August 31, 2015

Griffith Observatory (Los Angeles)

We loveeeee LA! 

This past Saturday, E and myself took a drive to West LA to visit the Griffith Observatory, a place full of artifacts and theories of how our universe was formed.

 


While I was into walking around the campus, E was not, as the intensity of the summer sun was wilting his enthusiasm rather quickly. But he was a good sport for me, and although the heat was unpleasant, we walked around the campus and took in the lovely views as best we could.  




We even had front row seats to a marriage proposal. She said, yes! 

Tourist and family of these two cheered, as I approved myself as the official engagement photographer and snapped this photo.  Not bad, huh? 

E and I grabbed a quick snack at the Observatory's cafe and then bought tickets to an audio and light show. The use of cameras and cell phones during the show were prohibited, so I snapped this bad boy right before the usher had a chance to spot us. 

Overall it was a very nice day. Parking and admission is free, although there is the important disclaimer of understanding the parking situation before you go. Due to limited spaces, parking gets full fairly quickly and you may have to hike up a few hills to enter the observatory, so make sure you dress comfortably. If you're a bit patient however, and a bit lucky, you might encounter a friendly stranger who shares that they're leaving, so you can swoop into their spot.  Awesooooomneesss!!! 

Enjoy!

Link to the Observatory website can be found here:  http://www.griffithobservatory.org


August 29, 2015

Happy National Dog Day

Because I forgot to post on the actual day of National Dog Day, I'm squeezing this little tribute in. Please enjoy these little snapshots of my little fur joys!  

 Bella and Lulu. 

They chase each other...

They enjoy park days...
They sleep in on Saturdays...
They're effortlessly dog models...

They LOVE LA!


They console each other...

They give a mean stare down...

They love tennis balls...


They analyze things deeply...
They're amazing, and my life wouldn't be the same without having them in it to teach me what true, unconditional love, really is. 

From our wet noses to yours, Happy National Dog Day! 

August 18, 2015

Disneyland!

It's about time! Our annual passes have been blocked all summer, so we were excited to spend our Monday at the 'happiest place on earth,' Disneyland! 



Our goal was to get on five rides. Turned out to be more like three. Unless you count the train that goes around the park? In that case, it was four. 

The weather wasn't as bad as we thought it might be with the recent heatwave in SoCal. Although it was hot, there was a breeze, and that made the day much more manageable. 


We worked our way through the crowds, and walked (read: ran) to our first ride of the day. Peterman! They added a few new features (I won't spoil it for you), that we wanted to see. The 45 minute wait wasn't worth the hype of the new features, but they were cute, to say the least, and thankfully didn't pull away from the ride itself. My very first time on the Peter Pan ride, was as a little girl, accompanied by my Father. My memory is so vivid, so having that nostalgia still in tact with the original setting of this ride, is precious to me. 

After a quick blink, the ride was over and we were back from Neverland, and off to Tomorrowland  for some burgers and fries. After that, we decided to switch gears and hop on over to California  Adventures.

My sister suggested we watch the Alladin show. I had never been before, so I was pretty excited. 

After that, we scrambled over to The Little Mermaid, a ride I had never been on. I know! Having an annual pass, you'd think I would have already seen it all, but I haven't! 

Here we are sitting in a seashell; getting ready to go under the sea. Get it? ;) 

Quick, one more picture before bolting back to Dland. 

Next, we jumped on the train that took us to Frontierland where we devoured some fish and chips and mingled with some pirates...

Nuzzled a horse named Finn...

Hitched a ride on Casey Jr.,

Watched a parade, and then went on our merry way. It was a lovely day. Can't wait to go back. 

Share your favorite experience with me at Disneyland, by commenting below or on my Instagram page. 

August 9, 2015

The Joyce Meyer Experience


Mama and I had a blast at last weekend's Joyce Meyer seminar. Faith is found everywhere and what an experience Mama and I had that day. The event was held at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California. A location that Joyce Meyer speaks at every couple of years or so. Admission was free, so all we had to do was show up. 

Mama and I got there at 8:15am. Doors opened at 8am. The event wasn't until 10am. Sounds a little overzealous, but if any of you have ever been to the Long Beach Arena, you know that getting there early is important. The stadium was already half-way full by the time we got there, so scrambling for seats was both exciting and quite hilarious. The moment someone got up, someone else slipped into their spot. A quick, assertive decision was mandatory. At last, Mama and I found two floor seats. Whoo hoo!







The introduction bursted with music and praise. "Hallelujah, rejoice in the Lord, I say again, rejoice." 

There was not one person in that auditorium that wasn't either faith-filled, seeking more faith, or going to leave that day feeling without faith. 

You see, Joyce Meyer isn't one of those screaming pastors that make you feel like you're going to go to hell if you don't faint with the 'Word' rolling off your tongue. Instead, she offers testimonies of real life experiences; how pain and reality can make you feel defeated, how there's evil on earth, and how hatred drains us of having a faith filled life. She even explained how the disciples suffered and did plenty of wrong doing before allowing Jesus to show them the true way of living.

 It's not about preaching at someone, but rather lifting them up by being a faith-filled person. And a faith-filled person is made of love. And who doesn't want to feel love, give love or be loved? 







Many people need 'saving,'
 this is true, but let God do that. All we need to do is keep spreading the love.