Weekend of Fun

My life in the bay area is getting more fun the more I'm down here. (I'm still a little homesick for Oregon, though) I've been making more friends and last weekend was actually pretty busy having fun with them. Friday night I met up with "the girls" at Va De Vi, a fancy wine bar in Walnut Creek. Downtown Walnut Creek is a pretty cute little town. There are neat shops and restaurants, people are always out walking around, and it's lit up with Christmas lights and decorations right now. I think it's like a mini San Francisco (without all the "strange" and homeless people). Anyway, it was great having a girl's night out. I'd been needing something like that. I met up with Marisol, Sonia and Maureen (all ladies I work with). It was a fun night of delicious food, wine tasting and "girl talk."

Then on Saturday I went into San Francisco with Marisol and a couple of her friends from out of town (Robert and Kenny). We met up with another friend, Trihn, who lives in the city. We went to Union Square where it is beautifully lit up for Christmas! It's like Rockefeller Center of New York. There's an ice skating rink, a huge Christmas tree, and people all over enjoying it. We actually saw a couple get engaged when we were there. It was beautiful! First thing we did was have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory which is on the top floor of the six-story Macy's. Out on the veranda we had a great view of Union Square. Later we tried to go ice skating, however, they were all out of skates. So we ventured over to a popular pup (Lefty O'Doules). There was a live piano player singing popular songs and the place was packed. At one point a herd of Santa Clause's came tumbling in. Here are some pictures from the fun night. Isn't Macy's beautiful? =)

Patience

I have a little story of the adventure that was Today. First, here is some background info:

We are doing a gift exchange at work and I decided to get my person a wireless weather station. I found a cool one at REI that was within the budget, so after work on Friday I went to the REI in Concord to buy it. They were all out, but the salesman was able to look up the other stores and they had some in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Mountain View.


So, today I printed out directions to the Berkeley store and set out. It's about 25 miles from my place located on San Pablo Ave. The directions said to take the Gilman St exit, but I saw an exit for San Pablo and HWY 580 was starting to get backed up, so I took this exit. I was following the address numbers so I thought I was going to correct way. I ended up getting totally lost and found myself in Oakland somehow. After driving around in circles, I finally pulled over to look at my street atlas and find my way back to the freeway and follow my original directions. Here is the crazy route I ended up taking today.


I finally found REI and pulled into the parking lot, however there were no spaces available. I had to drive around a while and finally found someone pulling out a couple lots over, so I took it. Once I got inside, I went to the back of the very long line at the checkout becuase they had my item on hold. Once I reached the front, they told me I needed to go to customer service at the back for items on hold, so there I went. They grabbed the item, only it wasn't the weather station I put on hold. It was a compass. I ended up waiting about another 10 minutes while they looked to find my item.

As I was waiting there, I was reminded of the service at church last Sunday. It was about patience. During the service, I wasn't very impressed with it. I was hoping for him to talk more about God and read from the Bible. I believe he only referenced two quotes from the Bible. However, I realized that the way we act in society is important too. It reflects on our Christianity and the way we follow our Lord. I was surprisingly really patient with today's events. Reflecting on it, I could have been irritable and rude if I let those things bother me, but I wasn't. I hadn't thought much about these things. I guess that sermon must have got to me more than I thought. It also might have been that I was listening to Christmas music the whole time in my car. That always puts me in high spirits. =)


On my way home, I decided to reflect on all the positive things that happened today. So here they are:

1) I got to see some new places and got a better feel of the area around where I live.
2) I was able to buy the item I was looking for, and I was pretty happy with it.
3) REI was able to give me some moving boxes when I asked if they had any.
4) There's a tunnel (actually 3) between Walnut Creek and San Francisco. They open up the middle tunnel to whichever direction has busier traffic at the time. When I was heading west, the tunnel was open to the westbound traffic and when I was heading east, it was open to the eastbound. So I didn't have to hit very much traffic. (It gets backed up when the tunnel is closed)

My friend, Marisol, and I have been looking into rooming together to save money. Also, since we work together we can carpool. Tonight after work, we went to this apartment complex we had been looking at for a while and we signed a lease! I'm pretty excited! We're going to move January 10th. What's convenient is that it's just around the corner from where I live now, so the move shouldn't be too bad. Hopefully they're able to rent out my apartment quick so I don't have to pay too much.

On another note, I got an interesting piece of mail today. On the outside it said Texas Department of Transportation. When I opened it, there was an official travel map of Texas, an accommodations guide, a Texas Fall events calendar, and a Texas travel guide. There was no letter, no explanation, just the books on Texas. Could God be trying to tell me something?? Who knows. Anyway, that's all for tonight. Sleep tight!

Sick Day

So I got to go up to Jessie's for Thanksgiving and see my family, but the bad news is I got Jessie's cold. Totally worth it, though, to spend time with the Oelkers family and see the rest of my family. I had a great weekend!

However, this morning when I woke up, I was not feeling so great. I woke up with a sore throat, I couldn't get warm, and when I was trying to braid my hair, I kept having to sit down cuz I felt like I was going to pass out. I thought about calling in sick, but didn't really want to for two reasons. 1) My boss is kind of a stickler when it comes to our schedules and calling in sick or taking days off. He doesn't like it when people call in sick on Mondays, and since it was after I long weekend, I figured no one would believe I was actually sick. 2) My job puts employees on a probation period when first hired. We don't get paid holidays for the first 6 months and we don't get sick or vacation for a year. So I already had Thursday and Friday off without pay and today would make that 3 days without pay. That's a lot of money.

So, I ended up going into work wearing a big sweatshirt and a beanie and I still couldn't get warm. My boss finally told me I should go home if I'm not feeling well... I'd just wouldn't get paid. "Yeah that's 3 days without pay," I replied. It really bugs me about the sick days. I understand not getting to use vacation right away, but I think it's uncivil not to give sick days for a whole year. For one, it detrements my health because I don't want to take a day without pay and it also risks the health of my co-workers because I might end up getting them sick.

Anyway, I decided I would leave at noon, but I ended up going home at 11 because I was feeling pretty awful. I took a long nap, crocheted, and watched 3 movies. Now I'm going to go to bed and see if I feel better in the morning.

Day Off!

This is what Marley and I did all day on our holiday off.

Jessica and Julia - In response to my last post, you shared kind words with me and reminded me to rely on The Lord. Thank you for that. I need to remember to lean on Him because He is and always will be my Father. He will always be there to take care of me. Whenever I am feeling lonely, all I need to do is talk to Him and know that I am not alone. I feel sometimes that I take Him for granted and don't praise Him like I should. He has given me so much. Just looking around me, I have everything I need and have the kind of job I've been working towards. It's time I give Him the thanks He deserves and make Him a bigger part of my life. Thank you again, ladies, for reminding me of that.

On another note, Sunday was my 10k that I've been training for. It was in San Francisco along the Embarcadero. Even though I didn't make the time I was striving for, I still had a good time and felt accomplished. None of my friends ended up making it out to watch me, but I met some friendly people in the race. It's nice to meet people who share my crazy love for running.

After the race I was going to meet some friends to play volleyball at the Presidio, but when I arrived, no one was there. I found out later it was cancelled because of not enough people, but that message was sent to my work email, so I found out Monday. Oh well. I ended up touring the Presidio a bit. The Presidio used to be a military base and is now a National Park in San Francisco. There are historical buildings and sites to see within. People live there too, I know a girl who lives in a townhome in the presidio.

On my way home, I decided to stop at Treasure Island again to get some daytime pictures of the great view. These turned out much better as you can see.

I Don't Wanna Grow Up

So, lately I've been having little signs of an identity crisis. I don't know if it's cuz I'm so far from my close friends and family or because I'm finally working a permanent job and supporting myself on my own or because I belong to a whole new state now. Maybe it's all of the above.

It started a few weeks ago when I received my California drivers license in the mail. I was really excited at first because I had been waiting for it to arrive since I went to the DMV and passed the test. I took it out of the envelope and was excited to see my new picture. I no longer had my dorky 16-year-old picture to look at. But as I looked at it some more, I noticed how different things seemed. The license was lighter and more flexible than my Oregon license. It has a yellow tint to it. Then I noticed the number. I've gotten so used to my Oregon drivers license number, it's engrained in my head. Now I am E322*&^%$& something something... how am I supposed to remember that? It made me feel like I'm a whole different person, like I'm leaving behind the person I know myself to be. I know it's really not that big a deal, but at the time it got me really sad.

Then this morning I was lounging in my apartment watching TV, the same TV I used to watch at my parents house just a few months ago. (My parents were nice enough to give me this TV and entertainment center). But it reminded me of being back home, in the comfortable and safe environment of my parents' house. Sometimes I wish I could just stay young forever and keep living at home. It's nice to know that someone is taking care of me.

But I know I can't do that. It's time for me to grow up and live a life of my own. But it's hard to do alone. Good thing I have Marley. ;) I kid, but actually my kitty is my companion at home and she does make me feel a little less lonely.

Anyway, things actually are going pretty good down here. I feel I've made a couple close friends and I like the people I work with. They're a fun group. Also, the weather has been nice. It's been a little colder. But when i say cold, I mean like 60's, not 40's like Klamath Falls. However, I'm not very impressed by the colors of fall down here.

Here is a view at my apartment complex. This was one of the few days it's actually rained since I moved here. There's a little bit of fall color, but I remember the falls in Oregon being much more vibrant. Oh well, atleast it's not freezing cold.

Today I took my LSIT (Land Surveyor-In-Training exam) at the COW Palace in Daly City. I've been studying for this exam for the past 3 months or so. It's an exam every Land Surveyor takes who is working to eventually get their license. It's an 8-hour exam consisting of 170 problems that cover everything I learned in college while studying geomatics. It was a long day! And now I just have to wait 13 weeks to get the results! But atleast now I don't have to study anymore.

On my way home, I toured a little of San Francisco and found this awesome view. As you can see, my camera is not the best at taking night shots of cities. I tried a bunch of settings and this was the best I could get... but trust me, it was breathtaking!

This is Santa Cruz, where I participated in the PSEA beach volleyball tournament. The tournament lasted all day and during our break, we rode the roller coaster on the boardwalk. We had a blast, but I was so sore the next day!

This is on one of the trails around Mt Diablo. It's a great place to go running or hiking, and it's beautiful when the sun is setting and you can look over the whole city. Unfortunately, there are also some critters to beware of, as I personally found out. Both in one day, I saw a rattlesnake and a tarantula up there. Needless to say...I haven't been back yet. I'm afraid to go by myself.

Just Me

Well, hi! Now that I'm living in the Bay area away from my family and friends, my sister convinced me to start a blog. I agreed it would be a good idea so the people I care about can stay informed on what I'm up to.

So, in case you've been out of the loop, this is what I've been up to. In June, I graduated from OIT with a bachelor's in Geomatics and a minor in GIS. Soon after, I accepted a position with Pacific Gas & Electric in Concord, CA. August 11th was my first day. So far, I really like it down here. I enjoy my job and have already made friends through work and through volleyball. Yes, I'm playing volleyball again. There was a beach volleyball tournament through my work in Santa Cruz and I joined the team. Since then, I've played more beach volleyball in Santa Cruz and also joined an indoor rec league. It feels great to play again.

Also, I adopted a kitten! Her name is Marley and she is definitely a handful. It's nice to have a roommate, though ;) She keeps me entertained and on my toes.

I'll try to keep this updated and add pictures once I figure this whole blog thing out. Thanks for stopping by! =)