Touch ups

So I spent the entire day editing family pictures. I know that might have been a little extreme, but I take pictures seriously. I downloaded an editing program called Gimp. Then I watched tutorials on youtube. It was very educational and kind of fun once I got the hang of it. Her are a couple of the ones I liked the best. The ones I edited are on the left with the originals on the right.

These first two I was learning how to add color to a black and white photo. 

This makes us look a little like vampires, especially Heather.

 This one I worked on teeth, blemishes and a little air brushing :)

These last two included teeth, cropping, contrast and brightness. 

Overall I'm really happy with our family pictures. I don't know when we will all get together again and things seem to change so quickly. 

Burr...its cold out here!

So this weekend my whole family got together, which is getting harder and harder to do these days. My sister was graduating with her Master's degree in Metallurgical Engineering. She will be moving to New Mexico soon, so we decided to throw her a party. We took advantage of having the whole crew there and took family pictures. 

I see other families taking coordinated pictures and get a little bit covetous. It took a lot of convincing, but I got everyone to just on board (thanks Amanda!). We ended up taking pictures outside. Let me tell you December 17th in Utah is a little on the chilly side. I'm not sure what the temperature was, but it had warmed up since the morning. While we were all chilled to the bone by the end, I think we have a pretty good looking bunch.  

The whole Wampler clan

My parents with their kids

The 5 stunters

A cute addition for a little flare

Just the ladies

The men folk

The single ladies

(My brother referred to us as the unmarried siblings as we were taking this picture, way to rub it in!)

The married men protecting their man hood

Just the adults

Mom with her girls

Upon mom's request the "squished faces" pose

We followed the pictures with pizza and the family gift exchange. I think everyone when ended up pretty excited. Then we played some games. What else would we do? I would say the weekend was a success!

On the move....

I keep feeling like I should blog about something lately, but I never come up with anything interesting to talk about. The past couple weeks have been interesting for sure, I'm just not sure any of you want to know about it. As many of you know I move a lot. So to stick with my nomadic life style I am yet again moving in a couple weeks. The journey has been long and tedious, but I finally found a place to live when I go back to Idaho. I was sure I was just going to be homeless and have to live out of a storage unit, but I decided that wouldn't be the best plan as I am cold all the time and there really isn't a heating source in a cement box. So I set out again to find an apartment.

 It all started out with me wanting to move back into my old ward. I really missed my bishop and his wife (they are pretty much the most amazing people I know), plus I have some good friends in that ward. I started asking around for openings in apartments or houses, but wasn't having much luck. I've lived with enough people and as I get older I have stronger opinions about who I live with. I know what I'm willing to put up with and that makes moving even more difficult. I have a friend who was also looking for a new place, but she has a 60+ lbs lab that lives with her. Finding an apartment that we liked in the ward boundaries that allowed large dogs was impossible. I was getting a little disheartened with the whole venture and had given up.

I started looking at other places. I was going to have to live somewhere. I went to Idaho for my nephews baby blessing so I stopped in Pocatello to look at a house. It was close to campus and the girls were nice, but there would be seven of us living there. I've been down that road and wasn't really excited to go back. I don't care how amazing the girls are that much estrogen in one house is bound to end badly. I talked to several people about it and asked how they felt. My mom in turn asked me if I'd prayed about it. I didn't feel bad about living there, but I also didn't feel like I needed to. Even though I had told the girls I would probably move in, I never called the girl who was selling her contract to tell her I wanted it. So the waiting game continued.

In the mean time I was talking to my friend again. She asked if I had found a place yet. I said now and returned the question. She hadn't found a place either and was thinking that she would have move home and commute. I had found some houses in the ward boundaries, but the whole pet thing had been an issue. So I said if we didn't have the dog it would be easier. Luckily she is still in Pocatello and can get things finalized while I'm away. I am yet again moving into an apartment that I have never seen. But there will only be the two of us, which I'm excited about.It is a cute daylight basement apartment with a fenced in back yard. I'm stoked to be back in my ward again!

The moral of that long winded story is that you can't lose faith that things will work out. I'm not saying that everything you want will come immediately because how often does that really happen, but if you are willing to work for things and put forth some effort anything is possible. I felt lately like I need to learn to be more patient. I'm always trying to plan every detail of my life out long term. I've had so many five year plans it is ridiculous. I'm not saying you shouldn't have goals, because I wouldn't get anywhere without them, but you need to be realistic and know when it is okay for things to be different. The lord has his own plans and time table for things to happen. I am learning to have confidence in the feelings I get and to trust that things will all work out in the end. I am going where the lord needs me to be for the greatest benefit to me and those I need to be serving. The lord will grant us the righteous desires of our hearts in his time.

Clinicals and more

So I thought that it was about time I wrote about my current adventure. As many of you know I am now doing my 2nd clinical affiliation as part of my physical therapy degree. I am working at an outpatient clinic here in Salt Lake City called Mountainland Rehabilitation. It has been a bumpy road trying to get this affiliation. When we first started choosing last fall I had a hard time getting anyone to take me. I got rejected by Primary Children's Hospital because they only take 3rd years. Then TOSH (The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital) said they wouldn't take anyone who wasn't a 2nd year. I am a 2nd year now so I don't really understand their rational on that one.

I really wanted something in Salt Lake City because that is usually where my family goes for holidays and the affiliation is going through Thanksgiving. Plus I love spending time with Christopher and his family. So I finally got Mountainland Rehab to say yes. Then I had to choose a location. They have a clinic not far from Christopher's house so I picked that as my first choice. 5 minutes is such a better commute than fighting traffic to get downtown, a 25 minute drive on a good day.

Six weeks before I was to come down to Salt Lake City I was told that my CI (Clinical Instructor) had moved to a different clinic. Things were up in the air for the next month as to who I would be with. A little stressful with finals and all not knowing where I would be going. Finally two weeks before I was to go down to Utah I learned who I would be with and that I would be working three 12 hour shifts, MWF. I was a little nervous about this, but it has been a great experience.

My CI is awesome. She is totally chill and really wants me to learn and get exposure to what physical therapy is all about and how to think critically. It is nice to see that what I'm learning in school is really going to apply to my future practice. I have had some problems with my right arm. Some of the manual treatments I do really kill. I need to take some time to give myself some personally therapy.

I've spent a lot of time with my nieces and nephew. Sometimes I need to take a break and get out of the room, but we have fun most of the time. They are super cute though.

Oh and we headed up to Idaho for Ivan's baby blessing. He is such a cute baby. We got a picture of Ben and Ivan together. They are going to be such good friends.

Dating rambles....really just to clear my head...read only if you really feel like it

Sometimes I find life interesting. There has been a guy I've had a crush on all semester pretty much. I first noticed him when I was dating my last boyfriend. I was in a relationship so I didn't really think too much of it, but I definitely notice he was cute. Just so this doesn't get confusing I'm going to make up a fake name for my crush...Alexander. Alex for short. After ending things with my ex I took more notice of Alex. It seemed as though he was interested in someone else, but I figured it never hurt to try. They weren't actually dating so I thought I would have a shot. I figured out that I knew Alex's sister. She told me that I needed to marry her brother. After discovering who her brother was I completely agreed. It was funny to me that I already had a crush on him. So we chatted for a while and shared stories. Then I decided I needed to put in a little more effort.

I discovered that he played basketball on Tuesday nights. I have been dedicating my life to volleyball for the past few years, but figured it was worth a shot. I was a little rusty, but I've still got a decent shot. I ended up leaving right after we were done the first week. The girl he seemed to be interested in was there and I didn't want to make a scene. I figured I'd see him at volleyball the next night. Didn't work as planned. Needless to say I spent the next couple of weeks trying to put myself in places he would be. It was hard because I didn't have his number, I wasn't in the same ward and he wasn't coming to the normal places I would see him at.

I kept going to basketball. I could count on him being there for the most part. One week I waited around so that I could have a conversation with him. Even though it was just for 15 minutes and about school I was hoping it would show him I was a little interested. I still wasn't getting anything in return. He didn't ask me for my number. He was always nice and willing to talk when I initiated things, but that was it really. Now I don't want someone to give me attention if they aren't interested, but give me something.

I was talking to an old bishop of mine and he said that he needed to approve the next guy I dated. He started naming off people that he deemed appropriate. After a couple names, I wasn't really interested in, I told him there was actually someone I wouldn't mind dating. He perked right up..."oh who." "Alex."

Bishop said he had been talking to Alex's sister earlier that day and she had said he was in a little bit of a dilemma. Trying to decide between two girls. My heart sank. There is no way I could compete with two girls. I thought one was bad enough. He didn't mention it at the time but the other girl was me.

Bishop was shocked to find out that we had never even gone on a date. It was flattering that I was in the running with a girl he spent all his time with. We hadn't even gone on a date. The only times we really interacted were during sporting events. I wish that I had know he was even interested, but he didn't give me any sign that I was even in the running. I would tried a little harder.

In the mean time I've gone on three dates in the past three weeks with three different guys. All of which have asked me out for a second time. I find it ironic that I can't get the guy I like to give me the time of day, but every other guy on the planet seems to think now is a good time to ask me out.

I have finals next week and then I'm moving to SLC for six weeks for a clinical rotation. I don't think now is the time to get involved with anyone. I've done the distance thing before and I wasn't a fan.

Christopher once told me that the only way a relationship was going to work for me was if I liked the guy first. I am really starting to agree. The problem with this theory is that guys I am interested in don't ask me out. I think there has only even been one guy that worked with and it took him three months to get around to it. I'm not a very patient person when it comes to things like this. But the lord has told me to be patient. Christopher also told me that maybe one of my problems is that I'm dating people the majority of the year. Maybe I just need to not date. So I decided that was what I was going to do...not date for a while. Let things settle and figure out what my goals are and where my life is headed right now. It seems like the second I made this decision it is everything that I can do to escape the next phone call asking if I have plans this weekend. Don't get me wrong, I am flattered. I just don't like having to turn people down. Especially when they ask you out again while you are on a date. But I really need this time right now. I need to be happy with me and where my life is going by myself. Adding other people to the mix just complicates things.

So here is hoping that I can be patient like the lord has asked me. I've learned that the Lord is good on his promises. If he tells me to do something it is most beneficial for me to listen the first time. Although I still have trials, they aren't nearly as hard as the hard times I create for myself. So with any luck I can figure out what the lord is trying to teach me. After 25 years you'd think I would catch on to things a little quicker.

Beatitudes

I just want to start off by saying that I'm so grateful for the people in my life that see the potential I have and remind to do the things I need to progress in life. Special thanks to Brother Crockett!

Earlier in the semester I was bummed about not being able to be in institute choir, yet again this semester. I will be going on clinicals soon and that is when they have all of their performances. I was talking to the director about just sitting in on the class, even though he didn't have room for me to sing with them. I asked him if I could still get credit for coming to class.

He asked me why I didn't take another class. I said that I just didn't have the time. My schedule is pretty busy. He said that he understood, but asked me to really think about it and strongly encouraged me to take another class. It wasn't just about me. I could learn from other people and other people needed to learn from me. I really respect Brother Crockett's opinion and his words just kept coming back to me. I've learned enough to know that I should do what he said. My friend Joe said he was taking a New Testament class Thursday nights. I have never taken New Testament before and thought I'd give it a shot. I didn't know the teacher, but took a leap of faith that I would have time and would be blessed for going.

Can I just say that was one of the best choices I made this semester. Brother Packer really knows how to bring the spirit into class and I've learned so much every week. The other students have great insights as well and we end up having some pretty deep discussions.

Today, we were studying the beatitudes in Matthew 5. I've read this chapter before, but Brother Packer got me to look past the words and understand what the Savior was really trying to teach. It is amazing the insight you can find by truly studying the Saviors words and not just reading them. He gives us all tools we need to return to him. As we look to him we can see how simple and glorious his gospel really is. It gives us all the steps we need to take to become like him and take our place in God's kingdom.

I left class with a new perspective on what becoming perfected in Christ means.Perfect can be defined as complete, finished or fully developed. It doesn't mean we will be free from sin.Through the atonement of Christ we can be perfect. As we become fully developed Christ pays for our sins, when we are repentant. Then as we are sanctified in Christ we can dwell in God's presence. Perfection is attainable!

basketball = life lessons

I've been so focused on volleyball the past few years that I forgot how much I really enjoy playing basketball. I've started playing again and noticed some things that might apply to the rest of life.

1)It is really all about the fundamentals. Box out, rebound, follow through, follow your shot and play help defense. In relating this to life that is really what the gospel is about, fundamentals. Read your scriptures, pray, follow the commandments, attend the temple, go to church.

2)You've got to move the ball around and look for the open man. Don't hesitate when there is an opening. In life the spirit lets you know when you need to do something. It prompts you to take a shot, to help someone. Sometimes you don't really understand why, or you hesitate and your opportunity is lost. The lord knows what the plan is so follow the play, a shot will open up, sometimes you just have to be patient.

3)I'm so out of shape. Basketball is a game of constant movement. If you don't practice and prepare your going to be holding your side wishing there was air conditioning or that the other player would just slow down. Spiritually we can't afford to take a break or let Satan get ahead of us. He isn't going to slow down. He knows what we are capable of and has his team in a full court press. We have got to be on our game. The second we let up he is going to take advantage. The game is a lot easier to win if you don't have to come back from a 20 point deficit at half time.

4)Sometimes we can't see what is coming. When you take the ball down the court in a fast break you don't know who is behind you or how close they are. Sometimes you try to make a pass and forget that a guy on the other team has a 3 foot vertical and a 7 foot wing span. We can't get discouraged when we throw a bad pass or miss a shot. The game keeps going. We have to keep our mind on the future and decide how we and going to improve next time. You have to get back on defense so you can steal the ball or get the next rebound. Life is hard. You can't give up every time something doesn't work out how you think it should. Even the best player misses or throws a bad pass sometimes.

So I guess what I'm say is when life gets you down don't give up. You've spent too much time becoming who you are and as you apply yourself and practice the principles of the gospel in your life you will improve and start to realize your true potential. If things in life weren't hard we would never learn anything or grow. We need to have trials and test to make us strong so we can take on the next challenge. As we become optimistic and look for the benefit of our experiences we can be enlightened and our understanding will be expanded.

Lost motivation has been found!

My last post was a little bit of a downer, so I thought I would lighten the mood. School is going pretty well right now. We just finished two weeks of midterms on Thursday. Although things were pretty jam packed it really helped me kick my butt in gear. I've been dragging my feet a lot this semester and have had a hard time finding motivation to get things done.

I started practicum this week. This semester is in stark contrast to my experience last winter. I currently have 3 patients that I am treating. While my teacher is there to offer us advice and to give some direction, treatment decisions and evaluation is pretty much up to me and my partner. The first two days I was with Tyler, a 3rd year student. We were getting used to each other and then he was done. So yesterday I worked with Pek. It has been interesting seeing different approaches to the same problem. I feel like there is so much that I need to learn and understand and so much that I'm supposed to already have learned. My teacher yesterday told us that what we really need to know about physical therapy we learn in the first year. That was a little daunting to me. We took such a huge credit load that it was hard just to stay above water and not drowned.

Working with actual patients is nice, almost a little weird really. I'm so used to my classmates trying to pretend to have a problem that when I found muscle weakness in my patient it threw me off. I had to do my test a couple times just to be sure I was doing it right. Although it has been a lot of extra work, with the time commitment, documentation, article summaries and questions to answer, I think it is a worthwhile endevor. I've learned so much in the last week and know that I have a lot of things to work on.

To add to my fun, they made a second Relief Society in my ward and I have been called as the secretary in the presidency. I've never really served in this capacity before, but I'm excited that I get to know the girls better and be involved on a deeper level. I'm trying to do what I can to magnify my calling, but I know that I can do better. I will only be in Idaho until the end of October, so my time will be short, but already I can feel the Lord's love for the girls in my ward. I've been on a spiritual high the past couple weeks and I want it to stay forever!

Just venting. Read at your own risk.

Lately I've been thinking about the reasons we do or do not do something. Whether it is changing a behaviour or bringing up a difficult conversation with someone. Why is it that we care so much about what others think of us? Why can't we just do what we know is right? Life is about learning to standup for our beliefs and values, following the example set by Christ, no matter the consequences following God's will for us. Why do we insist on making things hard for ourselves? I know there are things in life that are out of our control, but I think the majority of our heartaches are caused by things we choose. Choices that we make that aren't quite what they should be. I guess I shouldn't generalize the whole population. These are things that I struggle with, maybe it isn't the same for the rest of you. We have been promised that if we truly repent and forsake our sin and give it to the savior that we can be made whole. We can be forgiven and be freed from the burden that we carry. I've been there when that weight is lifted. I know the relief and comfort that comes with it, but I can't seem to keep myself out from under that crushing feeling. One day I can conquer the world and the next it is all I can do to keep breathing.

I was reading the Book of Mormon the other day and it talks about people giving up lives of sin. They were murders and came to live a peacable and Christ-like existance. It doesn't say how long this process took. I know it most likely didn't happen instantly, but how did it happen? What did they do that made their change so complete? How do I do that?

I just needed to vent that to someone. Mostly rhetorical.

And what was your name again?

Today I was thinking about what the first day of school used to be like. Back in the good old days of elementary school, maybe you would get to know everyone's names, go over classroom rules, figure out where everything goes, go to recess. I can't remember everything you would do, but it didn't seem to be filled with anything too stressful. As you get older and start having every subject with a different teacher it is much of the same. Go over the teacher's rules, maybe go over a syllabus, learn people's names. High school is much of the same, as well as the first couple years of undergraduate courses. As you start into upper division courses you might get a reading assignment for the next day or your first homework assignment.
Then there is the 2nd year of your graduate program. You no longer get the leisurely get to know you talks because you've been in classes with the same people for the last 12 months. You have the same 5 teachers that you've had the past three semesters and they already know your names way to well. So instead you have a reading assignment posted the morning of class that you end up doing in class. You go to a three hour lecture and find out that you have a test the next day and a presentation on Thursday. So I guess what I'm saying is in professional programs school never really ends until you graduate. Three years of continual school. Two more years and I will be done! As a teacher said today you just have to survive!

Moonlighting

So I decided after I broke off my engagement that I needed to do something amazing on the 12th of August. While it didn't really turn out to be an event filled day the night was amazing.

I had been staying with my brother for two weeks and needed to head back to Idaho. I had a few things to do first. I went to the dentist oh so exciting, then I headed down to Orem to spend time with my grandparents. I stayed up until about 9:00 p.m. when I attempted to take a nap. Sadly it didn't work. I just laid there with my eyes closed for an hour and a half.

I met up with my group at about 11:30 p.m. The people I knew didn't show up until right before we were going to leave. So I just sat in the corner by myself. :) We got up to the trail at about 12:30 a.m. There were a lot more people going up the trail than I expected. The parking lot was full. Incidentally, a lot of people ended up getting parking tickets for not parking in official parking spots. But it was the last weekend before school starts, it was a full moon and there was a meteor shower. That brought more people to the mountain than usual.

I tried to stay with the group for the most part at the beginning. I had never been on the trail before and didn't want to get lost. While the full moon made it easy to see, it was sometimes hidden behind the mountain. We had to cross waterfalls several times. Not an easy task in the dark, but my headlamp made it doable. By the time we got back you couldn't tell that my shoes used to be white. They were a nice shade of mud. There was also quite a bit of snow/glacier fields left on the mountain. I'm pretty sure we had to cross at least 8. Some of them easier to manage than others.

Eventually they told us we could just go at our own pace. It was going to get harder and we would have to manage ourselves. I took off after this. I was alone for most of the hike. Several people asked if I was hiking alone, I said I was with a group. Others asked if I got left. I told them I just hiked at a different rate than the others. I was glad there were other people up there otherwise I might have gotten lost. The snow covered the trail in several spots making it difficult to navigate.

Most of the group stopped in the saddle, but I decided I would go all the way up. I didn't come up here to stop short, even though my legs were killing me at this point. The last mile was the worst. There were so many times I wanted to turn back. I told myself I had gotten this far and it would be lame to turn around. I pushed on and made it to the top just as the sun was rising. It made it all worth it. Nature is an amazing thing. I'm always grateful for a chance to get away from the rest of the world and just enjoy what God has given us.

It took about six hours for me to summit. I was pretty tired by then and want to get down quickly. So I booked it down. It only took about three hours to get down. This was due to the lines I had to wait in to cross some of the glaciers. Some people were pretty scared to cross them. I ended up passing most of my group on the way back. Two girls made it back before me, but the didn't go nearly as far. I felt it was a day well spent. I looked it up online. The hike was about 14.5 miles round trip with a elevation change of 3600 ft. The summit is at 11,745 ft approximately.

Then I had to drive back to Idaho. I was going to take a nap at my grandparents house, but I was running out of time. My roommate was getting baptized at 6:00 p.m. and I needed to be back. So I just got in my car and drove back. Probably not the safest thing to do, but I'm still alive ;)

I ended up not sleeping for 38 hours. Now my internal clock is messed up. Hopefully, I can get it back on track before school starts next week.

Here are a few pictures I took with my phone.



Full Moon



Beginnings of Sunrise









Utah Lake as seen from the Summit



There was a little shelter on the summit. This is to prove I made it all the way up.











If you want to see more pictures go to my facebook. There is a link to another photo album on my page. Pictures taken with a real camera. They give you a better overall picture of the adventure.

oh what to do...

Now that I have some time to breathe I thought I would catch you up on my busy life.

I finished my summer semester almost three weeks ago. After going to school for seven months straight I was ready for a break. Summer semester consisted of a six week clinical affiliation, which I completed at LDS hospital, Pharmacology and Research Methodology. Pharmacology and Research Methods were completed in 5 weeks. There were a lot of people who loved this set up, only taking two classes for 5 weeks. I've determined they only like this because what wouldn't be better than taking 20 credits in one semester. I for one wasn't a fan.

Our Research methods class was pretty much one giant group project. This is the worst group I've ever been in to tell you the truth. We were supposed to write a research proposal on something we were never actually going to do. If you keep in mind that this process usually takes a long time and involves a lot of research you would know how awful it was to come up with a topic and write a paper in four weeks. All of the people in my group didn't have the same standard of work as I did. This created extra work on my part. I spent at least four hours in my professors office trying to come up with something that would at least pass for acceptable. This doesn't even include time spent fixing the paper. I don't know how many times I rewrote that darn thing. The sad part is that when were turned it in I knew it still wasn't good. Then we had to give a presentation on a paper I didn't even think was acceptable. Needless to say I was pretty stressed out. All my effort paid off in the end. Some how I ended up with an A- in both my classes.

With school out of the way, I time for all my errands. I went to Rexburg and help Michael and Amanda paint their trailer and move to their new place. I packed up all my stuff and moved into my new place, I got new car insurance (I'm getting old so they made me get my own policy. I know poor me.), I went on a ward campout with my old ward (I will miss them), and then I headed down to Utah.

I now have a nephew and I wanted to meet him. He is such a cute little boy. While he is sometimes happy when I'm holding him, he really likes his more. My sister-in-law's family was having a reunion last week, so I tagged along to most of the events. Some people may think this odd, me going to my in-laws reunion, but really I'm just part of their family. I've had Christmas with them, lived with Laura's sister, hung out on the 4th of July, went to Morgan's graduation party, some how I always miss the weddings though. We went to Thanksgiving Point, Discovery Gateway, and spent a lot of time at Grandma Petty's house in Draper. One of the coolest things in Draper in the neighbor's pet Zebra. So cool! On Saturday we went to see Kung Fu Panda 2. Not as good as the first one, but still really good. Although this could be due to the fact that I had a two year old runner back and forth across the isle between me and her dad the whole time. Very distracting.

I've had some time to do things with friends as well. I went mountain biking with Emily, I played volleyball at my favorite place, played ultimate frisbee (love it when I don't have to prove myself to guys) and played volleyball with a whole bunch of people I didn't know. Overall my trip has been really good. There are still adventures to be had such as hiking Mt. Timpanogos at midnight on Friday. Not only excited for the hike, I get to see my 5th cousin. Her family lived in Aberdeen and I haven't seen her in years. Another exciting thing will be on Saturday when my new roommate gets baptized. I'm so excited for her.

Then I have to get back to real life and do my professional capstone project. Then school will start again on the 22nd and my life will end as we know it. Okay I'm hoping it won't be that bad. I get to take some interesting classes and there is only three of them, so it shouldn't be as horrible as the last year. Wish me luck!

A weekend of....

So I have found a new determination to have fun while I'm in school. Spring semester about killed me. All I have to show for it was a decent GPA and a whole lot of stress. But I'm sick of going to school and wasting my life away. So I've done quite a bit of playing in my estimation over the past couple of weeks. Last week I decided to run up a mountain. It was about 5 miles to the top of the trail. I can't say that I ran the whole thing, the end was pretty rocky and steep, but I made it to the top in 1.5 hours. Then I ran most of the way down in about an hour. Now I just started running two weeks ago, so I don't know if 10 miles of trail running is the best idea for week two. I paid for it though. I had two good sized blisters under my arches, one on each foot. Then I was sore for a number of days. But the view at the top was well worth it. I was planning to go hiking on Saturday, but was a little worried my feet wouldn't be up to it. So I ran over to Walgreens and got supplies. I doctored myself up and stayed off my feet as much as possible over the next couple of days.

On Saturday, I went hiking with a friend. We did almost eight miles. I love being outdoors. Although it was pretty warm, the path was shaded most the time. Mike is a nature buff so he educated me along the trail. We looked up flowers, butterflies, and trees to identify them. We found a fresh water spring. Made jokes about bikers. We moved off the trail for one group and an older gentleman said, "Thanks, kiddos." Mike wanted to reply, "Not a problem, old giezer." But out of respect he only told me so I could laugh about it. We were covered in dirt by the time we got home, but it was so fun.







Then I went home Sunday night. My aunt and uncle had come up from Utah with their daughter. So Monday morning we went for a bike ride. Aberdeen has a new paved trail running by the creek, so we hit that and then rode out to Sportman's Park. They have a little nature trail we rode down. My uncle and I took advantage of the speed bumps running through the park and turned them into little jumps. We ended riding about 12 miles.





Then I did some yard work with my parents and ended the weekend fun throwing a frisbee around at the park with my parents. That was full of laughs and good times.



Overall, I had a fabulous weekend!

Back to school

So my 6 week clinical affiliation is done. It had its ups and downs, but for the most part it was a good experience. Now it is back to the grind. The next five weeks will be spent in class learning about Research Methodology and Pharmacology. With tests, presentations and papers it will be a wild ride for sure. Then I'm moving to a new house in August. It is a piece of work. I will have to take pictures and post them so you can really understand. I don't really have a good way to describe it other than it looks like a ghetto frat house. Oh the adventures of life.

Life's Twists

So a lot has happened since my last post. I finished the hardest semester of my entire life. 21 credits of graduate classes is not recommended. I don't know if I would have done it if I knew how hard it would be. But I know that I am a better person for it. I actually ended up increasing my GPA from last semester so that was a blessing. I owe it all to the fact that I decided not to do homework on Sunday. There were days when this was so hard to keep to, but it was nice to have one day in the week that I knew I could just relax. I started going to the church after ward prayer and playing the piano for an hour or two. It was a good release and I know the bishop's wife enjoyed it as well.

Next I moved to Salt Lake City to begin my first clinical affiliation at LDS Hospital. I was really nervous about the whole thing, but it is turning out to be a great experience. Today I treated all of our patients and did their documentation. It is nice to know that all the class work I've done won't be for nothing.

On a sad note, David and I decided yesterday that we shouldn't get married. He kept feeling like he was supposed to stay in Oregon and I am stuck in Pocatello for the next two years. Neither of us felt like it was a good idea to get married and not live together for two years. We both understand how bad we are at long distance relationships. I was proud of us for doing it the time we did. That is one of the hardest things I've ever done. I can't speak for him, but I've learned so much from the experience. It is not the easiest choice I've ever made, but I know that the lord has his hand in everything. As I put my faith and trust in his council to me, I know my life will be enriched and I will become the woman I am meant to be. Life is hard, but everything we go through makes us stronger if we are willing to learn and pay attention to the goodness.

Marriage, that blessed arrangement...a dream within a dream...

I should be writing my huge capstone paper that is due on Monday, but for some reason I have no motivation to do it today. I know that a lot of you are a little shocked and caught off guard by the fact that I am getting married.

If you refer to my last post you may get a sense that something was going on, but I was trying really hard not to say anything. I'm not sure what you want to know about this adventure I've been on. Some of you may know about the beginning, middle and end already, but for those of you who may not I'll just tell you everything. This maybe a long post so I won't be offended if you don't read the whole thing.

2009 (The Beginning)

David and I met in the summer of 2009 playing ultimate Frisbee. I was dating someone else at the time so I didn't know him too well. I heard him telling someone about playing volleyball with his ward and asked him about the details. I ended up going that week with my boyfriend to play. We broke up soon after that. With this new freedom of sorts, I decided to have fun. I am a naturally flirty person and David had no problem playing along. I hadn't given him my undivided attention at this point, but we both enjoyed the banter.

About three weeks after I had become single, I was talking to David after Frisbee. We were just sitting at the park, long after everyone else had left, talking about everything you could think of. Those are the best kinds of conversations. Soon we both got hungry. David asked if I liked Salmon. I said I did and he offered to make me lunch. So we both went home and cleaned up. He thought I got all dolled up for him, but really that is just what I look like when I go out of my house. We had a great time and just talked forever.

His ward was going down to Moab for a river trip and he asked if I wanted to come. I was a little wary, but I loved Moab and after some convincing I decided it would be fun. The trip was a lot of fun. After we got back, we had a BBQ with some of his friends. After they left, we started a movie "Horton Hears A Who." I had never seen it and we just laughed and laughed. We pretty much started dating at this point.

Then he convinced me to come to Oregon with him. He had a group of friend that was headed up to his parents house to pick berries. I told him I had to work, but he said I needed to live a little. I said I would go. Turns out everyone had bailed on him and it ended up just being us. We spent the entire eight hour drive talking.

So I just decided that this point will be so long if I keep giving you all the details. So I'm going to shorten it a little and get to what you really want. David and I dated for about two months. We went on another road trip to Oregon and Montana later. I fell in love with his family. They were such good people and had a lot of fun together. After a couple of incidents, hard times, situations I don't know what to call it, I decided that we shouldn't date anymore. David had a hard time with this but understood that I had to do what I thought was best for me.

I distanced myself from him, but still saw him around. I ended up moving back to Idaho at the end of that year to go back to school. We really didn't keep in touch until that summer.

2010 (The middle)

Summer of 2010, David sent me a facebook message. A group of his friends was headed down to Goblin Valley and he wondered if I needed to go on an adventure. He knows that I have a hard time saying no to a great adventure. I was just finishing up a summer job and decided it would be fun. I was unsure how to act. But decided that we were just friends so it would be fine. We caught up on family affairs on the way down and cleared up some wonderings we both had had. Overall it was a good experience.

Christopher needed some help painting his house so I said I would stay to help him. This meant that David and I had more time to play. I also had a lot of other friends I hung out with. I really needed a good friend at this transition point and David was proving to me that he could handle that. Although I could still sense that he had feelings for me. I went home for the 4th of July to visit a friend. Then I came back down to Utah to head out on another trip. David's family was going up to Glacier National Park in Montana and I had been invited.

Like I said earlier, I loved David's family and missed them. So I figured it would be a fun trip. That country was amazing. Our friendship continued to grow, but I still didn't feel like I could date him again. (even though that was pretty much what we were doing) Later that summer I went white water rafting up near Jackson Hole with a group of his friends. It was an interesting trip. He came to pick me up and had a couple girls with him. On of which he had dated before me. She was giving me a pretty strong vibe that she would have all of his attention. I was just excited to be up in nature and wasn't going to waste my energy fighting for David's attention. Over the next couple of days, I would have to admit I was a little jealous. No matter how much I didn't want to admit it, I wanted David to pay attention to me. He was totally oblivious that anything was happening.

We stayed in touch for a while, but then my graduate program started and life got crazy. He had told me earlier that he might be getting a new job that took him out of Salt Lake. Well he did. I saw on facebook one day that he had moved to Oregon. I was a little upset that he hadn't told me himself, but who was I to demand he keep me updated of his life. I talked to him a little about it, but then school took over again, or maybe it was the guy I started dating (that could have been distracting).

2011 (New Beginning)

After school had started up again this year, I kept thinking about David and what he was up too. I hadn't talked to him in a while. One day he text me and said he was thinking about me and just wanted to see how I was doing. I ended up calling him and we talked for about two hours. It was so good to have a good conversation with someone. I hadn't made a ton of close friends in Pocatello and it was good to know I still had great friends in other places.

He asked me when my next break was because we needed to play. I said not until August, but then remembered that ISU gets a spring break. He said that I should come play in Oregon with him for that week. I wasn't sure about the whole thing, but said I would think about it. As school continued to get crazier, I knew I was going to need a break. I text him and said that if he found me a plane ticket I would come. It didn't take him too long to get that task done.

As I told people I was going to Oregon for spring break, I got some sceptical looks. I told them I was just going to play. Nothing was going to happen. I was dating a couple guys in Pocatello, so I wasn't really worried about it. After the ticket talk, we kept in touch. Just a text here or there. Sometimes we would be joking about something and then it would turn into a serious conversation.

I was still casually dating a guy in my ward. I thought about what would happen to my friendship with David if I married someone else. There is no way we could adventure anymore. Then I thought if he got married and I got married then we could bring our spouses and still adventure. (that was a dumb thought) Realistically if I married anyone but him our adventures would end. As I thought more about it I started to see how much that bothered me. But still didn't really say anything to him.

I told him later I wanted to go to the Portland temple while I was there and asked if he wanted to go. He declined and I respected him wishes. Then I got a friend to go with me and asked if he wanted to get some friends and come with us. He declined again this time with a longer explanation. He said a lot of things that made me start thinking really hard. Very distracting right in the middle of mid-terms.

As we talked back and forth, I decided I needed to start praying about the whole thing. I needed to know where I stood with him before I went off to Oregon for a week. The more I thought about it, the more I felt like I needed to give him another chance. He had been so good about being my friend when I needed him too, but had I ever been what he needed me to be?

A week before I went to Oregon I was at a fireside. C. Scott Grow was speaking to us. As his talk began he told us the prophet was worried about the YSA not getting married. That was his biggest concern right now. As he talked about the temple and covenants you make. Being sealed to your family for ever, I got the most overwhelming feeling I've had only a few other times in my life.

David and I decided to started dating again about a week before I went to see him. If you read my last post you can read about all the adventures we went on. What you won't see is all of the talks we had. The interactions with his family. The peace that I felt about it. We talked about getting married. (We had already joked about this last summer, so it wasn't too weird.) We kept it all to ourselves, but his parents could see something was going on. Our dads have wanted us to get married for some time now. His had even threatened to call my dad and set up an arranged marriage. I didn't think we needed too much help at this point.

We both knew this was going to be hard. I still have two years left to finish my Physical Therapy degree. That would keep me in Idaho. The likely hood of him finding a job in Pocatello is not that great, but the thought of dating for two more years or being engaged for two years with him 10 hours away didn't sound appealing to either of us.

As for the proposal story all of you are waiting to hear, it isn't really what you are expecting. I wanted to pull an April Fool's day joke so I asked David the night before if he would marry me. He said yes. Figuring that would be a lame way to get engaged I told him that I took it back and I would be patient.

A week later I asked him if he would marry me on August 12th. He said yes he would. A this point we were engaged, except that I didn't know it. I just wanted to tell the whole world about it, but couldn't. So I slowly informed my immediate family that I was going to get married. Then last Sunday I called David and told him that I really needed us to be engaged so could start planning my wedding. I was running out of time. I told him he could still be romantic later when he gave me my ring. So don't fret he is planning something that I will let you know about after it happens.

So that is the story. If you feel like I left something out ask me about it. We are getting married August 12, 2011 in the Logan temple. The ride is going to be crazy, but we have always loved to adventure together. With the lord at the wheel everything will work out how it is supposed to.

Spring Break 2011

So this is one of the few times in my life when I have taken advantage of Spring Break. When I went to BYU-Idaho, we didn't get a spring break because winter semester was so short. This year I really needed one. While my time could have been used working on several projects I have due in about two weeks, I needed time away from school. 20 credits this semester is overwhelming at times and I decided to give myself a little pick me up.

I had been talking to a friend of mine, some of you have met, David Wilson. He had moved to Salem, Oregon the end of last year and was trying to convince me to come visit Oregon. I told him that I didn't have time for that. Like most of the adventures I have gone on with him, I gave all sorts of excuses why it wouldn't work and in the end gave in. After a particularly exhausting day at school, I text him and said if he found me a flight I would come. The rest is history.

At the time I didn't know the dates of a musical my parents were participating in. It was the weekend of Spring Break and I would be flying out on Saturday. So I went to the musical Thursday and drove down to Utah Friday after class. This was the last day of my three weeks of mid-terms. I had taken 13 tests and was excited to leave it all behind. Turns out my siblings all planned on going to the musical Saturday night (Christopher's birthday). So I missed a thrown together family reunion. But I got to play on the Oregon coast that night so I guess I shouldn't complain too much.

David had been so excited to see me that he scheduled my flight for 9:00 a.m. This meant that I needed to be at the airport by 7:00 a.m. With all my family being in Idaho for the musical, my grandfather kindly agreed to take me to the airport. While I waited for my flight I studied neuro anatomy at the airport. I finally boarded my flight and started for Portland. I have noticed in the past couple of years that I get really motion sick. That is why I fall asleep so fast on car rides. So to distract myself from the motion of flying through the air I listened to a neurology lecture. The stewardess noticed my lab manual on my lap and told me we needed my people in the world that were interested in the brain. I wanted to tell her that it was a required interest, but opted not to.

My flight got into Portland about ten minutes early. Normally I would be excited, but I had told my friend to pick me up at 10:30 a.m. When I had looked at my flight information the night before I was actually supposed to get in at 10:10 a.m. I was trying to figure out what I would do at the airport for 30 minutes, but when I text her they were almost to the airport. By the time I picked up my bags, they had only driven around the circle once and pulled up right in front of me. We went and did a session at the Portland Temple. I figured I should go while I was there because I didn't know if I would get another chance. It was such a beautiful experience.

Portland Temple


After the temple, David picked me up and we drove to the coast to meet up with his parents. The were excited I was coming to visit and wanted to see me. The drive was spectacular. It was so green everywhere. Spring is mostly brown in Idaho. When we got there his parents were already down on the beach, so we went and met up with them. It was a pretty nice night. We looked for agates on the beach and threw a Frisbee around.



Then it was dinner time. We had some of the best clam chowder. I should mention that I had gotten braces on at the beginning of the week. That made eating an interesting experience. The food was great though and the company was better.

The next day we went to church at a local ward. They were all very friendly and I ended up playing the piano in relief society. I guess that was to make up for not playing to organ in my own ward. We ate a light lunch and then headed to the light house. We got to climb up to the top and they told us about the specific sequence that light house had for the light, so sailors would know where they were.

Inside of Light House


Light house


There were some stairs going down to a cobblestone beach. Due to the tsunami and winter storms, there was a lot of debris washed up on the shore.

Sea Urchin


Star fish on the beach


David and I on the Oregon coast


We had dinner in Newport.

Bridge in Newport, Oregon


After dinner, we went to Agate beach. The funny thing was there weren't that many agates to be found. I don't know if we even saw one.

Beach


The next day we went back to the light house and did a little hiking.



Then we went to another part the park and hopped around on the rocks. There were some seals just lounging around in this pool.

Seals


Then we went to the aquarium in Newport. It was pretty cool to see all the animals up close and personal, but I don't know if I would pay to go again. It was a little pricey.

Sea Anemone


Sea horse


We stopped at another beach before dinner. This one had a ton of agates that we picked up. I figure that the locals just named the other beach Agate beach to throw off the tourists, so they could keep the agates to themselves. We went over to some tidal pools and I got to stick my finger in an anemone. That felt so weird. I don't even know how to describe it. (sorry if all of these events aren't in the right order. We did so many things that it is hard to keep it all straight.)

Then we had dinner in Newport. We had crab. This was the first time I've eaten whole crab. It was kind of like doing a dissection. I know that it is nerdy to inspect the anatomy of your food, but the whole process was so fascinating. Plus the crab was good.

That night we drove to Central Oregon to visit David's sister. We woke up the next day and had a great breakfast and then headed out for a hike. The weather this day was perfect. By the end of the hike I had even taken my hoody off, which is saying a lot for me.

Central Oregon


David's parents had to go home that night, but we stayed to play with the family a little longer. We played basketball with Leah and Mitch and their three kids still at home. We played girls against guys. It was pretty even. Later David kept kicking my trash at ping-pong. Although I am getting better. Then we played Settlers. I didn't know all the rules, otherwise I would have won, but it was a lot of fun.

The next day David and I headed for Pendleton, Oregon. We stopped and hiked on our way. We saw this sign for the land we went hiking on. We thought David's dad might like it so we sent him a picture.



Then we drove the rest of the way to Pendleton. The next morning we went hiking out in the hills. We didn't get a chance to go explore this the last time I was there. It was such amazing country. We got all dressed up in camouflage, so we could be sneaky. It was fun to see where David got to adventure when he was growing up. Although I was a little jealous.

David's play ground Pendleton, Oregon


We saw over a 150 elk, white tail deer, and mule deer on our hike. I was getting really good at spotting them by the end. There were a couple herds I pointed out that David was pretty impressed by.

As we were hiking we found some antler sheds. As couple were from mule deer and the others were white tails. We didn't find any recent sheds. You had to pay close attention to spot them in the trees and grass. Some of them that we found were hidden pretty well.

Deer sheds


We were out hiking around from about 11:30 a.m. to almost 6:00 p.m. We hiked in and out of quite a few draws. Sometimes I would look back at what we had just hiked down and was amazed. Then I remembered that at some point we would be hiking back up something just as steep. It was a good work out for sure. It was great to get out in nature after being stuck in school for so long.

The next day was pretty lazy. We laid around for most of the day. I read a book and we listened to David's dad read some books later. Then we watched a movie. Overall I ate some great food and saw some gorgeous country. The company was good and I got a break from school.

David drove me back to Portland the next morning. My plane was delayed and I got into Salt Lake City about an hour late. Then I went and had dinner with a good friend. I stayed in SLC and went to church with Christopher and Laura the next day. Then it was back to Pocatello. I didn't want to come back to school, but it was time. Now I just have to make up for the week of play. It was completely worth it though.