November and December 2011

It has been far too long since I have given an update, so I will do my best to give you some highlights from my November and December. 

Visitors from Salem

Early in November, my good friend Jenna and her mom, Julie, came down from Salem to visit me.  It seemed that they brought the rain with them.  I picked them up from the airport and we headed straight to Disneyland, but poured down rain while we were on our way.  We stopped in Monrovia for dinner, got soaked while walking to the restaurant, had a great dinner, but also experienced what happens in old California buildings when it rains…the roof leaks.  Water as dripping in from the ceiling, thankfully not on our food, but the workers and owner didn’t seem too concerned.  We thought that the weather might mean that Disneyland wouldn’t be too crowded, but to our surprise it didn’t seem to make a difference.  It was a little chilly the two days we spent there, but it didn’t rain on us.  We enjoyed the World of Color (show at California Adventure), went on rides at both parks and even enjoyed ice cream for dinner before heading back to Pasadena that Sunday evening.  We spent a couple of days in Pasadena.  Jenna and Julie were able to do some exploring by foot while I had class and Jenna and I spent Monday evening checking out a restaurant in Old Town Pasadena and explored campus and city hall.  It was so great to have visitors and to get to show them what my life is like down here.

Me, Jenna, Mickey, and Julie.

Ice cream for dinner in "the happiest place on earth."

At Pasadena City Hall

Thanksgiving

I spent Thanksgiving in Pasadena and planned to have dinner with my Cohort leaders, Alli and Chuck, and friends Renee and Donny.  Unfortunately, on my way to pick up Donny and Renee from campus, I noticed that my car wasn’t running like normal.  We didn’t have far to go, so I figured that it would make it.  I was wrong.  It stopped and wouldn’t start again after we stopped at a stop light on Lake Ave. (a main street in Pasadena).  I called AAA and they were there within 15-20 minutes.  I was so thankful that they were working and able to help so quickly!  We had a really nice tow truck driver, who offered us to join their Thanksgiving dinner at the local AAA mechanic shop, which happens to be two blocks from my apartment.  He then dropped us off at Alli and Chuck’s.  After the car mishap we had a great Thanksgiving dinner, enjoyed playing dominoes, and relaxing together. 

The next day, the mechanic called and told me that it was my starter coil that went out.  I went ahead and had them replace my cracked radiator, while I had it in and received a discount for being a AAA member.  My car was done and ready to go that Saturday!

Pasadena Wind Storm 2011

My block, there were several trees down.

Some of you probably heard of the big wind storm that hit Pasadena.  It was my last week of classes before finals; we were almost finished giving final presentations in my night class when the wind started picking up.  I made it home and the wind only got stronger as the night went on.  Christina and I got candles out and ready, but our power never went out.  We stayed up talking and listing to our neighbor’s flower pots fall and shatter on their balcony.  When we finally did decide to go to bed, we might as well have stayed up because neither of us got much sleep.  The whole building shook with the wind.  I could hear shingles blow off in the wind.  The wind went on until 6 or 7 the next morning.  Campus was closed that next day due to several trees down and some damage to two of the buildings.  They were able to clean it up for the last day of class.  The day after the storm, since I didn’t have class, I decided to take a little tour surveying the damage around down town.  There were piles of debris on the side of every street.  On my block alone there were three or four trees down and part of our fence was down, but we were lucky.  One of my classmates had a pinecone fly through their kitchen window, and many were out of power for a week or more.  The city is still working on clean up and it has been more than a month since the storm, but they are getting there.

Finishing up Fall Quarter

Gary Sinise as Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump

The end of the quarter was quite busy, as you can imagine!  I spent a lot of time in the library and studying at home.  However, I did manage to squeeze some fun in.  Christina and I went to Disneyland the Sunday before finals in order to see our friend Cynthia sing in a large choir that went along with the reading of the Nativity story.  The celebrity reader was Gary Sinise that played Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump.  I was shocked that they would have such a thing at Disneyland.  The choir was made up of a few churches from the area and was absolutely huge!  They sang Christmas carols as the story progressed.  The reading ended in Gary Sinise sharing about his foundation which supports veterans and their families, rather than a prayer as we would usually hear at church.  It was kind of an unusual and anticlimactic ending, but the actual reading and carols were great.

Gary Sinise with the choir in the background.

Another highlight of the trip to Disneyland was seeing all of the Christmas decorations!  The Small World ride was my favorite.  It had colorful lights up all over the outside, and in the ride they sang Christmas songs and it was decorated all Christmassy.  We also were able to see the special Christmas fireworks from the snow covered Castle, which ended in it snowing foam all over the audience.  Christina was especially happy because the Pirates of the Caribbean ride was open after being closed for a few months.  

In front of Small World with Christina.

The Small World lights.  I love them!

In front of the castle after the fireworks show.

Annie, Sue, Ann, Christina, and me at the Christmas cookie party.

Later that week we had our final party of the quarter.  Finals were still going on, so it was kind of an open house where friends could stop by for a study break for hot chocolate and Christmas cookies.  It was a fun way to end the quarter!  Unfortunately, Christina and I both had a final due the next day, so we stayed up late and both managed to get our papers done on time.

Reflection

Looking back on my first quarter on campus, I can see that I have grown in faith, intellectually, spiritually, and I have stepped out of my comfort zone finding comfort and gaining the ability to feel at home at a place that was once new and even foreign to me.