Del Taco and Other Cheap Thrills

Third post in under a week?! Pretty impressive, I'd say...or maybe it's just an excuse to kill some extra time which we have had a lot of lately.  I finally saw a few clients today- two to be exact, and I have another two scheduled for tomorrow.  Not much but I'm glad to have some work starting now and my case manager assured me that I should have 16 to 20 or more next week.  Mike has been feverishly calling places, looking for a job as well as still trying to figure out what happened to the job he supposedly already was offered.  It's been a bit disheartening for both of us but we have faith something will turn up and in the meantime we are going to be just fine on one income.

To fill our time we've been exploring the area and trying to keep ourselves entertained on a slim budget.  So far we've found a movie theatre that plays newer releases on Tuesdays for $1 AND found a few fast food joints that are unique to the area (I think, or they are at lease new to us).  One of them is "Del Taco" that serves $.49 tacos!!  And guess what?? On Tuesdays, they have a deal of 3 tacos for $1!  So I guess you know what we'll be doing on Tuesdays :)  We have also tried "In and Out Burger" and we were big fans.  It's a pretty simplistic menu of a burger, a cheeseburger, fries, and/or a drink but the burger was quite tasty so the menu suited us just fine.  It's not exactly fine dining but it's cheap.  And with all of our extra time lately we have been utilizing our gym membership a lot more.

Fullerton Panorama Trail 

Today we explored a nearby park called "Fullerton Panorama Park"which turned out to be quite pretty.  The trail began along a street filled with gigantic mansions and led up a hill to overlook the city.  It was a lovely panoramic view.  We also drove through the campus of Cal State Fullerton which looked fairly decently sized and nice.  We talked about trying to find some hiking paths in or near the mountains to explore this weekend, too.

Another of Fullerton Trail (I'll admit I stole
both from the internet this time.

I'll admit that although our tiny studio/ hotel room is working out just fine I do go a little stir-crazy being in there for too long at a time.  I'm hoping that we can start meeting some people soon that will give us a social outlet.  It was a relief today to get out of the "house" and talk with my clients and their families even if one of the families only spoke Spanish and I was using a Spanish- English dictionary to translate the entire time.  I think Mike must be going doubly crazy since he is more of an extrovert than I am and has been "stuck" in the house most of the time!  We are going to scope out churches this weekend so hopefully we will find a good fit and be able to get involved in some church activities and a bible study that will allow us to meet some more people.  On a happier note, we have our first visitors scheduled to visit during the first week of March.  We can't wait to spend time with Mike's parents and his favorite (and only) sister, Mandy.

I've also started a list of things to do/places to visit while we are out here in Cali.  Feel free to add suggestions; we still have a lot to learn about California.

• Disneyland
• San Diego Zoo and Safari Park
• Napa Valley and/ or Sonoma
• Big Sur
• Yellowstone
• Hollywood Walk of Fame
• Go to a TV show taping....maybe Ellen?!
• Pro sporting events- Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Lakers or Clippers, Chargers or 49ers, Anaheim Angels or Dodgers

That's all for now.  I'm happy to see we have 3 whole followers of the blog now ;) Hope to see some suggestions from one or two of you.  Adios until next time!