Hubba Hubba

Este es mi esposo guapo.

The other day when Niel came home from work he was looking all spiffy so I convinced him to let me take a picture of him.

Tennis Pros

We played tennis twice this week! It's been about 65 or 70 degrees at night so we took advantage of the great weather and play tennis at the Drayson Center. We had lots of fun and we're hoping to keep it up! The Drayson Center tennis courts are definitely the nicest courts we have played on. We can't believe we have lived here for a year and a half and haven't taken advantage of them until this week. We both get free memberships to the Drayson Center since Niel is going to school at Loma Linda University and we love it! There is a pool with a water slide, outdoor tennis courts, an indoor and outdoor track, a soccer field, racket ball courts, basketball courts, volleyball courts, bicycling room, aerobics room, and a gym of course. The one bad thing is that it is closed Friday afternoon and Saturday all day since it is a Seventh Day Adventist school.

The sad thing is that I haven't gone that much. Before I started my job when we first moved here I went 3-4 times a week, but now I rarely go. We keep telling ourselves that we need to go more often and take advantage of it because we are going to regret not going once Niel is done with school. It is hard to get myself to go at night after working all day when I want to stay home and relax. Regardless, I know I can be a lot better at going to the gym. (Pictured is my game face)
Does anyone have any words of wisdom or advice on how to get yourself to the gym? I find myself making every excuse possible not to go to the gym at night. But once I get to the gym, I am always glad I went and feel a lot better afterwards.

Edward was here!

Yes, I would have to say he is as handsome in person as he is in the movie. Also, he makes me look tan which is nice. I think he liked me but don't worry, I told him I was married.

Saturday I was invited to join some other twilight fans for a twilight Girls' night. At the beginning we took Twilight quizzes to test our knowledge. I scored a 5 out of 15...I guess this means I am not a loyal fan. After we tested our knowledge, we had dinner and watched Twilight.

Below is a picture of me with the hostess Michelle. She did an awesome job hosting the party. She even had twilight party favors which included body sprays scented like Bella, Edward, and Jacob.

While I spent the night with Edward and the ladies, Niel went snowboarding at Mountain High. He was just a tad jealous of the pictures I took with Edward.

The Greatest Sporting Event in the World

There is something magical and mesmorizing about the NCAA basketball tournament. The first two days of the tournament games run all day and night, which creates a massive distraction for offices and businesses around the country (one reason I think Thurs & Fri of tournament week should be national holidays).

It is said that lost production in the workplace will amount to >2 billion during March Madness! Even the president of the United States watches the tournament, and although he may be incompetent when it comes to economics, health care, and foreign policy one of his many redeeming qualities has to be his interest in basketball (do you think he used a teleprompter to fill out his bracket?)

The tournament has something for everyone whether you're a die-hard basketball junkie or a casual fan. There are David vs. Goliath match ups, Cinderella stories, bracket-busters, and buzzer-beaters. Sixty-four teams in a single elimination, do-or-die showdown.

Fans become enthralled with the possibility that their little school could overcome the odds and advance to the higher rounds (those of us who are BYU fans know deep down inside that for us this will never happen, but we like to dream). We fill out brackets in office pools and online, at church, and at home; it's the ultimate form of male bonding. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about other sports.

The NBA playoffs are so long, I don't even care who wins by the end...dido on MLB. The world cup of soccer doesn't even make sense to me. During the last world cup The US didn't score a goal in the opening round and still advanced!?! The World Baseball Classic is equally confusing: if you lose to Puerto Rico 11-0 in pool A but beat the same team 6-5 two days later, then you advance to pool B and can play your way into the semifinals after getting hammered by Venezuela 10-6? The most egregious perpetrator of playoff ineptitude has to be NCAA football.

The best way to explain this whole debacle is that a group of very talented, capable people must have joined together focusing all their energy and enthusiasm on creating the most insane, frustrating, confusing, and down right infuriating system by which a division 1 college football champion is decided. And this is what they came up with: two teams will be selected by a computer program to play for a national title and the other +100 teams eligible for the postseason will be randomly assigned to play each other in meaningless bowl games that have absolutely no bearing on the championship. Congratulations you did it!

Girls Night: Part 1

This past week was one of those really busy weeks that I had to be somewhere every night after work. On Thursday I left the house at 7:30 a.m. and didn't get back until almost 9 p.m. The rest of the week wasn't much different. I am feeling quite overwhelmed lately because girl's camp is three months away. I have a lot of meetings and preparation for that in addition to other church responsibilites (and work). My calendar is wacko booked for the next three months. SO this weekend I overcompensated by relaxing and doing some fun things. Let's start with Friday...

Amber Hogan (one of Niel's classmates) invited me to girls night on Friday. We went to dinner at Siam Dish and then watched this:It was pretty good, even though half the time I wasn't sure what was going on. You could wait to see this one when it comes out on DVD if you ask me. Although, I didn't have any complaints about seeing Clive Owen on the big screen:)

While I went out with the girls, Niel kept it real with some Taco Bell, watching basketball, and studying. No need to feel sorry for him...Taco Bell & sports are his favorite.

She's tying the knot!

Kellie Bird was one of my bridesmaids when I got married. On May 21st, it will be her big day and I get to be one of her bridesmaids! At first I didn't think I would be able to make it...but then I came to my senses and realized that I wouldn't miss this girl's big day for anything!

I have known Kellie since she was a baby because we were both born and raised in the little farm town of Quincy, WA. Her house was my "second house" growing up. I even went to their family reunion...and knew most people there. We enjoyed good times growing up together...boating, camping, snowmobiling, cheer leading, ballet classes, our cupcake crayon business, and being tennis partners.

I bought my plane ticket today and I can't wait! I am so excited to be her bridesmaid and be there for her wedding day!

"Was that you?"

Fact: Fart machines can turn boring situations into fun and enjoyable situations.

This past week at work has been more enjoyable than others because of this:The fun started when we decided to put the fart machine in my boss's desk. First one goes off...She looks a little embarrassed and responds, "That was my chair...my chair is making that noise." This continues several times and she continues to blame it on her chair while her face is turning red. All of my co-workers are playing along by giving her inquisitive looks. Cindy asks, "Was that you?!" Eventually my boss realizes that we are all in on this. She turns a deeper shade of red, starts laughing hysterically, and searches mindlessly around her desk to find out where the noise is coming from.

Then we decided to hide the fart machine in the bathroom. As you can imagine this brought more laughs...especially since customers can hear the fart sound coming from the bathroom as they wait.

We still have the fart machine hidden in the office and from time to time when the FedEx guy or a well-acquainted customer comes in we let it go!

This isn't my first experience with the fart machine. In high school my friends and I took one to cheer camp. We had the first year cheer leaders put it in their skirt pocket during workshops and at dinner. SO much fun. If you haven't experienced the fart machine yet, I urge you to try it. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

5 o'clock

Last night after work I joined my co-workers for dinner at Lonestar. Courtney is getting married on Saturday so we celebrated her "last days of single hood".

This is when we put the fart machine in Amy's purse without her knowing. She was getting kind of embarrassed as you can see. I will speak more of the fart machine later...

The Chaperones

Yesterday was what I would call a "super Saturday" because there were so many activities we were scheduled to attend. Somehow we managed to make it to all of them, even though two of them were during the same time frame. I also managed to squeeze in some laundry and errands.


1. We attended the baptism of Joanna Flores! Joanna is 15 and started coming to church about a year ago. It has been great getting to know her through Young Women's.

2. We went to Kailey Cortez's first birthday party. The Cortez's don't mess around when it comes to parties. They always have great food. This time they barbecued and we completely stuffed ourselves.

3. After the birthday party we went straight to the reception for Nikki & Andy Peterson. Even though we were already full, we managed to eat more at the reception! Our sweet teeth (yes, plural) couldn't resist all of the yummy desserts they had made.
4. Saturday night we chaperoned the youth dance in Redlands. There were about 200 kids that showed up. Niel and I busted out our killer dance moves on the dance floor. I am sure the kids loved the fact that their chaperone's were boogying on their dance floor. I miss the days when we used to go dancing all the time. I got asked to dance twice by 14 or 15 year-old boys. I told them no because I was a leader and then he responded, "Oh. I thought you were like 15". THANKS. I love hearing that I look like I am 15 (sarcasm).

Teacher's Pet

Niel was chosen by the staff at Loma Linda University for the "Faculty's choice award". I have to admit I laughed when he told me this. I am pretty proud of him even though I think it's really funny. I love this picture because Niel is poking out his head like a little kid. It also reminds me of Where's Waldo...except a "Where is Niel" version.

By the way, I find it interesting that Niel has taken a sudden interest in our blog. He wanted to write two posts this week! In the past he has shown little interest at all in the blog. Men are funny.

On a scale of 0-10...

In medicine if a patient is experiencing pain, the clinician is expected to use the OPQRST mneumonic to describe different aspects of the pain. OPQRST stands for Onset, Provocation/Palliation, Quality, Radiation, Severity, and Timeline. The responses I get from the severity question have been the most mystifying to me. It seems as though about 5-10% of the patient population just cannot wrap their heads around the concept of the 0-10 pain scale:

Clinician, "On a scale of 0-10, 0 being no pain, and 10 representing pain so severe it causes you
go into shock and pass out, how would you rate your pain right now?"

Patient, "15!"

Clinician, "???...let me try putting this another way, on a scale of 0-10, where a 10 is like giving

birth to octuplets without anesthesia, how bad is your pain?"

Patient, "15...maybe even 20!"

Two points:

1. No one who has the patience to endure the waiting room in a county medical clinic, fill out the 12 random questionaires required to enter the exam room, and sit calmly while a clinician meticulously goes through the OPQRSTs of pain could possibly be in 10/10 pain. That person would have died or killed someone by that time.

2. Who said 15, much less 20 was even an option? I'm no mathematician, but even I know that if given the option of choosing a number between 1-10 that 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 are clearly not options!?!

Don't get me wrong, I love my job. On a scale of 0-10, I'd give it a 20!

Six Flags

Saturday Niel and I went to six flags for his birthday. Here are our three favorite rides.

This ride is awesome: Tatsu

You are strapped in with your stomach facing down...like you are flying. We went on this three times.

X2

This ride is the craziest ride we have ever been on. I screamed...really loud.
Goliath
This drop is one of the best things in the park. It starts at 255 ft. and the ride goes 85 mph. Talk about butterflies in the stomach! whoo-hoo! After we did all the thriller rides I wanted to ride the carousel. Niel decided to sit this one out. It wasn't until the second time around I realized I got a stationary horse! LAME. Remember when you were a little kid you never wanted to get the horse that didn't go up and down?

On our way home from Six Flags we stopped at Universal City Walk in LA.

Deep Thoughts By: Niel

There is a lot of chatter in our country about making healthcare available to everyone. Recently Obama made a big down payment towards universalizing healthcare. As we sit right now, it is estimated that some 45 million Americans go without health coverage. If you ask me the problem is not that some Americans don't have health coverage, the problem is that too many of those who have coverage abuse it! I'll give you two examples:

1. Last week a large man came into the clinic; his exact size is unknown because our scales only go up to 350 lbs. He came in for a follow up on his diabetes and asked if we would prescribe him a new glucose monitor (a device for measuring blood sugar levels). I asked him why he needed a new monitor and he said, the batteries were dead (we're talking about 2 AA batteries). The next obvious question; why don't you get some new batteries? He said that finances were a little "tight." You see, with medicaid we can prescribe him a new monitor, which doesn't cost him a penny, but we can't prescribe batteries; he would have to pay for those out-of-pocket. I understand that times are tough right now, but I have a hard time believing that anyone who can afford to feed themselves the 4,000-5,000 calories a day necessary to sustain that weight can't afford $2.99 for some new batteries.

2. A 24 year old man with a fully functioning brain came into the clinic with his mom and asked for some medicine to help him read, because he "can't read good." Nothing else needs to be said.

The bottom line is when people know they can get something for nothing they tend to abuse it.

Here's a list of medical faux pas that should get first time offenders kicked off medicaid for life:

(these are things I've witnessed first hand)

1. Going to the Emergency Department for any of the following reasons:

-You have a cold/allergies

-To fill your prescriptions

-You need a physical for your employer

-You know you'll get a free meal and peak at a hot nurse.

2. You sell your prescription drugs on the street for cash.

3. You pop one tablet of penicillin from your stash of extra antibiotics every time you think you're coming down with something. (I wouldn't include it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes).

4. You want a doctors note stating that the extra dark tint on your car windows is for "medical reasons."

5. You request a magic pill for "reading good," turning fat into muscle, or making you smarter.

If you do make enough money to pay taxes, this is where a lot of your money is going. Healthcare costs are skyrocketing out of control, but most poeple don't understand why.

It is in large part due to those who recklessly abuse the priviledge of receiving government-assisted medical care.

It's somebody's birthday...

Yesterday was Niel's birthday. He is kinda embarrassed about how old he was turning so I won't tell you how old he is. Let's just say that next year his age will start with a three! I asked Niel to make a birthday list. His birthday list consisted of about 4 medical books (boring), a gym bag, and classical music to study with. Wow. Not allot to work with there.

SO, to jazz up his birthday I got tickets to six flags (his favorite place in the whole world), and a money clip. He has wanted a money clip for a long time but he forgot to put it on his list:) Don't worry, he's still getting the things on his list. For breakfast i made him breakfast burritos (his favorite). I made him dinner and then we went to our favorite dessert place "Ohanas".

No Men Allowed.

Girls weekend= yummy food, girl talk, beach, shopping, zero responsibilites & chick flicks.

After work on Thursday I packed up my bags, loaded them in the Lexus, and headed to LA to reunite with Paige and Karyna. Friday morning we went to the Getty Museum. It is a huge museum with a collection of western art, sculpture, architecture, gardens, and other cool stuff too. Below are some pictures from the outside gardens.Hottest Prego lady ever.Afterwards we did some afternoon shopping. That night Karyna met up with us for institute where we enjoyed dinner and listened to the football coach Norman Chow speak.

I love this picture!

Saturday morning we went to breakfast at IHOP and ventured out to Santa Monica Beach. We laid out and walked along the Santa Monica pier. Yeah, life is tough at times.This was my first time on the Santa Monica Pier.

Saturday night we went to dinner at a quaint little restaurant down town and then we went to see this: It was pretty cute and funny. Isla Fisher is darling in this movie. Plus, I love shopping so I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was great to meet up with Paige and Karyna to share a fun, relaxing weekend. Rachel-We missed you and hope you can be there next time. Paige & Karyna-Thanks for a great weekend!