Newport
 |
| Newport Beach Temple |
I made it to the Temple for the 12pm session. The Temple was amazing and so beautiful inside and out. I was amazed at the woodwork inside and was able to peak my head into one of the sealing rooms. It has been a little mission (goal) I've set to find the sealing room that has the extra door within, and it turned out that the one I peaked into had an extra door. (You can read about where I set this goal from here.)
Since, I was in a skirt I decided that it would be best to change before going to the beach. Somehow I managed to rip my yoga pants. Luckily, I packed three different bottoms for this trip. I planned to go boogie boarding in Laguna so I brought a swimsuit and shorts. Since I tend to get cold after boogie boarding I packed sweats. I was well prepared, just not prepared for ripped yoga pants because I had to use a bobby pin to hold the hole together. It managed long enough for me to get to the beach and change.
 |
| Corona Del Mar |
You were able to see the marina and the port. It was amazing to see all the boats coming in and out of the harbor.
I was able to find a bathroom and change. Unfortunately, the day wasn't going my way. I managed to rip my swimsuit while trying to put it on. I must add that these rips were already apparent. The hole in my pants I created that day was just made bigger because there were already a few smaller holes, but a few threads were keeping them together. My swimsuit was already ripped but wasn't completely ripped until this moment at the beach. I just managed to put bigger holes into my clothing. Since, I already had my swimsuit on I decided to keep it on. I was planning on wearing a shirt anyways so no one would know that it was ripped, and it was the back strap that completely ripped apart, so it was still wearable.
Laguna
 |
| The Stand Natural Foods |
There are not many places I can go out to eat but I was able to find a place in Laguna that had gluten free options. I researched it ahead of time. It was called, "The Stand Natural Foods" which was a small stand attached to a bike shop. You ordered from a window and they had seating outside so you could eat in the nice Southern California weather. I got the Rice and Beans Tostada. It was packed with alfalfa sprouts, I love sprouts (sunflower sprouts specifically), but I was in heaven and loved it. The place is more vegan friendly, which makes it better for me since they don't have a lot of gluten in their facility.
After I was finished eating I headed down to one of the beaches I really wanted to go to before moving out to San Diego.
The beach was packed with people. At one time not many people knew about this beach but since the internet it has been getting more well known with tourists. It's called "1000 Step Beach" not because of all the steps that take to get to the beach but because of all the houses that have stairs that lead down to the beach. I didn't get a picture of all the houses and stairs but there were a LOT of houses and stairs leading to this beach, well over a thousand steps.
 |
| Where I dropped my phone |
 |
| 1000 Step Beach |
I ended up not going boogie boarding in Laguna. But considered going down to La Jolla to boogie board or at least catch the sunset. After ripping my pants and swimsuit and dropping my phone into the ocean water I decided to call it a day and head home. I was planning on getting home after dark but when I made it back the sun was just setting so I was able to watch the sunset from my room. I am grateful for an amazing view!
 |
| The view from my room |
Choosing Happiness
Sometimes life doesn't go the way we planned it would. My Saturday went well but I did not plan on ripping my pants and swimsuit nor did I plan on dropping my phone in the water and struggle to charge it so I could make it back home. It felt like an overcast kind of day. But I choose to hold on to those moments of being in the temple and seeing the beaches.
|
| Sunset on the boat |
My Sunday started out rough but God gave me moments to choose to hold on to and be happy. I was blessed to get a calling at church, get an interview with a company, and have an amazing view of the sunset.
God does bless us with so many things to be happy and grateful about. But He will never take away our agency to choose (to make choices). We get to choose to be happy and how we react to things not going well during our day. We may have those days where we just don't feel happy and that's okay. Not everyday in our life will be happy, its okay to have those bad days. I definitely had those days this week where I was just sad. That is okay to do! Life is meant to be happy though, so choose to be grateful, choose to smile and laugh, choose happiness!
