invisible children

This Saturday is the Global Night Commute, as a peaceful protest to the US' inaction regarding the child abductions in Uganda. It is also a great way to raise awareness. The pictures are ways that we (CCC students) have raised money to help. I'm excited to watch Oprah this afternoon. The three filmmakers from San Diego are going to be on her show.

priesthood

The timing! In Christianity, we compared and contrasted the Catholic and Protestant faiths. Tonight on Larry King LIve, there were 2 full-time priests, a former priest that left and became married and John MacArthur (a pastor). Interesting discussion that asnwered many questions for me.

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/larry.king.live/

late nights

I love those days where you think you know what will happen, and things change. The unexpected is great. I woke up early-ish and went on run to the bay. Downtown mornings are so great. The streets are full of produce trucks for the restaurants, people rushing to work, dogs getting their morning walks, and sometimes the random person who is still experiencing the previous night. I came back, took a shower and spent the next 2 hours handing out surveys for Marketing Research. The local business owners were super nice and willing to take the 10 minutes. I found some businesses that I didn't know existed. I walked into 'The Pilates Room' and the place looks more like torture than a workout. I heard that's what Demi Moore uses, so the torture is apparently worth it.

I came back home and had great intentions.. I was going to figure out HRBlock's website and finally file my taxes. I think there were some compatibility issues with my mac, so I abandoned that idea and popped in Amanda's season one of LOST. Needless to say- it's addicting. There goes a very productive two hours of my day. I was supposed to have a group meeting for a case study in my International Strategic Management class, but one of the guys cancelled. It was at that point I realized my almost comedic grocery situation. Honestly, the only things I owned in the refridgerator were condiments.. and the only thing in the pantry was some cornbread mix and spaghetti. I boiled the spaghetti and then searched for something to go on it. My best option was raspberry vinegarette... my mom the former Home-Ec teacher would be so disappointed. It was at this point I called Vince and asked a gigantic favor- a ride to Trader Joe's.

The bummer about being carless is doctors appointments (I don't think I've even had one, but it'd be hard if I did), grocery shopping, and hanging out with friends. I just pictured myself going to Ralph's in downtown with my backpack.. buying enough to fill it, and riding my bike back home. It'd take at least 4 trips to pull off a legitimate trip to the store. By the last trip they'd know me by name.. you better believe.

This rarely happens, but sometimes the reality of being home alone in a big city.. well, it sets in. The fear is usually triggered by something scary. I had been watching another episode of LOST and it ended on a mysterious note. When I get scared, I make as much noise as possible. I start a load of laundry, run the diswasher, put on the radio and vaccuum. I don't actually do all of those things. The dishwasher or laundry hum is great comfort.

My eyes are closing and my head will soon hit the keyboard, so i'll go to bed now..

rock in her friend's shoe...

I've been extra tired lately. It's the second round of midterms, I'm working more hours, and I've had company in town the last two weekends.. no wonder! My birth-weekend (it was definitely a drawn out event) was great. I felt super loved by family and close friends. On Saturday night we (Cynthia, Mom, Emily, Rod, Wielands, Nazaroffs, Cori, James, Vince, and I) went to dinner at Miguel's on Coronado. Afterwards some of us went to National Comedy Theatre to watch an improv show. The next morning, about 20-25 of my closest friends went to Extraordinary Desserts for a morning coffee/brunch. It was so great to look down the table and see the faces of people that that influenced me so much in college. Old roommates, co-workers, friends from CRU, friends from Kerman.. all sitting together and laughing. It made me happy. My college friends chipped in on a great gift- a black Nikon camera with 6.2 megapixels and 5x zoom! The card cracked me up. It said something like "On March 29, 1984 a baby girl was born. (My birthday is actually the 30th ha ha) Her name was Allison Ricks. The Jewel in her mom's eye.. the Rock in her friend's show.. and the hope for the China Man..." There was a picture of me standing with a Thai shop owner that I had bartered a wooden elephant with. We're both grinning from ear to ear. Probably my cheesiest picture. Rock in her friend's shoe... What the heck?!

I spent Friday night and Saturday with my childhood best friend, Trisha and her husband Sean. They live in Kansas City, Missouri and attend school on the campus of IHOP. It was fun to get sushi with them and talk about all that our Father is doing around the world. Trisha has this way of telling stories- she fills them with unnecessary details, until she loses track of the subject. It was funny to have her tell a story, switch subjects quickly, fill it with details.. until I finally have to admit that I'm completely lost. She has been an incredible friend to me. I can't count how many times we laid on the trampoline in my backyard and talked all night.. rollerbladed every sidewalk in Kerman, and swam in my grandma's pool. It's great to see her happily married. Her husband Sean is a perfect match.. they're hilarious together. It's hard to believe, but they both talk so much that I barely got a word in. They flew in to San Diego because they were spending a week in Ensenada on a trip. The last time I saw them was at their wedding last summer, so it was a fun mini-reunion.

I need to do my taxes, do 50-75 surveys in downtown for Marketing Research, study for Operations Management, do laundry, and pass these classes. Last week I got my cap and gown for graduation.. it was weird to think that I'm almost done. James just told me we only have 40 days left. I think I'm going to run to the bay for the next 40 days until we graduate. It'd be great to have a devo every morning on the water. It has become a morning ritual to have coffee on the balcony looking at the water.. this will only be an improvement. 40 days.. wow.