Sunday Currently: Volume 19

Cleaning
|Currently|


Reading  I haven't started anything new, but I did finish The Lost Wife last week. It was a really good book, but I almost didn't enjoy it, because it was so sad! It's a holocaust story, so obviously I wasn't expecting a happy story, but there is just so much grief permeating the whole book, that it was almost too much. Or at least too much for me to have read it as fast as I did! Still, though, I would recommend it, because it was a very good and touching story.
Writing  I wrote a couple of posts about our vacation, here and here, with a third to come! I've also been doing some brainstorming, so there should be some more new stuff in the works here soon.
Listening  She & Him, Volume 3. I love this album so much! It has such a summer feel, and maybe it's just because that retro sound always sounds summery to me! Either way, it's great and I've been listening to it a lot lately.
Thinking  About our plans today. We're doing a group belated birthday/Father's Day barbecue with Dane's family today. One problem I discovered with celebrating Father's Day late, is that if you didn't buy your card on time, you can't buy one at all! They are all gone! Drat.
Smelling  That wonderful, amazing, morning smell. I think you all know what I'm referring to. Yep, coffee!
Wishing  That I had been able to go to sleep earlier last night. I'm tired, and running behind this morning (surprise, surprise). I hope I can get my sleep habits under control, because since I don't have a summer job, I'm going to have to give myself some structure to my days. I don't have the will power to get out of bed at a decent time, if I consistently fall asleep after eleven!
Hoping  To create a new housekeeping schedule this week. I used to have one, and it worked really well! There was a period of time that housework was never an issue as long as I mostly followed the schedule, but that went by the wayside a long time ago, and it's been a struggle ever since. So, once I get things running more smoothly on a day to day basis, I can get to some much needed deep cleaning and organizing!
Loving  That I'm (mostly) getting back to my better eating habits. Our trip really took a toll on me, but after just one day of being home, and not eating out, I noticed a difference in how much better I was feeling. Now, hopefully I'll be able to drop those vacation pounds soon!
Wanting  To get a mani/pedi. My finger nails have been neglected a lot lately, and my toe nail polish is chipping. I should get gel polish, because that stuff lasts forever!
Feeling  Happy to be back in my own home, even though I had a blast on vacation! There's always a certain relief in coming home and getting back into the usual routines.
Clicking  Not a whole lot. I read some of the funny tweets about baby North West,  even though, for the record, I don't mind the name! It's just unfortunate that it was paired with west, ha! And I have been doing a lot of reading a research on weight lifting. This weeks starts my lifting program, and I found so much good information from the blog Girls Gone Strong. If you are interested in using some heavier weights, I totally recommend checking out their site!

Now, currently I should be in the shower, so off I go!
Linking up with Lauren :)

Vacationing Part Two: Santa Cruz and Milpitas

Photography

Today is kind of bittersweet. I'm happy to say that we made it home safe and sound, and being in my own bed was nice, but reality hits hard when you've been gone for a week having fun! Coming home to a depleted bank account, and a scale that went up (five pounds!) are not the best things in the world! 

It was all worth it though (except for the five pounds), and we had a lot of fun while we were gone. So, here's a bit more about how our trip went!


*                     *                    *


Sorry Seaside, but I think I have a new favorite coast destination!

Last Sunday we spent the afternoon in Santa Cruz, and it was everything I hoped it would be! Sunny, sandy, and warm! My only regret is not spending both days of the weekend there.

We got into town, and headed to their downtown area. Parking was reasonable, and there were so many neat shops and restaurants, plus some great chains like Forever 21 and H&M. Definitely a great place for shopping, even though we didn't do much of that. We did find a bookstore though, so of course we didn't get out of there empty handed!

I loved the feel of the area, because it's a college town and a tourist town, so the vibe was definitely a good one. Classy, but not so upscale that you couldn't afford anything, and also very fun and "young." It's the kind of place that I imagine would make for a fantastic girls trip, because, come on, we all know our husbands/boyfriends don't like to shop as much as we do!

From downtown, the city has a trolly (bus?) system that runs the mile long route to the boardwalk and back. It's only 25 cents, and the information booth will give you tickets to ride it for free (which of course we took, ha!)

The boardwalk was very busy, but I don't see how it wouldn't have been. The weather was great, and where else could you want to be on a Sunday afternoon than at the beach? We walked around, and took in the sights, then went over to the rides. 

We bought just enough tickets to ride on the Giant Dipper! It's one of the oldest wooden roller coasters in the country, and it was built in 1924. So, besides the fact that we were hoping we wouldn't be the ride it decided to break on (and Dane hoping he wouldn't lose his lunch), we were excited for it! 

Obviously it didn't break while were were on it, and if Dane had puked, you bet I would have told you before now! 


Downtown Santa Cruz/Boardwalk


Roller coaster fun


After we had our fill of beach fun (and our parking time ran out) we headed on up to Milpitas. This was the part of the trip where Dane's vacation ended, ha! While he was working, I entertained myself for a few days. It wasn't too hard though, because we were staying in probably the nicest hotels we had ever been in! 

I'll share more about that later, and some more pictures from the day that I decided to go to the beach on my own (which I'm very proud of myself for doing. I'm kind of a chicken at times!).

But, here's a little of what our room view looked like in Milpitas!


Room with a view


Now, I'm off to spend the day with my sisters before they go home tomorrow!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Oh, and happy first official day of summer :) Go and do something fun!


Monopolizing the Breakfast Table

Blogging

So, instead of finishing up my breakfast this fine, fine morning, I decided to get another cup of coffee, and monopolize this little table of mine for a little bit longer!

breakfast view


Yes, I'm still in the hotel, but today will be our last day. Tomorrow we head home, but we will be stopping and doing some touristy stuff in San Francisco on the way.

Today, I just feel like writing.

It's been a long time since I've felt any real inspiration to write. I'm not sure what happened, but there for a little while I just felt completely zapped!

I couldn't seem to come up with any of my own ideas, and I hated that I was always using other bloggers' prompts and link-ups for the bulk of my content. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love doing them, but I wanted you, my readers, to see more original material from me! That was why I started this blog in the first place, to write, and to share my thoughts. Well, I guess I was still sharing them, but I was sharing my thoughts on other peoples' ideas.

When I tried to stop relying so much on link-ups, and life started to get busy for me, I lost all motivation to keep up with this blog. It made me sad, but I had such a terrible case of writers block, it wasn't even funny!

I realized though, that I really missed it, this whole writing thing, and I've decided not to be so hard on myself. I want to try to write more, even if I feel like what I'm writing about isn't that exciting, or might not be "good enough." If I wrote it, and I like it, then that's good enough for me! I may not lead the most exciting life, but that's why my blog title contains the word ordinary. I guess you know what you're getting right there, ha!

That's my summer plan, to just start writing more. As I've been brainstorming, I've decided that maybe I will host a link-up! Possibly. I've had a couple ideas, but we'll see if anyone wants to join in with little ol' me. Either way, there will start being new posts around here, and some of them may turn into regulars!

For now though, I am going to finish my breakfast and get on with my day. Since Dane is still working, and I've got all day to myself again, I think the beach is calling my name. I think I'm going to head back on down to Santa Cruz for the day, and get my tan on!

Cheers, and happy Wednesday!


Vacationing, Part One: Marina and Monterey

Photography

Hello from the road!

That's right, I'm still on vacation!

Dane, however, is not (we're down here for his job at the moment) so that leaves me with a lot of time on my hands. Well, what better to do with my time than to start sharing some of my trip photos with you? I'll be splitting it up, but here is how the first part of our trip went

We left on Friday and headed down into California. Dane was able to take off from work early, so we got a decent start. We were headed down to the coast, but we spent our first night in Fremont. Our hotel was nice, but since there was a wedding going on in the hotel, they were out of their basic king rooms. Which means they upgraded us to a spa king for no extra charge! Whoop, whoop! I just love extra perks like that.

Also, for the record, I drove most of the way down on Friday night, including through all of the crazy freeway changes and traffic! I had planned on letting Dane drive when we got to the busy stuff, but I didn't need to. The aggressive driver in me really seems to thrive in this California environment! Ha!

On Saturday we continued our journey onto Marina. The original plan was to stay in Santa Cruz, but last minute our trip dates changed to the same weekend as the University of California Santa Cruz's graduation! Needless to say, all the rooms in our price range were booked and we had to head further south. Marina is a little town, almost to Monterey, but far enough away that we were able to get a pretty decently priced room.

We went ahead and spent the afternoon in Monterey, buying (some) candy, and walking around Cannery Row and the beach. Cannery Row is famous for having been a big influence to John Steinbeck. In fact, the area wasn't even named Cannery Row originally, but due to it being the setting of his book by that title, the name was changed. 

Dane was pretty excited to check that area out, because he is a huge John Steinbeck fan, but there were so many other tourists that it kind of ruined the experience for him. Personally, I like the hustle and bustle of people, so it didn't bother me too bad. It was the chilly weather (and my dumb self wearing shorts) that made it less enjoyable for me.

Overall though, we had a good afternoon and evening, and we got to go back to the hotel after and soak in the hot tub!



Cannery Row/Asilomar Coast Trail


A diabetics nightmare. And who doesn't need a "number two" pencil?


Asilomar Coast Trail/Marina State Beach


On Sunday morning, the sun decided to come out, and we took one more walk along the beach. It was so gorgeous, and really quite a bit different than the Oregon beaches we're used to. Even though the climate seemed similar (or at least the temperature did) the beaches themselves were not. The water was more turquoise and clear, and the sand was more fine. 


Marina State Beach


Along the highway between Marina and Santa Cruz, was a giant agricultural area! We passed by so many farm stands, all with signs touting their great deals, that we had to stop at one. The ten for $1 avocados turned out to be not as great as we had hoped (they were the smallest avocados I've ever seen) but still a better deal than I would get at any of our grocery stores! And I got the opportunity to be an artichoke!  

Farmstand, Cabrillo Hwy 


We spent all afternoon Sunday in Santa Cruz, and it was so great! We found a great bookstore, walked on the boardwalk, and rode a roller coaster! Plus, the weather was a whole lot nicer. But, I will share more on that later, with a lot more pictures to come!

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