Laguna Beach

This is Laguna Beach. It is the most unique beach i've seen since we moved to the area. Most have been water, beach, million dollar 200 sq. ft. homes, getto. Laguna is a mix of sandy cliffs, lots of food places, volleyball courts, bb courts, and seaweed. It was the most fun Kate and I have had together at the beach so far.(With friends Newport wins)You have to love how much MTV and other television stations blow up this beach. Oooo...Laguna Beach. There weren't any overly attractive people (besides Kate) and the average age was 40. Which is a great age. That wasn't a diss to people over 40. Sorry. Gesh.
When it was time to leave Katie used my washboard abdominals to dry our towels and suits. I was trying to use one of those things that tans the bottom of your chin but didn't realize I was using it improperly.


I played softball tonight and almost hit a homerun. It was caught at the warning track. Katie was in the bleachers. "Did you see my almost homerun?" She was talking but said she liked my "catches and throws." I was the catcher. Yes, it was slow pitch softball and yes the throws were back to the pitcher. Thanks Honey, glad I impressed you. Glory Days...

Here We Go Again!!

Today was the first day of college football. I am please to say that the Buckeyes, at the expense of possibly losing their Heisman canidate runningback, beat Youngstown state handily. USC fans are breathing a sigh of relief because they know he might not play against them in two weeks when Ohio state heads out here to Southern California to play at the Rose Bowl. It doesn't really matter anyway. The teams this year are so balanced and there isn't one awesome team so a loss for any team this early in the season won't matter too much come January. I want to stress the word "too."
There is something about Saturday football that is comforting. I must admit, it isn't nearly as fun watching it by myself. Katie tries but she reminds me often that we've only been married for two years and it is going to take her time to enjoy football. I'm glad she's trying.
I met some students to study this week. They called me crazy. What? "You midwestern football fans are crazy." I smiled to that compliment.
We got cable this week. Now I can watch games on saturdays. We got the basic channels but on Saturday there are still like 8 games on throughout the day.
We went to this place on campus called the "little white house." It is a thrift store I guess. It has beds, furniture and kitchen stuff. Katie brought home lots of stuff for the kitchen. I got this dresser below. It is in great shape and I couldn't believe that someone gave it away. It's a rather expensive dresser made from good wood. The deal is you borrow the furniture and bring it back when you are done with school. I told the lady that if I took this it would require lots of work and would not be bringing it back in three years. She was fine with that.Some of you care so I'll tell you. I took off the handles. Each drawer had a key lock with a key. I took those off and will replace with new handles. Sorry I didn't rotate the below picture. The drawers are going to have a light stain and everything else will be a darker brown stain. Sounds ugly but just wait. It will take me some time but eventually it will look good.
I have two finals this week. I also have two quizes (a quiz in grad school isn't the same as a quiz in undergrad). I already finished a paper that is do on Thursday. I have got a huge jump on next week and it's only Saturday. Some of you have asked how i'm doing grade wise. I got my lowest grade of the year this week...84% in Manual Muscle Testing. Well, I thing I got an 82% once in Anatomy. An 84% is passing but close to failing. No worries. Anyway. Going into this week I have an A(95%) in Med. Terminology, an A-(93.9) in Kinesiology, and the other two classes are too low in points to really justify a grade. Those points will come this week. Sorry to bore some of you with numbers.
We are going to the beach tomorrow after church. I don't know which one but that's what we are doing.
Katie starts work on Monday. She is ready to go. I'm ready for her. It will be good for her to start getting involved with things around here.
This blog is all about me. I honestly don't know what's up with Kate. Our conversations are getting shorter as we get closer to finals. Tomorrow at the beach we will catch up. Maybe she'll write midweek with how here first few days of work went.
Go Buckeyes!!

Lots of fun stuff to do

I went to the symphony tonight. Alone. I took my Manual Muscle Testing notes to study, dinner and a headlamp. I've got a midterm on Monday yet i'm sure I was the only one studying on a Friday night. I left at the intermission though. I was there to study but the classical was the kind of classical I don't like. You know the kind in the movies where the young guy wears the white wig and tries to persuade the good looking woman to marry him while they are forced to dance at the ball. Yeah, not my kind. Too hip hop for me. I like the classical that involves blood or swords. Now that's good classical. The guys reading this are all like, "yeah...I know that kind." You know, Braveheart, Gladiator, Legends of the Fall, i guess lord of the rings. Good stuff.
This picture below is the side of our driveway. The plant on the right started growing a month or so ago. Every morning I got on my bike for school and had intentions of cutting it down. Now I think it looks like a type of grass. The neighbors weren't sure. They tried cutting it down. I found that out after I spent two hours collecting seed off of it and sowing them in the surrounding bare areas. Hopefully in a few weeks there will be grass weeds from that rock to well beyond the mature one on the other side. (im listening to the gladiator soundtrack right now) The grass weed curls up during the heat of the day and opens to a deep green in the evening and especially in the morning.
I also planted a bunch to the left of this tree. (between the rocks)

This is a picture from the middle of our backyard. There are still about 10 yards behind me. There is a deck and a shop connected to the garage. I hope to transplant some flowers to the back so Katie will sit back there with me. Right now there are too many little lizards and crickets. Sometimes I will sneak a peek of her watering the plants. She is so nervous 2 inch lizards are going to attack her or something.
Palm Springs. No...Seriously this is Palm Springs. I have yet to see what all the fuss is about. I've now been there 3 or 4 times and haven't seen the reason people vacation there.

A prickly pear. They're prickly.
This sign is too funny. This was taken about a mile in on the Barker Dam hike in Joshua Tree N.P. I got the same picture in January when I came out here for the interview at Loma Linda but the ground was atleast damp. It is well into the upper 90's everyday and rain just doesn't happen there often. They need a "no diving" sign too.
I don't remember the name of this area of the park and this picture doesn't do it justice. It was too hot to exit the car so we settled with the window down.
Three weeks down, three to go in the second half of summer quarter. I am doing well. I have really prided myself on my ability to adjust to the schedule and balance my studies. My confidence grows with each compliment and "A" that I receive. Yesterday I pointed out an error in the notes. My teacher said he has been teaching this for 13 years and no one has ever caught that error. He called me "very bright." I have to be. I am taking on lots of debt, responsibility and have a woman attached to me for life. It's not about me anymore. I had a student ask me why I study so hard. I told him to get married and then he would understand. When you have someone relying on you, things change. There are lots of motivations to keep me going but knowing Katie is proud of me and respects me is my ultimate motivation.
I think i'm going to do the L.A. marathon in March. I always vowed I wouldn't be the guy that WAS in shape and then disappears for a few years and returns with two more chins and an additional few pounds. School is time consuming and i'm noticing i'm not as healthy as a once was. So when the idea of a marathon was presented to me by a fellow health struggling student I jumped on it. I don't think I could look back on life and be ok with saying I didn't atleast try one. "Thank God for your health Scott." My bud Brian said that to me years ago. He prays for his and his families health daily. I am grateful to ride to school and do the things I can do. Thank you God. Anyway, it's in March and I don't have to worry about the weather down here so training should be convenient.
Katie returns tomorrow evening. Tomorrow starts OUR life down here together. God responds. May He be glorified.

Put your face in your guestbook.

So don't forget to read Katies writing that she wrote today. I told my mom I would put this guestbook thing in. I guess she saw it on one of my friends blogs and liked it. Plus, We want to know who is checking up with us. After all, we do this for you guys. Fellas, keep it PG. Have a good week.

Finally! A job

It's official -- I have a job. Come September 2nd I think Loma Linda will start to feel more like home. oh! i'm so excited to start, to have a routine again, structure, income, and sanity. The position i will be starting is Administrative Assistant to the Women's Ministry Pastor at Trinity Evangelical Free Church--the church we're attending in Redlands, CA.

The process, however, for getting this job was quite an ordeal. I had heard about this position a few weeks before we even moved, but put it out of my mind mainly because I figured I'd find something before September (and we weren't sure if Trinity would become our home church). Things started to fall into place the beginning of July when Scott and I became pretty close with a family from the church whose daughter, Holly, is in Scott's class. Julie, Holly's mom, is the Secretary at Trinity brought up the position. I then became pretty excited about the opportunity and worked out the numbers (financially) to see if it would be possible to wait till September for a job... not really, but with extra loans and my family offering to fly me up north to Blaine (where i still am) and put me to work, it all started to make sense.

I sent my resume to the appropriate person and things began to fall into place. A couple other job interviews came up and i made it clear to Julie that i needed to know if i was even being considered for the position. She set me up to meet with the Administrative Director, then finally I met with the Women's Ministry Pastor. I felt good about my interviews (with encouragements from Julie), and i took off for Blaine, hoping to hear bout the position that next week. The week passed and come Friday i couldn't handle the anxiety any more! I emailed the Administrative Director trying to get some bit of information. (I had also received an email earlier that day about another opportunity that I might pursue).

It turned out that the Executive Pastor still wanted to meet with me (arg!). I told the Admin Director i could do a phone interview with him, otherwise it would have to wait until i get back from WA. Anyway, they ended up flying me home to Loma Linda for a few days to meet with the Ex. Pastor and they would let me know Monday. (i know... they flew me home, crazy! God is good!!) So, after a nice weekend with Scott and some friends, the Body Worlds 3 exhibit in LA, i returned to Blaine anxiously, but confidently, awaiting the offer. It came via e-mail :) saying "welcome aboard" and "call us when you return to work out the details."

3 months without a job while being prepared for only 1 month seems crazy, but somehow God provides. I'm amazed at how this time has passed!

Anyway... i had the opportunity to go with my parents and my aunt and uncle (Teresa and Shon) to the Lynden fair. Good memories come from that fair... and things are pretty much the same.

Here's the cow barn -- where i spent the first 8 summers of my life. My dad would bring his prized jerseys for showing. We would live at the fair for a week in our tiny trailer :)
Here's my aunt Teresa attempting to bite into a "moowich" -- as you can see, two large chocolate chip cookies with a nice hunk of ice cream between them :) there were 5 of us that shared this scrumptious, annual treat.

Another fair favorite is corn on the cob -- That's uncle Shon, flossing after his cob.

For some reason, i've always loved looking at the arts, crafts, food, produce and quilts at the fair... here's my favorite quilt: a beach scene with a Madrona tree -- like at my grandpa's beach :)

Blog Wars!!

My good friend Brian Foster decided to post a blog (on his blog, which you can see on the left hand column) on how wonderful his wife's cooking was. This couldn't have come at a better time considering Katie is out of town.(sarcasm.) So I decided to throw in some of my cooking skills to make myself feel better about what I'VE been eating these few weeks. Fresh pizza from Costco. This was my second attempt. And a good one. Pepperoni and cheese with a sprinkle of red pepper. Mmm. Beat that Brian!
Next, something I picked up since marriage has been the hard boiled egg. Simply put the eggs in water, boil, and let them cool down in the water. If you let them sit in the fridge for a few days they are easier to peel. Bet you didn't know that Brian. If our wives are such great cooks there is only one way to settle this. A cook off. Not between the ladies but between you and I. Next time I'm in town we will have the face off. Pick your food. But microwaves must be involved.
On a less serious note, the olympics are my achilles heel right now. I study till about 10 and then instead of going to bed I watch something insignificant like womens badminton. US vs. a country i've never heard of and have never even won a bronze. But still, i'm jumping up and down yelling, "go! go! Hit that ball...i mean mitton...birdie." Holy crap there's track on. That being said I wake up with rings around my eyes and running late. The good part is the last few nights I've been studying at Panera bread and Starbucks is right next door. I head in there a few minutes before they close to see some other P.T. students and the last few nights they've given me the pre-made sandwiches they didn't sell that day. That has been my breakfast and dinner up until they spoil.
School is good though. I love my muscle movement class. I seem to know more than I thought. I'm sure it's cause my background in fitness. My hardest class so far is World Religions. I really enjoy it. There is a ton of reading and discussion. Plus the tests are crazy hard. Learning about other faiths and hearing lectures from Hindu's, Latterday saints, and Muslims so far has given me a deeper understanding of what's out there. Plus, it's deepening my faith in scripture and Christ Himself because it's challenging me to check for Truth. People really get offensive when religion is the topic of discussion. I don't know why that assumption is made that conversion is the goal. Let me be straight up with you. I care about about what you believe but could care less if you believe it or not. What you invest your soul in is your decision but I enjoy learning about what you believe and why so I know what's out there. That being said, don't think I'm pressing my beliefs on you. It's your life and life after...believe what you want.
I have four more weeks of the 2nd summer quarter and then Kate and I get to somehow go make our way up to Spokane for a wedding that I wouldn't miss for anything. It really has been an uneventful few weeks. That's why you get pictures of eggs and pizza. Things should pick up when Katie gets back.
My aunt Mary Beth is in town this weekend- for a conference or something. It will be nice to see someone face to face that I love. It has been awhile. With all these new faces and awkward, forced friendships you don't have time to meet new people because all you do is literally study. Our house right now is a house. It is not a home. It's only a home when Katie is here. She puts fruit in the hanging basket and keeps the fridge stocked. The plants seem to do better when she's here too. I keep up with them but I think they know she's gone. Sometimes I talk to them saying while I water, "It's ok guys, she'll be back in a little while." Then they wither some more and I say, "Fine! You want your mother! See what it's like without water in this 106 degree heat!" Then I apologize. Imagine the neighbors. That being said I don't have much to show off when my aunt comes. The bathroom is clean. No pee on the seat. No Katie... I didn't just use water to clean the toilet! None the less, she'll come here with smiles. I do have one thing for her. When I was younger, for our birthdays, she would always give us one Hostess chocolate cupcake with a candle in it. She would sing. I will greet her with the same as today is and tomorrow we will celebrate her birthday.

Nothing new really

Hi Everyone. Today is Sunday. Let's see... I picked Katie up on Thursday afternoon. We went to a show thing on Friday night with some friends. It wasn't that good. Saturday morning we went to Los Angeles for the Body World's 3 exhibit. It was neat. I saw it before in Seattle a few years ago before I had anatomy. Since then, I've had it twice and other classes that contribute to the human body. They have also added giraffes, gorillas etc. Bodies is a museum of different human bodies that have been dissected and what they call, "plasticized." The dissections are 100x better than our dissections so we had plenty of, "ohhhh, thats what that looks like," moments. I was amazed by how much Katie knew aswell. She has obviously been listening to me ramble on with my memorization everyday. My favorite part was watching her educate other people on things I didn't know she knew. "Oh, yeah, that is the... it does this...did you know that..." She is so smart I wish I could take her brain into my studies. It would make my time much more efficient.
I had a good first week of school. I don't know the results of my first three test but I feel good about them. Katie will hear about her job tomorrow. I will put everything on it. She'll get the job. If she doesn't, they made a big mistake.
I just let out a long sigh as the thought of studying keeps poking me saying, "let's go!" I guess I should. Press on.