Stats

If you are wondering why I haven’t blogged since last Sunday, I’ll give you one word: “Stats”. The toughest course I’ve ever taken. Long story short I was in tears Tuesday and ready to quit. My friends Sarah and Tracey felt the same way so we sat down, talked it over, prayed and vowed to stick it out and stick together!

I’m telling you the amount of information this course attempts to cram in 5 days is absolutely delusional. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Sarah, Tracey and I made a herculian effort to accomplish the impossible, which was to turn in 5 projects out of the total 6 projects required for the course. In plain English 6 weeks worth of work accomplished in 5 days. Most students take most of the work home but we were so overwhelemed and confused that we decided that in order to survive we needed to tackle all of them together. We spent from 8-5pm in class, took an hour break and worked in the lab from 6-10pm every night. They ended up being very, very long days. Last night after we were done, we were insanely tired and giddy! It was very funny.

When it’s all said and done and I look back on this class, I will remember how much I learned about perseverence, determination, courage and the power of encouragement all of which I learned from Sarah and Tracey. I could not have done it without them.

Sarah and Trace, you’re amazing!

Tuesday night in the lab	If “p” is less than “alpha”…	Heaven Help Me!!!!
Project Two	Chi Tea	We did it- All done!

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Father’s Day: Camping and a Vegan Restaurant

Wow! What a fun weekend we’ve had.

Friday we met mom and dad at Wilderness Lakes RV park in Menifee, CA, which is a little over an hour southeast of east Los Angeles and an hour and a half northeast of San Diego. It’s very peaceful. We explored the place a bit in our car, grabbed an Icee, then jumped in the pool (it was a 100 degree day). We brought a big purple pool ball to bounce around and got all the little kids in the pool into our game. It was a lot of fun. We let them keep the big ball. That night dad made a Hawaiian pizza and we had veggie burgers (mmmmmmmm!). I also had a peanut butter soy ice cream sandwich.

We spent the night in the motorhome and hung out in it a bit before going to church in the morning (lots of chirping birds at this time). After church we met at a vegan Thai restaurant called Wheel of Life in Irvine (90 minutes away). They have about 80 items on their entirely vegan menu. The food is amazing and their service was great. The owners are very, very nice. I had orange “chicken”, dad had “beef” with noodles and broccoli. Mom and Sudi shared “pork” chow mein and some BBQ “chicken” on sticks with peanut sauce. For dessert we had “cheese” cake and coconut “ice cream.” All 100% vegan: no milk, no meat!

Right now mom and dad are on their way up to a campground at Santa Barbara where they will spend some time before heading off to their white water river rafting trip in Kern county.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

It’s true	Home sweet home	Just a nice shot
The fam in the “front yard”	Sudste at breakfast	Wheel of Life Vegan Restaurant

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Una Famiglia

Friday night my co-hort, Steven (our honorary member) and I went out on a- night-on-the-town. We suggested Buca Di Beppo a family style Italian restaurant. Apparently it was a great choice, we loved it. They serve exquisite food and have great service. Plus we had the funnest time. The motto for the restaurant is “Una Famiglia” which means “One Family” in italian. We adopted it as our team name.

Jules, Omari, Gary, Sarah, Sudi, Tracey	Una Famiglia	My baby love
Having fun	Julie is very happy	The menu

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Sudi & Light

I took some shots of Sudi in the early morning. They turned out really nice #1 because Sudi is very pretty and #2 because the sun was just above the horizon.

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The Old Spaghetti Factory

Here are pics of our dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. The building used to be “Duarte School” 100 years ago. It was a lot of fun, very delicious! We had hot sourdough bread, salad with Creamy Pesto dressing, and Spinach Ravioli. I drank Rasberry Italian Cream Soda. Part way through our dinner I found out I get to keep the glass. Nice souvenir. Dessert was a scoop of some very unique ice cream: cherry, chocolate and pistachio!

Thanks to my baby for such nice treat.

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It’s My Birthday

Sudi got me the coolest book for my birthday to compliment the coolest camera she got for my birthday a couple months ago. It’s called Understanding Exposure.

I also got a beautiful Mickey & Minnie birthday card and tonight Sudi’s taking me to The Old Spaghetti Factory. I’ve always wanted to go to the one in San Diego, but they closed it (why would such a popular restaurant close?)! This one is in Duarte, about 10 minutes from Azusa.

Woohoo!

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Dave’s House

Today we had class at Dave’s house in San Dimas. Lovely home and a great time. Betsy, Dave’s wife made us chilli which of-course I did not eat, but everyone else loved it! We had a special guest speaker, the Dean of Students at APU, Terry F.

Our pm diversity class was back on campus, I took some pictures of us and Carol, our prof.

Dave’s House	Tracey, Sarah, Gary, Omari, Julie	Fun Bunch
CD Cover	Cute Pony huh? (It’s a camel)	Sarah, Julie and Moose
Gary and Omare	Us and Carol	Diversity Class

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Field Trip

We had a long day today, just got back. We had our morning class which was excellent. We had Mexican food for lunch and then we headed to LA. We toured the “Museum of Tolerance.” http://www.museumoftolerance.com. A stunning presentation about prejudice. Child Slavery issues, The Civil Rights Movement and the Holocoust were the ones that impressed me the most. It was informative, painful, agonizing. I was glad when it was over. We met a Holocoust survivor, Eva B. She told us to tell others about her so I will. She survived a horrific time in the history of man kind and had the courage to forgive. A truly beautiful Jewish woman! Born in Hungary, now a very proud American. She vividly remembers when the American soldiers liberated them and gave them water and Hershey bars. One of the soldiers told her “Baby, you’re going to be alright, you are free now.”
“Forgiveness is a gift, you give yourself. Forgiveness is freedom.” Eva B.

Art at Duke	Steven and Jesus	Mirror, mirror!
My classroom	Steven and I at Duke Hall	The gang
Mug Shot	Silly Willy	Class Starts

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First Day Of Class

It was a dream come true! Being in the classroom makes my heart beat faster. I love it.

Dave my first prof is very engaging. We had great discussions and a very neat group project that taught us a lot about listening to each other and sharing information. Information is power. My second class about Diversity brought on an amazing conversation about race and social justice. Carol is co-teaching with Pam who is African American which adds an extra edge to the class. All my profs have doctorates and all insist on being called by their first name. Carol is very warm and friendly. They are all very smart, very knowledgable.

I loved that Dave said at the begining of class, “I will with your permission, actually I wont ask for permission, begin each class with a devotional and a prayer.” I love it, because the profs are very intentional about integrating their faith with their knowledge and expertise.

Steven and I spent some time with a few second and third year students. I am so glad he is here with me, sharing this amazing experience. I think he is having a great time (he looooooooves the APU veggie burgers ) and that makes me happy.
Great day!

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We’re Here

We made it! What a fun day. We arrived at APU at about 2:45pm. We got settled in our room, we love it here, it feels like home. Everyone was very helpful, a couple of guys from ITS came over to get Steven hooked up to the internet. Everything was organized and expeditious.

At 5:30pm we walked to the Turner Center for dinner and an orientation session. Steven was able to stay so we enjoyed some Mexican food and great fellowship. We sat with third year students, they were very warm and friendly.

There are only 7 people in my cohort which will give us a chance to get to each other very well. So far I have met Gary, Omare, Julie and Sara who got stung by a bee and had to put her foot in a bucket full of ice. Everyone is very nice. All the third and second year students gave us great tips. It was super helpful.

We found a Stater Bro. a block away where we got 72 water bottles and toothpaste. Before we left home we stopped at Henry’s and stocked up on granola bars, soups and fruit so we’re set.

My schedule is 8-12 am-class and 1-5 pm-class. My first two classes are Introduction to College Student Affairs and The Role of Diversity in CSA.

We are very tired so we’re going to catch some zzzzzzzzzzzz. I gotta hit the books and hubbie’s gotta bring home the bacon, I mean the facon!

Everything but the kitchen sink	Bon Voyage	APU West Campus
Home Sweet Home	Computer and Treats	“Always” is settled and happy.
My desk, I love it!	Los Libros	The journey begins

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