231: It all started with a mouse...

Well, my journey today was indeed an adventure. The timestamp on this entry is past midnight on the East Coast but it's just now turning 9 here in Anaheim. I won't write long because I am going to walk to see if I can see any of the Disneyland fireworks. The conference hotel is on Disney property and about a five minute walk from the front gates to Disneyland...pretty awesome. Downtown Disney (shops, fountains, etc.) is between the hotel and the park.

So far I have met some new folks, caught up with the one person I know here, heard a great a capella group, listened to a really good opening speaker and even saw some CNU folks (and Trici!) in the conference kick-off slide show.

I took pictures today but wanted to throw this one in (though I didn't take it myself) because it is an appropriate entry to kick off these next few days:

230: Ready to Go (hopefully!)

Well, I'm packed up and hopefully I'm not forgetting anything important! I have my plane ticket and my camera...that's all I REALLY need, right?

My flight leaves tomorrow morning at 5:50am....I get in to LAX at 12:10 their time (3:10 here in VA). I'm hoping for smooth, uneventful flights and maybe a random celebrity sighting at the airport?? The hotel has internet in the rooms so I should be posting updates daily.

229: Thrifty, even at Thursday Trivia

Tonight Jacqui and Eddie traded coupons while at the Pub for trivia. It was pretty cute so I grabbed a shot.I am looking forward to the next few photos of the day as I will be heading to California for an Orientation conference for CNU. The conference is at the Disneyland Resort Hotel and I'll be staying there. I am really looking forward to being able to take advantage of learning a lot about the orientation piece of Student Affairs...as well as getting to see Disneyland.

228: Family Dinner

Tonight's WAKA Wednesday Family Dinner featured two very special guests: Pam and Jim. (Yes, they are from the office.....but not THE Office.) Eddie cooked up a storm and served up some tasty chicken parm. The food, company and conversation was great. Katie and Dan had to stay here on campus for work (BOO!) while Eddie, Pam, Jim and I headed to kickball. Our team had a doubleheader....we won the first game by default (but played a game 'for fun') and then won our second game by a good deal of runs. Our tournament play begins next week.

I'm sad that kickball season is winding down. It's been really exciting for me to find a sport that I genuinely enjoy and feel comfortable playing (and am decent at). I am already looking forward to next season!

Here is a photo from Family Dinner:

227: Civic Duty

In honor of election day in the Commonwealth of Virginia I give you a West Wing quote and a photo...

"I was watching a television program before, with a kind of roving moderator who spoke to a seated panel of young women who were having some sort of problem with their boyfriends -- apparently, because the boyfriends had all slept with the girlfriends' mothers. And they brought the boyfriends out, and they fought, right there on television. Toby, tell me: these people don't vote, do they?" -President Bartlet

226: Pop Tops

We have been collecting pop tops for a conference that CNU's Residence Hall Association will be attending in a few months. The tabs get melted down and the metal is sold with the money going to benefit the Ronald McDonald House. (Sidenote: This is a GREAT cause.) CNU is competing against other schools for the most tabs collected and I have a collection jar on my desk. It's been fun to get people to save their tabs and to add to the jar. (I'm really hoping that it gets full....it's a big container!) I had some laying around tonight from the weekend and from in my wallet so I dumped them out for a photo of the day. I enjoyed that there was one green tab that I found in our parking lot....nice splash of color to contrast.

If you are reading this and drink soda, eat soup or consume anything from a can with a tab, please consider saving up your tabs and donating them for a great cause!

224 & 225: Weekend

224: Go Tigers!

On Saturday Eddie and I headed to Clemson's campus to meet up with a few of his friends from grad school. First stop was to the apartment (on campus) to see Jon and Emily, which was really neat because I've been following their blog so I felt like I already knew Lydda Grace, their daughter. We later met up with Chris and Cheryl and got to meet their little Stephen for the first time. The weather was not that great and so we endured rain after lunch and during the football game. The game was really fun and the sun even came out in the second half. I was amazed that I captured this shot from our seats in the upper deck. This play happened at the opposite endzone from where we were sitting.225: Kinder Egg #2

I've been really good at holding out on opening my Kinder Eggs. This evening I opened the second one and found a hippo!