Our First Ski Trip

My Christmas present to Keith was an Arctic Adventure - a trip full of skiing, waterparking, and general bumming around. We drove up to Kellogg, Idaho to stay at the Morning Star Lodge at Silver Mountain. It had been years since Keith went skiing or snowboarding, and I had never gone before. (Well, that's not entirely true. I went once in high school and had a miserable time. Why? Because I was so hot the entire time, since I was bundled head-to-toe. And my nemesis the rope-tow did not help either. But that is for another time.)

Once we arrived to the lodge, we checked in and then explored. There was an indoor water park associated with the lodge, to which we had weekend passes. We hadn't packed any swimsuits (it is freezing winter of the Palouse!), so we had to purchase some at the water park. It was such a blast to splash around, floating on intertubes, and going down crazy waterslides. One of the slides actually curved outside of the building, but I didn't notice since I had my eyes closed the entire time!

After splashing around and relaxing in the hot tub, we found a cute restaurant and had dinner. Then it was off to sleep, so we could attack the mountain in the morning!

In the morning we purchased our lift tickets and away we went...up the mountain via the World's Longest Gondola! It was pretty impressive and the views were fantastic. When Keith and I finally made it to the top, we rented our boots, poles, and skis. And then the terror began. Even though I had promised to be willing partner in this adventure, I was so scared! The packed snow made everything feel like it was moving fast.

We made our way to the bunny slope, where I promptly fell just trying to ski a little bit down the hill. The kids on the hill looked like naturals compared to my stiff-legged and stiff-armed approach! Keith skied down the hill, just to refresh himself on the technique and to show me that it wasn't going to be bad. Besides, how bad could it be since there was no rope-tow...only a carpet-tow!?! On his way down, Keith fell once and was so cute showing me that it wasn't bad at all! But on his way down, he ended up tweaking his knee turning.

So we headed inside to get some cocoa and to collect ourselves. But the longer we waited, the more Keith's knee continued to swell!! In the end we abandoned the remainder of our day and headed back down to the lodge. We haven't given up though, we plan to return...and this time I am planning on ski lessons! Thankfully the outdoor hot tub was running when we got back, and we took a quick dip to help ease our bodies. We left that night, as a snowstorm was headed our way...and it was already snowing heavily in Pullman (a 2.5 hour drive away in good weather). That evening we went to one of our favorite restaurants in Moscow, The Red Door. As always the food was excellent! The bonus of returning home early...we got to sleep in our own bed!

All in all it was a fun adventure and I got to share it with my best friend. (note: Keith's knee got better - after a few days of rest)

Our First Christmas Alone

This winter has been an interesting one. We are continuing to mourn the loss of our cat, Echo, who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly (see previous post). Another interesting time has been spending our very first Christmas with just the two of us! Keith and I have always been blessed to spend it with our family, either mine or his, for Christmas. We actually had already celebrated Christmas with my dad the week before, when we was out visiting. And thankfully he was able to fit all of our gifts into his Prius to drive back over to Western Washington!

A wall of gifts to send westward, they didn't fit under our tree!

Even when we moved down to Tucson, there was traveling done. However, this year with my senior vet school schedule, it was not possible to go back to Port Orchard to see our family. So it was just us two and our kittens celebrating in Pullman.

Tavia examines the presents to find any for her (her's were in cats' stocking!).

Bun is ready to have some Pocky, like a good kitten!

So what did we do? Well, we waited up until midnight on Christmas Eve and opened a single present each. Then we went to bed and slept until 9am on Christmas morning. This was a rare Christmas treat, as we knew our nieces would have the rest of Keith's family up no later than 6am. I made breakfast and we started opening our presents. We definitely missed the traditional sausage fondue that Keith's mom makes for special holidays! Presents were fun to open, as always, but we definitely missed watching our family's reaction to the gifts we picked out for them.

Keith loves Oriental things! Yea anime!

At around 10am, we Skyped Keith's family and got to see his parents, his sisters, and our two nieces. It was so wonderful to see them, even though it made our hearts ache to not be able to be there in person. Even still, it was so good to see them and talk to them for a little bit.

One of my presents from Keith - it's what I've always wanted. Too bad he beat me in the first game, but I came back and won the second one.

After cleaning up around the house, I took a nap while Keith played with his new toys (a GPS and a new PS3 soccer game). We are very thankful for the GPS, which should be very helpful in our anticipated move to undisclosed location. We haven't tried it out yet, but have already figured out how to work it (for the most part!)

Keith learning to use the GPS.

Then I called my dad and got to talk to him for a while, which is always great. It was so much fun and I did so much baking! I got some fantastic new baking toys, for which I was super excited. (I also got some super cute herb markers, but Pullman weather doesn't really allow for winter gardening)

Cute pocket pie molds from Williams-Sonoma...now I just gotta figure out how to not burn them! At least they looked good going into the oven.

Even though it was sad to not spend Christmas with our families, it was still nice to have time together and celebrate Christmas in our home. Keith and I especially like to take advantage of the time we get together, as our disparate schedules keep us busy! Although my dad's Christmas present will definitely help keep us connected - new Blackberry phones. Texting has never been easier!

We love you Echo

This morning our sweet kitty Echo (aka. Big Guy, Little Man, Nekko Wafer, Spectrospkitty, and many others) passed away.  It was definitely unexpected.  



We love and miss him, every moment.  We thank God for all the time we got with him and being blessed to have him as a part of our family.  He will always be our little boy.

This One's For Keith

Just because I know he'll laugh...

It's Time to Find Out...

Bad Eats: Seattle

Here is an outline of an adventure I had in Seattle, with some photographs* for visual aid.  (*Not all events were photographed for soon to be understood reasons.  You are welcome in advance)

1.  Keith and I went to a Seattle Mariners game.  This is an annual event, where I take him to a baseball game.  I always have fun and Keith either (a) has fun because they win or (b) gets mad that they lose, but claims he still had fun.

This is Keith lying to my face that he is having fun.  

This is how he really feels.  You can guess the outcome of the game.

2.  Afterward, we meet up with Doug and Beth (Keith's folks) to try out a new restaurant.  We have all heard how good it is and it's down by the waterfront, so it sounds fun.

3.  We sit in the bar area to await seating, and catch up with them.  So far so good...it's fun to chitty-chat!

4.  We get seated and order the most fun thing on the menu - seafood where they dump it onto the table and we dig in like little piggies.  Sounds great!  We are excited at the novel idea.

Plus we get tools, i.e. a mallet and a cutting board.  This is fun!

5.  The food arrives!  It looks and smells great!

6.  I have more fun, doing some shrimpy dissection.  You can take the girl outta the OR, but you can't take the OR outta the girl!

7.  We eat.  And eat.  Basically, we gorge.  That's all.

8.  We drive to Doug and Beth's house to spend the night.  We are lucky since they have a guest bedroom and actually have 3 full-sized bathrooms in their dome home.  We are so glad we went out to dinner.

9.  Three of us get sick, from presumably food poisoning.  We spend considerable amount of time not together.  (remember: the house has three bathrooms).  It is still unclear why Doug never got sick...but thank goodness he didn't. 

**Note: This is not any of us or what happened to us.  But you get the idea of where we spent most of the evening and it wasn't with the kitty.

10.  It has taken me about 4 months to blog about this, since the thought of it still makes me queasy.  But it seems like an isolated incident, so I'm sure someday we'll try it again.  As Keith says: once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern.

11.  Moral of the story: Fun food does not always mean good food.  But mallets in dining is still fun.  We still had a great time together, inspite of it all.  And spending time with loved ones makes the memories better, even if you get food poisoning.

**The alternate title of this post was: Learning about Viruses, Bacteria, and the Digestive System.  Now you know why.  

Goooooaaaaallll

We went to our first Seattle Sounders game.  (Go Sounders!!)  Three words describe it: It was awesome.  Even before the game there was so many Sounders fans in the super bright green jerseys, carrying flags, and just generally in great moods.  We got so into the spirit that we needed to get some Sounders gear to show our support.

Once we got into the XBox Pitch at Qwest Field, we got free Sounders decals for our cars.  Sweet!  Plus we signed a petition to try and get World Cup to Seattle*.  When asked if we would sign, I responded "Hell yeah!"  We got to walk through the luxury suite area, where there were the fancy concession stands and security people everywhere.

Then we found our cushy stadium seats with a great view.  I really got into the game, missing how much fun it was to play and watch.  I was so into the game the entire 90 minutes, it went so quickly!

The atmosphere was fantastic, with people chanting and everyone keeping their comments clean for all the kids watching too.  We loved the crazy fan section, who led all the chants for the entire game.  They even brought their own section banner!  The Sounders have their own band, which really rocked.

And my favorite part...the confetti and fireworks when the Sounders scored.  Fun and pretty!

It was so much fun, and we had a great time.  I hope we get to go to more games in the future, it was the BEST professional sporting event I have ever gone too!  I can't wait to go back...Go Sounders!

*Feel free to sign the petition to bring World Cup to the USA!  Yea soccer!

Helping One at a Time

Recently I went to Boston to do a two week externship at Angell Animal Medical Center.   It is a wonderful hospital with a grand history of excellent small animal veterinary medicine...and currently is one of the best hospitals on the East Coast!

I was fortunate to spend my time in the surgery department, where I got to scrub into a bunch of really cool surgeries (don't worry, I won't bore you with the details).  There were some great cases I saw and got to help out with, which further reminded me why I love veterinary medicine!  One of the interesting cases I saw: a hindleg amputation on a gerbil.  Why?  Because it got hit by a train.  A toy train.  Poor 'lil guy!  (This makes me think about all those cartoons with the damsel in distress tied to the railroad tracks.  Maybe there was an evilrat stroking his mustache at the time...)

The case that will stick with me the most is Lucky the Ass Cat.  I was hanging out in the surgery department when a clinician from the associated MSPCA shelter came by to ask for assistance from one of the surgical residents for their Ass Cat (as everyone kept calling her, as you will see why).

*This is Lucky the Ass Cat.  She loved her box and would sleep in it.  Her butt has no hair in this picture; it was shaved for preparation for surgery.

A cat came in that had her tail degloved (this means the skin was torn off).  They didn't know how it happened, but knew that the cat was in some serious pain.  I went with the surgeon, who carefully assessed the patient and determined that a tail amputation would fix her just right.  Even though this trauma had happened and was most painful, Ass Cat was the sweetest purring kitty.  Since the shelter was super busy, I ran the anesthesia on the Ass Cat.  The surgeon performed the tail amputation and Ass Cat did great under anesthesia.

Every day after that, I would visit her to see how she was doing.  She would purr and act like nothing had ever happened.  Thankfully, the shelter renamed her Lucky, but she will always be Ass Cat in my heart*.  She taught me that even under the most traumatic situations, it is possible to act with grace and kindness.  Lucky the Ass Cat was never angry at the world for what happened to her, just happy that people cared enough to take care of her.  And I will never forget the graciousness the surgeon showed to help out an animal in need, glad to be able to help when needed. This case really reaffirmed what I learned in Boston and what I love about veterinary medicine: medicine and love can cure a lot!

*note: Yes, she is a black kitty - my weakness.  And yes, I did think about taking her home, except I already have neglected cats at home!

Learning to be a Vet: Tucson

This past summer I spent some time in Tucson for an externship at my old work place, Veterinary Specialty Center of Tucson.  I loved it!  It was fantastic to see Dr. Gores and Dr. Boulay again, and to meet Dr. Shields.  They are such fantastic clinicians.  Not only was it great to see all the doctors and staff I used to work with, but it was so much fun learning.  

*This is Dr. Boulay wearing his infamous flame scrubs to celebrate my last day working at VSCT (2006) before I went off to vet school.

 

It is amazing how 3+ years of intensive medical training makes you understand stuff that I never did before.  The doctors and technicians were so generous to allow me to ask questions, observe, and scrub in to whatever surgery I wanted. It really enforced what I want to be when I grow-up to be a doctor: a strong clinician who is able to communicate and motivate, who practices excellent medicine and fantastic surgeries.  I was definitely motivated after visiting VSCT!

While I was in Tucson for two weeks, I got to stay with my friend Bea.  Bea and I met at UofA while we were going to graduate school.  But then I figured out my life, much after Keith did and left grad school, and went onto work at VSCT.  Bea, our friend Steph, and I had a great time catching up and just hanging out.  We had a blast together!  We even went out to a party, which is really out of our comfort zone.  Of course, it was with a bunch of rocket scientists.  Seriously.  Nothing like a bunch of drunk rocket scientists and Guitar Hero Rock Band for an interesting night.  Another night we went out for to see a movie and ended up at a video game arcade afterward.  Steph and I rocked at this Japanese Taiko video game.  It was just great to see my wonderful friends.  We had a blast!

Overall my trip to Tucson was a great reminder of what lays in my future, working hard to become a great doctor who has the blessings of supportive family and friends.

Learning about Hotel Living

Things I have learned after staying at the Fansy-Schmancy Hotel* while I was in California checking out possible internships:

1.  Valet parking is cheaper than self-service parking. Also that it's kinda odd to have your Kia rental car valet parked.

2.  The lobby is so big that I got lost trying to check-in.

3.  The rooms are pretty sweet.  Huge flat screen TV and crazy expensive mini-bar...aw, yea!  Gotta love the $12.00 keepsake jar of nuts (plus the 20% restocking fee).

4.  Wireless internet is not free or even cheap.  And you have to pay for it every 24 hours.

5.  Room service is sweet.  When you call they already know who you are.  Weird.  And it comes with miniature bottles of condiments.  (note: the hotsauce was approximately 1.5ml)

6.  Room service food actually comes covered with silver thingys.  And it all comes on a tray.  The person also uncovers it for you.

7.  They serve Diet Dr. Pepper with a fluted glass.

8.  They have Crabtree and Evelyn toiletries, but normal cheap toilet paper.

9.  I have a patio that overlooks a landscaped garden.  That's not that enlightening, but it was unexpected.

10.  Wallpapering the outlet makes it classier...somehow.

11.  The person who cleans the room has handwriting of a child.  This begs many questions, all which I will let you decide what ones crossed my mind.

12.  You can purchase items found in the room to have hotel comforts at home.  They even have a website so you can order it, probably using your costly WiFi.

13.  You can order a fancy-schmancy breakfast and have it delivered at any time with just a mark of a pen.  Note: the price of a cup of orange juice = ouch!

 

 14.  Even a nice hotel can have design oversights.  For example, placing the toilet directly in front of the bathroom door.  Not a problem, you say?  It is if there is a full-length mirror on the back of the door.  Or maybe rich people like to look at themselves...all the time.

 15.  They make a wicked awesome bread pudding.  It was fantastic.

*Note: The hotel name rhymes with Filton, Dilton, or Milton...and does not rhyme with Fa Minta or Mest Questern.