It's been 8 months already

Can't believe I've been here for 8 months! Yet, it does feel like home, I guess. A lot has happened since I really maintained this thing, so maybe I'll just touch on the highlights:

me, Vikki, Winston and Natalie
Went on my first California hike in early December in Topanga State Park. Since we couldn't find the falls we were searching for, we ended up going up to Eagle Rock and having lunch up there. The view was very nice, and I must say it was great scrambling around on the rocks.


Went skiing for the first time over Christmas and had a blast but wrenched my knee a bit. That's the problem with being a bit of a daredevil. Anyway, I finally went to an orthopedic doctor and was diagnosed with an extremely loose kneecap. If it sounds painful, that's because it is. So, I'm doing physical therapy and daily exercises to strengthen my knee and tighten things up. It only keeps me from some things, like bicycling and jump-roping and my leg workouts at the gym, but I can still roller blade. In fact, the other day I bladed past the evil law firm from Angel: Wolfram and Hart. Here's a picture of me nervously skating by. Notice: always wear your helmet no matter how stupid you look!

Can't remember what I did in January and February, but March brought the beautiful addition to my life that is 'P', my little niece. She had to come out while I was here, so I wasn't able to be there for the birth, but I got to see her briefly when she was 10 days old. The little booger slept the whole time, but hey, guess that's what babies do. Then I went to stay with her and my sister at the end of April, and just fell in love with her. I've never been a baby person, but this is different. I couldn't keep from crying when I had to go back home... Sis has been sending me lots of pics, and I cherish every one!

P watching her favorite show...

P laughing at an inside joke...

P getting her daily exercise... 1...2

And my personal favorite:

What a Cutie Patooty!!

me, Lisa, Vicki

For Easter, I was invited over to the Longs' house to play games and do a really neat reading of the Easter story. Each person got 2 plastic eggs which were numbered. The person with egg #1 opened their egg first and showed the small objects/props that were in it and the rest of us would guess the Bible verse(s) or part of the Crucifixion/Resurrection that it illustrated. Then the egg's owner would read the actual verses included in the egg. There were about 22 eggs in all, and it went chronologically. It was a really neat way to remember what our Savior did for us. Then, right as the sun was setting, a few of us ladies jetted out to the beach in Lisa's new Mini and took some quick pics in the sand (Jamie's behind the camera).

Ok, so my birthday was in April, and I invited some friends to do a very non-L.A. thing: go ice skating. We found an indoor rink, where we kept the company of the Jr High and High Schoolers, as well as the very small children and their parents... pretty much the non bar crowd. It was fantastic, and I managed to stay on my feet for this winter sport. BTW, my friend Sammy in the pink vest, she's a hoot! The other day I made this huge crock pot of chicken and dumplings so she came over to help me eat it. I was stirring it up, and she says "I love that sound." I'm like "this squishy sound?" She says, "yeah... it's like when you get just the right amount of cheese in the mac and cheese. It sounds just like that!" (We're both silly creative science-y nerd types, so our conversations are peculiar but highly entertaining. We keep threatening to publish them in a weird book some day.)

back: Yuming, Amanda, Sammy; front: me, Stephanie