4 is not 7

So I tried making some more wheat bread this week and honestly it is the best one I have made yet. And unlike the other loaves that I have made, this loaf was felt only like 4 lbs. The others felt more like 7 and if thrown through a window, it would definitely do some damage. But this one was fluffy and not so "hearty" as one roommate pointed out. Thanks Pamcakes. But my quest for the best wheat bread ever has been temporarily halted due to the fact that I am all out of wheat flour. So I need to get on that. We'll see how that works out now that I am in school. But I will try my best to do the best I can in my quest and gladly accept offers to grind my wheat. That sounds like some sort of pick-up line, but it's not.

More Pics of CANADIA!!!!

More pics from Canadia

Victoria CANADIA!!!

Yeah, I spelled it wrong and Canadians hate that joke I make. I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Victoria on the Vancover Island with Bruno. His company paid for me to come join him after my final in stats, and true to my theory, when I have a vacation around my final or test I do much better and I did awesome on that final. Then I spent the next 9 hours traveling to Victoria and reading Harry Pothead. We stayed that the best hotel, the Empress by Fairmont. Built in 1904 and so nice and right on the water where there was a dragonboating competition the whole weekend!!! Friday Bruno had meetings so I went to Buchart Garden and took a exorburant amount of photos with my new wand. It's called a Quickpod and it allows you to take a better picture of yourself so your arm isn't in the photo. All the tourists loved it and wanted to know where to get one.
We also went to the BC Museum and saw a great exhibit on the Titanic. There were so many things that went wrong and I learned a lot like before they wrote SOS it was CQD which meant Come Quick Disaster and that the closest boat to the Titanic didn't respond or come to help them. And the life vest were made of cork, so everyone floated, but died of hypothermia.
We also went to Cosco to see if it was any different. It's the same, but more European. We tried some fries with gravy and cheese curdles and they were yummy. Then we went to a nice dinner at the hotel for the work people and had salmon and steak and sat next to some Mormons. How funny was that? Then we took a nice walk on the bay and saw the Parlament building with all the Christmas lights.
Saturday we went whale watching and saw a huge humpback whale come right up next to the boad and swim right by us. My outfit of choice was a bright orange jumpsuit with stuffed arms and legs that kept me warm with customized lettering that read, "Prince of Whales." Needless to say, I looked good and after 3 hours on the water, my hair was incredible. Then for the best part of the trip we drove up the coast and I went bungy jumping. It was so awesome. The bridge was 140 feet up above a river and I told the workers I wanted to touch the water with my fingertips and I went about waist deep. But looking down was the scariest thing ever and I walked over to the edge quickly so I wouldn't talk myself out of it. When they counted down and said "Bungy" I did a beautiful swan dive. Well, not so beautiful, but it was fun and scary at the same time. It was really crazy and I can't believe I did it. But I will try to post the video so you all can enjoy. I had no idea I was going bungy jumping that day when I got dressed, so the white pants and nice sweater did the best they could.
That night we went to see Spiderman 3 and WOW that was a snooze fest. About an hour into the film I mention this to Bruno and he said he already paid so I was going to stay for the whole thing, but I don't ever need to see that again. Sunday we went to the "castle" yeah, its some rich guys house and not worth the 12$ to get in, we didn't go in and just took a picture. The we saw an IMAX film about Safaris in South Africa. I'm just getting ready for my own safari and needed to do some research. Can't wait for that trip:) Then we headed home where I finished Harry Pothead and read almost every moment on the way home. It was a really fun trip and BC is so beautiul this time of year. The rain didn' really bother me and running in the mornings was so much fun, espcially with my new wand. Love to take pics of myself. Well here are some the photos

The Results

I got my test back that I took the Monday after my vaca and Holy Cow Batman! I did awesome. This only proves my theory that I do really well on test where I have traveled the weekend before. Not only did I do well, I did the best. (I have to brag about these moments because they are few and far between.) Yeah, I rocked that test and it didn't ever see it coming. I have already been offered the opportunity to travel next week to Vancover in preparation for my final, but I don't the finances will allow it. But to all my faithful readers, I do have finals in December and May, so let me know of any vacations that I should check out.
Speaking of finances, I recently had a scare about student loans and my good friend TJ offered his consultation services upon which I did partake. So last night we started the wondeful process to empower me and my money. I haven't been proactive with my money and now that I will have to take out more student loans, I figured it would be great to get the most of it while I can. So we will be working on my budget and getting me out of stupid debt. I already feel so much better about the future. It's so fabulous and I just have to give a shout out to TJ who is an awesome friend. He's pretty amazing and his mom thinks he's handsome.

San Fran

Last weekend some friends of mine convinced me that the perfect way to study for a test was a road trip, so after I made my best effort to resist the devils, I finaly succumbed to the peer pressure. Lisa G had a cheap hotel in SF if she attended a conference where they try to sell her time shares, so I figured why not? We left Thursday night and headed to the Garcia's of Rancho, because every good trip needs some huevos rancheros to get the party started. Plus I was finally able to watch an episode of Sherlock Holmes and fall asleep like Lisa does when she goes home. It's elementary my dear Watson! The next day we cruised on up to Stockton where Ruthie was anxiously awaiting our arrival for the best walk on the delta ever. Ruthie and I normally run that route, so it seems so much shorter than that. But it was long and the magnetic pointer I brought could only bring us so much distraction. We called some good family friends to see if they wanted to take us out on their boat and in the middle of the walk TJ and I ran the rest in the worst shoes ever so that we could get him a swim suit. My heels were all bloody, but the boat riding was well worth my loss of blood.
Judd has never been boating so we tried to get him up on a board, but to our dismay he could not point his toes that well=couldn't get up. I just don't understand. I got in some good jumps with crazy mad air, like so high you can't believe. The real fun was the tubing. We got TJ, Judd and myself on a tube and Dave Bird took us for a ride. We ploted to get Judd thrown off and it worked like a charm. He didn't stand a chance. We had a great BBQ dinner that Ruthie won't stop talking about to this day on how good the potatoes and grilled peaches were. Good times in the 209!!
The next day we went to San Francisco and rented scootcars to drive around town. Wearing a helmet and seatbelt didn't make feel any safer in those deathtraps. At one point I realized I could brake better by sticking my foot out of the car, then by using the brake(which took about 10 seconds to catch and slow down the car.) The best part was Judd using his white skin to scare off the other drivers of real cars so that they wouldn't come to close to our bumper car. You might think that the big white spot is the light from the flash. It's not.
Our hotel was the best thing. We asked for 2 beds and when we got to the room, its a corner room and I remember saying, "Oh good, it's a corner room. Corner rooms are always bigger." Nope, they're not and infact they have one less bed than you thought. So we had one bed. Sleeping spots were tight that night. I did enjoy taking a shower and seeing the trolley cars go by. The next morning TJ and I had to meet up with Steph and Jer to get a ride back to San Diego, so we at breakfast on the 8th floor of the Macy's in Union Square at the Cheesecake factory. So yummy delicious. BART was a real treat and the ride home was full of fun conversation and life threating moments thanks to Steph's driving.
So the question you might be thinking is "Did Julia study?" I infact did and I felt good about the test. We will find out tomorrow if I did well. If I do, then it is the 2nd time I went on a trip before a test. Last time I went to Costa Rica the week before finals and rocked them. If it works out again, I wonder where I will go next time???