Thoughts that fail to fit anywhere else

Other newsworthy topics:

1. I started to garden again. My balcony garden didn't turn out so well last year. In fact everything died. I got one red pepper and one very bitter, disgusting strawberry last year. But things are looking up as all of my plants are still alive one week after planting. The flowers are even starting to sprout. This year's try includes: tomatoes, lemon cucumber, zucchini, green pepper, oregano, and basil, plus flowers.

2. I have the best fieldwork ever. I have to do 12 more weeks of a clinical rotation to be able to sit for my boards. I'm at the best little pediatric clinic in Santa Monica. The therapists are amazing and wonderful people to work with. The kids are just adorable. It's so low-key and fun. I'm really loving it.

3. I have discovered the gem of public transportation. Previous to this I only took the bus between the USC main campus and the health science campus. That wasn't real public transportation since it was a USC bus that took us back the forth. But I decided since my clinic is just a few miles away and parking is terrible/really expensive around there that I was going to try out the bus. It's been surprisingly wonderful. I love not having to manuver through traffic. I can just sit on the bus and let someone else do it. It comes about ever 10 minutes which is also great. Yeah there are some sketchy people on there, but it's kinda fun to people watch.

4. I have a new goal of cooking a new recipe once a week. We'll see how it goes. I love cooking, but just don't take the time to do it. Maybe if I cook something fun I will make myself take the time.

Whirlwind of a Week

I finally made it to the end of school. My actual last day of school was May 1st where I took my comprehensive exam. Good news--I passed and got to graduate. Now I just have to take my boards in September and I'll be a real occupational therapist!
May has been quite a month for me. After finishing classes I worked for a few days and then made a really quick trip home to see my brother Thomas before he headed off to the Missionary Training Center. He is going to the Colorado Colorado Springs mission. So I went home for basically a weekend and go to spend some time with the family. I went to David and Laura's track meet, Steven's track meet and David's soccer game that weekend. (I forgot my camera for the track meets. Oops)

David wasn't too happy about the officiating of the gameDavid heading toward the goal.

I also got to reconnect with my roots and participate in the lawn mowing extravaganza at home. We have 2.5 acres and still continue to mow it with a push mower. We had a riding mower at one point, but that has long since gone the way of the world and we're back to push mowing it. I never think about my house being on a hill, but man when you have to mow it, it is definitely on a hill. More appreciation for Mom and Dad who do most of the mowing around there.

I also got to be home for Mother's Day which was fun. I made dinner for Mom and tried a new cheesecake bar recipe with berries on top for dessert. Yummy. I think some of the best recipes ever are ones that you kind of make up yourself. This one didn't disappoint me. It was also great to be home for Mother's Day because my brother John who is on a mission in Argentina got to call us. I got to talk to him for a few minutes. He's coming home on July 1st so I'll get to talk to him longer in about a month.
I also had to take advantage of Oregon's no sales tax (compared to California's 9.25%) while I was home and attempted to find some cute clothes. Really I was saving money because I didn't have to pay tax on anything! I was semi-successful after trying on way too many things. My disdain of shopping was reinforced as pretty much nothing I tried on fit, or if it did fit there was something wrong with it (sticker residue on the pants, broken zipper, etc.) But I managed to come away with a few things.

Tuesday my parents, David, Laura, Thomas and I flew to Utah to take Thomas to the MTC.
Mom and Dad with Thomas

Thomas and I outside the MTC

Poor guy ended up with the flu on Wednesday and felt pretty miserable when we dropped him off. But I have heard from him since and he managed to get over it in a few days. We missed seeing Grandma even though we stayed at her house because she was out globe trotting around the country. But I did get to see my sister Carolyn who was also there for the week. It was great to see her. We hit up a few Provo hot spots (Cougareat, BYU Bookstore, Brick Oven, the Creamery). Ahh those BYU days, brings back memories.

Thursday morning we flew to Southern California at the crack of dawn and got here by 8:30am. I guess it was nice since we had the whole day ahead of us. All the extended family got together to go to the Angels vs. Red Sox game.

Kids calling the rally monkey (I guess it worked)

Mom and Dad showing their spirit

I think the kids just came for the cotton candy

The Openshaw victory dance

It was a great game. It went 12 innings and the Angels ended up pulling it off. Thanks Geoff for picking a good game. After the game it was time for pizza and talking at the Grandparent's house. The usuals medicine, politics and religion were all discussed throughout the night, so it was a typical family gathering.

Friday was the day I've been waiting for GRADUATION! The gowns were hot, the speakers mediocre, Laura was enthralled by the speaker

but I got my diploma case with the fake diploma and even got to keep the tassle from my cap.

Thanks to my family and extended family who came to support me.
Bob, Robyn, and Catherine drove all the way out from Redlands!

Grandparents, Parents and siblings with Uncle Mike the photographerCatherine wishing she was done with school too

It was a great day. Sad in some ways because I'm sure there are people who I won't see very often that I spent the last two years seeing on an almost daily basis.
Sarah, Rena, Tammy, Noah and I celebrating all our hard work

But happy because I am moving on to a new adventure in my life. It's been quite a ride these past two years, but somehow the time has flown by.

What's next you ask??? If someone knows, please let me in on the secret. If not, I'll let you know when I know!