What a Lovely Time!

This vacation really was lovely.

I forgot to mention that on Monday night, Jordan and I went to go talk to a psychiatrist in his parent's ward.  He gave some amazing advice.  I need to write it all down otherwise I'll forget: Network now with people at the hospitals you want to get into (i.e., go visit and say, "I'm an up and coming resident, blah blah can you give me a tour, etc."); Do what you love; Psychiatry isn't a huge/popular field but there's a huge need, especially in Utah; There aren't very many LDS psychiatrists (hello future clients!); there are SO many ways to run your practice (office, hospital, or both.  Few pts, lots of pts.  Teaching.  Giving seminars.); I liked how he runs his office - one office person and him - small overhead and he spends quality time with each patient.  Awesome awesome awesome!!!  It really pumped Jordan and I up.  I truly think he would make a fantastic psychiatrist.  

We spent Wednesday sleeping in and relaxing because everyone in my family was at work or school.  Jordan and I attended the Provo temple for a session, which was much needed.  We were able to attend Critter's viewing that evening.  It was such a heartbreaking experience.  His poor parents have been through so much, it really made my heart ache.  After the viewing, we went to Pizza Pie Cafe.  My brother Jared works there and got us in for free ;)  Ahh, perks are great!  He made us his "special" and then we came home and watched the rest of Avatar.

Thursday we slept in again (love it)!  We got all ready to head down to Moab and waited for everyone to come home from work/school.  We got on the road and as we were heading down Spanish Fork canyon, there was MAJOR traffic.  Turns out, a tanker carrying gas and a box truck carrying tires crashed into each other and were strewn all over the highway.  According to my dad, Highway 6 is the most dangerous road in America!  Scary.  We had to turn around and get to Moab through Scipio, then head east to Green River.  But thankfully we got in at a decent time.

Friday we got up bright and early to head to Fiery Furnace, my FAVORITE hike in Moab.  Seriously.  There is no set trail, and you have to have either been on it before to go in, or you have to have a ranger guide you.  Such a fun hike.  We got lost quite a few times (haha, Mom), but enjoyed the scenery!  After the hike we got Pizza Hut to begin the carb-loading for the race.  Jordan and I went swimming for a bit, then relaxed and waited for Jim and Wendy to get in.  They were smart and got Olive Garden take-out so that we wouldn't have to go to the insanely busy restaurants.  After dinner, Jordan, Jim, and I went to see John Carter at the luxurious "Slickrock Cinema".  The movie doesn't make sense at all, so don't see it.

Saturday (St. Patrick's Day) was the day of the Half Marathon!  Jordan and his parents got up early to walk to the bus pick-up.  I waited around the hotel until Jordan got in.  My mom, brother, and I cheered him on.  Considering how dang windy that day was, he came in strong at 1:38!  Jim came in at 2:16, and Wendy came in at 2:18.  We had to wait for their bag to come in, and then we headed back up to SLC.  Got some delicious steak at Texas Roadhouse, then came back to the house for dessert and to say goodbye to everyone.  We loved seeing all of you!

Sunday, we had some crepes for breakfast courtesy of Jim, and then drove to the airport.  The flight was uneventful and we got into Baltimore early!  We drove home and then went to bed early too.

I've worked Monday, Tuesday, and today.  Still in orientation, and it's going well.  I think I'll be done with orientation by next week.  Jordan started Women's Health and it's not his favorite subject.  I thought he would enjoy it because then he'll know why I'm crazy, haha!  He had the chance to do some physical exams on Monday and passed with flying colors!  

He's a Running Man...

Jordan had an 8K on November 12 and did awesome!  It was absolutely freezing, but despite the cold air, my darling hubby ran an impressive 31.09!  I love watching him run, and figured you would too.  :)  Here are the videos of the beginning and end of his race.

Things we love about Virginia, things we miss about Utah

"Saudades" is a Portuguese word which roughly means to miss something, and that's the word I've been thinking about lately when it comes to Utah. Since I've been off from school I've had more time to think about this. I thought I might write about what I miss about Utah after being away for nearly a year.

I miss:

My family. Though it is nice to not have to go to every family function, I miss my parents, my sisters, and my adorable, rambunctious nephews. I wish could be there at least for every holiday. I wish I could have helped the Evers move into their new house, watch Josie's belly grow from her pregnancy, and play Star Wars with the little boys. Melyn, of course, misses her family a lot too.

Running. I've come to the conclusion that Richmond is a terrible place to run. At least by our house, the streets have no margins and the sidewalks are poor. Plus, running in high humidity is just hard. And there's no running trails nearby. Needless to say, it's been a lot of in-door treadmill running for me lately.

Carls Jr. and In-N-Out burger. My two favorite fast food restaurants, and they are thousands of miles away from Richmond. We have found, however, a really good BBQ place and an amazing Brazilian restaurant, but since they're pretty upscale ($$$$) we won't be going there often.

The mountains. They're beautiful, they make Salt Lake feel nice and secluded, and they are great as landmarks for your way around town (for the directionally impaired). We miss hiking there.

We do love Virginia, however, and here's a few of the things we like about it:

Warmer weather. Here it only snows from December to January, the way it should be. And if it does snow, it's only an inch or two and it melts by the next day. Plus in general we just love the warmer temperatures, even with the humidity.

Green surroundings, no inversion.

Lots of parks close by. Though they aren't suitable for running, they make for a nice stroll every once in a while.

We love the history here, we love how so many major cities are close by.

Lastly, I'm really happy at VCU and I'm glad I have the opportunity to attend school here.

Today is a Good Day

Jordan ran the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K today and did excellent!  It was his first race since last year before we moved.  His goal was under 40 minutes and had 39:23.  Over 40,000 people ran the race, so it was packed!  Jordan said that this is one of his favorite races.  The course was mildly hilly but in a basically straight line.

Lots and lots of people there were wearing VCU's colors.  We're so excited for them tonight, and really hope they win.  Looks like we should have picked our home team to win instead of Ohio :)  Oh well!  I have this weekend off and I'm looking forward to relaxing and listening to conference...and making conference scones and honeybutter!

Conference Scones, Yield: 3-4 dozen

2 cups boiling water
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. shortening
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. salt
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. instant yeast (saf-instant)
5 cups flour, approximately

Mix boiling water, sugar, shortening, butter, and salt well.  Cool to lukewarm.  Stir in eggs and mix well.  In a separate bowl, combine yeast and 2 cups flour, blending thoroughly.  Add to egg mixture and continue adding flour as necessary to make dough easy to handle.  Knead for 5 minutes.  Put in an oiled bowl and cover, refrigerating overnight.  When ready to prepare, roll out to 1/4 inch thickness on a well-floured surface.  Cut in squares.  Let rise until double in size, about 1 1/2 hours.  Cook in hot oil, until both sides are golden brown, drain on paper towels.

Honeybutter, Yield: approximately 2 cups

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 egg yolk
1 cup honey

Whip softened butter.  Add vanilla and egg yolk.  Add honey gradually while whipping.

It's been raining basically every day since last week, but the good news about this rain is that it's made the leaves POP!  Seriously, the trees were one day all brown and the next a beautiful spring green.  There are these purple trees by our house that are so beautiful, as well as dozens of lovely magnolia trees.  Makes me wish I had my own house so I could plant a garden :)  I did plant some basil in a pot on our front porch.  Maybe I'll have a small herb garden.  Yay for spring!

Welcome to the Hendersons!

The week of Jordan's orientation and White Coat Ceremony, Jim and Wendy came out to visit! It was SO great to see them. We had missed them so much! So much happened that week. First thing we did was go to Costco and Sam's Club. Can you say food storage?? It was awesome. We went couch shopping and decided on a black leather 4-seater at Ashley's Furniture, which is about a mile away from us. They were having a Friday the 13th sale, so everything was 13% off, and shipping was only $13.00!!! Compared to a couple hundred! I was very pleased.

I felt so bad on the fateful morning Jim and Wendy decided to go running. They ended going about five miles in the wrong direction because all the streets fan out, and had been running in about 90% humidity for three hours. They tried to find out where they were on the iPhone, but kept going in the wrong direction. It was awful, but Jordan saved them and picked them up near our grocery store. It's so hard to tell what direction you're going because there aren't any mountains, which Utahns generally rely on for direction. Hopefully next time they come, Jordan will be able to run with them so no one gets lost.

We also toured around a bit to see Richmond and the sights. Before Jordan's ceremony, we went to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in downtown Richmond. It was very interesting and informational. I love to study this time period in history. It reminds me of my mom's dad, Buppi, who grew up in Communist East Germany during World War II. Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures inside.

We then walked around the capitol building, which was this gorgeous white building hiding in a park in the middle of downtown Richmond. I believe this statue is of George Washington, but I can't remember. There were dozens of statues.

Inside the capitol building, there is a life-size statue of George Washington. This is the only statue he ever posed for.

Robert E. Lee, inside the capitol building.

Then we walked to another old building (the Justice building I think), which looked like a church on the outside and a castle on the inside!

We saw a few movies with the Hendersons: Dinner for Shmucks (hilarious!!), and Eat, Pray, Love (Inspirational to me :)). We had an amazing time while they were here, and hope the humidity didn't deter them from wanting to visit again! Thanks for all your help!