Hold Fast Hope

Again, it's all done.

I say "again" because I have been in this situation before. Just 6 months ago. This time however things look more promising. But the title (Hold Fast Hope) still remains.

Starting last Wednesday (March 24), I began my re-training at Ameritech. I was very doubtful that things would work out in my favor. After a quick talk with Heather, I found my way into the Lab, and began scrubbing in for a mock procedure. We did an Exploratory Laparotomy. Afterward Heather told me that she was very surprised at how well I did. And how much I had retained from being away from school for so long. It was a complement that I was grateful for. And something that should have been said a year ago... Oh well.

Today marked the end of my re-training. I passed all the exams and tests that she gave me with a better score than when I was actually enrolled. Including a 100% on instruments and sutures! I am glad to have it done. Again.

Monday I begin my first day of my internship. I start in the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center's Central Processing. And then two weeks later I will be moving to the Utah Valley Outpatient Center for actual surgeries. From there I will either be going to Cedar City's Valley View Hospital of to a surgery center in St. George. Again, I am holding fast to that hope...
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All I can say is, IT IS ABOUT TIME! Finally I am starting! I have to do 540 hours...yeah...that many. I am hoping that I can knock them out quickly. Wish me luck!

The Distance

I just wanted to say "thanks" to those of you who do read my blog. I have found that writing it keeps me better organized, and focused. So I am enjoying it. If you haven't noticed, I have started another blog here. It is a goal blog. I have set 101 goals that I would like to accomplish in the next 1001 days.

If you just took the link and looked then I am sure that you have noticed I do not have my entire 101 goals yet. I had hoped to be working toward finishing them, but in all fairness I haven't started because I do not have all 101. So I am taking suggestions. I would appreciate any ideas that you may have to help me finish off my 101 goals. I do understand that this should be a personal thing. But, I think that I have racked my brain as far as I can. So, any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

The Start Of Something

I am so so so happy! Today Morgan received a very important email. An email from a university.

I will be honest. I cheated.

Morgan called me. She texted me. But I was sleeping. I didn't wanna get out of bed at all this morning. When I finally did I found my phone and saw that Morgan tried to get me. I naturally assumed what it was for. I tried calling her back. I tried texting her. But I didn't get a response. So, I decided to do a quick check on her email. I logged on. Then I fought it. I didn't wanna ruin the chance for Morgan to tell me. So I waited. The longer I waited, the harder it became. So finally I decided to look...

MORGAN WAS ACCEPTED INTO A MASTERS OF FINE ARTS WITH AN EMPHASIS IN MUSICAL THEATRE FROM MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY, MANKATO!

I am super happy for her! This is what she wanted, and what she deserved. Morgan, The Master. I do like it.

Wild Pack Of Family Dogs

Morgan is gone. She is in Minnesota for her audition! Getting her there was far more eventful that either of us had imagined.

We left Cedar City for Las Vegas with plenty of time to get her on her flight on time. We pulled into Vegas around 11:30 pm, an hour before her flight was scheduled to depart. It took about 15 more minutes to get her to the airport. We said our good-byes (which I am terrible at...), and she left. I got back in Belle, and drove off. I was about all the way out of Vegas when I received a text from Morgan saying Delta wouldn't let her board her flight? I was super confused. She said that she had missed the check-in time by a few minutes and Delta wasn't going to do anything about it. Apparently Delta Airlines has a 45 minute check-in policy that no one knows about. And if you are not there in time, they won't let you board the flight. Morgan had missed it by about 2 minutes. Stupid. So I took the next exit, and turned back toward the airport not know what to do.

Luckily Morgan was able to track down a manager with Delta and found out that she could wait in stand by for the next flight to Minnesota an hour later. So in the meantime I waited in an In N Out. I was so furious with Delta! I couldn't believe that they would have such a stupid policy, and that they were not willing to accommodate people. But thankfully, Morgan was able to get on that flight. It was such a huge relief, and an answer to many prayers! Stupid stupids!

Thursday night brought my parents down from Springville. I was very happy to see them, and be able to spend more than a few hours with them. The next morning we headed up to Brian Head for a good day of skiing. But, it also wasn't what we were expecting.

We got to the resort and were very surprised by how few people were there. We soon found out the reason. You see the night before the weather was just crazy! It was so windy at Brian Head that they had to close down all the lifts but two. Of course, we learned of this after we had already purchased our passes. So, we decided to brave the weather!

If you discount the fact that the snow has wind blown, and super crusty. The powder being heavy, and the wind being fierce, it was a great day! I had a wonderful time skiing with my parents. At the end of last season my Dad purchased some new 4FRNT ski's. And I'll be honest. I am quite jealous. They seem amazing. And I was able to see the professional skier that my Dad really is. My Mom also is quite amazing. She isn't as reckless as I am. Or seamlessly perfect as my Dad is, but she is brave. And she shows it. They are very fun to ski with! It was such a great day. I am glad that we were able to have it. I really enjoy being with them. They are wonderful people, and I love them!

Tomorrow I go back to Vegas to pick Morgan up from the airport. I am super de duper excited to see her! Hopefully this flight is less eventful than the last...

Date With Destiny

It's Spring Break! Wahoo!

I will be honest. It hasn't really seemed like Spring Break though. I imagine that has a lot to do with the fact that I am only in school two days of the week, and that most of my classes are online, and I've basically been on spring break with those classes since they started...Whoops.

Morgan and I had initially planned on going to Page Arizona and hiking "The Wave" over Spring Break, but those plans changed when she learned that Minnesota State wanted her to come and audition for them in person. That is a wonderful reason to postpone those plans. I unfortunately was not able to produce the funds necessary to accompany her on this trip. Which made me sad, but it was ohk. I know that she will do amazing! Because she IS amazing!

So instead of traveling with my Love, I talked with Ernie, and he is just going to work me more. Something that I need.

Invincible

Was that too strong of a title?

As of today there are only 19 days left till Opening Day 2010!

The Braves currently have the best record in baseball. I do realize that it is Spring Training...but I am hopeful!

Lost In Hollywood

Sometimes I am reminded why I like California. The beautiful weather. The beaches. The ocean. The beauty and diversity of it. I just like it.

Morgan and I recently returned from another California trip. We went to San Diego (for Morgan's audition), Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, and Manhattan Beach.

This was the first time that I had ever been to San Diego. And I really like it there. I think that I am very partial to San Francisco, and Marin County. But next to them, I would say San Diego is my favorite spot in California. While Morgan had her audition I went and kinda toured San Diego. My main goal was to see the new film about the Mormon Battalion that my mom, and Seth and Garrett were in. I drove all the way to the San Diego Temple, just to find out that it wasn't there. So then I rushed to Old Town San Diego where the visitors center is. I walked in and told the senior missionary sister that I just wanted to watch the most recent film about the Battalion. So she took me into a theater there and we watched. About 5 minutes in, I realized that this was not the correct video. I told her this...but she didn't seem to hear me. So 20 minutes later I emerged and saw a set of sisters and asked them about the video. They knew what I was talking about, and showed it to me. It's actually really cool how they did it. The whole tour revolves around the video. I would suggest it. After that I drove through downtown San Diego, and saw the beach. It's so beautiful down there.

Next we made our way up to Los Angeles and onto our hotel in Manhattan Beach. I just gotta say that we scored on the hotel room. The room itself had a couch, fireplace, and a full kitchen. Then the hotel had a complementary breakfast buffet. It was delicious. We ordered pizza for dinner the night that we got in. I had never thought of jalapenos on a pizza before. But I would rather surprised by how good it was. And VERY hot. But very tasty.

Saturday brought rain, but also Universal Studios. I do like that place. I think that we did every ride, and every attraction there. My favorite (of course) was The Simpsons Ride. We did that one twice. It is super fun. Because it was rainy and cold the park gave out free hot chocolate. So we got three cups each during our duration in the park. The last thing we did was watch the Water World show. Well, sorta. The actors started the show, but then the rain started to come down very heavy. So they ended up canceling the rest of it. So we decided to leave. As we were walking to the exits we noticed that there was two employees at the gates. As we got closer we noticed that they were giving out free day passes because of the rain. So not only did we have a great day there, we also got free passes to come back! Score!

I usually hate the day the vacation is over. But how could I hate a day that starts at the beach?! We both dressed for the occasion, but I was the only fool to actually go swimming in the ridiculously cold water. It was fun though. I love the ocean. It's so soothing. I think that we both just love it. Morgan has posted pictures of it here.

After a stop at Trader Joes for some snacks we were back on the road. I think the drive back to anywhere always seems twice as long. We arrived safely in Cedar City around 10:00 pm. It is always nice to be home. And just know you can relax. But I always seem to miss the trip...

Long Road

Well, we made it. It was a long drive, a long drive, A LONG DRIVE, but we made it.

Curtis T. Cluff graciously consented to watch Haylee. So after we had all packed, and explained things to Curtis we took off. Morgan and I were finally on the road around 9:30 pm.

The Roads weren't too bad. I guess that is what to expect when you leave Cedar so late on a Thursday night. Morgan was pretty much asleep by the time we got to St. George. Which was good, cause she needed as much sleep as she could get.

I decided to stop in Las Vegas to get some energy drinks, and stretch my legs a bit. After a quick break we were back on the road. About five minutes later we were again stopped. But not by my choice. Las Vegas decided to close all but one lane on I-15 and caused a gigantic traffic jam. We were stuck for about a half hour. Far too long. I had killed both energy drinks by now. Stupid traffic jams...

The drive into California wasn't too bad. There weren't very many people on the road at all. Mainly just truckers. Sometime I think that my memory is just ridiculous. I pulled into Barstow around 2:30 am to get some gas. I thought the area looked familiar...but wasn't sure why. I got outta Belle, and then knew why. This was the exact gas station that we had stopped to get gas at in the summer when we were starting our Pacific Coast Trip. What is even more ridiculous is that we had stopped at the same pump, and I remembered that...

Sometimes I think that God really is watching over us. Ohk, I know that he always is. About 15 minutes outside of Barstow I get the feeling just to slow down. Now, I hadn't been speeding at all the whole drive. But I followed that feeling. A few minutes later I see a highway patrol make a U-Turn down the freeway, and pull onto my side of the freeway. So at this point I wonder whats going on. A few miles later I see a car stopped in the middle lane of the freeway. As I get closer I see that there is another car on the side of the road. Both cars have their doors open, and even stranger is that there are about 6 guys fighting a hiding behind their cars in the middle of the freeway. We were the only other car on the road, and I was thankful that I saw this far in advance so I could swerve outta the way at the right moment. I assume the highway patrol saw this, and flipped around to take care of it. But still...I've never seen anything like that at all.

I started to get tired around San Bernardino. And about this time traffic started to get heavy. But thankfully I had my jPod. And I was able to stay awake. We pulled into San Diego State Universities parking lot around 5:30 am. We had made it! I stopped Belle, and Morgan rolled over and woke up. She was surprised to see that we were here. I told her that she still had time to sleep, so both of us lay uncomfortable in the car a fell asleep. For a minute or so.