Deserts and Desserts

In an attempt to escape the madness of Mardi Gras, the stress of school, and the miserable freezing temperatures, I woke up at 3:30AM Saturday morning to catch a 5:30 flight to San Diego.  Almost everything went wrong and I ended up sprinting to the gate just in time to catch the door closing.  Extremely out of breath, I handed my crumbled ticket over, kneeled on the ground briefly, then stood up and sprinted down the corridor to find the flight attendants waiting and a full flight in anticipation.  So, I made my flight and from that point on, everything was perfect.

Tony, Lisa, and I stopped by the beach and took pictures of the ground squirrels, the birds, and the beautiful rocks. I enjoyed the scenery immensely.  Waves. Sun. Tide. There was a glimmer of gold in the sand.  Peace. Chirp. Scurry. The animals were scared of nothing.

We had no agenda except for enjoying each other and catching up on stories.  We went to Starbucks to feed my addiction, then to Balboa Park to see the beautiful gardens and museum buildings.  There was a dog show in the park, and I have never seen so many poodles in one place.  Californians with poodles.  Pretty entertaining.  After our drive around town and our daily pick-me-up, we ventured to a vegan restaurant where we ate the most amazing mushroom and swiss burger.  I was pleased to be there with Tony as he experienced his first soy burger. Yummm.  Our afternoon was full of shopping, cooking, and lounging around.  Lisa, who is amazing at cooking, taught me how to make eggplant parmesan.  Wash. peel. slice. drain. batter. fry. bake. omg.

We celebrated the eggplant by inviting Lisa’s friends over and eating more than necessary.  After getting completely full, we then indulged in King Cake and angel food cake.  We finished the night with Mad Gabs, a lot of laughing, and the discovery of Baby Jesus clinging to Amber’s cake.  I then slept for 10 hours in a food coma.

Lisa, Tony, and I started Valentine’s Day (and Tony’s Birthday!) by going to their church.  The service was on the life of Leah and her legacy.  It encouraged us to live out life passionately loving God and trusting in him always, for it was Leah, the wife of Jacob, who was faithful even though she was not beautiful or loved by her husband.  If it weren’t for Leah’s passion, the world would not have known Paul, Judah, or our Saviour.

We all went running Sunday afternoon after a nice big meal at Souplantation.  It was a beautiful day.  The mountains in the distance, the cacti along the trail, and the lizards dodging across the path made the run enjoyable.  For dinner, we celebrated Tony’s birthday at Spices, a Thai restaurant, then we relaxed on the couch and watched Planet Earth.  How amazing are the jungles and shallow seas!  Lisa’s Bible study was also Sunday night and we digested the meaning of love, an appropriate topic on Valentine’s day.  Listen. Touch. Words of love.

Monday morning, Lisa and I drove to Julian, a little town East of San Diego.  We enjoyed peach pie, vanilla ice cream, BBQ vegan riblets, mixed berry pie, craft shows, cute shops and the scenery of mountains surrounding us.  Continuing East, we reached the Anza-Borrego dessert and took as many pictures as possible before we began to fry.  My favorite picture is Lisa on my back in the middle of the desert (posted below).  Please note how our shadow is the perfect camel.  Cool, huh?!

I already miss Lisa dearly. I already miss the weather in San Diego.  I miss the cacti.  I miss the Baby seals at the cove.  I miss Lisa’s Sony alpha 350 DSLR.  I miss Amber, Shaza, and Steph.  I miss Tony (a lot).  I miss Saffron, the cat.

Goodbye desert. Goodbye desserts.  Hello Lent.