Gratitude

This week has been a roller coaster for me: not getting enough sleep, spending hours doing "business" (phone calls to patients, emails, printing stuff from blackboard) for school rather than getting assignments done, deep cleaning two quadrants in one appointment-let me tell you, that's exhausting!, worrying about this weird rash I have, not having the time or energy to clean the house before Friday when Katie and Anthony were coming over, not getting my part of the group project done, having the weight of a talk for sacrament meeting tomorrow looming in front of me, and not preparing for the midterms and research paper I have due next week-ahhhh!


I could not have gotten though this week without the support of my gem of a husband. He left me a tender message on Thursday when I did the deep cleanings and went to the doctor about my rash. Incidentally, the rash is pitoryasis rosea, which is of unknow cause and will go away on it's own in a few weeks. On Friday I got out of class a bit early, so I was planning to clean the house and start dinner then before our friends came over but when I got home, everything was done! How he had time to do that, I did not know, but he had cleaned the whole house. I realize how much I needed his help, when I thought I had to do all of this stuff myself, after all, it's my school work, my social planning to invite people over, my rash. I get emotional just thinking about it. He is my best firend, and continues to amaze me with how well he knows how to take care of me. Thank you!!

Birthday Hike

View from "Rocky outcropping #3" Usually we stop at the first (here dotted with people) or second one.

Since one day of celebration just wasn't enough, and since it was high time to try a new hike, we hit the trails this past Saturday for a birthday hike. We were hoping to hike a 10 mile trail from Rattlesnake Lake off of exit 32 to Snoqualmie Point off of exit 27. The first part of this hike is not new to us, but the 8 miles beyond Rattlesnake ridge were new. Unfortunately, around mile 3 or 4 the trail was way too snowy for us and we wimped out. There were other people hiking it, but I was having a really hard time keeping my balance and not slipping. So yet again we were defeated by the snowy trails. (In February, we tried to hike Mt. Si and had to turn around because of slippery steep slopes--dan-ger-ous!) We'll have to try this again in a few months or get come crampons. We had a great time anyway and certainly felt the burn yesterday morning. You can see more pictures here.

At our stopping spot to eat lunch before turning around. There wasn't even anywhere to sit :(

My Birthday

So I turned 25 on last Wednesday! Yeah! Most of the day was pretty normal-just spent at school. When I was driving home I got a call from our cousin Katie, who invited us to go to the Mariner's game with her and her husband Anthony. We went and had a great time. I hadn't been to a baseball game for over 10 years-yeah I know I'm getting old-but it's the one sport that I can easily follow with out having to have the rules explained to me. It was a beautiful night and the Mariner's won, there was a grand slam and 400th home run of Ken Griffey Jr. hit.
Me and Katie with the Moose

Us at the game

I also got a package from my parents, which had a really pretty new skit and sweater, a sudoku handheld game and loads of candy. Awesome!!
They did a really good job taping it shut

A pitcure of my birthday bounty.
Thank you everyone for your well wishes, notes, cards and calls. I had a very nice birthday.

John Adams

Last night we finished watching the HBO mini-series about John Adams based on the book by David McCullough. I highly recommend it. Not only did it tell a fabulous story of this Founding Father that I personally didn't know much about except his name, it also was a great recreation of the time period. John Adams was a man passionate about doing what is right and was not shy about speaking his mind, even to the big-wigs in France and England.

Most other movies that I've seen set in this era glamorize the living conditions or don't accurately portray all the details. But this movie was different. No one wore make-up (except as the characters grew older to make the actors look old); the men who were at the Continental Congress were sweating as the real Founding Fathers were that summer of 1776. There was mud and smoke everywhere, and they showed the people doing a lot of the day to day chores that were part of life back then. So, the production was great, as was the story.

I feel like I have a much better understanding of what price was paid secure the freedom found in the United States of America. I hope to find more sources of American History that are not afraid to tell the story how it was and not try to romanticize the facts. I want the facts and the truth and feel like "John Adams" provides just that.

Flower time

From Bellevue Botanical Garden Friday:

From the Arboritum Thursday:

Good Changes

Sunlight-a very welcome change!

About four weeks ago, I went running on a whim. I didn't expect to do this regularly because of the time it takes away from studying. That first day I ran 3 miles and felt like it was going to kill me. I am happy to report that since then I have been able to go running regularly. Last Friday I ran five miles and felt great! I have been keeping track of my routes using mapmyrun.com. It took me a little while to familiraize myself with the site and I still don't like everything about it, but I can track mileage and get an idea of how many calories I burned. Since that first run in March I have logged over 50 miles and 4,000 calories. Let's hope it starts showing soon :)

Another good change is that our weather is finally improving. Jeff actually got a bit pink from being in the sun yesterday while we played aerobe. I'm suprised to note how much more lively I feel now that the sun is out and the weather is a bit warmer.

In floor news, I am convinced that I want to put tile in the area where we had the wood and keep the living room just how it is with carpet. Jefferson is warming up to the idea of tile, but we still have loads of research to do including getting high quality tile and pricing the tile and the labor to install it. I am invisioning a tile that is terra cotta colored.

My first week back at school went really well. The schedule this quarter is very nice so far: All but two Mondays are off, as are Thursday and Friday afternoons, and various Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons off too. This is because we do things for some classes in small groups and the groups rotate weeks they have class. Works for me!

For pictures, these are from the Bellevue Botanical Garden from Friday.