Only in California...

Dance at Grandpa's

I remember my dad reading Little House in the Big Woods to me when I was about 4 years old. The chapter in it that shares the title of this post was one of my favorites. It tells the story of how, in the middle of the winter, Pa, Ma, Mary, Laura, and Baby Carrie bundle into the wagon and drive to Grandpa and Grandma's house. All the family is gathered there and there is fiddle music (from Pa of course), dancing, lots of good food, and fun times with all the extended family. It sounded a lot like some of our family gatherings (both my parents have huge families), but we don't usually dance. Well, this sunday, for the 3rd time in the last 8 years, my grandparents (and this time, my uncle Steve and aunt Carissa, who now live in my grandparents' old house) hosted a hoe down (i have no idea how to spell that..or what it even means) for all the family who could make it. Almost all the aunts and uncles were here and lots of other California family. We ate way to much, swam in the pool, made new friends, and danced until our feet were sore (really...my legs were killing me that night). My grandpa found a square dance caller who was willing to put up with the chaos of the 30some kids here, plus the adults that are somwhat...directionally challenged. ;) It was so much fun! Everyone danced with everyone else and no one was ever without a partner for long. One of the good things about the Luke family is that there is a fairly even number of guy and girl cousins, so dancing is made easy and only a few girls had to dance the guy parts. The whole evening was full of silliness, laughter, and family...overall, the best combination of fun. :D

Jesse got a reaallly interesting tan *cough* burn..

and daddy likes to pick at the leftovers before the party even ends ;)

Uncle Steve is too cool for the pool..or anything else for that matter

Braxton: one of my other california cousins and the most interesting,

if not best, dance partner I had haha ..i never knew you could move your hips while square dancing ;)

Aunt Carissa and her family (minus uncle steve..who's still being cool at this point):

the hostess of all our family reunion activities and one of the most amazing, fun, hard-working, loving ladies I know :)

Watch out! More posts to come!! :D

Fun in the Sun~ Beach Edition

We finally made it to the beach on a sunny day! At around 4 in the afternoon we packed our towels and blankets and drove half an hour to the nearby beach of Refugio (the locals call it re-foo-fee-oh). Just another one of those strange spanish pronunciations, we thought..but no, the mexicans don't know why it's called that either. Anyway, if you want to be cool with the locals you pronounce the G as an F sound. The beach was beautiful. The sun was warm but not enough to burn us, so some of us lay out on the blanket while others let themselves played in the waves. Later on we saw seals jumping a little ways out. I'm reading 'The Great Gatsby', so I mostly stayed on the blanket, but the whole evening was very peaceful and enjoyable. :)

Here is just a little bit of the fun we had:

yes, she is the only one who accomplishes anything on vacation :)

cousins and bffs

Not quite Hawaii..

Kylie: the only one brave enough to be fully buried alive

food always tastes better at the beach

It got a little intense when Charlie saw that the seals were coming closer ;)

My beautiful cousin Taye

Grandma and Grandpa's Paradise

I've been visiting my grandparents here in Buellton, California since I was a tiny little girl with blond hair, but I guess my familiarity with the place dulled my sensitivity to just how beautiful it is here. My grandparents and aunt and uncle live in two lovely houses, built in the typical southern california style: reddish-orange roofs, terra cotta (ok, not really..but it looks like it) walls, and surrounded by very exotic, tropical looking plants that my grandma tends daily.
They're tucked up in the rolling hills, only a few minutes away from the town, and only about 10 more from the bigger tourist attraction, Solvang, but their house is secluded enough that they're frequently visited by all varieties of wild animals. For instance, my grandpa is jokingly referred to by close family members, as the 'Great White Hunter' after his encounter with a wild pig. He got the pig, but the gun got him, and one of the cousin's baptism pictures features grandpa with several bruises and a big white bandage on his forehead. ;) Coyotes can be heard in the growing dusk and Grandma fights a constant battle with the deer over her beloved rose bushes. Tiny lizards sun themselves on the black top and are often terrorized by all visiting children (many of them are without tails...the lizards..well i guess the children are without tails too ;). There are even bobcat pawprints crossing the driveway. It's unusual to have so much nature surrounding a house and still be within reach of civilization. I don't know what makes me appreciate it so much this visit, but even after touring Europe and living in or visiting almost every state in the country, I still think this place holds its own.

Fun in the Sun- Pool edition

Choo choo!!

What's that in the water??

Oh lovely. A baby mouse :-O

Taye is sooo cute!

Brody!

Hey! where am I supposed to sleep?

The Other Lukes or The Begginning of My Stay in Sunny CA

The first part of our stay in California was spent with my Uncle Dave, Aunt Dina, and their kids: Brendan, Gracie, Hailey, Joe, William, and newborn baby Patrick. Aunt Dina's mom was staying there too, and she was either constantly cleaning or holding a baby. While we were there, we went to the beach once (although, I think my family went once before I got there too), to Knott's Berry Farm (our family's favorite amusement park, had dinner with other cousins and extended family, and pretty much just fooled around with our cousins. We hadn't seen them since two Christmas's before, but our families get along perfectly, so it was no problem fitting right back in to where we'd left off.

Choo choo with her rock collection at the beach

bestest buddies :)

Scary driver

I swear I've never seen a merry-go-round this fast

Knott's Berry Farm!

William!! aww he's so cutee <3>

and that's only the beginning.......

The Flight of Neverending Hunger pt 2

Thankfully, by the time we reached Dallas, the rain had stopped...and so had the baby. :) Our captain informed us that there was a plane in our gate, so I used the 20 minutes it took for us to taxi in to our gate to call my parents and figure out the ticket situation. Because I was 2 hours late, I missed my flight, so my dad called in and booked me on another flight. He gave me detailed instructions on how to get my new ticket and even told me the gate number. Finally, after about 5 hours (which really isn't that bad after flying to china ;) I exited the first plane. I was, at this point --10:30pm, Dayton time--, more than ready to eat.

As I scanned the screen of departures to make sure my flight was leaving out of the gate my dad had told me, my phone began to ring.

Me-hello?
My mom- Hi, you need to hurry. Daddy switched your flight. You're flying out of a different gate now. Here's the ticket number. When you get there...
Me- He already called, I'm going, and he told me what to do.
My mom- Oh. Well, hurry! They're already boarding!

Ugh. With the word "hurry!" echoing in my ears, I sped up and rushed to the new gate. The man didn't even ask for my old boarding pass, but found my new one and handed it to me with a, "Here you are sweetie. You better board now."

So I boarded. Without food. Alas.

Thankfully, American Airlines assigns seats, so it was easy to find mine. Getting my bag into the overhead compartment was a little harder. I'm not really that short --5'4"-- but these overhead bins are pretty high. I had to stand on my seat and use my strong basketball muscles to swing the bag wildly up over my head and into the bin. Luckily, I didn't hit anyone's heads, but I probably looked pretty pathetic. Once settled in my seat..

"Excuse me, this is your captain speaking,"

Oh no, not him again. (ok, this was a different one, but these announcements didn't seem to ever result in anything positive)

"We have passengers flying in on another plane, so we'll need to wait for them to get off that plane and board this one." *sighs throughout the plane*

An older couple sat next to me. The husband was sleeping when I boarded. I have no idea how he did it sitting straight up, with his chin drooping onto his chest, but he slept the entire way. The wife and I exchanged our woeful airplane stories.

"Yes we usually fly South West," she muttered confidentially, casting the nearest stewardess a dark glance, "and this is why!"

I agreed with her, feeling it was safest not to be on the receiving end of one of her angry looks, and added that I thought the video repeating itself over and over on the tv screen above was kind of annoying.

"Yes," she said, "I guess it's supposed to be peaceful, with the picturesque scenes and flute music, but that flute is getting on my nerves."

"I've seen those salmon jump up the river about four times now," I commented.

"I know," she agreed, "And I like flowers, but I don't want to be one" she exclaimed, as the camera did an extremely close-up tour of the inside of a flower, accompanied by several spasmodic trills of the flute.

Criticizing the "Peace and Relaxation" video occupied us for the next 20 minutes, while the other passengers boarded and took their seats. The video then switched over the safety instructions, which was almost a relief after the flute. Finally, when everyone had been thoroughly prepared for any type of emergency..

"This is your captain speaking," loud groans echoed, unchecked from nearly everyone on board, "It seems we have a mechanical issue that must be taken care of before we take off," more groans, "We thank you for your patience (ha yeah right), and once again apologize for the delay."

It seemed only fitting that the day end with a bang, (hopefully not literally) so I was not surprised by the extra delay and did not join the groans. My stomach, however, was less accepting. It groaned loudly as I explained to the lady sitting next to me that I hadn't eaten for almost 12 hours. She nodded sympathetically, but her concern was not deeply rooted. I could see the bag of fritos she had stored in the pocket in front of her. We eventually did take off, but I had a 3 1/2 hour flight still ahead of me. The only thing that gave me comfort during these three hours of empty cravings was the man across the aisle behind me. He had bright, clean, yellow high tops on. They made me happy. Yellow is my happy color. These shoes almost made me smile, which was a pretty big deal, at this point in the day.

I arrived at 12am, California time -- 3am, Dayton time. Both my parents were there to meet me. It's nice to be missed :) And my dad, always practical, and very much against wasting money on fast food *sigh*, brought cold pizza. Having not eaten for the last 15 hours, I was not especially particular, however, and I wolfed down several pieces, then immediately fell asleep.

When we got to Uncle Dave and Aunt Dina's at 1am, the house was dark and still. I could see my cousin Brendan was sleeping on the couch. Feeling deserving of a slightly more exciting welcome, I poked him several times in the head and finally dripped water on his face until he woke up and gave me a hug. Then I went upstairs and to sleep. I was in California! :)

The Flight of Neverending Hunger pt 1

The day after our return from Steubenville I spent with one of my other bff's, Maya. I only stayed the one night, but her family spoiled me with Dairy Queen, pancakes with whipped cream for breakfast, and non-homogenized milk ;) (that means there's cream floating around in it yum!) They also did everything possible to make sure I was completely ready for my flight Monday evening. Maya and I slept in (which was really very lovely after a crazy weekend) and spent the rest of the day fooling around with the editing of our next film. It's as yet unnamed,

but I can assure you it is a masterpiece, and I'm not the only one who plays a guy this time! ;)


That afternoon her family took me to the airport and walked me to security, where I waved goodbye and walked through without any problems. Having traveled before (ha, understatement), I made it to my gate without any problems and started reading a book that Maya let me borrow.
That was the peaceful, enjoyable beginning of my travels. (insert ominous sound effect here)

As soon as we were all boarded, had learned (for my millionth time) how to use the flotation device, "locate the nearest exit", and fasten our seat belts, there came an announcement over the loudspeaker,

"This is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard."

If only he had stopped there.

"I'm afraid we're unable to depart at this time due to heavy rains in Dallas (our destination). We've been asked to delay one hour. You're welcome to exit the plane, but remember, if you do so, even to grab a bite to eat, you must take all carryon items with you."

I wasn't about to get my dufflebag, which was practically bursting at the seams (see 'California Here I Come!') out of the overhead bin. I had barely gotten the thing in there to begin with. Plus, Maya's mom had made that huge breakfast of pancakes and whipped cream at noon, so I really wasn't hungry yet. I unbuckled my seatbelt, made myself more comfortable and kept reading.

An hour later:

"This is your captain speaking. Well, heavy rains are still falling in Dallas, and I'm afraid we're going to have to delay things another hour. If you need to leave the plane and make other arrangements, feel free to do so at this time."

A lot of people in the seats around me began gathering up their things to go get something to eat. The family in front of me left completely, one of the kids wailing to his mother, "does this mean we can't go home?"

This is where I should have gotten off and gotten something to eat, but, being the extremely lazy person that I am, I put up the arm rest of the vacant seat next to me, spread out and kept reading my book.
The wait wouldn't really have been that bad, almost comfortable, actually. I had a book, room to put my feet on the other seat, and it wasn't too cold on the plane. I had forgotten what it was like to travel with a baby. About 5 rows behind me, there was, indeed, a baby. A screaming baby. But this screaming baby was unlike any other screaming baby I have ever had to endure. I can block out most screams and cries and read in peace, thanks to long car trips with small siblings, but this child was different. This baby shrieked with joy. I'm not kidding. High-pitched, deafening shrieks of joy. I could tell it was a happy baby from the shrieks and from the fact that the mother didn't nothing to make it stop. However, I was sympathetic to the parents, because, in my experience (which isn't vast, but decent), there's not much you can do with a baby as far as happy noises go. I therefore tried to block the unearthly, bloodcurdling, noises of terror from my aching ears and keep reading.

Unfortunately, the couple behind me was less immune to the sounds. This couple, who I had already come to know as "Babe" and "Babe" from overhearing their loud conversations to one another, simply could not tolerate the shrieks of a happy baby. Every time there was a shriek, it was immediately accompanied by an "Oh god" from Babe(female) and a grunt of assent from Babe(male). As the screams continued to occur, the ejaculations grew in intensity and color. They were probably more obnoxious than the screams. At one point, Babe(female) was heard to remark pointedly (and rather loudly, probably in the hopes of making an impression on the helpless mother of Baby) to Babe(male), "Babe, when we have kids......."
Unfortunately I didn't catch the last bit as it was drowned in yet another joyous outburst from the baby in the back, but heaven help their future kids.

We finally did take off from Dayton, and the mood became less tense, as Baby became less happy and cried: a much more soothing noise to our raw ears. Babe and Babe were still annoying, frequently kissing loudly, and conversing in unmuted tones, but, after learning to block out shrieks of joy, I was able to block them out too and concentrate on my book. I also wrote a little poem. No, I'm not going to share it with you. This one is too ridiculous even for me. It started out as melodramatic musings about the plane and the carpet of clouds...and ended up being an annoyed account of my flight, including lines like, "some perpetually kissing in the row behind" and "a baby screams with joy and my ears flinch" and,

"So I'll sit
And wait
And chew my ancient gum
While dreaming of food
And ignoring the gnawing in my stomach"

Yes, this "poem", was hardly something that could be commended for literary merit, but maybe it will bring back memories and make me laugh some day.

You can see though, that I was already becoming hungry. I reassured myself, however, that I would get something to eat in Dallas....

But would I?
(to be continued)

Steubie U pix

Two of our lovely car buddies: Jeremy and Paul

Our Earrings all match! (living proof of the fabulous outfit's!)

Some new friends we made (never decide to make new friends that are sitting at the top of the bleachers..it's really awkward climbing towards them, with them staring down at you like, "what are you freaks doing?")

Besties! <3>

Betsy, Jenny, and Bethany! enjoying the retreat :)

Peter pretending to be meditating on something holy
..but secretly catching up on the sleep he didn't get last night

Rosie and Me! BFFs and future HMDs

what is life without silly pictures?
(there are at least 4 more..the kid in front of us was staring..
which made us do even sillier faces =)

Maya and Isabel!

Rosie, Me, and Jimmy
Retreat Buddies :)

Steubenville 2010!

First things first..I have to start at the beginning of my travels, which would be Tuesday, July 22nd, the night I left home to stay at the Araya's house. Rosa and I then spent the next few days, shopping with her sister Isabel and our best friend Maya, watching thrilling episodes of Monk late into the night, desperately trying to get somewhat tan, and advising each other on which clothes to bring on our trip to Steubenville --this last one took quite a lot of time because there are so many different factors that add up to the finished product: fantastically fabulous outfits :D .

Somehow, in those 3 days of silliness, crazy schemes, laughter, and late night rendezvous we managed to grab the few hours of sleep we knew we'd need to survive the Steubenville conference. Since, this was my 3rd year, Rosie's 4th, and Isabel's 2nd, and because we all know how long it takes us to get into the car on time, we planned well in advance, packing our clothes the day before (or in Isabel's case, in the middle of the night before) and, on Thursday night, planning out who would shower when (it's quite a challenge for 3 girls with long hair and a tendency to dramatically increase the heating and water bill to each shower in one morning). Although, there were a few minor hitches (no breakfast *sigh*), we made it into the car and to Emmanuel on time..or..mostly on time.

From there we joined the rest of the youth group and split into various vehicles (ooh alliteration!). Rosa and I were forced into a car with our youth group buddies Jimmy and Paul and spent the entire ride either with Jimmy's feet in our faces (he claimed to be cramping from football camp) or listening to half a song before one of them would decide that that was enough of that song and change it. Thankfully, both Rosie and I are extremely low maintenance and easy going people (well ok, rosa is) and we managed to not only bear the ride, we enjoyed it. :) Actually, we all had a ton of fun and talked or sang or fooled around most of the way there.

Upon arriving *gasp* IN TIME FOR DINNER!!! (a very rare occurrence for our group), we ate. It was yummy and I saved my swiss cake rolls for a midnight snack. :)

Then we entered the field house and laughed and cried in turns as several really amazing speakers took the stage to welcome us and prepare us for adoration. Bob Rice was leading the music, and he was as awesome as ever. (when is the music there not awesome with Bob leading?)

Then Adoration.

Adoration at Steubenville Youth Conferences is pretty much the most incredible thing that will ever happen to anyone that attends. It's nothing like going to holy hour at home, in that you are not quietly, privately praying in an attempt to grow closer to God. In Steubenville, you practically shout out praises. You plead out loud, in song, tears, tongues, whatever way you can communicate most fully with God. And many people receive answers. Although you know Christ is truly present in the Eucharist at home. You know it here. When the priests process with the monstrance throughout the field house, people fall to their knees, some even fall prostrate on the floor, overcome by the power and love that pours forth from the Holy Spirit. Adoration is the climax of both Friday and Saturday night: the culmination of all the messages the speakers have been giving us in both talk sessions and prayer. For those truly open to hearing God speak to them --and for some who really aren't open, but whom he opens ;) -- adoration is the best part of the weekend. It's the core of what the entire conference is all about.

The rest of the time there is really fun too though. We've become accustomed to the meals (which are highly processed and the same every year) and manage to survive on zebra cakes and pizza, which the youth group leaders are kind enough to sometimes buy for us. Even the questionable hamburger and the chemicals-dyed-orange juice add a certain, shall we say, flavor to the weekend.

The other cool thing about the Steubenville conference is the amount of teens there that are really, truly in love with their faith, and not afraid to show it. Even the ones who are less demonstrative, open up completely in the crazy, friendly atmosphere. During the few moments of free time (mostly after adoration, before bed) little groups will run around campus, greeting other groups with a, "hey, where are you from?". It's this, along with the adoration, fantastic speakers (the ones this year were the best I've ever seen/heard), and great music that makes Steubenville so unique.

Finally, Sunday, it was time to go home. This may have been the happiest I've been on an end of retreat car ride home, but, then again, I'm not usually flying to California the next day. Jeremy, another one of our friends, who had met the group there, joined our car, and this time, the 5 of us really did just go crazy on the drive. Rosa and I have come to realize that the combination of a retreat high, practically no sleep for the past 3 days, and an excessive amount of sugar usually has a very.....interesting effect on us, but luckily, the boys didn't seem to mind and we sang veggie tales at the top of our lungs, made silly faces for the camera, and laughed until our stomachs hurt (or maybe that was the "hamburger" burning a hole in our intestines, who knows?). When it was over, we were all pretty dead, but with hugs and promises to carpool to youth group, we split up in the church parking lot, forever changed..ok corny, how about..strengthened by the weekend and ready to face life once again. :)

Elena
p.s. pictures next post :)

I'm Here!!!

Actually, I've been here, in California, for almost two weeks now, but, as usual, procrastinated and made myself busy with other things until finally realizing I couldn't leave you all in suspense any longer, I took pity upon this poor, neglected blog and decided to post a few pictures and tell a few stories about my life on the road. ;)

So here it goes...Be prepared! In the next few posts, I will drown you in silly pictures, grueling accounts of never ending plane rides, and long winded discourses on the controversial topic of illegal immigration. (ok..just kidding about the last one..like i have a clue about it or want to talk about anything serious on here)

In the meantime I remain, forever yours,
Elena ;)