where to begin?

the guilt of not blogging has started to settle in once again. i have no real good excuse as to why i have not been diligent. but wait, when am i diligent? the sad thing is i have had more than enough time and plenty of opportunity. apathy is all that's coming to mind...

well let's just say that the fourth year of medical school is not what i was prepared for. but really, i'm kind of wondering why i thought it was going to get any easier? we just celebrated our 4th year anniversary apart yesterday and i can't help but sadly realize it is just an omen of what's to come. all i can attest to as a bright side to all of this loneliness, is the truthfulness of the statement that "absence really does make the heart grow fonder." i love and appreciate my husband so much more than i thought i could. i miss him. however, i have awesome friends that i went to brunch with to celebrate yesterday.

jeff took the boards in june and has been busy with audition rotations and applying for residency since. it has been a roller coaster of emotions gearing up for fourth year. it is stressful, exciting and bittersweet all at the same time to think about rotations, interviews, airfare, finances, match day, moving... but where?, leaving friends, leaving arizona, etc. sometimes i can't wrap my brain around all of it and just have to have faith.

to celebrate the close of our third year of medical school and also have step two of the boards behind us, we ventured off for a quick and much needed get away to the beautiful california where he would then spend the next month at stanford without me. or should i say i would spend the next month in arizona without him?

we spent most of our time in san francisco, but crashed at mike's place in l.a. to split up the drive. thanks again, mike.

childhood buddies.

from there we hit the coast and took the pacific coast highway up to palo alto. we wished we could've driven the whole coast, but didn't for sake of time. it was awesome to see and so much fun.

this is a pic of the welcome reception and dinner for all of the residents and students there for the bay area ophthalmology course at stanford. it was so much fun for me to be able to be there with him for the welcome reception. jeff was so excited to start this month long course in ophthalmology. i know he learned so much information that will only help him in the future.

the stanford campus was so beautiful, we loved it.

well, i will never go to san francisco on the fourth of july weekend ever again, but it was tons of fun nonetheless and such a cool city. i should've taken a picture of all the crowds. people, people everywhere.

here are the highlights:

we spent a couple of days there. the first day there, we biked the bridge thanks to advice from friends. :) we loved it even though it was freezing, really really windy and foggy. still so much fun.

once on the other side of the bridge, we spent the rest of the day in a cute little town called sausilito and muir woods national park.

the pictures don't do these enormous trees justice. it was very beautiful and serene.

happy fourth! starting off our celebration at pier 39.

still a loyal fan.

ghiradelli. delectably delicious. enough said.

lombard street was possibly my very favorite part of the trip (minus the crowds and crowds of people waiting to drive and walk it...)

stopping to remember our nation's birth. and slightly wishing we were in utah for the cherry days festivities...

trolley ride, so much fun!

"i left my heart in san francisco"

to end our holiday, we watched fireworks over the water on the pier which was so much fun. however, afterwards we proceeded to sit in traffic for several hours with the crowds of people.

poor jeff was freezing because he forgot his jacket. i wanted him to, but he couldn't bring himself to spend $50 for a hoodie... thus, i am all bundled up (with several layers) and he is jacket-less. i felt so bad.

driving the coast to monterey. awesome cliffs.

isn't this the most picturesque scene for a lighthouse you've ever seen? i loved it.

although it was cloudy for us, this was a beautiful drive that i highly recommend. again, the pictures don't do this gorgeous stretch of land justice.

the 18th hole... he was in heaven.

inside the lodge. feeling very "high class".

such a fun trip. more posts to come of the summer, stay tuned.