Easter Weekend

You guys, I had one of the best Easter weekends. I can't stop smiling about it. Russell and I drove up to Oroville on Friday night to spend time with his family and drove back to Orange County on Sunday afternoon.

The week before Easter had been a stressful week. Between work, packing, worrying -- my body signaled its unhappiness with me. Lots of back and neck pain. On the drive up to Oroville, Russell had to exit and pull over for awhile because I got the worse headache ever.

However, pulling over to the side of the road around 3 AM ended up being perfect because little did we know, there was a blood lunar eclipse happening! I remember looking up (because my neck hurt and I was trying to stretch it) and pointing out the moon to Russell and how red it was. Later, I saw a news article about it being one of the shortest blood moon total eclipse. Around this time, we were in the middle of nowhere (Bakersfield), at the side of the road off a highway, where no city lights canceled out the stars. I think we stood at one of the best views. It was beautiful.

We stayed with Russell's mom in Oroville and she gave me her sewing machine she received when she was 9. It was her first ever sewing machine and I felt so special when she gave it to me. This machine was made in the 50s and is still in great condition. She taught me the basics of sewing and now I am excited to practice. Hello pillow cases and curtains!

She also gave me some pretty cool outfits from the 50s. Just in time because high-waisted skirts and crop tops are coming back again.

On Easter Sunday, we attended their church, sang hymns, and put flowers on the cross (which I had never done before. Oroville has some of the best wildflowers I've ever seen and everyone put their own flower on the cross. The end result was beautiful. I wish I took a picture - so just take my word for it). We had Easter lunch in Russell's uncle's house where we quickly caught up with his relatives, some of the best people you could ever meet.

Russell's grandma found out Russell and I don't own a TV and I think she felt bad for us. She insisted we take her old extra TV she had lying around in her storage shed. Friends, this was such a sweet gesture and what she gave us made me smile so much that of course we had to take the TV:

Straight from the 80s

It only plays in black and white. It's fairly small and its screen is not even as big as my laptop screen. It even contains a contrast setting on the back of the TV as well as a built-in antennae! After receiving this gift from Grandma, I am smitten with it. We are planning to get it working. I mean, if we are going to have a TV in our house, this TV would be it. How amazing is this? Come watch the game at our place, guys!

I came home feeling so blessed after this weekend. Grandma even insisted we take some plants from her greenhouse so we now have a roma tomato plant and a butternut squash plant. What started out as a stressful week ended with so much love and happiness.