Pie eating contest

I said I would put the pictures of our pie eating contest so here you go! This is half of the table that was getting ready to smash our faces into so whipped cream topped pudding pies with graham cracker crusts. We had to finish it all! I though my competition would be the 18 yr old boy sitting next to me ( I am the one with facial hair) but little did I know...

I started off strong and sucked that pudding right up! I love eating, and it kind of comes natural to me.
Soon I realized a couple things. First, eating dinner had filled my stomach more than I thought. Second, graham cracker crusts are terribly touch to eat without milk or water. And third, I really didn't want to finish my pie! Here I am trying to compose myself while my true competition is still going strong. She is the one with black and white animal skin type shirt on standing up bending over. See last picture for ID
And so here I am standing next to the girl that beat me in a pie eating contest. Good job Natalya! It was a way fun night!

My Life here in Wisconsin

Are you prepared! Here comes a post. I am living in Milwaukee Wisconsin in the little suburb of wauwatosa (tosa for short). City names here are really neat. They come from the native americans that used to live around these parts that have since been put on random reservations, one of which sits right down town and is a huge casino called patawonoma or something like that. There are other names like waukesha, shaboigan, and menonemia. Another interesting thing about living here is understanding that the counties are always the same name as the city. For example, I live in milwaukee county but not really milwaukee city. But my mailing address works fine as milwaukee city. Seperating them is quite difficult really. All in all I quite love living out here.
In this post I am going to talk about the many fun adventures I've had since coming out here. I'm not all that good at organizing my posts, so if you find it a little hard to follow I apologize.

I will start things off with what I do most.

Here I am in a "nerd" room at the medical college. This was a picture my friend took of me right before our block 1 tests. I had just laid down for a pre-test nap. So sleeping isn't what I do most with my time, its studying for tests! And more than just having the motivation of looming tests, I often find myself feeling an urgency to be ready when it comes to being tested by real patients really needing my help. There is so much to learn I just hope I can hang on to enough of it to do some good.
Our school schedule is pretty nice actually. The first semester has been divided up into four blocks. The first, third, and fourth block consist of three plus weeks of material followed by a week of tests in all classes. Block two was 4 plus weeks of material followed by a week of tests. Other medical schools follow this same block style while others use a manner similar to my undergraduate experience where you have your tests from each class spread out over the semester, basically giving you at least a test a week. I quite enjoy this block style of learning. Having a "finals week" type of feeling means that after tests have finished you have a fresh start with the new material in all your classes. It also means that I get a much needed free weekend where I don't feel guilty at all for not picking up a book. I also enjoy not having lectures for a week. This allows me to really focus on the material being tested.
Currently we are in our fourth and final block of the semester. Only two weeks left of classes and then a finals week of tests. After that I will be an eighth of a doctor....I know, not all that impressive. The classes we have been taking this semester are gross anatomy, biochemistry, human development, fundamentals of human behavior, genetics, and a clinical continuum course that includes patient centered care theory, medical interviewing, and evidence based medicine. I have enjoyed classes so far. My favorite classes are the ones that involve direct clinial correlations being described.
Beyond just going to class (or not going to class and listening to everything online) and taking tests, we are encouraged to be active in clubs and interest groups. I have helped with a global health fair, phonathon, tricker treating for can foods, go to institute every wednesday at noon, become certified to do eye screenings, attend meetings for interest groups of different specialties, and I sing with the acapella group once a week preparing for this next week where we are going to go carroling to parts of the hospital, sing at a memorial service for our body donors, sing at a variety fair, and somewhere else. I also will be playing with kids who have sickle cell anemia coming in for blood infusions once a week, volunteering each saturday morning at a free clinic for the uninsured, lobbying for a day in washington DC, and who knows what else. On top of that, just today I started what we call our mentor program. We are assigned a doctor to kind of shadow six different times during this year. We are to observe and learn, then put into practice what we have learned about taking histories, performing basic physical exams, and find application for everything else we learn. I have been paired with a physiatrist. The specialty is called physical medicine and rehabilitation. I have been interested in this specialty for a while now and look forward to getting some good exposure to it early on. Happy day oh happy day! - I didn't pass out while watching the doctor give a cortisone injection. I guess there IS hope for me, and I have come a long ways since kindergarten. It was an eye opening experience today.

So enough about school, though I really could go on and on, and probably do a seperate post on every aspect, but I really don't think anyone wants to really know that much or else they too would be here in medical school where that takes up 95% of available neurons.

What else do I do here in Wisconsin? The other part of my life involves the church. We are so blessed to have an awesome singles ward of over 100 ysa. Our bishoprick is absolutely wonderful! They work so hard and dedicate so much time to helping us progress. I have been blessed with quality friends out here that I have yet to really feel homesick. Of course I miss family and friends, but there is little time for those to permeate my mind when I have so many to think about out here. I have once again been called to the activities committee as the co-chair. This is perfect because it requires me to leave my books and head out for a good time with great people. I will put a picture of our most recent activity - a dinner/games, fireside, and dance- where I got beat by a girl in a pie eating contest! I came in a close second, but there was no question she beat me. We do quite a lot as a ward- FHE each monday and usually a weekend activity of some sort. Once a month a get down to the chicago temple with the ward to do baptisms for the dead. This last time I went early and was able to do sealings, a session, and initiatories! It was awesome! Lately I have been singing a lot with groups in the ward- for the funeral of our bishop's dad, ward choir, and a missionary choir singing this sunday downtown. I always envied those with tenor ranges... well out here I have become a tenor. It's not that my voice has changed, we just need tenors so I give it my best shot. It has been so fun! Everyone in our ward is so great. The other med students and resididents are so kind and helpful. Missionary work abounds. I absolutely love it!

Just for fun: Well there is a little time for having fun. Like I said I get one weekend every month about. What have I done? The art galleries here in milwaukee are fantastic! Downtown there are tons of theatre so a friend and I went and saw "Isn't it Romantic" a compilation of love songs that made reminded me of my Papa. Twice I have made the trip to chicago to see "wicked" the musical, one with Sean, my brother, and the other with a date! I saw myself in my first big screen motion picture where I appeared in highschool musical as an extra. I saw the milwaukee orchestra on a super fun date where we played farkle at IHOP afterwards. I play tennis with my roomate. I just finished our intramural season of flag football. That kind of gives a run down of the highlights of living out here.

Well that is an inside scoop to my life here in medical school. There is still much to blog about, but I know many of your have stopped reading long ago. The main point of this post is to share that I truly love living out here in Wisconsin and I know Heavenly Father knows who I am!

Support Prop 8

I don't live in California but thought this is important for everyone to know about and do what you can to inform others. This comes from my cousin in law who lives in california. Hope you take the time to read it.

Thanks for the info, April!!
"You don’t think Proposition 8 will affect you? Here are six ways LDS and non-LDS Christians will be effected if Proposition 8 does not pass:

1. Children in public schools will be taught that both traditional marriage and same-sex marriage are okay.
The California Education Code already requires that health education classes instruct children about marriage. (§51890)
Therefore, if the definition of marriage is changed, children will be taught that marriage is a relationship between any two adults. This will be very confusing for our children.

2. Churches will be sued if they refuse to allow same-sex marriage ceremonies in their religious buildings that are open to the public.
The civil rights activists could fight to keep our church from doing temple marriages since same-sex couples could not be married in our temple or in our churches.

3. Religious adoption agencies will be challenged by government agencies to give up their long-held right to place children only in homes with both a mother and a father.
Children deserve to be in a home with a mother and a father. Catholic Charities in Boston have already closed its doors because of the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

4. Religions that sponsor private schools and provide housing for married students will be required to provide housing for same-sex couples, even if it runs counter to church doctrine, or the church will lose tax exemptions and benefits.

5. Ministers who preach against same-sex marriages will be sued for hate speech and could be fined by the government. It has already happened in Canada, one of six countries that have legalized gay marriage.
Bishops, stake presidents, and other clergy of other faiths would be liable for hate speech if they taught their congregation that same-sex marriage or same-sex relations are sinful. This is taking away our freedom of religion!

6. It will cost you money. A change in the definition of marriage will bring a cascade of lawsuits. Even if courts eventually find in favor of a defender of traditional marriage (highly improbable given today’s activist judges), think of the money – your money, your church contributions – that will have to be spent on legal fees.

As you can see, our rights will be drastically effected by this election. If same sex marriage is
legalized in California I worry that the new definition of marriage will spread like wildfire and our children will reap the consequences. We should have the right to worship as we please—this is why our ancestors came to America in the first place.

But what about equal rights you say? The Gays and Lesbians of California will not lose any rights or benefits for their families if this proposition passes. However, if it does not pass, we (Latter-Day-Saints) could lose everything, including the right to preform temple marriages or civil marriages in our churches. Civil activists could fight to take away the right to marry if we do not open it up equally for all marriage arrangements. No on prop 8 could also take away the right of LDS adoption agencies to place children with LDS mothers and fathers only. Children deserve to be in a home with a mother and a father. We owe it to those children and our own!

If you are a christian or an LDS Californian, you’ve been called to action. Here is how you can help:

First: Get to work by registering to vote at your most recent address—or absentee. October 20th is your deadline. This is a good start. Though your vote is very important, it’s not enough. President Monson asked us members to “… do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time to assure that marriage in California is legally defined as being between a man and a woman. Our best efforts are required to preserve the sacred institution of marriage.”

Second: Last night the leaders of our church asked you and I to post on our blog our opinion on prop 8—this could be done even if you don’t live in California. Many people who look at your blog may live in California. We need your help too! If anything, please put the consequences of same sex marriage (above) on your blog or if you don’t have a blog please send an email to friends and family or a letter to your newspaper. Do what you can. There is a great link in which Elder Ballard gave to us last night that will help you in your efforts. There is a lot of great material that you can read and or view. The link is http://www.preservingmarriage.org/"

I hope that we all can see the damage this may cause to our beliefs and lifestyles. Please post your opinion on your blog as well. Thanks!!

MCW Here I am!

Well I have lots I could blog about as of late. My life has been one change after another. I went from graduating from USU which you saw earlier (I don't know who I am talking to really besides myself because I think everyone stopped reading my blog when they checked every day for three months and didn't find any updates, oh well, I guess its for my sanity), then I spent the summer working with my awesome new brother-in-law Sam Thacker doing landscaping. Jami definitely picked a good one, and it was a fantastic working summer. During the summer I traveled to Jackson Hole with friends and communed with the Tetons one last time before I left, we traveled to Zions and did our "guys" trip, even getting to walk through nipple deep water, repel down slot canyons, and poop in a bag and carry it out! Shortly after I took a trip to Panama which deserves its own separate post, and immediately I packed up and my Dad and I drove out here to Milwaukee Wisconsin. Now I officially start school tomorrow! They say as of Friday, when we held our White Coat ceremony, we became apart of officially, even at the lowest rung, the professional world of Health Care. Well I will update you on all this another day cause my battery is about to die and I am sitting in my car sharing the internet with summer who so kindly left theirs unsecured( the techs couldn't install until aug 26th) Well here is a picture of me and my roommate at our ceremony. Love you all lots and if you actually read this, leave a comment.

Graduation and moving on

May 4th I graduated from the Utah State University! I know my sister has already posted this on her blog, but I thought I would make a mention of it here.
It was a great day. I of course forgot my camera, but got a few pics from some friends. One of the funniest things about the day was how my roommate Bryce Jensen and I showed up for the commencement. Rather than drive a car the couple of blocks from our house we decided bikes would be the way to go. Oh ya, we only had one bike that functioned properly. So the two of us hopped on his bike and rode on the main street to campus. We were dressed up for graduation and waved to all the laughing people in there cars on the way. We rode right through the crowd on the quad, parked, and joined the procession. It was great! Thanks to Bryce for being such a great roommate for the past 2 1/2 years!
We all walked to the commencement, heard some good speeches, and then were let go. My family came up and we went out to the Indian Oven in Logan. Anyone who likes Indian food would love to go to this store! It is a must eat! I loved the food and the fact the my family ( and my grandma) would take so much time to make me feel special. I love them so much!
We then went to my graduation! I graduated with a Liberal Arts and Sciences degree so that put me in the college of HASS. That is one of the biggest at the university. Anyone who has attended a graduation knows that the more people there are the longer you have to stay, watching people walk across the stage, most of whom you don't know. Well we needed to get home for The Savior Of The World production my mom and sisters were in. I decided to appease my family and leave early. I was one of the first to walk across the stage and then walked right up the stairs and out of the building. My little nieces and nephew really enjoyed that!
Now that I am done with USU I look back with fond memories. It was a great time! I would have to do a huge post that no one would want to read to ever do it justice. Now I am on to Medical school at Medical College of Wisconsin. It will be an adventure! I leave around August 7th and will be living with Rich Beutler who is also from Layton. I will have to post more about this later. Good bye!

Since January

Before




I guess its time that I finally post again. (Thanks everyone for all the reminders:)) I apologize to everyone who has come to my blog hoping to find a new post and finding nothing. I would say that I have been too busy but that would be a lie. I just haven't made posting a priority like I could have. I have suggested to all to subscribe to my blog through google reader so that you can be notified when I do post. So here you go, another post after such a long time!

Well for this post I will tell something that many people already know, but many might not. When I got back from my mission three years ago (ya its hard for me to believe its been that long as well), a couple things happened. I started working manual labor causing me to be very hungry. I stopped walking around and sweating all day, and I started eating excessively. Because of these things I went from 165 lbs up to 195ish pounds, topping out at around 197 or so. Often times I would see people and they would ask if I had been working out because I was looking "big" or a little more filled out. I had to respond with the truth, that I had just been eating. I would eat until there was nothing left on my plate. I would eat beyond the point of being satisfied. I would eat much more than my fair share while there are many in the world who have nothing. So for two or so years I kept up my "good" eating habits, exercising occasionally, and remained just below two hundred pounds. I remember that I may have topped two hundred at one put which put me in the cleidsdale (spelling) classification for a marathon. Many times I talked that I wanted to lose weight and get back down to a healthy weight (my BMI - body mass index- says I can be anywhere from 135- 175 lbs, I think the 170s are good for me).
So on New Years I set one of those infamous resolutions. I wanted to lose 23 pounds by my birthday April 23rd. That would require losing about 1.5 lbs or so a week. I had my goal, it was broken down into smaller achievable increments, I thought I was set. After the first week of not losing weight I remembered that I needed a method of how to do it. I also thought that it would be good to include others. I asked my brother in law Trent to join with the goal of losing 5 lbs in five weeks. He joined in. After the first five weeks I had lost 9 lbs! I was very happy! I was weighing myself every time I got the chance, which was every morning on a unreliable scale. The true tests would come when I visited home on the official scale. We reset the goal and after each five weeks I had lost at least five pounds! On April 23rd I rode my bike to the HYPER building at Utah State and hopped up on the scale. My starting weight had been 197 lbs. I set the balances and there I was, a whopping 174lbs! I had done it! I lost 23 lbs exactly!. I don't share any of this to boast, this is just my life.
So some might be asking themselves, "What was your method?" I didn't buy anything off of those infomercials, or try any weight loss drug, nor did a do some fanatical weight loss work out plan (however I did have one ready and did it a few times). All I did was eat half of what I normally ate. That's all! I would eat like my brother Sean who stops when he feels he is satisfied. For the first couple weeks I felt like I was starving. But after each meal I felt satisfied and just had to be in control of my body. Sometimes I spaced the content of the meals out throughout the day so I wouldn't feel so deprived, but the portions remained the same. When I began seeing the results it became easier and easier. I wasn't starving myself, but I was training my body to be happy with what it needed. I still ate enough. So for me, my weight loss was all about self mastery. I don't claim this will work for anyone else (though others have told me they are now trying it and its working) but it did work for me. I get weird looks taking home a box from a restaurant, I have to save a lot of food from meals (which helps the food go farther), but its all worth it. Now I have a new lifestyle when it comes to eating. I am the one in control now, not the food in control of me. I am currently maintaining a weight of 168- 171. So from just over 200 down to 166lbs at one time, I feel a whole lot better. Feel free to remind me to eat appropriately anytime you see me, cause because I am addicted to food, I need all the help I can get!



After

Another Snow day!

A few hours free? A nice day? A huge snowy hill? Where do you think four big little kids would go????


You sure guessed it! To Old Main on USU campus for the best sledding in town! This last Saturday my roommate Bryce, my old roommate Joey, his brother Nick, and I bundled up in our snow clothes and joined the throng a little kids sliding, crashing, bumping, and laughing their way down the hill. We brought some tire tubes, but they didn't work so well so I very nice lady offered us some faster sleds and we were on our way. We raced, went in trains, flew off jumps, and avoided running into any of the hundreds of kids all around us. I felt so light hearted and happy to be out in the sun, reliving some of my favorite childhood past times. A shout out to all those of Oakridge Circle who spent some awesome nights sledding in the fresh powder under the bright moon, and to those of 1375E who used to take the brave plunge down the "widowmaker." I guess at heart I am still a little kid (cause at belly I sure can't claim the same!). I really love the wonderful snow we have been getting and hope that you have all been able to take some time and enjoy it also. I feel like I should be saying something profound or life-changing right now, but nothing is really coming to mind. I will get better at this post thing. Love ya all!

SNOW!

As many of you know, I am still a college student and as such I have the right to have tons of fun doing stupid things. I for one don't think being pulled on a tube behind a car at 30mph is as stupid as some people tell me. But for the sake of argument, despite who is right, it sure is FUN! When the homework is just driving us crazy and the snow is falling beautifully we jump in the car and head up to green canyon with our tubes, tow rope, make-shift warm clothes (notice the tennis shoes) and let out some stress. This was the first "run" of the day so Bryce Jensen (my roommate and driver) wanted to make sure I survived and went more slowly. However, the next day we went up (which is the second video) we tried to figure out just how soft the snow actually was. Back and forth we went on this snow covered dirt road. Most people just stare at us and we yell "Wahooo!" as load as we can. The cars that pass on the side of the road make things a little more interesting. All in all no one got hurt! This is one of our favorite activities, along side spinning donuts in the street in front of house trying to end the spin in the driveway! Sadly my college days are numbered and drawing to a close here in May and I guess I will have to be a little bit more cautious ..... or maybe not! Have fun in the snow!

Stolen from Lichelle

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

A 1940's Christmas

My cute Nana and Papa used to perform at nursing homes during the Christmas time before Nana passed away. My brother thought it would be fun to carry on the tradition this year. My cousin Brooke, brother Brad and their friend Jeff are pictured above singing and my Papashaw is below, isn't he the most handsome, almost 90-yr old ever?

They came up with a darling program with lots of fun songs from or about the 1940's - war time - as well as some fun newer songs, like "Christmas Cookies Babe", featuring Jeff on the guitar. They have performed at 2 places with 2 more to go. The elderly folks love them and ask for their record album! What a great thing to do this Christmas time. It was fun to listen to them. Oh, and my mom accompanies them. I took my kids today, so it was fun to have 4 generations there!

I absolutely love the landscapes and beautiful vistas. When I think of them, this one often pops into my head, Camp Loll Lake of the Woods. Just thought that I would share some of what is going on in my head with you.

By Brad #1

Gabcast! By Brad #1

Here I am......

Well I thought the craze looked like so much fun I just had to join! Its all Lichelle's fault really. I was jealous of all the attention she was getting and since my life has been built around trying out do her, its my turn! For those of you who end up reading this, I hope that you enjoy it because I think I will enjoy doing it. However don't expect too much because I have never been good at keeping up to date on the online personal things like Facebook or Myspace. I hope I will do a little better here. Well here goes and I hope you enjoy the adventure!