Building Blocks

Today in my education class we used to tiles to understand prime numbers. Then we created towers and casatles of them. Of course that meant our teacher had to tell us to put them away because we would be distracted the whole lesson. Sometimes being and education major is fun.

Banana Ice Cream Sundae

This is the result of me saying that the bananas look delicious. Anna then decided they would go well in sundaes as well as by themselves. So this is the wonderful creation of banana chocolate ice cream sundae.

Yes they were delicious.

Night Vision

I confess I've never been very good at night photography. I was trying to get the stars in the sky as well as the light overing of the small city of San Luis Obispo. I was trying to capture poetry and alas, sometimes you cannot capture what the eye sees. 

"Ladybug"

I had to a power point presentation for my technology class. I had to describe the use of technology in a particular classroom so of course I used my mom's. This was by far my favorite thing. It is a document reader that is commonly known as a "Lady Bug." It functions as a camera, video, and overhead projector. It is one shop stop of awesomeness.

Passover

I have decided that it is time to try a new church. I had nothing against the church that I was attending but I wasn't being fulfilled in the way that I needed. I also needed a smaller community of people to be around and the church I was going to was easy to get lost in. So I decided to attend Agape's young adult service called Passover.
Even though the rhythm and flow of the church was a little different than I was used to, I really liked. I think this could be a good fit.

Jump Rope

This is what we do at my house. The kids decide they want to jump rope so they grab a garden house and try to use it as a jump rope.

*Note - do not try this at home. It doesn't really work.

San Francisco

I love this city. I haven't spent much time here but I love the hidden gems of the city. Like this church for example.

Sol Beer

Yes there is such a thing as Sol Beer. I didn't know if it was made closer to the sun, has more exposure to sun, or was just made by a person with the name Sol. Anyway, I showed it to my friend Sol (who doesn't like beer) and she was intrigued. She said she probably wouldn't might try it.

Area 52

Our campus is a construction zone. I wonder if our classes are getting in the way of their building projects. First the rec center, then the U.U., now the Spider building (aka building 52/ science building). I swear, it is the most annoying thing ever.

Chinese Writing

This is an old sign I picked up in Chinatown San Fran several years ago. I'm not sure if this exactly means "Melissa" but close enough. I lost the paper that described each character. If you know this script and want to translate it, I welcome it.

Flowers from a Boy

A five year old boy. I trick you with the title didn't I? Yes these flowers are from my five year old housemate Boaz - probably because I am the only one left who listens to his stories (I still find them entertaining). They were beautiful until the pollen tracked in some very vicious friendly ants.

New Bedding for a Queen

Now I know you can't tell this by the picture but I get the proud pleasure of sleeping in a queen sized bed. This is half the bed. I promise (even though it does look like a queen. Just add another half in your mind and there you go.

I'm a Rockstar

"What rockstar is that? Oh wait, that's Melissa." - Mom. So much better than draft one which was "I hate those sunglasses." Oh silly mommy.

Fog over Buellton

On my way home for the weekend I cam across this view of the fog encroaching over the mountains. How I wish I could have captured this amazing moment better than I did. But I pulled off into the city of Buellton just to see this magnificent site.

Also first time ever in Buellton. Right next to Solvang (never been there either). I should make a point to visit these places more often.

Breakfast with Boaz

This kid loves me. I've lived with him for barely a week and he follows me around like we've known each other for a lifetime. He also is fond of stories but of course he speaks 5 year old (which I can barely understand) so I just nod my head and smile.

Corn Husking

Second day on the farm. I don't know if it actually is a farm but they do have a cow (which they do use for milk) and the kids were husking corn. This is the side version of Shiloh - the youngest. He was supervising.

New Home

I live in a different city this year. Instead of living in San Luis Obispo - I am spending at least Fall Quarter in Arroyo Grande with seven dwarfs children (more on that later). What is amazing about their house is the beautiful flowers in the front yard. It makes me (and my camera) very, very, happy.

Graduation Tassels

When I look at my graduation tassels and how they reflect either the school colors (high school) or the college within the college I was in (Cal Poly) I am now reminded that I am currently in the College of Science and Math.

Here's how it works.

a.) The School of Education (used to be the College of Education) was absorbed into the College of Science and Math in 2009. This is support the Liberal Studies studies who take more math/science classes than english/history
b) The School of Education includes Liberal Studies/multiple subject teaching credential programs and Single Subject credential programs
b) English Single subject program is a part of the school of Education

therefore I am in the college of Science and Math.

Confused? Welcome to my life.

Chinatown, SF

I like to edit photos - and this was from my pre-SLR days. It is still with a digital camera but I like the angle of this shot. It was from my mission trip to San Francisco my senior year of high school. What I like about this picture is it tells me two things: I had an early passion for photography and I had an early passion for urban missions - two passion I hold tight to today.

FUI Ignite Reunion

Every Ignite conference is the joyful reunion of all summer projects. I also had my camera back so I was anxiously taking pictures. Here we have the wonderful Lissah (lee-saw).

Then Amanda.

And Marissa (with Alex in the background). How I miss all of these people.

Some S's

Here we have some S's. Sarah, Sarah, and Sydney. I just like them and this picture. Sarah Henry (on the farthest left) and I are were apart of the awesome cooking crew with a different Sarah (not the one pictured here) for Chapter Camp. This was during our break time. 

15 Pounds of Meat

This is Sarah - vice president of cooking affairs. She is currently cooking about 15 pounds of meat. There was so much fat and grease that it overwhelmed the tray it was supposed to run off into. I thought we are going to have hot oily mess all over the floor. Fortunately we did not.
After that eating the burritos was not quite the same.

President of Cooking Affairs

This was my last two days: shopping for food for Chapter Camp. This is probably only a 1/4 of the food we bought for 60 people for 4 days. It was an intense shopping trip - four carts total, two stores, and lots of coffee.

I Miss My Twin

I miss Sol so much.

Harboring Artist?

I am not an artist by any stretch of the imagination - I take pictures mostly. But I found this old drawing from my junior year of high school. We were supposed to make a drawing and then with pens shade each box differently, use a different patter and what not. While a majority of the class was better - I'd have to say this turned out pretty well. Maybe if I had enough training I could be an artist one day... probably not.

More Editing Fun

I have had some down time recently and have enjoyed going over some of my older photos. These are from a photoshoot with my SGLT group. The weather was perfect that day - cloudy but not rainy, the people were awesome and enjoyed tolerated having their pictures taken every five seconds. But these are some of my favorite close ups of the boys.

I thought about making this one black and one but I realized I liked the colors much too much to get rid of them.

New Photo Frame

My friend Shari gave me this amazing new photo frame and I seriously wish I had a photo of me drinking coffee, looking all cool, to put in this frame. Alas that is not the case so I settled (though I wouldn't call it settling) for my favorite picture of my area team from last year.

Also if you notice Dwight scowling in the background?

Purple is In

Purple is the new color for me - I have recently discovered my love for all things purple - shirts, sweaters, iPod covers, and now my brand new amazing and wonderful purple backpack. Next on the list: purple umbrella and rain boots. 

El Rey Del Mar

This is an amazing find - I don't even know where to begin. Well, in Fresno there was this giant yellow building that marked the street right before Todd's house so I always knew where to turn. It was a Mexican place that has been "Opening Soon" for two years.

It's name: El Rey Del Mar.

But what a fortunate find to see that this restaurant is open in Reseda. Yes it is the same color, same look, and same shape. It is basically like copied version of the one in Fresno - that is actually functioning.

Printing Pictures

Sometimes you don't need to take a picture for the day - but print them. These are among the many pictures that are just sitting on my computer waiting to be printed and posted.

I chose two of my favorites. I love these people.