Nine Highlights from '09

I may have stretched these *a bit* to make them fit into nine...but just a little :)

Interterm at Biola

This one started out as a bit of a sore spot for me, thanks to the whole "my family's on a cruise and I'm not" thing, but it ended up being a good month anyway. I took my stats class, which I really enjoyed thanks to the professor. When I wasn't doing stats problems, I was hanging out with people in Hart having family dinners and making Berry Cool runs. Tad visited me for the last week of interterm, and we enjoyed watching movies, hanging out at Berry Cool, wandering around Brea and Fullerton with Christine, and exploring new areas of campus.

Enjoying Olive Grove Park on campus

Hart Events

I absolutely LOVED living in Hart, no joke. The spring included '50's and "Funkship Cruise" all halls, HUOD/HUB sister floor "Spa and Dessert Night" Valentine's party, HUOD floor retreat to Shanelle's house in Valencia, and two girls' nights out to Cheesecake Factory.

looking nifty, fifties style :)

awesome HUOD girls on floor retreat

Funktastic friends with our funktabulous party drinks, at the Funkship Cruise All Hall, funk yeah!!! (oh how I love Ryan Low and the Hart Res Life staff xD)

Cheesecake Factory #1 for Raeleen's bday

Cheesecake #2 for Amanda's bday

Clarinet Club Events

Clarinet Club was one of my favorite extracurriculars at Biola - good friends, being nerdy about clarinet together and having fun. We had a Valentine's party at Amanda's house, hosted a concert by the LA clarinet choir, held a fundraiser for the Romania team, and put on an end-of-the-year recital.

About to watch Sleepless in Seattle

the Clarinet Club seniors after our last recital

Missions Conference

Missions Conference on its own is a delight, but it's even better when it's accompanied by a Tad visit. Tad was here for the St Patrick's all hall (mentioned above), all of the conference, and a really fun double date night with my friends Dave and Amy (who got married 10 days ago).

My love and me at the all hall

"it's a small world after all" kinda

Walking the Hermosa Beach pier

Final Days at Biola and Graduation

The last month of my time at Biola was filled with fun, including Comm Disorders dinner, Winds banquet, and of course graduation. I graduated magna cum laude and my family and Raelene were ther to celebrate with me.

Seniors at Comm Disorders dinner at El Torrito

The Romania clarinet section, at Winds Banquet

Communication Disorders graduating class Spring 09!

Mi familia y yo

Best friends since 2nd grade, this may it'll be her turn to wear the cap and gown :)

Romania

The Biola Romania tour was an incredible experience. I'd never been on a missions trip before, and this was certainly a wonderful first experience. I fell in love with the kids and people there, and I hope to return someday.

staying dry in Roschiori :)

our whole team, behind the team house

this sums up my trip

Summer Fun

This was quite possibly the best summer I've ever had. I spent my birthday at Disneyland with Raelene and Becky, played in the North County Community Band, went to California Adventure with Amanda, visited Tad and his family for a week, taught a group of Kindergarteners during VBS, and moved into my condo.

my super fun birthday/graduation party

Birthday, Disneyland style :)

California Adventure with Amanda <3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbckf4htpkWtYPJtRx4lvS0ObUDowyLnf0kNAlLOR0WofvGFqUYSMBZKwhAkfjAE79pp8Tb7WafVUICG7cFhtmRGQzlEW6SQkx-pi31MgA5nTWMpEVWRC3rNxfgmCoNlr4uJDhN_DJr8Q/s1600-h/summer2.jpg">SonRock Kids' Camp VBS

Always delighted to see my love

Wicked at the San Diego Civic Center with the roomies and Raelene (and the fam)

Grad School

My first semester was killer, but I managed to find time to still have fun with friends.

An afternoon at Bates' Nut Farm

I helped Raelene put on her parents' surprise 50th birthday party

On a Biola visit weekend :)

December Nights in Balboa Park

a few of the ladies from my program, at my house for a Christmas party

Holidays with Tad

I spent Thanksgiving with Tad and his family. I was in Washington for half the week, and ont he Oregon coast for the other half. It was great getting to spend time with him, and get to know his family better. We were also blessed to get to spend New Years together, as Tad is now a San Diego resident :D

Hanging out in a Krispy Kreme in Spokane

Happy 2010!

Wrapping up a Decade

I'm never really "surprised" by the end of a year. A lot has happened in 2009. I am, however, surprised by the end of a decade. I still eel like it just recently turned 2000. I was 12 (and a half) at the turn of the century, thus I didn't have exquisitely clear memories of the entire 90's decade. So in a way, this is more first real closing of a decade.

Looking back, it's easy to see how much happens in ten years:

2001
Career day spent with a speech language pathologist
Graduated from middle school
Moved out of the house we'd lived in since I was 5
Started high school, and marching band, which ruled my life for 4 years
Moved into the house we live in now

2002
Mom started Mary Kay
Started playing percussion during marching season
Family trip to San Antonio

2003
First almost kinda sorta, not really boyfriend
Band trip to Australia
Began looking at colleges

2004
Spent 3 weeks in norcal at the STEP (Student Transition Education Program, I think) program at California School for the Blind
Family cruise to Alaska
Began applying to college

2005
Decided to go to Biola
Band trip to Hawaii
Graduated from high school
Started my college education at Biola
Met some of my best friends ever :)

2006
Interterm at Biola
Winds tour around OC?LA county
Family cruise to Mexico
Added my Spanish minor
Met Tad
Started dating Tad
Moved into Horton with Krista
Tad meets my family over Christmas

2007
Interterm at Biola
Met Tad's family over summer
Moved into Welch apartment with Krista and Becky
Started Clarinet Club with Becky
Family trip to Maui with Tad

2008
Biola Centennial
Winds tour to NorCal
Tad graduates from NNU
My 21st birthday
Valencia and I are paired and train for 4 weeks at Guide Dogs for the Blind
Becky, Valencia, and I move into Hart
Applied to grad school

2009
Interterm at Biola
I get accepted to SDSU for grad school
I graduate from Biola
First missions trip, to Romania with Heart 2 Heart International
22nd birthday at Disneyland
I move into my condo in Mission Valley
Grad school
Thanksgiving spent with the Tildens
Tad moves to San Diego!

I'm very excited for all that comes in the new decade :)

Celebrating Biola Style

This year, instead of heading down to San Diego from LA after finishing finals, I did the opposite. I was at home for a day, and then headed up to the Biola area for the weekend. And what a weekend it was.

I rode up to Orange County on Friday morning with Anja. We had fun talking in the car, espeically about how wonderful it was to not have school for a month. She dropped me off at Krista's house where I hung out with Krista's brother and sister while Krista got ready. Soon as she was ready we joined Becky at her place where the rest of us got ready to go to Biola graduation.

Dorothy (the graduate among us) picked Sizzler for dinner, which is conveniently between Becky's townhouse and Biola. I shared a combination plate of steak, shrimp, and ribs with Dorothy. Yum, I had forgotten how much I like Sizzler! We ate quicky since we were a bit short on time. Becky's and Dorhty's rommate Melissa and I went ahead early to the gym to save seats. It was wonderful (as it has been every time) to be back on campus. I became very excited when we walked past the Biola Christmas tree.

The gym was decorated festively with more Christmas trees. The ceremony was nice. I knew a few of the other graduates, mostly music people. Afterwards, we went with Dorothy and her family to the reception in the caf. The caf was also decorated with Christmas trees and such, and had delicious dessserts, eggnog, and cider. My dad made the point later that if you lived in the area you could make a point to go to that every year, lol.

After the reception we went down to Hart to pick up Becky's sister Jen, and happened upon a lot of Hart alumni. I got to chat with Beth for a while about grad school, and compare the programs at SDSU and Redlands. It's a bit of a relief to know that I'm not the only one who's thrilled with graduate coursework, haha

Saturday morning (after walking to Albertson's for milk) Becky made pancakes for her, me and Jen, which we ate with apple butter, very tasty. The rest of my Saturday was spent at Amy and Dave's wedding, which was beautiful.

I love weddings, love them, oh my goodness. Amy and Dave are friends I know, in a round about way, because of Valencia. Amy has a dog from GDB, and she was visiting Dave (who just graduated from Talbot) one week, and they came to a Symphonic Winds concert. My mom and Amy met in the bathroom with the two dogs. Amy and Dave are the couple that Tad and I went on a double date with to Hermosa Beach back in March (which happened to be the night before they got engaged).

Anywho

Their wedding was at the church Dave has been interning at. It's a small baptist church, with a tall steeple like a classic old church house, and very nice people. It was a beautiful ceremony, Amy sang a duet in Mandarin with her maid of honor, the wedding party read 2 Cor 13, they wrote their own vows, and at the end we all sang hymns together.

Immediately following the service was picture time, the favorite of which was the guide dog picture. Including Amy's dog Donna, there were five guides present. Donna was the star among the dogs, donning two different party dresses over the course of the afternoon and evening.

There was a reception in the church fellowship hall after the ceremony. Since they were also having a dinner reception, I assumed the church one would be just cake and punch. But they had a full array of food, including fruit and veggie platters, teriyaki chicken, california rolls, and several kinds of Chinese pastries. They had a slideshow of pictures of Amy and Dave and had a number of people say a message to Amy and Dave.

The dinner reception was at a restaurant across town called Happy Habor Seafood. Amy found a ride for me with one of her friends. We got a bit lost on the way, but found it a lot sooner than most of the guests.

The restaurant was a very nice, elegant, Chinese seafood place. Between receptions, Amy had changed from her traditional western wedding dress, into a traditional Chinese dress, red with beautiful gold embroidery. She and Dave looked great together with his matching red button down shirt. They're such a great couple!

Dinner was incredible, all nine courses of it! I tried several things I had never had before. Course one was jellyfish and a cold slice of beef. It was followed by delicious walnut shrimp. Then came the shark fin soup. Then there was shitaki mushrooms, bak choi, and abilone. Then there was the lobster, after which was the Peking duck. Next was the baked fish, and we finished off with a bowl of fried rice. Dessert was lotus paste cookies and red bean soup, both were amazingly delicious!

Amy and Dave came around to each table individually to toast and I got a chance to chat with them a bit. They sent me home with a vase of beautiful red and yellow roses from one o the tables. Presently, they are in Waikiki, lucky ducks :)

There were several things I decided from the day. 1. I want an afternoon wedding, 2. I want a slightly fancier reception locaiton than a church fellowship hall (though I want the ceremony in a church) and 3. White cake with straberries in it makes a delicious wedding cake layer.

Sunday I wrapped up my visit with church at Grace EV Free with Krista dnd Jen and then lunch at Panda Express.

Below are a few pictures from the weekend:


I am no longer in the most recent graduating class from Biola, weird


What a beautiful bride Amy is :)


the centerpiece at my table at their dinner reception


me with the happy couple, isn't Amy's dress gorgeous???

Preparing for Christmas

Celebrating Advent is so hard when the first 3 weeks are overshadowed by finals :/

As is evidenced by my life all semester, this year is especially difficult. I only have 4 days left in the semester, and yet so much to do. Add in that I am still slowly adjusting to my new again secular surroundings.

Nonetheless, I am almost finished with this darned semester, and have been doing my utmost to enjoy the season.

Last weekend I went with Raelene and her new boyfriend Nate to "December Nights" in Balboa Park. This is a San Diego tradition my family has never done. None of us are much for crowds, and as I discovered that night, all of San Diego (and their dog) goes to December Nights. It was fun though. We didn't actually end up getting there until 8:30 (we had been aiming for 7, and it ended at 10), but it didn't matter too much. I got a good chance to get to know Nate a bit and it was cold outside anyway.

The park was beautifully decorated with tons of lights strung everywhere and multiple Christmas trees. We had brotworst for dinner and enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate while watching some of the jazz choir performance at the organ pavillion.

Raelene dropped me off at home, where I spent Saturday and Sunday helping my family put up the Christmas decorations.

Last week (since clinic was finished) I spent a large amount of time at home working on projects...and rinking eggnog *mmm*. I finished up some Christmas shopping yesterday morning, and enjoyed a Starbucks (courtesy of the starbucks card from my landlord).

4 more days:
EMonday: diagnostics exam
Tuesday: research methods presentation
Wednesday: Phonology project due 4 pm, language project due midnight
Thursday: Online Neurogenics exam

Then, Christmas break!!!!