Quote of the Day

I am at work at the Park City Ski Clinic today. The quote on the side of the wall says: "Skiing is the only sport where you spend an arm and a leg to break and arm and a leg". This is true! As i pulled up to work this afternoon i said to myself, i sure hope people are falling up there. that's horrible isn't it? it makes my day go by quicker though, and i get to see cool stuff! no blood so far, just dislocations, ACL/PCL tears, sprains, head injuries, etc. just another day at work! i love this job.

Post-op Day 0

well, he did it. pilsner lost the goods. this morning we dropped him off to get neutered at the humane society. i must say that they are, by far, the cheapest around town to get such a deed done. plus we got a coupon from the city for $25 off b/c we are registering him with the city. we got him neutered, microchipped, and rabied(?) :) for $44. my vet wanted 240 just to neuter. i feel bad for the poor feller-he can't tell where that awful collar stops so he is running into everything. he just wants to go through the door way to get to his water, but he runs into the door jam. he tries to come give you kisses but he can't b/c the collar gets in the way. however, it is pretty funny. i can't help but laugh at him! he just casually walks by the table but his collar runs into the chair and he gets shut down. then he just stands there looking very forlorn and maybe even whimpers a time or two. right now he is looking at me with those puppy eyes, begging me to take off the collar. guess what pilsner? you have to wear that sucker for TEN DAYS. i couldn't believe it- 10 days is a stinkin long time for a poor dog to wear one of those. after all the pain medication wears off and he is back to being a puppy (which i guess will happen in about 2 days) i don't know what we'll do with him- all energetic with a collar. hmmmm.

today i took one small step for femininity and one big step for polly-kind. i got my hair highlighted. or rather, low-lighted b/c i didn't actually get a lighter color added, but had darker colors added. i've never had anything done to my hair before b/c i think brown hair is hard to color- it always looks weird or orange or something. i went to a real actual salon, as opposed to a hair school, and paid the big bucks just for a little bit of vanity. however, it looks stellar!! i couldn't be happier, which says a lot b/c my hair has been in this awkward growing out stage for far too long. the gal did a great job; i think i'll keep it!

last weekend some girlfriends and i had a clothing exchange. we are all tired of the fact that we still are wearing sweaters we bought when we were 16. we all cleaned out our closets of those clothes we were most tired of and threw them in a big pile in my living room. after a couple bottles of wine we all thought that most of the clothes looked a lot better on each other and each went home with a bag full. we are donating the rest of the clothes to the battered women's shelter. it was so much fun, plus we all got some really good "new" clothes.

in other news, climbing season is officially here. i've now done three routes in Little Cottonwood Canyon and can feel the climbing vibe coming back to my fingers and forearms.

yoga is hard. i went to yoga last night. i always think that yoga is going to be relaxing and centering for me. well mostly it's just hard. there is this excellent yoga instructor at the climbing gym we belong to and he doesn't let you get away with any incorrect pose. it's a good thing actually, but it makes the yoga classes a real work out. i've got this 30 minute tape of yoga that i used to do at home, and i never really felt much work out from it. not now. just the simple downward dog pose that is basically the beginning yoga pose has become somewhat strenuous. you are supposed to be 'active' all the time, meaning your muscles are toning, not just sitting in a certain position, you have to actually engage every muscle group. and you must always engage your shoulder bones toward your spine. that's freakin' hard! given the fact that i can't touch my toes, my hip flexors are over developed, my hip muscles are under developed, my hamstrings are tighter than a wound spring, and my lower back is crinkled down tight, it's a wonder i can even step into bed at night. i've got a lot of stretching to do. i'm psyched.

we are having a birthday party for eric this weekend. a fiesta of tacos and birthday cake with a bunch of friends. what a difference a year can make. last year we quietly celebrated, just the two of us, with a small dinner and small cake. we were happy to just be married and have at least each other on a special day. this year it's turned into a great fiesta with many friends- it's the greatest bunch of people to hang out with and i'm so happy to be celebrating a special day with so many good people.

new favorite music to listen to: Regina Spektor and Rosie Thomas - i guess i've been in a mellow mood huh?

right now i smell nutmeg. bath and body works is having sale on wall plug-ins; i bought nutmeg. it's really good. eric's nose is completely stuffy and he says he can't smell it. i don't think pilsner cares b/c he is in too much pain. what a nice little family. :)

March Madness

March has been a great month. Spring weather makes everyone feel a little more chipper, except for the fact that it means no more skiing. i am so excited that i started to learn to telemark ski- in fact i can't wait for next season!

i got great news this month- i am going on a medical mission trip to El Salvador this may. Through the university of utah and a charity organization named Operation Walk we are taking a team of about 25 medical professionals. the other half of our team will come from the los angelos chapter of operation walk. we plan on replacing about 50+ joints for the locals in a town called sonsonate. this is an incredible opportunity as i have always wanted to be invovled in these types of things and have been looking for opportunities ever since i started nursing. i heard about operation walk about 2 months ago and tried to get on the team but they told me they were all full. i think it's b/c of my spanish that they decided to take me. they let me know about a week ago that they opened one more spot on the team for a nurse and i got in. i am by far the youngest team member, all the other nurses being some sort of manager. i am so happy that i am able to start this pattern as a young nurse, and not wait 15 years before finding experiences like this one. working at this orthopedic clinic has really opened a lot of doors for me to make connections and learn different things- like the ski clinic i have been working at since february. i've never had so much fun before and it's work!

i've had the itch to travel too for the past several months. one absolute plus of this trip is that it is completely paid for. i will be working with the patients after their surgeries and making sure they recover well. not only will i be practicing REAL nursing- not just paperwork, but i will get to use my spanish, experience a new culture, and visit a place i've never been. the only bad part is that i will be gone during the week of my birthday. it's a small price to pay.

there is also a new dynamic in this group that i have never traveled under before- we are not a christian organization. we are out there simply to help and there is no religious obligation. i felt it already in one of our meetings- no prayers, no mention of a religious reason why we are going, no mention of a strict dress code so that we always appear to be christians. we are simply helping. i love that. not that christians don't also simply help, but that there seems to be a driving force to also explain the gospel and have a number at the end of the day. i have no doubt of how to answer why i live the way i do or why i help. it's just that this time i am going alone with only God. yet another example of living life outside of arkansas and the known bible belt.

in other news- we just returned from a great Indian Creek climbing trip. it's eric's spring break and we went down to our favorite desert spot outside Moab and met up with a few friends for several days. it was really hard! i haven't climbed in over 2 months and i had a very hard time struggling up the rock faces. but i think it was also one of the most fun trips we've had- so many good friends and good conversations. it didn't matter that i couldn't climb, it only mattered that i had friendship to offer.


Eric and I playing with headlamps and open shutters


me on a climb called Spaghetti Western, 5.11


the group trying to catch some shade- it was hot already down there!


Liz and I at the belay


Katie and I enjoying our turkey burgers after climbing


Tracy and I with a desert feature called Six Shooter Peak in the background


Example of a splitter hand crack in Indian Creek. Mark leading Pente, 5.11

the winter boots gave me blisters

winter boots

alright, i've had it with wet feet, and snow drifts up to my knees. i've had it with slushy parking lots and my really lame, baby pink, rubberized kid's on-sale north face boots. i picked up an extra shift this week and guess what i'm using that money for? WINTER BOOTS! i've been on a quest for the past, oh month, looking for attractive, cheap-er/ish boots that i can wear through all our wetness and still look good with jeans and skirts. you wouldn't believe how hard that is. and why in the world have i not owned winter boots before now? what did i do in the past? i am really baffled (that's a good word, makes me think of waffles-i must be hungry). zappos.com and i have become quite close. if anyone is interested in any particular boot on that website i bet i can tell you what page it is on and how much it is. you may even get free overnight delivery!

i am a particular fan of Camper shoes. they originated in Spain, and that's where i discovered them and fell in love in 2003. i stumbled into a camper store in spain and thought they were the coolest shoes ever. i didn't know that anyone else knew anything about them(that they have the potential to be as big as Uggs- heaven forbid). but then i thought that i discovered Coldplay too. i was just listening to what i thought was a way ocean band(thank you gennie!) aka- a band that nobody knows about really, and i really liked them. i even first listened to them on a bus in london. theni found out they did international tours and everyone and their mom knows who coldplay is -duh polly! anyway, more and more ppl actually know what camper brand shoes are. they make really cute shoes-mismatched on purpose. i love 'em. well, zappos sells campers. there, now you know weveryone knows about them. but i found a pair of campers in an outlet store in salt lake- i couldn't believe my eyes! campers, in salt lake city? we ARE hot! and i have a friend here who owns a pair (lacy, i love your shoes- we can almost be twins now!) i looked and looked for affordable cute winter boots and coudln't find them anywhere online. i finally broke down and bought this pair from the outlet store (sundance outlet-whoever heard of the store sundance??!) i now am the proud owner of a pair of cute, if not really affordable, winter boots.

sometimes, you just need to spend money.

yeah, that'll take me far in life.

watch out eric!

back by popular demand

alright, i know everyone thinks they have a cute dog/puppy. and they probably do. but so do i!! :)





PILSNER THE AIREDALE!!!





i am a little obsessed with his ears. airedales are supposed to have really cute, floppy ears- like the way pilsner's ears are in the first picture. the second picture is what he does with his ears most of the time. one is correct and the other is 'flying' away. i always try to correct it with my hands every time i pet him and he hates it. i even thought about super glueing his ears so they would stand up straight. i hope it's just a teething thing and they will both stand up correctly in the end. he is about 4 and a half months at this point and quite the handful. he is 90% house trained, but we still have to watch him. sometimes eric and i ask each other why we wanted a dog? i guess a dog is okay, it's the puppy that is too much. next time maybe we'll just adopt a dog. but sometimes, when he is really chill and just likes to lay around, we really like him. and i like that he makes us take walks and it's time to get out and talk to each other, when we aren't yelling at him to 'heel!'. he actually does down-stay and sit-stay quite well, especially when there is a treat involved.....

we have discovered that i am alpha dog. there is always one dog that is the head of the pack, and all the other dogs obey that dog. well, i'm it. i think it's all the obedience t raining i've done with him. eric just plays with him, therefore eric is a playmate ande fellow litter mate. during dinner time, pilsner leaves me cconpletely alone but runs up against eric the whole time wanting to play, or asking him to throw the ball etc. he never touches me. all i have to do is look at him the wrong way and he'll stop doing something wrong. eric is trying to rise in rank and become alpha dog 2 by growling at pilsner's throat every time he does something annoying, but i think secretly pilsner will always see him as a playmate. we are both ready for pilsner to become dog and stop being puppy. looks likewe have a long 9 and a half months ahead of us!!! we love him!