californi-yeah! (i've used this title before, oops.)

i said i was done with the michigan posts, but did i say i was done with the vacation posts? loophole! here's a few of my favorites from my whirlwind stay in southern california. i was up there to shoot a wedding, kiss my family hello at their dana point rental, + welcome my brother-in-law, kevin, back into the life after the mission. badda bing, badda bam. 

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before jeff + i got married, a had this stigma about california. southern california, in particular. to me, it was the yankees of the united states. the l.a. lakers, if you will. i don't really know where i am going with this but i am sporty. 

my point: it is too easy to love and to obvious. of course you love southern california. of course you love the perfect weather + the ocean. of course you love it. you see what i am getting at?

but now i am throwing my towel in. i love southern california.

and now, a story:

i had never met kevin before friday. like, ever. which is sort of incredibly awkward because hi my name is brooke and i am your sister...in law. let's hug? also i wrote him emails while he was on his mission with jeff so...

i was nervous. so nervous! like, what if he doesn't like me?! what if he doesn't accept me as his sister in law?! what if he is shorter than me + when we hug his head goes straight into my chesticles?! these are the things that keep me up at night.

i spent the day with my grandma + mom in dana at their little beach house rental. it was a daaaah-ream! i was nervous about being late to the airport so i left super early. california traffic, y'know? somehow i arrived way ahead of schedule + had time to kill.

a wheelchair! i spotted a wheelchair! i plopped myself down on an abandoned wheelchair + started wheeling myself around the vacant airport. also i realize i am changing tenses here...past-tense? present-tense? pffft. i didn't think much of it until a few people came up to me and asked, "are you here all alone? do you need help?!"
i had already committed to being a cripple, braving the airport alone so i went with it : "no, no. i've got it. don't worry about me."

brooke, why?!

after this is not an exaggeration two hours of sitting in the airport, jeff called me to ask where the heck i was? he was right by the meeting place + at the teensy long beach airport ... and still no brooke?

i asked the lady next to me where the jet blue bag pickup was + she looked at me, puzzled. "...jet blue doesn't even fly into this airport."

SHIZ!

i realized then that i had waited two whole hours, wheeling around the wrong airport. frustrated, i got up to walk to my car. walk. there was an audible gasp from all the people waiting for their bags that had looked at me like i was so brave. i was a fake! or was it a christmas miracle? the people of the john wayne aiport will never know. ;)

what a strange first impression. hi i am your sister in law and i somehow mixed up airports, somehow? oops.

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also : do we think juan pablo is going to be the next bachelor? crossing mah fingers!!