Sunday Night Dinner

I had it set in my mind that I was going to roast a turkey this year, but was then talked into starting with a chicken first. After searching through Julia's cookbook and the internet I settled on Coke Can Chicken roasted in the oven.

So I would have thought that all the hours I spent in anatomy lab would have prepared me to pull out the giblets. But nope I still found it pretty nasty.

The finished product! It was so juicy, and fell off the bone!

Every great chef needs a beautiful apron! Placing the chicken on the plate (just as if it were still whole!)

So, I just couldn't resist having a pre-Thanksgiving dinner! Complete with sweet yams, and cranberry apple salad.

Dessert was chocolate mint cookies that I made last night with my friend Katie.

Halloween

Erin, Kellie, and Me

Seahawk Sunday!! (and Halloween)

I sported my Seahawk spirit down here in California this Halloween.

26.2

Photo slideshow generated with Smilebox

I accomplished an item on my bucket list! I completed my first full marathon and had a blast while doing it, from training, traveling to SF, dreaming about it and finally running it!

My Dog

A picture of Whit and I last summer. Whittaker had been sick the last year, and yesterday he passed away. He was a great part of the family and will be missed!

Iron Girls!

I am so proud of my mom and I! This weekend we finished our first 5k together! We competed in the Iron Girl ( http://www.irongirl.com/home_211.htm) race series around GreenLake as a Mother/Daughter Team. We both did extremely well. = ) I finished in 20:37 (not bad after being sick with a head cold and training for a marathon...) and mom in 27:22. We started off our girls weekend with a movie night on Friday, shopping till we dropped on Saturday, and enjoyed our racing on Sunday. All in all it was a wonderful weekend!

After Finishing! True Iron Girls

Day Before the Race

Birthdays!

We made chocolate cake (from the Colophon Cafe cookbook!)

It was my birthday last weekend, and I had this idea of doing a year in a pictures to celebrate! I came across the idea when I had seen someone else do it, and I though oh what fun. But my great idea lasted the day only. . .

See it is kind of hard to capture the day, when I spend quite a few hours at work, come home, eat dinner and go to bed. But I'm learning to embrace my old spirit = )
I'm totally enjoying work don't get me wrong. I have been learning so much that my brain is tired. It is nice to be out of the classroom and applying the last 1.5 of hard work. Like re-teaching a 16 y.o confidence to walk after being immobilized for 3 months, or knowing treatment methods to teach a brain injury.

Other things I am enjoying about being home include: running the trails with a college friend, Keely; eating lunch with my Aunt Melanie during work! going to happy hour at Anthony's with my parents; living with grandparents

Back to Washington

This weekend, I fly back to Washington for a total of 9 weeks! I think this time of year is one of my favorite seasons in the NW. Yes, summer time is coming to end, but there are still warm afternoons and long evenings. Then fall rolls in with crisp air and changes in the color of the leaves! These feeling could also be in combination with memories of running cross country in h.s. and into college some.

Running at Mt. Baker Invite (ran this race 8 years running)

Running in Lake Sammamish

I am heading up to the great state for a clinical rotation in an out-patient orthopedic clinic. I am excited to get out of the classroom, and now apply what I have been learning for the last 1.5 years. This change couldn’t come at a better time as I am feeling stagnant and am ready to shake things up. Maybe these feelings are stemming from the knowledge of getting to spend time at home with my family; having just spent 2 weekends up in Washington celebrating weddings with friends and joining family vacation in Lake Chelan. But my soul is ready to rest up and be rejuvenated and re-filled.

Jenna-Josh-Me in Lake Chelan

The Good Samaritan

So, for class we had to develop ways to share the core values of the APTA, my group had to demonstrate compassion and caring, and incorporate the Christian worldview.
Here is our take on the story told in Luke 10 about the Good Samaritan.

I do!!

Amy, Athena, Liz, Kaleigh, Sarah and Lara

This weekend I went back to Washington for my friend Liz's wedding! It was a wonderful weekend filled with friends! And the wedding and bride were BEAUTIFUL!!! I am so blessed to have been able to be apart of this special day for Lizzie and Levi.
We often refer to ourselves as the Stanwood Six. It is unbelievable that we have been able to remain such close friends from elementary school to high school, leaving for college, traveling the world, and now as we enter marriages and babies!! =) We gals are spread through out the U.S. (California, Arizona, Rhode Island, Washington, Georgia!!) we are still connected in each others lives. I feel so luck to be able to call these girls my friends!

Celebrate!

I have reached the halfway point of PT school! Now it's time to coast through to the finish. Last week was an intensive week of COMPS (3 hands on practicals and 1 written boards test). I am happy to say that my studying and hardwork paid off, and I passed. During the week of finals, studying and during comps week, I felt an amazing peace of mind and assurance. God's presence was felt during that week, and prayers were answered.

To celebrate passing comps and the 4th of July my classmates and I went to Lake Havasu, AZ. Thanks to Melissa and her husband Ted we stayed at Ted's parents vacation house. This time last year the three of us drove up to Portland, OR. So once again I crashed their vacation. = ) The weekend was filled with sunshine, 110 degree weather, and time out in the water.

Over the course of the 4 days, there were 20 of us, and here we all are!!

The first morning, we got up early and saved the campsite for the group. Here we are enjoying our coffee and great conversation.

This is the London Bridge (the original bridge was taken apart and flown here)



Jenn, Tricia, Melissa and I ready for the Jet Ski's

Friday Night Dinner (Take 2)

Me, Jessica, Ang

I am enjoying our Friday night dinner tradition (even if it only happens monthly.) It sort of reminds me of one of my favorite tv shows, Gilmore Girls. The main characters eat dinner with their grandparents every Friday night. How fun would it be to have a weekly tradition like that?

Last night we made a dinner out of a magazine that we found. It was absolutely scrumptious! It was a combination of seafood and grilling. Perfect for summer!!

Our table was set (the flowers were missing, but fun napkins replaced them... The grocery store actually had slim pickens...)

We weren't quite as adventure some as Julie or Julia and did not do lobster. Although how fun would that be?

First up was talapia taco's with onions, tomatos and avocados. They were followed by scallops that were marinated and then dipped into peanut sauce. By far everyone's favorite!!

Throwing a little shrimp on the barbie... Ok more like scallops on George. = ) Even Boomer made it to the dinner!

Eggplant was up next, and a lovely walk around the block to relieve our tummy's and to get ready for dessert! Grilled peaches with a honey and cinnamon glaze, and a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt.

All in all a delightful and successful dinner! I'm not sure which is more fun, the planning and scheming of a fun dinner OR sitting gathered around the table enjoying company. But we are busy dreaming of next month, any suggestions??

Summer!

Happy SUMMER! Yesterday was the first day of summer, and here are a few things I am looking forward to and a few things I am hoping to get to enjoy!

1. Lizzie's Wedding - a dear elementary school friend (and through H.S.) is getting married!

2. Heading home for a weekend in CHELAN with my family!!!

3. A camping trip - still needing to be planned. But I am ready to try out my never been used tent!

4. California Adventure's World of Color show! I went last night and it was AMAZING! The lights, the color, the fountains! Many of my classmates and I went down to the parks to get our passes to see the much anticipated show. It is so popular that the parks are adding extra showings. But it was worth the wait to see the show. Here is a glimpse of the Disney magic! We enjoyed the day, and tried to do a little studying, but how can you study at the happiest place??

A few of us on the Grizzley Run (and never sit by the opening - every one who sat in this location was soaked! Myself included... good thing I was able to dry off in the sunshine.)

5. Hiking around Runyon Canyon. It is in LA and I have heard that celebraties can be found working out here. Maybe I will spot Matthew McConaughey! But that leads to me to the next idea...

6. A trip out to the beach to watch the sunset, (Matthew is often in the photographed at the beach in the magazines. haha).

7. Get a library card to the local library. Once I finish this term, I will be heading into the clinic for several months and will have more time to read for fun. =)

Pups

I spent the weekend doggie-sitting Boomer (aka Boom Boom).

How can you resist those eyes?!

Boomer was rescued from the pound by Ang (running partner). He is SOOO well behaved, follows all commands, lays at your feet all day while studying, and also runs with you! I spent some time looking on petfinder.com for my own "boomer". I quickly fell in love with a lab/chow mix named Goofy, but happily for him he was adopted! YAY! I can to purchase a dog, but not to feed one. Oh the joys of living as a graduate student and having loans. But once I have landed myself a job, I will celebrate with finding a furry little friend. Every time I got home Boomer would be waiting at the door, wagging his little nub of a tail. How could you resist having someone sooo happy to see you walk through the door.

Horsing Around

This past week has been somewhat of a crazy week! Here is a quick look into what's been going on around here...

On Wednesday I got to follow Theresa as she treated one of her patients. She is a pediatric physical therapist and for class we needed to observe treatment. She travels throughout the day to different schools, homes and a clinic. I followed her as she treated a patient with microcephally or small brain. It is a diagnosis they often give to children when they aren't really sure what else to diagnose. The child was at school, and so we spent time learning how to treat her and make sure she can safely access the play equipment. This quarter has been great as it has given me experience into the pediatric world, and I am fascinated by it. This is definitely a route I want to explore more, and hopefully will when we go out into the clinic.

On Thursday I had a practical for Gen Med. All of our patients were set up in the "hospital" with beds, IVs, catheters and gowns. As random luck would have it my patient was my running partner, and all that running gave her a total hip replacement!! =) It was a fun practical and means I'm that much closer to finishing the quarter.

Yesterday we took a class field trip (yes even in Grad School!) down south about an hour to a center that provides hippotherapy. And no that isn't therapy for a hippopotamus. Instead it is physical therapy on top of a horse - mainly targeted at the little ones. We even got to ride the horses, and the most interesting was riding the horse side saddle. Horses are a great motivating factor, provide lots of sensory input and can all facilitate rhythmical motion.

This weekend is time to continue studying away! As I have 4 finals between Monday and Tuesday. Our internet has been down the last week, and now after it has been fixed, we have learned that our router is down. So the only to log on is to sit in the living room and plug in directly to the modem. This is a blessing in disguise - less time to be distracted by what's going on in the world wide web. =)

Introducing Wrigley

I have a new roommate that I would like to introduce!

His name is WRIGLEY!! (Named after the field the Cubs play in, and not the gum). Theresa is the official mommy, and Jess and I are his aunties. Wrigley was born 8 weeks ago in Chicago and is a King Charles Cavalier. We girls are having fun with him, and he is an excellent little guy. He is potty training very well and is a great ball of fun. Today I ate dinner and watched him play outside in the courtyard! He is going to be one spoiled lil pup with all of us ladies around. My piggy slippers are a bit confusing for the young guy, as they look like friends to play with! Below is our first family photo.

Casting + Sports Day

What a busy week it has been! This week was the annual sports day, where all classes are canceled and the 1's, 2's and 3's compete as a class against each other. It was a fun day with sunshine, good food and great company!! Jess and I are here showing our love of each other before the competition got fierce!



Here is a picture of Katie and I (we started the day off with a nice morning run!)

Games included dodge ball, steal the bacon, volleyball and soccer.

It was all fun and games until someone got hurt...
Ok, just kidding!! This quarter I am taking a prosthetic and orthotics class. We have been doing a lot of casting this week from how to cast for foot inserts, to Ankle Foot Orthoses (using plaster and a cast saw) to wrist splints. The wrist splints were made from plastic heated up in kitchen skillet, and then molded to the wrist. The tricky part is moving fast enough for the molding to lay down and to have the forearm in the correct position.

PS No one was hurt in the making of this posting.

At it again...

So Jessica and I decided that we should cook again, after all it was a Friday night. =) It was sitting by the pool that we found our inspiration (rather Jessica found it) from InStyle magazine, Berry Thyme Clafoutis! And since we couldn't pronounce the last part of it, we decided it was worth trying! What is Clafoutis you ask? It is a baked French dessert of black cherries arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a thick flan-like batter. The recipe we used called for blackberries. We later learned that this was a Julia Child recipe, of course right? The two of us are mulling over the idea of creating some sort of cook book. How to eat delicous meals on a graduate student budget and be able to cook in between all of that studying! We already have a title, thanks to my dad! Chick Chef's Cook Cheaply! = )


So for now bon appetite!

Tour Guide!

My sister came to visit me!! We made the most of her time here, and I even got to accomplish some of my California to do list. =) Jenna got to meet my classmates, see the school, sit by the pool with my roommate (while I had to sit in class...)


Hiking to the Hollywood Sign


DisneyLand for the day!!



Are you two sister princesses?

Don't worry I even got some studying in....

Hollywood to see the stars


Down to Santa Monica Pier

May Flowers

Aprils Showers bring May Flowers

Boeuf Bourguignon

So, I really was inspired by Julie & Julia, so much so that Jessica and I decided to recreate the evening. After an afternoon of cleaning the house, washing our cars, and grocery shopping together we cooked with Julia!

Here is the inspiration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg5U_Yei6Ow


It started with the tulips that brightened our table once we were all done.













Then we patted our beef dry so that it would properly brown!
















Jess made Julia proud and cut the onions as if the knife was part of her hand. And yes, we talked to Julia as if she were in the room.















Notice the pearls? = )
After 1.5 hours of prepping the meal (cutting the vegetables, browning the meat and sauteing the mushrooms in BUTTER! one simply can not have a dish without butter). Then followed 2.5 hours of simmering in the oven and then . . . the bouef was ready!

The table was nicely set, the dinner was ready. A strawberry spinach salad, with chopped pecans, and raspberry vinaigrette drizzled , fresh french bread and boeuf bourguignon. The day with Jessica was an absolute success. We have decided to try to make friday night dinners a monthly event.

The First!

Why blog? I have been considering blogging for the past few months now, and decided why not give it a try. I have enjoyed following friends as they travel throughout the world, and since the time I have been in college I 'blog' to my family through emails. Plus last night, after watching Julie & Julia I was inspired to follow through. So, here we go.