Highlights...

Sorry about the hiatus

..Since March I feel like my life has entered this state of trying to work everything out for our big move back to Oregon, but the more I work on things the farther everything seems to be planned or decided. I guess God will work it all out in His good timing and I've got to be patient for that! Since March, we've been blessed with having my great friend Meg come and visit. She went to nursing school with me, among the other things of basically being a roommate, study partner, someone to just sit and roast marshmallows over a candle when the electricity would go out, or a friend who is used to tornados and could help her friend from Oregon who knew nothing of tornado sirens and what to do if that happens and something is on in the oven (yep, quite the story)....thanks Meg!

At Disneyland!

Of course we had to take her rock climbing!

With her long limbs (not limps as I previously wrote!) she did amazingly well for her first accent!

And this is proof of Meg's courage and toughness! Tobin took her Mountain biking and Meg stuck it out, and went wherever he took her! I'll be surprised if she ever wants to see us again after the way we abuse her like this!

Ahhh...and finally reunited together with most of the Jeannie Apartment crew! So good to see Amy too! These were some amazing Asian Pears that we got at the Farmer's Market in Hollywood!

Meg, I wish you lived closer, so we could share more adventures, more often!

The next weekend after Meg left was the Warrior Dash! Basically a 3 mile run with several obstacles, mud, and a chance to get a free Warrior Viking Helmet! And another chance to do an official army crawl with my amazing friend, Boom, who is in the Airforce and knows how its done correctly!!

Our "Team" We wore our Mud Run shirts from the very first one we did in 2007!

Tobin joined us at the last minute, ran the race with us, so we could all get muddy together!
My Muddy Buddy forever! This is the girl that's gotten me to do so many fun races!

For which we will have to plan more! I always thought I could be as tough as people in the military and Boom keeps me motivated to do just that! Love ya girl!
And the reward! Viking Warrior Hats and eating at Red Robin!!

Other than those exciting events and even more exciting event that I don't have documented in photos is Tobin FINISHING ALL HIS ROTATIONS IN MED SCHOOL! He officially is DONE!!! What an amazing accomplishment from the last 5 years of HARD WORK! I am so proud and amazed at my husband for the dedication. I was only in school 2 years after undergrad and that was enough to make me sick and want to be done! He has persevered and has grown so much into an amazingly knowledgeable medical professional! He used to ask me a few questions concerning medicine and I could kind of answer him, but now I ask him all the questions because he has learned and experienced so much! Tobin's last day of his rotation was with an Internal Medicine rotation and to "pass the baton" he gave away his Student Lab coat to another med student, cuz Tobin WON'T NEED IT ANYMORE!!!! Officially, Tobin will become Dr. Rummel on May 21st, but in my book he's already there! Makes me get a little teary eyed, I can't believe God blessed me with such an amazing, hardworking husband whose heart is to serve and glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through everything he does! Love you, Dr. Rummel!!!

Right now, Tobin has been relaxing and trying to prepare himself for Residency (which will be tough in its own accord), but right now trying to relax and have fun. So that means taking our new bikes our for spins! We've really enjoyed road biking together and look forward to the possibility of commuting on our bikes in Corvallis, OR!

I also flew up to Corvallis for a job interview. Still don't know the outcome of that, but waiting and praying that the Lord knows where He wants me. And praying that we might be able to know soon so that the house God allowed us to make an offer on could be ours to own. But overall, we must keep trusting in the Lord. Hard to wait at times, but that's all we can do at this point. Please pray that things would work out soon! I think that's why I've been on this hiatus, just not knowing what exactly will happen. It gets tough to daily explain that to your coworkers, who are excited to hear any new information about our move. Everyday, I keep telling everyone, "don't know yet." Pray for patience, PEACE (the opposite of all the anxiety I can have), and direction! Thank you!

Easter - Christ is Risen Indeed!

This Easter Season was special because I was able to be involved in the music (of which I haven't done for quite some time). We sang some songs that really help reflect and give God the glory. One of my favorites, "There is a Redeemer" we sang acapella and that was a lot of fun. Tobin enjoyed supporting and cheering me and the choir on. I think all the practices and hard work paid off.

After Sunday Service, Tobin thought it was a beautiful day to go for a bike ride. So off we went. There is a fun fairly easy and flat bike trail. We rode it from our place East to Rancho Cucamonga and the 15 (you can look at it on the map if you really want to). Anyways, we came back and rewarded ourselves with yummy frozen yogurt. Friends from the church have raved about this yogurt place, so we thought we'd try it out. It was good! We had Pomegranate, Kiwi, and Taro (which is) with fresh pineapple topping. It was great! One of my new favorites, next to Cold Stone. But Tobin and I determined you just can't compare frozen yogurt and Cold Stone Ice Cream...both yummy for different occasions.

Backpacking with a great end in the rain!

We started out the weekend on Saturday, using a beautiful three day weekend to GET OUTDOORS!! Our trip guide was Chris (Jeannine's fiance-sorry if I spell any names wrong).
The destination was San Mateo Wilderness (north of San Diego).
Weather reports were: rain, rain, and more rain.

God really blessed us because Saturday and Sunday could not have been more beautiful backpacking weather: Not too Hot; Not too Cold.

Here's Day One when we are still clean and not stinky!

The hills were beautiful, and we didn't have to fight any crowds (in fact I think we saw about a total of approx 15 people the entire trip)!

Here's where we were searching the hills for the first campsite. We decided to go back a bit to a better location we had already passed.
If you can find her, Jeanine found a great spot to rest...Chris was high above looking for a spot.

Tobin coming back after giving up.

Water was a bit sparse on the trip...don't go in the summer, you won't have anything! But we made do when we had it...Despite the cow manure pasture!

Here's the site we decided on. It was the maiden voyage for our Mountain Hardware tent...

it was great!

This is how I felt in the morning...a little blurry!

Chris and Jeannine

A couple that loves the outdoors...even with crazy conditions,

a few blisters, and sore joints...it's all part of the adventure!

Brian and Tobin enjoying lunch on the second day. I ate this packaged halibut, it was not too bad...but everything smelled a bit fishy the rest of the trip. Wouldn't recommend that in the future!

Teneja Falls, a bit small, but pretty in it's own way none the less (mostly because we were getting closer to our second night's campsite).

We don't have any photos of our campsite the second night. It was a bit of an adventure because we kept looking for water. The map showed several springs, but unfortunately, they were all dried up! So by the time we realized that much of the trail was just going to keep heading up hill and not provide much of a place to camp, it was dark! We actually turned around and went back to a junction in the trail, and literally pitched our tents in an off-shoot of the trail. It started raining sometime in the middle of the night, and both our tents weathered the storm well! We packed up camp quickly and slogged our way through the mud back to the car. Thankfully it was a short 5 miles because we had done more mileage on the second day. Thankfully, all of us stayed fairly dry (underneath our rain gear), and made it back to the trail head! It was a great weekend!

The five of us with our gear in the rain!

Joshua Tree!

Yes, this is where we were about 3 1/2 years ago...where we got engaged! This past weekend, we got the chance to go with some friends of ours.

Kate and Kyle. Kate works with Tobin, and Kyle is Kate's husband. So the two couples ventured off for some adventure! And adventure we had! Some rock climbing, trying to make two new avid climbers, hiking, and playing hand-and-foot! Yes, another couple that loves to play (Kate's family has been playing hand-and-foot and canasta for a long time)! The warm days fluctuated into cold nights, but our sleeping bags kept us warm. I learned that I need to listen to Tobin and bring those extra long underwear and extra shell. I wanted to be tough, but realized I get cold so easily (you'd think I'd know this about myself, apparently Tobin knows it better!) =) Thankfully, Tobin had brought an extra wool sweater so I used that! Husbands are great!

Looking down on our campground

Kyle doing a great ascent

My contemplative husband and God's beautiful Creation!

A challenging climb for me...both physically and mentally

Hopping around on rocks was much of the weekend. Here's an action shot!

Boys must always get to the highest rock!

Cooking our yummy second dinner...Rice and Black Bean Burritos!

Our last hike to 49 Palm Oasis

Can you find Waldo? I mean me? And see the palm trees in the middle of the dessert?! Crazy huh?!!
Strange change to the tropics....

I love this man! Fun to be back where he proposed! I told him if he asked me again...

I'd definitely say, "YES!"