Birthday

My birthday was January 25th, so this post is a little late.

I had an awesome birthday! First off, I received so many happy birthday posts, letters and gifts. I am blessed to have so many amazing people in my life.

When I woke up, I did what anyone would do... I ate a Godiva truffle that my best friend gave me. That's how you start a birthday off right. Then the family and I got in the car and drove to the Hotel del Coronado for a breakfast buffet. If you know me, you know I LOVE breakfast. We met up with good family friends, and my sister in laws family. I was happy they all wanted to come celebrate with me.

The amount of food I ate was ridiculous. There were so many pastries. After we were all done eating, some waiters came out holding a slice of cheesecake and started singing happy birthday. I naturally thought it was for me, so I started clearing my plate. Then the waiters went up to another guys table, I thought "Oh how funny someone else is celebrating their birthday." Jokes on me (and the other guy) the waiters then turned around and proceeded to walk towards me. 

One waiter wanted to feed me whip cream. I'm not stupid I knew what was going to happen, so I was hesitant to take a bite.. 

I decided to be a good sport and go along with it. Sure enough, the whip cream landed on my nose. He wiped it off for me, which almost makes up for it. 

My delicious cheesecake 

After we ate we decided to walk close to the beach for awhile. This was definitely a birthday unlike any other ones. Its late January and I am on a beach! 

After that we walked around the Hotel del Coronado. The hotel was so amazing. It was built in 1888. Many celebrities have stayed there. When the president comes to town, he always has a room there. The beach it's by has been named one of the top 10 beaches in the world.  

After that, we hit up the San Diego zoo! It was my first time there and I was not disappointed. The zoo was huge! 

Even though I missed my parents back home, my birthday was a great one. I had so much fun and I will always remember my 20th birthday. 

20 things

Today is my birthday! And in honor of turning 20 here are some things I've learned in my "long" life.

20 things I've learned....

1. Jesus is the only thing that matters. He is and always will be there. The only constant in life.

2. Travel. Everyone should travel, it doesn't have to be somewhere far away. Traveling opens your eyes to different cultures. It also allows you to see the beautiful earth God created.

3. Meet new people. Meeting new people is a good reminder that we aren't all that different from each other.

4. Write things down. I am always thankful when I can look back on memories. So many important things happen in life.

5. Every single day counts.  Saying tomorrow or in a couple of years I will do this or I will be happy is not right. Today is all the matters and if you can't enjoy today right now, you won't be able to enjoy today in a couple of years.

6. Be the change. You want to the world to be a better place? It starts with one person, and that one person is yourself.

7. Take risks, embrace adventures. Never once have I regretted going out on a limb and doing something "crazy." Life is meant to be lived.

8.  Think. Stop and think about your actions. Ask yourself, 'Do I really need to say this? What are my reasonings? Will someone else be hurt at my expense? What good will come of this?' A lot of problems could be avoided if we all thought about something before we said it or acted on it. Just because you want to do something doesn't mean you should do it or it's impossible not to do it.

9. Realize you have a choice. You don't have to go to college. You don't have to get married. You don't have to raise kids. You don't have to live in your hometown forever. You can choose not to do the "normal" thing and still have a successful life.

10. Being single is great. You don't have to worry about someone else. If you want to pack up and move to Italy, you can.

11. Kindness is everything. It is important to go out of your way and be kind to someone, even if they might not appreciate it.

12. Show appreciation. Sometimes it's hard to tell the ones you love the most how thankful you are for them. No matter how hard it is, you must express your gratitude.

13. Read. Step away from the electronics and sharpen your mind. Reading helps you become a cultured and well rounded person.

14. Laugh. Laugh every single day. I can't remember a day when I didn't laugh. Learning to laugh at the little things, and the huge things in life is the best way to live.

15. Don't plan too much. I used to be a planner. Then all of a sudden my life got crazy and everything I planned always failed. I realized that life is too unpredictable to map out. Going with the flow is easier and honestly a lot more exciting.

16. Care about what you're eating. I could rant all day about food (especially in America). I'm not talking about the calorie count, I'm talking about ingredients. Dye, high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, and BHT... Some of the many things that should NOT be in food (and are banned in many countries) but sadly are in many items households consume.

17. Don't be selfish. This also goes along with thinking. Worry about other people and how your actions affect them.

18. Remember. Nothing feels better than when someone remembers something about you. When you remember something it shows you care.

19. Forgive. You only hurt yourself by caring around the burden of a grudge. Forgive and forget. (Easier said than done).

20. LIVE. We have around 80 years of life. Don't waste it.

It's Like Bob Goff said in his book "Love Does,"

"There is only one invitation it would kill me to refuse, yet I'm tempted to turn it down all the time. I get the invitation every morning when I wake up to actually live a life of complete engagement, a life of whimsy, a life where love does. It doesn't come in an envelope. It's ushered in by a sunrise, the sound of a bird, or the smell of coffee drifting lazily from the kitchen. It's the invitation to actually live, to fully participate in this amazing life for one more day. Nobody turns down an invitation to the White House, but I've seen plenty of people turn down an invitation to fully live."

Julian

Yesterday, I went to a church function in Julian. Julian is this small town about an hour away, up in the mountains. It's an old gold rush town that has been around since 1870. It has super cute stores, and many pie places. Julian is known for it's pie.

The drive up is very scenic. 

People from Rise met up at "Mom's Pie." We all ordered pie and socialized for awhile.

My tasty pie. I heard "Apple Alley" has better pie.. I'll have to check it out next time. 

Eventually everyone from the church went their separate ways, so Tiffany and I explored the tiny town. We explored an old book store, the cemetery, and tiny shops. A lot of the shops have homemade fudge, and candies. I had to use a lot of will power to resist buying everything. 

We ate lunch at Apple Alley

We were about to head home when we saw these ladies from Rise. They INSISTED we take the gold mine tour. In fact they shoved a 20 in our hands and basically forced us to. I am so glad they did. It was so interesting. We got to walk through the old mine and learn how everything was done back in the day. Our tour guide was hilarious and very smart. If I'm ever in Julian, I will take the tour again. 

Our awesome tour guide. 

The bucket was the miners "elevator." 

It was a great day in Julian. 

Perfect Sunday

Today I went to church. Every Sunday, I fall more in love with Rise City Church. It has a great atmosphere and the sermons always hit home for me. Today was about money. I'll post the link to the sermon when it's uploaded.

Then this afternoon I went to La Jolla Coves with my new friend Tiffany from church!

She's great, super sweet and easy to talk to. She is from Illinois, close to Chicago. She went to ISU for education. While attending ISU she went to Fuel (college campus ministry), which was how she met Brandon. Brandon used to be pastor of Fuel and now is the main church planter and pastor of Rise. Proves it's such a small world and that God is pretty amazing. 

We walked along the coast and looked at all the seals sunbathing.

The seals loved showing off for all the people watching.

The view was just amazing.  

We sat on these rocks and enjoyed the view for awhile. 

We then decided to make the trek back up top to the main area.

Easier said than done, the rocks were slippery, and like the sign says, unstable. 

Eventually we made it to the top. After all our hard work we decided to treat ourselves to some ice cream. I had peanut butter cheesecake. So. Good. 

While walking back to the car, the sun started to set. 

This looks like it could be a postcard, right? 

Tiffany said something that I really enjoyed..

"I like the sunset because it's one thing man can't mess with." 

It was a perfect Sunday. 

 I will call upon Your Name

Keep my eyes above the waves

My soul will rest in Your embrace

I am Yours and You are mine

Leisure

Today was a calm Saturday. When I woke up, my brother Ron, Cash, and I went to Mary's donuts. It's a little hole in the wall donut shop that's open 24 hrs.

Mary's.. A shining beacon of hope to all. 

It has been around "forever". I did some research and forever means, since 1985. That is quite awhile. Business is not lacking either. I was told it's always busy, and for the short amount of time I was there, it was really busy. 

I can understand why it's so crowded. The donuts were GREAT. I think it might be my new obsession.

The selection was huge, there was another case filled with other types of donuts. 

I totally ate two donuts, a pudding filled one and a jelly filled one. 

After that, I ran some errands with Ron. Then I drove to Santee Lakes and went on a walk.

According to the San Diego Tourism site "Once a gravel mine, Santee Lakes was created to clean the waste water of the surrounding city of Santee and send the treated water from the Water Recycling Facility to other parts of Santee for landscape irrigation and to divert it from going into the Pacific Ocean polluted. Now a series of seven lakes, Santee Lakes provides camping, fishing, boating, special events, picnic venues, and other recreation opportunities. The Park welcomes over 650,000 guests per year." 

People from Santee brag to me all the time about how Santee Lakes was one of the first man made lakes in East County. Maybe I'd be more impressed if we didn't have Lake Bloomington back home. 

I found a nice spot by the lake and did... yoga. I think out of the two weeks I have been in California, that moment was probably when I most felt like a Californian.  Namaste.

Prayer

One of my biggest prayers was answered today. I have never prayed for something with more passion than this. Right now, I'm not able to explain what the prayer was. All I can say is Praise The Lord.

I would beg God to answer this prayer. When I doubted the power of prayer, I would always tell myself this...
'If there was something that I really wanted, with only pure intentions, that would be beneficial, and would be in my parents will.. They would give it to me. My parents love me more than I can imagine, and if they were able to do anything for me they would. Obviously there are things they just can't humanly give me. Now, I have a Father in heaven that loves me more than my earthly parents are even capable of, and more than I can ever imagine. Why would He not want to answer me, He loves me.'

Even when I would tell myself this, I would still have a sliver of doubt. Thankfully God still answered my prayer, even though He knew that I thought He wouldn't follow through. Today I was humbled, and my eyes were open.

Prayer is powerful. I've heard that so many times, but yet I find myself still taking prayer lightly. I type this with so much conviction, prayer changes things. Prayer is in fact powerful.

Praise The Lord for his mercy, grace, and endless love.

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Matthew 21:21-22

Thankful

Last night I woke up every two hours, I'd either be drenched in sweat or freezing. I had an awful sore throat and was battling a fever. This morning I felt even worse. I had plans to go hiking with a girl I met at church but sadly I had to cancel. The only plus about having a sore throat in Southern California is it's always a perfect day to have ice cream.

I stayed in bed for half the day reading "Farewell to Arms" by Ernest Hemingway. Late afternoon I Facetimed my family and that made my day ten times better.

I even got to Facetime my Romeo:)

After that I helped my brother organize the garage. I have this weird love for organizing, so I had a lot of fun. Afterwards we went out to eat at Filippis. This good family owned Italian restaurant. I had some of their pizza and it was delicious. 

Today started off rough, I was sick and I had to cancel my fun plans. Towards the end of the day I became extremely happy and satisfied. Whether or not I stay as long as planned, I am so happy I'm here. I love getting to know my family more and I love spending this quality time with them. I am truly blessed. 

 I found my nephew Cole sleeping like this today. Looks very uncomfortable. 

I always get to hang out in the backseat of the car with the little guy, Cash.

Restless

It's been a week since I've arrived in California. My days usually go something like this...

8:00 am- Wake up
9:39 am- Catch the 832 bus
9:45 am to 12 pm- Search for jobs, and become discouraged, wait for the 832 bus home
12:45 pm to 2pm- Eat lunch, read a book outside
2pm to 3pm- Workout
3pm to 6pm- Fill out job apps and read
6pm to bed- Eat, stop the job search, and watch tv/read

I love California, and I know I have only been out here a week.. But it's hard not to be discouraged. I really would like to find a job.

Old Navy is the only promising place, I am still waiting to get a call back from them. Many prayers would be appreciated.

If I don't have a job by the end of January, I will have to return to the beautiful cold Illinois.

I need to work on enjoying the opportunity to be here every day whether or not I have to go home at the end of January. This place is perfect and I get to spend time with my family. I don't want to take that for granted.

 I enjoy being outside, sipping coffee, with the sun on my face. 

 When I go in the backyard to read I get to stare at this beautiful orange tree. 

I just like this picture. I was being all artsy while waiting for the 832. 

Weekend Fun

Yesterday while everyone back in Illinois was dealing with a blizzard, I woke up and climbed Cowel's Mountain at 6:30am. The weather was perfect, it was around 50 degrees and warmed up as the day went on. Cowel's mountain is the highest point in the city of San Diego. Total it was a 1.5 mile hike. If I'm being honest it was a lot harder to climb it than I expected it to be, but it was totally worth it. 

After that I got ready to go to church at Rise City Church. A new church that was planted in Santee. The pastor and his wife are actually from the Normal area, it is such a small world! I enjoyed the service and I am excited to keep going and build new relationships.