Ten on Tuesday--Back to School Edition!

I'm not starting school this year (although I am a teaching assistant so I do still have a bit of a school schedule to follow), but all the high school students I hang out with regularly started school this week (or next), so in honor of their whining and moaning about summer being over, here's a Ten on Tuesday list dedicated to Back to School.

1. Did you love the first day of school, or did you dread it?

I loved it. I was one of those nerdy kids who had all her school supplies organized weeks in advance and her outfit laid out the night before and couldn't sleep with excitement--I loved the first day of school!

2. What was your favorite year in elementary school and why?

I might have to say 3rd grade. I had a great teacher (Ms. Hansen), my best friend Katie was in my class, I remember doing a lot of fun projects like writing our autobiographies, learning cursive, and taking lots of timed tests to learn our multiplication tables. I don't really have many negative memories from 3rd grade.

3. When you remember your first day of high school, what comes to mind now?

I remember being jumpy and scared that I was going to get lost, run over in the halls by a football player, or never be able to find anyone to eat lunch with. But then I remember it not being too bad. I think that was the day I met my friend Miranda who would later become a bridesmaid in my wedding (freshman algebra, quite a lot of memories in that class!), I had my first class with Mrs. Givens (who I would have every year after that for english and yearbook), and I remember being proud that I survived.

4. If you could share one piece of advice with today's high school students, what would it be?

Relax just a little! Life does not end if you do not get an A in every single class. I promise, I even came home with 1 C (Spanish 3...ick!) during my high school years and did it end my life? No, I got accepted to every school I applied for and was offered merit scholarships at each of them. It's okay to not be perfect--and I'd love to remind parents of this as well--the pressure I see our poor kids at church under sometimes breaks my heart.

5. What was the best part of the beginning of a school year?

The school supplies. I am a nerd, I loved shopping for our yearly school supplies, coming home and organizing them. It was a great part of the year :)

6. Top 3 favorite teachers in your life and why?

Tamara Givens--high school English and yearbook. She invested a lot in me, inside and outside the classroom, and gave me a love for literature that I am forever grateful for (especially Shakespeare!)

Donna Bengle--6th grade. I don't know what it was, but I loved Mrs. Bengle, she was the perfect balance between professional and cool, I learned a ton in her class but never felt like she didn't care or wasn't interested in me personally.

Mr. Gillespie--8th grade history. I don't even know his first name, but he made history come alive, he did all kinds of crazy things to help us experience the civil war, the american revolution, memorize the preamble to the declaration of independence etc. I loved his classes.

7. Favorite high school social event that you remember?

I think senior ball really sticks out in my mind. It was a really fun evening, all my good friends got to go together, most of us took sophomore guys as our dates (they were great guys to tag along with us!). Post-prom found us at Mels Diner at 3 AM celebrating Jenn's 18th birthday with a surprise middle of the night party :)

8. Favorite high school hang out?

We spent a lot of time at Mel's Diner that's for sure, after football games, dances, even at 3 AM post-senior prom! Ahh french fries with melted cheese dipped in ranch....yup we were healthy :)

9. What are you most proud of as you look back on your school days?

That I surrounded myself with friends who constantly lifted me up and kept me heading in the right direction. I don't know that this was my doing, I'm pretty sure God just plopped me into the midst of this group of Christians and said "okay, here's who you're going to do life with now" and for that, I am eternally grateful.

10. What do you wish you would have done differently as a student?

Not worried so much about what teachers thought of me. I was such a people-pleaser, and so much of my motivation in school was because I didn't want a teacher to look down on me, or be disappointed in me for not turning in a homework assignment on time etc. I wish I had been more focused on doing my best and letting that be good enough, I wish I'd realized people liked me for who I was, not how I performed in the classroom.

Ten on Tuesday (Take 2)

It's summer, which means it's travel time! This week's Ten on Tuesday is travel themed...enjoy the random thoughts!

1. What book, movie or song has made you want to travel to a particular place? Eat, Pray, Love--it definitely made me want to go back to Italy to do nothing but eat--pastas, pizzas, gelato...seriously one of the best food places I've ever been to!

2. Aside from your significant other, who would you want to take with you on a dream trip?
I could travel with any number of friends, so I hope this doesn't offend anyone! But I have to say that my answer would be Ms. Jennifer Gunther because the two of us have had more random adventures/fiascos together which would for sure make for an interesting trip!

3. Where would said dream trip be to?
Oh I think we could have some fun anywhere, but lets say an African Safari just for the heck of it :) Or France :)

4. If you were hosting guests or providing tips, what three things would you show visitors to your hometown? (be it where you live now or where you grew up)
For my 3 various homes:
Granite Bay, CA: they have to eat at Beach House Deli (the best sandwiches ever), people would need to ride bikes around Maidu Park, and see a show at the Music Circus.
Seattle, WA: Visitors would grab a cup of non-Starbucks coffee and walk around Greenlake to people watch, take a ferry to Whidbey Island, and buy flowers at Pikes Place Market
Los Angeles, CA: Frozen yogurt at Pinkberry, a picnic at The Getty Museum, and maybe a concert at the Hollywood Bowl.

5. If you had a long weekend ahead of you, where do you head – beach, city or country/mountains?
Depends on who is choosing :) If my husband is involved, the beach. I'd prefer a place in Northern Cal that has both beach and green forresty mountains.

6. Do you have a passport? If so, did you get it for a particular trip or just to have, in case?
Yes, but it needs to be renewed soon because we're going to Japan in December! I got it for a trip to Europe when I graduated from high school. I think it just has stamps in there from England and America though, they didn't stamp our passports when we went in and out of each country unfortunately.

7. Are there any travel souvenirs you collect? If not, is there something else you collect?
Not really, I always get a few post cards from wherever I go and then usually throw them out eventually.

8. Have you ever traveled anywhere that you'd never want to return to?
I'm not sure I have a huge desire to return to Amsterdam.

9. If you were heading away for a weekend break solo, where would you go? (forget about practicality here and flight times, assume you can get to any city in the world for the weekend)
I'd go to London for a weekend, get lost in wandering :)

10. Is there a song that you strongly associate with a particular trip such that it always takes you back?
"What if I Stumble" by DC Talk takes me to a village 14 hours south of the Mexico/El Paso border. I was there on a mission trip my freshman year of high school, sitting on a rock in the middle of a river listening to that song. It was amazing.

Ten on Tuesday (Take One)

I got this idea from my friend Courtney and I thought it was quite fun, answering 10 random questions on Tuesday to get my imagination and memory going! I've changed a few of the questions from hers, but the idea is still the same--thanks Courtney! Feel free to join in with your own! Today's is summer-themed since we're supposedly in the middle of summer here.

1. What is the best summer job you ever had?
I've had a lot of random office jobs over summers before, which include working for my dad and the Burger King corporate offices of Sacramento, but I think my favorite summer job was the year I was a nanny for 4 different families. I would spend mornings with one family, move to another home in the afternoon, spend all day Fridays with a third, and another day with a fourth. All the kids were under age 3, and were absolutely delightful. All four families had baby boys, who were each about 6 months old when I began with them, and I LOVED the time spent with them!

2. What was the worst?
My year at Aaron Brother's Art & Framing store took me through a summer and I hated that job. There wasn't a whole lot (other than the employee discount!) that I enjoyed about that one! Especially when I had to go in about once a week at 3:30 AM to unload our shipment truck...that was brutal...

3. What is your favorite summer activity?
I like picnics in parks, although for some reason, we don't do them that often. Grilling out or doing a potluck in a park with frisbees, volleyball, possibly some water balloons...yup that's a great summer afternoon!

4. What is the best summer dinner of all time?
That's easy! Mom's teriyaki burgers with grilled pineapple, mom's pasta salad, mom's pea salad, mom's broccoli salad, corn on the cob and watermelon. And yes, those recipes have to be specific, I don't like just any pasta or pea salad--only Sue Hanson's will work for me to be on the "favorite food of summer" list! (If anyone needs ideas, I'd be happy to share the recipes, I do now have them all!) That was our standard fare around our house each summer (or some variation on that menu, usually burgers, chicken etc thrown on the grill, a variety of cold salads, and watermelon, lots and lots of watermelon!)

5. What is one smell that brings back summer memories?
I didn't even realize it existed until last summer, actually. For those who don't know, I grew up in a suburb of Sacramento, and spent all my summers there until I graduated from college. Last year, I drove up to the Fresno area to visit my sister's in laws (my sister and brother in law were there) and it was while driving away from their house that I caught a scent that immediately took me home. It's not the scent of cows, there weren't many cows around my home in Sacramento, but it was the smell of agriculture. Of earth, soil that had been warmed all day by the HOT sun and was starting to cool. Of grass freshly mown mingling with the rich smell of soil, the stray wiff of smog, and the sticky sweet smell of tomato plants ripening. You can't smell it during the day, it's too hot, it's a scent that only appears as the sky grows dusk, the intensity of the sun dips behind the horizon, and the first starts begin appearing. All these scents blended together and all of a sudden my husband looks over and I have tears rolling down my cheeks. "I miss childhood summers," I said to him. "I think I'm homesick for a time of the past."

6. What one summer activity don't you like, and why?
I love being out on a lake in a boat--I love riding in ski boats that are flying over the water, but I do NOT like being pulled behind one for any reason. Tubing, wake boarding (yes I tried last summer, I was not a fan!) and the likes are not my cup of tea.

7. What was a typical summer day like for you when you were a child?
Glorious, that's what they were like! We'd sleep in, lounge around in our pjs reading if we wanted to, and generally changed straight in to our swimsuits. Days were spent bouncing from the swimming pool in the back yard to the swing set to dry off, to the TV for re-runs of The Brady Bunch over lunch, back into the pool until dinner or until we got a little too sunburned and would come into spend the hottest part of the day reading or doing puzzles inside. After dinner sometimes there would be more swimming, or family bike rides to an ice cream shop, or a neighborhood game of hide and go seek in our cul-de-sac. Trips to the library every week were a must--we needed to cash in our prizes for their summer reading programs! Dinner would usually be on the grill, neighbors were constantly running back and forth to various pools in the neighborhood. Some of the best days of my life.

8. What is the best summer vacation you've taken?
I have no idea how I'm going to pick just one. We traveled somewhere almost every summer (I was spoiled to have parents who valued seeing new places as much as I do). Probably the two that stand out the most are our cruise to Alaska about 5 years ago and the European cruise our family did with my cousins' family in 2001 I think it was? The four of us kids had our own rooms at the opposite end of the ship as our parents and we saw a bunch of great cities--Normandie, France was my favorite of that particular trip I think.

9. What is one thing you don't like about summer?
When it's too hot. I know, it's summer, it's supposed to be hot, but I really don't like the heat. I don't like being all sweaty if there's no pool for me to jump into, and I really hate not being able to sleep at night because our apartment now doesn't have a/c in the bedroom. So yeah mild summers are the best for me, which is why living in Seattle was absolutely perfect!

10. What is the best "Summer Time Song" that became part of the summer soundtrack of your life?
Summer Nights from the Grease soundtrack. Best summer-time song ever!