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.