Spring break antics

This week, Andrew and I made a quiche. You can find the recipe here. It's a spinach and bacon quiche with Swiss cheese. I also made my own crust, rather than buying the pre-made one.
I've never made a quiche before (because I heard it was hard) but it came out beautifully! We had it for dinner but I ate some leftover for breakfast - yum!

I also rented the first season of 30 Rock. I've been wanting to watch this show but never had the time to watch it or I forgot it was on. I'm definitely hooked. It also helps that Blockbuster is only $1 per night!

Since it's beginning to get warm (it's been in the 80's a couple of times already), I decided Marley would probably need a haircut soon. I've clipped his feet and kept him trimmed up, but he hasn't had a shave down since I first got him back in August. This is the day after I got him from the pound and they shaved off all his fur...

Figuring it would be fun, I bought pet clippers and cut most of his fur down to a quarter of an inch. I think he looks really cute with his puppy cut!

This week off also gave me to time to work on Marley's tricks. He has mastered "paw" which has been a favorite with house guests.

A new trick I have been trying with him has been "sit up." Andrew's dogs "dance" when they want food, so this is what gave me the idea. I suppose you could also call it begging...
With a little help from some leftover chicken, Marley is doing really well with "sit up!"
This post is for Ellen, who was upset I didn't post any Marley pictures last time. :)

~ Carol

And the walls came down...

Today is my first official day of "spring break" and what no better way to spend it than by being woken at 7am with loud hammering above my head?? After several notices on our front door for the past month, they finally began re-roofing (is that a word?) the building. I knew it was only a matter of time after hearing the banging on the other buildings and I suppose Murphy's Law dictates work on my building should begin on the first day of break. Oh well. I must hand it to the 20 Mexican men, though. They have been working (with breaks I'm sure) for over 12 hours. It's nearly 7:30 pm! In addition, it must have hit a high in the upper 80's today! I was going to get a picture of all the work they did but they seemed a bit weary of me taking photos. Here's the mess on the lawn in front of my building:
I can't believe I haven't written on this blog since December. You may not believe me, but I do feel bad about it. I love writing and I really just need to schedule time for myself and DO IT. I have no problem taking pictures or writing, it's just posting. In fact, posting on a regular basis was one (of many) new year's resolutions that I made on December 30th when I was flying back here from PA. I've had the airplane napkin pinned to my wall by my door (remember, you can click on the photo to enlarge it):
Thus far, my resolution successes have been: use online banking, only eat 1 school lunch per week maximum, and train Marley to shake and stay. As for my aspirations, I'm in talks with a doctor about eye surgery and I'm slated to attend Andrew's brother's wedding at the very end of May. (In case you didn't know, I've never been to a wedding before!)

--It's 7:45pm, dark, and they're still hammering away up there!--

On to more exciting news... I BOUGHT MY FIRST CAR!!!! It's an '09 Honda Civic EX in "Atomic Blue." After months of research and two hours of haggling, I bought it March 26th. With the CA sales tax rising to 8.25% on April 1st and the Jetta losing air conditioning at an unknown time during the winter, it just made sense to finally take the leap. Here are the last pictures of my '97 Jetta GL, with about 122,000 miles on it:

And here's me before taking my new car home:
With only 23 miles on the car, Andrew and I took a road trip to Anaheim to see Billy Joel and Elton John in concert. They put on a great show that lasted 3 hours and among their own hits, they even included the Beach Boys "California Girls" and The Beatles "Back in the USSR" and a personal favorite, "Birthday."

And now, in the California sunshine:
I'm not used to all this electronic stuff!!No bump in the middle on the floor, for added comfort in a full car:Under cover and away from other cars (and check out the dumpter for the roof stuff):

Sorry for all the car shots. I couldn't help myself!! :)

~ Carol

Because mom said so...

I'm pumping out a major update. I'll get some writing in here for things I don't have pictures for, but don't worry, you'll get your photo fix!

I finished up my first year of teaching at the end of May. It was a very eye-opening/stressful/fun/awful experience and I decided, "Hey, why not try it again?" And so (to the administration's relief) I signed on for another year. Everyone told me the first year is the hardest, and now that I'm in my second, I'm glad I stuck with it. I'm not sure if I'll stay on board here for another year, or move on. I'm still just going year to year. I was thinking it would be kind of neat though to see my first classes graduate (I had only freshmen last year)... so that's something in my head.

In June my parents and Ellen came to visit, which was awesome. I don't have those photos on this computer so you'll just have to trust me that we had a good time. I took them to the Pacific Ocean for the first time (Santa Monica) and we did a couple trips to educational (yes, I actually enjoy that stuff now) places like the Hearst Castle on the coast and the Getty Center in LA. I think they were kind of shocked at how hot it gets here, but hopefully they realize now what I mean by a "dry heat."

In July I was super busy traveling. For the 4th I went up to Huntington Lake with some friends and we rented boats and a cabin for the weekend. The only downfall of the trip was when I accidentally fell between the boat and the dock and got this HUGE bruise on my right thigh. About two days after this trip I came back to PA for about a week to take my parents to see Billy Joel in Hershey and to enjoy Arts Fest in State College with college buddies. My leg hurt SO MUCH on the plane ride and just sitting, walking, standing... It hurt to even wear pants. You can sort of see it in the picture of me playing Rock Band... EW!
When I returned from PA, my friend Tom came out and we took a week long road trip covering the coast from Laguna Beach to San Francisco. We stayed at places where I knew people and we also camped in a tent in Monterey (that's where Pebble Beach is, if you're a golf fan). We drove north on Route 1, which has very winding roads and cliffs at times but it was definitely worth it. I'll have to make another blog just for those pictures because they were absolutely breathtaking.
In San Franciso, we did a LOT of touristy things. Some I had done before, like Chinatown, and others I had not, such as walking across the Golden Gate Bridge. Again... amazing. Here's one of my photos from the bridge (sorry it's small, I don't have the original file on this computer).
After Tom left I decided to amp up my search for a dog. As you may or may not know, I have been wanting a dog my entire life, but I didn't want to rush into anything that needed a committment like that. Yes, dad, you taught me to be level-headed and not compulsive (thank you). Anywho, I traveled to Lancaster (no Amish there!) on a whim and fell in love with the most pitiful thing. I had seen a lot of dogs in many shelters around here, but he fit everything I was looking for. I went back the next day to adopt and finish the paperwork and it was all official Aug. 14th. He was in a sorry state with feces and urine caked in to his matted, dreadlocked fur. I took him to the vet the next day for a checkup and complete shave, and he looked like a brand new dog. I named him Marley and he's been a great addition to my life. FYI - He's not named "Marley" because of the book "Marley & Me" (also a movie coming out at Christmas). And now the pictures....in chronological order!
And since I'm on the topic of new things... in September I started seeing this guy, Andrew, who I met back in April. He's still working toward a computer science degree but he's also in the Army Reserves and has a part time job as a mechanic. Here's some photos of us and some friends at a grape stomp back in October...

Well I hope this is a good enough update for my mother... because I'm tired! Hopefully I can get my coast roadtrip pictures up in a blog for you all to check out. I really do want to share, I just get so caught up with other things!! Hope everyone is well. Sorry for my lack of updates...

- Carol

Cristina's Quinceañera

At the end of March, Lindsey and I were formally invited to a student's quinceañera (15th brithday). This is a HUGE deal in the Mexican culture and if you're invited, you pretty much have to go. We were pretty excited to be the only teachers asked to attend and we went out and bought dresses for the occasion. I was very grateful for my knowledge of Spanish since that was the language of choice that night. I was blown away at the amount of money and time put into this party. Cristina looked like she was getting married though she was absolutely drained from all of the preparations put into the event. After the traditional dances, Cristina had an outfit change and performed a dance for the party with her friends. After those formalities, everyone else was allowed to dance. Lindsey and I aren't big on salsa dancing, so we observed the scene and played with some of Cristina's cousins. I even saw another one of my students there, who demanded we get a photo together. haha.