yesterday was amazing.

As I fell asleep last night I couldn't help but think of how great a day it was. I woke up at 7am in my new house for the summer. I live with 5 other amazing girls for the next 6 weeks while I'm in summer school. Sure, it's not Little Italy, but I've really appreciate life here. I live in a quiet house with a garage and front yard- contrasting with the 17 story condo with construction in the middle of downtown. Life seems incredibly simple, perhaps it's a good transition. So, I woke up at 7, showered, ate some oatmeal, and walked to school with my roommate Katie. I'm talking two summer school classes: Multicultural Education and Strategic Marketing Managment (talk about a contrast!).
In Multicultural Eduacation we talked about discrimination and racial/gender bias. It was a very interesting discussion and I got to share my Girl Scout affirmative action story. People love that story. In Marketing, we did a day of recap of our last 4 years of learning.. from consumer behavior to finance to accounting to advertising... we recapped it all with a little game of Wheel of Fortune/Jeopardy combo. I was Vanna White for the morning and thoroughly enjoyed my job. My professor kept making little quips about people's answers that only I could hear.. super funny comments.
I walked home from school and Kyle picked me up for a lunch hangout. I talked him into the Cheese Shop, my favorite lunch spot in the middle of the Gaslamp district. The Cheese Shop's great, it's a local restaurant, super affordable, and great atmosphere. They have super high ceiling and the building in made of brick. The employees are down to earth, friendly, and frankly, I'm a regular now. Kyle really liked it and it was great to just catch up with him and talk about topics outside of college. He gave me some great pointers on raising support and I asked him about his responsibility of raising 3 kids.. what he and Wendy have learned over time, etc. Kyle is a perfect fit for San Diego Metro ministry and it's been a real pleasure to get to know him and do ministry together over the past couple of years.
When I got home from lunch I sat on the couch with my laptop to write my discrimination editorial that was homework. That lasted about 20 minutes, when I fell asleep for an amazing nap. I can't remember the last time I was both healthy and sleeping during the day. It was so nice to wake up refreshed.
At 5, my new roommates and I went to La Jolla Shores and went sunset surfing. The water was warm and the waves were decent. I felt a stingray slide past my leg, later to find out that they were pretty abundant because of the warm water. Aside from the stingrays, being in the ocean at near-sunset was so nice and relaxing. At one point, I was sitting on my board pretty far out, the water was calm, the sun felt nice on my face, the late sun glistening gold on the water. I just sat there for a couple minutes.. one of those slow down moments. I'm not artistic, but I seriously wanted to paint the scenery. I felt so grateful... grateful for pretty much everything in my life. The mellowness lasted just a few minutes and I was only interrupted by a great wave forming about 20 feet away. I turned my board around, paddled hard, and caught it. I could have kept sitting on my board and let it pass by, but I didn't. There's a great rush when you're being carried by a wave and I realized that that moment was no 'better' than the peacefulness of a moment before. Life is made up of the relaxing slow times and the crazy adrenaline times and it's not like they sit on opposite ends of some spectrum of enjoyment- instead they're both incredible and meant to be enjoyed for what they are. I think sometimes I value one more than the other..a grass is greener mindset.
When we got home, we all made dinner and sat and watched Grey's Anatomy. I'm not too good at the medical shows, but they really like it and I can see why. I'll admit.. I'm semi-addicted. LOST still has my loyalty though. I also found some support checks I had put in a safe place and had forgotten the safe place's location- such a nice surprise.
I went to bed pretty late, but totally content with the day. If I could find checks, surf, have lunch with a great friend, spend time with incredible girls, and enjoy summer school more often.. that's be ok with me.
I'm going to miss my homeless neighbors in the parking lot, endless trolley stories, Little Italy streets lined with white lights at night, It's A Grind coffee shop, the Embarcadero and watching cruise ships come in from my balcony, and riding my beach cruiser to Gaslamp. I'm taking the trolley to Little Italy right now to turn in my keys to Amanda. Change is good, I have to remind myself of that.