The Present

2011-03-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

What? We have a blog? Apparently I forgot...

On Sunday, we realized that we both had Wednesday AND Thursday off work. What?! Two days in a row together, unplanned?! This called for drastic mini-vacation-planning measures. We decided to go play tourist in LA.

Even though I consider LA one of the most despicable places in the world (never-ending concrete, mind-boggling traffic, outrageous life-styles), it does hold some entertaining touristy activities. Here's some highlights!
We took a tour of Warner Brothers studios and saw some sweet stuff!

The fire escape where Christian Bale sings 'Santa Fe' in Newsies...(I was SUPER excited to hear that! When I kind of went crazy, our guide said he doesn't even usually tell people about that because no one cares about Newsies, but I told him he had just made my day!)
This is the only remaining set from Casablanca! How amazing! It's the cafe in Paris where they are having lunch outside during one of Rick's flashbacks.Self-explanatory.
Um, the car from Harry Potter! WAY cooler than the bat mobile. :-)
The actual set of friends! We got to pose on the couch! One lady in our group (who was wearing a FRIENDS sweatshirt) actually cried.

We went to the Chinese theater and saw all the stars' hand prints (because somehow we missed this place on our last trip to Hollywood, even though we were right down the street from it...)
We went to The Grove (a quite fashionable mall) and saw AC Slater, I mean, Mario Lopez, and paparazzied him.
We went to the La Brea Tar Pits which is one of the world's largest fossil deposits of Ice Age animals. Probably not what most people go to LA to see, but it was interesting. Saw some crazy big mastadon skeletons and saw some excavation in progress!
We went to a Clippers game which was AWESOME! Way more exciting than watching the Lakers murder their opponents last year. The game came down to the last seconds, and there was lots of high-flying action from this year's slam dunk contest champion, Blake Griffin. And we ate ENORMOUS hot dogs that made me want to barf.

The next day, we decided to go to Disneyland! We thought that we might look a bit out of place going there without any kids...but then we decided it would be way BETTER without kids, because we wouldn't have to go on any of the lame rides or plan our food schedule around them! Anyway...

Josh decided we should get some cotton candy because we hadn't had it in years. After eating about half of it, we decided it was a BAD choice. Definitely NOT as good as we remembered.
It was a crazy but successful trip to LA! And hopefully we will not feel the need to return anytime soon.

Christmas on the Prado

2010-12-07T23:37:00.000-08:00

There is this FABULOUS annual event in San Diego called December Nights. (It used to be called Christmas on the Prado, but since 'Christmas' isn't so politically correct anymore...whatever.) It is a two-day event at Balboa Park, the 1,400-acre cultural park in the middle of the city. (Also my favorite place in San Diego.) December Nights is kind of like a big carnival and cultural festival in one. There are carnival rides and fair-food stands, stages set up everywhere with varying performers, and most of the park's 15 museums are also free during the event. But the BEST part is at the International Cottages, where you can get food, drinks, and desserts from dozens of different countries while watching traditional music and dance performances from different countries all night. Basically, it's the best community event ever, and I made sure that Josh and I requested a night off for it MONTHS in advance.

First of all, we were rockstars in getting there. Over 300,000 people show up for the event, and getting there/parking can be BRUTAL. Last year, we were not nearly as familiar with the area, and we spent, oh, like 90 MINUTES trying to park. (Yeah, I was cranky.) This year, we avoided the interstates that were jammed with all the newbs and Josh led us on his wild, twisty route that he takes to frisbee golf. Less than 30 minutes later, we were walking into party central. Boo-yah!

Our first mission was to get some FOOD! I had to drag Josh past all the fair-food, promising him that he would feel so much better about trying some new ethnic foods than scarfing down some BBQ tri-tip or a giant turkey leg. (I'm not sure he believed me.) I waited in the Chinese line, and Josh waited in the Lebanese line, and it was awesome.
The best part, though, were our Scottish desserts. My Edinburgh Cloud (lemon fluff with homemade raspberry sauce) and Josh's double chocolate cake were AMAZING!
The most amazing part of the night was when we were watching an Israeli performer play the accordion and sing. When he started playing Hava Nagila, Josh just busted out in song. He knew every word! What the heck?! He said something about learning it in 3rd grade, but seriously, you can't remember how to say 'book' in Spanish, but you can sing an entire song in Hebrew?
The Spreckles Organ Pavilion is a magnificent focal point of the park. Built in 1914, it is the world's largest outdoor organ with 4,530 pipes. It was even more beautiful for Christmas time.
There were some great nativity scenes set up to view. The angel in this one, however, only has one wing...
We stopped by the Timken art museum (it has a Rembrandt! as Josh always makes sure to tell everyone) because I read about a Christmas tree on display decorated entirely with ornaments that were handmade by one woman in the community. They were amazing!
We had time to visit one more museum, so we decided to visit the Museum of Natural History. Looked at some fossils, tried to name the animals without looking at the answer (with ALL our knowledge from the SD Zoo), and as usual, spent WAY longer looking at each exhibit than anyone else did. Josh was most concerned with finding out if sharks really get as big as the one on the ceiling.
On our way back to the car, we passed by the largest tree in the park. It was lit with lights all around that methodically changed colors, creating an eerie effect in the fog. A beautiful end to a wonderful night :-)

Museum of Making Music

2010-11-28T17:02:00.000-08:00

Josh and I both had Saturday off, so we decided to find something new to do. (We may not get as many days off together as we would like, but oh, do we make the most of them.) I had purchased a Groupon to the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad. We didn't even know this existed until I saw it on Groupon, and it sounded right up our alley. (Groupon.com, check it out. It's awesome.)

We drove up to Carlsbad expecting to find a big museum-ey building, but the museum was located on one floor of a corporate-type building in the middle of a big corproate-y type building office-park (Chicago suburb style. You know what I mean.) A little odd, but we were still excited.

The museum was separated by decades from the late 1800s to present day, displaying the history of American music. Starting with JP Sousa (did you know he was part of over 13,000 performances?!?) and military band music, to the creation of amplified instruments and radio with the discovery of electricity, to the evolution of the guitar and the creation of the Strat and MTV, it covered it all. Ragtime, jazz, big band, swing, rock and roll, country, psychedelic, latin, there were clips and soundtracks of it all. And we may have done a little swing dancing while listening to some of the clips :-)

Now for my favorite things I learned...

Jazz started in New Orleans and moved up the Mississippi to St. Louis and, hey! Davenport, Iowa! (Ok, I knew that, but I am always REALLY excited to see anything about Iowa, ANYWHERE.)

And of course, we had our eyes peeled for any pictures of Bix Beiderbecke. (Oh we miss the Bix. I'm not sure anything in San Diego can quite compete with sitting by the river at the Le Claire bandshell listening to endless jazz on a sultry summer night.)
So apparently the Zildjian family (of Zildjian cymbals of course) is Armenian. The company was founded in the 1600s in Istanbul (Constantinople) when Avedis the alchemist began making cymbals with a unique fusion of copper, tin, and silver. The sultan was so impressed, he gave Avedis the surname Zildjian, meaning cymbalsmith. And now that's the family's name! I just thought that was crazy. Do you think they were sitting around that night saying, "Do we seriously have to take that name?" (And Josh was excited that he actually has this cymbal here.)
When Fender came out with the infamous Telecaster, it was actually called the Broadcaster. However, the name Broadkaster was already registered for a line of drums by Gretsch. Fender removed the name Broadcaster from the guitars, and 60 were released with no model name before they came up with Telecaster. These no-name guitars are known as No-Casters.
Taylor guitars (based on El Cajon, actually, where Josh works) created 400 guitars known as the Liberty Tree Guitars. They were made out of a more than 230 year old tulip poplar from Maryland known as the "Liberty Tree," where patriots rallied before, during, and after the Revolutionary War. Each colony had a liberty tree, and this was the last surviving one. It was blown over during Hurricaine Floyd, and Taylor was able to give it new life in the form of guitars. Very cool. (I've actually seen one of these somewhere else, because I knew the story, but I can't for the life of me remember where!)
And then there was a room at the end with lots of normal and unique instruments to play (including guitar hero!) We were in that room for a while... And yes, I beat Knights of Cydonia on hard when Josh could not. My work here is done.
Ok, the Chargers game is on, and since I live in San Diego, I feel like I should care.

Iowa Comes to Arizona

2010-10-07T21:21:00.000-07:00

We miss Iowa football. A lot. So when the Hawkeyes made a trek out west to play in Tucson, Arizona, of COURSE we had to go! Josh, Luke, and I road-tripped it to the desert. It was great to be back at a Iowa football game and see so many Iowa people! In case you missed the game, here's how it went.

Yep, this is the car thermometer on the way to Tucson. That's for real, and it should have been a sign that this was going to be a bad day. (Seriously, we're coming from San Diego. Overbearing heat? Yeah, that doesn't exist to us.)
In case you can't tell by our faces, I will walk you through the game, score by score.

This is when Arizona scores a touchdown after blocking our punt.

This is when Arizona scores a touchdown after an interception.

Iowa scores a touchdown, and we feel a bit of hope.

Arizona returns the kick off for a touchdown. More disappointment and dejection set in.

Arizona kicks a field goal. It just keeps getting worse.

Arizona kicks another field goal. And that completes a just spectacular half, down 7-27. As you can see, by this point we almost stop caring.

The marching band was pretty good. They lifted my spirits a bit.

DJK scores a touchdown.

McNutt scores a touchdown. We're coming back! 21-27. This might be about when Josh got in a minor verbal fight with some ridiculous Arizona fans.

We intercept the ball and return it for a touchdown! We go up by 1!! Wait, we miss the extra point and it's tied. That was horrible.

Arizona scores a touchdown to go up 34-27. Stanzi gets sacked like 52 times, and we go down in flames.

So...that was our trip. It was a very depressing game, but we walked out of that stadium with our heads held high and said to Arizonans, "We may have lost, but you live HERE." And we drove back to San Diego.

They Should Have a Reality Show About Walgreens

2010-08-03T22:40:00.000-07:00

So Josh had a customer at Walgreens that was asking him about 'Flaxseed Oil: Cold Pressed,' and she said, "This is for colds, right?"
Josh said no.
And she said, "But it says cold on it."
And he said, "It says cold pressed."
She said, "So you don't know what that means?"
Josh said, "No, but I know it doesn't mean it's for a cold!"

Then she grabbed a bottle of cod liver oil and said, "But this is for a cold right?"
He said no.
She said, "But it's cherry flavored!"
Josh just looked at her a little dumbfounded, unsure of what being cherry flavored had to do with anything, and told her to just go talk to the pharmacist.

I thought this was pretty hilarious :-)

Signs of a Normal Life?

2010-06-12T23:09:00.001-07:00

I was on my way to church Wednesday night for orchestra practice. It was the first time I had the chance to break out the old oboe in years!

Anyway, I was driving down the 8 on my way to College Avenue Baptist Church, stuck in a little bit of traffic, when I realized something. This orchestra practice was the first commitment I'd had, on my own without Josh, that was not related to work, in the entire year I've been here. Seriously! Most places that I HAVE to be (church music or volunteer event, softball game, uh...that's about it), I'm with Josh. Otherwise, If I'm leaving the house by myself, it is almost always pharmacy-related or to hang out with my pharmacy-friends.

It was just kind of crazy to think how unbalanced my life has been over the last year! Basically, I'm either working, hanging out with people from work, or having fun with Josh which may or may not involve other people. It's just so different from back home where I was so involved in so many different things. It's been a little bit of pharmacy overload this year, that's for sure!! But I decided that this orchestra practice was a sign that a more normal life is just ahead, peeking over the horizon at me! It will be nice to be able to get involved in some other things in the upcoming months.

But I must say, I am incredibly lucky to have a husband that I seriously don't mind spending ALL my time with :-)

PETCO Park

2010-05-17T23:24:00.000-07:00

Go Padres! 1st place in the division! Not that being first place in the NL West has meant that much over the past few years...

We went to a game tonight on a whim. $5 tickets! We had to sneak into the seats we wanted-we've mastered getting by the guy that checks your tickets. We were sure he had us pegged for a while because he kept looking up at us suspiciously, but we just sat there looking innocent, and he left us alone.

Josh got me a hot dog because I was STARVING. I went to put ketchup on it, and when I pushed the ketchup lever, mustard came out. I rather despise mustard, so I had to wipe it all off and then used the mustard lever to get ketchup. The guy behind me did the same thing. Then we noticed a worker standing against the wall laughing to himself as he watched. I'm pretty sure he switched the labels on the ketchup/mustard machine. It was pretty hilarious.

32 Days and Counting

2010-05-16T02:10:00.000-07:00

Josh and I will have gone 34 of 36 nights without sleeping in the same bed. Sad. Very sad. He worked for 8 nights. (Then a night together! Yay!) Then I went to N.Carolina for 5 nights. Then he worked for 8 nights. Then he went to Iowa for 5 nights. (Then a night together! Yay!) Then he works for 8 nights. And that is where we are now. Almost done! Josh working nights has its schedule perks, but I am NOT going to complain when it's over. (Watch, I'll probably get a job where I have to work nights for the first year or something. Wouldn't that just be cruel.)

Soccer vs. Football

2010-04-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

I found this rather funny!

"If you forget the space, my name spells Vile"

2010-04-18T01:12:00.000-07:00

Ah, I love these girls. My co-residents. I increasingly feel like that is a strange thing to call them, though. They are so much more than just my "co-residents" in this crazy pharmacy residency journey; they are 3 of my dearest friends. I think we must get along better and have more fun than any group of residents anywhere, ever. And on Thursday we all get to go to Charlotte together for 5 days! Oh, the memories we'll make...as we sit through 7 hours of lecture a day and freak out about our upcoming project presentations...At least we'll be together.

We have all had our share of hard times over the past 10 months since we met, and we've all been there to help each other out. Through car troubles, boy troubles, student troubles, preceptor troubles, project troubles, health troubles, computer troubles, interview troubles, being-forced-to-go-to-drug-dinners-too-much troubles, talking-about-the-same-simple-things-over-and-over-at-every-meeting troubles ...shall I go on?

I have been so blessed to be surrounded by amazing people through each new life journey. It's crazy to think about how, a year ago, I didn't even know some people who are now such a huge part of my life.

Vi, Vivian, and Silvia are just 3 of the reasons that I frequently say to myself, "Wow. I'm really, really glad I didn't end up in Milwaukee."

DMV Woes, Or Not

2010-03-30T22:54:00.000-07:00

I was totally, totally, TOTALLY going to be responsible tomorrow and go wait at the DMV for hours so I can finally register my car and get a driver's license in this crazy state. Yes, it was supposed to be done within 10 days of moving here...but I was totally going get it done tomorrow! But...as I was collecting all my needed documentation this evening, I realized that I don't have the title for my car (I am counting on it still being somewhere at home in Iowa, I hope, otherwise I have a bigger problem.) So...I guess I can't go spend half my day at the DMV tomorrow. Can't say I am disappointed, but I was kind of excited to show Josh how responsible I was :-)

Amazing Grace

2010-03-23T23:29:00.000-07:00

"When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Then when we've first begun"

Wow. I need to think about heaven more. When I actually sit and sing words like this, I wonder why I live so many of my days for nothing. Seriously. If I only had a heavenly perspective everyday, who knows what would happen.

That's it. Nothing more profound. I think it will take me long enough just to wrap my mind around that.

Happy Birthday Josh!

2010-03-22T22:54:00.000-07:00

It's Josh's 25th birthday! Yay! He can finally rent a car without being charged extra! :-)

So Josh's family loves their DQ ice cream cakes. I'm pretty sure everyone gets one on their birthday in his family. Jesus gets one on his birthday, too. (Some excuse to eat more ice cream cake, right? "Yeah...this is for Jesus... :-) ) So they get about 7 ice cream cakes a year. Sadly for him, there has been no ice cream cakes for us since living here. He told me many times to get one for his birthday. And this morning, I got a text message saying, "I can't wait to eat ice cream cake tonight!" I think it was just another hint for me, making sure I wouldn't forget.

He slept most of the day as this is his week on for 3rd shift, and then we had our softball tournament tonight! We've been playing on Monday nights for a few months. We signed up as individuals and were put on a team with other random people that had just signed up by themselves, and it's been a blast! We finished #4 in the regular season so we made the tournament! We won our first game against the #1 team, which is all that Josh wanted for his birthday :-) (Oh, and MLB 2K10. I guess he wanted that, too.) We didn't win the championship game...or even come close...but 2nd place isn't bad for a random team :-)

I took a nice whizzing line drive right to the hip in our first game and thought I was going to be spending the night in the ER with a broken pelvis or leaky spleen or something bad...that wasn't so fun. Ouch. Double ouch. But after screaming a bit, I think all that I'll end up with is a REALLY big bruise/welt/nasty looking mark with the ball seems in it. Happy birthday Josh...

Oh, Just Take Me Now

2010-03-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

Today is one of those days.

1) Find out Josh's boss has ruined our highly-anticipated summer vacation plans
2) Come to work to work on a never-ending project that I never wanted to do in the first place
3) Listen to exactly 1.5 songs before MP3 player dies on me
4) Attend an entirely pointless meeting
5) Have to sit around and listen to people AFTER the entirely pointless meeting continue to talk about just as pointless stuff--for like an HOUR!!!
6) Find out my most memorable and heart-grabbing patient of the year passed away much too young
7) Couldn't find a fork and had to eat my spaghetti with a spoon

I decided that I just couldn't take any other frustrating moments in my day or I might explode. Consequently, I canceled a meeting with someone who was bound to give me more annoying work. And I feel much better :-)

Although I now have to meet with him in the morning...

Responsibly Irresponsible

2010-03-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

I'll admit, I skipped some class in college. Mostly in undergrad, when classes were often a waste of my time. I didn't skip IMPORTANT classes, only classes where I knew the professor was going to blab on about something I'd already learned or could just read about on my own. I was very responsible about skipping. I only missed classes that I knew would have no effect on my grade if I wasn't there. I mean, seriously, chem discussion? Biggest waste of my time, ever.

I was much better in pharmacy school, when I actually needed to know what I was learning for my job one day. Although there was the occasional Friday afternoon class that was REALLY hard to go to...

I kind of miss skipping classes. It was such a great feeling, to be out golfing, or driving back to Davenport, or sitting at home hanging out with roommates, or at the mall, or out biking, or sleeping in, and knowing that you COULD have been at class right now but you're NOT! I loved that feeling. I can't really have that feeling anymore. It's not like I can just "skip" work. Work is just a bit more important than a 50 minute microeconomics class. But I do look back with fondness on my college days where the occasional missed class was like a mini-vacation in the middle of the day. *sigh*

Here's to Last Minute Getaways

2010-02-22T23:53:00.000-08:00

I called Josh one Friday morning and said, "Let's go somewhere for the weekend." I think we both just needed to get away. You know what I mean. We decided to head to Julian, a tiny historic mining town in the mountains known for its apple pie and for taking visitors back in time. I put Josh in charge of finding a place to stay and things to do, and I was in charge of working hard so I could get out of the hospital early!

Josh found us a quaint little bed and breakfast. Our room was so cozy, and we had a wood-burning fireplace in our room. As the innkeeper was explaining things, he said, "Here's the wood. You guys are from Iowa so I'm sure you've built plenty of fires." I'm not really sure why being from Iowa means we build lots of fires. Does he think our houses are heated with wood burning stoves? Anyway...
Breakfast was oh so excellent, and I was sure to leave with the recipe for those poached pears! We talked with the other guests and the owners for a while, learned a lot about Julian and even more about the rest of California. I love bed and breakfasts,We spent the morning walking down Main Street (all 3 blocks of it), browsing the stores, sampling apple ciders and jams, and watching the horses and buggies roll down the street. And of course, we had some apple pie. After exploring Julian and eating our apple pie, we went for a hike on Stonewall peak trail: 4 miles round trip and a 900 ft climb in elevation.
And there was snow!! Me and my tennis shoes weren't quite ready for a trail covered in snow, but we survived. It was quite an invigorating hike for 2 people that are not in the best shape of their lives...but the view at the top was worth it!
It was a nice weekend away, and while I usually like to plan trips way ahead so I can enjoy looking forward to them, this last minute thing isn't so bad either. Might have to do more of it :-)

End of a Hiatus

2010-02-20T20:55:00.000-08:00

I received a sweet email from my grandma yesterday, and she subtly hinted her disappointment that I had abandoned our blog. Truthfully, I have been rather disappointed in myself for not having the discipline to regularly write, and her little prod must have been all I needed to pick it up again. (And maybe the fact that I just watched Julie&Julia.)

It is shame to not chronicle this time of our lives and all of our new experiences in this new place. I know I would love to have a journal of this time during which we are seeing so much and growing so much. However, I am not convinced that I have much to write about that anyone would really care to read.

My life right now is made up of working way too much and doing outdoor activities during a time of year when in all my past years, the weather would not have dreamed of allowing it. I am pretty sure no one wants to hear about the life of a pharmacist, and I am VERY sure that few people back home want to hear that we spent the afternoon at the beach in February.

So I must resign myself to the idea that I am writing for myself and Josh, and not for anyone else. If anyone finds an interest in our ramblings of southern California life, wonderful. If not, I must still write for I will regret it otherwise.

Thanks, grandma, for the motivation!

Thanksgiving Away from Home

2009-11-28T23:06:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Day was definitely a different experience being away from our families. I had just seen my parents the weekend before when they came to visit, but we still terribly missed all our family on the holiday. Up until now, living here has kind of felt like being at school, and we would just get to go home for holidays...but we didn't get to go home for the holiday.

But our day wasn't gloomy and sad. We somehow ended up with 4 Thanksgiving invites: my cousins in LA invited us to Temecula, our family friends Lu and her family in Escondido, Josh's great uncle and aunt, and even our new pastor invited us to his home. We felt loved. We thought we would having nothing to do that day, and we were so blessed that so many people reached out to us.

We ended up in the Temecula wine country with my cousins Jill and Jim, their triplets, and Jim's family. It was great to meet some new people, hang out with family we don't often see, and have a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner! We were hoping to have time to stop by Escondido on the way home for some of George's famous ice cream and Lu's hot fudge, but Josh had to work at 11PM. I guess we saved some 1200 calories or so there.

Temecula is about 1 hour north of San Diego, and it is famous for it's wineries. It is situated against the backdrop of beautiful mountainous foothills. It was nice to drive up to north county and see some mountains.

So I guess our first Thanksgiving away from home was a success, though we wished we were home.

And I guess I can't complain that I went rollerblading in shorts and a tank top on a sunny, 80 degree Thanksgiving morning along Mission Bay. Yeah...that part was pretty awesome.

Dogs, Dogs Everywhere

2009-11-14T13:36:00.000-08:00

San Diego is one of the most dog-friendly cities in the country. People bring their dogs everywhere. They push them around in their carts at Wal-Mart, they bring them into Walgreens, they tie them outside restaurants and go bring them food. We've even seen someone bring their dog INTO a kabob restaurant and let it walk around to everyone's table. And last week, while eating cupcakes on the outdoor patio at our favorite coffee shop, someone's dog urinated right on the brick patio. (The owner, at least, was rather embarrassed.)

I love this picture, taken at the Padres game (because, of course, a stadium called PETCO Park HAS to have a bring-your-dog-to-the-park day!) I'm pretty sure these people think their dog is a person.

Things Josh Didn't Know About Me #1

2009-11-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

When you get married, you think you know the person you're marrying pretty well. However, you immediately start finding out all these little things that you didn't really know about them. Josh and I were talking about this the other day, mostly because of one of the main things he didn't know about me...and he was probably scolding me for it.

I am very responsible...when it comes to work and, well, responsibilities. I always have homework done on time. I'm always thoroughly prepared for presentations (ok, KIND OF prepared). I turn things in on time. I generally respond to work emails on time. If I'm responsible for some type of social or work event, my tasks will be done and done right. I pay bills on time and mail off the rent check well ahead of the due date. I get my oil changed on schedule.

However...when it comes to day-to-day items that aren't exactly what I call "important," I am much, much, MUCH less likely to do them in a timely manner. Meaning, I likely won't do them at all until I really have NOTHING else to do...so I won't be doing them. Examples: I have been saying I will wash may car for about 3 months now. I have been saying I will take a check to the bank for about 5 weeks now. I put laundry off for a period of time which I will not even admit. I have a Wal-Mart return in my car that has been there for over a month. (Once, I returned something after almost 2 years. The store took it back!--further justifying to me that this behavior is okay.)

I think my husband really just does not know what to do with me. Humorously, he is EXTREMELY responsible with all these little chores. When he says he has something that needs done, he usually does it, like, that day. It's crazy! And quite admirable, I suppose. He had his car registered and his driver's license changed in the first month we were here. (I, however, am still sporting my Iowa plates, and no one can ever find my birthday on my still-Iowa ID. I don't have time to go sit at the DMV for 4 hours! Are you kidding me?!)

So, Josh can't take my perpetual non-action on all the things I consider non-vital to the success of my day, and he ends up doing most of them. He goes to the bank and the post-office for me. He does the little things around the house that I will never get around to doing. He was on the ball with taking care of our broken refrigerator situation. (But I'm the one that cleaned out that disgusting fridge! It's not like I do nothing...)

I'm pretty sure, though, that he is silently refusing to let me con him into getting my car washed for me. Darn it.

The Corn State

2009-10-31T02:19:00.001-07:00

Following is an excerpt from a Fanhouse article on Hawkeye football, sent to me by Christina. This quote has nothing to do with football; I just found it funny.

"When you're from Iowa, you learn early in life that your home state is going to get ripped on by everybody. You can expect to hear the same stale cracks about corn, pigs, flatness, and winter within about 15 seconds of meeting a new person who discovers you're from Iowa. Unless you're talking to one of those indier-than-thou types, of course; they'll just bring up Slipknot and crystal meth. Eventually you realize that people are actually amazed you're wearing shoes, you use words with two or three syllables, and you haven't urinated in the houseplants."

I do often hear about corn, flatness, and winter. They left out the Field of Dreams. No one seems to know about Iowa's meth problem, however.

Although, as much as Iowans make fun of Missouri, we probably deserve everything we get.

Commuting Craziness

2009-10-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

We went to Pacific Beach Alehouse to watch the Hawkeye game tonight. (YEAH HAWKS! Last second win! You can't DO that to me!)

Anyway, we sat with some other Iowa fans that live in Orange County. One of the girls is a PA at a hospital in LA, and she drives TWO AND A HALF HOURS ONE WAY to get to work. What?! For real?! I've heard of people doing that, but I always thought that maybe it was a rumor. I have never actually MET someone that does that. Crazy! That's over 20% of your day driving! I am simply flabbergasted.

Her new husband wants to move back to Iowa, but she doesn't want to because she's from California. If moving to Iowa meant I didn't have to spend 5 hours driving to and from work, I'm pretty sure I'd move to Iowa.

Go Hawks!!

About Loss

2009-10-19T22:48:00.000-07:00

I lost my grandpa last weekend. He had been battling heart failure for a while and had recently been put on hospice, so it wasn't completely unexpected. The news still came as a bit of a shock, though. I'm not sure you can ever REALLY prepare yourself for the death of a loved one, even when you know it's coming.

It was definitely difficult to be so far from home during this time. I felt very guilty about not being able to be home supporting my family. I very much look forward to going home for the holidays to give everyone a big hug and bring some closure. My cousin Jennifer tried to keep me as involved as possible by giving me a daily play-by-play of what was going on back home during the visitation and funeral. I am so thankful for her. At the funeral, they played a recording of a song that I wrote about my cousin that died 9 years ago this month. I wanted my family to know that I love and miss grandpa and so wanted to be home with them all. I hope they understand.

I have gone through the passing of some friends and family during my life, but it has always been either sudden and unexpected or someone that was much, much too young to be at the end of their life. It has always been an extremely mournful affair. It was a totally different experience losing someone who had lived a good, long life and who had been physically suffering. Grandpa had come to terms with the fact that his time had come to leave this earth, and he was eagerly awaiting rest from his sufferings. I'm not sure I quite knew how to feel. I am very sad for our family's loss and especially for my grandma, but it is also a relief to know that he is now in a place where there is no more pain and no more tears.

I am so grateful that my grandpa knew Jesus Christ. He had invited the Lord to be the King of his life, and he was visibly filled with a peace that can only come from our Savior. He knew he was going to heaven, and he had nothing to fear in death. We shouldn't be sad for him, but it is still hard for the rest of the family to move on. I would appreciate your prayers for our family and especially my grandma, that they would be given peace ad comfort during this time and that Jesus will use my grandpa's death to bring others closer to Him.

Excuse me?! I have MAD parallel parking skills

2009-10-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

People have always thought I am an excellent driver.

Due to 1 or 2 completely random, questionable incidents, apparently people here think I am a "crazy driver."

I am rather offended (okay, extremely offended.)

Josh says I shouldn't take things so personally. I should work on that.

And Californians should learn where the cruise control is.

TV Time Nonsense

2009-10-03T23:10:00.000-07:00

So, I always thought that when a show time said "8:00, 7:00 central," it meant that it was on at 8 eastern, 7 central, 6 mountain, and 5 pacific. (though I wasn't really sure how THAT worked either...) But APPARENTLY, it means the show is on at 8:00 EVERYWHERE and at 7:00 only in the central time zone. Weird!

BUT, if it is something that is live and it says the time is "8:00 eastern" and doesn't mention central, then it means 8 eastern, 7 central, 6 mountain, and 5 pacific. Which is why I have to get up way too early on Saturday mornings to watch my Hawkeye football games and stay up way to late to watch Conan.

So confusing!

Anniversary Trip

2009-09-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since we've posted. Things have just been so busy! So, while I sit and watch the Iowa game (go Hawks!), I finally have some time to blog about our trip to Arizona!

We decided to take a trip to the Grand Canyon for our anniversary. I had been looking forward to it for so long! The Grand Canyon is an 8 hour drive from San Diego. When I told Josh that he said, "I would drive 12 hours to see it!" So, we took a couple Harry Potter books, and the drive time flew by :-) (Josh may not admit it, but he really likes HP)

I am slightly obsessed with travel websites and finding great deals on things. (If you are looking for a fabulous travel deals website, visit travelzoo.com!) I found a great deal on a Scottsdale resort, so we cut up our drive on the 1st day by staying in Scottsdale. Now, Iowa summers are hot. Really hot. But I'm not sure I've ever been 115 degree weather. It was simply stifling! (I think Elizabeth was trying not to laugh at me when I told her this, as she has lived in Spain and Nicaragua, but we're not used to it, ok!) Anyway, we tried to spend most of our time in the pool.
We woke up early in the morning to go play on the water slides. We were the only people there. If we hadn't been the only people there, we probably would have been the oldest people there.
They made the desert look pretty beautiful.
That's right, I listed my prefix as 'Dr.' when I reserved the room. The person checking me in probably thought I was 19, though. I don't think he knew what to call me. I found it pretty humorous.
We set off the next afternoon for the Grand Canyon!
We saw quite a few elk. This one was in our campground eating each evening.Josh was pretty nervous about getting near the edge (I think he gets it from his dad!), but I still talked him into this sweet picture.
Most of the time, however, he looked like this.
We took a hike down into the canyon one afternoon. It was pretty grueling, but we made it out alive. We had a look-out spot that we were planning on stopping at to turn around. We never saw it, however, and accidentally hiked past it to the NEXT look-out point. Oops. We still dominated it.

Later that day, we found our own secluded corner of the canyon, set up our chairs, and read for a couple hours. It was our favorite part of the trip; the most relaxing hours I've had in months!
We camped at a campground in Grand Canyon Village. It was our first time using the tent we got for our wedding a year ago. It was a great first camping trip for us, hopefully one of many more :-) Josh is a spectacular camp-food-cooker, and he made the best breakfast I've ever had!
It was a great way to celebrate our first anniversary, and we look forward to many more!

P.S. The Hawks just beat Penn State, and we are going slightly crazy. GO IOWA!!!!
My favorite quote from the game:
Reporter: "Coach Ferentz, what were you thinking when Penn State came out and scored a touchdown on their first play."
Kirk Ferentz: "Crap. Simply put, crap."
I love him.

Preppy Shoes and Annoying Phrases

2009-08-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

Josh is wearing flip-flops and bought a pair of shoes at Aldo. I used the phrase "No worries" when leaving someone a voice mail today. Uh oh. I think we're getting Californianized.

Yay for Family!

2009-08-23T18:35:00.000-07:00

My parents and sister came out to visit us earlier this month. I had been sooo excited for them to come out. I was jumping around the house all week in giddy hyperactivity. (Really, I was SUPER hyper. And my poor husband had to put up with me.)

It was such a fabulous time! It was a great week for them to come out as far as my work schedule. I was able to go in early and be off by early afternoon everyday.

We went to a Padres game right when they got here. It was a beautiful day for it. We got gelato after the game at a place we like right next to the stadium. Yum!

Monday, they went to the zoo. Josh and I met them there later after work. We love the zoo! There's always something new to see: like when my parents saw a lion urinate on some girls that were standing near the fence in the "spray zone." There's always excitement at the zoo!

My dad loves to sail, so of course one day we went sailing on Mission Bay, very near our condo. We rented a catamaran and tooled around the bay, trying to avoid other sailboats and windsurfers, and making sure my dad didn't achieve his goal of "sailing out to the open sea!"

I'm pretty sure nothing scary enough happened on our outing that warranted this terrified of a reaction. I must have just caught my mom at the right moment. She'll love me for this pic :-) I can't stop laughing at it!
It was Josh's first time on a sailboat, and he was a total pro!
On one day, some family that lives north, closer to LA, came down to hang out. They went to the beach and had a blast [while I was working :-( ] but I met up with them later. It was so fun to hang out with lots of family that we hardly ever see! And the triplets always keep things exciting :-)

o
On their last night here, we went on a dinner cruise around the San Diego harbor. It was so cool to see the city from out on the bay. We saw some fireworks being shot off of a boat, and we danced the night away to the band's music! (Ok...I could only get people to dance with me for like 2 songs. Something about "everyone's watching me!"-in Josh's whiniest voice.)

Now that they are gone, our condo seems so empty! I was used to the way things were before they came, but now it is lonely around here. I already knew I missed family and home, but now I'm reminded of how MUCH I miss everyone! Things will get busy again, and we'll be fine. But we are lucky that we both have families that are so great that we miss them when we're gone!

I guess it was a successful trip! And I think Kelli wants to come back soon...

Coyotes

2009-08-22T22:32:00.001-07:00

There's a sign in our condo complex to let all residents know that there have been many coyote sightings on the hill behind the complex, pretty much right where Josh parks his car. The sign warns to be careful walking back there with children and small animals, so Josh should be alright. Except that I'm pretty sure if Josh saw a coyote, he would probably go try to pet it. He might be in danger after all...

What's With the Yellow Lights?

2009-08-09T03:41:00.000-07:00

So, all the grocery stores here have these yellow lights to light up the parking light. They are like normal parking lot lights, except they're YELLOW. I don't know why. But they're also WEIRD. They make things look different colors. It is quite bizarre. They remind me of these 'blue-blocker' sunglasses that my mom had, and one day I was wearing them and eating M&Ms. It was when there was some promotion where if you found a gray M&M you won a million dollars. Well, I freaked out because I found a gray M&M, but it was really yellow and only looked gray with the crazy glasses. Anyway...

I have a maroon-colored car. In these CRAZY yellow lights, it is gray. And I mean, IT IS GRAY. I feel like my mind is playing tricks on me. I have stared at that car every-which-way under those lights, trying to see the red color, and it is just not there! You see the problem this creates. I walk out of the grocery store, looking for my new maroon car that I am not all that used to anyway, and it is not there. This is just a really long way of saying that I couldn't find my car in the parking lot tonight, because it changed colors on me.

Verdict In, The Camry Passes!

2009-08-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

California has this crazy smog law, and cars have to regularly pass a smog test and an inspection in order to be registered here. If you don't pass, you have to get repairs or have an expensive catalytic converter installed. Needless to say, we were a little nervous about our good ole' '93 Camry and the smog test. Let's just say it hasn't exactly been a low-maintenance car for Josh over the years. But...she passed with flying colors! And she now belongs to California.
New California plates, but still sporting the Cubs license plate holder!

It's Legit!

2009-08-04T21:47:00.000-07:00

It is finally official.

I am a pharmacist.

Is it because I just today found out that I passed my Iowa Law exam and am now a licensed pharmacist in Iowa? No, not really (even though I did). I mean, I GUESS that means I'm a pharmacist now, but what I'm really referring to is...THE LAB COAT! That's right, I now have a full length lab coat embroidered with MY name! I have been waiting for this day for oh so long. No more short, student-length lab coat with no personalization whatsoever. I finally feel like a professional! And Sharp paid for it, because my residency program is awesome :-)

My fabulous husband humored me as I made him take a dozen pictures.
That's right, Rachael Doebel, Pharm.D.
Disclaimer: I am still not officially a pharmacist in California, because the Board of Pharmacy hates me and keeps losing the transcripts I PAY to send them. Thank you California.

Josh's first entry (uh oh!)

2009-07-31T00:03:00.000-07:00

So I thought I should try my hand at this whole blogging thing. I may not be as witty as Rachael but maybe I'll have some interesting or funny things to say that might just get you to crack a smile, or even laugh!

Well I've been working now for a month and a lot has happened. It started off with the usual Walgreens shifts; 7:30am-4pm, 3-11pm, or a mid-shift of 11am-7:30pm. I don't know what it was, maybe that my manager didn't like me, people were lazy or the usual Walgreens way of stubborn old-timers locked in their ways of doing things but, I was not enjoying it. I made it through that first week a little distraught, how was I going to continue this and actually get some enjoyment out of it? I'll tell you one thing I definitely miss my old store.

My store currently only had one 3rd shift manager (at the time), so all the other managers alternated in and out at the other 3rd shift slot and my second week at El Cajon Walgreens was all mine. Thinking that things couldn't really get much worse I was actually looking forward to it. To make things short it was great! The co-workers were great, I was able to teach them a lot of things that they did not already know so I felt helpful, the hours were awesome at 11-8am, I was able to get a lot done productivity-wise and apply all the skills that I had built up over the last few years and I even had a spiritual conversation with an employee (but don't tell Walgreens, shhhh). After that first week I was so pumped up that I told my store manager that I wanted the shift for good. Not only do I now get to hang out with Rachael every night after she gets off work but, I work eight days on and get the following six days off, sweeeeet!

I just finished up my second week of 3rd shifts up and I'm still enjoying it! I've even had time to go play frisbee golf after work some mornings when I feel up to, although I'm not so keen on paying $2.50 everytime I want to go play.

Although work hasn't been as smooth of a transition as I would have liked everything else has kind of fallen into place, thank you God!

Uhhhh...Crap.

2009-07-29T20:33:00.000-07:00

I came home yesterday a little early because, after the couple meetings I had, I didn't really have much else to do! Today on the other hand...Let's just say that today kind of exploded.

I'm not sure where all these projects came from, but I now feel like every day from now till September is a DUE DATE for something. Ahh!!! Monographs, abstracts, P&T, MUE, IRB, and a million other acronyms are now sitting on my to-do list. And somewhere in the middle of this I have to take my CA Law Exam. I guess this is what I signed up for.

While my schedule is now a bit overloaded, it is kind of fun being part of projects that actually mean something. In school, you are taught how to do all these things by working on hypothetical situations, and your completed product doesn't go anywhere except the professor's desk. Now when I have a project, it's actually important for more than just a grade. Hospital-wide decisions are going to be made based on what YOU do. Kind of cool! You could change the world!! (Ok, maybe not quite.) It makes the work much more enjoyable and satisfying. And you're getting paid for it. Sweet!

Locked Out

2009-07-27T07:57:00.001-07:00

So, I locked us out of the apartment last night. Yep. We were on our way out the door. I was going to drive, and instead of grabbing the car keys with the house key on them, I only grabbed the keys for the parking garage. I realized it as soon as I locked the handle and shut the door. I just looked at Josh and said, "I don't have any keys!" He didn't either. We just looked at each other and didn't know if it was funny or horrible, or both. "What are we going to do!" in my most whiney voice. We climbed over our back porch (that was fun) to try to get in the sliding doors. Nope.

We thought about getting some last minute tickets to Spamelot in LA this week. We decided to give our money to a locksmith instead.

Rachael: "I'm such an idiot!"

Josh: "No you're not. It's okay."

Rachael: "You're so nice to me!"

Josh: "I do stupid things all the time. If I'm nice to you when you do something stupid, then you'll be nice to me when I do something even more stupid."

Small Talk About Weather

2009-07-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

So, I was under the impression that San Diego didn't HAVE weather. I'm pretty sure people (and weather.com) told me that it was perfect and 70s all year. Well, I was LIED TO.

San Diegans have these sayings that they just LOVE. (Like, everyone we meet wants to inform us that they have these super cool, catchy phrases, and they think no one else has told us.)
1. May Gray (or Grey, whichever spelling you have adopted, since they are both correct. English is weird.)
2. June Gloom
3. July Fry (Just learned that one!)

You can probably figure out what they mean. May and June are somewhat overcast. July is pretty darn hot. Apparently the best time to come visit is Septemberish, FYI.

It's remarkable how varied the temperature is depending on how far you are from the coast. By the ocean, and even around where we live, it's pretty pleasant right now. But where Josh works, about 20 miles east, it may be 15 degrees hotter. Crazy!

Despite this, the weather does stay pretty constant compared to what we're used to. We are determined not to use heat OR air for the whole year! But I miss storms. I really want a thunderstorm! I'm not quite sure if that's going to happen considering the news here reports rainfall of less than 1/10 of an inch. Really? Really.

Operation Stand Down

2009-07-20T18:03:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, we volunteered through Sharp Healthcare (my employer) at Operation Stand Down, an event put on by the San Diego community to help homeless veterans. Other Stand Down events are held all over the country for the estimated 200,000 homeless veterans. The Stand Down is modeled after the Stand Down concept used during the Vietnam War to provide a safe retreat for units returning from combat operations. Stand Down afforded battle-weary soldiers the opportunity to renew their spirit, health and overall sense of well-being. (Can you tell I copied and pasted that from the website?)

There was a pharmacy tent, but as I do not yet have my license (blast you CA Board of Pharmacy!), we worked in the clothing tent. We sorted clothes, helped veterans and their families pick out items, and helped tear down when the event was over. It was a great experience. And we got some free, sweet T-shirts!

We met some other Sharp workers with roots in the Midwest and got some good advice on living in San Diego. One woman was telling me about a place with great burgers, "But it's a bar. So...you have to be 21." I told her I was almost 25. She said, "Oh."

There are definitely more homeless people in San Diego than anywhere else I've lived. I suppose if I had to live outdoors, I'd rather spend the winters (and summers!) here than in Iowa. I often struggle with how to treat the homeless. I've been told my whole life, "Don't give them money, they'll just use it for alcohol or cigarettes," etc. Yes, that may be true. But it may not. Who am I to decide? And I find it less than coincidental that even though I have been "conditioned" my entire life to NOT give charity to beggars, I still have a pang of guilt when I pass someone by. Is it the Holy Spirit trying to tell me the RIGHT thing to do, despite me trying to rationalize it away? There have been a couple times since we moved here that I have really felt like God was telling me to give, and I have spared a couple dollars for the man with the sign. I don't know that money is the answer, but I know that God didn't give us an innate desire to help people for us to do nothing. I don't have all the answers (or any answers...) but these are certainly things to mull over.

Operation Stand Down from accross the interstate

Cultural Overload

2009-07-16T22:07:00.000-07:00

One thing I loved about the 5 weeks I spent in Arlington/D.C. last summer was the cultural diversity that came with a big east coast city. I loved working with people from other countries, learning about their culture, trying out new foods (have you been back to the kabob place, Christina?), and hearing other languages everyday. I was looking forward to similar new experiences in San Diego.

This west coast city has not disappointed. We have barely been here a month and have already been exposed to so many new things. Of course, there are many Mexicans, which everyone associates with southern California, and we have enjoyed practicing reading and speaking the limited Spanish we know from good ole' CHS. I love hearing Spanish spoken when I'm out! Surprisingly, we have yet to visit a Mexican restaurant, and everyone I tell that to always gasps and offers a plethora of choices. That needs to move to the top of our to-do list.

I went to my first Vietnamese restaurant this week with all my co-residents and a pharmacist on our lunch break. I got quite the lesson in Vietnamese cuisine. Still not able to actually PRONOUNCE anything on the menu, but at least I now have some idea of what I'm ordering. I had some BBQ chicken with rice and some chicken broth soup, and it was wonderful.

I have discovered a new Mexican way of eating fruit from my co-resident, Silvia. She brought watermelon to work on day, squeezed a lime over it, and sprinkled chili powder on it. It was fabulous! I said, "I'm going to learn lots of new things in the crazy state!" They all found that hilarious.

Of course, it's not like we come from a place that just has a bunch of white farmers. We even have a Vietnamese restaurant in Davenport! (Though we have been pronouncing Pho-99 incorrectly all this time. Apparently it's pronounced "fuh." Who knew?) Our high-school was quite diverse, and I don't feel that I have been shut up in a box to diversity by any means. It's just a whole different cultural experience here, in a good way.

And yes, Josh, you will be trying sushi.

Just Another Night

2009-07-13T22:25:00.000-07:00

I'm just sitting at home, watching HGTV, about to finish reading my new James Rollins book. I've got to get in my "fun reading" while I still have a chance!

Josh has been working third shift for the past 6 nights, filling in for a third shift manager that recently transferred. Tonight is his seventh and last night! Yay! It hasn't been too bad, I guess He likes the people he works with, I don't have to get ready in the morning in the dark, and he gets 5 days off when he's done! He also was able to have a great conversation about his faith with one of his co-workers last night.

My residency hasn't gotten too crazy yet. I am "chief resident" for the first quarter, so I'm in charge of scheduling and helping lead all our meetings, organizing recruiting events, setting up travel arrangements, and taking care of all the little details that arise. I like planning and organizing, so it's fun, but there's a lot to do! Other than that, my current Safe Medication Practices rotation is pretty laid back.

We went to Mission Beach a couple times last week. We are loving that beach! I schooled Josh on the boogie board. What can I say, I love the water! But we played tennis tonight, and he definitely kicks my butt in that. I'm getting better!

I'm sure no one really cares to read all these mundane details about our life, but I wanted to write it down so I remember life before it got insane!

Petco Park

2009-07-08T16:39:00.000-07:00

We went to our first (of hopefully many) Padres games on Sunday. We were assured that we would be able to get tickets if we went down, because, let's face it, this isn't Wrigley, and the number of real Padres fans is probably not astronomical. In fact, we were pretty sure there were more Dodgers fans (who they were playing) than Padres fans. But, to their credit, the Padres do have a great stadium. And Tony Gwynn.

So, we just took the trolley down after church and went to the ticket window. It was some Coca-Cola special weekend or something, and we got upper deck seats, a hot dog and a pop for $12 a piece! That's better than a River Bandits game! (Once again...not an overwhelming # of die hard Padres fans.)

It was a great game. Padres were down 6-1 going into the bottom of the 9th. They tied it up to go into extra innings. Sadly, they ended up losing, but since the majority of the fans were there for LA, the stadium was generally happy.

Manny Ramirez, recently returned from suspension due to performance enhancing drug use (thought I'd throw that in so you have all the facts, Katie) didn't start, but he came in to bat when the game went into extra innings.
This is Josh booing him (which he was really looking forward to.)
Here is Josh's happy face when Manny flew out.
On the trolley
They have quite the awesome tribute to Tony Gwynn.
Neat little park area downtown.
It was a fabulous afternoon, and we even avoided sunburn (for the most part.) I think we're going to like having this team in town. Maybe we'll even have to buy some Padres apparel so we don't have to wear Cubs and Yankees stuff to the games!

P.S. We saw a guy with an Iowa Cubs shirt! We high-fived him.

Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa.

2009-07-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

We've heard the comment, "Iowa? Field of Dreams, right!" about 5 times when we've told people where we're from. (And I personally have had TWO pharmacists tell me, "Iowa? Hey, I'm trying to grow corn in my backyard!" At least they didn't think that Iowa grew potatoes or were the Buckeyes or something.) Anyway, we decided we better re-familiarize ourselves with the movie that everyone seems to connect us to, so we watched 'Field of Dreams.' (And if you glance at the previous post, you will notice that Josh is wearing his Field of Dreams shirt in the 3rd picture down :-) I got my Field of Dreams shirt in 4th grade, so I do not normally wear it in public anymore.)

I like telling people I'm from Iowa. I like being from Iowa. It's like being happy that you're not from the "cool" place, like you know what life is REALLY like. You've been brave and interesting enough to branch out and live somewhere other than the place that EVERYONE wants to live (even though you were born there and didn't exactly have a choice...) It's kind of like being glad that you went to Central even though all the PV kids think they're going to get shot when they go there.

I like being from a place where cities are smaller, a place where there isn't a strip club on every other corner, where you can golf for less than $20, where rent isn't $1500, where you don't get offered weed every time you disc golf (according to Josh), where people work hard, where you can be in the middle of a countryside full of cornfields in 20 minutes, where you don't have to get on the interstate anytime you go anywhere. Don't get me wrong, we love it out here. We've got beaches and mountains and professional sports and IKEA and an endless supply of things to do and an endless supply of sunny days to do them. And it's a great place to be a pharmacist. We love being here, but we love being Hawkeyes.

Disclaimer: Whiteys ice cream may play a significant role in our love for Iowa.

It's a Jungle Out There!

2009-07-03T22:40:00.000-07:00

We spent our last Friday before starting working at the Wild Animal Park in Escondido. It is kind of like a zoo, but the animal are more in their 'natural habitat' than you may see in a zoo.
It originally started because the zoo was having a hard time breeding rhinos, so they bought some land in Escondido and opened the park initially to work on the rhino program. They now have a couple rhinos which may be 2 of only 7 left in the world! The Northern White Rhino. Pretty cool!
It is very hilly in Escondido. Looking down over the park is beautiful!
From a distance, Josh thought this giraffe was real and couldn't understand why everyone wasn't gathered around the giraffe with his head over the fence!
I love this picture! You can see the lions in the background. (You can't see the piece of glass between Josh and them!)Does anyone have any idea what kind of plant this is? Because we have one on our patio (much smaller version) that the last owner left, and I'd really like to know how to take care of it. It's beautiful, but I don't know what it is!!
I love parrots! They look so intelligent!The gorillas were HILARIOUS! This guy kept running around beating his chest and chasing the other gorillas.

Four Gluttons for Punishment

2009-06-28T20:50:00.001-07:00

Thursday night the Sharp residency program had a going away/welcome party for the current residents and new residents. I was a little nervous about meeting the three other girls I will be spending so much time and going through so much with over the next year. I needn't have worried at all. We all sat together and talked and laughed all night. It was a fun night, meeting future preceptors, past residents, and other hospital personnel. There were so many people there supporting the residents. I'm excited (and a bit scared) to be part of the program!

Sharp Chula Vista Residents 2009-2010! Silvia, Vivian, me, and Vi

The incoming residents with the outgoing residents. The current residents made up gift bags for us with lots of chocolate and candy, "to give us energy" because we'll be "exhausted after the first day!" Great...

Mommy! What's that elephant doing?

2009-06-23T23:53:00.000-07:00

Today we did what I have been looking forward to most: went to the zoo!

The San Diego Zoo IS all it's cracked up to be. We saw pretty much every animal I could think of. Except penguins. We love penguins, and we did notice their absence.

Sloth bear

Turtle picture-for Kelli! I told him I knew his cousin, Flatts.

Hmmm, the elephant is whispering sweet nothings in his friend's ear.

Oh, this little sight sent everyone running toward the elephant exhibit!

We did have a little mishap...Let's just say, watch out when you walk through the aviary. You might get doo-dooed on.

On the Skyfari Aerial Tram. Free for members. Did I mention we're now members?

All-in-all, a long but very fun day! Saw some elephant nookie, got pooped on, a pretty average day at the zoo!

Murphy

2009-06-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

This is the resident cat, Murphy. He hangs around the 2nd pool. His owner apparently gives him a horrible hair cut every summer, and he resembles a poodle. Murphy is probably the ugliest cat ever (except for those hairless ones). He also looks pretty mean, but we got him to purr today, pretty big deal. You have to like Murphy when you learn that his previous owner used to swing him by the tail and use him as a discus. Yeah...We try to be nice to Murphy.

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty relaxed day. We're both still recovering from a painful sunburn, so we haven't been up for doing too much. But it will be better in the morning! (We've been saying that for the last 3 nights.)

Lu and George invited us up to Escondido for a Sunday dinner. Her kids (Amber and Brian), kids-in-law (Eric and Autumn), and granddaughter (Madeline) were all there, and we had a marvelous time. Lu pretty much goes all out whenever she does anything, and she had 5 plates full of cupcakes worthy of a gourmet bakery, all displayed on nice raised trays. (We got to bring a plate home!) We whipped out our bean-bags game from the trunk, which turned out not to be "bags" at all, but these really big metal washer-looking things that you tried to throw through the hole of an astro-turf board. A little weird...but it was fun. It is now officially named "The Washing Machine Game," courtesy of Madeline.

The first week here was kind of like vacation, and it didn't really "feel" like we wouldn't be going home for a long time. Now it's starting to set in, and we've had a few "missing home" episodes. In short, it was good to see familiar faces today.

2009-06-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

Benefits of our sweet new blog background with smaller margins: Josh's posts will look longer, Rachael will be forced to make her posts shorter.

All is fun and games at Coronado beach...

...until you get fried.

It's amazing how seagulls know exactly when you have finished your food, then they leave.

Yep, we had quite the day of fun and adventure at the beach. We walked around Hotel del Coronado-pretty amazing, and over 100 years old! The water was warmer today so we actually got in and played in the waves. NOW we're sitting on the couch with a bottle of aloe vera, a bottle of Advil (don't worry, I know the dosage limits, I just passed the NAPLEX), and ice cream. Yeah, we need to crank up the SPF next time.

Celebrate!

2009-06-17T22:21:00.000-07:00

I got my NAPLEX score today. (The Iowa Board of Pharmacy seriously has to be the most efficient board of ANYTHING that there is.) I passed! Yay! We went to P.F.Changs to celebrate :-) (We sat by a table with a family of 5. BOTH parents were playing with their iPhones for almost 10 minutes, and their kids were trying to talk to them and sit on them, and they didn't even look up! We're pretty positive they were facebooking. It was just pathetic.) Now that that's done, I can take my law exam if the California Board of Pharmacy will ever get around to processing my stuff. So, basically, I can expect to take that test, oh, next winter or so. Maybe. If I'm lucky...

We got our internet hooked up today! Two GREAT things about this. 1) I no longer have to go hang out with my computer at the library or in the parking lot of Starbucks. (Did you know you get free internet at Starbucks if you have a gift card? True story.) 2) Our cable internet provider is NOT Mediacom! Not really sure about this whole TimeWarner company, but they HAVE to be better than Mediacom.

Our condo is starting to come together. The kitchen is actually usable. aka We can open the refrigerator and all cabinet doors all the way because there are no longer boxes everywhere. Our clothes have all found a place and the living room doesn't have boxes everywhere. Bad news: a lot of those boxes have merely been thrown into the 2nd bedroom...We'll get there!

We went for a swim in our pool today and plan on finding a new beach tomorrow. We decided it still feels like we're on vacation. I guess we kind of are!

1. Unpack 2. Pass board exam 3. Have fun!

2009-06-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

Wow, have we been busy. Not really sure how that's possible considering neither of us are working or have commitments whatsoever right now...Too much to do, I guess!

We finished unloading the moving truck Friday early afternoon. We were determined to get it all done by the time our 2-wheel dolly was due at 1:13 pm. We returned it at 1:13 pm. We even carried the couch in all by ourselves! Lu said she is going to have us tested for performance-enhancing drugs. Driving 21 hours straight...unloading a moving truck all by ourselves...apparently we don't do anything the way most people would.

The place is a MESS. It seems the only thing that takes longer than packing all your stuff in boxes is unpacking it. I have never seen so much crumpled newspaper and empty boxes. The recycling is just a 30 second walk from us, so that's a blessing. We have been very happy with the condo so far. We've already used the pool and hot tub a couple times! The hallways smell funky, though, and there's a unit just down from us that smells like you're walking through a litter box when you walk by it. I can't imagine what it smells like inside...We're wondering if we should check on the guy...

We've managed to enjoy San Diego and learn about the city a bit in the last few days. We hung out at Mission Beach one afternoon, though it was WAY too cold to get in. There were plenty of people swimming, but we said to ourselves, "Hey, we live here. We don't HAVE to get in today just to make it worth it!"

We tried out the trolley today and took a ride downtown, not exactly sure where we were going or what we were doing, but we managed! We strolled through the shops at Seaport Village, walked along the bay, and found the Historic Gaslamp District which had a plethora of cool shops and restaurants-definitely a must if you ever visit San Diego.

I went to schedule my pharmacy board exam, the NAPLEX, yesterday, hoping to take it in a week or so, and the only time available in the next month was...today. So...I took it this morning. Didn't feel quite ready but decided I might as well get it over with. I think it went pretty well. Most people say they think they did horrible and then they pass. Not sure what it means when you think you did well...

The closest Panera is like 15 minutes from us! What the heck! There is (literally) a Starbucks on every corner, and you can't put a Panera within 7 miles?! We have, however, just recently (an hour ago...) discovered a coffee shop that I believe may be my favorite coffee shop ever. Awesome music AND they make SWEET wedding cakes and have an album of pictures. And Josh approves of the smoothies.

Wow, talk about a crazy, all-over-the-place blog post! I guess that's just life when you haven't started your job!

And it Begins

2009-06-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

I have always thought about starting a blog. It seemed like a great way to journal ones life, day to day activities that you want to remember but probably won’t. It also always sounded like a lot of work. And writing the first entry sounded like a WHOLE lot of work. How do I commence the first entry to what may be a lifetime, or at least a LONG time, of life documentation? And then, how do I carry on regularly with entries that would be interesting enough that I, or anyone else for the matter, would ever want to read. I know for a fact that I could never be as clever and witty as my friend Christina, though if I have as many horrible car stories to be witty about as she does with her poor, unlucky car, I might have to scream. And my entries certainly won’t be as intelligent as Tom Nibs, who reads almost all non-fiction books and makes me, though I am fairly intelligent according to my GPA, feel like I know nothing. And I can certainly never compose entries as creative and well-written as my dear friend Katie BD, whose best-selling book I eagerly await at a bookstore near you. Thus, alas, I have merely resolved that I will, simply, write. And whatever comes out, though perhaps not clever or witty or intelligent or creative, will just be me, and perhaps occasionally Josh. And that is enough.

Now seemed like the perfect time to finally start a blog, seeing as how this very minute Josh and I are driving across the country (currently in New Mexico) with everything we own in the back of a Penske truck, to spend a year in San Diego, California. I will be starting my Pharmacy General-Practice Residency (PGY1) at Sharp Healthcare on June 29. Josh will be transferring to another Walgreens as an assistant manager. I have always, always wanted to live in San Diego, since the first time I visited with my mom and sister, Kelli. I loved that no view was minus a palm tree, the perfect weather, the endless supply of things to do, and most of all, the ocean! I never actually thought I would live there, of course. With the rumors of horrible traffic, the tremendously high cost of living (I am quite cheap, I mean…frugal), and the distance from home, it never seemed like a real possibility. But here we are, with only 645.5 miles left to go (according to Garmin). Sometimes I have to remind myself that this is what I’ve always wanted, and how wonderful it is that I actually get to do it, or I start thinking too much about how I will miss home. But it is quite the adventure, and we are excited, and we are quite sure we will be back to the Midwest someday. (I’m not sure any child raised this close to LA could ever turn out completely normal…) For now, we look forward to a year of great weather, new experiences, lots of visitors, and I guess I’m supposed to learn a little something about being a good pharmacist, too…