First Week of Medical School

Jake’s first week of medical school was a piece of cake…literally! He took a cake decorating class where he learned how to make gorgeous flowers out of icing. So gorgeous in fact that he would not let us eat it right away I had to admire it and when I accidentally knocked it over in the container I thought he was going to cry because his beautiful flowers were ruined! But luckily then we got to eat them and it was way yummy! He also went fly fishing and got to know the people in his class better. The best part of the week was when he finally agreed to let me give him a hair cut!! I have been begging him since we got married to let me cut his hair but he has never trusted me. Now that we are out here and there is no hair schools he has decided to let me become his barber. I was really nervous because he was glaring the entire time lecturing me on things I had no idea about- I had never cut someone’s hair before besides freshman year and both of those hair cuts were HORRIBLE so pretty much I was clueless. But luckily it turned out amazing! I found a hidden talent that may turn into my side job ha! Here is the new hair cut!!On Friday they had the oath ceremony. Jake was really nervous it was going to fill up quickly so we walked up there about an hour early only to find out the doors weren’t even opened yet. By the time they opened the doors it was me and one other family so I had my pick of seats- good thing we went so early! It was a really cool ceremony awarding each student with a new stethoscope symbolizing the weight they now will be carrying as a med student. Then each student signed their name in the oath book promising to be the best physician they can be. I was so proud of Jake this ceremony pointed out again just how cool it is to be accepted to medical school! When they announced Jake’s name they also said the university he graduated from and when they said Utah State the whole crowd gasped! They couldn’t believe how far he came to go to WVU. Most students were locals or from neighboring states so it was pretty cool to be the student from the farthest state.

Here are his new friends...On Saturday our neighbor invited us to his lake house in Maryland. It was only a forty five minute drive and we were up in a beautiful mountain with a ski resort and a huge lake. We went on a really fun hike by a river and we were able to try some natural water slides on the rocks and jump off some high rocks.

Yes we climbed up on that stable rock!

It was crazy how warm the river water was compared to Utah river water. It was like swimming in bath water -we loved it! We then went to the “cottage” (I got in trouble because I kept calling it a cabin but I was always corrected that it’s not a cabin! ha) and had hot dogs and corn on the cob. It was such a fun night! I think we are really going to like it out here!

On the Road...

So I was absolutely dreading the 1900 mile car drive across the country but it actually wasn’t that bad! It started out rocky in Parley’s Canyon where our truck over heated and we literally were going 15 mph up the hill. That lasted about forty five minutes and we were really worried for the long trip we had ahead of us but it never overheated that bad again so that was good! A few hours later in Wyoming we blew out two tires on the trailer!! It was in the middle of nowhere and it was really really hot. The people said it would be about an hour until they could get to us to help us. It was really hot and miserable and we were starving because we hadn’t stopped for lunch yet but luckily they fixed it really fast and we were good to go again! So the first day was pretty long… Jake wanted to drive 900 miles that day and I think we only did about 500. The next day I begged Jake to take a detour so we could go to Nauvoo… I know crazy that I wanted to add more time but I wanted to do one thing fun on our road trip! So we take the huge detour and pull into Nauvoo at about 9. We met a couple missionary from Cache County and they were so excited we were from Logan that they told us to get in their car and they would drive us around. They drove us to all 7 hotels in Nauvoo to find a place to stay for the night but there was nothing available. They wanted us to stay on their couch but we felt awkward so we said we would be find but they kept insisting on helping us so finally we agreed to park our huge budget truck there and then drove our car across the river to find a hotel there. We were striking out everywhere we called except one place that was only $30 a night. Obviously it had to be ghetto but we didn’t have a choice so we drove out to it. It was totally DISGUSTING! It reeked of smoke and had holes in the mattress, stains on the sheets, crap all over the walls and shower, and no light bulbs! Jake went to get a refund we were thinking the couples’ couch looked pretty good about now but the man would not give him a refund. He showed him 5 other rooms that were all about the same - some worse. Finally he showed us one that at least didn’t smell like smoke so we stayed there because we were exhausted. It was totally disgusting and we didn’t touch anything. I got our beach towels and blankets out of the trunk to wrap around the bed so we didn’t have to touch it. Luckily we survived the night and got out of there as fast as we could!

It was totally worth it because Nauvoo was amazing! I wished we could have spent more days there because there were so many cool things to see but we went around a few tours in the houses then headed over to Carthage. It had such a strong spirit and we felt very close to the trials the saints had to go through.

When Jake and I were dating this is the only picture he had of him on facebook and I always made fun of his hands so I had to do the same thing! We were supposed to stay in Greencastle that night with a couple from Jake’s mission but they called us when we were on the road and told us they had the flu so we just kept driving. When we got to Ohio there were no rooms available again because they were having the State Fair. We had to drive another half hour and find another dump. But it really was a fun road trip with good songs and a great book on tape! Plus we were never hungry thanks to the great treats provided by the moms!! And now we are officially West Virginians!!

Newport Beach!

One of my favorite family traditions is the week my grandma takes all of us to Newport Beach. It really is a week in paradise where we get to hang out on the beach, play in the ocean, ride bikes, and hang out with the entire fam. It was a bit cooler this year making the water even more freezing cold. It felt colder than the ice water we were drinking! We all made it a goal to get in at least once a day even if we were freezing. It was always worth it when we got in because we had so much fun- but we didn’t last long!

The famous Wahoo Fish Tacos-we can't go to California without Jake wanting a smelly taco!We had a ton of fun riding our bikes to Huntington Beach and shopping the sidewalk sales so much fun in fact that when the boys went to the Angels vs. Boston game the girls headed back to Huntington. At night we would go to Balboa Island to ride the ferris wheel and hang out. On Wednesday we headed to DISNEYLAND- the happiest place on earth!! We had a blast going on all the rides. It was especially fun because it was Alexa’s first time to the best place ever. She loved the tea cups and It’s a Small World. She would dance to the music and point to the different dolls especially her favorite - Ariel. She loved it so much that when it was over Christian asked if we could go through again for her and they let us! It was an awesome week and we are already on count down for next summer!!