Interests:Hers: learning new recipes, eating cupcakes, sleeping, shopping, and tennis. His: photography, Star Wars, comic books, gaming, and hockey. Ours: movies, T.V., all types of board games, hanging out with friends and family, eating out. Expertise:Living life one day at a time and Hummingbirds. Occupation:Education/training and Law Industry:Education and Litigation
I haven't written on xanga in a really long time...Rick's pretty much been doing all the posts. I have two days left of school--almost done with my first year at a new school in a new position. I can honestly say that I'm glad to have made the decision to come to Lewis. It may have taken a few months to get used to the place, and yes there was a time when I was avoiding the lounge and so worried about not fitting in. But ultimately, I have made some great friends and the workload wasn't as stressful as I thought it might be. When people ask me what I like better, being a regular teacher or support staff, I say that I love both. It really was a good time for a change, and I'm looking forward to next year because I'll know much more of what to expect. And I'll hang out in the lounge from Day 1.
While things are going really well at Lewis, I must say that I have one major concern...I think I need to start working out again or I'm going to gain major weight while being at this school. Every day it seems there's some tasty treat in the lounge waiting to be consumed by me! I told Rick how this one lady who stopped working at Lewis lost 10 pounds just by not being at the school anymore...He says, just because it's there doesn't mean I have to eat it. Hmmm...I wish it was that easy.
Had a great time this weekend at our annual church retreat. Dr. Powers delivered powerful messages, and my prayer group helped me in more ways I think they realize. Thanks to Marcus, Steve, and the planning committee for putting together a tremendous time.
We all joined the congregation at Vineyard in Anaheim and they played a song I've never heard before - "Everything," by Tim Hughes. The more I listen to this song, the song resonates (no pun intended) with me in so many ways. Take a listen, and I hope it speaks to you too...
Prepping for my trip to SF, and I checked my memory card to find some fun photos from Christina and Yukio's wedding! Here are a few (the incriminating photos will stay on my hard drive):
Sorry for the delay, but we've been kinda busy with moving and stuff, but here are some of the highlights from our visit to our friends James and Jennifer over in Virginia!
James and Jen took us to Washington D.C., and to the City of Brotherly Love - Philadelphia, and we were treated to some awesome sights, and some spectacular food. Standing at the top of the Washington Monument was clearly amazing, but what was even more surprising was the elevator trip down from the top. The glass doors would become clear to reveal really old stones, donated by different states to be used in the monument when it was built! The four of us had the elevator car to ourselves, with the tour guide, so we were free to move about, running from one end of the elevator to the next to check out all the stones.
The war memorials were incredible to view in person - and walking through the WWII memorial in particular gave me goosebumps.
We also walked through the Smithsonian Fine Arts Museum. I was incredibly impressed at the selection of fine art we had in our own country, after having seen comparably great works in Europe. We also pondered how impressed European tourists would be after visiting D.C. - all the museums and sights were free (or nearly free).
At Philly, James and Jen took us to Reading Terminal Market, where we had the world-famous Rick's Philly Steaks cheesesteak sandwiches, with Whiz. Yep, that's Cheeze Whiz! So here's a great story: we were at the register to order our cheesesteak sandwiches, and James had just remarked that the people that run the restaurant are "really nice."
Soon after, we saw that Rick's sold souvenir t-shirts. Carrie convinced me to get one, so I asked for one in large. The cashier went in the back to get my shirt, and came back empty handed. "We're out of large," he said. We were bummed, but at least we gave it a shot. Just at that moment, the cook, having overheard our attempted purchase of a shirt, grabbed the one on display, and handed it to me! He said, "This one's a large - you can have it if you don't mind the marks!" I was more than happy to take the shirt. It didn't have any marks, but it did smell like a year's worth of cheesesteak grease - which adds to the authenticity of the shirt, imo.
After we devoured our sandwiches, we treated ourselves to some awesome cupcakes from Flying Monkey, and chocolate chip cookies from Famous 4th Street Cookie Company.
After filling our bellies, we trekked our way to the famous steps that Rocky Balboa ran up (it's a museum), but on our way back to the car, we were able to enjoy a Chinese New Year's celebration that involved dancing dragons, music, and FIRECRACKERS!
Finally, we posed for pics with Rocky, and ran up the steps...well, see for yourself!
We had a tremendous time with James, Jen, and their pug, Wilbur...we hope to visit them again soon!
Be sure to check out the full VA Trip album for all the pics and some hillarious vids:
The other night, a few of us were reminiscing about old board games we enjoyed as a kid and still like playing today. Well, there were two games I needed help remembering. Nobody was of any help so I had to go home and figure it out online. The first game was Mastermind. One player decides in what order to arrange 5 colored pegs in a row, and the second player has a certain number of chances to figure it out exactly while being given a white peg for the right color chosen and a black peg if it was in the exact position.
Now, for the second game, it was much harder to dig out of the past. All I remembered was that it was a Milton Bradley game and the old man who did the laugh in the Thriller video was in the commercial for the game. Unfortunately my Milton Bradley search for vintage games was to no avail. So then I googled Thriller video to discover the man in the commercial was Vincent Price. Then I found some commercials he was in for other games like Hang Man, but not the one I was looking for. Finally I decided to do a google search for marble board games because I remembered the colored marbles used in this game. And finally, my search was over!
Check out this old commercial I remember watching on T.V. when I was a
kid. My brother and I actually had this game and I remember loving it.
