Once again, I feel as if I have fallen behind in my
blogging. I am going to do my best to catch up and share some of the highlights
since the wedding.
In mid August I did a professional development workshop
about strength based leadership using the Gallup strengths test. I was amazed
by the results of the test, how much they defined who I was, and how different
everyone else in the room was. For me, it was great to be able identify my strengths
and learn how to apply them at work. I won’t go into it too much here, but I am
an Achiever, Relator, Arranger, Maximizer, and Developer. Basically, I am a
high achiever (not surprising), I relate well to different types of people, I
can take a problem and figure it out by thinking about it from various angles,
Good enough is not good enough (I always need to have the best and highest
quality), and I bring out the best in people. There is so much more to it, but
in a nutshell and for the sake of how long I think this blog will be, I will
stop there.
Another thing I did this month for work was attend
Birthright Fellows outside of Chicago. I learned a lot about the Birthright
program, where it is going, and how I can be the best staff possible. I
attended with 2 other people from San Diego and it was great getting to know
them better and meet people who are as passionate about Birthright as I am.
Overall, it was an insanely fast paced, exhausting conference (5 days, 8am-11pm
every day), but I learned so much and I am so grateful I was selected to be a
Birthright Fellow. I know the skills I learned will help me not just in my work
with Birthright, but my work at Hillel as well.
Mike and I have done some fun Padres events the past few
weeks. The first was a members only beerfest. It was amazing! They opened up
all the carts of craft breweries for unlimited pours. There was tons of food
and games to play as well. Mike and I ended up meeting someone who went to San
Marcos High (class of 1992 so a tad older), but it was fun to talk about SMHS
to a fellow Knight and so random! We also got free entry to the Eddy Vodka
Lounge right next to the Western Metal supply building. We had these HUGE seats
and got free beer. The seats were really cozy, but from that angle you cannot
see the screen at all. It made us realize how much we love our seats and how
much we love all the random games and things that go on the screen. Later that
week we went to a game with Steve and Ashley and got free shirts. It was nice
to get to know Ashley a little bit better and to celebrate Steve’s birthday. We
also went to a game where “Ferrell Takes the Field” played a special advance
screening. Mike’s dad and grandma joined us for the game, but left before the
movie. Steve, Mike, and I really enjoyed the movie. It was awesome to see Will
Ferrell introduce it and to get to see it a week before it premiered on HBO. We
felt very exclusive. Obviously, we renewed our season tickets for next year because
we have had so much fun this season with it! Just a few more games, one of
which we will get to see the Lego Movie afterwards. We have seen it before, but
it is a good movie, so we will enjoy it again.
Mike’s grandma has been in town (from England!) for the
wedding and we have had some fun activities with her. On Labor Day we went to a
BBQ with all of Mike’s family. His dad made delicious smoked meats (turkey,
brisket, and brats) and we all ate way too much. Last Sunday we went for a sail
for Mike’s grandma’s birthday, which was pretty fun. We saw seals and a few
dolphins and lots of birds. I always enjoy sailing days and enjoying the
outdoors. Today we saw grandma for the last time before she flies back to
England. I heard talks of her coming back next Christmas, so we have that to
look forward to. Mike and I also have been talking about maybe going out to the
UK next summer, but it all depends on finances and vacation time. We will see.
In other big news, Mike successfully defended his Master’s
Thesis last week! There are still a few tweaks he needs to make to the written
part before he turns it in for publication, but this is the final thing! With
processing and all that, he should be a Master at the end of the semester! Very
exciting, and it also means his school days will be a little shorter and a
little less stressful. He still has his night classes, but will be able to have
more flexibility during the day for homework, exercise, and other things.
In other Mike news, we had quite the motorcycle adventure today.
So last night Mike stopped at Costco in San Marcos for gas after school and
after filling up, his motorcycle would not start. His first thought was call
AAA for a jump start. Well, did you know that motorcycle road side assistance
is extra? We did not so we were not covered and it takes 7 days to process so
we could not even add it that moment. It is only $37/year, which we were really
kicking ourselves over last night. We figured Denice could go help give him a
jump so I spent about an hour looking online about how to jump a motorcycle
from a car. It is not as simple as it would seem. Well while I was doing that,
Mike was trying to find the battery of the motorcycle. Did you know that
motorcycles need a special tool to remove the seat to get to the battery? We
did not either. (When we eventually removed the seat, the tools needed where there...great place for them right?) Another method for starting a dead motorcycle is to get a
rolling start and kick it into gear. Since the parking lot was cleared out at
this point, Mike tried (and failed) this method. I started calling for tow
quotes. It is between $65-$85 just to hook the bike up to the tow and
$6-$8/mile. That would make a tow home about $150. I looked up buying a ramp to
get the motorcycle into the truck, and that was not possible because most
places required the ramp to be ordered and they were super expensive and we
were not even sure the motorcycle would fit in the truck. By 10pm Mike just
wanted to come home, so I went and picked him up and we left the motorcycle at
Costco. The next morning it was pouring rain! The motorcycle place he gets his
bike serviced at in Vista did not open until 10am, so we waited in hopes they
could come pick it up. Well, they said no, and to get it towed and if it is a
problem covered by the warranty, they will reimburse $75 for the tow, but if
the problem is not covered by the warranty then we were on the hook for the
tow. So after a lot of thought, I looked up motorcycle places near Costco in
San Marcos. I found one that was 1.1 miles away, and the man on the phone was more
helpful than anyone else we talked to all morning. He said they usually have a
driver, but since it was pouring rain, they called him off, so they could not
help us get the bike to them. So in an effort to save $80ish dollars, Mike
pushed the bike 1.1 miles in the rain while I followed behind in prius with my
flashers on so cars would slow down for him. We made it, and the guys there
were amazing! Turns out Honda batteries only last from 1-3 years so it was just
time for a new one. He waived the diagnostic fee of $95 and gave us 25% off the
battery just because. Mike and I decided that we will start getting the
motorcycle serviced there instead of the place in Vista because of how helpful and
nice they were today. It was quite the saga, but it has a happy ending! And the
rain let up so Mike won’t have to drive home on the motorcycle in the rain.
Last piece of update is about our Kon Mari method. One Tuesday
night a few weeks ago, Mike decided it was time to Kon Mari the kitchen. The kitchen
had been driving us crazy because we knew it was super inefficient, but we also
knew it would take a few hours to organize via the Kon Mari method. I did not
want to spend Tuesday night organizing, but Mike insisted. We took out all of
the pots, pans, appliances, and pantry items. We found a great way to organize
the plastic containers with a large box that can easily pull out of the
cabinet. Now nothing gets lost in the back. We also rearranged the towels,
potholders, and found a really great way to utilize our giant pantry cabinets
without letting things “get lost” in the back. We took almost all the
appliances off the counter (except the ones used daily like my beloved Keurig).
We actually only got rid of a handful of things, but the space is amazing because it is organized so much better! We
did not do the dishes or cups because we thought they were fine how they were,
but now that the rest of the kitchen is happy, we need to go back and find a
better way with some of the dishes and cups. We mostly just have too many cups
that we do not use unless we have the whole family over. We also want to redo
the spice cabinet. The office has also gotten pretty bad because that has been
the “holding area” for a lot of wedding things. In general, the office in where
the majority of my sentimental things are, so it was always going to be the
last room we did, but now we have added so many things to it, I think we need
to set aside an entire day, maybe two, to go through it. I think we will break
it down to make it not so overwhelming. The other place that has kind of become
a “dumping ground” is the garage. We have been saving TONS of boxes because
they are so great for Kon Mari, but now the garage is over filled with
recycling and empty boxes. Mike wants to go through the garage last because at
that point we will be able to get rid of all our boxes because none will have
purpose.
Pretty big update, and hopefully I will get into better
habits and post more often so they are not such long reads for you all! Thanks for
reading all the way to the end J
