Car & Cali Coast

Yesterday I went to the repair shop to clean out our car and "say goodbye". I'm not going to lie, it was pretty emotional for me. Living the military lifestyle, I'm really not one to put much weight on "things"...changing houses every 3 years, getting rid of "stuff" before every move...but we've been through so much with that vehicle, and it was our one "constant" (any LOST fans?!) for all these years. JT and I've had that 2005 Ford Escape the whole time we've been married. It was purchased in South Carolina, shipped from New Orleans (closest port to Pensacola) to Oahu. Shipped from Oahu to San Diego and then driven cross country to Michigan. A couple of trips down south to South Carolina. Another cross country trip from Michigan to San Diego. And then finally, her last trip, she did such an AMAZING job keeping us all safe in that wreck! The pictures don't really do the accident justice. Looks like bumper is a little dented, but I assure you the experience of hitting was unfathomable. As I gathered all of our belongings, tears fell from my eyes continuing to be SO thankful. Especially when I was able to see in more detail the damage that I couldn't see on the side of the road in the pouring rain. When I opened the rear passenger door, there was a horrible scraping noise as the metal rubbed together. Since it was a SUV, the backseat had the capability of folding down. The latch attached to the inside of the car where the seat would snap in place was bent. This was the side CJ was sitting on. Thank God for keeping him safe. I won't subject y'all to anymore pictures, but as we pulled away, CJ said "Bye Bye Blue Car" and I said "THANK you GOD for always keeping us safe in that car!"

Let's change and lighten the subject! ;) Thought I'd catch up more and share some pictures from the past couple of weeks. Strawberry field in Carlsbad.

Fresh Strawberries!

The taste tester

"Yummy!"

Taking a stroll down the Oceanside Pier.

Pelican!
CJ was enthralled, I was worried he was going to take a snap at us!

And these are the pictures from my birthday dinner in La Jolla. This was the view from our table!! It was cloudy, but we could still see a slight orange tinge of the sunset!

And these two ducks (Mama & Dada duck...AHHH. Turn off Mommy Mode Lace! You're on an adult dinner date! HA!) were playing in the waves!

I'd never seen ducks in the ocean before, so I imagined they were here just special for my birthday! ;) My free dessert!

I had my cake, and I ate it too! :)