Beach Day!

Stephen and I spent yesterday at the beach with our young marrieds group. It was exhausting, but a lot of fun!

Here are some highlights, and later a story:

• At 2 p.m., Six of us drove an hour and a half to Neskowin Beach in a truck and a car. Two others met us there in their own vehicle. It was overcast but not too cold, and didn't rain on us a bit!
• Jason and Sara brought wood, which Jason and Ethan carried in a tarp about a half mile through the sand to a spot within the high tide line but at least 50 feet from the water. A passerby told us that the low tide was at 6:00, so high tide wouldn't be until midnight. "We'll be long gone before then," Jason said. Famous last words.
• My husband jumped at the chance to dig out the fire pit. The rest of us stood around watching him go (I took a video) and making remarks. We decided he must've been a mole in a past life. :)

• We learned that dryer lint is a very good fire starter!! Steve and I brought a Trader Joe's bag full of it. We used about a third of the bag--that was a pretty decent depletion.
• We made LOTS of trips back to the cars through the sand, continually forgetting things in the cars. Sara beat us all with 4 trips total to and from the car--8 treks through the sand altogether. Go Sara!
• We got our fire going and realized that the combination of really dry wood and a strong ocean wind was going to make for a very short-lived campfire! So we built a berm on the windward side to protect it. Several of us walked around the beach later, picking up driftwood for the fire. Ethan tried to bring an entire log, longer than he was tall. He managed to stand it up on its end, but got no further. :)
• Ethan, who had brought hiking boots for just such an occasion, decided immediately that he wanted to climb up Proposal Rock nearby. Jason opted to go with him and my husband jumped in as well. Unfortunately there was a small river flowing to the ocean water that they had to find a way to cross over get to the rock. They doubled the length of their journey to the rock by going backwards along the river to the smallest part to cross. By the time they reached the rock, my husband had decided not to climb up it but just to take pictures at the bottom while Jason and Ethan hiked up. I don't blame him.
• When Stephen had finished taking photographs, he attempted to cross the river at the widest part, which "didn't look too deep," and learned about halfway across that it was much deeper than it looked. He turned back (good for him!) to look for a more optimal spot to cross, but soaked his jeans through! My poor love... Thankfully Rachel had extra towels for him to cover his legs with as he sat by the fire. His jeans had dried by the time we left.
• At about 6:00 we realized that the water seemed to be getting awfully close! We were obviously misinformed about the time of the tides... Sara stuck a stick about 20 feet from us and declared, "When the water reaches that stick, we're moving camp!" Robert adamantly claimed that we were fine; that we could probably stay there for another three hours. So the rest of the day there was a friendly battle between Sara and Robert for who was right about how long we could stay at that campsite and stay dry.
• Jason and Ethan came down the rock not too long after. The peanut gallery watched in great amusement as they looked at the water surrounding most of the rock, not sure if they should attempt to go through it or not. Jason threw a pebble in to try and test the depth of the water. Eventually they decided to just travel around the side of the rock as they had done before and jump off where there was little water. They still had to cross the river, however... Ethan, in his hiking boots, went straight through the shallower, rocky part without hesitation, soaking the bottom of his shorts and part of his shirt. Jason took his shoes off and waded carefully. Ethan, of course, had brought an extra change of clothes. Boy scout of the year.
• At 7:30, the tide was only about 10 feet from the stick, and we decided that that was enough, and moved camp another 50 feet in from the edge of the water, right at the edge of the visible tideline from the previous high tide. Most of the boys were dismayed at the idea of "wasted energy" since the fire was still going well. So Ethan came up with a solution: "It's still got ember. As long as there's still ember, we can start a fire with the wood we have going already." So the boys carried glowing pieces of wood between two cold pieces of wood from one campsite to the other. Ethan cheerfully called out, "I've got ember!" and it became a catchphrase for the rest of the day, repeated many...many times. :)
• Even though the sky was overcast, the sun broke through as it was setting, at about 9:00. It was beautiful.

• I got to play Frisbee with Sara, which was a blast--it's been WAY too long since I threw a Frisbee around!

Okay, now here's the best story.

The tide continued to rise as we sat by our second campfire. We talked and chatted, occasionally glancing out at the water. We watched the water splash up against our berm, to the sound of Robert's insisting, "We'd still be dry!" Then a BIG wave came up and washed entirely over our first campsite...and kept coming.

I remember seeing the water's edge bubbling up to us, WAY too deep and fast, and knowing more than thinking it was going to cover our campsite. I snatched my purse, and all of a sudden our little sitting, chatting group was a running, screaming group being chased by the water. The wave coursed over our campfire and soaked everything sitting on the ground! I feel like I screamed bloody murder--but I figured out later that I did it, not for my sake, but as an alarm to anyone who hadn't seen it the same time I did.

Nothing was destroyed and nothing was lost. Jason's jacket got a little wet on the bottom (it was hanging on a chair), and some stuff got wet. Our paper bag of campfire food got soaked on the bottom. I was SO glad I had thought to grab my purse!!

That had to be the best part of the whole trip, in the sheer hilarity of it.

One last bit. The campfire, wind, smoke and salt killed me. :( My eyes and face hurt so bad when we got home, my hair felt awful, and my body was worn out from running and walking and carrying things in the sand. It was late, late, late--about 12:30--but I couldn't go to bed in that state. Even after washing my face to alleviate allergies, I was miserable. I had to take a shower. I tell you, that long, hot, luxurious shower was the best decision I've ever made. It felt soooooooo good... Lovely!

Tomorrow Stephen and I take off for his parents' house and we are leaving from there for New Jersey for a family reunion on his mom's side. We'll be gone until next Sunday. Pray for safe travels and a good trip for us.

My grandma's surgery went well last week, but please continue to pray for healing and a quick recovery for her, and energy and strength for my grandpa to support her. Thank you!!

Hair Story

Upon deciding I'd rather not battle rush hour traffic for a 20-minute trip to my mom's, I drove the two or three blocks down to Supercuts from our apartment and went in to get my hair relayered.

I should mention that I don't like getting my hair cut.  I like the results, but I don't like the cutting part.  I have a really sensitive head and all the tugging and combing makes every outing a rather stressful 30 minutes.

The other part I don't like about getting my haircut is deciding what I want them to do.  I'm averse to big changes, but at the same time I don't like the same ol' same ol' all the time.  Today I got a picture off the Internet of long layers, the way I thought I'd like them done.  It happened to be a picture of Ashley Olsen--I hoped the person cutting my hair didn't recongize her and think I worshipped her like some 12-year-olds worship Miley Cyrus.  

Ashley's style was choppier-looking than my current very blah layers, and I liked the freedom with which the layers stood away from her face.  I figured that it was styled, but I thought I could achieve a good replica of the look without a styling.

No such luck there.  I have thick hair and lots of it, and the sheer weight of my hair made my layers look heavy, not lighthearted and fancy-free like Ashley's.  :P  One of these days I'll get around to styling my hair...Maybe.

I still liked the choppiness and was overall satisfied with the job the girl had done, and went up to the counter even contemplating tipping her.  She was such good company.  As Miae asked me if I had a frequent card, I opened my purse to bring out my wallet and....it wasn't there.

I knew instantly what had happened, but seriously hoped I had just left it in my car.  I hurriedly explained that that must've been where it was and darted out to the car to check.

Nope.  No wallet.  I was driving without a license and I had no way to pay her for the haircut I had just received.

I did have my checkbook!  I presented it to her hopefully, but she told me, "Oh, no checks."  She was starting to look worried.

So I explained, with lots of apologetic looks, that I lived just two minutes away and could run home and get it, bring it back and pay her.  Naturally, that made her nervous, but there was really no other choice.  I wondered how she would make sure I came back.  Was there anything I could give her, any possession, that she would consider valuable enough to bring me back for it?  Maybe my purse?  That made me nervous, but at least all my money and ID were in my wallet at home.

"What is your phone number?" she asked me, and I had to laugh to myself--such a simple request!  My phone number.  Of course she could have it.  "And my name is Stephanie," I told her.

That out of the way, I ran to my car and drove the three blocks to the apartment.  Every speed bump I had to go over on the long drive through our apartment complex seemed so superfluous.  I found my wallet right on the couch where I'd left it, after pulling it out to check if I had that frequenter card and forgetting to put it back.

Upon re-entrance to the salon, I was greeted with a joyful, "Stephanie!" from Miae, and now that the drama part was over, I laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation and immediately decided I liked Miae a lot.  Turnover at beauty salons has got to be at least as bad as Domino's, but I sure hope I get to see her again. :)

In all the flurry I forgot to tip her...Maybe next time.