10 Things I’m excited for in March:
1. Alice in Wonderland in Disney Digital 3-D (who doesn’t LOVE Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in a Tim Burton film – YES PLEASE!)
2. Joining the family for Madeline’s first trip to the circus
3. Celebrating my birthday in San Diego with family and friends (anna if you’re reading this - let’s get coffee!! Jenny and Josh…I’d love to see you guys too!!!)
4. Celebrating my brother’s induction into the nursing program at SDSU at his white coat ceremony.
5. Stamp Club
6. My 25th Birthday Martini and Fondue Party
7. A 25th Birthday Adventure with Megan
8. Going to see the Ellen Degeneres show
9. ViViD Women’s Conference @ Ev. Free Fullerton
10. Getting close to April when EMILY is coming to VISIT!!!
my BEST friend lives in Alabama {we are proof that relationships are not bound by living in the same city!! we've been best friends for 6 years and we see each other once a year if we're lucky!} and her 25th birthday is on Monday! WOWZA {mine is 11 days later!!}. anyway, i FINALLY got her birthday package in the mail at lunch today - i hope that the gifts in this box will make her feel as beautiful and WONDERFUL as she is as she starts a new quarter century of life!!
Nevertheless, the next couple weeks at my house are going to be REALLY quiet. In addition to Adri moving out, Linds is headed to Cameroon to visit for about a month…so it’ll just be me and Shalina…except that Shalina and Craig are headed to Lake Arrowhead for the weekend…so it’ll just be ME. I hope I don’t get the fear!!! {Megan, do you want to come stay with me this weekend??? SLUMBER PARTY???}
After about 45 seconds of dancing we were all winded and ready to take a nap…so we decided to take a few pictures and GET ON THE ROAD! By 1:00pm we were on the road to the Ghetty Villa in Malibu, CA with plans to stop for an early afternoon picnic on the beach. We got to the beach (and paid $6 for parking. GROSS!) only to realize that it was INCREDIBLY windy – so windy that I literally had to BEG Megan to get out of the car! Ha! BUT we had paid for parking, so picnicking WE WERE! (By the way – if you have to pay $6 to park, I really think you should be parking on the sand directly in front of the water – this was parking like a MILE from the water and trekking through the mile deep sand until the legs burned to even catch a glimpse of the ocean!) Due to the extreme weather conditions (Megan thought we were experience hurricane strength winds {she was wrong}) we did not actually look at each other during the picnic, but rather focused intently on keeping as much sand as possible from flying INTO our delicious salads. Needless to say we had a little (ok a LOT) of extra “roughage” in our meal! The wind did provide great amounts of comic relief however. We knew we were going to look absolutely STUNNING the rest of the day with our hair tangled into one giant knot and salad dressing flung all over our clothes. DELIGHTFUL! We laughed hysterically throughout the entire meal – and a memory was DEFINITELY made!! After lunch we jumped back on the road towards the museum. We were there by 2:52 (even though our parking reservation was technically for 2:00pm. Whoops!) and had PLENTY of time to see the museum before it closed at 5:00pm. The grounds were ABSOLUTELY breathtaking and taking photos with the statues was quite enjoyable if I do say so myself. 
However, I also have to admit, that after an hour and a half of staring at busts, they all start to look the same. There isn’t a huge difference between the bust of a woman and the bust of a middle aged woman (especially when they are both missing their noses!). After the museum experience (including Megan being wildly harassed by one of the museum people because she didn’t notice that one of the sculptures had 6 fingers and asked if she wanted to fight {WHAT THE HECK???}) we spent a bit of time driving around Santa Monica – or at least what we thought was Santa Monica. SKETCHY! We finally got on the interstate and headed back towards familiar territory (ahhhh the OC how we love you) and dinner at Blue Agave. SO YUMMY! All in all it was an enjoyable birthday celebration and I believe that FUN (with that capital F-U-N) was had by all!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENZ! WE LOVE YOU! 
Ps just to share a few of the ridiculous moments from the day:
We banter like NO ONE’s BUSINESS!!! 
As the evening closed and Shalina and I were finishing up dishes in the kitchen (well technically Shalina was making her lunch – including weighing her chicken – she wanted exactly 3 ounces which is apparently 3 blocks in the protein zone – then measuring 1 cup of pineapple which is 3 blocks in some other zone – who knows! And I was doing dishes…but I mean who is paying attention?) I told her that I really liked her friends. She said that she thinks they are forever friends and that she can picture them all hanging out later in life with their kids running around, etc. and I immediately started contemplating who my forever friends are. The three that immediately came to mind were Anna, Sara, and Emily. The unfortunate thing is that I don’t live in the same city as any of them – we don’t live life together like Shalina does with these girls. It kind of made my heart ache. I miss my friends! I am SO thankful for the people that God has in my life now – but sometimes I wonder if I’m not staying here forever and maybe He has something totally different in store for me. Maybe I haven’t met my forever friends yet (even though I will BE friends with Anna, Sara, and Emily FOREVER! And I’m pretty sure Megan falls into that category too!)
Yesterday was Mardi Gras and my heart yearned for and longed for New Orleans. I spent the summer of 2007 living in New Orleans with Emily, Michael, and Brian working with World Changers and watching students from across the nation come into the city and make a dramatic impact in the lives of those who had lost so much.
It was an incredible experience and I miss it desperately.
even though we had to be up and ready to go by 5am to open the showers. (WHO showers at 5am when she is going to a construction site for the rest of the day?? QUESTIONABLE!) I remember the day I called our boss, Susan, because our PC was mad at us for waking up late – she asked me what time we woke up and I said quietly and somberly, “5:15” she just laughed and said that was NOT late. The showers were inside of the gym which had been severely damaged by Katrina and retained heat like nobody’s business. It was like walking into a sauna. If any of us started to complain about the heat, he/she only needed to step into the gym for a few minutes and then walk outside to feel completely refreshed. The encouragrams at that location were IMPOSSIBLE. I remember that we hung them outside on a piece of plyboard and had to cover them with black plastic every time it started to rain. Then the duck tape would kind of release its seal and they would all fall off. It was a disaster. We also had to lock the kids into their rooms each night. THAT was good times though – Em and I sang the girls to sleep and really got to bond with the participants. Everyone’s favorite was the World Changers Girls song. I still wear my XXL John Curtis Christian Football shirt from time to time – it just feels RIGHT to me (and to you too em!)
But there were so MANY more things to experience: the Central Grocery muffuletta, the airboat swamp tour (including a personal introduction to BUD), 
the Audubon Zoo & Aquarium (AMAZING), 
the HOtard, 
Michael meeting his angel in the stairwell as the alarm went off in our hotel, an afternoon at the Riverwalk, a stroll down bourbon street, a day trip to Baton Rouge (which included a CUTE outfit and a good hair day – how often does that happen?), interacting with the crazy guy on the street who tried to “give” aka make you buy a hat, 
lots and lots of amazing food, and more laughter than I can really even recall. It was SUCH FUN! And I don’t think there is anything quite as pretty as watching the sunset over the Mississippi Bridge as the streetlights dance on the water. It is perfect.
When we got home, I had to wake M up a bit to get her out of her car-seat and then she was a cuddle-monster like NEVER before. M is not usually a cuddler – but it is OH SO FUN when she is! I asked her if she wanted to go upstairs and go night night in her bed and she said, “no, hold you” {she says hold you instead of hold me.}. So I did. I held her for the next 2 hours and I loved EVERY SECOND!!! We just cuddled and cuddled and cuddled. There is NOTHING IN THE WORLD like baby sugar!! 
After naptime we went to the park to play with Megan and Henry and ride the swings and see the ducks. She was very excited and had a great time. 
We talked about how ducks go quack quack quack and dogs say woof woof. There was one CRAZY MEAN goose. He is HUGE and brown and he tried to peck my sweet baby – so I protected her – but he really was fierce! After the park we had dinner and then it was time to go home. I already miss my M but it was SO FUN having a weekend together. Now I can’t wait for her to be like 5 years old and to WANT to come spend the night with Aunt Shells! She is going to be SO MUCH FUN for the rest of my life! YAY! 
let me just point out a few things on this certificate:
The “massages” are given in recliners. Mine had a little doggie neck pillow – just a little something extra for me to enjoy, you know! Ha! Anyway, I had a really nice girl, Rachel had the guy who was breathing really heavily (so much so that I had to ask her a question to make sure she was awake and not snoring over there) and had “dirty” hands (I’m not totally sure what that means – she didn’t really clarify if his hands smelled or if they were slimy, etc. she just made it very clear that after dinner a shower was DEFINITELY in order), Megan had to become a contortionist to appease her guy, and Rebecca had a girl but apparently she was super aggressive and rough and had bony fingers that were like little knives cutting her flesh! Doesn’t it just sound like the most pleasant experience??? 
Hahahaha! It really is though. (look at those face - that is BLISS!) I mean honestly, you pay $20 (before tip – but that is another story – we’ll get there…) and get a head massage (including the earlobes! Awkward!) a LONG foot massage, and then a 10 minute table massage! 
(I need to interject just a little something about the above picture right here--we refer to these "beds" as TORTURE chambers. They heat up to 120 degrees and have this terrible ball-like device that moves up and down your back - it feels AMAZING for about 5 minutes - but if you stay on for 40 you will NEVER GET ON AGAIN!!!!) I am sure the people are NOT licensed and they are probably making this stuff up – but if someone wants to rub my feet for $20 COUNT ME IN!
And YES your hair ALWAYS looks this BEAUTIFUL {haagard} when you're finished. and YES we went to the restaurant looking JUST LIKE THIS. THAT is confidence!