The good news is that the fire nearest us (the Morris Fire) is 85% contained as of last night. The Station Fire, the one making national headlines, is currently a comfortable distance away, but is spreading in this direction. The bad news is that a lot of people aren't so lucky.

Yesterday, we took Charlie to the dog park for the first time since we moved here. Charlie had been getting a bit stir crazy (ceaselessly running up and down the hall, anybody?) since we have been trying to follow the "stay inside" advice as much as possible. When we first got to the park, there were multiple dogs on the big dog side, but no dogs on the small dog side. Knowing how much Charlie likes to play with other dogs (not much), we took him to the small dog side thinking he would be overwhelmed with the other dogs. After a few minutes, he was whining at the fence to go play with the dogs on the other side. We decided to take him over to the other side and just stay close by. Not five minutes after we go over there, a girl arrives with two pit bull mix dogs. And not five seconds after they get off of their leashes, they start picking on Charlie. We just went back to the other side and played frisbee until some more little dogs showed up.

Well, the drama continued with the two pit bulls. They pretty much bullied ALL of the other dogs- regardless of size- culminating in all of the other dogs (on the big dog side) being dragged from the dog park by their owners. The last lady that left got into a yelling match with the pit bulls' owner.

"You need to learn to control your dogs!" she shouted.
"You need to learn to mind your own business!" the pit bull owner countered.
"You just need to shut your mouth!" the first lady yelled.
"No, you need to shut YOUR MOUTH!" the pit bull owner responded.

Ahh, just another idyllic day here in sunny California.

Charlie seemed oblivious to the drama, and he played and played (even with other dogs- shocker!). When we got home, he crashed. He slept for HOURS and was in a much better mood this morning.

Big news here! No, I didn't find a job yet, but there IS a wildfire alarmingly close to our home! The Morris Wildfire is blazing in the Angeles National Forrest... We can see it (and smell it) from our apartment. Because of all of the smoke (and there is a lot), the Air Quality Management District has issued an air warning- you aren't supposed to go outside if you can avoid it. This has foiled our plans for the pool today. It's extremely hot outside today (right now it's 103), and the pool sure sounded nice. Guess we'll save our lungs, though.

In other exciting (but less life-threatening) news, we went to Los Angeles yesterday! We spent the afternoon on Santa Monica Beach and Pier, then we went into town for a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. We had planned to go see the hand and foot prints in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater, but due to some traffic frustrations, we (okay, I) gave up on that idea. Being in LA meant we got to have not one but TWO picnics (lunch and dinner). We also saw the red carpet for the premier to All About Steve, but it was pretty early so no celebrities were actually arriving.

Here are some photos of our day. The full set is on Facebook.

I knew we lived pretty close to some really neat things, but I just found out yesterday that we live about 10 miles from a SKI LODGE! Neither Richard nor I have ever been skiing, so come winter, we are definitely going to take a lesson. It's actually way more affordable than I ever would have expected.

We've been planning to hike to the top of the mountain (Mt. Baldy) for the past two weekends, but we've found reasons not to every week. Two weekends ago, it was too cold (in August, people!), and it would have been freezing (literally) at 10,000 ft elevation. Last weekend was exceptionally hazy, and why hike to the top of a mountain if you won't be able to see anything anyway? (The smog here is unbelievable some days.) And now, I found out this hike is not just a fun morning hike where you can get home and take a nap by the afternoon. No, this is a minimum of a 7 hour hike- and pretty arduous from what I've read. So, I think we're going to put it off even longer until I'm in better shape so neither of us dies on the way up.

In other news, Richard's German test is on Monday. I quizzed him last night, and he passed with flying colors. The three sentences I gave him to translate were, "I like the New Testament," "The gospels are interesting," and "Jesus is similar to Cinderella." (Cinderella ("Ashenputel") was one of his vocab words the other day- should be useful on an exam over passages from the field of BIBLICAL STUDIES.) He translated them all correctly (according to him- I have no idea), so I've deemed that he is well prepared.

One nice thing about moving is that you get a fresh start. Everything is newly cleaned, arranged, and organized. No one knows you yet, and no one knows your vices. You can change- your home and your life. It's like a New Year, but better because something has already changed.

Rich and I have been exploiting this to the fullest, and we are trying to start some new habits and drop some old habits. No, we're not giving up watching overly dramatic, angsty teen soaps (season four of Dawson's Creek anyone? We'll be watching a few episodes tonight!), but we are trying to change our lifestyle. I am cooking healthier, lighter food, and we are actually exercising. Our apartment complex has an awesome gym, and the best part is, it's just a one minute walk from our front door.

On Wednesday night, I decided to make pizza- a favorite at our house. I used to make pizza every Friday night, but then we started getting busy, and then I started getting lazy. Homemade pizza crust is much easier than it sounds, but one does have to plan ahead to let it rise. Anyway, we were having pizza with peppers and onions. I ran into some issues with the crust, and finally decided to use ALL of the dough instead of the typical half of the dough. We ended up with a deep dish pizza- which apparently Richard likes better anyway. It was pretty tasty, but after a while, Rich and I both started feeling pretty icky. Turns out, splurging on something so heavy after eating so light for several weeks is more of a punishment than a treat. I guess maybe we really are changing?

A few days ago, Richard and I celebrated three years of marriage. Crazy, right? I love those things in life that suck you into a time-warp; it seems like we've been married forever, but it also seems like we just got married. The day was pretty low key. We had pretty much finished unpacking, so we didn't feel THAT guilty about taking the day to ourselves. We had an awesome sushi lunch. Sushi shops around these parts are more plentiful than fast food in Dallas, and we were ready to try one out! Even at the middle-of-the-road restaurant we picked, the sushi was better than ANY we'd have in Texas- even fancy pants sushi restaurants. After lunch, we went to the movies. We saw Funny People. Rich and I both thought the movie was great- but everyone else in the theater seemed to think it sucked. Ringing endorsement, right? Rich's parents sent us an awesome potted plant, and my parents called us to wish us a happy day- both special treats. Anyway, we had a great day, and most importantly, we spent the day together, enjoying each other's company.

Hey! We are still alive, and we did indeed make it to California. Amazingly, the trip went almost exactly according to plan. If you've ever made a cross-country move- you will recognize how incredible this is. Exactly two things went "wrong"- and really, they were so minor, that I can hardly complain.

Our loading day was Sunday, July 26. Richard had the incredible idea to take Charlie to doggie day care for the day, since he was nervous before we even started loading up the truck. We went to pick up the truck around lunchtime. I can't recommend Penske enough- our truck was clean and new; it had a working AC, radio and CD player. We drove the truck home, and after trying to back the truck with the car carrier attached into the driveway so pathetically, one of our neighbor's dad took pity on us. He backed the truck up, putting both Richard and I to shame with our crap-tastic attempts, and we were ready to start loading! Our gracious neighbor, Scott, helped us load the truck. His wife, Lindsay, brought us drinks from Sonic. Did I mention how much we are already missing our fabulous former neighbors? Scott, Lindsey, Millie, Jennifer, Lindsay, Andrew, Elaine, Matt, and Amy, we miss you!!! It didn't take us long to load up the truck- only a few hours. Then it was back to cleaning our embarrassingly filthy apartment. We got food from Whole Foods for dinner and ate at Scott and Lindsay's table. Afterwards, Jennifer came over with her sister Lindsay and sat on our floor and chatted. They made us awesome brownies for the road- which got me through many a sleepy moment on our drive.

The next morning, we woke up REALLY early- around 4 am! We loaded the car on the car carrier, which was pretty simple once we figured it out, then we hit the road. Richard started in the driver's seat. We switched whenever we started getting tired. We drove to Lubbock. Our amazing friends, Stephani and Jason, live in Lubbock, and they had offered to let us stay with them. They are even more awesome because they had just had their first baby, Alexander, a mere two days earlier! Alexander was cuddly and snuggly, and Stephani and Jason were so much fun to catch up with!

The next morning, we hit the road again bright and early- 6:00 am. We drove and drove and drove. Really, though, we took our time. We had a goal each day- exactly 7 hours each of the three first days and only 3 hours on the last day. So, this day, we stopped in Cibolas National Forrest outside of Grants, NM. This place was incredibly beautiful, peaceful, and quiet. We got there around 3:00 pm, took a nap in our tent, cooked silver turtles for dinner (go boy scouts!), roasted marshmallows, then tucked in early for the night. As it turns out, Charlie, our dog, hates camping. No really, he is such an indoor dog, it's questionable whether he's really a dog. He is afraid of campfires, marshmallows, rain, wind, thunder, and pretty much anything that is outdoors. He wanted to hide under the truck the entire time, and we were so afraid he'd run off, we couldn't let him off the leash.

The next morning, we got up early, made apple oatmeal, and packed up camp. We were on the road by 7:30 am. Our plan was to stop in the Mojave Desert National Preserve (our newest national park). We drove through New Mexico, Arizona, and California. We saw what we THOUGHT was our exit, got off the freeway, and were sent on a 40 mile round trip wild goose chase. We couldn't figure out where we were supposed to go, and the GPS on Rich's phone was malfunctioning, so we decided to get back on the freeway, drive to Barstow, CA, and stay in a hotel for the night instead of camping (since we couldn't find the campground anyway). We figured, we'd be two hours closer to our final destination, Charlie would be more comfortable, and we'd be in better shape to unload the truck in the morning. When we got back on the freeway, we saw the exit we were SUPPOSED to take (the very next exit). We decided to go to Barstow anyway. We got there around 8 pm and checked into the hotel. Charlie did the most pathetic happy dance ever- lunging onto the bed and hurling himself against the pillows. It was truly ridiculous.

We attempted (unsuccessfully) to sleep in the next morning. The apartment office didn't open until 9, so we didn't need to leave until 8. We both were awake by 6 am, and we enjoyed lounging around the hotel room, eating continental breakfast waffles, and watching cable television (a true treat!). We also kept commenting how great an idea it was to stay in a hotel that night. It was finally time to leave, so we got back into the truck and made it to Upland by 9:15. It took us most of the day to unload the truck, and then we unpacked enough to make up the bed and crash.

Longest blog post ever. I'll update later on what we've been up to since we got here! We love our new apartment, and one day, I'll actually post some pics of the apt.