Here is what I accomplished in the past 3 days...from Jan 11 at 7pm - Jan 14 at 3pm (this is NOT an under-exaggeration):
1. 3 loads of laundry
2. emptied my 2 trash cans into a big trash bag
3. pedicure and eyebrow wax
4. two workouts
5. purchased a new nalgene
6. watched top chef

But there is a reason I have done near nothing in the past 3 days...Here is what I accomplished from Dec 13 at 8am - Jan 11 at 6:59pm
1. flew from Austin to DC...Dorie picked me up from the airport in the evening. That night we had relaxed, knowing that would be the last relaxing night for a long, long time. Thursday we did some random errands, including making some special purchases (see photo). That night was Dorie's birthday part one. Everyone met at Adam's Mill for the night. I only say "everyone" because I randomly bumped into RJ (now "Ryan"), a guy I have known since 3rd grade and haven't seen for about 4 years. It made the night just that much more crazy and fun.

2. A whole brigade of us drove to baltimore to start 7 days of JCSCing. It was so nice to catch up with JCSCs I hadn't seen since august training. Saturday night was Dorie's birthday part two. As per the birthday girl's request, we all dressed in a jersey of our choice and headed out to our favorite bar--the power plant...but before we left the hotel, it was "Hall Crawl 2006." Dorie was given clues leading to different hotel rooms, each room hosting a different shot.

The "jersey girls" took over the stage that night. Enough said.

3. The rest of the conference is a blur, mostly because we were in the same hotel for a week, with limited contact with the outside world...and because JCSCs just know how to party. We learned during the day and had our fun at night. There were a few things that stuck out to me throughtout the week including: (a) watching my roomie/coworker/friend robin introduce one of the conference keynote speakers, in front of about 600 people. She was amazing! (b) introducing the panel for and attending the session on "The Tribe," a very hip documentary on the history of the Jewish people, by looking at the history of Barbie (the doll). You should check out the website, http://www.tribethefilm.com/index.html. (3) Berkeley Hillel winning the award for "the best place to work." It couldn't be more true, and I couldn't have been more proud. (4) Running up to my room for a wardrobe change with noga, mid-gala. (5) some quality talks with jay, my coordinator. Too bad he's married. i love jay. :) (see photo)

4. I flew back to austin on december 22. I was home (in austin) for only 3 days before leaving for home (in san diego). I did some laundry, saw friends and went to the matzah ball on christmas eve. I can't say it was my favorite event ever, but it was nice to catch up with friends and get word that my cal friend michael proposed to ilyse! Needless to say, the exciting part of the night was gawking at ilyse's ring.

5. On christmas morning, I flew to san diego. It was great to relax at home and see a few friends (sarah and lins, and even my sisters good friends, too). But, I must say, the most exciting part of my 4 days at home was obviously the bears' unmitigated victory at the holiday bowl. I'm convinced that the hideous blue and gold pedicures my sister and i got played a huge role in the win. I guess that means I will be getting tacky pedicures for seasons to come! The football madness started wednesday when the fam got to go to the team luncheon. We stopped by every table for photos with the players. Here's a sampling: dad with longshore (the qb) and me and mom with jackson...oh, and dad with his favorite sideline reporter, erin andrews.

That night, annie came to SD just in time for the cal pub crawl. We put on our cal gear and headed to Jolt 'n Joes to start the night off. We had a fun night with matt and jojo and other new friends and even learned a new bar game. It's called pool horse...ask if you want to know how to play! After a couple drinks there, we "crawled" to a few other bars for more drinks and dancing. The night ended with a "cheer off" between the cal fans and the a&m fans. Oski even showed up!

Then, it was finally game day. We started it all off at the holiday bowl balloon parade and then headed down to the tailgate. My parents helped sponsor the festivities...the keg states "keg beer: sponsored by richard & connie unger and family." The biggest treat, besides the cal victory, was having not only annie, but lindsey and jess there! After much pre-gaming, we made it into the game. And the rest is history (well documented history, since my dad tivo-ed it on both out TVs)!!!

6. The morning after the game, I flew back to austin to shop, pack and mentally prepare to leave for israel. It was quite a whirlwind...the next day I left for new york, and then the holy land. After the 10 hour flight (oh, I almost forgot--happy new year) my students started their 10 day experience, with me there to yell at them for being late, help them take in the sites, be the photographer, and encourage them to taste the foriegn food. I had a great time, not because it was neccessarily "fun." Rather, because it was very fulfilling to see my students soaking up the experience. Aside from the head colds, stomach issues (too much hummus??), perpetual late-ness, exhaustion, forgotten jackets and cameras, and obsession with taking advantage of the drinking age, we had a relatively smooth 10 days. I also got to see some of my JCSC friends and even got in a couple of morning jogs through jerusalem. I knew it was time to come home because I was thouroughly sick of schwarma and falafel.

...and now it's time for my last semester at UT. Enough said.