Pseudo Surgeon

Years ago my grandpa started writing down experiences he had while pursuing a career in surgical sales when it wasn't even a career. He introduced such things as surgical stapling to the Rocky Mountain states 30 years ago. As a new brand of salesman, there weren't laws and guidelines concerning what these individuals could do and my grandpa found himself scrubbing in and participating in surgeries as he trained and worked with different physicians from Nevada and Arizona to Montana and Idaho. All this despite never having a formal college education. A few years ago he gave my mom a fruit box that consisted of a stack of about 500 typewritten pages that has become the novel above. I read the novel out of the box and can't tell you how excited I am that it has been published. It is a fascinating story and a fun read. It is available at Barnes and Noble in book form and Amazon in e-book form. Check it out!

Ohana

This weekend was the Clarke Family Reunion up at the cabin in Bear Lake. It was SO much fun to be with every single one of my cousins. We were all trying to figure out the last time it happened and no one could even figure it out. Ages now go from myself at 24 down to 4. Ratio of girls to boys-11:3. The girls all watched Meet Me in St. Louis which is an "All American Classic" of craziness, and SO fun to watch in a room full of girls, some are ready to throw a themed party they were that inspired. Other activities included swimming at Ideal Beach, playing cards, Minute to Win It, lounging on the beach, reading books, take pictures of humming birds (JD), laughing and giggling girls, ukulele playing, singing, eating, talking, mingling, talk of fishing, golfing, and lots more fun. I love my family a ton and it was wonderful to all be together again. :)

Bem Vindo

Sye is home from his LDS mission in Sao Paulo Brazil! Sye definately ranks up there on my list of favorite people so it is super nice to have him back. It was so weird going out with the family and having SEVEN people instead of six like it has been the past while. He has worked super hard the past 2 years and it should be fun to finally hear about some of his experiences (he was definately not the best of writers).

Pulmonary Memories

The images above are of me. The image on the left shows the clot on the lower left side of the image (my right lung), the lighter image also shows the clot, but also shows all the fluid and dead tissue that resulted from the clot.

It has been one year since jdnatspeth.blogspot.com/2010/07/pulmonary-embolism.html whole fiasco occurred. Going around in my day to day to-do's I have been constantly reminded of the event this month. Registering the car was much more simple, and less painful this year. Costco's couches are out, displayed at the same place where I had to sit on one for over an hour because I felt too weak and the pain was too high to do my shopping while the tires were being replaced on the Taurus. Fruit is delicious this time of year, and it was also the only thing I felt like eating during and after my hospital stay. There are a ton of these daily reminders of just how blessed I am to be here. It is strange to think that this time last year, I couldn't lay down on a bed, walk around a coul-de-sac, eat real food, shower without someone around (or without pain medication), be alone at night because I couldn't get myself out of the recliner I was sleeping in, stay awake for a movie, work, or even breathe for that matter. Despite all of this, I am truly and honestly grateful for experiencing this. I have learned a ton in all kinds of ways, emotionally, spiritually, educationally, mentally, and so on. Many are things I wouldn't dream of trading for even a small reprieve from what I went through and the approx. 9 months of complications that resulted after being discharged and melingering issues the spring up occasionally even now.

I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows my limits, my needs, and the opportunity for growth that comes with trials. I know that he loves each of us and that events like this aren't meant to hurt us but to build and strengthen us. I am also very grateful for a loving, kind, and patient husband who has been nothing but supportive throughout all of the craziness this past year.

Employees Only

So this weekend was a ton of fun. JD and I get to work with the most amazing people....so amazing, that we wanted to go on a vacation with them. Friday morning consisted of driving up to Bear Lake. While there we had shakes, went swimming in the lake and in the pools, walked through Minnetonka Cave, ate delicious food, played fun games, searched for binkies, watched Ice Age Meltdown several times, and had a great time just hanging out. I work with Val at Herefordshire and JD works with Joe at South Ogden. Our pharmacies will help each other out fairly often so we have all worked together at the very least a few times. The upper right picture is of Val, Dustin, Xavier, Roman, and Avery enjoying their shakes. The bottom right is Joe and Jesse. Jesse is a master at spotting chipmunks and prairie dogs from the cabin porch. We both feel very blessed to have such great friends that we could do something like this with and have the joy of working with these awesome people each week, sometimes seeing them more than our own families. It was kind of funny packing up this morning and the goodbyes consisting of 'see ya tomorrow'.

Is it over yet?

So is it strange that despite not actually taking the class that I am having a harder time getting through organic chemistry than JD is? This course is lovingly known as the 'weeder' course for all things pre-medical. You pass and you are set, you don't and you are tossed into an endless time warp of torture until you can claw your way out and move on to easier things such as medical or pharmacy school. JD had the joy of taking both parts of these fun courses back to back in 13 weeks rather than the usual alotted 30 weeks offered by the usual route year long plan. He has done amazingly well. This wasn't due to solely to his preexisting brilliance but to hours upon hours of study and stress. True we are on the downhill end with three weeks left to go, but seriously, is it over yet? I want my husband back!

The Best Two Years

Yesterday was our 2 year anniversary. Time has flown by in some ways and stood still in others. We had a great evening hanging out with no homework or studying and no regards to time it was wonderful. I was thinking about some of the things that have happened over the past couple of years and it is amazing how much has been crammed into such a short amount of time!

JD graduated with a psychology degree,

Nat graduated in radiology and radiation therapy,

Moved to Riverdale from South Ogden,

Pulmonary Embolism,

We both have gotten new jobs and kept the old ones,

Trips to: Yellowstone, California (3 times), Zions, St George,

Las Vegas, Colorado, Fish Lake, Bear Lake, etc,

Temples visited: Ogden, Salt Lake, Idaho Falls, Jordan River, Oquirrh, Rexburg, Draper, Bountiful, Logan, Denver, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, San Diego, Las Vegas, Redlands, St George, Manti, Vernal, Mount Timpanogos,

Fed stingrays, walked on beaches, hiked up mountains, gone to broadways (Wicked, Lion King, Phantom & Les Miserables), attended soccer games, taught 9, 10, and 7 year old primary classes, gone fishing, taken hundreds of pictures, worked hard, the list goes on and we have loved every minute of it.....

I'm so grateful for the blessing it is to be sealed to my very best friend forever. It is so fun to realize that this is just the beginning and to look forward to the adventures in store.

And the winner is....

So Monday morning at 6:15 AM the alarm went off signaling the necessity to roll out of bed and head to the starting line of the Old Glory Days Riverdale 5K. JD has never participated in such an event and was less than enthused over the whole event upon hearing the alarm. We like to joke about our differences when it comes to sleep case in point: Natalie: light sleeper JD: sleeps like a log

Natalie: early bird JD: night owl

Natalie: light switch JD: sunrise

This taken into account, the 5K was an interesting event all around. It was a beautiful course going along the river parkway for part of it (which I love). The day was nice, we had awesome friends to do it with and even a mascot practicing what JD would like to have been doing (Team Spencer!). We finished the walk and went straight to our car after saying goodbye to Megan and Scott. Turns out that both JD and I ended up placing. Go figure. Don't ask which is which because we don't know. JD's coworker accepted our ribbons for us or we wouldn't have had a clue that we even placed. Hopefully this makes it so this won't be JD's first and last 5k? :)

Happy Fourth of July

Fun day: Riverdale 5K, Miner Barbeque, and Fireworks. Happy Independence Day!

Sorry this isn't of the highest quality, but it is what makes me think of July 4th. I just hope one day I am in an old school neighborhood that sets up booths and food in the street.