BrownTown

So this is the result of trying to chip the ice off of our car after an ice storm last week. Whoops! I had been more afraid of breaking off the door handle trying to pry the door open (hey, stop laughing...I know I'm not too strong, but I really think that could happen one day) than breaking the ice scraper. Anyhoo, next time I'll just let the defroster run for a few minutes before chipping away at the ice.

We have been incredibly busy for the last few weeks. Linzi had a test or big paper due every week, and I've been trying to study for our respiratory test we took yesterday. The good news is that we are both done and are incredibly glad to have the next couple of weeks off...from school at least...Linzi has to work next week :( The better news is that this time next week we'll be in Utah celebrating with everyone we miss so much! If we don't post again before Thursday, Merry Christmas everyone!!

I (Chris) got a jury duty summons in the mail a couple of months ago and decided that instead of postponing my service until sometime next year (when I will be cramming for the boards or working in clinics) when I really don't want to miss school/studying I would show up today when they had me scheduled. My hopes of reenacting "Runaway Jury" were dashed by 7 hours of boredom.

I had hoped to either get dismissed quickly or at least get picked to be on the jury of an interesting trial but I got neither. Instead, I sat in the jury selection room reading, studying, napping and wishing that I had brought some food for the entire day until they let us go at 3:30. I get to go back tomorrow and do it all again....hopefully I have better luck then.

We are grateful for our wonderful families (and how they work really hard to still include us in their lives), our amazing neighbors and friends, a place to live, school, the church, and our health. It is crazy to think we have lived here for a year and a half. I'm grateful for the people we have met and for the way that they have changed our lives for the better. I'm grateful for the new ways we grow when we are forced to "step outside of our comfort zones" and yet, it doesn't make it any easier to do so.

Last weekend we had the opportunity to chaperone a church dance, a task that took us back to our youth. As it turns out we did not get to walk the dance floor, prying couples apart or breaking out our killer break-dancing moves. We were happy to get stationed at the coat/bag check (I never had a coat check when I went to dances!), which was pretty much the social hub of the evening.

Anyhoo, when we weren't taking peoples' coats or making wish lists, we decided to compile the top 8 songs that they played at the dance (it was going to be 10, but not enough songs made the cut):

8. YMCA (The Village People)
7. Thriller (Michael Jackson)
6. Hero (Enrique Iglesias)
5. Ice Ice Baby (Vanilla Ice)
4. Bye Bye Bye (N'Sync)
3. Best of Both Worlds (Hannah Montana)
2. Bye Bye Bye (N'Sync...yes they actually played it twice!..I was reminded of Tyler Hedin knowing every step of the music video and his wonderful performances back in high school)

1. Mmm Bop (Hanson....where have they gone?!)

So, we got a great laugh of re-living our church dance days and are extremely grateful that those days are behind us.

The weekend before Halloween, Linzi and I carved pumpkins with the Dodds Friday night, then the Pinkstons, Hilliers and Hawes on Saturday night. We actually got one of those kits with little saws and such to do some high class carving, and I think it shows (especially with the Best In Show displayed above). Before this year it had always been awkward looking jack-o-lanterns made by the biggest knife I could find in my parent's kitchen.


Then there was the actual night of Halloween...we had a great time watching some Halloween episodes of The Office, playing our annual match of Halloween Scrabble (sorry you couldn't be there with us Colleen), then throwing together these awesome costumes before we went over to the Andersons where we were introduced to that classic vampire flick, "The Lost Boys". It was pretty funny to see Keifer Sutherland in his pre-Jack Bauer days.

Good......................... Better ........................... Best
Our favorite radio station (93.7 The Bull) was having a contest the other day asking for people with famous names to call in and win a free lunch. Linzi heard about it on her way to school and called and told me that I should call in and try to win. I decided to give it a shot, and after about 83 tries (and to my great surprise) I ended up on the radio. Too bad it was a country station and the host didn't even know who Chris Brown is ("Is that some new young music artist?" he asked me...lame)...some doofus named Kenny Rogers won.

I just wanted to take a minute to say how happy the current weather makes me. I have been somewhat of a stressed out freak this past month (poor chris has had to put up with me crying over dumb things), but for some reason the weather has snapped me out of it this week. I love fall. I love leaving the gym at night and taking in a deep breath and just thinking, "aaaaahhh". I love the changing leaves and the pumpkin stands. I love being able to study outside on the lawn instead of in the stuffy hot house. I love being able to go on a hour bike ride on Grant's trail with Chris after school and not even breaking a sweat because it feels so perfect outside. I love fall, it is just what the doctor ordered.

You eat something and then go to chart it in the computer
You get your hand peed on by a 7 yr old boy that really had to go
You can eat lunch right after cleaning up throw-up

So we got a wake up call this morning telling us that church was canceled due to the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. I guess there is lots of flooding down by the church and on the roads and it is windy and rainy here. We sat down to a breakfast of pancakes and sausage and watched videos of Texas. My heart goes out to the those that lost their homes and everything and it makes me ever so grateful to be a member of a church that stresses the important of emergency preparedness because you just never know what mother nature has up her sleeve. Chris and I decided that we can catch up on church by watching the day star preachers.....if nothing else it will be entertaining!!!

You know school is back into full swing when:

-you find you and your spouse discussing cranial nerves, what they do, and how to test for them over a lovely lasagna dinner (what could be more romantic right)

-you find yourselves laying in bed together, but instead of kissing or cuddling, you both have notes in your hands and you are discussing Parkinson's disease and how to palpate the bladder

-you have to drive into the med school just so you can see each other for the day (turns out we weren't the only ones with this problem, we saw Kathryn and her cute twins visiting Dave to0!)

So here I find myself, 11:08 pm and still 8 hours to go until I get to go home and go to church (or bed, depending on how my tired cycle runs), luckily tonight I get to keep myself occupied by being a sitter (this means that I sit outside of a patients room and make sure she doesn't run away, apparently she tried to earlier today!) It also means that I will visit every and any blog I can think of and check my email 10 times even though I know no one is awake and emailing me at this hour. The glorious life I lead! I think they know how fast I can run or how good I am at taking people down, thanks to my previous life as a softball catcher. I seriously feel like a stalker. I am sitting right outside her window with this computer and I just have to keep putting my nose up to the glass because it is hard to see into it. Right now she is asleep and there is an empty bed next to hers that I wish I could crawl into....

After getting cleaned up we went out to dinner that night at a place called Dominic's, an extremely fancy Italian restaurant in The Hill. I had tutored a group of girls in the anatomy course over the summer, and as a thank you at the end they gave me a generous gift certificate to this place. We were greeted pretty much like in the picture below. We had about 3 waiters (one of which was specifically there to keep our glasses full), there were chandeliers and statues there too. As we were walking to our table we both just looked at each other and laughed, thinking how incredibly out of our element and social level we were. I really enjoyed it though...it was fun to experience (having them finish cooking and preparing our food next to the table was fun), and likely the last time we go there...we couldn't afford to go on our own. We'll just stick to places where we can read and understand the menu.

So Linzi hasn't been too happy with her hair lately and finally decided that something must be done about it. After countless Google image searches, she found some styles that she liked and took them to one of our friends who does hair. She cut off quite a bit as you can tell, but it looks great. I may be slightly biased, but I think it looks really cute. I'm sure you'll agree. I'm really glad that Linz likes it too, because that was a big step to take, cutting off that much hair!

Not wanting Linzi to have all the haircutting fun, I decided it was time to give myself a new style as well. Somehow, I don't think she likes it as much as I like hers...weird.

I'm sure everyone out there is dying to know about our latest unexpected purchase, so here goes: We got a new washing machine on Tuesday to replace our old one that had started to leave rust on our clothes when we (well, mostly Linzi, let's be honest) were washing them...not something we wanted. Luckily, it did it mostly to our socks or workout clothes, so no real damage done. After the first few loads, we're loving our new GE washer...it's even got pictures so now I have no excuse to not do the laundry. :)

So the day after we returned from Utah, my family came for a visit. Here's what we did:

1. Nauvoo. Chris had never been there and it had been 8 years since my family had been there when Kylee got baptized. The temple was absolutly amazing. I learned that oxen won't move no matter what unless comanded and that me and my sisters and mom all eat chips the same way.

2. Grant's Farm: we fed the goats milk with bottles. Jaxton almost got trampled by several of the hungry little boogers. My dad was mad that he didn't get to try the free Budwiser products at the end.

3. The City Museum. This is a place unlike any other and it is impossible to describe. It is an adult playground/artsy/crazy place that is entirely made out of recycled materials. You crawl through all sorts of slinkies and caves and go on slides.

4. The Science Museum. The dinosaurs were the big hit here, well until they almost made Jaxton cry....

5. The Magic House (I had to miss this one due to school, but I think is was everyone's favorite place)

6. The Zoo. It was super hot out, I splurged on dippin dots, that's the highlight of the trip.

7. Nordstoms. My mom wouldn't have come otherwise!!!!

8. The Arch, fireworks and all.

Jaxton fell in love with Chris and it made me soooo jealous. Chris would do something totally stupid and Jaxton would just laugh and laugh and then I would do it and he would look at me like I was a complete idiot. Joselyn was so sweet and made me a birthday cake and brought it all the way from Utah and kept it hidden in her suitcase. Kylee was mistaken for me several times, apparently 7 years haven't been too rough on me! The week went by way too fast and now our house is very quite again!

The race wasn't our big reason to come back to Utah...just a fortunate bonus because of good timing. My mom planned a trip for our family up to Park City, figuring it would be a lot easier for us to come out to Utah than to fly everyone out to St. Louis...which is probably correct.
It was great to visit. We were able to spend time with family and friends, eat at Wendy's and Keva, play golf and get a pedicure (guess who got which?), shop for new luggage and clothes at the outlets, hang out in Park City for a weekend and play the Wii that my Mom bought my Dad for his birthday. I am rather jealous of anyone that has one of those...I love 'em.