springing forward.

our weekend started with a morning bike ride along the coast on saturday. i was a little worried on the way there because the weather was gloomy and gray, but by the time we arrived and pulled our bikes out of the car, the skies had cleared and though the sun started to peek its rays through the thin clouds that still lingered, there was a crisp ocean breeze that kept us cool. it felt amazing riding down PCH - the wind hitting my smiling face and the salty scent of the sea beside me replenished my soul.

i kept the energy up by doing some spring cleaning yesterday. i have to admit that i really hate cleaning, but i can't stand a dirty space. when i lived with my parents, my mom cleaned every single day and would scold me for not doing the same. when z and i first moved in together, we shared a bathroom that he took on the responsibility of cleaning. through him, i could hear my mom's scolding as he complained about my hair being everywhere and my messy bathroom manners. when we moved into our then-new apartment 3 years ago, we were both excited to have our own bathrooms - he was excited to not have to deal with all my "girl stuff" and i was excited to not have to hear him complaining all the time. thus, when it came time to finally clean my bathroom yesterday, there was no doubt that it had been neglected for several months (maybe even a year.... yes, I KNOW). i got down on my hands and knees and went to work. my bathroom was practically unrecognizable once i was done with her. i even feel cleaner being in there.

after the bathroom, i moved on to bedroom, and then our patio. would you believe we had 11 large trash bags of recyclables just sitting there, taking up almost the entire patio? that's right, 11. consequently we had dirt and water accumulating under the bags and not to mention a bunch of tree leaves and branches as we are a major target of the santa anas and are surrounded by big trees. since z was out washing his car, it was up to me to take all the bags down to the recycling bins. it took me 4 trips and the whole time i kept swearing that i would never let it get this bad again but we all know how that goes... heh.

once the patio was swept clean, we took emi out to play. i wish you could all be there when we finally reach the park because it's so funny. she can hardly contain herself from all the excitement. once we let her off the leash, she's gone. the way she runs from us would make you think that she was being freed from prison. we played fetch for about half an hour, which was more than enough for emi who couldn't even breathe normally after the first 15 minutes.

we finished the weekend with beers and a classic sunday barbeque. it was nice to use the patio again because even though neither of us said it, the mess out there made it an avoidable area (who wants to be surrounded by a bunch of garbage bags?). so, it was a great way to unwind from a productive weekend and prepare ourselves for the week ahead. to top it off, i'm on spring break this week! no school after work and the extra hour of daylight in the evening means more time outdoors to welcome Spring.

looking forward to it all.

xoxox