Downtown

I just got back from being downtown today and I feel like it's gotten weirder than ever. I haven't been there in maybe a month or so, so it hasn't been that long, but I just had this strange feeling the whole time. The first thing I noticed was the increase in homeless people. I usually see a few when I walk around, but there seemed to be many more today. Every block, every corner. It made me super sad. The second thing I noticed was all the people selling stuff on the streets. Hand-made things or fortunes or some people just sitting there with cardboard cut-outs of political views.

I don't know exactly how to say it...I felt like it was darker downtown that I ever remember it. Like this darkness is just hovering over that area and it's slowly getting worse. I've heard from some friends who recently went downtown on a Friday night and they felt unsafe from some of the crowds or people there. I'm not sure what lies in store for downtown, but I do know I'm not planning on staying away. I love it there too much. There are too many fun spots I love to visit.

I will share my highlight of the day: I was walking by a man on a bench and he had a puppet. Propped up on his knee and everything. As I walked by the puppet started speaking to me. But you know how puppeteers try to not move their mouths so it looks like the puppet is speaking? Well, the puppet's mouth was opening and closing, but the guy was totally talking to me like normal. Odd, but funny. His puppet was dressed up as a grandpa and had a million questions for me as I walked by. "Hi there! How are you?? What are you eating? Where are you going? Do you like my glasses?" etc etc. It was cute.

P.S. The picture above is of Robert (aka: Pink Umbrella Man). He is quite famous in this area. He walks up and down the streets of downtown every day

v-e-r-y
s-l-o-w-l-y.

People take pictures of him (and with him) and he is very nice, but I think a little off. Gotta love downtown!

The college Survivor video

Oh my word, you guys HAVE to go watch this! A couple Sundays ago my college students and I made a video for our upcoming teaching series. The series is called "Adult Survival 101". We wanted to do a spoof on Survivor. We showed the video last week at college group and then we put it on Google Video. Go check it out! (It's about 2-3 minutes long) Let me know what you think.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5199932407589619758&pr=goog-sl

*cough*

It's not very fun being sick. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow. Each day I've felt a little bit better, so here's hopin'.

Grey's Anatomy

I really like this show. It's my second fav after LOST. I bought Season 1 in the spring and somehow got all my roomates hooked on it, too. So, for my birthday recently, they all pitched in and bought me season 2. It came in the mail this past week. Season 3 begins next Thursday. That means we have 6 days to watch 27 episodes. Can we do it? Oh heck yes. We are marathon-ing it. In one way, I feel so lazy sitting and watching all these episodes in a row, but it's so dang convenient! There's no commercials and the episodes just go from one to the next. I've heard of people sitting down and doing 5-10 hour marathons of Alias, 24, LOST, etc. So I guess this is our marathon. I don't work on Fridays plus I'm feeling sick, so this is what I will be doing today. And maybe part of tomorrow. Wheeee!!!

thumbs up/thumbs down

Thumbs down: I have a cough that has decided to just linger for awhile. And by "awhile" I mean over two weeks. It's the kind where I try to laugh, and I cough instead. Bummer! I miss my laughing. A friend told me she had the same thing and hers lasted a month. Um, sweet. Thumbs down.

Thumbs up: I went for a bike ride last night and went up a hill to a high part of my city and got to watch the sun set behind thousands of trees. It was breath-taking. Thanks God. Thumbs WAY up.

Armor of God pj's

Oh no they DIDN'T!! If I ever buy these for my kids someday...you have my permission to de-friend me.

Check out the website - http://www.armorofgodpjs.com/

Three things

1. My vacay to So. Cal was PERFECT! Just what I needed. It couldn't have come at a better time. The fam and I drove down Wednesday and we went to Disneyland on Thursday. It was not crowded at all. We went on four rides - Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Jungle Cruise, and Thunder Mountain - within the first hour. It was so awesome. Yes, I got to see Jack Sparrow in the Pirates ride...he is in it 3 times. Loved it. And Barbossa is the captain of the ship that is shooting cannons at the brick wall (if you are familiar with the ride). It was fun to be there with my fam. We went back and forth between D-land and Disney's California Adventure. Our favorite ride at DCA was Soarin' Over California. We also got to see the Aladdin musical at DCA and the genie was hilarious! We ate dinner at a yummy Italian place in Downtown Disney and then headed back into the park to catch a couple more rides and the fireworks.

Friday we drove to the Huntington Beach area because my aunt lives there and my cousin just had a baby boy! He was literally 3 days old when we saw him. Baby Henry. Very cute. My aunt invited people over and we had a BBQ. Then, we drove back up here Saturday. I spent all day Sunday and Monday sleeping and resting which was AMAZING!!! I totally needed it because...

2) The college group started up again last night! Yup, we had our Fall Kick-Off. So now it's non-stop till Christmas. Woohoo! Which is why my vacation came at just the right time. I needed to rest up and have fun before things get nuts this semester. Last night was so fun. I always enjoy spending time with the students (I keep wanting to call them "my students", but they're not mine) =) We had dinner together, introduced student leaders and adult leaders, talked about our mission statement, and looked at events for the fall. The excitement level was really high, which I loved. Yeah for college!

3) Lastly, today was a special day for me. Today is my 1 year anniversary at my church. Exactly one year ago, September 7th, 2005, I came here never having been in ministry, not knowing what the heck I was doing, assisting the College Pastor with the group, and freaking out. And now a year later...so much has happened. I mean, let's be honest...I still freak out sometimes. =) And sometimes I still have no idea what I'm doing. But I'm learning. I've been doing a lot of learning this year and it's been so good. I love that this is my life and this is what I get to do with my life. I wouldn't want anything else.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Bye all! I'm off to So. Cal to visit D-land with my fam. My older sister's hubby has never been, so this should be fun. And I'm looking forward to going on Pirates of the Caribbean and looking for Jack Sparrow and Barbossa.

Be back next week.

The sequel

So as I'm sure many of you heard, a movie came out last weekend called Snakes on a Plane. Just from the title alone, I knew this movie was gonna bomb. And yet, I am fascinated by the title. Really? That's what you're gonna call it? Ok. Some friends and I were discussing what they might name the sequel. We started a list and plan to mail our suggestions to New Line Cinema. Here's what we came up with so far:

* Snakes in a Car
* Snakes on a Bike
* Snakes in Your ROOM!
* Leopards on Your Lawn
* Bears in Your Bed
* Tarantulas on a Train
* Sharks in the Ship
* Porcupines on Pogo-Sticks

Feel free to make up any of your own...

He just wanted a hug

I know I shouldn't laugh, but I can't help it.

Poor kid.

Addicted?

So, I may have to admit an addiction. Do they have groups for people like me?

"Hello, my name is Sarah...and I'm addicted to In N' Out."

I have been there 3 times in the last 8 days. This is not normal, I assure you. I usually only get to have it once every other month or so. But situations have arose that have led me to be over the hill (San Jose) 3 times this past week....and how can you be so close to one and NOT go there!?!?

They are seriously a bite of heaven. Like, when I am eating there, the rapture could come, I could go to heaven...and not even know the difference. THAT'S how good they are. That's how much I love their food.

There is talk about building one in this area, but I sort of hope they don't. It could be quite dangerous for me. And plus, it wouldn't be special anymore. I could just go whenever I wanted instead of making it a fun trip. And what if...I got sick of them!?!?! Oh, the horror!

If you don't live in California (or Nevada or Arizona) you MUST go to one when you come visit. Your taste buds will thank you.

Ready for rest

Oh my gosh, I am exhausted. These past two weeks have been non-stop and I am looking forward to sleeping. Ahhhh... The main 3 things that have been going on are:

- planning the end-of-summer bash for the college group
- planning and writing out the fall calendar
- spending time (and reflecting) with my summer interns before they leave (tomorrow)

Our end-of-summer BBQ/Pool party for the college group was Wed. night and it was a lot of fun. We went over to a house of a family that goes to our church. We BBQ'ed, people went swimming, played games, we blasted music, made s'mores in an outdoor fire, ping pong, and just enjoyed each other.

My highlight from the party: there is a guy in our college group named Rob but everyone calls him "Big Rob". He is 6'9" and just huge. Plays football. Love him. (if you go down to the softball pix, he is standing in the back left side, wearing a blue Adidas shirt) Anyway, I could tell he wanted to go swimming but was nervous to take his shirt off. So I'm over at one of the tables putting together stuff for s'mores and I see this MASSIVE bar of chocolate. Super thick. As I start unwrapping it, I look over and see Big Rob taking his shirt off and quickly walking to the pool.

As he goes, I say to him, "Look at this chocolate bar, Rob!" I wave it around. "I feel like Willy Wonka!!" And he sheepishly replies, "I feel like Free Willy!" I laughed for a good 5 minutes. These students are funny!

Anyway, now that summer program is over, my interns are leaving, and my fall calendar is finally done, I am ready for a break. I need to rest and sleep and get back some energy. I'm lookin' forward to it.

Enjoy the last days of summer!

Happy Birthday 2 me

If age = wisdom....I must be VERY wise.

Ha ha

Yeah for birthdays!

"Summer lovin', had me a blast"

Yes, it is true, I love summer and I had a blast. But between you and me, friends, I am ready for summer to be over.

That might sound strange to some people and I cannot actually think of a time when I have said this before. I am usually moaning about summer coming to an end and wishing it could be longer. But not this year. This year I am ready.

Overall, this summer has been good and I've had a lot of fun. I've learned a lot, I've grown a lot, I've strengthened friendships, made new ones, enjoyed my job, and other things like that. But I've also had a hard summer and struggled with some stuff in the midst of all the fun. And I think I'm just done.

I am ready for summer to end. To get a few weeks off from the college program and plan for what's next. Our summer interns are leaving next week. Soon students will be heading back to school. I feel like it's time.

I want to take and remember all I've learned this summer...and then leave summer behind. Move on to the next season of life. Maybe some of you feel the same way. Maybe not.

Steroid-Free Softball Game

Today after church, we played a softball game: High school vs. College. The game was intense! I screamed myself hoarse for three hours. We were tied at the end of the 7th (we only were going to play 7 innings) so we went into a "sudden death" round. We lost by 1!! Oh, the humanity!!! But it was still a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon and the students seemed to have a really good time. The pix above is my college team. They sure worked hard and they had great attitudes. Love them.

Bowling in STYLE

This week for college group, we went bowling. But it wasn't just any bowling. It was HAWAIIAN SHIRT BOWLING!!! Yeah, watch out! It was a lot of fun. People brought friends, we bowled to our heart's content, and the place gave us the sweetest deal! Because we had a big group, they only charged us $3 a game and free shoe rental. (That is a big deal for college students, because they have no money) Here are a few pics from the evening. I like that we can just hang out and have fun with each other. It's all about building community.

Happy anniversary

Today is my one year anniversary of blogging. I started August 1st, 2005. It's so crazy to go back through my blog and read about my year and all I've gone through. Do you ever feel in some ways time goes so slow....and in other ways it seems to go by so fast?!

Well, it's been a fun year of bloggin'. Bring on year two.

The Price Is Right

I didn't go to work today and ended up watching The Price is Right at 10 am. The thing that struck me the most was the commercials they showed. Here's the ones I remember:

* diabetes
* if you've recently had a heart attack...
* powered wheelchairs ("get back your life!")
* Liberty Medical
* Bayer Back and Body medicine
* life insurance
* do you want lower cholesterol?
* your prescription meds sent straight to your home!
* new improved denture cream

So needless to say, I felt about 40 or 50 years too young to be sitting at home watching The Price is Right.

"This is Bob Barker reminding you to help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered. G'bye everybody."

*crickets*

I will be posting here soon...

And can I just say how thankful I am that the weather has cooled down?? Ahhh...it's so much better.

And I can't believe it is almost August. Where has this summer gone?

Hot hot hot

Yesterday it was 104 degrees. I was melting....melting. And I had a hard time sleeping last night because my room is on the top floor of our house and heat sure rises. Blech. So this morning I made myself leave and spend the whole day as close to the coast as I could be. Relief! It was amazing! Just by driving to the ocean, it was 20 degrees cooler. Ahhhh...very nice. Hopefully you're all staying cool in this hot weather!

Salsa dancing

Salsa is FUN! Last night I went to the Palomar ballroom with my friend, Laura, and we boogied the night away. We went early to the beginner's lesson and then danced for a couple hours after that. My favorite part was when guys would spin me around. I thought we'd just be doing basic steps but some guys are pros and loved to spin. Yeah!! It was pickin' hot in that dance room though. Laura and I were just dripping. But so was everyone else, so oh well. It was a blast, we'll definitely have to go again.

"Hellooooo...McFly!!!!"

Do you ever watch movies as adults and catch so much that you didn't as a kid? For example, take the movie Grease. I watched it as a kid and was like, "Wheee!!! Singing and dancing! I love it!" And then you watch it as an adult and you think, "Dang, there is so much sexual innuendo." It's just so funny that we catch things or realize things when we watch movies as adults.

When was the last time you watched Back to the Future? For me, I think it was jr. high or early high school. I remember loving it and watching it a ton of times. Last night for college group, we had an Outdoor Movie Night and we all piled out into the church parking lot with couches, blankets, pillows, etc.

We had originally thought we'd show Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but then I got on the internet and realized that there is tons of swearing in it. I don't remember that! I watched that movie when I was younger and maybe I just didn't pick up on it. But now in ministry, I have to be super careful what we show. So then we moved on to So I Married An Axe Murderer. But AGAIN I had to veto the idea because of the language.

So I just went to Blockbuster and started scanning the shelves for something that would be appropriate but still fun. I was tempted to get Pride and Prejudice or Anne of Green Gables as a joke for our college guys, but I resisted that urge. My eyes hit Back to the Future. Sweet! I nabbed it.

Here are some things I picked up last night while watching it:

* Michael J. Fox is SHORT!! I remember thinking he was short when I saw it as a kid, but now it struck me how short he really is. When Bif the bully stands up next to Marty, he just towers over him.

* Billy Zane plays one of Bif's cronies. Billy Zane! The jerk fiancee from Titanic.

* It never struck me as weird/a bit wrong that Marty's mom hits on him...until last night. He goes back to 1955 and his mom likes him and even kisses him in the car at the dance. Ewwww!!

* Oh the 80's with acid washed jeans, skateboards, Pepsi Free and Tab, and the Felix the Cat clocks with eyes that go back and forth.

* There is swearing in this flick. I don't remember that when I was a kid, but I sure caught it last night. The first time Doc Brown dropped the "sh" bomb, I shouted out, "SORRY 'BOUT THAT!" to everyone. And then it became this big joke. Anytime a character in the movie swore, all the students would look at me and yell, "SARAH!!" as if it was my fault. It was awesome.

* This movie is not very long. I think I am getting so used to movies nowadays that are 2 or 2 and 1/2 hours long. Back in the 80's movies were 90-100 minutes, bam, you're done.

* "1.21 jigawatts!!!" --I still love that line. Oh and the part where George McFly goes to the diner to ask Lorraine to the dance and he says, "I'm your density!" instead of "destiny". I never understood that when I was younger but I LOVED it last night.

* This movie is GOOD. A classic. Michael J. Fox (as short as he was) in his prime.

Brett and Emma

There are two kids in my life that I dearly love. Brett and Emma. How did I meet them? Let me take you back four summer ago when Brett was a little 6 year old about to go into first grade and Emma was only 3. That summer of '02 I helped out at Kruz Kidz (the day camp program at my church) with Nature Camp. It was a fun week of taking kids hiking, swimming, Monterey Bay Aquarium, to the beach, etc. Brett and I bonded that week. He was one of the youngest ones in Nature Camp (it was for 1st-6th graders)

Now I was 24 almost 25 at that time and so I was pretty much OVER baby-sitting. Whenever moms or dads asked me, I always politely turned them down. I'm DONE, people. So on the last day of camp, Brett's mom had come up to me and here was our convo:

Her: "Brett has enjoyed spending time with you this week. You have a real gift with children."
Me: (awhhhhh, she's so sweet....) "Oh, thank you! I've loved hanging out with Brett this week. He's so great."
Her: (looking a bit uncomfortable) "Um...I've never done this before but....er....I was just wondering....do you baby-sit?"
Me: Well, actually n..."
Her: "We pay 15 dollars an hour."
Me: "N...YES! I TOTALLY baby-sit!!!"

And that's how it began. They were the only family I made an exception for. What began as a nice way to make some extra spending money turned into a genuine love for these kids and their parents. For two years I was with them at least once a week. Sadly, the last two years I have been lots busier so I don't get to see them that often. But oh man! We've had good times. And I have been blessed to see them grow up. Brett just finished fourth grade and Emma who was SO tiny when I first started watching them is now 7 and sprouting like a tree. She's gotten so tall. And her hair is long and she wears glasses. She looks so much older. Oh my gosh, I sound like a mom.

ANYWAY

It had been a long time since Brett, Emma, and I had hung out. So today we planned a day o' fun. We had a blast! We went hiking at Bear Mountain (and chased the Roaring Camp train) and then went creekwalking in Zayante Creek. We went up to Pondy to play pool and then ended our day with a visit to the Bird Sanctuary nearby where you can set out food and watch birds, squirrels, chipmunks, etc. up close. Basically you get to watch the birds dive-bomb each other for the food. It's awesome.

My 2 favorite quotes of the day:

1) --we were in my car driving to Bear Mountain and I was laughing at something they had said--

Emma: "Sarah, I love your laugh. It's so full of joy."

(She's SEVEN! What 7 year old says something like that?! It was so cute! She made my day.)

2) --we were creekwalking and the water was getting quite high - the kids had their swimsuits on under their clothes, so Emma had chosen to take off her shirt and shorts so they wouldn't get wet and just had her swimsuit on--

Brett: "Man! I'm getting all wet!"
Me: "But Brett, you're wearing your swim trunks. You're fine."
Brett: "I know, but my shirt's gettin' all wet."
Emma: (in her cute tiny voice) "You could take your shirt off and show your boobs."
Brett: (in a matter-of-fact tone) "Guys don't have boobs. Just nipples."

(If that's too inappropriate to share, I apologize, but I wanted to DIE laughing!)

I love these kids.

What if

Last night at college group, one of our interns for the summer (Ryan) gave the message. He said something in his talk that stuck with me:

"What if - during hard times, instead of saying, 'Lord, please take this pain away from me!' we said, 'Lord, please help me get through this. I need your strength.'"

Hmmm...I do see the difference between those statements.

I'm still chewing on it...

Yo ho yo ho a pirate's life fer me

A bunch of my college students and I went to see Pirates 2 last night (opening night) at the theater downtown. It was a blast! We started the line out front and watched as tons of people in pirate costumes came walking by and joined us. I took a million pictures. The audience was so much fun....lots of energy! We laughed, clapped, screamed, cheered, laughed some more. I really liked the movie. I think the people in the theater were half the fun. While waiting for the movie or during previews people would start yelling, "ARGGGGGGG!!!" and we'd all join in.

Dumb birds!!!

Oh Say Can You Seeeeeeee

Last night we had our 5th annual 4th of July par-tay at the Gordon House. Always good times. We BBQ'ed (aren't our kabobs so colorful?) and hung out with friends (I love how our driveway is so packed) and watched the fireworks from our porch at 9:30 pm. My favorite part of the evening was our next door neighbors (all guys) who were LOADED with fireworks and were setting them off all evening. When the main fireworks were going on, they were lighting theirs in the street - as if they were trying to compete with the actual ones. They kept lighting them, one right ater another. When the fireworks would fly up into the air, they sounded like loud kittens dying. (sad analogy, I know) I could NOT stop laughing, though. Hope you all had a happy 4th!

Before and After

I wanted to share with you guys my "Before" and "After" pictures of my new office. The old artwork is gone and replaced with bright, cheerful yellow walls and other fun-ness. The sunset portrait on the wall was painted by grandfather Pop-Pop (the one who passed away this winter). He was a painter as well as many other things, and he knew I loved that painting, so he left it to me. Very special. It is a sunset he painted in Lake Tahoe (one of his favorite places).

I love my new office!

Dance Dance Revolution

This past week the roomates and I headed to the Boardwalk for "cheap night". (All rides are only 65 cents) After going on the Giant Dipper rollercoaster (and our car stopping on the way up the ramp-scary!), Fireball, and eating lots of cotton candy and ice cream, we headed to the nearby arcade because the ladies really wanted to see Dance Dance Revolution. Dude, do you guys realize how hard-core some people are about that thing? We were watching these guys and they were SO INTO IT. They have obviously spent many quarters and hours perfecting their moves.

And then this one guy got up and put them all to shame. He was amazing. He had every move DOWN. (his picture is above) And after awhile I stopped watching the screen and just looked down at his feet. For a game that is supposed to teach you to dance, you actually look quite silly. If I were to get on a dance floor and bust out the moves I learned from DDR, I would probably get laughed right off the stage. You're honestly just moving your feet in robotic ways while your arms stay at your sides. And there's those weird, awkward pauses while you're waiting for the next arrow to go up the screen. Where's the fun in that!?!

The whole situation struck me as awesomely funny.

(And for those of you who haven't discovered "Ask A Ninja", my new favorite website, click on this link and hear the ninja's thoughts on Dance Dance Revolution. Have fun!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56vcMhVv_WM&mode=related&search=

Summer movies

Ahhh, the mindless popcorn flicks that are so enjoyable on a hot summer's day. So far I have seen The Da Vinci Code (it was ok), X-Men 3 (disappointing for me), and Cars (pretty cute). The next three on my list are Superman Returns, The Devil Wears Prada, and Pirates of the Caribbean 2.

Paintin' the office

Imagine the color of a green M&M. Now imagine the color of the bright blue M&M. Well, that was what our office looked like BEFORE. The top half was bright green, the bottom half blue. When you walked in, it was actually quite offensive to the eyes.

But no longer! We have done a extreme makeover: office edition. Some of our summer interns stepped up to the plate and helped us tackle the job. I also have moved from the office, into my own office with a DOOR. (OOooooooooooo!) Here are some pixs from our painting days. I will show a "before" and "after" picture of my office once I get it all fixed up.

What I am learning in life right now...

THE ARMOR OF GOD

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests."

(Ephesians 6:10-18)

They're everywhere!

It's funny, but before I got Johnny, I never saw Toyota Corollas. And now I seriously see them EVERYWHERE. And not just any Corollas...."phantom grey pearl" Corollas, just like mine. It's really funny to me. Maybe I'm just more aware of them now that I have one. And by the way, can I just take this opportunity to say that the Corolla horn is the LEAST intimidating horn on the market?? Every time I use it, I cringe then laugh. It's like the chihuahua dog bark (or yip) of car horns.

Roomate Day

Saturday was Roomate Day at the Gordon House. And by golly, what a great day it was. Things started out with me making special pancakes for everyone in the morning. I make pancakes every Saturday (a little tradition I have), but usually just for me or one other person. But Saturday was a day for celebrating. Everyone in the house had something fun to celebrate:

Laurel and Jessica - finished with teaching for the year!
Jen N. and Jen Cope - turned (or are about to turn) 30!
Joanna - has officially lived in the Gordon House a year! (yeah!)
me - my first week as College Director!

So we feasted on banana, walnut, chocolate chip pancakes with whatever toppings people wanted plus lots of juice and coffee. While we ate we watched the World Cup on TV. (Viva Brasil!...in 3 days)

Then, at 1 pm, all 6 of us piled into Copey's car and took off to the nearby high school pool where we swim. A) I love swimming, especially when it's sunny. B) I don't love getting badly burnt on my back (ouch!) I usually swim at night so I'm not used to putting on sunscreen. Oh well, live and learn.

Then, to cap off Roomate Day, we came home, made the hugest salad ever, and sat on the front porch in the sun, eating and sharing stories. Yeah for the sun. Yeah for the Gordon House. And yeah for my roomies. What a great day.

Disneyland and fishing and Hairspray, Oh My!

Preface: it is SO weird to be back. I am still in "vacation-mode". I was so out of it at work today. But anyway, my vacay was so fun! Nowhere near long enough, but wonderful just the same.

Monday was my travel day to So. Cal along with lots of hugs and talking with my BFF, Elissa and her hubby, Mike. Tuesday was a mini-reunion with another close friend/roomate from college, Melanie. Mel had flown out from Texas, so we spent the day together. We went shopping and then drove to the ol' alma mater. The first picture is of Elissa, Mel, and I in front of our old dorm. We walked inside and it still smells the same. Awesome. We met Mike for dinner and then went to see The Da Vinci Code. I couldn't stop looking at Tom Hanks' hair. It's the closest thing to a mullet one can get. Come on, Tom.

On Wednesday we visited the Mouse House. Ok, can I just say Space Mountain is AMAZING?!?! They put in a new track and so it just flies. We were in the front car and tears were literally flying off my face because my eyes were watering like crazy. I had a perma-grin the whole ride. Go to D-land just to go on Space! So fun! (Pirates of the Caribbean was closed because they are adding Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa to the ride. That should be interesting) It was a great day.

We drove to San Diego that night. Elissa's parents live down there and her dad took us fishing on Thursday. I caught 6 fish! Woohoo! The picture is of the fifth one I caught - a bass. I hadn't been fishing in ten years...when Elissa's dad took me out for the first time our freshmen year in college. We caught 17 fish altogether but only took home 3. They were delicious!

Friday we just relaxed and then that night we went to see Hairspray, the musical. We are huge theater fans, so we go whenever I am down. Two years ago we saw Les Miserables, last year we saw Wicked, and this year it was Hairspray. I went not knowing anything about it and it was fantastic! Such fun dancing and singing. I wanted to jump on stage and join them. It kind of had the same feel as Bye Bye Birdie. Lots of energy and humor. I think I might have to go out and buy the soundtrack. I added the link to Hairspray on Broadway under "websites", if you want to check it out!

The hard part about vacations (maybe you can relate) is it takes a couple days to finally relax and start enjoying yourself. And then just when you're geting used to being away from work and life...you have to go back. Yowsahs. I think vacations should be a minimum of 7 or 8 days. =) Who's with me!?!?!

What a great week. Just what I needed. Maybe not as much rest as I had thought I would get, but definitely lots of fun. Hopefully all of you have vacation time coming to you soon. Bring it on!