Fall 2011

The last four months have seemed like a blur.

I started PA school in July

and my life has been a whirl wind ever sense.

But I have to say, I have never been happier.

I LOVE school,

I love what I am learning,

I love learning about the human body,

I love being back in Vegas,

I love hanging out with my family,

I love going to my siblings events,

I love being back in my old ward.....

I am loving life.

I am also SO lucky that I have made two new best friends.

Seriously, if it wasn't for Marie and Ada I don't know where I would be.

All three of us went to BYU, ended up being in

some of the same classes, all married, and all have a ton in common.

We hit it off.

I love going to school and seeing these two girls.

I seriously don't know what I would do without them.

(Ada already left so we didnt get a pic together)

As busy as school makes me, I still found time to have a little fun.

I mean you can't study all the time.

I made some time for my fabulous little sister's volleyball games,

helping her get ready for homecoming,

my little brothers cross country meets,

great date nights with my husband,

lots of swimming,

and just hanging out.

Who would have though that

Grad school could be this much fun?

Dust and I also decided to take a few trips during this semester.

Our first trip was to Alamo California to

visit some of our favorite people in the entire world.

I LOVE the Call family and LOVE hanging out with them.

They are seriously some of the best people in the whole world.

Dust actually stayed up there for a couple of weeks,

but I sadly could only stay for a weekend.

But it was one of the funnest weekends ever!!!!

I have always wanted to go to Stanford's Campus.

So we packed up for the day and headed out!

It was seriously the most amazing campus ever.

If I was a genius this is for sure where I would go.

I mean it has great weather, great entertainment, and a fun campus.

To bad I wasn't just a little bit smarter.

We spent the day walking around the campus,

seeing all the fun places to eat,

and the best part was it ended up being the US Open Quilifiers.

So we got to watch some great tennis!

After a great day at Stanford we went out to

eat at the best Thai restaurant around Berkley.

We had the best company and it was just so much fun to be with family.

The rest of the weekend was spent just hanging out,

visiting, eating, and enjoying the families company.

I love California but I love the people that live there even more.

After I left, Dust, his brothers, cousins, and Uncle decided to hike Half Dome.

I was a little nervous about this at first.

I mean it seemed kind of dangerous.

But there was no stopping him,

and I am so glad that I didn't.

He ended up having an a ball.

He LOVED being with his brothers,

and loved conquering this task.

All he has been talking about is how he HAS to take me

back there sometime and hike it.

Our next little adventure was Leimans Cave.

I know, you've probably never heard of it.

I hadn't either.

But its actually a National Park up around Ely Nevada.

My mom has been wanting to go there for years,

but we have all rebelled.

But she finally got her way and the whole family

loaded up the car and headed out.

I'm not going to lie, I was NOT looking forward to this trip,

but it ended up being a blast.

We ate at some of the best Ma and Pa restaurants,

had a some good laughs,

hung out with my favorite people,

and got to see the COOLEST cave of all time.

It seriously looked like we were on Mars.

I felt like I was in a movie.

It was almost so cool it didn't seem real.

We had a blast

and it is a trip I won't forget!

Next we headed back up to Utah.

We could not wait to get back up there to see our family.

That has to be the hardest thing about living in Vegas.

We don't get to see the Call's near enough.

So we spent a weekend up there relaxing, watching football, eating of course, and visiting.

The best part though, is the day before we left my husband

called me at school and was

like do you want to hike Mt. Timp with us.

I wasn't so sure about this idea.

I mean I went hiking this summer and loved it

but I wasn't sure if it was a fluke.

But I decided I would be super bored if I didn't

go with them so I toughed it out and went.

And I am SOOO glad that I did.

I LOVED it.

It was beautiful

Amazing.

Stunning.

Peaceful.

Wonderful.

Who would have thought that hiking would be so much fun.

I had a blast.

It would have been perfect if my feet weren't so cut up

and if I wouldn't have had to walk like a

pregnant women for days after because I was so sore.

Note to self....Make sure you stretch before you hike.

Then in Vegas Dust and I discovered the most amazing thing.

The Great Outdoors. lol

I was NOT outdoorsy growing up.

I had never been to Red Rock and its seriously 15 minutes away.

But Dust was itching to get out.

So we got a year pass to Red Rock and we have been loving it.

It's beautiful up there.

There are so many hikes to go and pretty things to see.

We try to make it up there as often as we can.

I also had my White Coat Ceremony.

I thought the whole process was a little weird at first seeing as were

not going to be seeing patients for another year.

But the ceremony was actually really cool.

It just reminds you why you are in school.

Why you slave away studying day in and day out.

Why you are spending all of this money on tuition

It reminds you of your end goal!

Then this past weekend we went back up to Utah again.

We can't stay away.

We had the such a great weekend.

We didn't do much.

We just got to visit with our favorite people in the world.

We are SO blessed to have such good friends.

We talked about it the whole way home.

Seriously, no one has better friends than us.

We had so much fun visiting them all, catching up, and hanging out.

I miss seeing these people everyday.

The one bad part about Vegas.

Dust and I also visited our favorite restaurant in the world.

SLAB Pizza.

We were only in Utah for three days and and we went there three times!

We can't get enough.

It's a little embarrassing how much we love it!!!

It's been a great four months.

Dust and I are loving life.

I am loving my time off to recoup and get ready

for another semester of craziness.