October

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

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

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

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.

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,

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

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!