Ashley and Alan’s wedding was so beautiful, and I’m really happy that I was able to be part of it in such a major way.  I’ll never have another best friend get married (probably because I only have the one, haha) so this was such an amazing experience for me.  I uploaded tons of photos from the whole weekend to myspace and facebook, and once we get the professional photos back I’ll make a Flickr album as well.  It was just such a beautiful day and the flowers were beautiful as well.  And the reception hall was just so romantic and everyone was having an awesome time and dancing and everything.  It was such a success.  And everyone loved my toast, especially Ash, which was the whole point anyway.  Yay

Getting Ready

Walking down the aisle

The beautiful ceremony

Outside the church, my mom, me, and my sister

The wedding party

The first dance

The lack of sleep I got over the weekend took quite a toll on me, however.  I’ve had a pretty bad sore throat the past couple days, and my joints have been extra painful as well.  I’m still trying to figure out what I’ve got.  I got a call from the doctor yesterday saying they didn’t take enough blood at my last appointment so I need to go in to get more drawn.  Ugh.  I just want to know what I have.  The good news is that it doesn’t look like it’s Rheumatoid Arthritis according to my first blood test.  And my doctor doesn’t think it’s an autoimmune disease at all.  I don’t really believe him though, and more blood tests will hopefully give some answers.

My sister and I cooked a yummy dinner tonight of breaded chicken, potatoes au gratin, and aspargus, complete with a berry cobbler for dessert.  Alex actually made the cobbler.  It was yummy.  I’m starting to realize how much I enjoy cooking and how much I detest eating out these days.  It’s so much more satisfying and less fattening to cook at home.  I can sense a trend forming

To-Do List:

1. Study for Learning Theories midterm (which is on Monday)
2. Turbo Kickboxing class Friday at 9am at 24 Hour Fitness
3. Private practice visit Friday at 2pm
4. Support group observation Friday at 7pm at some church in Irvine
5. Visiting my grandma in Palm Springs on Saturday
6. Disneyland on Sunday with Sheila
7. Buy bachelorette party stuff
8. Buy pink boa for my swan costume (for the Hyatt on Nov 1st)

I know it’s not a long list… but I felt the need to write everything down.

Ash and I bought our playboy bunny costumes a few days ago… it’s super cute

Except we got sparkly pink shoes to wear with it.  So basically, on the 31st I’m going to be the bunny (along with Ash… while Alex and Alan are twin Hugh Hefners LOL)… then on the 1st, at this club in LA that my sister is performing aerial at, I’m going to ditch the cotton tail and the bunny ears and be a swan (because the theme is Wonderland).  I wasn’t sure what Wonderland meant… but apparently it means fairy tale stuff…  I’m going with my sister’s friend Megan, and she’s going to be a flamingo… so it will be cute if I’m a swan, haha.  She made us masks, and they’re the CUTEST things ever.  Mine has white and pink feathers and a beak on it.  Haha.  I just need to add a pink (or white) boa to it and I’m all set.  Fun times.

I know it’s been awhile since I updated.  I’ve just been keeping my mind preoccupied with so many other things that I haven’t really even thought about this blog in awhile.  Anyway… to pick up from my last entry… everything was fine with the heart monitor, so it was definitely just anxiety.  I started trying some relaxation techniques (that Sarah recommended to me) everytime I get an attack, and they work pretty well most of the time!  So that’s good.

A little over a week ago on Friday night I saw Memphis (a musical) at the La Jolla Playhouse with Mike…  I completely fell in love with it.  The lead guy is flippin incredible and I think I have a major crush on him (too bad he’s gay haha).  I was just so amazed by his acting… and I think it’s actually the best acting job I’ve ever seen in a leading guy before (which includes all the many shows I’ve seen on Broadway).  I liked the show so much that I saw it again this past Thursday and I’m seeing it yet again tonight!  I know it’s crazy… but when you have an awesome friend who can get you however many free tickets you want… why not??

Switching topics now… yesterday Alex and I went hiking in Malibu.  We decided to do a 4.5 mile round trip hike to Escondido Falls in the Santa Monica Mountains.  When we got to the Falls… our map said that this was the turn around point for those not comfortable with a “bit of rock scrambling.”  We decided we were perfectly comfortable with a bit of rock scrambling (lol).  Little did we know that “a bit of rock scrambling” should have been called “a bit of mountain climbing.”  Some parts of this trail were so steep that they actually tied ropes onto branches for us to help us climb it.  It was super challenging, but also pretty fun.

HOWEVER… on our way back down we made a wrong turn (honestly we aren’t sure where we went wrong).  While the way we went did take us back down to where we started (at Escondido Falls), we sort of ran into a mishap.  Since we were not on the trail, we ended up running into a mini cliff that dropped down to the ground near where the falls were.  We had no choice but to just slide down the cliff on our asses.  Alex managed this a lot better than I did.  I have scrapes and cuts all over my ass and legs.  It hurt so bad that I actually started crying after.  And we still had to hike back.  What an insane adventure…

Well, two days ago Alex and I returned from our AMAZING camping trip in June Lake and Yosemite!  I’ve been so busy the past few days, however, that I only just this evening got around to sorting through our pictures, resizing them, and uploading them to Flickr.  But I’m done now!  You can check out the new set in my travel gallery here.  There were probably hundreds of amazing photos that we took between the two of us, so it was REALLY hard to pick the “gems” to put in that album.

It really was an amazing trip though, one I will never forget.  Yosemite is so awesome that I can’t wait to go back, hopefully next spring.  I’ve figured out that I’m the most content and relaxed when I’m out in nature, and I just LOVE all the little creatures we ran into on our hiking trails.  We saw little squirrel/chipmunk things, a bigger furry animal (maybe a possum or a badger or something), a deer family (2 big ones and a baby), and even a super tiny snake!  It was so much fun, especially the deer.  We actually saw deer twice on our trip, the first night near June Lake and also on our 7 hour hike on the Glen Aulin Trail to Tuolumne Falls.  They’re SO sweet and beautiful!  They didn’t mind our presence even though we kept following them deeper into the woods to take pictures of them.  Awesome.  Yosemite (and actually the entire Eastern Sierras) is so freakin awesome.

My next trip (in a week) is to Las Vegas.  I don’t think these two trips could be any more different LOL.

It’s our last day in Yosemite! Boooo. We did a semi hike earlier today along Yosemite Creek (4.4 miles round trip). This pic was taken at a look-out point on our way driving back along Tioga Pass. 1 more night of camping in June then we hit the road tomorrow for home.

Taken at the end of our 3.5 hour hike yesterday on the Glen Aulin Trail. After we reached the Falls we still had to hike back for a total of almost 7 hours and 8 miles! My body really feels it this morning and the strong winds aren’t helping!

Our first stop in Yosemite.