Lumber Jacks, Milking Cows and a Roof Top Party!

Well that pretty much sums up my day yesterday! I went to the LA county fair with some people in my complex. It was great fun! We saw a lumber jack show, a cow milking demonstration, Chinese acrobats and Frisbee catching dogs! This fair was huge but the funny thing about about it was that there weren't displays of Grandma's home made pies or Uncle Fred's prize winning pigs. Instead you had an animal display area of all the farm animals that local farmers had donated to stay for the 3 week fair and a whole lot of people selling things. There were like 6 shopping pavilions full of stuff. Also at the LA county fair you could ice skate, sled, chop wood, take pottery lessons and have various other experiences. It was quite a fun day and I'm glad I went.

After getting back home, I quickly changed and went to a dance party put on by Fuller on top of the Pasadena Museum of California Art. The music was incredible (they had a faculty member spin for the evening) and the view was breath taking you could see City Hall which reminds me a lot of city hall in San Fransisco. Students at Fuller dub this event as "the event of the year" and I understand why. It was a lot of fun. Got to meet some new people and just have a night of fun.

Top (L to R): Danielle, Jessilyn, Jenny, Dayna, Lauren and Rachel Bottom (L to R): Adam and Jenelle

Afterwards, we went into Old Town Pasadena to meet up with some people at a pub called Barneys and spent the late hours of the evening enjoining a pint and having good conversation. The group was a mix of SOT (School of Theology) and SOP ( School of Psychology) students so it was fun to be hearing theological discussions amongst psychological ones. One it got out that I was a George Fox student, it was amazing how many people had questions for me either about the Friends traditions and beliefs or about the Psych program there. It seems that almost all the psych students applied there for grad school (which doesn't surprise me).

Overall it was a great Friday night! Today the plans are to go to a friends house for waffles this morning, spend some time cleaning and reading and I think a few of us were going to go see a movie. OK, well I should probably get started on the cleaning and reading part of my day!

I Survived My First week!

Well I did it! I survived my first week of Grad school! This is going to be an interesting 9 remaining weeks and if anything I've learned not to schedule two classes back to back especially when one is a 3 hour course. Today I'm suppose to be going to the Fair with some people which should be fun and then I need to spend some time reading otherwise I'm never going to finish.

Ok, enough about life...

Rachel's Thoughs on Grey's Anatomy:

Loved it! Loved it! Loved it! This is going to be a very different season for sure but I think it's going to be a fun one. I think Izzy's gone a little crazy saving a deer's life and it make you wonder why they gave her interns but Alex's gotee makes up for it! This will definetly be my destress hour (especially since I will have just gotten home from 5 straight hours of classes).

Reading... I remember now why I don't like it!

So I decided it was time to tackle the large amounts of reading I have to do. I soon came to realize that in the next two weeks I have to ready 3 books, write a paper and two book reviews and that's not even counting the normal textbook reading. After reading most of the afternoon about The Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus I felt like my brain was going to explode!!! Then I sat down and started to read about Teenagers for another hour or so. Soooooooo much reading and when you're a slow reader it doesn't help! I wish all textbooks we're like Harry Potter books so you would be so interested in what is going to happen next that you can't put the book down.

Million $ Idea: Textbooks written in such a way that you can't put it down!

Can you guess what tomorrow brings? MORE READING... Yeah!

I'm just excited that The season premier of Grey's start's tomorrow!

Now in other news...

Rachel's thoughts on Private Practice:

Not my favorite! Personally I don't think it's going to make it unless they make it much more exciting. It seems so much more like a Soap then Grey's does. The Cute Doctor (I'll refer to him as McSexy), cute front desk dude and Kate Walsh are really the only things I think were good about the show. I'll give it another week or so and see how it does. I have a funny feeling that Addison will find her way back to Seattle very soon. That's my two cents!

Now the work begins!

Well I have officially finished all the first classes of this quarter. Let me just say my Tuesday and Thursdays are going to be long!!! I have a class from 3-6 and another from 6:30-8:30 and there in the same classroom!!! So basically that 30 minute break in between will be good emailing/study time. My first class was a class called Theology and Culture it's a 5 week intensive course meaning after five weeks, I'll be done!!! The class is basically touching on today's culture and how it combines with theology. If you're shaking your head right now, don't worry most of the class was today too. The Prof. is from Scotland and basically told us that we really didn't have to read any of the required reading for the class, but just needed to be familiar with the themes in the books. So that means I'll be going to the bookstore tomorrow to return a $36 book I bought for the class and if I need the book, I'll check it out of the library. The great thing is that I don't have any classes tomorrow, so after the all seminary chapel and the free lunch there offering to celebrate Fuller's 60th Anniversary, I get to read, read and do some more reading for my two Thursday classes.

In other news, I applied for another job today. This one would be working for a church in there worship Arts department as an admin. it's only a 20 hr. a week job and they seem somewhat flexible with the hours. The only downside is that the church is about a 3o min. drive which means that in traffic it will take an hour to get there and back. I got an email today from the church saying that they were still taking applicants, so I'll be emailing her tomorrow with some questions about the position.

Ok, I should probably go to bed now since I do have to get up in the morning to make it to chapel by 10 am.

New Beginnings!

Well, I've compleated my first class as a seminary student! It was a strange feeling being in a classroom again seeing how I haven't been a student for 4 years. So, I left early knowing I was going to need to find a parking spot and find the class room and did well with that. Then, as I was sitting in a class room starting to talk to a girl next to me, I had this sudden feeling that I was in the wrong room, but I still stayed. Moments later I over heard two people talking about the professor that was teaching the class and I found out I was in the wrong classroom. By this time it was just about 3 pm (when my class was to start) and I darted down the stairs, found a class list and ran to the right building on the other side of campus. When I got to the right building, I was trying to figure out how to get to the 3rd floor after several minutes of searching I finally found 1 sign that directed me to a small door (which I would have never recogized as a stairwell) and I ran up 3 flights of stairs. When I got to the room, the class had started and it was a pretty full room. I was looking around for a seat when the professor (Luckly, it was Chap Clark who's just a cool guy) said "there's several seats in the front row". So embarrising!

It will be an awsome class though. After class we went to McCormick and Schmitt's for Happy hour a cheese burger and fries for $2 when you buy a $3 drink. It was great there were about 12 of us or so just sitting around getting to know eachother and Chap was there also. Met a guy who once was an intern for Twin Lakes so it was fun chatting about SC.

Tomorrow I have two classes back to back so I have the privilage of sitting from 3 pm to 8:20 pm with only a 30 min. break in between and 1 10 minute break during the first class. We'll see how that goes!!!

I applied for a job the other day, they emailed me today with questions to answer and send back. They were basicly these senario questions about ordering paper and envelopes and such. I figured since my brain has been processing so much today, that I would wait till morning to figure it all out. The job is an Office Manager job with a local events company (they basically sell dicounted tickets to entertanment events online). The Pay is amazing for only 20 hours a week. The pay scale they advertised is $15 to $17 dollars an hour. So be praying, cause this job would be perfect Monday - Friday 10 to 2 pm. That leaves time for sleeping and studying and free weekends!

Now that I have internet access, be looking forward to hearing from me more often!!!

I's Is uh Gradimicate Stewdent!

Well today is registration day! That's right, the day I get to register for classes! In about 30 minutes I officially become a student once again! I'm excited but my stomach has been in knots all morning. After talking to some current students, I feel confident that I will do well, it just the thought of being a student once again after a 4 year absence that is a little nerve wracking.

In other news, I applied for a job today, it's an office manager position (pretty much I'd be babysitting the front desk) for a entertainment ticket company. The pay is amazing for a part time job so we'll see what happens. I'm not going to get my hopes up (I've learned not to do that). Other then that, I should have a constant flow of Internet starting on Tuesday. Until then, I'll be using one of my neighbor's connections (no one seems to care though cause they understand that it takes awhile to get everything up and running). So soon, very soon, I'll be able to update more often and be a frequent visitor to Myspace and Facebook.

Other then that, I'm meeting new people left and right and am starting to adjust to So. Cal ways (mainly the driving). OK, well I should get going cause I'm going to have to find a parking space somewhere around campus.

A New Chapter Begins!

Well, I made it! I am in Pasadena!

Living in a big city is going to take some getting use to, but I'm sure after awhile I'll get the hang of it. I think Pasadena is going to be a fun town. I got very excited when I saw a DSW (which looked much nicer then the one in San Jose), H&M (yes Alyssa they have an H&M here so even more of a reason for you to come and visit) and the swankeyest Target I've ever seen.

Unfortunatly, I have had a rough few days. Sunday night I found out that the sister of one of my small group girls died in a motorcycle accident. Bright and early monday morning I lost the key to the rental van, then I dented the rental van after getting a replacement key (thank goodness I bought the damage insurance). Then yesterday morning when I woke up my roommate told me she had to put her cat Moses (I called him Mo) down. Lauren (that's my roommate) and I had a great conversation about how we've been definetly been under attack since we've gotten here.

Looking on the bright side...

I've met some nice people here in my complex. Actually there is supposedly a George Fox Grad living in the building but he's out of town this week. It was very relaxing to eat dinner out in the courtyard with a glass of wine and good conversation with neighbors. Almost all the residents here are Fuller students and are very helpful when it comes to giving us advice.

While it will take some getting use to, I'm sure I'll fit into Pasadena just fine.

One Last Night in Santa Cruz

Tonight is it! It's my last night in my apartment and my last night as a resident of Santa Cruz, California. While I'm excited about my new venture, I'm sad to leave my home town. Tonight was a night of good-byes. Good-bye to my wonderful friends, good-bye to my town, good-bye to my apartment and good-bye to my home. While, I'll come back to visit it won't be the same. Some fond memories of SC:

1. Walks along West Cliff and watching the surf come in.
2. Erick's Deli!!!!
3. The smell of Redwoods
4. Pacific Ave.
5. Marini's Taffy
6. Bonfires on the Beach
7. Stagnaroe's clam chowder
8. Mojitos at Bittersweet
9. Pizza My Heart
10. Bumper car nights at the boardwalk

While today was a day of good-byes tomorrow is a day of Hellos!