JD is home!

JD has been gone for 6 long weeks in Ashland for summer rotations and is finally HOME!  Ashland is about 5 1/2 hours away, fairly close to the Oregon/California border.  We found out back in March that he would be going there so we had time to process the fact, but it didn't make being apart when I was 9 months pregnant any easier either.  While it was a hard time for both of us being so far apart, we experienced so many blessings from the experience this summer.

We had a really hard time finding somewhere for JD to stay in the Medford area.  The contacts we had didn't work out and it was getting a little stressful as his rotations got closer.  We had actually started looking at hotels at a price tag close to $3,000 when we couldn't find a place for JD to stay, but I didn't feel good about going that route and I felt pretty peaceful about the whole situation and figured we could get a better idea when we were on vacation the end of May.  After a series of events moved our temple attendance plans to a different day and two different session times, we finally got to the Medford Temple to do what would be my last session for this pregnancy-we later learned there was a very good reason that we had changed plans so many times leading up to the temple.  A temple worker ended up chatting with JD for a bit when JD asked for directions since we hadn't been in that temple before.  Those of you who know JD know that he isn't one to just strike up a conversation with a stranger, and in getting to know Brother Jorgensen, he isn't much one to do that either.  Anyway, in the course of the conversation JD brought up that we had checked out Ashland the night before since he was doing rotations there in a month and that we hadn't found a place for him to stay during that time.  Brother Jorgensen mentioned that they had once hosted a PA student in their home for a similar circumstance and if it was ok with his wife, he felt that JD staying with them shouldn't be a problem.  Turns out that the Jorgensens were the only remaining contact that we hadn't tried, having been referred by our friends Haylie and Chris Weston, JD already had their phone number, but had been hesitant to call since our friends didn't know them, but were in the same ward and had heard they might be an option.  He thought it might be awkward to call and say "Hey some people you don't know in the ward gave me your number, could I maybe live with you for a few weeks?" And yet it was in the Medford temple that they were able to meet and talk.  We left our phone number for Brother Jorgensen after our session and by the time we pulled into our parking spot in Portland he was calling JD to confirm that he could stay with them for hardly any cost at all.  JD was able to stay in their beautiful home in Ashland that was about 10 minutes from the hospital he was assigned to and walking distance to his retail sight.  When JD locked his keys in the car, Brother Jorgensen gave him a ride and let him borrow their car until I got into town.  They would often save dinner for JD and it was just a really amazing situation altogether.  It was a huge testimony builder about the power of prayer, temple attendance, and paying tithing.  I know that all of those things are very real and that blessings do come from doing them.

JD's sites were really excellent as well.  Instead of just learning about anesthesia medications, the hospital JD was at was small enough that the pharmacist was able to work JD into the operating room with anesthesiologists.  He was able to sit in on several surgeries and see the 'drugs in action' as these doctors administered the medications during the operation.  His retail site was busy and very involved with helping JD learn.  JD was able to counsel, administer vaccines by himself, and pretty much do everything within the limits of being an intern.  Hearing from other classmates that wasn't so much the case in many instances for them.  Some pharmacists invited him for dinner, one even sent JD home with a full meal for us when JD came home for the weekend.  He got to see a lot, experience a lot, and learn a lot from the rotations.  They were also very accommodating letting him work 10-12 hour shifts to allow him to come home on Fridays and head back on Mondays.

There was a lot of divine help on my end too.  For starters, this pregnancy has been relatively 'easy'.  I have felt really well.  I only had to go to the ER for a clot scare once and that wasn't too big of a deal.  I have been able to work and continue to watch friends' kids, and carry on like normal. It helped a ton to have JD home most weekends.  One of the weekends I was feeling really good and drove down to be with him and check out Crater Lake.  It was good to meet the Jorgensens and see where JD was staying.  Aimee and her friend Lisa also flew out from Utah and stayed with me for an entire week towards the end of my pregnancy.  It was so nice to have people stay with me and they even cooked and cleaned.  My ward was amazing during this time too.  They either kept me busy by asking me to watch their cute kids for a few hours, something I truly enjoy, I had the fun coast day with the Fox family, and I was also invited to several different dinners with different friends during JD's absence.  It felt good to be needed so friends could go to the temple or go house hunting and it kept me busy too.

So that is the summary of the 2013 Summer Rotation.  Thankfully next time around wherever JD gets assigned is where he will be for a full year and I will be with him wherever that is, however, this has been a good experience and an opportunity for faith and trust in the Lord to increase.  I'm grateful for all the blessings we have experienced, for the opportunities JD was given, and that this baby waited until his dad was back home to make his appearance.  JD has a week of online coursework before the semester is over so we will just be working, doing school, and making preparations for the kidlet to come.

Sand in the City

JD and I had a blast going to Sand in the City in downtown Portland.  They truck in 4 tons of sand, dump it in Pioneer Square, and then have a building contest.  There were a lot of different entries that were pretty fun.  They were on a smaller scale than what was at Cannon Beach but we did see a couple of participants that were at the Cannon festival.  Some of the fun ones that we enjoyed were Dr. Seuss, Finding Nemo, Despicable Me Minions, and a cool rocket ship castle.  After our sand castle fix, we finally used the gift card that JD won at Deschutes Brewery.  It was kind of fun calculating things out to ensure that we spent $50 before we left, which is not super easy when we don't drink alcohol.  After appetizers, soup, lemonades, main entrees and desserts we were able to spend $51.50.  It was a super fun day and it was so nice being able to spend it with JD.

Crater Lake National Park & Ashland

We went to Crater Lake today and it was beautiful! I have only been once and there was a ton of snow at that time so to have a 75 degree sunny day with puffy white clouds was great.  I had been watching the park webcams all week and you couldn't even see the lake due to rain clouds Monday and Tuesday.  Unfortunately I am getting to where hiking around at high elevations in warm weather isn't the smartest idea. We took things very easy enjoying the lookouts, drinking lots of water, and taking my time walking instead of power hiking. JD loves taking his time so I think he is enjoying the turned table with me asking him to slow down a bit. It was fun seeing snow and there were even a couple of crazy people who hiked Watchman Outlook and skied down the mountain.  We have had a fun weekend in Ashland. It has been 95-100 degrees here in Oregon which I know you Utahns that read this are used to but it has put my body into heat shock; we are not used to this weather to the point that most apartments don't even have air conditioning since you usually only need it 1-2 weeks out of the year. I much prefer 70 degrees with a chance of rain compared with this. Besides escaping the heat by going to Crater Lake, in the evenings we have gotten 'cold treats' of slurpees and icecream and wandered around the shops downtown or Lithia Park enjoying the declining temperatures as my body recovers. While here we were also able to see Haylie and her cute new baby Sawyer.  We ate hamburgers at Jaspers-this time JD went for the Himalayan Antelope.  I was also able to unlock the Civic so JD could have the keys to his car back.  It has been a very nice weekend to say the least.

Cannon Beach Sand Castle Fesitval

Several years ago, my family got to see the end product of the sand castles left over from the festival completely by accident.  I thought they were amazing.  So this year, I have been doing my best to figure out when the festival was (they aren't super good at publicizing it).  I talked JD into going in a trade where last weekend we had to be 'responsible' and do things like clean and go though paperwork, and other boring grown up stuff like that.  Incentive was that we could go to the Sand Castle Festival. 
JD was up and ready to go at 5:15 AM, for those of you who are familiar with JD's sleeping habits, this is amazing.  He didn't want to mess with crowds and parking so we found ourselves in Cannon Beach slightly after 7, and yes, we did get an amazing parking spot, and no, there was not immediate competition when we first arrived though by 8 all available spots were taken.
We ate breakfast at the American Legion Lodge, it was really good they had eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy, fruit, and pancakes.  It was buffet style so JD got lots of sausage.  We were on the beach at 8 when they let the "Masters" begin their competition.  They had prebuilt boards and rings for packing sand and a ton of water buckets to mix the sand.  9:00 let all other participants begin their work. A back hoe came in and dug several water holes though we did find a group that had created their own pumping and hose system that resembled a step machine. 
The rest of our day consisted of watching the different group's 'castles' take shape.  There was a Candy Land one (won the Masters and $1200 ), The Other Side of the Stack that was a pretty cool castle of Haystack Rock with a fairy tail style back side, a golfer in a sand trap, a bath tub being drained, tiki men, bears taking over a camp site, a 60th birthday cake among many others.  It was fascinating to see the Master's build up and shape their sand formations.   We had a lot of fun, staying until the tide came back in, we will have to see where we are this time next year and if we will be able to go again.

Early Valentines

Since I have work and JD has a hard class section coming up we did some early Valentine's celebrating tonight. We went to a delicious restaurant called La Fogata. We ordered a what we thought would be more of a sampler plate to try new things and were brought out huge platters of food that resulted in a lot of left overs. Afterwards we went home and watched an IMAX movie off of Amazon Prime. We both fell asleep around 9:30 PM. What a romantic night, right? I am grateful to be with my best friend and that any time spent together is special. He is pretty great.

School is Back in Session

It has been a long hard couple of weeks for JD. Pacific wasted no time getting back into things after a delightful break. To his credit he has been amazing helping me out despite having so much to study and do. The picture took place Sunday after church. He lasted maybe 3 minutes before zonking out. Three more didactic semesters to go....

The Gorge

 We went to 'The Gorge' today as locals like to call the Columbia River Gorge Area.  This is a stretch of beautiful mountains and trees that stretch along the Colombia River right outside Portland to the base of Mount Hood.  We took the Historic Columbia River Highway and got to see new waterfalls that I haven't ever been to or even knew were there.  Some of these were Shepherd's Dell, Wakeenah, Multnomah( I knew about this one, but now I know how to park right next to the lodge), Horsetail, and Bridal Veil area.  I am a fall leaves fanatic, so it was really fun to be in this area with pretty leaves and surprisingly no rain, though we got a thorough misting from the falls.  It has been raining a lot here recently and you could tell from the amount of water that was coming off the mountains.  We hiked a few of the trails, but with this new discovery there will be a lot more to come back and do when I have a map and know where everything is in the area.  We played the-drive on this surprise highway until there is a waterfall then pull over game-more time and planning should be fun in the future.

Pumpkin Carving

We had fun carving our pumpkins tonight.  Nothing quite like turning on Pandora Halloween Radio, listening to a variety of music including: Nightmare Before Christmas, Disney's Haunted Mansion ride soundtrack, Told the Witch Doctor, Devil Went Down to Georgia, Monster Mash, Thriller, among many other classic Halloween songs, and digging out pumpkin guts. I think they turned out pretty cute.  Happy week of Halloween!