Cafe Victoria

My favorite Emo band has officially moved from the underground ranks to number one on the pop charts. Congrats to Death Cab For Cutie. Their recent album “Narrow Stairs” debut at #1. It’s a hard call. My first Death Cab album was “Transatlanticism”. After listening to songs from their new album and then going back toTrans, I have to say it’s the drums. Pretty much.. if you want to move into the Pop charts, you need less drums, less rocking and more “sing along”. Sorry guys, but I will always be an old school death cab fan.

There is something about sharing my Sunday morning with acoustic sunrise on San Francisco’s radio station KFOG. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had KFOG playing in the background. Their show goes from 8am to Noon. For my friends on the East Coast, you can listen too: www.KFOG.com. It’s my favorite time to listen. I am usually eating breakfast, reading a local paper, or cleaning. The songs they play are peaceful, artistic, and reflective. They remind me what weekends are all about.

Reading: The Kite Runner

New shows I started watching: The Biggest Loser and Lipstick Jungle

Right now, looking forward to: St. Patrick’s Day Dinner at St. Leo’s with my Grandpa and Matthias

New love: Old Navy T-Shirts

Count down to capstone presentation: 29 days…

Juno: “I loved it. Its like Little Miss Sunshine. A must see. ”
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: “Harry Potter my new example of leadership”
Blade Runner: “Classic”
Harry Potter and the Gobbet of Fire: “Soo good. Loved the Tournaments”
Hairspray: “Good morning Baltimore..”

I love day light savings day. Whenever I looked at the clock today, I thought “it is only..” then I would say, “sweet an extra hour to study, clean, sleep!” Think about it. I bet a day does not go by that we all say to ourselves “if I only hand a extra hour in the day?”

On a fun note. Last week was Halloween. I dressed up as Meredith Grey of Grey’s Anatomy. Loved it! I had on nursing scrubs and made myself a name tag. I started watching Grey’s Anatomy this summer. Now I am hooked. I love the writing. If you have not seen the show or if you are a huge fan like me, you will agree that the show says what we think about when it comes to relationships: passion and being real with each other. Grey’s Anatomy reminds that what you really want is passionate conversations. Or the chance to really let your guard down with someone. Instead the writers show us how we chose to stay that extra hour at work or stay friends instead of going to the next step.

Now, what was it you would do with an extra hour?

Soo..I was working pretty well tonight on my student strengths paper when I got distracted by reading people Facebook pages. Who would have thought that 10 years later people would be “poking” or “leaving messages on someone’s wall” on the Internet? On one side, social networking on the Internet has open doors to new ways of sharing your life. The other side is you are sharing yourself and your conversations, activities with EVERYONE. What if you share more of yourself on your Facebook page then in person? Does that mean people know who you are even if you never tell them in real time? Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of the connecting, sharing what’s new with you and keeping in touch. And those world maps that people have that show where they have traveled; very cool. But in the end, I can’t leave a message on my sister’s wall. I just love hearing her answer her phone “hello darling” way to much to start talking to her through Facebook.

Our Wedding Day had the bluest skies, the warmest smiles, the sweetest music, the most beautiful flower center pieces, and the greatest love I have ever known. It was the happiest day of my life. Now I know when people say it was the happiest day of their life. What more could I ask for then to spend the day with my closest friends, dance with my dad, laugh with my new and old family and say “ I promise to love you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health…” to Matthias Worch. My favorite part was looking into his eyes during the wedding ceremony. I feel in love with him all over again.

I want to send tons of thank you to my amazing loving parents, Patty and Michael Estrella. With their help, support and guidance, they gave us the most beautiful wedding day. With love, thank you!

To Miss, my sister, Maid of Honor and now a best friend, I miss you already. Your creativity, empathy and love gave Matthias and me the best wedding two people could ask for. We love you!

To Kristina, Marta and Maria, the most beautiful bridesmaids ever!! It meant so much to go through this experience with you. I will always remember the limo ride, spending the day getting ready and all that dancing!! Gracias!!

To Klaus, Alice and Guido, thank you for sharing your love and welcoming me in to your family. I feel honor to now be Victoria Worch.

To Amy Merkel, our wedding coordinator, you rock!! Amy remembered everything from offering us a drink when we arrived at the reception, to keeping the photographer on track, along with making sure our wedding presents were safe inside. She had everything under control. Amy, with great appreciation, we thank you!

And a special thank you to everyone who shared the day with us. It was a blast!! We hope to see you soon!

I had a nice weekend. Matthias and I watched knocked up, finished the first draft of the wedding program and even made it out to my church’s 40^th anniversary party. Through out the weekend, I caught up with friends and family on the phone. We had some really good conversations. From those talks, I am left thinking tonight these random thoughts:

-What are my core beliefs? Am I willing to share them with people?
-Have I thought about the day after? There will always be one.
-When was the last time I was present with someone? Where I was not thinking about anything else but what they were saying? I bet you can think of someone who was present with you. It is so hard. For me, my Dad always seems present when I talk to him.

Yahoo, another weekend at Infineon Racetrack! This time, the open wheel drivers of the Indy circuit came to Sonoma. In my family, it is a tradition we watch and attend Indy races when we can. Today’s race was so much fun. My favorite part was standing up when the drivers went by. The Aussie driver Scott Dixon won.

Miss, Mom and Dad, thanks again for a great weekend! I love that racing is part of our family.

I love beginnings. I also love finishing things. The NVC fall semester starts on the 20^th. That is one week away. One week to finish summer projects and one week away from kicking the fall semester off. The exciting part is Napa Valley College is hosting its first welcome day the Saturday before the first day of classes. We are calling in NVC Day and I have been one of the main coordinators. NVC Day has been my summer project. For the first time, I have been the one facilitating the planning meetings with staff and administrators. I’ve come with the agenda, kept minutes, and done my best to keep us all on track. The best way to describe it to friend and family, is that it’s been like stage managing. “The show” opens in a week. Just like any other plays or large events I have been working on, it has kept me VERY busy. Ohh..and there was also taking the Helping Relationship Class, reading Strengths Quest books, and working on the wedding.

If you ask Matthias, I have either been writing a to-do list, dreaming about work, moving from finishing a paper to finishing the registry and for some crazy reason still getting dinner on the table. WOW.

Then of course, I woke up this morning ready to write down a to-do list for my office “things to do before school starts”, when I realized my graduate program has given me a huge boost of confidence to just go for it and be excited. This coming school year, I am highly motivated by my grad school’s capstone project. The more I kick ass at work, the more I can showcase with the hope that in the end I attract more great opportunities to shine and grow. I am running, but this time it’s not to keep up but to enjoy the ride.

However, to keep all the plates spinning, the students smiling, and my friends and family cheering on, I MUST let all my thoughts go for at least 24 hours. So, for the next 24 hours Matthias and I are heading to Tahoe. We both know that if we stay at home..we will just keep working on our many projects…but do any of us ever stop thinking of what do next, imagining what we could finish…but then, the thought of sitting on a porch, surrounded by trees, enjoying a glass of wine..Yo enough writing!! :>) Have a great weekend everyone!