Happy 4th of July

First of all, Happy 4th of July. May God continue to bless this nation and guide our leaders and military in the continual pursuit of freedom for all.

Midterms are over! Wow, this past month went by WAY too fast. Cheryl and I have been enjoying the morning drive to school each day, chatting and encouraging one another about the work day ahead. As part of the process, we go over on another's schedule, noting what day of the week it is, and how close Friday was getting. The problem is, all I remember are the Fridays. The weeks just flew by and now I'm in the calm before the Gross Anatomy storm. We hung out with some friends last night before we went to go pick up Cheryl's parents from the airport. It was a great time with some good friends... all two of them. Guess there are a few more 'flakes' in my raisin bran - j/k. Anyway, the first part of the night was spent arcading it up old school with some Street Fighter...

and the second part of the night was spent hanging out with Cheryl's Mom and Dad. We picked them up from the airport at around 10:30 pm and didn't get to bed till well after midnight. Am I getting old or what? I'll be lucky if I see 11:00 pm most nights; Is this what I have to look forward too?

Anway, the rest of the weekend was jam packed full of good times and alot of relaxation. Friday was spent on a little project called - "Prevent Baloo the fish from killing Julius the fish". Over the past few weeks I have caught Baloo, the MUCH larger cichlid, picking on Julius. Cheryl has even been forced to scare the fish in order to break them up. It wasn't until I noticed that Julius' tail had been nibbled down to a pathetic little nub that I decided that something needed to be done. Cheryl's dad Tom and I took a little trip to the pet store, which was open on July 4th, and purchased a solution. Introducing, the aquarium devider. And, just to spite Baloo, I picked up a little home for Julius.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at The Grove, enjoying the sun soaked afternoon and just doing a little window shopping.



The farmers market was amazing. Fresh fruits, veggies, dryed goods, desserts, sweets - you name it, they had. Our minds were spinning from all the edible options. We settled on homemade ice cream and just had a good laugh together. The evening proved to be one of the most memorable 4ths of my life. Behind our apartment complex, high up into the neighborhood, is one of the most magnificent views of Greater Los Angeles I've ever seen. Cheryl and I have often made the treck up there as part of our morning walk, now since replaced with 5am visits to the local gym, to both get our excercise and enjoy the breathtaking view. Well, Cheryl had the brilliant idea to try that same spot in hopes of catching a few fireworks. What a jackpot!

We must have seen at least TWENTY fireworks shows starting from the Hollywood Bowl to the northwest, clear across Los Angeles to Dodger Stadium in the northeast and everything in between. For nearly 45 minutes we watched, on the brink of over-stimualtion, as hundereds of beautiful fireworks were fired off over the city of angels.

On saturday we took a trip up the coast to Malibu and enjoyed a seafood lunch at a local dive called Neptune's Net. Renowed for its fish and chips, this biker hot spot was a perfect stop along the beautiful highway 1.



Sunday afternoon was spent at the beach and I got to try out my new boogie board. The waves were perfect, but the weather was less than ideal. Overcast and slightly humid, it didn't stop me from enjoying myself. Tom and I took a LONG stroll down the coastline to Venice Beach to check out the wierdos, although, its not much different from a typical day at the pier in San Francisco.

Before we knew it, the weekend was over and Cheryl was missing her parents. We had a wonderful time with them and look forward to seeing them in August.