Emmett and the End of Vacation

Mom and I flew back to Utah Wednesday afternoon and I caught another flight to Boise. I spent the next few days in Emmett with my wonderful in-laws. Cindy and I rode the horses for the first time since last fall. The big silly boys did great after not working for several months. On Friday, we rode down the canal and Tag was so good. He didn't try any of his annoying 'stop suddenly backup' crap. When we were almost home, I thought I saw a big red truck pull into the drive way and sure enough my Randy had come up for the weekend!




Saturdays, Bob and Cindy work in the Boise temple so Randy and I took care of the critters and looked into different potential housing options in the Twin Falls/Burley area. That evening we went out to eat with Bob and Cindy and all too soon my vacation was coming to a close. The next morning, Mitch, Winter, and I made the trek back to Pullman for Monday brought the start of my next rotation- Emergency and Critical Care.

Disneyland!!!

Since I had two weeks off, my mom offered to take me on a trip to celebrate almost being done with vet school. I chose Disneyland which turned out to be exactly what I needed. Ashley had just started her job at the Marriott in Salt Lake City and was able to book us a room a block from Disney for less then half price! There was a military discount so thanks to Dad, our tickets were cheaper, and Mom's flight was free and mine cheap thanks once again to Dad for flying for Delta Airlines.

We flew in Monday morning and after checking into our hotel we went straight to Disneyland. My Aunt Elaine and Uncle Mike and their two youngest Cameron and Blake met us at the park a little bit later. The last time I saw this family was before my wedding! It was soo soo good to be with family. My aunt and uncle grew up near Disney so they knew lots of helpful hints.

Splash Mountain before we got soaked!

 


We spent the majority of our time in Disneyland, but spent one morning at California Adventure. Disney was just what I needed. It is hard to be worried about adult things like jobs, budgets, and student loans while standing in line for the Matterhorn or Splash Mountain. I felt like my mind was freed from all my worries.  It was fun to see so many little girls dressed up as their favorite princesses. Hopefully one day I can convince Randy to take a trip there with our kids.

My mom spoiled me rotten! We ate so much pineapple Dole Whip, popcorn, and shakes. But hey we walked about 10 miles per day (if you trust my phone). Sadly we had to go back to real life on Wednesday.

Thank you Mom for an amazing trip!!!

A Week with My Love

I drove home from Seattle on a Sunday and I was driving another 7 hours the following day after showing our house. This time I was on my way to spend a week with my very best friend!

We spent Tuesday driving around listening for collars and hiking around looking for dead deer. That morning I called a clinic in Heyburn Idaho to setup a working interview for the next day.


My working interview went well. After a couple of hours I could image myself working there. Everyone was kind and very open to discuss all aspects of the practice. While I was there, Randy had his first caving experience looking for bats.

On Thursday, we were out listening for deer and we buried the truck in a snow drift and had to call someone  to pull us out. We had locked the gate so we had a 15 minute ATV ride to let Clint in. After about 15 minutes of maneuvering and pulling the truck came free. That day was freezing with blowing winds and snow flurries.

Randy took Friday off and we drove down to the clinic so he could see the practice and meet everyone. I wanted Randy's opinion on the practice. We then drove around the area looking at different little towns. We also stopped to see the Shoshone Falls, but there was very little water running over.

Saturday, Randy woke up feeling terrible. We went to the Hagerman Fossil Museum where there are many equine fossils. Later that day we did sealings in the Twin Falls temple. It was a treasured moment to be across from that sacred alter from Randy and to remember the covenents we had made with God and the blessings He has promised us if we keep those covenents.

Sunday morning came too soon. Randy left that day for a wildlife conference in Coeur D'Alene. I drove up to the Boise airport to catch a flight to Salt Lake City. My mom and I were going to Disneyland!

March 11, 2016

This evening while I was eating dinner, I started thinking of my blessings. The longer I thought, the longer the list became. 

Today I am grateful for -

A comfortable home

Homemade tomato soup with grilled cheese

Finding someone to buy our house

 A soft bed with lots of blankets

 Hot running water

 Randy being safe while caving this past week

 Winter and her silly antics 

My new job 

 Good friends

 Mitch (he is curled up on the couch with me)

That Randy and I will be together again in 57 days 

 The strength to finish the last 6 minutes of yoga 

Chocolate with toffee and almonds 

Seattle Humane Rotation

I spent the first two weeks of February in Bellevue Washington at the Seattle Humane shelter to complete my shelter medicine rotation. WSU CVM paid for our hotel rooms and they were very nice but only had a microwave and mini fridge. I had to get creative to figure out what to eat for two weeks (I don't want to eat any more lasagna for a while). During the rotation we (students) performed many steriliztion procedures on both dogs and cats and cared for any sick animals (we had 4 cats with urinary issues and all of them were either black or black and white).  My fellow classmates were my good friend Becky and Allison. Allison kept me laughing the entire two weeks. One night after a particularly long day we went out to dinner to the Cheesecake Factory.

One of the procedures I performed involved taking abdominal biopsies from a cat. I took samples of liver, spleen, mesenteric lymph node, jejunum, and duodenum. This was an older kitty who had been having diarrhea and ultrasound reveled thickened intestine. I took the biopsies in order to figure out what was going on. 

My dad's brother Doug and his family live nearby and I was able to visit them several times. It was so good for my heart to be with family. My mom flew up from Utah for the weekend and we had a great time shopping at Pike's Place and sampling chocolate and gelato.

The hotel was 5 minutes from the temple and I was able to go twice while I was there. I found comfort in spending time in this holy house. One afternoon, on my lunch break, I walked around the grounds. There were several benches within groves of trees that were just right for pondering. 

I had a wonderful time with my classmates. I was able to learn and try new procedures and overall improve my confidence with surgical procedures. This was my first exposure working at a shelter and it was an eye opening experience to say the least. I dearly missed my own animals and by the end of this rotation it had been three weeks since I had seen them.