Babies and Booties and Bulldogs, Oh My!

I went to church with the Merrells - as a third, forgotten child. A short drop and a sudden stop later and I was in California. We always have a good time together - spittin' game and eating delicious food. Even the ham.

MVP & The White Crayon

Christmas Eve included a classic The Santa Clause viewing (sans deek) and yet another feast and the Hennsley gift-opening extravaganza. Shennsley's been dogsitting for a lady, so I got to help out with that. Almost as fun as waking up to Ponce tryna pounce on your face. Almost.

A cat's the only cat who knows where it's at. 

Christmas was full of surprises. Including a llama head that I always (?) wanted and also that Hannah is pregnant and Kevin has a booty. What's next - Derek has money? I have a date? Greg quits the church? Ludicrous, all of it. The Family Christmas Skype was just as crazy as usual, outside of the big reveals. Love these kids. Heaven help anyone near us when we finally reunite. I was introduced to my new favorite holiday movie, Pottersville - about a werewolf. And I played a GOT card game that I didn't hate (mostly because I won 2/3).

The top right is a mirror view of the CT computer
so we could see all the Elder Hutchins' at once.
Somebody with IT experience please come at once. 

I left pretty quick Wednesday morning so I could make it to Flagstaff by night. I stopped to view the Cabazon dinosaurs real quick and got a beautiful recreation of my visit from Moriah after I sent her pics. I also stopped by Swing to get some needling in my shoulders mid-drive, and pick up a kid who needed a ride. Record timing and I hate driving. (Long distances).

Jurassic Life. 

Thursday was a big clean-up day. I cleaned out everything and now have a big sack that can be donated. I also started an electronic clean-out, but it's going to take me a while to finish projects, catch up on CEUs, and clear out my hard drive. Maybe I can get through most of it in the next two weeks. Maybe.

I been tryna stop here for AGES. 

We had dinner with the missionaries where I tried to use the instaPot to make spaghetti. Did NOT work out like Derek showed me. Gonna have to work on that. It snowed mid-dinner and since Flag is terrible at clearing snow off the roads, it was pretty dangerous. I fishtailed once, in a very controlled manner, and got home safely.

Spot the dino. (Hint: it's labelled.)

I kept on with the cleaning out and finishing projects on my to-do list. It's liberating to get some of these things off. And I even worked out. The trebuchet is almost done. Several books are almost ready to be shelved. And I got some free wings and football from Palmer - but riding horses is still on the bucket list. Guess I can't die yet.

Flannels for a trip to Home Depot to
get supplies for the trebuchet. 

'Tis A Goodly Number of Trebuchets, m'Lord

Well it has been a glorious week. I've been crashing at the Brewton's house - which has been lovely and warm and filled with comfortable beds I can sleep on. I love it.

There are no people there - only one nice dog - so I've been able to work on so many projects. I've been writing and reading and working on my mini trebuchet. It's almost done. Don't look too close, and you might be impressed.

New album in the works, lol.

I played basketball and went running on a nice loop and took the dog for walks and hit the gym hard. I made cookies and enchiladas and bread. We watched movies and played games and I kicked people out whenever I wanted.

Greg was driving through to visit David Monson, my bitter enemy and his best friend, in Phoenix, so I convinced him to stop by. We played four hours of Totally Insane and I didn't hate it too bad.

Friday, I drove down to Phoenix myself and reconnected with the Miller family. One sealing, one in the works, two endowments, and a mission call to come. Exciting times. I also met up with my old work buddies. I love them and it was fun to eat their food and tell them how much I loved school in words, angry faces, and rap.

This is the catapult. 

Then I hit up Jacob's wedding reception and caught up with some old friends there, including Braeden, who is now the proud owner of a custom Mustang Bullitt. I'm in love. Becca and I hit up a movie night and saw a few more of the kids.

Saturday involved an early morning trip to the temple before a jaunt out to Tempe. There my friend Peter, whose age I have been sworn never to divulge, has been gutting his new house and it's coming along nicely. What a guy.

Yum. 

Hannah graciously housed me in exchange for playing ping pong with Jacob (and getting smushed - but only 50% of the time). We made treats and watched Last Crusade. I crashed and then went to church with them before the long drive out to California, ending the week at my "favorite place". Derek and Shannon's new apartment with a bedroom, elevator, and only one sketchy alley where I was terrified to drive my car. We watched a little Angie Tribeca and had some delicious food and good times.

Only Two Years Left

I've never studied this much in my entire life. I feel like it was worth it, because I'm pretty sure I did well on my exams, but I was literally going crazy. Like you eventually get to a point where the mantra ihatethisihatethisihatethis is just running through your head over and over as you try to cram more and more into your head with some semblance of sanity.

I'm ready for break, is what I'm trying to say.

The kids.

And I really didn't want to stick around long during our after party. Just long enough for some free food. Then I headed out to the Brewton's, a lovely couple who's dog I'm watching for two weeks. Their house is beautiful and their dog is nice. Ok, ok, I'm ready to move in whenever they are.

Sister Whetton, our Institute lady, is moving and needed some help around the house. Lizzy and I geared up to power wash the house and the barn. We fixed some loose nails around the sides. And between jobs, we found some nice throwing hatchets that we put to good use. (And also permanently damaged due to our immense strength and terrible aim.)

She's got a lot of work to do, but she's doing it.

I worked a shift at ye olde campus bookstore. It was cake. I forgot how easy those kinds of jobs are. But they also pay less and aren't as fun. Get me some LAT gigs.

I somehow convinced Roger into feeding me with the missionaries, so I got some nice deer (probably) steak. At some point on the way over, the GPS just cuts out, so you've got to follow the antlers to find his place, but it's not too hard. We had the crew over for a bonfire and someone let me be deejay - specifically requesting the Ice Cube song I quoted in my talk last Sunday. (Which was a riotous success.)

Right on target with a broken shaft. 

Saturday was a much needed recovery. I was so productive. I went running. I finished traffic school. I read a book. I did yoga. I practice some new piano pieces. I wrote a book. I read parts of another book. I was going to work on my trebuchet but somebody (aka Jacob Bartholemew Fisher) left his drill at work. And we had a movie night and watched Hitch. Classic.

It's hard to see, but I picked out my Christmas tree (right hand).
It's a tumbleweed called Larry and it's the best AZ can offer.

Runnin' This Shiz, Both Legs Broke

Everyone's going a little crazy here. We had 2 presentations, 3 practicals, and a few written exams this week. (And it's not even finals week yet - but how else are we gonna squeeze in 3 exams per class?) Foundations practical was the most fun because we just got a scenario and had to play therapist for a minute. Anatomy cadaver practical was the most stressful because there is just so much information and not enough time to know everything.

We had to write each other gratitude cards in our clinical communications class, which took FOREVER, but it was real nice to get them back. A little stress reliever. I made people laugh AND cry AND cry from laughing. So, win.

All my free time was spent studying. Usually anatomy, but we did borrow some wheelchairs and lofstrand crutches to practice with. Also I crushed Jake at ping pong and he/Brandi barelyyyy crushed me at foosball. (Which doesn't really make sense - they really should've beaten me by a higher margin.) Then I studied more and got free homemade cinnamon rolls from Mark Moore.

I also finished my ortho clinic with our patient with hip OA and a CAM lesion. She's delightful and I hope she keeps it up. And I got all set up so I can work over break. And I researched some incredible and dangerous things to do, so get ready.

The worst part of the week was our interprofessional development course on Friday afternoon - right after our anatomy cadaver practical. The guy was too happy, the food too scarce, and the information just a one-day repeat of our clin comm class. I love networking, but this meeting had bad timing and was less useful to me than previous courses I've taken.

But Friday night was for relaxing. The institute took us ice skating and I was alright by the end and only fell twice. And all my joints hurt afterwards, but it was soothed with pizza and wings and the presence of Brandi, and Katelyn, and a particularly delightful human named Lindsey. Afterwards, a group of us went to Mason's house where we watched Home Alone and Jake brought cookies and chocolate milk and Mason let me lay down on his v comfy mattress and use his fluffiest pillow (not the one with the reindeer. Moose? lol.)

Bry was baptized on Saturday! It was the cutest thing and I'm so happy for her. And the afterparty was only ruined a little bit by a child throwing up down the length of the hallway outside the room. Then we studied some more. And we had delicious BBQ cauliflower and chicken tacos to celebrate the end of our practicals with Ciera and Erin. The cutest. And then we crushed them at Cards Against Humanity. I like it so much better than Apples to Apples.

Creed II: Must View

The good news is that there's only 1.5 weeks left of class. The bad news is that during that time, I have approximately 3 exams in each of my classes. And volleyball season is over.

This is my morning run. (On the way home.)

I did a lot of studying for a mini exam this week, kind of a preview. Also prepared for some final presentations in video and slide format. Took some quizzes and actually did pretty well. And that about sums up my school life, which actually takes up 80% of my time, but isn't as interesting because all I do is study.

Friday, we had a poetry night and Jake and I wrote haikus about every topic in the bowl. Here are my haikus:

On awkward RMs:

Music is bad and

All the ward girls have cooties

My name is Mason

On gaining weight:

Pure horror comes cuz

My mother bought my meal plan

The freshman fifteen

On getting stood up:

Welcome to Chili’s

Um hey, should we keep waiting?

A table for one

On my FinAid not going through:

Negative dollars

Bank account isn’t happy

No tacos for me

On getting pulled over:

Flashing red and blue

Sweet talking an angry man

Oh, it didn’t work 

On slipping on ice:

SOS Man down 

Can’t even make it to class

Winter slip n slide

On dating:

Where are all the men

I see only twelve year olds

Hello spinsterhood

Saturday was our 3v3 tournament, which was so fun but exhausting. My team did pretty well and ended up winning half our games and losing the others by a point. By game six we were so tired, we were garbage. 10/10 would repeat. Especially the wings/pizza post. Also I bruised several fingers in weird spots.

This is peak adulthood. 

I had an interview for a seasonal position at the bookstore, made enchiladas, and hit up pub night with Brandi and all the kids that interviewed today. Then we met up with the crew to watch Creed II. WHICH IS ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES I'VE SEEN. The sports. Michael B Jordan. The music. Ugh. Critics are raving.

Turkey's Not The Only Thing Gettin Roasted

All I know is the first couple days of this week were wack - trying to finish assignments and prep for a big test and then still pay attention to the new stuff. Foundations lab was more fun than usual because we got to roll around on a mat, but it was still rough before Thanksgiving break.

Terrible pictures always ensue. Love it.
And yes, I'm still allergic to games. 

Brandi and I drove to her grandma's place in Kanab, where I fell asleep real fast in front of the wood burning stove. Love.

Then we stopped in Panguitch to gas up and ran into Jake! (and family.) We made plans to meet up again in Beaver for ice cream and cheese curds (as one does). But they didn't want to have dinner at Cafe Rio with us too, so we just met some of Brandi's friends.

This is a candy cane factory that took us wayyy too long to figure out. 

Thanksgiving at Ben & Joy's was a party. Sarah, Emma, and Hunter were there, plus a couple of friends who didn't think joking about incestual cousin-dating was funny at all. Weird. I ate so many potatoes and watched MI3 before I could fit in dessert. Lauren even joined the party eventually.

My favorite of all the trees. 

We kept the new Netflix show The Final Plate on in the background all day and I warmed my toes up by the fire. Joy killed the Christmas decorations and Hunter killed our cousin date (feeding us steak and taking us - and Lauren - to see the lights at Spanish Fork).

I love how the whole fam knows that if I'm in UT, Lauren's hanging out too.

I did go running on the non-holidays, and Joy told me all about this lovely hill called Battle Creek. The uphill was a fun challenge. The downhill threatened to severe my patellar tendons from their attachment site. She promised to show me the easier downhill next go-around.

This is a view from the top.

After the run, I helped clean Joy's cupboards. (I love cleaning for her because she lets me throw things away.) Then we all went to Meg Hay's futsol game, which was freezing, but fun. And we ate delicious soup and rolls and Lauren and I went to the temple and the creamery (so we could introduce Graham Canyon ice cream). And we came back to a full house of children!

The literal weirdest. 

 So after a minute, we went to the Bellon's residence to finish watching the BYU football game - which despite the inspiring start, ended in disappointment. As usual. Then Lauren let me sleep on her couch underneath Hani and Donny and coming soon, Ronnie.

"Wait! Let me look at you lovingly!"

We made French toast and crashed a linger longer and wrecked a girl for her lack of geographical knowledge. And then Brandi and I drove for hours and hours and hours. We enjoyed a 4-for-4 on her grandma and didn't enjoy anatomy and told crazy stories all the way home.

Nice sky.

Friendsgiving

I'm in 'break' mode already and it's no good. Fun for me now, though. A group of amigas took a long drive up to Horseshoe bend early Monday morning (since we had no class). I loved it. I got to scurry all over the red rock and then had a great burger and ice cream afterwards.

It looks a little better in the afternoon, but then
there's more people. Pick your poison. 

Home. Vive la France. (#missionversary)

Then I took a nap. I'm doing that a lot lately. And then another group met up at the Institute for a few rounds of Ghosts in the Graveyard - during which I cut myself several times, but never got caught. So win/win/win. We convinced Alexi to make monkey bread somehow, so by the time we were finished, we had some delicious snacks.

My one party trick.

We cleaned up our "Ghost" setup straight into a fort in the middle of the room. We all snuggled up real close and turned on Nacho Libre - a classic. Which was much enjoyed until a few classmates arrived for some proactive help on anatomy.

"All of those things are my favorite things to do Every. Day."

Tuesday volleyball was good practice for Wednesday, although I still didn't do as well as I wanted. Also we lost. I keep getting extremely tired by the end - which means we have some really good rallies and I expend too much energy hyping.

AT in the works. Also if anyone ever says they have a high pain tolerance,
Do Not Believe Them.

My first ortho clinic was interesting. I automatically focus on muscle imbalances as an ATC, which is good, but I need to focus more on big picture kind of stuff. I learned some new things and tried some different techniques and it was a good time. (I also evaluated my friend with an EHL strain - which made me super hyped.)

Nobody else wanted to be ridiculous with me, that's fine.

The Little America hotel put its Christmas lights up this week, so we took advantage day 2. No free hot chocolate, but we convinced Jake to share his fries and buy us cookies. Mason taught me the friendship walk and I became a bench. We took some real nice squad pics in the lights and didn't even get frostbite.

Highlight for all but Sam, who hates dinosaurs. 

We hit up the store real quick and hung out at the Fisher's casa for a minute. Mama Fish is the nicest, Papa Fish is an admitted creepster, but we love him anyways. It was a good time with good friends.

Creepiest Santa you've ever seen.

Squad.

The activity of the century went down Friday night - a Bob Ross-instructed paint night. It took a lot of preparation and technical know-how, but it went really well. And with garlic bread and Capri Suns for snacks - where can you go wrong? Great turnout, even if the paintings didn't turn out great.

Who won?

Saturday was an early morning to the temple, but everyone made it home AND back. And we got Mexican, so the tradition stands. I took a nap while Brandi cooked a ham and then we met up for the Friendsgiving feast. Food makes me so happy.

Friendsgiving 2k18

We ended with Creed - a great, post-Rocky sequel that had me HYPE. Can't wait for the new one to come out and also the next time I can sleep on Mason's mattress.

The Fab Five (ANOTHER ONE??)

LIFE. IS. GOOD. My best friends are the cutest RMs. We cook and play sports and do missionary work. And I'm so glad they let me be their friend. I love them so much.

Mason and Jake hooked me up with rides to basketball and a surprise mission/baptism party for our friends Ramsi, Braylen, and Janelle. We watched part of the new Jumanji and ate ice cream.

Look at him. I can't handle it. 

Roger came in clutch for that Wednesday morning bball - even if I haven't quite figured out how to play him yet. Then Brandi and I got split up for complex cases this week and we both left feeling very frustrated. A feeling which continued through volleyball with Sam. I'm the hype man on the court, fo sho.

I finally got my car back - with tires rated 0/32 and dangerous bubbling. It's fine. I made it to the store and to Brandi's house, where Jake, Brandi, and I made some dang good enchiladas. Mason finally came in clutch with the brownies and his friend Jenna (who is the cutest). The missionaries loved it (probably) and we loved having them. [Also Jake did in fact bring his drill for my trebuchet, which I forgot.]

STUD. Date this kid. 

Friday I fixed my tires and my phone and life was almost set. I met the FOURTH amigo, Jason, who was visiting from Utah. We played some Nintendo 64 and I crushed at the throwing knives Golden Gun version. Is anyone surprised?

On the way to Brandi's, I got a ticket. (Still, nobody's surprised, although I was mad because it was barely 10 over and it was on a steep decline where I was trying to obey the law.) I ate some leftover enchiladas to feel better and we made Mason a Mutual account.

Mason also took videos of this whole thing
and maybe was a bit disappointed that I didn't cry.
(This ain't my first rodeo, kid.)

We headed back to the Institute for pizza and Hercules. 'Twas a good time. (Also, side note - I had my car back so I actually made it to Friday morning basketball again. Love.) We helped clean up - and only dragged our friends and not the chairs.

Saturday morning, we made waffles with Jason, Chase, and Mason who all had the cutest bedhead. And we went on a spontaneous hike in Sedona to the Devil's Bridge. The way up was nice, the way down was tolerable. I took a nap.

This was just as terrifying as it looks.

And showed. So that we could all meet back up again (with Jake, this time) for Janelle's baptism - which was the cutest thing I'd ever been to and I only cried like six times. I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK. The gospel is freaking true and I'm so happy.

Sunday was also fun because I did double church again so I could hear Mason's talk. Skyped the madre and MoriahGraceHutchins real quick. Did second church. Announced some things. Helped the missionaries out for a hot minute. And made it back for the RS meeting. Took ANOTHER nap. Made dinner. And then did ice cream and nice notes - which I think was a roaring success. 10/10 would do again.

Squad. 

Spooky Season

I folded and bought an air mattress for my bed. I don't love it. Jury's still out for a while. We'll see. 

The big news of the week is that my car is still out of commission with no foreseen return to play date on the calendar. Not because it's unfixable - just because it seems like there's terrible communication and no hurry to do so. As per usual, I'm in a fighting mood, so now the shop just won't answer my calls.

My teachers are better than your teachers.

But being carless is really only an issue for sports or recreational activities. There was no volleyball this week and no basketball Monday, I got a ride Wednesday, and missed Friday. It could've been worse, but it's not a habit I'd like to promote. Get my car done. Please.

It also put a damper on my Halloween festivities. Instead of going trick-or-treating all night, I went to Lizzy's birthday party at an Indian restaurant (not mad) and then went to the Clark's house. We chilled a while and I came out with pockets bursting with Reese's - the only candy I actually care about. So it turned out alright.

Stoop Dogg and Dr. Dray(naud's disease) #PThumor

We have tests every week and they're all so huge that they don't faze me anymore. I studied. I studied for future tests and current quizzes and took a test and also a nap. Grad school life, man.

Friday was the long-awaited PT Halloween party and it was pretty fun. Also, the costumes were a success and my only regret is that a walker isn't super conducive to the dance floor. Did not think about that one. But the kids did a great job and even made hot apple cider special for the Mormons. (Ahem. MembersoftheChurchofJesusChristofLatter-daySaints.)

Today someone checked out my IG and
said I was a huge nerd. Is anyone surprised.

Mason helped me solidify the base of my trebuchet, with future plans to continue. He taught me some math, wore a flannel to Home Depot, and has sent me the same picture of me ignoring an unhelpful garden gnome at LEAST six times.

Brandi and I did another movie night. We played Clue and then watched Clue. With popcorn and rootbeer floats. 10/10 would do again. Even if I lost Clue (barely).

I Don't Think You're Ready for This Jelly

It was a good week of sports and my body doesn't feel terrible. Cierra balled up, Palmer got taken to school, and our city league is getting there. However, I came to a realization this weekend when I was camping. When sleeping on an air mattress in a car is more comfortable than your own bed, there is a problem. So I bought myself an air mattress. We'll see how that goes. 

Brandi and I also made so many friends with our Starburst-roasting technique. We just sat by the fire the whole night, whittled some real good pokers, and just asked everyone who came near us if they wanted to try something incredible and dangerous. 13/15 people say it's life-changing.

NAU DPT 2020 at GOBig (last week). 

Normally I really enjoy my cadaver lab, but this week was super frustrating. Still drained from our tests last week and preparing for more - on the longest day of the week - our body had some persistant adhesions. Never fear, Lab 1A is still CLUTCH.

You know who else is clutch? The Sox. Almost killed me on Friday with the 18-inning game, but we made it through. During our practical exam this week, I told my patient that any Dodgers fans needed an extra cognitive/psychological exam and he said Guess who just failed their practical? It's good to talk smack. It's even better when your team backs you up.

The only reason I participated is because Brandi suggested
we do some Red Sox carving.

A surprise for our teacher on Monday. 

Katelyn and I shadowed together at the Peaks on Wednesday - an inpatient nursing facility. It was alright, we got to see some evaluations and some dank wounds get suctioned. I met a delightful man who had trouble hearing and another woman who was hilarious.

I noticed that the PT with whom I was working missed several opportunities to joke around and connect with several of the patients. Which kind of threw me off. She was very professional the whole time and I wondered if that was her personality or a coping mechanism because she doesn't work with consistent patients or what. But it made me think a little, since that's such a natural reaction of mine.

Bimonthly movie night the First. 

Including some sketch pumpkin carvings. 

Finally we actually had a movie night that we'd been trying to plan for a while. We made these humans hang out with us all night and they weren't even mad. We carved pumpkins and had floats and we watched She's the Man - which is a classic, for those missing out. 'Twas a good time. Until my power steering went out. Again.

Sunday morning I met up with Lindsey's BFF from Colorado and we had a delightful brunch of French toast and OJ. Then I hung out with our other PT friend Hannah and listened to Brandi's talk in Sacrament together. The Lord asked for 2 hours a week, and I'm doubling it today. #DoDamage.

The Crew #demBois

P-A-R-T-Y