Jon & Rachel Van Wickle

January 2012

2012-01-31T23:20:00.000-08:00

Hi blogging friends.

This month has definitely thrown us into 2012, sometimes it seems like all we know around here is "busy!"

First of all, Mr. Jon and I have received new callings at church. We are no longer teaching our beloved 6-7 year-olds. Jon is now helping with the 14 and 15 year old boys in the ward, including spending his Wednesday evenings doing scouting activities. So far Jon is liking it, there are some other cool guys in there with him. I was surprised to find out that I am not leaving primary at all, but instead I am the second counselor in the primary presidency. I get to teach all the little kiddos about Noah's Ark next week, wish me luck! I am also involved in helping out with the scouting program, but I am with the cub scouts.

Jon is doing swimmingly at his job; it was fun to get his W2 and look at what a difference it makes to have a full-paying job that he LOVES. It really makes you appreciate having a good job (no matter what you get paid). Things are moving forward with medical school, and as we like to tell people now, "we will let you know when we have good news." I am sure I won't be able to contain myself once we have good news ;)

I am having a tough quarter with very different and demanding classes. As well as a big final project that is weighing on my mind. I am lucky to have my friends in my program, they make me feel sane. It feels like with the new year and the new quarter there is just a lot of new things- new clients, new mentoring experience, new final project to finish up, new classes and information. Not to mention new callings at church, etc. But I know I can survive for another month and a half.

Even when life is crazy and busy, and I feel like I am wasting any time where I'm not working, I still like my life. I love my husband. I have a lot to be thankful for.

I am looking forward to a month spent with friends, midterms, my favorite holiday, some family birthdays, and making new memories. Let's do this February...

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T21:17:00.000-08:00

Happy new year blogging friends.

December was a whirlwind of a month for Mr. Jon and I.

I finished out the quarter strong, spent a week realizing how bored I get without school or Jon around... and then we packed up our bags and went home for a well-deserved vacation.

We had a fantastic dinner with Grandma Joan and the rest of the Van Wickle crew- it is always a delight to see them each year.

Christmas eve was lovely, with church, palazzios, and games.

Christmas day was spent at the Van Wickle's, who have the best stocking stuffers in town. Despite a major power outage in the neighborhood, we had power throughout the day. Jon and the boys tried out his new slack-line at the beach and we all gawked at how incredibly beautiful it is in Goleta.

The rest of the week included surfing for Jon and his dad, spending time with the brothers and the J's, watching a lot of movies, and eating way too much good food.

The Tate's got together Friday night, we finally felt complete when Joe arrived. We had Christmas on new year's eve- we started with a yummy brunch and then moved quickly to opening presents. The rest of the day consisted of eating at the favorite local hot spots (hamburger habit and rusty's pizza- despite the parent's offer to go to a "nice" dinner), playing games and ringing in the new year together. The day was practically perfect.

It was hard to beat the vacation we had, so Jon and I figured we better pack up and get out of town while everything still felt so sweet. Happy memories were made, relationships were strengthened, our car was packed with far more loot than we came with, and our hearts were full.

Though there may have been about 5% sadness when we left, we figured that was the correct amount to feel; after all, you should miss a vacation as good as this one.

November

2011-11-30T23:36:00.000-08:00

My goal these days, because school is so crazy, is to just post once a month. So of course, here I am on November 30th at 11:37 at night. Procrastination = motivation.

Here is the latest update on Mr. Jon and I.

Jon interviewed at Temple University at the start of the month. He really liked the school and had a great experience there. He says he feels his interview went well... but you can never know for sure with these things. He should hear back from them soon, but no matter what happens, he is keeping up a positive attitude.

He really liked getting the experience of interviewing at a school. Temple in particular had some really cool state-of-the-art features and technology, and the campus seemed really nice. Philly would be a huge change for us, but we are open to wherever the Lord wants us to go.

My schooling is plugging along, I wish I could fit how much information I am learning into my head. Sometimes it feels like I just can't connect all the dots- I have so much information around me all the time! I wish I could just be a super-therapist and know it all. But I am growing, and that is a good feeling.

I have two more weeks of class until Christmas break. This is the normal stress-time for me. About 3 weeks before the end it all seems to be crashing down. But now I can normalize that feeling. I don't know what it is, but making lists seems to de-stress me quite a bit (and from what I hear this works for a lot of other people as well) I have now deemed my ritual end-of-the-quarter-to-do-list just "THE LIST". It is that epic. I got to cross off a couple of things today and that felt good.

Jon and I had a wonderful thanksgiving with Jon's cousins in Orange County. We ran a 5k in the morning and enjoyed a day without any worries.

It wouldn't feel right to post in November without listing what we are thankful for...

Here is what we say thank you for in our prayers each night:

1. our apartment (seriously, so close to school and the clinic, Jon takes the shuttle, stuff doesn't break and we actually like to hang out in it.)
2. Our working car (can I hear an amen?)
3. Jon's job (remember this time last year? And that sales job that Jon didn't exactly love? Now he has a job he likes, hes good at, and gets paid for!)
4. My education (while I might be a stress bucket- that's just because I'm so busy soaking in the awesomeness of what I am learning. I know I will miss it when its over.)
5. Our families (they just can't be beat. Period.)
6. Our friends (our connection to the outside world- they keep us laughing through it all.)
7. The gospel (so much happiness in our lives, purpose, meaning. Our family theme for the last two year: FAITH not fear!)

I am sure that there is a lot more things to be thankful for. But I am going to save up my word count and start putting those words into those 5 papers I need to get done in the next two weeks (I wish that was an exaggeration).

We are thankful, we are happy, we are hopeful. So onto the end of the year and into the merriest month of them all.

October

2011-10-27T14:20:00.001-07:00

I've changed my past goal of writing weekly, to now just trying to write monthly. I wish I had lots of fun stuff to share, but things have been pretty steady over here.

1. Jon ended up re-scheduling his interview at Temple so that he could get a better deal on flights (so expensive!). So now he will be going near the beginning of November, wish him luck! It is fun to learn about Philadelphia a little bit and consider living somewhere completely different. While this is only an interview, I really like looking at various apartments and land marks for wherever Jon applies and/or interviews.

2. I am keepin' on with school. Classes aren't too bad this quarter, but the clinical work is getting heavier. I am having more clients and more clients that keep coming (which means harder working stages of therapy and bigger problems). I also am on the hunt for my "final case" which is an incredibly important aspect of graduating from our program. But I love saying that I only have about 8 months left of school, that feels pretty amazing.

3. We are looking forward to Halloween. The trunk or treat is this weekend, I think it will be fun to see the little kids we teach at church one year later! I can't believe we have been their teachers for a year, they are so funny. They are also doing the children's program in church this Sunday so I am really looking forward to them performing for the whole church.

4. Jon and I are training for a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. It is only a 5K, which is about 3 miles, but Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif and I are not big fans of running. It has been two years since my half marathon, so I think I have "recovered" from my total hate of running. Plus, training with Jon makes it way more fun. We have been pretty happy with our training so far.

5. I forgot to mention that Jon and I went to a Death Cab for Cutie concert in Santa Barbara for my birthday. It was am-aaaa-zing. I am so glad that Jon thought of such a sweet gift idea. I truly felt like they played all of my favorite songs. I was really touched when they played this one because everyone in the venue was singing along very softly...

http://youtu.be/NDHY1D0tKRA

Jon and I are going great and are glad that life is moving forward. We are excited to see where we end up in the next couple of years and we are doing our best to enjoy the journey.

Things of Note

2011-09-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

The end of September has come so quickly. It has been a really excellent month, lots of fun things have been happening in the Van Wickle clan.

First off- I passed my comp exam! The ugly, long, awful one about everything learned in my first year? Yeah, happy to have that over with. Thank heavens!

Second- Jon has been offered an interview at Temple University for med school! This is his first interview and we are really excited. The school is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and he interviews in about two weeks and a half weeks.

I took a week off from clients, before school started, last week. It was really wonderful to get some time to myself. I got to see my Aunt, Uncle and cousins, a dear friend from when I went to school in Idaho, and read a good book. At the end of the week Jon and I headed home to visit the fam. We got to go to an Alpaca farm for the afternoon, it was so great.

Jon was a little weary of the alpacas at first, especially since they're the cousins of llamas... who can be kind of mean. But he warmed up to them enough to take this great "family picture." (I don't know why it looks like I don't have any eye brows in this picture....)

The view from the farm was amazing. You could see the ocean, even on this overcast day. The people who own it have about 120 alpacas. Each one can cost into the thousands of dollars- their super soft fur is a money maker! When you pet them it feels like you're touching the softest carpet on earth, and it doesn't smell at all. It was pretty cool to learn about the animals.

I love this picture with all the boys and mom. The alpaca being held is only one month old!

I got to celebrate an early birthday with my family on Sunday while were up there, it was great to see everyone and take some time off.

The new fall quarter has started this week. I have a case class, couples therapy, qualitative research, and religion in the family. I think it will be a busy but productive quarter.

Jon is working and doing an excellent job- he loves what he does and the people he works with. It makes all the difference for him! He is happy and looking forward to what comes next with school. We will keep everyone updated with any more good news (or at least, we hope there is more good news to share!).

I am already looking forward to Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the upcoming holiday season. And for temperatures below the 90s! This year has been packed full of new experiences, I can't wait to see what the new few months bring us.

September

2011-09-09T16:04:00.000-07:00

Isn't fall the best season? It has the best fashion, delicious apples, great weather, and prep for Christmas (not to mention, my birthday).

Jon and I have been staying busy since my last blog post (sorry.. they have been so sporadic). Today I took a big, ugly, long exam of everything I learned my first year here at Loma Linda. That test has been weighing on my mind all summer long and I am soo glad it is over (or hopefully over, assuming I've passed).

The most exciting thing Jon and I have done in the last few weeks is going to Seattle with the Van Wickle's for his cousin's, Kaitlin, wedding. It was such a great trip and a beautiful wedding.

The three boys with their cousin- they have such a sweet relationship:

This wedding venue was perfect! Right on the lake, intimate, and of course perfect weather that day.

How cute is this chalkboard itinerary? All of the details were so well thought out.

Jon and I were so happy to be there- and Jon looks really good in Jake's sunglasses (pretty sure he wore them for half of the trip)

Ok, everywhere we went had these beautiful lakes, right on the property of whoever's home we were at. It was picture perfect.

Jon and I are so glad we got to go with the Van Wickle's, we had such a good time being on vacation with them. Including celebrating Jake's birthday, touring around Seattle, and going to a baseball game (I learned a lot from my father-in-law!).

As of right now, Jon is still hoping for some interviews for medical school. We haven't heard from very many schools so we are still hopeful. And I am seeing clients regularly, co-leading an anger management group, and as of today having NO school working looming over me! Tonight we are going to celebrate (date night of course), and tomorrow we are going to go to Universal Studios. Woot!

I hope fall proves once again to be a fun and fabulous season!

Hello Summer

2011-08-14T18:05:00.001-07:00

Ahh, summer. No class, working on papers, seeing clients, going out in the sun, swimming, studying occasionally, soo nice. Here is what we have been up to lately.

1. I finished The Help and loooved it. I have not seen the movie yet, but I intend to. I highly recommend the book.

2. Jon and I went camping at Point Mugu with some friends. We had so much fun making foil dinners, playing games and sleeping right by the beach. The next morning we had french toast and checked out some rock climbing areas.

Morning after sleeping on the beach:

Me with Claire, my friends adorable baby:

Rock climbing:

Jon and I then decided to surprise our parents and drive home for the weekend. It was so great to see them and just hang out at home.

3. The following weekend we went home again so that I could get together with my good friends from elementary school. Jon also planned a fun surfing day with his dad.

It was SO amazing to see these girls, I seriously have the smartest and most accomplished friends.

Rachel R: going to Boston to teach students at a charter school who are very behind their grade level.
Christina: working at a huge non-profit based in LA that helps a variety of populations, does event planning and grant writing.
Madi: going to law school at the University of Virginia, starting this fall.

4. Jon and I have been keeping ourselves busy. We are trying to take up tennis, but currently we are really bad! It is still fun to learn something new together.

Jon has been staying very busy at work and is liking his job so much.
I am trying my best to stay productive with the school work I should be getting done this summer.

We are looking forward to enjoying the rest of the summer and all that comes with it.

2011-07-24T21:39:00.000-07:00

I am the proud new owner of this book:

However, Jon has hidden it from me. Hidden MY book somewhere in MY apartment (ok, our apartment). I have been dying to read this, it has been recommended to me repeatedly. But I have one last project to do for this quarter- 10 pages of my modality paper are due this Thursday. Then it is freedom. Well, freedom from classes at least. So I am going to be working extra hard to earn some escapism with this little gem.

In other news...
Jon got his first pay check!
And I made the deans list at school (Crazy, right?).

One more week until some serious book reading takes place, camping with friends, going to the pool in between seeing clients, cooking healthy dinners and taking care of me. And Jon. He deserves a couple months of good dinners and a clean apartment after a year of "can you help me out please?!" What a guy... (even if he does hide books from me.)

Dear Blog,

2011-07-06T16:42:00.000-07:00

I have not forgotten about you. Sorry that I haven't written on you for a while now. I miss reading what all my blog-friends have to say.

I really wish I could write you about all the things going on recently...
like how my one-week groups class was really intense
and how Jon is so happy to have his job but it is taking the school forever to get him on payroll.
I also wish I could write all about our fabulous trip to SB, and the three lovely couples we brought along with us.

Its too bad that my 3 classes (being done in 5 weeks) and my two 30 page papers are consuming my life. Not to mention my little fever I'm sitting with right now.

Nevertheless, we are keeping on. And of course, I haven't forgotten about you blog. Someday, I will get back to you.

Love,
Rachel

Good News

2011-06-10T18:31:00.000-07:00

Everyone could use a little good news in their life right?

Here is what has been going on for us lately:

1. Remember how Jon was volunteering 30+ hours a week as a research assistant at Loma Linda? Well- they offered him a full time job! Hooray! Jon and I are ecstatic. This is what we hoped for all along- a full time job that is related to medicine.
To be more specific, he works in a perinatal biology lab. He works on an experiment that pretty much takes all day (8 hours)that is really meticulous. He measures protein levels in different cells that come from cerebral arteries (obviously Jon told me that because I have no idea what I'm talking about). He is really enjoying the position because it keeps his interest and he is learning so much.
Now he just has to go through the LLU hiring system, which is notoriously long, to get hired. We are hoping he can be hired on by July.

2. I am finished with this quarter! This horrible, long, demanding quarter. I don't know what it was but this quarter seemed like the most difficult to me. This also means that I am half way done with my masters! This time next year and I will be graduating (oh that sounds soo nice...).
While I am happy this quarter is over, it certainly doesn't start getting easy. Next week I will be involved in a one-week intensive class, the week after that is a break but I have tons of work to do at the clinic. Then- one month intensive summer classes begin! I guess I'll get a break when I graduate. But I am happy to work hard and enjoy my classes and work. It will still be a lot but it will be a new start.

That sums up our good news. Thanks for sharing it with us!

MCAT, San Diego, Research & the End of the Quarter

2011-05-29T20:01:00.000-07:00

Well, Jon finally got his MCAT scores, yay! He did well, within the top 15% of everyone who takes the exam. He was testing at a slightly higher score but has come to terms with what he got and is excited to apply and get things moving. He is turning his first set of applications (before secondaries.. its a little confusing) on June 1st. Go Jon!

Our anniversary trip to San Diego was divine. It was a well needed vacation. Whenever school gets grueling I think back to the ocean, farmers market, Coronado island and wandering around the boardwalk. Heavenly. I am so glad we took a break.

Yay, love.

I dream of going to the farmers market on Saturday morning and getting flowers for floral arrangements... particularly with sunflowers. One of my favorites.

Ocean... I miss you.

Jon is volunteering 30+ hours a week in a research lab in the hospital. I got to see his lab the other day and it is so fun- all complicated and messy. And Jon gets to wear a lab coat which I think is adorable (he doesn't seem to think its that cool though). He is really enjoying the research and hoping it will turn into a job (cross your fingers!!)

I only have two more weeks left in the quarter. As much as I am enjoying all the learning and the experience of grad school- I am not going to miss this quarter. I've been working hard to get all my papers and projects done. Tomorrow will be nice because I have the day off to really work on some papers.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Memorial Day!

Anniversary, Mum's Day & New Things

2011-05-08T17:29:00.000-07:00

So many wonderful things to write about today...

First of all, Happy 3 year Anniversary to Mr. Jon and I! It was so nice to have my parents visit us the weekend before and take us out to a nice anniversary dinner. These three years have been amazing. I think this year has given us the most outward stress in our marriage but I find it so reassuring that through it all we love each other even more.

Jon is the best decision I've ever made...

We went out to breakfast on May 2nd to celebrate, but I was gone for the rest of the day. So to really celebrate our special day we have booked a weekend trip to San Diego! I am so excited (and thankful to my parents for this gift), I am ready to have a weekend of nothing but Jon + Me + Sun.

This Sunday is such a special day, I am so thankful for my mom! And I know how thankful Jon is for his mom! We are so lucky to have such powerful, kind, nurturing and spiritual women in our lives. They are such an example to me, I hope to be like both of them some day. Love you guys... happy mother's day!

Life is moving forward at rapid speed...

-Jon should get his MCAT scores sometime this week. The anticipation is occupying our thoughts and conversations. How exciting; I am finding it fun to focus so much on what is to come for Jon.

-I am busy at school (what's new?), this week will be pretty killer. I think I have almost every hour scheduled, yikes! I am learning a lot and doing my best to appreciate this rigorous education.

-Jon got a cool new research volunteer position at Loma Linda. He is helping a charming old doctor (who resembles Einstein) in studying molecular biology in pre-natal and new infant development.

We have so many things to look forward to, I can't wait for this crazy week to get moving so Jon and I can start our anniversary trip this weekend! Woohoo.

Happy Mother's Day everyone, have a beautiful day!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T21:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter, family and friends!
Easter is such a beautiful holiday, for me it represents all things new. I love that it is in spring time, when new flowers are popping up everywhere. Jon and I even saw some baby geese the other day, it was perfect.

Things have been busy the past couple of weeks, this quarter is proving itself to be my most difficult yet. Academically its not off-the-charts, but 15 credits alongside 15-20 hours a week of work is taking its toll (I am finding therapeutic work to be much more tiring than anything I've done before). I am thankful I have Jon to keep things in perspective. The other day I was lying in bed thinking about the priorities in my life when I realized work came no closer than fifth on my list. Its all about balance.

Jon and I enjoyed our weekend and tried our best to give ourselves a break. After working on school work on Saturday, Jon took me to the local Smiley Library. It was possibly the cutest library I've ever seen- the building is old and charming. We got library cards and checked out some fun books (even one for me to read on the weekends).

We also made Easter Baskets for each other. This was fun because Easter definitely has the best candy of any holiday. It was fun to pick things out for each other and to share.

Have you guys had these mini-eggs? Because seriously, they are a-ma-zing. If you didn't get any for Easter I recommend them. Jon and I are big fans of cadburry, but this has to be one of our favorite things. They are simple but delish.

I love to make Jon take awkward photos...

I am a dork...

We taught our little primary kids today and they were all way too excited about candy and eggs to pay us too much attention, but I think we might have gotten just a little bit of the true meaning of Easter into their heads.

He is risen.

We have been relaxing today, reading our books and making our calendars for the upcoming week.

I hope this week will be productive and positive for ourselves and for you.

MCAT

2011-04-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

Jon took the MCAT yesterday! Finally, it is over! (So long as there is a score over 30, haha)

Jon said he felt like he focused well. He also said it was really difficult. He really appreciated the prayers and support of family and friends- he really felt like that gave him confidence and calm. Now he can confidently say he thinks he will get a score somewhere between a 25-40. We laugh because that is a HUGE range. You never really know. We will find out in about 30 days.

That was our big news of the week.

To celebrate we went and saw The King's Speech (re-opened in theaters as a pg-13 movie, yay!). It was fun to have a night out and we looooved the movie.

Thanks everyone for your love and support as Jon prepared for this exam. It really meant the world to both of us.

General Conference

2011-04-03T12:08:00.001-07:00

This weekend is one of spiritual growth and enlightenment. General conference is one of my very favorite occasions. I love hearing the words of our church leaders- they are always so inspired. You can watch it live or browse past messages here:

lds.org

Jon requested that I make a quiche, I think it is his new favorite food. He is calling it "conference quiche" and is wanting to make it a tradition. I like that.

This week has flown by- classes have started up and this quarter is going to be busy busy busy. But it has motivated me to get organized so I am hoping it will be a productive kind of busy.
Jon is trying not to burn out on MCAT study. Only one more week... he is so ready. He has faith, not fear.

In the midst of this crazy time of life, I am going to focus on the words and thoughts shared in conference. The main quotes that are on my mind right now are:
"Be kind to the poor"
and
"Preach the gospel at all times, if necessary, use words" -St Francis

Hello Blogging World

2011-03-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long. So many things have been happening, and now that spring break is in session, I have some time to write about it!

First and foremost, happy birthday to Mr. Jon! He turned the big 2-3 on the 15th. We celebrated with Cafe Rio, an ice cream cake to die for and some of his favorite shows. We are heading north to Goleta this weekend to celebrate his big day (as well as his brother's) with the family.

Since my last post I am happy to say that I have now seen four clients. I have been scheduled five. So things are definitely moving along at the clinic- hopefully all the clients will come back (haha).
I also have been facilitating parenting groups at the YWCA and loving it. Unfortunately I can't do it next quarter because of our new schedule but I hope to pick it up again soon after.

Speaking of which... after this week we officially start spring quarter. I have quite a few classes and am working regularly at the clinic. It will be interesting to see how things shake out with my schedule. Sometimes it feels like this program is flying by- other times it feels like I can't believe I have a whole year left. Either way I am learning tons and loving it.

Jon has his one-week internship for phlebotomy this week. His internship is in Victorville, despite the commute it seems to be going very well. He has already had more than 25 successful "sticks" and is really getting the hang of things.

After Jon's internship is over he has only TWO WEEKS until he takes the MCAT. We are hoping all of his hard work will pay off. We know he has studied to the best of his ability, now we are just praying that God make up the rest.

The weather in California has been moody, it can't make up its mind if it is sunny, rainy or cloudy. But I like it just the same. We are happy to be where we are. Sometimes I can't believe I am in graduate school (it even feels weird to type that out) and I can't believe Jon is progressing so much in his plans for med school. It feels a little unreal. But I am thankful for the things that keep my grounded: my family, my friends and my faith. God bless.

Shout-Out!

2011-02-27T16:45:00.000-08:00

It is my brother, James, birthday today. Happy birthday James!

As a present, I know he would love it if you checked out his new website:
thesportsbench.com
It is a place where fans come together to talk sports- chat live, read articles, etc.

End of February

2011-02-27T16:13:00.000-08:00

Well, Valentine's day was lovely.

This was from our delish homemade dinner over the weekend.
I am kind of obsessed with how cute our mis-matched fiestaware looks.

On Monday I left Jon some sweet notes and chocolate. That evening his tutoring was canceled and he took me out to Chinese food! A rare treat since it isn't his favorite. We shared everything and couldn't even finish half of it. It was so yummy and I got left overs for the rest of the week. I also got a lovely rose, a sweet note, and my favorite ice cream in the refrigerator! Jon sure has made an effort to realize my favorite holiday and that means so much to me, he is such a sweetie. I am a lucky gal.

(Do you love our vase- yummm berry lemonade!)

This week has been exciting.

Jon: Jon had his last week of his phlebotomy course. Hasn't it gone by so quickly? There was a midterm and a final and Jon got the high score of the class in both. On their last day of class they have to "check out." This means that they go through the entire phlebotomy procedure (with a classmate as the patient) in front of the class and teacher. They have to do everything perfectly or else they get a "re-try." Sometimes people do everything perfectly but they don't get blood, they can still pass but it can feel kind of discouraging.

Jon was the only person to get blood and PASS on the first try! Go Jon! Jon was so relieved after. He had been nervous about not getting blood or not passing off.

Now, this week, Jon takes a national exam to certify him as a phlebotomist. After that he does a one week externship with a local lab. A lot of the time people can get jobs through their externship, we sure hope this is the case.

Jon is being very successful in his studying for the MCAT. He takes the test in April, so whenever he hears that his birthday is coming up (March 15th) he gets nervous. I think we should give him a "congratulations its not April, you still have time to study!" party. He does feel like he has gone over all the information they can test him on, but now it is a matter of getting the answers right and perfecting his test taking. Jon has relied on the Lord so much in this experience, I am proud of him. He used to get really anxious and obsessed about his scores, but he knows now that he is studying the best he can and relying on God for the rest. He knows this is what he is supposed to be doing right now. That takes a lot of faith but I know he will be blessed for it.

Rachel: After 3 scheduled clients and lots of nerves/anxiety, all three of my clients have canceled. Yup. Still haven't seen a client. At least I am no longer nervous when I am assigned someone, I just don't really believe that they will show up (ha). I do have another one scheduled this Wednesday, so maybe that will be the day! If not, its not a big deal, but I would like to get my "first" out of the way.

I have been staying busy with my group homes and I am getting another home next week (teenage girls, it will be so different than my little boys!). The group homes, while very chaotic and tiring, have started to feel rewarding. I love the looks on the faces of the kids when things finally start to click, or they really begin to understand something.
One of the projects we did was decorating shoe boxes with the labels people give us on the outside of the box, and decorating who we really are on the inside of the box. After they had decorated the outside my partner and I went around to each kid one-by-one and told them we wanted to do something strange- we wanted them to tear off the outside labels. We explained that it might leave a mark or it might hurt, but it would be worth it. Our kids faces were priceless as they tore off the negative labels they had received in their short lives. One kid totally got it, and he took the positive things about himself from the inside and put them on the outside. He told me that now that his negative labels were gone he could act the way that he truly is inside. I was cheering and doing cartwheels inside myself- he totally got it! I walked away from the day feeling really energized.

I have also been co-facilitating parenting groups for court mandated parents. This week I am presenting the meat of the material, I am fairly nervous. We have people who have teenagers, people who have been in prison and have just met their children for the first time, people who have had their kids taken away for child endangerment, people who were not parented well themselves... it is overwhelming. Most of the time I sit their and wonder why I am allowed to teach these folks. But I feel very privileged and honored to hear their stories, I am so thankful they let me into their lives. It takes a lot of courage to come to those classes and open up.

So- lots has been going on. These last couple of days we have stayed out of the rain, tried to make a fire in the fire place, and watched movies. We like hanging out with each other and are soo glad to have so much time together right now.

February was a good month, lets hope March is even better...

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-13T21:20:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! My very favorite holiday, a day to appreciate and express the love you have for those you love! Growing up Valentine's was always a family-affair, I would always make treats for my friends and I saw the holiday as a friendly one. Saturday Jon and I made a yummy dinner, what a treat. I even have a couple surprises up my sleeve for tomorrow (shh!).

As for our last week, things have been moving along. I didn't end up seeing my first client, they cancelled. But I have been to the group homes for two weeks now. It is nerve-racking, exciting, sad, enlightening, over-whelming, chaotic and inspiring job. These kids have been through more than I can explain but they are so funny and cute. At least, most of the time. They are definitely love-able.

Jon is already half way through his phlebotomy program (woohoo!). He is taking blood every class day now and is always practicing trying to find my veins. Lucky for me I have a little more fat on my arms (ahem) so it is a bit more challenging to find veins on me rather than on him. Also, I think Jon looks really cute in his scrubs.

This week is a new week and I am looking forward to it. Have a fantastic Valentine's day, spread the love, no matter your relationship status!

Well here is what you need to know...

2011-02-06T20:37:00.001-08:00

Jon: He is loving his phlebotomy class and looks forward to going every single class day. He is volunteering at a blood bank where he gets to give people snacks and make sure they don't faint.

Rachel: Went to my first group home last Monday for therapy/education for the kids. It was an adventure, the kids make me laugh. I have my first client this week. Oh boy. After Wednesday I might need therapy of my own.

Us: We are soo excited to go to cousin Kaitlin's wedding in Seattle this August. We can't wait to visit the beautiful city again, have fun with the family and celebrate such a happy occasion!

New Favorite Recipes

2011-01-27T10:25:00.000-08:00

I think going to a Seventh-Day-Adventist school is having a good influence on me. I love all their healthy recipes and I really like eating vegetarian-friendly food. Jon and I have almost completely cut out red meat (except when we go out to eat or when we go home). We also are more open to eating more vegetarian meals throughout the week.

Here are two of my new favorite recipes...

1. Red Quinoa and Black Bean Salad
Don't run away from the word salad! This is so delicious, Jon and I ate a whole batch in only 3-4 days. You will be impressed by that when you see how much food this makes... It is totally delicious and completely healthy. The cilantro-lime dressing adds a real kick which made it a favorite for Jon. It also is easy, since it really is just chopping and throwing everything together. And it keeps well in the fridge.
Just an FYI- the directions have you use a complicated method for cooking the quinoa. I just followed the box directions and let it cool, then mixed it all together. It turned out great.

Here are the links:
recipe
Step-by-step Pictures

PS I didn't use the jalepenos or the cumin. It seems like you can add or take out just about whatever you like.

2. Whole Wheat Sticks
So this recipe is a little bit more of a treat/snack. My friend from the program made these for a group of us and apparently they are a favorite at the Loma-Linda Market. They are a cookie/bread texture and are totally yummy. It doesn't hurt that there is tons of whole wheat flour and very little sugar. It also makes a large batch so we have lots left over to last us at least the week.

Here you go:

Whole Wheat Sticks

(Like the ones at the Loma Linda Market)

4 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 Cup White Flour
1 Cup Kamut Flour (optional; you can substitute 1 additional cup of WW flour)
1 Cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
1 Cup Coconut flakes
1 ½ teaspoons Salt
2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
¼ Cup White Sugar
¼ Cup Brown Sugar

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.

⅔ Cup Vegetable Oil
1 ½ Cups Water
2 Teaspoons Almond Extract

Mix wet ingredients into a temporary emulsion and pour onto the dry ingredients. Knead
for five minutes and roll out onto cookie sheets. Dough should be ¼ - ½ inch thick. Use
a pizza cutter to cut into 1 inch wide sticks.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until they golden-brown.

PS I couldn't find plain coconut flakes so I used sweetened (oops, a little more sugar) but they still turned out tasty. Also, the dough is a little hard to work with since it is not refined white flour, but just put some muscle into it and trust that it will taste super yummy.

Enjoy!

Quick Update

2011-01-23T13:32:00.000-08:00

Here is the latest on Jon and I.

Jon: currently studying like mad for the MCAT but it is starting to feel like it is paying off with some good scores. Jon is going to start a phlebotomy course at the end of this month that is 4 weeks long. We are crossing our fingers this leads to a good job, with good hours and fair pay.

Rachel: trying to get back into the swing of things with school. Classes are a bit crazy as usual. I am starting all my supervision for when I actually start meeting with clients. I may be a little over-excited because I signed myself up to do a lot of things, but I really couldn't be any happier. Foster homes, grief camp, and parenting courses, in addition to therapy? Sounds good to me.

Us: We made our home look cuter yesterday. We finally got an area rug for our colorless room, some pictures on the wall and a nice clock. We also made a yummy quiche, thanks to my mom's recipe, and homemade ice cream for some friends. Jon is the best, he is such a good sport with those sorts of things.

Life is happy at the Van Wickle home. I wish you the same.

New Years 2011

2011-01-23T13:13:00.001-08:00

It is about time I write about Jon and my excellent New Years day adventures. New years eve was not all that exciting because Jon convinced me to go to sleep early in order to get up and get going quickly for New Years day.

Well, my birthday this present was a little bit of an IOU. Jon promised me he would take me to universal studios once our finances got in order. With Christmas and all the joy that came with it, we decided it would be alright to indulge in a little fun. I was so excited to go- Jon went quite a bit as a kid but I had never been.

This is the homemade IOU I got from Jon on my birthday- finally turning it in for use! Of course, since we got our tickets during Grinchmas we have season passes, hooray!

We went to get a bite to eat before we entered the park and ended up on the Hollywood walk of fame! This was totally unplanned but a treat for us since neither of us had been in that part of downtown Hollywood before.

We even ran into a statue of the world's tallest man, I couldn't resist a photo-op.

Once we got into the park it was all fun! There were hardly any lines that lasted more than a few minutes. The park got busier later in the day, but for the most part it was easy sailing. Jon was the best tour guide, he really knew the ins and outs of the park.

Jon's favorite part, and definitely one of the highlights for me, is the backlot tour. They have a portion now where you get to see all the cars from famous movies. I think Jon was in heaven. I even got a shot of the Delorian from Back to the Future, one of our favorites!

This is the Desperate Housewives street, Wisteria Lane. I had to take a picture of how bright Eva Longoria's house is! You can't really tell in the picture either, but it is a seriously intense shade of yellow. But of course you would never notice how bright those colors are in the show, you don't even question it. Also, all those flowers in their yards are fake. It was a trip.

Water world was an adventure, Jon was definitely excited for this part. It was kind of a cold day so we stayed clear of the splash zone.

We randomly ran into Jon's college roommate from UCSD and his girlfriend while we were there. It was nice to catch up and see them for a little bit.

The day was complete fun and I am so glad we got to go together. It was a perfect birthday present and great start to the new year. Happy 2011!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-09T21:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas was a little different this year since Jon had to work quite a bit during our normal school break. But we were soo glad to spend time with our families.

Christmas eve was a blast- keeping with tradition we went to church with the Van Wickle's, had a delicious dinner and got into the Chrismas spirit.

Christmas day at the Van Wickle's we went geocaching thanks to mom VW's latest toy. It was a total blast to go to the lake and other local areas to search (but it was mighty cold that day!).

Check out the cool hats cousin Kaitlin got the boys, I love them!

Our beautiful lake... and mom VW way out there searching haha

So sweet, love this pic!

We loved being with all the Tate's together for the afternoon. In the evening we got to see Tangled which was a totally cute family movie.

Since Jon and I are starving students I pinched our pennies this year and made some homemade gifts.

Homemade peppermint hot chocolate for the boys...

Personalized stationary for the girls... this is Jessica's

Christmas was a fun adventure, I was home, back and forth between Redlands and SB many times but I am so thankful for the time I got to spend with family.

Next post...new years!

Coming Soon...

2011-01-05T17:37:00.000-08:00

Updates on Christmas, New Years, and other recent adventures. Along with a new blog header. But for now... the start of school is keeping me busy. Stay tuned for future blog posts.

Post Edit: Changing our blog header does not mean we are pregnant! It just means that it is no longer 2010. Oh boy, that is how rumors get started.

Hello Christmas Break

2010-12-15T16:22:00.001-08:00

Finals are over. Whew. I only had three exams, but they were big, ugly and challenging exams. So nice to have those out of the way.

I also wrote many major papers that were due a week or so ago.
There was lots of this going on....

I took this picture to try to capture my need for organization. Each highlight color represents a different section of the paper (left side- paper outline), highlighted parts are research findings that support that section of the paper (middle), and the little screen (right) has my actual paper being written.

I counted up all of the papers I did this quarter. By the end, without counting title pages or references, I wrote 90 pages total. (I believe it was something like 113 with title pages and references included). The good news is my professors think our class is really good at writing, twice we were told we wrote the best papers they have ever read by students! I got full points on my 20 (ended up being 23) page paper and that felt really really good.

So now one quarter is over and I am happy. I feel happy with how I did in my classes, I learned so much and have made some really fantastic friends. Starting in January I will be doing group therapy (through a program called why try) with kids in foster homes and I will be meeting clients from the local community in the school's mental health facility. After this break... I know I will be pumped for this. I can't wait to share stories on the blog.

I am already loving being on break; I've only had one day so far. I've been cleaning the apartment and it feels so refreshing. I am trying to get in the spirit of Christmas and really appreciate this time I have off. I am excited for Jon to get home tonight and I am looking forward to a lot of Christmas baking.

Studying...

2010-12-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

is what I should be doing. But sometimes my brain can only handle so much. And sometimes my brain just has an off day.

Today is one of those days.

So I finally caved this evening and started working on some stuff I actually wanted to be doing. I figured there was no reason to keep these simple projects to myself.

Feel free to print these out, use them, share them, send them, whatever you want. I would probably print them out on cardstock or another good quality paper. Even if you print them out in black and white, they will probably turn out ok :)

Just click on the image, they are saved as JPEGs so hopefully the sizing is right.

Tis the season for giving! (If you guys have any other ideas for graphic design projects, please let me know!)

This one is a 3 inch by 5 inch card, prints out at 6in by 5in and then you can fold it in half at the gray line.

This is a 5in by 7in single note card (really recommend cardstock for this). Cut along the dashed lines.

I have been putting my graphic design to good use, making and designing some Christmas presents this year. I find it so relaxing. So, use these if you want. Or not. Whatever you would like.

What a Week...

2010-12-02T21:15:00.001-08:00

Isn't it funny how sometimes we loose sight of what is positive in our lives? There is this term "eustress," meant to define stress that comes from things that are positive. Sometimes it is harder to be understood when you're experiencing eustress, everyone is so happy and excited for you that you feel guilty being.. well... stressed out.

Case in point: We are so happy Jon got a job. But starting a new job is stressful, especially when it is commission based. I am so happy he got the opportunity to go on a business trip to a new sales area during his first real week of being there. But I have been missing him here at home.
But hearing Jon got his first sale? Totally worth it.

School is amazing, I am so blessed to be in such an amazing program. But getting super sick during the last few weeks of class? Yuck. Having seven pages done for a paper feels amazing, but not so amazing once you realize you have to reach 20 pages until you're done.
But I know that when I am done with this quarter, I will have earned my grades.
Totally worth it.

Attitude is everything- especially when things are looking dim. I know the Lord has been looking out for Jon and I, I know we are in the right place, and goodness we are learning a lot.

Thankfully, with everything that has gone on this week, I had this stuck in my head all day...

Grateful

Its really worth a listen.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T09:14:00.000-08:00

There is so much to be thankful for. I sort of feel like Jon and I are at a point in life where we have hope, things are getting better, but we don't even know how blessed we are. Someday, maybe 6 months from now, maybe 6 years, we are going to look back at this formative time and say to ourselves, "oh why did we worry so much? It all worked out so well, that time was the start of all our blessings."

We are very excited for Jon's new job but of course we worry about making money and what we should expect from this company. This job has endless potential, we have talked a lot about not being afraid to be successful. We have a good feeling about this gig, so we are hopeful.

Thanksgiving break was well needed and very appreciated. We have such sweet families who love us. Before we left I asked God to help me see all of the blessings we have in our lives. I think our families were all we needed to see.

We left Santa Barbara with a trunk full of food, leftovers, some grocery and gas money, and we even got a vacuum for our sweet Aunt. Our families mean so much to us, it is humbling to see how much they do for us.

It was also nice to see friends over break, enjoy the familiarity of home, see Harry Potter (epic), get some work done, and watch adorable home videos from both our families.

I am also very happy Jon got to see these guys...

We are now totally ready to get the Christmas season started. We are listening to Christmas music this morning and talking about getting some decorations out.

Now we are going to get ready for church, today we are teaching our little kids that Jesus is their Savior. Doesn't get much better than that.

God Bless.

Spreading Good Cheer

2010-11-20T10:58:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't been a regular on the blogosphere, but I wanted to be sure to spread some good news.

Jon got a full time job! Hooray!

After 6 long months of searching, penny pinching, and frustration- something came up. Despite all of the networking, interviewing, testing and applications Jon had been working on, this job seemed to come out of thin air. He applied Monday, interviewed Tuesday, had a second all-day interview on Wednesday and got offered the job that afternoon. After all of that work to get a job it was almost insulting how quickly it went ;)

Jon's job is with a company called Business Consulting Solutions. They basically maintain smaller business for bigger business. Jon is in sales, he goes around to small businesses, see if they are happy with whatever product the bigger business offers, and then sees if he can find any promotions or discounts for them. If you're going to be in sales, this is probably the best kind, there are no lies or bad deals in the system. Also the company encourages a lot of progression and promotion- that helps mix things up and keep it interesting.

It seems like Jon will really fit in with this group and he is excited to get started. We both think he will be very successful. And we are both incredibly happy that a job has come his way!

I am proud of Jon for being so diligent during these last six months. He has kept himself busy, applied for jobs out of his comfort zone, really put himself out there for networking, and gained a lot of interview skills. Jon and I have learned a lot of lessons through this process. This is the tightest money has ever been for us. We didn't even realize how lucky we were in undergrad. That life seems extravagant now.

We celebrated last night by going to BJ's and fantasizing about what it will be like to not worry about money as intensely as we do right now. These ideas included things like: "maybe we will go to a movie every once in a while," and "maybe we will not be as afraid of strange noises from our car."

Yup. We are thankful Jon got a job.

Halloween and other Crazy Things

2010-11-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

Halloween was a treat this year- we thoroughly enjoyed going to church on Saturday for the "trunk or treat." We had a fun time seeing what the kids dressed up as and we sneaked two candies into each of our primary kid's buckets. They were shy on trunk-or-treat night but were hyped up about the experience during our class on Sunday.

I signed up to bring dessert for the dinner held after the festivities and couldn't resist making these owl-cupcakes. So cute!

Last week was incredibly busy for both Jon and I.

Jon had a job interview (yay!) and got called for another interview, which will be next week (yay!). We are praying that one of them comes through, both are exciting opportunities. Jon has also signed up to volunteer with the Ronald McDonald house by the children's hospital, and to be a volunteer at the hospital itself in the child life department. He is currently working on personal statements, the MCAT of course, some work for his dad, and his weekly tutoring (including studying SAT vocab so that he can tutor more subjects). He is definitely keeping himself busy! And he has proved himself to be a jack-of-all-trades.

Last week I had two midterms, a paper, and two quizzes to prepare for. I also had three interviews with clinical placements sites that I will start working with in January. The good news is that I feel I did well on my midterms and quizzes. More good news is that I have been offered placements at all three of the sites I am interested in. The bad (but still good) news is that I have NO idea how to choose, they are all amazing opportunities.

Jon and I are enjoying ourselves this weekend, taking it pretty easy. We are having some friends over for dinner tomorrow and are planning on making some delicious homemade pizzas (of course). We also are hoping that next week we will have some real news regarding work and placement sites. Please pray for us!

That about sums up what is going on at the Van Wickle's. Happy November!

The Past Two Weeks

2010-10-27T13:38:00.001-07:00

Here are some highlights from the last two weeks...

Two weeks ago, for my friend Jacqueline's birthday party we were going to carve pumpkins. Jon and I decided to hollow out my pumpkin the night before and have him carve one as well.

Jon's pumpkin...

I love it because it looks happy.

Here are all the girls, all of whom are from my program:

Alex and I attempted to do a pattern that had this cute owl... it proved to be kind of difficult. But we had twin pumpkins.

Jon and my pumpkin outside our door, ready for Halloween!

This past weekend Jon and I were able to go home. It was so nice to get a quick visit in with our parents, Amy, and we even got to see Rory!

I was able to attend Chelsey Neeley's (a life-long fiend) bridal shower. It was so beautifully done and I was glad I could attend- we had a good time laughing over all of the "dirt" we have on each other's families from knowing them for so long.

Jon is still being amazing by studying for the MCAT and is doubling-up by also studying chemistry in order to tutor more kids. He is also studying to tutor SAT prep (he has to re-learn all of that vocab, yuck!). He hopes this will create some more hours for him, also help him in his future test taking and make him more helpful at Merigroup.

I am still plugging away with school- we are already applying for trainee sites, which might start as early as January. That means I will start meeting with clients and attempting to do therapy. We already have midterms next week! The quarter system flies by, it is amazing how fast it is going. But I am loving what I am learning and am growing as a student.

This weekend we get to attend a devotional at one of my professor's homes. It will be about Christian counseling. We will get dinner and are able to bring our families, I am excited to attend.

We will also be going to trunk or treat at the church. I am excited to see our little primary kids all dressed up and having fun.

And then of course, Sunday is Halloween. I don't know if any kids will come to our apartment (there are definitely kids in the complex) but I hope they do!

Happy Halloween to all our families and friends!

This Week

2010-10-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

I think it is about time this little blog gets an update. I have a hard time thinking of what to write when things are busy but nothing monumental is occurring. So... I will do my best to let you all know whats new.

I am two weeks into my grad program and am totally loving it. I think one of the greatest aspects of going into a program that requires you to be sensitive and kind is that all of your peers are sensitive and kind. I have made some fantastic friends that truly inspire and encourage me in this field.

It is, of course, a lot of work. I am trying to make myself read all the time. I also should be writing every day- in the course of a ten week quarter I will be writing a minimum of 75 pages in papers. One twenty pager, four ten pagers, and some other smaller ones in the mix. I am actually looking forward to it- I prefer papers to exams anyway. Also, almost everything I read and write is interesting to me (another huge benefit of being in a field you love).

Jon is a super-tutor at Merigroup, he loves this job so much. He has a great time explaining physics to his students and sometimes laments about how he wishes they wanted to accomplish more than just their homework, but actually learn the concepts. Nevertheless he is helping them be successful and get good grades at the same time.

He is also studying everyday for the MCAT (the exam you must take to apply to medical school). He has a detailed timeline written out for when to take his exam, when he should put in applications, etc.

Unfortunately we are still crossing our fingers for a full time job. Jon has taken the CBEST in order to qualify him to be a substitute teacher. He will get his scores in 10 days, and if he passed, then he can apply with the San Bernardino school district. We are really hoping this route works out- he would be able to work full time and still keep his tutoring job on the side.

Meanwhile Jon and I got a calling at church that we are very excited about. We are co-teachers for the 6 year old primary kids. This means we get to be their Sunday school teachers and we get to sit with them during primary, singing songs and trying to keep them reverent. We have TEN kids in our class, which feels like a lot! But I am really excited for Jon and I to do this together. The class is mostly boys so Jon will be a really great influence.

That sums up our week in the Van Wickle home. We are loving Redlands and know that we are meant to be here. We also feel incredibly blessed to be affiliated with Loma Linda- they are such a positive, Christian community. It really is an amazing school, I didn't know half of why it was so great when I chose to come here. So all in all, we are very happy. We are hopeful for the future (especially regarding a job!) and look forward to many new adventures.

In Loving Memory

2010-09-28T22:59:00.000-07:00

Willard Richards Tate
June 24, 1925 - September 28, 2010

What a great grandpa I had, I never heard him speak an ill word or have a single moment of contention. He raised 7 fantastic children who then gave him 46 grandchildren. He has left a positive imprint on the world with his posterity and with his life. He lived the gospel through and through and was a true follower of Christ.

It is such a blessing to know that families are forever.

2010-09-19T16:56:00.001-07:00

I have been MIA in the blogosphere. Sorry to my friends, I still love reading about you life and seeing what you have been up to. My one week intensive class for my program sucked up my time, my sleep, and my knowledge of the outside world. But it was oh-so-worth it.

My one week, 8am-4pm, case presentation class allowed me to get to know the other students in my class as well as the instructors, learn all about ethics, culture, spirituality and the field of psychology, and get information on how the next two years of my life will be. We listened to lectures in the morning, got in small groups in the afternoons and spent our evenings trying to do all our reading and assignments.

But it was more than just normal school. In our afternoon sessions we started doing faux-therapy sessions with our class mates. Sometimes the issues were real (yet benign) and other times they were our friend's problems or things we made up. We practiced being the client and being the therapist. We listened and learned to "join" with our clients. By the end of the week we were being video recorded and doing 20 minute sessions with our delightful "clients."

This was far more than I ever would have expected out of one week of class. It took me far out of my comfort zone. And yet, there is only one quarter until we will actually meet with our first real client. So I guess my comfort zone has been long forgotten. That comfort zone hasn't been seen since last Monday so I don't expect it to come back now.

I feel quite official, being registered for fall and given access to the behavioral health clinic. This is my new ID:

And of course, my first owned copy of the DSM. The book with every mental illness and diagnosis currently recognized by the American Psychological Association. Sometimes I open up this book just to see if I have heard of the disorder:

And while I have been at class, Jon has been working incessantly to find a full time job. He has so many different things going it is hard to keep track of everything he has applied for. But he is a trooper, and is thoroughly enjoying working as a tutor. He is also developing a great method for studying and prepping for the MCAT.

He has been an excellent support while I have been at class. I would come home tired and worn out and he would listen to all of the things I've learned. He will probably have earned a degree in MFT by the time I am done- with how much I tell him about everything.

Now I have one week off- my plan is to read Mockingjay, swim, get some sun, enjoy my freedom and then get to work. I am excited for this new experience to begin- I am looking forward to more school and more learning. I feel like a different person (in a good way) from only one week of instruction and I am curious to see who I am at the end of these two years. Hopefully Jon will still like me (ha ha).

2010-09-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

I have a really nice mother in law who gave us this table.

I also have a really nice husband who bought me these flowers, just because.

Which comes back to my really nice mother in law who bought us a gift card to trader joes and said we should buy some flowers for our table...

which ultimately lead to my really nice husband doing exactly what his mom said.

So really, I am thankful for a really nice mother in law who raised a really nice boy.

Moving Moving Moving

2010-08-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our recent moving adventures- I know there are some anxious family members out there who want to know how things are going. We are not totally moved in yet, but some rooms are getting settled into. We have some small additions to add here and there, but you will get the gist of things. So here you go!

Jon and Dad were fantastic movers! All of our belongings in a 10 foot truck... (minus a box or two unknowingly left at home, oops!)

This is our little kitchen [dishwasher not shown], I love it already.

This is the start of us organizing the closet. We bought 80 hangers and are still in need of more- luckily there is a lot more space for us to utilize.

One side of our living room.... please note the cute shelves Jon put up. It took a few tries and patches, and was originally very discouraging, but now we are so glad we have them up. We will be adding some color to this beige room, it looks a little bare right now.

Other side of our living room- I love this mantel and fireplace. And the temple picture looks so good up there! Once we get our missing box I will put a wedding picture or two on that mantel. (PS we made those name blocks, we are pretty proud of them)

This is our ikea desk that we bought and put together. We think it is pretty fantastic. It is currently in our bedroom and that seems to be just the spot for it. It is a nice big size (to us) and will be perfect for studying.

Well, thats all that is finished at the moment. More pictures to come later, and hopefully updates of small improvements along the way.

Thanks for taking our tour. Hope you enjoyed it!

Power of Prayer

2010-08-29T15:57:00.000-07:00

As we've gone through this recent move one main thought has occurred to me over and over again. Mainly, that it took many small miracles to get us where we are right now. Those small miracles were direct answers to our prayers and have been tender mercies of the Lord.

Today as I pondered what I was going to write about, it felt very clear what I should share- first, as a record for myself, and second as a testament to others. The power of prayer is real. It can change, influence, and improve our lives.

Here is a small prayer journal- some things small, some big, that have occurred in the last few months, weeks and days.

Prayer #1: Please help us appreciate our time at home and make the best of it.

I was so concerned about moving home- I was afraid that we would become bad company too quickly, our families would tire of us or we would tire of them, that there would be conflict or concern where there shouldn't be. I thought that Jon and I would get lost trying to balance two loving families at the same time.

What I discovered was that being home at this point in our lives was a gift from our Heavenly Father. It came into my mind that this opportunity may never come again, especially not at the same time that Jon's brothers were home for the summer. Jon and I grew closer to each other's families, we understood each other better, and we created a strong foundation for our future relationships. My mom mentioned that she always thought I left home too early- being only 17 when I left for college. She thought this time at home made up for that loss.

Prayer = Answered

Prayer #2: Please help us find a job.

This one has been difficult and still is difficult. But Jon has found a job, and while it is part time we are so incredibly grateful for this opportunity. It has been a humbling experience and has taught us to rely more fully in God.

Prayer = Answered

Prayer #3: Please help us find a place to live.

Jon and I went apartment hunting a few weeks ago. It took all day, was incredibly hot, and it became very tiring. All of the apartments we looked at seemed to mush together and it didn't seem there was anything that was terrible, but there also wasn't anything great.

The next day Jon went to an all day employment workshop and I was going to continue apartment hunting on my own. I don't know why, but I was really nervous about this. I felt I seemed vulnerable, people wouldn't take me as seriously on my own or I wouldn't know the right questions to ask. I popped in a CD of hymns as I drove around looking- it calmed my nerves and I felt as though the Savior himself was nearby as I searched for a home for us.

Of course, we found an apartment we are very happy with. It took a lot of paper work, a lot more prayers, and we were crossing our fingers that Jon would get the job so that we could also get our apartment. It worked out perfectly, and in a timely manner.

Prayer = Answered

Prayer #4: Please help us find a way to furnish our apartment without spending all of our savings.

The answer to this prayer comes in many parts.

A. We were able to sell our furniture in Utah due to a small miracle- we planned on reusing that money for our new furniture.

B. I searched craigslist endlessly, and felt guided to not to respond to reasonable ads, and to take a certain interest in some that I may not have due to the influence of the spirit.

C. I saw an ad for some couches that looked decent, upon arrival the man selling them asked what we felt comfortable paying, I offered the price that we had gotten for our furniture in Utah. He offered us $50 less. It was a blessing.

D. We needed a bed but were not finding anything that was working out, and one of our offers fell through. The day of our move we found a bed that we could buy at the very same price that we had sold ours.

We came out even with the furniture we sold and bought.

Prayer = Answered

These things may seem small, or maybe coincidental rather than small miracles, but to us they are very very real.

We have done our best to establish our relationship on good principles and making our home a place that reflected those principles has been very important to me. We are ready for our new start and our new way of life.

ReStart

2010-08-23T22:07:00.000-07:00

I am having such mixed feelings with this upcoming move. Sometimes I am sure it could not come soon enough, other days I wonder why I was so anxious to leave. The truth is I am sad to move further away from our families, I have genuinely enjoyed having such easy access to them. At the same time- I am ready to start something new, to progress and move forward.

When I think about it I am not sure there will ever be another time that we will be so close to our families for so long (and with no little kiddos around). It has been really special to strengthen the bonds we have with our own families as well as with each others- I feel closer to the Van Wickle's than ever and I know Jon feels the same about the Tate's. I also want to note that this was the perfect summer to be at home- with Jake and Rory in-between school as well. Jon's brothers are his best friends, no one can make him laugh like they do (including me) and I totally love seeing them all together.

So, tomorrow we make sure everything is packed up, we had our goodbyes with my family tonight and we have them tomorrow night with the VW's. And then Wednesday we move on out. New start, new home, new life. I am so incredibly glad I am doing this with my best friend. He is the one that motivated me to be better in the first place and I know I can do anything with him by my side.

Pictures and new adventures to come...

Success!

2010-08-15T23:54:00.000-07:00

Finally we have some news so we can update the blog!

Our trip to Loma Linda proved to be successful. Jon got a job as a tutor- they have specifically requested that he work with students in AP classes and in SAT prep. His main demographic will be high school students but he may work with younger ones for things like basic math.

We are excited about this job opportunity and we think Jon will do well with this particular company. Jon wont be starting out at 40 hours a week- he has to build up his clientèle, but it is possible for him to get up to 40 hours a week. We are planning on "feeling out" the job to decide if he should get a full time job and do this on the side, or work to build up hours with this company.

Either way- we are excited!

While down in Loma Linda we were also able to go apartment hunting. And a-hunting we went. All day long. It took us a couple of days to get a feel for the area and the prices, but I am glad we took our time. I truly feel like I know the area now and can find my way to campus... which will probably be important. Also, we found a great apartment for a fair price. I am so so so excited to have our own place again and make it home.

Here are the perks of our new place:
-it is 3 miles from campus and there are bike paths all around for transportation
-it is right across the street from the behavioral health building where I will be spending much of my time
-the apartment complex borders a 550 acre park that we will have access too (yay!)
-our apartment has a large patio area where I plan on having an outdoor table and chairs
-our specific apartment is right next to a grassy area and one of the pools
-we have a dishwasher and a washer and dryer (hallelujah!)

Needless to say, we've been looking forward to this.

We have had an excellent time at home this last little while and I am not looking forward to leaving our families. It has been great to be so close to the ones we love, sharing so much of our lives together, etc. But I know new adventures await and I know we are making the right move.

We officially move into our new home on August 25th and Jon will start his job shortly thereafter.

Continuing the Job Hunt

2010-08-02T20:06:00.000-07:00

Not much has changed since we have been home from our fantastic Hawaii trip. We are continuing the job search and have found some possible leads. Jon is working incredibly hard to find a job and I am proud of him.

He does have an interview this Monday, which is great news! It is not full time but it is a good opportunity and it seems like it would be very enjoyable. Also, interviewing is always good practice, even if the job doesn't work out.

We are getting anxious to start our new life in Loma Linda, but for the time being we are enjoying Goleta. It is so beautiful at this time of year, especially once the early-morning fog burns off.

This past weekend my mom and dad invited Jon, Amy and her friend Mike, and myself on their annual bike ride. They typically do this trip on their anniversary but decided to do it this weekend, inviting all of us. We drove to Carpinteria and rode our bikes a little over 12 miles to Ventura. The ride was nice and flat and right next to the beach. We had lunch in Ventura, wandered around the shops and even spotted some dolphins swimming near shore. Then we hopped back on our bikes and rode back to the car, totaling 25 miles total. It is probably one of my favorite things that we have done since being home.

This week we have enjoyed cooking for our families, continuing some good books and praying for more job opportunities.

Jon and I will go down to Loma Linda this Saturday or Sunday in order to attend church in the ward we plan to be in. Jon will have his interview on Monday and we will also start looking at possible places to live. We also hope to talk to people about jobs while are down there- there is something different about handing someone your resume as opposed to emailing it to them.

Anyway, wish us luck! We are looking forward to the changes that are coming. I will try to do better with my blogging :)

Hawaii Day 6 and 7: Kauai

2010-07-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

Kauai was our favorite island, perhaps because we got to see so much of it. It is more rural than the other islands and is incredibly lush.

This was the only island where we did an excursion- it was a half-day full of kayaking, hiking, and swimming. Amy, Dad, Jon and I all went on the same excursion while the rest of the group headed for the beach.

To start out we kayaked up the river about one or two miles. It was leisurely and beautiful. The tour guides pointed out some movie sites along the way, and told us some history about the island.

We then "parked" our kayaks and hiked to the falls. We could swim around in this pool, climb part way up the falls and jump. The falls were incredibly powerful, it was kind of scary to be under them.

We then hiked back, to the van. It was neat because the property we were on for this section of the hike and the falls is owned by the owner of AOL. The land was private, and felt untouched (besides the trails we were hiking on)

Remember how I said Kauai was very rural? There were chickens and roosters everywhere! Apparently they had a hurricane a couple of years ago that spread them all around the island and they can't be contained. It was weird to be on the beach or driving the car and randomly hearing a rooster crow.

After we got back from our excursion everyone told us they had been to an excellent beach. Jon and I were eager to get some more beach time, so those of us who had gone on the excursion, as well as mom, headed to Poipu beach.

Sunset was so beautiful:

There was good snorkeling, we saw a sea lion lying out in the sun and even found a big sea turtle rolling around in the surf. It was totally what you imagine a Hawaiian beach to look like.

We had a ton of activity that day and knew we only had a half day on the island on the second day.

We kept it simple and enjoyed a beach there within walking distance and did some shopping around town. It was rainy but the water was warmer than the rain, so it was nice to play around.

Once we got back on the boat we enjoyed one last show and a dinner with the family. It had been a picture perfect vacation, and it was soo nice to spend so much time with my siblings and parents. I know my parents arrange vacations like this so that we can make lasting memories. They are so generous to care so much about us and provide such amazing vacations. They truly succeeded this time around- it was so much fun and I love all of them so much!

And that sums up our Hawaii vacation.

Hawaii Day 5: Kona, Hawaii

2010-07-23T11:14:00.000-07:00

Be honest, are you sick of hearing about our vacation yet?
Its OK if you are, I am getting kind of sick of writing about it. But I know I will love that I did this ten years from now. I'll try to keep it simple folks- with lots of pictures.

In Kona we finally got our beach day- Jon and I headed out extra early to be sure we had enough time to enjoy the beach.

It was a black sand beach, it was nice because it had waves far off to the right, and a breakwater that made it ideal for snorkeling to the left.

Jon rented a surf board which ended up being lightly used. We are glad we got it through, we were able to go further into the water for snorkeling. And Joe was able to use it for a little while as well.

The snorkeling at this beach was great! So many beautiful fish. I am glad we bought an underwater camera, it made for a really fun beach day.

Under water kiss.

This was the coolest fish we came across on our entire vacation...

(love you mom!)

Since this was just a beach day I didn't take a ton of photos. But it was still super fun, and well needed. We all got just enough sun to keep us crispy, but not get terrible burns.

We had to be on the boat fairly early most days, but for those of you who don't know, cruise boats are not boring. During our trip we were able to see a Polynesian dance show, a magician, a hilarious comedian, and a fantastic singing group. Different nights had different entertainers, and most of them did not disappoint. We also enjoyed a lot of hot tubbing, eating (of course), and just hanging out. I didn't take as many pictures around the boat, but it was seriously fun to hang out after our beach day was over.

Tomorrow, my favorite island from the whole trip, Kauai!

Hawaii Day 4: Hilo, Hawaii

2010-07-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

On day four we visited the volcanic side of the Big Island.

That morning, by chance, Jon and I were both semi-awake around 5:30am. We knew sunrise would be at 5:45 from the itinerary we had been receiving so we decided- why not? And went out to see the sunrise.

It was totally worth it. And totally gorgeous.

We even saw dolphins. But from the top of the boat they looked so small, like little fish. Unfortunately there are no pictures of them for that reason.

Later that day we headed to Volcanoes National Park. We saw steam vents...

A huge crater...

And took a lovely little hike, seeing gorgeous plants everywhere...

Then we went inside lava tubes, which were incredibly cool...

Amy and Dad did a lot of spelunking in this park, but the rest of us were quite happy with the amount of time and education we received on our "mini" tour of the park. By day four we were dying for more beach time- so that's what we get tomorrow!

Coming up: Kona, Hawaii.

Hawaii Day 3: Maui

2010-07-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

For our second day on Maui, Amy set us up with a great discount on a submarine tour! A big thank you to her friends from making that happen- I am totally glad we got to do it.

The place where we went to start the sub ride was actually the same city on Maui that I was in when I first went to Hawaii, the city of Lahina. It was so fun to recognize parts of the island and feel like I knew my way around town a little bit.

There is this fantastic Banyan tree in the center of town that is ideal for pictures. We had fun waiting for our time to go on the sub.

This is probably one of my favorite pictures from the entire trip. I love these boys.

The girls! What a good looking group.

After our fun at the tree we hopped on a little boat and headed to the middle of the ocean. Maui looked beautiful from the ocean.

We got to watch the sub come up with the last group that was on it. This was one of the coolest parts of the entire experience with the sub- it was so stealth-like and so fast.

We then boarded the sub, which looked pretty cool inside.

And watched the show- fishies, ship wrecks, and more fishies. We got down to about 107 feet- further than divers usually go. The tour guide had all the couples kiss and told us that would be the deepest kiss we would ever have. Corny, but I can't deny that logic.

The sub ride was a great activity to do with the whole family. And since no one had done this before it was completely novel, which was really great for our group.

We had to get back to the ship a little earlier than normal this day, so after stopping for lunch we went back to the ship and enjoyed some entertainment and relaxation.

Next: Hilo, Hawaii.

Hawaii Day 2: Maui

2010-07-20T11:45:00.002-07:00

We were in Maui on a Sunday, so we took it fairly easy. We went to church in the morning, it was so nice to worship with the local Hawaiians. I think they are used to tourists being there, and I think I recognized a few people from the cruise boat. I have to wonder how many tourists they get each week.

After church, coming back to the boat:

We decided to lie out and read for a bit until we knew what was coming next. It was so relaxing. Jon finished the second Hunger Game book, Catching Fire, and I finished book number five of Percy Jackson, completing the series (which was fantastic, by the way).

Mom, Dad, Amy, Jon and I decided to drive part of the Road to Hana. It was a beautiful drive, and we had a book with us indicating what certain beaches were and what stops were fun. We decided to make a stop at a place they said had a short hike and pretty water falls. I am so glad we ended up taking this stop, it was one of my favorite things on the trip.

Jon hiking the beautiful trail.

My favorite picture of mom and dad from the entire trip, they're so adventurous!

The vegetation, ponds and sites on this hike were seriously beautiful.

Amy and Jon walking across the path, unfortunately the same one my dad tried to jump across and fell into the water- in his church clothes. Oops! This hike was a little more intense than we initially realized.

You even had to walk knee-high in water to get to the falls at the end (go mom!)

But it ended up being totally worth it...

Lovely Amy took pictures and videos while Jon and I tried out the rope swing. I wasn't very good at it but it was fun! There were also crazy boys jumping from the top of the falls... we decided we were ok without that much adventure.

Sisters

Jon and I.

What it is like to drive the Hana Highway...
it was short lived after the falls. It started turning a lot, and making us a little car sick.

So we got out, took some pictures of the beautiful road, and turned around.

We ended the day in my parent's cabin comparing photos with the other siblings who had gone elsewhere that day.

Tomorrow, Maui part 2!

Hawaii Day 1: Honolulu, Oahu

2010-07-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

Aloha!
I am going to share our Hawaii experiences one day at a time or one island at a time, I haven't decided yet. But that way it wont be a huge and overwhelming post about our vacation. Let me start out by saying, it was fantastic!

Our cruise started in Honolulu on the island of Oahu. From there we went to Maui (two days), Hilo on Hawaii, Kona on the other side of Hawaii, Kauai (two days) and back to Honolulu.

The first day wasn't too busy because there was a lot of travel. We woke up at 4:00am, and drove to the John Wayne airport, where we hopped onto a 5 hour flight, and arrived in beautiful Hawaii, ready to get on the boat.

Cruise boats never cease to amaze me. Think about how big you might think a cruise boat would be. Remember, it has multiple dining areas, thousands of guests, almost a 2:1 ratio with guest to crew, and lots of entertainment. Now take that image and times it by five. It was really impressive to walk onto this huge boat.

While we were waiting in the lines to check in and get our room keys, they had Hawaiian crew members passing out flowers and head wreaths. Jon was getting in the spirit of it all.

We were super tired and starving after traveling all day. We couldn't go into our room yet, not all the floors were ready. But we could eat! I had promised Jon there would be soft serve ice cream available on the boat, I am pretty sure he ate it every day. It was awesome.

A lot of people ask about how good the food was on the boat. I will attest that it was delicious. My favorite part? The fruit. They had the most delicious honeydew I have ever had, Jon had about 4 slices of pineapple each breakfast, and all other available fruit was seriously good. Jon and I also appreciated the desserts, they did not disappoint.

We were then able to put our bags in our room and after doing so we decided to go explore the boat.
I didn't really get a picture of our room, but it was small and nice. This is our elephant that our housekeeper made. And our bed was big and comfy.

This is the main deck of the boat. It was so great to be on the same floor as the pool and main eating area. Also, James and Jessica were our neighbors and Joe and Lisa were just down the hall!

After all of the exploring and settling in, we got to see James and Jessica. The boat sailed out around 7pm, and we all had dinner together that night.
You can't see me in this picture, but here is the entire group- all nine of us!

Being together as a family was the best part of the entire trip.

Tomorrow I will report on Maui!

Sorry..

2010-07-08T20:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting much.

Jon and I have been much too busy prepping for Hawaii.

Just kidding. Kind of.
(just to clarify, those are Jon's legs)

Jon and I have become reading finatics. We have been blowing through the Percy Jackson series- it is so much fun, incredibly adventurous and it can make me laugh out loud. We also read the Hunger Games, which is amazing! We have been recommending it to everyone we know. Jon has also started in on some more Michael Chriton books. So really, we are getting our hands on good books as often as possible. If you have any recommendations please let me know!

We have been enjoying our time at home. It has been relaxing and a good chance for us to really catch up with our families.

and the sun.

even if reaching the sun sometimes means climbing up to lizards mouth- Jon recently got some rock climbing shoes.

It was actually really neat to drive up the mountains and come out above the cloud cover.

On Saturday we are heading to HAWAII. We leave early in the morning to drive to the airport, hop on a plane and land in Honolulu. From there we go on a cruise to Maui, the Big Island (Kona and Hilo), Kauai and back to Oahu. We seriously cannot wait. We have been trying to get as much sun a possible but it just hasn't been out lately. Good thing we are heading to a place where it will be!

I won't have my computer on the ship, but I promise great pictures and updates when we return.

Aloha!

Home.

2010-06-27T21:12:00.000-07:00

This week has flown by. I haven't even had time to see what all of my other blog friends are up to! So this post will be short, sweet and to the point.

After the lovely wedding, we packed up, got some sleep, and then and made the drive to California in one day. It was long but so worth it to be back so quickly.

This week has involved the following:
sunburns
car washing
job searching
reading... and lots of it
visiting with family
sleeping
sleeping in
napping
sunburns
walks on the beach
exercising
ward social
baseball
good food
yummy produce
Trader Joe's
and lotion... for our sunburns

We had a lovely open house last night for James and Jessica. It was so nice to see everyone from the ward- there is such a great feeling of unity here. It was nice to have James and Jessica around as well... it doesn't really feel like we've left them.

We are looking forward to the upcoming week. Believe it or not Jon has already gotten an interview! After only two or three days of looking. We are both a little stunned, I think we were expecting a longer summer. But the position is somewhat far from Loma Linda, and is with a marketing firm. It looks like an excellent first-time job, but we would have a lot to consider if Jon is offered the position. We plan on taking some time to see if this is really right for Jon.

However this opportunity takes to Orange County. For such a long drive we decided we better do something fun. We will be visiting some family, probably catching dinner and a movie, and the next day we are going to go to Universal Studios! Jon went a lot when he was younger but I've never been so I am totally excited!

I feel like I am totally out of touch with blogging since I have been in a whirlwind of summer- there is no routine for us right now, but that is ok, we are loving it! I will do my best to take pictures this week and keep everyone posted on what comes next for us.

James and Jessica, Father's Day, and more!

2010-06-20T21:40:00.001-07:00

Wow, what an excellent weekend! There were so many fantastic things happening all at once. I am glad that I have some time to count my blessings tonight and write out a few things I would like to remember about this time in our lives.

First of all, happy Father's day! To all dads out there, but most importantly to the two Richard's in our crew. Jon and I are so lucky to have such loving and involved fathers- they truly are an example of fatherly love. I am glad to know both of them.

Also, I promised a picture of my final project in my sewing class. Here is my skirt- you can't really tell but it is a little big in the waist, but I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

Of course Jon and I are sooo happy to be done with school! But we didn't even have time to think about it because the wedding festivities started right away...

First, on Friday we had a "Mormon bachelorette party," as Melanie so tastefully named it. We went and got manicures and pedicures, and went out to lunch with all the girls.

Amy, Lisa, Jessica and I.

We even convinced my mom to get a pedicure!

That evening we had the rehearsal dinner. James sang the sweetest song to Jessica and played the Ukulele. It was very sweet. Jessica, James and some family members shared some sweet messages. The dinner was yummy, the weather was nice and the company was great!

On Saturday we went to the wedding, which was beautiful and simple. It was touching to have such an intimate setting and remember what true love is all about. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from the event itself. But Jon and I were in the wedding party, which was so much fun!

After the wedding we had a family trip to subway- in all our fancy clothes. It was funny, and really tasty. From there we went to the reception which was beautifully decorated. I can't wait until Jessica's photographer puts up some pictures. The best part of the reception was that everyone danced! It truly was a party.

I was so happy to see all of my family members and to enjoy such a happy event. I am incredibly happy for James and Jessica, they are so good for each other. And I feel lucky to be part of such a loving and growing family.

Tonight we are working on packing some more things in preparation for moving during the next couple of days. On to new adventures...

2010-06-13T20:13:00.001-07:00

There are so many positive changes occuring for the Tate family in the next week. I am excited for all of it, and I am thrilled that I will be seeing my entire family this upcoming weekend!

But first... this past week.

Things are finally wrapping up for me, I am completely finished with my floral design class and I finished my final project in my sewing class. And guess what? I actually LIKE my final project. When I get it back I will post a picture. I think the entire point of that sewing class was to get me to the point where I make something that is actually wearable.

Jon took a test, did more labs, studied. He has three tests in this upcomming week. Heaven help him. THREE. One tomorrow, and two finals on Wednesday and Thursday. I packed up the refrigerator and cupboard with lots of brain food in the hopes that he can power through this week. I know he can do it, but everyday he talks about how he cannot see the end in sight. I know the feeling- its like you can't fathom how it will all get done, it seems impossible. But I know it will, and this week will hopefully speed by for him.

This weekend we had my two cousins, Nathan and Robbie over. We are similar in age and they both got back from missions a few months ago. They are taking spring classes as well, so we decided to have a cousin party to get a break from studying. It was so much fun to catch up with them. We had pizza and soda, played the wii and of course played a Tate card game. I am usually not a fan of card games (especially when you play with super competitive and super GOOD Tate's) but we played Nertz and I really enjoyed it.

I have no idea when my cousins got so TALL. It was great to see them, and it was fun to catch up.

Today my good friend Natalie and her husband Mark came over for lunch before heading back to Rexburg, Idaho. It was so nice to see them as well and see how life is going in the "real world" with jobs and such. They are such great friends and are often in similar stages of life as Jon and I so I love when we can get togther.

So overall this weekend was a success. Lots of hard work and lots of fun play time. Jon is already in bed so he can wake up at 4:30 to study.
Recently I found one of my old story books I had as a kid, so we have been reading them at night, it has been a total blast to remember these stories and read in bed. It feels nice to share a piece of my childhood with Jon. Tonight we read Aladdin, but in this version there are magic rings, lamps, magicians and it is set in Asia. Funny how the stories are different from Disney.

I am looking forward to the week ahead.

Monday: Last day of classes (I have my practical final in sewing and Jon takes a test)
Tuesday: Reading Day, no class. Mom and dad help Grandma and Grandpa move to Salt Lake.
Wednesday: Finals! I will take mine, Jon will take his lab final
Thursday: Jon takes his last final. My parents are in town. We move our furniture to James and Jessica's place.
Friday: Girls day with the family and rehersal dinner!
Saurday: Wedding!! I am so excited!

Our living room is currently filled with boxes, we are getting ready to sell some things on craigslist, and we are totally ready for this new chapter in our lives.

2010-06-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

One. More. Week.

Technically, about one and a half more weeks. But only one full week of classes left. Wow. I am pretty sure Jon is getting totally burnt out- we have been running at full speed this term. It is difficult because I don't know that either of us will be super pleased with what we have to show for it (our grades) BUT, we both have learned a lot and grown as students.

This past week I got my skirt back in sewing. It really isn't super cute and I can't see myself wearing it so I wont post a picture. The fabric was frustrating to work with- there are quite a few puckers that make it unflattering. But I got a more decent grade than my last project. I also turned in a blouse- it looks like it was made in the 1970's. I am pretty sure the pattern is to blame.

I am already working on my final project (another skirt) and am about half way done. It has gone soo much faster this time and I think I might actually wear this project. Plus the skirt has pockets, one of my favorite things.

I also learned how to make a bridal bouquet in my floral design class. It was very fun to learn but I still need some more practice. My stock flower is kind of dying in this picture.. so pretend it is looking healthier to get the full effect.

On Friday our friends Ruth and Devin came over for dinner. We ate yummy, healthy food (since Ruth is 8 months pregnant!) and attended my cousin's comedy show. He did such a great job! It was an excellent break after a long week. We are really going to miss Ruth and Devin when we move.

I don't really know what to say for Jon except he is a really great sport. He still does the dishes, helps with the cooking, listens to me when I talk about my day, and everything else a girl could want. Despite all the studying he does.

We also took a trip to the local indoor rock climbing facility over memorial day weekend. Jon has got pretty hooked on the idea of picking up rock climbing as a hobby. I think he should- he is very dexterous when he climbs. He plans on going sometime when we are back home.

We are happy there are so many things to look forward to in the next couple of weeks. I can't wait to see all of my family and attend James' wedding. It is going to be a total blast. It is nice to know we will be able to play hard after working so hard!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

End of May

2010-05-31T15:30:00.000-07:00

This week for my floral design class we made boutonnières and corsages. We get extra credit if we wear them out in public and/or give them to people. Jon was a good sport for our date night and wore a boutonnière:

We also got the waiter to wear Jon's and keep it on the rest of the night.

On Sunday the weather was clear and nice, so we went on a walk past the Provo library. I think this building is so pretty... and the sky looks perfect.

And then to pump ourselves up for the next few weeks we made our JUNE calendar. I seriously couldn't be more excited- so many good things to come!

Only one full week of classes left. Wow. We can't wait for our classes to be over, to go to James and Jessica's WEDDING and then to move back to California! We don't really know what we will be doing for the summer yet, but we are looking forward to family, beach time, yummy fruit, HAWAII in July, and sun sun sun.

We are happy to have today off from classes, but Jon has still been working hard. For my floral class we were given an assignment to go to the local cemetery and look at all the flowers. Our teacher said people go all out on Memorial Day in Utah County- she really wasn't kidding. It is not only for veterans but nearly everyone who has died, it is a total celebration of life. It was really amazing to see such a community effort to celebrate Memorial day. I am really glad I got to see this- it really helps me remember what this holiday is all about.

This is only one small section of the cemetery, it goes on and on with flowers:

There were so many beautiful decorations and floral arrangements:

My favorite were the Tongan decorations. It looks like they put forth so much effort for these grave sites, it was really beautiful:

We are going to go the gym and get a movie for the evening. Back to work in the morning! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend.

Want to see inside the temple?

2010-05-28T12:53:00.001-07:00

I had to share this because I think it is so neat. As you may know, the LDS temple is extremely sacred to members. It is a place of serious worship and a place where you can recommit to God.

The Salt Lake City temple has opened a new exhibit in their visitors center where they have built a replica of the temple. You can see inside each of the rooms, view the details, and get a sense of the inner beauty. It is a great opportunity for those wondering about the temple, but who are not able to go inside.

See pictures of the exhibit and of the inner rooms here: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700035839/Mormon-Church-shows-inside-view-of-Salt-Lake-Temple-through-new-exhibit.html

(Click on the gallery photos to the right of the article)

I just really love this exhibit because it is the best way for me to share with others how beautiful and sacred the temple really is. The most important events of my life (being sealed to my family, sealed to Jon) and some of the most powerful spiritual experiences I have ever had have been in the temple. I hope the pictures can give others an idea of how important the temple is to me.

2010-05-23T16:44:00.000-07:00

*Whew* I cannot believe another week has flown by. This term has been a bit of a roller coaster for Jon and I- I think it is hard to get into a new routine so rapidly and yet for so short a time. Here is what has been going on recently at our house...

-Jon is still studying like a mad man. He has been saying that after he finishes this course he is pretty sure he can do just about anything. I think he is right- if this is any indication of how medical school might be some day, I think he will be very successful.

-Jon quit his early-morning job today because of the demands of his school work. With only four more weeks to go, we are set financially. School has always been our number one priority. We are pretty lucky we have been able to work and go to school successfully until now.
I am happy for Jon. And I am happy for me. I know it doesn't mean we will be spending tons of time together now, but I am looking forward to small luxuries. Like being able to go to bed at the same time, and waking up at the same time, and having the evenings together. Yay.

-I finished my pajama pants for my sewing class. They are pretty simple, but they are done! It really feels like an accomplishment. I didn't get an awesome grade on them, but I don't care, they're still pajama pants to me!

-This is the latest floral arrangement I made. This class is much easier for me, I really enjoy arranging flowers and the basic elements of design that make them look nice.

I loved watching the tulips open- they are so beautiful and vibrant!

I would say there is not much going on, but that isn't really true.
Things have been sort of crazy around here, especially today.

For the sake of journaling, I want to document what Jon and my day looked like:

**NOTE: The testing center is a building on campus where people can go take exams during times that work for them. It is basically one large room with lots of chairs. This is necessary to really appreciate what Jon and my day was like.

May 24, 2010

4:30am Jon goes to work.
7:30am I wake up, study, go to class.
8:00am Jon starts classes.
9:00-1:00pm I'm in class.
1:00-1:45pm we are both studying but in different places and don't know it.
2:00pm I go to the testing center to take an exam, Jon closely follows, but we don't see each other.
3:00pm I talk to my mom.
3:45pm I fall asleep...oops
Jon is still taking a test. I don't hear from him.
5:30pm I wake up and realize I have to go take another exam RIGHT NOW, because the testing center closes at 7pm.
5:45pm I am in the testing center, but once again do not see Jon.
6:30pm I am done with my second exam of they day and call Jon to see where he is. In the time I turned off my phone and went into the testing center, he had finished and left (his exam took 4 hours). He is at home.
6:35-6:50pm Jon and I say hi, talk about our days, I drive Jon back to campus so that we can talk longer.
7:00-9:00pm Jon is in a review session for his organic chemistry test.
9:00-10:00pm I am at the gym for the power pump class.
10:15pm I go say goodnight to Jon who is sleeping. He tells me I smell like the gym. I laugh. Its been a long day.

Bottom line: I am not sad about Jon quiting his job. Not sad at all.

Mid May

2010-05-17T06:40:00.000-07:00

We are almost half way through spring term. It is flying by, and we have no problem with that. Jon is working constantly on organic chemistry homework and labs. He is also putting significant effort into studying each chapter and is attempting to stay about half a chapter ahead of the class to ensure he is learning everything correctly. He is counting down the days until this class is over. I have to admit, so am I! Jon has said he has found some joy in the class and he finds it interesting. It may not come as naturally to him as biology or physics, but he can work to comprehend it. It is probably a good lesson for future schooling- something to get used to.

My classes are moving along as well. Floral design is fun and I am enjoying the class and lab. Each week we get to make a new design- so we constantly have flowers in our home. I love it and have a new appreciation for flowers.

As for sewing, I am working hard and staying positive, but the class is quite difficult. I feel that most of the girls are ahead of me since they already have sewn quite a bit. When I don't think about the grades I am getting on things, I really enjoy sewing. I turn in my first project, pajama pants, this week. I will post pictures once I have them back. I am also working on a skirt that will be due next week.

This past weekend Jon and I helped in a ward service project, slept quite a bit, ran errands, enjoyed the good weather and caught up on our work. We are looking forward to the end of the term, James and Jessica's wedding, going back to Santa Barbara and the Hawaii cruise we will be taking with the family in July. It is nice to know there are so many good things coming our way this summer.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T11:59:00.000-07:00

Jon and I are lucky to have two wonderful mothers who care for us. When we were friends back in high school we used to talk about our families and I would say how great my mom was, and Jon would say how wonderful his mom was. We would playfully "fight" over who had the best mom. I remained quietly impressed that Jon was so kind and respectful toward his mom. Moms, Jon and I love you! You are the very best moms we could have. Thank you for all of your love and support, and for accepting both of us into your families.

Since both of you are far away, we did the best we could to send you flowers:

Have a wonderful day, enjoy your flowers, and thanks for being our moms!

Two Years Ago, Today...

2010-05-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

I made the best decision I've ever made.

I feel so lucky to be married to Jon. He is honest, loyal, hard working and my best friend. We've got it good, and we know it.

To celebrate I made us a delicious dinner. Yum.

Pasta in a roasted bell-pepper sauce, with chicken, salad, and French bread.

We got a little creative with dessert. As we so like to do. We made these little chocolate cups by dipping balloons in melted chocolate, it looks a little weird in this picture but this is part of the process...

All hardened and done.

And then we put in a homemade chocolate mousse. Both of these are from the Ghirardelli chocolate cookbook we bought in San Fran last summer.
Too much chocolate, you say? No, not to us.

We had a relaxing evening cooking together. It was just what we needed this weekend and a lovely reminder of what matters in this life. And for many years to come.

Graduation, Bridal Shower and Spring Term

2010-04-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

Well it looks like Jon and I were able to go out of BYU with a "bang." Jon stressed over molecular biology all semester; the tests were difficult, the class was hard, the teacher wasn't straight forward and the grades were sporatic.

But of course. Jon still got an A. And got a 4.0 again! Jon has gotten straight A's for an entire year now (except for a teeny tiny A- but that doesn't count).

A while back we were talking to a friend of ours who is a doctor about Jon's grades and the potential of medical school. Our friend said very non-chalantly, "just get straight A's from here on out. You can do that right?" As if it were no big deal. Jon and I walked away from that conversation a little stunned, but that is exactly what Jon did. I am just so proud of him, he has really grown as a student and is using the gifts God gave him.

I was happy get all A's and A-'s, I am excited to go on to more school.

Besides the grades, the best part of the end of the semester was graduation. We were so thankful that Mom and Dad Van Wickle came, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Ruth, and Kathleen, Mom and Dad Tate, Grandma Clara, and my sister Amy. It was so much fun to see everyone and catch up. There was a lot of sitting, clapping and waiting, but I loved every minute of it and was so thankful we had such great cheerleaders.

We all enjoyed a delicious dinner at Brick Oven, and James and Jessica were able to join us. It was a perfect day- the weather cooperated, the graduation speaker was inspirational, and it really felt like a real accomplishment. The next day of convocations was especially enjoyable to me- I loved cheering for my classmates and seeing my professors in their doctorate robes.

Saturday evening my cousin Melanie and I hosted a bridal shower for Jessica. Unfortunately I had gotten sick that weekend- I think the stress of everything finally caught up to me. I had planned on taking tons of cute pictures and posting them, but instead I felt miserable lying upstairs and listened to all of the festivities going on. I felt horrible, but I was happy to hear how well things were going and to see the pictures later. My mom is a natural host, she easily took over for me and made the party fun.

I got to make Jessica's shower invitations, and I was really happy with how they turned out. I love her color choices of black and white with lime green. (sorry that there are two in one picture, you can click on them to see it bigger)

It was definitely a successful weekend and graduation.

We are already through our first week of spring term. Jon is studying his brains out for a super intimidating class he has, and I am loving my creative and easy courses. I will definitely post some of the projects I do for the classes!

Spring is here! (Even if Utah doesn't seem to know it yet)

We Did It!

2010-04-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

We had a fabulous graduation weekend.
Lots of clapping, cheering, pictures, and celebrating.

More pictures and stories to come later. Unfortunately the weekend ended with me feeling pretty sick, but I am on the mend and back to school tomorrow!

Thank you to our wonderful family members who made the trip to see us and support us. It meant the world to us.

It's Official

2010-04-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

I have officially reserved a place at Loma Linda University's master's program for marriage and family therapy.

This has been a spiritual, emotional, exciting, and humbling journey for me. I know a lot of you are probably tired of hearing about it. It seems like every other day I had a new question or concern. My parents and Jon have heard every fathomable possibility when it comes to school, my life, and my future. They have been patient, wise and steady. This has been invaluable to me.

I want to document some of my story for when I question this decision in the future, or for when things get tough at school, or for my future children. So while this process could probably be a book in itself, and some of the spiritual pieces of it may be too sacred to share on this public blog, I wish to tell just some of my story.

When I graduated high school I used to say that I intended on going to four years of college and then being done. I don't think that is a very common attitude, but I had my mind made up that people who went on to graduate school just didn't know what they wanted to do in their life. I just wanted to get out there and make a difference in the world. So I went to college with that exact plan in mind. I ended up selecting family life as my major and fell in love with my classes. I had these strong, intelligent and beautiful female professors. I began to think, "I could do that, I could be like them." I don't think there was an exact moment, but slowly I began to think of going into marriage and family therapy.

As that idea came to life, I turned to my patriarchal blessing (a personal blessing given once in a person's life that talks about promised blessings they will receive if they life righteously). As I read the words new things started to catch my eye. Undeniable things. My blessing talked more about my future profession or service involvement than my family. I don't think that is because I won't have a family, I think God knew I needed some extra encouragement to go down a path I would not have otherwise considered.
I decided to apply.

I told Jon and my parents it would be better to spend some money on the GRE, applications and interviews and then decide if I wanted to go. There was no hurt in applying. I was still not entirely convinced and some days I felt that going on for more school sounded like no fun at all. But most days I felt excited and hopeful. Not for the work, but for the experience, the learning and the people I could potentially help.

I only applied to three schools. I thought my mom put it best in our family letter:
One school I was pretty confident I would get into, one school I thought I might get into, and one school I could only hope to get into but would love to go to.
I didn't even get an interview at the first.
I got waitlisted at the second.
And got accepted at the third.

I want to note as well, applying to LLU was more on a whim. Just to have a school on the list my professors knew of. A "why not?" decision.
I am convinced God lead me to apply there. I am also convinced that God sees much more in me than I see in myself. If I were thinking logically and thoughtfully about my abilities, applying to LLU would not be something I would do.

In the interview process the decision was pretty clear. I loved my other school, I had a strong desire to go there, but I got a very strong feeling to leave that interview room and never look back. And to be honest, that feeling was so strong that I haven't had that desire. It really came to LLU or no school at all.

Jon and I tossed and turned about this decision. Since we have had no debt since we have been married the finances are overwhelming to us. I prayed regularly for promptings to know if this is the right decision.
One night I was praying and I said I didn't feel like I was getting any answers. Immediately conversations I had, things people had said and opportunities that had come up in the last few days entered my mind. Those were my answers.

I felt that I knew that this is what I was supposed to do. But before signing off on the decision I decided I needed to take this question to the temple. I went with the attitude that even if I received no promptings, it was ok, because I pretty much had my answer. I just wanted to be sure it wasn't a "no."

I had a very spiritual experience in the temple. My answer was clear. I felt like God was saying, "Oh ye of little faith," thinking you wouldn't get a prompting. More than any other emotion I was experiencing, I felt humbled.
My personality traits tend to be talkative and opinionated. Not the best traits for a therapist. But still, God knows so much more than I do. And he has reassured me time and time again that this is the right decision for me. I know that if I continue to trust in him he will magnify my abilities.

This has become a long story for what I intended to be short. But I want others to know this story.

Most importantly, I want to remember this story. There are so many other things that occurred, small experiences that changed my course. I wish I could remember them all. But in the end I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who is willing to answer my prayers and reassure me continuously.

I am so excited to attend LLU and feel at peace about my decision.

This Week's Adventures

2010-04-16T22:50:00.000-07:00

It has been a great week...

First, last Sunday we went to Jessica and Daniel's open house /shower in Sandy. We were able to visit with the Utah-families, reconnect with cousins and see Grandma and Grandpa Tate.

These are my adorable cousins:

I like to title this picture "Engaged, Married & Pregnant"
And no, I am not the pregnant one. Congrats Lori!

Grandpa Tate has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, it is shocking and sad for the entire family. But he is still so sweet and loving. I am glad we got to see them this past weekend. When Grandpa came into the room he kissed Grandma, which was very cute. Also, when I was leaving he asked my name. I told him I was Rachel, but my middle name is Nadine (the first name of my Grandmother). He replied, "Ooh, just like my Nadine." I am glad he as moments where he is lucid and remembers the most important person in his life.

The best moment of the night is when one of the aunts said that we were also there to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa's 65th wedding anniversary (amazing, I know!). Grandpa said somewhat loudly, "no one tells me anything anymore." It gave us all a good laugh.

On Tuesday, the last day of class, Mark and Natalie were driving through Provo on their way down to Vegas. We were able to catch up with them, and Emilie and Nick and have dinner. It was so nice to see my BYU-Idaho friends since I wasn't able to make it to their graduation. We felt weird talking about the job market and health care at dinner. When did this happen?? I am so glad I made such good friends at BYU-I. Natalie and I:

After the dinner Jon and I headed to Salt Lake for our OK GO concert. They were soo good live. It was a fairly small venue, but was probably one of the best I've been in for a concert. Ok Go was great at interacting with the crowd and they were just downright fun.

They also played one of their songs on the hand bells. Amazing:

Jon and I wore our sweet Ok Go shirts to the work party the next day. We're kind of nerds, but I like us:

Finals week is in full swing, we have been studying and sleeping and studying and eating, etc. We will be done soon!

2010-04-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

This week was packed full of projects, assignments, and prep for finals week. We only have two more days of classes, then reading days, and then finals. I am not especially worried about finals but I have many assignments due over the next few days. Things are starting to come together and I am feeling pretty confident about this next week. Jon and I are excited to be done!

This past week I was able to participate in the Mary Lou Fulton poster conference for the college of family, home and social sciences. It is basically a conference where all the various majors make posters for research they have conducted, to share it with people in the department and other students. Dr. Yorgason told me about this about 3 days before the poster was due. We don't have any results yet for our research, but I figured it would be a good opportunity nonetheless.

This is what the ballroom looked like, ready for the conference:

This is my faculty mentor and professor, Dr. Yorgason.

This is the poster I ended up making, I am pretty happy with how it turned out:

It was a fun event, we got served lunch and to talk to many people about their various research projects. There was everything from studying ADD in monkeys, to dating patterns of BYU students, and cultural meanings of surfing. It was really interesting and fun to see everything that BYU students and professors are doing.

This weekend I got to go with my soon to be sister-in-law Jessica to pick out her flowers! It was so much fun. The floral shop was adorable:

Jessica had many choices to make but she was really decisive with good taste, I was glad I was there to be a part of it. So many flowers to choose from!

We also managed to find the perfect bridesmaid dresses for the wedding. They are super cute, I am really excited I get to keep one haha.

Jon got to watch five surgeries for six and a half hours on Friday. He loooooved it. He likes to explain everything to me, and gets really excited about the surgeries they conducted. I am so glad he has this opportunity to learn more about his field.
I would post pictures... but ... you know. Just kidding, no pictures in the surgery room allowed!!

Wish us luck for finals! We can't wait to see our families in just a week and a half! The weather is so nice right now, I hope it stays that way. Happy spring everyone!

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T22:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter family and friends. What a beautiful holiday. Sometimes I wonder why Easter doesn't get as much attention as Christmas, in many ways Easter is as important (if not more so). At least in terms of Christian beliefs. But part of me is ok with the fact that the holiday is lost on people. Because I think that is kind of the point. Easter is a holiday for those of us who believe Christ still lives. It is more than a celebration of birth, it is a celebration of the supernatural and divine experience of resurrection. Don't get me wrong- I love Christmas and all that it means, but Easter has a very special place in my heart spiritually. I know Christ lives, and it is through his resurrection that we all can have eternal life.

There is really no better way to celebrate Easter than watching general conference. If you would like to read or listen to any of the sermons given by our dear church leaders, click here.

Conference was well needed after Jon and my weekend. I did a lot more homework than I've done over a weekend in a long long time. Jon studied his brains out for his molecular biology test tomorrow. And we still have two and a half more weeks to go! But its ok... because today we planned the perfect break. It actually has a bit of history for us. Let me start from the beginning...

During my freshman year of college I had a roommate who loved some fun bands I had not heard of. One of which, was OK GO. Ok Go has this hilarious music video where they did a "backyard dance." I thought this was ingenious and shared it with Jon, while he was in school in San Diego. Later that year OK GO gave a FREE concert at UC San Diego that Jon attended because of me and my roommate's love of this band. The concert was on the last day of classes his freshman year, right before the start of finals. He thought they were fantastic live- and since then has purchased and listened to their music continuously.

OK GO is most well known for their fun and creative music videos. See examples here, here and here. (The last two are the same song but two different videos for it).

Well, as it turns out, OK GO is coming to Salt Lake City. And they are coming on the last day of classes, right before finals start, our senior year of college. It just seemed to good to be true. We are anticipating that it will be the perfect break after all our final projects are due, and right before we hit the books for finals week.

This little concert has lifted our spirits for the weekend. And we are looking forward to attending next week.

Spring Has Arrived

2010-03-31T19:16:00.000-07:00

Please notice our new blog header for April- it is decorated in celebration of graduation. Which is just around the corner.

Recently we have been happily involved in James and Jessica's plans for the wedding. My cousin Melanie and I are hosting a shower for Jessica the same weekend of graduation, solely for family members. I am so excited for this event, I think it will be a lovely opportunity for everyone to get to know Jessica.

I have also been designing James and Jessica's wedding invitations which is a total blast. I am considering making it a "side business" if I can improve my skills (and get faster at what I do), I am enjoying making things that fit people's style. James and Jessica are easy to work with as well, which is helpful.

This past weekend Jon and I went to James' apartment which he has decked out in a nice black-and-white (with a little red) theme. Since Jon has so much good experience painting he helped them with a stripe they wanted on the wall, he did a great job.

And he worked really hard while we all watched A Knight's Tale on TV.

What a trooper.

Jon and I have also started to read together again. I got Jon four books for his birthday, and one we were both looking forward to was Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the Lightening Thief.

We had heard such good reviews about it, so we have been reading a chapter a night (Ok, maybe sometimes we stay up and read two). It has been so much fun. It has a very Harry Potter feel to it, but with its own angle. We are right in the midst of the action right now and it is always hard to put it down.

While it is March 31st (Happy Birthday Joe!) and supposedly spring, it snowed a little bit today. The rest of the day was overcast and rainy. Initially I was upset our good weather went away, but I am thankful for the moisture- because I want everything to be in bloom for graduation. Spring is one of the most beautiful seasons in Utah, I am really looking forward it.

The Verdict

2010-03-25T20:26:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to blog the "big news" but I've put it on the back burner while I've posted it all over facebook and called and text messaged my family and friends.

So here goes...

I have been accepted to Loma Linda University!

I am so excited to be accepted to this school, in my mind it has always been the top choice. They have an excellent marriage and family therapy program, it really feels like a privilege to be accepted.

Meanwhile, I was wait listed at Cal Poly as #6. I really have no idea if this means I am likely or unlikely to get a spot. I really love Cal Poly, it is a great institution, I also feel lucky to have gotten the opportunity to interview with them.

So... now it is time to ponder, pray, meditate, punch the numbers and consider the options. After a good talk with my parents I feel up to the challenge, whatever it may be, and am excited to continue in my field.

With all the excitement it has been somewhat hard to focus on the school I am attending right now. Only two more weeks and two more days of classes. A total of 27 days until graduation. We are at the home stretch! I am so excited to graduate and it is really starting to hit me- four years have gone by and we are done!

In honor of my soon-to-be graduated self, I registered for the spring classes I will be taking. Mind you- I don't need any more requirements to graduate, I am just taking classes so I can continue to work while Jon takes an extra course. I registered for floral design and basics of clothing construction. I think those will be the perfect spring courses for a recent BYU grad.
And Jon will be taking o-chem. So really, I will need something to entertain myself while he hits the books each day.

It feels like a lot of things are being tied up nicely with string right now. Acceptance letters, finishing semester projects, winter is coming to a close, and we will soon be graduates. There is a lot to look forward to!

Birthday Weekend

2010-03-17T23:04:00.000-07:00

Ah... time is flying by. It feels like I just blogged- but it has already been a week. I haven't even changed the white-board calender in our kitchen to March, and we are more than half way done. And then to top it all off- we only have four more weeks of classes! Though I must say, I have no objection to those weeks flying by. So. Close.

This latest weekend trip to California was excellent. Jon got to come with me, and we celebrated his birthday while were there. It was perfect timing, perfect weather, and a really wonderful trip.

We managed to...
-see the ocean
-Jon went on a scenic bike ride
-lie on the hammock (my personal favorite)

-get sun burnt
-eat yummy food
-sing happy birthday to Jon

-get thrifty's ice cream (chocolate malted crunch rules)
-see our friends
-see many of our family members (best part!)
-wear shorts and sandals
-and we actually did homework this time

Overall, a complete success.

I also got the opportunity to interview with Santa Barbara Scholarship Foundation and Cal Poly.

Here are some of the things I loved about Cal Poly...
-beautiful area!

-so close to home
-people from a lot of different backgrounds in the program
-tuition
-2 quarters of training before traineeship
-on-site practicum for therapy

I am a little concerned about feeling like I fit in at this school- I love the people and Cal Poly itself. Perhaps it is just me not being used to the world outside of BYU. I am sure the Lord will guide me to where I can be influenced for good as well as do the most good.

So that is the status of things right now.

As fast and crazy as things feel, I still really cherish these moments. We are making our future. And while I would like to know what that future will look like, I am enjoying the process of getting there.

Congratulations

2010-03-10T20:54:00.001-08:00

I just want to give a big congratulations to my brother James and my soon-to-be-sister-in-law Jessica for their engagement!

They are such cuties and I know they make each other happy- it already feels like Jessica is part of the family but I can't wait for it to be "official." I am sure James feels the same way.

Meanwhile...
I have been eying this penguin hardcover classics set. I think it is so lovely. I might make this a continuing Christmas present, I would love to have the entire collection.

I love how they look miscellaneous but put-together at the same time. Jon and I already have quite a stuffed bookcase, but I don't think we ever plan on stopping investing in books. Our dream house would definitely have a library!

15 minutes

2010-03-09T17:12:00.000-08:00

These past two weeks feel like they can be broken down into 15 minute segments of relaxation. Today, for example:
15 minutes to eat breakfast and check my email
15 minutes to eat lunch/dinner with Jon on campus
15 minutes to blog

I don't mind so much. Being busy in good and productive things is rewarding. I recently heard someone say something along the lines of, "peace of mind doesn't come from inactivity but changing activities."

So I thought I would write a little update regarding my Loma Linda interview. The interview itself went really well, it was intense and unlike any interview I have been in before. Three hours of group interviews, with three different faculty members. It wasn't about your accomplishments or things on your resume, it was more focused on who you are, why you are good for the field and the school, and how you plan on being successful. It was nice to hear what other students had to say and I appreciated insights from the faculty.

Some things I loved about LLU were:
-the campus, it was very charming
-the area, it seems newly developed and all the hills were green from the rain
-the faculty- they were very kind and personable
-the program options- I like the idea of a medical family therapy certificate
-the fact that mom and I only had to travel 30 minutes to visit my brother Joe
-the good reputation of Loma Linda in the community, state, etc.
-the moral standards of the school

The only thing I don't love? The tuition.

It was a great experience interviewing with Loma Linda and I feel lucky that I had the opportunity.

This week will be busy busy busy. Jon and I leave Thursday morning to go to Santa Barbara. We are excited to visit our hometown, our family, to celebrate Jon's birthday and for me to have one more interview.

I will interview with Cal Poly SLO on Friday (as well as Santa Barbara scholarship). I am interested to see the differences in the two programs. I feel a lot more prepared and comfortable with the idea of interviewing after already going through the process with one school.

Thanks for all of you who have thought good wishes or said little prayers. They have helped!

coming soon: Cal Poly interview, Jon's birthday, Goleta adventures

Here Goes...

2010-03-03T22:40:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow I fly out for my first interview. I am nervous, but excited. Sometimes I think I am made for this, other days I have no idea why I am even trying. But this is where life had lead me so far and I am going to make the best of it.

Many of my friends have already been accepted into programs (I find myself feeling jealous of them, not because they got in, just because they already know!). They, as well as my professors, explain how important it is to feel like you have a good "fit" with a school. My friends say they just know- they know they can work with these people for the next two years, they feel comfortable there, their areas of interest line up, and their general beliefs are respected or agreed upon. "Fit" sort of feels like an elusive concept, but I hope I experience it, or that I know it when it comes my way.

I will say one thing I immediately like about Loma Linda is their slogan, "to make man whole." Beautiful. They are well-known for their education in health related fields. I like that too.

It is difficult to think beyond Friday afternoon- but I will not be resting easy after this interview. I will fly back to Utah that night, get home pretty late, and teach a workshop in the morning. Myself, as well as a group of three other wonderful girls will be teaching it. We are not sure anyone will come, but are excited nonetheless. It is for a class called Family Life Education- we have spent the semester creating a curriculum for a program and now we get the chance to present it to the public.

Our topic is on conflict in marriage. Our main goals are to normalize conflict as well as give people the skills necessary to feel more confident and better equipped to handle conflict.
I hope it will be enjoyable and someone will learn something from it. As an instructor I know I have benefited from learning the ins and outs of the research behind marriage conflict. (For example- did you know that a healthy couple, outside of conflict situations, give 20 positive messages to their spouse for every negative one?)

This is the logo I made for our group.

I am going to try to ignore the butterflies in my stomach, get some things done to prepare for tomorrow, and get some good sleep! Wish me luck...

Smarty-Pants

2010-02-28T20:53:00.000-08:00

Making education a priority in our lives has definitely began to pay off. I am proud of Jon for continually improving his grades and having a strong desire to provide for our family. I am proud of myself for going out of my comfort zone and applying to graduate school and for setting some new educational goals.

Today in church there were some speakers who discussed preparation in our lives: temporal, educational and spiritual. In terms of education they talked about getting an adequate education to provide for our families and to especially make it a priority while we are young. It is difficult to go back to school later in life- I am glad Jon and I have the opportunity to do it right now.

I am also thankful that we go to such a good and yet affordable school. A professor of mine was talking to me the other day about how students at BYU are different from students at other institutions. It is not just religion, but the work ethic and drive. He explained that BYU students are at school for the sole purpose to get an education (not the "college experience," or simply because that is what you are "supposed" to do). He said that BYU students go to school and get to work. Additionally, a lot of BYU students work for their education and pay their own way. I think that adds to the dynamic. Not to mention many get married or plan on starting families soon, which puts things into perspective.

DISCLAIMER: this is not to say that everyone should get the same type of education or do it in the same way. Just what works for them. This is also not to say BYU students are inherently superior to other students. Believe me, I sometimes wonder how certain kids got in here. There just may be an overall difference in their work or long term goals.

All in all, school has been a major priority for the both of us and it has been a blessing to be at BYU.

For the first time, Jon made the deans list at BYU. He made it at UCSD with about a 3.5 GPA, but at BYU it took a 4.0 to make it into the top 5% of students. Way to go, Jon! (I think he is proving his nerdiness with this photo)

Additionally, I have been invited to interview at Loma Linda University. I am totally enamored by this school, it has an excellent marriage and family therapy program, and BYU professors speak very highly of it. I fly out this Thursday for my interview all day on Friday. I am soo excited!

This week has been long but rewarding.

We visited James and Jessica for James' birthday, and checked out his new man cave. We loved it.

Jon got sick but seems to be on the mend. I set him up at home on Saturday with juice, soup, cold medicine and movies. He stayed out of the ER for everyone's benefit.

I went shopping on Saturday for interview clothes and managed to get lost in the mall and not be able to find my way out. After that I couldn't find the car for about 15 minutes. It made me miss having Jon around as a directional guide when I go shopping. I felt a little silly.

We have planned our little trip home in two weeks. I will interview with Cal Poly and we will celebrate Jon's birthday. We are looking forward to family, friends and sunshine.

[I think I should be named JetBlue's customer of the month for all of the flights I have had to purchase recently. Thank you tax returns!]

I have not heard back from Seattle Pacific yet and am a little concerned. A girl in the office said they are having interviews this Friday- can they really only give 4 days of notice and expect people to show up for an interview? I hope she is mistaken.

That is our update for the week. I hope you all had an excellent weekend. Monday is a fresh start- time to get back to work!

Valentine's Day

2010-02-20T16:58:00.000-08:00

This is a little late... I know. My Internet has been acting up. But finally, a recap of one of my favorite holidays! I like valentine's day to be more about doing things together than presents, I appreciate a good experience.

So this is what we did with our Sunday afternoon.

I started making some pizza...

And we made them heart shaped in honor of the holiday...

I finished up our delish meal while Jon worked on our fort...

It was fantastic... the most epic fort yet!

We ate our dinner in there (really) and watched a movie. It was perfect.

As for school and work, things are moving along. We are half way through the semester! Not like I am counting or anything... Jon has been getting phenomenal grades. In two of his classes he has been in the top 13 or 20 people (out of 400+) on some of his test scores. Sheesh, to think I've always silently resented those people, and now I am living with one! He also got a scholarship for the spring term, way to go Jon!

Hopefully more blog posts will be coming as the semester progresses- there are many things to look forward to!

Finally!

2010-02-11T12:40:00.001-08:00

I have been soo anxious waiting to hear back from graduate schools. I am constantly having to self-talk to relax, remember to have some perspective, and be patient. But finally! I have heard from one of my schools!

From Cal Poly SLO today:

Hello,

You have been selected to be invited to a group interview on Friday, March 12 for our MS in Psychology program. Please let me know if you are able to attend. If so, I will send additional information next week.

Simple. But it is all I needed to help me relax. It is nice to finally hear from a school. (Not that they were lagging, just that I need to be more patient).

I hope to hear from my other two schools by the end of February. I hope I get at least one more invitation to interview.

YAY! Good news!

The Good Wife's Guide

2010-02-03T20:06:00.000-08:00

Are you familiar with the good wife's guide? It was written in Homemaking Monthly in 1955. If you haven't seen it, check it out:

(click to enlarge)

Clearly there are some sexist undertones to this article. For a class of mine I decided to rewrite the good wife's guide for a more modern audience. Before reading, it should be noted that this is definitely not something that would be published in a women's magazine today. I kept a lot of the basic meanings of the original guidelines, while trying to take away the sexism. I think a lot of people would still consider my modern version old fashioned. It makes a lot of assumptions, such as: the women reading this are married, have children, are home when their husbands get home, are in a heterosexual relationship and are married. Therefore, a lot of women would not be able to relate to this article!
Nevertheless, I still believe there is a lot of good advice and that it is well-meaning. A lot of these guidelines are still true today, and have a lot more to do with humility than sexism. Likewise, I think just because this is advise given to a woman, it does not mean a man is not also expected to do the same.
Lastly- it is entirely possible that people in another 50 years scoff at my version. Many of my changes feel simple and normal, but who knows where women and family will be in the future.
Enjoy!

(click to enlarge)

Things to look forward to

2010-01-31T15:50:00.001-08:00

I've been in a little bit of a rut this past week. Winter blahs, tired, forgetful (I completely forgot to go into work one day) this month has felt long.

So I thought it would help to make a list of some things I am looking forward to in the next few weeks:

-my parents are coming into town this week, yay!

-I found this jacket for $20, originally priced at $118. I can't wait to get it in the mail.

-Spring will be coming. Maybe not for a month or two, but it has at least been sunny the last few days.

-My favorite holiday is coming: Valentine's day!

-Hopefully I'll be hearing back from my schools by mid-March

-Jon's birthday is coming in March!

That is my list for now...

Happy Friday

2010-01-29T10:41:00.000-08:00

Not much is going on around these parts.
I think we are finally starting to get our routine down. At night I "put Jon to bed" around 8:30 and I go to the gym. Get home and do homework for an hour, shower, and go to bed. He wakes up at 4:30 and goes to work. I wake up around 8am. It seems to give us the most amount of time possible with each other.

Jon is still enjoying his shadowing, but the doctor was out of town this past week. I am enjoying the research I am doing but am struggling to reach my 10 hours a week, there doesn't seem to be enough to do yet.

Graduation feels close at this point. It is a weird feeling, but a good one. I think we are ready to move on to new things. At the same time- we have really learned to like school.

As I said- life is pretty standard right now. That is ok by us.

I am so happy its the weekend. We are looking forward to date night, movies, catching up on homework and sleep, and going to the gym together.

Happy Friday! Hope its a good one!

Anniversary

2010-01-23T15:39:00.000-08:00

One year ago (tomorrow) Jon and I got sealed in the Los Angeles temple for time and all eternity. This means that while we had already been married civilly, we made the commitment to be married for eternity. It was a very spiritual day for us and one that we worked hard to get to.
Today we decided to commemorate the day by attending the temple here in Provo. Keeping with tradition- we forgot our temple recommends. Yup, that's right, last year when we got sealed we made it all the way to the SLC airport, ready to fly to LA to go to the temple, and forgot our recommends. (A special shout out to Kendall and Mallory who saved the day!). Anyway, luckily this year our recommends were a mere ten minute drive away. The temple was peaceful and calm and helped us remember where we come from and what our goals on this Earth are.
We are happy that we are together forever.

On the menu this week...

2010-01-16T15:02:00.001-08:00

Jon and I have finally gotten in the good habit of planning our meals. This is working out well for us, causing us to be healthier and in the long run saving money- since we only buy the things we need.

Here are a few new favorites I will definitely be cooking again (and featuring some of my favorite cooking websites / blogs):

Pulled-pork sandwiches- so delicious, so easy, a great one for nights we don't get home at the same time
Stuffed Bell Peppers- new healthy favorite, there is another variation I would like to try next time
Chinese Chicken Fried Rice- this is the best recipe I have found thus far, I loved it

For this week, we will be making some fun things:

1. BBQ chicken pizza with whole-wheat crust
2. Sun-dried tomato pasta salad
and 3. Turkey burgers (I probably wont follow this recipe exactly, and I have never tried it... I'll have to let you know how it goes)

Just so you believe we're still busy: we will also be having some not so exciting things this week. Such as: tacos, soup, etc.

I am enjoying cooking and think I have progressed in the last year and a half. My taste-buds have certainly grown up a little (I know, no one thought they would ever see the day!). I like that Jon is willing to help me and willing to eat whatever I make.

ps- don't forget about dessert! This weekend we are going to try out our new kitchenaid ice cream maker attachment and make mint-chocolate chip ice cream, yum!

Have a great three day weekend everyone!

1st Week of School

2010-01-10T14:40:00.001-08:00

Ah. So we have survived our first week of school. Honestly- nothing excites me more than a well organized syllabus. The details of the next 14 weeks are clearly laid out and you can know what to expect, at least in the academic world, during the upcoming semester. Some things I did not anticipate before seeing my syllabi- difficult and intensive classes. I know- what was I thinking? I anticipated an easier semester, but I was wrong. I will be plenty busy. But that is ok, a lot of the time, just the right amount of "busy" is what sparks my best work at school.

Meanwhile, Jon and I feel blessed that he was able to find a job the FIRST week of school. We started stressing about it a few weeks before school ended, all during finals, all during Christmas break, as soon as we got home... (you get the picture). It is an early morning custodial job, from 5am to 8am, Monday through Friday. If you think we would be unhappy with these hours, you would be wrong- only I was unhappy, and only for a short time. Jon is willing to sacrifice so much for the two of us (I seriously considered telling him not to sacrifice THAT much!) and he really wanted this position since it is the only thing that works with his schedule and that will take him despite him only being here one semester. So, he starts Tuesday and we are trying to get ourselves on a new sleep schedule to allow Jon enough rest.

Also- Jon had his first time shadowing a doctor in his medical shadowing class. He got assigned (for the first half of the semester) to shadow an allergist and asthma specialist. Jon walked away saying, "I would really like to be a doctor." Even if he does not desire to be an allergist, I think this is a great response. He will hopefully get something even more in line with his specialty interests in the second half of the semester.

This week felt like a whirl-wind but now, in the next two weeks, I feel confident the dust will settle. We will adapt to a new routine and struggle to remember what it was like to have two weeks without homework. This will be our last winter semester as ungraduates! We are looking forward to the journey.

Thinking warm thoughts

2010-01-08T07:21:00.000-08:00

here in Utah county.

Bragging Rights

2010-01-04T09:37:00.001-08:00

I can't help myself. I am just so proud.

Jon got another 4.0! We are soo happy for him and that he is doing so well.

(I didn't do too shabby either with my 3.94) Best semester yet!

Today is the first day for winter semester. Since we had such a successful fall term it has really motivated us to work hard for our final full semester! It is hard to believe our college experience is coming to a close- we have invested so much time and effort into getting our education. It really has been worth it, we have grown so much. We will see what this semester has in store for us.

Jon will be taking 16 credits and is most looking forward to his medical shadowing course.
I am taking 15 credits and am looking forward to the research I will be doing with war veterans and their wives.

We are soo ready to finish up this semester!!! (please pay no attention to the fact that it hasn't even started yet haha)

100th Post

2010-01-02T20:28:00.000-08:00

This is my 100th post to the blog, a perfect number to roll into the new year.
We are home from our fantastic trip to our... home. We have two homes at this point- our original home in Goleta and our new home in Provo. The Provo one is bound to move but I consider it important that we consider it too a home of our own. Anyway- we are back in Provo.

We had such a lovely trip to California and enjoyed all of the time we had with family and friends. Some of my favorite things included...

1. Reading! Jon and I both are great readers once on vacation, I forgot how wonderful it is to jump into a good read. I might post about my books at a later time- I have some recommendations.

2. Eating at some of our favorite places. Hamburger Habit, the Palace, Blenders... it was so much fun!

3. Reunions! While visiting with my grade/middle/high school girl friends we happened to run into our first grade teacher! It was so coincidental and really made our small reunion perfect.

4. The weather. 'Nuff said.

5. The Van Wickle's trip to the Santa Barbara Historical Museum:

6. Seeing Jon hanging out with his brothers. He sure loves his family and that makes me so happy. I love them too.

7. Driving to the Long Beach airport and loving that ocean view in between Montecito and Ventura. It was breath-taking.

I would say our trip home was well spent and well needed. We are happy to be back to our small home and to be getting ready for our last full semester!

We celebrated our return by making these tonight:

The perfect ending to an excellent Christmas break! Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T15:58:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family! Here are just a few of the lovely highlights of our vacation (so far):

Christmas with the Tate's on the 19th. It was so nice to have everyone together, no matter what day of the month it was.

Jon enjoyed playing with our new game- Wii Fit. It was a hit with the Tates and the Van Wickles!

We have totally been enjoying the weather! Even we sometimes forget just how nice it is here.

And of course we've been having fun with the Van Wickle's. Jon loves spending time with the boys. This is from a hike to lizard's mouth.

Today we opened presents at Jon's and went to a movie with my parents and Amy. So far, so good. We are so thankful we have another week to soak up the sun and play with the family! More updates to come. Hope all of your Christmas' are just as delightful.

Christmas at our place!

2009-12-17T22:13:00.000-08:00

FIRST- because Jon and I are so sad we couldn't be there and SO happy for this person: JAKE! Congratulations on graduating from Cal Poly!!! We hope it was amazing and can't wait to hear what comes next for you.

SECOND- we are DONE with finals! Sometimes I feel like I live life counting down- just until the weekend, just until this exam is over, once this project is finished or once the semester wraps up. I try to be happy and find the joy in the process but there really is a positive and uplifting feeling about wrapping up a semester. It is like you have accomplished something, progressed forward and now you can look back and appreciate it. Really, this semester has had its ups and downs, but I loved my time and it flew by!

THIRD- Jon and I had the perfect ending to our semester. Here is what we did today.

We went to our "final" for English where we watched 11 presentations. As interesting as these topics were- it got old real fast.

Then we got to go to the temple.
ok so this wasn't a good part of our day but it is true: Satan made us get in a fight. ANY time we go to the temple something big happens and changes our plans or we get into a "nothing fight." Meaning really- the "fight" is about nothing. Jon quickly pointed out we must be doing some important work at the temple to cause us to have a nothing fight. We made up quickly after that.
The temple was perfect, peaceful and I felt truly relaxed and happy. You always come out of the temple feeling cleansed and renewed.
The Provo temple kind of looks like a cup cake:

View of the sunset from temple grounds:

We then went out to dinner at GoodWood. Yumm. We even got dessert, which I really shouldn't have done but I did anyway. It was delicious.
I realize this picture is kind of dark, I didn't want to use flash in the resturant. It also makes it look like Jon doesn't have a hand:

We ended our evening opening our Christmas presents to each other. I got Jon's watch fixed so he can finally wear it again and got him a new belt. He got me a blow-dryer and a pyrex pan. Seriously, I know it sounds lame, but those gifts were perfect for me. Things I really needed and didn't want to buy myself- also, completely practical.

Jon snoozed off while watching the Dark Knight and I went to the gym. I am trying to get off my work out high so I can get some sleep. Tomorrow we go to work, pack up, and head home! We sure are excited to see everyone.

One last thing, today I made little thank you notes for my professors and supervisor who wrote me letters of rec. I like how they turned out- simple but personal:

Up next: California Christmas Adventures

2 years ago, yesterday...

2009-12-16T08:52:00.000-08:00

This is a little embarrassing, but at 11:30 last night in the shower I remembered: It's December 15th! Two years ago (yesterday) Jon asked me to marry him and I said YES!

I don't know if people are supposed to remember the day they got engaged, or celebrate it... Jon and I aren't as big on that as I know others are. With everything except our wedding date, we typically remember and say congratulations and go about our day. Nevertheless, I am happy we got engaged, despite how much we had talked about it I remember being so incredibly nervous. I could tell Jon was as well. I often tell people that saying yes was the best decision I ever made- and I mean it.

We sure are lucky to have each other. Last night, after I remembered I crawled into bed and whispered to Jon that it was our engagement anniversary. He said something like "oh that's nice," and really- that was enough for me. Supporting each other during finals, secretly buying Christmas presents for the other, working out together- all of those things were enough of an anniversary celebration for me.

Love you, Jon.

Tiny Update

2009-12-14T17:49:00.000-08:00

Finals week has began! I don't want to bore everyone with the details. All you need to know is Jon and I have been studying hard and looking forward to the end of the semester. It has been a good term and we are glad we had a couple of classes together.

We are soo excited for Christmas break and seeing our family. We leave the 18th, the last day of finals! Hooray!

I've "finished" all of my grad school applications! Now I just have to make sure everyone does their letters of rec in time, make sure all of my information has been received and wait patiently. Ha. Patiently.

After Thursday afternoon, the scheduled time for our last final, we will be done and hopefully doing more entertaining things to blog about. Until then - good luck with your finals and Christmas plans!

Good Morning snow

2009-12-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning and looked out our window to find this:

Its time to truly welcome the winter!

I spent this weekend designing the Tate Christmas card, listening to Christmas music and adding to / looking at wishlists. It is a good time of year. Happy Holiday Season everyone.

A Moment of Celebration

2009-12-03T12:06:00.000-08:00

I never have to take the GRE again!!! I am sooo happy.
After trying to take it once but them not letting me because of name change and ID issues, I am so so so happy to be finished with it.

As I've been told by many people, "all the GRE represents is how well you take the GRE".

I am happy enough with my score, and ready to move on to bigger and better things!

Our 2nd Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T10:57:00.000-08:00

It always seems sad to not be with family during important holidays, and family is always on our mind during those holidays. However, Thanksgiving has become a nice holiday that Jon and I can create some of our own traditions. I also consider it good practice for when we can get together with family, hopefully in the future.

I spent more time thinking of aesthetics this year... remember last year? I think we did a little better this time around...

I don't think Jon wanted to take this picture, I think he was anxious to EAT!

After we ate less than half the food we made (Thanksgiving doesn't offer a lot of items appropriate for only 2 people), but were stuffed, we put up Christmas lights! They look so great in our homey little place, I love them.

We made some happy memories yesterday. Including making a big pile of blankets and pillows, watching a movie and drinking cider. So while we can't wait for Christmas, this sure was a good little tradition for the two of us.

We are thankful for...

2009-11-26T11:11:00.000-08:00

[Jon and I sat down and made this list of things we are thankful for this year]

1. FAMILY
2. each other
3. that it's senior year!
4. our home
5. the gospel
6. healthy bodies
7. low tuition and FAFSA
8. that we get to go home at Christmas
9. good books
10. a temple close by

While this list is short it means a lot to us, we sure have a lot to be grateful for this year.

Happy Thanksgiving to our family and friends! Love, Jon and Rachel

Where did November go?

2009-11-23T17:17:00.000-08:00

Doesn't it feel like Halloween was two days ago? Or is it just me? Tomorrow we have classes and then it is Thanksgiving break! Hooray! We'll be staying in town and missing our families, but happy to have some time off.

Anyway, I thought you all might like to see how those T-shirts I designed turned out. They decided on some different coloring options so the design looks different than intended, but I am still happy with it. Best part? They let me get one for Jon too, even though he isn't part of the club.
Now Jon and I can ride around on our bikes in matching shirts and spandex... oh wait no... those are my parents.

Also, I have been working away on applications the past couple of weeks. My first application is due December 1st (the info that gets mailed in has another month, however). Here are the folders I put together for the people I am asking letters of recommendation from. They have the deadlines, an academic resume, my personal statement, and all the information for the schools I am applying to and what they require.

I am excited that things are coming along and getting accomplished.

I hope you all have a happy thanksgiving!

Mint Chocolate Fudge

2009-11-15T10:41:00.000-08:00

(Disclaimer: Jon and I eat healthy 99% of the time. But those meals and dishes are not featured on this blog... because they're boring. I often feel like I only post about the sweets we make. So, mothers, do not worry, we get our fruits and veggies, I promise!)

Jon and I have been long time fans of making candy. Candy is sometimes a better thing to make than cookies or cakes, because they're so easy to give away and you don't eat as much because they're so rich. We have created some of our own recipes for sweets and treats we like. We changed up a normal fudge recipe last night to create some delicious results, so I thought I would share.

Fantasy MINT-chocolate Fudge
3/4 Cup butter or margarine
3 Cups sugar
1 5 oz. can or 2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup mint chips
1 7 oz. jar jet puffed marshmallow creme
1 tsp. vanilla
(nuts optional, we don't like nuts)

Mix butter, sugar, and evaporated milk in a heavy/large saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil on medium heat, stir constantly. Continue boiling for 5 minutes over medium heat, stir constantly to prevent scorching.

Remove from heat. Stir in chips until melted. Add remaining ingredients, mix well. Pour into buttered 8x8" pan (or 9x9" depending on desired thickness)

TIP: do not scrape the sides of the saucepan when you pour in the fudge- you don't want the crystallized parts to mix in with the creamy fudge!

Cool at room temp (about 4 hours), then cut into squares. Enjoy!

Like I said earlier, candy is the best sweet to share. You don't need a lot of it to make someones day sweeter. I quickly put these together for the girls I visit teach at church:

Love, your chocolatiers, Jon and Rachel

[picture from after the Regina Spektor concert]

Pic to come

2009-11-14T09:30:00.000-08:00

I've been waiting for my friend to post some pictures from our Regina Spektor concert, but unfortunately they haven't had the time.

I know its been a while, so I thought I would at least post an update. The concert itself was a-ma-zing. Regina played the piano and sang, played the keyboard and sang, played the guitar and sang, sang a capella, played the piano WHILE hitting a chair with a stick while singing! It was an incredible show. Unfortunately, with general admission, you have some moments of people pushing you around, or standing right in front of you. But considering that we came fairly late, I was happy with our experience.

That night we stayed in Salt Lake City so we wouldn't have to drive home after, and could enjoy some time together. It was just what we needed- on Saturday morning we had a delicious breakfast at the hotel, wandered around the gateway, and got hot chocolate. Perfect.

This week has been relatively slow. I've been able to work a lot on my graduate school applications and am soon going to be asking my professors for letters of recommendation. I am excited, but nervous, and hoping all of this is worth my time. I really am not sure that I will get into any of the 3 schools I am applying to. But Jon and I are taking a "if its meant to be, it will" approach.

This was also Jon and my first week of our new eating and exercise regiment. Since I've finished the half marathon I needed some new goals to keep me active, so Jon and I have been working hard.

We only have THREE more weeks of classes, and then finals! This semester has gone by so quickly, but it has been very good. Jon and I have two classes together, one of which seems a little suspicious in how it grades us:

Rachel's Grades
Total
393 400
Resume
Oct 1, 2009 9:50 AM 95% 100
IRB Proposal
Category
Oct 13, 2009 12:02 PM 98% 100
Prospectus

Nov 9, 2009 11:29 AM 100% 200

Jon's Grades
Total
393 400
Resume
Oct 1, 2009 9:48 AM 95% 100
IRB Proposal

Oct 13, 2009 12:02 PM 98% 100
Prospectus

Nov 9, 2009 11:28 AM 100% 200

Hmmmm, suspicious? Its ok with us though, the teacher apparently likes our work! (To be fair, the second project was a group project that we worked on together.)

This morning we woke up to the first snowfall of the season, it was lovely. We are thinking that this Christmas we will get some lights, and a little tree for our apartment. We are looking forward to the upcoming season.

As one last note, please look at this adorable picture from when my family came to Utah, I love it:

Regina Spektor

2009-11-04T19:25:00.000-08:00

Part of our weekend plans include going to the Regina Spektor concert in Salt Lake City on Friday. We could not be more excited.

Here are a couple of our favorite songs, for those of you who may not be familiar with the ingenious Regina- or simply love to listen to her music, like we do.

I found her life story really interesting, if you care to check that out as well. It is on wikipedia.

Halloween Half Marathon

2009-11-03T19:55:00.000-08:00

First of all, I HUGE thank you to whoever left me this note and some focus-food last week! It was soo nice and thoughtful, and I seriously don't know who did it. It really helped keep my spirits up.

So, the halloween half marathon was this past weekend, and so much fun! The girls and I decided to dress up as where's waldo, which meant that we had easy costumes to run in. And it was super appropriate for the large crowd we were in.

Jon was my biggest fan and huge supporter! He was such a sweetie, he helped doctor all my blisters, got my chocolate milk, and let me do whatever I wanted the rest of the day. It made the run totally worth it.

Overall there are some things that I would have done differently if I had known, but I am so happy I finished and can say that I completed a half marathon. My finishing time was 2 hours 33 minutes. Slower than usual, but an accomplishment nonetheless. At this point, I am not sure I will ever want to run again :)

While I rested up, Jon enjoyed playing with the tattoos we got in our halloween package. This was my personal favorite:

Last week was insane, and this week is also pretty demanding. But luckily we have some fun plans this weekend to look forward to. More information to come later!

Mid Semester

2009-10-25T20:57:00.000-07:00

Wow, we are already half way through this semester! It is going by quickly, it is really surprising.

Next week is looking extra crazy, I am taking the GRE on Tuesday (so long as my ID and name change difference work out), running my half marathon on Saturday, and it feels like I have something due in every class. There is really nothing I love more than the look of a full planner:

Jon also has plenty of assignments and midterms this week. It is nice to have on-campus jobs when school is our #1 priority, they tend to be flexible with our schedules when we need time off. Thank goodness!

Fall is beautiful here, it is getting colder, but the trees changing color are worth the temperature change. Along with spring, I think it has been my favorite season in Utah.

Anyway- we might be a little slim on blogging this week. But we wish you all a wonderful week!

Salt Lake City

2009-10-19T17:53:00.000-07:00

Oh so many things to blog about, and yet so little time! We have been happy to have visits and love from so many family members recently.

Here is a quick re-cap of the past week.

Auntie Ruthie and Kathleen came to Provo for a work conference, and we all went out to dinner at Carrabbas. So yummy! All of their food is made fresh, everything from the noodles, to sauce and even the dressings. It was so nice to have their company and catch up.
On Tuesday we went to Salt Lake and met them at the temple. Jon, Kathleen and I had never been through the SLC temple before, it is a little different from the others, but very very beautiful! The details inside were amazing, it felt like a history tour as you went through it. The pioneer's labor of love of building the SLC temple took 50 years! It was a wonderful evening.

This weekend my cousin Brian got married to Christy, and the entire family came to celebrate. It was such a beautiful event, and it was so nice to see my side of the family. Considering we usually have to settle for only getting together at Christmas, this was a real treat.

At the luncheon. Grandma, Amy, Jon and I.

All the siblings!

Jon and I couldn't make it to the reception, but definitely enjoyed the time we did have with our family.

Today we were happily surprised to get a halloween package from mom Van Wickle! Seriously, we get like little kids when we receive these packages, they are the best! Here is Jon opening it up:

We sure do love our families, thanks for all the love and visits! It is wonderful motivation to keep us busy in school.

Handwriting Font

2009-10-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

As you may have already figured out from previous posts, I am obsessed with fonts. Well, imagine my happiness in discovering that you can make your own handwriting into your very own font! And it is easy to do, quick, and best of all, FREE.

Here is a sample of mine:

Get yours at: www.fontcapture.com

WolframAlpha

2009-10-12T14:49:00.001-07:00

And you thought google was cool...
check out this website: http://www.wolframalpha.com/
A video letting you know how the site works is here: http://www.wolframalpha.com/screencast/introducingwolframalpha.html

I like it.

General Conference

2009-10-07T15:56:00.000-07:00

General conference was this past weekend- a time when the members of the church listen to the Prophet and Apostles speak. It is a time for spiritual renewal, and is always inspirational.

I thought I would share one of my favorite sermons from conference. It is by Jeffery Holland, an apostle of the Lord. This talk was meant for members of the church, regarding the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. In a religion where reverence is carefully observed, Elder Holland's words are powerful and moving. For anyone who has ever had the slightest witness that the Book of Mormon is divine and inspired would benefit from hearing this man's words. If anything, I hope I always remember this talk, and the powerful witness I felt when I listened to it. I want to add my testimony to Elder Holland's, I know this book is the word of God and is a true testament of Jesus Christ.

To watch, put this link into your browser: http://broadcast.lds.org/genconf/2009/10/50/GC_2009_10_503_HollandJR___eng_.mp4