Country Signs

As a budding photographer, I am learning to try and capture with my camera what I see with my little eye. It's definitely not easy, but it is lots of fun! On our recent drive around the Palouse, I saw a bunch of great old signs that needed to be captured on digital film. It was amazing to see all these great signs, especially the painted ones. These are actually pretty common in the area, even though I don't tend to see them on the westside. In fact, after our trip I realized there a few we pass all the time in town that I just stopped noticing. Sad to take for granted such great artwork.

The first sign (Lentil Producer) is my absolute favorite picture! I am so proud of it. We were driving along a backroad in the middle of wheat fields (yup, not lentil fields*) and I saw it on the side of a building attached to a grain tower. I yelled out for Keith to turn in, and he made a sudden turn. I jumped out of the car to take the picture. It turned out terrific and I am so happy that my little photographer eye saw it. By the way, be warned: there will be more pictures on this bloggy. I love my camera and am really trying to learn to take better pictures. But hopefully it won't be too overwhelming and will add to my blogging posts. And let me know what you think of these photos via the comments section!


*After living for so long in the Palouse, I can finally tell the difference between wheat fields and lentil fields. And I know different breeds of cows. And I enjoy country music. Take it as you will.

Garden Update!

This just in: we have bunches of baby tomatoes growing. On multiple tomato plants. Impressive! This is in spite of pesky aphids that I have tried to blast off with the hose, which should work according to a quick Google search. We are so thrilled that these plants are doing so well.

Now I have delusion of grandeur for future garden possibilities: cucumbers, squash, strawberries, and even corn! Crazy I know, but I am inspired. Of course, seeing a neighbor tend a real garden has also given me the aspiration of a green thumb. Of course, if I was smart I would only choose things that I can make into a pie, thus smartly tying in two hobbies together. But who wants that kind of forethought? Besides, it would fun to have fresh veggies to have Keith cook up. Note: Keith would have to cook them...unless I wanted to ruin my crop with my cooking.

How is the rest of our garden going? So kind of you to ask! Yes...AND we have peppers!!
'

I think they are jalapenos, but I really can't remember what type of peppers we bought. But they are growing and look pretty good. Too bad Keith and I have no idea when to know when they are "ripe". So either they'll taste great or be little balls of explosive fire. Sounds like fun! Anyone up for some mystery-intensity salsa? Our cilantro is in the process of going to seed (oops), so that means we will have corriander soon too. How exciting! Who knew 'going green' would be so fulfilling!

Cooking Shows are Evil

If you ever watch cooking shows, you know what I mean. Just add these few ingredients, that everyone should have - presto & alakazam - a fabulous meal in under 30 minutes. Of course, I never have all those ingredients and never, ever have all the tools they have either. So this means at least a trip to the market, if not to our shiny Bed, Bath & Beyond. (remember: small town so this is a big deal that we have one!). What has triggered this out burst, you may ask? Watching a cooking show (Simply Ming) where they made all these fantastic looking tempura. Yum!

As a novice cook, they inspire me to try things that I would never think of trying. I've tried making tempura once before, and it was...well, okay. It turned out to be such a mess with batter and oil splashing everywhere too. Luckily, Keith stepped in and made the remaining tempura for me (which of course was significantly better than mine). Now back to my rant - after watching this show it has reignited my desire to buy the most useless and space-wasting kitchen appliance ever - a deep fryer. I love the idea of being able to control the temperature of the oil, keep everything neat, and make frying things so much easier. And supposedly you can store the oil in it too, but seriously that sounds like a mess.

Every once in a while I will see a show or a recipe and feel the urge to run out and purchase a deep fryer. For some reason it sneaks into my mind that it is this one appliance that will launch me from a hit or miss cook to one that really knows what she is doing with all those random spices and ingredients. And I blame cooking shows for giving me such hope. I have even looked and lusted over them at various cooking stores, but thankfully reason always wins. But if I didn't watch these darn cooking shows, with their three course meal made in minutes I wouldn't feel like such a goal would be so reachable.

So you must think I hate all cooking shows. Not true. There are two that are worth their spit. One is Good Eats with Alton Brown. If you have seen it, you know why I love this show. If not, here's the best summary of it: sarcasm + science + food. Seriously a must watch. The best cooking show ever? My O'bachan*. Watching her cook and present a five course meal gives me hope of putting together my own fabulous meal. Then she teaches me recipes that are yummy and insultingly easy that even I can manage. My favorite lesson was when she asked if I knew how to make rice. Of course! Have I not been making rice since before time?!? Apparently not the correct way, and after a short lesson now I can make the BEST RICE EVER. Seriously. I may not always be able to make a full meal, but I can now make the best rice you'll ever have.

The conclusion of my rant: Cooking Shows are Evil, but O'bachans are Saints.

*O'bachan is Japanese for Grandmother.

FYI

For my bestest friend Cecilia - I added a subscribey thing to the left-hand side. I don't know how it works or really what it does...so let me know if anyone has problems with it and I'll try to figure it all out. Most of all, thanks for reading about my oh-so-non-glamorous life!

Fourth Year = Fun + Food + Friends

One of the fun things about fourth year clinics is all the people I am getting to know and work with. Of course I mean all the great senior clinicians and house officers! Seriously, not just sucking up here...especially since none of them read this. But I also mean my classmates. You would think that after spending three years confined in a windowless lecture hall day after day (after day...) together we would be sick of each other. And that is definitely true - there are some people that I am glad not to be trapped with! But with almost 100 people in our class, I definitely did not talk and get to know everyone. However, with these clinical rotations I am really getting to know classmates that I did not have a chance to talk to and am having a blast!

One of my favorite rotations has been my most recent, diagnostic radiology. This rotation focused on taking and interpreting x-rays, ultrasound, and MRI. I had some great classmates on this rotation and had a lot of fun! It was so great to have such a great atmosphere and support while we waded through (re-)learning how to read x-rays. In this picture are two of my classmates evaluating digital x-rays on a post-operative patient that had reconstructive knee surgery. That's right...veterinary medicine is just that cool!

Having great people to work with makes the rotations so much more enjoyable, especially when they can be stressful. Over the course of the rotation, I learned so much about them my classmates and their backgrounds. Many of us had very diverse backgrounds, from city life to farm living. However, in spite of these differences we had so much in common: our interests, sense of humor, and thankfully - work ethic.

So, clinical rotations last two weeks and on the last Friday of a rotation there is a hospital tradition called 'Food Friday.' Basically it is a department potluck where we have fun and eat a bunch; all while we are working of course! This is especially a treat, as for some rotatiions require 16 hour days. (And then Food Friday lunch becomes Food Friday dinner too...aka my orthopedic rotation). So for our radiology Food Friday, we had a Breakfast For Lunch Theme. (Because of course you need a theme for a potluck!)

Two girls brought in electric skillets, a waffle maker, crockpot and a bunch of other cooking gear - all for our potluck. It was hilarious! They did a great job cooking: french toast, waffles, and scrambled eggs. This was in addition to a breakfast casserole, hash browns, and bacon that we all brought in.


These girls were incredible to take the time to bring in all their gear and cook everyone a hot lunch. I had no idea that they were such great cooks and so big-hearted. And of course we all enjoyed this food while working and learning away! Plus I got a great new recipe - breakfast casserole! Maybe these Food Fridays will teach me to be a better cook too!?! Wow, I am learning a lot during my fourth year!

More Small Town Photo Fun

A town mural downtown. We love the Pride in Oaksdale part.

An abandoned building. Drugs and alcohol...seems like that would have been profitable at some point.

We didn't know what this was at the time, but later learned it was the Barron Flour Mill. Pretty impressive looking!

Rosalia, WA:


Before you ask: yes, we did get some strange stares on our trip. Nothing like a strangers taking photographs of everyday buildings and signs to freak out the locals. Yet no one really seemed to mind and we had a blast! Except for when I was taking pictures of some interesting churches**. Of course there are more picture than these, myself as budding photographer being trained by Keith, a self-proclaimed recovering landscape photographer. But that will have to be in another story for another time!



** Creepy story to be told at a later date. In the daylight. With all the lights on.

Small Towns = Photo Fun

It is about time. Finally getting around to see what is out there in our little neck of the woods. Well, actually there really aren't woods here. Just fields...and farms...and cows. Oh yes, and alpaca. Seriously, there are alpaca ranches out here too. But why no miniature cow ranches? Wouldn't that be awesome? But I digress. The point is that we went on a small adventure recently. Driving around Eastern Washington* with a full-tank of gas, a camera and a sense of adventure...see what we found!

Palouse, WA:

An interesting brick building downtown.

Wheat fields as far as the eye can see.

Tekoa, WA:

More in the next post!


*Turns out this website explains the area we were driving around. Who knew?!

Good Eats of the Palouse

Living in a small town for so many years has had its ups and downs. We have lived in Pullman for a total of - dare I say it - nine years! The limitations are pretty obvious. But I have learned to enjoy what this small town has to offer, mainly a sense of local pride and community. Plus, local festivals and farmer's markets are more fun since that local flavor is unmistakable.

One of the hardest limitations of living in such a small town is trying to find new places to eat. You know it is a small town when the new Applebees is big news! We have learned from living in a small town that local restaurants have so much more to offer than those franchise places. Our new favorite place is this great cafe in the little town of Palouse, the Green Frog Cafe.

The Green Frog Cafe is a little oasis in the middle of wheat and lentil fields*. Driving through the farms is relaxing as we cut through the pretty rolling hills of The Palouse**. The Cafe is found in a small community 20 minutes away from the fast-paced Pullman. They have a great cafe menu, with a bunch of great sandwiches. And more importantly, The Green Frog Cafe has some of the best locally baked goods. Seriously. Best. Scones. Ever. Plus it's funky decor and fun staff make the place a fun place to visit. After a great lunch, there are a bunch of cute antique stores that are fun to wander through. Overall, it makes for a great little afternoon trip for us to get away and enjoy some local community flavor!

*Note: Pullman, WA is home of the National Lentil Festival. And the World's Largest Bowl of Lentil Chili. Why? Because this area produces 1/3 of the nation's lentils. Don't believe me? Check it: The National Lentil Festival

** For those who may be confused this area of Washington and Idaho is called "The Palouse". The town where this cafe is called "Palouse". Glad to clear that up. :)

Learning to be a Doctor

It has been a quick three years and now I'm spending my last year of my veterinary training in the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital. It is such a wonderful change of pace from my lecture-based learning schedule. In case you wanted to know how those last three years were spent, let me catch you up:

1. Wake up and get ready for the day
2. Go to campus
3. Sit in the same lecture hall, in the same seat (4-8 hours)
3a. Eat lunch during class
4. Go home
5. Study
5a. Eat dinner during studying
5b. Study some more
6. Go to sleep
7. Repeat

I know that it sounds really exciting. You probably should be jealous for not having the opportunity to live this high-rolling life. And for those of you who think I may be exaggerating...well, just ask Keith. ;) But now I'm onto newer and bigger things. I get to take care of real patients by helping to diagnose and treating them. I get to support and teach owners about what is happening to their pet, what it means, and what we can do about it. It is fantastic! The responsibility is weighty, but the reward is great too. It is a fantastic reminder of why I switched careers: to help those who cannot help themselves.

My favorite patient so far is a feisty Australian cattle dog who came in while her owners were at their son's wedding. That's her in the picture! She had a previously diagnosed tumor that was becoming necrotic, recurring vomiting episodes, and was generally ill. After staying in the ICU for over a week, she went home to her family healthy and happy. And I'm happy to say that she has returned to her old ornery self. Other patients have been equally memorable and each case has taught me something about medicine and myself.


Besides the medicine, I am learning what kind of doctor I want to become when I grow-up. It may sound odd, but this process of veterinary medicine training has taught me a lot about who I want to be and what impact I want to leave on those around me, animals and people. Most of all, it has been a reminder that the marriage of science and love is powerful and can cure more things together than either alone.

Um...we were just wondering...

Welcome to the 21st Century

It is so sad. We have had the same cellphone telephones for the past 4 years. Amazing, considering how much technology changes in a blink of an eye. So basically, we had cellphones that are equivalant to leg warmers, disco fever, or dinosaurs watching the impending comet. But they did get dropped quite a few times, and survived the aftermath. I can only hope the same for these phones.

We really got these phones so we can text each other while I have long hours at the WSU VTH. It seems that many of the clinicians use this to keep in contact with the outside world, as the clinic's gravitational force keeps us locked in a neverending orbit. And after months of phone-lust, we got these touch-screen/keypad sliding phones. The only sad thing was mine didn't come in pink.

Let the obnoxious texting begin!

Summer Visits

We have been so fortunate to have Keith's family visit this past month. First, Keith's parents Doug and Beth came out to help us with the huge basement project. Keith and Doug worked relentlessly on putting up new walls, wiring, and plumbing. Beth worked out in the yard, trying to tame the wilderness. Where was I? At school working, working some long hours in the Orthopedics department! It was such a wonderful surprise to see all the work they had done to help continue to make our house into our home.



Next Keith's sisters, Cheryle and Teresa, and our cutie-pie nieces, Jayden and Sierra, visited for the annual birthday celebration. We had a great time catching up and seeing the girls after they have grown so much! We celebrated Sierra's second birthday with a Kitty Cat cake, where some memorable quotes were made. My favorite is from my neice Jayden, who was talking about Sierra: "Maybe she'll want the head!" Little did she know that her sarcastic Auntie Liz had said that only hours prior.

That evening we enjoyed some fireworks on Sunnyside Hill and especially had some fun with sparklers and our cameras. Keith was very creative and we got some great photos. I had only played with sparklers once before, and found them lots of fun. Hopefully next year we can share our July 4th with C, T, J and S - wherever we may be!

Overall it was a great time, and we miss them already! Although I have to admit, the first night everyone was gone - I took a 3 hour nap on the couch. Who knew that a 5 year-old and a 2 year-old could wear someone out so much!?!

Our First Garden

Today we finally got the wire frames to help support our first garden crop - tomatoes! These are the first tomatoes I've ever grown, so I am quite excited that they have been doing so well. We have had success with herbs in the past, but I've never attempted anything more. But after all those articles about "green living" and friends growing such spectacular gardens, I figured it was time to give it a try!


We bought most of these from the WSU Hort Club fundraiser, which was great since we also bought pepper plants too. These didn't last long, since I planted them too early and a late frost/cold spell doomed them. But after a quick trip to the store and a couple starters from friends, gave us a grand total of NINE tomato plants, three pepper plants, and one cilantro herb. I decided to get a bunch of tomato plants, in the hope that one would survive my first attempt at a garden. Little did I know that so many would grow so well.

Keith has been wonderful and taking wonderful care of these little guys while I have been living at the VTH. Thanks to him they are thriving! We even have some new little tomatoes trying their best to grow. Keep your fingers crossed that our pesky neighborhood squirrels leave them alone!

Our New Blog

Welcome to our new blog! I have never written one, but thought it would be a fun way to document what is going on in our lives and keep people up-to-date in a more complete way than good ole FB.