It's All Relative

"NO LIQUIDS...REALLY"


I realize it has been a while since my last post, and for that, I am sorry.

This past weekend I headed home for a friend of mine's wedding. I have known Tiffany Hurley for as long as I can remember. We went through elementary school, junior high and high school together so I really wanted to make it to her big day. I didn't know if I should actually should go home that weekend. My parents were going to be down in southern California hanging out with Jen, Ryan and his family so I was going to be there all weekend by myself. But I'm glad I decided to go. I got to see a bunch of friends I haven't seen since graduation. Reuniting with high school friends is a trip. It's cool becuase even though most of us haven't really keep in contact with each other, when we get together it's like nothing has changed. We all have the same personalities we did in high school and end up laughing about the same dumb stuff.
Tiffany's wedding was really beautiful. She married a Hawaiian dude so they had a Hawaiian styled celebration. I am not really a fan of "themed" weddings, but this one turned out to be an exception to that rule. Tiffany and her husband are natural born performers-they sing, dance, act...you know the type, so their whole wedding was very entertaining. Lot's of music, lot's of dancing...just a big party.


Tiffany looked beautiful. She wore a form-sitting laced, halter gown that her mother made. Very pretty. Her and her new husband make a great couple. I'm really happy for her.

The rest of the weekend I spent hanging out with a couple friends. We went out to Win River Casino (a Redding landmark for sure) and spent the night playing blackjack and dancing with Redding's finest. If you've ever wondered why our end of the valley gets a bad rap for being a little white trash, go to Win River. You will understand.
Sunday my good friend Kristina took us out on her family's houseboat. It was so relaxing. We just kicked it out on the lake for a few hours, laughing at each other, recalling all our classic high school stories. Since all of us have been fortunate enough to travel abroad, we also talked a lot about where we've been, what we've seen and where we want to go.


Monday morning I drove my brother's car down to Sacramento and hung out with my sister Jen for a couple hours. If you aren't familiar with Jen, then let me tell you that she is pregnant. Come March, she is going to be a mother. Weird. Lately though,Jen hasn't been feeling so hot. I have never been pregnant so it's hard for me to sympathize with her when she complains to me how bloated she feels and how much she hates being pregnant. We went to lunch and then hit up Target and Old Navy. By the end of the outing we were both exhausted. Jen, because she is pregnant, me because I don't like to shop and a mere 30 minutes into any shopping adventure, I am spent. So she drove me to the airport where I hopped a very empty plane to Salt Lake City by way of Las Vegas.
This whole "No liquids" deal is quite intense. I flew to Sacramento the day all that stuff in London went down and so when I got on the shuttle from the parking lot, I was bombarded with fliers and announcements about "No liquids of any kind." It didn't really cross my mind that I might be carrying the types of liquids that could be considered dangerous or suspicious so when I got in the security line (which was insanely long) and noticed some guy walking around with a huge cart full of lipgloss, hair products, and beverages I realized that these dudes were NOT messing around. I had to get out of the security line and go check my suitcase I was going to carry on because there was no way I was throwing away all my stuff. I mean seriously, there was some expensive crap in that cart. So I went to the check-in desk, checked my little suitcase and got back in the security line, where I waited for 45 minutes. Good thing I had a copy of the latest Us Weekly (thanks Jen) to keep me occupied while the line in front of me whittled down. Had I not been so interested in Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn, I might have noticed I was about to miss my flight. I got to the gate and saw NO ONE. Then I heard over the intercom, "This is the final boarding call for flight 328 service to Las Vegas" Oops. There was no one at the entry to the jetway so I just cruised on in and walked on the plane. I mean, no one was there to make sure that I actually had a legit boarding pass valid to get on the plane. I mean, how can airport security be seizing lipgloss and bottled water but there be no one checking to make sure who does and does not get on the plane? Huh. Whatever, I made it and needless to say I got to and from Sacramento sans any liquid/security incident.