Family Night

Tonight, well, technically last night, (it's almost 1am) I went over to my high school friend Belinda's home to watch the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. Sadly, they started very late and I never got to see them since I already had later dinner plans after. It was still so nice to visit with her and her boyfriend. Then our other high school friends Mya and her boyfriend Paul came too. That is the three of us in the picture. I know I look like a giant compared to them but I had on heels! : )

I can't describe what it's like being around people that knew the 'me' that lived overseas. It's not like I'm a different person now... it's just that they really understand me and where I'm coming from. They also knew my parents and were around them all the time. There is something so comforting being around that. I am so grateful that they invite me to get-togethers and want to show me around LA. They are certainly my new LA family.

After I left this party I went to my college friend, Jason's home in Brentwood. It was barely a 10 minute drive away from Belinda's home in West LA. That was awesome! I have yet to drive very far to get anywhere! So I met Jason my sophomore year at UofA and we stayed pretty good friends and hung out most weekends for awhile. Towards the end of college, we didn't see so much of each other and then when I graduated, he still had one more year left. He has been living in LA about a year now so that is really nice having someone around who knows the area fairly well. Anyway, he invited me over to his home for a home-cooked Persian dinner. He lives with his parents and his mom is a great cook. His two brothers and sister in-law also came to dinner. So, I got to meet the whole family! While it was delicious food, I mostly enjoyed the family dynamics around the dinner table and the humor of it all. They obviously are all very close and friendly with each other. It made me miss my parents a lot and our dinner table conversations. I hope to be invited again for family dinner night. : )

This is one of my favorite quotes about family:

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one." -Jane Howard