corps were amazing! Seriously the talent in these groups really astounds me. And makes me miss my time spending all summer working harder than i ever have, perfecting 11 minutes. My favorite of the night was Carolina Crown. They seriously kicked butt! And it was cool because I actually knew someone performing with them, Aubrey, who marched Cascades with me in 2007. Probably the last time I will ever see someone I personally marched with perform at a DCI show. Here is a shot of the encore. Pacific Crest and Carolina Crown. Power!!

Sunday brought lots of visits with friends from the mission. It was so good to see lots of people again. Ventura is top notch. A highlight was dinner with these wonderful people. My mission president, President Castro and his awesome family. I can't believe its been two years since they started!

Canada Day Monday was spent at the beach. Tide pools in the morning and then swimming in the evening. A bunch of families from Ventura 4th ward came out, so we had an awesome time visiting with everyone. Also had a blast playing in the waves. I get insanely happy whenever I am swimming in the ocean. Its the best. Here is Tressa enjoying some beach time!!

Riena and I with some of the awesome Ginn girls. This family rocks!!

Tuesday we headed to Los Angeles. We hit up Hollywood Blvd and had fun looking at all the stars and also the hand prints in front of the Chinese theater.

Walt Disney

Group shot with our new $5 sunglasses!

Since it was Twilight I was trying to be a vampire. But seeing how it was a very sunny day and I wasn't sparkling, its obvious I was an imposer...

Waiting in line for ice cream at Diddy Rieses. So yummy! Tressa is way cool!

A couple weeks ago I saw that Josh Groban was performing at the Hollywood Bowl while we were there. Of course we had to get tickets. I was psyched. And these two here enjoyed their first big concert at the Bowl. The guy behind looks a little unsure though...