NorCal

So my friend Caroline couldn't come on the trip because her friends had to work. I left at about 9:20 and got into Vallejo at 3:30. I did the trip in 6 hours and ten minutes which is a new record for me haha. I hung out with my sister and her boyfriend Rob for about 24 hours. We bought Rock Band 2, which is awesome, and played a bunch of other games too. We also watched Pick Of Destiny, which was pretty funny. I came up north about 2:30 on saturday and went over to Steve and Matt's house. Steve, our friend Mike, and I went out and lets just say it was a crazy night. I drank a little too much but it was a really fun time. I got to see a bunch of people that happened to be there which was weird lol. It was fun even though I felt sick until about 1 this afternoon. Tonight Im meeting with some friends for dinner and probably going to try to see a few other people.

Merry Christmas

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with friends and family and that everyone receives and gives everything they want. Happy Holidays to all.

Merry Christmas Eve!

So I saw Seven Pounds last night with my friend Caroline. It was pretty good and really sad, so if you don't like sad movies it might not be for you. It had a pretty confusing plot, we were trying to figure out what was going on throughout the whole movie and didn't really figure it out haha. Anyways it was a good night though and a lot of fun.

I spent yesterday downloading a ton of music; got some new akon and some xmas music that I have been meaning to download. I ran a mile and a half, after running 4 miles two days ago. Its nice to get back into running. I've been doing a little lifting too and its always nice to wake up and have that sore feeling in your chest. I'm suppose to play tennis today at noon with a friend, but it looks like it might rain hmm. It would be nice to play once before I leave for Northern California, but I'm feeling a little lazy too. It feels like this December has gone by too fast and I haven't really been able to enjoy the holiday season as much as I would like. Tomorrow should be a good day though, get to hang out with my dad and stuff. I hope you all have a great holiday.

Uconn basketball and grades

I finally got to watch my beloved Uconn Huskies basketball team play today. Their men's team is ranked #2 in the nation and their women are ranked #1. Since they are from back east, I rarely get to see them unless they are on national tv. Today was such a day when they played the #7 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs. It was one of the best regular season college basketball games I've seen in a long time. Uconn started off hot and led by 11 early but Gonzaga came back and led by 11 with about 11 minutes left in the game. Uconn fought and crawled back and A.J. Price, their senior guard, hit a huge three with about 8 seconds left to tie the game and force overtime. Uconn pulled away in OT and won the game. It was awesome to watch, and different from many Uconn teams in 2 respects. First, they were excellent from the free throw line, something that traditionally is a bad area of the game for the Huskies. Secondly, they fought back when they were down and pulled out a win against a potential final four team. I think Uconn has a legitimate shot at the Nat'l championship for both Men's and Women's this year; exciting times. They play Buffalo in football for a bowl game coming up too, so Uconn's major sports are doing well.

Grades... My final grade was posted this morning. Proseminar for Poli Sci: A, Central Asian comparative politics: A, Terrorism in Africa: A- = 3.9 GPA. I'm so happy and surprised to do so well in my first quarter of grad school. My first four teaching credential classes have been 3 a-'s and 1 a; so in all my classes so far i have gotten all a's and a-'s. Pretty awesome and I just finished my 5th teaching class and will get either an A or A- in it too. Hopefully I can keep it up. Im really happy. Hope everyone else had such a happy day too, talk to you later.

How Sweet it is

Well I finished my online teaching class today, so I am officially and completely done with school until January 5th, which is when my next online class starts. My next quarter of graduate school starts on January 12, so I have a nice 2-3 week period coming up here. I went for a quick run today only 2.5 miles, I'm slowly getting back into running more now that school is over. I didn't run for like 3 weeks at the end of the quarter and it sucked. Its nice to get back into it for sure.

Oh! a totally cool thing happened. To park at my school is 85$ a quarter, not the end of the year but still a nice chunk of money. Well on Monday I went for a run before my buddy came down and I saw a parking permit on the sidewalk in my neighborhood. Well I picked it up and took a few steps before realizing it might belong to the house in which the side walk was in front of. So I took it and tossed it in their yard next to the truck parked there. Well when I went running today it was still sitting there so I snatched it. First, if it belonged to someone who lived there why would they let it sit outside for almost a week when it has been raining, windy and cold? Second, its worth 85$. So that was a stroke of good luck I guess, I'm definitely happy about it.

My last grade still hasn't been posted yet so I'm waiting on that. I did get a check for 3,000$ in the mail today, too bad its from my loan to pay for my teaching classes haha. Oh well its nice to have anyways in case something crazy happened. I have been talking with my friend Caroline and we finally have hammered out the details for our trip which is awesome. We are going to leave next friday (day after xmas) around 2pm after she gets off work and then we will be coming home probably around midnight or 1am monday night/tues morning. It should be a nice little trip to see a few more people even though I was just up there a month ago. Once again, there is too many people I would like to see and not enough time, but I'll try my best. Anyways hope everyone has a great weekend.

One week to Christmas!

I really just realized today how close to christmas it is. I normally am obsessed with christmas all through December, but I have been so busy that besides decorating the tree I haven't really thought about it too much. Well, I had a great visit with my friend Steve. He got down about 10:00pm on monday night and we talked until about 4:30am. We slept in and headed to San Diego in the late afternoon. We met up with our buddy Mike and went out to dinner down in Pacific Beach (picture above). After we went back to his house and starting to drink a little and play some ping pong, which was fun. Somehow I managed to beat my friend Mike who I am like 0-15 against lifetime haha. I had some really lucky shots. Anyways, we headed over to this Irish pub called the Blarney Stone in Clairmont, which was totally fun because they had some good drink deals and had Rock Band going. It was the best idea, instead of having a live band or music playing you just have Rock Band set up and have people at the bar take turns playing. It was pretty awesome, I played one song on guitar and another on drums so that was fun. Then, we headed down to Pacific Beach and went to the Pacific Beach Bar and Grill after checking out a few other spots. It had started to rain so there wasn't a ton of people out, but PB bar and grill was pretty packed. We hung out until about 1:30am and then headed back to Mike's house and went to bed.

The next morning, we got up around 10:00am and played a little Tiger Woods 09. We just hung out for a few hours trying to decide what we wanted to do. About 4am, it started to absolutely pour rain. I felt like I was back in Northern California, it was raining so hard. It was still raining after we got up, so instead of going to the mall like we were planning, we went to the movies and saw the new James Bond. "Quantom of Solace" was good, I liked it more than Daniel Craig's first Bond movie Casino Royale. After the movie, Steve and I blew out and came back to Moreno Valley. The rain had stopped while we were in the movies, but as soon as we left to drive home it started pouring again so it was a bummer he had to come down to crappy weather. We got home and watched some basketball for a while. Then we went to Bj's for dessert and drinks for a little which was fun. Bj's pizookies are legit for anyone who likes dessert. There is nothing like a huge cookie with vanilla ice cream on it. We came back home, talked with my dad for a bit, and then watched the new Indiana Jones movie since Steve had never seen it. After that we went to bed.

I woke up this morning at about 9:30am and Steve had already left. So we had a fun little jaunt down to San Diego. Two of my three grades for school have already been posted, but I'm going to wait out on posting the grades because I want to wait until I get the third one (There might be a small celebration haha). Today, I just have been hanging out - I watched Prince Caspian (Awesome Movie) and now I'm watching Survivorman, which is about Les Stroud (the guy in the picture above) surviving in different environments. I'm going up north again in about 8 days so I just have work this weekend, then just x-mas and hanging out next week before I leave. Hope everyone is having a great week.

Monday monday

Saturday night was a fun night. My dad and I went to my uncle's x-mas party and it was a blast. They had a keg, like 30-40 people, food, beer pong, and a white elephant. I got a medieval knight's helmet which is pretty sweet. My dad got crown royal glasses and a 60$ bottle of wine. So it was fun especially since I had worked 9 hours that day. Yesterday I worked 6 hours and then i played xbox with two old buddies - Garrett Kern and Randy Avalos. It was a good time. Today, I was going to go riding quads with my dad (we have 2), but it is raining down here so its a no go. My friend Steve is probably leaving right about now to come down, so hopefully the rain will lighten up for his ride. Anyways thats about it for now, Ill blog a little later.

Nice day

Well I have to say it has been nice for the last two days not having to worry about school assignments (besides my credential class). Just been relaxing, ran for the first time in 3 weeks (I almost died because im so out of shape), and played tennis with a buddy last night. I'm at work right now until 4 and I am almost done with this week's assignments for my teaching class. Then next week, I just have to take these 2 tests and do like one assignment; so im pretty much done with this class. The good thing is too I think they give us like 12 days off, the next class starts after x-mas sometime, so i'll have a couple weeks with no school period. I have to go schedule another elective class I keep forgetting to do that. I think i'll do that after I finish blogging here.

I had a nice unexpected call from a certain Jason Stowers today. It was good to talk to him and we spend about 20 minutes on the phone together. When I go up north around x-mas we are going to get together and go over some football stuff, which is something I always enjoy. I had another unexpected call from a certain Laura Inman too, which is always nice and we talked for a bit about John Legend. John Legend is the man people I don't know how many times I need to say it but go check him out. Thats about it for now, my friend Steve will be down monday sometime so i'm looking forward to hanging out with him. Sayonara for now.

DONE!!!

My first quarter of graduate school is officially over. I turned in my group's Africa compilation tonight so I have turned in everything! It feels good to be done, and now its time for the waiting game... What kind of grades will I get? Theres a possibility of getting straight A's but I think I will get either two A's and one B, or one A and two B's. Either way its a good first quarter start. I have one A guarenteed and the other two classes could go either A or B since my grade is based off like 2 assignments in each class. I wrapped and sent off all my x-mas presents so im done with that too, except for finding some thing for my mom. I might just send her a card. Oh! I won 70$ last weekend in a football pool. My dad's work has a football pool each week and I won so that was a nice little boost, helped my get my little sister a gift, and pay my dad the $20 I kept "forgetting" to give him.

In other news, I started reading a fiction book from the Roman times that is good so far; Ill write more on that as I get into it, im only 100 pages in. My friend Steve is coming done in 5 days for 3-4 days. We are going to SD to hang out with our buddy Mike for 2 days and spend the rest here. Sorry if I already wrote about this I didn't look at the blog before I posted. Also, I am going back up north again the weekend after xmas which i have off from work. I plan on leaving friday the 26th, and probably driving home monday the 29th. I have to talk to my friend Caroline, who is going to ride up with me, and see what her schedule looks like.

I think thats about it. One of my professors is having a going away party on friday at the school and then i guess a bunch of students and faculty are going out after. It starts at 4 and I get off at 4 but Ill probably shoot up anyways and just be a little late. Oh yeah, on Saturday night my Uncle is having an xmas party at his house in Palm Desert. Should be fun, with a white elephant and all that jazz. Anyways, thats all for now, Take care.

Why do good days have to have bad turns to them?

So this is about how I felt earlier. The day started off great, was pretty much done with school, getting ready for my interview with National. So I get to National and I find out that I actually can't student teach until I have finished my coursework, which won't be until June. Hmm... I wonder why my advisor would: 1. schedule my classes in a way that I didn't get all of the requisites out of the way first and 2. tell me that after completing my first 3 classes I would be eligible to student teach. So I tried really hard not to get too angry because I still had to do my interview which I did a pretty good job on the lady seemed to like me enough. The next wonderful thing to happen was that I was suppose to submit my group's compilation for my terrorism in africa class. I had finished my portion, incorporated one group member's work, and then I never heard from the other group member. Now im not really mad at him because he is usually nails, but coupled with what had happened earlier I was just like come on you can't do this to me. I never even heard from him either, I hope he is okay, I just called him to check. I talked to the professor too and he said it was cool to turn it in tomorrow. Its not actually due until wednesday really so its not a big deal I just want to get it in and over with.

So, that pretty much sucked. The good news is that I really will be done with school tomorrow. I have one more quiz to take in my comparative politics class, turn in my final paper for that class tomorrow, email my analytical book review and final exam essay for another class, and turn in my Africa compilation. So I will be legitimately done. The silver living too I guess is that I can really load up on classes next quarter and the spring quarter. That way, when I student teach in the fall I will just have to student teach and take my core classes. If I can swing it right, ill be completely done with my electives after the spring quarter. That way I'll only have two courses left to take which are the core ones ill take in the fall and then the winter quarter. That way I can focus on my thesis, student teaching and only one class. So maybe it happened for a reason. It just really pissed me off that my advisor gave me false information. Its been my experience in college that advisors and counselors really just jerk you around and never give you the information you need. Maybe I should be a college counselor or write a book on it, or something haha. Anyways sorry to vent, but I don't get worked up to often and this was just one of those days. I did get 40$ back from selling my books to school, go Coyote bookstore haha. Oh man alright Im gone, hopefully my next post will be a little more pleasant.

The Craziness is coming to an end!

Wow, sorry I haven't written on here in a few days. I have been insanely busy. First, on friday, I edited and finished my 25 page paper for my comparitive politics class. Then, I spent most of the day doing the work for my online teaching class. I had to do discussion board posts, a power point, and create a lesson plan using a program called Inspiration which I had never used before. Then I called and set up my interview for student teaching (you have to interview with the placement coordinator before you can get placed), so that interview is today. Then late friday night I got a email from my comparitive politics professor with the take home final. I thought it was not going to be assigned until tuesday of this week but apparently not. So Saturday I had to answer two essay questions with my answers needing to be between 7-10 pages each. So i finished that on saturday. Then sunday, I edited those, printed them out, and printed out my 25 page paper. Then I spent a good amount of time on my Sudan compilation yesterday. So all I have to do is turn all those papers into class tonight. Then I have to finish doing my sources for my Sudan compilation and then compile my other two group members work into mine and then turn that in tonight too. Its been a crazy week, I have written about 50 pages this week (I wrote 9 in another class on monday); but it feels good to be about done with the quarter. I have to take a small quiz tonight and another tomorrow night but that is nothing.

Anyways, my buddy is coming down in a week for 3 days so that will be fun. We are going to go to San Diego for a night or 2 and then just hang out. I'm also going to go back up to Auburn for a few days at some point over christmas break. Oh yeah I decorated my x-mas tree on saturday night too so im definately in the holiday spirit. Thats all I have for now, hope everyone is doing good.

808s and Heartbreak

So I know a lot of people don't like Kanye West, personally I think he is way misunderstood. However, you can't argue that this guy doesn't make fire and work harder than almost anyone in the music industry. I saw him live at the Glow In The Dark Tour and I can tell you that I have never seen a better performance in my entire life. Anyways, his new cd 808s and Heartbreak is not a rap cd, its a r&b cd that he uses auto-tune on to sing. Auto-tune is like the cher thing from a few years back where you computerize your voice. The Cd is about his mom Dr. Donda West passing on earlier this year and him breaking up with his long-time fiance. Anyways if you like good music with a lot of emotion, you will absolutely love this cd. Its been on repeat on my computer as I work on school work and in my car all week long since I got it.

School update: I finished my 25 page paper today, what a relief. For my Africa class, the teacher gave me an example of the compilation and its going to be a lot easier than I thought. My group definately made the right choice when we chose to do this project instead of the regular class. Not only is it a lot easier, but it is something that is actually going to be used by the NSA, which is awesome. Anyways, thats all I got but go check out 808s and Heartbreak with an open mind and you might find a new artist that you respect and can connect with a little. Oh, and go donate to the Jimmy V fund! http://www.jimmyv.org. Much love to you all

Jimmy V Foundation

To Do List:

1. Write 25 page paper - Progress: 17 pages

2. Take Home final - Program: starts on 12/10

3. Terrorism Complilation - Progress: Have information and maps, just need to compile

Sorry just doing a quick to do list for school, which ends in about a week :). The quarter system is wonderful for all of you semester students. I had never done quarters before I got into Grad School, its only 10 weeks so its a little compact, but it goes by so fast, its really nice!

Anyways on to the really important stuff: The man above is Jimmy Valvano, former head coach of the North Carolina State Mens Basketball team. He died of cancer when he was in his 50s, which is much too young for anyone to die. Anyone remotely a fan of college basketball should know who this man is as Dick Vitale talks about him often as they were good friends and they have a week called the Jimmy V Classic each year. Oh... what a coincidence... that is this week! December 3-10. He also has a cancer foundation in his name called the Jimmy V fund. They take 100% of the money they receive and put it towards research and treatment. This is the second straight year that I have donated and I plan on doing it until I die. If you need inspiration for anything in life go watch on youtube "Jim Valvano Espy Acceptance Speech". It is from 1993 and is what that picture above is from. I wear a blue band on my left wrist that says "Don't give up, Don't ever give up". Well that is from that speech and he was just an amazing man. My papa (dad's dad) died of colon cancer a little over 8 years ago at the age of 68, which is still too young. I guess you can say that I have a passing interest in solving the cancer issue as I'm sure many people do.

Go do something special for the holidays and donate to this fund. They take 1 dollar and they take 1,000,000 dollars. You will be making a difference in someone's life and it always feels good to contribute in some way since most of us are too busy or not in a position to do so. Especially in the holiday spirit. God bless you all and I wish you all wonderful health for yourself, friends, and family. Talk to you soon.

What a Good Day

Hey Everyone!

So I had a great day yesterday. First, I got the results back from my CSET and I passed all 3 sections. This means that I can student teach and get my teaching credential now. I'm really happy that I passed all 3 because each section is like 70$ so its a really expensive test. Then, class got out last night 2 hours early and that was the last time I have that class because we are turning our final in over the internet. So I was home at like 8:30pm and I figured "I should finish my last essay since its still early". So I finished my last essay for that class last night. Then, when I woke up this morning I did my Final exam essay. So basically, I'm completely down with one class which is nice, because I have a lot of work left in my other two classes.

What else.. I started putting up those posters I bought. I put up the Vitruvian Man and the Great Wave. I'll probably put the rest up later today or tomorrow maybe. I have 2 quizzes to take in my Comparative Politics class tonight, so I already studied for those. In that class, the big assignment is a 25 page paper. I already have written about 11 and a half pages so Im probably going to work on that for a little bit today before class. Hmm, thats about it; thought I had more to talk about. See ya later.