2009: Where did the time go?

So I just looked at this blog and realized that I completely abandoned it for an entire year. Maybe 2010 will be different, maybe not, but there's only one way to find out, right? Since 2009 wasn't exactly the year of travel that 2008 was (and I did not make it to NYC or Vancouver), I thought I'd just break the past year down by monthly highlights. Here we go:

January - welcomed my 26th birthday by taking a trip to the most ghetto urgent care I have ever seen. Also went to U of I for the Region III Lead On. The trip to U of I was definitely the highlight, but the urgent care was memorable as well.

February - Shawn made her first trip out to LA. The trip revolved around food from what I remember: we went out for sushi and I took her to the Griddle Cafe for my first visit there and those were the two highlights of the trip.

March - Pete and Mary made their first trip to California to visit and it was four days of fun. Again, lots of food, tourist attractions, and attendance at the Kids Choice Awards.

April - Went to a wedding in Michigan with the family, attended my first NCCS Nationals event, a volleyball tournament in Kansas City, and Diane and Anne came to visit. Once again, tried out some new restaurants, visited some touristy places, and learned that Diane really likes to read maps. Good times.

May - Mom and Dad came to visit for Memorial Day weekend. It was their third time in LA, so we tried a couple new things, but mostly watched movies, did some shopping and hung out. Their visits are always fun.

June - Attended a conference in Nashville and got to visit Neumann for the first time. I had a little too much fun at the conference and came down with a cold so I was the worst houseguest ever. It was great to catch up though. June also marked the end of my first school year at UCLA. This was my first experience with the quarter system and sometimes it seemed like the school year would never end.

July - Spent two weeks in the midwest, including a reunion in Chicago with my SLT friends, a trip to B-town, Peoria, and time with the fam. Way too much fun to summarize in a sentence or two so I won't even try.

August - August was a pretty relaxing month - no travel (I don't think), no visitors, and no classes so work was pretty easy. Not a bad month.

September - September started with a trip to Vegas to belatedly celebrate Kristine's 21st with the immediate family. Stayed at Mandalay Bay, caught the Beatles' Love and Bette Midler, and did not get sunburned. I was very happy.

October - Started with a trip to Michigan State for the second annual Whall Family Tailgate and ended with a roadtrip to San Francisco to visit Pete and Mary. Somewhere in between there, I moved (yes, again) and got an awesome new roommate. It was a busy month, but I'm not complaining.

November - November was a blur between Mom and Dad visiting, helping to host a student conference, a flag football tournament, and going home for a week at Thanksgiving. Once again, a very busy month.

December - Classes ended early on and due to vacations, furloughs, and weekends, I got to take more than two weeks off of work to visit my grandma in Florida and go home for the holidays. Excellent way to send out 2009.

Well, that's 2009. Who knows what 2010 will bring, but hopefully just as many great memories. And maybe a trip or two...

2008: The Year of Traveling

Ok, I realize I haven't posted in forever. And I have a lot of good pictures from the holidays to post, so bear with me. Instead, this will be more of a reflection post. Over Christmas, my Dad made a list of highlights from 2008. Along those lines, I decided to make a list of places I traveled in 2008. Thanks to the leadership role in NIRSA, and my very generous parents, I got to travel quite a bit. Here's the month-to-month breakdown:


January - Youngstown, Ohio; Home
February - New Orleans
March - Month of visitors
April - Austin, Texas; Home
May - Los Angeles, Home (2x), Des Moines
June - Michigan, Pomona
July - Home, Crown Point
August - Ventura
September - San Diego
October - San Diego
November - East Lansing, Home (2x)
December - Home, East Lansing, Brownsburg, Peoria

Travel goals for 2009 and beyond: NYC & Vancouver. Wish me luck.

Club Sports in the New York Times!

Bill Pennington of the New York Times recently wrote an article about club sports and their impact on the college experience, as well as professional development of the student athletes themselves. The article can be found here. It's a pretty good description of the types of students/clubs I work with as well as my ultimate frisbee experience at Indiana. Check it out!

Thanksgiving!!!

Not that I really need a reason to want to go home (this is my 8th trip home this calendar year), but I love Thanksgiving. Not necessarily the part where we wake up early to go run in the freezing cold (which thankfully Kris and I are bypassing this year to fill our role as frozen cheerleaders) but the rest of it - playing soccer, watching football, the occasional family power hour, spending time with the fam, and of course, the amazing food. I got this e-card from Shawn today and I thought it was hilarious:

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

Happy Birthday Meesh!

Just wanted to send a birthday shout out to Michelle - happy birthday!!! I'd include a picture here, but apparently I didn't start using digital photography until after she moved to Australia and apparently we haven't taken any pictures since. I'll work on that...

Smart Cars

While waiting for my bus this morning (the new bus line I'm on never shows up on time), this car pulled up in front of me:


I thought of two things: 1. It would be hilarious if I ever drove one of these. Can you imagine watching me try to get in or out? And 2. Why would you ever drive one of those cars in California? Last I checked, it wasn't built like a tank, and since LA drivers don't know how to drive nicely, it seems like you are just asking to be crushed.

Trip to the Midwest

For Veterans Day Weekend, I flew into Chicago, drove to Michigan with Shawn and my friend Anne, surprised my mom, tailgated with the fam, went out to lunch with Kris and Grandma Kay, and drove back to Chicago with Anne. Here are a few pictures from my excellent weekend in the midwest. If you want to see more, e-mail me and I'll send you the link to Kodak Gallery.