Dr. Galle

It has been a very busy week!  Sam and I arrived at LAX last Tuesday night after a very long flight home.  Pete and Margaux were there to pick us up as we came through customs, and Margaux had made an amazing meatloaf with sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese- it was unreal!  Meatloaf sandwiches were just the American food to come home to, hands down.  The following morning, Sam and I woke up to find a wonderful spread of baked goods, fresh fruit, yogurt, granola, coffee and fruit juice.  It was like we were still on vacation!

Wednesday and Thursday we pulled together some semblance of normalcy before our parents and Sam's friends and relatives arrived for his graduation on Friday.  The weekend was a blur!  

Sam getting ready to be hooded, our friends Anna and Brian were reading the graduates' names

Pete & Margaux

It's so hard for me to believe that Sam is actually a licensed medical doctor- and that so many of our friends are as well.  The graduation ceremony was really well done, with a great speaker and white doves, and all-in-all it wasn't as long as I was afraid it might be.  The ceremony was followed by champagne and appetizers provided for the graduates and their guests by the school of medicine.  It was a great opportunity for us to see many of our friends whom we hadn't seen since we returned to the states. 

Santis & Galles

Sam and I also got to spend time with our parents who have been both financially and emotionally supportive of us during the last four years.  My parents did a great job holding their own among all of Sam's extended relatives and I was really happy to see them fitting into the greater Celniker clan.  

Tina & I, the significant other's club

After the ceremony, Sam's parents hosted a beautifully catered lunch at The Cannery of the Pacific in Newport Beach.  The food was outstanding, the champagne bubbling, and the company was impecable.  Obviously, we would have liked to have had more of Sam's classmates with us, but many of them were celebrating their own graduations with their families.  

After lunch we relaxed for a few hours before meeting up with the greater medical school class to head out to the Newport Beach Peninsula for one last hurrah.  It was pretty epic!

Sam and I have been hunting for an apartment the last two days, and I hope we've decided to rent one that I really liked in Irvine.  We'll have to see what Sam says.  Tomorrow we are driving up to Northern California to see our families and spend time with friends.  Our dear friend Dr. Zamary (it hasn't gotten old for me yet) is taking us boating on Thursday in the delta and I am meeting my college roommate Jackie for dinner afterwards.  Friday is Lindsay's birthday- the big 2-5 and we're BBQing at her house with her brother, sister-in-law, and cousin.  And then Saturday is the Dispatch concert Sam wanted to go to, and Sunday is Dan and Tina's engagement party.  Its amazing to me how much we have planned for 1 week at home!  I'm hoping to do some cleaning out of my room at my parents house and then once I'm in the spirit I will have to come back to Irvine and seriously purge our crap from our apartment. The joys of moving- I really hope we can stick it out in the next place for more than just 12 months!