In Which: We Go North and South

If you are a regular reader, I suppose you might have heard me mention Salem, Oregon. (Only in every single blog post!) This move has been a long time coming for us. We have known since March that we would be relocating to Oregon for my internship, and it felt forever away. And now it is over. We moved. We live there.

In Which: I live the Week of Dreams

It finally arrived! Thanksgiving break is nearly over, but it has been one of the funnest weeks! It started on Saturday afternoon when I finished my Parasitology exam. We packed up the Jeep with a week's worth of clothes, and Tilly! It was a bit snowy, but we made it up to Brigham City by 7:30 after we stopped at Costco, of course.

In Which: Winter Announces its Arrival

Well, I guess it has been a while.

Life has pretty much been full of preparations for the move to Oregon. Our entire life is revolving around my upcoming internship. It is pretty overwhelming, but the excitement of a new adventure is keeping me going.

In Which: It's November? Time to PANIC!!

EEK! Halloween has passed, and we are officially in November. Just six or seven weeks away from the end of the school year and The Big Move..The Haynie Migration. Really, though. Four of out of 6 of the Haynie children are moving within six months. That's 2/3 of the kids making pretty big moves in a short amount of time. And then if you consider that both of my sisters moved to Arizona over the summer, people are just going willy nilly! Who said we could all do this? Why couldn't we all stay in one place where we belong?

In Which: Comp week!!!!!

It is here--the most dreaded week of the semester!! I know you are thinking that midterms aren't the worst, but this week is even worse than finals. At least after finals, the semester is over. Mid semester comp week is the WORST. It is stressful, and frustrating, and we still have to attend lecture and learn material for the next test. Luckily, I have survived the first three tests: a 3-hour practical exam on Wednesday and the two written tests on Friday. Now I just have to get through the written Parasitology exam, and the lab exam of doom on Wednesday.

So the studying continues!!!

In Which: Fall traditions, and a painful return to reality

Oops! Time sure does fly during the semester. I can't believe it is half over in just a few days! The pressure of tests every Friday seems to shorten the school week. I exist in a blurry whirlwind of lecture slides, labcoats, microscopes, chemical reagents, and notes upon notes upon notes!!

The past couple weeks have been extra busy because...the  Hardwicks came to Park City!! Hooray! Our annual gathering at the Marriott in Park City is one of my favorite weeks of the year. There is great company (immediate family, grandparents, aunties, cousins), great food, hot tubbing, and more! It was so wonderful to get to visit with some of the people I don't get to see very often. Meghan came up from Tempe, my parents down from Washington, grandparents over from Orange County, and the aunties and cousins from Salt Lake City. Scott and I were lucky this year and got to spend a significant amount of time up there because our work and school days both end at 4pm. 

In Which: Birthday, Buffet, and Busy busy busy!

My old man is 27! Woo!

Scott's birthday was on the 22nd (Monday of this week), but because his brother came to town for the BYU football game on Saturday, we celebrated all weekend long!!

The week before the birthday was super busy (like all our weeks), because I had to juggle school, trying to be a cleaner housewife, and secretly buying and wrapping an extra large birthday gift! 

Speaking of which, I totally slam dunked the gift-giving this year. I was so excited all month, because I had purchased the perfect Scott things, and just couldn't wait for the reaction. Scott kept telling me that he didn't even know what he wanted, so how in the world could I know?? We are practical gift givers--Scott and I both really enjoy gifts that are useful as well as fun. Knick knacks and silly gifts are fun, but they are more difficult for us to appreciate. So it was a great feeling to give gifts that showed Scott that I know him well, that were useful to him, and made him excited and happy. Are you wondering yet? Are you in suspense? 

In Which: Wonderful craziness ensues

Well, I have almost survived my second week back in the good ol' lab!! Or rather, the good new lab!! The new Life Sciences Building is new and fantastic. It reminds me of my brand new middle school Thomas Jefferson in 7th grade, except that this building is 5 times as big and advanced. The CLS lab is new and beautiful with spacious benches, comfy seats, and plenty of new equipment mixed in with some classic relics like my chem goggles from the 80s!!

My benchmate, Tielle--we are often crazed by Clinical Chemistry

In Which: We put our noses to the grindstone

Firstly, I'd like to apologize for the dry reading of last week. It was pretty bland for such an event-filled post.. I think after such a long week, my brain was fried and not in the writing mode, but I wanted to fill you in. So I wrote it anyway. Maybe one of these days I will go back and revise it so the tone is a little more peppy.

But not today!!

Today, I am writing about WORK. The end of my summer job, WORKing a yard sale, starting the school year, Scott's recognition at WORK. Work, work, work.

In Which: We all survive the Haynie Invasion!

It has been a while since I posted, but boy has it been BUSY!!

Scott's little sister Solangie (So-Lawn-Gee...it roughly translates to Sun Angel) got married on Saturday the 16th! Woo! It has been a long and stressful road to get to the wedding day, but it happened and it was great!

In Which: I visit the Land of the Cactus

My awesome big sister Meghan just landed a great Speech Language Pathologist job in Scottsdale, AZ. On Friday, we packed up her entire life into the Camry. On Saturday, we began the Arizona adventure.

In Which: We return to hum-drum

Well, we are back in good ol' Utah.

In Which: "Reunionizing"

Well, Scott made it all the way from Utah to Washington, and of course it was really great to have my pal back after a week apart.

Friday morning, we went apartment scouting in Salem. We found a few potential places, and I fell more and more in love with the idea of our internship-future there. It has a wonderful, quiet small-town feel, despite being the capital city of Oregon. There are parks everywhere, trees (of course) lining every street, and the Willamette River runs straight through town.

After lunch, we picked up Laura in Vancouver, then headed out to Gearhart on the Oregon coast for a gool ol' Grange family reunion.

The reunion was three days full of long-lost cousins from Colorado, pizza, bonfires, and beach games. On Saturday, we went on a two mile walk on the beach, lunch at Norma's, and then a drive back to Vancouver to take Laura home. 

In Which: I go on North-Westy adventures with my favorite people!

Laura and I have been having a blast reconnecting and going on adventures!

We have four years of long-distant friendship to make up for, so we are cramming everything possible into the next 5 days.

On Saturday, we went exploring at Kline Line trying to find Stephanie's caves. We didn't find them, but we found this large tree that had fallen down, and I found an overly friendly stinging nettle that wanted to hold hands with me. Ouch.

Laura, conquerer of tree roots

In Which: I see friends, family and fireworks!

I am on vacation!!!

I flew out of Salt Lake City airport on the morning of July 4th to go home to Washington State.

People watching at the airport was a great way to pass the time. I saw many people sleeping in creative ways.

In Which: I have happy feet

As promised, Scott and I went shoe shopping today to replace my tired old running shoes that I have had for too long, and which  were the cause of painfully pulled calf muscles earlier this month. 

Look at these beauties!!!

I have a new favorite shoe brand!!!

Here is a shameless plug for my new favorite shoes: Brooks. I had never heard of them before, but as someone with high arches and flexible ankles, I need a very particular type of arch support to help me run properly, and without injuring myself. Of all the shoes I tried, NONE even came close to the feeling of these shoes. The arch is high, and the soles have great cushion and structure, while they are still classified as a lightweight shoe. They cinch up around my narrow feet and make them look cute and small (which is a plus for me--Scott didn't understand that one).

In short, they are perfect. Hopefully they are $100 worth of perfection. Expensive, but I definitely plan on running my money's worth out of these shoes!!

In Which: I decide to run

Let's just agree to be frank. I have gained about 40 pounds of unwelcome "newlywed" weight. More accurately, this probably started with the stress of being engaged and getting married during the semester, and my workout habits went out the window--not that they were that great in the first place. College has not been my figure's best friend. I eat too much junk because it is quick and convenient and I tell myself I have too much studying to do to allow time for the gym. I am putting my foot down. I can't stand the bins of clothes that are just too small, but I can't throw away because I desperately want to believe I will fit in them again. I can't stand looking in the mirror and seeing a face and body I don't recognize and don't want to claim as my own.

So you don't worry that I am totally bonkers and shallow, this is definitely about more than looks or a number on a scale or clothing tag. I want to feel healthy, strong and confident. If I was this size and fit, I would not be complaining.  But I know my body, and I know that this is not a healthy and responsible way for me to live.

In which: My sister leaves for Arizona adventures

My baby sister is going on a mission for our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) for eighteen months in Tucson, Arizona. Even though she will only be a car ride away, she can't call, except on Christmas and Mother's Day, and she can only email one day a week. I am so excited for her and proud of her for going on this brave adventure. Scott and I picked her up from the airport last night.

In Which: I ramble for a while about my current status

When I first got married, I vowed to myself never to start a blog. Mostly because I feel like all the young, married people I know tend to over-broadcast the details of their life to the world. I am not a big fan of the public mushiness that I see running rampant on my newsfeed. Unlike my peers, on my husband's birthday, I do not feel the need to post "Happy birthday to the hunkiest hunk in the whole wide world!!" Followed or preceded by a lengthy, gushy paragraph about why my "hunk" happens to be the best. Instead, I wish him a happy day to his face and we eat his favorite foods and give gifts.

So, why in the world am I writing a blog?