I Practically Live in Mexico, Really I Do

This weekend I have thoroughly enjoyed the history of San Diego and its cultural. Friday night I drove 30 minutes to Chula Vista (near the border, the real international border, not the Taco Bell one) for some of the best tacos ever. The location called "Tacos el Gordo" is part of a Mexican chain that is highly ranked on all visitor's response scales. They are small, but very good and very greasy. I had a pork and 2 carne asada tacos. The tacos came with generous helpings of cilantro sauce and guacamole. That was Mexican event #1 of the weekend.

Next Sally G. invited me to Chicano Park Day in Barrio Logan. It's just south of downtown and the free was built right through it, kicking a lot of people out and so the city had to build a park. Established by Chicano activists on April 22, 1970, Chicano Park has received international recognition as a major public art site for its mural paintings of the past and present struggle of Mexican and Chicano history. Plus, the lowriders were A PLENTY!!!! So many cool cars, all decked out and oh so close to the ground. Sally G and I are going to start our own car club. I was thinking of naming it "Las Chicas Blancas." I think that would look great on a gold chain and have a spinning rim in there somewhere. It will only be for mid 90's car models from countries that the U.S. helped rebuild after destroying in WWII, but are actually made in Mexico.

After waiting a super long time for a burrito, (they ran out of tortas, which are Mexican for sandwich, not cake) we enjoyed the music and traditional dancing. I applauded for the first group a really long time, because the song they danced to was probably 15 minutes long, no joke and they deserved some lovin' for just being able to make it that long. Here's what it looked like.


I did learn that people who cruise are very nice to pedestrians because they have no where to go and just want to be seen, so they let everyone cross the street. So courteous of them. I also learned that Mexican Spanish is different from other Spanish. Since when is a torta not a sweetened cake? We did have a good time looking at all the booths and jewelery. Turquoise is starting to grow on me. I'm not saying I'll go all Southwestern, but some of the pieces I would wear.

Then I hit up the Padres game vs. Pirates. We took the Trolley from Old Town (aka Mexican touristy spot)and headed downtown. I accidentally bought tickets for Sunday's game, but they still let Dayna, (other roomie) and I in. Plus, it was replica jersey night, so we walked through the line a couple of times and got some extras, just in case something should happen to the other ones. Since we didn't really have seats, we thought why not dream big and so we hit up the nice seats in front in between the pitcher's mound and 3rd base. It was a nice view, too bad the Padres were sucking it up big time. But overall a really great experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed the day of appreciating the Mexican culture and the area in which I live. Who knows how much longer I'll be here, so I gotta live it!

Baby Blessing

This Easter I had the great opportunity to attend a baby blessing of a lovely little lady named Rachel, daughter of Jayda. It was great to see her and her brand new baby of joy. Not to mention the meeting was in Spanish and that was so much fun. Not only was it only 40 minutes long, but it was great to hear the Spanish hymns. Afterwards, we had a nice little luncheon with all the family and got to catch up on all the new things happening in life.

Here is Rachelle holding baby Rachel.

The girls!!!

I'm Sailing, I'm a Sailor!

This weekend I became a skipper in the Navy with full privileges that come with the 14 foot boat that I now can take into the San Diego Bay. After our 2 day course, Big Red and I are now able to rent and take boats as we please. Thanks to our great instructors Hugo and Ray we excelled on the test, sailing the boat and life in general. We really did have to take and pass a test about nautical terms, wind conditions, safety precautions and knots. I'm quite proficient from my previous experience aboard the C.A. Thayer in 7th and 8th grade. I'm a second class seaman and appreciated the continuing education provided to me. Now that the thesis is mostly over, I'm just trying to learn life skills. Sailing is definitely one of those things I need to know.


Here is a view from the boat on the Bay

Here is me working the tiller, just doing my thing. As you can see, it's really windy out there.

Big Red showing how its done.

Big Red, Moi and Joe with our diplomas

Class picture with one of the boats that we can rent and we can rent even bigger ones. Fridays are free! I wonder what I'll be doing the next couple of Fridays

Kareoke Queen

Earlier this year I had quite the whirlwind tour on the San Diego Dive Bar Kareoke Tour. The first place we went to had an interesting assortment of music aficionados. After an hour of Black Sabbath tributes and ACDC rock outs we decided to mix things up a little. I went with KC and JoJo's "All my life" and quickly learned 1)that duets should be sung by 2 people and 2) that song is really long time to be on a stage by yourself 3) Some songs sound so much better when sung in a car all by yourself. Not that I was horrible, but I was really nervous.

The next time we went, I did some research. Found out what the crowd liked, what songs actually sound good for 3.5 minutes and which ones didn't have super high notes. After much thought, I found the perfect song for me. "Alone" by Heart. I really heart this song and had a great time singing it. The crowd went wild as well. I wouldn't allow video to be recorded due to copyright issues, but I did permit photographs and here they are for your viewing pleasure.

Bow to Your Master!

Ok, so that's a little over the top, but I think that the message is pretty clear. Today, while most of you were filing your taxes last minute, I was defending my thesis at school. It was a beautiful windy day and I was glad when it was over. I presented for about 30 minutes, then my committee members asked me questions and then opened up the floor for other questions. Then they excused us while they deliberated for about 7 minutes. After that, they took me in and informed me of my revisions or additional information that I need to add to the paper. Then they all signed off and congratulated me on a job well done. It was a great feeling. I had about 12 people there, most of them were there for moral support. So now, I have to do some revisions and then I'll be back to normal. Whatever will I do with all this free time that I'll have
I picked up my graduation outfit yesterday. I have a salmon colored hood. Man, I can't wait for this pictures!!! 5 more weeks to go.

More Photos from the Wedding Day of March 21st

This Occured March 21st

Within 1 month, I've had 2 roommates get married. That may be normal for Mormon life, but considering that never before have I had a roommate get married, it was a busy time for our house. We wish the girls the best of luck and the the grooms Congratulations. I think that's how the wording is supposed to go. Anywho, at the reception in lovely Coronado at the library, we had a little photo shoot with CASH $, as I refer to him by. His parents don't seem too keen on the nickname, but I think that it'll grow on them. Also, we have some photos of friends and family. Cousin Ryan was nice enough to show CASH $ how to throw some blows with the elbows first hand. He didn't like it.

CASH $ and his Aunt J

The Tilted Head Family photo

ME and Pretty

Fellow attendants include: Cuz, Big Red, Seth, Jenna and Denise

The roomies quick photo with the bride KM.

The Getty

Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to go to the Getty in LA for the first time. It was amazing and I had such a great time with my friend, we'll call her Big Red. Any time I'm with her its an adventure and this time was no exception. We started the day off with breakfast in Manhattan Beach at a great little breakfast place on the beach and then headed to the art. I loved the Baroque Art exhibit they have there and could tell who had studied with my favorite Caravaggio by their use of the chiaro-scuro lighting. The place is beautiful and after my experience there I decided that I really do need a room of fleur de lis and fabric on the walls. It's a must have. One of my favorite moments is when the tour guide was talking about a painting of Joseph and Potiphar's wife and she called it the "Original He's Just Not That Into You" story. I couldn't stop laughing and will now refer to the story with it's new title. Please enjoy the photos that follow. As you might notice, the infamous peace sign has once again returned to my photos. This is an indication of total coolness and propriety.