Orthotics and Spiders!

I am back in Cali and have started my 2nd year of grad school. The week has not been horrible. In fact, today we were suppose to have class till 6:15 and we got out at 3:30. Hallelujah!!! Really all this means is I have more time to catch up on reading so I don't fall behind.

Here is a synopsis of my week thus far:

Monday started the week off with class at 9am till 4pm. Yeah! Nothing crazy to report.

Tuesday (yesterday), we learned how to take molds for orthotics. Here are some pictures of what they look like. Fascinating huh? The cool thing is we get free orthotics, so I can subtract about $250-$400 from my tuition in substitution for the custom orthotics.

It has been 90 degrees here, so Lauren and I decided that we should kill two birds with one stone by reading by the pool. I applied sun screen (I finally learned), got my towel, and reading materials and relaxed  read on a lawn chair. When I turned onto my stomach (prone) to tan my back I noticed gnarly egg sacs with spider legs hanging out by them. Then the spider moved across the lawn chair and I saw an orange hour glass on its abdomen. I instantly sprang up, screamed, and ran upstairs to google what I had just seen...It was a brown widow which are equally as venomous as black widows if not more.

Here is some info if you are curious. I don't want to post a picture because looking at it makes me want to scream.

http://cisr.ucr.edu/brown_widow_spider.html

This is what the egg sacs look like. They are very distinct. Anyways. I spent about an hour having to decompose after sitting on a chair with that thing. But I survived (luckily).

I am excited about this weekend! My mom is coming into town on Friday night. Then on Sunday we are running the Disneyland Half Marathon. We have been talking about doing this race since I started running half marathons in 2005, but logistically it never worked out. Well we finally get to run it. We are going to California Adventures right afterwards (because we get a slight discount to the park), which is another place I have never been. I can't wait!!

Okay, now that I have bored and scared you, off to finishing my reading.

Do you have any scary spider stories?

Exercise, Baby Shower & Fun

Break is coming to an end and I head back to California on Saturday. And even though I am excited to see all of my classmates, I must admit I am not excited to see the school. Okay I am being dramatic. Next semester means I am one more semester closer to being a PT.

After I recovered from Nichole and Trevor's fantastical wedding weekend, I spent the next week sleeping in, going to much needed appointments (like the dentist), and working out. I am running the Disneyland half marathon over labor day and let's just say before break I hadn't run longer than 4 miles. So these three weeks have also been dedicated to me getting in shape for this race.

I decided that the best way for me to do this was to do two-a-days. This way I can build up the miles and my endurance without putting quite as much stress on my body. I would run in the morning and do yoga in the afternoon. Or I would bike in the morning and run in the afternoon. My most painful experience was going to personal training with my dad and then running right afterwards. I did manage to run 10.11 miles with my mom and it surprisingly felt great.

Okay so here is the meat and potatoes of my last two weeks...

Thursday, Shelly and I headed to University Village in Seattle with our bicycles and biked a round trip of 35 miles to Woodinville. In Woodinville we part took in drinking beer at Redhook and tasting wines at J Bookwalter tasting room and Columbia winery. For some reason the ride back was much easier than the ride there :)

Beer samples at Redhook

Shelly and I at Columbia winery

Saturday morning was the day I ran 10 miles with my mom. We ran on Mercer Island which is extremely hilly. I am hoping that running hills will make the race through Anaheim and Disneyland seem easy since the race is completely flat.

After running, I quickly showered and headed to Chelsea's Baby Shower.

The momma with friends

We played games. One of the games we played was guessing the circumference of Chelsea's belly. Rebecca was the winner. Although I think she had an unfair advantage because she just had her OB/GYN rotation ;)

The girls who came the closes to guessing Chelsea's belly circumference

Awesome wrapping

The loot

The shower was really fun and I am so excited to meet the little man in about a month.

Sunday was filled with wedding dress shopping and a BBQ. My mom, sister (MOH), and Rebecca (bridesmaid) went with me to look at dresses. I may have found the one, but that is all I am saying :)

We headed back to my parent's house after dress shopping to prepare for our BBQ. The weather was just right and the food was delicious.

With my last few days of freedom I am trying to see as many friends as possible, sleep in, and finish the book I started reading before school starts. So hit me up if I haven't seen you.

R & R

I have had a glorious 2 weeks of rest and relaxation after my 1st year of PT school. As stated before, my vacation started in Sonoma drinking delicious wine with wonderful friends. The next two weeks after that have been equally as amazing.

The first week was spent catching up on sleep and exercising. Then on Thursday Aug 9th, I packed up my car and drove (all by myself) to Spokane for Nichole and Trevor's wedding weekend. The drive went smoothly for the first 2 hours. I sang disney, enjoyed the beautiful scenery, and was making really good time until I hit the city of George in the Gorge. This is where I got pulled over and received a speeding ticket. Here is the sad thing, I have gotten a speeding ticket at that exact same spot before. I guess I don't learn from my mistakes :)

I called my sister and Chris crying, but then shook it off. I was not going to let anything ruining my weekend. I made it to Spokane just in time to check in to my wonderful hotel, the Davenport, change and head up to Beacon Hill where the rehearsal was taking place.

After the rehearsal we headed to dinner. Since Chris couldn't take Thursday off of work (he was flying in later), another bridesmaid, Laura (who's husband was also coming in later) became my date for dinner. The food and company was great.

The beautiful bride and the handsome groom

The next day was filled with getting our nails did and a fun BBQ for all the guests.

Ladies getting their nails did

The beautiful bionic bride

Nichole and I at the BBQ

Laura (AKA my rehearsal dinner date) and I pretending to ride bikes

Chelsea (about 8 months pregnant) and I at the BBQ

Ballin' Nichole and Trevor's personal wine labels

The next morning was the big day. I met Nichole and the bridal party at Urbana Salon where we got our hair and makeup done. Everyone looked amazing.

Now all that was left to do was wait for the big moment!

There was Champagne waiting for us at the bridal suite

 Beacon Hill was coming together nicely for the ceremony and reception

 Nichole's beautiful dress

 The bridesmaid dresses

 Popping bottles

Nichole getting her Makeup done

 Cheers to Nichole and Trevor!!!

The floral arrangement

The outfit is complete

The ceremony was beautiful. The temperature was perfect, one of the groomsmen played the guitar and sang a song, and the readings were perfect for Nichole and Trevor.

Next up...the reception. I think pictures do a better job of telling how much fun we all had.

Lance and Kristen enjoying dinner

Maggie and Dan

Karl and Vicki sharing cake

Comparing food baby bump to actual baby bump

Teach me how to duggie 

Lance, How low can you go? He is the king at limbo 

The ladies of Kappa

Woodruff Sisters!

I don't know what is going on here, but it looks fun

Some people can't hang :)

The night was amazing. I think the party ended at midnight, but who knows what time it really was. I was sad when I woke up on Sunday and had to go home. At least I had a car buddy with me on the way back and I am happy to report that I did not get another speeding ticket.