Last Days in Utah

After a fun-filled day on Monday with Janae, it was Mission Sister Time.  I love my sister so much it's crazy.  We watched the Great Gatsby while eating Pho (I could seriously eat Pho every day of my life) which was a perfect way to end a Monday.  The Great Gatsby was a great movie - I definitely recommend it!

On Tuesday, I got to see my Grandma who is probably one of the toughest people I know!  I don't know if you remember, but last year while she was visiting me in San Diego she fell and broke her hip and had to stay in San Diego for a month to recover from surgery!  She recovered so well that she decided to have her knee replaced 5 weeks ago!  She is already walking without any assistance and doesn't even have a limp. Did I mention she is 83 years old?  I hope I inherited her genetics!

She is a phenomenal painter and I got the tour of her gallery.  She still spends hours in her studio painting gorgeous works of art.  Here is a painting she made for me based on a picture I took in Tanzania, Africa. Stunning.

The most entertaining part of our day together was looking at pictures of my sister and I as children.  Man we were cute.

After my sister got off work, she took me on a run up City Creek Canyon.  The fall colors were out in full effect and the temperature was perfect.  I wish I could bottle up the smell of fall and open it in January when it's freezing and dark outside.  There is something so soothing and nostalgic about it!  Although the run was straight uphill (and starting at 5,000 ft altitude...) I didn't seem to notice.  Catching up and laughing with my sister was far too fun.  Sis, please move back to Alaska???

The day ended with a delicious dinner with my Aunt and Uncle followed by a visit to my cousin's house where I FINALLY got to meet the cutest twins in the world.

They all gave me my FIRST baby gifts and it made me want to swaddle and dress the little one already.  How is baby stuff so cute?  So excited.

Now, I'm off to Alaska.  As much as I want to stay and spend time with family, I am so excited to see my two boys back home!  Hope everyone is having a great Wednesday!

My First Two Patients!

I saw two patients today ON MY OWN.

So. Awesome.

So. Scary.

I know that's approximately 1/7 of what I'll normally see on a given day, but believe me, it was exciting to finally be able to see my own patients!  It turns out credentialing (the process of insurance companies approving payment of my medical services) takes FOREVER, so there are only a few insurances that will reimburse me for the time being.  Hopefully paperwork will go through next week!

They say you'll never forget the first patient you see as a licensed provider!  Luckily it was something simple like carpal tunnel syndrome.  The second patient... not as simple.  But that's what medicine is all about!  Especially family practice when you can see a cough and the next patient walks in with something like an abdominal mass.

All the time in California spent with my nose in a textbook, all of those hours sleep I lost to cram for finals, all of the challenging rotations I had, all of the months away from my loving hubby and amazing friends & family... all of it was worth it.  I love being a PA.
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Alaska has quickly evolved into my favorite season of the year.  Fall.

Crisp mornings, cool breeze, yellow and orange leaves falling from the trees, the smell of frost covering the ground, the sight of snow creeping down the mountains... my favorite parts of the season!  The only part I don't like about fall is that it means winter is right around the corner.  They are predicting rain mixed with snow next week and that scares me.  But for now... I'm going to savor the beautiful season and hope it lasts a few weeks longer!

And although this has nothing to do with fall, I had to brag and show off a picture of Jake's moose!  I could never kill a beautiful bullwinkle moose, but I'm proud of my hubby who did and will fill our freezer with food for the winter! 

Such a Stud.

Moving and Running in the Rain!

We have officially moved into our new house!  On Sunday we recruited our awesome friends and family to help move across town.  It all went smoothly and you'll be happy to hear I didn't lift too many boxes (even though it was so hard not to help!). I just watched as the guys lifted gigantic boxes and our piano up the stairs!

Moral Support.

The main event was unpacking our kitchen.  I never realized how much planning is involved in organizing a kitchen!  It took 4 women to figure out where to put something as simple as the silverware!  But I'm happy to say we got it all figured out and the kitchen looks amazing.  The rest of the house, however... is still covered in boxes. I'll get around to them soon!

I'll take pictures once the house doesn't look like a warzone, but I wanted to share 3 of my favorite parts of the house so far:

Hot water at my beck and call.  Tea, hot cocoa, coffee... one happy Brittany.

I love my pantry.  

Doesn't get much better than this. 

My life these days consists of cleaning, trying to re-potty train Diego (apparently moving is hard on a puppy), staring at my beautiful pantry, and slowly unpacking the countless stacks of boxes in every room.  Does anyone know how two people accumulate so much junk?  My goal is to be all settled by next week.  Ambitious?  Yes.  But I start work in 9 days and would love to feel slightly more situated!

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Alaska is in the middle of one of the rainiest falls I can remember.  I guess that's what happens when you have the nicest and warmest summer in history.  I love running in the rain, but today was a little bit miserable.  When your feet literally slosh every step you take, your fingers are numb from the cold wind, and you can't see out of your eyes because of the rain flooding in them... that's probably the exact opposite of fun.

Holy Mushrooms.

Running and taking pictures with frozen fingers = blurrrrryyyy picture. Sorry.

Luckily I was with my favorite running buddy and we managed to do 8 hilly and soaking miles!  This week my energy seems to have made it's reappearance so I am taking advantage of it!  It finally feels great to run!  We'll see how long that lasts with this growing belly of mine :)