What you don't want to see at 7:15 am...

...especially when you have a 7:30 test.

Keyhole iced over

Car door completely sealed shut

Entire car encased in 1/2 inch thick ice, some of it even thicker. This car isn't going anywhere fast. Luckily, Scott had a nice friend with a garage who picked him up for his test.

bits and pieces

A visual depiction of why new windows are a Spring priority for us.

Yes, that is ice building up on the inside of my window. Yes, the wood is so wet from years and years of this that it won't hold its paint anymore.

Ok, now for some pregnancy information indulgences, because I know you all want to know about me. (Ha ha, ok, I just want to tell you.) I think I felt the baby move last night, which was fun. The heartbeat this morning was at 147, and I have an ultrasound scheduled for December 31st. So what do you think we should have, a boy or a girl?

Last night I had another pregnant dream. I was a teenager back in the church building I grew up in and my youth leader was performing brain surgery on me as a birthday gift. My skull was just hanging open, and I felt really privileged because this was the only birthday gift I was getting that year. During her "surgery" I was sitting in a folding chair making small talk to all the other young women around me. Then the church meeting started and my leader went up to sit in the front row. I was near the back, but my skull was still hanging open. I was patient for a few minutes, but then I kept trying to get her attention so she could close up my skull. I didn't want my brain to dry out. I ended up closing it myself, but then got scolded by my mom because of it. Strange.

Chocolot

We have some good friends in Utah whose mother is a candy making artist!  She is starting her own artisan chocolate company and needed to test shipping methods.  Since we wanted to try her delicious masterpieces, we were lucky enough to be shipping guinea pigs.

They looked perfect and tasted delicious!  This picture doesn't do them justice.  I wanted to wait until Scott came home to share them with him, but I couldn't resist.  I ate three and three halfs before he got home!  I REALLY liked this one, this one and this one (which surprised me because normally I don't get too excited about peanuts) and I enjoyed gazing in awe at this one and this one... they tasted good, too, but they looked amazing.

Britta it's your birthday! Happy Birthday, Britta!

Imagine the title being sung by an overweight, middle-aged, escaped convict who thinks he's Michael Jackson and you've got the song playing in my head. This is your beautiful birthday picture taken at 6:09 am. You are even winking at me!

Happy Birthday, Britta.  Here are some things I love about you:

1. Your smile
2) Your eyes
3)Your smarts
4) Your arts
And since we are like two birds of a feather

we will always be so happy together
Happy Birthday, Beautiful Britta.  I love you.

If I were a celebrity...

...everyone would be talking about my baby bump.

But as things are, no one notices yet (except me!)

I had a funny dream this week and I'm blaming it on pregnancy. I dreamt I was craving the taste of cigarette butts. And I ate like 8 of them in my dream! Just chewed the filter, paper, burnt end and all, and it was totally satisfying. But I had to sneak them when no one was looking because that's just gross.

It was a dark and stormy (AND COLD!) night

Last night, Britta and I returned home to Missouri. Before we left for Minnesota we turned down our heater and so we expected to return to a chilly house.

Oh, boy. Was it chilly.

In sifting through our mail, Britta discovered a note from our local gas company which told us they had turned off our gas on Tuesday.
We weren't too bothered by that, and I'll tell you why:
When we moved into our house in late July, we called the city to have our water turned on. No problem.
We called the power company to have the account set in our name. No problem.
We called to set up internet service for Britta's work. No problem.
We called the gas company to have the account set in our name. Here's a transcript of the conversation:
Me: Hi. My wife and I just moved in and need to set up an account for our gas service.
ATMOS Energy: No problem. I'll just look up the current account. What is your address? (I give them our address). . . Okay. Well I'm not showing that we have any gas service going to that address which means that there is probably no hook-up to worry about.
Me: So, there is no gas line here?
A: Nope.
Me: So our heater is not gas? (btw: our water heater was electric and there was not a visible pilot light or gas line to our heater that I noticed at the time)
A: No. It could be electric.
Me: One less thing to worry about.
A: One less thing to worry about. Can I help you with anything else?
Me: Why would you ask that question if you knew we didn't have a gas line? Weirdo.

Okay, that is just about verbatim. Except that last line, which was really, "Nope. Bye".
Turns out that our heater was gas. Turns out we never set up an account. Turns out that the coldest week of the year was this week. Turns out our house was just above freezing last night.
So when Britta and I investigate further, I discover a gas line to to the heater hidden behind it and wedged between it and the wall. I pull off the panel and: no pilot light.
No heat

We called about eight friends/various leadership in our ward. No answers. We called one more and asked for a space heater. Luckily, he had two. With our oven on and two space heaters going, we bundled up in about five layers of clothing and three blankets (including our down comforter) and made it through the night.
The gas guy is coming back today.
I can't wait to have a warm home again.
Ah, the lessons I have learned (i.e. never trust customer service reps; OF COURSE it is a gas heater!!) and the story we now have to tell our children.

This is what makes marriages sweet.

On Wednesday, Britta and I went to the Walker Art Center Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis. We had some fun. It was cold. Here are the pictures. The end.

What I'm grateful for (cheese-y)

You help to make life fun and exciting.
Knowing that your compliments and expressions of love are sincere fills me with happiness.
Britta, you are what I am most grateful for. You are the greatest part of me. All that I do is for you and our future together.
I trust you.
I believe in you.
I love you.

Impetus

im⋅pe⋅tus [im-pi-tuh s]
–noun, plural -tus⋅es.
1. a moving force; impulse; stimulus: The grant for building the opera house gave impetus to the city's cultural life.
2. (broadly) the momentum of a moving body, esp. with reference to the cause of motion.

Have you ever been involved in a conversation and a word pops out of your mouth that fits perfectly into what you're trying to say, and it's a cool word that you don't remember ever using before? That happened to me today. I feel cool cause I used the word 'impetus' and it was just what I meant to say.

(This makes me especially happy considering my speak impediment.)

The neighbor's dog

Snicker's story is like a lot of pet stories. Teenage daughter buys puppy and loves it and babys it for a few months. Teenage daughter gets busy with other things and dog gets chained outside. Teenage daughter moves away to go to school and can't take puppy. Single mother of teenage daughter doesn't have time and doesn't want puppy so puppy gets neglected and stays chained outside every day.

The single mother came over yesterday and offered us Snickers. She told us to think about it and get back to her. What do you think?

The Birthday Boy

Scott's birthday was yesterday. Within a few minutes of waking up he wanted to open his presents... I love that he's still just a big kid sometimes. Especially because that means I can get him gifts like a big green bouncy ball and he will get excited about it. In fact, when he saw it in the wraping paper (rolled in paper with two sides twisted like a big piece of candy), the first thing he did with it was throw it against the wall to see if it would bounce! He had guessed what it was (it was pretty obvious), but his reaction made me laugh.

Here he is with all his gifts yesterday morning. His hair isn't done, but he was excited to get dressed so he could show off the shirt he got from his parents.

Blogworthy

Just a month after "$3.09 feels nice," gas prices yesterday.

Our little cinnamon bear

I had an ultrasound on Tuesday just to check on the baby, get the heartbeat, make sure growth was normal, etc, and learned that it was 1.5 inches from head to rump. According to the doctor, that's six days early in development!

It was really active, kicking and dancing in there, it's little knees bending and elbows waving. What a weird experience to see that, know that it was happening inside of me, but not feel it at all.

Don't get me wrong, I have felt pregnant... nauseous, tired, hungry but completely repulsed by food. Scott has been a good sport eating a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because half the time I just can't get myself to cook--it makes me want to puke.

05.22.2009

Hairy Affair

When we moved, we left behind the professional hair doctoring genius of Sarah. Yes, it was a very sad sacrifice. Scott has been in denial ever since, believing he could just grow out his hair for the rest of medical school. Well, it finally got to a point where he couldn't stand it. He wouldn't even let me take a picture of his long hair! But he DID let me cut it.... he he he

Look at all that hair!

This was my very first haircut with clippers! Thank goodness for clippers! Scott was one brave man to let me do that.

Blogging Slacker

I promise to keep up with blogging better in the future. I want to write a few points about the past month or so for posterity sake, and I'll catch up more later. Here goes:

• Scott and I had to give in and replace our sewage line. Our old pipes were orangeburg pipes and were a) collapsing in on themselves b) missing the bottom of the pipe in places where it had worn down (what? I didn't know that happened!) c) had tree roots growing into it that the roto rooter guy couldn't get to because of (a). Now we can flush our toilet in peace knowing that it will all go down... aaaahh.
• I did end up getting a calling and it was in Young Women: I am the Stake YW Secretary. I love the youth and I'm excited to still be involved with them. The downfall is that most of the stake action happens a minimum of 2 hours away, so I'll be making (and have already made) many trips to Nauvoo.
• I keep having random dreams about my finiances. Of course there's an obvious source to this anxiety. One night it was so real that the second I woke up, I rushed to the computer to make sure I still had money in my bank account and no one had stolen my credit card number. Is anyone else feeling nervous?
• I'm so grateful for the truths I know from the teachings of the church. With all the noise about Prop 8 in California, along with the craziness of the elections and the economy, I'm so glad I have a solid foundation and have (somewhat) prepared for emergencies by keeping my spending within my means and building up a food storage... I really could go on about this, but I'm out of time

More news next time, I guess.

I like Fall!

Notice, I didn't say "I love fall".  I actually love a lot about it, but it also brings with it colder, shorter days, which I don't really love.  So, I think, "I like Fall" is accurate.

One of the things I do love about Fall is the changing colors of the leaves.  I know it has to do with the loss of chlorophyll, but I like this explanation better

Putrid Petrol Prices

The title is meant to be provocative.

How much does gasoline cost where you are?

At the station down the street, gasoline prices have steadily fallen as the summer has ended (minus an $0.11 one-day jump for hurricane Ivan) and now prices are at $3.09 last I checked.  When we left Utah valley in July, gasoline there was at $4.15/gal and when driving to MO we saw it for as much as $4.25/gal.

Because we live in a small town now, we are driving less time and less distance so we don't fill up as much, and I'm guessing that our gas bill as about half of what it was in Utah per month, (this includes our trips to Nauvoo to go to the temple).

I can't believe what I'm about to say: $3.09/gal gasoline feels nice (relatively).

When Britta and I got our new (to us at the time) car almost four years ago we got gasoline for $1.69/gal.  And we were so upset when gas jumped to over $2.00/gal the next summer.

So, have gas prices affected you guys?  How much are you currently paying?  I suppose it could be worse . . . but I REALLY don't wish it to get worse...

No Pressure

I want to start this post by letting everyone know I don't have an assignment or calling at church yet.  In spite of this, I was asked on Thursday night to teach today's Young Women joint lesson at church.  The sister who asked me to teach said that they periodically ask members of the congregation to teach the Young Women just for variety's sake.  So I frantically prepared a lesson in the little time I've had since then and went in to teach today.  Little did I know, the entire YW Stake presidency happened to be there, and the Bishop came in about 2 minutes after I started.  I asked him if he had business and he said, no, I just thought I'd sit in Young Women today.

It was very hot in the room, but I probably would've been sweating even if the air conditioner were too cold.

Go Cougs!!!

103-0

One hundred three unanswered points in eight quarters with the second string playing 30% of the time (while still maintaining a shut-out).

This is an exciting time for BYU Football fans.  I just wish that Anatomy and Biochemistry would allow me a chance to really watch a game (although the TCU game will likely be impeded by Histology . . .)  

I wonder what is going through the minds of our opponents and their coaching staff? . . . 

Perhaps the Jacksonville Jaguars can help with this one.

This made me laugh out loud.

Existential Crisis - click to watch video

My new obsession

I've discovered under all of our interior trim, painted with white acrylic paint, is beautiful cherry stained, oil-varnished wood. Oil and acrylic don't mix, so this stuff comes off with the slightest nick. It doesn't come off that easily where the wood has been chipped, faded, or in corners, but I've found myself a new project anyway! Here is a before and during shot. I'll update you when I have a finished... hopefully I'll be done sometime in October. I might repaint the walls, too.

Orange Sky

I didn't adjust these pictures at all. The sky here has gotten this orange 3 or 4 times that I've noticed since we've been here. These pictures don't even do it justice. It's always right before or after rain, and we've had plenty of rain. It's so cool!

Nauvoo

With the last sane weekend I anticipate having in a long time (Labor day weekend before my first tests this week) Britta and I took a trip to visit the Nauvoo temple and "Old Nauvoo" with our new, good friends, Emily and Stephen Stacey.

We live about 90 or so miles from Nauvoo, and we are in fact in the Nauvoo Stake and Temple district, so this is likely the first of many temple trips to come.  The drive is fairly nice, with a few small towns sprinkled along the rural highway to keep your speeds down, and the drive lasts about two hours.

After participating in the 9:00 session (which we agreed was perhaps one session too early as we left at 6:15 am - it made for a long day), we went down to Old Nauvoo to visit the sites.  We ran into an old friend of Britta's at the visitor's center who was serving as a full-time missionary.  We had a great time and even bought 'World Famous Red Brick Store Rootbeer', (which ranks ahead of Mug, Barq's, and A&w, and perhaps better than IBC, but not quite as good as Henry Weinhart's).  We hit all the 'favorite' sites where you get free handouts: the bakery (for a gingerbread cookie and recipe), the blacksmith's (for a prairie diamond ring), and the brick yard (for a commemorative brick - which was also being sold at the Red Brick Store for $2.75, but we got ours at no cost).

All said, it was a great day, capped off by a good football game, but we were EXHAUSTED by the end of it all.

Living with Britta (a.k.a. living with Scott)

Okay, so yesterday Britta and I were watching the Olympics on TV - the synchronized swimming - and I was peeking over my shoulder to see if Britta was paying attention well enough (or not) so I could "sneak" to a different station with more testosterone on it.  The next thing I recall, Britta leans over and, with tears in her eyes and quiver in her voice, says, "I can't believe I'm so emotional about synchronized swimming . . . I keep choking up."  Now, I know that if I ever want to really reach that deep spot in Britta's heart and emotions, I just need to wear a swim cap, earplugs, and a nose plug while smiling and spinning in circles to music.  No more flowers on our anniversary from me.  This is WAY more economical for the same effect.

Also, at dinner yesterday, while I was leaving the table, Britta, speaking of her recent shopping trip, excitedly blurts out: "I got some more of that plaster crap!"

Stunned, I turned around and gave her my best blank expression, showing my shock and confusion, because I'm sure that plaster wasn't on our shopping list, and definitely not crappy plaster.  Britta insists that she said "plastic wrap" which was on our shopping list, but I'm not so sure . . . 

The Joys of Home Ownership

I feel like Scott and I can finally say we're grown-ups because we own our house and all it's little quirks, like a leaky toilet that only flushes on every other flush, like a crawlspace that floods with every rainfall, and like windows that are painted shut, just to name a few.

Here's Scott putting up fascia board in preparation for our gutters (to prevent the crawlspace flooding). Isn't he the greatest? Unfortunately the project has been put on hold because Home Depot (yay! We have a Home Depot here) has been out of the downspouts and gutter joints since we moved here. Another catch to our gutter project is a tree growing into the roofline of our house:

We realize that the tree (or at least this branch) needs to go because it's causing roof damage and preventing us from putting up gutters, but it's a little beyond our budget to have it cut right now. Do you think it's okay to wait until next summer to cut it? Does anyone know how fast maple trees grow?

White Coat Ceremony

Yesterday I participated in my school's white coat ceremony which represents the official start of medical school and the end of orientation.  The donning of the white coat symbolizes the student physician taking upon them the mantle of a physician for a life-long pursuit of learning and humanitarian service.  The coat is placed on us by the Dean of the school.

You also might notice that our coats are much shorter than those that are worn by the faculty and other doctors.  The symbolism of this is that with each step of our journey (school, internships, residency, and full-practice physicians) our coats increase in length commensurate with our skills, knowledge, and abilities.Really, I kind of look at this experience as a bright spot at the beginning of a very long and dark road.

 I am so grateful for my family and friends who have helped me get to this point, and especially for my beautiful and patient wife Britta (who will also be my patient de facto as I learn and need practice . . . hope you're ready!).  I'm sure I'll be even more grateful to you all when the road is completed.

Water Fun

Being a Minnesota native, I was raised believing that everyone had a cabin on a lake in northern MN, or at least access to one. I believed that the only fulfilling vacation included swimming, preferrably in a big lake with fun swim toys. I was also raised believing that the more family that could go with you, the better. Scott, on the other hand, has always had a fear of water. He sinks. I was delightfully pleased to discover that after spending time in my childhood version of vacations, some of the "up north Minnesota" has rubbed off on Scott. Not only did he overcome his fear of swimming in large bodies of water, by the end of the week he was racing me in the water... and winning! Not only that, he mastered captaining the rented pontoon boat. Here is his suave picture at the helm:

And here is one of the coolest "fun swim toys" for the perfect vacation - a 6-person floating trampoline in 20+ feet of water:
This is one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip - my niece Leanna:
The whole fam:

Luau in Minnesota?

During my family reunion the oldest grandchild had her 11th birthday, so we had to celebrate. The theme of choice? Hawaiian! In the picture below, you can see the birthday girl coming out of the cabin with a red hat. Scott got a kick of this picture because my dad was trying to get a good picture of Sofia (the three year old above) and Amber and I were trying to get her to wave her arms like a hula for the picture. Sofia resolutely wouldn't do it and kept saying "Sofie can't" (she in the speaking in third person phase). This picture caught just that moment. Kind of funny! (Not the most flattering picture of my sister and I!)
This picture shows the kids eagerly lining up for the piniata (hawaiian... mexican... who cares, right? It's still candy). You can kind of see the cabin we stayed in in this shot, too. It was huge! It was made of two halves that were joined by a little door in the middle like joint hotel rooms for a total of seven bedrooms - one with four beds for the older boy cousins all together. My mom and dad rented a smaller separate cabin on the same resort with two additional bedrooms. I have to give praise to my mom for finding such a great place for our family reunion!
Scott had a crush on my niece, Tova, and she had a crush on him. She followed him around the whole week and always wanted to be entertained by him, cuddle, or just hang out. It was totally cute.
Another shot of Tova.