What Makes Us Stronger...

The past couple of weeks have really not been anything I wanted to write about--but now that I have a little hindsight I think I can share a little of what has been going on.

First, January 20 was the first day of school. This is normally a crazy and stressful time for us in the advising office. We get the people who have instantly decided they want to go to school but can't understand why all the classes are full--umm duh! And all the people who realized they didn't listen to us before and consequently don't have a particular class they need to graduate...again I say duh! And a plethora of other issues that normally come through our doors the first day/week of school. But this first week of school was particularly stressful because the Vice Provost was coming to campus specifically to meet with our school. So I was stressing for the entire weekend--the joys of being the low (wo)man on the totem pole with whispers of layoffs.

Well the meeting happened and overall the message was good. Our school was being disestablished and our programs were being combined with the teacher education college on the west campus. In fact the west campus college was going to administer all of the teacher prep programs at ASU. But our jobs were safe (for the moment) because they still wanted a full staff to help students on this campus. hurray!

And later that day we met with our new dean and she seems to follow the same philosophy that the advising office had--that the important thing was to make sure students are helped and that the campuses should not be in competition with each other.

But my lower stress level was not meant to last long. Corey went for a jog at midnight (his favorite time to run--I know he's crazy) and was jumped by three or four guys who wanted his ipod. So we got to meet the police at midnight and go to the hospital at midnight and all that fun stuff. Yes he is okay, but the experience in general left a bad taste in our mouths.

And then if that was not enough stress for just over a week period. ASU announced that in order to deal with the budget cuts that the state is requesting of the university all paid employees have to take a 10-15 day unpaid furlough. I fall into the category of 12 days. Luckily they are letting us spread it out--do a day or two a week between now and June 23. But still essentially it is a pay cut. And there is no promise that June 23 or thereabouts we won't get another message about the furloughs we need to take for the next fiscal year. If you live in Arizona and agree that higher education is important (or even if you just want to make sure I have a job), contact your representative and tell them that you don't want them to cut higher education funding as much as they are proposing.

And since I thought pictures were worth a thousand words--here are pictures of what the students put up on campus to show their feelings about the budget cuts. They had this up the day that the Vice Provost came to campus to talk to our school--and she actually said that she thought it was a great statement.

And just so you know, Danica is doing very well. She is sitting in her bouncy chair right now laughing at me. :)

My Baby is getting so Big

I had to go through the pictures on my phone this week to show a friend pictures--and I was shocked to see how much Danica has grown.
And then this week I had to redo the straps on her car seat--and take out the little infant head positioner. And I realized how much bigger she looks in her carseat. She doesn't look like this little baby anymore.

And then finally today I took her to the doctor for a check up--and she already weighs 13 lbs. 1 oz. Oh my goodness she isn't my little baby isn't little anymore.

I really thought she was going to be a little baby a lot longer.

I think it is becoming an odyssey...

I really never thought I would get to try so many of my quest destinations so quickly, but today I really needed to go get my back manipulated. I was in a lot of pain and having trouble carrying Danica in her car seat with everything else I have to take with her. So my dad took me to see Ron--who works in Glendale not far from another of Guy's stops.

Thee Pitts Again is a barbecue place. I tried the smoked shrimp, which was good but not my favorite because I thought the shrimp ended up with a tough skin on it. But the grilled veggies were wonderful.

My dad, however, ordered the smoked turkey, pulled pork, and sliced brisket. The smoked turkey and pulled pork were out of this world. Definitely worth the drive over there.

They use a sauce that is perfect mix of sweet, heat, and tang from vinegar. It was very yummy. And there cocktail sauce that came with the shrimp was wonderful as well--good bite from the horseradish.

We also got a Miss Piggy Brownie with Ice Cream--the brownie had caramel, chocolate chips, and warm. The ice cream and whip cream were the perfect way to finish it off.

After my weekend of stressing about Tuesday's meetings, it was a nice treat.

My Quest Continues

I honestly didn't think I would be posting another step in my quest so soon--but my dad and I ended up in Glendale today and so we tried another one of Guy's finds. La Piazza Al Fornos hasn't been featured on the show yet (yep Dad and I are ahead of the curve). But they are definitely not hiding that they will be on the show soon. Right next to the door they have a signed poster with a picture of Guy. And when you walk in the door on the wall they have a stencilled picture of Guy and the words Guy Ate Here. (these would have been great pictures, but the trip was a little unplanned and so I had no camera).

I am not going to lie--the service really left something to be desired. But the food was amazing. If you go, try the Italian Stallion Meat Pizza. The italian sausage is amazing. And their tomato sauce is perfect. They don't over season it--it really just tastes like ripe fresh tomatoes. And the meat complements that perfectly.

The chocolate cannoli--well it's perfect. But really how could you go wrong with chocolate and marcopone cheese. You can't.

Overall I wll say that my quest has proven once again to be worth it. I just hope Guy finds more reasons to come to Arizona--a few more in the east valley would be nice. :)

A List

My cousins have both been doing lists lately--so when I got this email from my friend I thought it would make a good list for my blog (what can I say I don't want to be left out). :)

The object of this list is to answer every question with one word:
Where is your cell phone? Couch
Your significant other? Funny
Your Hair? Short
Your mother? umm no comment
Your father? Knowledgable
Your favorite thing? Danica
Your dream last night? Sleep?
Your favorite drink? Lemonade
Your dream/goal? Success
What room are you in? Den
Your hobby? Blogging
Your fear? Fire
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Successful
Where were you last night? Home
Something that you aren't? Boring
Muffins? Chocolate
Wish list item? Sleep
Last thing you did? Errands
TV? NCIS
Your pets? Brandy
Friends? Fun
Your life? Happy
Your mood? Nonchatlant
Missing someone? Nope
Drinking? Water
Smoking? Yuck!
Your car? Cavalier
Something you're not wearing? Jacket
Your favorite store? bn.com
Your favorite color? Red
When is the last time you cried? Delivery
Where do you go to over and over? Work
Five people who email me regularly? Students
My favorite place to eat? Restaurants
Place I'd like to be at right now? Joe's

So now I encourage you to do it--its fun and some of them are harder to answer in one word then you would think. hehe

A Quest

I have decided today to start a quest--well really continue a quest that I was already on, but now I am calling it a quest. It sounds so much more important now.


First, a little history. In case you don't know, I am a fan of food network--okay I admit I am a food network junkie (I can't hid it too many family members read this and would comment). And one of my favorite shows is Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. If you haven't seen it--you should. It is great fun, but the only down side is that you can't try all the yummy food.


Now for the quest. I have decided that I need to try all of the places he visits in Arizona.

So far in my progress I have tried Joe's Farm Grill, Matt's Big Breakfast, and today Roberto's Mexican Food. In fairness, I am pretty sure that the family found Joe's for the cousin's dinner before Guy found it. But I am still going to count it as part of my quest. Corey found it on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives so I got to stand in the post-show lines. I think its only fair I get to count it then.

The run-down (AKA my opinion). Joe's is awesome. It is so good that I had my last birthday lunch there. Well its good and they give you a great discount on your birthday. Pretty much everything I have had there has been delicious, but if I had to pick one favorite I would have to say the garlic fries.

Matt's was wonderful--the breakfast was so good. I had pancakes (I was pregnant it was a craving) and their homefries. I thought the homefries had a little too much fresh rosemary, but overall the food was wonderful. I want to go again, and next time I am having waffles (I saw them on the show and they look yummy).

And today's Roberto's was great!! I really wanted the muendo they featured on the show--but that is only served on Saturdays. Bummer. But I had the chile rellanos and they were wonderful. The first time they weren't deep fried (they were cooked on a flat top on two sides). I want to try that at home and see if I can replicate it (deep frying is way to messy for me to want to do it at home). But overall Robertos may be my favorite Mexican food--which is sad because they are quite a ways away from my house.


I will keep you up to date on my quest. And I think you should join me--try the places by your house and tell me what you think. Make me jealous. :)

Flashback

Remember a while ago I promised pictures of my surprise baby shower at work.

Well I finally got those pictures yesterday (that is what happen when you leave work for months...hehe). So here are some pictures as a flashback to the end of September--wow how things have changed.

Yep they got me:

The gift table:

The infamous sideview--yep I feel better about how I look know by comparison...hehe:
My friend and my supervisor--two of the conspirators:
The whole gang:

First Day Back

Today was my first day back to work--and my first day taking Danica to the sitter for the day. It was so hard to leave her there--even though I really like her sitter (who will be known from now on as Nana) and Danica didn't get upset as I was leaving. But it was still hard.

But throughout the day Nana said that Danica was very good--she only got fussy towards the end of the day and part of that fussiness seemed to be that she was tired of eating out of a bottle. But Nana and the other girls in the house seemed to be quite taken with our little girl.

And work was good. It kind of stunk because both of my supervisors were out of the office today so there were quite a few things I couldn't do because I wasn't sure how things have changed (I just know that with the budget issues there have been lots of changes).

So overall the day was okay--but I will be so glad when I get to be with her all day tomorrow. February is going to be so hard because I will be back to work full time.

New Year

I have decided that since I hardly ever follow through with a resolution--I am not going to focus on making any this year. But as midnight hit last night (yep I am a little late on this post) I started to think about 2008. Last January 1st I was thinking about how many classes I would have completed towards my Masters from ASU (the one I like to refer to as my "real" masters). I was predicting two classes a semester and one over the summer--nope that didn't happen because instead I found out in March that a little one was joining our family.

And I realized how much my thoughts this January 1st centered around Danica. I was thinking how much she is going to change and grow in the next year. By next January 1st Danica could be walking and talking. She could be giving me smiles with little teeth rather then just gums. She could be giving me hugs and kisses that she initiates.

Yep I am pretty sure that the next year is going to be quite an adventure. So I have decided to take my grandma's advice to learn something new everyday as my motto for this year. And I am pretty sure that Danica will help me accomplish that.