Christmas, part 1

 We have a good group (and a good mix) of people playing volleyball with us on Mondays. I went to the gym the other days, but it hit different because I was frustrated with my work schedule. Basically, they calculate how many "points" worth of visits I have to see based on what my schedule was like in August - when I wasn't driving 30-60 minutes between people.

How the chins decorate for Christmas.

But I made it to the white elephant (someone cancelled) and came back later that day to grab my catered lunch. I didn't get to play the game, but Jade pulled out a glass checker/chess set that will replace the old chess set we have. These parties are always a hit or miss. This one seemed like a miss overall - lots of weird junk so I lucked out. 

I paid 1$ for this portrait. @MintyFresh if you want.

Thursday was our family Christmas Eve, so we went on a surprise date. Roger took me to a local lingerie store (which he thought was super funny as a joke) and then the used book store. We got smoothies and picked out a bunch of new books for both of us. Obviously, I loved it. And I was super proud of the books I found (for Rog and myself). 

Hey want to go try on all of  Mom's clothes?

I worked Friday, but got off early enough for our family Christmas. (Since we were not about to bring our stuff to Colorado with us.) Roger loves his new waders and Red Sox tickets and headlamp and 'stuff'. I loved my pants and socks and food processor and Stanley 22oz anti-vibe framing hammer. Then we went to hang out with Collin and his friends for a holiday roast. It was fun. Mostly making fun of Collin. 

The happiest hunter. 

Rog and I flew out of Prescott to AZ and arrived with a frozen elk roast still in our bag. We immediately increased the chaos of the household by 20% at least. We drank all the juice and showed our in-laws what Christmas eve chaos is with choruses of WHAT IS IT? and WHAT'S IN THE BOX? and PUT IT ON! Needless to say, it was a classic chin party. I opened up some new slippers (probably so I stop stealing everyone else's). It was good to be home. 

Argentina vs France

We attended our first Sunday in the Walnut Canyon ward. I finally got an answer to why people don't like this ward - it's mostly old people who are pretty privileged and have a certain way to do things. Versus our old ward which was essentially brand new and super chill. I didn't have a great time because too many people tried talking to me like they had studied up on my history but forgot that we had never been introduced (hate) and then had a combined class with the YW/YM with an impromptu lesson because the YWP was in another class welcoming the incoming YW for next year and the teacher didn't show up and also the YM were in the same predicament. It did not go well. 

I learned a little more when I went to the YW Presidency meeting later that week. (Which was two hours long...) And basically took over - not because I was trying to, but they had a lot of problems they weren't sure how to resolve and my old presidency had some great ideas for them. Now we gotta implement. 

One more YW event this week - a white elephant at Chick-fil-A. (Back story: basically the ward had no definitive budget for the year and gave the YW $3000, so they made sure to use it. Also side note - somehow spent $3000 on 1 ward activity over the summer, so interested to see how the audits go...) My YW were glad we joined the new ward, if only for some nugs. 

We had a good turnout for VB this week - I am making more and more acquaintances who play, which is nice. We had a great time and laughed for most of it, while still playing some good rallies. The rest of my workouts were poorly motivated. Maybe after effects of being sick or hormonal sabotage. But Saturday, Becky and I had a great session at the gym and I helped her figure out her max deadlift and bench press to incorporate into our New Year workouts. 

Rog made some complaints recently about how we had no space for anything. So I cleaned. "Without his consent". Unfortunately, he came home before I took bags of stuff to Goodwill and then went through them and then all of the sudden really needed all that stuff in there. I'm still getting rid of a good chunk of stuff (mostly mine). I did, however, bring home a new couch with the help of Becky, the best moving partner ever. So had to make some room. 

Rog went duck hunting and fell through the ice trying to retrieve some duckies. He was freezing cold and his phone was dead. So we went to get him a new one. So obviously he was not in a good mood and will not be for the foreseeable future until the kinks are worked out. But on the bright side, Argentina won, and he skipped our church to watch the whole game. 

Ducks

Back at it again with the white vans. Work was fine - we're finally fully staffed again and everyone is up and running so we're getting more and more busy. 

Getting back into exercising post-strep (and minor knee injury) and played some volleyball and weight lifted and went to boxing class. I love heavy bag boxing. None of us are good at dodging or blocking or really anything defensive, so we try to be extra good at offense just in case we ever need to fight someone. 

Rog started playing city league and got creamed one game and then had an easy time the game that I watched. He's got a bunch of kids that we've been playing with for years on the team as well as some new blood. I know all the refs still so I had fun joking around with them. 

He's a pretty bird.

We went to our ward Christmas party - mainly for the food and then we were going to walk around a bit downtown with some hot chocolate. Some dude came to talk to us immediately and made it really hard to enjoy the food and then told me I had a calling. That was kind of the vibe on Sunday too and tbh I don't love that. It's my New Englander blood. I am perfectly ok NOT talking to people and will still have a great time. (All my YW and I decided we are staging a LV takeover of this new ward so that it's more fun.)

We went to Paislee's dance recital. I guess the studio does a few different shows throughout the day with different age groups. This was the young guys so it was kind of like the Nutcracker except Paislee's group was probably the rat pack, but like hip hop version? And randomly there was a group of piglets who are toddlers. Best part. 

He will also be a tasty bird.

Rog and I went on a duck hunting date where I got to try my waders out for the first time (since I bought them super cheap at a garage sale). They're wayy nice except I gotta remember not to wear 3 pairs of pants beneath them so that I can still move. I shot 1 duck and we recovered it (that's 100% on the duck game) and Rog apparently shot 3 but we didn't find any of them. Then we got some burgers.

Colorado Wedding

The Mexican antibiotics kept working and work kept getting easier. In that I was less sick. I didn't work out. In fact, I did almost no extra curriculars besides finish my dress (finally) and just in time. 

Then we woke up at 3:30 to drive to Prescott for our flight. Mom's buddy Anne picked us up and gave us a tour on the way to the house. The tour wasn't great because despite living in Erie for 10 years, she hates it. So bad. So that was fun. 

We explored the house and went through everyone's stuff and made some HelloFresh that had just arrived. We chilled with Lavinia for a hot minute before heading over to Lindsey & TJ's rehearsal dinner (really just a chat-a-thon for all the out of towners). The food was TDF, Lindsey's dad wrote them a wedding song, and I got to meet some fun people and eat so much cheese. I know both of these guys from PT school - Lindsey helped me survive mentally/emotionally and TJ helped me take down the administration. They are the best people. 

Love these kids.

We got back late and watched a movie before bed. And Roger thoroughly enjoyed a bathtub that he kind of fits in. We woke up late and did a whole lot of nothing before heading out to the early afternoon wedding the next day. It was indoors (thankfully) and beautiful and simple. We enjoyed a cocktail hour and chatting with parents and friends from school. Then a beautiful dinner, where we sat with some current coworkers who told us about how they were attacked several times by monkeys on their own honeymoon a few months ago. Hilarious. We hit the dance floor a bit and skedaddled. 

I promise we looked better at the beginning of the night.

Rog wanted to do nothing. Even after Anne told us all there is to do here (nothing) and we got a very drunk recommendation for MeowWolf. So the scabster and I went to workout and brought home a bucket of wings. We at all of them AND some IV drips and watched a show. 

Sunday, we went to a special stake conference (far better than our own) and made vinny drop us at the airport. She made it home before we made it to our gate. Which was just in time to board. We used a gift card to get some burgers on the way home and made it back just in time for bed. 

Buy a Goat; Be the Goat

I'm officially kicked out of the LV ward. Also everyone who had a major calling (besides the bishop) is gone. But I'm actually really impressed because that man was doing work post-fireside and within 24h he had already called people to fill them. I met with the new (unsustained) YWP on Tuesday to try to dump my brain. She does have 1 of my counselors still working with her, so that'll make the transition easier. AND she loved my journal design and wants me to order more of them so the leaders can have them. (Which is a relief since I already ordered them for the girls and I was going to feel a little bad otherwise.)

Giving Machine options

Monday, I stopped at a light en route to my first patient and my car died. There was no shoulder because it was the off ramp from the highway, so I pulled onto the sidewalk. Then Roger's cop BFF happened to drive by. He did not help, but he did make fun of me for parking there. We got it towed surprisingly fast and by then it was fine - drove it onto the tow truck, drove it into a parking spot, and our mechanic found nothing wrong. We're guessing it's related to the MAF sensor again, but who knows. 

I was there. 

I had a mandatory date night request for Rog since the church's Giving Machines were in town for 2 weeks only. We ate at his favorite pizza place and donated to some local charities. I wanted to walk around for a while since nobody was there on Thanksgiving's Eve and it was surprisingly warm - but Rog almost pooped his pants so we had to hustle out of there pretty quick. He owes me. 

Christmas lights downtown except with a bad camera

Roger's fam was in town all week so we spent a few nights hanging with them and having some good chats. Then we chilled at Grandma's for Thanksgiving. We brought the sweet potato casserole (obv, I am very particular). It was chill, unless you're Roger's siblings trying to eat your own meal peacefully. He is a food thief. But he also knows that food is no game to me and the consequences are life and death. 

Then I got sick. Fever, sore throat/swelling, some body aches. I was handling it pretty well (aka sleeping and drinking water all day) until Roger got sick too and decided to take a shower bath at 4am. When he finally woke up the next morning, we tried to go to urgent care, but they were all closed. So we bummed some Mexican antibiotics off his aunt and binged Wednesday on Netflix all Sunday. We enjoyed it. 

Kicked Out

It's been a crazy week for work - and this was a full week! I can't imagine what's going to happen when I have a day off for Thanksgiving (this week) and then TWO days off for a wedding (the next week). Basically nobody could see me-  but all cancelled last minute, so then I'm scrambling trying to fill the schedule with whoever I can all while driving back and forth across the state. What a mess. 

Flagstaff Fall

Finally my new friends Jess & Chris were available for volleyball, so we showed up at the time the YSA has reserved and were surprised by a ward's chili RS meeting. The lady in charge handled things poorly and was a real jerk about it. We left and played at the Institute building instead. 

The YW finished up our sewing project - stuffed bears to donate to the hospital. It was a crazy time where ALL of my counselors made it and most of the girls. Grandma came to donate her machine, and then babysat the kids the whole time. It was a good chance to see everyone and also talk about this journal we've been making for the girls on Amazon. The consensus was: buy the books, spend the budget, and worse case, we'll get them to the girls in their new wards. 

Fluff bears. 

Because our stake got re-divided via a fireside Sunday night. To reiterate - I think this is another thing that was handled poorly. They basically said 'show up to your new ward prepared to do your old calling and good luck to all the bishops'. Which will provide chaos for the next month at least. Cheers to that. 

Becky and I went to a boxing class at my gym. If Rog ends up with a membership, I can also include her in my 'family' pass. We met up with Rog, Brandt, and the kids at BW's for a BOGO deal on boneless wings that only took a few hours to come out - but we had a good chat in the meantime. 

FOUR hours later. 

Friday Rog and I got ice cream and Rog wanted to watch a movie. He couldn't find a good one, so I pulled up one we both said we wanted to watch and he was excited. But not too excited to fall asleep halfway through (like 730pm, guys). I woke him up and he was glad to catch the rest of the movie. This was also the day I got such a bad bloody nose that my car and groceries were covered in it and some girl handed me a tampon to stick up there. 

Most of the crew. 

Rog and his whole family joined us for Zac Brown Band at the baseball stadium in Phoenix. It was really good, although I don't enjoy the solo stuff as much as the songs because all they have are bangers. We got nice shakes and Meixcan prior and made it home by 230am. 

The Working Week

I made dinner every day this working week. You're welcome everyone - and by that I mean mostly Roger and also the missionaries one day for soup and grilled cheese. (Rog did the grilled cheese though.) Always a good time with the missionaries. 

My friends Jess and Chris have been wanting to play VB with the YSA kids but something has come up for them or me every week for two months now. I was pretty set, so I decided to go play a few games on Tuesday without them and check out the scene. It wasn't great. There is a huge disparity of skill levels that is frustrating and my knee was still not up to jumping, but it was something. 

As far as projects go, I'm making progress. Grampy's songs are now available (or will be so imminently) on all major streaming platforms. I know they're on Spotify for sure, but that's the only one I use. My business mailbox and actual LLC are approved and now just waiting until Nov 21 to go live so I can set up a business account. My dress has made no progress, but I did take apart the entire machine so I could superglue a piece of plastic holding the bobbin winder in place - so now I can make progress. And I'm still getting good feedback on my YT channel. 

We had a service YW activity making stuffed bears to donate to the hospital newborn unit. The girls actually seemed to really enjoy it (even the 9y o). And I got to hang out with Roger's grandma, who brought her machine to help the girls. I'll count it a success (part 1). 

Becky and I only made it once to the gym so we destroyed our arms. And then I went to boxing class later. My other physical highlight was doing the whole 90min of P90X yoga without even sweating it. Usually I get 20min in and want to die, but I think it was a good mental break for me. Which apparently I needed, because Saturday I did literally nothing. But Roger, who has been terribly ill, went hunting. Go figure. 

The other drama is that our SP is redividing all the wards in our stake. I have thoughts on this and on them. I have also been spreading the rumor that they're creating a new branch that's just my neighborhood and I'm the Bishop. Maybe if they hear about it they'll just decide to tell us what's going on. It's like a bad YA novel plot device - unnecessary lack of communication until they decide it's a good time and then it's too late and there's chaos. 

I was going to mention my best friend, but she hasn't cleaned her room yet. 

Camping in 12B (Freezing our Noogies Off)

I can't tell you the number of projects that I have right now, but they're all in progress. Still working on a dress (almost done). Setting up a mailbox so I can set up a business so I can sell some PT parody shirts. Working on a YW journal that better helps the girls set and keep goals (just ordered a prototype). PT programs out the yahoo for myself and everyone I know apparently. To name a few. 

Because Rog didn't think I could.

Becky and I started working out 2x a week. She's paying for me as a guest at her gym as her 'trainer fee' since I don't want to give my gym up and am still unsure how consistently we'll be able to work out. Still feeling my patellar sublux this week, which led to a few poor compensations and luckily nobody else could go play ball on Friday so I didn't worry about it. 

I did take Tuesday night to make some pumpkin cinnamon rolls. I'm not in love, but Roger is. I think they're a little too cakey for me. I also taught the YW how to make some applesauce - which I then made them drink (since they always make fun of me for doing that). And we had rave reviews on the recipe. 

"The Move"
Best quote of the weekend: I am not your friend. I am your god.

Rog left Thursday to go to his happy place, 12B on the Utah border. I met up Friday after work and brought all the warm clothes I had. We had 30 people up there because 1 person had a tag. Too many cooks, if you catch my meaning. We had warm fires, roasted dogs, and the best dang grilled cheese (with cheesy jalapeño bread straight from my new favorite bakery), and only 1 kid threw up. Rog and I bummer around with Brandt and Becky shed hunting, looking for deer and arrowheads. It was fun, but 1 night was enough - what with the puking child and tiny bed Rog and I shared in the camp trailer. We came back late Saturday. 

Spooky Season

I made some strides on various projects this week - registering for a mailbox with a physical address so I can register a business that doesn't put my personal address online, submitting everything needed to put Grampy's CD of music onto popular streaming platforms so they're more accessible, finalizing rough drafts of some YW books, and gathering info for some new PT notes. Most of this stuff is in the 'wait for approval or things to fix stage'. 

Rog says to stick to brown. 

I played volleyball for the B/C league with my old lady friends' team this week as a sub. Retrospectively, it's a lot of freaking work because I feel like they expect me to do most of it and also I can singlehandedly change the pace of the game. Anyways, in set 3 of our first game, I had a 1-legged spinning jump for a reverse kill (basketball style) with a bad landing where I'm pretty sure I subluxed my kneecap. Did I still finish the game and play the next game? Yes, yes I did. And, they started targeting me since I wasn't moving fast, I got mad, and then I got petty from the front row and made sure the game ended REAL quick with us on top. 

So I didn't end up working out the rest of the week as planned, but I did go to work and lift several people and stop others from falling. It took me 3 days to walk normal and the week to do stairs. And then I started training Becky at the gym on Saturday and did only half of the lower body stuff. Still sore. 

I did watch one of our girls play in their last volleyball game of the season. It was fun and I got to hang out with some other church leaders there (from ours and from others) to support the team. They did better than expected, but still ended up losing in 4 (barely). 

Low key KP.

Our ward had a Halloween party, so I went as Kim Possible (who nobody knows). And I ran into an old friend, who has a relative in the ward. So I hung out with them, let the YW paint my face, and enjoyed some chicken and white bean chile. Roger missed it since he was in Page all week working on a house. 

I'm mad I didn't dress up OR bring my sword.

Saturday, Rog and I drove to Phoenix for the wedding of my friends Jade and Ammon. But first, we stopped at the Nike outlet for new bball sneaks (at $40 a piece and almost matching). Then we went to this renaissance-themed reception, which Roger actually really loved and we enjoyed all of it - the costumes, the decor, the hobbit "maids of meat", the dancing, and of course, the food. We also loved yelling huzzah after all the toasts. 

The happy couple. 

And today, we enjoyed another day of just chilling Sunday, which is my new favorite. Work has seemed a lot busier since I'm doing the same amount of patients with a lot more driving time, so the chill is nice. We made homemade pizza, recorded Xander's talk for a FOURTH time so Mimi could have a copy, and ended up hanging out with Brandt and Becky, eating ice cream, and even playing some lowkey games. 

Roger's Birthday Month of Fun

If you're wondering how Roger is faring in the post-hunt season, never fear. There is always plenty of hunting to be done. He single-handedly helped 3 inexperienced hunters get their elk, went duck hunting, and dragged me along to help pack someone's elk out of a canyon. Like a one way down and if you misstep you fall to your death kind of canyon. He starts work on Tuesday with a cousin until he finds a job in his field. 

Did I mention I made a pie?
"It's definitely not outta Snow White" - Roger

I didn't work out this week if I didn't have to. I was not feeling well, but was still going to hit the gym Monday with Becky and the VB court Tuesday with Jess, but both ended up not working out. Lol. I did meet with (and spend a lot of $$ on) my naturopath and some new vity's. I opted for supplements prior to meds, but that may be the eventual route. Then I met with my PCP, who I have never seen before (but is super chill) and we talked about D&D half the time.

The YW opted to join the YM (after a last-minute invite) for some night frisbee. A classic. But I didn't play since I'm still traumatized about my last knee injury on turf. It was a good night to combine since there was a big bonfire for Homecoming that night and we would've only had 2 girls there anyways. And it was a good chance for Marissa, Al, Mike, and I to catch up. 

This is me, carving out the bones to lighten the load.

Friday I met Rog over at his Grandpa's grave for some Sonic takeout and a HBD to the deceased. Then we started our long night trekking down (the worst), gutting the elk and carving it up to haul, and hiking out (surprisingly easy for me). It was a good time, but honestly the way down hurt so bad I wouldn't volunteer again any time soon. 

I feel like if you're going to shoot an elk in a canyon, 
you should be prepared to get it yourself. 
But I'll help Carol out. She's a homie.

Rog and I actually went to the adult session of Stake Conference for the first time in a while. We were kind of disappointed. Both that and the Sunday session just felt like they were trying to give a million people a turn to speak and out of FOUR hours, one (1) story was told. The rest of it, I'm not 100% what the message was and I was trying hard to figure it out. 

New swag designed by HUTCHvsNPTE soon to be online.

After the adult session, I played some piano and Rog helped with a missionary lesson en español. After the Sunday session, we took Uncle Jeff out shooting so I could use his .45 (my favorite caliber) and practice with some other firearms Ryan offered to sell us. Over the weekend, we ate so many grilled cheese sandwiches, took some fall photos with a friend, and Roger got to experience Swan Princess for the first time. He loved it. 

Post-Hunting Hunts

Well Roger is done hunting, but also never. He's been MIA helping friends scout for and hunt animals this week off and on. I spent the first few nights of the week finalizing a new t shirt design and working on my dress project. 

Then I spent the next few nights doing YW stuff - training our new class presidency and having a cookie-decorating night with delivery to some new move-ins and LAs. We got to see one of our girls that can't come often due to competitive gymnastics, so that was nice. 

The fruits of Rog's labors
(Which BARELY fit in the stairwell)

In between all of that, I had to hang out at Roger's gma's house because his Texas cousins are in town and who doesn't want another week of family reunion? There was usually good food and I took a long nap on the carpet at one point, so that was nice. 

I went boxing and did some running this week but was just super exhausted. I also got a new panel of tests done and the results are in (today) so hopefully I can meet with my naturopath soon to get this shiz figured out. 

Jellyroll lites

Rog and I went to a concert for ya boi Jellyroll - who is a country singer who also raps and does some rock. He's got a #10 song on country radio right now, so you may have heard his stuff if you're into it. It was a fun concert but we all came home with headaches from second hand smoke. Rog is already planning a concert excursion for his half birthday six months from now. 

Roger's Dream Hunt (part 5 the real actual end)

 Crazy week of work - lots of patients cancelling last minute and trying to reschedule and just a hot mess, but nice with Jade back in town. I also had to fit in my first (new) naturopath appt to try to fix my body again. And still trying to fix my ankle mobility at the gym, so we're a work in progress. 

Flagstaff.

Projects of the week have been a new t-shirt idea, voted on from a longgg list by my PT friends. And getting Grampy's music on streaming platforms so it's more accessible. Waiting on one piece before I can move forward to the review stage and hopefully everything goes smoothly from there. 

They can only use my phone if they remember my birthday. 

We had a YW activity making caramel apples and doing family history. We were lucky to have our bishop present in case anyone needed a recommend (although everyone that I wanted to be there was not). I also had a training meeting with half my counsellors which went really well and got us all excited about the future. 

Roger was hiking 20+ miles daily helping both Stu's get their elk with muzzleloaders. He had a great second hunt and I think is now satisfied. Although will definitely hunt more if asked. 

The Crew

Saturday we had a youth temple trip and one of my leaders Al was super excited because she was doing work for her grandmother. It was nice to be in the temple and with Roger. Bishop put me in charge of pizza, so within 10 minutes of leaving the temple, each car was loaded up with pizzas and we were on our way home. Efficiency. 

Flagstaff.

Sunday was a long day of church with ward council to kick it off. During which the RS teacher cancelled and the RS Pres asked if we could combine - I said fine but only because I was teaching and with the understanding that I was still going to make the YW a priority. We had a ton of people because it was also a missionary farewell day, but it went well and we read lots of scriptures. And one person almost remembered what an ordinance was. We're working on it. 

Roger's Dream Hunt (part 4, the epilogue?)

 I was expecting this week to be way worse than it was due to the fact that I was covering another therapist's schedule AND my own. However, due to an angelic scheduler, a PTA, and a change in my meds, it was actually pretty good. 

Aspens, part 1. 

On top of that, I played volleyball twice this week - with the YW (and RS, but by that I mean 2 parents joined in) and subbing for the old ladies' team (during which I had 2 consecutive killer kills). This is a big deal as I have been dealing with a shoulder injury from volleyball and haven't done a whole lot of overhead in a while. It went better than expected, but not as well as it could have. 

Because we love the aspens. 

Tuesday night, Rog took me on a surprise hike to scout for elk. Well I ended up taking a 2 hour nap while he drove around and scouted and then we did actually go on a short hike. The nap was well-needed. It's been a long time since I've been able to take a nap. I miss that about me. 

I did not carry a heavy pack,
but I also didn't cry the whole time.

I had a really chill conference weekend during which I made a lot of blueberry and coconut amish bread. Which unfortunately has rainbow sugar in it. But our oven actually cooked it and now I don't have to make breakfast. I watched Saturday solo and went on a walk and worked on some projects and read a book. Rog got back late from helping Stu and Naked Stu on their hunt because this hunt is part of the deal too apparently. 

This is Flag. And a campsite to revisit.

We watched Sunday morning with muffins and shrimp and weenies (because that's what Rog wanted). And then we went to Grandma's for second session and had meatloaf and potatoes and lots of food. We grabbed Becky and skipped out early to hike up to where the crew is hunting - which you can't get to using a motorized vehicles. Meaning - you guessed it, our legs. It was only a 5 mile hike in and I'll do it for the pretty aspens. Too bad it was cloudy. But the good news is that my body was hype for it. 

From Roger, to be revisited. 

Conference Summary Oct 2022:

• Sacrifice and suffering are parts of life
• If you're suffering - change your perspective & overcome your origin story by immersing yourself in Jesus' life
• The HG will guide you and won't lead you against established standards. BUT it's YOU have to choose - you will not be micromanaged in all things. 
• You belong. Make sure everyone knows they do too. 

Speakers to Revisit

• McConkie (me)
• Caussé (Roger)

Roger's Dream Hunt (part 3, the finale)

The good news. Roger got his elk. It's not as big as Neil, but it was a good story. Ask him sometime, he would LOVE to tell you all about it. The bad news. The Tacoma didn't make it through. Although Rog is currently trying to convince me (and himself) it can be saved (again). We'll see. 

This is Noble.

As such, he was at the mercy of a lot of people with zero urgency to leave camp, but eventually made it out. I helped him cut meat on Saturday for a bit. I left for a baby shower for Sam Fisher (so I could hang with Jolene, the MIL). And then came back and did most of the packaging which required all my available patience. 

This is one roast from Noble.

My friend (and coach) Felicia helped me out this week by teaching the YW some boxing. I think some of them initially weren't excited to be there, but they had a great time and I was impressed - and so was Felicia. After keeping those mitts in my car, I also taught Marshall and Paislee to box and they had to teach Roger the rules because he keeps breaking them. 

The punk learning how selfies work.

We went back to Carol's Sunday for goulash and pumpkin bread and rootbeer floats provided by us as inspired by my "I'm here for the Boos" shirt that I convinced Marshall was a picture of a ghost holding rootbeer floats. He is convinced and converted. 

Roger's Dream Hunt (part 2)

This week I spent a lot of time editing and uploading my new YT series on brains for all the aspiring PTs out there. I've been getting really positive feedback from viewers, so that's encouraging. But it still takes a lot of effort to get this stuff on there. 

I had been praying for Roger to get this elk named Neil on Thursday. I figured that would be enough time for him to enjoy his hunt and really feel like he got his money's worth. (for real though.) And Curtis had a dream that he shot an elk on the 15th, which would have aligned perfectly with my plans. But, Roger let himself get convinced by Ryan to go to a completely different spot that night, and he is still elkless. Am I mad about it? Yes. 

It's been a crazy work week as well just in cancellations. That's probably the worst part about this job - I have to schedule everything myself and all my patients (who are supposed to be available 8-4) will only let me come certain days and house and everyone wants to be seen in the afternoon. Ugh. I want to be done in the afternoon. 

The way to camp. Sadly treeless. 

I went to camp on Friday night, but I was mad. I drove almost all the way to camp before being told the camp was moved to the other side of the mountain. So I drove all the way back home, finished my work there, and then drove to the new camp. We had hot apple cider and s'mores and I ate an entire pizza by myself, so that was good I guess. 

I woke up late and wrote some ideas in my idea book before I forgot. Rog and Stu and Ryan got back to camp around 10 and we shared a late breakfast. Then I went to the gym. I'm trying to fix my squats, but my ankles don't bend and my knees hate it, so it might take a while before I get up to real weight again, which is frustrating. But it'll be better in the long run. 

As far as I know, Rog is still elkless, so pray for him and maybe he won't be dumb this time. 

Roger's Dream Hunt

It's Roger's dream hunt. This is his one chance to go on a full hunt for two weeks like all of his friends (who are retired). He's been on the mountain since Wednesday (two days before the hunt) in order to claim his spot. And he's been chasing around a big bull with his bow and arrow every morning and evening waiting for the perfect shot. I'm praying he gets this dude later in the week, so he gets the one he wants and takes a lot of time on it. Because he never gets to complain again after this. 

So pray Roger shoots (and kills and finds the body of) the bull I have nicknamed "Neil" this week. 

Earlier this week, we went to Bull Basin to fix some things on my bow. Now I have to sight it in again. We had just started working on that, when Becky called asking us to help babysit since her babysitter was in the ER with a crazy tooth infection. 

Me, alone at camp. Waiting for Rog to get back. 

That's like the only real thing that happened this week beside working on a few sewing projects and reading a lot of books. I went camping with Roger on Friday night and we had bread from this new bakery I found (divine) with homemade mozarella cheese for a little campfire bruschetta. And I went to visit him again on Sunday after church for lunch - steaks and zucchs. That was nice. 

And I deep cleaned the house because now it will stay clean for the next two weeks and that will be nice. 

The Last Letner Reunion

The workouts are happening and work is still a thing. For one of us. Roger quit on Wednesday and weirdly enough, I have seen even LESS of him. For some reason, he thinks (at age 26) he is entitled to a full hunt - mornings and nights for 14 days. This is his one chance (because I don't want to hear any complaints ever again)- he graduated, quit UPS, and has a few weeks to hunt before we get serious about him getting a job. #sugarmama

I was pretty low on energy this week, but I did work on some Christmas gifts - starting early since we decided to do homemade this year. And I read a few new books. They were pretty decent and I'm excited to get the full series on both. 

Camping.

After work Friday, Rog and I headed up to the Last Letner Reunion. This is Roger's mom's mom's siblings 50th reunion and it happens every Labor Day. Which is fine except all of Roger's mom's mom's siblings are dead. So it ends up being a lot of drama and camping with a new group of fifth cousins every year (with a few regulars). 

Honestly, I don't mind being there for the most part. I hang out with the friends I already have and Ed, I guess. He's a kid that decided to be friends with me by whittling me a shiv so I could be in his club. He is, incidentally, bald. And Matt, who we don't see often, but who likes to play Racko with us. Rog and I escaped to the woods with Brandt to figure some stuff out with my bow and take the kids on a hike. 

Nobody is looking or smiling. The best we could do.

For the most part, I was out of the drama, but since I have a nice camera and an idea of how to take pictures, I was included as the "backup" photographer for the group photos. Which turned from one group photo to also individual family photos as well. It was hot, the lighting was bad, the setup was bad, everyone was angry. And nobody listens and the actual photography didn't want to take charge and also her camera didn't actually record any of the photos. By the end of that, I was ready to leave.

I ate dinner and then second dinner and felt better. As I was leaving, I thanked everyone for inviting me to the LAST Letner reunion. Some laughed, but most agreed to some extent. Really, every 5-10 years would be PLENTY. But who am I to say that. (Just someone that wants their 3-day weekends). 

We came home Saturday night so we could go to church x2. We went to ours - I'm waiting on some key callings to take place. And then we went to the Knight's so Rog could help Collin bless their new baby. We joined them at their camp afterwards and spent the afternoon just chilling. More on that next week. 

Chocolate Falls

It's been a decent week. I've had a fairly light patient load, but I was able to help out my coworker with some of her patients. It's raining every day, like the monsoons of old. And I love it. Thunder and lightning every day. What I did NOT love was the cricket that escaped into our apartment and did his mating calls every night at 2 am. 

In YW we did a family history night, which I feel like is traditionally boring. We ended up with only two girls there who actually had a lot of fun. We're working on figuring out how to incorporate this more often. 

Apparently this is taller than Niagra. 

Roger had told his family that I 'got lost' on the way to visit Chocolate Falls a few years back. What had really happened was I went a week too late and it wasn't flowing. Either way, Carol and Grandma and Hannah called me to invite me to go see it with them after work one day. So I did. 

I surprised Roger by shooting my bow every day. And then once I got my rhythm a bit more, we decided to mess around with the settings on my bow to make it better, but I think it's going to take some more adjusting. 

My pants should be done by the end of today. They are not what I wanted and there's a lot of things I'm made about, but I did learn some things too, so I guess it was worth it. Among other things, I learned that I hate pants and I hate making them even more. 

Roger went out with Carson and Will to try to find them an elk in Winslow this weekend (which apparently was a miserable time). Meanwhile, Becky and I scouted around in unit 10 (between Williams and the Grand Canyon) for elk for her hunt in a few weeks. We found lots of tracks and no animals in the actual unit. We got home just in time for Navajo tacos and Better Than Sex Cake (which I don't actually love). 

Another Week, Another Waffle

Now that we've finally cleaned out our closet, some of our YW activities involve actually using all of that stuff. We did an activity this week repainting some blocks of wood. They had a good idea, but we painted black over them and painted glow in the dark temples over top, which we thought was cooler. 

Felicia had a good boxing class this week. Our last combo was class-created and was boss. It was a L hook, R cross, R missed cross into a spinning backhand, side kick, switch stance jab and KO overhand. I'm excited for her to do a class with our YW coming up. 

Work this week (and last) has been crazy. It's like nobody wants to see me. Either they have to be discharged early and I have to work extra to squeeze that in or they don't want me to discharge them except at a certain day/time that is incredibly inconvenient for me. I just keep telling myself: you just gotta make it through this visit, then it'll be fine. Except it's every visit. 

Because of all that nonsense, I had a few long days at the start and a short Friday (despite all of our best efforts). I didn't do any crazy workouts the rest of the week because I'm still getting my energy back post-probiotic fiasco. But I did go run and do a sprint workout on Friday. It felt good but I hated it. And then I tried a light arm tempo workout adding in some overhead movements that still don't feel great with my shoulder issues. One day my body will work. Then it's over for all of you. 

I'm still working on fixing those pants I took a class to create. I have now taken apart and resewn these pants at least 10-12 times. We're getting closer. But sheesh, so many of my problems could have been nailed out in the template process and just were not. I am so frustrated with them, but committed to finishing. 

Roger had "one of the best hunts of his life" Saturday with Stu, who has an OTC archery tag. This year, they're capping it out at like 65 deer, so if you don't get one fast, your tag is null. So the deer are harder to find since everyone is in a frenzy about it. But despite the "best hunt" part, they came home unsuccessful. 

Pre vs Pro

I was in Cottonwood again - this time only 2 days and they've been pretty good about sticking to my requirements. The problems are 1) I'm training the new PT and don't have time to do my documentation during the day, and 2) all my Flag patients are going crazy. Everyone is leaving early and needs to be fit in and requires me to call 3 different parties (who don't communicate amongst themselves) to coordinate each visit - which led me to working 3 VERY full days. After a chat with my boss, she let me off the hook for later in the week and due to some cancellations, I had one patient on Friday. Honestly, I needed it. 

Wee Scotty did my last sewing class of this session on Tuesday. It was kind of a mess because the teacher just got back from a week in San Francisco and was frazzled, my other classmate missed days and hadn't made them up yet and was way behind, and people kept coming into the store (which is supposed to be closed). So all I did was sew on a zipper - which is actually a lot of work for a pair of jeans. I went home and finished putting them mostly together only to realize the waistband had not been factored into the pattern and now everything was sitting way too high and had to be totally redone. Mad. 

I went to a ward party that Rog wished he was at and I wished I wasn't. I chatted with some friends and some of my less active YW, so at least it was productive. Then I saw a lot of them again for a temple session and cleaning party the next night, which we invited Rog's parents too. It was fun to hang out and chat with them for a while. 

Here's the big update on my life. I had realized back in May that taking a probiotic instantly returned my hunger cues for the first time in 2 years, which was a huge relief. But probiotics are expensive, especially since buying them in gummy form is the only way I can consistently convince myself to take them. So I found a cheaper version and I bought 4 bottles of them and started taking them about 2 weeks. The problem is that they are not working. I tried doubling up and still nothing. And I realized that hunger wasn't the only thing they fixed, now that I've got a bunch of symptoms coming back. Here are a few things I've NOT been missing: 

• hanger instead of hunger & no desire to eat whatsoever
• extreme emotional lability
• skin rashes
• brain fog
• extreme fatigue (to the point where even holding my head up is really hard)
• less pooping (significantly)
• difficulty falling asleep and poor sleep quality

Long story short, we went out and splurged on my regular meds. What a crazy situation.

Moving out the Stickery House

It was a lazy week where I felt jet lagged and exhausted from not having a real break over the weekend. It was all I could do to go to boxing and basketball and go on a couple walks. Seriously. I was so tired. 

I did also force myself to sew pockets into my soon to be pants, which was my HW assignment for my class. I also had a YW activity making jewelry and using the stuff from our closet - and it's a good thing because we've had 2 of our LA girls who are finally coming back, so I want to keep the momentum.  

This was Monday afternoon in Flagstaff. 

Workwise, I started helping Cottonwood out again to fill in as their PT finished training. Hopefully a much shorter term deal than previously. I did have a list of conditions that must be met for me to go to Cottonwood, including but not limited to additional pay. I don't hate it, but the office isn't great still. We also had a mtg with our regional therapy director that I wasn't told about until the day before. It was pretty useless and we had our sales manager there who always makes me mad. 

Roger graduated! I think. He finished his last final on Tuesday so we're waiting for a diploma in the mail. Then I'll believe. But he's feeling really good about it and going hiking every day and work every night. 

We had planned to go to Page this weekend to hang out with Hannah. And then to hang out with Stu since Hannah wasn't going to come down. But on Friday, Becky & Brandt asked us to go to Prescott and help them move from their house. So I hitched a ride Friday night and slept in my old bed and Roger drove down early Saturday after hanging at the Deacon's "High Adventure" campout. 

You can't even see half the dishes she made. 

Brandt and Rog handled the heavy stuff. Becky bossed people around and answered questions. And I packed the whole house up, basically. We had great food the whole time. And the missionaries showed up for a bit. But I would've liked to have a few Hutchins-style workers there. 

We got back Sunday and had a hangout and family dinner at Grandma's house - and she put on the spread. It was amazing and needed. 

Beautiful Bodies

My sewing class this week started off scary and turned into a really good time. Basically, in making these pants, I'm trying to make them look and feel like actual pants with real pockets, etc. And I told my instructor that and she was like uhhh, we don't have time to do all of that! Yeet to her, because nobody else showed up that day and we cranked it out. One class to go sewing this all up and I've got to figure out the pockets on my own before then. 

Also Rog had an archery competition this weekend. 

The BYU-I Dance Alliance came to Flagstaff and did a free performance for both stakes. I wish they had advertised this better, because I feel like we could've gotten a much better turnout. BUT they advertised it as a bi-stake youth activity and anyone else could come if they wanted, so that's what we did for YW. And we had one of our LA girls show up for the first time with our 11y old who knows and is friends with most of them. She's a killer missionary. 

Shopping. 

The performance was actually way better than I thought it would be. My first favorite had some Mongolian mist aura music with a group of hunters and it eventually turns into them battling a dragon. My second favorite was Victorian era pseudo-vampiric dress and featured a girl who was slowly gaining more and more power over the other dancers - ending with her lounging in a throne made of their bodies. 10/10.

Shopping part 2. 

Home health is nice because it is flexible. As such, I moved up all my Friday patients to earlier in the week so that I could have an early start to Utah. It ended up working out really well, but there was a chance that I'd still have to see 1 patient on Friday, but it fell through so I was in the clear. I drove to Page on Thursday night and up to Provo on Friday morning. 

Shopping part 3. 

Partway up there, after many renegotiations, I met Lauren and some friends at Cove Fort. Which apparently is a fort that Hinckley's family built back in the day and features a cool wall with arrow slits (or gun slits I guess) and we could walk on top of the wall.  There were also rooms all inside the walls around a giant square. While peeping through the gun slits in the back wall, I spotted a garden. And when I mentioned it, some lady overheard and said I could take anything I wanted. She even brought me a grocery bag and helped me pick out some carrots, zucchinis, squashes, an onion, and various types of lettuce. #spiritualgifts

This is my best friend Lauren, have you met her?

Taking my snacks, I drove up to Provo to hang out with Hannah, Derek, and Trevor and chat about schemes and books and people that make us angry (part 147 and counting). Shannon made the best tomato soup I've ever had and I drove the rest of the way to Bluffdale to my friend Maddy's house to chill with her and her sister. 

My kind of professional development. 

The real reason I was in Utah was to complete a course on pelvic floor rehab back into Crossfit-style lifting. I love CEU classes. It's 20% evaluation, 40% most current literature, and 40% workout and let's make sure we can do this and teach it. We went bowling with the crew on Friday night and got ice cream for dinner and had a lot of fun and learned a lot as we broke up the lectures with active labs. I know physical therapy is true. 

Note that I have at least 20# more for this workout than anyone else. 
Thanks, Mads for the challenge.

Then I drove all the way back to Flagstaff, getting in before midnight and unhindered by the flooding.