Still Here!

Long time, no update! I'm done with 3 of the 6 rotations I have to do. It's been awesome living back at home in Bakersfield. My next rotation starts on Jan. 5th at Kaiser. My parents, Dave, and I are heading up to Folsom tomorrow to visit with family, and we'll be back for a wedding in Lake Isabella on Sunday. Then I have a few days off before it's back to work/school! I'll try to be better at keeping up with my long-lost (but not forgotten!) blog!

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Busy Weekend

Dave and Aaron came up to visit me this last Thursday night and stayed through the weekend. We ended up driving to San Francisco to celebrate the 4th of July. On Sunday we drove to Newman for Joe and Kristin's engagement party. Kristin's dad and stepmom hosted the party, and I got to see the rest of my family, too! This was my last visit before I get to move home. I'm down to the final stretch! Three more weeks of classes...then a week of finals...then HOME! My last final is at 9am on August 1st and I'm moving home THAT DAY! Rotations start on August 18th, so I'm planning on living up the short time I have off by backpacking, relaxing, visiting friends and family to catch up on the 2 years I've missed, and hopefully talking my mom into taking me to The Oaks at Ojai!

My mom first took me to The Oaks before my wedding. Neither of us had ever been to a health spa before, but she'd heard about it from a friend. As spas go, it's relatively inexpensive for everything that's included (I looked up spas when we got home from that trip because I was so impressed). Some people stay for 30 days at a time! We do the 3 days/2 nights package, and I absolutely love it!! Ojai is beautiful and the weather is GREAT! I don't want to babble on too long about the spa because it's easier to just follow the link to find out more about it, but I want to say that if you are looking for some "time off" and have a little money saved up...GO! There's no "women only" rule, but I've only ever seen 1 or 2 men there. They have specials from time to time (mother/daughter, etc.), so check out the calendar on the website, and treat yourself and someone you love to some healthy pampering! (Katie and Gretchen--if you make some extra money fund-raising, take yourselves to the spa after the JDRF walk!!! It will cleanse your souls!)

Anyway, here are some pictures from the busy weekend:

San Francisco







Coit Tower with the fog rolling in


Pier 39 was PACKED!


View over the bay...can you see the Ghirardelli sign?


Aaron, Dave, and Me


The carousel


Hard Rock Cafe at Pier 39...we decided against putting our name in since there was a 2 hour wait


Fireworks in the fog


Last shot of the flags on our way back to the car


Joe and Kristin's Engagement Party
Elijah and his daddy (my brother, David, in case you haven't kept up with my blog :)


Elijah, Daddy, and Grandma Noni (my mom) with the BIG slide behind David and my mom's mom (Great Grandma Noni) relaxing in the shade


Elijah can swim! With floaties, anyway...he jumped in the spa section (at the top right of this picture) without them and I had to jump over the wall from the main pool to pull him out. Then I asked if he wanted his floaties back on (ya know, because I thought drowning was probably scary) and he said "No." The kid's got guts!


My biggest brother Joe (left of center) with friends and family


He climbed all the way up the ladder, realized how high he was, and decided NOT to go down the slide. We started him halfway down and he loved it!


Friends and family


Elijah with Great Grandma "GG" (my dad's mom)


This is me thinking about going down the slide...and that's the new bathing suit I got at Old Navy in San Francisco for half off! I'm talking $16.50 for BOTH pieces, people! I love a good deal :)


This is me realizing (like Elijah did) that the top of the slide is really high!


So much for trying NOT to get my hair wet!


David has a headache...


Elijah chillin' like a grown up


Elijah deciding "I'm too sexy for my shirt." Sorry if I just got a really annoying song stuck in your head :)


I love this kid!


Tired from all that swimming!


Family playing cards


Friends mingling


Family relaxing


The cake


Joe and Kristin cutting the cake...aren't they CUTE?!

Wow, 3 posts in 1 day! I think it's a record...

I love that he's wearing shinguards just for fun...hahaha

Elijah Updates

I went home this last weekend to visit my family and here are some updated pictures of Elijah...he's getting so big!! He's like a little MAN!

Summer + sprinklers = fun!


He decided to pee on the driveway...classy :)


What a studmuffin!


Okay, I have to show him with an adult to keep things in perspective...he's not THAT grown up, yet!


I may or may not have instigated this...hee hee hee


This is the kinda mad kinda smiling face...hahaha!


Elijah and Maddie, it's a love/hate relationship. Here's some love:


Here's some hate! (She ate one of his cars and he's wrestling her...he then proceeded to drag her around the house by the collar.)


He wanted to "drive to school" in the "yellow school bus"...TOO CUTE!


He actually STOOD STILL and SMILED long enough for me to get this one!

Vibrant Colors

Here's my submission for this week's Exposaroonie challenge:



Do you Bakersfield people recognize the location??

Different Perspective

Here's my submission for the photo challenge this week. Visit Exposaroonie to see all the other great photos!

The Cutest Interview EVER!

A Bit of History for Inspiration

A pastor relayed this message in church a few months back, and for some reason I felt compelled to share it via this blog by plagiarizing wikipedia :). It brought tears to my eyes, and if you love old hymns like I do, I think it may affect you the same way:

On October 8, 1871, as Horatio Spafford and his wife Anna were grieving over the death of their son, the Great Chicago Fire swept through the city. Horatio was a prominent lawyer in Chicago who had invested heavily in the city's real estate. The fire destroyed almost everything he owned.

Two years later, in 1873, Spafford decided his family should take a holiday in England knowing that his friend D. L. Moody would be preaching there in the fall. Delayed because of business, he sent ahead of him his family: his wife Anna, and his four remaining children, daughters Tanetta, Maggie, Annie, and Bessie.

On November 21, 1873, while crossing the Atlantic, their ship was struck by an iron sailing vessel. Two hundred and twenty six people lost their lives, including all four of Spafford's daughters. Somehow his wife, Anna, survived. On arriving in England, she sent a telegram to Spafford beginning "Saved alone."

Spafford took his ship to England, going past the place where his daughters had died, and wrote these words:

"When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul."

If this man could pen such a beautiful hymn after going through such terrible tragedies time and time again, I can certainly muster up the courage to keep life in perspective when I feel like complaining.

My first exposaroonie!

I took the plunge and submitted this to the photo challenge at Exposaroonie! Follow the link to vote for me (or whichever picture you like the best, of course)!! So you have some background, this week's theme is "nature's softer side".




Just for kicks, here's the other picture I thought about submitting:

Mother's Day Weekend at Home

Aaron came up to Stockton to visit me last week (and to watch Rich Harden pitch for the Stockton Ports as a rehab assignment from the Oakland A's), so we took the train back to Bakersfield together and played card games.


Mom and Dave (husband, not brother, for those of you who know me well enough to be confused :) frequently have to share this holiday, so we went with an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins...YUM!


Here's my Mom wearing the necklace and earrings Dave and I got her for Mother's Day. I think she looks great!


We were playing a fun family game Apples to Apples when Elijah found my husband's hat and sunglasses and decided to put them on. The hat actually matched his little outfit! TOO CUTE!






And here's the look on his face that lets you know he belongs to his dad...hahaha!


I love this one of his daddy (David, the brother) comforting him when he was crying:


and I also love this one of Aaron holding Elijah with a look on his face like he was just pooped on:


And to finish off this quite pointless blog, here's one of my dad and David (the brother) laughing hysterically at the aforementioned game:


I love my family!