Huntington Dog Beach

One of the advantages of living in Southern California is the weather.  Even into November, we were still averaging mid 70s and still relatively no rain.  We heard a lot of the beaches around here were dog friendly, and since Mo had never been to the ocean, we figured this was an experience that we had to try.

From my perspective, I wanted to see how Mo would act, not only around a lot of other dogs, but with the waves.  I thought it would be a fairly humorous experience at the least, and was willing to tag along.  The beaches in general are only about 30-45 minutes away, so it's not too bad of a drive.

When we arrived, Mo was so excited, but you could tell he wasn't sure how he was suppose to handle the sand.  He loved seeing the other dogs, but there were some HUGE dogs there, and while he loved looking, he wasn't crazy about getting too close.  Most dogs there were off the leash, but being Mo's first trip, we decided to leave him on.  He loved running around in the sand, but wasn't crazy about the incoming waves. 

After some time on the beach, we walked along the beach for about an hour and watched the sunset.  It was a great trip, and one hopefully we will make again in the near future.  Maybe this time we will let Mo off the leash.

My Parents Came to Visit (in October)

One of the things that I realize as we have been out here is the spontaneity of being able to visit friends and family.  Skype has helped as we have been able to video chat from time to time with some friends and our families, but as I was reading back over some of our previous posts, I realized one of the things I never talked about was the visitors we have had out here, my parents!

My parents came out in mid-October (shows you how far behind I am) and I think at that point, they came out on the only weekend that it rained.  I hated that the weather wasn't great, but we still were able to go drive around and show them the area somewhat.  We took them to Biola, and showed them around campus, and drove out to Riverside to show them Poly and my classroom.  We also drove up the Pacific Coast Highway up through Malibu.  We were planning to possibly go to the Griffith Observatory as well, but the fog was simply too thick that day. 

It was a short couple of days, but I am so appreciative of them coming to visit.  It was nice to see a familiar face.  Hopefully, if we aren't able to head back east, we'll have a few more visitors this summer!  We've got a (comfortable) pull out sofa, and an air mattress, so plenty of room for visitors!

It's Been A While

It’s been a while since our last post. Lots of things have been going on! I have been pretty consumed with school work--reading, projects, presentations, papers, etc. However, good news on that front--I had my first solo presentation and it went GREAT! Rave reviews! It was a workshop presentation for my Faculty Development class entitled: “Developing Creative Course Materials.”


I have also been to the beach several times since my last post. It was 90+ a few days last week and I felt the need to take advantage of it! I took a break from paper writing, packed up my books, and ventured out to soak up some sun. I chose to drive about 30mins to Huntington Beach. I have not previously been to Huntington; it is a more touristy beach but there were tons of families out that afternoon enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. I enjoyed reading and people watching. I also took a trip with Jennifer on Saturday (another student in my program) to Newport Beach for an afternoon of reading on the beach. We enjoyed lunch on the pier at Ruby’s Diner and then sat on the beach and read for an hour or so (it was windy and cold though). When you come visit I’ll take you there!

Finally, in the midst of the busyness we have been trying to find our place at WACC (the church we have decided on). We have been to the college/career worship---and felt 100% out of place. And we looked for a SS class but had no success finding a class for people our age. We have a meeting scheduled with the youth pastor for this Thursday to see about some youth ministry opportunities and find out about small groups within our age group. We are both looking forward to what that meeting brings.

Nonetheless, all the searching makes me miss my NP kids and church family. But God is good! Just when I miss you all the most a random card, email, or text message comes my way. I am reminded that our friendship is still alive! Many of you may not know how special those cards and messages are but God sure does! I am most encouraged and feel most loved/appreciated through written word----so thanks for all the notes, cards, and messages! Know you are all in my thoughts and prayers daily and will forever hold as special place in my heart!

--Megan