home for the holidays

Just bought my ticket home for Christmas!! I'll be home Dec 20-28th so be ready to play :) Seems hard to imagine winter with the flaming sunburn I have going on right now...

the govenator

Really? Is the Terminator really the governor of my new state? I know it is old news and it doesn't phase most people but every once in a while I am a little tripped up by the fact that Kindergarten Cop is responsible for the state I live in. I had a work meeting last night and one of the directors informed us the state budget has not been signed by the Governor and if he doesn't sign it soon the SD Regional Center will suspend services for many of our clients- yada, yada- long story short my director ended staff meeting by encouraging us to contact our legislator & Governor Schwarzenegger's office and urge him to sign the budget. All I could think was, "It's not a too-muh!" And then I laughed about the reality of situation...because really...who can be serious when you're talking about Danny DeVito's twin brother??

29 years, 368 days

Wow, it's official. 20-10 as I like to say. Turns out it ain't so bad after all. I was determined to not be bothered by thirty hence the bucket list I came up with at the start of the year. But sure enough, as the dreaded day approached I became more and more cranky. On Friday I had my "oh my gosh I'm really turning 30!" breakdown. The tears came when I became frustrated driving around looking for In-N-Out. Yep, that's what set me off, being lost without a burger. Just be glad you weren't the one taking my order...ha ha!

My birthday was actually really great. After a little post breakdown, wind down I got dressed up and went out with some friends. We went dancing which I don't ever do but it was a lot of fun. Saturday I treated myself to a Spa and had two friends join me. Can't have a birthday or Saturday without the beach so that was next and then dinner with friends and a bonfire at my house after dinner.

Thank you all for your birthday wishes! Hearing from friends and family always makes things better :)

top ten

What better way to sum up the past 5 weeks then a top ten list? Here are some of the highlights of my time in SD - not necessarily in order of importance, excitement level, etc.

10) Spending the first week and a half in SD at the beach. The place I was staying at the time was 15 minutes from Pacific & Mission Beaches. Sadly I haven't been to the beach to soak in the sun for about two weeks.

9) Socializing with people in my ward. In SLC my ward wasn't necessarily my social connection. Big change for me in SD. I've been to almost all of the ward activities (even FHE!) and spend time outside of those activities socializing even more fellow YSA peeps. There is always some kind of party, sporting activity, dinner or get together of some kind.

8) Attending my first Republican Party Meeting! Let me explain...a while back a letter was read from the First Presidency in all wards in California. The church is advising all members to vote for Proposition 8 - declaring marriage between one man and one woman. We are being asked to donate time and money to the cause. It is a rare request - but clearly an important one. A couple weeks ago a town hall meeting was held by the Republican party in which leaders of several faiths spoke about why prop 8 is so important. It was interesting and overall a good experience. For more info check out 'protect marriage' on the web. The pic is of me and a few girls from my ward.

7) Attending the U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach. I went up with some friends to watch the competition. We stayed with my friend's dad who lives in a condo right on the beach. It was fun getting to know some new friends a little better.

6) Moving into my house!! Sorry no pics but I officially have a place to live. No more staying with friends and ward members. I have my own space!! We have a spare bedroom so please come visit! The house on Huggins Street will be pretty amazing :)

5) The number of times I get lost each week! I don't really get lost so much as I just make wrong turns or forget my exit or think I am taking a short cut. All of which usually end up in me wasting a lot of gas and time. I am getting better each day though.

4) Went up north 2 1/2 hours this weekend to a cabin on Big Bear and did some boating. My roommate and I were invited by some guys in the ward. Wake boarding was a lot of fun & the tubing was even more fun. We held on tight - even tried to ride standing up for a bit - took the boat driver a good 20 minutes to flip us off the tube. When he did we flew a good 3 feet into the air and landed upside down. Here are a couple fun pics!

3) Had my palm read by some guy at Barnes & Noble. I was minding my own business, looking for a running/hiking trail book when a guy walked up to me and told me I looked really familiar. Can you tell where this is going? He asked where I was from and I of course lied. He introduced himself, shaking my hand and then turned my palm over. He said it was very interesting. Apparently I'm conflicted. I'm conservative but have an adventurous side that often conflicts with the conservative side. Hmmm.... I kinda think he was just creepy and has really bad pick up techniques.

2) Went on a date to my first Padres game. We got there late but had awesome seats 20 rows up on the first base line. Sadly the Padres had an embarrassing loss to the Giants. Also tried a great dessert place called Extraordinary Desserts. Very yummy :)

1) Missing family and friends. Yes its true, I do miss you :) I've met some really cool, fun & friendly people but still miss the familiarity of home once in a while. Hopefully I'm missed a little too ;)

1/2) Finally getting the Internet. No more sitting outside the library or walking around with my laptop trying to find a connection. Also part of why I haven't posted much. Now that I have permanent access I'll do better with updates.

keep checking!

Sorry to those that check me regularly...I have much to post but not so much time to write. And the internet connection where I'm staying is horrible. One more week until I'm in my own place!! Will be so nice to have a home again! I think I'm off to a watch a surf competition in HB this weekend. Should be fun even though I don't surf. Stay tuned and keep checking me out!!

cha-ching!!

I got a job this morning!!! Phew, what a relief! I was getting a little nervous since I only have one more paycheck to come from IHC. Yea! Now I can relax and enjoy the next few days in my new city.

I will be working as a behavior instructor at Bridges Educational Corporation. I'll be working with little kiddos with Autism. These are just the little guys 2-4 years old! I will go to their homes and work with them for 2 hour periods of time. Different from Pingree but I think it will be a good job.

Yea!!!!

new zip code

I'm here! I am somewhat officially living in the 92111 zip code. I guess somewhat officially really means unofficially. Let me clarify - I am here but living between two kind friends until I move into my house on July 31st.
I had an interview yesterday and am really hoping to get the position. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I've applied for a couple other jobs in the Autism field and also with some temp agencies. Hopefully something will come up quickly. I'm already getting a little stir crazy. Funny how when I work full time I think about how nice it would be to have nothing to do. Then when I don't have anything to do I get really bored and can't wait to have a job. At least I have the beach to keep me somewhat occupied :)
I drove by the house I'll be living in. It is in a great neighborhood. The house isn't that great on the outside but it is better to have a not so great house in a great neighborhood than a great house in a not so great neighborhood - Right???
I've done my job searching for the morning. Off to the pool to swim some laps and then to the beach for a little sun and sand :)