Spring is Here!

Soda Lake

I find that with every year, spring has been my least favorite season. To be fair, my allergies these past couple of weeks have definitely spiked. I wake up, sneeze, use boxes upon boxes of tissues, and am extremely worn out when I've reached the end of my day. However, this time around, I have been enjoying the spring weather. Although we've had a couple of rain days, it's been so nice to have the sun come out. Since I've started working at evolation yoga, I get a view of the sea almost every evening and it's just absolutely breathtaking. I think another factor is that I have been more passionate about my photography hobby lately so all of the bright colors that spring has brought really encourages me to go out and explore a little more.

A path from Soda Lake

This season, I decided to visit the Carrizo Plain National Monument with my mom. It's exactly what it sounds like. The Carrizo Plains are plains that reside about 30 to 45 minutes outside of Santa Margarita, a really tiny town that's near San Luis Obispo. I saw that beside Figueroa Mountain and Grass Mountain, the Carrizo Plains was the next nearest place to go to see California's super bloom. I read a bunch of articles that said it was just out of San Luis Obispo so I expected the drive to be a little more than two hours and 30 minutes... When I pulled out my Waze app and entered in the destination, I found out it was three hours and 39 minutes away from my house... I was about to drive this nearly four hour drive (my mom promised to go only if I drove) to see flowers.

So, we made a whole day trip out of it. Woke up on Sunday morning, left the house at 9:00 AM, stopped in Pismo Beach to enjoy some of the famous Splash Cafe's Clam Chowder and walk part of the pier. By this time, it was about 1:00 PM and we were trying to catch Golden Hour at the Carrizo Plains—7:00 PM. Six hours to kill... I had heard about the Bubblegum Alley in San Luis Obispo and have always been curious about it. So that was out next stop! I was pretty excited. I asked my mom for two sticks of mint gum and chewed on them while we walked over to the alleyway. And once we were there... let's just say it's a lot cooler in photos!

Bubblegum Alley

Afterwards, we stopped at Target to grab some road trip and picnic grubs and finally drove out to our final destination. Once we arrived, I took a 45 minute nap in the car to rest up for the return home. 5:00 PM hit and my mom and I got out of the car to start shooting! There's a lake called Soda Lake there, which I learned was really shallow and usually there's no water, but I think because of the rain, we were lucky enough to see it sort of filled. There were so many flowers... Medium purple ones, tiny yellow flowers, and tall, white petaled flowers that lived on the hillside of the lake's lookout point.

About 900 photos later... my mom and I were all tired out and finally drove home. Arrived at 9:30 PM and ready to sleep. I'm so grateful for California!

See you next post,

Chey

Currently listening to No Make Up by Zion.T

Sib Nstig Dua

My family.

Over the course of this past month and a half, times have never been tougher. The juggle of work, school, and personal life have immensely impacted my performance; or my lack of it.

This past weekend, we celebrated the life of my late Uncle Blong who sadly passed on March 24th. As I've stressed in previous blog posts, I'm very close to the majority of my family members and losing one has taken a toll on my emotional state. I've been unmotivated, unhappy, and just tired. My family life has been as bumpy as Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain in these recent months. And it's just all really hard.

I was honored to be able to dedicate these three songs to my uncle this weekend:

• Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton
• Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) by Chris Tomlin
• Mus Zoo Koj by Johnny Lo

My lovely cousins and I.

With tears on the verge of falling, I had to remember why I was singing. My eyes glanced over to my aunt, the wife of my uncle. Tears of sadness were dripping down her cheeks and I sang to comfort her, send my uncle on, and say the words she wasn't able to say. Luckily, our family from all over could join us in celebration of his life. Although it was a weekend filled with grief and a bit of emptiness, it was also refreshing and relieving to be surrounded by individuals who are so compassionate and loving. My three cousins, Ashley, Alyssa, and Salina and I were reunited after who knows how long. I just really needed to be with people I love and laugh a little more than I have been able to.

Mus zoo koj, Uncle Blong. Koj yog ib tus neeg paub kev hlub thiab paub kev zoo. Koj tus tsev neeg hlub koj cha koj paub. Wb mas sib nstig dua.

"Move on well, Uncle Blong. You're a person who knows love and all things good. Your family loves you more than you know. We will meet again."

See you next post,

Chey

Currently listening to Mus Zoo Koj by Johnny Lo

Yoga?

I have landed myself an internship position at a yoga studio in Summerland! It’s called evolation yoga and it’s in the Big Yellow House that you can see as you’re driving on the 101. It’s kind of funny how I got the job anyway.

During the fall semester, I had landed myself a couple of babysitting gigs (courtesy to Kirsten for getting me started J) and in January, one of the families I had been babysitting for asked if I was interested in taking on an internship position! Turns out, the parents are co-owners of the studio and were looking to get a little bit of extra help around the business. I had a small idea of what I’d be getting myself into, but no idea that it was a yoga studio.

 

I had finally met the partners in early March and we discussed my tasks and schedule very briefly, but I still had no clue that I would be working at a yoga studio. Finally, I receive a text from one of the parents describing brief tasks that are usually done in the studio… the “yoga” studio. I was a little caught by surprise because I had no experience or knowledge about yoga and started to doubt whether or not I would be fit for the job.

In the next three days, I had kind of just sat and twiddled my thumbs wondering what I got myself into, how would I even handle the job if I knew nothing about what the passions of the studio were, and why am I even seen as an asset to this business? You could say the doubt ate me alive. But, little did I know that this has been such an exciting new journey that I would be taking on. On March 14^th, I officially started at the studio and I’m very proud because as of this point, I have taken five yoga classes and have not yet died during any of them. I know five not seem like much at all in the span of 3.5 weeks, but it’s definitely an accomplishment to me!

See you next post,

Chey

Currently listening to Cold Cold Man by Saint Motel

School Online?

This semester, I'm finishing up with two online classes in my schedule and it's definitely been a real challenge. I've taken online classes before, but usually one per semester and that made it a little easier to focus on the class. I'm taking COMP 109 and 271 online this semester and I just have to admit, juggling all of the assignments have not been the easiest.

I think the most important thing is to remember when each and every assignment is due. For both of my classes, the due dates have been at a pattern for the past few weeks so it’s been a little easier to build a schedule to follow and be prepared to finish everything that needs to be submitted. My biggest problem is just portioning out the workload so that my assignments are finished to the tee and I get the best grade I deserve. I’m so guilty of turning the assignment about an hour before it is due and that kind of leaves me hating my work because I didn’t spend the time that I needed to on it.

Another thing that’s super important is to make sure that if you have any questions, you e-mail your professor as soon as you are able to! That kind of goes hand in hand with completing your assignment a day or two before it’s actually due. That way you can send your question and hear back from your professor AND revise your work before you submit it! I know I’ve come across a ton of problems whether it be technical or a question about the assignment. Many times, I just assumed that I can figure out the answer on my own, but it really took away time that I could be spending on putting effort into my assignment.

I usually recommend online classes if you’re one to really be strict with yourself on turning assignments in on time, but if not… online classes are so difficult!

See you next post,

Chey

Currently listening to Heart by Flor