And so it begins...

I have now completed my first week at Fresno State, woo hoo. I only have two classes this semester in an effort to not try to do too much and I think they will be pretty good. I'm taking violent weather and health behavior. Both my teachers seem pretty cool, I'm getting familiar with the campus, I have one of my books and my parking permit. So I feel like I'm settling in pretty well. My violent weather class seems a bit too easy. My teacher is from Nigeria and has been all over, but he said he is trying to make things easy on us and from what he said, I think he went a bit too far. We are in college after all. But he says the material is hard and I think it will be interesting. The health behavior class sounds interesting too, although we have to do a lot of talking in class and getting to know people and stuff like that which I find annoying. It is good to have started though and I'm excited about the semester.

Things at work are going well too, although life in the deli is totally up in the air. I thought things were going to be settling down in the next week or so, but I found out yesterday that they are probably going to get more complicated first. It's nothing major, just rearranging of positions and trying to figure out what we need and can get and stuff like that. The schedule is weird right now as we are transitioning. But it's good, I'm just going with the flow and trying to help get things organized.

Family Photos

We had the whole group here this weekend so we decided to take some pictures with everyone before the Nickells left for Camarillo. We are now a family of 10, big enough that any time we are all together, it's a party! We had a good weekend, yesterday morning we made funnel cakes for breakfast and they were tasty. Mom used to make us funnel cakes for our birthdays, but when we moved up here she decided it was too much of a mess, so we made them while she was gone yesterday (don't worry, we also cleaned up before she got back). Last night we had homemade pizza for dinner, took our pictures, played charades, and made ice cream. The Nickells had to leave after lunch today, which was hard. Heather and the kids have been living with us since May, so it will be weird not having them around. The house will be much quieter and cleaner, which we will enjoy, but we will miss them. Thankfully, Natalie has an appointment with her pediatrician up here in 3 weeks, so they will be back soon. Fresno State starts tomorrow and I'm excited and nervous about that. But it will be nice to have the first week over and get into a routine.

Olympic Moments

We have been enjoying watching the Olympics here at the Chandler party house (we had 8 adults and 3 kids around the table at dinner last night). Here is a link to probably my favorite event so far, the men's 4 x 100m free relay.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0811_HD_SWB_HL_L0194

Anyone who hasn't seen this yet should watch it, what an amazing finish, I can't help cheering every time. The video is a little long, but there are some funny moments at the end, so in my opinion, it is worth watching the whole thing. Swimming and gymnastics are my favorite Olympic sports.

Working the Line

It has been three days since I began my new position at work and things have been going well. I wasn't excited about being in training again after feeling settled into bread baking, but I'm hitting my groove much faster with this. It helps that I'm already familiar with the place and the people and the schedule. Yesterday was a bit of trial by fire because James had jury duty and had to leave at 12:50pm. So he was there for our first rush, but not our second and it was just me and Fiore making lunches, with some help from Rosa when we ran out of turkey and tomatoes. I was making one of the specials, house made pasta with sauted shrimp in a light cream sauce, as well as sandwiches and menu items. We are working on simplifying our menu, but right now there are a lot of options. That was a bit scary, but exciting. My summers in the kitchen at camp came back as I slipped right into the roll of prioritizing, balancing a number of things at once, and being efficient. I enjoy the fast pace of kitchens, as long as it isn't constant or because you weren't prepared.

Finally

Jaime and I got to take a trip to Calvin Crest this weekend for the staff concert. It was wonderful. We had a rough start because I got off work later than we were expecting and then we had car trouble and had to drive home to switch cars. But we made it just after the concert started. It was so good to be up at camp and to see everyone who is there and hear how they are doing. The concert was good and dinner was good, it included some new options, like beef gyros which I had and it was tasty. After dinner, we enjoyed catching up with Amy and had a nice long visit with her. We got to stay in a Westview cabin and enjoy the cool, fresh air. Today we got to sit on the pad and drink tea and coffee, the lighting was neat. We also got to visit with Rachel for awhile then went to church, which was neat. The first of the blackberries are ripe, so after church we picked some by the lake. Then it was time for lunch and goodbyes and we had to come back in time for Jaime to get to work. But we are thankful for the oppertunity to go and soak it in for a little while. Josh tried to talk me into working in the kitch during CommonFire, and I must admit, I was tempted.

The Smell of Bread in the Morning

This is my job. And I like it (most of the time). One of my fellow employees worked his last day today, so I took the oppertunity to take my camera to work and take pictures with people there. This one is of Lisa and me, we are the bakers and world travelers (we both took trips to foreign countries this summer). Lisa does the muffins, quick breads, cookies, scones, cakes, etc. (she gets some help with all that) and I make the yeast breads, sourdough and focaccia. Here are some of our lovely staff up front, Warren, Amy, and Lauren. They are lots of fun. And here is a picture of our chefs. Fiore is our authentic Italian who is hard to understand and talks no stop, Alex is a good worker but he is moving so starting Monday I will be taking over some of his responsibilities on the line and prepping, I'm in the middle of course, then James is the owner with his wife Michelle and he knows his stuff, Troy is James' son and is helping out over the summer. So there you go, a little glimpse into my life at work. I enjoy being in a kitchen again and work with some quality people.

Card Table

Jaime took a sculpture class last fall and one of their projects had to be made entirely out of paper and paper products. She decided to make a card table that would be low to the ground so you could sit on the floor and play games. I got to help her and we made it out of cardboard and put playing cards on the top. It turned out pretty neat, but we had some trouble with the removable legs. So yesterday, we finally got around to finishing it and then played a game with the boys, who liked the table and the game, which was Memory. Also yesterday, Jaime moved to a house she is renting in Exeter. It is a nice little house out in the middle of nowhere. If you see her, give her a housewarming hug.

Mini Vacation

We finally got to go see Michelle and Jonah at Big Bear Lake this week. The whole family (except Isaac) went, so it was quite a group. For some reason, I feel like I'm part of a parade whenever we go somewhere lately. We arrived Sunday night and made pizza for dinner. That was a bit of a disaster because we didn't have flour, parchment paper, pans, or a hot oven. But it ended up being tasty. Monday we had bacon and pancakes for breakfast; I was especially excited about that because every Saturday when Isaac is at our house, they are making bacon as I'm leaving for work. We got a tour of the camp and feed the ducks at the lake, which the boys loved. There was a little zoo nearby, so we checked that out, then had a late lunch. We took a drive to Lake Arrowhead in the afternoon, mostly so the boys would take a nap. The rest of the evening was relaxed, we had dinner and dessert and watched some shows about houses. Tuesday morning we went on another little walk to the lake and the playground, then packed up and drove to Heather and Isaac's apartment in Camarillo. It was fun to see their place, it is nice. Heather and I took a walk to Vons and got stuff for BLTs. After dinner, we walked to the park and the boys played. We left Camarillo this morning after waffles for breakfast and made good time on the drive home.

All in all, it was a great little trip and good to see where Michelle and Jonah are and Heather and Isaac's house. We also enjoyed cool weather, but no thunder storms. I got to say hi to my friends, Laura and Josh, but unfortunately, nothing more than hi.

My Boys

Aren't they cute?

Journey

Jaime and I saw "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 3D today and it was fun. The movie itself was good, but seeing it in 3D was crazy. We had a good time and there are some jump out of your seat type moments, especially involving some vicious fish...

Go Bulldogs!

I had my Fresno State orientation yesterday; it was long. They had some good information, but it wasn't as helpful as I thought it would be. At least I have been to the campus though and started to get a sense of where things are and I have started registering for classes. Plus, I got a free cup and mini frisbee. It is exciting, but a bit scary too and I don't want to end up with another degree I won't use.



Natalie had her two week appointment today, although she is already two and a half weeks. She is healthy and happy. Heather is doing well too, recovering day by day. Grandpa and Eleanor are here visiting for a little and it is good to see them. Next week we are planning a family trip to see Michelle and Jonah and we are so excited!

Independence Day

We had a good time celebrating yesterday. Isaac and I made pies (starting Thursday night) and other food. They were tasty. Some of you may remember the apple pie recipe from Calvin Crest, summer '05, it is a good one. Mmmmm. The Nickells went to Isaac's brother's house to celebrate, while we had dinner here at home then Jaime and I went to Visalia for fireworks. It was fun to see a big show again, I haven't done that in awhile. I love fireworks; the colors, smells, and noise. I love summer in general and most summery things make me happy. We have a lot to be thankful for.