Wait. He's NOT graduating??

Dr. Cornwall and I convinced 3 people to let us tape their feet and to run 2mi a day all week. Our research study is going well, although I'm interested to hear feedback from our counterparts in Tucson who were so enthusiastic about this tape job in the first place.

Roger shaved after he killed his elk on Tuesday. 

Tuesday afternoon I was able to volunteer for the first year Foundations lab as a fake patient, "Betty". I was an extremely talkative woman with severe weakness and some cognitive deficits. It was fun being a very realistic, off track, chatty New Yorker (apparently) - although I would've told me to shut up long before those kids built up the nerve.

That whole days was kind of rough since I ran to the gym at 5:30 and got back after volleyball "tryouts" around 10. But we found some good people to fill in on our team, so Val and I were both happy (and so exhausted) after our games on Wednesday. Makes a difference when people serve over the net and also hustle.

The best tasting hobby Roger has. 

I spent my first day of clinicals at the hospital's cardiac ICU with Mark. He is a wonderful preceptor and we had a lot of fun even though all of our initial plans went down the drain (la vie missionnaire). It almost made me want to do a rotation there. Definitely way cooler than I expected.

Me. I would do this. 

Thursday was another long day, but Palmer bought me breakfast after helping load chairs at 6am, then the Journal Club bought me breakfast for showing up for Taylor's article discussion. Which brought up some useful points. We had a full day of classes and then I had work, which is getting better now that I have real patients.

In honor of Lindsey's birthday, we went to Karaoke Night at Monte Vista's. It started late, but it was a blast. And almost everyone there performed exceptionally well. I was impressed and also glad I didn't sign up. Roger came late and we ended up singing and dancing there until around midnight with almost our entire PT class.

I just liked this picture. 

Which meant I was tired and cranky all Friday, but I managed to make it to basketball and do decently well. And make it through classes, a video project, and an important capstone meeting without anything going terribly amiss. After that, I was rushing around getting shiz done until Brandi got off work nearly 2 hours late. We picked up Jasmine, her dog, and her 3 suitcases and headed to the ward campout. We stayed for food and to make sure Jasmine was set up before heading back. I chilled with Roger for a bit and watched him working on building a pretty nice TV stand from scratch.

Saturday, Brandi and I had a good day of work until 12. Roger picked me up so we could head down to PHX for his best friend's white coat ceremony (NOT graduation). We chilled with Carson and his family, I outponged Roger, and ate all of their food. They are good people. We made a detour to Prescott on the way home to drop off some bread and get a much-needed dosage of Paisley before almost falling asleep on the way home.

Why Stay on the Path?

Mountain lions. They're terrified of paths.

My new motto in school and life is: Don't commit, don't care. And it's going really well for my stress levels. You know what isn't good for my stress levels? Teachers that randomly throw exams and practicals at us. Or whose "quizzes" are actually 110 minutes of exam.

Dr. Cornwall and I started our research study this week. We're investigating a tape job the inventor claims will last for a whole week. With our first subject, it barely lasted two days, so we'll see how that goes moving forward.

Broccoli fritters - a successful attempt to get Brandi to eat veggies. 

I went hunting with Roger and heard some elk calls, which sound like children screaming if you were wondering. It got too dark for him to shoot by the time we found them, so it was unfruitful. But we did celebrate Amy's and Ryan's kills with elk burger. (Good thing, bc Amy's first kill was stolen.) I helped skin the elk a little and Grams asked if this was unusual for me - to which I replied, "Kind of. I'm used to doing this to humans."

Brandi and I officially started work. And had no patients until Saturday, when we met a delightful jumper with every injury you can think of. She said she'll be coming in more often now that she knows we're there.

Since I had some time Wednesday (my clinicals start next week), I went to the library. For the first (and hopefully only) time in my graduate career. I was researching the Vendel period of Sweden, which is pre-vikings and also the period in which my ancestor Ingvar the Tall lived (and died, at age 98, in battle). Carolyn asked me to write her a family history article and so that's what it's about.

Weapons Ingvar used. 

I showed up at the activity Friday night, because I am on the committee and felt obligated. But felt good about leaving early for homemade spaghetti and an entire gallon of OJ with Roger. (Sorry Rog, did you want some?)

Hungry Hungry Hippos.

I'm finally off meds, although still have some residual effects of the plague that I'm suffering through. I started working out again at the end of the week and my strength training went well, but my pickup basketball did not. So I went to work on some stuff Saturday in between studying.

My favorite annual activity is the Navajo celebration. I don't have to plan it, I learned more about the coming-of-age ceremony (also featured on Morgan Freeman's The Story of God on Netflix), and I eat unlimited Navajo tacos. Delicioso.

Twofer

The first day I can remember is last Wednesday. It was a sunny day, no different than any other. But it was the day I had to get my flu shot so I could also get a badge to volunteer at the hospital for school. Afterwards, Brandi and I went around to several businesses, fundraising for GoBIG for Parkinson's, the annual race we put on.

Abbie wanted to get rid of some bread,
so we suggested this duck pond in town. 

Skip to Friday, we had a program BBQ (at which I was first in line, and quickly promoted to supervising manager). The food was excellent and I got to meet Lindsey's mom. But she mentioned that the flu shot had kicked her butt for a few days and I noticed my throat was a little scratchy.

Saturday I spent the morning successfully baking bread and making cheese, despite feeling unusually fatigued, with a sore throat. Roger and I enjoyed delicious Caprese sandwiches and then I took a nap.

Sandwiches. Yum. 

Sunday went downhill quickly. I left church after an hour and slept for the next three, waking only because I knew the Tilley's had prepared a delicious meal for us. Which I struggled to swallow because my throat had become like the trash chute from Star Wars. Then we went home and I went to sleep immediately.

Lemon Tea, a Roger special. I didn't hate it - which means a LOT.

Monday I went to class from 8-5, per usual, and hated it (also normal). I told my teachers to expect little to nothing from me. Then I went home and slept. Also had a delightful chat with Lauren Gertrude Bellon, who is single. I did it again Tuesday, but I got Roger to help me out with a blessing.

There she is. Gents??

Wednesday I woke up at 4a.m. and couldn't sleep because it hurt so bad to swallow. So I looked up how much various doctor's visits and meds might cost. In the end, I just had Brandi look in my throat (she's had strep 12+ times) and called a friend to prescribe me some antibiotics, which I had within the hour. Because turns out my flu had turned into strep.

Nice rack. -Grampy

And have since made me feel significantly better. Just in time for Friday Desserteenth. Abby, JR, Ciera, Erin, Lizzy, and Conner all came over and everyone brought a special dessert to share. This might have to be a repeat event.

Saturday, I had my first intro to hunting with Aunt Carol. We were just trying to glass elk from the top of a hill for Ryan. He didn't see a good bull that he liked, but he's got time.

The badlands.

I also watched the Netflix show Tall Girl, which I found highly unrealistic. Nobody makes fun of tall people bc first of all, it's cooler than being short, and second - we would crush them. Also the milk carton thing? I nearly threw a brick at my TV.

Today I gave a talk at church with Dave Brewton. It went well. Jesus lives.

Last First Day of School

First week of classes in the bag and it could've been worse, honestly. I still cannot listen to people talk for eight hours, but I can find free food for most lunches and dinners throughout the week. (One of which was a delicious roast Roger made). I met a Tahitian girl who's here on exchange for a year so we'll be French buddies. And I talked to my best friend Lauren Bellon, who needs to quit her job.  Also I did HW all night. Every night. For the rest of my life.

Brandi wasn't ok with leaving the shower curtain hanging by dental floss. 

Brandi, Ciera, and I took some time off to go fishing and I lost 2 rapalas, but found 2 more things. I also had a meeting with Cherisse, from NAU Sports Med to talk about my new job opp. And I chatted with Mark about my research gig. Then I talked to the first years about this race I'm organizing in October. It's gonna be a fun year.

A salamander and a worm. 

For Labor Day weekend, I went camping with the Letners. There were games, grub, and plenty of hugs. Rog and I went adventuring and I beat him in knife throwing. (Right before he beat me in the same game). I made some Enemies and some friends (mainly Swanny) and Chad is still not invited to my birthday party. Speaking of which, I gave the Zubster a call for her birthday while she was in her birthday suit. Then I got a free coffee table.

Last chill day of our lives.