la la land

what a weekend! i left iowa on friday afternoon. it felt so surreal... i've known that moment was coming for a long time, but when it arrives, you still don't know what to say or how to feel. even with tears in your eyes and a lump taking over your throat, you still keep taking one step and then another, breathing in and breathing out... and all of the sudden, you're at the top of the escalator at DSM, and you can't see your family waving anymore.

grant picked me up friday night in LA and we went out for sushi, and then it was time for bed! on saturday we relaxed and did some grocery shopping. grant cooked an incredible dinner--grilled asparagus, falafel and hummus, salad, grilled red pepper... and we ate up on the roof with a beautiful view of the hollywood hills at sunset.

yesterday was grant's 24th birthday! we spent the day at the Getty art museum with a few friends. they had some beautiful sculptures outside, and this one reminded seemed just right for mother's day!


then we went to church at Mosaic--see http://www.mosaic.org/ (they have podcasts if you're interested). for mother's day, a girl sang a song that she wrote when she was living overseas for a year and it was a song to her mom, about how her mom's love is what makes her strong enough to be out in the world on her own. i thought it was very appropriate. i wish i could write music for my mom! for dinner we got ethiopian food and it was delish! i want to go to ethiopia.

this morning grant had to go to work so i walked to a yoga studio called "yummy yoga" and took a class. i wandered around some more and came back to grant's place, only to find myself locked out and the key he gave me didn't work! i used my houdini-yoga skills and climbed through a little window into his roommate's bedroom! first i had to slide my arm in here to crank open the window all the way...
and then somehow i got through the barred rectangle sideways, legs first...


i have accomplished enough for one day and am going to enjoy some R&R this afternoon, with grant's roommate's dog, ronan.


i will post again before i leave for the airport on wednesday night! oh--and there was a massive earthquake in china today that killed thousands of people, and was felt in taipei! no damage or injuries were reported from taipei yet, and i hope there are no aftershocks!