i'm a foodie.

did i mention that life is a whirlwind?

it has been many days indeed. i spent the weekend in san diego, which was, as amy puts it best, grace upon grace. i got to the seattle airport early, medical terminology textbook stowed in my backpack, with every intention (okay, maybe not every....maybe just a mild intention) to study for the 3 hours i had before boarding. of course i spent the time walking the terminals, exploring the shops, and finding the views. toward the end i did settle down with a cappuccino and cranked out a few pages of medical terms, so at least i got something done!

i love airplanes. why? because they are an opportunity for a fresh perspective. to be reminded that we, in our busy and frantic lives, are miniscule beside mountains that stand 14,000 feet tall, and oceans deeper than that. i always request a window seat and find myself admiring the view and thinking...hence why i never seem to get much work done on flights. if that were my objective, i'd request an aisle seat.

the predominant ponderance of this flight? i'm thankful that my soul is REDEEMED. that regardless of whether that plane landed on the runway or crashed in the mountains, my soul is secure, and nothing can change that. pain is temporary, suffering is refining, money is fleeting, the things of this world are nothing. but as a follower of Jesus, a redeemed believer, my roots are anchored. what peace!

to describe my time in san diego in a matter of words: hot chocolate, sunshine, phenomenal food, love.

i got to go on the boat as the impact girls tubed and did the water skis in carlsbad lagoon, which was a blast! i got a tan from my hand splint because of it. cool, i know. afterwards we went to this really great local restaurant called al's diner, where i wanted to eat everything on the menu. i had my eyes on the coconut and macadamia nut french toast, but ended up getting the grilled cod with mango chutney on a fresh croissant. mmm. and i think everyone got a hot chocolate....because we were all cold from the boats!

there were 18 mugs on that tray....and they topped off the meal with samples of fresh fudge. a winner for sure.

okay, this is slightly out of order, but please just admire the quality of this continental breakfast:

yeah, i know. are you drooling yet? it came with fresh squeezed orange juice too, and coffee. i would gladly have eaten it for many days.

sunday rolled around and it was time to catch the flight back home. i had one of the earliest, which meant that when we arrived at the airport at 12:20 in the terminal 2 parking lot and my plane was boarding in terminal 1 at 12:45, i was slighlty concerned that i might miss it. hurry hurry on over to terminal 1, make it through security, find the gate at 12:44, only to find that the flight is delayed and not boarding until 1:30. go figure. so i proceeded to have a peaceful lunch with jared and maggie, who were also flying out of the same terminal, on the floor of our secluded little group of gates. after a while i got to san francisco, where my flight was also delayed, and finally made it back to seattle.

moving right along, monday was perhaps one of the most fun days in seattle so far. the interns all went out to the ropes course and bastyr university, where we spent 6 hours playing all kinds of really fun and challenging games. my favorite? the ladder. but i like to climb things, so i was determined to make it to the top from the beginning. frances and susie were in my group, and i don't think i've laughed so hard in a while, especially being suspended on a log 30 feet in the air.

we also coined the term "commit your pelvis" during a task where you and a partner had to edge down two cables that grew farther and farther apart. you have to lean in for it to work, but if you bend at the hips, you fall. so, it makes sense: commit your pelvis, stay straight as a board, and lean! it's now kind of the phrase for "be all in!" all my fellow interns get it....i might be too tired to be doing justice to the explanation for everyone else. 

that evening i met up with a new friend named chris (thanks again to the broken hand) to explore california street, where there are all kids of fun things to see and do and eat. we ended up stopping in a great little restaurant named table 35, as neither of us really ate a full dinner, and tried out their hummus (which i have heard for a while now is amazing, and it was), their calamari, and some hawaiian poke. all of it was delicious! then we ended up playing bananagrams at uptown espresso, where i learned just how many two and three letter words there are that i have never heard of. it was definitely quite a delightful day!

tuesday was the first real day of my first rotation- my days will be 8am to 5pm. looooong days. thank goodness susie and i are in the rotation together, which is super nice, seeing as we're both trying to figure it all out. after work i made some homemade pesto using basil from the plant in the front yard. i didn't have a chopper/cuisinart, so i just chopped it on the cutting board.

it was so packed with flavor, and the rough chop gave it this rustic home-grown vibe. i enjoyed it very much. i also munched on a fig from the garden out back, which unfortunately wasn't quite ripe yet. having never picked a fig before, i wasn't quite sure....now i know. it made for a good photo though!

after that i headed off to community group. i'm so thankful for those guys, honestly, i miss them when i don't see them for several days! it's a real group doing real life, and i like it. we talked about mary and martha this week, and ended up talking for over 3 hours! and there's talk of busting out the old school rollerblades along alki beach....i need to jump on finding some of those!

okay, more elaboration to come later. i really need to be going to bed. these early mornings and late nights are adding up! tomorrow i'm waking up early to go to starbucks to sit and read for a chunk of time. with all this busyness i've been going going going, and i just need to sit. i'm so looking forward to that.

ah, sleep.