Cafe Victoria

The days you live and learn are:

• When you have to play the role no ones likes.
• When you have to listen to your mind say “you’ve tried enough” even though your heart says “give them one more chance”.
• When you have to trust your decision and move on to the next one.
• When you listen to feedback.
• When you give honest feedback.
• When you reach out for help.
• When you appreciate the people around you.

Keep believing.

Often times, I find myself is the middle of this journey of grad school feeling overwhelmed, disconnected and asking myself, Why I am doing this again?. I have realized that if I do not stay connected to the people around me I am going to lose my passion for why I studying Student Affairs or Higher Education in the first place.

When you are finding yourself feeling stressed, confused, or distant, take a moment to give a friend a call, or write an email to a distant friend or family member. One of my favorites is giving your partner a really long hug. You will be amazed how it will make you feel.

Staying connected: Tonight, I am excited to connect with Marta for her 30^th birthday! I am meeting up with her, her friends and her family in the city for some swing dancing and catching up. She does not live near me anymore, but staying connecting through email or a random phone call makes all the difference.

Staying Focused: For my Mental Health of College Students course, I want to focus on making a connection between Student Life and the Mental Health of college students. What if feeling connected could make all the difference?

In my life: Cherishing the time I get to connect with people over holiday meals, parties and shopping.

Comment Question of the week: How are you staying connected? What is your focus right now in life?

One of the hottest new shows on T.V. is Heroes. I have only watched part of one episode but I kind of know the story line. For all you Heroes watchers, I think I have a new character for you to look out for, my boyfriend Matthias.

On this past Saturday morning, Matthias was on his way to the Oakland Airport to see his friends in Seattle. Later on in the morning, I was going to head down to San Luis Obispo to see my sister Missy and friends Marta and Natalya. As Matthias was driving down 116 hwy towards hwy 37, he had just passed our favorite winery Cline, and something happen. As he went to make the turn, he flew off the road. As he flew off the road, his car his a tree and slide down the side of the road. He is not sure how long he was in his car but was able to get out, and walk to the top of the road. Another car stopped, allowed them to use their cell phone and he called the CHP. Matthias was taken to the hospital. I received a call a few hours later to come see him.

It was pretty scary. They kept him at the hospital for tests. He was laying flat on his back with his neck in a brace. A few hours later, the tests came back and just like that, I could take him home. The only thing he suffered was a concussion. Matthias had no broken bones. He can walk, talk, and really enjoy life once more.

If you saw his car, you would understand why Matthias is now the new character on HEROES. Gracias Universe!

Any free morning I get, I try to take a walk before I do anything else. This morning, as I was walking along the bike path near my house, I thought about the chapter I read last night from the book Mexican Days Journey into the Heart of Mexico by Tony Cohan. The chapter was about the city of Guanajuato and its mummy museum.

Almost 2 years ago and a time before Grad School, I had made a trip to Mexico for Christmas with my good friend and old roommate Maria. We stayed with her grandma in the small town of Zamora, located in the State of Michoacan, Mexico. Reading that chapter last night, totally reminded me of how much fun and relaxing my trip to Mexico and especially when we went to Guanajuato. The mummies were interesting, but what I remember most about that day was enjoying a Victoria beer and shrimp ceviche, looking out over the city, and the sun shining on my face. We were there in December and the weather was in the 70’s. So nice.

As I was walking this morning and remembering my trip to Mexico it dawn on me that here was my life BEFORE Grad School. Here I was…kind of a different person. A little bit more relax, adventurous…So, here are a few insights about my life before Grad School:

• In my free time, I was stage managing, assistant directing or directing plays at the community center here in Sonoma or at the Napa Valley College. My favorite theatre experiences were working on the The Laramie Project and my first directing debut 4 Seasons of Love, an evening of One Acts.
• I had just met Matthias 3 months before I applied to Grad School so we were in that fun early stage of dating where you show each other around the towns you live in.
• I was 27. On my 28th birthday, I mailed off my Grad School applications.
• I was pretty much hiking every weekend.
• I read the North Bay Bohemian for their weekly horoscope.
• Often made trips to Seattle, Boston, Rhode Island and Grass Valley.
• I enjoyed reading travel novels, shopping at IKEA and watching the WB shows Everwood and Jack and Bobby.

What about my life today? In one day, I will be half way done with my graduate program. In less then 3 months I will 30. Life is good!

Woohoo, we’re like totally blogging now! Hello everybody! A while ago we made all sorts of signs for Victoria and here’s a picture! Stitch snuck into Victoria’s laptop while she was sleeping and cracked the codes, and now we can upload it. Cool!