Point Vicente Lighthouse

After a dreadful, busy week of work, Chris took me to the PointVicente Lighthouse.
Here are pictures of beautiful Palos Verdes and the Point Vicente Lighthouse:

Petersen Automotive Museum

After a week in Berkeley, I drove to LA and have been here for a few weeks now. My first task was finding a job. I had to do a report on the Petersen Auto Museum as a 2nd interview with one company. Luckily, I got the job... Here are some pictures of the gorgeous cars there. They also had an exhibit on Chip Foose (from TLC's Overhaulin') who designs BEAUTIFUL cars with great details.

Chapel of the Chimes Summer Solstice Concert

I spent the last week of June in Berkeley and went to a Summer Solstice concert (June 22) at the Chapel of the Chimes in Piedmont.
Chapel of the Chimes is a mausoleum (dead people) and the concert was abstract, avant garde music (like people making sounds by pouring water on something. Each room had a different sound that echoed eerily throughout the maze of a palace. Here are pictures I took of the Mausoleum:

Graduation (aka Why My Parents are No Longer Allowed to Take Pictures)

This is as good as it gets, folks:

Here is the crowd. Good Job. Athena's mom is in pink. I think if you look up by the buildings, you can start to see the graduates procession coming down the hill...


Here's me (pink/purple lei) trying to get the short girl to move, so that my boyfriend could sit next to me. I requested those seats the day before and everything worked out, but the morning of graduation the woman in the yellow (who is too old to be a college student) wanted a seat, and her friend joined with her, which bumped Chris onto the next row! =( I was pissed and tried to get her to change seats during most of this standing part. She refused. (If you click on the picture, you can see me pointing at her)


Here's me, pissed that I didn't get my way. Athena's going to hate me for this picture (She's standing next to me).


Here's Chris (Purple lei and tie):


After long, boring speeches, I finally got to walk across the stage:


....And so did Chris:


Shots like this make me wonder if my dad knows how to delete pictures on his very expensive digital camera:


After the ceremony, we took a little too many pictures, most came out pretty awful and here are the lessons we've learned:

Having the subjects in the sun, doesn't matter if YOU'RE in the shade! I thought this was digital? Why did someone take FIVE more like this if they weren't going to turn out?


Lesson 2: Let me know when you're going to take the picture... Counting to 3 isn't that hard.


Thank Goodness Chris took over the camera for the photos of my family


I think this is my favorite picture of the bunch because it shows people's personalities so well... My dad fixing a camera in the foreground, my grandpa in the back leaning on a piller, my grandma smiling sweetly in the middle, and my mom looking pissed, arms crossed on the right. (Thanks, G)


Terry took a couple nice pictures of Chris and I before the ceremony, before we were sunburnt, sweaty, and tired:



Here's a blurry one from the waiter when we got to the restaurant for dinner... If you split the table in half at the top between Chris and me, then outwards from us, it goes: Our parents, our sister, our grandparents... Or, from the left, clockwise around the table: Barbara, Bob, Ginny, Peter, Teresa, Kate, Chris, Jim, Terry, Sharyl, Sandy, Barney:

Only 3 weeks left until graduation...

Things I will miss about Santa Cruz:

- The view of Monterey Bay

- Walking to class on a path through the redwoods

- Easy, free buses all over the city/campus

- Zoccolli's - Best Italian deli

- Class being so easy compared to the real world.

- The Boardwalk and Neptune's Kingdom

- The spirit of people who think they can make a difference

- Being able to hitchhike with relative safety

Things I WON'T miss about Santa Cruz:

- The overwhelming smell of marijuana when you least expect it - in your 9am class, during a test

- The overwhelming smell of people who haven't showered or washed their clothes in the last 6 months

- Homework

- The homeless and the weirdos on Pacific that beg/shout/parade spontaneously

- The rain

- Strikes/protests (Bus Strike, Teachers/Lecturers strike, War protests, -Take back the Night, Class Walk-Outs, etc)

- The on-going construction and expansion of UCSC

- The police speed traps at the base of Bay St.

2nd Half of Spring Break!

My mom, sister, and I went to Puerto Escondido in Mexico for a wedding.

Here is the beautiful beach town of Puerto Escondido

Other pictures of the town's beauty (hence I did not photograph the dirty parts of town)

El Toro, anyone?

Hotel Santa Fe, where we stayed and the wedding was held.

This is the groom, Alex, on the morning of the wedding. He said he hadn't gotten any sleep the night before! =( Poor guy.

Here is the site of the wedding. All 40 of the wedding party walked up the stairs, and gathered at the top for a ceremony with beautiful views.

Here's Alex's brother-in law who acted as minstrel and led the way up the stairs.

The ceremony. Pictured: Alex, Officient/Bride's Aunt, Amber (Bride), and maid of honor (?) behind her

Vows, Rings, Blessings, Kisses, etc. It was a short and beautiful ceremony. Alex was sweating profusely, because of nerves or the heat, I do not know...

Beautiful walkway to the reception

Reception table

The Newlyweds, Alex and Amber

My mom finished the tequila! She looks proud

And now, for pictures of mi familia, (obviously taken prior to that last shot - haha no pun intended on the word shot)

My sister and me. I think I got a little too much sun that day.... Just a little...

My sister and mom.