Alliance Conference 2014

This year the HEUG (Higher Education User Group) held their annual "Alliance" conference in Las Vegas!  Jake and I flew down Friday to explore the city and have some fun before the conference started Sunday night/Monday morning.

I felt lucky right from the start; the front desk gave us free drink coupons- Yeah!  Then, we also got a free buffet dinner - our first night in Las Vegas, yes please!  Dinner was delicious, thanks MGM Grand!  After dinner we met Jaime and Ryan Russell for drinks and catching up.  There was much excitement in the area as some Nascar celebrities were getting pictures out front.

That night we decided to hit up club Krave, they had a special going free well drinks, all you can drink, until midnight.  I'm telling you, there's a running theme here and it revolves around the word FREE!

Saturday the rest of the Sonoma State crew flew in and we spent the afternoon exploring the city, riding the monorail, picking up our tickets for the Beatles LOVE show, dinner and then heading to the show!  Had a lot of fun with the crew.

After the concert, Jake and I headed back to club Krave which was once again doing an amazing drink deal; free well drinks until midnight!  Had a lot of fun and then headed home to get to bed at a reasonable time because Sunday morning is the Alliance IO Fun Run!  You can see the run on my Runkeeper.

Sunday night the conference kick-off began and we had snacks and food at the event.  The next morning, Jaime and Erica presented first thing- way to go ladies!  After a full day of conference going, attending session after session, we were ready to have some snacks and drinks out.  IO Consulting reserved Hakkasan and presented everyone with delicious Hors d'oeuvre and an open bar.  Had a great night and ended up dancing up on the bar with everyone!  We enjoyed our night!

After another full day on Tuesday, the closing night celebrations were quite fantastic!  There were many performances and acrobatics and stunts.

By far my favorite was Drummer & DJ who just blew my mind with their choreographed music DJ'd and drummed along with the videography; just amazing!  You can see some of the recordings I made on my youtube channel.

After all the fun, we walked the stip a bit and grabbed ourselves a snack.  I had the munchies after all the delicious drinks!

The next day I ran the strip with Amanda and Trisha.  Always fun running with them, always fun running the stairs, bridges and streets of the Las Vegas strip!  HaHaHa!  Check it out on my Runkeeper.

Almost a full week in Las Vegas- we survived it, and had a lot of fun in the meantime!

Barrel Tasting Day III

Sunday!  The third and final day of our wine barrel tasting weekend.  We started Sunday at Korbel, champagne anyone?

After the bubbles we headed to HKG Estate; one of the most beautiful properties by far!

Then we went to Armida winery, I really enjoyed their wines straight from the barrel.

Next up was Teldeschi, interesting name!

Of course we had to make a stop through Bella Vineyards and Wine Caves- always a fun spot!

Another beautiful property is the Sbragia Family Vineyards.  I absolutely love the view from their tasting room overlooking the valley.

Such a great group of people to go tasting with again this year!  Thanks so much to the Klafter's for coordinating the ride sharing and putting the group together!

Barrel Tasting Day II

Saturday morning we started our day off right with a delicious breakfast at the Crepevine in Montgomery Village.  I had one of my favorites; the New Orleans eggs Benedict.  They are two poached eggs resting atop a crab cake on a half of an English muffin doused in a spicy Hollandaise sauce - Yum.

After breakfast Jake and I headed to Rohnert Park to meet up with Erica, Jason and their family for our usual wine tasting crew to head out together with our designated driver as we tour and taste through wine country!

Our first stop of the day was at Johnson's Alexander Valley Wines.

Then we headed to Soda Rock Winery which had some delicious mac n cheese with their wines.

Up next was White Oak Vineyards - they did a beautiful job displaying roses and glasses out on the barrel tables for the guests to relax and taste their wines.

Then we got to go out to the New Thumbprint winery for a club members only tasting and the whole group got to come along- Yay!  My favorite winery!!

Once the group was able to pry me away from the Thumbprint barrels, we went to J. Rickards winery.  Their old vine zinfandel was delicious.

Such a great day spent with our annual barrel tasting friends!  Two days down, one more to go!

Barrel Tasting

Jake flew into California yesterday and we planned the weekend to enjoy the Barrel Tasting event in Sonoma county!  The event starts today on Friday and goes through Sunday.  Hundreds of participating wineries open their doors and barrels for us to taste and sample, often times with tasty pairings!

We started off at Stephen & Walker in Healdsburg.  Being Friday, it wasn't too busy which was great.  They had pork sliders for their food pairing and it went very well with their wines.  Then we headed just up the street a bit to our FAVORITE winery; Thumbprint!

They've had a great display up for a while now of "Supermonks" art which is identifiable super heroes sitting with their backs to the viewer.  I'd really like to get the Green Lantern one, but they are very expensive!  For now I'll enjoy them at Thumprint and maybe one day I'll get one!  ^_^  After Thumbprint we went to Roadhouse for tasting there.

From Roadhouse we went down the road a bit to Selby, who had a nice selection out for Friday afternoon!  You can see Jake accepting a tasting as they use the "Theif" to get the wine straight from the barrel!

After Selby, we headed back up the street to Topel.  They guys serving there are students at Sonoma State and it was great hearing from them they think the student registration system (MySSU - which I support) "is great!".

From Topel we went to Williamson wines.  They had some tasty chocolate pairings to go with their wines.  The winemaker and owners were there and they were really friendly.  I like the picture of me and Jake, you can tell we've been to a few wineries!  haha!

We made our way to Portalupi.  I really liked this place, friendly people and a whole spread of sliders and other snacks to enjoy while we tasted the wine.

For our last stop on our Friday barrel tasting in Healdsburg we went to Kobler!  They were a bit further down from the rest, but the walk was great for us!

Since we were eating food and snacks all afternoon the wine didn't hit us as bad as it certainly would have otherwise!  This was certainly the best way to "Start" Barrel tasting weekend!

That evening, Jake and I went to see the new Lego movie and for the first time in my life we were the only people in the whole theater- Nice!!

Tuxedo Time

While I was in town for the Valentine's Day and Tamarack trip weekend, before heading back to California Chuck, Casey and I had to be fitted for our tuxedo's for the Stivison-Bawanan wedding coming in June!!!  Jake and I went to Sweet Heart Manor and met up with my Mom, Emily and Chuck.  It was fun seeing the colors Emily chose and trying on the tuxedos.  We made them look good!

We're all so very excited for the wedding - I can't wait!  ^_^

Then There's Kansas

The attempts to marginalize the GLBT community is just astounding.  It seems like we can't go a week without another attack - and I'm just talking legislative attacks.  Kansas's house of Republicans overwhelmingly passed a bill that would effectively "empower[s] any individual or business to refuse to interact with, do business with, or in any way come into contact with anyone who may have some connection to a gay civil union, or civil marriage or … well any “similar arrangement” (room-mates?)".  Yup.  Overwhelming majority.  The good news is there's no expectation the Kansas Senate will take up the bill and/or pass it.  However, the fact that this is not only proposed but overwhelmingly passes a chamber of the Kansas house, well... I'll just leave that where it is.

Tamarack Vacation

The annual tradition and trip with friends and loved ones to Tamarack, ID is here again!  Once again, Chuck and Emily came along and I was thrilled to have Jake, too, of course!  This year we were also joined by Andrej Roncevic, Tiffany Allred, Michael Adams, Eric Soto, Casey Moyer and Ezra Espinoza.  As usual, the weather was great, we cooked, drank, played games at the cabin and even took a day trip downtown McCall to checkout what was left of the winter festival ice sculptures.

Game night was one of the most enjoyable evenings I've had at Tamarack.  Jake and I did pretty good with the game, as did Chuck and Emily but Michael and Tiffany rocked it!  We only got through one round before it was time to take the drinks to the hot tub and relax.

Such a nice time, as always with great friends and family!  Looking forward to what we plan for the next year.

St. Valentine's Day

The 13th?  Yup.  It's been a busy week - Shirley Temple passed on Monday, February 10th.  Then on Wednesday a sink hole collapsed part of the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky in which eight Corvettes were damaged or destroyed.

Wednesday night I flew into Boise so Jake and I would have a day to prepare for our annual Tamarack trip (Friday through Sunday) which meant we had our Valentine's Day together today!  Because of delays, I didn't get to Boise until almost midnight, thanks Jake for still picking me up!

On Thursday we exchanged cards and had a nice meal together at Jake's place.  I surprised Jake with bringing up the European version of Ticket to Ride which we've been enjoying.  Jake surprised me with a personalized, homemade running medal plaque!  WOW!

With all the festivities and love in the air, Republicans were not to be outdone!  They introduced the affectionately named "You're not married anymore bill".  Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) co-sponsored the bill.  The bill would effectively prohibit the Federal government from recognizing same sex marriages if they live in a state that doesn't recognize them (like Idaho, right now).  Thank you to the citizens of Utah and Texas, we can always count on you for such stellar representation in Congress!

So much rain!

Today I went to go on a run around Spring lake and through Howarth park, but to no avail!  There was water pooled everywhere, blocking paths and running down trails.  I tried heading up some alternate trail paths but the water was actually coming down them like small creeks.  I even saw deer walking around, probably also wondering what the heck was up with all the water everywhere!  I had to cut my run short and head home, hopefully things will clear up soon.

Ian's Surprise Birthday Party

Tonight I drove down to San Jose to meet up with several other friends and surprise Ian Go for his birthday!  Ian and Shawn were visiting the bay area since they'd moved to Colorado.  Shawn thought he'd get their friends together for a night out.  It was at the BackAYard which had a great menu with extensive options including vegan!  I had braised tofu, plantains, rice and a salad.  It was all very well done and tasted delicious!

It was wonderful seeing Shawn, Ian and several of their friends I haven't seen in years!  Happy Birthday, Ian!

Politics As Usual

This morning I went for a 7 mile run with Amanda in Sonoma.  Then this afternoon I went over to Debbie and Mike's place in Sebastopol to watch Super Bowl XLVIII.  It was a fun watching the game, having drinks and snacks with friends.

Politics has been on my mind again, there's been a lot in the news lately that just doesn't make sense.  That's when I get most frustrated when politicians are not listening to the people or the people are so poorly educated on something that they choose poor political candidates.

One of the big misinformation mills the Republicans and the belt way media have been pressing is that our President is a dictator.  One of the things they point to is his use of the executive order.  Unfortunately, once again, for Republicans they are sadly mistaken in their facts.  Five years into his presidency Obama has signed 168 while his predecessor (George Bush) had signed 173 in his first four years.  As usual, if executive power was actually an issue for Republicans, then I expect them to bring it up when "one of theirs" is in office.  Sadly, that isn't the case.

Then in Idaho, the Republican's have put forth Senate Bill 1254 which would allow individuals to bring weapons onto college campuses in Idaho.  The presidents of the school board met and unanimously voted to oppose the legislation.  They also provided extensive rationale for why this is the best course of action.  Despite the efforts of our highest education administrators throughout the state and significant citizen push back, the Republicans in the statehouse passed the law anyways and it was singed into law.

Continuing on for some time now is the "Add The Words" campaign in Idaho.  After years of trying to get equal protections for the GLBT community, a strong group of politically active citizens have started to escalate the fight for our protections.  In Idaho, it's perfectly legal for an employer to fire an employee just because of their association or identity when it comes to sexual orientation.  This is banned in Boise, but it's not state-wide.  Of course the Republicans aren't going to address this.  But the group is working very hard with rally's and making it clear we want protection just like any other minority class.  Thanks to those brave souls who are working so hard.

So glad to be living in California.  Idaho seems to be in a constant state of one step forward and two steps back!

Upgrade Weekend

This weekend our HR/Student system "MySSU" Oracle/PeopleSoft 9.0 was taken offline Friday evening for a tools upgrade.  We are upgrading from PeopleTools 8.51 to 8.53.02.  One of the benefits of our extensive system support from the CSU Chancellor's office is that they will actually do a significant majority of the technical work.  The database came back for our acceptance on Saturday and all went well!  Now we can use the Oracle delivered Campus Mobile (PT 8.52 or higher was a requirement).  Excited for the new functionality.

After everything cleared technical review for the upgrade, I headed up to Healdsburg to pickup my wine shipment from Thumbprint.  It was a beautiful day for a motorcycle ride!

Omlette Express

This morning I went on a motorcycle ride for breakfast and I ended up where I usually do; the Omelette Express in the railroad district of Santa Rosa.  My favorite omelette is the herb, cheese and bacon one with a side of fruit.  It's always busy so getting here before 10:00am is usually imperative.  Just one of my happy weekend rituals!

Belly

Tonight after work Katelynn and I headed to downtown Santa Rosa for drinks at Belly!  I've never been before - it was a pretty open space with a garage style opening in the side of the building which allowed for a nice breeze to come through.  We met up with Tiffany White and Emily Seguine.  I enjoyed their sangria while the ladies enjoyed flights of beers.  A fun night out!

Deliveries Waiting At Home

It's always hard coming back from a vacation and this return from Disneyland was no different.  What was very different this time is that I had all sorts of amazing things waiting for me upon my return!  Late last year Yes To products had a $2 sale.  Every item they offer was only $2!!!  (limit 2 per item) Most of their body products range from $12-$20 so this was an amazing deal.  The rush on their website was so immense they had to re-do their sale giving everyone promo codes and specific days to log on to their website and make the purchase.  This of course led to extreme shortages.  So by the time my product was ready I'd already moved.  Of course, while I was out of town the shipment arrived at Evan and Emma's house.  I picked it up on my way back from Oakland.  When I got home I had two more surprises; my new 64G, silver, iPhone 5s and neon green Tuneband had been delivered also!

Tinker Bell Half Marathon

This is my second year doing the Tinker Bell half marathon.  But this year Amanda and Jake joined Trisha, Jeff and me for the race!  Jake hadn't trained up quite enough so we jogged and walked the first six miles and then he stopped at the medical station.  I'm glad he hung in there for 6 miles, having not trained much that was an accomplishment!  After I made sure he was in good hands and said goodbye, I sprinted off to find my street team.  In my haste I passed them up- somewhere!?  HaHa!  I ran 8 minute miles for the second half and came in under 3 hours for the whole race.  This race IS NOT about time, I cannot emphasize that enough, because all the way there are places to take pictures, characters to see - so much going on!  It's like a theme park ride/race for runners.  Hard to describe, it's unlike any other regular race for sure.

I wanted to get more pictures this year, but just enjoyed the route.  You can see the run with the pictures I did take along with my stats on my Runkeeper page, as always!  Here's some of the pictures I got on the route - such a fun time!

Disneyland

This afternoon Amanda and I left work early, so we could go to Disneyland, of course!  Jeff and Trisha are driving down and Jake, Amanda and I are flying.  Jake is leaving Boise and meeting us there later tonight.  Amanda, Jake and I got into the park super early and ran straight for tomorrow land in the Magic Kingdom.  We got there before it was even open, so had to wait behind the rope until they were ready for us.

Once we got through we ran to Space Mountain to beat the lines and so we could ride it straight away without lines and then again before the lines built.  It was a great idea in theory, unfortunately neither Amanda or Jake felt very well after the first run so I went the second time on my own.  (Later that day we met up with Jeff and Trisha, so I put the picture of us doing space mountain in the same collage.)

After taking some time off from the rides and half of a dramamine Amanda and Jake were ready to try out Splash Mountain with me - it was a LOT of fun, and one of the best pictures of us on the rides for sure!

When we met up with Jeff and Trisha it was time for.. more rides, of course!  We spent the afternoon going from ride to ride, having a great time.

We truly felt like kids - even hopping into the circus train for a slow loop around the tracks.  Who says Disneyland is just for kids?

One of my many favorite things about the park this time of year is all the holiday decorations!  Small world was definitely done up in style and in the theme of the season - loved it!

We thoroughly enjoyed the park and didn't let a minute escape us as we went from ride to ride all night long, taking advantage of everything it had to offer.  Here's a few pictures from throughout the day and a couple pictures from Saturday when we visited lego land.

Most of the day Saturday was devoted to picking up our race registration packets, attending the conference and walking through the booths.  No time to rest up, the Tinker Bell Half-Marathon (13.1 miles) is Sunday morning!

Running Sonoma

One of my favorite weekend activities is to meet up with Amanda in the city of Sonoma, CA and go for a run along the paths and roads that curve throughout the town and vineyards.  Every time we near the end of our route I'm shocked that we'd just ran 'x' number of miles.  The time just FLYS by- and before I know it we're done.  I usually joke that we should "bill the hours to work" as we generally talk through our upcoming items, projects and plans.  But seriously, we should bill the University for our time... Here's the route we took today.

As always, you can see my running information on Runkeeper.com.

New Title, New Office, New Building, New Year!

In Spring of last year I was promoted to Deputy, CIO.  Finally, upon returning from the Christmas break my office was ready for me to move into!  It's been hard for several months now with my team separated between two buildings.  I'm glad to be over in the new area now and we'll all be in two consolidated areas within the same building; it's the best we could get!  Starting off the new year in a new location with new furniture is feeling good!  I even made good use of my farkle family white elephant gift exchange gift "Words with Friends" which I'd taken to the gift exchange and sneakily won!  I hung the board on my door so I could leave messages about when I'm in, out, away, in a meeting, etc.  It should be fun.  Looking forward to the coming year with all the things it brings!