Grandpa's Birthday

Ross and I found ourselves in Palmdale this weekend, which worked out well, because we were also having a party for my Grandpa who is turning 80! To me, my grandpa is still a young grandpa but 80 makes me realize that he definitely getting up there in age.

It was a fun and relaxed celebration and my grandma brought out a few memory books with pictures and stories from when my grandpa was younger. I have always been close with my grandparents. Growing up so close to them we would visit often. When I was living in California before moving to Grenada I often found myself at their home, just hanging out and talking.

My grandparents are incredible people. Everything they have been through and the family legacy they have built. Many of the pictures I had seen before, but never had I realized how much my mom resembles him. I think the middle picture above and this picture of my mom look so much alike.

My grandpa had a pretty interesting life growing up. He moved all around, including some of the most desolate places in Nevada, and the rough and tumble part of Ogden (keep in mind this was back in the 40s and 50s).

I love to hear his stories of going to the movies with his brother on the bus and watching cartoons and serials. It is fun to imagine what a different world it was back then. I also got to learn more about my grandpa's brother Lyle, who was killed in a car accident when he was only 25 years old. 

My grandpa got a little emotional thinking of family and everything that is dear to him. One of my favorite parts of the night was when he was talking about my grandma. 

Grandpa: If it wasn't for Colleen, I don't know if i'd be here.

Grandma: Damn right you wouldn't be!

And after awhile my grandpa said, "Who you're with makes all the difference."

I love that because whether you are in a relationship or not, the people you surround yourself with makes a huge difference in who you are and what you can become!

Looking through the albums I saw pictures of my grandparents' young family- pictures of my mom! So cute. 

I think of how tough it would've been to raise a family and go through all that they did, the challenges and struggles. I think of how strong they were to persevere and love each other diligently no matter how tough things got. I hope I can be at least a quarter of the person my grandpa is. His love and generosity, but mostly his humor and kindness. Growing up I was sometimes I pill. Grandpa would always be the one to take me aside when everyone was exhausted- and unconditionally love me and tell me to be better. I would always follow him around and help with his projects and he would help me with mine. Even now, I find myself interest in what he's up to and how I can help. 

It's hard to put into words how much I admire and love my grandpa! It was so much fun to celebrate his life and accomplishments. Not monetary or career-wise, and not even in the Church, but in family. I'll simply end with something my grandpa told us during his party.

"Everything is a blessing to me. It's a real blessing to have a family like we have. I'm just real grateful." 

Med Students (Still) Ruin Everything

I posted before about how wonderful it has been to have Ross around during this "easy" rotation. Well, just as all good things come to an end, so does this six-week rotation. And the closer it gets to the end of the rotation, the closer it gets to Shelf Exam time. And the Step 2 in general.

Ross and I decided to go to my parents this weekend, mostly because I had a dentist appointment, also just to hang out. Sometimes it is nice to just get away. But when you are a med student. you are never alone.

I open our suitcase to find this baby front and center.

Never leave home without it!

Almost Normal

Despite small frustrations at my job, I have found myself pretty content lately. For about two weeks straight I was able to have a meal plan and actually make dinner. My grocery list was in order, and the house was pretty clean. And I had some pretty decent leftovers that were ready to go for my lunch the next day (pretty much the only thing I ask for in life anymore). One time he even came and picked me up to take me out for lunch.

I can come home from work and relax, watch some TV with this cool guy who I keep finding hanging around my house, then go to bed at a regular and happily early time.

What. Is. Going. On.

Ross is in his OB/GYN rotation. And it has been absolute heaven. Many days we leave the house together, and then come home at the same time. You know, like an 8-5 job. Once or twice a week he will have a Labor and Delivery shift or a night shift, which are early and long. But for the most part he is in at 8am and out before 5pm. Oh, and he mostly has the weekends off too.

We even headed down to my parents this weekend. Having a birthday party for my 80 year old grandpa.

Noming during the Super Bowl.

And working on some projects.

Finished product for our Lego minifigures:

I never thought normal could be so happy. But I love it. In a make-believe world neither of us would work or be in school, and hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt would disappear, and we could ride our unicorns into the sunset to travel the world.

But for now I will take normal.

January.

Compared to the fun adventures of the holiday season, January has been uneventful and utterly lame.

Nevertheless, here's what I got.

One night I was feeling a little crazy, so I cut off a chunk of my hair. I have been going back and forth as to whether or not I want bangs. Obviously that was a natural response. Luckily a friend of a friend is a hairdresser and was able to fix them up for me. I think I like them. It's been awhile.

You know the phrase, "Go home you're drunk?" -pretty much every day of a med student's life. I went to grab a cup one night, and in Ross's sleepy but helpful stupor, he put the juice in the cupboard. 

I have had the opportunity to play around some more with my Christmas presents, which included an off-set spatula and a cake leveler. I created this beauty. 

Also, pretty proud of this perfect quiche I made too!



But don't worry, I don't just sit at home and cook and bake all day. Sometimes I go to Estate Sales. Well, just once (so far) for the experience. And it's a weird experience.



The feeling of walking around some dead person's house and staring at all their stuff with price tags. I don't know who turned "Dead person's stuff for sale" into "Estate Sale" but that is some good marketing.

And now for some random scenery pics.

Or not so scenic- my walk from the bus stop. 

But still, could be scenic at a different time of day. Like if I am done with work, not about to begin it. 

That's pretty much January.

Give Me Chili (then) Give Me Death!

When you have limited funds you definitely find out where your priorities are. Ross and I set out on our date to get a bite to eat and we ended up at The Hat.

The Hat is an amazing place to eat. I don't even like pastrami sandwiches, and I love their pastrami sandwich. But, because funds were limited, we decided to just get chili cheese fries.

Chili cheese fries at The Hat are an experience. A Southern California cultural experience. I still remember my first time.



The chili cheese fries are one of the finest example of delicious, delicious American gluttony. For something so artery-clogging, it really is a delicate thing of beauty. The way it is masterfully layered so you always have the right proportion (or waaay more) of chili and cheese and fry.

We took a moment to appreciate the fact that our date night entailed sharing an order of chili cheese fries (which, we couldn't even finish). Afterwards we walked around Victoria Gardens and got some cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory.



Chili and cheesecake. Love at first sight!

Dr. Strange Records

Ross has mostly had weekends off! Which means we have some nice time together to go check out some new places in the Inland Empire. It seems that the theme for this weekend was: Collectibles.

We started off at this cool record store. Yes, we have an obsession read about other record stores here and here. It is called Dr. Strange Records (yes, the recording label), and received runner-up to best record store in the Inland Empire.



This store has a lot more personality. Here is a snippet from their website.

"Let me start off by saying what we are NOT. We are not a "company" or "corporation" making money off punk rock. I've been into punk since 1980 and it is truly a way of life for me. It is who I am and what I will be until I die. I started Dr. Strange Records in 1988 in an effort for like minded people to get rare punk records for FAIR prices. My "hobby" has not only turned into the biggest mail-order for punk in all the world, but also a record label (in 1989) and a store in California (opened in 1997)."

Pretty cool. They have patches, custom stickers, clothing, posters, and even their very own cat Jinx. 

It is pretty awesome to walk in an independent record store and know the owner is right there and they can do whatever the heck they want. 

Especially in a punk store where that is pretty much their mantra. Even though I'm not huge into the punk scene it was still an amazing store. They even had some ska and punk rock I recognized too. 

After that we checked out some comic and collectible shops in the area. 

A fancy way of saying, we found some really cool stuff that maybe someday we can afford and have room for. 

My favorite were a pair of custom painted GOTG vans. 

The second store we went to was more of a collectibles store, and smelled about right for that too. They had probably over a hundred boxes with thousands of comics for a dollar, plus some rare comics. Still, a fun way to kill a Saturday.

Back to the Grind

I was laying on the couch tonight just thinking about how fast the holidays went. I was staring at the lights on the Christmas tree thinking of how much I never want to take it down. How every night I just want to fall asleep in the glow of the Christmas tree.

The holidays are officially over and I can't figure out if things have calmed down or just gotten busy. The other day at work someone said I must not have dreaded coming back to work since I'm so new. That made me laugh a little. I am super grateful to be able to come back to a job after a wonderful and restful break. But things get busy pretty fast around these parts.

Rewind to Sunday night. My parents came by that night to pick up my brother and have some dinner. When they left I just felt empty. The doom of work starting again and lazy days dissipating. I felt like this tree outside my window. Holding onto the last bits of the season. And although the tree is holding onto fall and I'm holding onto the Christmas season, I guess we are both just hanging in there. 

Just Bus Stuff

This morning (note: not a resolution for 2015) I tried to be grateful. I'm only a little embarrassed to say I'm not particularly good at being grateful these past couple (read: medical school) years. But this morning I was grateful, and not because a miracle blessing happened, but the opposite. 

I didn't get on the bus today. It was my planned mode of transportation to work but didn't happen. I wasn't late for the bus and I don't even know if the bus never came. 

I was on time to the bus stop, and I waited twenty minutes which, in case you are wondering feels like a small eternity when your hair is damp and you are heavy-jacket-less.  I waited as I slowly got hypothermia and debated when was an appropriate time to give up and start the goggle maps deemed 53 minute walk (soon to be 40 minute speed walk/ interval jog) to work. 

I didn't complain about the fact that I had three bags to carry (one of course being a classy plastic grocery bag). Why? Because one of those extra bags had my workout clothes and a pair of running shoes! I was grateful I had my comfy shoes with me so I wouldn't have to add time by going back to the apartment. 

I didn't complain about the walk. It was stressful and left my heart racing, but I was grateful I made it. I am grateful that I have a job to go to everyday. I am grateful I have two, albeit stumpy, legs that I can use to get me there. 

I was a sight to see- business casual with running shoes, hauling plastic bags, speed walking like a mad woman. But I was grateful I had nice clothes to work in. Walking through a semi-trashy part of town will give you that perspective. Also, I'm grateful my home doesn't have cheap astro-turf with dog turds all over it.

But seriously. 

The thing I found myself most grateful for, was perhaps the most peculiar of all... I was grateful I had a car. Because even though the lack of car was what got me in this situation in the first place, Ross gets to drive our car (paid for by the job I walk to, interestingly enough) to school.

It made me laugh to see everyone, toasty in their cars, scowl as they drove around. It made me think of how easy it is to get comfortable with what we have. A car that gets you there in 7 minutes? Or a walk that takes close to an hour? I have so much to be grateful for. 

Palm Springs & Kyle Visit

As the Widdis slowly dwindle down, I can't help but think of the children's song, "Three little monkeys jumping on the bed..."

Except we don't fall off and break our heads, we jump on planes and head back to reality. Which, you could argue, but be the same or worse than falling off the bed and breaking your head.

Kyle is the last Widdi standing and as a result, I kidnapped him and made him come hang out with me for a few days.

I was trying to think of a fun excursion for us to go on, and I thought destination: Palm Springs might be interesting. So off we went.



We had about zero expectations and about the same about of preparation. We decided it would be better that way because if it was a bust, no one would be to blame. I was surprised at what a short drive it was, the landscape was pretty different even from the Palmdale that we are used to.

First we found ourselves at a Farmer's Market that was less farmer and more old-people-stuff. But we had some delicious tacos and fry bread so it didn't much matter what else was being sold.

Then we walked around the main street and wandered into all the stores.



Palm Springs has their own walk of fame stars like Hollywood, so we looked at some of those.

Then we found our way into a cultural museum that described the history of Palm Springs and land battles.

There was also a General Store Museum.



Never actually a store, but just some dude's collection of old stuff, I mean antiques. Many of the items were unopened. I guess that's pretty cool. It was a 90 cents admission or something and some people were looking at everything for a long time.

Funny pano of the "museum."

There were some cool stuff but I guess I'm not old enough to get all nostalgic about the hundreds of thousands of items there. 

We can't afford to go to the film festival or buy anything so I guess that's why we walked around a bunch of museums. 

It was interesting though, to imagine what a hoppin' place it was back in the 50s with all the Hollywood hoopla. And because of the famed Hollywood hoopla we had to pay homage and go past Elvis's Honeymoon Hideaway. 

The Hideaway is just in the middle of a residential neighborhood. What if you were just a semi-normal millionaire, living next to one of Elvis's houses? Pretty cool I guess.

We had fun wandering around and checking things out. For a while we were the only ones on the street under the age of 70 but later in the day all the youngins started coming out.

When the sun started to go down it got a little chilly so we decided to head home. The next day I got to use one of the Christmas presents I got from my Uncle. 

Cute little snowman muffins! There was so much batter leftover that I ended up using some in a Christmas tin I have. 

It was a fun lazy Sunday apart from the fact that Kyle and Ross seem to be pretty sick, and Ross and I have the doom of work and school starting tomorrow.