Big Month for Boston

Warning, this post is kind of a downer....

I am not sure how familiar anyone is with the events that took place in Massachusetts in April, 2013, but it hasn't really been a great year overall to be honest.  While trying to maintain the theme of staying positive on this blog, I need to also be realistic by addressing what has taken place in my home state.

To begin on a happy note, my friend Kate who I met while at Pepperdine for grad school, came out to visit for about a week.  We went on hikes, went to wine tastings and even went para sailing in Santa Monica.  It was such a fun visit.  That's the Santa Monica pier behind me while I'm floating...

While hiking deep in the Los Angeles mountains somewhere, a little prairie dog had peeped through the ground and I was very afraid of him. See that tiny pile of dirt?  Yeah, he's somewhere in there.

Now fast forward about a week and it's Monday, April 15, 2013 or Patriot's Day, as referred to in Massachusetts, aka "Marathon Monday".  This is a huge day for Bostonian's, as half of the state has the day off from work and thousands of people head into the city to cheer on the marathoners.  Without having to go into much detail due to the massive media coverage, there were two explosive devices at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. 

To personalize the day from 3,000 miles away, I happened to wake up at 3:30AM and could not for the life of me go back to sleep.  I proceeded to make a huge breakfast and a pot of coffee while Jim was still sleeping. Here are my chocolate chip pancakes:

While cooking, I finally realized it was Marathon Monday and put on the slingbox right away to start watching the local Boston channels here in LA (another one of my fav things to do). My sister and her girlfriend, Lindsey were at the marathon and were sending me pictures and videos with such enthusiasm, hope and excitement.  I was thoroughly enjoying watching the live event while eating my breakfast and drinking my coffee...all while receiving constant updates from my sis via text.

My sister took this photo at the finish line an hour or so before the bombing.  It's a gorgeous shot of the John Hancock building. She had fortunately left the Boylston St area and was enjoying some yard-size beers at the Yard House near Fenway Park at the time of the explosions.

Four days later, on April 19, my graduation from Pepperdine was scheduled.  My parents had their flights booked well in advance and my sister was planning on surprising me.  Long story short, all the flights were delayed/cancelled due to President Obama's visit to Boston, so everything needed to be changed. Fortunately, everything worked out and they were all able to visit LA safely. 

Graduation was a success and I am so fortunate that my entire family was able to be with me that day:

Also happily, my mom, sister and I went to Catalina Island over the weekend after graduation and we loved it. We heard the ziplining there is one of the best, so sure enough we tried it out!  Here we are in Catalina:

All for now. Thanks for listening to this one....and please continue to keep Boston in your thoughts and prayers.

Shaz