Happy Birfday Ricardo!!

Richard's birthday was July 1st. I just wanted everyone to know that Rich rules! He is my best friend and is always there for me whether I need somebody to crack me up, hold me when I am sad or clean the kitchen after I make a huge mess making dinner. Rich, as I said to you the first time you brought me flowers..."YOU'RE THE BEST!!"

Idaho/Wyoming

When I was visiting Utah my mom and I drove up to Idaho to see my sister, Jennie. We had a great time seeing the beautiful green rolling hills of Victor, the majestic heights of the Tetons, the mighty snake river, the wildlife and of course, the shops of Jackson Hole. The highlights of the picture collage below is the picture of the elk, the eagles nest and the candid shot of me walking out of the outhouse.

RIP Stick

Mary Delmage says its time for me to put a new post on the blog. To that I say, "Fair enough!" Our computer is back so now I can update on my trips. First, I have to tell my RIP stick story.

When I got to Utah my brothers introduced me to the RIP stick. It is a skateboard with only two wheels and a bar connecting the center. You have to swivel your hips to move it and balance while you go.

My brothers are so good at it. They can ride the rip stick and dribble or shoot a basketball at the same time. They said all the neighborhood boys get together and have battles, where they try to push each other off.

I can't even explain how difficult it was to stay balanced. In order for me to do it, I had to have my dad hold my hands the whole time. I felt like a kid learning to ride a bike with my dad running around the street helping me to stay upright. My dad actually got pretty good at it.

Here is a video of a somebody riding a rip stick.

Ohh my aching joints

I have an answer to my joint problems. For the last couple years they have hurt without a cause. I knew that my feet hurt because of plantar fasciitis and I usually blamed my limping on that. However, I knew that the involvement of my hands and other joints couldn't easily be attributed to the feet. My bloodwork always came back clean and according to that I was healthy. But I don't walk like or have the grip of a healthy 23 year old. At the urging of Rich and my parents I went to yet another doctor. She looked at my hands and said I needed to see a rheumatologist. I went to the rheumatologist that day and he said that even though my blood doesn't say I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, I clinically have it and need to be treated for it. So that explains it. I don't know why it helps to have a reason, but somehow a name makes it less frustrating.

Broken Computer

A couple of months ago I dropped the computer. It started making a weird revving sound that should come from a car, not a computer. I quickly put my jump drive in and downloaded the paper Rich was working on for school and my senior project. In medicine they talk about a "look of impending doom" and the sound it was make was "impending doom." Then the revving stopped and the computer was working fine, talk about a miracle. We hadn't had any problems until after graduation. Jordan (our brother in law) noticed that he couldn't access our cd-rom drive. So we took it to the doctor (circuit city) and I am going through withdrawals without it. I never really mind Rich's total domination of the remote control, because if I don't like what he's watching on tv I surf the web. Now I am a sad girl forced to watch golf, soccer, basketball, american gladiators, monk and whatever else he happens to channel surf to (In his defense he has offered me the remote, but it has been so long I think I forgot how to use it). Anyway, we have had two great vacations that we want to blog about, but that is just going to have to wait until we get our computer back. Until then we are still here, just less accessible.

Also, I have a job offer with a family practice office that I am really excited about. I don't know when I start, but I think it will be a great place.

Sugar Momma

So, I've been telling Heather that I would like to post some stuff on the blog, so she's been holding off, but I wanted to brag on her a little bit, and then report on some of the recent happenings for us. First, my wife, after four years of undergrad and two years of a masters program, finally finished with school on May 3rd. She graduated with the 11 other kids in her program, and looked mighty fine doing it, as I think the pictures show. Anyway, it was really nice because her mom got to come out and spend some time with Heather on Friday and then we all went to the graduation ceremony in Harrisonburg on Saturday (the 3rd). Heather's whole family would've come to the graduation, but her little sister, Jennie, also just happened to be graduating that same day, at the same time, from Utah State. I'll tell the rest of the story in pictures.

So we went to my parents house for a brunch on the morning of Heather's graduation. This was a really good fruit salad we had.
Here's the lady folk walking to the first part of the ceremony, where Heather got her hood. She was pretty excited about being hooded for her masters degree, until she found out that all the undergrads were wearing hoods too. She said that she thought it was lame, especially because those kids didn't really earn a hood. I guess I can see where she's coming from.
Pre-hooding. Note excessive hotness.
Post hooding. I was not the one that called for the booty shot. It's really just so she could have a picture of her hood. I wonder if we'll ever see that thing again...
The second, and definitely more coveted item of the day was the long coat. This is, apparently, an important distinction from the short coat. Basically, long coat is supposed to mean fully trained and wearing one before being fully trained is cause for problems. Interestingly enough, my dad's never heard of this distinction before... Anyway, this is Heather's entire class, crazy small, huh?

Here's Heather with the fake certificate, I liked this picture, so I thought I'd add it.
After all of the festivities, we went to Luray, VA to dine at The Mimslyn Inn. They have an awesome dining room, and their chefs are really, really good. This food is good.
Here's what Heather ate, crab cakes. She wanted a picture, but this one doesn't do justice to the beautiful presentation.
Here's the outside of the Mimslyn. It's a pretty sweet building.

Okay, lastly, and I don't have a picture of this, Heather took her physician assistant national certification examination, or PANCE, last tuesday. She got her results on thursday, and I'm happy to report, she passed, well above the necessary mark. So, she's really a PA!! All we need now is the licensure papers and then she'll truly be my sugar momma. Thanks baby!!

Grey hair does not automatically equal unlimited virtue.

I have been spending many hours at the library studying for the boards. I like to study by the magazines, so I have something to look at when I start to fall asleep. I have learned that this is a hot spot for retirees to come read magazines and newspapers. Today I saw two very surprising things from the senior citizens. First, I saw this little old grandma lady thumbing through the latest issue of Bon Appetit. A couple minutes later I heard a sound that caught my attention. I looked up and saw her RIPPING a page out of the magazine. I was shocked and horrified. She was sitting 10 feet from a copy machine and yet she ripped the recipe out! She did it slowly and tried to hide it as she folded it up and put in her pocket. Then, later as I was going to put my magazine away I saw this 75ish looking guy with a cane reading Cosmo. I don't normally read Cosmo, but I know the articles they advertise on the cover make me blush. "25 ways to make your man..." I can't and don't want to imagine why he wants to read that magazine. Shocking! I just sort of assume that everyone with grey hair is a sweet, innocent. HA.