Friday adventure

This past weekend was one of the most interesting weekends I've had in a while.

Friday at work I watched a sailboat race out my window at work, then watched a concert of the San Francisco Symphony orchestra at lunch while eating outside my office. In the later afternoon, I went for a run along The Embarcadero where I was passed by literally hundreds of cyclists riding (I think) in promotion of riding bikes instead of driving vehicles. Several of them were completely naked riding along one of the main streets downtown. I noticed a policeman riding on a motorcycle behind them, and at first I thought he was going to stop some of them. I quickly realized, however that he was escorting them...and protecting their right to ride (even in the nude). I'm pretty sure in Texas there are public indecency laws and the policemen would have stopped those guys!

Sunday I met a new couple at church. They are from Russia and just moved to the Bay Area a few days ago. I ended up spending all Sunday afternoon with them looking at apartments. I think their arrival to the City is just another God thing. I had a really good talk with them and I think we will end up being good friends!

So I also ended up going to IKEA and buying the rest of the essentials for life...a bed frame, kitchen table, reading lamp, couch, chair, and palm tree. Yes, I have a small palm tree in my room. I'm starting to feel like a real person...with a real room! I'm just glad my bed isn't on the floor any more!

To those who know what it is, I will be attending the East Texas Yamboree (click this legit link) this year. I will be traveling almost 2,000 miles to be with my family and eat a yam or two in Gilmer! I thought it was a great excuse to see the Texas skies again, so I'm starting my countdown to my first weekend trip to Texas! It will be a great weekend to spend with my entire family in the country for a couple of days.

Ramdom sidenote...apparently there was an S&M street festival (Google at your own risk: Folsom Street Fair) on Sunday this past weekend. One could see crazy things on the subway and walking downtown. YIKES.

Harsh, harsh, harsh reality

It has been a while since the last time I have posted. As you might suspect, a lot has happened since then.
Fact numero 1: Doctorate-level classes are hard. I should not be surprised about this.
Fact numero 2: I am definitely getting lazier. This is a problem.
Fact numero 3: I got involved in a young adult life group from church that meets every wednesday at one of the elders' house. It is a great place to be challenged and a much-needed break from the routine of life.
Fact numero 4: made tons and tons of friends from Europe and specifically from Germany, Austria (who are really fun by the way), Latvia, France, Norway, and England. The craziest part is that we all hang out together. It is definitely a blessing.
Fact numero 5: Little Rock is not as bad as I made it out to be... I am going to plan some hiking and lake trips soon... This is The Natural State and I should take advantage of this.
Fact numero 6: my classmates are ALL overachievers and competitive students.... and all over the age of 36. Welcome to ACADEMIA LAND.

Anyways, I still love the Lord and thank him every day for the blessings He has provided us.

Your love is my drug... NOT

The first few weeks in Little Rock have been OK. I am actually starting to like it here. I have found friends, a church home, and some other friends... so all is well in the life of Laza.

This past weekend was one of the best in my life. You may all wonder why. Well, I was able to have a 5-day weekend... Yes, 5 days doing nothing academic. With this awesome free time in my hand, I made the decision to drive down to Abilene!!!!! Heck YEAH.

It gets more interesting and I am going to tell you why.

First, I made a stop in Plano to meet my beautiful and babelicious friend Esmeralda. She agreed to come on the impromptu adventure with me.

Things got a little crazier when I realized that I was going to see Justin Sims, who just moved back to Abilene... and another friend, Denton Josey, who I have not seen since he left the U.S. two years ago to teach English in Korea and India.

I also got to see almost all of my guys from Mabee Hall. I have missed them SO MUCH. They did not even know I was coming in town. It was so weird because a few of them made a short movie to show everyone the night I arrived. I happened to show up at the "World Premiere" of the Razors 80's Skooterz and got a round of applause from everyone in the room, which there were about 45 students in the room. I shed a tear of joy. It was so good to come back to a place where you feel people's love for you.

There were so many events happening that weekend... Ihop at 2am, getting to see my sister, ISA Chai Cafe, sand volleyball, soccer, slumber party, deep conversations, chapel, Austin's birthday, house church... It was the bomb of a weekend, but somehow, I was ready to get back to Little Rock....

welcome to the city... part 2...

Apparently I am a magnet for weird events. If you haven't read it yet, you should read my post titled "welcome to the city..." right here.

The second weird event happened Monday. It was my first day of work and it had been a great day. The people I'm working with are great. It's a diverse group of people and many different backgrounds including Venezuela, The Philippines, Hong Kong, China, and Alaska. (I feel like Alaska is cool enough to make the list.) I came home, then went for a 4-mile run along the Bay. Beautiful...sunny...windy. It was perfect. So before I continue I should mention that the street I live on is one of the steepest blocks in San Francisco. I honestly think it is classified within the steepest 15 streets in the city. So I was walking up my block to my apartment and noticed the big brown UPS truck was parked outside the entrance to my apartment. As I got closer I noticed the truck was driving away, except the motion was more jerky than as if it was being driven...and the driver was missing. No joke. The UPS truck was rolling down one of the steepest streets in San Francisco. I was literally breathless as my heart sank in preparation of witnessing a devastating crash as this rogue truck bulleted down the hill. The guy had forgotten to turn the wheels into the curb since he was facing down hill. IDIOT.

Luckily the wheels were scraping the curb all the way down which kept it from plummeting full-force down the hill. Instead it was more of a slow-motion death roll (in my mind). I started praying that nothing would happen, which didn't seem likely since the cross street at the bottom of the block was hustling with traffic. God heard me because there was a lull in cars right as the truck plunged into the intersection (which is flat) and came to a stop in the middle. Tires screeched and traffic was abruptly halted. I sprinted down the hill and was prepared to do something to keep it from rolling down the next city block but another man hopped in just before me. I think my heart stopped beating as I prepared to witness a horrible crash, but everything was alright.

My roommates say I must be a magnet for these happenings, because they have lived here for a year and never been near any of these type of events. Lord only knows what's next.

Until then, I'll leave you with a photo or two...this is the view I have from my training in my office building!

Looking out towards the

Golden Gate Bridge - off to the left,

Looking out at the bay

and Treasure Island.