I had an epic trip to Southern Cali! There were many good times! Life goals accomplished! If you are trying to go to Cali, the Southern Cali pass we got is seriously the best deal! We got into Sea World and Universal Studios for practically free! It was amazing!!! It was an action packed trip, full of adventure every day, but I loved it!! We did so much, had so much fun, and took SOOOO many pictures!!! Are you ready to experience the trip with me??? Here we go!
Alli and I getting ready to fly to Cali!!!
Won't miss the snow! YUCK!!! Welcome to the sunshine!!!
First adventure: Hollywood! So fun seeing stars of random celebrities! Faves were definitely Ryan Seacrest, and Johnny Depp! I couldn't find Reese Witherspoons, and that was sad! We also got a steal of a deal on a tour around hollywood homes! We paid $10 plus tip! Our driver was an Austrialian man who was great at his job! He told us so many useless star facts! It was fun, but got a little chilly! My favorite fact we learned was that in Beverly Hills each street is lined with a different tree, but all the streets have the same tree lining them. Does that make sense?
Temple Tuesday!!! First was Newport Beach where we did a session! SOOO cool! The creation room was awesome! Everyone in the temple was sooo incredibly nice to us!
Next was the LA Temple where we did sealings, I had a cold, so it was quite annoying to have a runny nose, but still an incredible experience. We did sealings where Alli's parents were sealed! We also met a couple from Utah! haha! Provo to be exact!
Wednesday we were off to experience Disneyland! It was so much fun! Everything I imagined! I took pictures with princesses, tried on mouse ears, ate churros, and rode amazing rides! At the end of the day after the parade, and the firework show, being as magical as Disney is, they created snow (foamy bubbles), and blew it all over us as they played I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas! SO AWESOME! That's the kind of snow I like! Warm, beautiful, doesn't stick to the ground snow! I could totally be a California girl! We also had amazing Mint Jallup drink that Justina recommended, as well as a Monte Cristo! YUMMY! Everything was decked out for Christmas so honestly I have no idea what it is supposed to be like, but I loved it! We rode Pirates of the Carribean, An old ship that went around a lake, played in Tarzan's Playhouse, Played around in Toon Town and toured Mickey and Minnie's houses, rode Haunted Mansion (which was awesome! All Nightmare Before Christmas), It's a Small world, Mad Hatter's Tea Party, Watched the 4D movie Captian EO with Michael Jackson, Did the Buzz Lightyear ride (which I won!), Did Star Tours, and I lost the map of Disneyland, so I think that's all we did, but I can't remember for sure! It was so magical, and fun though, everything is so themed I love it! It is so fun to just see your favorite Characters running around ready for a picture, because we all know I am ALWAYS ready for a picture!
Thanksgiving! Alli's brothers Nate, and Chris and sisters in law Kaylynne and Melanie and of course her adorable niece Brenda. We had a fabulous meal, and Kaylynne made us all cute place cards with our names on them! Then we played electronic monopoly with a fast dice...FYI, with a fast dice, you never want to go last, you are destined to loose, especially when you go to jail your first 3 times around the board and don't make it to go to collect your $200! haha! It was fun though! After dinner and fun had subsided we went to pick up Carrie from the airport!
Black Friday was California Adventure day! We woke up early, and went to the park with Chris and Melanie who showed us the Fast Pass ropes, and took us to all the great rides before the mad rushes started coming! After riding most of the rides we wanted to (Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, Ariel's Under Sea Adventure, and soaring over California) we took a break and went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant It was fabulous!
Carrie, Alli and I came back to the park to do some damage, and finish all we wanted to do! We rode the Cars ride, which was pretty neat, but definitely not worth the hour and a half wait in the single rider line! Then we saw the Aladdin show which Jeni and Matt Long highly recommended! It was awesome! We were in the row in front of the isle, and during the huge parade for Aladdin they walked right down the isle, so we had primo seats!!! Then we watched the World of Color. It was like the Billagio show on steroids! It had lights, lasers, songs, and disney images projected onto the water! It was fab! Then we rode the farris wheel, which was awesome, and our little bucket seats rolled back and forth as it went around! FUN! Then off to California Screamer roller coaster! That was really awesome! Then one last ride on Tower of Terror! As our final hurrah we rode King Triton's Carousel! That was a great way to end an exhausting fun day at California Adventure! I got the best night's sleep that night!
Off to San Diego for us three amigas! We got to the Temple right in time for the 4:00 session! It was the coolest experience! I've been wanting to do the prayer circle for a while now, and I was able to do it! We all were because the group was so small! haha! I loved it! Then off to the Celestial room! It was gorgeous! Two stories, and the top had a huge atrium with a great view of the spires and Angel Moroni, and broke off into the sealing rooms which were the prettiest I've ever seen! I love the San Diego Temple! Also I met my future husband! He was there in the session with us, super cute, and in the temple alone on a Saturday night, what could be better??? It was love at first sight...for me! haha! He talked to us briefly on the way out, and asked if we were visiting. Then we parted ways. Us girls headed to dinner at the Olive Garden! MMM! Alli and I had a gift card so it was practically free! Then we headed to the place where we were staying, an old mission president of Ohio who none of us knew! The Sharps. They were fabulous and super hospitable!
Sunday was quite the adventure! After the single's ward in which Carrie knew two and a half people we headed to the beach! We first went to a national park called Cabrillo, which was beautiful, however after an hour wandering around in rocks and tide pools we realized there was no actual beach, so we headed to the famous island Coronado! It was so FUN! We took a huge long skinny bridge over to the island! The beach was fabulous! For my first California beach experience, I realized it is a lot like Oregon...the only thing different is the temperature outside, which was a lot like Oregon's coasts on this particular day! haha! It was fun though, and there was a beautiful hotel which is in tons of movies that we saw too! So fun to just chill at the beach for a bit! Write my name in the sand, stand in the ocean...freeze in the ocean...you know!
Since my Mom learned we were going to San Diego she told me I had to go meet up with her college friend Becky Gimmel the only thing I knew about Becky is that she had a cute son who didn't live at home anymore (information I got from her yearly Christmas cars ;)) So the whole idea seemed really weird to me to call up a complete stranger and ask to meet her. Being the obedient daughter I am I did it, and It was a blast! Becky was super nice, and invited us to Sunday dinner, so the roomies and I trekked up to Vista and had a blast with the Gimmel's! Their son Matt, and nephew were also there for dinner, and we all just had a ton of fun, and laughed and ate! It was fun to hear about my mom from Becky's point of view! She loves my mom, and that was good to hear! :) The Gimmel's were probably the funnest people we met the whole trip!
Next adventure: Sea World! WOOT WOOT! The whale show was definitely my favorite! They are so cool, and do all kinds of flips, and tricks! SOOO Fun!!! We also saw the Polar Express in 4D, watched the Dolphin show which was slightly disappointing because humans stole the show, and did this cool acrobatic performance, and there really the dolphins were only at the beginning and end of the show.We watched the seal/sea lion show, and a pet show, which was just normal cats and dogs, with a few pigs, kangaroos, and ostriches thrown in there, it was not my fave. I am not a pet person. It was cute though. Then on to the rides,
The roller coaster was awesome and super fast! The we took a journey to the North Pole, which was pretty cool. Rode the sky tower which showed us the whole park, as well as a great view of San Diego, and then it was dark, chilly, and almost time for the park to close! Alli really wanted to ride Journey to Atlantis, but I didn't want to get wet! (Jessica's life lesson number 9: if it's cold and you can avoid it don't get wet!) So I let Alli ride it alone, and waited freezing for her. Then we picked up Carrie from her solo adventure at the San Diego Zoo, and went back to Whitter to sleep at her Brother's. Also a great night's rest!
Alli and I woke up super early to take Carrie to the airport so she could get back for work, and we finally made it to Universal Studios! We are so glad we went! After two failed attempts we almost bagged the whole thing, but it was fabulous!
We made the most of our day there, and did everything there is to do! After walking down the red carpet, and visiting London, we took the studio tour which was awesome, they showed us a lot of hollywood movie secrets, and the tour bus was practically a ride as we went into a King Kong 4D adventure! It was crazy scary dinosaurs and king kong coming at us the whole time! We also learned that Universal Studios LOVES water! They got us wet on every ride and show we did! haha! Alli got a little star stuck, and it really got annoying to me. Every single person who had a microphone, or walked confidently she was convinced looked familiar, and was famous! I tried to tell her that if we didn't recognize them then obviously no one would be impressed. It's not impressive if you have to tell people that the guy driving our tour bus is that one guy who was an extra in that one movie, and he kind of resembles an news anchor...yeah, I was not into it! I am not into name dropping! Anyway, we saw water world, which was an amazing show complete with fire, water, jumps, and love haha! It had everything! We also learned about special effects, watched shrek 4D, and went through The House of Horrors, which was terrifying!!!! It was so scary! Scariest haunted house ever!!! We met the simpsons, and rode the simpson's ride, which was fun. Then the best ride ever was The mummy! The roller coaster was in the dark, so it freaked you out, and the picture they take of you is at the best spot! right when you start going super fast, so even the second time on the ride when I knew it was coming I was still screaming! SOOO FUN! Then we rode the transformers ride, which was not my favorite, but Alli loved it! It was scary! Transformers coming after you! Alli and I even bonked heads trying to dodge a 3D bomb coming at us! Overall the day was great! We loved it!!! I wasn't expecting that much from Universal!
Wednesday the day had finally come to get back to SLC, it was a super fun trip, however I don't know why I broke my own personal rule and Jessica's Life Lesson number 3 never vacationwith someone for longer then five days...a week max. It always ends in annoyance! By the end of the trip I was ready to take a LONG break from Alli! She was driving me crazy!!!! It was nice to FINALLY be home!
Goodbye sunshine, hello...snow :(
After a nice stop by Randy's for breakfast we were finally en route! This was a fabulous trips with some great memories! We needed the amount of time we had to accomplish everything! I am so glad it finally happened! My yearly goals are finally accomplished! I am such a happy camper! I am pretty happy to be back to work, and church, and friends too! I should leave more often! Everyone was so happy to see me! haha! Vacations are awesome and fun, but I love routine, and am very happy to be back into the routine! Now if I'll just get over my annoyance with certain roommates my life will be grand once again! :)
