My brother's engaged!

My sister and I had the privilege of throwing an engagement party for my brother and his wonderful Bethany. Here are some pictures from a lovely night.

Thanksgiving & Fall

Being proud pass-holders at Disneyland, we took some pictures by the annual delights: the ever-changing color of the letters of "California" outside of Disney's California Adventure, Sleeping Beauty's castle decked out in blue lights, and the huge Christmas tree on Main Street.



We were able to go on our 3rd annual Thanksgiving Vacation. This year, we went to Santa Barbara and enjoyed the delights of crisp air, a beautiful ocean, a clean outdoor mall, and Black Friday sales without the craziness or early mornings.

drumroll please....

The last hurtle has been cleared and now it's a long wait to find out if my time was good enough to finish the race this academic year.

Okay, enough with the analogy. I finished my 17th and final internship application tonight!!! Now I wait for interview invitations, and then I will find out in late February if I get an internship this year and where it will be. This stretch from May to now has been a constant sprint, with my feet stumbling under me many times.

These internship applications totaled more than 1000 pieces of paper, 6 printer cartridges, and a whole lot of postage!

At this point I feel peace about what God will bring into our lives. It could be such a variety of things. Wow. I'm finally done. Four years ago when I began my doctoral program, I could never have imagined that I would actually get through my comprehensive exams, professional qualifying exams, and write dozens of essays for internship applications. But...I am at this point only through God's grace...


Tomorrow I'm taking the day off and going to Disneyland.

-a tired Elizabeth

the beauty of home

So, since Shea and I are mentally preparing to move sometime in the future (possibly as soon as 8 months), we are being intentional about enjoying the beauties of the terrain near our home. On a day off, I went to my favorite city park in Orange County - "Central Park" in Huntington Beach. It was late September and fall was just rolling in. Here are a few shots of what I photographed.

September Strains

September included a long business trip to Australia for Shea and Elizabeth's Professional Qualifying Exam preparation and oral defense. Thank God September is done! Here are some pictures of Australia and one at Shea's birthday party.

Summer Vacation - part 4

Part 4

So, after adventures in LA, we were off for more adventures in San Francisco. Let's just point out now that San Francisco was a lovely 20-30 degrees cooler than LA. We really needed a break from the heat!

We went to San Francisco for the annual American Psychological Association (APA) Convention (it's the BIG one). Some of my research was accepted and I presented it in poster form there. So, we stayed on the 16th floor of the Hilton in downtown San Francisco (thank you for the funding, Rosemead!) and had a blast exploring downtown San Francisco. While I was in sessions, Shea got a chance to do some of what he likes best - reading quietly in cool places.

Picture #1: A good friend of mine was there and we go to go to some sessions together and our poster presentations ended up being the same hour on the same row of exhibits.

So, Shea & I run together a lot, but we've never been in a race together before. So, when I found out that there was a 5K "Running Psychologists" race/run by the Golden Gate Bridge , we couldn't wait to sign up!

Picture #2: My friend & I getting psyched up for the run. :)

Picture #3: The 4 Rosemead students that entered the race.

Picture #4: The beautiful city skyline that we got to run with at 7am.

Picture #5: Shea & I after the race. (Notice our sweet "Running Psychologists" shirts! :) )

Shea then had the brilliant idea of sightseeing for a bit while the majority of the city was still asleep, so we went exploring.

Picture #6: Shea by Fort Point (under the Golden Gate Bridge).

Picture #7: Elizabeth by Fort Point

Picture #8: Eli by the bay with fishing boats in the background

Picture #9: Another great SF picture.

Summer Vacation - part 3

Part 3

What would a vacation be without great animals?? That's what we thought, and so we headed off to the LA Zoo.

Picture #1: One of the first things that Elizabeth did, after jumping up and down with excitement at being at the newly renovated zoo, was to find a place where she could pet an animal...which happened to be a snake. (Shea did too, after her).

Picture #2: Shea's favorite animal in 4th grade was the ocelot because it was a cool wildcat. Well, we certainly found one at the zoo, and eating its prey, no less!

Picture #3: Shea's a great map interpreter. Elizabeth can read maps, but sometimes has trouble interpreting them. :) We make a great team.

Picture #4: There was a fun and stunning spider exhibit. I think that they put in this specific spider to keep the kids less scared. :)

Picture #5: Very happy to find shade in the bamboo forest. It was a hot day!

Picture #6: The majestic tiger keeping cool and clean

Pictures #7 & 8: The massive orangutans!

Picture #9: The graceful Gerenuk

Pictures #10 & #11: Some close-up shots

Summer Vacation - part 2

Part 2

Next, we went to the Griffith Observatory! I (Elizabeth) have been wanting to do this with Shea since we began dating in 2002, but it was closed for 4 years for renovations. It is finally open now, and boy! was it worth the wait. Our understanding of the cosmos was widened and God's greatness is now understood a little more by us. There was a grand planetarium show, and among many things, we got to look through a 12" telescope at Jupiter and its 4 moons. We now are able to navigate by the stars a little better, thanks to an incredibly enthusiastic and intelligent astronomer's help, and we also got to rub shoulders with Einstein. Lastly, the view from the Observatory, which seems to be near the highest point in LA proper, was astounding. If you're ever in LA, this is definitely a place to visit.

Picture #1: Your original California Indian. :)
#2: Elizabeth, the mad scientist
#3: Shea ponders Einstein's theories
#4: Elizabeth is fascinated with Einstein's theories!
#5: Shea, with downtown LA in the background
#6: Shea & Elizabeth on the roof of the Observatory
#7: View from the observatory at night
#8: View of the observatory at night

Summer Vacation - part 1

Our vacation this summer was a unique concoction of long-found joys and new adventures. We spent the first part of our 6-day vacation in (of all places) Los Angeles! A great opportunity for Shea, teaching a class session at the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola, which landed in the middle of our original camping reservation dates. So, we decided to stay local for 3 days and enjoy the beauties and classiness of LA. We had three great day trips: The first was to the Getty Art Museum in Los Angeles. The second was a trip to the Griffith Observatory in LA, and the third was to the LA Zoo.

The last 3 days of our vacation were centered around a road trip to San Francisco (thank you for helping pay for this, Rosemead!) to the 115th Annual American Psychological Association Convention. - See post #4 for more information. :)

Part 1

The Getty is so beautiful architecturally on its own. Shea and I both are amateur art appreciators and love spending what time we have reflecting on beauty and what an artist is communicating through his/her work. Some of the highlights for us this time around at the Getty were Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, in which we discussed for probably an hour! (it's a deep painting), the collection of Oudry's animal paintings, and the beautiful LA skyline.

We then went down to Belmont Shores beach and had a great picnic dinner, overlooking massive ships in the port.