Just A Dream...

I cannot wait until I have my own house. Living in a dorm room has really made me antsy for more space. I want to decorate, paint walls, feng shui, host dinners, even clean! (My father's need to clean has rubbed off on me FINALLY.) I find myself gazing through countless photos online (thank you Pinterest) admiring all the creativity and over-all amazing-ness of having one's own place. The problem is, I am a grad student living off loans and savings accounts. But, a girl can dream can't she?

FALLing FAST

I can't believe it's already November! I'm taking my first Midterm on Thursday, which means the first quarter of my two-year program is half-way over! It may seem like a small achievement to most, but if the following weeks fly by as fast as these first five have then I'll have my degree in no time!

So far I have made the 1 hour and 30 minute drive to Oceanside every Friday. The coast is sooo much nicer than the inland area. I can breathe, relax, and spend time with my better half. I love having something to look forward to during the week. On Monday I'm usually thinking, "Only 4 more days!" When Thursday finally ends, after 6 hours of lecture, I am usually too excited to sleep because the next day is FRIDAY!

The weekend before last was very busy for my Pastor boyfriend. Our Friday was spent at Oceanside Pier setting up and taking part in a vespers programs for the youth of North San Diego County. Here's a picture of Aren and I at the beach.

While we were waiting for the kids to show up, we walked over to the pier and got ice cream at this cute little shop that resembles Big Dip Ice Cream Parlor from back home. I got Maui Wowie and Aren got a sundae (of course). The best part about our ice cream purchase was that we got a free round of golf at Boomer's Mini Golf. So, guess where we went for Saturday Night (aka Date Night)? Yep, Boomer's! Well, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Included in this busy weekend was a sermon given by Pastor Aren. This was the second time I got to hear him preach. He talked about the time when Ryan Spilborghs (Colorado Rockies Outfielder) dissed him during batting practice, which is one of my favorite stories of his. He related it all to being a witness for God and not being afraid to do so. After lunch, we geared up for what has now become a Sabbath afternoon ritual: laying out on a blanket in the park. This is the best activity! We relax, read, talk, watch all the dogs (and then I beg for a dog), and just enjoy life.

We were so excited for our Saturday evening activity of mini golf. Much to my surprise, Aren and I tied at the end of 18 holes. Aren kept saying over and over how easy the course was, but I don't think the guy should brag if he let an uncoordinated girl like me tie with him. We spent the rest of the evening in the batting cages. I took on the slow-pitch softballs while he challenged the 55mph fastballs. What a stud!

The last and final day of the busy weekend for Aren was (drumroll please.....) His First Wedding! That's right! Aren can now marry people. I wish I could have been there to see it, but it sounded like it all went well. The bride didn't run and Aren didn't mess up any names or "repeat after me's".

The weekends are great to escape, but when I come back to Loma Linda it's "back to reality." This past week was a great week of reality, however. This past week I found my internship! The thing that I had been most worried about was finally taken care of. It is truly amazing what the power of prayer can do. My job will be at the Medical Center in Loma Linda. I'll be working in a branch of HR, leading in an employee program. I am so excited for all that will come my way in this field. God gave me the perfect internship - something I couldn't have dreamed up on my own.

And, that's my life right now. I have a midterm in Biostatistics and a huge presentation on the pharmaceutical industry for Healthcare Delivery Systems. Like I said above, I'm counting down the days 'til Friday. I especially can't wait for Thursday to be over.

Side note, tomorrow is my BIG little brother's birthday! Happy Birthday to the best brother!

--Allie

Working for the Weekends

I have slowly gotten into a routine down here. Classes are keeping me semi-busy, but I do have a lot of spare time during the week. I will probably be on the look out for a job to bring in some extra dinero until my internship portion of the program begins. I find myself gravitating towards children's hospitals and other health care organizations of that nature. I'm setting up a meeting with the COO of a children's hospital in the area to explore my options.

I find myself counting down the days 'til Friday, which is when I head West to O-side. The weekends aren't too exciting usually, but they are wonderful. I get to take naps, cook food, watch football (which is ok if it's a Niners game), go to a wonderful church with wonderful people, etc. Here's a glimpse of what we get to do on Sundays.

Only 4 more days 'til Friday!

I'm a Nerd.

I am so happy to be in school! Seriously, no sarcasm here. I just got done with a 6-hour block of classes comprised of Biostatistics in Healthcare Management and Healthcare Delivery Systems - and they are awesome. I am officially a nerdy Public Health Student. Finally, I feel like I'm taking courses that I am actually interested in and that will directly benefit my future career. Win-win!

Friends have been asking for pictures, so here's what my dorm room looks like. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.

The gym bag I got for free at the Back to School Bash and my badge.

My bare pantry.

Textbooks and beautiful gifts from my grandma.

More of my desk.

My roommate's side and our mini fridge.

My 'A' mug. Another gift from my grandma. So sweet!

Bathroom counter.

My closet is packed!

My desk and bed.

It's still an adjustment for me coming from PUC where I've known everyone my whole life to Loma Linda where I only know a handful of people, but I'm taking it one day at a time. These next two years will go by in a flash and I will have another degree under my belt. Hopefully it's the final step in attaining my dream job, whatever that may be. For now, I'm excited for the weekend, especially Sabbath spent in O-side.

LLU SPH MBA

Hello!

I'm writing to you from the sometimes smoggy, but mostly nice campus of Loma Linda University. I moved into the dorm this past Thursday with a little help from my slave, I mean boyfriend, Aren. The next day was filled with obtaining an ID badge, buying my books and dorm room necessities, and driving to Oceanside for the weekend. I imagine I will be over there almost every week. It will be nice to breathe clean air. I had orientation all day yesterday in this fantastic building called Centennial Complex where I will be attending class for the next couple of years. That was followed by the Back to School Bash where everything was free! I got my first LLU shirt, water bottle and gym bag, and dinner (I am in the process of creating a calendar simply consisting of events in which free food is provided).

My first class is tonight: Business Communication (which I did take at PUC, but is not good enough for LLU standards). Even before classes have commenced, I have a huge reading assignment. After almost three hours of lecture, I'll try to hit the Drayson Center and check out my first class called Yogalaties, which I'm assuming is a blend of Pilates and Yoga (both of which I have never attempted - so wish me luck).

So far it's great being down here and getting acquainted with everything, but I'm sure I won't be singing its praises once classes really get going. Graduate work is supposed to be pretty time consuming and challenging so your prayers are always welcome!

Representing the SPH at LLU.

More Later,

Allie

A Dream Is A Wish...

If you know me you know that I'm a pretty big Disney fanatic. And if you really know me, you know that I love making lists. So here is a combination of the two. I would love, love, LOVE to own the entire Disney movie collection, but I'm being reasonable and making a list of all the Disney classics I would like to eventually own. So, here's where I am at so far...

In My Possession

Up

Beauty & The Beast

Ratatouille

Wall-E

Sleeping Beauty

Enchanted

Alice in Wonderland

Snow White

Monsters, Inc.

The Emperor's New Groove

Lilo & Stich

So, as you can see I'm still missing some classics. Here's what I would like to collect over the next few years...

Yet to buy

Cinderella

Aladdin

The Lion King

The Little Mermaid

Pinnochio

Dumbo

Toy Story 1, 2 and 3

Finding Nemo

Mulan

Bambi

Peter Pan

Lady and The Tramp

101 Dalmatians

The Aristocats

The Jungle Book

Robin Hood

The Fox and The Hound

Pocahontas

A Bug's Life

Cars 1 & 2

Is this too much? Oh well, I won't be happy 'til it's complete.

Allie Hungry

Here's my bucket list on places to eat in The Valley before the big move.

After a recent trip to Loma Linda, I've realized that I will be surrounded by Home Town Buffets and BJ's for the next two years. I intend to eat as much good food as possible so as to avoid the consumption of terrible food in the future.

I have two weeks to accomplish this goal... Wish me luck!

-Brassica-

-Farmstead-

-Checkers-

-Guignis-

-Armadillos-

It All Started With A Flat Tire

And it all started with flat tire, folks. The trip I had been looking forward to the most this summer got off to an unexpected start.

On Tuesday, August 16, I flew out from Sacramento Airport to Portland, Oregon to Spokane, Washington. My final destination was Missoula, Montana, a three hour drive from Spokane. The day was looking long as the plane finally touched down on the runway in Washington. I was thinking about the 3-hour leg that still lay ahead of me. I was greeted by a gorgeous face, my best friend Kait, in baggage claim. We caught up while we waited for my bag to come around on the carousel. Finally, the olive green suitcase with the pink luggage tag was in sight. I grabbed my bag and headed for her car. We were pretty hungry so we stopped at the mall in Spokane to grab something to eat. After dinner we piled back into the car, and within 5 minutes of our drive on the highway we were alerted by a helpful driver that her back tire was flat. To make a long story short, AAA did not help us out. Instead, a man resembling Herman Munster and a hill billy helped us change the flat while his wife pointed us in the direction of the nearest hotel and auto shops. It was about 9:00 PM at this point and driving on a donut for 250 miles didn't seem too safe to us, so we crashed at the Ramada just off the highway.

We stayed up much too late watching people eat snakes and drink venom wine on TV. We woke up super early to get to the auto shop after a complimentary breakfast in the hotel lobby. The Les Schwab easily patched the tire and we were back on the road in no time. We zoomed through Idaho and into Missoula. Kait showed me around her new apartment and took me out to lunch where they serve sandwiches with bread baked in coffee cans. It really is one of the best sandwiches I have ever had.

The next day Kait had an interview with one of her professors for Pharmacy school, so we drove over to University of Montana. While I waited for her, I toured around campus, read my book and took some pictures.

Kait, proudly posing in front of this very historic building.

That night, we made our way to Lindbergh Lake for a few nights stay at the infamous McDonald Cabin. It was a true girl's weekend. We spent every day laying out on the dock and getting sun. We ate way too much good food (thanks to Kait's mother-in-law), told and listened to hilarious stories, and simply relaxed. Lindbergh Lake is one of the only places I can completely and totally let go of everything. Here are a few pictures from that weekend.

I stayed in The Bear Room. Kait was across the hall in the Twin Room and Jenny (aka Aunt Sunshine) stayed in the Moose Room on the other side of the den.

This was the view from my room. Spiral staircase to the deck is to the right and the dock was just a few steps down. It's absolutely amazing to wake up to this view.

Two girls wiped out after a day of swimming, fetching sticks and running.

Hard to pass up a Huckleberry Milkshake. Just look at the joy smothered all across her face.

There's joy on my face too. Sooo delicious! Kait's mother-in-law made us huckleberry pancakes one morning with the berries that we picked the day before, and I bought some homemade huckleberry jam at the farmer's market in Seeley. Mmm Mmm delicious!

View from the deck. Right here is where I enjoyed some fantastic food and stories.

One morning I took the canoe out and paddled across the lake. I was dying to see some bears, but all I got were giant dragonflies.

So, the visit was drawing to a close. I always feel like I never get enough time at the cabin. Before Kait and I left, her mother-in-law and good friend convinced us to put on a fashion show on the dock with some old clothes from the 50's and 60's. We were happy to oblige.

After Kait and I packed up the wigs, hats, coolot dresses and swimsuits we made our way back to Missoula. Along the drive we noticed a thick, dark smoke rising from the mountains we were heading towards. As we got closer to the source we noticed that we were heading towards a huge forest fire. Cars had pulled over onto the side of the road and we did the same. We stepped out to take a few pictures, but the smoke was pretty intense so we didn't stay too long.

The fire burned a good part of the mountain, but I don't think any houses were damaged. So after that eventful drive, it was time for me to head back home. This time I had a layover in Las Vegas, which is an insane airport. I knew gambling was big over there, but slot machines right outside of the gates? That is crazy.

It was tough to leave Montana and head home. It's so relaxing and such beautiful country. So a big, BIG thank you to two wonderful people for sending me on this trip. I love you both!

Happy Campers

Believe it or not, I'm a happy camper. I may be girly and I do hate bugs, but I love camping. So, when the parental unit announced we were heading to South Lake Tahoe for five whole days of nature-centered activities I was ecstatic. I love any chance to break out my latest camping investment: my down mummy bag. We loaded up the Tahoe and hitched our boat up and made the 3 and a half hour drive to the woods.

Our campsite: #344

We aren't your typical campers. We go to a campground located right off highway 50.

We went to McDonald's every night for dessert (ice cream sundaes). My family isn't big on s'mores. The campgrounds are complete with a pool, tennis courts and community tent that hosts karaoke night and movie nights.

The guys setting up the tent. Mom and I attempted the set-up and were quickly shut down because we weren't "doing it right." Oh well, can't say we didn't try.

Louie's set-up. We bought some fake grass from Home Depot. He's already an experienced camper.

My pride and joy: The Cat's Meow is it's name. Everyone else slept on silly air mattresses and even sillier cloth sleeping bags. Overall, very silly indeed.

Cooking up some breakfast potatoes.

This is seriously one of my favorite meals ever: breakfast potatoes with onions, bell peppers and scrambled eggs. MMMMMMM!

So, as I said before, we had hitched up our boat to take out on the lake. We launched just off Lake Tahoe Boulevard and headed West to Emerald Bay. If you haven't been there before, you probably already know what it looks like. It is a very popular photography spot.

The Emerald of Emerald Bay.

Taking a couple shots of Vikingsholm Castle right across the water from the Emerald.

Nick got an incredible sunburn that day. He's a lifeguard.

The next day was spent at Heavenly Village. We went to the dog store we always go to and did some window shopping. Nick found a beautiful looking girl on the stroll.

Nick hanging out in Heavenly Village with his date. She was a little over dressed.

Mom and I dropped the boys off at the campsite to play some tennis, while we headed over to Pope Beach. This small section allows dogs, so we took Lou with us. He found a dog that looked exactly like his "brother" Bear, our yellow lab. He was convinced it was him and kept barking when he played fetch in the water.

Lou keeping an eye on all the other dogs.

Nick got a hold of my camera and took some shots of me and dad

playing our made up card game around the campfire.

Dad and his poker face.

We packed up and left Thursday morning after another delicious plate of breakfast potatoes. This was our last family vacation before everyone moves out. I'm headed to southern California in a month and Nick starts college and dorm life. At least Nick will be close by to do laundry (hopefully he does do that...) and eat normal food when the college caf makes him sick or steals all of his money. I won't be able to visit as often with an internship and school, so this was a great last trip before this big change in our family.

Road Trip

For those of you that know me pretty well you know that I love to travel. So much so that this past weekend I flew down south to drive up north, and drove down south to fly back home. Let me explain...

Aren was asked to be the Master of Ceremonies (MC) at a friend's wedding in La Selva Beach, California. Aren wanted to bring me along as his date, so we talked about meeting in the middle, since he would be coming from San Diego and I from the Napa Valley. That idea didn't last too long when the words "road trip" were mentioned. So, we bought a ticket for me to fly out of Oakland on Thursday to San Diego.

Aren is the best at little surprises. When he picked me up outside baggage claim he handed me this vibrant bouquet of blue flowers. He was a little disappointed when I explained to him that they're dyed blue and don't actually grow that way. The first time he picked me up from the airport he had a surprise dinner out on his patio waiting for us. There were candles, fake floral arrangements and cold food. He sure is a charmer! In all seriousness, it was really very sweet. Besides, the microwave did a fine job in re-heating our pasta, bread and corn.

On Friday, I helped Aren and his youth assistants dismantle their VBS set in the church. (He was more than relieved to be done with the week-long program and that it went so well.) We spent the rest of the afternoon watching an episode of The Bachelorette he had missed and we shopped for dinner and waffle ingredients for his Sabbath School class.

It was Communion Sabbath at church, so that meant Aren was one of the "important people" on stage handing out the trays of bread and wine (crackers and grape juice). It was my second time at his church, so I've started to get to know a few people now (although I can't say the same for the head deaconess who has met me quite a few times and still thinks I'm Aren's sister). It is such a warm, family environment - something I'm not quite used to, but I'm embracing it.

We stopped by Aren's house before we left to pack up.

At around 4 PM, we finally left for Monterey Bay Academy (where we would be staying for the weekend). We decided to take 101 up the coast and made one stop in Santa Barbara for dinner. It just so happened to be our 7-month anniversary. I knew he had forgotten, so after we finished our plates at El Torrito I quickly exclaimed, "Happy Anniversary!"

"Uh...is it? Oh yeah I guess....I..."

"I win!," I said. (Please, please, please tell me you watch Modern Family. Gloria surprised Jay by turning his Valentine's gift on him and shouted that she won too.)

Aren looking at the Santa Barbara pier and not thinking about our anniversary.

Like I said, Aren really is a charmer. So, we got back on the road. I'm officially the worst wingman because I passed out immediately and left Aren to fend for himself on the road. He had to stop and get some caffeine to keep going. It was close to 1 AM and we still hadn't made it to the school. (We kind of made a wrong turn...or two.) Finally, it's 3 AM and we see the welcoming Monterey Bay Academy sign. Yes! A bed was within reach.

Sunday was the wedding day. We woke up and spent some time with friends, then Aren took me into Capitola. It's a super cute beach town where there is absolutely no parking and people don't care that it's freezing cold outside. They act and dress like it's sunny and 80 degrees in the shade. Hey, they're at the beach! Aren and I grabbed some coffee and sat on the pier, huddled in our jackets, and watched little kids build sand castles and play in the ocean.

We got too cold sitting outside, so we headed back to get dressed for the wedding. The couple got married by the golf course and had their reception in the club house. The bride walked down to Edelweiss, a beautiful song from The Sound of Music, and the groomsmen held up score cards of 8's, 9's, and 10's for the kiss. It was a very sweet wedding ceremony. Then came time for the reception. All eyes on Aren time! (Of course I'm kidding.) As nervous as he was, he did a fantastic job.

Strawberry jam favors. Delicious!

Wedding reception set-up.

We woke up bright and early the next day for our road trip back down to San Diego. Scratch that - He woke up early. He had to come wake me up from my slumber. We packed up the car and drove to Salinas for breakfast at IHOP, where Aren apparently had the best breakfast plate ever. We bought an audio book by Francis Chan before we left San Diego, so we started listening to a few chapters. It's called Crazy Love, and it's an awesome book that asks you to take a better look at God and yourself as a Christian. Even though we didn't finish it, I highly recommend reading/listening to it sometime.

I know you all are wondering if we made it back in time to watch the season finale of The Bachelorette - and the answer is yes, yes we did! By the way, we are both ecstatic that she picked J.P., whom I loved since the beginning, and applaud ABC for keeping us in suspense for the last hour.

True love!

Tuesday came, and it was time for me to head back home. Aren and I decided to check out Extraordinary Desserts in Balboa Park before I had to catch my flight. He got cheesecake and I got a coffee cake. They were huge portions and a little pricey. I don't know if we'll ever go back, but I recommend that you try it if you're ever in San Diego.

I had strawberry and raspberry coffee cake.

He had a New York marble cheesecake with ice cream.

Can you see the excitement on his face?

My next trip is to Montana in less than 2 weeks. (See, I really do love traveling!) I get to see my best friend and spend some time at a relaxing lake cabin in Seeley. I leave you with this quote from a song that just speaks to my soul...

"Life is a highway. I wanna' ride it all night long..."