we were supposed to go camping

so this past weekend was supposed to be spent at the san clemente campground (which i grew up camping at and was so looking forward to going back!). but unfortunately, that didn't happen. someone accidentally booked a handicap-only site, and well, none of us are handicapped so we weren't allowed to stay there. at least we realized this a few days before we were supposed to go to the site (thanks mom for asking what site we were on! otherwise, i probably would have killed someone haha). all of us girls still hung out that saturday and we actually went and had tea instead. from camping to a tea party. what opposites!

the place we went to is called seventh tea bar and is located in costa mesa (right next to portola coffee lab!). i had seen seventh tea bar a few weeks ago and had wanted to go so i was happy the girls wanted to go there. the place is rad! and the workers are super friendly and extremely helpful. i mean, we were pretty annoying because there were 6 of us girls all asking questions about tea and holding up the line. how embarrassing! but the staff didn't mind and answered all of our questions and we're really funny! i'll definitely be going back soon. oh, did i mention the tea and the food was really good at the tea bar? you have to go if you're in the area. after we had tea, we walked around soco. oh my goodness, i was in home-goods heaven! it was kind of like walking around ikea, but the really nice version of it. and the much richer version. hah! and i actually bought a few things for when i move out in a few months. score! 

me and jess. future roommate picture!!

we tried to end the night by going to a waffles + beer restaraunt but they didn't really have gluten free waffles. come on people, just because the batter is gluten free does not mean that you can cook it on all of the same stove tops and same waffle presses. it's not gluten free anymore! we did ask two of the servers before sitting down if they were cooked on different iron presses, and they both told us yes. after they took our order, the manager came over and told us that it was cooked on the same press. i don't like to be a pain, but we had already asked three times and no one gave us the correct answer. and we didn't want our friend to have to sit there hungry while we all enjoyed our waffles. so we left and got cheesecake factory instead. happy compromise. i plan on going back to the waffle place, but i really wish more people understood that some people are gluten free because they actually can't have gluten. not because they're trying to be healthier or get skinny. it's frustrating.

besides the waffle dilemma, we had a wonderful saturday. i loved hanging out with all of my girlfriends and am happy we still managed to have a good time despite us not going camping. maybe next year we'll get to go. hopefully!

pizza port

i went to pizza port down in san clemente last week with austin. if you love piza, go. if you love beer, go. if you love pizza and beer, you especially have to go! it was fantastic. we went to a used bookstore afterwards (austin was the one who spotted it and asked if i wanted to go in. uhm yes of course i wanted to! so nice of him). after wandering the store, we went down to the beach and laid on the sand for a while. it was so nice out. then we got red bulls and slurpees. perfect ending to our day-trip! i love me some slurpees. mmmmm.

because...

going running with your friends and then laying around on your front lawn is way better than studying.

heather's 22nd

heather's 22nd birthday was last month in january and we had a great night going to pf changs (so heather could eat some yummy gluten free food) and then seeing a band play at house of blues in downtown disney. happy late birthday heather! looking forward to going to washington with you this summer!!

i had to include an this blue picture of me, jessica, and nat in honor of tobias funke ;)

souplantation + del taco

i blame siaira for my new love for souplantation. del taco and i, on the other hand, have gone way back. like twenty years back. but siaira is obsessed with these places. which just makes it that much more fun to go with her and my sister and enjoy the food too. it's so bad, but it's so good. like del taco's breakfast menu. and souplantation's endless amounts of breads and muffins. soooo good! i pretty much love any buffet-style restaurant. which is why i miss sizzler so much. oh sizzler. you were so good. RIP.

it was my birthday!

so it was my birthday almost two weeks ago now, and i am officially 23. like my grandma reminded me, "you're inching closer to 30!". haha! she knows that i think i'm getting old or that i feel old now, so she likes to make fun of me. it's funny! but for my birthday i went to a women's breakfast at my new church (regenerate church) which was awesome! exactly how i needed to start my day. after that, i went to tranquil tea lounge with coni and natalie. i cannot get enough of their pumpkin iced tea and pumpkin scone! so good! after tea we went back to my house to get ready for my birthday dinner at javiers at the irvine spectrum. i was not expecting it to be that expensive. but thankfully, everyone still ate and had fun. it was a great night spent with girlfirends! thank you everyone who spent it with me if you ever read this! i love you guys!

Aloha!

On Monday night my dad decided that we were going to the grand canyon and Arizona. And then somehow that turned into going to Oahu instead? So now it's Friday, we got here Thursday. Crazy! We've never done anything this spontaneous and this big before! I'll try to check back in later, since we're off to get "poopoo appetizer dessert thingies". Oh mom! Way to describe whatever it is you were trying to describe. LOL!

Lady decided to stand right behind me when I went to take a picture!

last night with the kona team.

sadly, our friends from the kona team left us last sunday and headed off to london for the next six weeks. we were sad to see them go! we had such a fun time hanging out with them and working with them during the baseball camp. we really enjoyed getting to spend time with other people our age. it was awesome to see God letting us come together, even though we were all so different and from so many different countries. God's just cool like that.

we ended up running around the city all night. we eventually made our way up to the top of a hill that overlooks all of cluj. it is beautiful up there! we had only been during the daytime before, so seeing all of the city at night was absolutely beautiful!

after the hill, we walked to central park. we had done a lot of ministry work there, but it was fun just getting to go there on our own to do our own thing. plus, it was really nice being at the park so late. essentially, it was empty minus a few other people walking around. 

we miss the team! but we're happy that the ywam cluj team is still here with us. we love them too :). i felt super thankful that God let us meet all of the people from kona. i'm praying for the rest of their time in london! if you could pray for them too that would be awesome! i know God's going to use them in big ways over there!

a good day at ywam.

last friday, we spent the whole day at the ywam base. it was a gorgeous day and i loved spending time there. we got to watch some of the parent's children while the adults went to a conference, we got to make the entire ywam base plus our team lunch + dinner, and we got to rest and relax.

it was the nicest day. making lunch took almost two hours i think. and it was hard work. it was hot and the onions made me cry and it was perfect. perfect because i love serving others and getting a chance to do something for them. perfect because God gave me an opportunity to be more like him and to be more of a servant. it was one of those moments where i knew that i was exactly where i was supposed to be. exactly where God wanted me to be.

after dinner, we played lots of games with the ywam and hawaii teams (have you ever heard of the vegetable game or the animal game? they're hilarious!). i love sitting around the table and hearing everyone talk. it's a mix of so many different cultures! some people are from australia, others from america, others from spain, and others from romania. it's so wonderful thinking about and seeing how God brings all of us together. how we're all family even if we don't know each other very well. it's awesome just hanging out with people who love the Lord and want to serve Him and give Him everything. i left feeling so encouraged!

as if the night couldn't get any better, we decided to take a hike up a local hill in the neighborhood (even though it was starting to rain a little bit). we wanted to get a chance to look over the city and watch the thunder and lightning. it was cold. it was a super steep climb. and it was awesome!! one of the guys played some angus & julia stone on his ipod while we watched the sky light up. i had the best time. it was probably the best day i've had so far on the trip. and i'm looking forward to the next time we can take a hike up the hill and watch the stars again.