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Sunday, December 15, 2013

Last June

June 2013 was a bit of a crazy month for me.  It was a time I had both dreaded, as well as looked forward to in some ways.  On one hand I was excited to finish up my residency, and although I loved my job, there were a few things that if I were permanent, would need to be changed.  Not to mention the idea of moving to that next stage of life beyond school.  However, how could one not be sad to leave Hawaii?  Therefore I attempted to finish up any last minute bucket list items before saying aloha oe at the beginning of July.

We had some kind of Hawaiian holiday in which I, and two of my good friends had the day off.  Somehow the idea came together that we needed to make the drive around to Hana on our lovely day off!  June 11 the three of us loaded up in my friend Sheila's jeep and just started driving.  This was probably one of the most relaxing, fun days, and I was so glad Sheila and Jami planned this activity!  Also, because all three of us were Mainland transplants to the islands, we made several touristy stops that our local friends probably wouldn't have suggested.  We visited the Garden of Eden and walked all around the gardens, and the trees, and the lovely waterfalls.  We also attempted to make friends with a couple of peacocks…
This guy was attempting to hold us hostage...
Colorful plants, and glorious ocean overlook.  Definitely how I picture the Garden of Eden!
Sheila and I.

Our trip included a stop to indulge in delicious, fresh-from the oven banana bread, a hike and swim to Venus pools, and a couple of other side tracks admiring the view from Hana Highway.
By a waterfall that was literally next to the road.  And this is typical!
Venus pool

The view from the back side of the island.  Still gorgeous, but dry and barren compared to other parts of the island!
We wrapped up the day with dinner at Da Kitchen, and this tasty dessert!
A very good holiday in paradise!

June 15th was our residency's graduation dinner ceremony thing in Honolulu.  My clinic offered to fly me over to O'ahu, and put me up in a hotel for the night so I could attend.  It was a bit of an adventure since Honolulu is actually a pretty big city (especially by island standards), and I didn't rent a car.  Instead my director Dr. Pijpaert arranged for a shuttle to take us from the airport to our hotel which actually turned out to be very nice!  I got my own room for the night, and the hotel was attached to a huge mall that I spent a couple of hours at.  I'm afraid I went on a bit of a shopping spree since Maui's shopping is… limited, and there were all kinds of fun stores that I hadn't seen in a very long time!  The dinner was inherently dull, but was actually very nice to get together and thank some of the people that had been helping us out all year.
View of Maui from the airplane window.
Dr. Pijpaert, me, Sandy, Heather, and Sophia.  The other lady was the director from the other Maui clinic.
The four Maui residents!
I had a fun night relaxing in my hotel that night, then it was back to Maui the next morning!

Monday, December 9, 2013

Wintry Christmas fun

I'm still working to post stuff from last June, but I feel the urge to blog about stuff right now before I forget all of it!  Don't mind if things are completely out of order!

This past week has been rough for me.  Almost immediately after returning to West Jordan on Monday from a lovely long Thanksgiving weekend it started snowing.  "Snow" in my vocabulary is equated to "nasty white crap," but it was a bit exciting because it actually started feeling like Christmas for me!  Well anyway, snow + rear wheel drive + Salt Lake traffic + apartment complex not plowing parking lot = not fun.

Oh yes, and I haven't driven in snow for nearly two years.  Yes yes, I'm a poor girl who got to live in Hawai'i for a year, but seriously, I forgot how to do it!  Today I drove to church and totally spun out and ran into the curb with some guy from the ward behind me watching the whole time.  I actually thought that bit was hilarious, and was totally chuckling to myself the whole time walking up to the church building (amidst my mutterings of "winter sucks," and "I hate winter").  I've decided the whole root of my not liking snow is because of how it affects my driving, and all of the butterfly effects of that.  Here is a flow chart for you!

Snow --> worse traffic --> drive slower --> need to leave earlier for work --> less sleep --> earlier bedtime

Ugh, you get the picture.  Other than that, I don't really care that much.  I mean, I can deal with the occasional wet foot, or shoveling the sidewalk.  Besides, I forgot how much I enjoy kicking off the collection of road debris and icicles that collect under your car when the road is slushy!  (I'm being totally serious.  Is that weird?)  So I'm ashamed, because I actually had my Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving this year!  I can only justify this because I was down in Cedar City for five days, and also I was bored the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

My mom got me started on the Utah Utes theme by sending me all kinds of fun ornaments when I was out in Omaha, and I've continued the tradition with some additional fun items.  I have to admit, it's been really nice to experience the change in season and the colder weather.  I feel like if Hawai'i was a permanent thing for me, I would get very confused, and the seasons would just completely blend together.  Not to mention I have rekindled my love for hot chocolate and sleeping under a pile of blankets!  Besides, what better excuse is there to spend your weekend staying at home, in your pajamas, curled up watching movies or reading a book in front of a heat dish?