Missing San Antonio

I have been missing San Antonio this week. My love for San Antonio comes from the relationships and lives that we built there from scratch. The feeling started as we approached the Democratic National Convention since the Mayor of San Antonio, Julian Castro, gave the keynote address. No matter what your political leanings are, he made San Antonio proud.

The next piece of news that made me miss San Antonio is actually very very happy news. Dear friends have adopted a baby girl! The tough thing is that I can't stop by their house one day after work to meet her.

I am also adjusting to new routines at work with my caseload of students to advise and my new class. At the same time, my Facebook news feed still shows many updates from my last university, which is gearing up for football. We attended every UTSA home football game last season, so it was a big part of our fall. For now, I plan to make it to one SJSU football game, but it will not be the same as sitting in our seats nearby colleagues from Student Affairs and IT.

Having the experience of building our lives in San Antonio from scratch gives me confidence in our ability to build a good life in the Bay Area, but this takes time. I also know that I have other "homes" in Ohio and Texas that will be there if our lives takes a different route. I am still enjoying the journey.

Three and a Half

Yesterday was Alex's half-birthday, so we now have a three and a half year old. Alex outgrew his "big wheel" bike, so it was time for a "big kid" bike. Since he is tall, we skipped the 12 inch size and went straight to the 16 inch size. He chose a Spider Man bike and has a Cars helmet and pads to minimize the boo-boo's.

Alex likes taking bike rides around our apartment complex, which has some open areas with grass and lots of sidewalks. Alex has make friends with the kids who live right by the "grassy area." The three of them rode their bikes around on Saturday evening.

At three and a half, Alex has a great sense of humor. He likes to make up letters while he sings his ABC's just to make me laugh. We are working on potty training, and Alex is making progress. He is becoming more and more independent.

Comfort Zone

I start teaching a freshmen seminar class in less than a week. The class is part of a larger program, so the reading and assignments are already set. I've had some realizations as I prepare for the class. I find my self relating to the reading and the class material even though I was a college freshmen fifteen years ago. The main instructor has talked about pushing our students outside of the comfort zone so that they can grow. I have been pushed outside of my comfort zone over the past seven months as we settle in to a new place, and I am finally feeling the growth.

I've already pinned a couple of videos to possibly share with the class. For time management, I think that it is important to examine our priorities:


My husband was watching a video about "Is College Worth It?" recently, so of course I paid attention:


I still have some reading and prep work to do for the first class, but I am excited.

Anniversary Card

Last month was our wedding anniversary, so I made a card for John. He always looks for something on the inside of my cards, so I made sure to save the greeting for the inside of the card. I had fun coloring the critters and trees from some Lawn Fawn stamps with Copic markers.

For our anniversary date, we went to Henry V at Memorial Park. The evenings are cool enough in the Bay Area that we needed to wear jackets and jeans. Uncle Matt came over to baby-sit Alex for the first time. Alex was sad to wake up in the morning to find out that Uncle Matt had gone back home to the East Bay.

Some Photos

I have been getting some photos off my phone. Here is what we have been up to lately:

We found a nice dog park in Los Gatos. Paddy enjoyed socializing with the people just as much as the dogs there.

My brother came to visit last weekend. On Friday, we had lunch at Apple and then went to Ortega Park for a while. Alex had his final swim lesson of the summer that evening.

Alex wanted to go with me on Saturday morning to walk the dogs. He ended up with a quite an outfit: pajamas, jacket, sandals, and his construction hat.

We made two trips into San Francisco during Brendan's visit. We went into the city on Saturday evening. The temperature dropped about 20 degrees as we headed North on 280 into the city. Once we go there, we experienced San Francisco fog! The next afternoon, the weather was perfect for the Giant's game. It was our first Giant's game and Alex's first Major League Baseball game. We enjoyed taking the Caltrain and the Giants won.

Managing Assumptions

Last week, I gave the general education presentation to some transfer students at orientation. My director put together the presentation, and I had given it once before at the beginning of June. After eight weeks of "frosh" (freshmen) orientation, this presentation seemed easier. The policies and procedures covered in the presentation are becoming more familiar to me as I settle into my new job.

One thing jumped out at me as I gave the presentation. We tell the transfer students to "manage their assumptions" since they are coming from another college or university. Things will be different at this university. I finally realized that I need to manage my assumptions after advising at another university for over five years. I incorrectly assumed that frosh orientation would be similar to my last job. As we go into the fall semester, this was a good thing for me to hear (again).

I did not realize that my presentation was being observed by some of my colleagues for a specific reason. At the end of last week, I was asked to teach an activity section for our freshmen seminar. I am a little overwhelmed but excited. I am preparing to teach my first class on August 31. I co-taught a freshmen seminar in fall 2010, but I now know to expect this to be a different experience. I am looking forward to working with the other instructors, a peer advisor, and twenty-five new students. Between working my full-time job, teaching a class, and having an active three year old, it will be a busy fall!

On another note, my craft supplies made a "guest appearance" on Scrapworthy Lives today.

Week in the Life (Part 1)

Ali Edwards has been doing an annual project called Week in the Life for several years. I participated for the first time in July 2011, but missed the project in April 2012. I decided to try it again from July 16-22 to be able to compare our lives over two years and in two different cities. I did not take as many pictures as I originally intended, but I was still able to document parts of our everyday life.

Alex started swimming lessons on Monday after school. It worked out well that the city offers swim lessons very close to his daycare/preschool. This is Alex's first formal activity, and it was difficult for me to sit back on the bleachers the first evening. I wanted to be a "helicopter mom" and hover over him. Alex enjoyed the first session, so we signed him up for another session for a total of four weeks. The only downside is that outdoor pools can be chilly in the Bay Area. Some days it is in the low 70's at 6 P.M.

Here are some shots from my office. On Tuesday, I was preparing for orientation, including a presentation to about 90 undeclared students. The dry erase board made it from Texas to my new office. We did not have a good spot for it in our apartment, so I brought it to work. I still remember John writing out the details of his new job and our move on this board last fall. My bookshelf includes some old and new items.

On Friday at lunch time, I walked around to explore more of campus and the surrounding area. I have been on a frozen yogurt kick lately, so I stopped for dessert before walking back to my office.

On Saturday, we met one of John's co-workers and his family at the beach in Santa Cruz. The peace sign greeted us as we entered the beach. It was a beautiful day, so there was traffic. We just turned on some tunes and enjoyed the scenery.

Some of my photos from that week did not make it from my old computer to my new one just yet. I may be back with another Week in the Life post after we work out the kinks.

July Craft Spending

I did not buy any craft supplies in July! This was for a few reasons. I received some as gifts for my birthday at the end of June, so I have been using those. Also, I only did a little crafting in July due to the busy period at work, Alex's swim lessons, and the lack of a craft desk. Work is still busy, Alex has another week of swim lessons, but I have a craft desk again. We reorganized our living room and bought new computer desks (yay for Ikea!), so I ended up with an extra desk. I am setting up a craft corner in our bedroom. I have already spent a little in August. I am taking "Composition for Collage," an online class at Big Picture Classes. I am learning about design and am looking forward to trying some new things.