Is Spring Here?

I know, I know, I live in Southern California and you are thinking "isn't the weather always nice there?" Well, most of the time it is, but for the last month or so we have had winter. And I'm ready for spring. I've always lived close to the coast in CA until now. The weather is different inland. For one, we live very close to the mountains so it gets pretty chilly. Second, in the summer it is above 100 degrees for a good 2 months. I thought when I moved back to CA I would have the perpetual spring of San Diego, but this is not the case in the inland empire (the IE). So, after many weeks of rain and weather in the 40's and 50's, the temperature finally broke 70 today!! It really makes me happy to be warm. Here is a picture of the mountains outside our house, covered in snow from Monday's storm. I just hope the weather decides to stay warm after I get back from vacation!!

Evidence of a Baby

Today we went to the Dr. to hear the heart beat. First they found the heart with the doppler and it took a little while (which I was prepared for) then found it. The baby was moving around so they would get it and then lose it right away. I then asked if they could do an ultrasound since they have one in the office. It's very un-official, they can't see a lot with it but we did see a baby. We saw his/her legs, arms, briefly the head, the abdomen and the tiny beating heart. The baby was kind of standing up and facing towards us so the head was mostly out of view. It was really cool. The baby was doing somersaults. It was all kind of surreal though, I can't believe that the little being we saw on the screen is actually inside me. I thought I would get all emotional, but I think I still don't believe it. I'm really relieved that everything looks fine so far. I'm really glad that Steven could be there to experience it too.

Just two more days of tests then off to Hawaii!!

Life Despite Med School

Despite the fact that I have finals next week, life just keeps happening. Last Saturday I had planned on spending the day studying in order to catch up, however my mom called on Friday night to tell me that my dad's uncle had died. I wasn't close to Jim, but I am close to many members of the family that were close to him so I decided I should go and support the family. I'm really glad that I went, it was a beautiful service and I really enjoyed spending the day with my parents, sister, grandma, great aunt and uncles. I didn't think I would cry, except that Jim was very good friends with my grandpa who passed away 2 years ago, so when they mentioned my grandpa I lost it. Even though it's been a few years, I am still morning the death of grandpa. I really miss him.

Yesterday my husband was interviewed for ordination in our denomination. I was asked to come to support him and so that the board could meet me. It required me missing a whole day of classes but I am happy I went. The board unanimously agreed to recommend Steven for full ordination at the next district assembly, which is in June. It is unusual for someone my husband's age to be ordained this soon after graduating from seminary, and who has the desire to work in the inner city as we do. The board seemed grateful for our hearts for service and thrilled by our accomplishments. I knew about 4 people there (including the pastor that performed our wedding), my husband knew more than half, so it was comforting seeing people we know. It was an encouraging experience and I am so proud of my husband for his accomplishments and continued desire to serve God.

The pregnancy has also been hindering my schooling because some afternoons I feel very nauseous and tired and I just can't study. I'm getting bigger, which is exciting, and I'm happy to announce that I'm done with my first trimester. Sometimes I wonder how I'm really going to make it next year, but I have no plans of quitting so I'll have to figure something out. Next week we go to hear the heart beat; I'm so excited and scared at the same time.

I'm grateful that I have supportive family and friends around me to help me in life, despite the fact that it sometimes takes me away from studying and school. But I am very willing and happy to do things in order to have a well rounded life and a healthy marriage.

We're Moving!

Just when it started to seem like we would never be able to move out, we were blessed with a place to move to. The church is still struggling to pay Steven so I was getting kind of depressed, wondering if we would have our own place by the time the baby came. Then, a few days later Steven called me to tell me that we were given the opportunity to live in a Condo the pastor's brother-in-law bought. The amazing thing is, we don't have to pay rent! It's in a poor neighborhood in San Bernardino, but it seems to be safe. The complex in gated and there are several families in the church who live there so we know it's not dangerous. The Condo is very nice, they are doing some minor repairs and even giving us new carpet and floors and we got to pick out paint too. It's very exciting. Eventually we plan on trying to buy something of our own, but for now this is going to be perfect. We were hoping to move in next week, but things got pushed back. Since I have finals coming up in two weeks we probably won't move in until after Spring Break (we're going on our honeymoon to Hawaii). It doesn't really matter when we move in to me, I'm just so happy to be moving. The place is only 5 min from church and 15 from school, so we will be saving a lot of money on gas. I'll post pictures as soon as the place is fixed up.

Family Day Picture

I just found this picture of my parents and I at lunch on family day on my class website, taken by the class historian.

Class of 2009 Dedication Service

A few weeks ago we had a lovely dedication service at school. It was preceded by family day where our parents came and experienced a day in the life of a med student. My parents came and went to three lectures with me which they enjoyed, then we had a pretty good lunch, all vegetarian of course because of the school's affiliation with the Seventh day Adventist church, and then they got a history lesson about the school and learned about the long educational road we have ahead of us. At the evening service we were presented with Bibles engraved with the school's emblem. My husband and his parents came to the evening service. It was a wonderful day and I'm really glad everyone could make it.

The picture was taken while we stated the Christian physician's oath. I'm in the front row in a yellow sweater, 5 people in from the left side.