On vacation and friendship

Hello, friends!

Here it is, another end of the month. It is pouring rain outside, the fireworks are going off next door, and I take up laptop and type. :) March was in fact a wonderful month, most notably because I had a blessed ten days of vacation in it! :D

My friends Jessica and Reid live in Oakland, and I was able to spend all my vacation crashing at their place. Since I had never been to Disneyland before, they graciously decided to roadtrip to Anaheim so I could go. Not that they were complaining or anything. :P We had a wonderful time in Disneyland, albeit a very wet time. Yes, it did rain the entire time we were there. Let the rainy memories begin, right?

For the record, for those who wish to compare Disneyland and Disneyworld, I can now say that I am of the opinion that they are incomparable to each other. I liken it to having a favorite author, and reading two of their books. Both Land and World had the same style and magical feel; one was older, one was newer; one was smaller, one was bigger, and the I ceased comparing after that point. :) We stayed in a non-Disney hotel and literally could walk to Disneyland, which was cool. We went on Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World, the Matterhorn, Storybook Land, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, the Monster's Inc. ride and the Indiana Jones ride. We also met Mickey Mouse, toured the Mission Tortilla Factory and watched Fantasmic, the new Disney Junior show and the Aladdin show. All in pretty much a day and a half! :D I definitely encourage all to go see for themselves, and I hope to go back again someday, especially to see World of Color; it was cancelled due to rain when I was there.

Yes, I vacationed from Disneyworld to go to Disneyland, but I also did so much other wonderful stuff. For instance, I toured through Pixar with Reid and was reminded again how awesome our God is when it comes to giving dreams and making them a reality. Reid's dream was to work at Pixar; my dream was to help Mickey Mouse. When we met at a President's Scholar luncheon our freshman year of college, who knew that we would be fulfilling those dreams so shortly after graduation? Or who knew that Disney and Pixar were going to become partners in the entertainment industry? God is so cool! :D

I was also fully blessed to spend so much time with Jessica and their seven and a half month old baby, Shayla. I am now her Auntie Meg, and I am thrilled. I've held babies before, but this time, I was able to give Shayla her bottle, feed her, change her diaper, help give her a bath, help dress her, and feed her. All in all, I loved and still love her! She is such a good baby too! It was a true delight to be with Jessica and Shayla for my entire ten days I spent with them. :)

Jess, Shayla, and I went to San Francisco for a day, just to go shopping in Union Square. I've been to SF many times before, either on mission trips or as a tourist, and it was so refreshing just to be able to go and not be a tourist! :) Jess is one of the best shopping buddies I have ever had too, and her sense of fashion is impeccable! :P Jessica also had a birthday party while I was there, a murder mystery party which her ever-so-talented dad wrote. I've never done one of those parties before and hardly knew anyone at the party. By the end of the night, however, everyone had had a blast, and I had made some new friends! :D

I had hoped that ten days was not overstaying my welcome, but both Jessica and Reid put my worries at ease and thanked ME for spending my vacation with them! I can't wait to go back, and I know that their home and their hearts are always welcome to me. What a wonderful testament to friendship! I miss them already, Jessica, Reid, and Shayla, and I can't wait to see them again. :D

I hope this blog finds you well, and that you have friends whom invite you into their hearts and homes as warmly as I have experienced in my life! By the way, you do always have an open invitation whenever you make it to Florida. :) I love you all!