tahoe, continued...

  Friday night I got to see Pearl.  We picked out some new bindings for her snowboard and then went out to sushi.  The Sushi Pier in Stateline has great sushi, but the tea and ginger aren't up to snuff.

 Walking her dog later I got to see the stars - that's something I really miss now that I'm living in a big city, surrounded by big trees at home.

 Saturday, Lisa got me a ticket to Heavenly, so Pearl, Lisa, Lisa's niece Harmony, and I all went snowboarding.  We had a fun time cruising around until about 1:00 when it started getting scary crowded.  It was a good time to leave!

 Sunday I rejoined my old worship team at Sierra Community Church for all three services.  It was really good to sit behind the piano and sing and pretend to play it again!  In the afternoon, I met up with Rick at Alpina Cafe.  We headed out to Lily Lake, stopping to admire the frozen Glen Alpine Falls.

 Rick had brought both his and his wife Pam's skates (which fit me with extra-thick socks).  We went ice skating on Lily Lake - I'd never had an opportunity to skate on natural ice before.  It was a little eerie skating over all the cracks and bubbles, but great fun!

  Monday I got to have lunch with my old roommate Trevor and yummy homemade curry with Lisa for dinner.  Tuesday I made a few turns at Sierra before heading back to the Bay.  Despite the fact that only the bunny hill was open, it was amazing to be able to ride at HOME.

more time in tahoe

My Tahoe time was great.  I got to catch up with a bunch of friends, spend time relaxing, and do some fun things.  Jes, Geoff, and I walked out to Fallen Leaf Lake with Roxy (the dog) - it was beautiful out there, and a way to enjoy what would NOT be available if the snow were there as it should be.

We went to dinner with Tiffany and Matt, then over to Tiffany's place for dessert.  They've got a 17 foot Christmas tree which fits because of their high ceilings!

 Geoff provided tickets for us to go up the Heavenly Gondola and check out the view.  If we didn't already know there wasn't snow, it would have been depressing, but as it was, it was absolutely gorgeous.

 We took a walk to Ski Run Marina on Friday before my father left, braving the wind and freezing temperatures to enjoy the sunshine.

 He got on the bus that afternoon and headed back to the Bay Area while I stuck around for more adventures.

"geographical identity crisis"

The title of this is borrowed from a friend.  It comes from leaving home (Atlanta) to come home (my parents' home) and then to drive home (Tahoe) but yet not be able to be home (my house here).  All four of those places are home in a way, especially now when I don't feel fixed in any one place.
Anyway, I made it back to California with an unplanned night in Salt Lake City.  Delta Airlines delayed my flight out of Atlanta for an equipment change (but neglected to make sure the passengers all got the word).  En route, we were assured that Salt Lake City had a small airport and there shouldn't be any problem catching our connecting flights.  I rushed through the airport in time to see my plane at the gate with the jetway still attached, but no one in sight in the terminal.  I watched, helpless, for several minutes until the jetway was retracted and the door to the plane shut.  After a couple more minutes with not a single person in sight, I retraced my steps until I found Delta personnel.  They were not very friendly, but gave me minimal instructions to accompany two food vouchers and a hotel room voucher.  I was told that my bag (forced gate checking of my carry-on) was probably on my flight and on its way to San Jose.  The gave me an "overnight kit."  Check this out:

It also included a massive t-shirt.  I checked with Delta baggage and found out that my bag was NOT on the flight but instead was there in Salt Lake City - I'm glad I checked, not only because I now knew my bag would make it to San Jose with me, but at least I had a toothbrush!  Notice that the "overnight kit" included toothpaste - but no toothbrush.
Friday night I got to see Alice's daughters perform in the Christmas program at Community Baptist Church of San Jose.  Her oldest did a phenomenal job playing harp for the prelude and for interludes between the different acts.

 Her middle daughter sang with the kids choir, while both danced in a ballet choreographed by one of the kids, a talented dancer.
Saturday night we went out for a yummy Chinese dinner for Janet's birthday:

Sunday, my dad and I headed up to Tahoe.  On the way, we had In-n-Out for lunch.  There's something you can't find on the east side of this country.

 We checked into the condo so graciously provided by Mrs. Hendrickson.  Pretty snazzy place, recently remodeled and very comfortable.

There is unfortunately no snow, so our plan from months ago of spending our time out skiing and snowboarding has gone to pieces.  Nevertheless, it's been great to be back home in Tahoe and having a chance to catch up with friends.  Monday I got the opportunity to go horseback riding with my good friend Marissa.  The first shot is of four of the horses there - clockwise from top right: Maverick, Scout, Tango, and Little Bit.  They were all looking for treats, and Scout is so close because he wanted to sample my camera after the ride.

It was a fun ride, and I rejoined my dad for a sushi dinner.  I've had sushi once since I got to Atlanta, so that was a great treat.  More coming soon on more time in Tahoe!

free at last!!

I am done with two semesters now - and these were supposed to be the hardest semesters of the program!  I finished my last final about an hour ago and am home finishing up laundry and packing my bag to get out of town.  My ride comes in about three and half hours, my flight leaves in about seven.  I can't wait to get back to California, for a month.  I'm excited to see family and friends, to read books for pleasure without guilt, to sleep without an exam hanging over me, and I could continue this list on for a while.

These past couple months have included walking to school in the dark and seeing the sunrise sometimes:

Walking home and watching the sunset - in this case with the moon in the upper left of the picture:

enjoying more little snatches of fall color - this in my front yard:

And having a chair collapse beneath me Monday night as I was sitting STILL (I HAVE A WITNESS) studying:

It was actually terrifying, a slow-motion fall with absolutely no control over what was happening.  I am thankful that I didn't hit the floor too hard because it was slow motion.  My back is sore but getting better and I hope the pain will continue to decrease.  I am now throwing out both this chair and one of the other chairs that has cracks in it so this doesn't happen to anyone else!  Thankfully, my other two chairs are pretty solid.

On that pleasant note, look forward to my next post being from and about CALIFORNIA!

thanksgiving! and the countdown...

I spent a very pleasant Thanksgiving with my mom's cousin and family.  Adam and Bernard took charge of an amazing turkey, mashed potatoes, chickpea salad, collard greens with smoked turkey wings, and Georgia shrimp.  Linda cooked up some delicious stuffing and sweet potatoes with marshmallows and pecans.  Rachel added some oven roasted asparagus and squash and I brought my homemade bread.  Top it off with pumpkin pie and Dutch apple pie and you have six happily stuffed people!

Traditional after-Thanksgiving family Christmas picture

Rachel and me

Linda and me

Dinner was followed by Monopoly which was followed by card games.

I went home the next day and pretty much straight to work.  Now I'm trying to catch up with all of my end-of-semester projects and it's probably time to start studying for finals.  BUT, the countdown is ON!  I will be flying back to California eleven days from now!

sweetwater creek state park

On Saturday, a small group headed out to Sweetwater Creek State park, about 15 miles due west from downtown Atlanta.  We were hoping to catch fall colors in their full glory, but realized before we left that it was probably a bit late - especially with the wind and rain we've had recently.

We took the Red Trail out along the creek and the Blue Trail back through the woods - the Red Trail is a mile to the waterfall, and we were somehow under the impression that it was supposed to be an easy trail, good for families.  The trail was actually quite rocky with lots of roots, several wooden staircases, and some seriously sloped areas.  The Blue Trail was a winding two miles, and quite pleasant.

Dan and Marie along the creek

"five-story ruins of the Civil War era New Manchester textile mill"

D, Lara, & me with Timber and Nika

the sun came out just as we were getting back to the parking lot.

These photos have been enhanced with Photoshop - it was pretty, but the colors had definitely begun to fade, and most of the leaves had already fallen.  Nevertheless, it was a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon, and it was great to get out and take a short hike!

walking around the block

I know, it's been a while.  In the past few weeks I've survived 4 exams, worked a couple days, endured what seems like endless hours of physiology lecture (how's 10 hours in a week sound?), and ended up on an intramural basketball team.  I went climbing late (the wall is open from 4-8 pm) one Wednesday so I would finish just in time to watch our intramural basketball teams play their first games before I went home.  I watched the "A" team win by a huge margin, and somehow ended up on our "B" team in order to keep us from a forfeit - co-ed basketball teams MUST have at least 2 female players on the court to start the game, they only had one at the beginning of the game.  This is particularly funny since I haven't played basketball since 7th grade.  It's been fun, and I even scored a basket in each of the last two games - the first two games I avoided getting the ball on offense at all.

I slightly sprained my ankle in a game November 2, so I haven't been climbing or much else.  In order to get some exercise, I've been walking around the long block on which I live - it's about 5K, or 3.1 miles.  Here are some highlights from that stroll:

 Fall colors come out in small pockets.

 I just find this street name amusing.

 If you look closely, there's a plastic snake in the top of the shrub - Halloween decoration!

 Yes, this is really someone's mailbox!

 Another pocket of color.

And a pretty leaf.

I also went for a hike with some friends this past Saturday - that's a subject for another post.

so you think YOUR parents are cool?

On Saturday I got a "Click 'n Ship" confirmation email from the USPS telling me a package had been sent to me from my parents.  This is what I got today (minus one item that I will probably show in a later blog):

Yep, that's fresh fruit - Asian pears, a lemon, and some HUGE Fuyu persimmons.  Even better, they're picked right from the trees in their yard!  Other assorted goodies will keep me fat and happy until December when I get to go back to California.

I found a new favorite store in Atlanta - H Mart.  It's a Korean grocery store that stocks all variety of Asian foods (in addition to "American" staples).  I was able to get mung bean sprouts and Taiwanese basil to add to beef, pho seasoning, and rice noodles I had purchased earlier for my first attempt at pho. 

It was pretty tasty!  I had Sriracha hot sauce and it would've been nice to have plum sauce as well, but I forgot to look for that.

I also got a Daikon radish and some Korean cucumbers (who knew?  I just chose the cucumbers that looked the best size for my purposes) and made my own pickled veggies.  Yummy!

Walking to and from school every day, I see leaf prints on the sidewalks - two different kinds.  I can't think of having seen either kind anywhere else.  The first one is actually imprinted into the concrete - as if someone had pressed the leaf into the concrete after it had been textured but before it even began to set.

The other kind are more common.  I have no idea how they occur - it doesn't seem to necessarily follow a rainstorm, and it's definitely not every leaf that leaves a print.  Somehow the leaves put a brownish pigment down on the sidewalk.

Either way, they're pretty, and a nice distraction when I'm walking the same sidewalks every day.

Other randomness: 

This must've been quite a sight on the road, it already looked pretty funny parked in front of Costco!