A Family that Works Together......

While I am used to working with JD or Sye on occasion, usually Sye since he is based at Herefordshire with me...I can say that never before have 3 Speths been working at the same place at the same time before. It took several extraneous events to cause such a collision of family technicians to work together, but it did happen and the picture is proof. I have to admit it was kind of fun for the short time that this overlap occurred, though Deb was feeling a little left out being and Omer and not a Speth. :)

Santa's Helper

I talked JD into being a Santa's Helper with me for the Santa 5K in Ogden yesterday. We were assigned to the finish line which turned out to be quite fun, though a little cold. I would take off runner's tags at the finish as JD was helping to string all of the tags from the people coming down the shute. It was a random, fun activity for the evening.

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving was fun this year. I started out the day at Ogden Regional Medical Center for the Thanksgiving Day run with Aimee, and Lara, Sam, and Andrew. It was a fun event that hundreds of people come to every year. This was the 26th annual run, admission is nonperishable food items that you place directly into Salvation Army trucks. JD and I went to both families this year. My grandpa came to the Hewlett feast where we learned all kinds of Thanksgiving trivia such as: turkeys can run up to 55 miles per hour if threatened, turkeys pardoned by the President live out the rest of their days in the happiest place on earth: Disneyland, Thanksgiving was started in 1863 by president Abraham Lincoln, and the largest pumpkin pie ever made weighed 2,020 pounds. We then went to the Miner Thanksgiving. With the family being so large, they set up tables in a church and passed the different food items around the table. It was kind of fun waving to people across the gym. We finished out the day at both of our families houses once more, this time for pie and watching a movie. It was a fun, but busy day. It is weird to think that we probably won't be here next year.

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

I got a tour of the Barker Fish Farm yesterday and it was SO cool! I felt like a little kid on a field trip. It was fascinating to see him gather the eggs, process them, and to see the result in all of his tanks. Fish farmers now have to sterilize their fish, to do so they take the eggs they have collected and stick them in a hollow tube. Pressure equal to two full size cars is then applied to the eggs changing their chromosomes so that they are trisometric=can not breed. He said the containers in the top right picture contain about 50,000 of these eggs each, so can kind of see them in the clear containers, but the black ones have them too. If you ever have the opportunity to have a tour of a fish farm, I highly recommend it.

Oregonian

Yet another interview completed for JD. This time he headed up to Portland Oregon. He loved it up there and really likes the program so we will see what happens with this school. A bonus of this trip was JD did not have to come home the same day as his interview and stayed with one of his fellow Indian missionaries. Ben has been a great friend and recently moved up to Portland for work. In anticipation of JD's arrival, Ben dressed up in a traditional Indian dhoti and made a special sign. In India, they don't have the "th" sound so JD went by Elder Spet the whole time. They had a fun time, he loved the school, and he likes Oregon. And now.....one more interview left to go this year.

Las Manzanas

I have had a thing for apples lately. I love going to Winco and buying one or two of every kind of apple they have. I have learned all kinds of new apples the picture includes: Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Gala, Fugi, Sonya, Sweet Tango, Granny Smith, Braeburn, Jonagold, Pink Lady, and one I can't remember and the sticker fell off. I get bemused looks from the checkers when the multiple bags of apples come along, but I don't care it has been my funness the past couple of weeks.

Florida

JD is back from LECOM in Florida, another very quick trip down. I dropped him off on Wednesday at the airport and picked him up Thursday night. One more to go this week...as in we will be heading back to the airport today after his lab final. :) The weather was 80 degrees and he got to see drive across the Gulf of Mexico on the Sunshine Highway Bridge which I think is pretty cool.

A little bit of cheese

Ok, advanced notice, this is going to be cheesy, and I don't care. You can stop reading now and wait for the next post, or you can just deal with a little bit of cheese every once in a while. So you have been warned.
I miss JD, I know it is lame and everything, but I do miss him. This is the first time since we got married that we haven't been together and simply put, I do not like it, not one bit. Thankfully, we will hopefully be at the end of this craziness by the end of the month. The end.

Running on Ice

We went to Disney on Ice last night. I have to admit that the first number that consisted of a 'running on ice' warm up for everyone with the Incredibles had me questioning if even the WSU discount tickets were worth coming, but it turned out to be pretty cool. They did parts from several movies including: Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, Tangled, Aladdin, Lion King, Little Mermaid, Frog Princess, and Peter Pan. I loved watching and listening to all the kids; the biggest screams of delight came for Lion King and Tangled. It was a fun, random night.

One Down, Three to Go

JD is back from Arizona, he drove the 11 1/2 hours there Thursday, interviewed Friday, and drove the 11 1/2 hours back right after his interview, getting home about 2:30 AM. That is a lot of driving, most of it was in the dark. With Midwestern down, he just has three more places to go this month, two of which this upcoming week! -I liked the Christmas light covered cacti pictures he took, one of which is featured in this picture if you look close.

Kindred Spirits

Today was Erin's birthday and while she had SO much fun in the morning with dental work, I think the evening may have been just a little bit better. It was so fun hanging out with Erin and her family as we celebrated her turning 25. We have been friends forever, that is, since my first day of 1st grade at Lomond View Elementary in 1991 when Erin invited me to play with her at recess, we weren't even in the same class and I was the new kid. We have had many adventures, hikes, road trips, concerts in rain and snow, who knows how many pictures we have taken together, many letters back and forth during her mission to the Land of Anne, late night chats, plans and schemes, baking, running, dreaming, crafting, sewing, jumping, cleaning, moving, singing, and the list goes on and on. I am so grateful to have had a kindred spirit in my life all of this time, and I look forward to many more adventures that lay in store for the next 20 years. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIN!!!!

Interviews, Planes, Hotels, Cars, Friends, Family

So the past couple weeks have been nothing short of insane when it comes to our future. JD has received 4 interview requests over the past 3 weeks (including one today) and seeing as they are all over the country, it has been a little stressful keeping everything straight, between flight times, prices, hotels and their location in relation to the schools, car rental details, maps from airports to hotels, contacting friends and family to find a place to sleep or ride from the airport, and the list goes on. The main summary is this: Midwestern University, Phoenix Arizona, November 10th; LECOM Bradenton Florida, November 17th; Pacific University, Portland Oregon, November 19th; and LECOM Erie Pennsylvania, November 29th. This equals a lot of stress and a lot of money. Not to say we aren't grateful, hopefully we will get accepted at a good school and will know as early as Christmas where and what we will be doing and when, that is a nice thought indeed.

First Dam 5K

Imagine a dark, brisk, chilly, morning. There is fresh snow on the ground and small flurries all around you. A layer of ice hugs your car windows as you try to scrape it off. Your breath hangs on the air. Despite several layers of clothing the cold is biting. You are experiencing this for the sole purpose of running around the mouth of an icy cold canyon. Joy.

While I was quite doubtful prior to running, the First Dam 5k turned out to be a pretty fun experience, and while running the temperature was just fine. Aimee and Kariel did wonderful on their 10K and I had fun doing the 5k. Indian food afterwards was fun too.

Perfection

JD's grandparents gave us tickets to attend the Utah Symphony Orchestra with them last night. They had a guest violinst, James Ehnes, and he was amazing. Every once in a while you have moments where you are witnessing what is near perfection examples include: U2, after 20+ years of practice can throw an amazing concert, the Olympians have dedicated most of their lives to their sport of choice and you get to see the near perfects take the gold every 2 years, and last night I can add James Ehnes to that list. It was fascinating to watch him play and amazing to hear what was coming out of that 1715 Marsick Stradivarius of his (as in a real Stradivarius, worth well over $1,000,000). That's right, I watched a Master Violinist play his Stradivarius-no big deal.

The Arts

Megan, Spencer, and I attended the Eccles Art Center in Ogden today. It was an interesting experience. We wanted to do something different and new and this definately fit in that category. The artwork on display was neat, mostly landscape with a focus animal of some kind: moose, beers, pheasants, etc. Though to be honest, I think we were more fascinated by the Eccles mansion itself. Considering when it was built, it is a very impressive house. It had opening windows on pulley systems, gas heaters in every room, we counted about 6 bathrooms, and we aren't sure how many bedrooms, Spencer was a fan of all the mirrors and the baby looking back at him in each of them as well. It was a fun, random, free activity if you are looking for something to do.

The Last Cookie

JD's mom makes cookies for friends and family every Halloween and we are one of the lucky recipients, well kind of this year. JD told me he was on his way home and took a little longer than usual. He walked in the door and related his sad story: The cookies had been forgotten on the car roof upon his starting to drive home, they fell off the car and went all over the road. JD seeing this went back, and picked up all of the mess off the road and was able to retrieve one survior. He too has now perished.

Goodbye October

October 31st is a fun holiday. Halloween is just crazy if you think about it, people dressing up, knocking on strangers' doors, and asking/demanding candy, and if you don't comply it is implied that you will be sorry. As fun as this holiday is and as fun as decorationsand such are, I have to say Halloween is kind of a sad day for me because it marks the end of October.
It certainly has been a wonderful one this year: fall leaves, hiking Waterfall Canyon, Big Cottonwood Canyon, (snowballs one week, hike up Donut Falls the next), Moab, River Walkway, Alpine Loop, General Conference, peaches galore off of Jeff's trees, Arches, birthday celebrations, crafting, zombie 5k, the opera, family parties, fall break, and so much more. All in all it was just wonderful. So long October, it's been great.

We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet

We had Regional Stake Conference today and it was wonderful. There were a lot of good messages and things to take from it and I have to say it is always nice to hear from the prophet. The main message from both Elder Andersen and President Monson was the need to look outside of ourselves and go to the rescue of those around us be they the widowed, lonely, from fractured families, neighbors, friends, strangers....to help those who need it or to find a way to serve those around us. I think it can be easy to get wrapped up in our busy lives, and trials and not look outside of our narrow point of view and see those around us in need of a smile, hug, listening ear, plate of cookies, visit, phone call, dinner, because we are all dealing with something. President Monson's remarks on battalions and loss of war in connection with loving those around us made me think of a quote that I love from Sister Marjorie Pay Hinckley (wife of President Hinckley): "Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Note on the picture: some may think this a weird choice, but the last time I heard President Monson speak at the Dee Events Center it was at my graduation, which I think is pretty neat.

Dumb Student.

I have had to get my blood drawn weekly since probably June 2010 when my body got really really angry. While the test may change the steps don't. I know where all of my good veins are, as well as the scarred ones from over use. I usually know the people's names and personal information such as kids, car troubles, ex-troubles, etc due to the frequency I get to visit. That said, I had a student today. I understand that we all start somewhere, but this students was a complete idiot. Here is my case as it unfolded: #1 Feels for vein in the wrong spot #2 I inform student that is not a vein but a tendon-big difference #3 Student ignores me and shoves a butterfly needle into my tendon and into a nerve-yes a butterfly needle used for shallow veins as in on the surface nowhere near my precious nerves #4 I begin crying and am not sure why #5 notice student is still fishing for a vein within my tendon but I am unable to feel anything....at all, but my body obviously does or I wouldn't be crying right? RIGHT? #6 Nurse comes around corner and exclaims "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING TO HER!?!?" and shoves student out of way-yay! she removes needle and asks me to pinch fingers which I can do if I am looking but can't feel it and can't if I am not watching my hand #7 nurse has to go through the top of my hand due to my arm being destroyed on the oppostie side #8 stupid student asks if I am just senstive-I gave a not so nice reply along the lines of being insensitive to people who don't listen to their patients especially when they have blood drawn as frequently as I do #9 leave with three areas wrapped in brightly colored coflex and still unable to feel arm, grasp, write, open pens, hold cassettes, type, etc #10 15 minutes later I am going to throw up, I am sick, dizzy, and nautious, our nurse notices and figures I am having a sympathetic reaction to having my nerve poked and twirled around #11 3 hours later tingling in the fingers, I can pick up a paper #12 4 hours later feeling starts coming back #13 evening pain is so intense in my arm that has been dead since 11:00 AM I am forced to take pain medication to get any relief #14 I don't like students, especially dumb ones. #15 never again

Bookstore Ban

Fairly certain that JD and I should be banned from all bookstores until further notice, as in until we have completely finished pharmacy school, paid off student loans that will come from pharmacy school, and pay off our future home that we don't even know what state it will be in. Why? Because we go into bookstores and we can't come out and when we finally do, we have huge lists of books we would like to have on our shelves that are already packed full. Outside of that, between applications and a daunting thesis, when do we read.....for fun at least?

Free Run Foliage

I took my camera with me for a quick jog by the river today. Wow it is pretty. I love this time of year!

Christmas Craftiness

Tara and I got crafty today and made some blocks for Christmas. She made super cute presents and I made the Grinch. It has been a very long time since we have done anything and it was fun to finish a project together. The foot print happens to be in a pile of rogue glitter that escaped the container as Tara bedazzled her presents, everything was quite sparkly by the time we were done, but the finished products are very cute.

X-Ray

JD and I attended a health informatics dinner tonight that was held at Ogden Regional Medical Center. After the forum I ran up to imaging to get a case study for school from one of the girls I used to work with there. It was so fun catching up with the two techs there and see how they were doing. I slaved away 1,500 hours for free at that place with the group pictured left over the course of 2 years. Since then, I have gotten married and will have my Masters degree soon, Megan has had a baby, Ser moved to Korea, Melissa is now in Washington, and Nick is an adjunct professor at Weber State. We had a lot of fun and were an amazing group because we were all smart, all worked really hard both at the hospital and for school, and we weren't afraid to use things like pizzas as object lessons when studying physics or radiobiology. Who could ask for better memories than all nighters, learning how to make oragami frogs and cranes, ab work out routines using your basic office chair, experiencing the taste of barium, CSI marathons on holidays, learning what it means to be 'like a banshee' and the list goes on.

Witch Pharmacy

I work with pretty much the coolest girls ever on Mondays. At the beginning of the month we all bought the same scrub top and have worn it every single Monday since to celebrate Halloween. We get lots of compliments from the clinic staff and patients, and I feel we deserve them judging by how cute we look in this picture. So ya, our pharmacy rocks.

We were given a treat bucket one year for Halloween that says Witch Pharmacy on it with a witch cut out underneath the title-hence our unofficial name during the month of October.

Moab Part 3

After church this morning, we checked out of our hotel and headed back into Arches. We drove straight to the trailhead for Delicate Arch and hiked our way up to the famous landmark. I have always been too chicken to go around the bowl and stand under the arch but I did today and it felt great. I love the ray of sunshine on me in my moment of triumph that JD was able to capture. The upper right corner pick was taken from behind the arch on a sandstone outcropping, I had to be extra brave to get that, the skinny part of the arch is closest to me (then you feel dumb when people are running over there and not even thinking twice about it or hugging the cliff wall to be able to get that angle, curse my fear of heights). The last picture is of my feet right next to Sand Dune Arch, we went back there before heading home because we were close and I love the slots you go through to get to it.
This has been one of our funnest adventures yet. We had a great time and did a lot in just a few days. National Parks pretty much rock!

Moab Part 2

Day 2 of our adventure was incredibly busy and spontaneous (in other words we had no plans and I wanted to do everything). We headed out to Dead Horse Point State Park, followed by Canyonlands National Park. Mesa Arch was beautiful but it was freaking me out because people were letting their kids run along the top of the arch=dumb. We also did several arches at Arches National Park: Skyline, Landscape, Pine Tree, Tunnel, Broken, Sand Dune, as well as hiking through the fins at Devils Garden. The slots were awesome and the temperature was great. I think my favorite arch of the day was Sand Dune, kids were playing in the sand, burying each other in the sand, and running through the slots. One creative kid had made a replica of the sand dune arch out of the sand below it and it was pretty accurate too. One more day before we go back to work and school.

Moab Part 1

Today was a long day of driving to say the least. We drove straight to Monticello from American Fork (thanks Grandpa) and made it in time for the 12:00 session. The temple is beautiful and the set up reminded us a lot of Redlands and Newport Beach. We drove back to Moab afterwards, dropped off our stuff at the hotel and headed straight for Arches. We did a few hikes before sundown, the lighting was fantastic, and in case you didn't notice, the leaves are changing in Moab too. It is fun to see bright yellows contrast the red rock. Another exciting day coming up tomorrow! :) I LOVE adventures with my very best friend.

Waterfall Canyon

Christie was nice enough to come on yet another fall hike with me yesterday. Waterfall Canyon was beautiful. The leaves were on along the entire trail. Chris is fun to hike with because she is crazy. Ever since her rock climbing class she has the need to plaster herself to all rock faces. This hike was momentous because the last time I went up Waterfall, I had a blood clot and didn't know it. I had to stop a bazillion times to catch my breath and slow down my heart rate and couldn't figure out what was wrong and why I felt so crappy until 6 weeks later when I was in the hospital and it all suddenly made sense. Yesterday the only main stops were to take pictures and I was super surprised when we were suddenly at the base of the waterfall. Fun times.

Of Witches and Pumpkins

There is a contest at work where they provided little pumpkins for each staff member to decorate. The completed pumpkins will be put throughout the clinic for staff and patients to vote on. The pumpkin pictured is my final product minus the bow since it was drying at the time. I used four pieces of scrapbook paper, tore it to small pieces and modge podged both sides of the paper pieces as I put them on the pumpkin. I painted the whole thing black first so that small gaps don't show. I then glittered the stem.

Wicked has been on my to do list for quite some time and it is now finished minus the witch hat that I am still waiting for inspiration and ideas on. I LOVE Wood Connection and Wood Creations, they are wood shops in West Haven and Salt Lake City that sell "raw" blocks like the ones below to be decorated. The Wicked cost around $10.00.

Hiking

Erin and I went hiking at Donut Falls this weekend up Big Cottonwood Canyon(yes the same place I was throwing snowballs at JD just 1 week ago). We had SO much fun. It has been a long long time since we went on an adventure and I can't think of a better person to go on adventures with. I also love having a fellow lover of fall with me. Erin's birthday is in November, and while not quite as cool as October, it is in the best season. We took a ton of pictures as we walked through yellow quakies and gathered leaves for Erin's clincals. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful Kindred Spirit as Erin.

Two Roads

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken

Dog Poop Cookies

We had the topic of Purity and Righteousness in primary today; I hate topics like this for 7 year olds, especially when the lesson is 2 pages long of actual material and you know it won't take up the whole time or keep their attention long enough to help them understand the material. So to get the point across, I made cookies for the class. They were excited to have treats, I brought them on a beautiful dish, and they smelled delightful. I told them I had a secret ingredient that I wanted them to guess, after going through the basics (flour, eggs, sugar, chocolate chips) a kid called out, bugs! I said "Close!" and their eyes got big, they continued guessing until I finally told them that it was just a little bit of dog poop, only a smidge. Their eyes were huge and their mouths dropped open, some smiled not believing me, but were still shifting in their seats. We talked about how even little things can make a difference in our lives; listening to bad music, watching bad shows, not being kind to people around us, saying bad words and unkind things to others, taking bad things into our bodies that can hurt us, etc. How saying just one puff won't hurt is the same as saying just a little bit of dog poop in your food isn't a big deal. It made what was a lesson I was dreading into a really good experience, the kids got the object lesson, and one of our nonpartcipatory kids was paying attention to every word from the moment we mentioned there may or may not be dog poop in the cookies we brought. Teaching this made me think about what things I could change to have more sanitary cookies, I feel there are always things that can be improved or that I can be working toward, and that even small changes can invite the Spirit in more as I strive to do what is right. This principle will be my focus throughout the week.

Zombie 5K 2011

It is that time of year again, time for the Living Dead 5K. It was fun as usual though much different than last year as in a couple thousand more participants different. This brought some confusion and chaos with it. We are attempting to be zombies in the picture to the left, I think I have the undead stare down.

Fidelio

JD and I had a new experience last night: German opera. Fidelio was written by Beethoven and we actually enjoyed it, as it was very "stirring" (direct quote from the rich ladies sitting behind us). The story was good, the plot moved along for the most part, and there was even some humor in it (I didn't know Beethoven had that in him). Outside of the performance there was also much to observe: A woman alone in her box seats was playing musical chairs throughout the entire opera, by the end I believe she had sat in 4 of the 6 chairs at her disposal some of those more than once. A girl sitting next to us fell asleep without even a slouch in her back, I was pretty impressed, she was awakened by a rather high note, wiped the drool of her face, and went back to sleep. Clothing ranged from tuxes and gowns, to jeans and t-shirts, the tux and gown crowd were the funnest ones to listen to with their sophisticated remarks on the performance (such as stirring). All in all it was a great experience, one I would repeat in the future if the right opera came along.

Ohhhh, I know

The Families Alive Conference is at Weber State this week. I attended the key note tonight with Val who is going for school. I have to admit it is rather strange going to a parenting class without any children, you feel as if you have just infiltrated a secret club and you now have actual proof that parents were indeed plotting against you as you were growing up.

I Want......

While shopping at Costco today and perused through the books=BIG MISTAKE. I want pretty much every single book in the picture on the right hand side. Some of the titles included are: the entire set of Beverly Cleary, the entire set by Roald Dahl, all of Shel Silverstein, a ton of Dr. Seuss, Harry Potter, pretty much all of my favorite reading material from learning to read to now; why oh why did I have to go by the children's books?!?!? I want them ALL.

Junior Recital

I wish I could sing.....I went to Catie Omer's Junior Recital this evening and can I just say she is amazing? She sang the first note and the thought flashed through my head: "Well you're definately out." Because I wouldn't in a million years be able to sing even the first note she sang. I had several friends in high school who had beautiful voices and I always envied that talent, but I came to the conclusion that while some have that gift, there need to be others around to appreciate it. I am a very big appreciater to make up for the very little talent I possess in this area. So thank you to all those out ther sharing their beautiful voices so I can enjoy them.
Side note: I love the people I work with, this was Deb's daughter's recital, and we had 3 of the 5 coworkers come out to support. I think that is pretty neat.

The First Paragraph

When I wrote the following pages, or rather the bulk of them, I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, and earned my living by the labor of my hands only. I lived there two years and two months. At present I am a sojourner in civilized life again.

Four Way Chess

"It is not just a battle anymore.....It is war!"

It also takes about 2 1/2 hours to finish.

Fresh Air

This weekend has been a much needed breath of fresh air. It was so nice getting up into the mountains to enjoy the yellow aspens amdist the snow covered pines, have the pressure of school disappear, get things cleaned up a bit at home, and to attend the temple. I feel so much lighter and much more peaceful. It is nice....and airy.