Winter Escap(ad)e

Apparently, I do not have two loyal readers; I now have twelve! So of course, I will try to blog more often.

Sunny and I recently visited Loma Linda for the first time since we left for Ohio in June. My residency at Kettering Hospital is going well so far and the program is great. They are very supportive of their residents and provide excellent training. So I volunteered to go to Loma Linda and help recruit medical students who are interested in Internal Medicine. Sunny came with me and we made a mini-vacation out of it.

Here are a few of the highlights of our trip to Loma Linda!

1. Centennial Complex - The Centennial Complex is a new medical education facility recently constructed on the campus of Loma Linda University. Of course, they managed to open it right after I finished my education there. Anyway, Sunny and I explored the building and were very impressed. We were able to get guided tours of the Physical Diagnosis Lab (which is a very close replica of the testing site for Step 2 CS) and the new Anatomy Lab including a behind-the-scenes look at the platination facility and cremation equipment. Thanks Dr. Wright!


2. Friends - We have missed our friends in Loma Linda very much. Although we weren't able to meet up with everyone, we are grateful to catch up with a few people. A big thank you to Carlos and Dafne for hosting us. We were able to eat supper with Curtis and Janine and reminisce the story behind the providential AudioVerse server relocation. We also enjoyed an impromptu jaunt out to Joshua Tree with Norman and Joelle.


3. Ministries - Loma Linda is where I gained much of my experience working with student government, SDA young adult groups and non-profit organizations. What a privilege to return and see SDA ministries run by young people still thriving. Advent HOPE was packing out at the University Church chapel and will soon move to the new Centennial Complex! I was also delighted to hear that other ministries such as GYC SouthWest, The Josiah Ministry, Restoration, and AudioVerse were doing well.


4. Loma Linda Market - I never appreciated the Loma Linda Market until I moved to a place with limited healthy food options. Sunny and I stocked up on veggie jerky, bacobits, and carob chips. To be honest, we actually emptied the entire store's stock of carob chips for the week...without even a twinge of shame! All to feed my addiction to carob crunchies (the recipe which can be found at this link).


5. Restaurants - Immediately after Sunny and I bought our tickets to go to Loma Linda, we began to list the restaurants we wanted to visit. We managed to make it to most of them including Happy Family, Lotus Garden, Dragon House, Ranu, Kool Kactus, Supanburu, and of course, the Medical Center cafeteria!


6. Beach with Sunny - After my recruiting duties were finished, Sunny and I were able to get away to a hotel in Ontario and hit the Southern California beaches! We ended up near Crystal Cove Beach and enjoyed the sunshine and sand (while it was probably snowing in Ohio)!


7. Parents - We hadn't seen my parents since May 2009 so we were thankful they could drive down from Northern California. We enjoyed spending the weekend with them, exploring downtown Riverside together and just catching up!


8. Weather - The temperatures were mild, the sunshine was warm whether at Joshua Tree National Park or Crystal Cove Beach, and we missed the big storm that hit right when we left. In the meantime, Kettering was covered in ice and snow. Enough said.

Well, I could go on but I'll let a new addition to the photo section of my website tell the rest of the story. Thanks for reading!