A brief update...

Sorry that it has been a while since there was a post. A lot has happened in the short two weeks since our last update. Here is a quick overview: Jeff got back safely to MN and is rooming with Dave (this could be trouble!). He is doing well and I miss him tons! It is a little odd living by myself. However, this past week it was kind of nice to have the quiet atmosphere. The weekend that Jeff left I attending a conference of the first-year experience in San Francisco. It was great fun and I got to hang out with Jen (a co-worker from NDSU)! I also presented a poster session on the progression of residential learning communities. On top of this, I also got the questions and had a week to complete my master comps. I guess all of the stress added up and I got shingles! It is not very fun. It started out as bumps on my forehead, which turned into blisters. I also developed blisters on my eyelid, the bridge of my nose, and my scalp. It is a pretty painful and uncomfortable experience. I have been getting headaches everyday and pretty much have them under control. I am on medication for the rest of it and the blisters are starting to scab over and the itchiness is horrible. I found that sleeping with mittens on is the best way for me to not scratch my forehead during the night! I am continuing to get better and am looking forward to putting this all behind me. I am hoping that it is within the next week or so because I leave for Boston for another conference at the beginning of March!

Sorry for not posting pictures. I know that I have a random selection to post and I will get to it someday. Right now I am just trying to do what is necessary and nothing else - destressing my life so to say! I hope that all is going well with everyone.

Parents and more...

Jeff's parents came to visit from Feb. 1-Feb. 8. They were pretty busy while they were here. We toured San Francisco, Monterey Bay, and they were able to go to Sacramento and Tahoe. We had a great time visiting with them and took a ton of pictures. Here are just a couple of the visit:

Above: Jeff, Heidi, Andy, and Miki in front of the Golden Gate Bridge

Below: All of us in front of the entrance to Muir Woods

Above: The sea lions hanging out at Pier 39
Below: One of my favorite things we did with Andy and Miki was go whale watching in Monterey. We were lucky enough to see a pod of about 40 orchas! It was absolutely amazing. Jeff and I took a ton of pictures, but they are hard to catch. Below is a picture of one of the whales popping out of the water.

We had a great week with them and we hope they had as much fun as we did!

Last Monday, Bill Clinton visited Pacific and I was able to go and watch his speech and do a meet and greet with him afterwards. It was pretty cool to see a former president!

This past weekend was a wine and chocolate event in Lodi. On Saturday, we rented a 12 passenger van and visited a few of the wineries.
Above: the group at the van with grape vines in the back

Below: the group in front of some wine barrels

We had a great time, tasted wine, and ate delicious chocolates! After, we went to Jeremy's for dinner and had a little going away party for Jeff. Oh, in case you didn't know, Jeff will be moving back to MN this weekend!

I will keep the posts coming when I am able to. I have a few conferences coming up in San Francisco and Boston. I am also hoping to do a few more excursions before I move back to MN in late May.