My Top Ten List

This morning started very early because I am sharing a 395 square foot apartment with a teenager who not only talks in his sleep, but carries on a complete conversation.  I woke up at 2:10 a.m. and I really did think Cole was talking with someone on the phone.  Of course, he never woke up and I never went back to sleep.

Around 11:00 a.m., Cole and I headed to Marshall's on our bikes, which is in the same parking lot as Target.  I think if I ride my bike six miles every day, surely my pants will start feeling looser. ;)

This is the sign I see every day when we are heading out....

It calls to me (or screams in my case!).  Too bad Brad doesn't feel the same.

Spencer aced his five-page Physical Science test and Cole aced his Anatomy test so all is well in the Ewing household.  Cole has gone to the park with some friends and Spencer is laying on the bed, trying to recover from his workout.  I am so proud of them both.

Ok, so here's my top 10 list of things I like about LA:

1.  They LOVE their animals!  I mean all animals, not just dogs and cats.  And you can forget about ever seeing a stray.  Unfortunately for me, I have yet to see one cat or dog without a tag or owner attached to him.

2.  The weather is perfect.  It's cool in the mornings (around 60 this morning) and warms during the day.  I like the days to be a little cooler than mid to upper 80's but I'll take 80's ANY DAY instead of 100+.

3.  This city is super clean.  I never see trash lying around, even in the low-income section of town (we got to see the alleys in the "hood" during Cole's photo shoot and even they were clean!).  

4.  They have fresh fruit and vegetables year round.  You can always find something fresh to eat at stands on the sidewalk or at the farmer's market and they always have good tomatoes.

5.  They sell wine at Target. ;)

6.  They offer a HUGE selection of restaurants.  Whether its Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican, Italian...whatever (except for biscuits and gravy) you can find it here.

7.  Almost every restaurant has alfresco dining, which I love.  My friends in Little Rock give me a hard time because I love to sit outside no matter what the temperature is (my friends have even been known to wear their long johns and parkas on the nights we were meeting for dinner because they knew I would want to sit outside!).

8.  The plants and trees are gorgeous.  I would love to take one of every tree home with me to plant in our back yard.

9.  I HIGHLY recommend the Burbank Extended Stay (a/k/a Melrose Place).  We have met people that we will be friends with from now on and it has been one of the main reasons we have loved our stay.

10.  This one is funny.  People in Cali do not expect to hear a Southern drawl come out of my mouth and when they do, they don't necessarily understand what I have said.  Today at the grocery store, I was trying to step around a guy who backed into me.  He said, "Oh, sorry."  I said, "You're fine." which translates into "No problem."  He said, "Well, you're fine too!"  Really?  I was laughing so hard and I just shook my head and walked away.  I told the boys about it and Cole asked me if the guy was blind!  Haha.

One more thing before I close.  Kari Shea let me borrow the book "Heaven is For Real".  IT IS AWESOME!!!  I recommend it to everyone and I may even buy 20 copies and just randomly pass them out to people.

I also just finished reading Tim Tebow's book "Through My Eyes".  It was a wonderful, uplifting, encouraging book.  I loved it but he talked a little too much about football to suit me!

Hope you all have had a great day.

"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

~James 1:2-4