Education is a passion of mine.

After roughly four years of working for Imagine Learning, I have developed an incredible passion for education. In particular, the education of children in urban areas. I spend the vast majority of my working life in district offices and schools that are either overseeing or offering public education to urban students. It is amazing to see first-hand some of the absolutely amazing work that is being done in the classroom. The news media makes it a point to make us all think the public education is horrible, and if we don't have our kids in private or charter schools then we might as well just give up. It makes me so sad. While there definitely is still much improvement that needs to be made, the strides that are being made are pretty awesome. It makes me sad to see families leave one school district for another. We need the parents to form the PTAs that help administrators turn districts around and make them amazing. You might be thinking I am crazy as you read this, but this is what I see first-hand every day. The schools where the parents are involved are making huge gains and you can feel it in the school. I look forward to the day that I send my kids to public schools and have the opportunity to work with and help out at the school. 


There is a definite change that is taking place in many schools. A shift in the way that teachers teach, and the way that children learn. Below is a really cool piece by Sir. Ken Robinson, a British guy who I think has a lot of fantastic ideas for changing the way we teach kids so that students can really focus on their passions and maintain high levels of creativity. It might be a little over the top in some areas, but overall, very fascinating stuff. Watch it when you get a minute. People in America need to get more involved in education. Instead of constantly complaining about our schools, let's get in there and help them in this transformation. Also, here are a couple of cool books I am reading by Ken Robinson. 

Out of Our Minds:Learning to be Creative
The Element:How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything

Springtime

We have had some fun over the last couple of months: highlighted by a much anticipated trip to Palm Springs for the BNP Paribas Open. One of my best friends from growing up and his wife met us there and we had a great time watching tennis, playing tennis, catching up, and enjoying the beautiful weather.

We stayed right on a beautiful golf course in a great condo that Josh found. We utilized the BBQ and cooked up some tasty stuff. It was so fun to catch up and reminisce about old times. It was also fun to meet their little boy for the first time. It is always interesting to see people as parents for the first time...these guys seem to have it down already.

One of the nights, Noah and Yadira (a family friend) came up from San Diego for the night matches. Yadira is one of Rafa’s biggest fans, so it was especially exciting to see Rafa play that night.

The California desert is about as different from the East Coast as you can get, but it was extremely beautiful. Especially at that time of year.

It was a tennis players paradise. With all the different surfaces. There were also a lot of old people there. We were usually at least 30 years younger than anyone else around. Old people like warm weather I guess.

Here is the car I rented while we were there. It was fast.

We made it back to DC just in time for the Cherry Blossoms! It was a very warm early spring, so the blossoms came out early. Those things never cease to amaze me. The amount of beauty that they give off, and the amount of people that that they attract. Wow, that is a lot of people.

The blossoms came out just in time for a visit from my parents. They were in town for a speaking engagement and because the blossoms were early, they saw them at the peak of blooming. We happened to randomly run in to my college roommate’s parents amongst the droves of people that were there. They are also old friends of my parents, so it was fun to see them and catch up.

Julie’s birthday came and that meant some wicked awesome Strawberry Pie. Mike, another of my college roommates was in town for work, so he got to enjoy the pie with us, along with Steve and Jesse. We had pie and then went to the 10:45pm showing of Hunger Games – which conveniently opened for Julie’s birthday. We went to the Uptown Theater (this huge beautiful art-deco theater from the 1900’s) and waited in line for an hour or so to get it. It was a night to remember. They did a good job with the film.

We also had the opportunity to get up to NYC for the baby blessing of our new niece. It was so special to be there for that and to represent the fam. Me and Tal are the only east-coasters right now. Man, I love that city.

And last but not least, Baseball season started. We have ourselves a great team playing a couple of blocks away. Watch out for the Nats this year. They are legit. It has been fun to see them gradually improve each year we’ve been here, and then to see them really emerge as a playoff contender this year.

So, Julie is in Hawaii right now having a blast. I am hanging out here alone. Luckily Shawni and Dave have been in town for the American Mother’s conference so it has been great seeing them and catching up. Happy Sabbath!

P.S. I didn’t really rent a Ferrari while we were in Palm Springs.

4年 (4 years)

Yesterday marked four years since Julie and I got married. That went by fast. We’ve had some amazing adventures already – and we’ve just bared scratched the surface. Julie is celebrating our anniversary by going to Hawaii without me….mean huh? Really though, she is somewhere over the pacific ocean about now on her way to paradise to meet up with her mom, sister, and sister-in law (a trip they’ve been planning for years). Julie just finished working four night shifts in a row at the hospital – so I think she is very deserving of catching up on her sleep on a beach in Hawaii. 
Julie worked the night shift the day before yesterday and I had to leave for meetings first thing in the morning yesterday (our anniversary). Before my meetings were over, Julie had to take off to catch her flight. So we had all of 15 minutes together on our anniversary. Nice huh? We had just enough time to watch this little thing I made for Julie highlighting the fun we had over the last year. Don’t feel obligated to watch – I just want to have this on here for record’s sake, and so that Julie can watch it in Hawaii and feel bad for me as I am not in there with her.
Marriage is an amazing thing. I learn so much for Julie every day. We have grown together in so many ways through the ups and downs. I am glad Julie said yes.

update: youtube blocked this video on some computers, so if it won't work on blogger. if you want to see it, it works on youtube via this link. 

4years

An Orange Sky in Puerto Rico

I am way behind here. But it is high time to get some photos of this awesome trip up here. A couple of months ago we went to Puerto Rico with two of my brothers and their wives (along with their 6 week old babies). We rented a condo on the Western Side of the island (near Rincon) – where we had never been before. It was great fun. We got there earlier than Noah and Tal, so we spent some time in Old San Juan.

We then picked T&A up from the airport and drove west for a couple of hours to where we were staying. We made the mistake of stopping at a Wal-Mart to grab some supplies. I think the entire population of Western Puerto Rico was there. What is it with that place?

Sunset on Crashboat Beach – right by where we were staying.

It was Tal’s birthday while we were there…Julie and I asked Tal what he wanted for breakfast. He said Huevos Rancheros. So we made him some (our own version).

The infinity pool at our condo.

A decent sized swell came in the first day we were there, so Tal and I did some boogie boarding. I can’t get enough of that.

Noah and Kristi joined us a day later. We went down to Rincon to try to surf.

I repeat…we TRIED to surf. Holy cow, the waves were bigger than they looked fro the shore, and we just got regulated! (I commodered all these photos from Kristi’s blog…thanks!)

This was pretty much the story of our hours out there. Watching people, thinking we could do it, then getting thrown into the washing machine that the waves created.

Julie got to hang out with Kristi and our new nephew.

This was the coolest part. We were sitting here recooperating after our failed attempt to surf, when all the sudden Kristi was like “WAAAHHHAAHHAHAHA” I though one of the surfers got eaten by a shark, but actually, it was a humpback whale. Kristi had her telephoto lens, so we snapped some shots. It came up and breached like 10 times! Look at the photo below, see that boat on the left? That gives you an idea of how huge that thing was!

We got some wicked awesome Mahi-Mahi and watched the whale for a while.

It was so fun to be there with my broskis. These guys are so awesome. It was a good brainstorm time for Orange Sky.

We took advantage of the bbq there are cooked up schish kabobs several times.

Found a coconut and chopped it up.

Perhaps the highlight was the fact that Noah blessed his new baby bow while we were there. It was so cool to be there and participate.

What a fun trip! Until next year!

26years

Today is Julie’s 26th Birthday. I am particularly happy because Julie doesn’t have to work this year on her birthday like she did last year; meaning I get to take her out to breakfast – Julie’s birthday tradition (along with Strawberry Pie). Those of you who are reading this most likely know Julie…but right now I want to remind you all why she is so amazing.

• Did you know that Julie is the world’s greatest nurse? She has this indescribable ability to connect with children…she can help a child go from crying to smiling in a matter of minutes. While I can’t necessarily go and observe Julie at work, I can easily envision it in my head. There she is in a very tough situation, dealing with children who are battling cancer and/or other sicknesses, and their families whose lives have been turned upside down, all signs pointing to frustration, stress, devastation, and struggle. Yet Julie brings the light of hope out of these children that rubs off on the families as they smile and laugh together and find ways to make a horrible situation just a little bit better. I know Julie is rolling her eyes as she reads this, but rest assured, this is what is happening.
• I love Julie’s determination. I think this one can be directly attributed to being the youngest of seven kids and having older brothers that, well, toughened her up. When Julie sets her mind to something, it is going to happen. Whether it is running a half-marathon, taking on a difficult responsibility at work, or dealing with me every day, she just makes in happen.
• Julie loves to travel. We share this passion. She loves to see new culture and experience the world. I am so lucky to have the world’s best travel partner who wants to see the world just as much as I do. I absolutely love that about Julie.
• Julie is beautiful. She has an amazing sense of style.
• Julie loves to read. She will inhale books. I am not always the best at this and she is such a good example of this. I know she will instill this love of books in our children.
• Julie can roll with it. She is so low maintenance. She married into a well, let’s just say, interesting family full of very passionate people. She just rolls with it though. She can embrace new things, even if it isn’t what she is accustomed to.
• She believes. Julie has an unshakeable belief in God and the Savior. Both on a simple scale as she teachers the sunbeams each week, and on a more deep scale as she shares what she learns through her personal study with me.
• Julie has an awesome family. Such great people who are as kind and generous as they come and incredibly bright.

I think the thing I learned/recognized the most about Julie this year is that she has so much desire to do good in this life. Time and time again I see her finding ways to do good, she doesn’t care about the recognition one bit. I am so lucky to have Julie. She makes me so much better. I’d be lost without her. Happy Birthday Jules! Slap a comment on here about Julie if you feel so inclined.

 

Better late than never.

Whoa, I got so distracted by all of those China posts that I totally overlooked Christmas. I realize this was like 2+ months ago, but hey, it’s always fun to re-live Christmas in early March. We had a great December, highlighted by Christmas and a trip to NYC to spend some time with family.

Just after we got our Christmas tree in early December – Julie decided to get crafty and make our own wreaths. I was skeptical, but they turned our pretty cool huh? We tried to do as much fun stuff as we could in December to highlight the Christmas season – we both love that time of year so it was easy. We went to see The Messiah at the Kennedy Center, went to see the Christmas lights at the Temple, and listened to lots of music. It was a really balmy and not cold at all December. The last two years, the winters have been in sane and full of snowstorms. This year, it has snowed once or twice I think, without really sticking. Now to Christmas;

Christmas eve we had our Eli and Julie traditional Fondue while talking about the Nativity.

Julie conveniently had to work on Christmas day so we had to get creative. We got up at 5:00 on Christmas morning and had about an hour to spend together before she had to head to work. We opened our stockings and presents and tried to enjoy the 90 minutes we had together as much as possible.

It kind of sucked that she had to work, but the kids at the hospital needed her, and I am sure it is a Christmas she’ll always remember. Santa even made it to the hospital that day – although I am not sure who the kids were more excited about, Santa or Justin Bieber who came and visited the week before (I know he’s a crazy heartthrob, but I think it is pretty cool he took time to come and visit the kids). Have I mentioned that Julie is the world’s best nurse? So Julie left for work, and I jumped on a bus to head up to NYC to see Tal and Anita and their new baby and my parents who were there (Julie had to work on the 26th and 27th all day – so we decided I might as well go up and hang out with my family – Julie then came up the night of the 27th).

My mom, the kitchen master that she is, whipped up and amazing Christmas dinner (plus she had Eggs Benedict waiting for me when I got there). We had a great dinner and a fun Christmas evening together Google+ ing with the whole family (you can video chat with like 7 different people at the same time).

It was so fun to see Tal and Anita as parents, and meet their new baby girl. Don’t they just look like awesome parents?! Look how little she is in comparison to Tal’s ginormous hand.

The next day I got to hang out in the city with my parents. It was really fun cruising around town with these two amazing people. My dad served his mission in NYC way back when, so I always enjoy being there with him and hearing about how it has changed since then.

We tried going to Ellis Island but about 58,409 other people had the same idea that day, so we decided to take a trip on the Staten Island Ferry. Look how white the city was that day (behind my parents). Just kiddin, the photo was totally washed out as it was so sunny that day, but don’t my parents look good in that photo. Those guys are serious globetrotters out there changing the world by helping strengthen families.

I took them to my favorite Japanese Curry place in the city. GoGo Curry. Mmmm. Then we went down to see “New York by Gehry” – a huge new residential tower in lower Manhattan. I love Frank Gehry. He is one of the most amazing architects alive (Guggenheim in Spain, Disney Concert Hall in LA to name a few). My dad called the leasing agent and told her he was interested in renting a place there and set up an appointment. Julie and I had tried to go in last time we were in New York but couldn’t get an appointment. Isn’t it a piece of art? I love it. The tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere.

We went up to an apartment on the 57th floor and these were the views from the terrace.

Not a bad view from your kitchen window eh? (above and below)

Looking straight up from the terrace on the 57th floor. How do you even come up with the plan for a building like this? Let alone build it? We might just have to live there someday (assuming I win the lottery or get mad basketball skills all of the sudden and go Jeremy Lin on NY).

After that, my mom and I went to the Met to see the newly redone wing on Islamic Art. It was really amazing.

My mom is my favorite person to go to museums with – she knows so much about art and I love learning from her. We sat here on the upper level and marveled at how many people were coming in and out.

That night, Saydi and her family came down from Boston. My dad had the idea to rent a limo and go cruising around the city. It was classic…cruising around blasting the music and dancing. The kids got pretty excited. Julie is loving me for putting this picture on – she is in the corner of a wide angle lens shot – which is never a good thing. My parents were staying at the apartment of one of my dad’s good friends on the upper west side. After the limo ride we got some desert and went up to the apartment and chatted away. This apartment had an amazing wrap around terrace. I had to go out and snap some photos. The clouds were moving really quickly that night, so it provided for some fantastic photo ops.

You can see Central Park off in the middle there.

Don’t those clouds look cool?

The combination of the creations of man, and the creations of God. Pretty cool juxtaposition.

The next night we went to a show called “Traces” it is a group of seven incredible gymnasts/athletes who left Cirque De Soleil and other shows to create their own piece. It was very impressive and entertaining.

The last day, Julie and I wandered around the city some more. I have wandered around that place for hundreds of hours, and I never get tired of it. I love that city. Here’s the interior of a church on 5th Ave….one that we hadn’t gone in before.

We went down to Ground Zero to try to see the newly finished memorial, but you have to have timed-tickets and we just barely missed. It was cool to see how far they come along though, Tower One (the tallest of the new buildings they are building) is already SOARING over the sky and they’ve still got a ways to go. Pretty amazing to see the transformation there.

One of my favorite spots in the city is the Brooklyn Bridge. Such a masterpiece. We took a walk out there (as did 34,594 other people that day – all of whom were Europeans – how do Europeans have so much vacation time?).

Here’s a place that I have hundreds and hundreds of photos of, but holy cow it is just cool. Look how it is pink as it is reflecting the sunset. Love that place. It was especially fun to have a wide angle lens to snap some shots with.

It was so fun to spend the Holidays with family. Man, I am lucky to have such as amazing family on my side and Julie’s….just good, good people. We lucked out. We came home and spent New Year’s Eve here in DC and then it was on to 2012. Now all of the sudden it is March and the cherry blossoms are almost here! This winter was awesome, no snow and rather balmy. I think Julie is turning me into a wuss when it comes to cold weather – growing up in San Diego did a number on her. Anyway, Happy Sabbath to you.