Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay

Matt has been having to travel to San Francisco for work more lately so I decided to accompany him for a day. He didn't think I could go the whole day without shopping and spending money (except for lunch)... It was rough but I came, I saw and I conquered. I proved him wrong! I walked right by my favorite seven-floor Macys complete with Cheesecake Factory at the top. I closed my eyes when I passed H&M and and only stared at Zara but I knew if I went in, I was toast. I felt a thousand retailers screaming. But I actually had a wonderful day exploring areas of San Fran I never even knew about.

It was free museum day at the Exploratorium but not having a car, I didn't feel like trucking across the city on foot for an hour and a half to get there. I brought my bike but I was too afraid to take on the hills and decided to take the time exploring on foot. 

I accidentally came upon the Occupy Wall Street SF camp which was crazy looking. I was in search of a bathroom but struggled since I didn't have any coins. I finally found one of the street but then realized that it was the closest to the camp and just couldn't allow myself to use it since the protesters have probably been living out of that thing. I snatched a pic on my phone and then I ran quickly. 

I spent the morning walking around the Farmers Market on the Embarcadero sampling things like kale chips and then sat and enjoyed the view of the Bay. While sitting there, I googled free things to do in SF on my phone.I came upon a web page that suggested free city guides at various locations around town including one taking place only a mile away from me which gave me just 15 minutes to get there. It was at the Coit Tower which I had neither heard of or seen, but the description of controversial art sounded intriguing. 

I ran down the Embarcardero (literally) and into a neighborhood only to find that I had to climb a million stairs of death with only five minutes before the tour started. I had failed to notice that the tower was located at the top of Telegraph Hill. I tried to run but failed and finally made it to the entrance out of breath, heart-pounding and dripping with sweat. I must have looked like a mess because the others looked at me a little strange. 

The tower was pretty cool looking and had an interesting story but the best part of the tour was viewing all of the murals inside and getting the low down on their communist-loving artists who painted these amazing murals about American life in the 1920s. The murals had vivid colors and beautiful detail and told a profound story life during the depression. Our guide also pointed out many subtle images and words that the Bohemian socialist artists mixed in making the murals quite controversial at the time and causing one to be painted over.    

A couple old guys in the group got all fired up about the city should restore the piece that was painted over by removing the paint on top. But the guide argued that it was still very controversial since the artists had written the motto of the Communist party and still would probably very much offend some people.

I couldn't believe how upset these guys were - talking heatedly about how they were allowed to have freedom of speech though another gent brought up the fact that it would be like painting swastikas all over or running around with the confederate flag. 

I definitely don't think I would have enjoyed the murals as much without all of the intriguing deets from the guide and I would recommend the tour to anyone. 

Afterwards I meandered down Telegraph Hill enjoying the cute neighborhoods and row houses. I grabbed some lunch and then headed off to battle another incline - Nob Hill - to check out the swanky hotels. By the time I actually got to the top of Nob Hill, I realized I had Matt's valet ticket and I should probably head back towards the Financial District since Matt needed to be in Cupertino by late afternoon. So back down again I went towards Mission Street.

As I got close to Matt, he called and said he was probably going to be another 35 minutes so I decided to check out the Yerba Buena Arts Center and Gardens. I didn't get much time there but they had a beautiful park and a huge playground for kids that our nieces and nephews would have loved.  I grabbed a minute to sit and let my feet rest then walked back to the Deloitte office.

All in all I had a wonderful day exploring places of San Fran I have no been. I love this city and the creativity it exudes and I'm so glad we live so close now. I even told Matt that since he is working up here so much maybe we should move to San Fran :) Don't know if he would love it as much though.

Check out photos I took on my little adventure:

Building I loved the color of

Awesome art outside of the Deloitte SF office. I got in  trouble standing on a bench to take this photo by the security guards. Hee hee.

Funny random statue outside of Deloitte SF office. Who thinks of these things? And if this is art, I could definitely create something like this.

The complete funny random statue collection 

Occupy Wall Street SF camp right in the heart of the Financial District. Since it was morning there was not much happening here yet.

View of the Bay Bridge from the Coit Tower

The Coit Tower. Many people call this the fire hose and think that because the lady who donated the money for the statue loved firemen that it was made to purposefully look like this. But apparently the architect did not make it that way intentionally and had a liking of this fluted style.

House covered in Bougainvillea I came upon walking down the stairs of death.

Saw this in a residential neighbor and it was the only one of its kind in the area. Thought it looked pretty cool.

The mega slide at the Yerba Buena Arts Center that the munchkins would have loved.

Infinity waterfall at Yerba Buena.

The back of the waterfall - yo waterfall, the back of yo head is ridicalous.

Can you tell I love bougainvillea? I saw this right by the waterfall and had  to take a pic with the skyscrapers in the back

Are credit cards a way of life?

While talking to my little brother the other day about credit cards, he mentioned that he thought he needed to have a credit card to build up credit and buy anything. I used to think the same at his age and I thought that many people might benefit from the following article I got in my email the other day from none other than our fave...Dave Ramsey. Whether you like him or not, this is a great article and a great perspective on credit cards.

http://www.daveramsey.com/article/are-credit-cards-a-way-of-life/lifeandmoney_creditcards/?ectid=1109cnlextra_4

Obsession with doors

I was inspired by a door collage I saw in one of the apartment complexes Matt and I checked out. Not being able to track it down, Sharee talked me into creating my own and this how it turned out. I'm so glad I did - it was so fun to work on and will look great in my living room.

 

Life in San Jose

We have been living in San Jose for a month and a half now. So far life has been quite different for both of us.

Matt is traveling a ton for work and has been gone almost every week, usually Monday through Friday. He has traveled to Minneapolis, Ann Arbor, New Orleans, San Fran, Dallas and next week will head back to Salt Lake. While he is enjoying his job, he is not enjoying all of the travel. He spends his weekends recovering from his jetlag, fine-tuning his Fantasy Football teams and catching up on his emails.

Since I do not yet have a job, my days and weeks are so different from what I'm used to. Since I haven't been without a job for probably more than a month, it has been an interesting ride for me these last 7 weeks in San Jose. Below is a list of how I have spent my time while Matt is traveling:

• Week 1: Moved into our new apartment and unpacked, flew to Spokane for a surprise birthday visit for Sharee. 
• Week 2: Playing in Spokane and then more unpacking in San Jose. Excited for the prospects of a new job. 
• Week 3: Spent time in Fairfield with my family - came home sick with the flu.
• Week 4: Spent time networking and visiting with local friends (bummed that I don't have job yet). Created a personal professional website at http://kerimcghee.com/. Matt told me to make the most of my time off. I decided to be more positive and spend time doing crafts, sewing, home projects that I won't have time while working. 
• Week 5: Spent another week in Fairfield with my fam.
• Week 6: Decided to spend more time on job hunting and networking while still mixing in some fun. Had my busiest week thusfar.
• Met with a start-up job recruiter in San Fran
• Attended a two-day career workshop at the LDS Employment Center  and met some great people who learned how to better use Linkedin to get a job.
• Spent a night serving at a private catering event in Dublin. Since I haven't served since my senior year of college, it was kinda fun to do it again. The extra cash was nice too.
• Spent this night and next day with my friend Tif and her four kids in Danville.
• Attended a networking breakfast for the Silicon Valley BYU Management Society with a great speech by Greg Clark, former 49ers tight end for Steve Young.
• Sewing with my AHA buddy, Emily, and then dinner in San Fran with another AHA buddy, Denisse.
• Ended the week with my mom and Aunt Lori at the Oakland Temple
• Week 7:  Two great job interviews and then more time back in F airfield visiting my family. I even talked my little brother, Seth, into staying home from school one day and spending the day with me. We went to the mall, went to lunch and then went car shopping. So funny to have some time with him :)

It has been nice to have so much free time but I am definitely itching to start being productive and getting to work. Hopefully one of my latest interviews will pan out soon. Please keep me in your prayers. 

How To Grow a Happy Child in 10 Easy Lessons

I came upon this article in a newspaper in 2007 and just found it while going through some boxes. I love the messages and thought others might enjoy:

How To Grow a Happy Child in 10 Easy Lessons

How to grow a happy child, part one:
If you are married, have a more active relationship with one another than you have with your children. Spend more time in the roles of husband and wife than you spend in the roles of mother and father. Nothing causes a child greater insecurity than the sense that his parents' marriage is not the most solid, permanent thing in his life, and vice versa.

How to grow a happy child, part two:
If you are single, do not be married to your children. Have an active life outside of your role as mother or father. Be an interesting person to your kids. The well-being of a single parent is essential to the well-being of his or her children.

How to grow a happy child, part three:
Expect your children to obey. Expect this calmly, as if you take it for granted. Who is the happier employee: the one who frequently tries to get away with breaking the rules, or the one who obeys the rules? Substitute child for employee and the answer is the same. Disobedient children are not happy campers. Said another way, the most obedient children are also the happiest children.

How to grow a happy child, part four:
Expect your children to be responsible citizens of your family. From the time they are 3 years old, assign them to chores around the home, chores that mean something. Teach your 3-year-old to wash floors. Teach your 4-year-old to vacuum. Teach your 5-year-old to clean the bathroom. Good citizenship is a matter of making contributions. Too many of today's kids have no meaningful roles in their families. They're not contributing. They're just there, consuming, and the more they consume, the more they demand. Demanding people are not happy people.

How to grow a happy child, part five:
Teach your children that happiness is not a matter of how much you have, but a matter of how much you do with what you have. Don't buy them a lot of things that will end up doing nothing but cluttering up their lives.

How to grow a happy child, part six:
Teach your kids that two of the most fun things to do are reading and travel, both of which involve the accumulation of memories as opposed to things. Begin reading to your children early, and read to them often. Every time you think of buying your children toys, consider taking them fishing or camping or to a museum. Spend time, not money.

How to grow a happy child, part seven:
Let television and video games into your children's lives very little, if at all. The happiest children are not found staring at television sets or frantically manipulating video game consoles. They are found in parks, on playgrounds, and in other three dimensional places.

How to grow a happy child, part eight:
Help your children develop hobbies. Few things exercise imagination and creativity as well as a hobby. By the way, a hobby is not an after-school sport. A hobby is something a child can do by himself, eventually without adult supervision.

How to grow a happy child, part nine:
Teach your children good manners. Good manners are a demonstration of attentiveness to and respect for others, and the happiest people are those who pay more attention to others than they want others to pay to them.

How to grow a happy child, part ten:
Hold your children to high standards. You show respect for a child by expecting of the child. Expect the best manners. Expect obedience. Expect your child to pitch in around the house without being asked. Hold your child accountable for his or her behavior. Make no excuses, accept no excuses. The happiest campers always do their best.