Finished Project! (and some funny dog pics)

Keeper and I have finished our first home improvement project. We refinished a dresser for our bedroom and I must say we did a great job. I think it looks awesome. Check it out for yourselves.
Before
After








We have to re-motivate ourselves to refinish the rest of the guest room furniture but I vow to get it done!

And here are some amusing pictures of our dog. The first is her with some lab safety goggles. She wasn't cut out to be a nerd.
I decided to give her a stuffed animal today to play with . It took her all of half an hour to "kill the monkey".

Midterms

I hate it when blog people apologize for their lack of recent posts. Having said that, sorry about the lack of posts.

One of the interesting aspects of a Quarter system, especially at a school where your first day is in the middle of August, is that you don't even get to October before mid-terms. Luckily, we really only had/have three. Monday we had Anatomy Lab, i.e. point stuff out on a dead body. I did OK. It wasn't worth much more than our weekly quizzes, so I'm not sweating a 75(ish).
Thursday we have Biochemistry, the class that puts a journalism major at a distinct disadvantage. You see, journalism majors don't take biochemistry, while chemistry and biology majors do. I'll figure it out, right?
Next Monday, we our Homeopathy I midterm. We've really only discussed theory, of which there is a lot. I'll try to explain it to you sometime.

Other notes:
-Chloe is doing great at charm school. She still has her moments, but is learning to ask for things.
-We took on our first home improvement project ever, refinishing a dresser so it better matches our bedroom furniture. Pictures of our triumphant project forthcoming. We still have to finish the old girl.
-It was about 70 degrees outside when we woke up today. Now I remember how we talked ourselves into moving to the hottest city in America.
-This deserves its own post, almost. The raw food diet that we told some people we were on, didn't work out. Raw food sucks and makes you tired. We've decided to do 70 percent raw. Then June can keep running as much as she likes, and I can actually concentrate in class, but we'll be super healthy at the same time.

Quiz, Quiz, Test, Quiz, Quiz

I'm in the middle of a string of five straight days with a quiz or a test. I think I'm holding up pretty well. The attitudes people have about grades are interesting. I had a conversation with a like-minded classmate the other day, and we agreed that our grades are not a reflection of ourselves or our potential as (someday) clinicians. The other side of the spectrum, and we all have known these people, tear up at the sight of a B.
I've decided to take it in stride. My job is to do as well as I'm capable of while not driving myself crazy with the incredible amount of information we have to digest. My job is also to do well on the board exams we take after two years, which determine whether we move on to the next two (clinical training) years.
Will better grades lead me to better opportunities in the way of possible residencies? Perhaps. Does someone check your report card before you open up your own practice? I doubt it. There is so much out of our control. I can only do what I'm capable of and no more. Having said that, I hope I ruined the curve on the Embryology exam :)

Labor Day Weekend

I know we haven't been great about posting but there really hasn't been much going on. Keith goes to school, I go to school....and that's about it. We had our first visitor this weekend, however which was a lot of fun. The picture to the right is of Corbin trying to do some push-ups in the living room. Chloe thought he might want to give her a belly rub instead.

The heat out here is really starting to get to us. It's now September and we are still reaching 110 degrees on most days. We wanted to a short hike with Corbin so we drove up to Flagstaff to get out of the heat yesterday. We went to Strawberry Crater, which is a dormant volcano. It wasn't nearly as hot in Flagstaff as in Phoenix, but we did the hike in the middle of the day so it was very sunny (no shade along a volcano) and the temperatures were probably in the low 90s. One difference about the climate in Flagstaff: the breeze actually felt cool! In Phoenix, a breeze feels like someone opened the oven door and all the hot air is hitting you. It's not very pleasant. The picture to the left is Keeper and Corbin on the first part of the hike. We were pretty much going up the side of the crater. It was steep and not easy footing. My feet kept sinking in the cinders/rocks from the volcano. The views from the top were amazing (as you can see). Chloe and I were glad it wasn't a long hike, as we had done some running early Sunday morning (6 miles for her, 12 for me); we got tired pretty easily. We got back to Phoenix last night and I had a pretty low-key evening, while Keeper and Corbin painted the town red once Corbin's friend got in (late) from San Diego. Today we caught a D'backs game, and not a very good one at that. They lost 10-2 to the Padres.


Tomorrow is back to the grind for all of us. I start pre-season soccer practice after school. I'm sure 110 degrees will feel very refreshing at 2:30pm on the soccer field. Corbin flies back to Brooklyn tomorrow and Keeper goes back to class.

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.