Action Dental located in Cheyenne, Wyoming is "Smiles Ahead"! My husband and I have moved far away but anytime we are in the area, we check in for our check ups. The staff is willing to accommodate our hectic schedule especially since we are usually there during the holidays. (We have our appointments scheduled during the Christmas holidays this year.)  They also are knowledgeable regarding our insurance and it's coverage of procedures.

Dental health is important as it is the first line of defense against nasty bacteria entering our bodies! And, as Dr. Peterson likes to say, "Be true to your teeth or they'll be 'false' to you".

He's Here!!!

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

An Early Birthday Present

My birthday came a little early this year!

After two and a half years of marriage, the cheap pots and pans we initially got (about $80 at Walmart) were driving me crazy. They weren't flat and wouldn't heat evenly. I always had a spot in the center that would be scorching while the edges were merely warm. Also, some of the Teflon coating was wearing off, getting in some of our food, etc. One pan was a large skillet that Lars had for years; he had inherited from his sister who had it for who-knows-how-long and SHE WAS GETTING RID OF IT! It had definitely seen better days.

So, after some shopping and waiting for a 30% off coupon as well as the "Early Bird Savings" at Kohl's, Lars bought these for my birthday.

I totally LOVE these. They heat evenly, they don't rock on the stove top, no peeling Teflon - they are beautiful. They are even about a million times easier to clean too. I used to have to let the pans soak until the food was mushy enough to clean off (gross, I know). Not these. I could just run them under water and all the food comes right off. Of course, I still use soap to clean them but it is such a breeze!! I KNOW I spend less time doing the dishes now.

Disclaimer: I am NOT getting paid nor compensated by Calphalon for this review -- I WISH!

Fruit Flambé, or, "I Love Fire"

I got to take Presidents' Day off this week, so we took a trip to the Carnegie Science Center. (We got a special deal on a year-long membership to the Pittsburgh museums, but until now hadn't been able to take advantage of it. Mostly due to the museums' visiting hours not being conducive to anyone with an actual work schedule.)

It was packed with children, most likely on vacation themselves. We missed the Mister Rogers' Neighborhood planetarium show, but we were able to attend the "Kitchen Theater" where they do shows on science in the kitchen. This particular show was called "Fruit Flambé." The museum guide asked the kids what they think "flambé" means, and they all excitedly yelled out "FIRE!!!" One of the little boys on the other side of the room exclaimed rather loudly to anyone who might be listening: "I love fire!" (Attention Boy Scouts of America: good luck with this little guy...)

The museum guide started out with a butter-and-sugar solution and described the difference between a mixture and a solution. She mixed in some bananas, and it smelled great, and she said "Well that's the end of our show. Thanks for coming everyone!" The room got deathly silent as the children looked around at each other trying to figure out why they didn't get to see any fire. The guide didn't leave them squirming for too long, though, as she asked everyone "Did I forget something?" The kids all yelled out "You forgot the fire!" "You're right, we haven't done the fire yet." Our little pyromaniac friend on the other side of the room started chanting "FI-RE! FI-RE! FI-RE!" The guide then went into the science explanation of combustion, with little puzzle pieces with the words "Heat," "Oxygen," and "Fuel" written on them.

It was fun, but when she got to "Fuel," she asked "where are we going to get fuel?" One of the little girls called out "Alcohol!" I was expecting the guide to use a blowtorch and toast the sugar or something, but sure enough, she pulled out a bottle of rum and another bottle of brandy. OK, first, how did that little girl know that the guide was going to use alcohol? Second, isn't it kinda sending kids mixed signals when they're being told not to drink alcohol? I know I know, she explained that the alcohol burns off so it's OK to serve this stuff to kids, but still.

"Stiller" Country

We are definitely in "Stiller" country. I actually didn't know what that meant until about two days ago when I asked my friend. We go mall-walking in the mornings and I noticed a sign at a few of the shops stating this is "Stiller Country". I figured it was a misprint but not according to my friend. Apparently true Pittsburgh-ians pronounce it "Stillers" instead of "Steelers". Weird, I know but that's how it is.

In fact, today at church (aside from all the Steelers colors in the congregation) our nursery helper told us that hopefully the Lord will forgive her for missing so much church during "Stiller" football season.

Also, I didn't realize that around here, after you take down the Christmas decorations, it's time to put up the Steeler's decorations. We have several houses on our block that are decked out for Steeler season. One house has yellow spotlights turned on at night with several banners and flags. As we drove to church today, there was a house that had a blow-up football player on their front porch. This is serious business!

They have this thing called the Terrible Towel that many people use as decoration. They sell for $9.00 and I ask, "What do you do with a Terrible Towel that makes it worth nine bucks?" There is an answer for that - you see, it comes with instructions:

So, even though I've never wanted to watch the Super Bowl nor even cared who has participated in it, it's easy to get caught up in all the excitement. (I even bought Lars a Steelers shirt to wear to work on the Friday before the big game.) Maybe next year I'll even put up some decorations after New Year's.

A Secret No More

Well, most of the family know that The Hubs and I are expecting! We are pretty excited. We found out at the beginning of October but I really knew a few weeks before that when I just wasn't feeling too well. I've been quite tired and nauseated during these first few months. I have been fortunate enough not to have any vomiting (for which I'm so grateful!). I've also noticed a metallic-like taste in my mouth constantly. Gum has been very helpful. I'm finally starting to get my appetite back (and how!!!) but still have near daily abdominal pain. Lars reminds me that "this is the easiest part of raising a child" so I'm trying to keep that in mind.

I thought I would share how I told Lars that we were going to have a baby. It was kinda clever.

I took the pregnancy test early in the morning (even before Lars left for work but didn't tell him). I decided to make a special dinner for him that night and give him a little present to announce. I spent at least an hour at Target walking up and down the baby aisle looking for something cute to give to Lars. I must have looked like a weirdo walking around that section of the store for so long and crying. I finally found a little bib in green that says "I love Daddy". It was the best I could do. There really isn't much that is gender neutral; at least not at Target.

I went to the Library and checked out the book "What to expect when you are expecting". I figured that even though I know a lot medically about pregnancy, I don't know ANYTHING about experiencing pregnancy. Plus, I thought that book may be able to answer some questions that Lars might have. I cried as I thumbed through the book after getting back to my car in the parking lot.

For dinner, I bought some baby back ribs at the store already cooked. The thought of cooking hasn't been too pleasant for a little while now. I did however cook some baby carrots and baby potatoes to go along with the baby back ribs. (Hopefully, everyone can see the theme here)

Lars got home from work that evening and was chatty about work and his projects. I was so anxious to share the news but was trying to be as patient as possible. We sat at the table and Lars commented that it was strange we were having ribs for dinner. He doesn't like them very much so I never make them. We started eating and I told him I had a little present for him. He opened it and pulled out the book first. A smiled crept across his face as he asked why we would need that. Next he pulled out the bib. Then, the positive pregnancy test (it was in a zippie - so don't be alarmed). Then I asked him if he noticed anything special about dinner - he hadn't. I emphasized the dishes and it seemed to click.

So, that's it. That's the story. I'm due May 26, 2011.

Painting and Window Treatments and Cooking, Oh My!

It has been a busy time for us! We have nearly finished painting the main floor of the house. It is quite the transformation -- from magenta, green, brown and plain to sandstone with white trim and "Morning Mist" in the bathroom! What a change it is. The house feels so much bigger and open. It really has been fun. We also planted a little flower garden in the front yard -- mostly bulbs -- hoping that next year it will be lovely. Fortunately we've had a lot of water lately so we haven't needed to water. That's always nice.

The Piano Room

The Family Room

The Dining Room

The Bathroom

Along with getting a lot of the painting done, we've been trying how to decorate the house. It is quite a large house for us -- right now it's mostly empty upstairs. The first baby step towards decorating has been the rug that I'm making and the simple window treatments.

(I'm kinda proud of the runner! I bought a bunch of $1 rugs at a dollar store and am sewing them together to make a runner. I love the different colors. It will be longer when I finish but this is where it's at right now.)

The other big thing I've been doing with my time is trying out new recipes. It has been so much fun. My sisters and I have our recipe blog here and I also have been looking out for other websites and such for new ideas. I really love it. Sometimes they take me all day (like the cinnamon rolls I made today) but it still is enjoyable. Plus, Lars always likes the food I make -- or at least he says he does. One time I made chicken curry. I followed the recipe exactly. It was horrible. Way too spicy for me to eat and I really like spicy dishes. Lars kept eating his and said it was "a little spicy". Bless his heart. I used that chicken (after I took off most of the curry sauce) in a casserole later which actually turned out pretty good.

Welcome August

What a great Sunday it has been. Right now I'm listening to Lars playing a little Chopin and he is doing a great job with it!

This was my second Sunday in my new ward. Everyone is so helpful and friendly here. It's going to be wonderful. It is a rather large ward (for the mission field). The Bishop met with us after church to visit and told us there are about 250ish people that come to Sacrament meeting and there is NO talk of splitting the ward.

A quick update. After the Olson family reunion in D.C., I went back to Wyoming to go to Bear Lake with my parents, Hannah, Jake, Dan and his friend Ashleigh. We spent a week there loving it! I just adore Bear Lake. It is so relaxing and gorgeous. Not to mention the de-lish raspberry shakes. YUMM-O!







We got back to Wyoming and the next day (Friday July 16th) picked up my car from the body shop and started on the way out to Pittsburgh. Mom, Hannah and Jacob came with me. We were a little crammed in the car but there weren't too many complaints.

We made it to Omaha Friday night (actually Saturday morning) around 12:45 a.m. and stayed with my dear friends, the Schroeders. They didn't even seem to care that we showed up so late. They just wanted to talk and catch up. I love those kindred people!

Saturday morning we went to Winter Quarters Visitor's Center, saw the beautiful display they had, walked around the cemetery where some of dad's ancestors died and then left for Nauvoo.


We arrived in Nauvoo just in time for Hannah and Jacob to go do some baptisms at the temple while mom and I did other temple work. That temple is so lovely. I think it's amazing that the saints would give up their precious temple to follow a prophet of God. What faith they had!

We did get to see the Nauvoo pageant. Some may know that our family was in the old pageant about 8 years ago. It was such a neat experience though it was SO hot and humid. Since then, they have reformatted the pageant. I did get a chance to see it about 3 years ago while Lars and I were dating. I was excited for the fam to the new one. I really loved it. I think they have made wonderful changes to the pageant and I think it is awesome. Mom wanted us to get "Joseph Smith's" autograph after the performance. There was a sweet young lady who was talking with him and just crying telling him how she could feel something she had never felt before while watching this performance. And definitely the spirit was overpowering that night.

Sunday we went to church in Nauvoo where it was more full than Stake Conference! Hannah was able to find lots of HBs though. After, we went to Carthage. What a sacred place. Also, we got to visit several places in Nauvoo including the brickyard, the gunsmiths, the bakery and the blacksmith shop. We got a brick, a prairie diamond and ginger cookie.






Monday morning we left and decided to make it all the way to Pittsburgh - about a 13ish hour drive but we made it!

Tuesday morning we left for D.C. cause Han and Jake have never seen it. We got there, saw Arlington Cemetery with the changing of the guard and then decided to eat at Five Guys. Afterwards, we went to see all the monuments. I have to say, that was the best decision - to see the monuments at night. They are still lit up and people are there but it isn't as hot and they are beautiful at night. If you ever go, try it!





We stayed at my sister-in-law's husband's parent's house...how's that for confusing! It was super sweet of Sister Knell to let us invade on such short notice. Wednesday we headed for the Smithsonians on the Mall. Lars drove us all around which was SOOOO helpful. We had a great time and then headed back for Pittsburgh that night.

Thursday Lars went to work but the rest of us started painting the house. What a chore but now it's almost done!









Friday we went to Kennywood (a local theme park) with Lars and the rest of the Google family. What fun!

Saturday, July 24th, we woke up at 2:30 am to take Mom, Han and Jake to the airport in Canton, OH. Once we got home, we slept for a long time!

This past week I've been finishing up the painting and doing odd jobs around the house as well as unpacking.

So, that's the whirlwind month of July I've had.

Happy Birthday America!

Lars and I are doing our part to honor our nation's birthday by being in Washington D.C. So far we've seen the Metro, the inside of the car, the Washington D.C. Temple, and the National Zoo - which mainly consisted of hundreds of strange animals (called humans) and a panda. We got to watch it poop which seemed to fascinate everyone.

Today was the blessing of our newest niece, Geneva Marie Knell, born April 27, 2010. What a sweet thing it is to see a baby blessed. I got to hold her during Sunday School - she is quite precious and adored by all.

Tomorrow we plan to take on the Mall. Hopefully my feet won't fall off before the end of the day cause it's gonna be a lot of walking!!! (But before that we have to replace the battery on the Mazda cause it's d-e-a-d, dead. We're hoping that's not too time consuming nor too difficult.)

New Job

Well, as you know, yesterday was my last day at my old job. Today, I started a new one. I was a little hesitant about starting a new job so quickly but I figured I should just jump in; being unemployed is boring I hear. I actually went through orientation last night. I think I'm gonna love this one. To tell you the truth, I often dreamed of having this job while in medical school. Now I've got it and I am so excited. I get to be a housewife!

Have you ever been....

too excited to sleep? I'm supposed to hop on an airplane at 7:50 this morning. So waking up at 2:15 a.m. was not in the plan. But, here I am. All ready to go with an hour to spare.

It's probably because I'm too excited. It's been six long weeks since The Hubster and I were together. He's been in Pittsburgh, I've been in Scottsbluff/Cheyenne. It's likely that these six weeks have been longer for him. I've been spending a lot of time with my family in Cheyenne. He's been sitting alone in our new house. Yeah, we've been able to talk every day; usually for about two hours (I know, that's a long time for Lars to be on the phone but it's true!) but it's just not the same.

I suppose it could have been worse, right? There are thousands of military people, whom I respect a great deal, that leave their families and go away for months to years to fight for our country. I think they get to talk once a month or something. And, even when the come back they have to go to some sort of military detox for a month or so while their spouse and family know they are in the states but can't see them. Now, isn't that worse?

So, those six weeks are up and it's back together again.......for a week.

This WAS it!

Well, I did it. I finished my residency in family medicine. It has been a long journey filled with lots of ups and downs. It started over 10 years ago when I decided I wanted to become a doctor. I was at BYU and was one of the very few females trying to get into medical school. In fact, when I was there, there was a "Women in Medicine" group; we totaled about 8 people. It grew and as I understand it, has become quite large now.

After BYU, I began medical school at American University of the Caribbean. Spending two years in the Caribbean was wonderful. It was a beautiful place to be but school was challenging. I struggled to find my place and figure out whether or not medicine was for me. I made it through the book work part and discovered I enjoyed the clinical aspect a lot more than the classroom setting. Two years were spent in Utah doing the clinical work.

I was accepted to the University of Nebraska's rural residency program for training in Scottsbluff. I spent a year in Omaha, filled with long days, feelings of uncertainty, and plenty of education (not to mention my marriage to the best guy in the whole wide world). Then I was on my way to Scottsbluff, Nebraska to finish my training in rural medicine.

After two years in Scottsbluff, I've finally finished this arduous journey. I have so many people to thank for helping me along the way. Dad and Mom have been there through all the ups and downs and have been so supportive; emotionally, financially and in every way I needed them. Of course, Lars has been supportive as well. He followed me to Scottsbluff where there was NOT a single job opportunity and encouraged me to stick with it. He took a job in Pittsburgh to help financially and has endured weeks of separation in order for me to complete this journey. There have been friends and colleagues that have been there for me. So many people have truly helped me and blessed my life.

Last night we had a graduation party. It was really fun - a lot of people showed up including nurses from the clinic. I'm so glad they were able to come. They said some super nice things including mentioning that I raised the clinic to a new level and that the nurse I hire in my next job is going to be a lucky one.

So, now it's time to begin another journey. I fly to Pittsburgh tomorrow to see the hubby and have a family reunion with the Olsons. The adventures never cease!

Have you ever met a hard-boiled egg?

My sister once asked me this. I tried to stifle a laugh because we were at church at the time.

"What's a hard-boiled egg?"

"Someone who's hard on outside AND on the inside."

I'm not a plant killer!

I haven't had the best of luck in growing plants. I keep over-watering, or under-watering, or not putting them outside enough, or putting them outside too much, or something. Well no longer.

One of the guys at work was digging up his yard and advertised that he was giving away strawberry plants to anyone who wanted them. I spoke up, but we're not actually moved into the house yet so I wasn't sure where to put them. They are currently at my desk, in a cardboard box, lined with plastic bags so it doesn't leak all over the place.

The other day I was pleased to see some sprouts coming up. But then a day later, I realized they weren't sprouts, they were blossoms! And they opened up fast. Here is a picture of day 3:



And a picture of day 4:

Shopping Brings Blessings!

We spent our Christmas vacation with Sarah's family in Cheyenne this year. We had a very cold and very windy winter storm pass through right when we were planning on traveling there, but fortunately Sarah was able to get an extra day off of work in order to get ahead of the storm, so by the time we were snowed in, we had nowhere to go.

The day after Christmas, we were planning on going to the Denver temple, but the storm had not yet passed so we decided to postpone it until the 29th. But it wasn't bad enough that evening to prevent us from driving around town, and Sarah and Hannah wanted to get in on some of the post-Christmas sales. On our way back to the house, our beloved 125,000-mile car finally gave out. The "Check Engine" light started blinking and the engine had noticeably less power-- I couldn't get it above 25 mph. Fortunately this occurred just down the street from the Petersons' favorite mechanic, so they called him up and he said we could drop it off. After the weekend there were only a couple of days left of break, and then Sarah had to go back to work, but fortunately it wasn't a serious problem and it was ready to go again Monday morning.

Sarah's parents came to pick us up and drive us back to the house, and her mom commented about how we were so blessed to have had this happen so close to the mechanic, as opposed to on the freeway between Cheyenne and Denver. I added that I was glad we decided to go shopping that night, because otherwise we might not have used the car until the drive home, and it might have happened on the cellphone-signal-challenged stretch of highway towards Torrington. Hannah voiced the obvious lesson to be learned: "See? Shopping brings blessings!"

...and Kitchen Appliance Repairman to Boot!

I broke Sarah's lovely Kitchenaid mixer a while back. We called around to see who could fix it, but it was going to cost at least $90 just to open it up and see what's wrong. So I thought I'd take a stab at fixing it myself. Fortunately I found a nice website describing how to take a Kitchenaid apart. I found that one of the gears had been stripped of all of its teeth:



Compare with the picture of a new gear:



The gear itself is not very expensive, but with that powerful of a motor, it is highly recommended to grease that bad boy up because otherwise it creates a lot of friction and could burn something out. I found a store on e-bay that sells both the replacement gear and a can of grease. Unfortunately, the grease can is so heavy that the shipping charges are pretty steep too. But it turns out that the store selling the parts is actually located in Orem. We were going down to Utah for Thanksgiving anyway, so we decided to pick up the parts in person.

After some battling with getting everything lined up again and figuring out how to get the little pins that hold everything in place put back in (they're designed to be a tight fit so that they don't come out so easy... the downside? They don't go in so easy either), I was able to complete the job. The finished product:



(I know, it doesn't look like anything's changed. I should have taken a picture of the disassembled mess...)

Government

Here's a couple of (funny) political links.



and...



ENJOY!

Welcome to the new doctor!

I'd just like to extend a warm welcome to myself, the newest highly-trustable doctor to become a regular contributor to this blog. For my first article, I'd like to provide a couple of clips showing a conversation that we hope to hear soon in the Olson household:

First Aid Cub Scout Style

I guess every now and then the Cub Scouts need someone to teach them first aid. Unfortunately, the two other doctors in the ward were unable to help so I was asked to fill in.

These were kids aged 10 and 11 and I was trying to teach them the basic first aid rules. At first (like for 1 minute) they were quite well behaved and raised their hands to ask or answer questions. Once we started discussing what to do in case of emergency, everything went down hill. Everyone started talking at once, people were asking questions about things completely unrelated to first aid and the answers they were giving to questions were so hilarious.

Here are some of their answers by topic.

Bleeding -
Correct answer: Apply pressure.
Cub Scout answer: You can't apply pressure if you're a weightlifter because you might push too hard and break their neck.
Follow up Cub Scout question: If they're bleeding really bad, shouldn't you just put him out of his misery?

Not Breathing -
Correct answer: Give rescue breaths.
Cub Scout answer: I can't watch this.

Choking -
Correct answer: Perform the Heimlich maneuver.
Cub Scout answer: Hit them in the stomach.
Follow up Cub Scout question: Can't you hit them in the stomach with a bat?

Heart attack -
Correct answer: Call 9-1-1
Cub Scout comment: This one time my uncle had a heart attack and we laid him on the pool table.

What is shock?
Correct answer: lack of blood flow to vital organs.
Various Cub Scout answers: When you get struck by lightning. When someone puts those things on your chest and shocks you. When someone startles you really bad.

Treating shock -
Correct answer: If the face is pale, raise the tail. If the face is red...?
Cub Scout answer: Then he's dead. Well, it rhymes, doesn't it?

Snake bites -
Correct answer: Get them to an Emergency Department.
Cub Scout question: What if you're in the middle of the desert?
Cub Scout answer: Cut an "X" in their skin and suck out the venom.
Follow up Cub Scout question: What do you do for Rabies?
Follow up Cub Scout answer: Cut that open too and suck out the poison.
Follow up Cub Scout question: Don't they have to stick five needles in your stomach when you get rabies?
My answer: We can talk about rabies after the meeting is over.

Frostbite -
Correct answer: Warm up the affected area with barely warm water or by placing the fingers/toes near a warm body part.
Various Cub Scout answers: Stick their hands down your pants. Cut their fingers off with your pocketknife. Put them out of their misery.
My answer: You are never allowed to "put anyone out of their misery" and you are not allowed to cut off any body parts until you have been in school for 20 or more years and have become a doctor.
Follow up Cub Scout statement (from the scout that wanted to put them out of their misery): I've been to school for 20 years. I'm 31. And I have scrubs, too. I got them for Christmas from my dad.

Finally something good on YouTube

This is a new YouTube channel with Church approved "Mormon Messages". Check it out!