A typical weekend.

Katie brought home these yellow flowers. She is always making our home beautiful.
Periodic breaks in the rain on Saturday brought sunlight. I wish I could have caught the colors but this will have to do. Everything was wet and shiny. Refreshing.PT school has taught me good posture. I was probably about to fall asleep here.Katie laughing while we relaxed on Saturday.
Katie, Rae and Jody. We had our friends over for dinner Friday night.
Jeff on the defense. Who gave Luke that spatula?

We have a nice park just down the street. It's basically rolling hills for hikes and mountain biking. And the views are nice. This is a photo of Big Bear area. The mountain is covered with clouds and snow right now. Not a very clear day but at least it's not smog.
Katie kicking my butt up the hill.

Just a few photos. Have a good week.

Thanks Isaac.

Since PT school started I've experienced more death than the rest of my years combined. Sometimes it seems as if school requires every drop of my life. I take my eyes away from my studies and I automatically feel as if I am failing. I get my marks and continue onto the next subject without any emotion. I wake, hug Katie, eat, listen to lectures, study what I just learned, put it on paper or demonstrate what I learned, get feedback in the form of a letter grade, eat, hug Katie, and go to bed. There have been moments since our arrival here in Loma Linda where I get a phone call, or read an email, or get a surprise on facebook...they are gone. No way. One minute they are here and the next minute gone. I no longer have the freedom to physically speak with them and interact with them. It's times like these that make studying difficult. I look at the pages but the mind wanders. I eventually surrender my thoughts, pick up my Bible and thank God for the opportunity to know the person I can no longer talk to.

One of my favorite Bible passages. Please read it.
' And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, " I am making everything new!"' Revelation 21:3-5a

At the end of the day, I look at my beautiful wife and smile. Thank you God for another day where I get to lay my head down next to her. By your Grace I may have the chance to wake up to her the next day. But only if it's your Will. I love God and am grateful for the Hope I have in Christ. It makes the thought of death so easy. After all, it's gonna come sooner or later. Some say it's brainwashing. I'd like to think I've done my homework and wrestled with the tough questions and continue to. That's more than most can say. I love you all. You know this. When I talk about God to you I apologize if I seem pushy. Maybe i've made that mistake in the past. It's just a reminder to me when death reaches close to family or friends. I'm not claiming to be an expert just want discussion. You may be right.

Below is a picture of my roommates at Moody Northwest in Spokane, Wa. The gentleman in the white t-shirt next to me went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday. This photo was taken about the same time he was diagnosed with bone cancer.
Isaac Smith, February 12th, 1985- February 24th, 2010.I'm sorry if this post makes anyone sad or upset. Sometimes I blog for you to know what is going on in our lives, other times I do it for me.

The "ups" and "downs" of our weekends...

With the Olympics underway and a welcomed slow week of school our weekends have shown no consistency and challenged us to let go of anything set in stone. A weekend retreat away turned into a wonderful one day conference about marriage. Opening ceremonies at the Olympics was complimented with a lovely dinner at the Bouma's home thanks to the ladies. Is she ready for motherhood or what? This is Luke, Curt and Jody's son.
So much for Church. I stole Rebecca's valentine, Mike, who helped make our indestructible Toyota run again. Leaving for Church Sunday morning, I was surprised to find it wouldn't start. It was totally my fault! I could hear the car yelling, "Why are you taking me apart? I didn't do anything?!" Oh well, good hang out time and no harm done.This past Saturday, Curt took us to Steak 'n Stein. I guess it is the equivalent to Wolf Lodge, a steak place in Northern Idaho I absolutely love. It was very good but would have been much better if Katie could have joined us. She had previously committed to a wedding shower for a friend of ours. I respect her for following though with it even though she was missed.

I learned my lesson today. Don't drag your wife with you to a NASCAR event. It will do nothing good for you marriage. Ha! We were graced with free tickets from Mike and Rebecca who joined us. It was my first professional race and can check off another "to do" while we are here in California.





It was so cool to stand next to this fence and watch these cars fly by. You hear it and feel it.

Below is a picture we took just after Katie's nap. She can sleep through 40 race cars with 750 horsepower going at speeds pushing 200mph but nudges me every time I snore at night. Women are SO hard to figure out!
Three more weeks and then spring break! Time to lower the shoulders and run full speed into the brick wall I call school.

Just another day on the job.

I said I would post some pictures of everyday life. Here are a couple "action shots." This is Kevin. He is working on my pirifomis muscle. We can simplify it by calling it my butt.
Dr. Swen is an orthopaedic specialist and a great teacher.Below, this poor girl is in the middle of getting graded. That's how they do it, put you right up there in front of all your classmates and grade you. I am often the patient for this class cause I have tight muscles. I couldn't help but post this picture. This is Sebastian Jurado. Straight from Ecuador. He comes to class and then goes to Mexico and surfs on the weekends.This is pediatrics class and it's a difficult class to take seriously honestly.
Our whole class. I think we took this over the summer.

Neurology lab. I now know how to move even the fattest of the fat without them helping an ounce.
Andy, James, and Doug trying out wheelchairs at a convention.
Well, I'll post more as I receive them from fellow classmates.