California Road Trip

I know its only been less than a month since coming back to Europe but I still have too much of a need to explore and do great things in my life. I also have a sense of loss right now from not being on the professional career path--well I am at the beginning but it really hasn't taken off anywhere yet.
I started off the road trip by heading down memory lane to Valley Center Sundowners. Here in Valley Center the Chamber of Commerce gets together the third Thursday of each month. This one was held at Two Paws Up.
After the Sundowner I headed to my first location--Sairey's place in LaVerne, California. Sairey is an old friend from third grade. We've been through softball, soccer, powder puff, girl scouts, and middle school and high school graduation together. When I arrived it turned out to be her boyfriends best friend's birthday so we headed to Chili's Bar and Grill (Sairey's work). We chatted and laughed. It was so nice to play catch up with an old friend. Sairey is studying at Cal Poly Pomona.
Friday morning I headed to see Felipe in Pomona California which is about 10 minutes away from LaVerne. Felipe has been my friend since we met through the Palomar College study abroad program in Spain. He has his own painting business and recently painted a tiger of a 20 foot sail boat for $15,000. He is also studying at Cal Poly Pomona Graphic Design. We ate chorizo with eggs for breakfast and then I recieved the grand tour of campus along with an update of his life. After the tour we hit the pool to catch some rays under the 100 degree sun.
Friday Afternoon I was off to see my old foreign exchange student Elena from two years ago. Elena is from the Ukraine but speaks Ukranian, Russian, German, English, and while she stayed at our house she learned Spanish. Elena gave me a tour of her school University of LeVerne and gave me the update on her life. She is going to Germany this summer to work and take German. We both laughed about how if we want to work in the EU we need to marry someone from the EU to get citizenship. (LOL). Her friend Danielle a spunky, upbeat, never stops talking girl told us we had to go to a "Party" at 6pm at the local Sushi place. After seeing the pictures of the people she called friends (Elena doesn't care much for them) I had to check this scene out. Elena and I went but the place was nothing but locals. We didn't care because the party was second to playing catch up. So much for the "party".
After dinner I said goodbye to Elena and headed to my third location Valencia, California. I went to go visit Ashley Nigro and Justin Heddy. Ashley is our neighbor from across the street who my little brother James was in LOVE. She is marrying Justin on June 29th, 2008 and I am one of the bridesmaids. Ashley and Justin moved to Valencia because Justin got a job in law enforcement. They live in a beautiful apartment complex which Ashley says she pays $1700 for the one bedroom place. We rented movies, ate pizza, and chatted. We watched PS I Love You which I was kind of disappointed in the movie. Ashley has two little dogs that are mixed Chihuahuas. Ashley just got the female dog from a rescue center and she was in heat. Little Kingsenth who is only 6 months old followed his natural instinct. They would be attached by . . . and Ashley would freak out. It was hilarious because they were on her bed and she didn't want to touch them or pull them apart. Justin was no help in stopping the situation either. We are waiting a month to see if Ashley will be a grandma. She swears she is going to give me a baby but I am not ready for that responsibility.
In the morning Ashley headed to work early so I got up at 7:30am and took a beautiful back road to Santa Barbara. I got into Santa Barbara around 8:45am so I went straight to the beach to walk along the coast. I walked the pier and all along the boardwalk before my cousin called me. I drove over to University of California Santa Barbara campus to check out my cousin's new apartment. He moved in with a Brazilian girl named Bianca. Oh, I forgot to mention my cousin Alejandro is from Bogota, Colombia and is studying at UCSB on a full ride scholarship to complete his Masters in Liberal Arts. It was so nice to hang out with the family. We went to a documentary screening for a German film maker, Santa Barbara Mission, Turtle Park, and State Street. We walked sooo much and it was REALLY hot! In the evening we all took naps, watched the couple videos I made of my trip, and woke up to eat a Brazilian Meal. It was really good!
Sunday morning I woke up extra early to head out to the beach. I went to read, relax, and journal. Afterwards I went back to the Apartment and we watched Big Fish. This was a beautiful movie with such a neat story behind it. After chatting and exchanging videos I took off for home. As I was heading on the freeway my friend Alicia Harrison, a UCSB student, told me there was a free concert with Saosin at UCSB. So I turned around and went to the outdoor concert. It was a lot of fun and everyone was super nice and welcoming.
The drive back home was definitely a test of patience because I hit traffic for over 10 miles on the 101 which was two lanes and again through ThousandOaks area. The traffic did not damper the whole experience of the trip.
I accomplished a couple things
1. I networked and found out what kind of connections my friends have that will help me.
2. I got to visit some old friends which I was always saying "I'll come up and visit" but never had time to before.
3. I was able to get out of the house, relax, and forget about job applications for a little bit.

May 12th, 2008

Since my last post I have applied for four different jobs a couple at HP and Google. This morning when I was going over my resume I realized I had a mistake and the title of my job and the company named were switched in one paragraph. I panicked because employers look for consistency and I have been submitting this resume to everyone so far. Then, I spelled Cum Laude "kum Lade" which is so wrong. Too bad I caught both mistakes a little late. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR, oh the process of looking for a new job.
Between job applications I have been making iMovies of my Europe trip. So far I have completed Greece, Vienna, Prague, and Budapest. I only have about six more countries to go! Plus, I am continuing to scrapbook the top 300 pictures of my four month trip. This is one of my favorite pass times in case nobody ever knew because I love to remember the moment when I took the picture. (Sigh) Did I mention I miss Europe before?
Besides movies and scrapbooks I am reading "At First Sight" by Nicholas Sparks. He is the write of "The Wedding" and "The Notebook". He is an amazing writer. Makes me kind of wish I had some amazing love story of my own, but I am young and my prince charming is out there. My love story will one day come and then I will write about it, or maybe not.

May 10th, 2008

I was inspired to start my own blog after my friend Tess Montano at CIMBA. Forget the emails, I figure people can just come here to see how I am doing and see pictures I post with the blog.
It has been almost one month since my last collage class. Soon after I finished classes I traveled to Greece for a week and I had an amazing time. I finally got the opportunity to stay in one place for a series of day, no plans, no commitments, and relax! I enjoyed a volcanic sailing boat tour the first day, ATV riding the second, beach the third, and renting a car and driving the whole island the fourth day.


We went with the flow and did what ever we wanted. I also was pampered with a 70 minute massage under the beautiful Greek sun. We stayed in the most hospitable hostel "Anny's Studios".
Oh, I forgot to mention we were on the Island of Santorini. It took an 8 hour ferry ride to get there. I took the overnight ferry because sleeping most of the time makes the time fly by faster.
Gosh, I miss being there sooooo much! Too bad I had to come back for graduation or else I would have accepted any job that would allow me to stay in Europe longer.
Anyways, after Greece I went back to Italy to stay in Asolo for two nights. It was a nice ending to my four months in Europe to come back to the place I came the first night I arrived. The first night I arrived in Europe my boss, Adam Brahl, took me to a bar in Asolo called Epoca. This is how I met all the MBAs, including Mr. Botten. I have been to so many beautiful places since that day Rome, Florence, Nice, Barcelona, Prague, Budapest, and many memories along these travels. I also made a whole lot of new friends and I even fell for a great guy.
Sadly, I had to say goodbye to everyone and return home. I am planning on going out to Lawrence, Kansas (Yeah I never thought I would go to Kansas too) for the CIMBA reunion and the MBA graduation on July 19th. (Lets cross our fingers my plan works out)
As the plane took off April 30th from Marco Polo Airport I cried because I knew that it was real, I was going back home. I felt like Italy was my new home and I belong there. I could move back in a heart beat if anyone offered me the opportunity. I still feel like I want to go back. I don't know if its because of all the wonderful people I met or the atmosphere but I just loved it. I loved the idea that on the weekend you could travel to a entirely new country for less than $100. You could be in Milan Friday night, Geneva Saturday, and Paris Sunday if you really wanted. (Sigh)
So I am back in good old San Diego, California (more the north part of San Diego County) and while it feels nice to be home the reality is--- I am bored and I feel unproductive. I can't plan anything this summer because I don't know where I am going to get a job and when I will have to start working. I have cleaned out three bags of clothes from my closet. Sorted through all my bills and filed them chronologically. I even printed 382 pictures to scrapbook into my Europe 2008 book. I have been looking at jobs and applying but I am finding myself a little discouraged. Some companies want me to know Indesign, Adobe, and Dreamweaver but no body taught me these things in college--nor did anyone mention it. I feel like I need to go back an additional semester just so I can take these classes to learn these programs. Am I ever going to stop being a student? I feel like I can't. I guess when you've done as long as I have you don't know anything better. That is my challenge. Be a professional not a student. So that is what I am committed to doing these next couple weeks--- finding a JOB!