A look back at 2005....

January...the month that for some represents a fresh start. A chance to do things different. A good month for many, the only month to start with a clean slate. A month filled with hopes and dreams for the following year. January was a great month for me. I rang in the new year in the Mid West...Detroit, Michigan to be exact with a long time friend Julie Lutfy who I met years back when I first went to Ireland with Athletes in Action. In Detroit I got to meet up with some other friends from previous AIA tours as well as do a little touring of my own! I got to drive down the infamous 8 mile road, experience 17 degree weather (which for some reason they kept saying was warm), and catch up with a great friend. January ended with the begining of a long journey. A journey that began in Orlando, Florida where I trained for the next 3 months to be a bar manager at TGI Fridays.


Feburary marked the second month of training. A good month because we (my fellow manager Meghan and I) began to make friends and did more then work and sleep. In Feburary I got to enjoy a free trip to Disney World where we went to MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot...we were told it was research as we took note of different aspects of the parks such as food prices, cleanliness, and the staff. It had to be considered "research" because that meant it was paid for by Knott's Berry Farm. We should have done more of this type of thing. Also while in Florida I was able to score a free trip to Sea World thanks to a roommate of a server I met there. Oh...and don't worry West coasters, the beach's in Florida have nothing on us!


March was a ton of fun. The begining of March was spent in Florida finishing up training, while the end of it was spent in Guadalajara, Mexico visiting a couple of friends who I met on my Brazil tour with Athletes In Action the summer before. In Mexico I got to experience some real culture. Martha and Erandi were still in school when I went there, so on those days I slept in and then traveled the 30min train ride followed by the 15 min bus ride to meet them at school. I got to attend a few classes, practice soccer with the University team...and even play in a game (I hardly stood out as the only Gringa on the team...or in the stadium for that matter). I got to see the beautiful city of Guadalajara, visit the Tequila factory of Jalisco and shop in the Gigante market, much like the one in Whittier. March was good to me.

Continued....

It was around April that construction on my new home began....










Which continued through May...











And finally was completed around June 18th. Just in time for the first day of our so called "Mock Services." Opening day was on June 22nd. Thank goodness I had class that night and missed the Chaos of our first dinner rush. On the 24th our General Manager walked out, on the morning that marked opening weekend. Somehow we recovered and everyday from that first weekend on was a step in the right direction. I will never work in the food industry again but I now enjoy looking back and being able to say I opened a resturant.






July Consisted of 70-75 hour work weeks with just one day off a week because I was enrolled in a summer school class at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Not the best idea in the World but now looking back, it was a decision that made the timing of this coming year ever so perfect. I was also blessed with the presence of Meghan for the summer. Probably one of the only reasons I made it through those long days/weeks at Fridays. She kept me company on many nights where I was working until 4am. See we shared a car for the summer and since I was working the long hours she would give me rides to work and pick me up.



In August we were joined by Ronda for a couple weeks before she and Meghan took off to Mexico for a few weeks. After their trip they both headed back to the Northwest. Meghan was back at Corban/Western Baptist in Oregon and Ronda back to Seattle where she would begin a new chapter of life as she prepared herself to have a baby boy in early Feburary.















September meant the resturant would finally slow down and I would start to wonder what I was doing to myself. September then meant taking on a second class with the intention of finishing school in the next year so I could plan on moving to Seattle. September was when I listened to God as he had been hinting all along at my future in the NW. It was when I realized why I had just enough credits to finish school before the summer, it was when I found out Ronda would need a roommate in Seattle right around the time I wanted to move up there. It was a month where I smiled as I looked ahead and tried to see what God had planned for me.

October...well October was a month where sales hit an all time high. Bar sales shot through the roof as I met a wide varity of interesting people compliments of the Halloween Haunt at Knott's Berry Farm. Our employees were finally allowed to express themselves and have some fun through costumes and I once again got to work long hours into the wee hours of the morning.












November was supposed to be relaxing. The begining seemed like it was, right up until our 3rd manager of the year announced he was quitting and his last day would be the day before Thanksgiving. November was a month in which I seriously considered making in 4 in one year. But I stuck it out and actully got to spend Thanksgiving with my family...first time in years.






December....well December was busy. December meant more long hours, which seem all the longer when you have family in town and gatherings to attend...some of which were missed. In December we got another manager at Fridays just in time for our General Manager to head off to Texas for some formal TGIF training. December did however host memories of family gatherings, movie outings, and lots of shopping. December is a good month because I can't help but look ahead and smile at what is to come.


So that was my 2005 in a nutshell. January is slowly becoming one of my favorite months because it is a month to remember. To stop, look back and see how far you have come. I hope and pray that we can all look back and see growth, which is usually accompanied by change. If not...well guess what! were about to start a new year! "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

Merry Christmas

So as you can tell in the picture, my morning began very early...5:30am to be exact. Jullota was great, its always nice to see the old faces that we usually only see around this time of year. Breakfast is always amazing.


After church we came back to the house for some presents and of course naps while watching Elf. Then it was time for Grandma Hale's house. The one picture is Jakob and the other is him again with Karley off to the side. Then we have the "highlight" of the day...Cody's new snake. Its a ball python or something like that. It was passed around like a little baby...ok not really but Cody, Amberlee, Aunt Tammy, and Uncle Tom did. The rest of us grabbed it for a pity picture. Well Merry Christmas...hope you had a wonderful time with whoever you spent it with!

Aunt Cindy

For those of you who haven't heard (which is probably NO one that reads this blog) I am finally going to be an AUNT. I've been dreaming of the title "Aunt Cindy" ever since the episode of the OC in season 1 where Aunt Cindy comes for a visit. If you have seen the episode a smile might have crossed your face...if not its ok just pretend. So I am thinking the odds of being the favorite aunt could be slightly in my favor. I don't exactly remember what the competition is on that other side of the family but I am sure it will be cake....besides this lil one is already my favorite niece/nephew.

Family Pictures!

So I decided today was going to be family picture day for the dogs and I. What an adventure that turned out to be. First...I rounded up the troops!
Tried to get everyone organized and prop free. We started out with some camera difficulties...we were zoomed in and didn't know it.







Then there were the various distractions...you know..the TV, hershey...stuff like that.


Then I really had to get stern with Emmy and tell her to focus or she would never be able to get back to that nap! And finally.....I got my pictures....although I think by this time we were all worn out and rather tired/sad working.

Summer Merritt

So tonight I went to Summer's senior art show at Biola. You can kinda see some of her work in the background, that thing behind us was actually on sale in New York last semester! and people wanted to buy it! I am sure most of her inspiration comes from her freshmen year roommate at Western Baptist but thats another story. Anyway if you want to check out her stuff she has a website. www.summermerritt.com. Her stuff is really cool....she of course had to explain it to me first...that's when I decided it was really cool. She studied psychology and that is her emphasis in the art. If your looking on the website and see the design that is behind us, its the same drawing 3 times with different indentations, which make it appear different. Her example to me is that when she is with her art friends, they talk about art and do artsy things...when she is with her soccer friends, they talk about soccer and probably speak in a different lingo....when she is with her family its different from both those things. So its 3 different sorta personalities but all the same person. I thought it was cool. Anyway, she is moving to New York in January to persue these art dreams! Go Summy!

Jack

This is for mom! My Jack is having a lot more fun then yours.

Get Ready California!

Thats right Californians get ready cause winter is just around the corner! Temperatures are dropping rapidly and that 60 degree coldness is just around the corner. Put away the surf boards and sun screen and find out where you put the jacket from last year cause WINTER IS HERE. Ok ok...don't freak out too much I'm not talking about rain or anything...come on! that picture was taken today...just talking about the cold weather. I know I pulled my electric blanket out of the closet last week and we've been roundin up the fire wood since we dropped below 75.

Long Week

So Ive been pretty tired lately. Since good ol Jay (old manager) quit, everyone is working 6 days again. So Wednesday, which is normally a day off I had to go in at 10am after closing the night before. I left work at 3pm as soon as the closing manager was there, and came home for an hour or so before heading off to class. A long week to say the least. They have a few candidates in mind for the position so I am crossing my fingers. I really don't want to keep this up as I have some important finals coming up, which require lots of studying.