Back to School, Back to School

No posts for awhile from me because...well we've just been too busy. It's nearing the end of my second week of school with students (3rd week total) and I haven't had much time to blog. I've been getting up at 5am to run a few miles in the neighborhood with Chloe so she gets some exercise every day. She's up to just over 3 miles a day (~15 miles per week) and for the most party she's doing great. We have "issues" when she spots a cat or when we're approaching one of two houses that has dogs that bark like crazy when we pass. I've enrolled us in a "Basic Obedience" dog training class and I think it will benefit us. This Saturday is the first class and it's just for owners. The weekend after Labor Day we start the 7 week class with a group of 6 other dogs and owners. We'll see how she does.
Last Saturday, Keeper and I hit up Play It Again Sports in Tempe and bought him a used bike. It should be noted that the salesman (after K had gone for a test ride) informed us it was "technically" a girl's bike and Keeper said, "I'll take it anyway". Yes, my husband rides a girl's bike. Now all we need is a basket and some streamers and he'll be good to go. The point of the bike purchase was so I'd have some protection (and company) on my long runs. Phoenix has a canal system with paved and gravel paths on both sides that make for great long runs, but I wouldn't go there by myself. Last Sunday K and I did just under 9 miles. We started at 6:30 in the morning and it was already nasty out. It was just brutal by the time we finished. I want to do a 10 miler this Sunday, so we'll be getting up earlier, for sure. K has also started accompanying Chloe and I on the morning runs (he rides alongside of us).
Because I have been base building my running mileage since we got here, the 3 mile morning runs aren't enough for me so I've been heading to the gym after school each day to get the rest of my miles finished on the treadmill and then do strength training 3 times a week, and a little biking and swimming thrown in for good measure.
My school is pretty good so far. The staff and administration has just been amazing. The students are cooperative for the most part. The class size has taken some getting used to (these classes are twice as big as at my old school), but I'm getting the hang of it. That being said, grading takes so much longer! As I type this I'm thinking of the 160+ lab books waiting for me to finish grading them tomorrow. I am coaching the JV Girls' Soccer team at North Canyon and we had our pre-season meeting yesterday. Tryouts aren't until the end of October and the season runs November-January. I am also the adviser of the National Honor Society and will hold my first meeting with them next week.
We are anxiously awaiting Labor Day weekend and Corbin's upcoming visit next week. It will be nice to see a familiar face!

First Day of Class

I consider today to be our first day of class. I had Regional Anatomy (learning all the parts of the body). Our professor has a PhD in Anatomy from UC-Berkeley (i.e. he's wicked smart). He's a good guy and assured us that the anatomy we learn is the same as those other medical students. We also had Anatomy lab, but didn't get to meet our cadaver. We just went over ground rules, picked groups, and looked at some X-Rays. Tomorrow we start cutting.

I also had Introduction to Homeopathy. I have a feeling this class will be a nice break from the raw sciences and will be a constant reminder that we are in fact Naturopathic Medical students, since the philosophy of Naturopathic Medicine is drawn a great deal from homeopathy. I'll explain that at a later date when I know more about homeopathy. Right now my mind is pretty blown by the whole concept.

Tomorrow, in addition to slicing up a person, I have biochem and histology.

Ready to go

Well, here it is. Tomorrow is my first day of class. Orientation went well. It gave us all a chance to learn the names of our fellow classmates, pick up some tips from upperclassmen, and get comfortable before the onslaught of information in front of us. My class is very diverse. People come from a lot of different backgrounds and experiences, and range in age from 20 to about 50. More kids are coming straight out of college and into this field, but it is still a very popular second, third, fourth, whatever career. The faculty members who we met this week reinforced why I chose this school. Just wonderful, thoughtful people all around who are really dedicated to seeing Naturopathic Medicine flourish.

This first week is called "Intensives Week." We have two classes, Philosophy and History of Naturopathic Medicine and a Psych class called Healthy Communication, each 4 hours a day. They do it this way so they can fly in experts in those particular fields to teach us. This week should serve to get us further comfortable with our surroundings. The other good part is we get 4 credits out of the way in the first week, with ONLY 22 credits remaining this quarter (That number jumps to 24.5 in Q2, and 27.5 in Q3).

Next week, however, is when it really hits us. Regional Anatomy w/ cadaver lab (fun!), Embryology, Histology, Biochem, and Intro to Homeopathic Medicine. Yea, they really pour it on.

Horton Creek Hike

Yesterday, Keeper, Chloe and I headed northeast of Phoenix to Payson, Arizona for a hike. We found the Upper Tonto Creek Campground after only turning around once. The hike followed a creek through the Tonto National Forest. The weather was much cooler than in Phoenix, but pretty humid nonetheless. The hike started by crossing the creek. I missed a great picture opportunity of Keeper carrying Chloe across the creek so that she wouldn't get wet and muddy. Well that ended about 5 minutes into the hike. Anytime there was a puddle she went right for it and the few times we left the trail to head down to the creek, she went right in. Although the first half of the hike (4 miles) was all hiking up the mountain, she did great and was happy to see about a dozen other dogs and their owners along the way. Maybe some of the people we passed had a copy of the book we just bought, Best Hikes with Dogs: Arizona. We finally reached the top and saw the place in the rocks where the spring water was flowing and decided to have lunch. Keeper ended up hiking to the very top of the mountain to check out the views while Chloe and I relaxed. As we started to head back down the trail we heard the familiar sound of rumbling thunder. Here we go again. I was not nearly as anxious about this storm because we were in a wooded forest with plenty of other hikers around, as opposed to last week where we were in an open meadow, with no one else around. We did get wet, but not soaked like last Friday. Hiking 4 miles down the mountain in the rain makes for a much quicker second half of the trip. Chloe was a wet, muddy mess and we dried her off the best that we could before heading back to Phoenix. She slept most of the way home. In other news, you can teach old dogs new tricks. I've been working with Chloe on "sit". Sounds easy but to a grown dog who is part Chow (aloof and independent) she pretty much only sits when she feels like it. Keeper found it funny last week when I had a bunch of cheese (her favorite treat) and tried "sit" with her numerous times, only to have her wag her tail and look at me as if I had two heads. Well this morning after church, something clicked. She now "sits" and lies "down" on command. Such a good girl.

Clean Bill of Health

Chloe had her first check-up today. She handled it very well and all her tests have come back good so far. She is free of heartworms and lice, but needs to gain a few pounds (which we knew). The vet's assistants loved her (and were surprised a chow mix could be so well behaved) and said she has a very "expressive face."
To the left is her I-just-got-blood-drawn-leave-me-alone face.

To the right is her smile. She either thinks it's time for a walk, or thinks the camera is full of swiss cheese.

In case you were wondering, yes, I put a purple
bandanna on my dog.
You wanna fight about it?

Flagstaff, AZ

Yesterday we decided to put a day off to good use. I recently picked up the July issue of Phoenix Magazine because I wanted to check out the "30 Summer Hikes" article. Obviously there are a ton of places to hike right in or around Phoenix but it is too damn hot to do them this time of year. So Keeper and I picked one up in Flagstaff in the Coconino National Forest to do yesterday. We weren't sure how Chloe would do on a hike (worst-case scenario: she gets tired halfway through and refuses to walk anymore and we have to carry her back to the car...) so I chose a shorter, 6 mile hike called Sandy's Canyon Trail. We hit the road a little after 7:15am and drove north to the mountains. We stopped for gas about 20 minutes south of our exit and noticed that...it was cool outside! The temperatures were in the 60s! I wondered if I would get cold hiking in a tanktop...
We found the trailhead and started hiking. Sandy's Canyon Trail is tailored to viewing ancient sand dunes (see right). We started the hike at the top of a gorge and and then quickly plunged down a steep rocky trail. It felt weird to be in a lush, green forest after almost 3 weeks in the dry and dusty desert. Chloe was very good on the hike. She was fine when she met other dogs (and their owners) along the way and didn't get tired at all. After getting to the bottom of the gorge the trail opened up for a mile or so through a grassy meadow. I knew the weather was calling for thunderstorms in the afternoon and we saw some clouds and heard some far away thunder rumbles, but we kept on. The turnaround point was marked by a cave at the base of the dunes. It was really cool (see right). We decided to give Chloe some water (and cheese) and eat our lunch in the cave. When we noticed lightning outside I was glad we had refuge in the cave. The storm was right overhead and we decided to wait it out. There was no way I was going to risk getting struck by lightning by walking back through the open meadow anyway. Chloe, like most dogs was not thrilled about getting caught in a thunderstorm. In fact, she royally freaked out. After a half hour or so, the worst part of the storm had passed us but there were more dark clouds on the way, so we decided to take our chances and head back to the car. The trail had now turned into a giant mud puddle, which Chloe loved. Too bad she had just been groomed the day before. We ended up getting back to the car safe, but drenched and muddy. It was a gorgeous hike and I would definitely go back and do some others in the Coconino National Forest. Chloe was a champ as well. She didn't slow down once and I can't wait to take her again. On the way back we stopped at rest stop and I took some pictures of the scenic view (see below). We were not thrilled to get stuck in the worst traffic ever getting back into Phoenix. The drive home from Flagstaff should have taken us a little over 2 hours and it ended up being well over five.

New Addition

We have a new member of our family. Her name is Chloe
(changed from Rosalind. Not sure who names a dog Rosalind,
but I digress). We got her from a great shelter called AAWL (Arizona Animal Welfare League, I think). Chloe was a stray who was injured at some point. You can't tell here, but her tail is short and lacking in hair from that injury. She had only been up for adoption for about a week and they estimated that she's 2 years old.

June wanted a dog she could run with and our apartment has a 35 lb. weight limit on pets, so our options were limited. There were some other dogs we liked, but once we got to play with Chloe our choice was easy. She's a Chow Chow mix and we were warned she might be independent and more interested in herself than she is in us. That has not been the case. She's very friendly and attentive, and she's pretty darn cute. I don't know if she had ever been housebroken, but after the intial shock of her new home, we haven't had any accidents. We were also warned that she may not get along with cats, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. It's been fun watching her test the limits of what she can get away with. Teaching new limits to a 2-year-old dog is challenging, but she's a good dog (even if she likes to jump on the couch on occassion).