Blackberry Storm 2

I got a phone. Not just any phone. A blackberry. I used to have a Nokia. It called people. It had a little camera. It texted. With really bad predictive text. That's really all it did.

And then school strongly suggested we have a "smartphone" to upload medical information onto so that we had it at clinicals. Plus, it sounded fun. So I waited and waited and waited and finally on Wednesday, the Storm 2 was released. It's so sweet. I facebook on my phone. My e-mail comes to my phone. I scroll through my calendar and type in a billion things I would otherwise forget. Basically, it's just a fun toy that seems silly really. And managed to give me a headache the first day I had it trying to figure out everything.

And yet it just might make me feel a little more excited about everything. And, of course, professional :-)

(Plus, it has a 3.2 Megapixel camera. Which means I will be taking all sorts of blogging pictures now because I'll always have a decent camera with me. No more missed shots of expensive shoes! yay!)

p.s. I won a $25 Target gift card from work for riding my bike the other day! sweet!

Clinicals!!

So I started clinicals on Monday. With my new lab coat and new Banana Republic clothes, I felt so professional. And it made me even more excited when I showed up and the guy telling me where to park said, "Oh. Are you a doctor or something? You can go right in."

Yes. Yes I am a doctor (or something.) :-)

Everything went awesome; I did a few exams (yes, THOSE kind of exams), and my preceptor was awesome. I'm sure I'll have to make this blog private eventually, but not yet...
Anyways, thank you all for humoring me with this. It just all seems so exciting still.

Opa!!

Last Saturday, Brad, me, our friend Ashley, Brad's friend Betsy from New Jersey, and John went out to eat at a Greek place called Bacchanal. John had been before; Brad wanted someplace cool to take Betsy, so off we went!

I knew we were in for fun when I made the reservation. It's hard to type in Greek excitement, but imagine it while hearing, "Ok!! Christin!! Five People!! See you at 8!!! Bye-Bye!!"

We were taken to our table by the owner who seemed so happy we were there. Was it beautiful? No. But it was authentic. You could say. Christmas lights. Photos of Athens. Definitely a family-owned feel. And this was the band:

The ONLY time I may have seen the drummer in back start to crack a smile was when he caught me taking his picture. The rest of the time, he sat leaning against the wall looking a little like a member of the mob. Drinking. They were awesome.
We started our meal off with flaming cheese:
Then salads, mousaka, veal, and chicken. The food was good, but it wasn't the main event. Here's the owner:


I swear he loved his job, and it showed. He was up there dancing with everyone. And then Laura, the belly dancer, arrived. The owner kept saying "oh sexy, so sexy. Maybe too sexy." She really was great, and John had a blast when she came up to dance with him.
Gotta love it. After the belly dancing and the regular dancing came the plate breaking. For $2, you can buy a plate just to break. We each got two. Kind of silly, but we loved it. Especially saying "Opa!!" as we threw them on the ground. In one of these pictures, you can see my "Opa" hand in the air right after I threw down!



It's definitely a place to go when you have some time on your hands, but all two and a half hours was amazing. Opa!!

School by Wiki

As I sit here considering writing the four page paper I have due tomorrow (and positively ecstatic about it), I thought I would let a few of you know just what might have changed since you were last in school, even as lately as 2007.

1- You Tube. You wouldn't think that YouTube would be a valuable source of information, but since I was last in school, teachers now LINK to YouTube. Want to see hyperactive reflexes? Type in Clonus into YouTube. Want to learn how to do a physical exam? Type in Bates Respiratory Assessment. Pneumonia diagnosis here we come. To quote Brad, "Who would have thought you could become a doctor on YouTube?"

2- Wikipedia. I love wikipedia. I don't really care if my professors don't. If I don't understand what the spinothalamic tract is, Wiki explains it better than any book I have. It tells me clearly about most diseases and I feel incredibly educated most of the time I look up something there. I always check it in the book, but it has yet to be wrong.

3- Google. We have a lot of open book tests in this program, and sometimes I swear the answer isn't in the book. But I can type in any phrase at all (ex: "platelets in the bone marrow") and find that the answer is myeloma. After spending 15 minutes trying to find it in the book. Or if I happen to be doing the quiz somewhere else. Done. And Done.

That's not all, but that's huge. It makes me actually feel a little old that I am so impressed by all this, but it is so fabulous that I can watch videos from another university online if I need clarification. I love school by wiki!

Defensive Driving- The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good- Tuesday when I went to MY bank, all 3 notaries were sick or off, but the cute guy in line who owned an auto shop across the street gave me his card, told me he had a notary, and I took my defensive driving test hanging out with all the auto shop guys!

The Bad- Monday night the lady at Bank of America was all kinds of rude when I asked if I could have the Defensive Driving test faxed there and said no. Also, the UPS store who had a notary was closed. And I spent 3 hours online and was bored. bored. bored. and tired.

The UGLY- so bored and tired that driving around looking for a notary made me a little anxious to get home and I think a photo radar snapped my picture going through a "red" light. (It looked yellow to me!) Which means I just might have to take Defensive Driving AGAIN. Awesome. I love irony.

Barneys New York

Yes, I realize three of the last five posts now have to do with stores. Forgive me, except for the amazing fall weather that has finally arrived, there's not a lot to do here but shop.
Maybe that's why Scottsdale Fashion Square just added a wing that includes Barneys New York.
Now, a few months ago Ariana and I went to the Jimmy Choo store to try on those $700 shoes after pedicures and it was awesome.
And the other day I needed to return a shirt and get some powder, so Lena and I ran to the mall. The lady at Anthropologie just happened to mentioned that Barneys had opened two days ago. So, although Lena didn't really understand the big deal, we went.
And I gasped. True, the clothes were a little boring, actually. True, it COULD be considered pretentious. True, I wasn't dressed for this store (but most people weren't, really). BUT.
They had Christian Louboutin shoes. Shoes that I love. Shoes that are beautiful and comfortable and always have red soles. Shoes that I have always said one day I would buy.
I didn't.
I don't think I will. Mostly because I realized that day that investing $800 into an account now would likely in 18 years pay all of a child's college education.
But Lena tried on some $1100 shoes herself.
And the guy was actually really cool to us and we had a blast.
Sometimes living in a "Rich Place" can be a little bit awesome.
(This isn't my picture. I need to learn to bring my camera more places. You never know what might happen!)

Pomegranate Season

There are actually two reasons I need to post about this salad.
1. My mom loves these salad almonds called "Almond Accents." They really are delicious and could almost make me eat a salad every day. Maybe I'll do this when I'm in my thirties. Anyways, every time we all sit down to eat a salad, my mom says, "You should try these almonds. They really make the salad." Or she used to. Except it was so predictable that we started teasing her for it and now she won't say it anymore and it's actually not as fun without her being so excited. What I'm getting around to is that I finally bought a couple flavors and they are fabulous. (They are in the produce section at Albertson's and Smith's.)
2. I love pomegranates. I love fall. I love pumpkins. I love chilly wind. I love pomegranates. They are a sign that all the fall holidays are about to arrive. It reminds me of pomegranate martinis with Jessica (we made them together; she drank them) and pomegranate toast (peanut butter and pomegranate seeds). Just the color feels so celebratory. I bought one at Whole Foods last week.

Brad made this salad this week. Nicely broiled chicken, toffee almonds, pomegranate, and poppy seed dressing. SO DELICIOUS.
Welcome fall!!

I GOT KICKED OFF THE FREAKING LIGHT RAIL

THE LIGHT RAIL. YEP. I. Got. Kicked. OFF. THE. LIGHT RAIL!!!!!!!

Oh, I was so mad. Yes, it's now 5 days later. It doesn't mean I'm not still a little pissed.

Let's go back to the beginning.

Monday night John asks if I would like him to take me to school the next day. Of course! It would be so fun to see him before we both went to school (we go to different campuses). So he came over at about 7:30. We went to Paradise bakery and had muffins and milk and it was so great.

It was nice because

a) I didn't have to ride the light rail OR pay for parking

b) He smells so nice in the morning :-)

BUT

b)I used a different backpack because I had so much stuff to carry.

This is a U PASS.
It lets you ride the whole semester for $40.

It was in my other backpack.

But I didn't care, because John was coming to pick me up. At 8pm.

Unfortunately, I got out at 6:30, and John was exhausted and napping. Brad wasn't answering his phone because he was at softball. And there's nobody else I'm close enough to to make them drive downtown to come get me just because I don't want to ride the light rail that night.

So I just hopped on.

Let me clarify: It costs about $1 to ride the light rail either direction. There are a LOT of shady looking people who ride that thing who have never so much as considered actually paying for the ride. There is no driver checking tickets, but occasionally a cop comes by and asks for proof that you paid. This is pretty rare.

And I almost made it home. I was four stops away when I got "caught." And then I explained my situation and he didn't care at all. He actually told me not to cry and then made me get off. And then made me buy an 85 cent pass so he didn't give me a ticket. And as soon as he walked away, I cried like crazy. Maybe I'm a girl. Maybe I was particularly emotional that day. Maybe I was so FRUSTRATED that he told me I was "stealing services." Really?? I'm prepaid, dude. I'm not stealing! I'll beep my little pass twice next time.

I got back on with my 85 cent pass and walked home through the semi-scary neighborhood with my MAC on my back. I cried to Brad, to John, and to Bridget. Maybe I was being a baby.

Or maybe people shouldn't kick me off my freaking public transportation!!

Freaking Light Rail.

The Athlete Door

I didn't run once this week. I did go to school for two days (including a 12 hour killer) and work 36 hours, but I didn't run. Not even once. However, this door still makes me smile. It's what I did after I went to Target and was feeling all kinds of happy.

Speaking of not exercising, here's maybe the most interesting article I've read in a very long time. Makes me think I should eat a little more carefully after all.
Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin

Polished Professional

So following the exceedingly happy Target trip, Brad and I went to Banana Republic. A place that (brace yourself) I've neglected for over a year. Well, maybe not neglected, but they haven't gotten any of my money in a year. That's big for me.

But, you see, I needed Doctor clothes. Clinicals start in two weeks. I need to look professional. And the BR was having a sale. An awesome sale. 40% off their best pants. 25% off their already clearanced shirts. I was in Banana Republic heaven and had so much fun "practicing professional". The thing about clinicals in the DNP program versus regular nursing school is that you don't wear scrubs anymore. You wear BR clothes and a lab coat.

Somehow my dream seems closer. ;-)

Target Therapy

So the other day I was feeling quite blah. You know when you just feel like you are DRAGGING yourself through everything you do?

And then I realized. I hadn't gone to Target in WEEKS.

I needed replacement sunglasses.

I wanted those cool little Dr. Scholl's insoles to make my gold heels tolerable.

I had only one pair of pajama pants

It was Target time.

And I actually HAD time to go to Target.

They had my sunglasses.

I got my insoles.

I found cute gray pajama pants.

And I even found a long-sleeved workout shirt that totally matches my blue shorts for eleven bucks.

Suddenly life was bright. I had time. I had things. I had.....

Target.

Whew.

007

I feel like I'm getting to know the road from Arizona to Utah all too well since Bridget has moved there. I don't know another time in my life when I chose 11 hours on the road versus 1 hour on the plane, but it makes for memories! We left at midnight on Thursday right after the concert- me, Brad, John, and Phil (our cute home teacher).
We stayed in Park City at Bridget's house. You see, Bridget stumbles into a lot of incredible things in her life, for example, a really generous couple who have given her a mansion to live in indefinitely. It has a lot of sleeping space, a sweet kitchen (with Viking appliances!!), and a great banister which I managed to run into twice and give myself some remarkable bruises.
We drove up to watch conference, which means, actually, that I have to figure out how to watch conference again because it's always a little crazy with a lot of people in the same room.
On Friday, on the one and a half hours of sleep I snuck in on the car ride, Bridget and I went grocery shopping.
Two things:
1- Feeding 12 adults for a weekend, especially when Brad and I bring our fancy cookbook, is not so cheap.
2- The Smith's in Park City absolutely rocks.
Brad made his Brad Burger's the first night, which turned out incredible. (The recipe is on the dinner blog. It's from Rachel Ray, and it's become his specialty). Bridget made her guacamole, and we just had fun hanging out. I gave up about 9:30 on life, and headed to bed. Pretty much everyone else went outside and made S'mores at the sweet firepit outside. It was just an incredible night, an incredible house, and an incredible view. It felt so good to breathe the mountain air.
I talked to Amber Ray, who shared my room, for a few hours. I don't know her very well, but she was great to talk to and so fun. John came up and talked to us for a little bit, and then he was out, too. Brad, on the other hand, didn't sleep at all and had then been up for about 30 hours.
Saturday was fancy dinner / 007 night. Bridget had asked Brad and I to be in charge of a dinner. What did she expect? He and I are in dinner party withdrawals, and we had a huge fancy kitchen at our disposal. So we made Pot-roasted poussins agro dolce (basically sweet and sour baby chickens) and creamed butternut squash. Brad actually wasn't there for most of the making (he had to sneak in a trip to see one of his favorite mission companions in Logan), but it turned out incredible. I was kind of in love with the stove. And everything looked so pretty when we were done (But I was a dork and completely forgot to take a picture. Bridget's camera makes mine feel insecure and I don't take as many pictures when its around. Imagine four roasted chickens, red sauce, crispy pancetta on top, sprinkled with pinenuts. Ahh... autumn, I love you.) But in all the rush, we didn't get dinner done until after the guys had left for Priesthood session. And then we were REALLY busy.

See, Brad's birthday is on the 10th. I work, there's a big church activity, and we didn't know when we'd be able to celebrate. So we planned this surprise party. During Priesthood session, while the guys were gone to the conference center, Bridget and I picked up his birthday cake, the balloons, green and black olives, and got a picture of Brad at 8-years old in his suit blown up. The two of us and Amber Ray cleaned and decorated like crazy. We even found some martini glasses in storage and set to work scraping the stickers off. So what if they were for water and Mountain Dew? You can't have a James Bond party without martini glasses!! We turned on a James Bond movie, and then got dressed like Bond girls. Red lipstick. Black, white, and red sexy clothes.
Yep. It was a blast. The guys arrived in their suits looking like they knew all along. Not too many people came (it seems like those we knew who were visiting in Provo got sucked in there and weren't able to come), but it made for a fun and intimate little party. Everybody was so happy there was real food, which made me laugh, so we all ate chicken and squash before birthday cake. We cleaned up 4 whole "young chickens," and it was so delicious. We danced and talked into the wee hours and got to meet some great people. Happy 25th Brad-o!!

Out of Order

I almost forgot to post this, which would have been a travesty.
So ever since I've moved to Arizona, I've had a little bit of a social complex. I really love people, and I feel very friendly, but at a lot of parties I've gone to, I haven't really felt like I was so so happy to be there. They usually just don't feel that friendly and it all feels unfortunately very forced.
But last week, Laura Heaton turned 25, and I went to her birthday party. It was a blast. We had virgin margaritas and took pictures with the plastic Mexican guys on the wall. I met a future podiatrist, a guy with a great aura who was just fun to talk to, and just had a blast talking to every single person I met. It was just a great feeling party, and I was so happy to meet so many fun new friendly people. Go fun AZ parties!!
(Thanks Vanie for making it so cool!)

Arizona Version of Country

Ok, so this post almost makes my stomach turn. A little rundown of my life: I grew up in Florida, Texas, and Idaho. There's a lot of rural in my blood. Fields surrounding a town seem par for the course. I am used to cotton fields, rodeos, and even dairy farms. I grew up with Reba, George Strait, and Garth Brooks. I know the early 2000's were terrible for country music, and I all but abandoned it. Then Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, and Brad Paisley stepped on the scene, and country got it's life blood back.
So when Brad heard a couple weeks ago that we could get free Brad Paisley tickets just for test-driving a Chevy, we showed right up and got the last two tickets!! Whoo-hoo!!
I changed my schedule all around so I could go (thank you Cami!), got my homework done, and then got ready.
Pulled on my jeans.
Slipped on my boots.
Dug out my John Deere hat.
And headed out to see Mr. Paisley himself.
Where I found myself confronted with this:

This is apparently Arizona Country Dress Code. I could have taken about a billion pictures just like this. A few hundred girls throw on their shorts, their white tank tops, their boots and hats from Scottsdale Fashion Square, and pretend to know one of the hundred songs that might be played that night. There was no "down home" feel, no broken-in cowboy hats, no electric energy that comes with the pure love of the music you're there to see. Which was further highlighted when I looked to my left and saw this:

Ed HARDY does not belong here. REALLY?!!!
But despite all this and my highly critical attitude, we had a blast. Back on the lawn, we sang along to most Dierks Bentley and loved Brad Paisley and all his redneck true cowboy-ness.
It was Everything We'd Ever Wanted. :-)
It was fabulous.

I rode my Bike again!

It's been quite a few months; too hot, too stressed, and usually too lazy, I've been. But it was getting under my skin. So last week, I cleaned her off, wikihow'ed how to inflate those tires with the weird little valves, borrowed Brad's huge backpack so I could haul a couple textbooks up there, and set off. Everything went smoothly, I rode no slower, my shower was still waiting for me, even cleaner and nicer seeming than before. Then loads of homework and friends set in, and my parents came to visit, but I will be back. Turns out I love it, even if I know I look so dorky. It feels great. (Brad is always so supportive of this; he loves it and always whips out the camera, so as not to miss such an event. :-) )

Glamour is What Brings Us Together Today....

So I've subscribed now to Glamour for something like 7 years. Once in awhile I think it's silly, but most of the time, not. For awhile, I didn't know why I wasn't enjoying it as much. Then I realized it's because I wasn't stressed out enough. Once school started, though, I was like, "Yeah!!! Glamour's in the mailbox!!" Instant stress reliever.
Over the years, Jessica and I have read it together on separate couches, and more than one boyfriend has been cajoled into reading an article or two. And my brother, of course, is no exception.
The October issue is usually my favorite, and this year didn't disappoint. The 10 most inspirational college women of the year (22 year olds who accomplish more than most people do in their lifetimes), a 27-year old Mormon virgin tells her story, great fall clothes, and a romantic article by Jake about long-distance love.
Which is why my heart warmed when a few new friends read my Glamour together on the couch, and a few days later Jessica texted me to tell me to turn to page 215.
Glamour....in a crazy world, sometimes it's silliness is what brings my life together.

When Life Picks up the Pace

Please note I am well aware that my blog lately has been utterly neglected. Looking back on the last two years, I have never posted as little as I have in the last month. First, I've left my camera at home way too often. Secondly, I started school and between the stress of that and work, most of the things I've considered posting have had to do with time management, being stressed, and not having enough time to pursue that whole athlete thing I talked about a month ago. It's been crazy; that's for sure, but it's getting better and I'm already starting to feel the ground reappearing under me. Fall is here. That means it's 94 degrees instead of 102, but the nights are in their 70's, and that's momentous. My heart knows it's time to wear sweatshirts. I gaze longingly at them, and then put back on my shorts. But at least I can run outside, as slowly as that might be for now. Anyways, moving on, here's a glimpse at a few things we've been up to!