Spring Break - Day Four ASU

We woke up early on Monday morning so we could get to the downtown campus of Arizona State University.  I was a excited to see what they had to offer and to see what the campus was like.  We found it easily and went in to the University Center to meet up with our tour.

Look at my boy....how did he get so big.  Wasn't he just four years old and carrying around a pocketful of Thomas the Train engines?   I am sure that he was.

He read over the material while we waited.  Filled out a few information cards.

There were probably fifty people (students and families) there for the tour.  The building was very modern and they had some people there called Devil Advocates, which is a club associated with the college.  They give the tours and are basically advocates for the university.  

We listened to a brief overview of the college and the admissions process and then got hooked up with our awesome tour guide Mandy.  She was great. There were probably 15 or so people in our group and we started off touring the residence hall.  It was right across the street from the University Center. 

These two buildings are the residence dorms for the downtown campus.  They are very new buildings and were pretty on the inside and outside.  Building One is for Freshman and Building Two is for upper class men.  In Building One, there are two people to a room and they share a private bath.  In Building Two you get your own room and share a common space and bathroom with one other person.  So no community showers....each room has its own.  I thought that was a nice benefit. 

The residence hall is called Taylor Place.  You have to pass a security desk to get in..using your college ID to scan through the front desk and to get on the elevator.  They were big on security, which with a downtown campus seemed important.  It was spring break for the college so it was a ghost town.  I think we got to see a lot of areas that would normally be filled with students, so I think that was a good thing, although I would have liked to see how busy it was down there with school in session. 

This was the dining hall for Taylor Place.  Very sleek and modern.  The food pass was explained to us and Mandy said the food was really good.

Outside of the building, there was a Starbucks, a Subway and a couple other little eating establishments.  Harry thought he could eat fine.

This was the sample dorm room they showed us.  The beds are raised up so you can store bins and stuff underneath.  They were a decent size and again, the bathroom was inside the room that these two students would share.  I liked that. 

There was this beautiful patio between the two buildings with lovely deck furniture.  She said it was normally crawling with kids and that during the early part of summer there would be towels everywhere because the kids laid out in the sun out here.  There was also a workout room on this patio.

Oh, and I have to remember to talk about the washer and dryers on each floor.  Once you put your clothes in the washer it will text you a message to your phone when your load is done.  The dryer does the same thing.  How cool is that?

The dorm is split up by Major, so all Journalism students would be on the same floor.  It is co-ed, so boys and girls are on the same floor.

The other Majors on the downtown campus besides Journalism are Nursing and Health and Wellness.

The campus is several blocks long, but all the buildings are kinda sorta connected.  The Walter Cronkite School is directly across the street from the residence hall.

Mandy said that the public paid for many of the ASU buildings in an effort to revamp the downtown area and it is working.  Lots of new businesses coming in.  In fact they are building a giant Student Rec center that is going to have a rooftop pool and workout and recreation equipment galore.  It was about a five story building that is supposed to be done next year.  Good timing for Harry.

This is the Walter Cronkite Building.  It was very cool. Inside and Out. 

Another view. 

Inside the lobby of the building.  Again, very modern, clean, sleek.

This is the largest classroom they have on campus.  They are very big on keeping class size very small. In this room, she told us that they had the technical capability to "go live" at anytime to a world wide audience.

Outside in the lobby there is a Walter Cronkite museum.  Had his original typewriter and lots of old journalism tools of the trade.

They also had a giant screen TV. Harry liked that.  She said that every Monday evening they have a speaker come in to talk to the kids.  Someone in the business.  Either a reporter, newspaper person, news actor, writer, someone who could tell them how they made it, career choices they made, mistakes, what they would do different, etc..  For every session you attend you get points and the student with the most points gets to attend the Walter Cronkite Award dinner.  The recipients and guests of the award dinner usually come and give a talk to the students in this very building.  She said they have had Bob Costas, Diane Sawyer and many others.

I thought that if you were a Journalism major living downtown that you would have to commute to the Tempe main campus for at least some of your classes.  That is not the case at all.  She said you could do every class on the downtown campus if you wanted.

They do have shuttle buses that run every 30 minutes back and forth to the Tempe campus.  The light rail public transportation also runs to the Tempe campus and is located right outside of the building.

The classrooms in this Walter Cronkite building were so exceptional.

There were tons of classrooms with these individual editing bays were you can learn how to edit and wrote copy, video clips, voice overs, etc.  Each student has a removable hard drive that you carry around with you and can plug into any computer on campus.  They are all loaded with exactly the same software so you are never without the ability to do your work. 

This was the classroom for a radio class.  It is an actual radio broadcast booth and through the glass is where the producer works with all the buttons and switches and technical gizmos.  Hands on from day one.  

This is the classroom for a class that is a pre-requisite for all journalism students.  It teaches them all the equipment.  It was like a NASA shuttle room.  So cool.   She recommended they take it first semester so they could then get involved in one of the many school opportunities to help with the newscast, newspaper, radio show, etc. 

Here is the newsroom.  It was an old set donated by a local television station and it is legit.  The real deal.  Big cameras, lights, camera, action....green walls for weather, etc.  The students do a nightly news  program.  It is a class you take that is about three or four hours every other day.  You come in to a big conference room, get your assignment, go out and gather your information, come back in, edit it and be ready to go on the air.  They have students going out to spring training covering baseball, politics are big and they have access to all the county and city hall, courts, etc that are downtown.

Here are small edit bays by the broadcast area...she said there are tons of areas to edit and make your copy and the place is a buzzing bee hive before they go live on the air.

These students are writing articles that get sent out on the AP wire and can be picked up by newspapers or magazines.  All students are required to do an internship and they work closely with the students to get them into an area that interests them.  They work with USA Today, ABC, Fox, Political Offices of all kinds, Business Journals, you name it.

Me and Hubby were looking at each other like.....we could totally go here!

The health clinic is one building down in the Nursing building...that makes a mom happy.  There was a CVS down the street, a Five Guys Burgers, a big mall.   Chase field was probably four or five blocks away.

This is a giant sculpture that is downtown in this green space.  That red brick building is the YMCA that all ASU Students can use to work out.  It is a public facility.  The building to the left of that brick building is the new Student Rec Center with the rooftop pool that will be for ASU students only.  

After our tour, we hit up Subway for lunch and to debrief.  Overall consensus was that we were all totally impressed.  Super high tech.  Hands on classes from day one.  When you left this program you would be totally ready to start a job.  Great dorm situation.  Good girl:boy ratio with the Nursing students on the downtown campus.  Two thumbs up!  

So, we also somehow manage to hook up with a sports tour of the main campus.  Not sure how Hubby managed it, but it was sure to be a highlight for the guys.  After our Subway lunch we headed to Tempe to see what was up on the main campus. 

We met our tour guide Justin at the entrance to the football stadium.

Mom and her boys.  

They had a new Hall of Fame in the building.  There big sport was badminton.  They dominated most of the 70s and 80s.  

This is the elevator to the football offices.  The fellas thought these were totally cool.

The receptionist area to the football floor.  Sweet digs.

ASU's football schedule for this year is already on the wall!

This was a film room for Offensive or Defensive lineman.

In this hallway they had glass displays of all of their uniform choices.  Kinda neat.

This was a cool wall.  All of the NFL Teams and the ASU players who have played for them.

One of the uniform mannequins.

The weight room. 

This is the Pat Tillman tunnel that leads to the field.  

Took us right to the field. 

Family at ASU...taking the field.

Brothers. 

My fellas. 

Then we got a bonus tour of the Wells Fargo Arena where they play basketball. 

The lights were off and it was kinda spooky. 

The boys thought it was awesome. 

After that we headed back to Squaw Peak for a quick dip in the pool! 

No rest for us...after the swim we headed to a Phoenix Suns basketball game.  I can't even remember who they played.   Oh yeah, it was the Denver Nuggets.

It was a good game in the first half, but then the Nuggets ran away with it in the second half.  

The kids got to go down on the court after the game and shoot a free throw.  That was fun! 

It was a long, long, exciting, informative day and I was in bed within 4 minutes of walking back into our room.  Good news, we were getting up early the next day to climb Squaw Peak!  See, I told you we didn't have any down time!  

I hope you feel like you were there with us!  More pictures to come....and the second embarrassing family incident!  

Spring Break - Day Three

The drive from Tucson to Phoenix was relatively short and allowed us to arrive in plenty of time for our first sporting event.  The World Baseball Classic game between Canada and the U.S.  It was at Chase field, which is an awesome stadium.  The weather was outstanding!! 

The boys hung out in the the outfield hoping to catch a batting practice ball, but no luck this time. 

My cutie patooties.  These next few pictures don't require any captions...just some action shots that Hubby captured during the game.  He got some good ones! 

U.S.A. wins in a close one!  I really didn't think I would care who won this game, but I was totally into it by the end!

As soon as this game was over we headed over to check into our hotel.  We have stayed at Squaw Peak several times before and we were very much looking forward to it again. This time we had a Casita, which was more like a town home. It was great.  Here are a few pictures of our unit before we unloaded all our belongings.  It was never this clean again! 

After we unloaded the car, we headed over to the pool for a quick swim.  Then off to dinner.  I think the first night in Phoenix we ate at Olive Garden and made a quick trip to Target for a few things.

After a late dinner, we hit the sack pretty early.  We had a big day on Monday morning. We were heading downtown for a college tour of Arizona State University - Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.   One of Harry's top choices.   Stay tuned for more pictures.....

Spring Break - Day One and Two

We are on our way home from a week in Arizona.  I really had great intentions that I was going to blog each and every day of our vacation as it happened.  

I was so wrong. 

My husband never actually lets you sit still on vacation.

There is no downtime.   There is no quiet time.  There is most definitely no time to blog.  So, now we are one more day away from our vacation being over and I haven't even posted the first picture.  If you are friends with me on Facebook I did post a few pictures there!  I am going to cram Day One and Two together in this post so I can get caught up quickly!  

We rolled out of the driveway last Friday at 4:30 in the afternoon.  Grabbed some grub for the starving teenager in the family and hit the road for Arizona. 

Then we slammed into rush hour traffic and it took damn near an hour to go 20 miles.  It was a bit of a slow start to our road trip.

We finally broke out of the hullabaloo that is city traffic and hit the barren wasteland that is west Texas.  It was getting to be about 8:30 or so and we were looking for a place to grab some dinner and rest our weary heads.  The choices were VERY slim in this part of the country.

We finally found a blip on the map and came up on this Cooper's BBQ.  It smelled good from the parking lot.

SIDE NOTE:  We had to put Rosie the cat to sleep the day before we left on vacation.  Yes, contrary to my many public rants about the happiness it would bring me to not have a litter box in my house any more, I cried.  No one was more surprised than me.  She was 13.  It was the right thing to do.  Anyway, back to Cooper's.  We were walking across the parking lot when from the corner of my eye I catch some movement.  I glance over and I'll be damned if it wasn't a Rosie look a like.  Kinda freaky.

Cooper's was as redneck as redneck comes. There were so many stuffed dead animals on the wall it was unreal.  I mean, there were goats, snakes, coyotes, all kinds of wildlife.  Dead.  Hanging on the wall.  The best one was two raccoons sitting together in a canoe.  Is that real?  Do raccoons really row themselves around in a canoe?  I don't think so Cooper's.  You need to talk to your taxidermist.  He pulled a fast one on you. 

After our stomachs were full, we started looking for a hotel.  The GPS said the next exit with hotel was about 50 miles away. We didn't want to drive that far.  There were two choice here by Cooper's.  One was a decent looking Best Western so we headed over to see if they had any rooms.  They did not. Apparently, there was a wedding in town and the hotels were filling up fast. 

We dashed across the street to see if there were any vacancies.  The boys both said in unison "Motel 6"??  Are we staying there??

It was not a real nice Motel 6, either.  It was a bit of a dive, but we were desperate.

We honestly didn't know whether to hope that Hubby came out with a room key or not.  While we were waiting in the car, Harry slipped into full Arles mode from his school production of Tuna Christmas and was talking country like you cannot believe.  A giant truck rolled by with skull and cross bones airbrushed all over it.  I mean... ALL OVER IT.  I said "Oh my."  Harry said "I sure like your skeletons, mister."  There were trucks with fire painted on them.  It was quite the car clientele in the parking lot.   

Then we got upstairs and this nice sign was on the door.  That gives you a warm fuzzy! 

We settled in pretty quickly.

Then the first "incident" of record on our family vacation happened.  Chip went to the bathroom.  When I say "He went to the bathroom."  I mean "He pooped and it was massive and it was a problem.  A serious problem."

We had to call the front desk for help.  We did, we did, we did. 

They promptly brought us a plunger.  Does this happen to any one else??? Anyone???  Please tell me it does. 

We slept well and woke up to get back on the road...we had a long day of driving ahead of us.  The Motel 6 did not have the customary plastic laundry bag, so Hubby fashioned a dirty clothes bag out of his jeans.  He wasn't ever a Boy Scout, but you better not tell him that! 

At one point we had to strap Harry to the hood of the car.  He was fighting with Chip and one of them had to go. 

Then we let Harry back in the car and I sat in the way back with Chip.  When we crossed into Arizona, Chip reached into his backpack and pulled out his recorder.  Road Trip Rule #4....Never Ever EVER let a kid get in the car with a damn musical instrument.  How in the world he slipped this past me I will never know.  He played a little hot cross buns to celebrate crossing into Arizona and then the recorder went back in the bag. 

We had some gorgeous skies...a little sun, a little rain off in the distance as we drove into Tucson.

Pretty sunsets. 

We stopped at a hotel and they only had a king size bed, but they assured us there was a pull out sofa that could be used as a bed, so we took it.  That pull out sofa was a single.  No way it was going to sleep our two kids. 

Poor Chip had to sleep on a makeshift bed of couch cushions and a suitcase. Poor kid. 

The next morning we enjoyed the breakfast at the hotel before getting back on the road.  Chip ate three pieces of honeydew melon.  For anyone who knows the boys in my family, that is a miracle.  A major miracle.  He ate that fruit and he did not barf or choke.  He ate them!  Maybe sleeping on the floor makes a kid a bit more adventurous eater.  Yay, Chip! 

The drive from Tucson to Phoenix was a piece of cake the next morning!  Boys enjoying the local wildlife.  They have buffalos on the side of the road.  Crazy, right?

First event of the day is the World Baseball Classic....Canada vs. USA!   More pictures to come in the next post!

Top Ten Tidbits

1.  Chip's basketball season is over.  He is not happy about that.  This boy loves him some basketball.  Yesterday they played two games in the end of year tournament.  The first one was against a team they were well matched with and it went down to the wire. Chip hit three 3 pointers to give the Thunder the edge and a win.  Next up, they played the Heat and the Heat put it on them.  It was not a very good game, but it was still fun.  The highlights in the second game were two 3 pointers, a ton of rebounds and my sweet Chip stopped and helped two kids get up that had been trampled underneath the basket.  Kid makes me proud.  Chip is going to miss basketball.  I will miss watching him play.

2.  I took the cat to the vet last week, thinking she was sick enough that she wouldn't be coming home.  She wasn't.  She is home.  Only $279 for them to keep her for two days, run some tests, and give her a shot.  What a deal.  Now, she is locked in the laundry room until she can prove that she knows where to go to the bathroom.  I put up a baby gate so we could keep the door open and she could see out.  She is too old to jump the baby gate.  I also took the cabinet door off of the sink cabinet and put a box and blanket in there.  We call it her condo.  She hates it.  She meows loudly to protest her confinement in the laundry room.  She is a treasure.

3.  Hubby checked Chip out of school early on Friday so they could go to the practice round of some Grand Am race that was in town.  They had a ball.  They had Krispy Kreme donuts at the track!  No school, donuts, fast, loud, cool cars.  Life is good.  I got to spend the afternoon with Harry and we went shoe shopping and to lunch.  It was nice to spend some quality time with him.  The more we talk about college and the future, the more I treasure these rare moments we have together.   On Saturday, we switched.  Hubby and Harry went to the final races and me and Chip hung out together.  We did basketball, had lunch with our friends and then hit Target for some vacation shopping.  He was a great companion for the afternoon.

4.  Speaking of moments together...family vacation is just around the corner!  Yea!  We are heading to Arizona for spring training!  I have started gathering vacation supplies on the dining room table...towels, sunscreen, snacks, etc.  I am very much looking forward to some time away from work in a warm climate, with some baseball, swimming, lounging and relaxing.  Ahhh!  Bring on the sun!  We will be visiting one of Harry's top college contenders while we are in Arizona.  The Arizona State University Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.  This particular campus is in downtown Phoenix.  We are also going to tour the main campus which is about 20 minutes away.  We are getting the sports tour of the main campus and the boys are all looking forward to that!  Expect lots of pictures next week to be posted to the old blog!

5.  Work has been very busy.  Lots of projects, big and small.  Lots of changes inside the company and in our department.  Procedure changes affecting every dang thing we do on a regular basis.  Forms being updated and modified.  Chasing some big proposals. New RFPs being released.  Whew. Definitely not a part time gig lately, but I really haven't minded too much.

6.  I went to the "Welcome to Middle School" parent meeting last week at the middle school.  I cannot believe that my Chip is going to be in 6th grade next year.  How did that happen?  I was very anxious when Harry made the jump from elementary school to middle school, fear of the unknown and all that.  Riding the bus, locker rooms, changing classes, eighth graders, etc.  I am much more relaxed about the transition for Chip.  Second kid syndrome.  There were lots of first time middle school mommas were up there with their stomach in knots.  It was odd to be the one saying "It is going to be fine.  Just wait and see.  They are going to do great."

7.  Thinking about upgrading our washer and dryer.  I am just about done with the screwdriver stuffed in the hole to make the washer finish the spin cycle.  It has only been about three years with duct tape and electrical tape and something heavy sitting on top of the lid during spin cycles.  I think our set is at least eleven years old or so.  How long should a washer and dryer last anyway? I think our first set as a married couple was my parents set of about 15 years and we used it for at least 10 years.  Of course, after twenty plus years, neither unit was very efficient and took about three laps around the old dial to dry a load of towels.  I am thinking about a set of front load washer and dryers but am worried about the mildew odor that I have heard about.  Is that problem fixed in the new models?  Is it a real issue?  Is the fix to leave the door open to air out occasionally?  Love it or hate it...any comments??

8.  I just celebrated one year of improved health and butt size!  Last Sunday was the one year anniversary of walking into the door of Inspire Fitness and starting on my weight loss, healthy living journey under the watchful eye of Mr. Knowledge About the Human Body.  It has been a great year.  I am maintaining my 70+ pound weight loss and feeling awesome.  I want to lose about 15 more pounds, but don't seem to be able to find my motivation to make that happen.  Maybe bathing suit shopping will inspire me to get it done.  Why does that just fill me with dread.  Ugh!  In the meantime, I am still eating clean and making healthy food choices (just a few too many calories going in to get the needle dropping on the old scale!)  

9.  Our Daniel Bible Study is wrapping up this week.  It has been one of the harder ones we have tackled, but I have learned a lot and that is all I want.  Just to keep opening my mind and my heart to the lessons God wants to put in front of me.  I love, love, love the group of ladies we have so much.  It is beautiful thing that we can all look at it each other after it is over and go, "Huh?" or "That scares me to death!" or "I get that!"  I can't wait to start the next one.

10.  I made protein waffles yesterday for breakfast.  There were delicious and tasted like dessert instead of a nutrition, protein packed start to my day.  I think I will make this for breakfast again today!   Except with warm cinnamon apples instead of berries!  YUM!

Hope your weekend has been awesome and the week ahead is wonderful!