A Special Thank You

There is a reason I haven't updated this blog in a while. It is because I have been extremely busy studying for some big exams. I want to thank everyone that has been thinking of me and fasting for me. I know how much those prayers have helped and will continue to help me. I feel so blessed to have such a supportive family! You are all amazing.

Pictures From Spring Break

OK, so Ben took a million pictures during the fam's Spring Break. I think you should be able to click on the link/title of the post, save the zipped folder to your hard drive and unzip for all your viewing pleasure. I've put a few here for you to see.










Mom, Sharon, Me











Joseph on the rock climbing wall at Cabelas












Joe on the snowboarding dealie












A fun group at the Luddingtons










Jacob on the Climbing wall










Mom and Joe with painted faces











Jacob on the Snowboard dealie










Ben, Jacob and Joseph at the top of the Y











Dad, Addie and Hanny

The Glass is Half Full

Working in Oncology is totally different than I thought it would be. I imagined this dark specialty in which everyone was invariably depressed. SO DIFFERENT!!

I have seen new drugs that have cured cancers. People are living longer than in any time previous. The technology and research is so promising. Today we saw 8 patients with metastatic breast cancer; some to lung, liver, bone and brain. All of them are living well beyond what anyone would have thought imaginable even 10 years ago. Metastatic cancer used to be a 6 month death sentence. Not any more. The drugs/chemo/radiation available now can completely reverse and cure some of these metastases. It is amazing.

One of the Dr.'s I work with received an email with a link to this guy's web page. He has Multiple Myeloma which can be a very painful disease. However, despite the dismal diagnosis, he and some friends wrote this song. Here is someone who is trying to see the glass as half full.

Forget the Latinos...

I was trying to think of something funny to write about when my friend Stuart called. I have set him up with a couple of girls and he was telling me how he'd like to return the favor. Now Stuart works at the county jail. He's a social workers and provides therapy to the inmates. When he mentioned he wanted to return the favor we started joking that having a boyfriend that's in jail would have some benefits. He's widely known - especially if he's been on America's Most Wanted. He won't take up too much of my time. I can complete my residency before he completes his sentence and by that time he will have gained an education!

Offensive?

Becca showed me this - I thought some would like it, others would be offended. It's of a Michael Jackson impersonator -- except, he's a midget. I laughed.

My New Calling

Q: What do you get when you cross a hyperactive medical student with a ward that has a bunch of new people?

A: "Name Tag Nazi"

It's kind of funny because when they called me in to ask if I would do this, I laughed and laughed and laughed. I couldn't help it. I thought it was the funniest calling I had ever heard. (I did add the "Nazi" part to that.) The bishopric told me that they haven't been able to get anyone to do this for a while. The second they call someone, they go inactive. I told them that it is because the people are embarrased of their calling. Anyway, I accepted and have pretty much got it all arranged. The name tags are done and all I need to do is get to know everyone so I can make sure they are wearing theirs.

I was looking for a picture to add about name tag wearing and I found a site of a guy named Scott that has been wearing a name tag for 1951 days straight. Crazy, huh? You can see his blog here and his web site here. Quite an interesting fellow. He seems to have some good ideas. Check it out.

Crazy for Chocolate

So, I tried a new recipe today. Bec gave me this one for Molten Chocolate Cake. It is yummy!!! I will post the recipe so everyone can try it out. It's easy too.

4 oz semi-sweet chocolate (or 2/3 c. chips)
1/2 c. butter
1 c. powdered sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
6 tbls flour

Melt chocolate and butter in micro for 1 min. Stir until melted. Add p. sugar until dissolved. Whisk in eggs and stir in flour. Put 1/3 c. (approx) in muffin tin (well-greased) and bake at 425 degrees for 12 min or until edges are done but center is soft. Serve with some Cool-Whip or ice cream. YUMMMMM.

Give it a try.

Wal-mart Woes

This weekend I went with a friend to a shopping place called Kohls. Now, I had been there once before and didn't really like it too much. Rebecca would like it because they have great sales and things are deeply discounted. I did like that their things were on sale and some sheets enticed me. They were 250 thread count (I know, top of the line!) 100% cotton for $20. I could use some new sheets so I picked them up and walked to the front of the store.

Although the store had 8 registers, only 2 were open and there were about 8 people in each line; each, of course, with carts full of discounted merchandise. I stood in line for about 4 minutes and found that I was getting more and more anxious. I finally couldn't stand it any longer (the lines weren't getting any shorter). I went to put the sheets away. My friend noticed that a new line was opening up but my mind was made up. How dare they have a store full of customers and not have more registers open?! I could not support a company that would do such a terrible thing.

That's when I realized something: That is exactly why I despise Wal-mart. Several people don't like the concrete walls or the distance you have to walk from one part of the store to another. None of those things bother me. I really don't mind walking 5 miles between housewares and milk. I truly couldn't care less about the walls (if they are really built out of concrete - which I doubt). But, I absolutely detest the lines at Big W. I see they have a million registers. Can't they open a few more? Are they that short on "associates"? I know I've seen some of their people standing around doing nothing. Surely one of them could be spared from THAT toiling labor to help expedite the purchasing process.

I feel better now.

Recent Advice

So Sunday night I went to "ward prayer." I was talking to one of my friends after that. He was telling me there are only three things girls need to do to get a date.

#1 - A girl should ALWAYS look her best. He claimed that even when a girl exercises she should look "hot." If a guy is willing to spend $100 on a date, a girl should be willing to spend that much on herself. I like that thinking as well!

#2 - A girl should ALWAYS be flirtatious. He said guys less likely to care what a girl looks like if she is fun and out-going. Touch, touch, touch. Not the floozie kind of way; just enough to let a guy know that you are interested.

#3 - A girl should be available. The number one mistake girls make is being in groups. Too often we go every where together. Be willing to be by yourself for a while. It's going to be o.k. A guy is a lot more likely to go and talk to one girl than a group of girls, not wanting to single one out.

So there you have it. Three simple rules for getting the guy. I guess I need to put some of this to practice. Most of you are probably thinking that I'm going to practice #1 but I feel I'm pretty good at that already. And, by the way, all this advice came from a 33 year old single guy...

Sunday Thoughts

Since I sent everyone my newsletter, I decided not to put the whole thing here again. I will just add a thought I had during SS today. We were studying Abraham 1 and 2 re: the Abrahamic covenant. I noted that in Ch. 2, one of the first things Abraham does is tell the lineage of his brother's wife. I wondered why that was important enough to make it into this book. My point of view is that they had to be selective about who they married. Lineage was important and often determined whether or not they could marry. If they were selective then, it's ok to be selective now isn't it?

For Openers

Hey everyone,

I decided to start a blog. I was getting such great comments from my emails that I thought everyone would love to read them. I read a little article about blogging and here I am.

I will be sending you the address to view this site. You can also receive an invitation if you'd like to join so that you, too, will be able to provide posts and upload photos. I think this is a fun idea to share things with everyone. Kind of an online family journal with pictures.