The World of Joel

So I took the week off, I didn’t necessarily have that planned but I decided each day that I would take that day off to rest and get back ready to go. So a week went by and I figured that is about enough time to sit around and be lazy and so now I am back ready to go here at The World of Joel. So the graduation went well, it wasn’t all that red hot of a commencement ceremony but then again when are they? Jenn and I got to do it together, so that was the real winning ticket and made the entire experience worthwhile.

So now what? Well I can’t say I have been going ahead full steam looking for a new job, I have looked, but I am putting that off until after my upcoming 3 week trip. Speaking of the trip, beginning next Monday, so Monday the 30th of June I will be doing daily updates on the trip. Jenn wants me to do daily updates on the trip so not only you the countless loyal readers can see what we are up to but so five years down the road Jenn and I can remember details that if not written down we would have never remembered. I am going to set up a Flickr stream with all the latest photos and for at least the first half of the trip do daily updates on the trip. When we get to the cruise part it will be a bit more sporatic due to the crazy prices of using internet on a cruise ship.

Outside of that I have been crazy busy with my latest project, I am not calling it my last project, but I will say its by far the biggest I have undertaken. I will be unveiling it to you all when I get back. So that’s all from now, expect daily updates again starting tomorrow!

How crazy is life? It feels like just yesterday I started my first nerve filled day at UC Irvine, and now here I am a year and a half later and I am finishing up my BA in Sociology and moving on with my life. For those who are wondering it did take me the 4 years to finish up my BA which most of the people I talk to are on the 5 or 6 year plan in school, so I am really excited to have gotten in and out of here in a good amount of time. For those who weren’t reading my blog a year and a half ago, I transferred as a Junior from Cal State San Bernardino to UC Irvine in January of 2007 and for all intensive purposes didn’t think I would be graduating until 2009. But a few lucky draws and bam I am a week and two days away from taking my last final, and a week and six days away from officially graduating.

So how has UC Irvine been?

It’s a good school, there is not two ways about it. It’s everything a top notch University should be, I just am not one that is all that engaged with school. I have enjoyed my time here, especially since Jenn transfered over last summer, that really has made a world of difference. More then anything I owe a lot of getting through UC Irvine to Jenn, she has kept me focused, she has helped me make some huge decisions, and more then anything she was there for me day in and day out to make sure I got through school as successfully as I possibly could.

By the way I don’t know if I have mentioned this yet in previous posts, but I graduate on June 15th (which is fathers day) and guess who’s going to be graduating with me? That’s right, the love of my life, Jenn! She to will be walking on June 15th although still having a few quarters to go they are allowing her to walk early to not have to come back for next years commencement. It will truly be a great few weeks to come!

So I am usually on my own on Tuesdays. I have a study session on Tuesday mornings and usually I head back home to study. However today I have a study session in about an hour for a midterm on Friday and Jenn had to stay around to talk to a professor. Instead of studying which I really should have Jenn and I went house and furniture shopping. We are not looking for an immediate buy but checking out our options none the less.

So first we were off to Ikea in Costa Mesa about 15 mins from UC Irvine. The Ikea was gigantic, its been a long, long time since I have been in an Ikea and I have to say I had fun. There is just so much to look at, it would take two or three go throughs to see everything. Of course I am looking for a great place to put a nice size plasma and my three game consoles and Jenn is looking at throws for a couch and art work.

So there wasn’t much in the way of “technology” but I would say that we did see a few things we liked. We learned we both are a fan of modern, both a fan of dark wood and black frames. We are also a big fan of black and white photography as you can see below in a photo of the Eiffel Tower that we should have bought for like 7.99 or 24.99 including frame. We would have went with a black frame however.

I wasn’t as big of a fan of the art work, but there was this one piece that we both liked and thought it would be good for a dining room. I wonder if Ikea minded me taking pictures in there store. Either way these were all taken with my iPhone, not bad right? Once again dark black frame.

So I didn’t take more pictures of Ikea, I decided to take pictures late in the long maze that is Ikea. However for whatever reason instead of studying, we went to Portola Spring which is one of the nicest new developments I have ever seen. We went through a ton of developments, the place a few years back would have been sold out in weeks, but this new development seems to have been stalled by the economy. Needless to say it is just really quite the community with tons of tennis and basketball courts, and a nice Olympic pool in the middle. The picture below is from the official website.

The one that Jenn liked the best and for me was tied for first with another was a 3 story town house called San Carlos that ran for the mid-400’s, which is a ton for a 3 story town house however in the OC its a lot less then a year or two ago where the same house would have gone for 500,000. Not to mention the fact that we could probably knock it down to the low 4’s or high 3’s which would be much more affordable. Needless to say the townhouse was great. At first three floors seemed intimidating but if you walk this house it really helps make a little over 1,000 square footage feel much larger.

I am going to throw the rest of the pictures from the adventure on Flickr later, so you can see all of my iPhone goodness and our great adventure in Portola springs. If our plans stay the same for a wedding in the next year then that would mean this may be somewhere we look outside of renting an apartment to buy a home. How crazy would that be, to be a homeowner in a years time? I guess we can only pray on it and take things as they come. Whatever the case looking at houses and the future
is always a lot of fun.

UPDATE: I did post the pictures on Flickr. Go here to check out all the model home goodness.

Yes I haven’t posted in a bit, but that is for one reason, and one reason only. Spring Break. I need a break every once in a while and that’s what I am doing. My viewers here are pretty loyal and I feel as though a week off is good now and again. So today Jenn and I are heading out to Knotts Berry Farm and just enjoy the day. We need to get away from it all, and what better then to go to an amusement park! I will return to normal posting next week! Until then!

So I haven’t been as on top of my posting as I would like. My countless fans, well Jenn that is, has been telling me I need to post more on her. So here I am, happily posting on what is supposed to be the day of all days to share my love for Jenn. For those of you who don’t know our story of Jenn and I, here it is in brief. We met her freshman year of high school my sophmore in a Biology class but it was very brief. I didn’t talk to her again until her Junior year my Senior year. A good friend at the time Kristle who was friends of both Jenn and I, asked me if I wanted to play some tennis with her. She was planning on inviting some people for some mixed doubles and didn’t know who to invite. I had my best friend Chris come along and I remembered Jenn a star tennis player at high school who I had a small crush on my Sophmore year to come along. So we did, the four of us went to a local country club where Chris belonged and played. From there I met Jenn another time for some doubles and got her number and the rest really transpired from there. We started dating on November 3, 2003, I graduated High School in June of 04, and went to CSUSB for two quarters. Jenn graduated high school in June 2005 and went with me to CSUSB in Fall of 05. Jenn and I then transfered to UCI where we both are now, me in Winter of 2007 and her in Fall of 2007.

Through the four and half years Jenn and I have been together we have gone through a lot. The changes of high school life, to college life. The changing of ourselves into adults. The constant desire to get the best out of life, and to follow our dreams while supporting the others. However through all of the big decisions, the plans, the relaxing sunday afternoons, I consider myself the luckiest man in the world. Many of you don’t know this, and many of you I am sure do, but Jenn is like my guiding light. She has never steered me wrong in four and a half years and I don’t expect that to ever change.

Happy Valentines Day my love. You truly make life worth living.

I love the zoo. Jenn loves the zoo. We have gone to the San Diego Zoo once together, and we both have always been a big fan of the place. It is just one of those places that you just feel really relaxed which helps when school gets stressful like it is right now. We made the trip this past Saturday (11/10/07) after my 7am meeting for my job at Bank of America. The drive from where we live is about an hour and a half so its a bit of a hike but well worth it. We got down there, picked up some food (popcorn and hot dog) and were on our way. The day was really relaxing we walked for a good half of the park, and took the bus tour to hit the remaining stops. The more notable stop of the day were the monkey’s and the otters together in one habitat. It was overall just a really fun and relaxing day. And since I don’t put many pictures up of Jenn and I, I thought a few pictures from the Zoo couldn’t hurt.

I have to admit at times its hard for me to believe that I have been with Jenn for four years. We met back in high school, I was a senior, she was a junior, and now we are in the same position just in college. I am now a senior in college, Jenn a junior, its just hard to believe we have already come so far. We were planning to go to Morton’s Steak House but with us both being abit under the weather we postponed that for this coming weekend and enjoyed a great meal at Black Angus. It is just hard to believe that it has already been four years since we started dating. It has been an amazing four years, and I have loved every second of it. So here is to not only four more years with Jenn, but instead a lifetime.

Ok so Jenn and I go out to lunch together every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during our day at school. We usually hit In & Out, Del Taco, Burger King, and the like. But I have to be honest I am getting so sick of fast food its not even funny. With that being said I decided, you know what I haven’t been feeling good, Jenn hasn’t been feeling good, lets go out and get something good to eat. So we went to the Corner Bakery out here in Irvine (could be considered Tustin) which is basically a sandwich and salad place and they have some pasta’s as well. So the place was packed (big business hangout) and my voice is barely there, but I had Jenn get a table and I went to order. I was feeling a Turkey Sandwich which sounded good on a bit of a warm day, and so I get up to order. I wasn’t really paying attention and when I got up to order I rolled off Jenn’s pasta order and I scrambled to look for a turkey sandwich. I saw the Turkey Harvest (not thinking at all ) I saw turkey and then I saw mustard and decided that sounded good, not reading the rest of the description. So I get back to my seat and meet up with Jenn and then I see on the table an ad for this new sandwich and it looks nothing like I thought. The sandwich comes out and it’s got a whole wheat bread with raisins in it (I don’t like Raisins) and in the sandwich was apple-cranberry chutney, and I have to say it was the worst thing I could ever have ordered. I wish I would have paid any attention and not just saw turkey because I barely touched the sandwich. Jenn was nice enough to share her meal, but it was one of those things that you don’t pay attention, you have a lot on your mind, and you just totally mess up your order. It must be one of those days!

So this morning started out like a normal morning. It is Wednesday which means Jenn and I don’t start class tell 10am, so we wake up early and go to IHop for a hearty 3.99 breakfast (eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and pancakes) and everything was really same as usual. We brought some food home for Jenn’s dog Sparky like we always do, some bacon and some hashbrowns. We walk in the door I immediately go to get my stuff so we can head out to my laptop to get some work done before school, and I hear Sparky yelping really loud and Jenn yells for me to come in. As I walk in Sparky is on the ground shaking and yelping in pain, it was one of those experiences where instincts and adrenaline kick in and you really loose sight of what is going on. Sparky settles down a bit, and let’s a little #1 out, and then gets up, and a minute or two later is waging his tail and running around like nothing had happened. Jenn and I both sat there with our eyes just glazed over, trying to capture our bearings.

Jenn’s mom took Sparky to the Vet and it seems as though as Jenn and I both had thought, he had an epilepsy seizures, and we are finding out tomorrow from his blood work if there was a trigger. The reason I tell the story is to one never take a day for granted, and two just to say how proud I was of Jenn. She was very calm through everything, and as scary as it was, it was even more amazing to see the dog up and about like nothing had ever happened only a minute or two later. It was one of those mornings that takes years off your life, and one that I hope never to experience again. Let’s hope tomorrow brings good news!

I used to be an avid bowler, you wouldn’t know it by my 109, 115, and 77 scores today, but nonetheless bowling is by far one of the most under rated sports out there, it is just a blast. It has been at least a year since I went to the alley, but after a great lunch with Jenn we went with Jake and Amy (my brother and sister) to a local bowling alley where we got an hour of bowling and another free lunch. It was a great time and the best part is my brother Jake and I were playing against each other each time and even with my terrible scores I still held him off, I won’t mention the 77 game, where he had to only knock down two pins in the tenth frame and through two gutter balls. I hope to hit the bowling alley a lot more before the summer comes to a conclusion. Below are pictures taken with my iPhone.

Jenn

Jake

Amy