Merry Christmas!

I put up the christmas tree and some lights 2 weeks ago. I've been loving sitting on the couch next to the tree to study. The lights outside have been great and I think I'm just going to use them all year!

Bird is the Word

There is a canal that is just a block from my house that I like to go running on or use to walk the dogs. The cooler weather has brought an influx of birds that I'm assuming spend winter here and summer in colder locations. (My backyard has seen a number of hummingbirds which have also been fun to watch) I got a kick out of these ones today. 2 types of duck (mallard and I believe a gadwall), a lone goose with what looked like an injured leg, and what appears to be, after some research, some kind of cormorant, also by himself. It was like a big adopted family of misfits just hangin out together enjoying the beautiful weather. It made me pause and think, wouldn't it be nice if humans could look past our far more subtle differences and just hang out, relax, and enjoy the weather! What we could learn from birds :)

1st quarter done!!

Yay! My first quarter of medical school is done and I managed to get 4 A's and 2 A-'s. It's amazing to look back and see how much hard work I put into my studies and how much I learned and then to think... this is only the beginning! I used to think I knew a lot already about the human body and medicine, only to have my eyes opened to a whole new level of understanding and realization that I have so much more to learn. I've enjoyed the journey so far and I can't imagine doing anything else with my life right now.

Mom and Dad came to visit me the day after finals week ended, just this past weekend. It was alot of fun to have them here and show them my home and school, the two places I spend 95% of my time. We spent every evening playing pinocle... I know, Tyson playing pinocle! Hold on to your hats!! Mom and Dad were excellent teachers, adding onto what Adam taught me this summer, making the game more fun than frustrating. Dad took alot of pictures with his camera so I didn't take many and I really only have two picture to post. We went to the Cardinals vs Seahawks NFL game on Sunday and I actually had a better time than I thought I would. The Cardinals came back to win in the second half and we were seated next to Seahawk fans that were highly entertaining. The stadium was awesome. The entire field rolls outside so that the grass can get sun, and then they roll the whole thing back in. Quite the system! I think Dad enjoyed the game and I think mom endured ha. Dad treated us to dinner on monday night at the Cheesecake Factory. He also noticed road noise from my rear wheels that I had not noticed. I spent the last two days getting it fixed and I am amazed at how quite my car is! I had no idea it could be so quiet. I love it! Thanks Dad! I was sad to see them go.

After I dropped mom and dad off at the airport Tuesday, I went and hiked Camelback. I love that I can get outside and get some exercise so close to home, and that it's 78 degrees in the middle of November. I knew there was a reason I moved to Phoenix!

Last Friday evening my friends and I had a get together to celebrate finishing our first quarter. We did it at my friend Jills house which was beautiful! I want her back yard. Her mom made us tacos and my friend Travis brought an ice cream maker and made raspberry ice cream. It was delicious and it reminded me of sitting on the back porch with raspberry shakes at mom and dad's house. It was a perfect relaxing evening!

Before the quarter ended we found time to go rock climbing on Camelback (we skipped out on a biochem test review, we just couldn't handle it anymore!) Dan had the ropes and gear so it was good cheap fun!

And this little guy was sitting on my laundry. Not sure what had brought him in there. I have truly enjoyed the experiences of living in Arizona, right down to the little things like wild reptiles in the house!

White Coat Ceremony

Just a few pictures from my White Coat Ceremony

The auditorium full of family, friends, and 800 students waiting to get their white coats. They did the medical, podiatry, optometry, dental, physician's assistants, and psychology students all in the same ceremony.

On the stage to the right

After receiving my coat from my dean, Dean Kemper on the left, and Dr. Schalscha, my internal clinical medicine professor.

The auditorium was much brighter after everyone had on their coat ha. They amazingly got through everyone in about a 45 minutes with each class having their own "coaters." This auditorium divides into 5 smaller auditoriums, in one of those 5 (auditorium 2) I have class every single day.

With two of my friends, Carly Sorenson on the left and Shannon MacRitchie in the middle. Carly is one of my cadaver lab partners and is from Salt Lake so we love to reminisce :) Shannon and I have been pretty much inseparable since the beginning of classes and we both get asked where the other is if we are ever alone. She lives on campus and is kind enough to feed me at lunch (yes I buy her food so I'm not a complete mooch).

More of my friends, Dan Brereton, Travis Boud, Sreyah Indupalli, Roger Stimpson, and Shannon, in front of Saguaro Hall where the library and cadaver labs are. Dan is in my biochem workshop group which can get long so we keep each other entertained.

And one more friend, Lisa Speiser, also in my cadaver group. I really lucked out on my group, they are fun and smart, so we learn alot and have alot of fun! I love Anatomy! Lisa is from Phoenix so it has been nice to get tips on things to see and places to go and it has really helped me feel more comfortable and at home in this metropolis. Where would we be without our friends?!

Last Wednesday our house got broken into. In the middle of the day when no one was home and nearly all our neighbors were also gone, they broke our kitchen window to get in. The roar of the AC unit I'm sure cut out most of the sound of the glass breaking but still seems like a risky business to me. What was surprising is that all they took was my laptop and my graphing calculator. They opened every drawer and left camera, router, apple tv, and didn't vandalize or break anything other than the window. Although I was very upset about my 3 month old laptop with all my pictures and files being stolen, I kept reminding myself it could have been alot worse.

Luckily the house came with rouladens installed, which remind me of Germany and I was excited about them when we first moved in (honestly I don't understand why americans don't have them, but I have seen a couple businesses here with them installed.) It was a two second fix to seal off the window to keep cold air in and prevent a second break-in as we wait for the landlord to fix the window. We put them down every night already but kept them open in the day to allow sunlight in for the house plants. I think we'll have to keep them down when we are gone though and invest in fake plants :(. I broke down and bought a new laptop on Monday. Although painful to buy a new one as I thought of all the other ways I could have spent the money if some person hadn't taken my laptop from me, apple was running a student deal and I got a free ipod touch with the purchase which helped ease the pain a little... but just a little ha.

Day Trip #2: Apache Trail

First, I must say I hate how Blogger uploads pictures onto the top of the blog post rather than at the bottom, and then makes it difficult to move the pictures within the post!  Thus, this is a backward account rather than a forward one.

Just 20 miles east of Phoenix begins what is called the Apache Trail.  It is 44 miles long, 22 miles of which is dirt road and essentially one lane.  It passes three lakes, Canyon lake, Apache lake, and ends at Roosevelt lake.  It was BEAUTIFUL!! Above is a section between Canyon lake and Apache lake, the rocks and light and recent rainfall made the view stunning.

Sunset over Canyon lake.  Growing up in Osgood, I always loved sitting on the brick planters on our front porch and watching the sun set.  They were beautiful and I missed that living in Utah, where beautiful sunsets seemed always few and far between.  Arizona as graced me once again with beautiful sunsets!  Nearly every night the sunset is such that it makes you pause and think for a moment, "wow, that's pretty!"

I have heard the rumors of scorpions and taranchulas, but this is the first of either that I have seen!  He was right in the middle of the road and I was afraid we had hit him.  Luckily we had not so I could get a picture.  I was amazed at how he seemed completely passive to us and paid us no attention at all, neither changing direction nor speed. 

Sun breaking through the thunderstorm over Apache lake.

Shore line of Apache lake.  To the boaters out there- YES, the water is VERY warm.

Just thought this was pretty

Again, just liked the picture.  This is Roosevelt lake, the largest lake actually fully contained in Arizona's borders, but not as pretty as Canyon or Apache lakes.

The marine at Roosevelt Lake

The large open waters of Roosevelt lake

The dam for Roosevelt lake.  Apache lake begins literally about a quarter mile below this dam.

By Roosevelt lake there are old indian cliff dwellings in what is called the Tonto National Monument.  It is one of the few cliff dwellings they let you actually walk around in the dwellings so I was excited about it.  Unfortunately, they closed at 4 and we didn't get up there in time and were greeted by a closed gate instead.

Beach at Apache lake.  This is on our initial drive up, the previous pictures were on our return trip.  I would love to just tent out on the beach with a boat!

Apache lake.  This was the most beautiful of the three lakes I thought.  It runs through the canyon for 17 miles.

The picture above doesn't look like much, but the road went straight down the cliff into this cove and looped out again.  Once in the cove, it was a place that demanded reverence.  I wasn't quite sure why but I felt it was a special place.

Many of the rocks had a green hue to them and it took me a while to figure out why.  Lichen!  With resent rains the lichen was very green and covered most rocks.  It was amazing to me that in the scorching heat and intense sun, so much life was everywhere!

Made me feel small looking out and seeing rows of canyons!

I loved the yucca in bloom!

On the shore of Canyon lake.  The closest to Phoenix and definitely the busiest.

They had a ferry ride offering lunch and dinner that looked like fun.  They also had a nice marine with slots with room for a barbeque!

Our first stop on the trail was at Goldfield ghost town.  Pretty touristy but you can go down in the mine and pan for gold for $7 bucks.  I didn't do it, figured it would be more fun with a niece or nephew... hint hint :)  The shaved ice was excellent however.

I liked how the old time truck had an Idaho license plate.

Monsoon season

Tonight there was a pretty awesome thunderstorm!  Tons of lightning, tons of rain, and very high winds.  We got caught driving in the storm and we came across streets that had turned into rivers and entire palm trees that had snapped in half in the wind laying across the road.  I felt like I was in a hurricane!  Weather events like this excite me so once the worst of it passed we drove up camelback to try and get some pictures.  I was really wishing I had LaRell's camera, but this is the best I could do with my lousy camera phone.

Just the city lights without a lightning flash

It was dark and hard to take pictures but this was water rushing down the street about three to eight inches deep carrying all sorts of rock and dirt.  You can see the water splashing up over the hood of the BMW X5 we were in.  We lost traction and could feel the car shift several times and I was glad it didn't get worse.  I guess they weren't kidding about the urban flash flood warning!  Never would have thought flood insurance would be needed in Phoenix, but I sure hope the homes we drove by did!