Ok, now that I can see your glaring eyes through your words...

Ok, I can see you glaring and rolling your eyes at me because of our last blog. So to satiate your vicarious traveling desires, here is a link to all, well, most of our pictures. Some are movies. But just to inform you all, to capture the beauty of New Caledonia in a picture would be like preserving the majesty and immensity of the universe on the head of a pin needle.

Here is the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/laxjoe17/NewCaledonia02

Some are pictures of Sydney, and you should be able to pick out which those ones are. Anyway, I hope that you like the pics!



What a chick...en. Ain't she cute?

One photo to sum it all up...

More than 500 photos, 10 videos, 1100 kilometers and almost $200 in gas later, we finally arrived from our wonderful vacation/research trip. Naturally we can't post all 500+ photos on blogspot from our trip, so I decided to choose one photo to sum it all up. You can see it below:



Sweeten condensed milk in a toothpaste tube!!! Isn't that crazy! I mean seriously, can you imagine on April fool's day hearing, "Ok kids, who switched the condensed milk with the toothpaste when I made fudge!"

Ok, seriously, so there is no way that we can possible get a descent blog up tonight, especially since there are just SO many pictures to sort through. They are all gorgeous and wonderful. We'll get up a better blog soon, but tonight, so far, we're pooped. So keep watching for another blog post soon...

You'll understand why it's been such a long time...

My dear friends and family, you will understand why we've been neglecting our riveting and exciting blog lately after reading this post...

Top 8 Reason That You Know You Study TOO MUCH For The MCAT:

#8 You worry when you've only studied 20 hours for the MCAT this week, despite sleep, school, work and a wife. (Only 20 hours!!! Holy cow I'm slacking! Must study more....)

#7 You study more for the MCAT than your current classes. (Well, this chapter talks a little bit about cells so that counts for studying for my molecular biology class right?)

#6 You cut back on work and sleep in order to study more for the MCAT. ("Jody, sorry I can't come in to work today." Jody says, "Oh, that's ok, are you sick?" "No, I just have to study more for the MCAT.")

#5 You are becoming stronger and more physically fit because you have to take your MCAT books with you... everywhere... always! ("Joe, are those your suitcases for your New Caledonia trip?" "No, they're just my MCAT study materials.")

#4 Your idea of fun is studying for the MCAT just to see how much you've learned and forgot when in college, only to hope that this time when you learn it, it sticks... at least for another two months. (Gram negative and gram positive bacterial structures?... oh yeah, I remember those... I think.)

#3 You're leaving on a once-in-a-lifetime, almost all expenses paid dream vacation, and one of the main things that you're stressing about is not being able to study for the MCAT for an entire week. (Humm... which pages should I photocopy to bring with me... pages 439 to 728?)

#2 No matter what day, what time of day your friends call and ask what you're doing, your answer is, "I'm studying for the MCAT. ("Joe, whatcha doin'?" "Studyin' for the MCAT.") (Except Sunday's, naturally.)

and the NUMBER ONE reason that you know that you've been studying for the MCAT way too much is...

#1 You dream that you married a Magnesium ion (Mg2+). Then, in the dream you see the woman that is your wife in reality, you feel really bad because you knew you shouldn't have married the Magnesium ion. After you realize how much you love your wife in the dream, you kiss her and then feel horrible for cheating on the Magnesium ion! (Yes, I really did actually dream that I married a Magnesium ion. Oh sad day...)

=)

Then, after reading all these reasons, you remember that you should get back to studying for the MCAT

Hope you all are doing well!

No, we're not dead, just MIA

Yes, it has been quite a long time since we've blogged... but we didn't die. We've just been missing, shut away from the world, up to our heads in ACTION. For example, some of the non-stop action consists of studying for the MCAT for 18+ hours a week, cramming for the seeming endless supply of tests for my classes, not to mention the constant care and manipulation of polio-virus producing vero cells and antibody-producing AE-1 hybridoma cells as well as balancing not one, but two jobs. Lianna has been equally busy with her physics and psyc stats, sports classes, and her internship, calling, her demanding job, and just being absolutely wonderful.

But we're still here. =)

We had a nice valentines day. We were, of course, insanely busy but we managed to steal time away from the day itself and slip off to the beautiful beach to take a long walk. We thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with each other, as our coinciding free time is few and far between.

Lianna also had (and continues to have) great fun making messages from the pair of dice Mom Quillen sent to us as part of a Valentine's Day package. (The dice are the ones featured in the picture)
(Our Valentine's Day decorations, in their entirety, are shown here)

We hope that you all are doing well. We certainly are.

P.S. Just twenty more days until we fly across the ocean and enter the unparalleled paradise of New Caledonia!

Now I know my ABC's

This morning J suggested that we blog today, and I blithely said "sure".. then wondered what in the world we could blog about - nothing new or interesting has happened recently. Unless you count buying our New Caledonia tickets and receiving my new passport in the mail.
But, then I read Katie's blog.. and miracle of miracles! She had tagged me to write our own ABC's.. I agree with her that it's probably more information about me than anyone really wants to know, but here it goes.. =)

A- Attached or Single? Absolutely Attached, and loving every minute of it.

B- Best Friend? Joseph Daniel Quillen (though I do have other best friends, he's my BEST best friend.)

C- Cake or Pie? I love them both, but pies present much more variety (meat pie, pot pie, fruit pie, chocolate pie...) so i think pie wins slightly

D- Day of Choice? I really like every day right now.

E- Essential Item? A hair tie - I always encounter a situation where I need to pull my hair back, even if it's just because the wind likes to have its way with it.

F- Favorite Color? Orange! Though I'm beginning to suspect that it's only my favorite out of habit or tradition.

G- Gummy Bears or Worms?Definitely bears - they're way cooler to play with it squish.. and connect together.. and mix and match..

H- Hometown? Hercules, CA - home of the old dynamite factory, not the greek hero

I- Favorite Indulgence? Chocolates. mmmmmmmm

J- January or July? I enjoy January in hawaii better than July weather wise, but there's more free time in July... hard choice. I can't pick.

K- Kids? Other people's kids - definitely love them. Our own? Not yet, maybe in the next few years.

L- Life isn't complete without? I agree with Katie, Family.

M- Marriage date? April 27, 2007

N- Number of brothers and sisters? 1 sister, 1 brother, 2 sisters in-law, 3 brothers in-law, 1 sister in-law-in-law (is that ok to do?) , and 1 brother in law-in law.

O- Apples or Oranges? I like how there are random questions in this to fill up letters =) Mandarin oranges are the hands down best ever!

P- Phobias and Fears? Spiders, and heights.

Q- Quote? A friend of mine just shared with me.. "It's a mother's love that allows her children to give the best of themselves. You are the model for your children."

R- Reason to smile? Every time J does something him-ish, friends, family, silly birds following the lawnmower.. clean air, pretty water... listing everything would take too much space, not to mention my entire life

S- Season of choice? I like them all, and they all tend to be my favorite depending on the day you ask. Usually Fall, though I especially love places where there are more like 2 seasons: Warmer days, and Colder days.

T- Tag three people? I think all the people I know with blogs have already been tagged, except Mikensi and Sandra!

U- Unknown fact about me? When I'm relaxed and kind of spaced out, I tend to mimic people around me - for instance the other day i wandered through the room where J was, he jumped and gasped, and I automatically jumped and gasped without realizing why until right afterwards.

V- Vegetable? Steamed brocoli, or potatos.. or bak choy.

W- Worst Habit? Making fun of signs posted with bad grammar.... I need to stop, but it's just so funny at a school where English is not the main language..

X- X-ray or Ultrasound? Hm.. well, one usually means broken bones, the other is kind of slimy.. but ultrasound, because I just think it's neat that sound can be heard, can give images, and transfer deep heat.

Y- Your favorite food? Everything!

Z- Zodiac Sign? Taurus =)

I hope that this miscellaneous information was interesting, or at least entertaining.. and I look forward to the next really cool thing that happens to us for our next blog!

Have a wonderful Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Winter winter winter...

It has come to my attention that it is now winter on the mainland. However, I have also noticed the signs of winter here on our sweet island paradise... The temperature has consistently been in the 70's, never venturing into the 80's. There has been a slight increase in the number of refreshing rain storms. Of course, the most dramatic sign of winter is the temperature of the water. It is more like the temperature of the swimming pools in the summer rather than the normal warm, bath-like water of the Hawaiian oceans which is consistent with the summer months.

It has also been brought to my attention that many people, among whom are our relatives, are being plagued by dihydrogen monoxide (H2O). The particular form is white, and generally falls from the sky. You call it snow. But don't be getting jealous of our tropical home! We too have suffered from a form of white water falling from the sky! As proof, we have taken a photo. See below. As you can see, there is clearly white water splashing from above me and pounding onto my back. So don't be jealous! Clearly we are equally suffering with these alternate forms of water, just as you may be on the mainland.


It is evident from the first picture that we took the advice of our good friend Eugene (whose beautiful kids are blogged on the 1st of January) and went to the beach. We went with our friends and had such a good time. However, don't think that we are without unfortunate curses that are equal or even greater than winter snow; it just so happens that oh so often it is a beautiful day. It constantly beckons you to come out of your homework places just long enough that when you finally succumb, justify procrastination, and walk to the beach, it becomes cloudy the entire duration of beach time. Hence the not-so-crystal-clear water in my body boarding shot. However, the sun ever taunts by occasionally revealing itself , keeping you trapped at the beach in the eternal web of laziness with lingering thoughts that the sun will be out soon, so you might as well stay just a bit longer.

These are our good friends Jimmy and Mikensi, whom we've already introduced in our blog. As seen in the picture, you can now deduce why we brought them with us to the beach ( so that I wouldn't be the whitest guy on the beach) =) just kidding Jimmy.

In conclusion, just because we live in a tropical paradise, where the people are usually very kind, helpful, and friendly, and have the opportunity to go to the beach once in a while, doesn't mean we don't have winter woes like the continental united states. And, minor distractions like sultry breezes wafting to us from the direction of the beach hardly interfere with our learning... after all, we have to contemplate something while we gaze out over the waves, or shut our eyes against the light of the sun.

I hope you all have enjoyed this little peak into our lives hidden far away in the Pacific Ocean.

Home Sweet Home

And we're back! We arrived safely in Hawaii, narrowly missing the killer storms that slammed into California literally minutes after we were airborne. Another flight to Hawaii that was supposed to leave only one hour later than ours was delayed for two hours because of weather conditions; after that, many others we canceled or delayed. Needless to say, Lianna and I are very thankful that we got up at an inhuman hour of 4:30 am to be out of the house at 5:00 am. But we did it and we made it out and now we are back home enjoying the last wonderful bit of our vacation before we jump head-on into the new school year.

Now that we are back, we are making preparations for the semester... part of which is working hard to desperately try to make up some of the money that we didn't make while we were away from our jobs on the mainland. Then there are the other necessities like doing some grocery and school supply shopping, doing laundry, cleaning, and getting everything ready so that the transition from vacation to school won't be as drastic.

Soon after we were settled in, our wonderful friends, Jimmy and Mikensi invited us over for a dinner that was quite delicious. After eating a full dinner, complete with dessert and all, we played games, the game of Life. It must have been about 13 years since I had played that game. But it was so much fun. We truly are blessed to have such great friends.