IOWA!!!

Over the 4th of July, Ryan, Summer and I traveled halfway across the country to Sioux City, Iowa, the beautiful city that I spent 8 years of my childhood. It was awesome! I have always been thankful for the time that I spent there, for the snow filled winters, firefly filled summers and good ‘ole Midwest values. Even though I had not been back for over 7 years, Iowa is and has always been a huge part of who I am. I like to say I am a unique combination of Sioux City & San Diego.

Anyways, Ryan and I stayed with my cousin Kristin and her family (I wish I had taken a picture of her beautiful guest room) and Summer stayed with our Aunt Marly. We had such a wonderful time! We were able to get to know our adorable second cousins: Trey, Bryce, Shelbee & Aubree, which was a ton of fun. We BBQ'd at Brian and Mel's and celebrated the 4th at Marly & David's. We also spent several visits with our 92-year-old grandpa who still lives on his own-can you believe it?! It was so special to spend time with our Iowa family. They were wonderful hosts & made us feel very welcome.

We were also thrilled to spend the day (her birthday!) with one of my best friends, Lindsay Domke, her beautiful daughter (and my niece!) Olivia, and her sister Laura. Olivia was the flower girl in my wedding. It was such a treat to see them so soon after their trip to California. Lindsay and I were in the same preschool in Sioux City and then became best friends in the 4th grade and have somehow managed to stay in touch through the years. She and Olivia live in Minnesota now. I am so blessed to have incredible relationships like this one!

Ryan was lucky enough to get the Joiner Family/Sioux City tour, complete with every house we lived in, every park we loved, every great friend's house we had, (and yes, Dana, even where Summer, Lindsay D. and I were chased by a bear AND cow), etc. He has been to San Diego numerous times and gotten to know my life there well, so having him experience the other part of what makes me "me" was special for us. He really enjoyed the trip, Sioux City, and meeting my family and friends. While the South and the Mid-West are very different, they also have plenty of wholesome similarities.

To check out more pictures from the trip (have I mentioned that my talented hubby is also an excellent photographer?!) click here: Dappygolucky.com

One last thing-we caught fireflys and did our own fireworks- two things I love to do!!

Galaxy Game VIP Style

My most favorite sister Summer came up to LA yesterday (YAY!!). She, Ryan and I went to our first Galaxy game at the Home Depot Center. The Galaxy is the LA soccer team, for those of you who don't know. The main reason you would have heard of them is because David Beckham recently joined the team.

Anyways, we were gifted box seats which were pretty cool, although, sadly, no free food came with the seats, which is the way to this girl's heart. We are happy to report that the Galaxy won (unquestionably due to our attendance) and we can now say we've all been to a professional soccer game in the US.

It was to be expected, but the game did not even come close to my professional soccer experience in Buenos Aires, Argentina. That was probably one of the most dangerous things I did in BA (and boy did we do some sketch things) just because soccer is SUCH a big deal down there and the fans are so hardcore. I've never heard so many Spanish curse words yelled in chants before or since...