Zion - The Narrows

This weekend Jason and I went to Zion National Park. We went on a 2 day, 16 mile backpack trip through the Narrows. It was probably the most beautiful hike either of us has ever been on, and we've seen some pretty amazing places. The hike is through a slot canyon following the Virgin River. Over 50% of the hike is in the river. We rented special canyoneering shoes that have great traction and neoprene socks so that we weren't slipping all over the place and our toes didn't freeze off (although they looked like bulky ugly moon shoes but were well worth the fashion faux pas)! Along with the shoes came very handy wooden hiking poles that helped keep us on our feet (we were going to take our own hiking poles but were so glad that we didn't - we really beat the wooden ones up!) There were the most amazing red cliffs on either side of the river for as far as you could see! We hiked about 8 miles the first day, camped along the river and then hiked another 8 miles out the next day. There were a lot more obstacles than we expected the second day....lots of log jams and boulders to climb over...it was a bit of a challenge with a pack on. Luckily we lined our bags with plastic bags so that out stuff was protected from any mishaps. I was up to my waist in water many times and needless to say we had a few close calls, and near submersions! :) All in all it was one incredible weekend full of a much needed dose of serenity, wildlife and smog free air! This was one truly spectacular adventure!!!

Are you Kidding Me?

Sometimes I really feel like I am living in a foreign country here in SoCal. Things that I take for granted and see as an every day occurrence at home just don't happen here. One example is cooking....people here just don't cook. There are grown women that I've worked with at various hospitals that have families and children at home and they go out to eat or order in food every single day of the week - I guess it's just passed down or should I say not passed down. They think it's something special and wonderful when they bring in something pre-made from Costco...sure makes me appreciate the love of good food and cooking that was instilled in us growing up! Last fall Jason and I went to an apple festival in the mountains near us and they had a petting zoo...well all the ladies in thier heels, perfect hair and make-up and Gucci bags are walking around (this is normal to do at an apple orchard right?) and we saw a lady stop at the petting zoo point to a goat and say to her kids...oh look at the cute deer!!! And the perpetual cycle of ignorance continues! I once heard the receptionist of a clinic I was at calling different day spa's and asking them if they did eye lash perms!!! I didn't even know there was such a thing! Apparently it's quite common here, but who in thier right mind would want that caustic perm junk by thier eyes?

Today I was at my clinicals and one of the sonographers said "It was so cool I saw a squirrel running on the power line yesterday - I've never seen that before!" and everyone else was like "oh that's so cool!" ARE YOU KIDDING?! I really thought it was a joke that they were making such a big deal out of seeing a squirrel...but kidding they were not. It just made me think of the group at UO that wanted to make squirrel fishing a club sport...not that I condone such a thing but talk about contrast to go from never seeing one on a power line to having such an abundance of them that you can reel them in with a fishing pole! Oh how I miss the great Northwest!

Last Mock Board!!!!

I can hardly believe it - I took my 4th and final mock board exam today! What does that mean...well it means that I am officially done with tests, quizzes, papers, presentations and all the associated busy work that goes along with being a student!!! I just have to survive 8 hours of clinicals each day until September 12th and then I will be finished!!!!! 27 days to go! I have a countdown chain to keep track of the days left (as if I could forget!) I am ready to be done working for free every day!

On a second happy note - my lucky pencil has again survived the torment of class notes and test taking over the last 2 years....there is a bit of history here - When I was in high school I found a bright yellow mechanical pencil in the locker room, claimed it as lost and now mine, and proceeded to use the pencil in all of my classes my senior year. Well the pencil came with me to college at U of O and I kid you not, I took every single quiz, and test, did every lab and project with that pencil. My dear friend Stacey knew just how important it was to me (maybe a security blanket of sorts) and would share in my agony if I couldn't find it to take notes with in class. Well when we finished our B.S. at U of O I bequeathed it to Stacey to use during physical therapy school in Utah. When I started school at Loma Linda Stacey sent me a new lucky pencil - and so it began again. I used my new sleek black pencil during every study session and lecture and although our tests are all computerized I used my lucky pencil to write notes and such during every exam during ultrasound school. Yet again my favorite lucky pencil has held strong this time surviving the wrath of Loma Linda! :) (Can't take it into my boards with me, they have to give you the yucky #2 yellow kind!) Thanks Roo for the trusty lucky pencil - it's worked wonders!!!

Holy Moly That Was An Earthquake!!!

Today we had a 5.4 magnitude earthquake here in SoCal. The epicenter was about 20 miles away from where we work. I was at clinicals at a pretty new hospital when it happened - the hospital is on rollers they said, so we were moving all over the place - up, down, side to side. When it started shaking we all moved into a doorway to wait it out...but it kept going and going and going - pictures on the wall were swinging. Even the native Californians said that it was a really long one. I've never felt a big quake before, but we've had a few little ones, there have been probably 5 since we've been here. Just this last weekend we were sitting on the couch and there was a loud crack and just a little jolt and then it was done - nothing to really even make a fuss over but today was way different! We were rockin and rollin and it just wouldn't stop! It was actually quite scary! The power went out at our apartment, all the clocks are flashing, but other than that everything seems in its place - no more earthquakes for me please!

Anniversary Weekend Adventure

For our first anniversary Jason planned a trip and surprised me with a weekend getaway, so this year for our second anniversary it was my turn to plan the weekend. Our anniversary isn't until the 15th but we wanted to take full advantage of our time so I planned the trip for this last weekend and took Monday off too.

I planned an adventure trip to Colorado: we flew into Colorado Springs 4th of July. We stayed right downtown so we could easily explore the city. There was a big fireworks show in one of the parks nearby so we watched the show and enjoyed dinner downtown.

Saturday morning we drove way up into the Rockies to the headwaters of the Arkansas river for a 3 day two night rafting trip. We got geared up with wet suits and spray jackets and hit the water.

(We got lucky and got to be in the front for the class 4 and 5 rapids)

(This is "Zoom Flume"...what a ride)

The trip was called the "Mild to Wild" so it was a progression of class 2-3 rapids on day one up to class 4-5 rapids on day 3. There were 8 of us in our boat including our guide, and then there was a gear boat that carried all of our supplies....dry bags with our clothes, tents, chairs, stove, sleep pads, food etc.

(We're all smiles 'cause we didn't end up in the water!)

Each day we covered about 30 miles and over all we went 80-90 miles...our guide said the river was really high and running really fast so we covered more ground than they ever have before on an overnight trip. We camped along the river as we went along, and enjoyed great meals cooked by the guides and some great stories and games by the campfire each night.

(Dan - our gear boat guide and expert chef!)

On our last morning before we hit the water we rappelled down a 100 foot cliff. The roaring river below made it so picturesque. It was such a blast! We survived the wrath of Zoom Flume, Pinball, Silver Bullet, The Ladder, Miracle Mile and Raft Ripper (just to name a few of the biggies) in one solid piece without falling out of the raft!




We had such an amazing time! It was our first trip to Colorado (hopefully not our last), and it made us once again realize how much we miss the green and outdoors and down to earth people from home. This was certainly an experience to remember and hopefully a sign of the wonderful adventures our third year of marriage will bring!

Booties

We decided to get crafty and learn to crochet baby booties. (Yes that was a WE as in both Jason and I decided to learn - cool huh? Our friend Nicole had a link on her blog about some really cute booties and craftiness in general so we decided to take part. Neither one of us has really crocheted anything before, so it was really a teach ourselves via online videos sort of project....the nice thing is you just pull the yarn and your mistakes are gone in an instant! Our first booties are definitely the trial version, but not too terrible for a self taught first try (at least we don't think!). We spent Sunday in front of our AC vent, crocheting the day away - it was 108 here....too dang hot to do anything else!

Showered with love!!!

This last weekend I helped throw a bridal shower for my sister Merideth. She's getting married in September in the San Juan Islands. Her shower turned out great....we had super tasty food, smoked salmon tea sandwiches, prosciutto with apples and gouda, champagne cocktails with prosecco and pomegranate juice, and cupcakes from Saint Cupcake. We didn't embarrass her too much, but played a couple games and had fun girl time. It was so great to get to see all of my family here in Portland!