Finally finals

Why is it that I always like to blog during finals week??? I wish I could stay focused and just study, but it is nearly impossible. I only have one more test left and then I am done for the semester and I can relax for the holidays. This also means that I am halfway done with my program and only two more semesters left in the classroom with tests. Each day is getting better and better for me!

Ice storm

I have lived in MA for over year now and I have had the opportunity to see an ice storm of two before but never have I appreciated one as I did the other day. I walked out of the house on monday morning at noon to go take my final. I thought that some of the ice would have melted by then. No such luck for me. In fact the moment I took one step on the ice covered driveway I knew I was in for some fun. I slid the whole way down to my car occasionally just saving myself from doing the splits. Once I got to my car, I turned it on and turned on the defrost full-blast and got out my trusty scraper. There was no way I was gonna be scraping this off, it was a thick sheet of ice that covered my entire car! Crazy! I sat in my car for twenty minutes and studied my notes before I tried to scrape again. Scraping was still not an option. But I did discover that I could slowly chip away pieces to clear my windows. Quite a process that I will be prepared for next time. Today I went out there and I found that the ice sheet was slowly coming off the back of my car but its still too cold for it to melt. The result was a sweet wing of ice on the trunk of my car. Maybe it will help me go faster??

Priceless

So this happened a few weeks ago, but I thought I would blog about it anyways cause it makes me laugh. Some friends and I were studying at the hospital across the street from our school in the atrium (a big open room with lots of people walking around and tables where people eat and a small fake garden on one side). We see this lady start taking all these "glamour shots" as if she is a model. But remember this is in the middle of the hospital. She is wearing spandex pants and it is very clear to see that she is wearing silver go-go boots. I was laughing my head off! I had to get a picture of it. Little did she know she would become famous on my blog...

The season

It's after thanksgiving and we are already in the month of December and the first snow has fallen in MA. It is officially the Christmas season by all criteria!! Yeah! I love the Christmas season. I love going downstairs and seeing the Christmas tree and stockings and other decorations. I really like christmas music, although I haven't yet found a radio station that has started to play christmas songs full time yet, so that's a little dissappointing, but I'll get over it. I just like this time of year, that's all

Halloween

So, I guess a halloween party in Utah the week before halloween was just not enough for me. I had to dress up some more cause my costume was so totally wicked!!! I reverted back to my teenage years and I went trick-or-treating with my cousins and my aunt. Don't misunderstand here, I really went trick-or-treating. I did not merely go and watch my cousins collect candy, I went with the full desire to get myself lots of candy and have a fun time! I went to every door and grabbed my candy as my cousins laughed at how old I was to be out trick-or-treating with them. One lady at a door said to me, "Are you the dad?" She examined further and said, "no, you're not, before I had time to respond." I replied, "no, I'm their cousin," and we all went away laughing. It was rather amusing. If you think it is a little childish that I was out there, then you will definately think that it was childish of my aunt, who just turned forty, to be out there in her mask also collecting all the candy she could. It was hilarious! She is the size of the kids, so she almost fit in. To further fit in, she would say "thank you" to the people in a very high pitched squeel to conceal her own voice. Occasionally the kids would say something to her and call her mom right as she was collecting the candy and she would hurry and turn around and run along to the next house. In an attempt to also conceal my voice, which is a little harder, I would say "thank you" in the lowest/deepest voice I could manage. I am now eating the rewards of my childishness and I think it feels pretty good. It was a classic night of fun and it sometimes feels good to act a little childish!!! Thats all

Fun times in Salt Lake

I guess I better take this time to blog cause it doesn't look like I'm gonna be doing much of it in the next little while. I have been back in MA for a week now and I have been overloaded with homework to the point that I really miss working full time and having no class. The real work in pharmacy school begins and it shows no signs of letting up until once again I am on rotations next fall. I know that there are people out there who are very studious and always do their homework before class and stay on top of everything all the time. I am NOT one of those people and to be told that I will have to spend five hours a day doing homework just doesn't sit well with me. Usually I would just think this was advise, the advice of the overacheiver but I have come to realize that five hours a day is now my life and that five hours is just enough to get by. Even more would be required if I wanted to reach overacheiver status. I read case after case of made up patients with problems and I read the literature to figure out what is wrong with them and find solutions to help them. All this in an attempt to help me learn and make associations so that in my future career I can remember these bogus cases and apply them. Will it work? I don't know, but I guess it's better than reading a text book. Anyway, that's pretty much the story of my life right now, boring. So, let me show you some of the pics I took while I was in Utah for the past two months...


I went to Las Vegas. Viva Las Vegas

I saw the Bodies exhibit at the Tropicana Casino, which was absolutely incredible!!

Sarah and I posing by the ship at Treasure Island in Las Vegas

I saw my nephews and neice, who are fun and awesome

I dressed up for halloween like a guy from the seventies and Sarah found the greatest costume at Savers so that we could be a rockin couple, retro

I saw a crazy biker on LV BLVD, maybe he was drunk, who knows why he was wearing a costume when it wasn't halloween

Margaritaville was the place to go in LV and people everywhere were dressed in grass skirts and coconuts

I saw mountains again! These are along the drive to Las Vegas

I went to Paris! I only wish!! I guess this is as close as it gets for me until June of 2009!

I saw my mom who dressed up as a pirate for halloween. I love my mom, she's the greatest

Good thing my brother is back from his mission to add some hilariousness to our family. Nacho is doing his delicate pose, hahaha

My sister hosted a halloween party

Even though it's hard to see, this is my little bro and his wife

This is my big bro reading something on our way to LV.

I got to see all my family and some of my closest friends. It was so great! I can't believe how fast it went. I hope the next year can go by just as fast! Love ya all back in Utah and can't wait to visit you again. For those of you in MA, I am glad to be back. I love both my homes!

Welcome Home Shayne

My brother is home from his mission. I'm so happy to have him home. He is the youngest kid, so we have no more missionaries and our family is all home for a little while. I can't believe it's been four years since I got home from my mission! I miss it a lot and I hope I get to go back and visit again soon. It makes me sad everytime I try to speak french and can't remember anything. I also wish that I could somehow make it back to the spiritual level that I had attained while I was there. There is really nothing like a mission!