Jonathan Day

I arrived at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library a few minutes after it opened.  It took about 10-20 minutes for the orientation process.  Now I am busy looking through the boxes of Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign papers.  Unfortunately, the 1984 presidential campaign materials are not processed yet.

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After two hours of taking pictures of documents, I took a quick break for lunch at the In-N-Out Burger a few miles down the road.  For second lunch, I plan to go to Jamba Juice.  While I am writing this, I am waiting for my second cart of boxes of documents.  I am getting lots of interesting research thanks to God!

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After finishing my research, I went to Jamba Juice and got a fruit smoothie (Acai juice with blueberries, strawberries, raspberry sherbert, and soymilk).  Then I came back to the Reagan Library to visit the museum.

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Here is the former Air Force One used from 1972 to 2001.

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Unfortunately, they don’t allow you to take pictures of the inside.  According to the tour guides, the new Air Force One is four times larger than this one!

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Next I went to Rodeo Drive, where God blessed me with free parking in a garage.

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I ate at a very nice restaurant called 208 Rodeo.  I had a Kobe Beef Hamburger. It had avocado, caramelized onions, tomato, and a tasty sauce.  I also had truffled french fries.

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I then visited LA Ink to take a picture for Jess.  While I chickened out on asking about taking a picture with the tattoo artists, I took some pictures of the building.

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I decided to stay in Anaheim, so that I would be closer to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library.  This Anaheim hotel is much better than the one in Chatsworth (another thanks to God!).  The wireless is better, there is a fitness center, and the place looks remodeled.

Jess dropped me off at the airport at about 8:15am.  I decided to save about $50 by taking my suitcase on the plane, but I had to dispose of some shaving cream and toothpaste.  The roll of quarters I put in their bin caused the security personnel to double check the metal cylinder that appeared on their screen. American Airlines also offered a $250 travel voucher if I simply got to LA an hour later, so I took it and thanked God for the wonderful gift. Below are some pictures at the Cedar Rapids Terminal; the flight I passed on and the incredibly busy Cedar Rapids gate.
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My new flight pattern:  Cedar Rapids to Chicago then to LA.  Below is a picture of my new flight.

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Arriving into Chicago…

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The most awesomest fast food burger restaurant was what I ate at for dinner in downtown LA.

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This was the view from inside the In-N-Out Burger…

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Unfortunately, I traveled to my hotel in Chatsworth through LA during rush hour traffic…

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After I made it to the hotel, I back tracked to Hollywood Blvd. to take some cool pictures, such as this one of Jerry Lewis’ star…

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Another cool picture – John Wayne’s footprints…

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After taking a bunch of cool pictures (which I plan to upload to Facebook), I got a Pomegranate and Blueberry Smoothie from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

Here are two awesome videos of Liam.  In the first video he is crawling and in the second he is jumping.

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Liam crawling and laughing

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Liam jumps in his jumper (borrowed from Grandpa and Grandma)

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My dissertation defense date has now been set!  It will take place on Tuesday, June 22 at 10:30am.  I also sent the latest draft of my dissertation to my committee this afternoon.  Tomorrow, Jess and I are heading to Macomb to pick out a health insurance plan and visit some buildings and places in a less snowy and cold time of the year.  On Wednesday, I fly out to Los Angeles to visit the Reagan and Nixon presidential libraries and of course eat at the In-N-Out Burger.  I am also looking forward to the hundreds of hours of preparation that lay ahead for the three classes I will teach in the Fall.

A couple of weeks ago, I finally dropped below 190 and below 20% body fat.  At the end of March, I was at my heaviest I have ever been – 196.7 pounds and 21.7% body fat.   Praise God for helping me to lose this weight!