Just flying in to say hello! Literally!

A few weeks ago, my parents were able to come out for two days to visit us. My dad had a conference to attend, and my mom came along for the ride. Even though it was so short, it was awesome to see family, and we actually did quite a bit in such a short amount of time. I didn’t really have time to take off of work yet, but I was able to leave a little bit early one of the days, and go in late on the second day, since I had to stay till 7:30 for a meeting. My mom took the trolley everywhere, which is nice, since she came to visit me for lunch on campus. I showed her the green parrots and all of the awesome plants and flowers that are everywhere. When my dad was done for the day, we went out on the town for dinner. You can’t come to San Diego without getting amazing Mexican food, so we spent our first dinner getting full on awesome chips and salsa, and then incredible home-cooked Mexican! My mouth is watering as I think about how awesome it was. It was an eye opening night for my parents, as we introduced them to the magical world that is IKEA, and we showed them the chair we were buying for our guests. (It turns into a single bed, and has an awesome mattress on it!) It still has yet to be tried…and we won’t be in San Diego forever! For those of you who haven’t been to an IKEA before, it is a massive showroom of household rooms, which always gives me great ideas for our future, one-day home that we will buy in the mountains of Virginia. The next morning, my mom and I woke up early and headed out to the place of my childhood, Pt. Loma. Pt. Loma is probably my favorite place in San Diego, as it has childhood memories, Top Gun shots, an amazing view of the city, the Cabrillo lighthouse, tide pools, Sunset Park, and Trader Joes. I mean, really…what more could you ask for? We visited the lighthouse first (which was my first visit since we moved here in July), and then headed down to old NTC (Naval Training Center), where Top Gun was filmed. It has since been turned into a shopping center and museums. I love that they left the architectural history and the naval tradition of the base, and have interwoven both of these unique aspects into everything about Liberty Center at Old NTC. It was a beautiful day and I was sad I had to spend the rest of it in an office that doesn’t even have any windows. But I enjoyed the sun and the view while it lasted. Though it was a short trip, it was a great one!