A day in Santa Cruz

Slept in this morning.....it felt amazing.  Had an almost sinful breakfast this morning!  I got pancakes.  They were some of the biggest I've ever had.  Claire got a "Denver" omelet....onion, bell peppers, cheese, and ham.  So of course, we ate half of each others, so we could have salty and sweet :)  Love having girlfriends that enjoy good food like me.  We were sitting at breakfast, just wondering where we could go to church here.  

We made our way down to this really cool amusement park.  Claire kept saying, "this is like a

 real amusement park"....lol.  But I totally knew what she meant.  It was the kind you see on movies.....like on "Big" where he finds the machine that made him a grown up.  All kinds of food, rides, people, and culture.  PLUS.....it was right on the beach!!  When I say "right on", I mean I kept thinking I was gonna get hit in the face with a volleyball any minute while we were walking through it.  I hope maybe I gave somebody a "War Eagle moment" :)

We walked over to the first little t-shirt shop we came to.  We had both decided that was a must purchase before we left this cool little town.  We see the girl behind the counter and I immediately think, "She's not from around here."  IDK.....she just looked so much like me.  We started chatting, and found out she was on summer project with Campus Crusades and was from Kentucky.  She had the sweetest spirit, and talking to her made my day.  She was like "I go to a non-denominational church called Vintage Faith on Mission St."  God is so good!!  We were only talking one hour before about where we could go to worship our Saviour on the Sabbath and ......"voila!"  So cool how He just dropped it in our lap.  At 1:00 we were on to our next adventure of the day.

I can honestly say.....when I woke up and stepped out on the balcony this morning, I was thinking  "I cannot believe we're surfing today.  The water is going to be FREEZING."  But by the time we drove to meet David, our surfing "coach", I was pumped.  Let me just say, just like every other sport or hobby, surfing definitely is its own little culture.  It's a lot of free-spirited people, of all ages, just enjoying their favorite past time.  Here's a picture of the guy that gave us lessons.  

Super educated guy, and SO nice.  Claire was like "Isn't it sad how we stereoptype people. Most people would probably think he was like a bum that just surfs."  Not that there would be

 anything wrong with that, but honestly, I was already having the same thought.....about the stereotyping.  We're so quick to judge people. He has his M.S in Psychology and is on his way to becoming a clinical psychologist.....after he gets in 3000 hours of interning!!!  Craziness.  We had the best time and actually got up after a few tries.  I was like "YES!! A form of physical activity I could have fun with."  But of course there are no waves to ride back home in Alabama:(  The beaches here are so different than on the gulf.  Much rockier, much more seaweed, and the sand is a lot darker.  But they look great in pictures!!!

We finished our night off with some great Sushi, thanks to David's advice, at Mobo Sushi.  I had the salmon baker roll and Claire had the crunch dragon roll.  Talk about massive and delicious.  WOW.  It was like no sushi I had ever had before....not your granny's!

All day........just thinking about how God truly is everywhere.  He created everything.....and all of US.  All day I saw tons of people that I don't and will never "know", but my Father, the one I feel intimately close to, know them all just as intimately.  It's cool that no matter where we are, He is with us.  

"For the Lord your God, will be with you wherever you go."  Joshua 1:9