Future Dr. Loveless

Extreme Sports

2008-12-13T01:23:00.002-04:00

I love great videos.

The Secret is Out...

2008-11-30T21:39:00.036-04:00

...I got a puppy!

I have actually had him for about 2 months now, but have been waiting to go public so I could gently break the news to my parents. Their reaction: "you're not bringing him home." So far they aren't budging.

I have been wanting to get a dog for a long time. Now that I am in my own place and am going to be here for a while I decided it was time. I spent many hours looking at dogs online, and more particularly Great Danes. I love that breed. I think they are just beautiful and their "couch potato" lifestyle would fit my condo living just fine. One day, while diligently paying attention in class, I found a puppy on Petfinder.com that was supposedly a "Great Dane/St. Bernard" mix. The dog looked nothing like either breed, but he was cute and young so I sent in my application. I had heard from several other students that it is difficult for students to get dogs from rescues because they are so strict when adopting out pets, I applied anyway. After sending in my application I decided that if I didn't get this puppy that enough time had been spent dreaming about getting a dog and that I was done, no more, my research efforts would be spent elsewhere. That was on Wednesday. Within a day a got an email that went like this.

Thank you for the interest in adopting Emmons. (Emmons was the name the rescue was calling him)
He is such a sweet and happy puppy!!
Your application looks great and we have just a couple of questions.
Does your condo have any restrictions on dogs?
You mentioned that you are a vet student.
So I am guessing vet care will be easily taken care of.
Do you think that you have sufficient funds to take of Emmons' other needs like food, toys, housing, etc?
Emmons is actually being fostered in Terre Haute, Indiana.
I apologize for the short notice, but is there a time tomorrow that you might be available to come to Terre Haute to meet, hopefully adopt, and take Emmons home?
If tomorrow (being Friday) doesn't work, we can arrange something for another day.
Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,
Lauren

This prompt response was unexpected... things just kind of fell into place. I was leaving for Florida on Friday to visit Shane, that email came on Thursday the day before I was to leave. I decided to push my luck and see if I could meet up with the foster lady that very night..."just to take a look at the puppy." My wonderful friend Kate agreed to join me on the 2 hour drive to Indiana. She also agreed to watch the puppy over the weekend if I did decide to get him. The car ride down was enjoyable. We arrived at the Petsmart at about 8:30 pm. Lauren (the foster mom) was there to greet us. She took us into the cat room to meet the puppy. He was a stinky, fluffy little thing with a rat tail. Kate did her puppy exam on him (she's had lots of puppies) pulling on his ears, tails, legs, holding him, just messing with him in general to see how he would react. Her response after the exam was "you aren't going to find a puppy much better than this."

I was still very uncertain... I mean getting a dog is a HUGE commitment... nothing to be taken lightly. Would I have time for him? Would I be able to give him everything he needs? Would he chew my house to pieces? Was this stinky,skinny little thing meant for me? I decided to go for it. I was takin him home.

We picked up some basic supplies, food, bowls, chew toys, leash, collar. All of that was loaded into the back of my SUV and we were on our way back to Illinois. As soon as we were on the road the name game began. He's going to be big, he's fluffy, I wanted a short, powerful, and if possible one syllable name. We were rattling them off... thinking of things that had to do with vet med, drugs, bones in the body, diseases... nothing fit. We then considered other powerful names... Zeus, Titan... no too cliche. How about animals Bison, and then Kate said Ox... like a Musk Ox... I liked it, and so Emmons was henceforth called Ox. I spent the next few hours with him. Giving him a bath so he wasn't so stinky and feeding him a large bowl of food. Poor thing was so hungry, practically tried to get inside the bowl... the word ravenous comes to mind. I flew off to FL after only having Ox for a few hours. At least he was in good hands.

The past few months have been wonderful with Ox. He has been an exceptional puppy. He is already potty trained, doesn't chew, and comes when he's called. Each new trick learned, pound gained, or inch grown is an exciting milestone. I love him. He isn't the Great Dane/St. Bernard I was expecting, he's better. His mom may have been the black Great Dane the shelter said she was, but whoever jumped the fence was probably a Border Collie or something smaller.

I think my favorite comment about him came from my old roommate Jen. She knew I had been looking at Great Danes for a while and when she saw him she said "that's the hairiest Great Dane I've ever seen." So now I tell people he's a Long-coated Great Dane... they're rare... a new designer breed. (yeah right)

Ox is a heartbreaker.

Everywhere we go people fall in love with him. Usually their first comment is "he's so soft." He's gained 20 pounds in the 2 months I've had him. He especially loves to play with other dogs, no matter their size. Kate's 2 rottweilers (Baxter and Bruno) are two of his best friends.

Where In The World Is...

2008-08-01T18:49:00.122-04:00

Where In The World Is...

Amanda Loveless?

Remember that old show... "Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?" That is what I feel like lately. I've been to about 12 states and a couple of countries in the last few months but I guess I have finally settled... at least for the next couple of months.

It's been too long since I've posted anything And now I have the daunting task of trying to summarize what has happened in the last 4 months because A LOT has happened... humm where to begin?

I'll divide it up into categories:

1st: Vet stuff
I finished my first year of vet school at St. George's University. Yahoooo! It was a wonderful experience and I met amazing people who I will cherish for a long time coming. I will, however, not be going back...

I was recently accepted as a transfer student to the University of Illinois Champaign/Urbana Veterinary Medical program. YEAH! Go Illini!

All of my credits will transfer and I will only have to take 2 1-credit classes that I didn't take at SGU. I'll will be packin' up and headin' out there around the 21st of Aug. I still need to find a place to live...

UPDATE: I wrote that about a month ago and have now found a place to live and have officially been living in Illinois for about 3 weeks (Update again... that was written 2.5 months ago). My mom and I left for IL on Aug 13th, turns out I had to be in IL on the 20th so I scrambled to get everything I've ever owned either in the garbage or in a 5'X8' Uhaul trailer.

Our rapid journey from SLC, UT to Champaign, IL.
Completed in 24 hours of driving, 1 stop at a Super 8 Motel, and lots of fast food.

The first day we drove through Utah, Wyoming, and part of Nebraska. I've done the drive through Utah and Wyoming before but never made it as far as Nebraska. It was unbelievably beautiful! Everything was so green! As the sun began to set behind us, it started to rain ahead of us which left an amazing double rainbow against the orange gray sky. That lovely little rain eventually turned into a deluge! It was about 10:00pm, dark and ridiculously hard to drive. Besides the rain and the darkness there was also construction... so fun. Luckily we had a Garmin (a GPS) that led us safely to a Motel 8.... ahhhh (well mostly).

If you don't already have a GPS I highly recommend getting one, but with one caveat, if you get one it will then be very difficult to go without one! Buyer beware!

The next day we sped through the rest of Nebraska, made a quick pass through Iowa, down into Missouri for a bit and finally into Illinois. The rest of the journey was equally beautiful. I was pretty excited about the Mississippi river. That was an exciting landmark. We arrived in Champaign, IL late on Thursday the 14th and stayed the night in a ghetto Red Roof Inn. You know it's NASTY when you feel like you have to wear flip-flops cause the carpet is sticky... yeah...

We met the real estate agent the following morning. She was a very cute lady named Jane Bernthal (I recommend her). She pulled up to our nasty motel in her beautiful Hummer and whisked us away to some local available condos. ... INTERRUPTION: before moving to IL I looked online for available condos. I found a random ad on the Vet Med website that was a simple word document with no pics, but for some reason I called the owner. She was a sweet french lady from New York whose daughter lived in the condo while going to vet school. She gave me her Relator's info which turned out to be Jane. Jane and I got in touch and I told her we would be coming. OK back to the story... Jane showed us several condos, but based on what I had told her about what we liked and what we were looking for she recommend the french lady's condo. As soon as we saw it we knew it was meant to be. The next day we signed the papers and bought the condo. By that same night we were moving our things into the condo. I had no idea how I was going to get everything up the stairs... including my queen size mattress, my giant LoveSac and my ridiculously heavy boxes. That's when Mike appeared. Mike is my sweet neighbor who appeared out of nowhere and before I knew it he had taken everything upstairs and into my condo. What a miracle! Life just seemed to fall into place, and I have to thank God for that.

My mom left on the following Monday morning and my new life in IL began. I have spent the last several weeks getting furniture, unpacking boxes and getting rid of spiders and spiderwebs (which I subsequently had aweful dreams about afterward even though I'm not scared of spiders). I love the city, my condo, and the new school. It is really nice being back in the states, although I must admit that when I see pictures of Grenada I do miss it (kind of).

Condo pics for you:

Next subject:
2nd: Summer lovin'

1st State: Florida (Maryland, Virgina & D.C.)
Why?: Go see Shane

I made the decision to spend my summer in Florida because of a sweet boy (that is a whole other story). My mom met me in Miami so we could spend some time together.

We spent the next week messing around eventually driving up to Pensacola. My mom is a joy to be with and I love her to death. She is an amazing lady. Our dive to Pensacola took about 3 days just because we were taking our time enjoying the ride, but by the 3rd day I have to admit I was a bit antsy... I wanted to see the boyfriend. I found a place to live by using Craigslist.com - a great online resource to find anything. Some people may think it is crazy to move to a place you've never been, to live somewhere you've never seen, to be with people you've never met... but for me its just life. The place I found was a single room with a family - Becky the wife/mom-to-be, Jason the husband, Dan the father of Jason, Danny the friend, and Zoey the adorable little puppy. My mom had reservations leaving me in this random place, but I felt good about the decision. As soon as we got to Pensacola I put my stuff in my room dropped my mom off (she was OK with that) and ran to surprise the boy... he wasn't expecting me until the next day. He was having a party when I arrived so I met one of his friends outside. I snuck into his room and waited for him to be sent in. ... Needless to say it was wonderful to see him. ;)

Shane (the boy) was being promoted to Lieutenant JG while we were there. We had the opportunity to pin his new bars on his uniform. I forgot to mention that Shane is a helicopter pilot in the Navy.

His parents flew in that same weekend and we spent the next few days seeing the local sights of P-cola.

The type of plane Shane trained on. We got to play in it.

The helicopter Shane is training on.

A really cool restaurant where you can write on a dollar and staple it to the wall. The last count revealed there was almost 1 million dollars on the wall. Shane and I left a dollar stapled to one of the top corner walls.

This is my favorite picture of us.

Since I couldn't spend the whole summer messin around, I got a job at the local Banfield and spent long hours taking care of animals... just my specialty.

Shane and I did have time to go to the beach and even a fun trip to see his family in Washington D.C.

Shane surprised me on our first day in D.C. by taking me to the Zoo. Me met his sister, niece and nephew there.

I think the thing that most captivated us was the hot dog vending machine. One of the maintenance workers opened it up for a little kid to see how it worked... I think the small crowd of adults that formed was equally amused by the hot dog machine.

July 3rd was Shane's 26th birthday, we spent the day in Maryland with his family. His sister-in-law made him a giant cupcake for his birthday cake.

Jumping on the trampoline, croquet, picking blue berries, and shaving a cat were also on the menu for the day's activities... yes I really did say shaving the cat. It was a long haired cat with mats. What do you do? SHAVE IT.

July 4th was spent at a fabulous church breakfast followed by a town carnival at a park and fireworks on the National Mall in Downtown D.C. It rained a little, but that didn't spoil the fun.

I had to leave Florida on July 17th because of my next adventure that had been planned a year in advance.

2nd Stop: Alaska
Why?: Upon receiving my undergraduate degree my dad announced that as a graduation present he and I would fly to Alaska for the ultimate flyfishing trip. He then spent the next year looking at lodges, buying flies, organizing all of the fishing gear, and daydreaming about the day we would finally leave for Alaska. I don't think he or I ever expected the amazing experience we were about to have.

Quick overview:

Day 1- July 21 -Fly to Alaska
Day 2 - July 22 - Kulik River
Day 3 - July 23 - Fly out to the Merane
Day 4 - July 24 -- Kulik River and Naknek lake
Day 5 - July 25 - Brooks River
Day 6 - July 26 - Alagnak also known as the Branch
Day 7 - July 27 - Lower American Creek
Day 8 - July 28 - Strike Creek
Day 9 - July 29 - Fly back to Anchorage
Day 10- July 30 - Fly back to SLC

Day 1: July 21, 2008 Leave for Alaska
We flew from SLC to Anchorage and then spent the day looking at the souvenir shops along the main road.

Day 2: July 22, Flight to Kulik lodge

Early in the morning we arrived at the Kulik Lodge hanger where we were to take a small plane deep into the Katmai National Park. The view from the plane was breathtaking!

Kulik lodge sits on the edge of a glacier-fed lake. It has a large main lodge where meals are served and guests can sit by the fire to keep warm. Access to the lodge is by a single gravel landing strip where only small private planes can land.

We stayed in a small single cabin located down the trail from the main lodge. Luckily they had their own heaters in them because it was freezing!

Anglers (the politically correct form of fishermen) that go to Kulik lodge don't mess around. Within minutes of touching ground we were out on the river fishing. We caught a few fish in the freezing water, and also to our delight a huge bull moose crossed the river right in front of us. Our guide got a little nervous about us being so close to it because bull moose can be rather aggressive and territorial.

My dad decided to take a short break after several hours fishing in the cold river.

Throughout the river there were mini islands and in order to get across them you had to walk through 5 foot tall grass.

Day 3: July 23, Fly-out to the Merane
The first fly-out of trip was to a river way out in the wilderness... well actually all of the rivers were in way out in the wilderness... to get to them you have to take a float plane and land either on the river or on a small pond nearby.

For this area we landed on a pond and then hiked to the river.

Bears are everywhere in Alaska so you always have to be on the look-out. No sooner had we found a place to blow-up our raft and enter the water when a mother bear and 3 cubs scurried out from the bushed below us and headed for the river.

It ended up being kind of a slow day.Towards the end the two other gentlemen that were with us ended up chillin' on the raft smokin a cigar - my dad was the only one still fishing.

We ran into a number of bears that day. They were all walking up the river looking for salmon.

Day 4: July 24 Back on the Kulik River and the Naknek Lake

Getting out of the Kulik area to go fish other rivers proved difficult because of the dense fog and heavy rain. Because of this, we decided to stay on the Kulik river and upper lake close to the lodge. The fishing was just okay but and it rained a lot, but it was still beautiful.

Day 5: July 25, Fly-out to Brooks River

Bears anyone? HELLO! I have never, in my life, seen so many bears and so many so close!

Brooks River is located in the Katmai National park and is famous for its bears. On the map to the left, Kulik lodge is outlined in red and Brooks River is outlined in purple. It took us about 1.5 hours to fly in the small float plane from Kulik Lodge to Brooks Camp.

Every year the salmon swim upriver from the ocean to spawn because they only spawn in fresh water. The bears follow the salmon upriver to feed on them. Salmon have a high caloric value and thus are a valuable resource for bears who are trying to fatten up for winter hibernation.

Brooks River Falls is an important feeding ground for the bears because the waterfalls are a natural obsticle in the river causing the fish for the flll packed in at that particular spot because of the waterfalls. They have to jump over the rocks in order to continue upstream and it often takes the salmon a few tries before they make it. The bears congregate here and wait for the fish. Fishing is much easier and safer than hunting larger land prey.

Each bear has its own fishing style, some bears stick their entire head in the water and wait for a fish to swim by while others stand at the top of the falls to catch them midair as the fish attempt to jump the falls.

The more dominant bears get the better fishing spots. When the bears get close to their desired hibernation weight they start getting picky about what parts of the fish they eat. They will usually just rip off and eat the skin because it has the highest caloric value. Then they leave the rest of the fish and another bear comes and eats it.

There were dozens of bears everywhere. The minute we landed on the shore we had forest rangers herding us this way and that because right in front of us were large Grizzly bears. The bears freely walked all over the place crossing the trails and even using them. To get the prime bear viewing spot on the river you have to walk about a mile along a trail that includes a bridge over a small still river. Often times the bears will sit in front of the entrance to the bridge, and if they do you are stuck. The rangers, in no way, influence the bears movements. As long as the bear decides to sit there, you will too. At one point on our way back we got stuck on one side of the bridge because 2 groups of bears (a mom and three cubs, and another mom and one cub) decided to sit along the bank a fish.

Once you got past the bridge you had a long walk to the viewing platform which was built to allow free movement of the bears so as not to mess up their normal habits. The viewing platform has a long raised walkway leading to it. As you walk to the platform bears are walking underneath you as they go to and from the river. My dad and I got a prime viewing spot on the platform right in front.
We were there for an hour (you only get an hour before you have to rotate out) and the time absolutely FLEW by.

Day 6: July 26th Fly-out to Alagnak river (aka the Branch)

This was the first day that I really found out why people went to Alaska to go fishing. It was the first day of fishing that was incredible! We got huge Chum salmon. I had never seen one before so this was particularly exciting to see, especially because they were in their spawning colors. The best way to describe their markings is that they have a pink and green tiger pattern.

They fight soooo hard and it can take up to 20 minutes to bring them in. No worries - all catch and release. One of the Chum I caught was a record holder for that year.

For lunch we ate in an abandoned shed that was left from those who worked along the river in the 1940's.

Day 7: July 27 Fly-out to the Lower American Creek

This was another amazing day of fishing. We found one hole where literally on every cast we were catching fish. We (my dad, another guy and I) would switch off fishing in the hole so we would each get a turn.

Another amazing thing about this river were the bears... I know right? As you were fishing bears would be just 10 feet away on the other side of the river. If you have to pee you have to make a lot of noise before going into the bushes... it's a little nerve racking.

Walking along the bank of the river I came across these enormous wolf and bear prints. These animals had to have been HUGE.

Day 8: July 28 Fly-out to Strike Creek

According to my dad, this was the best day of Fishing he has ever had in his life and that is saying A LOT! Between the two of us we caught about 200 fish. Just about every cast was a double, and when the guide decided to throw in his line we would have triple. INSANE! We caught Chum and Pink Salmon.

I ended up catching a record breaking chum salmon. It was 34 inches long and weighed 19lbs.

For lunch our guide surprised us by taking us to one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We drove up the river for about 10 minutes until we got to this waterfall. This is as far as the fish go to spawn. We parked on that little sand island and ate leftover ribs for lunch.

At the end of the trip my dad and I ended up dominating the record board. I even got a pin at the end of the trip for the biggest fish caught, and if I come back I'll get a fly rod case... (nice ploy to get me to come back)

Stop 3: California
Why?: Justus' Wedding

SOOOOOO good to see some of the old West High crew. I love these people to death. Justus and Blair made sure we were all at a table together and in all of our champagne glasses we had sparkling cider.... way to take care of the Mormons. The wedding was beautiful and the bride was stunning. I'm so very happy for them. Love them to death. Congrats!

While there I was also able to see some of my favorite cousins. The Woods (from my mom's side). SOOO much fun. We went to this INSANE rodeo... you thought normal rodeos were insane? You should have seen this one. They had chariot racing, little people bull fighting, teeter toter bull fighting .... I was so shocked by all the crazy things these people did.

This lady was eating a "brick of fries" one of many deep fried foods you could find at the fair.

Stop 4: New York
Why?: Meet up with some friends and hang out with my mom

While in NYC my mom and I went to see Wicked. Fabulous!
I recommend it. For those of you who don't know it is about the Wizard of Oz and the "true" story behind the wicked witch and the good witch. It is clever and well done. Oh and the wicked witch is really a good witch... sorry to spoil it for you. ;)

Stop 5: Illinois
Why?: Go to school

See above for this trip
Stop 6: Tennessee
Why?: See Shane

It had been about a month since we'd seen each other so one day after I got home from school on a Friday I suggested we just pack up and meet each other in the middle. One thing led to another and by 6:30pm we were on the road headed for Nashville, TN. He was headed north and I was headed south. We saw the most amazing hotel called the Gaylord Opryland... I know, not such a good name, but the hotel really is incredible. Inside the hotel there are about 5 MASSIVE atrium with the most waterfalls, small rivers, giant trees and flowers... It was breathtaking.

We bought tickets to go see the Grand Ole Opry for later that night... and guess who decided to sing that night? Trace Atkins, Wynona, Martina McBride, and Lee Greenwood.

That about does it... I had a wonderful hectic summer. I loved the places I visited and the people I saw. Couldn't have asked for anything better.

2008-03-04T12:50:00.002-04:00

One of the Many Reasons I Love Animals

2008-02-28T23:31:00.001-04:00

Stuff White People Like

2008-02-25T18:03:00.007-04:00

Sad, but true (and funny of course)... A blog about stuff white people like. Stereotypical, but strikingly accurate. Oh well, what can ya do?

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com

Funny Videos

2008-02-25T17:42:00.007-04:00

Because everyone needs a good laugh... enjoy.

It's A Boy!

2008-01-05T02:19:00.000-04:00

Bradley Scott Eaton

DOB: December 8th, 2007
Weight: 4 lbs 14 oz
Cuteness factor: Off the freakin' charts!

Yes the little bugger finally came. I missed his quick arrival by a week... dang it! He is so tiny but is doing really well now that he is home from the hospital. Chris (Bradley's father) was able to come home from Iraq for a couple of weeks to see him and to help Lindsey. He (Bradley, not Chris) basically just eats, sleeps and poops, oh and he grunts a lot. He has quickly taken up residence in my heart. I love him!

Fun over the break!

2008-01-04T00:37:00.000-04:00

Over the break my girls from high school and I got together to reminisce a little about the old days. Gina made a DVD compilation of photos from our best, and worst, moments in high school. How different we all looked! It was really good seeing all the girls. They get more beautiful every year! We missed you Brittany!

Gina, Heather, Gretta, Margaret, Emily, Amanda, Amy
LOVE THESE GIRLS!

At The Olive Garden

CHRISTMAS MORNING
This is a little taste of what my house looks like at Christmas. My mom does such an amazing job decorating. Every inch is beautifully decorated with garland, lights, ribbons, and toys.

Everyone waiting to open up presents.

My Grandma, after a little coaxing from me decided to ride one of the sweet scooters that my nephew got for Christmas. She looked so cute on it and was having a blast. To propel the car you just wiggle the steering wheel back and forth. They really are fun to ride. I highly recommend them.

THE COUSINS

My favorite cousins on my mom's side came to visit for a couple of days. We had our traditional crab dinner. Luckily I didn't have to sit at the little kids table this year (sorry Tiff). My dad goes to Costco the day before to buy an entire box of king crab legs. Each person gets as much crab as their little stomach can hold. The crab is always soooo delicious. It is a family favorite.

Me and Brandon

Maddy and Ryan

Tiffany, me, Chelsea

Over Christmas my dad discovered these paper/plastic glasses that when looked through make Christmas lights appear to have Santas, angles or snowflakes hovering around them. Well, my father thought they were just the greatest things in the world and in his usual over-enthusiastic manner bought 200 pairs of them. Anyone and everyone who walked through our door received a complimentary pair. They ended up being a pretty entertaining item around our house, even if that entertainment was more at the expense of the user than the actual thrill of seeing dancing snowmen around tiny colored lights.

Amazing Story

2007-12-07T15:34:00.001-04:00

I've Been Tagged - 7 randomness

2007-12-03T11:34:00.000-04:00

Rules which must be posted on your blog if you are tagged: 1. Link to your tagger and post these rules. 2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random - some weird. 3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names - link to them 4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

HOMELESS KITTENS

Well as most of you know I like animals… okay I LOVE animals. And because of my slight obsession with them I often can’t refuse petting them when I see them or picking them up when they are lost. And since old habits die hard, I may have adopted some homeless kittens while on my mission. Yeah I know, big no-no but come on, Homeless Kittens… who can refuse. The first 5 I adopted we only had for a day or two before we were able to adopt them all out. The next kitten was in another area… and she may have stayed with us for a few months. My companion and I were walking up some little back road when I heard something rustling in the bushes. I walked over to where the noise was coming from and looked down, but couldn’t see anything. I don’t know what on earth possessed me to do this but I reach my hand down into the dark bushes to see what was moving around. When I pulled my hand out I just happened to pull out a little black and white kitten. She was in bad shape. Her eyes were all covered in pus and mucous, and one of them was bulging out of the socket. I looked at my companion and she looked at me and then I looked back at the kitten…. I was stuck. I knew I wasn’t supposed to have pets on the mission, but there was no way I could leave that poor kitten there. I rationalized with myself “Its one of God’s creatures too,” “Maybe God sent me here to find the kitten,” “Oh well, if I have to I’ll repent later.” And that was it, off we went with a sick little kitten. To make a long story short we bought some medication and even had the help of the members, investigators, and neighbors in getting this little kitten better. She stayed with us in our little apartment until we nursed her back to health. She even stayed with us when a 3^rd sister joined our companionship. I knew though that after I was transferred we had to find her a home. Good thing the people upstairs were members, love animals, and loved us. They took the kitten in and even named her Amanda. They periodically send me pictures of her. She eventually grew to have a family of her own, two kittens, my “granddaughters” according to the owners. I look back on that and it was one of the funniest things I think I did on my mission.

COUNTRIES

I’ve “lived” in 4 different countries, 3 of them without my family. By “lived" I mean I was there for more than just a few weeks and doing things other than just touristy stuff: U.S.A., Brazil, Mozambique, and Grenada. I have also visited more countries than I have US states.

OPPOSITES ATTRACT

I love getting dressed up for nice events, but I also love getting dirty and playin in the mud. This goes for just about anything in my life. I pretty much like doing everything. I like the big city, but I also really like the country. I like opera and classical music, but I also like country and a good punk song now and then.

A MAKEOVER STORY

For those of you who didn’t go to high school/college with me… you probably don’t know I was on a reality TV show called “A Makeover Story.” I think our episode was called “Makeover Magic.” My roommates and I during my freshmen year of college used to watch A Makeover Story all the time. One day I just got a crazy idea in my head to apply to get on the show. I wrote the producers and sent in a random photo that I took from a disposable camera just a couple of hours before I sent the letter off. A little while later my mom said she got a random phone call from the producers of the show who wanted to hear more about us. My mom told me not to get my hopes up but I told her why else would they be calling if they didn’t want us? I was excited. We talked with the producers a bit and they asked if I would be willing to cut off my hair (which was past my waist at the time) and I said yes. They also didn’t like the event that I had suggested, which was my mom’s 53^rd b-day so we had to come up with a different one. They then said that they would like us to do the show. They flew out to Utah for 3 days of filming. They filmed me at BYU, riding horses, with my roommates, with my family. It was fun. They ended up cutting off about 14 inches of my hair and dyeing it red. The show aired for several years afterward. Oddly enough it even aired in Brazil while I was on my mission. My mission president’s wife saw it on TV and so did a few members from various states. My roommate is from El Salvador and she said that her family saw it there too.

SPELLING

I am a horrible speller. Yup I struggle… severely. Thank goodness for spell checker. My mom says it’s genetic cause she can’t spell either. At least we know it’s not my fault. :)

TRICK HORSEBACK RIDING

I used to do trick horseback riding, aka Horse Vaulting. When I was younger I took horseback riding lessons and gymnastics lessons. In college I just decided to put the two together and that is basically what Horse Vaulting is. I was in 2 competitions in California with my vaulting team. I stopped after a couple years because I went on my mission. I still wouldn’t mind getting back into it.

MY TONGUE

I can tie a cherry stem in a knot with my tongue. I also have a really moldable tongue. I can do that 3 loop thing with it. And I can touch my tongue to my nose, I found that out in high school when I was really bored in class. Oh the things we discover when there is nothing else to do.

I hope you all enjoyed this randomness. I am now going to pass this on to… Heather Bagley, Lindsay Hadley, Maggie B., and Shauna Teames

SCUBA

2007-12-03T00:48:00.001-04:00

I went SCUBA diving on Saturday. I am now officially Deep Water certified. yeah...

The visibility of this last dive was just okay. But we did see a really cool eel that we chased for a while.

It is so much fun to be underwater! I love just watching what is going on. Its fun to be in the middle of a school of fish.

Oh and we saw some dolphins on the way over to the dive site. Seeing dolphins is kinda rare in these parts. These are some pictures of some of the things I've seen on all the dives so far.

My favorite things to see were the Nurse Shark and the Sea Horses. That thing on the right is a mollusk. Apparently that particular type is pretty rare. Its called a Flamingo tongue.

Masquerade & ICSA

2007-11-12T21:36:00.001-04:00

We went to the Indian Cultural Show on Saturday night. The best part about it was being able to dress up in the traditional Indian attire called the Saree. The Saree is one of the most incredible pieces of clothing you will ever seen in your life. My friend Navya let me borrow one of hers. All of the beading and embroidery is done by hand in India. Navya also gave me a Bindi to wear... that little jewel between my eyes. I've heard it means different things. One of the most common is that it represents the mystic third eye, the sixth chakra known as the "agna." It is the seat of concealed wisdom. Apparently it is outlet for the energy that arises from the base of the spine towards the head during meditation. In some parts of India it is also a sign of marriage like the western wedding band, but more recently it has just become a fashion statement. After the ICSA show we went to the Masquerade. It was held in a mansion on top of a mountain. The mansion overlooked the ocean and a large part of the island. It has wrap around balconies on multiple levels. It was absolutely beautiful!

Masquerade!

Us in our Sarees

Me and Zorro?

Shriv, Dolly and me

Me and Naheed

Just Friends

Heading to the after party

Diwali

2007-11-12T21:01:00.000-04:00

Diwali is a celebration in the Indian and Nepalese cultures. It is also called the "Festival of Light" where the lights signify victory of good over the evil within every human being. (you can thank Wikipedia for that info) That is the reason we had sparklers. The girls also got candles to light the hallways. We also went out to dinner that night to celebrate Sameer's and Navya's birthdays. I had a great Shirley Temple that turned my tongue bright red. Our waitress was CRAZY! Don't expect good service if you come to Grenada... cause you won't get it! Okay in fairness to her we did have 36 people in our dinner party, but that is no excuse for yelling at us! yes that is right she started yelling at us. Apparently there was a mix up with the orders and so she started accusing people of eating other people's food. She was literally yelling "Who ate the food they weren't supposed and didn't order!" It was a little scary! Oh they also told us right when we got there that we had to hurry and order because the cook wanted to go home. Mind you, this was around 7:30pm. Not really an unreasonable time for people to go to dinner on a Friday night. Even with all of this we still had a great time as usual. They had an awesome steel band there playing for us. The drummer was really cool and even let us play on his drum. He taught us how to play "Mary had a little lamb." on his steel drum.

Liquid Sunshine

2007-11-10T14:45:00.000-04:00

This was one of the best experiences of my life! Me and some of the other vet and med students met at our school's bus stop at 8:45am where we picked up a tour bus headed to Seven Sisters Waterfalls. The drive over was incredible. Everything was sooo green! We drove for about 25 minutes up the winding and way-too-narrow roads of Grenada. Our bus parked at some random place on the side of the road in the middle of no where. We got off and headed up a dirt road to a small check-in station where we got our "walking sticks." No one thought they would need them but we took them anyway. We then started up another dirt... no, muddy path. From there it was a long hike down a steep mountain... surprisingly our walking sticks really were useful. A couple of girls wore flip-flops and were just miserable cause they kept slipping and falling on their butts in the mud. It took us a couple of hours but we made it to the waterfalls. There really is no way to describe how serene this place was. We jumped off the waterfalls and swam in the pools and basically just had fun. We then set out on another hike up an even muddier path. It started to rain shortly after we got started, but I think that just added to the fun of it all. Our guide kept calling the rain "liquid sunshine," hence the name of the blog. Most of the time we were completely surrounded by rain forest. Some plants had leaves 6 feet long. We got the the other waterfall called "Honeymoon Falls" which was another breath-taking site. The minute our guide said we could go swimming I was in the water! We stayed for a little bit and then headed back out. We were all wet and muddy after we were done, but were all as happy as could be. Oh did I mention that a Polish camera crew went with us and filmed us the whole time? ... yeah so apparently we are going to be in a documentary back in Europe... Paris I think. Fun times.

Random last few weeks

2007-10-24T23:05:00.001-04:00

So apparently it has been a while since I have put anything on here. So these are a few quick pics of what has been going on. Oh, by the way that isn't much cause we have been preparing, and then taking midterms. Now that those are over hopefully the next posting will have some better pics. Did I mention we have a 4 day weekend! I was really tempted to fly home, but since it takes almost 2 days to get back it just wasn't worth it... oh and my dad wouldn't pay for it (although my dad says it was my mom who wouldn't pay for it).

1st.
Okay So its Official... I am amazing at breaking "unbreakable things." This is what was left of my Nalgene bottle after a little quality time with me :)

2nd.
Midterms are OVER! yeah! So in celebration of that fact, the Vet school decided to throw a little par-tay. It was in a beautiful location right on the water.

My roommate, Me, and Tristan in the dorm hallway before the "Prom."

Me and Navya before the prom

Me and Mpho at the prom

Me and Cassie at the prom

Me and Jen (my roommate)

Me eating a very delicious hamburger. I was really excited about the "V" brand on the top bun. V was for "Victory Bar and Grill" which was the place where we had the prom. I was also really excited about eating a decent hamburger. That will probably one of the first things I do when I get home... eat. Carl's Jr. Western Bacon Cheeseburger... Yummmmmm

Random funny math problem... this is what I felt like writing on my midterms

Chillin Wit Friends

2007-09-25T20:17:00.000-04:00

These are a few of my friends. This was the pre-party in the dorms.

Late Night Studies

2007-09-25T20:08:00.000-04:00

So sometimes when you are at school you have to stay up late to study... possibly even the night before... Well this is me the night before our Embryology test. Right after that picture was taken my roommate made me laugh. I think it was getting a little too late and we had been studying too hard because we were laughing at just about anything. We even came up with actions to go along with things we had to memorize.

Okra

2007-09-25T20:02:00.000-04:00

Since I got here I've been learning how to cook Okra, this was my first experience. Apparently the Okra has to be really dry before you cook it because otherwise it will turn out slimy. I had added some mustard seeds in previously which were popping by the time I put in the rest of the okra. Oh by the way, it was delicious... see dad, I can cook.

The "Unbreakable" Bowl

2007-09-25T19:58:00.000-04:00

So before I came out here, my dad and I went shopping for a few supplies, one of which was an "unbreakable" bowl for my kitchen. Well after only a month this is what my bowl now looks like... I did find one piece that looked like it could be used as a tiara... nice dad.

Me Being A Vet

2007-09-18T19:47:00.000-04:00

This was at one of the "Wet Labs" where we actually get to do hands-on stuff

Graffiti Party

2007-09-18T19:40:00.001-04:00

This was the Graffiti party thrown by ICSA. I had never been to a Graffiti party before so this was a new experience. My favorite sayings were "Vets have more fun" "Vets play harder cause we smarter"

Anatomy Lab

2007-09-18T19:31:00.000-04:00

This is my Anatomy Lab group. We have way too much fun!!! Our lab hours usually consist of us laughing our heads off. Oh and those are the future dissection donkeys.

Grenada!

2007-08-23T16:51:00.001-04:00

Me before the White Coat Ceremony

This is us out dancing at a beautiful club on the water.

Us At Crater Lake

60 foot Cliff Jump off Annandale Falls

2007-08-23T16:33:00.000-04:00

This was AWESOME!!! You keep waiting and waiting and waiting to hit the water!

4 Wheeling at the Dunes

2007-07-29T17:56:00.000-04:00

So I went 4 wheeling this weekend and it was a blast!!!
Ashlee got stuck Oops

So much sand!!! It was beautiful!

4 Wheeling in the Dark so much fun!!! You can only see a few yards in front of you!

TPing Roommates

2007-07-26T10:47:00.001-04:00

This is what happens when you fall asleep at our apt!

RODEOS!!!

2007-07-26T10:26:00.000-04:00

The Days of 47 Rodeo

Nephi Rodeo

We went down on the arena floor to do the coin hunt

This is us trying to figure out how to get back up

My roommates decided to lift me up

This is me laughing my head off
....
They even had rides!

THE END

Grenada

2007-07-02T12:40:00.000-04:00

My mom and I were in Grenada this past week checking out the island and St. George's University. This is what we found...

These were taken at "fish friday" It is a big celebration that happens every Friday

2007-06-26T19:14:00.000-04:00

New Hair Cut

Lagoon

2007-06-10T23:14:00.000-04:00

My dad, my bro-in-law and I raced at Lagoon. I got side swiped by some random kid and then lapped by my brother-in-law... But I did beat my dad!

Me and Maddy on her favorite ride... the merry-go-round.

Liberty Park

2007-06-02T16:40:00.000-04:00

Dad, Cameron, Maddy and I went to Liberty park. We rode on the ferris wheel, took a boat out on the pond and fed the ducks and geese. I look confused in the Ferris Wheel photo. ha ha

SGU, on my way?

2007-05-22T17:19:00.001-04:00

So, I have just been accepted to St. George's School of Veterinary Medicine. I'm excited about finally reaching my dream of becoming a veterinarian. The purpose of this blog is just to keep family and friends up-to-date on whats going on in my life while I'm away.

Photo Credits

2007-05-22T17:13:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Jeffrey Bates for the following photos.

SGU library

2007-05-22T17:02:00.000-04:00

This is my future school! Isn't it amazing! This is actually a view of the library at night.

SGU campus

2007-05-22T17:01:00.000-04:00

This is the St. George's University campus.

Map of the Caribbean

2007-05-22T12:43:00.000-04:00

This is the Caribbean. Grenada is in the bottom right corner. St George's is the capital of Grenada, it is where St. George's University (the school I'll be attending) is located. Grenada is a small island with a population of aprx. 96,000. It gained its independence in 1974 but remains part of the Commonwealth. It is know as the "Spice Island" because of the important role it played as a supplier of nutmeg, mace, and other spices.