Nutella Novella

I haven't posted an update recently because I don't know where to begin... thus, here is a rather long update that is closer to a novella but also involves Nutella, yum... Cheers to anyone who reads it all!
Quals were last week, and I'm very thankful they're over.  I'm also very thankful for the prayers and support of everyone out there; they really helped.  I feel I did reasonably well on the two exams I prepared for, but I don't know if I'll pass those or not; it all depends on the grading (how generous they are with partial credit, how much they mark me down for mistakes, etc).  The other three were stressful even though I tried to not invest myself in them.  I still spent at least an hour and a half on each of the exams, regardless of if I had passed.  So, big week!

I've been enjoying my time off though.  Thursday, Jen & I had a mini early celebration of quals by going to the fieldhouse and playing tennis!  They lend you rackets and balls for free!  It was a lot of fun.  I need to work on getting better control of the ball (I like to swing for the fences... wrong sport), but I at least impressed Jen with my hustle to get to lots of balls.  And once she gets real tennis shoes delivered, we're going again!  She said she'll teach me :-D

Yesterday, Jen and I also celebrated finishing quals by making Nutella Cheesecake brownies!!!  Such a good idea.  The brownie part was a little bit disappointing, but I think with chocolate chips it would be better.  We also may have overbaked it a bit... the top ends up very gooey because of the nutella, not from being underdone as we thought.  That being said, the end result was still delicious AND it was even better today!  One of the few cases where brownies turned out better once they cooled... weird.  It worked out well though, because Jen & I decided to share brownies with the other physics first years and the department staff.  Always good to get on good terms with the people who run things... most of them turned down our offer, and were a bit surprised/confused to see students wandering around distributing brownies.
Once we explained that we were celebrating getting through quals and wanted to share it, people understood better and became very friendly.  Nutella Cheesecake brownies = great success, on several levels.  Thanks God, for these delicious things!


After quals Friday, I enjoyed a night with a good friend from SLO, Jen, & her boyfriend, who visited Santa Cruz for the night before heading to a wedding further north.  We hiked around the Garden of Eden (more exciting with last year's mudslides...) and then went downtown for a standard, Pizza My Heart, and to enjoy the interesting range of people there.

This picture is actually when I went downtown with my roommates for Chocolate (highly recommend their Sophie, aka liquid chocolate).  While walking on Pac Ave, we noticed this restaurant with all the waiters dancing and clapping a beat.  And then this guy appeared in a boxing robe, with Eye of the Tiger blasting, and he started doing tricks with pizza dough!  He juggled and tossed it every which way, all while keeping it spinning.  Cool stuff.

Anyway, Jen, Brandon & I enjoyed some delicious Marianne's ice cream (I finally tried 50/50! Half orange sherbet, half vanilla ice cream, ALL amazing).  We then spent the night at my friend Carol's cabin in Mount Hermon.  She was such a blessing in opening her cabin up to us, giving us a full air mattress, futon mattress, couch, AND sheets, blankets, and pillows.  Her hospitality was wonderful.

Saturday, Jen, Cynthia, & I all went on a bus adventure to try out the transit system and go to Trader Joe's.  The weekend/not-school schedule meant we had to wait a while for the first bus, but we learned that the secret to getting a bus to come is me finishing my apple and running across the street (to the other bus stop).  So I made sure to stock up on apples at TJ's :-P

Afterward, Cynthia shared some AWESOME Chinese chicken curry that she made while visiting her brothers.  I very much appreciated her sharing this with me!  That night, she also shared sushi with me that her Dad made & dropped off.  I can't say that I'm a fan of the seafood/seaweed still, but I ate one to be friendly and I appreciated the chance to get to try it again.  He did do a good job.  It was really cool, that quiet evening gave us a chance to share about our faith!  Cynthia is also a Christian, and it was encouraging to hear a little bit about her experiences with God.  She came with me to church yesterday, to two different services!  That was a huge blessing because it had been tough going alone to different churches and not knowing anyone.  We both thanked God for how he brought us together in this way!

Church yesterday also generally went better than other attempts.  I've become more aware of my preference against big churches.  They have a lot of good things going on, but it's so easy to feel lost in the shuffle.  I think the only truly distressing thing for me was when a church had two larger-than-life projections of the pastor on either side of the pastor, following him around as he moved... I didn't know where to look!  Yesterday, we went to Felton Bible Church in the morning, which is a simple, traditional church.  It was a refreshing change compared to what I've been experiencing.  A friend there recommended a church that's much closer to campus, so we'll try that out next week.  I'm also thinking of occasionally going to Vintage Faith.  It's a good church, with a great young adult/college community, but the messages feel, for me, more like seminars than getting into the Word.  Solid stuff still, but I'd like more time in the Bible.  But I might get involved in their 20s/30s ministry...?  I'd love prayer for figuring out what ministries and churches to dive into, because it's a lot of decisions approaching.

I also had a lovely hike/walk with Jen in the redwood natural reserve on north campus, and this time I remembered my camera!  There are so many trails!  I'll finish with a few of my favorite pictures (though I'm saving my favorite picture for the next post!).
Being in the beauty of God's creation reminds me  how great He is...

...and how small we are.