My best friend in the universe, Paige, came to visit from DC on a business trip to LA for the week. I couldn’t miss the opportunity to see her while she was in town. I drove up Friday night in the midst of terrible rush hour traffic to meet her at her hotel on Sunset Boulevard. We went to a great sushi place around the corner with her co-worker Alfred. We had a sushi feast! Halibut, Tuna, Salmon, Sea Urchin, Shrimp, you name it, we probably ate it. The desert was really cool, I can’t remember the name of it…Mulchi? It was like ice cream sort of.

Woke up early the next morning to do my run in Venice with my Aunt. It was a difficult run and I was so happy when it was over.

I picked up Paige around 12 from the hotel and we went on our way for another adventure. We drove from Sunset Blvd to Malibu Beach. After stopping at some Mexican stand on the way we were on our way to the Malibu State Park.

driving through Malibu

Paige and I in Malibu

After driving through the park and realizing we couldn’t drive any further we turned around and headed for the M street Cafe outside LA. It was a cute little place. I played on the computer while Paige talked to her boss on the phone for almost 2 hours. What could you possibly have to say to your boss that would take that long?

Then we headed for the Grove, in West Hollywood. We did a little shopping and the best part was the farmer’s market right outside. We bought some veggies, seafood, olives, and ate some Brazilian BBQ for dinner.

shopping at the Grove

We drove to Hermosa Beach for the night to stay with a friend of a friends. That morning she woke me up way to early to attend a modern worship center called “Agape” for the morning worship and meditation. After that I felt better, more relaxed. It was definitely a different experience.

From there we went to the Third St. Promenade in Santa Monica for breakfast. We found a little place called Acadie Crepes where they served breakfast and desert crepes. It was very, very good.

3rd st. Promenade

Well after a fun filled weekend I dropped Paige off at her Bed and Breakfast in Santa Monica.

Well its been another exciting run through Venice Beach. This time we ran 14 miles. The last couple miles I lost all my energy. It was really hard to finish the run today but I did. Next week we will be running 16 miles. I need a kick in the butt to get to work on my training.

Well I am back in San Diego, and I plan to be for awhile anyway. No trips back to the East Coast planned until May when my little sister graduates from college and my little brother graduates from high school.

I got in from my flight at midnight last night and I am exhausted. I have to be in the NAMI office early today to prepare for the upcoming classes next week.

This weekend I flew in to Baltimore to do a NAMI Connections Training for NAMI Maryland. NAMI(National Alliance on Mental Illness) is a non-profit organization I have been part of for about two years. They offer support, education and advocacy to people with Mental Illness and their families. NAMI Connections Recovery Support Group is a program that I am a trained facilitator as well as a state trainer.

Throughout the training, I have been working with people from all over the state of Maryland to become trained facilitators. I have met some amazing people. I hope that everyone in the training walked away with the confidence to become amazing facilitators. Now that these facilitators are trained they will be able to start their own Connections groups. I plan on doing more work with NAMI California now but part of me stays with NAMI Maryland for sure.

Now that I am working with NAMI California and more specifically NAMI San Diego, I feel that I am making a difference. Im facilitating a Connections groups, and will start teaching classes for Peer to Peer next month. I have also been filling in for the Programs Coordinator at the NAMI San Diego office.

I came up this weekend to visit my Uncle Lee and his family. It happens to be his birthday too so I was glad that I was here to see him and the girls. The other reason I am here is to really get serious about this marathon training. There is a group that meets every Saturday early in the morning. The group is called “RoadRunners” and everyone is intense. Today they met in Venice Beach to run 12 miles. This is the farthest I’ve run to date and afterwards I felt great. The last mile I had some trouble but caught up to the group.

Venice Beach is a very strange place. It has beautiful views of the ocean and marinas. However the boardwalk is very unique. At 7 in the morning you would think there is not many people up and about, but no, there were people awake and lounging outside. I guess the atmosphere is a little different from the Santa Monica boardwalk.

For the rest of the day I am relaxing with my cousins, Aunt and Uncle. I tried to nap which was unsuccessful. That 5 hour energy works pretty well. I think later on I am going to hang out with my cousins while my Uncle Lee and Aunt Cynthia can have some time together. Jason is back in San Diego staying in and studying for a big test on Monday. I will probably leave later on tonight for San Diego. It is about a 2 hour drive between Santa Monica and San Diego.

Next Saturday the group meets at Dodger’s stadium to run hills. Oh boy. I am not looking forward to it right now but give me a week ill let you know if I feel better about it.

Today I am meeting with the NAMI program coordinator of NAMI San Diego. I have been involved with NAMI since 2007, its hard to describe all that being involved has done for me. I will let you know how it goes. I meet with Devin at 2:00pm and he will show me around and discuss the oppurtunities there.

Well it was an exhausting trip but we finally arrived in California late Thursday afternoon. The hardest part of the trip was the last two hours trying to get back to San Diego. Bailey made the trip in one piece. My Dad and I are exhausted. I didn’t have a chance to run all week because of the trip. I plan on getting back into the routine next week, although they are calling for rain all week. Dad leaves for Maryland Sunday morning. I am so happy to be back in California with Jason. He is busy with IDC school which began January 4th. He has three or four tests a week so it can be kind of stressful. I meet with NAMI this week and will facilitate Connections on Thursday.

Today we stopped in Flagstaff Arizona for the night. We stayed at a “green” hotel named, The King’s Hotel. The only thing I noticed about it being “green” was the dispensable soap in the shower. We also sabotaged our healthy trip of no junk food by going to Sonic for dinner. I woke dad up at 330am because I was certain it was actually 5, according to the clock. I was so excited to see the Grand Canyon that I couldn’t wait. Well he yelled go back to bed. So I did. I got up again at 530am and had Bailey jump on dad’s bed to wake him. We finally got on the road at 730am. Stewart from the hotel told my dad to take the scenic route up 180, which he failed to tell us was up the San Francisco Mountains. Of course we had snow on the roads that hadn’t been plowed and I could barely breathe the whole trip from anxiety of crashing. It took us 2 hours up this road traveling 40mph. Not a good start. We finally got to the grand canyon, and it was beautiful (and freezing). My dad and I checked out the Bright Angel Trail which winds around and down the Canyon. We even saw some crazy hiker on the trail and a line of donkeys. We left by 12:30 and literally went from one end of the state to the other. We had to get to Phoenix where we would pick up the 8, all the way to California.

Dad at the Grand Canyon

This picture was actually taken before we reached Flagstaff the night before. It was amazing, I have never seen a sunset like this.

Sunset in Arizona

This is me at the grand canyon with my hat on, which definitely came in handy, especially when I didnt have time to dry my hair in the morning.

We made it through Phoenix, ate dinner in Yuma, and crossed the border around 5. One thing that baffeled me about Arizona was all the RV “resorts” there were a ton of them, in the middle of nowhere. I couldnt believe all the people that come out to Southern Arizona of all places. My dad kept telling me hes going to retire in Northern Arizona, in the mountains which I actually get.

The rest of the drive was exhausting, you could see the lights to the south which was the Mexican border. I kept waiting for an illegal to jump out in front of my car. We drove through more mountains which I was shocked to see in Southern California that the mountains stretch that far south. We arrived in San Diego by 8pm, and I was so happy to be home. Jason was excited to see me of course. My dad will stay for a couple of days and leaves on Sunday. I will definitely miss him when he leaves but had such a memorable trip with him.

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Dad pointing at the large cow

[caption id="attachment_461" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Big Texan"][/caption]Driving down the highway we saw signs for “The Big Texan” a steakhouse featuring a 72 ounce steak. Once we crossed into Amarillo, Texas, my dad had his heart set on stopping there. It was more than I imagined. This place was painted a bright yellow, complete with a large boot and a large cow. I begged my dad not to take us inside but he did. Once inside, he decided to skip the steak and hit up the gift shop. We bought more postcards and of course a shot glass.

From there we left Texas and proceeded into New Mexico. Which is absolutely beautiful. I took some pictures of the sunset which was on the New Mexico/Arizona border.

Tomorrow we are getting up early to see the Grand Canyon then off to California!

Bailey in the front seat

After fighting all day with Bailey over the front seat I finally learned that he likes to put his head out the window. Genius! Now he has left me alone. Today was a long day. We drove almost 1000 miles today, going through Tenessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Dad and I drove to Memphis to see Graceland, of course it was closed ONLY on tuesdays. We managed to still find an authentic Elvis gift shop. The coolest thing was the Mississippi River and the “Roadside Barbeque”. The sites consist of cows, farmland, and trucks. The GPS keeps trying to derail us further south into Texas on Route 30. My dad was actually responding to the GPS saying, “NO I WILL NOT TURN AROUND!” Bailey was slightly better behaved, he hasn’t crapped on the hotel carpet yet. The further west we get, the more I miss everyone back home. Especially my mom. I will have pictures up as soon as I am back in San Diego.