Birthday Weekend

I'm sure I have written this before; birthdays in my family are kind of a month long celebration.  This is largely due to the fact that my mom likes to use birthdays as an excuse for various fun activities.  If it's within your birth month, or within a week or two after your birthday, it gets counted as "for your birthday!".  I had my family party on Father's Day, celebrated with Raelene at Red Robin on Tuesday, had birthday cupcakes at homegroup on Wednesday, and then a crazy weekend!

Tad's cousin Julianna came down from Modesto for the weekend.  About a month ago she acquired tickets to Legoland, and Tad suggested that we go for my birthday.  She arrived Thursday evening while I was at Bible study.  Upon arriving home, they announced that we were going shopping to get Julianna a bathing suit so we could hit the waterpark at Legoland..  Somehow this took until about 11:00 pm

Friday we got a pretty early start for not all being morning people and dropped Valencia off for her "puppy play date" as we called it.  Legoland does not allow service dogs on any rides, so I asked my co-worker Andrea if she could watch V for the day.  Andrea happily agreed.  Valencia had a wonderful day palying with Andrea's mini poodle and corgie.

We had a fantastic day at the park.  The crowd was decent for a summer day, and the weather was perfect.  We did several walk through attractions (including "Adventurer's Club", which I remembered from when we were pass holders) and hit several of the rides.  We were able to secure an exit pass, which made things much easier.  We went on all 3 roller coasters, the Buzz Lightyear-type ride, and Fairy Tale Brook.  We also traversed all of miniland and I think just about every gift shop.

My favorite part of the day was the waterpark.  We hit two slides.  On one slide we had an extra passenger on our ride, a little boy whose mom asked if he could ride with us.  He was adorable.  We spent the rest of the time in the lazy river, made more interesting by Julianna and Tad trying to pelt each other with the giant lego bricks.  The day flew by, helped by the fact that the park closes at 6:00.  We picked Valencia up, dropped our wet clothes off at the house, and had dinner at Outback.  It was a delightfully enjoyable birthday.

We all slept in on Saturday and spent a leisurely day tidying up the house and preparing for game night.  Several people canceled, making a small, but fun evening.  Since there were only 9 of us, we were all able to play one game.  We played a lengthy Logos game, and then half a game of Zero.  Steve spent the night and went to church with us Sunday, after dropping Julianna off at the train station and grabbing a waffle taco for breakfast.

It was a long weekend, but a fun one.  I feel very loved and celebrated :)

Father's Day and Family Birthday Celebrations

My birthday and Father's Day usually get lumped together in my family.  I was born the day before Father's Day, and my birthday has been on Father's Day at least twice in my life.  This past weekend we celebrated Father's Day on Saturday and my birthday on Sunday.

Saturday evening my parents, brothers, aunt and uncle, and Tad and I met at my grandpa's retirement home to have dinner in the dining room and attend a barbershop quartet concert.  Dinner was nice.  They had done the place settings to look like a suit and tie in honor of Father's Day.  They had a salad bar, tomota soup and rolls, and an option of prime rib or fried shrimp.  The fried shrimp was delicious!  They ran out of cheesecake before we got to dessert, but the brownies and petite fours were very good.  It was a bit of a strange meal thanks to the uninvited guest, a flie that my uncle eventually killed.

The concert was pretty good.  One of the members is a resident.  There were several songs I recognized, and overall I enjoyed it.  Following the concert, my dad and grandpa opened their gifts, and then everybody poofed.

Sunday Tad and I experienced our first Father's Day at Las Flores (we were already attending last year, but were out of town Father's Day weekend.)  They call it "Dadfest".  It is a day complete with classic cars, trucks, and motorcycles, raffle prizes in church, trophies for the vehicles (given out in church), and a barbeque.  A very festive day.

Following the bbq, Tad and I came home for a little bit before setting off for my parents' house.  Since my parents will be out of town this coming weekend (and thus missing my birthday on Friday) they asked if we could count Sunday as my family party.  I said sure. :)  The weather was perfect to have the inaugural swim in my parents' pool.  My dad grilled up kabobs with fantastic steak, tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, and onions.  Tad made an angel food cake (with strawberries and cool whip) for dessert.  We also opened both my dad's and grandpa's Father's Day gifts: trivial pursuit and a bottle of chocolate wine, respectively.  The game was fun, and the wine was tasty.

It was a great weekend!  My birthday festivities continued today with my Red Robin birthday burger and sundae.  Tad and I met Raelene at NCF for lunch and did some shopping afterwards.  Ah, the fun days of summer!

Dinners and Goodbyes

Day 5 of summer vacation and the latest I have woken up is 7:45.  Sleeping in for a teacher! :)

Saturday evening we hosted Dinner for 8, which turned out to be dinner for 9.  Tad made one of his signature dishes, paella.  The last night of our honeymoon we went to a Spanish restaurant in Carmel.  Both of us were familiar with paella and curious to try it.  It was AMAZING!  A couple months later, back home, Tad began craving more paella.  But Spanish restaurants aren't super common, or cheap, so he found a recipe and made it himself.  His version is also quite delicious.

Our guests were a couple and single lady we hadn't met before, a young couple we regular say hi to, but don't know well, and the senior pastor and his wife (no pressure right?).  It was a delightful evening.  Our guests brought drinks, a salad, French bread, and key lime pie to go with the paella.  Everyone raved about both the paella and the key lime pie (the leftovers to which are currently in the fridge).

Sunday we attended the weekly family dinner at Grandpa's retirement community.  He has a one bedroom apartment with a great kitchen.  The dining room is also fantastic, but they are closed on Sundays.  We had roast, ashed potatoes, and more key lime pie (which Mom had brought).  After dinner we played  arousing game of Trivial Pursuit.

Yesterday I went for another walk and worked on a Bible study in the morning/afternoon.  Tad and I attended a going away Happy Hour for my coworker Diana.  She has been the RSP teacher at my school for the last 4 years and she and I have become close.  I'm very sad to see her leave.  Her husband got a new job opportunity on the east coast, where they are from originally.  The happy hour was at Islands and a number of teachers from our school attended, as well as some of her neighbors and past coworkers.

Today has been a rather tiresome day working on moving and arranging the garage so we can actually park inside once more.  I'm looking forward to the fair and a show at the moonlight amphitheater later this week.

Two Years in a Nutshell

Not long after my last post I made a decision to stop blogging.  I decided I was sharing too much online and becoming too personal.  But as I've looked over previous posts, I realize how much I enjoy having a record of life events and happenings.  Little things that don't always stay in memories.  Thus, I have decided to give blogging a try once more, but to keep things light, and less personal.

So, since fall 2011 what's new?

Tad and I moved from our condo to a beautiful house about a mile away.  We have a big backyard for Valencia, lots of space for us and kids, fantastic neighbors, and I can still walk to work, though it takes me twice as long.

I'm working at the same school, and still love it.  This year I am also at the middle school one day a week.  I don't exactly love it, but I'm trying to enjoy having new experiences.  I am a fully licensed, certified SLP and a permanent district employee.  Like I said, very happy with my job.

My grandma passed away in early 2012, which was absolutely devastating for our family.  We grieved together and have come to a new normal.  My grandpa moved into a Christian retirement community and is happy as a clam there.  My other grandma has recently moved from Nevada to a retirement home in Seattle near my aunt.

Tad and I have done quite a bit of traveling including a trip to visit his grandparents in St Louis, our 1st anniversary in New England, a couple trips of to the PNW to visit family and friends, and a trip to Colorado to visit friends.  We are in the beginning stages of planning an international trip, either to Spain or Japan.

I was elected as CCLVI secretary in Louisville in 2012 and have enjoyed serving in that position for thae last couple years.  I do not plan to run for re-election this summer.

Tad and I changed churches to one closer to home and joined a home group.  We'It's been a blessing having friends in our local area.

And that pretty much sums it up.  Life is going well, God has bestowed many blessings on us.

7.23.11

Tad and I have been married for just over 3 months, and it's still sinking in that I'm married. The week of my wedding was wonderful, but went by much too fast. I want to relive it over and over again, hehe :D

The Wednesday before the wedding I had my hair trial, which was a lot of fun. That was also the day that Tad's groomsmen John and Nate arrived. John flew, Nate drove. The boys came up to my parents' house for dinner, a swim, and a game of Word on the Street. It was fun getting to chat more with John and Nate. I had only ever met John once and hadn't seen either of the guys for a few years at least. Mom took a liking to Nate and spent the weekend trying to set him up with one of my friends, primarily Raelene.

Thursday, Mom and I got our manicures and pedicures together. Mom sent a text to Raelene about the "hunk" of a groomsmen who "likes walks on the beach". Becky, Krista, and Jen arrived in the afternoon and we enjoyed getting ready for my bachelorette party. Raelene made sure we were well dressed with crowns, light up rings, temporary tattoos, and a sash for me. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Miguel's. I had a sangria and a mojito and shared enchiladas with Anja. We saw Fabio playing a saxophone in a bathtub, and the restaurant gave us a free mudpie.

Meanwhile across town, the boys were earning tons of tickets at Dave & Busters, and Tad was breaking a glass.

Becky, Jen, and Krista and I returned to my parents house where my dad made us margaritas and we enjoyed some jacuzzi time.

Wedding Eve (aka Friday), I took my 3 girls out to lunch at the Rancho Bernardo winery. It was a gorgeous day, with delicious lemonade, sandwiches, soup, salads, and cheesecake. We had a little time to rest in the afternoon before the rehearsal. Everything at the rehearsal went smoothly. The family and guests got to met and mingle, etc. Then it was straight to the rehearsal dinner at Villa Capri 2. Most of the rehearsal dinner is fuzzy to me. I was extremely out of it and emotional with wedding jitters. Tad and John kept me pulled together. The food was all incredible, everyone had more than enough to eat and enjoyed chatting.

After dinner it was back home. We opened some gifts that had arrived and exchanged our gifts with each. I gave Tad an engraved pocket watch and he gaveme an engraved jewlery box. Surprisingly, I dd sleep that night.

I feel the events of the wedding day will remain more special if I do not chronicle them in a blog, but it was an inredible day. Better than I had ever dreamed of. From the note Tad had written to me to be read while getting ready, to all the snapshot memories of the ceremony, taking pictures with our friends and family, and having a BLAST at our reception. We have our pictures back already, I can't wait to see the video :)

I love my husband!<3

4th of July 2011

Last Independence Day as a free woman....just kidding! :D

This year, 4th of July actualy FELT like 4th of July. In contrast to last year's 60-something degree, overcast day, this year we were given a bright, sunny day with highs in the mid to upper 80s. Now that's summer!

Our family invited the Jennings family over to swim and enjoy dessert and the Westview fireworks. It was a pretty good show. We joined our neighbors at the end of the street to watch from the comfort of our own neighborhood.

On the actual Fourth of July, Tad drove up in the late morning to hang out. We worked on some wedding plans (specifically the seating chart) and went swimming in the afternoon. My grandparents and uncle Jeff joined us for a bbq dinner. Tad and I were the only ones up for fireworks (since my family had already seen some on Saturday) and set out a bit early to pick up some snacks.

Tad had brought chocolate covered cherries with him, and we picked up a couple apple pies and a smoothie from McDonald's on our way to the Mira Mesa fireworks. We had to park a few blocks away, but arrived in the grassy park *just* as the show started. It was a beautiful show, especially since it was our first to watch together :)

We rounded out our night by dropping in to see Raelene at work and chatted with her for a bit while she started closing up.

Home Alone

Well, not exactly.

My parents took a 10 day trip to China this month, which left my brothers and me to watch the house and the animals. An interesting experience, especially since it's never been just me and my brothers. At first it was strange. Both of them are fairly introverted and spend large amounts of time on their computers playing games. I'm an introvert, but to a lesser extent and need human interaction (face to face) throughout my day. By day 3 I was going a bit loopy and was grateful to have lunch out with Raelene. (yay Panera!)

I had a break in the middle of the trip. Tad came up on Father's Day to take me to Mission. We went out to Red Lobster for lunch after and hung out around college area til dinner time. Tad spent the night in our guestroom and we spent my birthday in LA (see other blog post for details). I had several errands throughout the week, went apartment hunting with Tad on Saturday, and went to church with Raelene on Sunday.

The most fun part about the time with the boys was our excursions out to eat. We made a trip to Wendy's, one to Chick Fil A, several to Taco Bell, and one to Phil's Barbeque.

I love my brothers, but was definitely pleased when my parents arrived home late Sunday evening. :)

Post Graduation Fun

The day I had been longing for for nearly two years finally arrived: graduation. Grad school was so ridiculously stressful and overwhelming at times that it seemed like it would never end, but id did. praise God for his mercy and grace! It was a nice ceremony, nothing too remarkable or memorable, but a nice ceremony. I think I may have been more impressed had I not experienced the wonderfulness of Biola graduations. The three things that were better about SDSU's graduation: 1) it was indoors, so we weren't all sweaty and sunburned by the end, 2) Tad was able to be there to celebrate with me, and 3) I got a master's degree and got "hooded" on stage. Valencia liked this one better because she got her name called as we walked across.

Following the ceremony my department held a reception in the lobby of our building to celebrate and for our families to meet the other students and the faculty. I met up with my entourage (Tad, my parents, Stephen, Raelene, and Tad's 'aunt' Judy) there and enjoyed some refreshments. It got pretty crowded pretty fast, but we stayed long enough to take a few pictures and for my mom to re-met Charlotte, who was already clinic director when Stephen received speech therapy there at age 4.

From the reception we (minus Raelene, who had to work) went to Casa Guadalajara's in Old Town for lunch. This was an easy restaurant choice because we were all ableto take the trolley and avoid traffic. Lunch was a good chance for my family and Judy to get to know each other a bit better and for my mom and me to share a grande strawberry margarita. ;) The one other thing that was better about this graduation than Biola's was that I didn't have to do a huge move home and say goodbye to my pup for 10 days.


The celebrations continued on Saturday with a trip to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park (FKA Wild Animal Park). Some of the anesthesiologists in my dad's department help out the vets at the zoo. As a thank you, they periodically get the opportunity to go on the caravan excursions in the park enclosures. This year the department opened the opportunity up to the family members. And that's how all 6 of us (my family and Tad) found ourselves outside the park at 7:30 am on a Saturday.

I had been on the caravan tour once before when I was about 9 with Braille Institute and was thrilled to get to go again. The 60 some of us in the group divided into 4 different safari trucks and set out for our 2 hour excursion. We had a delightful guide named Amanda who I swear knew everything there is to know about animals that I forget exist if I don't go to the zoo for a while. We saw rhinos, gazelles, Asian sheep and deer, and several antelope whose mating cries sound like belches haha. I took tons of pictures, which can be viewed on facebook.

The interactive portions of our tour came in the feeding of a male rhino named Bo-Poo and a female giraffe (whose name we were not told). We fed Bo-Poo apple slices and the giraffe Australian acasia leaves. Both were interesting experiences; on one hand, having your hand in the mouth of a wild animal, on the other, having an animal's long tongue wrap around your hand. It was a lot of fun, minus the fact that Valencia couldn't come along for that part of the day. She stayed in a kennel near the entrance and was not very happy about it.


After our tour we enjoyed a nice catered lunch of sandwiches, salads, and cookies while listening to a presentation on special equipment for animal surgeries. We had the rest of the day free to enjoy the park. My family spent the next several hours enjoying a jungle carousel ride, watching the bird show, and visiting the gorillas, elephants, and tigers. My parents and brothers headed for home in the early afternoon, and Tad and I stayed for another hour or so. We were really glad we did when we got to see a cheetah cub up close. The day really made me think about how many wonderful things God has created on this earth :).

Tad and I tried to enjoy my "no more school" days to the fullest before I moved home and was a little farther away. Bright and early Monday morning we trolleyed from the condo to County Center to pick up our marriage license. It felt quite a bit like being at the DMV, except people were (generally) a lot less grouchy. License in hand, we trolleyed back to the condo. Tad joked for the next couple days that now I REALLY couldn't back out because he had spent $50 on it, lol.

The rest of Monday we worked on packing my things and cleaning. By the time we had eaten dinner we both needed to see something other than the inside of my half empty condo. Remembering the Coldstone gift card I was given for graduation, I declared it to be time for icecream. This was a good decision on my part because when we got to Coldstone, there was a sign out front that read "Happy Hour: Mon-Fri 5-7 pm. Buy one get one free.". It was 6:00. Yay for free icecream! I got cheesecake with Kit Kat and Tad got Peach Iced Tea (which was INCREDIBLE! I highly recommend it.) with heath bar. A very tasty way to spend an evening. :)

The next day (Tuesday) we had ourselves a bit of a day trip. We left in the afternoon for Long Beach and met Krista for dinner at Subway. Upon completing our meal, Tad said he was still hungry. So, we walked across the street to Taco Bell for caramel empenadas. Once our desserts were finished it was time to go to CSU Long Beach for Becky's graduate recital. I had the pleasant surprise of seeing Karissa and Vanessa there.

Becky's recital had originally been scheduled for Good Friday, but her teacher had advised her to reschedule because there were some things that needed repairing on her clarinets. This was disappointing at first, but turned out to be a huge blessing because Becky's parents were able to come. They flew in late Monday night from the Philippines and were quite jetlagged, but seemed very happy to be able to be there. It was nice for me to see them again too.

Becky looked and sounded beautiful. I was surprised at the end to realize that she had played a 90 minute recital. That's a lot of playing! The reception that followed was delightful as well. There were several kinds of cheeses, smoked salmon, cookies, a delightful fruit salad, and two very rich cakes (one white with berries, one chocolate), plus a variety of sodas.


The next two days were spent moving out of the condo. We were able to load up most of my furniture and things on Wednesday and come back Thursday for the rest of it. It was surprising to me that the move was bittersweet. It goes to show just how sentimental I am and what a difficult time I have with change. I was thrilled to be moving out and getting away from a certain roommate, yet I still felt weird about leaving the place I had lived for nearly two years. Other than home, that's the longest I've lived anywhere. One thing that's for sure, I am beyond excited to share my next home with Tad! =D

*A side note, I created this post on May 23, but did not finish it until about a week later. I didn't predict the future, just took my time blogging, hehe*

Easter Weekend 2011

This year, since I didn't really get a spring break between SDSU's schedule and my internship schedule, I decided I would once again have an Easter break and spent a 5 day weekend at home in PQ.

Friday afternoon Tad drove Steve and myself up to PQ and we spent the afternoon hanging out. I was unable to attend the Maund Thursday sevice at Mission because of class, which was unfortunate because it sounded like an amazing service. Tad described it to me and walked me through the prayer and meditation points. They had done it in a stations kind of manner with a station for communion, foot washing by the pastors, and writing your sin/burdens on a paper and nailing them to the cross. Though I wish I had been at the actual service, Tad helped me gget int he right mind frame to be ready for Good Friday service.

My family hasn't been to a Good Friday service in at least 10 years. The first two or three we went to at PLC were comrpised of dramatic monologues and no real scripture readings. Thus they left us feeling very depressed and wondering where the scripture was. Tad felt very strongly that we should go to Good Friday, and since I wanted to stay in PQ for the weekend, I comprised to going to PLC. Since the two of us were going, my parents decided to come along, and we were all very happy to have gone.

There were no dramatic monologues. Instead it was alternating scripture readings and wroship songs, accompanied by the Easter choir. It was the right kind of somber that Good Friday is supposed to be.

I spent Saturday morning hanging out with Raelene. We got breakfast at Golden Bagel and ran into a friend from band in high school. We then ran a few errands, picking up an Easter basket for Nate and a portfolio for me to use at job interviews. I used the rest of Saturday to catch up on some homework and compile my portfolio.

Easter Sunday this year was disappointingly gloomy. It was mostly cloudy all day, and I don't think the temperature got above the mid 60s. But, Easter is Easter. My dad and Steve played in the brass ensemble for both the 8:00 and the 9:30 services, so Mom, Tad, and I drove separately and went to the 9:30. It was a nice service, though the sermon seemed very odd to us for Easter. As I put it, it would have been very uplifting for a memorial service, but was quite depressing for Easter.

Back home, my grandparents joine dus for Easter lunch, which we ate in the dining room with the furnace on since it was to cold outside for our usual picnic style. We played a couple rounds of Word on the Street and enjoyed watching a dog show on TV. After they headed home, Tad helped me with a bit more of my work, and then drove Steve back to State.

Monday morning I had my first CFY job interview. It was at a private practice in Rancho Bernardo, and I'm really hoping I get the position. I think I'd be a good fit for them and vice versa. I'm hoping to hear back next week, so we'll see. Prayers are appreciated.

Upon arriving home from my interview, I was delighted to see that the wedding favors had arrived. I'm very excited about them! When Mom got home from volunteering at Braille, we went up to Hallmark to pick up mor ethank you cards, and I worked on the notes from my bridal shower.

Tuesday was wedding planning details day. Mom and I went to Joann's and Michael's to find a few things for my veil and for tags for the favors. We got quite a bit done. Then Mom dropped me off at the condo, and thus ened my long weekend.

I'm down to less than 3 weeks left of the semester, and could not be more relieved. This next week will be tough with my last week of internship and running two IEPs, but I know God can lead me through it.

Meeting the Family

In almost 5 years of dating and engagement, Tad's and my families had not met (with the exception of my Aunt Diane who met Tad's paretns when we were in Seattle). We all thought this was an important fact to remedy prior to the wedding.

Tad's parents and sister made the three day drive down from Tri Cities, spent the weekend enjoying the beautiful San Diego weather we were blessed with, and left Sunday to make the drive home. They were able to see some of Tad's and my favorite SD spots, meet my family, and participate in the first of the wedding events: my Biola bridal shower.

The Tildens arrived Thursday afternoon. While I was working on a group project and then in class, Tad helped them check into their hotel and unload the "treasure" his mom had brought down for him. I got out of class early and was able to go with them out to dinner. Upon Tad's prompting and recommendation, they decided to try the fondue place in La Jolla called The Melting Pot. Tad's whole family loves fondue, and Tad has been dying to go there since he first heard of it. The food was absolutely delicious! We shared three pots of fondue (one classic Swiss, one cheddar, and one spicy Mexican style), two different entres with shrimp, chicken, steak, vegetables, and a wide variety of sauces, and two pots of dessert fondue (bananas foster and dark chocolate with amaretto). Tad had thought it might make a nice rehearsal dinner location, but we decided it was not the best option based on time.

Friday was our fun in the sun day. Mrs. Tilden had requested going to the beach, and it was perfect weather. So first stop was Ocean Beach. There were surprisingly few people there and it was beautiful. Valencia had the most fun I've ever seen her have jumping in the waves. We might actually get her into my parents' pool this summer. ;)

Tad's dad requested taking the driving tour of PLNU and since it was already lunchtime, we stopped by Point Loma Seafood. Great choice, they absolutely loved it, which was not too surprising. It's been a family favorite since LONG before I was born.

Our final destination on the San Diego in a Nutshell tour was Seaport Village. Tad and I split off from his family for some just us time and explored the hot sauce and pet stores. His family enjoyed the specialty shops and picked up quite a few items, especially at the hot sauce store, lol. From there we met my parents and Steve at Marie Calendar's for the initial family meeting. It went rather well, slightly awkward as things like that usually are, but not bad. Stephen was the life of the party and kept us entertained. I love that kid.

After a light snack there, my family and I zipped down to University to meet Steve's astronomy club at a Chinese place called Wong's Golden Palace. Steve got to mingle a bit with some of his classmates and we discovered the best potstickers any of us have ever had.

Thus ended day one of my busy, crazy, fun weekend. I got back to my parents' house, went to bed, and then came day 2.

Tad dropped his mom and Jeana off Saturday morning and then headed off with his dad to a job fair for General Atomics in Poway. Raelene arrived shortly after and the five of us (me, Mom, Raelene, Mrs. Tilden, and Jeana) piled in my mom's Highlander and set out for La Mirada. It was a bit squishy, but we had an enjoyable car ride discussing a lot of "favorites" of everyone. :o)

Becky and Krista threw a beautiful shower for me. It was so wonderful to see so many of my close Biola friends. They had prepared so very delicious treats: pineapple and double chocolate cupcakes, macadamia nut kisses, strawberries, and hazelnut chocolate espresso beans, plus several kinds of delicious punch and iced tea. They started out by having everyone say their name, how they had met me and a favorite memory. This was really fun for me. Amanda talked about our crazy experiences on Winds tour junior year, Diana talke dabout going out for Thai food, Jennifer talked about Biola graduation and Narnia in December, Raelene talked about going home for Christmas our first year away at college, Becky talked about our crazy train trip to Tri Cities, Mrs. Tilden talked about going to Newport for Thanksgiving, and Krista talked about my first trip to Berry Cool.

We played several fun games including a "how many of these items do you have in your purse?" game, guess the famous couple who's taped on your back game, and guess how many kisses are in the jar. Mom won the purse game, and I came in second. In the famous couples game, I had Tarzan and Jane. They were very cute and included Valencia who had Pongo and Perdie from 101 Dalmations. A few of the other couples were Cinderella and Prince Charming, Adam and Eve, and Romeo and Juliet. Mrs. Tilden guessed hers first (after Mom) with Lucy and Ricky.

I received some wonderful gifts from the girls, and opened all of them without breaking any ribbons. They have warned me to beware of their gifts at the San Diego shower, lol. The girls closed with a time of paryer for Tad and me. I cannot say enough how blessed I am to have such wonderful friends.

Witht he guys waiting for us at home, we said our goodbyes and made a quick drive through Biola to show Mrs. Tilden. The menfolk plus my grandparents were waiting for us when we got home. We bbqed burgers and enjoyed a nice meal together. I accompanied the Tildens back down south so I could go to Mission with them on Sunday. Palm Sunday was the day that the licensed ministers served communion, so both Tad's family and I were able to be there for that. After church we went out for lunch at Anthony's in La Mesa before the Tildens hit the road for home.

It was a very crazy weekend, filled with a lot fo fun things. It's also a relief to have had our families meet. We ask for continued paryer for Tad's job search, for me to finish my semester strong, and for the wedding plans to continue falling into place.

38 Days and Counting

There really hasn't been much going on in my life over the last month, but I like to write and blog and talk to myself, so I figured I'd post something.

SDSU's spring break came and went. I had less free time that week than a typical week since it was the last week of my internship before a month off. That being said, I am now enjoying the month off of the internship. To enjoy my month off I have been writing papers, doing projects, and working on CCLVI scholarship committee things.

Tad is still on the job search. Continued prayers are appreciated. He has had several interviews over the past few weeks and is still waiting to hear back on a tech related position at Sharp Memorial Hospital (the one where I had my internship last semester). We are preparing for a visit from his family this weekend. They are starting the drive down today and plan to arrive Thursday evening. They'll get to meet my family, and his mom and sister are coming to my Biola bridal shower which is this weekend.

The countdown in the title refers to graduation, now less than 6 weeks away. The countdown for after that is 102 days until the wedding, yay! I just have to get to graduation so I can enjoy the wedding countdown more. )

To Grandmother's House We Go

Twas time this year to make the trip to the Hastings family Christmas at my grandma's house in Nevada. As per our usual, we had Christmas at home, let Mom enjoy her birthday (12/26), and then hit the road on 12/27. It was a slow ride thanks to tons and tons of traffic. I passed the time by trying out the knifty knitter my mom bought me for Christmas, napping, and listening to my MP3 player. We arrived in Boulder City just before dinner time, which allowed us to check into the Boulder Dam Hotel before meeting the rest of the clan for dinner.

12/27 is my AuntDiane's birthday, and she likes to go out for dinner on her birthday. So we ate right across the street at the Big Horn Cafe. Our nuclear family got to meet Diane's boyfriend Steve and Courtney's baby Michael. Dinner conversation centered heavily on wedding plans and preparations. It was fun to get to fill in the family and family friends who were there. For dinner, I enjoyed chicken parmesan and a tomato, lentil soup. Since we had two birthday celebrants, they gave us several baklava, two slices of cheesecake, and two slices of chocolate cake.

We spent a little time after dinner at Grandma's getting caught up with Diane and getting to know Steve. He was very sweet and brought each of us a scratcher as a gift. I think between the four of us we won $5 lol. Back at the hotel, we had an interesting "The Middle" esque incident before heading off to bed. Let's just say, it's a good thing we had two bathrooms.

The Boulder Dam Hotel provides a full breakfast now, which was fantastic. Tuesday morning I had juice and french toast with bacon. After a leisurely breakfast, we set out for the day. One of the family friends is an executor for people's estates, and wanted help moving some furniture. THus, fisst stop was at the estate. It was a little house built int he 50's. There was some very crazy wallpaper and an old dial phone.

The afternoon was spent at Grandma's, playing games and chatting, oh and playing with the baby! Mom made a roast for dinner and we enjoyed a round of The Game of Things over dessert. Our evening was made complete by stopping by a house with most Christmas decorations I've ever seen! They had lights EVERYWHERE!!! We took quite a few pictures and then retired to our hotel.

Wednesday for breakfast I had some very delicious blueberry pancakes. My aunts and cousin had left for home early that morning, so it was just us and Grandma for the day. The four of us drove out to see the new bridge over the Colorado River from Hoover Dam. We had pizza lunch in town and did a bit of shopping. Quite luckily, we happened across some very cheap bridal shower supplies and stocked up on plates/cups/napkins, balloons, invitations, and thank you cards.

We ate up the leftovers for dinner and played some more games. Though there weren't new ones on, we watched a couple episodes of teh Middle and Modern Family. Thursday morning we had breakfast, said our goodbyes to Grandma, and were on the road again. We stopped at a Krispee Kremes to fuel up and got a dozen donuts and tasty coffee drinks. The way home held much better traffic. The only excitement we had was seeing a jack-knifed semi, and seeing snow.

Boulder City doesn't have much excitement, but it's always nice to see family and celebrate the holidays together :)

Ten Highlights of 2010

I feel like I was just writing one of these posts for 2009. I certainly have years that are filled with fun things and changes. As fun as it is, I won't mind when grad school is done and things are a little more relaxed in my life. Here are some of my favorite things from the year. :)

Family Cruise in the Caribbean

At the very beginning of 2010 my entire family took a fantastic vacation to the Caribbean Islands of Puerto Rico, St Thomas, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire, and Aruba. We had a week onboard the Caribbean Princess. My favorite part of the trip was seeing the joy on Valencia's face on our catamaran ride in St Thomas.

First Valentine's Day Spent with my Love

This was very special to me. In the 3 and 1/2 years we had been dating, Valentine's day had never been a convenient time to be together. Now that Tad and I live int he same city, it's usually convenient to be together. Tad planned a very sweet surprise date for me. We made a cherry vanilla cake, and then re-created our first date by going to Boomers for mini golf and go carts. After which we got our favorite appetizers at Applebee's.

On the ferris wheel at Boomers

Spring Break with my Biola Girls

For a fun change, instead of visiting my Biola girls (Becky and Krista), they came to me. We spent a few fun days catching up and exploring San Diego. We watched Walk the Line, had Rubios with Tad, and spent a day in Seaport Village. I sure do love those ladies!

The hat shop in Seaport Village

Mother-Daughter Trip to SF

In April, I happened to get a four day weekend, which happened to coincide with the California Council of the Blind convention in Burlingame. We flew up and enjoyed a long weekend of relaxing, shopping, and seeing old friends. We ate out at an old favorite Chinses restaurant one night, had dinner with friends from church another, and got to see my friends Amy and Dave as well as Valencia's puppy raisers. Oh, and I went to some convention related things lol

In front of our hotel

Elizabeth & Matthew's Wedding

My friend Elizabeth got married on April 24 at the Grand Tradition in Fallbrook. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful wedding. It was also another fun excuse to get to dress up and go to a party with Tad. We enjoyed spending time together, meeting some new friends, eating some delicious food, and celebrating Elizabeth and Matthew's marriage with them. :)

Birthday Weekend with Becky

Becky's and my birthdays are 2 days apart and we have found a way to celebrate them together every year since we met freshman year at Biola. This year was no exception. I did the train ride up to Fullerton and had lunch with Becky at The Olde Ship (a pub!). We had our birthday dinner at Red Robin, and Krista and I watched Becky perform in the orchestra pit for Biola Youth Theater's production of Cats!. It is good to have a birthday buddy! =)

4 Year Anniversary

This was only our 2nd anniversary actually spent together, the 1st being our one year. Like Valentine's Day, Tad planned a surprise date for me, which consisted of a delicious Round Table pizza and a movie night in with mocchi to snack on. By dating anniversary 5, we will be married!

Family Summer Vacation

Our week of family vacation kicked off with a trip to the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood Bowl concert. We went with the Biola Alumni Association and enjoyed a spectacular Tchaikovsky concert complete with fireworks. Several days later, we embarked on our trip to Cambria. It was a relaxing week of tidepooling, shopping, farm exploring, Hearst Castle touring, and Olallaberry pie, yum!

On the farm in Cambria. This is the next picture I'm going to submit for the GDB calender.

Sharp Community Re-entry Internship

This fall I had my first off campus clinical experience. And I loved it. I became a part of the family at the day treatment program at Sharp Memorial. I learned a lot, met some very cool therapists and clients, and became very confused about what I actually want to do after graduation.

Me with my supervisor Joann

Engagement

Probably the happiest day of my life to date - on November 23, my sweetheart asked me to be his wife. I am thoroughly enjoying being able to call him my fiance and enjoying planning my wedding. This highlihgt to be continued in 2011 ;)

Thanksgiving Day at my parents'

Looking back, 2010 has been a wonderful year with progress made towards my Master's degree and plenty of time spent with my love. 2011 can only get better from here!

Halloween 2010

Though I didn't have any major plans, this year's Halloween was quite fun. The Sunday beforeHalloween, Tad and I volunteered at Mission Church at the Harvest carnival. He dressed up in his white mage costume from last year, I dressed as a pirate, and Valencia went as a ninja (to her delight, no extra items where required for her costume, lol) At the carnival we manned the train bounce house for kids under 4. EASIEST JOB EVER!!! We had under ten kids the entire hour we worked, and all we reallyhad to do was tell the parents to take the kids' shoes off. In exchange for our work, we were given free dinner. We also got to hang out with Tad's aunt, uncle and cousins for a bit, as well as one of the new guys in the college group.

Halloween weekend itself was crazy. Friday and Saturday I spent basically all day at the CCB convention at the Marriott in La Jolla. I got a lot of good information there, especially on public transit in SD that I either didn't know, or kinda of knew but wasn't sure. Tad was wonderful and drove me home Friday and dropped me off Saturday. Saturday evening we hung out at his place with Anja and James. We made Philadelphia rolls and Miso soup and played Mario Party. Sunday we had the opportunity witht eh college group to serve communion in church, which was a really neat experience. After church we had lunch at Chile's with the other college people and then headed up to PQ to spend time with the fam.

My cousins Jennifer and Matthew and their little boys Jason and Cory came up from Santee and my grandparents came. We had pumpkin carving, the traditional chile and cornbread dinner, and pumpkin pie. Tad and I went the nerdy route and carved a Mokona pumpkin. No one in my family knew what it was, but we were proud of ourselves nonetheless. Jennifer and Matthew brought their jack-o-lantern with them. They had tried to grow their own pumpkin and it had turned out green. So, what else do you do with a green pumpkin? Make it into Kermit the Frog! Dave carved a classic scary jack-o-lantern, and my dad went for a remake of "The Scream". Tad and I took the role of the main candy-passer-outers, until Kim, Jordan, and Maddie arrived. Then Jordan took over.

It was a really fun evening, but the best part was getting to spend it with Tad. Even on holidays that aren't really important, like Halloween, its fun to get to spend them with him :)

Salem

The day before we lost Simpkin, my family got a new arrival: a little black kitten named Salem. My mom's cousin Stephanie's cat had had kittens, and they couldn't quite find a home for this little fellow. My mom offered to try to find a home for it through the pet stores around us. So, when we had a family dinner with Stephanie's family, they brought the kitten along with them. We all fell in love right away, but especially Dave. He decided that we had to keep tthis littel kitten, because "no one could give this kitten as much love as we will."

The naming process took a little while. In his first week with us he had such names as Eddie (for either the Munsters character or Edgar Allen Poe), Felix, Merlin, Zorro, and Figero. Dave was the one who came up with Salem. I suspect it was inspired by the city in Massachusetts, though several people have asked if it was for the cat from Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Salem is quite the adventurer. He has no fear of any of the other animals, though at first he wasn't fond of Valencia. As for the other animals' opinoins, Buffy pretends to hate him, but is secretly happy for another feline playmate, Tilly loves it like a baby, though slightly wary of the claws, and Nigel isn't sure what to make of it at all. Nigel would like to boss him around like he tries with Buffy, but Salem is so strong willed to do what he likes that it doesn't seem to be working for Nigel. haha

In any case, he makes a perfect fit for our pack of animals. :)

Rest in Peace

The day came, and my kitty baby has gone. I called my mom yesterday afternoon with a question, and caught her just as she was arriving home from the vet. He no longer could eat, and she said he seemed ready. I would have to agree. As a friend texted me in response to the news, he's probably chasing mic ein heaven right now.

Simpkin Arnold Hastings
July 20, 1994 - October 11, 2010

Loved house cat, companion, and friend. Simpkin was born to Maggie Alic Hastings, the first of seven kittens. His brother Beauregard "Beau" Mittens Washburn was adopted to the Hastings' grandparents and visited Simpkin regularly. At age one and a half, Simpkin's mother Magie developed severe allergy to flea bites, and left her suffering, peacefully in her sleep. His brother Beau met a tragic end at age 8 in dealings with a coyote.

Simpkin loved hunting, eating, sunbathing, and being scratched behind the ears.

He is survived by his family, the Hastings, his beloved feline companion Buffy, and three canine housemates. He will be greatly missed.

Buffy and Simpkin (Photo by Steve)

Tad's Birthday

Yet another special occasion this year that Tad and I got to spend together, was his birthday. The only other time we've been together on his birthday was when I visited him for the first time. It was our two month anniversary and we hadn't seen each other in nearly 4 months. That day was fun. We went to church, and then on our first official date. We did mini golfing with another couple. Ironically, that first birthday of his we were together, was the day Valencia was born. :)

Her 4th birthday started with her heartguard meat chewy (which she loves) and a frozen peanut butter kong (which she also loves). We got ready and went over to Tad's place where he surprised her with a new squeaky toy. It's a raccoon with six squeakers in it. While she was enjoying getting to know her new toy, I surprised Tad with 3 of the Glee soundtracks. We hung out for a while listening to the music and then set out for his birthday lunch.

Tad picked Fudrucker's for his birthday lunch. We each got a burger (I got bacon, bleu cheese, and mushrooms, yum!) and shared fries and a drink. It was funny, there was another service dog there when we got there. After lunch we ran a number of errands, including picking up a birthday package from the post office. We were both too stuffed from lunch to think about dinner for quite some time. We hung out and played Guitar Hero until hungry enough to eat something.

For dinner we just heated up some cheddar bratwurst and mashed potatoes, but the drinks were fun. The night before we had gone grocery shopping, and Tad picked up a bottle of grenadine and we made Shirley Temples.

Saturday, Tad bought his birthday present to himself: a recurve bow, arrows, and other archery gear. The store we got it from has a shooting range, and we got to do a bit of shooting. We're doing a badge with the Caravans kids on archery, and realized it'd be a fun hobby to have. Upon making our purchase, we promptly headed down to Sushi Diner to meet Raelene for the double (technically triple) birthday celebration.

Sunday, my mom had planned to bring a pie down when they brought Steve back to the dorm, and then decided that a full family dinner would be better. She made a roast, green beans, and potatoes, and we had pumpkin and peach pie for dessert. I think Tad really enjoyed having a family celebration for his day.

And I know I enjoyed getting to celebrate both our birthdays together within the same year, a first for us :)

From the Ocean, to the City, to the Mountains

Compared to last year, thus far this semester has been super chill. I'm busy during the week, but with only having two classes, my weekends have been pretty free. This past weekend was chock full of activity, and really fun.

Friday started out with sailing with the young adults group at Braille Institute. I hadn't done anything with Braille since the summer after my senior year of high school, so it was kind of an interesting flashback experience. It was me, Lindsay, Daniel, Krishna, and Kelvin (who I also kinda know from church at Mission, lol). We went with a group off of Shelter Island. They paired us each up with an instructor and had us do the steering. It was a lot of fun. We had a beautiful day to be on the water - not too hot, not too windy.

After sailing, I had enough time at home to change and feed Valencia before heading with Raelene downtown for the Padres/Giatns game at Petco Park. We had seats in the row in front of Nate and his brother-in-law Ben. HOLY COW were these good seats, we were RIGHT behind the Giants' dug out. Yeah, about that, Raelene and the boys were rooting for the Giatns, boooooo. haha it wasn't so bad, considering there was no score until inning 7 when the Giants got a run. Raelene and I had fun chatting and chowing down on some awesome nachos.

Saturday evening I got to go to a place I'd never been before: Mt Laguna. Steve's department was holding an event out there for students, families, and faculties. We picked Tad up on our way out there and enjoyed seeing parts of San Diego that were very unfamiliar to all of us, lol. It's beautiful up on the mountain, pine trees and mountain air and a gorgeous sunset. They had a potluck dinner, and then gave a tour of the observatories that State owns up there. I was very excited to get to be up in the dome of one of them! Once the stars came out, we had a telescope set up to look at the moon and Venus.

Saturday also happened to be my dad's birthday. He was at a work "retreat" (aka conference) all day, so we celebrated on Sunday. We went out for dinner at Pei Wei's and had German Chocolate birthday cake. It was an awesome weekend spending time with family and getting to do some things in San Diego that I don't get to do every day :)

Moonstone Beach

Our family vacation week continued Monday bright and early. We left the house around 9:30 to head to a formerly favorite vacation spot: Cambria, CA. About 12 years ago, we went for 4 years in a row and stayed at Captain's Cove Inn on Moonstone Beach. We enjoyed tidepooling, exploring the little shops, visitng nearby farms, and touring Hearst Castle. When thinking of a family vacation destination for this year, we decided it was high time to go back.

The ride was long, but fairly tolerable with very little heavy raffic. We got lunch from McDonald's in LA and had hoped to stop at a family favorite restaurant called Hobee's in San Louis Obispo. Sadly, Hobee's was no longer there. Instead we got cookies from the Madonna Inn. The most amusing part of the drive was Tilly growling at a hobo on the side of the road. We arrived on Moonstone Beach just before dinnertime. My mom had wanted to bring Tilly with us, so instead of Captain's Cove we stayed at the Cambria Shores Inn. I think everyone staying there had at least one dog with them.

The owners were great. They gave us a goody basket for the dogs which included some treats, towels for them to sleep on, and an issue of "Fido" magazine. Each eveningthere were appetizers set out in the lobby (next to the bowl of dog treats), every afternoon there were fresh baked cookies, and every morning there was a breakfast basket with muffins, croissants, and fresh fruit.

We settled into our room, freshened up, and then went straight into town for dinner. Night #1 we decided on our favorite place in town, Linn's. Linn's is a family owned restaurant, but not just that. They have a farm just outside of town with a large shop of fresh made jams, syrups, etc. They also have several boutiques in town and a small cafe. For dinner I had the berry stuffed chicken which was incredible. For dessert we took home one of their famous Olallieberry pie. Olallieberry is a cross between loganberry and youngberry which are crosses of blackberries and raspberries. The pie is absolutely wonderful!

Tuesday morning we drove to Linn's farm to do a bit of shopping and watch the peacocks that roam around the farm. My mom and I had fun taking numerous different farm themed pictures, many including Valencia. Lunch was in town at "Easy as Pie", the cafe associated with Linn's. Mom and I shared an amazing chicken and berry salad.

We all crashed for naps back in our room and then set out for our first try at tidepooling of the trip. We found a number of hermit crabs and one starfish clung onto a dry rock. For dinner we decided on the Mexican place in town called Las Cambritas. It was very festive, and the food was pretty good. Back in our room we had another slice of Olallieberry pie and watched "The Bucket List".

Wednesday morning was our tour of Hearst Castle. Back when we were coming every year, we had done all of the main tours, leaving only the gardens and special night tours. None of the evening tours were available during this trip, so we did the first tour again. It was just as incredible the second time to see everything. That man did not think in small scale on ANYTHING! lol

My parents had leftovers from Las Cambritas for lunch, but Steve and I did not. While my mom purused the shops, Steve and I got lunch from Round Up Pizza and Grub. The food was good, and I love hanging with my brother, but I felt like the staff assumed we were on a date, which was quite awkward. Once we'd eaten, we joined my parents for shopping, and got icecream before heading back to the room. My dad and I took another stab at tidepooling and found more hermit crabs, anemones, and a submerged starfish.

Everybody was still rather full from eating a late lunch, so we ate a light dinner back at Easy as Pie. We took another olallieberry pie back with us and watched "The Blindside". What a great movie that is. I love things that are true stories and don't overdramaticize conflict.

Thursday morning we enjoyed our last breakfast basket and headed for home. We stopped for lunch in Santa Barbara and stopped again at a Wendy's not too far from Biola.

It definitely wasn't a high action trip or an exotic one, but it sure did the trick of relaxation!

Hollywood!

My family didn't make any particularly big plans for summer, partially because we had our cruise in January, and partially because of other expenses that came up, but my dad took the last week of August off from work. Thus Friday kicked off our family vacation time. The Biola Alumni Association planned an event to go to one of the Hollywood Bowl concerts, and since the Griffith Observatory is only a short distance from the Bowl, we planned a day trip out of it.

We ended up with a little extra excitement before our trip when my dad came home Thursday night to find water trickling out of the water softener in the garage. It became worse, to the point where we had to shut off the water to the house. This meant that we had to brush our teeth out of water bottles, and I didn't get my shower for the day. I greatly disliked the idea of doing a whole car trip, without having had a shower. Fortunately, the LA Fitness that my dad and Dave are members at agreed to let me shower there.

The Culligan man was able to fix the problem, and we left only about an hour later than originally planned. Our drive went pretty well until about 10 miles past Biola when we hit tons of traffic, and continued to hit traffic until we reached our destination, 2 hours later. We got lunch from a little golf course cafe and then drove up the hill to the observatory. The Griffith Observatory has beautiful views of the LA area. You can even see the Hollywood sign off in the distance. We browsed the exhibits for a couple hours, and then made the short drive over to the Bowl.

The Alumni Association provided a picnic dinner prior to the concert. We enjoyed chatting with alumni from different eras of Biola. Steve won a "I went to Biola" tshirt for answering that the eagle is our mascot. After dinner we looked through some of the Bowl shops, and then took our seats. The concert was incredible. It was an all Tchaikovsky performance, a coronation march for the czar, a violin concerto, Capriccio Italiano, the waltz from Swan Lake, and the 1812 Overture. The USC band joined in at the end of 1812 during the most amazing fireworks display I've ever seen.

The conductor for the evening was a guest conductor, but I liked him very much. He was British and had a wonderful sense of humor. Some favorite quotes from the evening:

"The trombones have exited. They don't play in this piece (referring to the violin concerto)...this is a piece of beauty and enchantment."

"You can't ignore trombones, though it's well worth the effort."

"The percussionist would follow the music, allegedly,..."

During intermission we were given the delightful treat of chocolate chip cookies from the Biola cafeteria. While eating these cookies, I discovered that the people sitting directly behind me were Beardo and Ali Rader. It was nice to get to see some people I knew, and who were close-ish to my age.

Following the concert was an adventure I didn't expect. The Bowl parking is done in ferry ashion, cars are just all packed in. This is great for saving space...but it means that the people who get to their cars first, can't necessarily leave first. My mom and I ended up walking back to our car in what felt like a stopped freeway. There were break lights everywhere and people trying to figure out how to get out as soon as possible. We made it safely to our car, and in turn safely home.

It was a great way to start our week of vacation, and a wonderful first Hollywood Bowl experience.