Catching Up

Hello all?

It's been a bit since I've updated y'all on what's happening down here in the Sunshine State. 

The last time I posted was on my birthday.  That night, I was so nicely surprised by my amazing friends.  I thought I was just being treated to dinner by a couple of them, but when we showed up to the restaurant, there were a dozen people there waiting for me.  I didn't even know where we were going.  But they surprised me with sushi, a cake, and gifts.  It was a great birthday!

Mmmmm Sushi

Maria, Austin, Stephanie, Brendan, Me, Cally, Kristy, Tina, Christina

This semester, I've also been playing 4 on 4 flag football with some guys from class.  We were just playing in the Rec League so there wasn't a championship or anything, but I think we came away only losing 2 games.

David, Austin, Me, BJ, Jeff, Danny

 Florida has been the source of a lot of new experiences for me.  One of which was jury duty.  I lived in Utah for 8 years and never got called up for jury duty.  I haven't even lived here a year and I got a summons.  I don't know, I was actually kinda excited about it.  Never done it before and wanted the experience.  So, I got excused from school, went to the courthouse, and made it through the 1st round of prescreening.  Then they separated us into groups and sent us to courtrooms to go through the selection process.  Well, the group I was in was further divided in two.  My group sat in the audience while the other group was grilled by the prosecuting and defense attorneys.  Then they sent us out to lunch.  When I got back for my selection process, they decided to send me home because I had to be in a mandatory class on the date the trial was scheduled for.  I was kinda bummed for two reasons. 1) I didn't get selected for a jury and was robbed of my Twelve Angry Men experience and 2) I wasted an entire day just to find out that I wasn't selected.

Oh yeah, and I've been doing lots of this too...

But it hasn't been all book work.  I've gotten to do a lot of fun hands-on stuff too.  Check it out...

And this...

I also got to see a locally produced play with my good friend Mayra.  It was a quirky modern comedic take on the classic tale of Robin Hood.

And lastly....the moment I had been waiting for all year...drumroll please....Clinical year schedule!

So, Gainesville is my home base, but it looks like I'll be spending quite a bit of time out of town.  My first month rotation will be surgery at the Naval base in Pensacola.  That's really far away in the panhandle.  I think it's even in a different time zone.  Then the 2nd month I'll be commuting 50 minutes to an Urgent Care clinic.  I'll spend the month of December in Jacksonville.  In March, I have another hour commute each day to another primary care clinic.  

But the really good news, is that during those months where it says "Elect," I will probably have rotations in Utah!  I'm super lucky that the Asst Director of my program used to be on faculty at the University of Utah's PA school.  She's been using her connections to try and find me rotations there.  So far, she's found a Pediatric Cardiologist in Orem that I could precept with...which would be amazing.  I can't wait to be close to my girls again.  I miss them a ton!

Well, there you have it.  You're all caught up on the last month or so of my life.  A lot has been happening and I am so close to being done with the semester.  Just 2 more exams and an ACLS course and I'm 1 step closer to being a PA!

Reflections on 30 years of life

Well, today is my birthday.  Officially 30 years old.  Can it be?  Is it true?  Has life gone by that quickly?  Isn't it funny how when you're in the moment, time often seems to crawl, but when you look back on things, the years feel like they've blown by you like you like a fat kid at a Chinese buffet?  Why is that?  There's got to be some lesson there.  Maybe it's so we can enjoy the present, live there, experience it fully and deeply but blur the memories of our past.  There are certain things though, that I remember as vividly as if they had happened yesterday...

I remember Mom rocking me during a particularly bad thunderstorm when I was so so little.  Probably one of my first memories.

I remember singing to Billy Idol with my older sisters.

I remember melting a hole in the carpet with a desk lamp that I had tipped over so that the light wouldn't shine in my eyes while I napped on Stacie's floor.

I remember friends long since come and gone...I wonder how many remember me.

I remember winning the Junior Little League city championship...we gave the game ball to Ryan Foley's dad who had been stricken with ALS years prior.

I remember certain run-ins with the law.

I remember my first car.  Really wish I would have kept that one.

I remember managing the girls' softball team for 3 straight years.  They won the State Championship all 3 seasons.  Those were some of my best times in high school.

I remember heading off to the University of Montana, the dorms, the friends.

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when the World Trade Center was attacked.

I remember working at the movie theater.  Still probably my favorite job ever.

I remember certain days and experiences in the MTC that have been shared with very few people...experiences I keep very close to my heart.

I remember certain moments of inspiration while serving the people of Tahiti.  God sometimes speaks so clearly.

I remember coming home to what seemed like a changed world...only it wasn't the world that had changed...it was me that had been changed.

I remember moving to Provo and my first apartment.  Wyatt, Derek, and Dave.

I remember 4 specific times when I tried to talk to Becky and was rebuffed.

I remember the exact moment when she finally noticed.

I remember our first date and our wedding day.

I remember the awe and joy and humility I felt when little Grace was born.  She forever changed how I view the world.

I remember the arrival of little Abby.  I miss her terribly.

I remember all too well the agony and pain and heartbreak that was the year 2012.

Sadly, I also remember far too many of the mistakes, errors, insecurities, poor decisions, tears, disappointments, bad thoughts, bad circumstances, bad situations, and bad feelings that intersperse all of the moments above.  Some still haunt me to this day.  Aren't those the things that Time is supposed to help us forget?

But, thank goodness, I also remember some of the laughter, achievements, joy, successes, trials overcome, tender mercies extended, unspeakable spiritual experiences, lessons learned, and moments of pure bliss. 

My life is certainly not where I expected it to be when I turned 30.  Though, there are probably few people that could say theirs was either.  But this last year has taught me a lot.  Some of it was willful learning.  Some of it was having lessons beat into me.  The point is, that I have learned.  I have grown.

I've learned that 30 year old joints aren't as pain-free as 20 year old joints and that 30 year old bellies are not as flat as they are when you're 18.  I've learned that time takes its toll.  But I have also learned much from my mistakes.  I am far from perfect.  I am actually still quite broken.  But I'm learning to own that and love it all the same.

So, for this new year of life, I have hope.  Guess I can't ask for a better birthday gift than that.

Practice makes perfect

How do P.A. students spend the last Saturday of their vacation?  With a pig's feet suturing party, that's how.

My sutures still need work...

Spring Break 2013

It may be hard to believe, but I've never had a Spring Break before.  I wasn't at UM during spring semester.  BYU doesn't give days off...ever...let alone a whole week.  So, for the first time in my far too many years of college, I got a Spring Break.  How did I spend it, you ask?  Daytona Beach? Nope, not really my age group.  Vegas?  Too far away.  A cruise?  If only.  Nope, I decided to get back to my roots and spend some time in the great outdoors.  I went camping up in South Carolina.

It's been a long time since I went camping, and with a week long break, I thought it was the perfect time.  My Home Teaching companion, Dave, and I set off Monday morning for the 7 hour drive north.  Yes, 7 hours is kinda far to go camping, but have you seen a topographical map of Florida?  They consider ant hills "mountains" here. 

Day 1
I had found a free spot to camp for our first night.  It's a spot not far from Greenville on Forest Service land.  Basically, we just drove to the end of the road, put on our backpacks, and hiked down the hill to the creek below.  We had to clear our own tent sites, gather our own firewood, and boil our water straight from the stream.  No services here.  The nice thing was, there wasn't a soul in sight for miles.

Breakfast

Day 2
I wanted to do some hiking and since this first campsite was very undeveloped, we drove about 20 miles to Table Rock State Park.  It was pretty overcast that morning and even started drizzling while we broke camp, but that didn't phase us.

We got to Table Rock around 11:00.  We set up camp in time to do a hike, so we set off on Pinnacle Trail.  Stats: 7.2 miles round trip, 3425 feet elevation.

Bald Rock overlook

Visibility was pretty low, but you could see the fog sticking to the trees down in the valley and it looked like a forest fire. 

It started raining right when we pulled into camp, so we ended up spending the rest of the night in our tents, eating jerky, fruit, and trail mix for dinner.

Day 3
The rain broke sometime in the early morning and we woke up to a beautifully sunny day.  A perfect day, in fact, to hike to the top of Table Rock and enjoy the view.  Trail stats: 6.8 miles round trip, 3124 feet elevation.

Somehow failed to get my own pic of Table Rock so I "borrowed" this from Ourupstatesc.info

Our campsite is down near that little peninsula in the lake.

We made it back to camp relatively early in the day so we had tons of time to cook and just sit by the fire and relax.

I had a genius idea while shopping for supplies before the trip to make a stew out of beef jerky, carrots, and potatoes.  It. Was. Delish.

Day 4
We decided to break camp before breakfast and drive into Greenville, SC for some down home diner breakfast.  We weren't disappointed.  We asked a couple of older gentlemen we met in town where the best breakfast place was and they led us here.

This is one of those local, family owned diners where the waitresses have been working there their whole lives and they call you things like "Hon," and "Dear," and "Sweetheart."  I fell in love with the place instantly.

After getting nice and full on some country cooking, we drove to downtown Greenville.  This was a place I had dreamed of settling down someday with my family.  My visit only confirmed why that was an awesome idea.  You could tell that they had put a lot of money making their downtown the place to be.  Trendy boutiques, restaurants, art galleries, and fine arts centers.  Not to mention a beautifully developed trail/park system along the river that runs through town.

They did have a slight water sanitation problem though

Statues were everywhere. Like, seriously, on every corner.

Outdoor stage for community plays, free concerts, etc.

Greenville really was a beautiful town.  It was so much better developed than I had imagined before.  There are definitely parts that were quaint/old-fashioned, but I was surprised by how progressive and fancy the downtown area was.  Looks like it has become the financial hub of western South Carolina.


Now, I'm back in Gainesville with only one more day left until school starts again.  I'm feeling slightly sad about that.  Definitely not ready to start up again.  I could use another week, that's for sure.