Tag: Ventura

Cheers to the weekend!

rangerthecatLeave a comment

This weekend was one of the best that I’ve had in such a long time.

On Friday, I went to a really cool art show in Ventura with a few people.
There was so much beautiful pottery. I love pottery, and I haven’t had time to go to the studio recently, but this trip gave me some new inspiration and I can’t wait until I have time again. There were so many different artists with a variety of work that all took my breath away.

The next day, I got to sleep in until 10:30. BEST FEELING EVER. I have not spent enough time with my bed recently, and seriously, it put me in such a better mood for the whole rest of the day, which consisted of going to a gingerbread house making party and a birthday party!

I spend about one who hour making a masterpiece gingerbread house with my best friend. We made sure it was very colorful and cute, and let me just say, it was some high quality work!

It was so much fun to decorate a gingerbread house; I hadn’t done it for years, and it made me feel like a little kid again, which I love.

Then came the big “dance party,” I guess you could call it. When really, it was just a bunch of loud music, and people jumping around making fools of themselves (including me). And I’d have to say, that was definitely my favorite part. Having fun without anyone to judge me or anything else to worry about. I spent time with close friends, and others that I’m not as close with, but still had an amazing time with both.

I did, however, underestimate the amount of work I had to finish, and overestimated the ability I have to do so. But a little bit of a time crunch is just the price to pay for a pretty amazing weekend 🙂

A taste of India.

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Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal, one of the seven great wonders of the world, one of the glories of India. A tourist trap, but also a sacred site for many its white exterior shimmers serenely under fluorescent spotlights. Standing tall, superior and spectacular in the light of the Taj Cafe, the pure exquisiteness of this wall hanging capturing my attention and transporting me to the bustling streets of India.

This sanctuary displays a snippet of a different culture from across the globe. Acting as a place or spot where one can be transported to another land without actually travelling very far. The Taj Cafe, Ventura is the perfect place to do just this.

The traditional food, exquisitely furnished room and the unique sounds of the traditional song come together to give one a small taste of India. The ambience of the restaurant represents this eastern culture perfectly in the streets of California.

If you want an eastern experience from the comfort of your own city why not take a trip to your local Indian restaurant. Take the opportunity to inhale the aromatic scents of the spiritual motherland and experience a unique journey of your own.

A near miss.

YourcupateaLeave a comment

GOD

Ok so I have nearly been driving for one month. Yes I know you can’t believe it, trust me I can’t either. After reading my previous driving blogs I’m sure many believed that I one: wouldn’t survive my lessons on the road and two: definitely wouldn’t make it through the test. I guess the gods had mercy and looked upon my small Ford Fiesta with pity and smiled at the Santa Paula DMV on September the 1st. Whatever the case, I miraculously past and now I have been unleashed on the roads of Ventura county. Watch Out.

Oxnard has already witnessed some of my skilled driving as I visited the local fish and chip shop and a supermarket known as Vons. Vons is a great supermarket but it’s car parks are a nightmare. Now I’m guessing you’re thinking “oh no what did she do?” No I did not run over anyone, or an animal or scratch a car. In fact a rather large red Chevy truck nearly hit me.

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Relay For Life 2011

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“Just one more year.”

May 14, 2011, Ventura, California, Relay for Life.

It is approximately 9:00 am in the cold parking lot of Buena High School in Ventura. The yellow bus unloads its passengers, yielding the start of the day. Slowly, students crawl out, it was too early for them. But the grey, salty breeze shifts cool between their sleeves and awaken the tired students. The day had begun.

A loud voice could be heard on the loud speakers, announcing highlights of the event. Schools were commended for their outstanding fundraising. First, the honorable mentions, soon followed by the bronze teams. Then came the silver teams. My school, our school, Ojai Valley School, had been recognized as a silver team for raising so much money. In our school of just under 100 students, we managed to raise  $3,060. It was a great start to our day.

The empty track was broken by a mass of survivors, clad in the same purple shirts. Among the many survivors was OVS AP psychology teacher, John Valenzuela. He made his way around the track while our school gathered at one corner and shouted words of encouragement to him, our screams choked with tears, because we had all seen him battle through this scary disease and we had won this battle together. He put his hand over his heart and we all knew what he felt.

Throughout the day, students walked around the track, bought food, and even partook in a wedding between a survivor and the love of his life.

That night, some of our students stayed overnight and endured heavy rains, cold, and hunger but came back with smiles. And at the end of the day, all I could think to myself was “just one more year.”

A Relay Lost

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Next month, OVS will be participating in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life at Buena High School in Ventura. I, for one, am very excited to see our school be so involved in something that could quite possibly change one in five of our lives in the future. I cannot wait to see people of all different worlds join together to fight one of the biggest killers today and have fun while doing it. To top it all off, this will be the first cancer-related cause I have attended, and I’m quite nervous. I’ve always avoided them because I have a problem confronting what has thoroughly turned my life upside down more than once and stolen the one person who, above all, meant the world to me.

My mom was a remarkable woman. Standing at 5’10 with tight curls the color of embers she wasn’t a woman you could easily forget. She fought for what she believed in and would seldom take no for an answer, which only made her all the more admirable to all that met her. We were all shocked when the news finally reached us. My mom had ovarian cancer and had up to two years to live.

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(My mom second from the right)

How could someone so strong let cancer take a hold of her?

For three months her body deteriorated from a combination of chemotherapy and the cancer itself to a frail shell of a woman with only one spot of her once fiery hair barely holding on. A woman who had once stood so tall and who was so outspoken was confined to a wheelchair and an oxygen mask at all times. It was at that time I was taken to go live with my dad after living practically my whole childhood with my mom.

No more than four months after her diagnosis I was called into the hospital to see my mom propped up onto a hospital bed unconscious and on a morphine drip. My heart must had fallen through the floor and my stack through the roof. This was my mother. A once divine and beautiful woman was spending the last few moments of life in a lifeless shell. How could something do this to her?

This disease, this cancer had taken everything from her. It had taken everything from me. A perfectly good woman was drained of everything and left to suffer, and left those around her to suffer. No one meant as much to me as my mom did. She was my only friend and the only person I could talk to, that I can still talk to. For ten years she served as my idol, now seven years later she serves as my inspiration.

Cancer isn’t just a disease that affects one person, it affects everyone around that person. It’s ruthless and merciless and won’t stop at anything once it grabs a strong enough hold of you. If there’s any way to help those who suffer from it, or have been closely affected by someone who suffers from it, it’s to get the word out. Cancer kills. Help others, help yourself.

The Ventura County Fusion

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For the last 3 years, I have been working part-time with a professional football team in the city of Ventura. The team, The Ventura County Fusion, is going into its fifth season in the PDL.

The PDL is the fourth tier of professional football in the United States. That does not sound like it would make a team prestigious but the Fusion are an exception.

The Fusion have played teams from the highest level including Burnley and Everton. They have also played team such as Real Salt Lake, Columbus Crew and most recently the Portland Timbers (the Fusion were the first team to play Portland’s new MLS team).

In 2009 the Fusion won the PDL Championship, an incredible feat for a team in only its third season. The PDL is made up of 64 teams and the Fusion topped them all. In their last season they finished first place In the Southwest Division of the Western Conference.

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