Done!

One more semester down. 11 finals, phew! I am exhausted, and excited for an actual break from school :) So many things on the to do list, but for today I am going to sit on the couch, then have a wonderful dinner made by my hubby tonight :) A bunch of people are going out tonight and I don't know how, I am so exhausted I just want to lounge! I can't wait to get the house in order and spend some free time with Matthew, then go home for the holidays and have enough time to visit with everyone. :)

OK, back to being a lazy bum, and probably fall asleep on the couch in about 5 minutes....

Addictive

Where else do you get beautiful snow (with clear roads), then a few days later it is back to sunshiny brightness so warm you can wear a t-shirt outside? I love Denver :)

Happy Happy Life :)

Last week was insane but I turned in several papers and a take-home test and am relieved to be done! I can't believe there are only 3 weeks left of the semester, it is INSANE! I am going a little coocoo (?) because I am SO excited to go home for Thanksgiving! I need to finish 2 papers before I leave, then all I'll need to do that weekend is study for comps, which I need a body for anyway so I can study AND spend time with family--perfect!

We went to a huge really cool bar by the Pepsi center last night with some friends to watch Cat/Griz....it was depressing, and the Huskies lost the Apple Cup...more depressing. I should start rooting for a better team. At least USC usually wins!

It is so exciting how much I am going to see family the next few months with all the weddings! It will be insane but definitely worth it :) We did an exercise in class the other day (moving on now ;) ) where we were given patient cases and told to try to deduce the source of the problem based on results of the exam. At first I though "yeah right, we're not ready for this" but after reading through the case it was completely obvious to me what the problem was and how to (generally, not specifically) fix it! I was really excited. It's crazy how much I've learned in only 6 months! it will be incredible to go to clinic and start applying it all, I can't wait! I am so excited to be a physical therapist, I get giddy sometimes :)

Only 3.5 days until the Bombino Thanksgiving!!!!!

Migraine's, holidays and music, oh my!

Hello Family! I don't have class until 10 day (a big scary presentation) but I had a work meeting at 7 and I'm to the point I don't want to look at my presentation for awhile so here I am to blog! haha

So, what is new? I went to the neurologist who said that my terrible headaches I've had for years are actually atypical migraines, and I learned that migraine "attacks" or whatever you want to call them can actually present in ways other than a headache so it might also be the cause of my stomach aches! I was so excited I was jumping of the walls that it might all get better :) He gave me a daily drug that he says ideally will reduce my symptoms 75%. I've only had 2 really bad headaches since I started it a months ago, but it's supposed to take a few weeks to kick in so that might even go down. Also I've been really stressed the past week when I got both of them so that might be part of it. So, I am really happy that one little pill a day could make life happier and less painful :)

I can't believe how much the semester is speeding up, I have a bunch of work the next two weeks, then one short week for Thanksgiving, then we come back and I have basically two weeks of finals. One week of comps and one week of written finals, with a couple classes in the first week. There is so much going on the week after Thanksgiving I don't think I will be able to relax much, but that is OK. We will be home for quite awhile of Christmas and that will be wonderful :) For the first time in YEARS most of the family will be together for "Thanksgiving". Mandi has to go back to work Thursday and we are going to Matthew's parents on the day, so we are having Thanksgiving on Wednesday with Lasagna, yummm.... :) It will be so wonderful to have the holiday with my Mike and Mandi :) Plus, since it's not the holiday yet the kids will be there! :) I'm not sure what their holiday schedule is this year so I suppose they might be there anyway.

Lets see....what else can I ramble on about for 10 minutes....I think that's about all the news actually. I have an exciting race schedule planned out for the next year but that is probably only interesting to me, and maybe Hershal :)

So long, my dear family. I will see most of you very soon :)

P.S. If anyone wants to fly to Denver Matthew and I are playing in a concert on November 19th :) haha, but really....it probably wouldn't be worth it ;)

Uneventful

School is going well but I am so excited for Winter break! It seems so far away...Matthew fixed my bike yesterday and we went for an hour long bike ride to make sure it was working OK before I rode it to school today. I woke up and was all ready and excited for a nice long, quiet bike ride early in the morning, OH MY GOSH, my butt hurt SO bad! So hopefully it will adapt soon because I really want to start biking on a regular basis. I want to work on my biking and swimming over the winter so I can do a triathlon this summer :) I found some triathlon virgins who said they'd take the plunge with me, so it should be pretty fun :) I'm thinking of starting the season with a May marathon though. We'll see :)

I am so excited to be a real life PT I can hardly wait sometimes. It is so excited how much I've already learned. I can't wait for clinical in January to start applying it and learning more. It's so funny talking to Mandi and hearing all of the issues that go on between people there, so many interpersonal issues transcend occupation.

So...not too much exciting going on in life here, just bored at the moment...really should go study. I was hoping to get my next Netflix movie today (Mandi got me 6 months free for my birthday!) but my e-mail said it will come tomorrow. Maybe it will surprise me :)

Sorry my life is so boring ;)

They closed my trail!

I was really upset when they closed the trail behind my house for FOUR YEARS to build the new light rail (which will then go straight to school, which I will be done with at that time, haha, oh well). Anyway, so I drove to the lake I used to run at a lot when training for the marathon and ran in the neighborhood because I didn't feel like running around a flat lake in a circle, and it was the best run I've had in AGES! I ran 4 miles on Wednesday and 5 yesterday, they were really hill and hard and wonderful. I thought I was way out of shape but I guess not as bad as I thought. I got a big blister yesterday though that I'm hoping subsides soon so I can do 6 miles tomorrow. I think I'll just run from home up to the neighborhood I love, even though the 1.5 miles from here to there isn't so great, I'd rather not have to drive to run everyday. The neighborhood was so quiet and beautiful. Lots of cool old houses and trees, I felt like I could run forever! I think I'm going to run up there always now. I was thinking yesterday that one thing I like about it is if there's kind of a creepy person you can just turn and go down a few blocks, but on the trail you're stuck where you are, so that might be part of why it was so much more relaxing being in the neighborhood.

My campus has an inter professional orchestra I'm going to play in too, and Matthew's thinking about joining so that will be a lot of fun! I went Wednesday but the director wasn't expecting saxophones this year so he didn't have any music for saxophone yet, but next week hopefully I'll get some good playing in :)

MRI is Monday, it'll be nice to get that over with. I'm really happy that Mandi is on a new schedule and will hopefully be able to relax and enjoy life a little more :) Hopefully the new schedule won't control her life so much. Can't wait to come home for the holiday's and see everybody!

Oh yeah, one more exciting thing. I was looking at the City Rec Centers around here that I think I'm going to join, because the gym I've been going to is too snobby for me, and I found the one close to school and in the picture I think I see a treadclimber! I LOVE those things! We had one at Eastern and it was great for cross-training. It'll be nice to finally get back into shape. I've been a little lax the last few weeks, but then I decided to stop letting my headaches control my life and just do it, and I feel much better :)

ouch

This semester isn't as insane as last semester, but it is picking up. I started work-study and that is going well, my "boss" is really awesome, plus he teaches one of my more interesting classes so it's a good contact to have. I woke up with a throbbing headache again today and have been feeling sick all day. I finally broke down and took some Excedrin it was so bad, but it hasn't really helped. I haven't taken it in weeks because I didn't want my body to get hooked on it, but I guess it doesn't matter since it's not helping. It will be nice to get my MRI and see the neurologist so he can find something to relieve the pain. I'm getting an MRI with the dye, which I did a little reading on and I'm kind of curious about it. Some things I read say it's really dangerous and has horrible side effects, other things say that side effects are rare and usually mild. Any info from the medical staff in the family? Michelle? Mandi? I'm sure it will be okay, I don't really have any allergies so I doubt I'll react. My Dr. took some blood for a few things and said he was going to test kidney function also to make sure I can handle the dye, so it sounds like he is covering the bases pretty well, he has definitely earned my confidence so far. He really listened to everything I was saying at the appointment versus just blowing me off and telling me it was some common cause (which it probably is, but it's nice to be certain). He said he wants to check and make sure nothing else is going on before throwing drugs at me, not knowing what the cause is exactly, so I really appreciated that.

Hopefully I will get my clinical placement soon, I am so excited for the first one! Nervous too...I hope I don't screw up! I am so excited for my new niece or nephew! (random thought day, I apologize for the seemingly random changes in subject) I haven't gotten a hold of Hershal or Michelle since I heard the news though so I don't know any of the exciting details like when they are due! My maternal urge has been poking at me lately, I've REALLY been wanting a baby! But the time will come some day, and now is definitely not the right time!

Well, family, I hope you are all well and enjoying life. Let me know if you have any more educated details about MRI dye :) MISS YOU!

Still kickin'!

Not much new. Just finished week 1 of term 2 and not too bad so for, just TONS of READING! haha. I started work study this week today, it's pretty cool and flexible so that's nice. It was WONDERFUL to go to Spokane and see Poppa, Becka, Mandi and Mike. I cried a lot when I had to leave :( It was hard. I almost bolted out of the security line to go give Mandi another hug. Got to see Mom and Dad for a few hours too so that was nice :) Hoping to go hiking this weekend, and have a bucket party next weekend for "margarita's" birthday! Gotta have a little bit of fun before the schedule gets TOO crazy!

To my family!

I really like that all us siblings (and families) have blogs so I can write stuff just to you!

I finished my last final today. It was anatomy and holy crapola was it hard! I'm nervous about all the stuff that I don't remember all the details for. I'm forgetting things already and it's only the first semester! I suppose it'll come back to me after we start applying it more...lets hope so anyway! Maybe I can practice some stuff on Mandi when I go visit :)

So tomorrow the in-laws come (yay!) then Monday I leave on a road trip with them up to Spokane. It'll be really nice to see Poppa and Becka and I am SO excited to spend some quality time with my SISTER! Then I'll come back and get a couple of days of relaxing time with my honey then start all over again :)

Tomorrow morning I'm meeting with one of my professors to talk about research assistant positions I can do for my work-study. Next semester is supposed to be a bit more low-key compared to this one, so I'm going to do about 10-12 hours a week. It'll help us out with the FOUR weddings we have to fly home for between now and February (3 of them within a 4 week time period). Plus, I'm really excited that there are options for getting on a research project so the work will contribute to my education rather than just being a source of income. So, hopefully there will be something fun and exciting, and I'll get that lined up beforet my vacation gets fully underway :)

Okay, time to go be productive before company comes :) I MISS YOU ALL!

Boring Update

I guess it's been awhile! Not much has gone on, just the same ol' crazy studying. We had a random day off of school yesterday so I went to Water World with some friends and it was a lot of fun. Especially since it was 103 degrees, the water felt nice. Matthew and I went to see the "Dark Knight" in IMAX for my birthday and it was pretty awesome. A little more disturbing than I had expected though. If I saw it again I might enjoy it more, I was just too squeamish that that something painful was going to get cut most of the time! And I was a total nerd...when the guys' face got burned and you could see all of his tendons, all I could think was that that was not at all what the face REALLY looked like underneath the skin, haha. I can't help it, we just did the face dissection a couple weeks ago.

Only one more week of school before finals, I can barely believe it! I am definitely ready for a break though. We're trying to get the downstairs all unpacked for our company. It's a good motivator, but I kind of wish the timing were better! That's what we get for procrastinating :) It is coming together really well though, and it will be nice to have it finally done. Then EVERYBODY can come visit and stay in the elephant room! Well, I suppose I should get back to studying. Two more tests next week then finals!

Happy Anniversary!

Our first anniversary was amazing :) I woke up to a few strategically placed, sweet gifts around the house with "Happy Anniversary" written on them. Included was a huge stack of printer paper (I've been printing A LOT of notes lately) since it is the paper anniversary. We got all dolled up and had a wonderfully romantic dinner at a nice restaurant. The Denver Broncos football team was there. After a wonderful dinner the waitress brought us a huge AMAZING piece of strawberry cheesecake and wished us happy anniversary, then several other staff came to do the same. It was so sweet to see the way Matthew responded when people asked how the first year went. I always feel so loved and cherished when I'm with him, and it was wonderful to have a night to celebrate us. The first year has been incredibly wonderful, and I can't wait for many more. I don't know how I got so lucky to have a guy who takes such good care of me, but also respects me, believes in me and supports me. I'm not sure I could be doing what I'm doing without him, or at least I'm glad I don't have to. This year has felt so natural, I can't imagine my life without him in it. I feel incredibly cheesy and hopelessly romantic writing this, but it is just so wonderful to be married to such an amazing man, who I can trust and love with all my being without any reservations. Tomorrow we go home for the wedding, and I get to see a lot of the family again. I am so lucky to have such amazing extended family. A couple girls in my class were talking about their in-laws who they don't much care for, and I felt so incredibly blessed to have the amazing in-laws that I do. Not only do I care for them, but I love them dearly. Oh, and I just found out I received an A on an INSANE paper I wrote a couple of weeks ago! Today, I feel like the most blessed person in the world :)

I'm a genius

Half way through the first term and I'm acing tests left and right! And now it's time for a beautiful 3 day weekend :) I spent most of my time this week studying for my test this afternoon so I need to catch up on some other things, but I think it will be okay. I'll be great to see the family next weekend, even though it'll be a really quick trip. Hopefully I'll get to see Mandi sometime soon too, I get to see Lysha and the kids when I'm home :) Sounds like they are growing really fast. Oh! And I just remembered I get to go dress shopping this weekend! That'll be fun.

I was planning on doing the Denver marathon in October, but I am so worn out lately I'm thinking of doing the half marathon and focusing on my speed. I'm hoping to finish in two hours. I feel kind of lame, but I figured I did one marathon this year already, so a half should be okay :) Then maybe I'll do the Colfax marathon next year. It's mid-May I think...

Anyway...just thought I'd check in :)

Surviving!

The fourth week of school is almost over and I am SO tired! I had two major tests this week and am now completely worn out. I need to get some major studying done in the next couple weeks to make up for the weekend I will miss when I go home, but it will be GREAT to see all of the family, and I'm sure the wedding will be amazing. It will be nice to have a mental health weekend, and I can study on the plane so it should be alright.

I am looking into doing my first clinical in Vancouver. We think we may like to live there when I'm done with school. It would be hard to be away from Matthew for that long, but the plan has always been for me to do clinicals at places we might want to live so I can make contacts. January would be a good month too because I could go home on weekends to help Janae and Auntie Kit with their wedding plans, and if Johnny gets married in January I will already be there, so that's just a couple less plane tickets to buy! It might actually save money, because I would already be there for Janae's wedding too. Anyway, that's a ways away and there's a lot of things left to consider before anything happens on that front.

Okay, time to study. It's never ending! I can't believe how much information has entered my brain in just three and a half weeks :P

Vancouver?

I have my first BIG exam tomorrow and I'm freaking out. A few inconsistencies between different sources for myotomes frustrate me, but as long as I have a source if it causes me to miss a point I can rectify the situation. Myotomes are more general anyway, it's not an exact science. Matthew's flight has landed and he'll be home soon so it'll be nice to see him :) Please send good vibes between 9am and noon tomorrow! It will be nice once the first one is under my belt. I'm hoping I start feeling better soon, I haven't ran in over a week. I'm debating if I'll have enough energy to do a marathon in October, I might have to do a half. I'm sure it will be okay. I've probably just been tired from being sick. The next two weeks aren't as intense at school as the past few have been so hopefully I'll have a bit more energy. I talked to most of the family yesterday and that was really nice. I've been looking into Vancouver, WA and I think Matthew and I could be really happy there. It's only 3 hours from home, under two hours from the mount Rainer where we love to camp, barely over an hour to the ocean, 15 minutes to Portland so he would probably have tons of job opportunities, plus the Columbia river runs through it and there's lots of lakes. Hopefully Matthew will like the idea :) Maybe I could do a clinical there and see how much I like it, and make some contact in case I do. I looked at houses too (I started researching Vancouver during my study breaks this weekend) and they are much more affordable than Denver, which I guess is obvious. It would be nice to be closer to family. It is still a few years away but now is the time to start thinking about clinical locations. Maybe I could do my first clinical there, then I would be close to home for Janae's wedding. We'll see! I'll talk to Matthew then talk to Betti. Of course if I lived there I'd have to pay rent. But my Elliott family has a cousin living in Portland....maybe they could steer my in a good direction if I/we decide to do that.

Boring blog, don't feel obligated to read

I've survived the first 20% of my first term! yay! It's supposed to be the most intense, so I am happy with amount of clearance my head has above the water right now. Still tons to do, but I don't feel behind, just feel like I need to keep working hard! I'm pretty excited about that! Of course right now in anatomy we have moved into the forearms which are a beast. I'm getting ready to spend yet another Saturday in the anatomy lab, but Matthew and I are going to a party for one of his coworkers who just quit, so I'll have a little mental health time. I went for a run this morning, I was planning for 6 but only did 1.5, I was mostly feeling great, but I hit the weights really hard on Thursday and my adductors were still super tight. I figured they would losen up but they were just getting worse, so I figured I'd give them another day to recoup. I was glad I did because when I stopped, oh man did they hurt! I definitely don't want to make things worse. Monday is my first official day of training for the Denver marathon! I am so excited :) My energy levels from week 1 to 2 of school are a lot better too, my body has adapted well to the long days and hard morning workouts, so I'm pretty stoked about that. Do people say stoked anymore? That was kind of fun to say. One of Matthew's close family friends just got engaged and is getting married either January or February, and we have weddings the first 2 weekends of February, both of which I am in and are people incredibly important to me (best friend and Aunt) so obviously that's where I'll be! I'd really love it if Matthew were there, especially at my Aunts, but we are going to have to start to pick and choose with all of these weddings. Lucky I'm in clinical all January and start classes on February 9th, so Auntie Kits wedding will come right after the first week when things aren't too crazy and there probably isn't a test the second week, and Janae's I'm hoping I can put in extra clinical hours early on and be there for her a few days ahead of time. So that was not a very exciting blog....I really should get a diary or something for all my unimportant thoughts that I think....as if everyone wanted to know my plans for the weddings ;) Well, I should try to hit the postoffice and the bank before I meet my group at the lab...I hope some of them are open.

I'm alive!

I promised Mandi I would try to blog more, so I will try to do some short and sweet ones more often! We had our first thunderstorm of the season today and it was wonderful, and the rain just started up again, yay! I love the smell of rain! School is going better than I expected. I know it's only been three days, but I'm happy with how well it's gone. I've studied for at least a few hours ever night and that's gone well. This weekend will be lots of reading and memorizing of anatomy note cards, but luckily most of it is fairly familiar, anatomy wise anyway. I have a HUGE reading assignment for my Monday lab on manual muscle testing, but that should be really interesting so I look forward to it. One girl already dropped out of the program yesterday. I'm not sure why. All I know is that during the cadaver lab she was having some problems and was pretty emotional and went home, then we found out today that a new student is starting tomorrow, yikes! That will be overwhelming for him! I really feel for the girl that had to withdraw from the program, I know it's likely there were other factors other than having difficulty with the cadavers, but it is so much work just to get into the program and she made it, only to have to withdraw. Maybe she is going to come next year, who knows her reasons, but I wish her the best of luck! That must have been a really hard decision. So far I have still been able to get to bed at a decent hour and get my runs and workouts in, thank goodness! Because everyone knows how I get when I don't get my workouts in... ;)

Good bye, and good luck

This will probably be the last time I blog for awhile. Tomorrow, my life as I know it will end ;) I'm excited and nervous, and not entirely sure what to expect. Annoyed with the commute and lack of wonderful solutions, but I'll figure something out. I'm stressed out before I even start and that's not a good sign! I should do some yoga. I need to clean so the house is a little less cluttered. I hear from everyone the first two years of all professional programs are pretty comparable in difficulty, weather it be physical therapy, dentistry, medicine, etc. So I guess I can just thank my lucky stars I didn't go into medicine and my clinicals are pretty much normal hours and not like 20 hour days or whatever med students end up doing.

Okay, time to go clean and shower and try not to freak out prematurely. Wish me luck! I'll need it. As if I didn't talk to those I love little enough already now it will be even less so...but in a few years hopefully that will change :) I'm excited! Really! You'll all have to come visit and take a tour of our campus sometime, it's amazing! Okay...calming down now....

Memorial Day 10K for grandpa

I ran the BolderBoulder memorial day 10k today. I didn't have a great finishing time, but I had fun. I didn't really train for it, have just been relaxing and hiking and whatnot with the hubby for the last week or so, and since the marathon I've been mostly doing shorter tempo and interval runs. So, I just decided to go run it with some friends and have fun! And I did :) It's no Bloomsday, but it'll do. Not quite as scenic, the waves are better, quite hilly, post run goody bag is good, but hydration opportunities at the end are poor. The first 4 miles are pretty much all hill, then the last two are downhill. Downhill is painful.

After the race our dirt was delivered and we filled our two 8 foot X 12 foot X 1 foot vegetable garden beds with dirt, so now we just have to plant! I'm exhausted so time to go lounge around some more :) Hope everyone has had a nice memorial day full of great memories of those we love.

New Laptop! With linux :)

Hot dogs and Slushies

Matthew and I did our first 5k today (Matthew's first race ever), and there's talk of him doing it again next year! Since we each get 2 tickets out of the deal it brings him in. The race was fun, but there were a lot of people with very poor race etiquette. Although there were several announcements asking walkers to start toward the back, walkers lined up at the very front and didn't even move to the right as is also running etiquette. We were dashing and weaving but it was still fun. I lost Matthew up a big hill about mile 1, he was doing a better job of darting in and out of people, and I got stuck behind a couple of inconsiderate girls who abruptly stopped right in front of me (without moving to the side) so we got separated. I doubt I could have kept up with him anyway. Our first mile was 7:45, wow! That's compensating for the 2 minutes and 40 seconds it took to get to the start. Matthew finished in 25 minutes and I finished in 27:20. I was really happy with that time, although the race clock said 30, it doesn't really matter. There weren't any timing chips, and a very informal tag pick up so I really doubt the recorded time will be anywhere close, which is too bad because I was hoping to use it as a qualifier for BolderBoulder. In any case it was a lot of fun running a race with Matthew and I'm really happy with my time. I would boast it was a PR but it's really the first 5k I've ever ran, aside from a very informal school race I did with a friend in college in which we just ran for fun, we didn't push it or anything. I must admit I'm a little jealous that Matthew can run so fast without training. His training consisted of one 1.6 mile run and one 2.5 mile run. And he finished the 5k in 25 minutes. I'm happy for him. Really. ;)

My new computer is supposed to arrive tomorrow then I can play with posting pictures and stuff, I'm so excited! And only FOUR more days of work with my final on Wednesday, so Thursday I will be free for a short time. 2 1/2 weeks until I start my Doctor of Physical Therapy...AUGH!!!

Oh yeah, and at the 5k there were free hot dogs, slushies, bagels, bananas and beer in addition to 2 rockies tickets each and a pretty cool t-shirt. Good deal for 30 bucks.

Home Run's, Streakers, and Weddings, Oh my!

The Home Run
We were at a baseball game awhile back and there was an ad for the "Home Run for the Homeless". I didn't pay much attention figuring it was some kind of home run derby to raise money, then Matthew mentioned if I was every going to do a race I should do the one where I get to run around the warning track! It turns out it's a 5k run where I presume it ends with running around the warning track and Coors field, you get a t-shirt, 2 rockies tickets per entry, then free hot dogs, beer, etc. at the end of the race. The entry is only $30 so I convinced Matthew if he thought he was so cool to run around the warning track he should do it, so he is! We've been running together quite a bit this week. Usually when we run together he goes my pace, and I know he's slowing down for me so since we have been doing shorter runs I told him to go his pace and I would try to keep up...holy crap he is fast! Our first run of 2 miles we were doing 7:30 to 8:00 minute miles and I thought I was going to die. We did 2.5 the other day but my GPS battery died so I don't know how fast we were going but it was a good pace. It's nice to be pushed, I didn't even know I could run that fast!

The Streaker
I think it was about the 7th inning of the game when "Matty Babey" as Matthew calls him came up to hit, and a lady streaker ran across the outfield (very drunk of course). It was my first streaker experience. We've been to quite a few baseball games since we moved here and this one, a Tuesday night, and had by far the most noticeably drunk people....weird

The Weddings
Our July wedding is becoming a bit of a stressor for me. I have anatomy comps the morning of the rehearsal dinner, but luckily I have the afternoon off. We have finally found an afternoon takeoff that gets in before 8-9pm...about 6pm I think. Now we're just waiting hoping the cost goes down a bit. Turns out for all the weddings I probably can't miss any classes regardless. There is a process you have to go through to miss class, and only a few life events qualify. I have at least most of December off so I'm hoping to come home for an extended period for Janae's bachelorette party and to help with as much as I can since I won't be around most of the rest of the time. In July Matthew is going to stay longer since he has vacation and might as well use it. I'm kind of nervous to be home alone in this big house for so long, but it's silly for him not to take advantage of already paying for a ticket, being there, and having the vacation time.

And yay for Lyshy getting into nursing school!

17 days!

Only 17 more days left of work! The job is not bad, but I cannot wait to get away from the 40 year old who acts like an out of control 5 year old. I will miss a lot of the regulars, but I am ready to move on!

It will also be nice to get into a regular workout routine again. I have been working out with a coworker after work so that I don't have to go to bed so early to get up early (and so I can see Matthew more), and it has been working okay, but my workouts are often limited by what she can/wants to do. I'd like to be doing more swimming and biking, and I am definitely more of a morning workout person. I would like to have a workout partner for the AM though, I don't want to run alone in the dark here. I'm hoping I'll meet someone at school who likes to run. My boss "laid off" our dishwasher also, so I'm back to longer hours so working out after work and before class isn't as feasible. I am looking into ways to bike to work. It is a hilly 10 miles each way, so if I biked to and from work on class days I think that could count as my workout. Then I could run, swim and do weights on other days. Triathlons are still a dream of mine, but I am very very nervous about the swimming. Too bad Hershal isn't here to do my first one with me!

Hershal, Michelle and Edward ran a 5K in nearly 28 minutes! That was my goal for the 5K qualifier for BolderBoulder I didn't end up doing, so that is great! And with a jogging stroller! Inspired by them, I decided I wanted to see what I could do 5K in so tomorrow I plan on doing my own "race" to see how fast I can go. I'm nearly certain I can't do 9 minute miles yet, but I will see where I am at and go from there!

For awhile it looked like Mandi was going to be able to come visit before I started my DPT program but it didn't work out because of her selfish coworkers, so she is looking into other weekends. I am trying not to keep my fingers crossed but it would be nice to see some family before I start school. As much as I love Denver, it is very hard being away from home.

Right now I am reading the book Stiff which I highly recommend. It is interesting and hilarious. Luckily I got a lot of studying done this weekend because every night I've been coming home and reading Stiff instead! I have a test Thursday and next Monday, then a poster presentation May 5th and my final May 14th then I'm DONE! My last day of work is May 15th and then I get to kick back and relax for a couple weeks :) Ahh....how beautiful that will be...

Hair Cut!

No pictures though! When I have my laptop I think it will be easier to share pictures and stuff, and then I will share pictures of the marathon too! man, that was a blast! The lady who cut my hair studied under the author of "curly girl" at her salon in new york! I think I love it. I like the cut a lot, the style is really soft and gentle curls, not as curly as I usually like. I bought some of the "deva" conditioner and anti-frizz gel, also developed by the author of "curly girl" they have a cool shampoo too that clenses without all of the drying agents, but even my hair stylist confirmed it's not absolutely necessary, a lot of "curly girls" just use conditioner. So it is super short now. When I told the lady how short I wanted it she was like "are you sure??? That's a big change" but I've chopped it all off before. I like it a little lengthy but not as long as it was, and it's more manageable short (and by short I mean shoulder length, not a crew cut or anything)

Dad sounds like he's doing pretty well, talked to Poppa and Becka the other day. Haven't been able to get ahold of Hershal. Talked to Lysh and Hayden yesterday and we pledged $1 per lap, so here's hoping for 3rd place! I can't believe Hayden would rather have a DVD player than a wii, such a goofy, cute little bugger he is. Haven't talked to MANDI in ages! (HINT HINT) Her schedule is so crazy though. She mentioned coming to visit me so I hope she does :) That would be awesome. I am missing my family like CRAZY. I do love Denver though, maybe my family will all love it too and move here. It's an amazing place. After I got my hair cut in the highlands I walked to downtown and met Matthew to lunch. It was a beautiful day and downtown was hopping with the Rockies first home game. It really doesn't feel like a big city, it's a great place. Two of my fellow DPT students are from Washington according to the list they sent out. One's from Spokane and the other Pullman. I might have to drop them a line and say hi! Of course I'm on the list as a Denverite, ah well.

Turns out our bread guy at work is a "Winterbottom", so next time I see him I'll have to ask him if he's related to the Winterbottom who was Uncle Jonny's platoon sergeant. Time to go change my name with all the places I haven't yet. Such a pain. Busy for a day off but at least productive so far. Only 27 more day of work left until I start PT school! YAY!

ETC.

No real exciting news but I am going to try to blog more often so my blogs aren't novels! I am looking at maybe doing the Denver marathon in October and working on my speed. I'm sad I will miss bloomsday but am excited for BolderBoulder, which is a huge 10k which I think will be somewhat similar to Bloomsday in size and music and whatnot. I looked at some FIRST plans for 5k's and 10k's (the plan Hershal and I followed) and they are pretty intense for these races, so I will have to follow that plan another time when I am planning ahead more. I am going to do a qualifying 5k for BolderBoulder so I can start in an earlier wave. Plus it would be fun to do a 5k! It's on the downtown campus I'm taking a class at now so that would be cool.

As Mandi blogged, Dad broke a couple rips just clearing his throat, so I hope there's nothing crazy going on weakening his bones. Maybe it is just God's way of telling him he needs to rest :) We are trying to work out our schedules for the upcoming wedding this year, and waiting for everyone to come visit! haha, miss you all!

New computer

Yay, we finally have a computer! Haven't gotten my new laptop yet since I don't know exactly what we need but I am looking...any suggestions?

Okay, I will try to keep this short. Exciting things that have happened as of late (which all 3 of you who read my blog already know about but it's so exciting, why not recap?)

Hershal and I ran a marathon! It was incredibly fun (to me at least) and I wish he would reconsider running another one! It was challenging but amazing, we both almost cried as we crossed the finish line. Aside from some mid race cramping we both did great. After the race we proceeded to be dropped off in the wrong location by the shuttle driver who barely spoke English, then walked around for about an hour or so trying to find where we parked. Luckily we found a 711 right away and each got a 40 oz slurpee, a bagel, and we split a brownie. The sugar combined with all the walking I think is the credit for neither of us being particularly sore the next day, to our amazement. The race was a beautiful experience, and I am so glad I was able to experience it with my big bro. Oh, and Florida kicks ass in the winter and I can't wait to go back. OH! And I went into the ocean for the first time! I know it is salt water, but I didn't realize HOW salty it is! Hershal was too tired to be a brat and terrify me by throwing me in, so that was nice :) The water felt great on our tired legs.

The other great news--I'm officially a Doctor of Physical Therapy student! I still can't believe it sometimes. Aside from the headache of trying to decide how much we can afford and how much to take out in loans and all the immunizations I need to get, it is beyond exciting. I'm beginning to get nervous if I can handle the huge work load of studying 5+ hours a days, but I'm sure I will adjust, but I am scared! I feel lucky that Matthew is so supportive and despite my stress over the loans I will accumulate, I know if we can manage to be frugal for a year or two we can pay them all off. But of course I want kids after a year or so post-school so we'll see...I just hate debt, even if it is student debt which is the kind to have if you have any. Anyway, so yay! Super excited about that one. Sending Lyshy lots of good vibes as she should hear about nursing school in the next month or so. Calling people with the good news is so exciting! I got really great reactions out of Mandi and Lysha. Matthew was literally speechless so I'm not sure what was going on on that end for awhile! haha, neither of us expected to hear for 2 more weeks so that was the last thing on his mind when I called! That was a pretty fun one too. I got a lot of the "I knew you would get in's" which as Mandi and I talked about, we appreciate that people are so confident in our success, but also feel like when people casually say that, that they don't realize how competitive the programs we were accepted into are, and how big of a deal it is we got in, but who cares because we got in and are excited! And Mandi is done so she can bask in that while I stress ;)

So much for a short blog, but who was I kidding? Haha, I miss all of you sooo much and hope some of you come visit SOON! The elephant room is all put together and ready for company! (just ignore all the boxes in the downstairs living room and kitchen)

Later gators!

Good vibes needed Feb. 1st!

Sorry this is so long! I went to write a quick, concise blog on my myspace which I rarely blog at and it, of course, turned into a novel. Eventually I will be able to blog about important things in a more regularly manner, but for now—another novel! Here's all the latest stuff going on in the life of your little sister...or the random blog you happened to find if anybody besides my siblings read this!

I started a new job at the new year which is going pretty well, I have been working 60+ hour weeks starting at 5 am, and getting up at 2:30 am to work out and keep up my marathon training and am exhausted, but am glad to be doing something. Hopefully things settle down a bit before classes start in a couple of weeks. It is a brand new place and all the workers get along great, so that makes things a lot easer. After another week we should be settled.

February 1st I have an interview for the DPT program at the CU-Denver Health Sciences Center and am very nervous. The applicant pool is HUGE this year so I need to try to make a good impression and find something cute to wear.

My marathon training is going well, I have a 15 miler scheduled for tomorrow so I hope that goes smoothly. I did a good hard run on Wednesday in my brand new running shoes Mom bought me and it went great, but I had some ankle tightness so I will have to watch out for that. My bro and I both signed up for the race together on the phone and that was very exciting! Now Matthew and I just need to book our tickets and we will be all set!

On the Matthew front, we just hit 6 months of being married, and it has been a great 6 months. The transition into married life has been smooth, it feels like things have always been this way. These past couple weeks have been hard with me working long hours and going to bed early, so it will be nice to have a weekend off together. I don't know how my sister and her hubby do it—their work schedules have been opposite for months. It's so easy getting used to being together all the time, but I guess it's good practice for when I start PT school. Matthew got a great job offer for a management position he interviewed for last week and is likely going to take it. It is a hard decision as he loves the company he works for now, but this new position is more of what he wants to do.

The holidays were great seeing the family, though I had a nasty run in with some kind of flu bug or something, luckily it was only 24ish hours...it never seems like there's enough time when we go home to visit. Unfortunately, I slept through most of the New Year but I still got my midnight kiss which is the important part! We had great visits with all the family, and made it up to Spokane for some quality time with Mike, Mandi, Poppa and Becka. Uncle Roland and Aunt Mary even made it over for a visit along with cousins Jack and Carrol.

My best friend got engaged over Christmas and I couldn't be happier for her—her and Ryan are great together. Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to see each other over the holidays. I've been bummed to lose touch with a lot of people I used to be so close to—especially those from college which seems like just ended yesterday. Things just get tricky when we are in different time zones with different schedules, etc. I have been lucky to stay close to Janae, though we have been so far apart since I graduated high school. Mandi had a bit of a health scare but is doing pretty well now, just reminds me how much I hate being so far away from her and how much I miss being with her and talking to her every day. Someday we will find something that works out better for us, but for now we have to settle for trying to catch each other between her night shifts and day sleeping and my early morning long day shifts and afternoon sleeping.

I am excited to see so much of my family at upcoming weddings (one of which is not publicly announced yet.) We will be seeing a lot of our family on both sides over the next year which is great because at our own wedding there was so little time to actually visit with people, I'm glad another chance is coming.

Well, so much for that being concise, but I never have been one for keeping things short and sweet. I miss you all so call me and come visit! I think it's time for another nap...