Our Favorite Place in the World

Coronado Beach
Oils, January 2019


Our Favorite Place in the World


This last summer, me and my sweet hubby took our first vacation together, and it was so fun! We spent a few days at the beach, we went to fruit stands, Disneyland, the San Diego Safari Park, and we went to some of the best restaurants I have ever been to! If you know my husband, you may have heard about the Mexican restaurant that sells carne asada burritos that are the size of your forearm, and he is not joking! And they are SO good!

While we were in San Diego, we visited some of the people Nate had met while on his mission, and they are some of nicest people I have ever met! It was really cool to see just how much each and every member remembers and loves him, how they consider him to be a part of the family. And because I am his wife, they loved me just as much! They are such loving, caring people. It was really great to see everyone gush over my husband and to hear all sorts of stories about his mission.

We got to spend two magical days in the Happiest Place on Earth! I love Disneyland, and it was so fun to spend time there with Nathan. It didn't happen quite as expected though! The first day we spent in California Adventure Park, but it was quite a 'wild ride' getting to the point where we could go on a ride. We woke up pretty early, to give us as much time at the park as possible. Then we got stuck in some pretty crazy traffic for a while, and got to the park at about 10 in the morning. Once we got parked, and into the line of people to get through security, we hit some snags and had to make our way back to our car. Once that was taken care of, we got back in line and through security. We got in line for Grizzly River Run, our first ride of the day, and were standing in the shade of a tree, taking it easy, when it happened.

I was watching the rafts of people go by, when I suddenly got super dizzy. I started to pass out! Everything started going dark, and I leaned on Nate, telling him as I was going down that I was passing out. Next thing I know, I was on the ground, Nate leaning over me, trying to get me to wake up. He asked if I was okay, but I couldn't feel my arms or legs, and couldn't think straight. He asked if I could walk to go sit down, and picked me up. All my limbs had quickly turned to pins and needles, and we hobbled over to a rock wall and sat down. Unfortunately, I then threw up in the bushes behind me, which broke my streak of not throwing up for about 5 years. It was not at all pleasant. 

We eventually were able to get up and walk to the medical building (which, by the way, there is only one of, and it's at the very front of the park. You would think Disney would have at least one more medical building, some small tents, or at least put the one they do have in the middle of the park so it's easily accessible). I was exhausted from everything, and my head was pounding, so they let me take a nap on one of their cots and gave me some medicine for my headache. After about an hour, I woke up and we were able to get going a little bit. We went and got lunch, which I was only able to eat a little bit of, and eventually, I felt like I was back to 100%. After walking around a bit and riding some more tame rides, we were finally able to ride an actual ride! By they time we got into the line for the Cars ride, it was about 5 pm. 

So most of our day was spent passing out, recovering, and trying to hold down food, but it was still a great day! I still have no idea how or why that all happened, it was hot that week, but we were super careful to drink lots and lots of water and eat well.

The second day at the parks was spent in Disneyland. It was so fun to ride all our favorite rides, especially the Peter Pan ride (my favorite!) and to experience all the magic with my hubby! We got to eat some delicious food, and Nate treated me to some authentic mickey-shaped beignets! They were so yummy! While we were at the parks, I was wearing some strappy sandals, and the tops of my feet got SO sunburnt! I had a weird tan line for months!

One of our favorite beaches we went to was the beach on Coronado Island. The sand had pyrite in it, which made the sand so golden, sparkly and gorgeous. The palm trees on the island were beautiful, and the water was so nice. We made an awesome sand castle, which sadly got knocked over by someone passing by. We loved all the beaches we went to, it was so relaxing, and I miss it so much (especially with this super snowy cold weather). 

We also got to go to the San Diego temple and do a session there. That temple is absolutely gorgeous! The outside was beautiful, the grounds were amazing, and the interior of the temple was absolutely breathtaking. It was so great to do an endowment session with my eternal companion. I am so grateful for my husband, and that we have such fun together! I am so glad I get to be with him for eternity!

-  -  -  -  -

A little about this painting...

This painting took me about 2 1/2-3 months from start to finish. At first, it was going really well, once I got back in the swing of things. Then life got busy, and I had limited time each day to work on it. I hit a few snags, and got really discouraged with this painting, not really wanting to work on it because it wasn't going to well. I couldn't get the colors just right, and got kind of upset with it. I got really sick of all the painting stuff being on my kitchen table though, and eventually got back to it. I don't know what changed, but it starting working with me again.

I think this is probably one of the harder paintings I have ever done. Everyone's heard the saying, "you are your own worst critic", and it is definitely true. I really did not like this piece for the longest time, but I think I finally got it to a place that I am happy with. It was really a learning experience for me to work through my issues with this painting, and to accept that there will probably always be something that I don't like in my art pieces, but I can come to grips with those things, or work hard to figure out how to fix it.

This painting was made by referencing one of the pictures we took on our vacation, the beach on Coronado Island. We stuck around til sunset, and boy, was it worth it! It was so pretty, and so romantic! This is definitely a beach we will be visiting again!
This is the original photo I used
 as reference for the painting.
Unfortunately, my low-quality camera made the 
painting look a lot more orange than it is in real life.





Comments

  1. Jessica PetersonFebruary 10, 2019 at 9:06 PM

    Can we see the reference picture????:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. EFebruary 11, 2019 at 1:49 PM

    Wowzers! I'd never seen the reference photo. The painting is breathtaking! I'm so grateful for you and your talents! I can feel the feelings of love you have for the experience their your art.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comment! I love hearing from you! If you would please put your first name at the bottom of your comment, that would be great. I would love to know who's talking!🎨

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Contour of a Hand , February 2016 Purpose Our hands serve many purposes. They hold, they lift, they feel. They express, they create. Hands are used for so many things, I don't think we realize just how much we use our hands. They make dinner, they type on a keyboard, or play an instrument. They can be used to speak a language all of their own. They are used to wipe the tears off a loved one's face, they are used to serve. I think of my husband's hands, how I love holding them, how well they fit in my hands, and how soft and comforting they are. I love holding hands with my hubby, he makes me feel so safe and loved through this simple act.  Through recent experience, I think of the hands of surgeons and doctors, and all the good they do for others. I get emotional thinking of all the hands that have helped me and my family as loved ones recover from injury and illness. Many meals provided, and much assistance as I prepared to marry my sweet husband, and ...
Read more

Excelsior!

Image
Earth's Mightiest Heroes August 2015 Excelsior! As many of you may know, I am a HUGE Marvel fan. I have seen every Avengers movie, and I get emotional every time I hear the Avengers theme come on at the start of a movie. My husband can attest to this, he often looks over at me to see if I'm crying yet whenever it comes on. In fact, I am so into the Marvel franchise that I based one of my high school English projects/presentations on how great Marvel is, and how it is better than any other superhero-based franchise out there (giving that presentation was one of my nerdier moments in life). I don't really know what it is about Marvel that I love. Maybe it's the way they tell a story, the way they show you a character's beginnings and where they came from, really letting you connect with the character. I know this sounds so cliche and probably fake, but the way that Marvel gives you the backstory of each character really lets you feel involved with that chara...
Read more

Thanks to My Dad

Image
Ocean Life Charcoal 12.75” x 19.75” 2014 Thanks to My Dad I decided to post this picture because of the following story, and because we are planning our annual trip to California, and I am so stoked I can't handle it! San Diego is one of our favorite places in the world, and I can't wait! This drawing was one of my first real experiences working with charcoal, and the first time I ever even found out that white charcoal existed! I thought it was all just black. I did this project in my senior year of high school, and it is one of my favorite drawings I have ever done. I put a lot of time and effort into this drawing, and it's one of the first drawings I ever remember being truly proud of.  I've had a lot of people say that they really like the birds in this drawing, but honestly, that is my least favorite part! I still to this day don't know why people pick that part out over the rest. Personally, my favorite part is the turtle, I remem...
Read more