Spring break lists

This week off from school has simply flown by! This is often the case when you have oodles of tasks to complete. Here is the "short list" of all that I completed this week:

1.) Hosted two potential First-year CCSD students

2.) Interviewed ten potential graduate assistants

3.) Presented pre-departure information to all students studying abroad during the summer and fall terms (2 separate meetings - 120+/- students)

4.) Participated in staff orientation for newly hired Azusa Pacific University employees

5.) Began my new position as the Special Projects Coordinator for the Center for Global Learning and Engagement

6.) Breathed

After this busy week I was ecstatic to hear the mellifluous sound of the word WEEKEND!

Emily and I had to postpone our trip to San Francisco, so we tried to fit as much fun into one day as we could. It has been difficult for both of us to actually take advantage of living in Los Angeles County. With such close proximity to so much, we've done a poor job of getting around to our long lists of places to see. So...HERE is the list of what we did on Saturday:

1.) Whale watching in the Pacific near Dana Point

2.) Buying new Rainbows at the Original store in San Clemente

3.) Drinking coffee at the Starbucks across the street from the Mission of San Juan Capistrano (followed by walking around the area, including a petting zoo!)

4.) Eating a slice of pizza in Downtown Disney (followed by the nightly fireworks that take place in Disneyland, but can be seen in Downtown Disney)

5.) Teaching great friends (Doug and Mike) how to play Euchre (A Michigan favorite)

Here is the real story. It wasn't a good day for whale watching, SO we received our tickets back so we can try again whenever we want. July and August are supposedly a GREAT time to see Blue whales! So we are excited to go back to Dana point and see BIG whales...over four times the size of the Minke whales we briefly spotted. We saw some California Sea Lions sleeping on a buoy as well as many different varieties of fowl. Emily and I had a great ride out on the Pacific and are looking forward to actually whale watching later on this year!

Once ashore, we made our way to San Clemente, home to the one and only original Rainbow store! We arrived right before they closed, but had enough time to finally replace our old, worn out, STINKY Rainbows! We took our picture by the sign, but missed out on signing the HUGE flip flop that had already been taken inside for closing. YAY, I love my new grey Rainbows...send your size (and your children's sizes)...because the original store sells them for less than their representatives.

Since we were in the area, we went to San Juan Capistrano, but made it just as the mission was closing. So, we went across the street to Starbucks (which of course we knew was there from Mom's vivid descriptions) and enjoyed a cup of Joe. Then we walked around the city, it was beautiful and we ended up finding a petting zoo!

After leaving San Juan Capistrano we went to Downtown Disney in Anaheim! We ate pizza by the slice and watched ALL the many different people that are attracted to Disneyland. We are seriously thinking about putting our few pennies together to buy a season pass (makes more sense since a single day ticket is not much less). Time will tell if that will happen or not, BUT it is definitely the "SoCal" thing to do...getting a season pass that is.

As if we hadn't done enough, we invited Mike and Doug over to play some Euchre. They were quick learners and we are very pleased to finally have some card playing partners! Gotta love Euchre. I feel as if this has become a bit of a ramble of happenings. I am please to announce that my hard work has paid off. This semester was BY far the most difficult and work filled semester. I have kept my 4.0 - and yes, that means you may refer to me as an official badass...or a rockstar...or whatever you prefer :) Enjoy the pictures from our weekend adventure! Much love to all!