Living Loving Larsen

Yesterday Eric and I got some fabulously great terrific news....Eric passed his first round of boards!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes I am totally doing the happy dance.

I wasn't expecting the letter for a few more weeks so when Eric did a sweet covert style handoff of a letter to me at work yesterday I wasn't thinking much of it. Then a few minutes later when I read it I wanted to scream and jump and make a ruckus but I was in a library (shhhh). To celebrate we went over to my parents house to tell them in person and treated ourselves with KFC (the new grilled kind). It was a great relief. I was so overjoyed I didn't even freak out when Eric noticed that our tires were beyond bald to the point where the tread was coming through the rubber. So Eric is off to get new tires this afternoon and I get to keep gloying in my incredibly brilliant husband.

I finally remembered to take a few pictures of the apartment.

 
 
 
 

Have you ever wondered what medical students do for homework? I found out this morning-they play dress up. Eric has to practice the correct way to gown up for surgery and so he has been practicing at home. He has also been practicing tying knots. Iknow there is a lot more to med school but it has been such a blessing to see Eric so excited about his school work and studying. Eric also got to scrub in to watch a surgery today. I love the feeling to excitment in my home.

Eric officially went back to school today. He has been doing summer clinic for the last 4 weeks but today started the actual school year. After a year of waiting it is great to be back in the normal swing of things. Plus no more explanations in regards to bieng a 2nd year but not going to classes.

Looking back now I realize what a blessing it is that Eric is here for another year. Had he been able to continue with his schooling on schedule we would probably be in seperate states right now. I am grateful for the extra year we have to spend together before the craziness of his 4th year starts.

On Saturday Eric and I were able to get tickets for $2 each for the I-Cubs game. The weather was perfect and I was able to get a funnel cake-what else do you need in life? I will admit the game was a little slow in the middle. The visiting team (The Nashville Sounds) scored one run in the 1st or 2nd inning and then no one scored again until the 8th and 9th innings when the Cubs rallied and won the game by one run. I forgot to take my camera but trust me it was a great night.

Last night Eric and I went to the Incredible Pizza Company with my whole family. Needless to say we had a blast. Here is the link to see what the place is all about http://www.incrediblepizza.com/. We started by eating a ton of food from the buffet in the High School Gym dining room. The music is all from the 50's and the decorations made it feel like a gym from Back to the Future. After that we hit the games. After go-karts, glow in the dark mini golf and a bumper cars there were more games to play and fun things to do. I would highly recommend this has great family night or date night.

Saturdays are really tricky when it comes to sharing the car when both Eric and I have to work. The bus is either too early or too late for me to get to work and when Eric works at the west side Blood Center there isn't really a bus that comes to our house. This being said I decided to be brave and ride the bike to work this morning. Overall it went really well. I was planning on wearing a helmet but as I was tightening the strap it broke. At that point I was running late and needed to leave so I just prayed my head wouldn't end up looking like a post-Halloween pumpkin. About half of the way I rode on the sidewalks since they are very wide and a lot smoother and there are no cars. The problem came when Grand Ave switches to one way and does this weird curve thing. I had stopped at a stoplight and only unclipped one foot. Big mistake. Eric's bike has special pedals that go with special shoes that clip together so make bike riding more efficient. I thought I was okay with only one unclipped until I started to lose my balance. With my other foot still attached to the bike I was a goner. Luckily it was one of those slow motion falls and I didn't get hurt at all. I just felt quite silly. I made it to work okay and Eric is picking me up so I don't have to ride the bike home.

On Wednesday my doorbell rang and it was a delievery man with the biggest basket of fruit. It was one of those Edible Arrangements. The fruit was so good. I had to take some to my Relief Society Presidency meeting since we had so much fruit. It was such a great birthday gift-thoughtful and useful. I knew a package was coming but I had no idea what it was. The fruit basket was so much fun.

As previously mentioned Eric and I went to the Mall of America over the 4th of July weekend. While I was there I splurged and bought a few things. My biggest purchase was make-up and skin care products from the Bare Escentuals store. I have loved it!! My skin has been doing great!! It has only done this well twice in my life-when I was on Acutane and then when I was in Korea. Even though it was more expensive I haven't regretted my purchase at all.

I also purchased the Smooth Away thing that is supposed to be even greater than shaving. Yeah not so much-after 35 minutes I hadn't even half way finished "smoothing" my legs, the hair did not grow back softer or slower and after trying it on my underarms I almost cried. Don't use on sensitive areas. This wasn't no where near as expensive as my make-up but I regret the money I did spend on this.

That is my soapbox for my two more recent purchases. One great one bad.

Back in May our closest friends Greg and Britney with their son Kojun moved to the Twin Cities for his 4 month core for podiatry school. Eric and I both had the weekend off so on Friday afternoon we headed up. We arrived right at six and after a few quick hellos headed straight to dinner. We went to a Middle Eastern restaurant. I thought the fish and chicken were great but I was not a fan of the lamb. After dinner we went to one of the many lakes near Greg and Britney's apartment.

On Saturday we hit the Mall of America! I haven't enjoyed shopping that much for a long time. Eric and I didn't ride any of the rides since they were pricey and I would rather spend the money on shopping.





Since Greg and Britney are from Canada Eric and I decided to teach them the fine art of root beer kegs, bbq and fireworks.




Other than a burn blister on my thumb it was a great weekend. It was fun to spend time with Greg, Britney and Kojun and I also had never been to the Twin Cities so it was a great chance to go see the city.

I just found a new vocab website at www.vocaboly.com. I took the GRE vocab and only got 73/100. This was really sad since I took the GRE and majored in English in college. I am going to blame it on the number of different schools I went to as a child and teenager. I also pick up accents and speech patterns really quickly (a survival technique left over from childhood) so when I talk to people who don't speak correctly I start to talk like them. So I think I am going to try and use this website to work on my vocabulary. I love finding websites that help me learn new things and are just a waste of time reading about the latest gossip. I am actually using my time to learn new things and improve myself.

As per my previous post I spend a lot of time online mixed with not having a ton of money I have started reading finance blogs. The one I have been following the longest is The Simple Dollar. I like this one because the man is from Iowa and a lot of stuff relates to my life. Another one I found is http://www.personal-finance-guide.org. This one doesn't have as much personal commentary. This blogger also explains the finance world in simple terms whereas The Simple Dollar talks about coupon clipping and how to make money on the side. Between the two different blogs I really feel like I am learning a lot about personal finance.

I noticed that the last week of June up until this weekend I had let my healthy eating and exercising lag. Between the move, Eric's boards, going to MN and the 4th of July I ate a lot of junk food. I was really starting to feel the affects of the change in my life style and so I decided that starting yesterday I was going to be better. I did yoga the last two mornings and tried to eat better. Because I spend a lot of time on the Internet I am always looking for new blogs and websites that talk about healthy lifestyles. A new one I found is http://www.healthyfellow.com/. I like this one because it covers a lot of different areas in regards to health not just diet and exercise. Also since it is a blog it is changed more often than a website and like I previously said I spend a lot of time online. With spending time looking at healthy stuff online it makes it easier for me to be good when I get home.

So I have been MIA lately but with moving and everything else I haven't been blogging. We moved on Friday and we are all unpacked and there are no boxes left in the apartment!!! In the new place we don't have internet yet so I might be a little slow on getting the blog updated. The best news of the day right now is Eric is done with boards!!!!! Yes I am doing somersaults and acrobatics knowing that weight is off his/our shoulders. Now we are just starting the wait to get his scores back. Life here is good and I will post pictures of the new place soon.