Santa Monica Beach

This morning we woke to the sound of quick walking, dish clattering and pitter pattering upstairs; a baby crying and a rooster crowing next door (the windows are always open in the house since my relatives don’t have A/C). Having lived in basements for two years, I am slightly used to it — even comforted by the noise, so though I woke earlier than I ended to (thus waking up Cobalt), I really didn’t mind.

Working later this morning, my aunt found the time to bake chocolate croissants for breakfast, and freshly squeeze some orange juice (a California norm) for us. Then she left the house and us with Lizzie. Soon after, Joel texted Cobalt to invite him and me to the beach. Smiling at each other, Cobalt and I enthusiastically agreed and welcomed Lizzie along also.

Since we weren’t going to leave for an hour or so, we entertained ourselves with Lizzie for a while. So in the meantime, she showed us her REALLY COOL treehouse, which we were both super jealous about. It’s three stories, not including the ladder climb to the first. But the first floor is slab of wood donned with a shorter ladder that leads to the second story: the house portion. The house is a square with windows on all four walls, one of which is a door and a window (you know those doors in nurseries at church? that’s what it was like).

Lizzie's Treehouse

The whole time I was up there, I couldn’t help but be impressed by how well Lizzie furnished the place! In the back two corners were chairs, one a small folding chair with a leopard printed seat. The other was a lawn chair with a pillow that had a middle crease to serve as both the cushion and the back pillow. Atop of this chair was a small purple pillow; and in the corner opposite the leopard chair was a small vertically rectangle shelf covered with a black, gold-speckled shawl and a bottle of bath oil that had a plant inside.

Above this main floor was the loft where Lizzie had laid out comfortable sleeping supplies — blankets, pillows, and even an extension cord for a reading lamp. She said her and her mom have slept up there a few times. Cobalt and I joked about doing so, and we still just might! The night air is so cool and quiet (no mosquitoes!) that it might just be paradise.

Before we left I made lunch from what I could find in my relative’s fridge: salad and pasta. The funny story that goes along with this is that the food I chose that looked the most yummy was coincidentally the food that the cleaning lady had brought for herself that morning. When she asked where her food was I was super embarrassed and greatly apologized and offered her some of our lunch! She went along with it and was fine, but I felt so bad!

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Throughout our peachy beach afternoon, eleven year old Lizzie was a fabulous tour guide! She was a happy, adventurous and an intelligent addition to the beautiful day. She knew where everything was; and without her I’m sure we would have been bored!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

For about 3 hours we spent riding the waves of Santa Monica, talking to new and old friends (new for me, old for Cobalt), building sand castles and overall just LOVING the weather. Though we expected it to be freezing, the Pacific water was actually quite enjoyable, especially after a hot car ride (Cobalt’s car has black interior, plus the sun is a lot hotter here). The cool breeze and water mixed with the warm sun was a perfect combination!

In between wave jumping, I spoke to Joel’s fiancé Kat and her bridesmaid Sarah. To my surprise, we struck off conversation immediately; and I’m happy to say that I felt very warmly welcomed by them (and was pleased to meet them for the first time!). Same happened when Joel’s family arrived. Since they knew Cobalt about six years before I met him (he and Joel went to a Chatt community college together before rooming at ETSU for their schooling), I felt very special indeed associated with Cobalt as his “wife.” (If you’re reading this Kat, Sarah, Mr. and Mrs. Gerlach and Amy, thank you for the friendly conversation!! :))

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Around 6pm we left to head back home to shower up for dinner, as Aunt had promised to take us out. We ate at this GREAT Thai place on the beach….I can’t remember the name at the moment and I JUST realized we completely forgot to take pictures of our food, but anyway, we ordered several dishes to share together including appetizers, main courses, side dishes and dessert. Cobalt ordered a seafood dish (since we are on the coast) that included shrimp, fish, crab claws, squid and muscles; Lizzie ordered beef and broccoli; Aunt ordered crispy rice and I ordered Pad Thai. We also tried a sort of crunchy money-bag-shaped dumplings for appetizers, Thai tea, sticky rice and banana and coconut icecream. Mmmm mm!

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Well, it’s goodnight for me as I’m probably keeping Cobalt awake with the slate screen on. One last thought before I doze off:

Every day thus far I have been constantly reminded of the Lord’s blessings.

Oh how good He is!!

Goodnight all! Thanks for reading our posts and keeping up with us on facebook! We love sharing this adventure with all of you!!!

Love, Hope and Cobalt