Old Friends

Seeing old friends is always so much fun. Living so far away from all of them makes it a little hard to do, though. However, a couple days ago we were able to spend time with Patrick and Maren, good friends from our time in China and before. Maren's mom just happens to live about ten minutes from my parents so we couldn't pass up the chance to see them. Thanks to Maren's mom for letting us come over (and for reading our blog!).



We sat around, talking, eating, and playing games. After a few hours we realized that we had just played 102 rounds of Apples to Apples. Maybe a world record?

Merry Christmas!

We just got back last night from spending Christmas with my family in Fontana. It was so amazing to have some time off. We drove up Christmas Eve after I got off work, leaving our apartment torn apart and filled with boxes (thanks to a mold problem resulting in a wall of our apartment needing to be torn out), making it just in time to have Christmas Eve dinner.

Last year at Christmas time Eric and I were freezing in Nanjing, China and making gingerbread cookies in a rice cooker. And although we loved that little, quiet Christmas together, it was fun to be able to have Christmas in America, with family and all the fun traditions that come with it. And a full-size Christmas tree, warm Southern California weather, an oven, and ham dinner. Yum.

Growing up, my family always read and acted out the Christmas story in the Bible, which I am sure many families do.

Our nephew Ezrah making a charming little Joseph. As you can see, there weren't quite enough grandkids to go around and fill up all the parts- my sister Celestia played Mary. Eric and I even got parts- we were two of the wisemen.

Some more pictures from Christmas:

Eric and I both knew what we got each other this year which definitely takes away some of the fun, but we were both still excited to open our gifts.

I love Christmas time. The smell of the Christmas tree, making fudge and cookies, eating lots of oranges, singing Christmas carols, reading Christmas stories, and most of all, being with family.

We love you all! Merry Christmas!

La Jolla Cove

One thing that is beautiful in San Diego is the December weather. That, combined with Kiersten having yesterday off of work, left us with no excuse not to venture outside and discover a new part of San Diego.

We had heard La Jolla Cove mentioned as one of the beautiful places of San Diego, but with all the beautiful beaches we had seen already, we weren't quite sure how much more beautiful it could be. Well, we found out yesterday. And now, we will tell you, it is the most beautiful beach either Kiersten or I has ever seen anywhere. The pictures hardly do the beauty justice.

The fact that La Jolla Cove is a "look but don't touch" beach makes it all the more beautiful. That means, when you look down into a tide pool, not only do you see the countless hermit crabs occupying their beautiful shells, but you also see other shells large are small. It added so much to the natural beauty of the cove.

We had already decided it was the most beautiful beach out there, but to add to the wonder of the area, it turns out that La Jolla Cove is also the home of hundreds of harbor seals. We spotted at least twenty of them swimming and playing and climbing on rocks. We could have watched them for hours, especially the group taking their rest on the rocks. It started with a small family of three seals (at least that's what we call them). But soon, six other seals one by one tried squeezing their way onto the rock, often knocking each other off as they did so. It was quite humorous to watch.

Unfortunately, our camera batteries died before they all got up. But, for your enjoyment until you come and visit us for your own personal tour (yes, that means all of you), here are a few pictures.

And, because we can, here are a few more.

Two Items

Finals are done, and that it is a wonderful feeling. So, to celebrate, here are a couple of news items I found interesting (read: fascinating).

First, Thomas S. Monson has been voted the most powerful octogenarian (guy over 80) in America by Slate. And, when you look at the other figures in the spots behind him, it is quite the accomplishment. By the way, who knew that B.B. King was still alive?

Second, the NY Times has put out wonderful interactive maps allowing you to view local census data from 2005-2009. You should definitely check it out. Make sure you go to "view more maps" to see the other options. You may discover something new. In my case, I discovered why I am so poor lately based on this one:

In case you didn't notice, in this map of median monthly rents, San Diego isn't the cheapest place on the map. You can also zoom into specific areas to view your own block. Quite the fun thing to do.

So much to be thankful for

"Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God's love."

-President Thomas S. Monson

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

-Epictetus (Greek philosopher)

I am so blessed. But I sometimes forget. I was sitting here thinking how tired I was and how I wished Eric and I could both just quit studying already and just watch a movie. (Obviously I have stopped studying, but Eric is stronger than me and is still going strong. He is planning on going right up until it is Sunday- one more hour!). And then sometimes I think how nice it would be to go to a nice restaurant and splurge on all sorts of yummy foods, or go the the grocery store and buy all the fun foods I love to look at. And sometimes I wish I had the money to run in all the races I want to (oh, to do another marathon...). And then also I look at my sisters with their babies, and watch all the young mothers in the ward and think- Oh, how I want that so much. All the things- big and small that I don't/cant have right now.

And then I have to stop myself, take a step back, and realize that I couldn't be happier with where Eric and I are at this point in our lives. I was participating in an open house about a week ago that my internship was giving for prospective applicants and as I answered their questions and saw the anxiety and stress in their faces, I started to have flashbacks on where I was a year ago. I was just like them, spending hours researching and applying to internships, of which there are only enough for less than 50% of applicants. The hours I spent, the years of preparation, the rejection from the first internships I applied to, and then the little miracle of finding the one I am in now. And I got in. I still don't know how, but I am here. And now I am having this amazing experience that I didn't really think I would be able to have.

I think I have got to be the luckiest girl around with the most amazing husband ever. He works so hard and is so focused on his responsibilities, but he always takes time for me. He is the happiest, most optimistic person I know and he just makes me smile. He makes us take time for fun, from taking a short break from studies to look for seashells to just dancing around the living room as he sings to me. He is honest, kind, faithful, and just so wonderful.

We have our own apartment that we can call home. Since we have been married (1 year and 5 months today!!), Eric and I have not have a even semi-permanent place with our own things in it. We sub-leased an apartment for the couple months after we were married before heading for China in which everything from furniture to silverware was furnished. Then off we went to China with only our suitcases and lived in two tiny apartments where we bought only what we needed to get by. (Which, at first, we thought we extremely little. Like the time we cut a watermelon with a metal spatula because we didn't want to buy knives (we figured out pretty soon that those were kind of a necessity) or how we went the entire time freezing in our Nanjing apartment, refusing to spend money on blankets) Then this last summer we stayed with Eric's parents- so fun, but still not our own. So this little apartment here in San Diego is really our first home. It has our books, furniture, pictures. I love it.

We live right by the beach. Ok, maybe a 10 minute drive, but that is still pretty close! And we are close enough that on my long runs, I can make it to the beach. San Diego is a beautiful place and we are enjoying so much being here. We love just walking through the neighborhoods here and looking at the old homes and little shops.

We are healthy and strong. I see so many sick, weak people every day with my internship. People who can't eat the foods that they want to, people who don't have the energy to stand up and walk on their own. It makes me so grateful for my health, that I can run for miles and miles and still feel good. And it makes me even more dedicated to taking care of myself. Eating healthy and staying fit. Eric has even started to go running 3 days most weeks and, some days, he even eats three fruits. :)

I have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. With two sisters on missions (Eric's sister Brittany and my sister Lilly) I have been thinking even more about what this means to me. President Brigham Young said, "Mormonism has made me all that I am..." That is how I feel too. The knowledge that God lives, that he has a plan for me, that he speaks to me and everyone else through living prophets, that the power of God is on the Earth, that families can be together forever has shaped the person I have become and has influenced every decision I have made. I would not be here married to the most amazing man ever and so incredibly happy if I hadn't done everything I could to do what I should, to follow the prophets, to live the way I have been taught to. I am so grateful that I am a Mormon.

I love life and I love the experiences we are having. Even if it means that right now I can't have all the things I would like, thats okay. Some of those will definitely come later and if some of the others never do, it doesn't matter. I have all the important things already. I couldn't ask for more.

Close to home

I have seen my family more in the last two months than in the previous two years! It has been really nice. We have been able to actually be a part in several family events and gatherings.

We were able to be there for my sister Tamara's baby shower. She just had her adorable baby Adam about 8 weeks ago.

(This is not Adam with her :) This is Scott, her 3 year old who always came with us to the shower and who thought is was all a big birthday party for him.

My sister Rachel came with her children as well. Of course, Lilly on the left is not one of her children!

Adam cuddling with his Grandma Hinckley

We also were able to be there for my sister Celestia's 31st birthday party. Happy Birthday Celestia!

We got to be with my baby sister Lilly when she went through the temple and then we went up again when she gave her farewell talk just over a week ago. She went into the MTC on Nov. 3 and she is having so much fun!

Look how big that smile is! She had just gotten set apart to be a missionary when I took this picture.

And this last Sunday, we made the trip again, this time to Tamara's home to be there for Adam's blessing.

The proud parents.

Little Scottie with his grandpa. That boy moves so quickly I usually have such a hard time getting a picture of him!

Isn't he so cute!

It's been so great being able to see family so often. And my parents also came down one weekend to spend time with us here in San Diego. That was fun- they came with my sisters Lilly and Celestia and my brother Edward. They stayed the night so we had to find a way to squeeze 7 people into our tiny apartment. That was a feat!

I don't know how long we will be able to be this close to family but we will definitely enjoy it while we can!

We love you guys!

Not again!

Do you ever have something that you keep hoping won't happen but that you have a dreading feeling will? The last couple of weeks when I have been running, there has been this sharp pain in my left ankle that will suddenly come and go. When it comes, I feel like I will collapse it hurts so much. But then it goes away, so I keep running. This is an ankle that in my early years of running I seemed to be constantly twisting and hurting. So I knew it was already weakened. I started to have these horrible pictures of twisting it again and hurting it permanently, ruining my ankle forever and having to give up running. That would be a nightmare for me. I told Eric that I was resigned to becoming a cyclist. Now this was all very much overreacting, I know. But I couldn't help worrying that I was going to hurt my ankle.

And then this morning, as I was getting on my bike to go to work, somehow (I really don't know how I managed to do this) I lost my balance and fell hard on the pavement, twisting my left ankle underneath me with my bike falling on top of me. Eric came rushing to my rescue, but all I could think of was, 'Oh no, my ankle!' All the nightmares came rushing back.

Of course, I think it will be just fine. After limping around all day, I came home and went to buy an ACE bandage and put it up to rest. And it feels much better. But I know this means no running for a few days. But, as hard as that will be for me, I will look on the bright side- at least it doesn't mean I have to become a cyclist, yet.

Life

The past couple months life has consisted of waking up very early (some weeks I have had to be at my internship by 5am), quickly getting ready, and leaving for a full, busy day. Eric gets up either the same time as me or shortly after, takes off for school and I don't see him again until the evening- sometimes not until 8ish at night.

As of last Friday, I have officially completed the first two months of my internship. This also means that I have completed my Foodservice Management portion of my internship. I can check that off now! Now it is on to my Clinical portion- which will be about 6 1/2 months long. This is the part that I have been most nervous about. I will start off my rotations with the oncology and bone marrow transplant dietitian. They aren't starting me out easy at all!

As difficult as I know it will be, I am very excited for it. This is what I have been preparing for since my first dietetics class five years ago. So, what will I be doing?

Every two weeks I will start a new rotation. The rotations include oncology, sepsis, HIV, diabetes, the burn unit, pediatrics, and the list goes on and on. In each one of those I will be paired with a dietitian. I will learn how to do nutrition assessments for each different disease state, make nutritional diagnoses, make diet recommendations based on their needs, and give nutrition education.

Since I switch rotations every two weeks, this means my schedule also changes every two weeks. Which hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be- it just makes planning anything outside of work really difficult since I don't know what that schedule will be until a week before starting the rotation. For example, I don't even know yet whether or not I will be able to get Thanksgiving off or not- it all depends on whether my preceptor has the day off.

Keeps life exciting, I guess. Busy, but exciting.

Eric has also been keeping extremely busy with school. His classes definitely give a huge workload. But he is really enjoying everything and is having some great experiences. He even got to meet with the former Commander of Central Command last week for a mock interview. He was pretty excited about that.

Between meeting former navy heroes, writing endless Chinese papers, and reading about economics, my Eric hardly has a free moment. When he does, it is usually spent by me massaging his hurting head. :)

And that is life for us right now. And we are loving it. Except for the fact that Halloween is in one week and I haven't even bought a pumpkin. Anyone who knows me very well will know this is a very sad thing.

Conference Weekend at the Andersons

With our car not working again (dead battery this time) Eric and I are pretty much stuck at home this past weekend. But what better weekend to be stuck at home than Conference weekend? I have really enjoyed being able to sit together and listen to Conference. It is really an amazing thing- General Conference. Right after another, we get to hear from our leaders, apostles and prophets, each with a wonderful inspiring message. As we were talking this last week about how we can prepare for Conference, Eric suggested that each think of personal questions that we can have in mind as we listen to the different talks. It is a suggestion I have heard before, but have never done. I have to admit, that once again, I didn't do it. But thinking of that through the week, kept the reminder that conference was coming in my mind. And as usual, I found myself excitedly anticipating it. And even though I didn't have specific questions, I have general/specific things relating to my and Eric's life and situation right now that I was hoping to receive guidance on.

Some of the things that really stood out to me as we listened was the importance of prioritizing our lives and not forgetting what is most important. Eric and I have already plunged into what is going to be an incredibly busy and stressful year. I tend to get so focused on school and studying that other things get pushed to the side. But I don't want that to happen. There is so much more that I should be doing, I need to, as Elder Uctdorf said, 'lift up my eyes and see what matters most.' And that is my husband and family, my testimony and relationship with God, and what I am doing to serve and love others.

I also loved President Monson's talk Sunday morning. Eric and are in a position right now where we definitely don't have a lot, and sometimes I start thinking of how little we have, or, 'someday when we will be able to afford or do such and such...' I shouldn't do that! We are so incredibly blessed, we have so much to be thankful for. Sometimes I just need a little reminder.

We also put our stuck-at-home time to a good use in the kitchen. We woke up Sunday morning morning and made muffins before settling down to listen to the amazing talks. And then that afternoon, we made donuts- a Hinckley conference tradition. This year we chose a new recipe to try, and a very fitting one, I thought. They are called Brigham Young's Buttermilk Donuts. Very yummy. But unfortunately, it made way too many for just the two of us! Even though we made what I thought was a small batch.

We also explored some more in the streets right near our house. We found one we hadn't one down before that was just the cutest little street. Narrow street with no sidewalks and adorable homes. We fanatized about moving over to this street- that is until we saw a for-sale sign in one of the yards that said the starting price was over $1 million. Umm, not going to happen anytime soon!

Hope you all had an awesome weekend too! Here are some recipes to enjoy!

Whole Wheat Pear Granola Muffins

from sisterscafe

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 (2 cups) pears, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice

Crumb topping:
1/2 cup granola

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, yogurt, and butter. Make a well in the center of flour mixture. Add egg mixture to well, and mix in flour mixture until just combined. Gently fold in the pears.

Crumb topping:

In a bowl, toss together 1/2 cup granola, 1/4 cup each all-purpose flour and packed light-brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cut 2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter into pieces; add to granola mixture, and rub in with fingertips until clumps form.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4 full. Sprinkle with granola topping. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before removing from tin. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Brigham Young's Buttermilk Donuts

From virtualgoodyplate

2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten

1 c. sugar

5 3/4 c. flour

2 tsp. soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 c. melted butter

1. Heat vegetable oil in a large pot or deep skillet (electric skillet if you have one)so that it's deep enough for the donuts to not touch the bottom. Use a candy thermometer to monitor heat (or just use an electric skillet!) - you want to get to 375.

2. In a large bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs and sugar. Blend well. Stir in melted butter.

3. Sift together dry ingredients and beat into buttermilk mixture.

4. Roll or pat out dough onto floured surface to about 1/4 inch. Cut with 2 1/2 in. cutter (make sure to flour the cutter so it doesn't stick). A donut cutter is ideal, but if you don't have one, use a biscuit cutter or glass and whatever you can figure out to cut out the hole (like a lid or tiny jar.)

5. Fry donuts and holes in vegetable oil that is 375 degrees - monitor heat between batches. If it is too cool the donuts will get too greasy while cooking; if it's too hot they won't cook all the way through. Add oil as needed so donuts don't touch bottom of pan. Flip when golden brown to cook other side. Lay cooked donuts on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels. Cool slightly. Dip in glaze, then lay glaze side up on wax-paper-lined cookie sheet.

Glaze

1/2 c. boiling water

1 lb. powdered sugar
2 tsp. either vanilla or maple flavoring

Mix a little of the water into the powdered sugar to make a paste. Add the rest of the water. This should be a glaze, not a thick frosting. Add 2 tsp. of either vanilla or maple flavoring. Glaze only 1 size of the donut.

Diapers and babies

Nursery. It seems to be the newbie calling in so many wards. Eric kept saying that I would get it (I kept hoping I wouldn't!) and I did. Today was my first day in the nursery at church and really, it wasn't so bad. There were eleven kids and three of us teachers. We only had maybe 3-4 of them cry, two messy diapers, and one eaten crayon.

Nursery leader was my very first calling outside of Young Womens and for the 8-ish years since then I have tried to block that short period from my memory. I was the only nursery leader in there, had absolutely no experience with kids, and was terrified to death. My mom had to come to my rescue more than once. It was probably the most stressful calling I've had! But I think it will be much better this time. The other two girls working in the nursery are incredibly nice which is good. The kids are adorable and, though maybe this week was just a fluke, really well-behaved. And in what other calling do you get snack time?

We found our camera!

The reason we have had so few pictures posted lately is due to the simple fact that we couldn't find our camera. Anywhere. We tore our apartment apart looking for it, knowing that the last time we had seen it was at home. I had resigned myself to the fact that it must have slipped its way into one of the many packed boxes in our closet. Then, after almost two weeks, it decided to show up again! And where was it? In Eric's school bag. Which of course, we must have checked along with everything else a dozen times. I went to get something else out of his bag, reached in, and pulled out the camera. Quite a pleasant surprise.

So, here are some pictures! Yay!









The Church has a really awesome visitors center here in San Diego for the Mormon Battalion. Its only a 5 minute bike ride from our house so we stopped by earlier this week. And we got this cute picture!





Eric really can't get enough of shell hunting. He's gone three times this last week. I don't know how we are ever going to get him to want to go to class!

Settled In

Ever feel like the moon is getting mixed up and pulling you back and forth instead of the tides? Yeah, me too. This has been quite the past few weeks of settling into San Diego. First, let me say that we love it here. So far, the weather here has made me wonder whether Kiersten and I are mistakenly in Camelot (which Kiersten and I happened to watch this past week). The weather has been amazing! Never going above 80 and never going below 60. And every single every day sunny!

In the midst of this heavenly beauty, though, our car decided to have trouble, ending in a mechanic quote of at least $1500 to fix it (the timing chain). That was a slap in the face. For the first few days, Kiersten and I spent every waking minute looking for a possible replacement. However, with the budget we had (not a lot) and the condition of the cars that we were seeing, we were not happy. You know it's not good when you get out of the car you just test drove, step back into your own car that needs a $1500 repair job, and feel like you have stepped into heaven.

So, what did we do? Having seeing the options, Kiersten and I decided it might just be worth it to invest in repairing the car, especially since we had little hope that the replacement options would last any longer than our current car. The sun rose early Labor Day morning, and we were grabbing the keys to head over to a mechanic recommended by a new friend in our ward, when a quick phone call told us that the mechanic was closed on Labor Day.

That was music to my ears. Kiersten doesn't get many days off of her internship (her Christmas break doesn't start until December 27), and the thought of spending her day off at a car shop was not a happy thought. So, we packed ourselves some sandwiches, spotted a section of the beach we'd been wanting to visit, and biked nine miles (we didn't dare drive the car) to the beach. I must admit, I am in love with San Diego beaches, and our recent find of Bird Rock has made my beach visits paradise. If anyone loves tide pools and shell searching, then this is the place to be. On our way back home, we stopped by the Mormon Battalion Visitor Center (I was in desperate need of a break before the big hill). If you come visit us in San Diego, we'll have to take a swing by there for a wonderful experience. The day was then topped off with hot dogs grilled on a George Foreman, watermelon and chips and dip. A much better day than expected!

Tuesday, however, was not to be spent at the beach. Slowly I drove to the mechanic shop some fifteen minutes away. The mechanic was just as friendly as my friend had said, and he estimated the repairs at only $980, but somehow I didn't feel any less at ease. The repairs were expected to last all day, so I walked to the bus stop for what ended up being a two hour ride home. And there I waited for news on the car. You can imagine my excitement, then, when Joe (the mechanic) called and said there was good news. The timing chain was fine, and all that was causing the problem was a bad guide. Suddenly the $980 estimate became $360. And to think that we almost replaced the car!

Sadly, the car then decided to fail the smog check (good ol' California), so Wednesday morning I was back at the shop handing the keys off to Joe. This time, instead of riding the bus all the way home, I decided to only go halfway home and spent the morning and afternoon at Bird Rock scavenging for shells. The only replacement needed on the car was a vacuum tube, the car passed the smog check, and I could hardly conceal my smile as I said bye to Joe hoping that I would never see him again.

And now, life is back to normal. We have a car, it works, and maybe now we can finally go and get that trash can for the kitchen. Life is good. Very good. And did I mention that San Diego is heaven?

In short, there's simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In San Diego-lot.

Another missionary in the family

My little sister Lilly has been eagerly awaiting her mission call and this past week it came! She opened it yesterday with all of the family there except for us and Ruthie and her family. We wish we could have been there too- we are only 2 hours away now, for goodness sake, it should have been possible. Darn car trouble- but that is another story. So we just got to listen over the phone as she opened the letter.

So where is she going!?!

Missouri Independence Mission! She is super excited. And we are excited for her too. It looks like she might get the chance to work at some of the visitors centers at the different LDS church sites in her mission, which would be really fun. She leaves November 3. Only two short months away!

It's crazy to think that my baby sister is going on a mission. In my eyes she is still just that- my baby sister. But I know she will be an amazing missionary. She has been looking forward to this for I don't know how long. I love you Lilly, you will do great!

I love San Diego!

I think we are finally almost settled in! It has been a crazy few weeks, what with moving and then starting my dietetic internship last week. Eric was amazing at driving all the way from San Antonio- yes, he drove that huge 16-ft Penske truck pulling our car behind the entire way. I didn't drive one mile. And I am not complaining. That thing scared me. Everything went smoothly until we got to San Diego about a week and a half ago. As we drove into our neighborhood, we started to get a little worried as we saw how narrow and crowded the streets were.

How were we ever going to park this huge truck?! Well, after getting stuck a couple times- very stressful- we finally decided to just go to the Penske truck rental place to drop off our car carrier so we would only have the truck to worry about. My brother Edward was driving since Eric and I had to meet with our apartment management to sign our lease. As he was driving on the freeway he started to hear some strange noises and so pulled off the freeway. When he got out to see what the problem was he realized that the hitch connecting the car carrier to the truck had completely snapped. If he hadn't stopped when he did, the carrier would have come off while he was going down the freeway, which could have had frightening results. I don't even like to think what could have happened!

We did eventually get the truck back, parked, and emptied. When we drove away after dropping off the truck I breathed a big sigh of relief. The next couple of days was spent trying to get unpacked and settle in. Which was a task, let me tell you. Our little apartment is just that- little. When we walked into the apartment after unloading the truck it was hard to find a path through the huge stacks of boxes. I didn't know how we'd ever get it all to fit. But we did it! We still have pictures to hang up which will make the apartment look much more homey.

We are loving San Diego. Such a beautiful area. The beach is a 10 minute drive away (and there are so many different beaches!), we have the huge Balboa Park a short 1/2 mile jog away, and Old Town Dan Diego just a 5 minute drive away. And we haven't explored too much yet. Last night we went to a place called Sunset Cliffs. Breathtaking is the only way I can describe it. A trail went along the cliffs with waves crashing below. Just so beautiful.

Eric and I keep discovering new parts of our little town because it seems that every time we drive somewhere, we get lost. We always seem to find ourselves heading the wrong direction on the freeways or taking the wrong exit. Makes every drive a bit of an adventure. Today on the way home from church we got lost and stumbled across The Presidio which is a beautiful park with an old mission-style museum and the site of the old Fort Stockton. So we took a nice little Sunday stroll which was fun.

And tomorrow I officially start my internship. (this last week was orientation) I am a little, quite a bit actually, nervous and I really hope it goes ok. I don't know how much blogging will be happening the next few months, but I will try my best!

Our final China travels: Beijing, part one

Time for another installment in the long-delayed chronicles of the adventures of the Andersons in China. About a week and a half before leaving China for America, Eric and I set off on our 'grand tour' of China. Well, it was grand for us, though we only went to two of the countless cities in China: Beijing and Xian. Two very different places and I'd have to say, that based on our experiences in Xian, Beijing was by far the favorite. But we'll save that story for later. Beijing first. Here we go!

May 25 - May 30

We boarded an overnight train to Beijing late Monday night. We had decided to 'rough it' by taking the hard seats instead of the bed option. And was it a long night. Though still a far cry from what we experienced later in the trip on our way back to Shanghai...

Tian'anmen Square
Even though I know I've seen pictures, I had this image in my mind of what Tian'anmen Square was like. Not a bit like it. When we got there I didn't even realize we were there. I think I was picturing this huge enclosed area. It is huge, but open, and empty except for the big mausoleum for Mao Zedong. (which you can see in the background of the first picture below)


Eric in front of the National Congress Building.

A closer view of Mao's Mausoleum. An interesting place.


Gotta love the tour groups. :)


Looking towards the Forbidden City


Forbidden City

The Forbidden City. Just that name alone has always evoked fascination in me. I remember looking at pictures in the National Geographic years ago when there was an issue done on China and feeling in awe looking at them. It looked beautiful, immense, and, well, a little forbidding. And now here we were, right outside of the Forbidden City, going inside.

We happened to go when there was some sort of foreign dignitary visiting and so we were able to get some good empty pictures since a lot of the grounds were blocked off. And, thankfully, the dignitaries didn't stay too long so we were still able to go see everything. I guess when you are a 'dignitary' you are just too busy to actually see the Forbidden City. Glad I'm not one.




We found ourselves by a tour group at one point, from Malaysia I think it was,so I was able to eavesdrop and learn all sorts of interesting things. Which was fun, though Eric didn't think it was too interesting to learn about the daily rituals of the royal family. So, we moved on.




I had to include this one. Eric fits right in.

This is in front of two intertwined trees, symbolizing love. Lots of people were taking pictures in front of this, holding hands, hugging, etc. This couple, just standing there. I thought it was really cute.

We were able to wander around a lot of the side corridors and rooms-- where other officials worked and where the concubines and family lived. It was interesting to imagine being part of the royal family, spending your whole life behind these huge walls. It is like a miniature city. I don't know how much I really would have liked it.






Temple of Heaven
Built in the Ming dynasty (around 1420 AD,)the Temple of Heaven was the temple where the emperors went to worship, you got it, heaven. The emperor was regarded as the 'son of heaven' and he preformed sacrifices here to heaven on behalf of their people.

It was definitely different from other temples we have visited. The buildings are spread out-- all in a straight line but you have to walk a ways between them. The buildings are surrounded by beautiful gardens. While walking through the gardens, we stumbled across an accordion player accompanying a few older men singing. It was beautiful.


The secret emperor's door, so he wouldn't have to climb all the stairs.



I think Eric is being the bell...

Somehow, this one just makes me laugh.

This place was neat- or should have been... Supposedly, if two people stand at opposite sides of the circular wall, you can hear each other talk. It is called the Echo Wall. Unfortunately, there is a railing around the inside perimeter of the wall... No echoes anymore.

We overheard a tour guide tell her group that this is supposed to look like a birthday cake. (don't know how historically accurate that is- how many birthday cakes were there in ancient China...?)

Eric blowing out the birthday candle.



Summer Palace
If the Forbidden City was where the royal families lived, this is where they played. And I don't blame them. For as closed in and really barren looking the Forbidden City is, this amazing place is the opposite. Green, lush, stunning surroundings. And so peaceful. And we were there with hundreds of other tourists-- I can only imagine how wonderful it was with no one else there. This had to be one of our favorites places we went to in Beijing. We spent I think seven hours there and we could have gone back for another day. We loved it.






This interesting boat in the background is made out of marble. How does a marble boat float, you may ask. It doesn't. It is sitting on a concrete base. This nonfunctional boat was built under the reign of Empress Cixi. Using the funds set aside for building up a new Chinese navy, she built instead this extravagant boat for her own pleasure. Ironic, yeah?

The long corridor- over 728 meters long (2329 feet)All of those top panels are painted with different pictures on each. It was beautiful. There were these same types of paintings all throughout the Summer Palace. It would probably take hours to really look at all of them!





Olympic Park

We spent a rainy evening in Beijing exploring the Olympic Park. We got there to late to go inside anywhere but it was still really neat being able to see all the different buildings.

In front of the Bird's Nest. Eric and I had fun pretending to do whatever the building was used for. If you can't tell, I am getting ready to run a record breaking sprint.

And Eric is swimming in front of the Ice Cube.

And I am the torch.

Everything looked even cooler once it started to get dark. Unfortunately, that is right about when our camera quits working.


And this is just part of our trip to Beijing. Coming up soon, our trip to the Great Wall!