California!!!!

From the 27th of December to the 2nd of January, I went to Upland, California to visit my best friend Ariel. It was basically the best trip ever! One, because it was pretty much one of my first vacations that didn't revolve around a wedding. Two because I got to see Ariel for the first time in six months. (These obviously aren't in order of priority). Three, because of all the things we did. Four, ok there are a lot of reasons why this trip was amazing so I will just have to tell you what we did.

I showed up at LAX on Monday. It was my first time on an airplane. All I have to say is I should have been put on a plane a lot sooner. That was amazing! So after Ariel and her family picked me up, we went through Beverly Hills and went to Hollywood and ate at the Hardrock cafe. Then we went to the L.A. Zoo. I love zoos! Unfortunately, we got there at closing time so we didn't get to see many of the animals. And I left my camera in the car so I only got pictures on my phone. And they are hard to see.

On Tuesday, Ariel took me to Huntington Beach. I love the beach! Sooooooo very very much! It is my favorite place on earth. While there, we ate at a diner called Ruby's. I had to take a picture of the menu just because I call my sister Ruby. :)

On Wednesday we went and got our nails done by chinese people. It was seriously the funniest moments of my life. If you have ever seen the comedy "Nail Salon" by Anjelah Johnson, it's all true. It was so hard not to laugh out loud. After getting our nails done we went shopping. I love shopping. :) And then we went home for Chase's birthday dinner and cake. It was delicious!

On Thursday we went to Disneyland!! Ahhhhh! That place really is the happiest place on earth! It was so amazing! (Yes, it was my first time).  We saw quite a few characters. Such as Mickey Mouse, Pooh, Tigger, Aladdin, The evil queen from Snow White, Rapunzel and Flynn, and Tiana. I got a picture of Aladdin, but that was it. I wasn't going to stand in line for them.

On Friday, Ariel, Robin and I went to another beach. (I don't remember what it was called. But it was amazing, of course). It was a rocky beach where old people lived. We took lots of pictures and then we went to Balboa Island and got Balboa bars. Sooo good.

On Saturday we went to the Rose Parade. It was really cool. All the floats had to be made out of flowers and organic materials. Talk about time consuming! They take a lot of work! But they looked great! (Ok, we didn't go to the actual parade. We just went and looked at the floats after). We also went to In-and-Out and Outback Steakhouse that day. It was my first time to Outback. (This week was a lot of firsts).

On Sunday we finished the week by going to church and playing games. It was a great week. Right before dropping me off at the airport we stopped by the visitor's center. We got out pictures taken in front of the "Big Jesus".

One of my old roommates is serving her mission in the LA Visitor's Center mission. She wasn't suppose to be at the Visitor's Center that night. But she was. Meaning I got to see her!!!

It was a great week! I had a lot of fun and I fell in love with southern California! I definitely want to move there someday! :)