father/daughter dates

Mondays Dad and I have coffee dates. Well I grab coffee and he sips hot cocoa. he's not much of a coffee drinker...i know crazy right? I still love him though. Are spot is this darling little shop downtown and we spend the morning there before I have to head to class. sometimes we talk about life and sometimes we just sit and read in silence. i cherish this time with him so much. i'm thankful for a dad that i can not only go to for wisdom but a dad who i can call a friend too. he is the best man i know.

beating the odds.

i have been trying really hard to get approved to student teach back home. the odds were all against me. my advisor might as well have laughed at my face, my intern placement advisor told me point blank it's not going to happen so don't even apply. i was discouraged and felt hopeless. i applied anyway crossing my fingers that maybe...just maybe i would be the exception that they would have sympathy for me and let me return home to where my heart is. i prayed and prayed and waited and waited. i would get so nervous checking my email that some days i wouldn't even go near it. last thursday...i pushed myself to mosey on over to my student email and i took a deep breath and opened it. there is was the email i had been waiting for only one click away. of course...i exited out of my email went back to interning and didn't think twice about it again. okay okay i didn't do that. i did exit out but within 20 seconds i was back in my inbox staring at the email. i closed my eyes, clicked and opened them to read 8 beautiful words APPROVED for out of state internship. APPROVED!!! I was APPROVED to student teach back home. APPROVED. it was so surreal. i cried of course...i sat and cried like a baby. yes people were watching, and asking if i was okay. yes i felt a little embarrassed but i didn't care. nope i was APPROVED and that's all that mattered at that moment. it was one of the best feeling i had ever felt in my entire life. i couldn't hold it together. i immediately called my dad and we cried together. he was so happy and that made me cry even more. just goes to say even when the odds are against you never give up because you might be surprised at the outcome.  for those that don't know where home is.....home is

SAN FRANCISCO!! 

sunday nights

"Arrive in April Event" (three groups combined)

MVP's of "Arrive into April" Fusion had two!! SO proud!

Fusion: n.v. a community that fuses their lives towards Jesus' will for them. Jeremiah 29:11
these kids are my life. on sundays we hang out for two hours; we laugh, sometimes we cry, we do team builders, sometimes we eat loads of food, we build relationships. i'm lucky to have each and every one of them apart of my life, i'm blessed to lead such an incredibly community group. i'm thankful that God is developing new leaders for the next generation. i'm lucky to have a group that fuse's themselves towards Jesus' plan for their lives. a group that loves people, accepts all, kids that aren't afraid to open up and be vulnerable and honest with one another. a group of high schoolers who just come as they are. 
sunday nights are my favorite, i love doing what i do. i love shaping lives and inspiring people to believe in themselves and to build relationships with others and Jesus. 

10 things ive learned this week thus far...

1. speaking the truth is sometimes necessary 
2. spending time with family is one of my favorite things to do
3. 2012 is off to a great start!
4. laughing is so contagious
5. handsome professors make classes so much better!
6. Friday nights in are so much fun!
7. pinterst = happiness
8. daughter/dad time is the best time. 
9. oreos i just can't say nooo...
10. i need to go snowboarding this season...i just need too!!

2011 it's been fun!

2011 what a year!

 challenging, rewarding, amazing, rough and wonderful. 

a year that will be sad to see end but looking forward to whats next.

a glance at all of the goodness this year:

bring it on 2012 can't wait to see what you have in store!!

a little christmas list...

i can't believe christmas is only four days away!! 

gosh, i love christmas i love it so, so much.

i finally finished all of my shopping thank goodness 

wrapping on the other hand...yeah not so much. 

i'm the worst at it, so i chose to wait until the very last second...

i also should confess something...

i'm a snooper when it comes to presents...terrible i know!

i hate that i am. but i am. 

i blame it on my brother, when we were little we would sneak downstairs on christmas eve and peek at the presents under the tree...without anyone knowing...

not all, but a few before we would get so nervous about someone seeing us, we would quickly run back up to our rooms as fast as we could!

so now, each year  i always try to peek at my gifts before christmas....i told you it's terrible.

again, i blame my brother.

 but this year my parents have been very, very  sneaky. 

i have no idea where they are hiding things this year...so not fair. 

but 

here were a few things on my list. i really hope santa brings me just a few if possible... ;) 

 a pair of fabulous gold toms

 a gold watch <3

 green head warmer <3 

 the mesh ring! 

 <3 

 a coffee mug 

 a new pair of glasses <3 

 my favorite coffee!! <3 

that one time when i planned an 18 year old's birthday and almost went crazy

just a few of those oh so precious 18...haha

i mentioned that my baby sis turned 18 yesterday! 

I'm still trying to wrap my head around that it's so surreal to me. 

so i'm BIG on birthday's! i love planning them especially for my friends and baby sis. 

on her 16th i arranged a limo to pick her and her girlfriends up from school and drive them around for a few hours and eventually drop them off at a resort where they stayed in a suite and got to hangout all night long. she had no idea and was completely surprised.
it was a great success.

Well, 18...yeah it's a pretty big deal.
and

i had NO IDEA what i was going to do for her, i'll i knew was that it had to be great
 it just had to be. 

finally sometime in september a light bulb went off in my head and i had it. 

a brilliant plan, i mean brilliant!!

i would send her on an "adventure day" one specifically for her.
she would make eighteen stops.

each spot would be significant in some way, shape or form.
at each spot there would also be a significant person standing there holding an envelope
 reminding her of why this place and this person were significant . 

at the end of each note would be a clue to the next spot. 

sounds awesome right?!
well....18 spots  means dealing with 18 teenagers...which means...18 texts a day for prep week..which means...lots of confused texts back...which means...getting a hold of friends she hadn't seen in a few years...which also means getting a hold of friends she sees everyday without her suspecting something...which means meeting up with people during the week on top of my busy school schedule...which means making envelopes and also dealing with the loss..of envelopes after passing them out...which means more confusion....which means stress stress stress. which means...me thinking "why am i doing this again?" oh yeah for baby sis....

these last few weeks were chaotic. but after a lot of deep, deep breaths everything worked out perfectly.

i managed to get a hold of two friends  she hadn't seen in years who meant so much to her. 

when she saw them at their spots...her eyes filled up with tears
she couldn't believe they were really there...
seeing her face filled with happy tears reminded me that doing this was so worth it.
her last stop was at a very significant park we used to celebrate birthdays at when growing up.
all of our family and her friends met there.
she was blind folded when she got to the park and was led up this huge hill and below the hill stood all of us with her cake.
When her friend skylar pulled the blindfold off we yelled
  "SURPRISE"
it couldn't of been anymore perfect.
her face was priceless!
it all fell together and turned out SO lovely.
i have to admit , i'm a little relieved that she has a few years to go before the next big birthday...:) 

.

My little baby seester is all grown up.

this little beauty is 18 today!!!it's crazy how fast time goes by. i remember when she was this cute little curly head five year old following me around; bugging me every chance she got and now...she is all grown up finishing up her senior year of HS! 

My baby sister is a hoot, she's funny SO very funny, she's smart and vibrant, she's wiser than her years and creative. she's a photographer and a dreamer. she has this incredible heart and is one of the most selfless people i know. i admire her in more ways than she'll ever realize. she's gorgeous inside and out. happy 18th my darling baby seester/bezzie/lovie!! <3 <3

Dad's Birthday!

it was this guy's birthday saturday, and boy did we celebrate!
we started the afternoon off with some incredible indian food at our favorite little spot. the one where everyone knows us by name the second we walk in.
i love that, i love that my family bonds instantly with the people that work at our favorite restaurants, bookstores, coffeehouses, boutiques, random places we visit. my dad has this personality that people just latch onto and i admire it so much.
walking into a familiar place and having people greet you with huge smiles, and are excited to see you back again, that never gets old.
we ate ourselves into a food coma and then we ate some more after that.
the manager brought over birthday sorbet for my dad at the end of our meal which was the sweetest thing in the world.
then after hours of conversation about the old days, and the upcoming future plans, and lots of loud laughter we hurried into the car and zoomed to the movies. it was such a special day, which also meant we were on a tight schedule. my dad decided on his birthday he wanted to see not one but THREE movies! Yeah...THREE. Have you have ever seen THREE movies in a row?! Well let me tell ya spending the entire day at the movies is a rush and it's exciting!!
But by the end of the night...you are tired, your behind hurts, you're all sugared out and your eyes...uh yeah they are all types of crazy after staring at a overly large screen for so many hours. it was worth it though...so worth it. and if my dad asked me to do it again i wouldn't even hesitate.
our three movies were "winnie the pooh" which got incredible reviews on rotten tomato! it was adorable and sweet. it brought me back to my childhood; snuggled on the couch with my brother wishing all of our stuffed animals would come alive just like christopher robin's. "captain america" was next and it was AMAZING even more amazing than the 1st time, because this time around you catch all of the little things you miss. My dad is a huge comic book nerd so watching him gaze at the screen like a little kid for two hours, it made my night! Our last movie was "rise of the planet of the apes" it was better than i thought it would be. it was sad at times, creepy at times, funny, interesting and overall it was really cool! james franco was gorgeous too! so that made it even better.
i'm really blessed to have such an incredible father. one that inspires me, encourages me to chase after dreams, one that's funny and outgoing, who has a huge heart and is one of the most selfless people i know, he's my hero...and i'm pretty lucky to call him my dad and even more lucky to have him as a friend.  <3

Happy 4th of July!!

today will be filled with: 

hamburgers, hotdogs, s'mores and more s'mores, lots of pepsi, chips and dip, fireworks, laying by the pool maybe a little sandlot, and laughing all afternoon with my lovies <3 Cheer's to 4th of July!!!

What about you anything awesome planned?!

Check out my "High Low" post below as well <3 
via: google images

Happy Father's Day...

dear dad,
thank you for always pushing me to do my best.
thank you for being there for me especially during the times i need you the most.
thank you for letting me walk home from school by myself at five years old like all the "cool kids"
thank you for walking 10 steps behind me each day, without me seeing you, just in case. :) 
thank you for raising me to be independent and teaching me to never settle in life or love.
thank you for always encouraging me to go after my dreams
thank you for saying "i love you" every single day numerous times.
thank you for sharing your passions of old classic movies, music and literature with me. 
thank you for giving up your dreams and making us your new one & staying home to raise us..
thank you for being sooo strong
thank you for always putting family first 
thank you for always inspiring me 
thank you for your wisdom 
but most of all thank you for being you...my hero... the most incredible, loving ,selfless guy i know
i love you dad with all my heart. <3 <3 

Little thoughts of randomness...

School starts tomorrow!
Yeah...break was way to short.
I miss San Fran...like SO much.
My vacation came and went so fast.
I can't believe I'm back to reality.
No more dreamy days.
I have no idea where my classes are so tomorrow is going to be pretty interesting.
Of course I procrastinated on vacation...so books were just ordered and when I say ordered I mean rented bc lets face it books are just too darn expensive to buy anymore.
So that was one productive thing done this morning.
I saw Blue Valentine today... I recommend it if you want to be depressed because it was very depressing.
Ohh and if you like crying then yeah this movie is for you.
I love Ryan Gosling isn't he gorgeous??!
So despite the sadness and uneasy feelings it was lovely to stare at Ryan for a whole hour and fifty five minutes if nothing else.
If I haven't mentioned it enough...this movie is incredibly depressing.
Yet a well done film sooo... yeah.
By the way I have been drinking green tea daily for the last week, can I just say I feel amazing and it has been doing wonders for me.
I know random but I felt the need to share.
I should be in bed right now...why I'm still up??! I have no idea!
(Excited and anxious for tomorrow would be my best guess!)
Ooh the Americano I had earlier with friends...could be a major cause of this insomnia I'm having.
Today was lovely, my family is beautiful and so are my sweet friends.
I'm super stoked for new classes!
The first day of the semester is always the best day.
New teachers, new people, new clothes, excitement!
Yeah I'm going to take it all in and hopefully it will stick for a few months.
Trying to be optimistic here.
I have confidence that this is going to be a memorable and wonderful semester...I really, really do.
Until tomorrow, goodnight.

Caffe Trieste & City Lights...two of my favorite delights.

(One of the books I found, is it not the cutest thing ever??!) 

Whenever I visit San Francisco I always make it MUST to visit Caffe Trieste & City Lights bookstore. Both located in North Beach one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city. North Beach is one of the sweetest neighborhoods filled with so many Italian & Irish families. Lovely little Cafe's and Ma & Pa bakeries and markets. Everyone that I have ever met or encountered while walking around are always so lovely in North Beach, I guess that's why I enjoy it so much.
Caffee Trieste is one of the oldest and most famous cafe's in the city, its been featured in many movies, but what I love about this cafe is how the moment you step inside the smell of roasted espresso beans fills your nose and the warmth of its cozy atmosphere embraces you. You can always point out the locals in this place..usually sitting in the corners buried in books drinking espresso...each with a story of their own. Which of course I'm always so curious of...Whenever I visit I always make it a point to blend in with them...wondering if their as curious about me as I am to them. My dad would stop in every week as a little boy always ordering the same drink an Iced Fantasia it's scrumptious, I can't even tell you how amazing it is with words! If you are ever in San Fran you have to try it. It's not on the menu its a special drink that only a select few really know about. (coffee free) Caffe Trieste is so special to me, whenever I visit my childhood flashes before my eyes and all I can do is smile and think how much I miss being so young. My parents have known the owner for years, he's the sweetest little old man in the world. Visiting now as an adult I have grown a love for their espresso its incredible each drink they create is done with such perfection and skill it's fascinating to watch. Before my sister flew home we made sure to stop in for a Cafe Latte and we also visited our favorite bakery up the street and purchased two of the most divine Eclairs (our favorite)...I didn't have time to snap a shot of them before scarfing them down,  they were too tempting to wait. :)
City Lights is another MUST stop when visiting North Beach. It's  one of my favorite bookstores in the city, you can get lost in for hours...trust me I have! I love the smell of the binding and pages when opening each novel that strikes my eye. I blame it on my dad for my love and curiosity of books. He could spend hours reading and looking through books, filling his brain with all types of knowledge. The quietness of City Lights is soothing to the soul, when walking through the isles and up and down the stairs all you can see are people being mesmerized by stories and enchanting information. It's beautiful to watch the effects that certain books have on those that are reading them...