Hi friends! Welcome to the very first post of my new blog, Speaking of Easy! I’m so excited to join Friday Favorites for the first time—after years of following Mix and Match Mama, Momfessionals, and A Little Bit of Everything, it feels fun to be able to jump in.
Today, I’m sharing a few favorites from the week with a bit of an introduction to me and some of my family. This past week? It was A LOT, which feels about right for May! We had some fun moments and some work too, and I’ll share a bit of both.
Last weekend, my Girl Scout troop took a fun trip to the San Francisco Bay Area. I’ve been my daughter’s Troop Leader since her first year in Brownies (she had a different leader during Daisies), and it’s something we both truly love.
The girls attended a Council event called Lead the Way, held at the Embassy Suites on Friday night. Meanwhile, another mom and I stayed at a not-so-fancy-but-perfectly-fine hotel nearby. While the girls were busy, we treated ourselves to an amazing Peruvian dinner, which was a first for me! I loved how many ways potatoes were featured in the dishes. My favorite? The Yuquitas Fritas!
The next morning, we explored the Regional Parks Botanical Gardens, which were bursting with blooms, butterflies, and natural beauty. We also squeezed in a quick stop at the Ruth Bancroft Garden and Nursery—those giant succulents are seriously impressive!
We then took the girls to our hotel and celebrated one of the girl’s birthdays with a surprise decorated room, cake and balloons and ended the evening with a drive to the top of Mt. Diablo, which ended with upset motion sick tummies for some and Chipotle for others. I think we wore them out to be sure.
The next day we headed to UC Berkeley and did an impromptu tour of campus and the architecture building where my other mom went to grad school. The girls added wishes to the Wish Tree and had lunch and thrift shopped on Telegraph Avenue.
We then headed to Pier 39 in San Francisco. The girls did the Mirror Maze (reviews were mixed – it was $10 and most of the girls made it through very quickly) and then split off to explore. We stopped for In n Out on the way home and I think everyone ended the weekend happy but exhausted!
I didn’t get a photo from this week, but Monday marked the final official meeting of our Chico Community Debate team for the season. Debate has been a big part of my life for over two decades—starting as a college competitor, then a grad school TA, helping start Urban Debate League teams in Title I high schools in Southern California, and eventually coaching at the college level.
My daughter has probably been to more debate tournaments in her 16 years than she can count (she even attended plenty as a baby!). This past October, she decided she wanted to give it a try herself. Around the same time, a colleague mentioned her daughter was interested, and a friend had an eighth-grade son who’d done debate camp and had a few friends curious about it too. Just like that, the Chico Community Debate Team was born!
These kids have been such a joy to work with, and I’m thrilled that most of them plan to return next year. Here’s a photo from our only tournament of the year—my daughter is in glasses on the left. You’ll definitely be seeing more of her in future Friday Favorites!
Wednesday marked my last official day with my Spring 2025 Small Group Communication class. I teach at both a Community College and a State University, and I also serve as the Director of First-Year Experience at the university. While the university wrapped up last week, finals are still ahead at the community college.
This class is always one of my favorites, and I’ll genuinely miss some of the students as I head into summer teaching. This week, a few students shared their final presentations on our Kindness Project, and then we wrapped up with a fun adjourning activity.
Here’s a throwback to the very first project we did back in January: teams chose six items from a table of craft supplies to build a “sculpture,” then created and shared a story based on it. It’s a great way to kick off the semester and always sparks creativity and laughter!
On Thursday, I wrapped up the academic year with my Undergraduate Education colleagues at the university. I’ve been the Director of First-Year Experience since July 2021, and honestly—it’s been one of the best groups of people to work with in my career. I’m lucky to have fantastic bosses, incredible colleagues who truly care about students, and the chance to be part of innovative curriculum and co-curricular work. I’m so grateful to be here.
So those were my Friday Favorites from a very full week! I hope your May is winding down with many good things, too. Thanks so much for stopping by my brand new blog—I hope you come again soon!
Be sure to check out everyone else’s Friday Favorites at the Linkup!
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