California!

Once upon a time I went to California with my 2 best friends! And it was so great!

Our friend Conner got home from his mission and Aaron, Brig, and I decided it would be fun to go down to LA and do some hooliganizing while going to his homecoming. BEST DECISION EVER. But soon we decided that it might not be a good idea, and I wasn't sure if I would get to use my car... so the trip was canceled. On Brig's birthday I found out that my car was indeed available so Aaron and I made this for Brig for him to open on his birthday and we surprised him! SCHNIKE!

Friday was the worst day ever, as I had to go get my car fixed, and get it lubed, and then take my last final. I accidentally grabbed the wrong textbook to study with, so I didn't study, had to take the test, botched it, got a parking ticket, lost my apartment key and got locked out for 30 minutes, and then my dad called telling me I needed to take Rachel's car instead, which also needed to be lubed, (this happened 1 hour before we were supposed to leave). So I hurried to jiffy lube, got it fixed, packed, and then we headed up to Bountiful for Rachel Jackson's wedding reception... which was completely in the dark because the electricity went out. It was great to see everyone, and then we ran to get Wendy's with Kris & Billy. At this point it was snowing pretty hard, but we took no heed! We left around nine, and hit 4 different snow storms where we had to go less than half the speed limit, which was pretty miserable. At 2 am, Aaron and I switched, and he drove until we got to beautiful California!! (Brig just slept the whole time)

CALIFORNIA!! Never in my life had I been so excited to get to that warm, sunny, beachful, blissful, second home of mine! Finals were over, and in a few days I was headed home! We got to Grandma Layne's house and all just passed out. Around noon we headed down to the San Diego Zoo! It was so cool! My favorite was probably the 4 inch pygmy marmoset. TOTES PRESH. Other highlights: there was a monkey that came right up to the glass to look at us, and as soon as the next people came over, it ran away! Me and Brig were looking at a lion, when I said "Last time I came to this zoo, there was an old lady with a walker, and the lion turned around and peed all over her" Knock on wood. The lion then proceeded to turn around, and spray... I screamed (although not as loud as Brig) and we both bolted and just barely got out of range before it relieved its waters. So, the zoo was great.

 

That night, Grandma took us out for Mexican, gave us flirting tips, we visited the Sheermans, and we all passed out while watching Home Alone. 

Sunday arrived!! We got up semi-early and drove up to Manhattan Beach, stopping in Redondo Beach to meet up with one of Brig's old investigators. We were reunited with Conner Gillette! We surprised him! Except, Brig was in the bathroom when Conner found us, so we had Conner hide and surprise Brig after he came out. Which he wasn't too happy about. Conner's talk was KILLER, and then we all headed back to his house for some Hawaiian Haystacks and socializing. And a bird pooped on Aaron.

(Preston Hatch - Aaron Gillette - Me - Conner Gillette - Brig - Aaron - Dallin Gillette)

That night we hit up a cemetery in Simi Valley and the Los Angeles Temple & Visitors Center. They had a sweet collection of international nativities. I found one from Africa, Brig found one from Thailand, and Aaron found a navajo one. 

We stayed at Grandpa Layne's house that night in Santa Ana. Sunday night would have been boring, but it wasn't, because we just stayed up joking and laughing with each other! Brig and Aaron are hilarious boys! I never am bored when I am with them and we always have so much fun! I have been blessed with hilarious, caring, and good natured friends!

DAY 3: We (And when I say we, I mean I) made a bunch of pancakes and fed the Russells, and then we headed up to the LA Science Center: biggest waste of money ever haha. We hit up the traveling Cleopatra exhibit which I thought was pretty interesting but Brig & Aaron thought it was really stupid. We also learned what an asp was, and where it bit Cleopatra. Aaron and I fell asleep in the IMAX movie about Egypt that we saw, and we ate a bunch of fruit snacks. Afterwards, we made a quick trip to China town where it smelled like urine and old people. Brig used his haggling skills to buy a weird panda scarf, and we didn't eat any eggrolls.

After getting back to Santa Ana, we hit up Downtown Disney, stayed a long time in the LEGO store, saw the fireworks, and then saw Wreck-it-Ralph! (And stole some 3D glasses out of the recycle bin)

And then took pictures of ourselves brushing our teeth...

DAY 4: We woke up, packed up the car and headed straight to Huntington Beach! It was SO COLD. Some highlights: This guy came up and asked if we could take a picture of him in the ocean, and he saw that I was wearing a BYU shirt, and it turns out he was Mormon! Kinda cool. I got to fly my super cool kite that I bought in San Diego this summer! Except for a seagull got caught in it at one point which was kind of sad/ funny. I dropped my iPhone in the ocean, and it lived! We ate a bunch of nacho doritos! And Aaron and Brig got to go to the beach on the west coast for the first time EVER! 

And then we left for home, where it snowed SO MUCH. Also, Aaron and Brig found this weird waterfall urinal at some random gas station in the middle of nowhere. 

And here are some good pics of them sleeping

In summary, 3 college students took a weekend trip to California, went to the zoo, the beach, and a children's science museum, drank kool-aid bursts, ate fruit snacks, and went to church. There was no drinking, no partying, no frisky-behavior, and no drugs. I'm pretty sure if I told that to anyone outside the BYU community they probably wouldn't believe me. 

And it was the best time EVER.