Last Weekend Of Memories In Bakersfield

This weekend, around all the packing, we had a few outings that got us out of the house and gave us a much needed break. Saturday night we went to dinner with some friends and then headed to the bowling alley. Unfortunately, the bowling alley was insanely busy so we opted for putt putt golf at Monster Golf. You can read about our first trip to Monster Golf here. We had such a fun time laughing and dancing around to the music. I'm pretty bummed that I didn't think to get a group picture but I did manage to get one of me and the hubby. At the end of the night, we said our goodbyes and hugged our friends. We hated saying goodbye to our friends that have experienced this journey with us but we left hopeful that we would see them again.

Sunday was an extra special day for me! Ms. Ruth, my all-time favorite student, was participating at the 2nd Annual Bakersfield African American Read-In. She invited the office to go and listen to her...I knew that I had to go and listen to her! She talked about our organization and how much we help her and how much we mean to her. A lot of the people that attended wore traditional African wear and I thought Ms. Ruth was the best dressed one there.

She did such a good job encouraging people to come to our organization if they need help. My favorite line that she used was "Stop being embarrassed for something that you have the chance to change. Get out of the darkness and come into the light." She was beaming throughout the rest of the day. I'm so glad that I went and supported Ms. Ruth at the Read-In. She will be one person that I never forget...she has changed my heart forever.

Packed & Ready To Go

Packing this weekend was pretty rough...I thought it sounded painless and exciting, but I was wrong. How in the world did we get so much stuff?! Why did we get so much stuff?! Where did we store all of the stuff?! We packed all weekend and even though progress was slow, I can officially say our house is packed and ready to be moved to Missouri. Can you find what doesn't belong in this picture?? Muzzy gets extremely nervous anytime we start packing and since this weekend we were in full on packing mode, he was within in arms reach of his mama all weekend.

I was so proud of myself and the packing progress that when Jason walked in the door, I couldn't wait to show him what all I did while he was at work. I start opening all the cabinets and show him nothing but empty cabinets. I left all the pans out because we still will need to cook this week but everything else was packed and put away in boxes. Well I guess I didn't think things through very well because I packed away all the cooking utensils, baking sheets and everything else needed to cook a meal. Ugh...needless to say, we packed away our pans and made a trip to the store to buy microwaveable meals, plastic forks and paper plates. So much for trying to partially pack.

Saturday and Sunday, Jason broke down all our furniture and we wrapped it up and secured it in some bigger packing boxes. Now I know why we waited for the weekend before our move before we started packing...our house has turned into a disaster zone! We put all the packed boxes on the tile by our front door but we are out of room and the house is starting to feel like we've trapped ourselves in.

Friday can't come soon enough...the pups are nervous wrecks, our housing is getting smaller with each packed box and we're are looking forward to hugging our family member's necks!

Packing My Weekend Away

With only one week/7 days/168 hours left until we leave Bakersfield, this weekend sounded like a perfect time (last chance) to start packing. Both Jason and myself will be working all next week and packing after a full day at work doesn't sound too fun, so everything is getting done this weekend. I walked through the apartment this morning like a clueless person...what room, what crap should I start with first? Well I finally decided that the kitchen would be the starting place and I'm wishing that I would have started somewhere else. Pretty much everything in the kitchen needs to be wrapped multiple times so it doesn't break...my fingers are covered in black ink from all the newspapers used to wrap up stuff.
Here is what the apartment is looking like right about now....I'm starting to think that the weekend is going to be a rough one!!


Yikes!! And because I'm really dreading walking back into the kitchen to start packing again, here's a picture of the boys. All the packing is definitely taking a toll on them...they are worn out!I guess I should get back to work...wish me luck!

Graduation Ceremony

We received an email today letting us know the agenda of Jason's graduation ceremony. Because a graduation ceremony is only performed once a year and there are a lot of different classes that graduate on May 29th, along with Jason's class, the school split the graduation ceremony up into two--morning and afternoon. We were pleased to see in the email this morning that he will be graduating on the morning of May 29th!! We will now be able to get up, go to the graduation ceremony, be finished by 12:00 and be on the beach by 12:30.

Our friends that we went through the medical school journey with will also be in the same graduation ceremony...and we couldn't be more thrilled!! We're so excited to meet up and see where residency leads everyone!! The island is going to be so different this time around.

Gettin' Closer

Today is the day that Jason has had a little crazy amounts of anxiety over. Remember how a month ago we had to build a rank list for the programs that he went and interviewed at? Well, today is the day where the list is set in stone, no more changes, and submitted to the NRMP (National Residency Match Program).
He logged in one last time last night to make sure the list was just how he remembered it from the other 50 times that he checked and then he felt the need to print another copy to hang on refrigerator (that makes 6 hanging on our fridge). Yes, it's a little scary to have no more say in the rank list but it's so nice to know that we are getting closer to match day and finding out where we will be moving.

Dewar's For Dinner

Bakersfield has a local ice cream parlor, Dewar's, that is known for being "one of the best in Bakersfield". We've gone a few times and it is so yummy that we knew we wanted to get there again before we pulled out of town next Friday. One day last week, we decided that we would skip dinner to go and share an ice cream sundae. Dewar's has a lot of items on their menu but their most popular sundaes are the black-n-white, the red-n-white and the tan-n-white. Jason loves their black-n-white (vanilla and chocolate ice cream with hot fudge topped with mashmallow cream and crushed almonds) and I love the red-n-white (vanilla and strawberry ice cream with strawberries topped with marshmallow cream and crused almonds). Well, I couldn't really understand going to Dewar's and sharing a sundae, much less sharing a sundae that I didn't really like, so at the last second I decided to order my own!

We finished every last bite....the best dinner we've had in a long time!

President's Day Weekend

This weekend we drove to Ventura to check on Sue after her back surgery. (Thanks to everyone that said a special prayer for her...everything went smooth and she is making some great strides at getting back to her old self.)

Since we only have a few more days before we move, we knew this would probably be the last time we made the drive from Bakersfield to Ventura. Usually we turn the radio up, sing along and make the 2 hour drive as painless as possible but this time was different. This time we didn't turn the radio up quite as loud, we talked about all the fun things we've done over the past year and we stopped to enjoy the views at a few popular spots along the drive. We always drive past Fort Tejon and Pyramid Lake and say "we should check that out sometime" but always end up driving by without stopping. Since this was our last time making the drive on the 5-Southbound, we stopped! The first stop was at Fort Tejon, which was a military fort that was built in 1854. I'm not as crazy as Jason about all the history involved but the views were awesome. I tried to take as many pictures...I don't want to forget how pretty the mountains are.Jason wanted to go and walk through the museum that was on the grounds to read up on all the history...I decided to stay outside and snap some pictures.
We drove a little further down the road and we pulled over at Lake Pyramid and the water museum. The museum was filled with tons of water statistics...very entertaining and educational! Did you know that for one person's daily meals it takes 1400 gallons of water, each day in the summer, the average person will use 240 gallons of water or to grow a handful of almonds it takes about 40 gallons of water?? We had a lot of fun walking through each of the different rooms... After we explored the inside, we went outside on the deck to get a view of Pyramid Lake and the surrounding mountains. The weather has been a little chilly, so we even got to see a little bit of snow.
The drive was a little bittersweet--our last drive to Ventura, the last time for awhile that we will be able to spend the weekend with the family and the last time we'll be only two hours away from Jason's family. We're definitely going to miss weekends like this!

My Furbabies

I'm. In. LovePlain. And. Simple.

Prayer Request For Someone Special

My mother-in-law, Jason's step mom, is having surgery to fix one of her vertebrae in her back that has been giving her problems for quite some time now. She has tried physical therapy, steroid/Cortisone shots, acupuncture and anything in between with little to no luck.
The doctor finally (after trying out several other options) suggested surgery. Her surgery is scheduled for Thursday and then she will be taking it easy for the next few weeks. Sue is staying pretty positive, but there is still so much she has weighing on her mind.

She is so ready to get back on the hiking trails and get back to her old self so she's looking forward to the surgery and getting her back fixed! I'm sure she would love your thoughts and prayers this week.

Who Needs Chocolate And Flowers When You Have Sand?!

The weather on the West Coast has been beautiful this week and this weekend the weather was in the 70s...yes, in the 70s!! Since Valentine's Day usually focuses on dinners and movies that I would enjoy, I planned a fun weekend getaway for Jason. Sometimes it is nice to do something special that he would like to do...I really enjoy planning special things for him! He's really been wanting to ride ATVs at the Pismo dunes and with this being one of our last weekends in California, I decided it would be perfect for a trip to the Pismo dunes.

He came home Friday after work and I told him the good news for his Valentine's Day present. I'm not sure he slept longer than two hours at a time that night....he was so excited to explore the sand dunes! IWe wanted to take a "less traveled route" on our drive to the coast and it was HORRIBLE. The road was so narrow, steep and crooked that we had to stop a few times so I could get some fresh air (aka--get sick). It was one of the longest drives, ever! Once we got to the interstate, the motion sickness went away and I was ready to see what the day had in store. Once we arrived in Pismo, we walked into a rental company and discovered that they were running a special on their ATV rentals, rent one, get one free.
Once we got everything paid for and signed, we were on our way. We headed out to their small trailer on the beach, watched a safety video, given our equipment and sent out on our way. At first, we were extremely cautious...dirtbikes, fourwheelers, sand buggies and big trucks were everywhere. The hills in the dunes were so big and steep that it was difficult to see what was on the other side. We found this shortly after we got on our bikes... It didn't take too long before we were one of those ATVs that were going up and down the steep dunes with a bit of speed...

We had a 2 hour rental and it was so much fun. With about 20 minutes left before we had to go back, we decided to go and sit by the ocean for a few minutes. The view was awesome.... After our adventure in the Pismo dunes, we emptied out the sand from our shoes and socks and headed downtown to try and find something to eat. We read a lot of good reviews about a small, local restaurant, Splash Cafe, that was famous for their clam chowder. We knew we had to try Splash Cafe, since this would probably be our last visit to Pismo. We parked and started walking towards the restaurant and saw that the line was all the way outside the door and around the building.

Crazy as it sounds...we waited in the long line. We had to try the famous chowder that so many people would wait so long for in such beautiful weather. The line moved pretty fast and we were inside and ordering our lunch before we knew it. Clam chowder in a bread bowl and clam strips and fries were definitely worth the wait. It was a delicious lunch to go with the day...I'm glad we decided to wait. After lunch, we needed to walk off a little bit of the food that we scarfed down. We walked down to the pier and saw that there was a surfing competition going on, which got Jason all excited. He used to surf A LOT when he was younger and when he lived in Hawaii, so watching the competition brought back some good memories. We had the best time riding in the sand, laughing at each other and enjoying the amazing views that Pismo has to offer. I love seeing Jason carefree and happy and I got to see this side of him in full force this weekend. Best Valentine's Day so far...I love seeing my husband so happy!

Full Of Surprises

Don't you just love a good surprise?! Well a few weeks ago, we found out that Rachel and Cody will be welcoming a sweet little addition to their family in the fall. We had already planned on throwing her a birthday party but since we are all about to split up and go our separate ways for residency, we decided to make it a birthday party/baby shower. Yes, it's extremely early in the pregnancy but us girls wanted to do something special for the baby and the mama-to-be.The boys were just really excited to get together, talk about "manly" things and eat all the yummy food. Speaking of yummy food--how cute are these cupcakes that Desiree made? They are suppose to be baby rattles...cute and delicious!

Even though the cupcakes were baby themed, we lit sparkler candles and sang Happy Birthday to Rachel.

We played some fun games and then it was time for the presents. She got some great birthday presents, but we were really excited to see all the cute baby presents.

We were so excited to celebrate with Rachel and Cody...we've been on the medical school journey with them and it's so fun to see the end so near and what the future has in store for all our friends. Congratulations Rachel and Cody!!

Mumbo Jumbo

I have so many random thoughts and things going on right now so I figured I'd throw them into one post...creative, right?!

• I went and got fake nails put on a few weeks ago and I loved them. I feel so much more girly with long nails but when it came time to go and get them filled in, I realized that nails were more than I bargained for. I just want nails, not the constant maintenance. Well, instead of going and getting them filled or getting them gently soaked off, I decided to pull them off. YIKES! It was so painful...I think I might have seriously messed up my nails.
• I'm addicted to the game Words with Friends. It's like a virtual scrabble game with friends or random opponents. I started out pretty pathetic...my vocabulary was "limited" in scrabble terms. Now, I'm starting to get the hang of the game. For the first time ever I used all the letters and scored 73 points on ONE WORD! I even took a picture as evidence for all you non-believers out there!

• We've scheduled the dates for our electric, gas and cable to get shut off, wrote the last rent check and set an appointment next week to file our taxes.
  
• With three weeks until we make the LONG drive back to Missouri, I'm getting asked all the time "How is packing coming along?" Well...this crazy, over organized girl hasn't packed one thing. Before you judge, hear me out. Our apartment is so small that if I start packing boxes then we have no where to store them. I can't shove them in a closet or under the bed and there is no way I can have random boxes sitting around for the next three weeks. So it looks like packing will occur the week and the weekend before the move. I might kick myself for this later...
• Our freezer is starting to get pretty bare. We've been trying to really eat up our food that we won't be able to travel with and by the looks of things, I'd say we are doing pretty good. I'm fighting the urge to go on a shopping spree and fill up our cabinets and freezer. I feel like there is nothing in our house to eat!
• Jason made his rank list for residency a few weeks ago and has already changed it twice and is talking about changing it for a third time (back to his original decision). We've spent countless hours talking about where we'd like to live, raise a family, buy a house, get the best education, etc, etc, etc. The unknown is definitely taking a toll on him. I'm trying to act strong and like it doesn't affect me...if he only knew.
  
• We've been tossing around the idea of selling Jason's car before we move back. One less car and thing to worry about. I think we've decided that a car payment and a higher insurance payment is not something we want to have in addition to everything else. The 170,000 + miles are not going to scare us away that easy...we'll drive it until it won't drive anymore.
• Starting a family is something that is something that we talk about quite often. We've always talked about starting a family right after graduation (which is in 3 months) and we've both gotten...what do you call it...hhhmmm....COLD FEET! We've decided to add a few more months of birth control and to start "thinking" about starting a family once we get more settled with steady income. I thought I was ready for a little Conway and now that it's almost that time, I'm freaking out!

Wow, mumbo jumbo is right. It actually feels good to organize all the randomness going on in my brain...

Superbowl Weekend

We packed up our clothes and headed to Ventura, where we knew we'd have plenty of food, family and tons of football fun! The Steelers, our #1 team, made it to the Superbowl so we knew that a big celebration was in store. We had to make a pit stop on our drive and I couldn't help but take a picture of the boys looking at the window for Jason.

We had a low-key Sunday morning but the second everyone finished their breakfast, the TV was on for the pre-game show. Who knew that there were pre-game shows 4+ hours before the game?! Good thing we had PLENTY of food to occupy us! Once the teams were announced, we were all glued to the TV...the game was really exciting and the commercials were funny.

Here are some of the pictures that I took during the Superbowl party...

The game was intense, to say the least, and unfortunately the Packers played a better game and took home the trophy. We were pretty bummed about the loss...the drive home was filled with constant game replays from Jason.

Even though the Steelers lost, we had a great weekend with the family. I'm glad that we got to cheer on our favorite football team with the family...gotta enjoy these moments while we can!