Recent Goings-On

So, it's been a while since there's been much activity on here, and much longer since I've had anything to do with the family blog. So here's some morsels from my life for all yall.
First of all, yes, I'm still dating Miranda. In fact, we just barely got back from California. I had a missionary buddy get married in Santa Monica, so we went to that and spent the rest of the weekend with her family in La Habra (Orange County). We went to the beach, ate a lot of great food, and generally had a very relaxing time. On our way home, we went through Big Bear Lake (a mini Tahoe), where her grandparents used to own a cabin during her childhood. She had a wonderful time showing me the woods and streams above the lake, and it was nice to get up above the disgusting smog of southern California.
An interesting note on the ridiculousness of California. On Sunday, we went for a walk around her neighborhood. We passed a couple houses that were for sale, and that got me thinking about real estate there. So when we got back, I did a little research and found out what $250,000 would get you in the area. The result is a two bedroom, one bath, 900 sq ft home in an area the locals call "Guadalahabra." It's a piece of junk place, tiny lot, no grass, and on a major street. To prove to Miranda how great the Dallas area is, I showed her a five bedroom, three bath, 2800 sq ft house on a 1/3 acre lot, with a pool, jacuzzi, and outdoor bar on Lewisville Lake for $240,000. California is nuts. I know it's already having a lot of problems, but it's going to get a lot worse. That bubble is going to absolutely explode, and there's going to be a mess. Which is a shame, because California is an incredibly beautiful place. The weather is wonderful and the landscape is amazing. I think I would love California were there not any Californians in it.
Having said that, I want to be clear that I had a wonderful time on this trip. The wonderful part about it was that Miranda loved every minute of taking me to the beach and dancing and showing me her old neighborhood. Her enjoyment was plenty validation for the trip. Plus the weather was beautiful, it was good to see my mission buddy, and we ate some fantastic food.
It was nice to have a long weekend with Miranda because school starts again this week. I'm taking four classes, all online. This summer I have Managerial Accounting, HR Management, Managerial Economics (for which calculus is a prerequisite, which I've never taken in my life), and a marketing class. On top of that, the other guy I work with is taking the summer off, so I'm all alone to do all the work myself. This is going to be a long and stressful summer.