Friends Forever

Yesterday, Kevin and I went to Santa Barbara at Westmont College to attend the wedding of Kristin Barquer to Stephen Raub. Kristin is the daughter of my dear friend, Tracy Lynn Williams Barquer. Tracy and I met in seventh grade at Walter Reed Junior High. She came from Rio Vista Elementary and I came from Colfax Elementary. We hung out with the same group of friends though Junior High and in High School, were inseparable. We went to different colleges at first, then I transferred from BYU to her college, Cal State Northridge. After the transfer, we went through some rough patches and didn't see each other again until our 10 year high school reunion. We decided not to focus on the previous seven or so years and just moved on sharing births of kids, jobs, summer day trips, kids graduating from high school, kids graduating from college, and winter lunches for the last 22 years.

Yesterday, Tracy asked if I could help out with the wedding by keeping everyone on track for the ceremony. My job was to make sure everyone was ready and smiling and walking down the aisle at the right time. I was the "go-to" gal, answering questions, getting guests settled, cleaning up. It was a lot of fun and I was so happy to help out. This let Tracy and the wedding party relax and enjoy the beautiful day.

After the wedding, we went to a nearby hotel, right across the street from the beach, for the reception. It was a lovely party to cap off a grand wedding.

Guests asked how I knew the bridal party, especially when they found out we lived in Rancho Cucamonga and everyone in the wedding party were from Orange or San Diego County. They were floored when I told them how long Tracy and I knew each other. I thought everyone holds on to their junior high best friend but apparently not. I love how Tracy and I have such a long history -- for better or for worse -- that gives us a foundation for our futures. Tracy is a treasured friend and I know we will grow old together. Forever Friends.

My Last High School Graduate

June 10, 2009, my last high school graduate launched into young adulthood. We all nearly froze to death at the ceremony on Grizzely field at Los Osos High School. Who would have thought it would be sooo cold in June!!! We were so happy to celebrate Grant's big day with my parents and Lyndsey and Brandon plus a few hundred of Grant's closest friends. Congratulations Grant!!! You have an amazing future ahead of you. xxoo

Idols Concert Here We Come

My friend Tricia and I LOVE American Idol. When she told me that the summer tour was coming to our new local venue, Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario, I knew I couldn't miss that concert. After all, going to a concert just 10 minutes from home, how much more convenient can it get?

Since one of my talents is being able to wait hours in line to make sure I get good results, I told Tricia I wouldn't mind spending my Saturday morning getting up early and staking out a spot in line for the two of us so that we could be one of the first to purchase tickets. The deal was, I would get to the arena at 7:00 a.m. to wait in line and Tricia would join me later in the morning with breakfast burritos from Terry's Burgers. The ticket window didn't open until 10:00 a.m. so I thought that by being there at 7:00, I could get a good place in line.

Imagine my surprise when I arrived and found out that NO ONE else was there. I couldn't believe it. Wasn't anyone else interested in attending an American Idols tour concert close to home and not having to drive to LA? I set my chair up at the front of the line and got back in my car to wait until some more people showed up because it was a little creepy waiting all by myself on a foggy morning in a huge parking lot. The next person didn't show up until 8:00. She was from Temecula and like me, couldn't believe there wasn't much of a crowd. She put her chair next to mine and also went back to her car to wait. Finally, around 8:30, a few more people showed up, so I decided to take my place at the front of the line and hang out there until the ticket windows opened. Tricia came soon after and we enjoyed our breakfast and chatting with everyone else as more fans slowly showed up.

The ticket windows opened a little before 10:00 and I was the first to place an order. The loss of sleep and waiting in line paid off. I got tickets for me and Kevin on the second row, front and center, on the floor!!!!!!! We are going to have a fabulous time on July 19th!!! Can't wait.

Date Night Adventures

Kevin and I are practicing our upcoming status as empty nesters by choosing a new restaurant/eatery each week to try out. W love eating out and know that since it will soon just be the two of us, we will probably be eating out more than we have in the past. Something about what a drag it is to cook for just two people, a little more discretionary funds, etc.

We have been reading with interest about the arrival of the famous LA Latino fast food joint to the Inland Empire in Ontario: King Taco. Up until now, Hispanics in our area had no problem traveling all the way to LA for King Taco's tacos, burritos, etc. Now, they are in heaven having a restaurant so close by. Ever since it opened in the beginning of April, the lines have been out the door. Since we LOVE Mexican food, we wanted to give it a try.

When we arrived at 6:00 p.m. last Saturday night, the line was still inside the restaurant. We had to wait about 10 minutes to place our order. That gave us a chance to ask the gal in front of us to translate part of the menu so that we knew what we would be ordering. We understood the meat choices of asada, chicken and carnitas, but some of the other ones stumped us. We learned that those other specialty choices were tongue, brains, neck and intestines (ick). When we finally got up to the counter to order, we decided to choose a little bit of everything so that we could get a good sampling of what they had to order. While our order taker suggested we try some of the more "braver" meat types, the only one I would agree to (and Kevin had no part in) trying was brains. Not bad,; just like any other meat. We ended up getting asada and carnitas tacos ( the street version like at the Coliseum for USC football games), asada sopes (wonderful version of a taco/burrito -- my favorite), pork tamale (also very yummy), nachos (they were like the kind you get at a carnival: gooey), chips and salsa (extremely hot!!!).

Our findings: it was good and a neat adventure but we won't go out of our way to eat there next time. Only if we are in the neighborhood. At least we now know what all the fuss is about.

Leaving a Legacy That Makes a Difference

Wow...I didn't think this book would leave such an impact on me but it sure did. I am a better person today because I have become familiar with Randy Pausch, a remarkable human being.

I learned about this book from a church web site that publishes public affairs activities. So, in other words, I was magnifying my calling when I came across a PA activity in Arkansas where the stake involved presented an evening where the high school students honored their most beloved teachers. Now, that is not an original idea; lots of stakes have done the same thing. What caught my attention was that the thank you gift the stake presented to each educator was a copy of this book, The Last Lecture. I hadn't heard about it before and I thought to myself, hmmmm, if the stake leaders thought this book was the most appropriate gift to bestow their heartfelt thanks and give a lasting reminder of the evening, perhaps this was something I should look in to.

Just finishing my substitute librarian gig, I am really on a roll with my recreational reading. I went to the library and checked out three books, with The Last Lecture being one of them and decided to read it first. I needed to shake up my reading genre as I accomplished reading 8 young adult books during the past twelve weeks of my assignment. Since The Last Lecture is short (206 pages) and is a true story/autobiography, I thought it would make a great next reading choice. Man, was I ever right on that one!!!

Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who was asked to give a talk as part of the university's last lecture series. Little did he know that when the time came for his actual presentation, he would recently receive a diagnosis of terminal cancer with only 3 - 6 months to live. He decided to focus his topic on what he wanted his friends, family and colleagues to know about his philosophy of life and especially leave some footage of his thoughts (the university tapes all of these lectures) for his three young children who would grow up not really knowing or remembering who their dad was. And what a lecture he gave!!! Little nuggets on how to be a great person while living your childhood dreams. You can see the actual lecture on You Tube.

It isn't a how to book but rather just a collection of tips from a very cool guy. I loved it. It inspired me to be better. I am going to purchase a copy for the our family so that we can all read and reread it for the rest of our lives. I hope you will too.

Turning over the dirt

I got to participate in my first ever groundbreaking. Our stake is preparing to build a new ward building that will eventually be the location where we will be attending church. In my capacity as Public Affairs Director for the Rancho Cucamonga Stake, I had the privledge of inviting dignitaries to the groundbreaking ceremony on March 14. Two City Councilmen and a member of the city's Planning Commision attended. After the talks and the singing, it was time to toss the dirt. Imagine my surprise when I was invited to join in the golden shovel upheavel!!! The ground was tough, but I did my best. Whoo hoo. Gotta love this calling.

Cool Jobs

I am starting my third week at the coolest job ever: I am the Librarian at Rancho Cucamonga High School!!! What that means is I get to surround myself with books and more books; talk to students about the books they have read or want to read; make new friends with the library staff; help students do research on their research papers; conduct story time for the Cougar Cubs Pre School; and plan a whole month of activities to get students and staff to read more. Is this the greatest gig or what? I am there until April 17. I hope it doesn't go by too fast. Have you ever had a really cool job too?