Thursday, September 30, 2010

Sept. 30th

Of any days that deserve to be blogged from the last three weeks its today. Today has been....terrible. Well, not true, today started terrible and ended alright. I feel as though this should be outlined in chronological order.
7:30am- I leave for my first school visit, which starts at 8am. I get there early, the address I had was actually the school district building verses the actual school, so the school district office gives me the "proper" address. I get going, hoping to only be a bit late. Turns out it took me to an empty field.... all that to say, I called the school I was suppose to be at and got chewed out by the counselor. Curse words come to mind. I bit my tongue while she beraided me for not knowing how to get there, attacked my character for getting lost and basically told me I was incompetent and irresponsible. Awesome.... its not often that people's words can bring me to tears, but I was on the verge. It's also not often I wish I wasn't a calmer person, I actually got off the phone wishing I was someone who could blow up and give this lady back what she was dishing out, but yet I'm not that person so I continued apologizing and took it.

After this terrible phone conversation I needed to get gas and get to another city quite a distance away. Pulled into a gas station, they only took debit or cash. So getting back into my car, I dropped my keys under my seat and had the hardest time getting them back out. I think I was just flustered.

My second visit was actually great. However, throughout the day a storm started coming into Victorville. The counselor even warned us it could be a really bad one tonight as its been workin' its way into town for three days and the winds had picked up quite a bit. It didn't start flash flooding just sprinkling and the winds picked up to a decent mileage. The drive to Long Beach after the fair was actually not bad. The beginning was filled with lightening bolts, I could even see them hitting the ground in the distance. Both sides of the highway. Light sprinkling, nothing too much. And high winds. Not terrible, way better than what was expected and I even made it into town at a decent rate.

Writing my day down makes it not seem as bad as it felt at the time it happened. It definitely wasn't even as bad as the Old Navy commercial I just saw on the tv. I don't think I get yelled at by people very often, and I've got to see I do not appreciate it one bit. Through off my grooze for the whole day.

I come home to Salem tomorrow! I leave again Sunday for Eastern Oregon, but then I'll be back for a whole week after that. I am so excited to sleep in my own bed, do some laundry, wear something not provided in my suitcase. I'm even excited to use full sized toiletries, not use a GPS to get to the next destination, know I might pass someone I know on the street. I like those things. The small things. Or in the toiletries case, the big things.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Photos from last few days. Blog below.




A random sampling of past days.
 Both of these, the birds and myself, are from Marina Park at Ventura Beach.


 Henry. Our beloved spider friend. I was enamored.

Sept. 29th- Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Sun Valley and Lancaster

Hello LA traffic. I had been wondering when that particular spectacle was going to hit me, today. Today was the day I hit LA traffic. I truly don't understand why people put themselves through that everyday, it took hours to navigate between a few cities surrounding upper LA and Hollywood. I am by no means a celebrity junkie or fawn at the site of someone famous but there is this childish part of me that wanted to go to Hollywood! I've actually never been there before, and all I kept thinking about was the Anthony Kiedis biography I read a few years ago and how he walked the streets of Hollywood way back in the day. I wanted to walk those same streets....although, time restraint and the knowledge that most likely those streets would attempt to kill me in present day kept me from even trying.

For those of you who don't know who Anthony Kiedis is he's the lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He lived a life filled with drugs, sex, other various addictions, spirituality (not religion, not relationship, let me clarify), music and wandering the streets of Hollywood. It was an interesting life story. The truth is, in all of it, you could see that he has a good heart, misplaced, confused, empty of the true love of Christ, but a heart that wants to do the right thing. Probably one of the best biographies I've ever read, even with the foul language and some controversial lifestyle choices.
You will all be way more pleased with my recent readings. I finsihed the Robert Whitlow book, as boring and addictive as I knew it would be. And today I started Jane Eyre, which has been interesting so far. It's a hard transition in use of language between the books I've read recently, not in choice of words, but in order of words. The time period the book was written, or the location the book or author are from change how its read a lot, I just skipped form 20th century to the 1860's or somewhere in that realm.

I met with some students at 8am at Oaks Christian School this morning, in Westlake Village. Beautiful campus and great facilities. One of the most well known Christian schools in CA, probably in the US. Many famous actors and athletes children go or have gone there. Joe Montana, Will Smith....some other athletes, etc. I've got Hollywood fever, name dropping left and right. Haha. I think I need to eat something.

I come home in two days! A fair in Victorville tomorrow night, a long drive back to Long Beach, and I fly out Friday morning. I am so excited, sleep in my own bed for at least two nights. And by at least two nights I mean, exactly two nights, and the I hit then road for other five days in Eastern Oregon. Home for a week after that though, so hope to see some of you during that time period.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Sept.28th- Ventura, Thousand Oaks, Santa Barbara,Ojai

I sit once again in a Starbucks. Beloved Starbucks, I feel like I should greet the people walking in "welcome to my home away from home," because I spend more time in Starbucks as a whole than anywhere else on the road. I'm directly under an AC vent, however, and its frigid.

I sat by the ocean for an hour before this. Walked around for a bit, found a perfect bench and sat and read for a good length of time. It was peaceful with the waves sloppily hitting the rocks beside me, I could even feel the ocean mist every so often. (((Side note- I don't know what I hit but this blog box just got big and became a different font....))))) As it was peaceful and beautiful, a perfect place to read, I'll probably smell like beach scum when I go out for dinner later this evening. Ah the price to pay for reading spots.

The last few days have flown by in a blur of family, driving and food. Since no church ever got back to me about Sunday to my dismay, and my families delight, I ended up having Saturday and Sunday to devote solely to them. It was awesome, and the perfect timing within my trip to have some more familiar faces around as I was hitting that extreme loneliness that sets in after two weeks alone. Needless to say, we ate, a lot of good food all weekend. We saw a lot of good people, and we caught up on a lot of good life stories. So much can change in a year, so I can't even imagine how much had changed in the eight years since my mom had been in Ventura.
Smell is equated with memory. Walking into my grandparents house, the distinct smell of their home feels like coming home. Walking into that familar smell brings back warm memories, memories that I probably couldn't even describe because I don't really even know what they are, but it more or less brings back a feeling of, home. Safety. Comfort.
Speaking of smells make me want a large dose of Wild Pear mop water to sniff in my room, not in a drug addicted way...well, a little bit. It's such a glorious smell, lemony fresh. Mmm... I love it.

I'm still on the search for a grey dress. I realize grey is one of those words that can be spelled with an E or an A, and that the majority of individuals use the A, however, I don't like the A. I use the E, and I use the E with purpose. Anywho, I tried like four more stores today for a grey dress and am having the hardest time finding one anywhere. Maybe as it gets closer to Christmas and winter, and Oregon, some grey dresses will start popping out of the woodworks because so far I can only find boodilicous ones with heaps of giantic glitter, or business suites fit for a lawyer. Neither of these I would particularly like to portray as a bridesmaid. Amazon.com hasn't even come to my rescue on this one, and we all know that really is my favorite place to shop. The excitment of first buying it online, and then secondly, receiving it in the mail. I'm basically paying Amazon to buy me a gift wrapped in a cardboard box. They might not splurge on the wrapping paper and bows, but they sure come through with exactly what I want, everytime.

I could go for a nap right now.

The fair in Santa Barbara last night was so hot. I'm not even kidding when I say the room we were housed in for the whole fair was probably 110 degrees or hotter the entire time. Since it was in an old school building, we first had to drag our bags and display cases up three flights of stairs, a feat in itself...and then schools were split into groups and placed in individual rooms. I for instance, had two other schools in my tiny math room. Then students and parents were free to wander about and pop into whichever rooms they'd life. We stayed fairly consistent, probably not nearly as busy as any CA schools there in the others rooms, but made some great connections. I had a mom stop by after and whisper to me "I just wanted you to know you were the best sales person here..." As much as I dislike the term salesperson in regards to my job, she meant it in the most complimentary way and was just trying to express her gratitude. That always makes a girl feel like thousand degree classrooms has a purpose and an end result...especially when I didn't intend to sale anything, I just told her the truth.

I've always known that I am a sower. I've never been much of a reaper or a harvester, but I can sow. This came to more of a realization when I was sitting talking to another Admissions Counselor from a small Christian university in the midwest. We'd been next to each other at every fair thus far, and have learned a lot about one another. Before you women get your mind wandering, it hasn't been romantic in any sense, purely platonic as he is engaged and I'm pretty sure we'd make great friends and nothing more even in other circumstances but he's an incredibly nice guy and a great person to chat with during slow times at fairs. So after days of sharing tables, hot rooms in Santa Barbara etc he said to me, "you know, what is God doing in your life? I feel like you know everything happening in my life and my story but I don't know anything about you yet." He continued with " you are a great listener. That's a really great quality in a person, especially a woman of God who wants to listen and ask questions in response, someone who is quiet and listens first, speaks second." I took a few thigns away from this conversation. 1- What a nice comment from someone I barely know. I always wander what someone walks away thinking about me. Not in a I care what people think about me but in a, was I a person I'd be proud of or respect. Would I think, that girl has someone I've got to have, she is so kind, etc. 2- I suppose I do listen more than I talk. To some regards. Some friends might beg to differ on that opinion, but in the general consensus of people. 3- I am a sower, not a reaper. Not a harvest, but a sower. What does that mean in my life. So much of what I think about on the road is application. Who am I becoming and who do I want to become. Is that the same thing, or on opposite sides of the spectrum? 4- Why do I have such a hard time answering the question "what is God doing in my life." Is it just me that has a hard time with that. Specific or general, intimate or just surface level. Maybe because I find relationship wtih God intimate, I find it an intimate topic in my life, that if someone really wants to know its going to need explaining in more than just a few simple words because a few simple words wouldn't even scratch the surface of intimate. I answered him of course, and more or less I told him some stuff I've been contemplating on the road and forcing willing people to read in this blog but these things go through my mind from even that simple question.

As another funny note, I've had headphones in since I got to this Starbucks, quite awhile ago. I just realized I never turned music on, and the music I've been listening to is the Starbucks music in the background. I agree more and more with my moms thought on me sharing some qualities with Katherine Hegel in the movie Killers. How did the station DooWoop get on my Pandora, what the heck is DooWoop. Deny.

That's all I got for now. As Gavin Degraw says- "You have to follow through." Granted, he's talking about feelings for someone, and giving your heart to someone, but it is true that in all other cirumstances in life we have to follow through. Words without action are pointless.Print on a paper. So I go with Gavin, my buddy and pal, we have to follow through.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Sept. 23-24

My mom made is safely to Bakersfield and has enjoyed the warm weather here while I ran around town for work. Today is filled with driving to Ventura. Unfortunately, no one got back to me from the school visits I attempted, so it looks like the day is filled with driving, with stops for water and resroom breaks instead.

Tyler told me she expects some good stories with my mom being around, so I only feel obliged to give you a few. The room we have right now is one king bed, so of course we're just sharing it. It might be true that last night "someone" woke me up in a panic. My mother, Tonja, was wondering if I could see the blinking red light on the tv. I of course could, so I sad yes. But then she wanted to know if the light was moving around the screen, the stationary red light at the bottom of the tv signifying that the tv is off. I told her no, its not, can I go back to bed please. Story #1- Done.

So not too many stories from the past few days.  I had an interesting school visit yesterday where when I showed up it was lunch time and they sent me to this table wtih a couple teachers sitting at it. Students started following me and before I could put anything on the table they just stood around me, so I handed out literature that way and stood and talked with this circle around me. It was weird, but entertaining I suppose.

Last night, when I got home from the college fair my mom and I got in the hot tub here at the hotel. It was beautiful, a full moon, warm water and palm trees, very relaxing. Anyway, when we came back in to change into pajamas, I had a black tank top, it disappeared! I can't find it anywhere, in my hand one moment and completely gone the next. I still can't figure out where it is, how does that even happen.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Sept.22nd- Bakersfield...AKA, PGE bill due

Tonight I stay in Bakersfield for school visits tomorrow and a Christian College Fair tomorrow night. Two nights in the same place! It's almost like winning the lottery, only with not as many fiscal benefits, or the excited "woohoo!"

My first visit of the morning I figured would be a handful of students tops, yet I had about 40 of them bright eyed and ready. I think we'll have some real interest from them. Part of my day consisted of driving around, I went to some random towns between Hanford and Bakersfield, which is a good stretch of road.

I think I'm really tired because the song by Perry "If I Die Young" makes me want to cry every time it plays. I can always tell when I'm tired or stressed by the amount of emotion I actually allow to show, so I think my watery eyes probably speaks volumes. I've been in this country kick, I can't get enough on the road. It might be in due part to the corn husks and green fields I pass one after another, or I'm just gettin' in touch with my blue grass roots.

I know I said a few posts ago how I want to feed the homeless on Thanksgiving and want to get involved in it on a consistent basis at home, and that's still true as of this very moment. Today though, my heart just went out to this man that was sitting with his dog at a gas station. So when I ran inside to use the restroom I couldn't help myself from buying some gatorade and various food items and then some tartar fighting gum (I realize how silly that sounds but I really thought he might like some clean feeling teeth) to bring out to him. So I gave it to him when I left, pumped some gas and took off to my next school visit. When I was pumping the gas I looked over and he was smiling, sifting through the bag and talking to his dog. I should've felt really good after that, doing something kind usually has that effect on the do-er and the receiver, but I just left wondering where he would get food tomorrow. There are so many homeless people, and I can't help but feel compassion for them, even individuals who made choices to get themselves in that position in the first place.

Did anyone watch the season premiere of Glee last night! I was so sad to miss it, it started at 8pm, when my fair ended, plus I had an hour drive after to get to my hotel for the night. Today, however, I definitely watched it for $5 on Demand, I couldn't help myself! I tried to watch it on hulu on my netbook but it kept freezing and skipping, all in all, I needed the full of effect of fantasticness. I'll admit....I'm really excited for this season to get going, I'm addicted to that show, and its a great break from the NCIS and Bones I watch so much of at night on the road.

During another of my drives today I was thinking, as the trend has gone, how much I become enmeshed with books that I'm reading. I finished the latest one that I got, I decided I really needed some Christian writing after the last two. "The Likeness" was a great book, but much like the last, it used some choice words but in an Irish accent and a British accent, so it was just so fitting for the character, not to excuse it. This is embarrassing, but apparently I've trained my mind to skip those things that I literally read it to say "F that or this..." or "ohmygoodness" or "crap" instead of other words that would be considered cursing or blasphemous (if I were to recall a particular sentence, I would remember the clean version, that weird). The taking the Lord's name in vain is the one that really does get me, I do not like that. I know you would think the girl who adores and has a secret word love affair with the term ass would not be so conservative with the rest, but I indeed am. You just have to admit ass is like the greatest most descriptive word, as long as its not paired with another word that turns into a white trash term, so really people, use some class when using the term ass.
So my newest books, Robert Whitlow's "Deeper Water" (I don't understand why I continue buying his books because I find them so incredibly boring at times but so intriguing as well) and then I also purchased Jane Eyre. I thought ahead this time, its taking me less than a week to finish a book, better buy two at a time.

Back to my original thought. I realized I become really immersed in the story. The last one was an undercover detective living with this group of graduate and doctorate students to solve a murder, not quite as cliche as it sounds I promise. The characters were so interesting, real academics who read every night, played and created music, didn't own a tv, lived in an old inherited house in the Ireland lanes surrounded by trees and a garden. I literally could see myself enjoying a conversation with them and partaking in their home cooked meals. Immersed. I thought my imagination had died down when my age increased, apparently it was just taking a nap because its back full force.

My mom should be here within 45 minutes! My uncle Todd is driving her from Fresno to Bakersfield, hope she can find something to do tomorow while I have school visits and a fair. :o) The pool, hot tub, near by stores, and abundance of books in my suitcase might suffice. All that to say, I'm so excited for her to join me! Conversation....with people over the age of 17 and not solely about Corban!

Life lesson learned for the day- when ordering lunch thinking I'll take most of this to go with me so I have some food in the hotel incase my mom gets hungry doesn't actually mean its going to happen. Nice thought. Fat chance.  I sat at Applebees with my new Roberty Whitlow boring book that I will eventually adore and ordered the three appetizer special thing. I thought, I'll eat one of them and bring the other two home. Home equaling hotel of the night of course. Yeah...that didn't happen. I ate one, picked at another and was stucked with food items in front of me that won't travel well in a warm car for hours. So like I said, nice thought...fat chance.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Sept. 21st, Dinuba-Fresno-Clovis-Hanford

I just took a big bite of cooked spinach, its leaving a bad taste indeed. Better, its now being masked by a coat of pesto and sundried tomato. Much better. I'm a walking commercial for Tide Sticks, as some delicious pesto also decided to grace my white skirt. Tide Stick to the rescue!

Last night I stayed in Dinuba, I loved it. Prayers must have been going out, which is much appreciated, because I felt like I got a pretty good nights rest. I was asleep before 11pm and only woke up once or twice in the night, that was exponentially better that the past weeks attempts. I'm currently sitting in a Starbucks, whats new. Must be a popular one because there wasn't even an opportunity to stalk a table and chair its so busy. I ended up sharing the handicap table, near an outlet, with a kid on his laptop, nice enough and quiet. Perfect. Probably looked to everyone else that I was hitting on him by asking to share the rather large table, and I'm okay with that as long as I get an outlet for my dead computer and free internet.

I have discovered another town I love- Reedley. I had a school visit there this morning, the counselors were so nice and friendly. I had a little extra time after so I went and walked the river a bit that was near the school before heading back into Fresno for more visits and a fair tonight. It was probably the most perfect floating river I've ever seen, just enough current to drift you down slowly, sleepily even. I was taking some photos, stepping through roots embedded into this hillside, and then flowing down into the riverbed, to get the best shot. I started noticing that the roots were moving, here and there....these fairly large brown lizards were racing around! I probably should've moved out of the roots with the fact that I have a skirt and sandals on, but I got distracted by some spider webs and watching the lizards. It did cross my mind that California probably has more poisonous and aggressive species of reptiles and arachnids, but I just didn't care, it was too beautiful outside and too intriguing. I do have to wonder what the few people sitting in their cars in the parking lot were thinking about the lady dressed in professional clothes rummaging around in tree roots. To each their own is what I say...

I think the rest of this week will go by quickly, with my mom meeting me tomorrow in Bakersfield. Just having someone to talk to makes the time go by quickly. Although my imagination does a pretty great job of entertaining me on the road, seriously, I literally wonder if I have a mental issue with how much my mind can wander and amuse itself for hours. Is that normal? I don't even know, and I have a psych degree, you'd think I'd know that answer. I play with bugs, that is my only defense. Well, if defense also equals evidence for not normal.

For family out there, I think this Thanksgiving we should serve food in the shelter. I actually want to do that on a consistent basis, but also don't want to do it alone. I know, whats this year gets going and it starts to get dark around 5pm it wouldn't be the most ideally safe situation to put myself in, so anyone else interested? I was thinking about that this morning.

I have a bruise on my left upper arm, where the humorous is. How did I get said bruise one may be asking? By getting hit by an elevator door. When I was leaving the Holiday Inn in Downtown Fresno, my bag was so incredibly heavy because I had a box of literature fresh from the mail on top of it as I tried to get into an elevator. Not quick enough, I think that demon machine wanted to crush my bones into powder. It hurt for like an hour after. Be proud, I didn't even curse or anything, not even in a British accent because that would've made it okay.

Perhaps, more to come tonight after the Fair and drive to the next city I'm staying.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Sept. 19th...20th? what day is it

I'm at that point when I don't really even know what day it is. I knew today was Monday, but I also thought saturday and sunday were also monday....so....really I was just bound to finally get it right one of these days. I am at a Starbucks in Fresno right now. I literally just stalked a much covetted table and chair for almost an hour and a half. That's not even an exaggeration, sadly. I was in the seat with a broken electrical outlet and in front of the door directly, so the breeze was hitting me. Now, since some chatty cathy's finally left, I stole their seat before they were even all the way out the door. I'm tucked in a nice corner, can see the entire store, and have a warm window with sunlight hitting my legs.Good things do come to those who wait.

I love Tracy Chapman. I made a bet last year with David if it was a woman or man...I won. Apparently he doesn't get out much, because obviously its a woman. :o) Although who am I to speak, I stalked a table and chair for over an hour, that doesn't exactly scream wild adventures.

I have been very international within this time frame though. Getting some work done for Salem, OR. Emailed back Kristy in Croatia. Talked with Hannah on slype in Poland, while she talked with someone in Albania and bought a ticket to Germany. See, all over the world. I'm driving to both Madera Nochos and Dinuba today as well. I've been looking for a spa in town that gives massages for not a million bucks, but nothing is open or I can't get through. My back hurts to bad, its radiating down a leg. I don't think that's a good thing. And I didn't sleep last night, barely at all, so my eyes are bloodshot. I look like I had a wild night, I wonder what the kids in my early class thought this morning...they were barely awake, so I'm sure they didn't even notice.

Can anyone recommend a good book? I've almost finished the one I picked up on like wednesday I think. The money I spend the most of on the road goes to books. I can't get enough, everytime I'm eating I'm reading, anytime I'm killing time between school visits and fairs, if I'm not emailing for work then I'm reading. It's times like this I almost wish I was a slower reader, it'd certainly help my pocket book.

I'm off for now. Perhaps I'll have more to add in later tonight or tomorrow. Hope everyone is doing well back home. Miss everyone.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Sept. 18th, Fresno

So yesterday I was in Morro Bay for the majority of the day, after visits, which went grandly. I was planning on speaking for a class for a short amount of time, ended up being an hour talk, it was awesome! I feel like since that class room I've just been driving, driving, driving....and I'm so tired of driving now. I think I'm permanently bent in a 90 degree angle from sitting for so long.
Morro Bay was a really interesting place, I'd definitely never been there before. It was fog central, almost an eerie town. I was housed with two older couples in my room...okay, not literally in my room, but it sure felt like it with how thin the walls were. The room was cute, and even as an outdoor access hotel room I felt very safe, probably largely in part to knowing there were happy older couples all around me. Apparently, according to Glenda and Gary on the right side of the room, they visited a house yesterday that was huge...and did you know the man who owns it did most of it himself and apparently has quite a nest egg stocked up. Compelling stuff. Left wall, they just watched the news and mumbled throughout the whole ordeal, therefore not as compelling.

If you've ever seen the Steven King movie The Fog, I'm pretty sure they just went to Morro Bay and filmed it there, minus the large insects and acid weaving spiders. Anyway, after leaving the foggilicious land I just drove for....ever, and then got to Fresno.

The drive took me through a highway I'd never been on before, to my knowledge, it was Hwy 41. It was absolutely beautiful. My first surprise was looking up from day dreaming and seeing neon colors, I seriously wasn't sure if I was daydreaming those or not, but there they were, fields of neon orange and neon yellow. Flowers! Thousands of flowers! Of course I had to stop and just gaze and take a few photos, it was so beautiful set against all green and browns of the hills and fields. As I continued driving I came into a pretty desolate part of the highway for the last few hours and just took the opportunity to think.

It's crazy that sometimes what it takes to hear your own voice is when you can't any longer actually hear your own voice. My voice drowns out my thoughts. I finally got to hear that deep rooted voice within me, the part that houses the passion- the love, the pain. It was one of the happiest, albeit longest, drives I've had in a long time.

One of the things that kept me occupied for awhile was thinking about if I won the lottery. At first I thought, what would I do if I won $50,000. I decided I would take out 10% for tithe first. With the remainder I would pay off my car completely, put around $10,000 in savings to accrue interest and be back up money. With the remaining sum I would put towards student loans.Then I thought what if it was in the millions, one million or 60 million, didn't matter. Here is what I decided, and believe or not this took a long time once I finally looked at the clock and realized how much I got sucked into my own imagination. So with millions I would pay off my car, pay off my student loans. I would first, however, take a tithe out and split it between a few churches and mission organizations. I would also pay off my brothers and aunts student loans and set aside a full college amount for my little sister. I would pay any debt my parents might have. I would buy myself a new home, nothing crazy fancy but I would be involved in the design and add in an art room. I would buy my parents a new home and create a full and comfy retirement for myself and them both. I would have them keep their current home and put it up for sell or rent, I was thinking rent for students at Corban or Willamette. I would lay down $20,000 for a house one of my aunts wants, the down payment they needed. I would make an anoynomous payment to pay off a couple friends student loan bills. I would make some investments and set a huge chunk to just accrue interest. As an immediate gratification, I would take Donica, Alissa and myself to Europe to backpack around for awhile, I think I would want us to travel how we normally do, except this time we would have a bit nicer hotels and perhaps a few more meals in a day, verses are like one actual meal a day in Mexico. Haha. Then I really got to thinking that I would like to start a Christian organization, adopting a village in much need of an economic boost, and find out what they are good at. Give them clean water, a school, a church and all the resources they would need, but help them create money on their own so the growth and economic standing would increase and continue by their own hands. Oh, and I also decided two more things. I literally in my mind did it this way too, thought of other things for awhile completely unrelated, and then added these on in the car. I thought I want to help kids at North, when I was there last week and when I did my internship in the career and counseling center my senior year at Corban, I saw so much need and not enough encouragement. I want to give them a scholarship to work towards, a school to be proud of, and someting that would help- I'm just not sure what. The other thing I thought of is I would start the Kendra Leigh Foundation, to help college kids with cancer. It's that odd in between time period where some students aren't on parents insurance anymore, but they don't work enough to really make money. I think Kendra would like to of helped people. Apparently I can spend money really quickly.
And that was what I came up with in my daze...

I thought about if I were to get married sometime soon what would I want as a wedding. It was crazy because I literally couldn't think of anything, it was just a blank. Apparently without the man in place I really don't know what I would do. Of course there are a few ideas out there still, I mean, I am still a woman and a thinker. :o)

I looked at the land that God made and gave to us. The beauty was breathtaking. I pondered what it was God had put me in this land to do. What is my purpose, what are my skills sets I haven't been using to His advantage. So much to consider. I think we all need some long solo car rides to really consider what life is all about, because its most certainly not about us, not about our comfort....interestingly enough that was what about my last Bible Study was about. It's Not About Me by Max Lucado, it was a really great book, I recommend it.

This is a long one, sorry. I'll put some photos up from the last two days.
The amazing breakfast that was delivered to my room at the Apple Farm. It was so good but I got full so fast. The was hands down the best scone I've ever had.





Thursday, September 16, 2010

Sept. 16th, San Luis Obispo...and Monterey and Pacific Grove.

I am just like the most pleased woman right now. Here I am, sitting in a canopy bed, the fire place going, a new book next to me, I just ate a delicious club sandwich (one of my all time favorite foods), and as a little revenge against calories I also picked up a couple pieces of Sees Candy as a little treat for the day- those are also next to me. The Apple Farm, my residence for the night, is absolutely adorable! And San Luis Obispo makes me feel like I'm driving around a huge zoo/Jurassic park, its beautiful. Huge hills surrounding this valley, trees, palm trees and green everywhere, its definitely one of the prettiest areas of California I've ever been in.

Today's events have changed dramatically, much like the climate and demographic. I started this morning off in fog and as a minority. The career center I spoke in this morning I was literally the only white person, every single person in this filled room was latino, which was cool but still an interesting change of dynamics. The morning and afternoon were in the 50's and 60's, cold, windy and like I said- foggy. It was like a fog machine followed me around for a few hours.
And then came the drive to San Luis Obispo, my private promised land of the week. Books, chocolate, and cute little water wheels outside my window changed this day around.

I just finished Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It was a great book, but definitely not for the easily offended. It offered some choice words, but they were British accented curse words...somehow that seems to make it less bad. I have no explanation over this thought process. Did I mention I have a basket of chocolate kisses and Martinelli apple juices that were waiting for me in my room? Or that I'm getting served breakfast to my room in the morning- fresh pastries, boysenberry jam, fresh fruit, vanilla yogurt, fresh squeezed orange juice, and coffee. I feel a little more than spoiled right now. If I was getting a back massage for free this very moment I might never leave. Anyway, it was an interesting book and he has a unique way of writing that I grew to enjoy. Getting on a suspense kick I bought another book from Borders as soon as I got into town today called "The Likeness." I read another one of her books that was on Targets top seller one of the past travel seasons that I simi enjoyed. They were plum out of all my favorite authors, or least the books I haven't read of theirs.

Funnny story of the day. So, I've been driving this cherry red rental car for a few days now right. Put quite a few miles in, today was over 200 miles in itself. I needed gas, finally. I had been driving for awhile, and started noticing that towns were becoming sparser and scarier so I decided to stop in Gonzalez I believe. I got out, tried to open the gas cap and couldn't get it so figured I needed to press a switch in the car. I spent about 5 minutes checking around everywhere and couldn't find anything to open the gas lid thing. Everywhere! Finally, I called my mom hoping that maybe she could google it for me, so I gave her the info for the car.....or at least the info I could figure out. She was able to get it at least, and began the google search while I continued checking every nook and cranny. Still nothing. Throughout this time being I was ready to also pee my pants from the obscene amount of water I've been downing to keep full and hydrated, and I was also wearing a skirt in a very windy town.....
So, I get out., one last time and tug on the gas lid thing and it indeed popped open. Woohoo! No switch needed within the car, it was just a manual normal open it up case. So pumped my gas, because I know how now and moved my car to another spot. To sum up the windy skirt segment, yes, the wind did catch my skirt and yes I probably flashed a few people. And yes, I did have a guy wave at me and smile real big. To sum up the pee like a racehorse segment, I did find the litte bathroom attached to the gas store, it was much like those in horror movies. Completely disgusting, murky blue tiles and dirty. Yuck. However, I have my trusty bath and body works spray antibacterial, which covered my hands and my steering wheel after that visit.

I noticed another random event during my car drive as well. It started out with the majority of the commercials being one of three things. One- fast food. Two-a beach party thing in watsonville. Three-the fact that there is a law office that will now bail out loved ones from jail. What a way to bring comfort.

And now for some photos from today.... :o)













Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Sept. 15th, Salinas, CA

Today has been an interesting day. I didn't really do much this morning, except drive around and order 70 dollars worth of pizza. I was the speaker for a whole youth group tonight, middle and high school students...hence the abundance of pizza. It went really well, they were an awesome group and had so many questions, it was refreshing to see their interest and their energy. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It amazes me at my comfort level of talking to larger groups of people. Those who know me well, know that I don't particularly like to speak for large groups or be the sole form of entertainment for a group. I don't mind making jokes and being part of the hub bub of whatever is happening, in fact I love that, but I'm not a front stage kind of girl. Tonight was natural and comfortable as can be, amazing how the Lord works you know.

Another high light of my night was coming back and having a commercial on tv reference the powerful skills of the black mamba. I have this obsession with green mambas which stemmed from the book "The Poisonwood Bible," that I read a long time ago. Like 3-4 years ago anyway, amazing book, I highly recommend it to any reading fanatics.

And the second high light of my night after the youth group event was the commercial on the channel USA, with the actors stating "I am a character because..." Well, Gus from Psych states "I am a Christian."  I just think that's awesome, because he's funny. And I like funny people.

If you're picturing Salinas as this exotic beautiful city near the sea, don't. Stop that train of thought immediately because it is far from it. It is a blah city, some low grade shopping places, a really scary mall and mostly fast food. The city is surrounded by fields that are being harvested right now, mostly greens. Those areas are beautiful. I wanted to stop earlier they have the big machines pulled up and people are lining the rows picking and sorting, with wide brimmed  hats on, sleeves rolled up...it really was a beautiful moment to past. It also shows the hard work so many people put into even the simpliest thing, such as lettuce. I've had lettuce three times today, I wonder what field it came from.

Gross moment of the day. I drove through Wendy's after speaking tonight to get something for dinner and I got water, a side salad and a grilled chicken sandwich which I promptly disassembled and ate without the bun. The gross moment is when i took a drink of the water and it tasted slightly like fries. Gross right! Fry water. Now thats just wrong. So very very wrong. Starting tomorrow I do believe I'll be in a much prettier area, so hopefully some pics will come. Didn't take any today. I'm staying at an awesome hotel tomorrow, which I'll disclose after I stay there....call me paranoid, but I dislike writing where I am before I'm there, its just too weird to have on the world wide web. However after leaving it tomorrow, I'm excited for what I'll have seen. The room is suppose to be pretty sweet.
Good night!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Sept. 14th, Watsonville, CA

Last night after the fair in San Jose I drove the long, windy and bumpy highway to Watsonville, California. I put my glasses I wear for night time to great use, in fact, I challenged them to their brink...that's how crazy that highway was.

Yesterday while I was cruising the internet and posting yesterdays blog I was sitting back in this plush leather chair at a Borders Cafe and minding my own business when I man walks up and loudly starts asking me if my sister works at the cafe down the street. I tell him I'm not from here and continue on my work, however, he proceeds to stand there in this dead silent cafe, people busily typing or concentrating on their book at hand, me if he can have my number so he can show me around town whenever I"m there.... Yeah, I politely declined. Promise it didn't have anything to do with his braided beard that was probably around 5-7 inches in length, or the smell of smoke surrounding his presence....haha.

Last night, this is a random side note, I proceeded to talk to someone and kept sounding like I was some Canadian. My tone was very accent filled, which is funny since I don't have an accent... I don't know how this happens. Another random side note, I love Covert Affairs and am watching the season finale right now, I'm sad its going to be over. I've also decided that the indian dude in it is very attractive, very very attractive. I'm just full of these random side notes.I also want to see the move You Again solely because they use the term best frenemies.




Some people should be fired from making commercials. Some are a mockery to America's intelligence, as well as just irritating....that's all I got for tonight. But I am posting some pics from today.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Sept. 12th....still San Jose, soon to be Watsonville

I shouldn't have had that caffeine as late as I did last night because I had a hard time falling asleep. In college I could down 3-4 coffees in a single day and not even notice a difference in my energy. Now, at the ripe old age of 24 if I don't have a coffee in the morning I have the noon headache, aka, withdrawl, and if I have coffee after 4pm I have the "I cant sleep" lets have a dance party and then clean the whole house jitters. I love that my comparison actually makes it sound like I take meth. Does anyone remember the commercials they played years ago for met? The music was always "ooooo.meth......meth." Kendra and I thought that was the best commercial ever and we would often sing the background music to each other, perhaps a morbid sense of humor but funny you have to admit.

My school visits went well today. Even with a GPS I still miss turns here and there, and today when I missed a turn I ended up in front of PF Changs, Nordstrom Rack and a Starbucks...seriously.....this is not a joke. I think God looked down on me and thought "Casey words hard, lets put her in heaven." Did I go into Nordstrom rack and spend too much money- the answer is YES! And I loved every minute of it. But really, it was cold here today- unexpectedly cold so I have black legging type pants (which I've been looking for a replacement and found, in the same brand, at Nordstroms today) and I hated my outfit and felt uncomfortable. So I bought a shirt on sale and then 40% more off, real cute and professional too and I changed in the parkng lot before a school visit.

Sometimes a good sale can really make up for stinky fart plane rides. Sometimes, life really can be fixed by a pair of cute jeans with flip embellished pockets that fit just perfect.

One thing I do love about the bay area is the high ratio of different ethnicities. I spoke with an asian man having trouble with his internet on his laptop and a french african man who also helped the asian man. Accents and other cultures are just so interesting, I love the diverstiy.

I don't have much to report, nothing funny has happened so far today. But I do have a college fair tonight, so the possibilities are really endless. I did take a picture of my rental car to prove how bright and red it really is but will post that later. Much like last year I hope to get some great photos taken and I'll try to put them up as I go. There is some really beautiful land out here.

Thoughts of the day-
1. Why are the majority of books red or yellow in the reference and education section? Yield and stop, I'm not in a car driving so I'd like to see some more colors please.
2. Why does the lady working at the Borders Cafe have a side mullet and do you think she did it herself? I don't even understand how this is possible, but she has a side mullet and there is no other description that would fit her unsightly hair style.

Sept 11th, San Jose, CA

Today marks the start of another travel season, my third to date.

I'm glad I don't believe in the belief that how the start of a trip goes tailors how the trip as a whole goes because last year and this year have not started all that great. I had a great drive with Kirrin to the airport, and all that went well, but then it started downhill with my luggage weighing 5 lbs too much...translation- I must donate my kidney to pay for the bag. I had literature in there, otherwise I would've unloaded it, there was just no where to unload it. So okay, that's not so terrible, and I ended up having a great chat with the man who was throwing away my shampoo and conditioner for being .6 oz too much. He said "I can read people pretty well, probably because I've had so many jobs over the years (he was an older gentleman), but I can tell you're intelligent and have a high IQ. I bet you're pretty good at science too, and very detail oriented." SO funny! Well, thank you Mr. security man taking away my mode of cleanliness, I'm glad you find me an intelligent individual. :o) It was pretty funny, I couldn't even be bad that security took me 15 minutes while they scanned my bag three times.

So next, I get on the plane, near the front, thank goodness, on last and off first. I sat next to a lovely older woman who was on the larger size and took part of my seat up, and by lovely I mean a real grouch who could throw down a beer. I figured, well,it's chilly, her body warmth will keep me warmer so really she's doing me a favor. The bad part was the gas that persisted for the entire plane ride. It was teenage boy who ate muchas gracias for a straight week bad, except in a older woman form. To give you a mental picture it was so terrible that I literally had to stick my face into my book to breathe at some points. I've literally never been near such an unforeseen smelll that so violently attempted to take refuge in my nostrils. I put up a strong fight, but I fear the stank won this time.

Things have been better now. I made it to my hotel, which they gave me a warm cookie as a welcome gift, I have a pretty sweet rental car, cherry red hatchback of some form. Should be easy to find in a parking lot, or a black out. I'm at the Double Tree in San Jose tonight. Is it a sad fact or a fact that shows how easily pleased I am that I was so excited that the bathroom supplies they provide are Neutrogena? I love Neutrogena!

I've thought ahead for this year as how to make this travel season seem more like a vacation. i've purchased room spray to spray in every hotel for a fresh scent, masking the hotel goers before me. I've also purchased a Burts Bees pamper kit, just some odds and ends to make life to feel more luxurious.

Tomorrow starts off with a bang with school visits, a college fair and then a drive to a town about an hour away afterwards. The part of town I'm in is very near the airport and not too trafficy, however, getting into a larger city I get this itch to leave as soon as possible. It's not even that I hate large cities, but I hate large cities while I'm working, they add this whole other stress to the day. Large cities for vacation or hanging out are a blast though, don't get me wrong. And David, I'm not dissing your hometown, the parts I've seen are actually pretty lovely- for the most part. Haha. But I can't wait to get out and get into my comfort zone, those smaller towns between fresno and ventura, both off I-5 and the coastal highway.

To get dessert or not to get dessert....this is the question. Tomorrow I start a diet with Andrea, would've started today but its a little difficult to choose what foods while driving.
Okay, well I'll post this tomorrow, it costs to use internet in this hotel and that's just not worth it to me. Later!