A break. (with limited pictures or forewarning)

 I delayed my spring break one week so I could head up north and visit some family and friends. I met up with Lauren, my best friend, on Sunday night. We visited her grandparents, ate Cafe Rio, and were spoiled with ice cream the size of our heads (literally). 

Sorry you can't see Lauren in this picture
(she's behind the ice cream). 

We had a Provo chins reunion with my friends Maddy and Lauren (the BFF, specified) and the Deek Chins, the Gryg Chins (minus Mac because she had school), and the scrub chins (Jimmy and the Bone Daddy). We chatted and ate some grub and explored the Provo House. Derek even introduced us to his new convo starter (What are your thoughts on beastiality?) and Trevor kissed all of our heads. 

Wednesday I was introduced to the world of Crossfit and I didn't hate it. I also did pretty well in the workout because the competition piece at the end was cardio and deadlifts - which are things I can do pretty easily. I attended 3 sessions including a mock open, learned to snatch, and watched Maddy crush the open 21.3/21.4 - she is a beast. 

Matched her PR after a ridiculous workout. 

I ate breakfast with Roger's sisters in Provo - unlimited French toast at Kneaders (and I think I got my money's worth). I helped Maddy study a bit and picked up my 3 pairs of (free) socks at the mall and hung out with Carolyn in the cutest house ever. She taught me about photography and business and we made experimental cookies and reminisced. 

Lauren and I played so many games (which explains why she fits in with the Hutchins so well). And I had 3 different people (not including Lauren) who commented about how she was basically in our family. Trevor even asked where she was when I initially showed up without her. Honorary Hutchins - I can think of nobody better for the title. She is funny and has killer dance moves and isn't settling for a mediocre back massager, which is my favorite thing about her. 

Good people. 

Mallory and I convinced the Roneys to hang out with us for a bit to gossip about all of our mission friends and catch up on my marriage and Mallory's "marriage". (He's in prison, so is he real?) And then we met up with Lauren again for a chins movie night and pizza with Trevor's secret and now official GF, Amy/Jamie. 

Lauren and I watched the Lamb of God in theaters, which was different than I expected, but still good. (That oboer thooooo). And we got the weirdest nothing dessert at Vampire Penguin. We made Hunter bring his GF to us (since he stood me up earlier) and we (again) played so many games. There were so many things we didn't have time for (photoshoots, dance choreo, etc), but it was fun to relax and spend some time with some good people. And make sure Lauren and I got to see each other once this year. (I sure hope we're still friends after this...)

Coolest bday ever. 

After a late start, I drove all the way to Mesquite, NV so I could play in this sweet ball pit Markies built. And eat his ribs. And pick Hannah's brain on artsy stuff. And, apparently, experience allergies for the first time in my life. The good news is that Aurora kind of remembers me and was really excited to show me her room and eat her baby powder. She's a good kid, if, a little dramatic. 

I'm a PAID Doctor.

 As promised, I stayed on for one week with Carter Rehab while Brooke the PTA was on spring break. And it was fun. I worked for real at a job I'm good at for a wage that's reasonable for my skill set. WHAT A GREAT TIME. I could do that again. And Joe got to take a couple days to go fishing, so I'm sure he could too.

The hat cut (level 1). 

Roger and I were happy to welcome Lindsey and TJ - my fellow doctors - into our house for a few nights. And Roger was especially grateful for the Mountain Dew and hair clippers (which we immediately put to use). And I was just happy to catch up with my friends. They are wonderful people and great company. 

(he missed). 

In between work and visitations, we went to two (2) basketball games, including the state championships, which the Sand Devils won. I spent the whole time taking pictures on the floor to preserve my eardrums. Which apparently isn't allowed, but nobody even tried to stop me. 

The proudest brother. 

Done-zo. I'm a doctor.

Remember how I now have a group of old people pickleball friends? Well, they actually really like playing volleyball, they just didn't have access to a court. Well, thanks to some smooth talking to my old SP, I now am the owner of a stake center key (which I share with 2 other people that help organize sports groups out here). So we got to play on Monday. 

Casa Grande, AZ. First preserved monument.

These structures are made of adobe. AKA mud. Over 900y ago. 

And it was a blast. We played for almost 2 hours, switching up teams each time. Nobody got upset about anything and I got to slam the ball so many times. Also sprint around the court since we played 4's this week and traditional volleyball players are pretty lazy in their zone. It was a good workout and after icing both knees, I couldn't walk normal for 24 hours. 

The smaller monument, which you can't touch, but you can climb IN. 

Just being weird in an ancient adobe castle. 

On another note, Joe bought a copy of my new book, Cowboy Hank, and we had an official signing with a planned dramatic reading for my inservice (don't tell the officials). Most of my patients are fans, so that's cool. AND Stu told some of his friends who promptly bought the book and would like their copy signed as well. On the way up :)

Real smiles. You don't see those every day. 

Top of the butte. 

In other news, I am officially graduated AND I have my first paid gig coming up. This upcoming week is spring break and the PTA is going on vacation, so Joe agreed to hire me for an extra week to help him out a bit. Thus, I am postponing my vacation northward in favor of some fresh dough. 

We're getting better at this. 

 Never quite made it to the top. 

And since I didn't bail this weekend, I got to go down to Coolidge, AZ for Stu's semifinals HS basketball game. We left four hours earlier than needed, which was good because we were getting out of another historic snow storm in Flag. And we checked out the Casa Grande ruins as well as Poston Butte. We did find out (after some serious climbing around) that the pyramid on the top entombs Poston's relocated ruins. Poston is a guy who petitioned for AZ to be included as a territory originally. 

The halftime play. 

The Sand Devils won the game by a close enough margin to make things interesting. The highlight was like 3 seconds before half time, they called a play that ended in a perfectly timed alley-oop. I'm still working on getting the right camera settings, but they're improving. Afterwards, we had a 4h drive cut short by some closed roads due to snow, so we slept the night at Becky's house before driving back in the morning. It's now been several hours and we're all still TOASTED. 

T minus 1 week (still not counting; a recap)

Let me tell you how I feel about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I understand the Church is run by imperfect people that forget when you schedule meetings, are inefficient, and love to have as many meetings as possible. So I met with the missionaries 3 times and the same members of the RS twice (doing similar things each time). 

Just modeling for Vortex again. 

I will always climb into a cave when prompted. 

To be fair, I think the RS thinks that we're inactive since we go to another ward and we just got called as ward missionaries. BUT I have recently decided that my priorities are these: weekly sacrament / monthly temple > monthly service activity > meeting/playing with nonmember friends / family time > any other church meeting. Maybe that's a bad order, but it's where my priorities are right now and without it, I don't feel like I'd be much help to anyone. 

V nice. 

My bedroom, if I had lived 900y ago. 

In conjunction with the aforementioned, I am very tired. I realize I do nothing other than work a full time job and stress out currently, but I'm excited for a bit of a break before heading off into full-time paid work. That said, I'm slowly updating my resume and looking into job opportunities in the area. As well as a few potential side hustles. 

Cool splatter pain esque lichen. 

V windy also. 

My one extra day, we spent visiting Rattlesnake Crater. It's a short non-trail hike with some super cool ruins at the top (and NO snakes right now). Voyez.

Wow, check out that homemade leather gun belt. 

And that booty (which exists). Thanks, DLs. 

Let's go LAST WEEK EVER OF SCHOOL. Thank the Lord. 

I'm perfecting my stance and Rog's perfecting his timing. 

Big rock did not poke holes in my leggings. Bless.