Greenway Trail

Earlier this morning I went walking on the Greenway Trail with a few of my friends from church. We were hoping for a bigger group but some of my friends decided not to go. The trail runs five miles from Whittier to Pico Rivera or vice versa depending on which way you start. The trail was built two years ago to replace the abandoned railroad tracks. I always see the trail on my way to church but never walked it until now. Karina and I started at the Whittier end and began our five mile walk to Pico. Another friend of ours from church met with us half way up the trail. The trail was really pretty and I must say it is a great workout. It took us close to two hours to finish it. I would love to walk it again and hopefully we will have a bigger group next time. Here are some pictures throughout the trail:

This isn't the beginning I wanted to start off with a picture of the Greenway Trail sign

The Beginning. It was foggy when we first started out

My friend Karina
The trail took us through the bridge over five points. When you come to five point section in Whittier there are five different areas that you can go.
The End

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Today I officially turned 24 years old and I had a great day :) This afternoon I went to church and got a few happy birthdays. After church we all gathered in the kitchen to have our snack and my friend Yinna announced that it was my birthday and the people who were there sang me Happy Birthday. I have to say that I was embarrassed and shock I did not know that she was going to do that, but I thought it was a sweet gesture. I am very grateful to have friends like those, they are a great example to me in every way. So after church I had some friends over for dinner and everything turned out wonderful. Lisa and Rachel came by for a little while it was nice to see them. We sat around talking and eating. I opened my presents and I got a lot of shopping to do from my gift cards. This has turned out to be a great birthday I don't want it to end.

My party guests enjoying some snacks

Randy was kind enough to cook. Thanks again Randy the food was great

Me making my wish while the kids waited patiently for some cake!!

Disneyland!!

My friend Kimberly had to work on my birthday so we went to Disneyland on Friday. Her brother works there and could get us in for free. We decided to go to California Adventure first since it closed earlier. The first ride that we went on was Soarin' Over California I like that ride. We headed over to California Screamn' next and I was screaming the entire time. I got the pictures that was taken on the ride. I heard how much fun the Toy Story Midway Mania ride was and they were right it was SO much fun! During the ride we had to shoot stuff for points by pulling the sting on the gun. There were different games that we got to play and knock down it was great. Even though I did not win I still love that ride it is one of my favorites. Next we went over to the Tower of Terror and I freak out on the so much. Kimberly said that I was trying to escape the ride because I was putting my feet on the seat in front of me I could not help it.

After we ate lunch we went over to Disneyland and went on the Pirates of the Caribbean I have not been on that ride since they added the new things to it and I like what they did to it(we went on this ride twice). After we headed over to one of my favorite rides Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I forgot how much fun that ride was I screaming and putting my hands up which I never do. We also rode this one again. We headed over to Fantasyland and did the rides there, the first time we went we did not go on the Perter Pan ride because that ride always has a long wait. After It's a Small World we went over to Toon Town and rode the Roger Rabbit ride and I also love that one too. We headed over to the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride and that is not as much fun as the Toy Story ride. You get a gun and you shoot stuff get points but you can spin the ride around. I did not win at that either. We sat down for a bit wondering what we were going to do next and we decided to go into Adventureland. We went on the Jungle Cruise and did that then we went over to Indiana Jones and the ride stopped and we left the line. We got fast passes and decided to go back and ride Big Thunder Mountain. Went back to Indian Jones and waited in line for what seemed like to be forever. After we went back to Fantasyland to ride the Perter Pan ride no matter how long the wait was. We wanted to try to ride the Alice in Wonderland but they were closing Fantasyland for the fireworks. By that time it was so crowded and we were so tired that we decide to go shopping and head home. I ended up getting silver mouse ears and my friend Kimberly bought my a Minnie Mouse stuffed animal that had a balloon that said it was your birthday and when you press her foot it sings that happy birthday song SO COOL. I had such a great time and it was so great that I got to do that for my birthday.

My ticket stub because I am that big of a dork to post it

Me and Kimberly on California Screamn'

Me and Kimberly
Showing off my mouse ears and Minnie Mouse(thanks Kim!)

Painting

This weekend my mom and I painted the bathroom and it turned out great. We used the Behr paint that already had the primer in and it worked pretty well. That paint really cut our painting time down because it was warm but the paint dried fast. I enjoyed painting, but I forgot how much preparing to paint stinks. But I am very happy with the way it turned out and I could have not picked a better color. Some pictures of before and after:

Before

After

Also this weekend my mom and I have been cleaning getting ready for my birthday party, and we still have more to do. We cleaned to porch today. We took everything off the porch and washed it off and also brushed off the porch. So I guess you can say that we have had a busy weekend and there is still more to do. Next we are going to do the inside which is going to be a lot more work. At least the house would look nice for my party guests it is going to be a fun event.

All Sorts

Well summer is over at least for me but it has been one of the best summers ever. I spent it with my friends going to the zoo, playing rock band, and swimming. I have also made a couple of trips to the beach which has been really fun as I have not been there in a while. This week has felt like summer as it has been very hot. All sorts of things have been going on:

My cousin Matt, his wife Kathryn and kids (Hannah and Luke) went for a visit to England near the end of June and we got pictures. The kids are too cute and they are growing up so fast. A huge difference then the pictures I posted earlier huh? As should have mentioned when I was writing about my family my cousin Pete has been gone for almost a year. He has been to South America, Australia, New Zealand, and now he is back in Australia. He is having a good time.

Hannah and Luke

Megan

Also my birthday is coming up in three weeks. So in planning that I have decided to repaint the bathroom which is going to be fun I love to paint. It will give my the opportunity to have the bathroom the way I want it. I hate the color of the bathroom and we have rips and holes in the wall. So I will blog about my birthday and paint as they unfold. I have a couple of things planned for my birthday that are going to be a lot of fun.

More About Me

As some of you may already know that I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or you might know it as Mormon. I have been a member for 5 years now the church was introduced to me by my brother Micheal (I'll get to family later) who joined a year before me. Throughout my journey as a member I have come across so many wonderful people who are a great example to me in so many ways. My personality tends to be a bit on the shy side when meeting new people or in new situations. If people give me the time to open up to them they will see that I am a lot of fun.

My Family

All my moms family comes from England which I think is really cool and I love visiting there. My immediate family consists of my Aunt Sheila, Uncle Dave, and their three boys Steve, Matt, and Pete. This side of the family has grown as two of my cousins are married and have children and will continue to grow. I love these people as they are really great and amazing. This is a picture of all of us below:

Megan (Steve and Ni) Hannah and Luke (Matt and Kathryn's)

Me and my cousins left to right Pete, Steve, and Matt
My Aunt Sheila and my mom Valerie

My dad passed away 3 years ago from complications from his diabetes. I have a half sister Carrie and a half brother Micheal from my dads first marriage. My sister has four kids and my brother has two from marriage. I have many first cousins on this side of the family and I would be here forever if I tried to name them all. Below is a picture of my dad with his sister and brothers at a family reunion in Oregon where most of my dads family lives and others are random pictures of the family. I do not seem to have many pictures of my brother and his family.

My dad with his grandchildren (my sisters kids)

My sister Carrie and our dad

Finally!!

After waiting an extra eight months I got to see "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" today. It was AWESOME!! I really enjoyed the movie and well worth the wait. It had great special effects (as every Harry Potter movie) along with funny, tender and sad moments. Some of the actors and actresses had scene stealing moments my favorite scene stealer was Helena Bonham Carter who plays Bellatrix Lestrange. Helena Bonham Carter is one of my favorite actresses and she is perfect for the part that she plays. Another favorite part of my was when Rupert Grint came on screen he is so funny in the movies, he always makes me laugh. The only thing that ruined it for me was there was a girl behind me who was talking the entire movie. It annoyed me so much and she kept on talking even when I turned around to tell her to shut up. I cannot wait until that last movie of the series it is hard to believe that it is almost over.