Christmas Decorating

So when Lindsay started this blog, she told me that it would be a good idea if I did a post now and again. I'm not a big blog person myself so I haven't really contributed anything to this blog...until now. Lindsay has been pretty busy with work so I've had to pick up some of her responsibilities around the house, including updating the blog. One of our avid readers was asking me about how the tree is coming along so I decided to make an updated post about it. Normally Lindsay sets out all the Christmas decorations and we decorate the tree together but this year I got to do it all by myself. And here's how our tree turned out this year:



Our Christmas tree is actually one of only a few traditions we have around Christmas time. Ever since we've been married, everywhere we go, we try to get a Christmas tree ornament as a reminder of where we've been and what we've done. So when Christmas time comes around, we relive all the fun places we've been and the fun things we've seen when we decorate our tree. We've got ornaments from our honeymoon, from trips to Mexico, Canada, Alaska, Orlando, New York, and Boston. We've also got ornaments for each of the schools we've attended (Lindsay went to both BYU and the U and in case you're wondering, the BYU ornament is always a little bit higher on the tree) and one ornament for each of the years we've been married. So it may be a little bit cheesy but it's a fun tradition we have. Sorry for the blurry picture. I took it with my phone and it didn't come out to great. I'll get a better one up soon.

Our Poor Christmas Tree

There are only 7 days before Christmas and this picture of our tree was taken about 5 minutes ago. It is a nice tree and we do like it, but it has been sorely neglected this holiday season. Carl insists on a real tree, which is fine with me, but you can't just pull it out of a box and put it together at your convenience. We finally got around to picking out the tree and buying it last week but still haven't found time to decorate it. Carl put the lights on Tuesday night while I was at a Christmas party so at this rate the tree should be decorated by January 2nd. If and when we finally decorate it I will post a picture. Merry Christmas!

The American Fork Symphony

Carl played with the American Fork Symphony last Monday in their annual Christmas Concert. He has been wanting to play his violin more since graduating last April and finally found the time to join the community symphony. I wish I had a fun picture to post but I forgot the camera...story of my life. The concert was wonderful and we enjoyed being able to spend time with Josh, Mandy, and Gabby who came to see Carl play, as well as Carl's parents. I am proud of Carl for making the effort to play again and grateful for a studly husband who takes time to be well-rounded and cultured.

Rivalry Week

This is an exciting week in Utah if you are a college football fan. This Saturday is the much-anticipated game between BYU and Utah, and should be a great game no matter who you are rooting for. Because I have degrees from both schools, I am often asked who I want to win. In all honesty I am not a huge sports fan period, but you can't help but get into it around here. Sometimes I give the diplomatic answer that "I like to see both teams do well" but I went to BYU first and my heart will always be there. So to answer the question, I would love for BYU to win. I have lots of great memories watching BYU football (and not so great memories...for example the entire 2005 season which happened to be my second year of pharmacy school...not fun being a BYU fan at the U of U that year). Carl had the awesome opportunity of flying over LaVell Edwards Stadium at the start of the rivalry game last year and he grew up in Provo with BYU football, so he has great memories too. Having said that, I hope that fans on both sides will dispense with the idiocy. Rivalries are meant to be fun and I think we can all enjoy it without the drama and stupidity that seems to be inevitable every year.

A Few Pics

I have officially declared myself to be the lamest blogger ever...not only does it take me forever to get around to posting pictures that I promised weeks ago, my life is very uninteresting and problably not blog-worthy anyways. To all of you who keep coming back, you have my thanks. On that note, here are a few pictures of our new house.

I'm Pretty Sure I'm Still Alive

It's been over a month since my last post and, yes, I think I am still alive. After selling our house the end of September we spent a little over 2 weeks staying at Carl's parents in Provo before closing on our new home about 2 weeks ago. We are enjoying the new house but unpacking has been a very slow process. I have been working a lot lately but we made good progress over the weekend so it is starting to feel more like home. I was going to take pictures and post them tonight (at my friend Jenny's request) but the cord that connects the camera to the computer to download pictures is still lost in a box somewhere. I have a little more time off this week so finding the cord will be on my to-do list. Other than that, life has been uneventful but good. I hope everyone is doing well!

The End of Summer

One of the sure signs of the beginning of Fall in my life is a busy pharmacy. Things usually slow down a little at work during the summer, but the past week or two has been crazy!! It does make the time go by faster though.

We had a great weekend with friends and family. We got to spend time on Friday night with my good friends from BYU Tara & MaryAnn (and their husbands Doug and Dan too). On Saturday my sister Mandy got married and her and Josh had a beautiful outdoor wedding (pics to come soon). The weather was perfect!

In between BYU reunions, weddings, and the craziness at work we have been getting ready to move. Our current house is under contract and is scheduled to close on the 25th. Our new house is set to close on the 30th, so we will be homeless for a few days before we can move in. I am just grateful that everything is working out well and that we were able to sell this house. It is a crazy real estate market right now.

Sorry for being an AWOL blogger. I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying this beautiful time of year!

The Shakespeare Festival

Carl took me to the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City yesterday as a birthday present. We saw Moliere's "The School for Wives" and Shakespeare's "The Two Gentlemen of Verona." It is nice to have a little culture once in a while in the midst of our busy lives. We stayed with my brother Nate and his wife Mandy at their home in Hurricane (pronounced her-i-kun if you live in Utah for some reason) last night. It was great to see them too.

Me and my good friend Will catching up on old times.

Vanilla Joy Giveaway

My friend Kelsey has a great website called "Vanilla Joy" where she shares fun craft, parenting, and family time ideas. She is giving away some great prizes over the next week so I encourage you to go to Vanilla Joy and enter to win!

Just When You Think You've Seen Everything

I was just sitting down to write a post allowing me to vent about all of the controlled substance issues that I encounter at work as a pharmacist, when I found out that Taylor Drug had another Oxycontin robbery at 3:00 on Friday morning. I didn't work yesterday so I didn't find out about it until now, but apparently it was pretty bad. The robber wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed and forgot to bring a bag to store the loot in, so there were Oxycontin pills (along with some Synthroid and glimepiride, for hypothyroidism and diabetes respectively...I wonder what the street value of those are?) strung all over the floor, out the window, through the parking lot all the way to where his car was parked. At this point I don't think he has been caught, but the surveilance cameras were on so at least the police have video. The robber did break several windows and damaged our dispensing robot in the process of his tirade. Apparently everything is still a mess.

Which leads me to the reason for this post in the first place...controlled substance issues. It is sad/scary/stupid/dangerous what some people will do for a high. Prescription drug abuse is a HUGE problem in Utah and I get to see it firsthand everyday at work. Here are a few examples of situations I have encoutered:

• A patient asked us to identify one of her medications over the phone because the pill looked different compared to her last refill and she was concerned. Policy states that we can only identify drugs if they bring in the pills. So she brings hers up to the drive-thru. The other pharmacist I was working with that day dumps the bottle out and finds a bottle full of BEANS. Like the kind you eat. Beans. The label on the prescription bottle said it was supposed to be for Xanax. He leans out the window and tells her, "These are beans." in the most plain, wow-you're-stupid-not-to know-these-are-beans voice. She looks confused at first and then realizes that her son probably stole the Xanax pills and replaced them with beans. She then asked the pharmacist if he thought her son was trying to kill her...wow, that's a loaded question. Why she had to bring the beans to the pharmacy to figure out they were beans and not Xanax I'll never know.

• A patient calls and says, "Can I get your price on #210-80-OCs?" FYI, in the legitimate pharmacy world, OC usually stands for Oral Contraceptive, aka birth control. So when Megan, our intern who was speaking to her, asked her to clarify what she was asking, she had a shocked voice when Megan didn't know that OC = Oxycontin. Sorry for not doing the street drugs, sweetheart. FYI, the price is over $2,000. The patient was somehow willing and able to pay $2000 cash for medications. I don't know about you, but I don't know where else you can get $2,000 cash except on the street. Oxycontin goes for $1 per mg on the street so she made $16,800 on her "legitimate" prescription by selling it on the street. No wonder she can afford to pay a measly 2 grand to the pharmacy for the drugs! The other thing is, who needs 210 Oxycontin 80's? That would be 7 pills a day for a 30 day supply which is crazy! You'd better be at the end stage of a very painful terminal illness to warrant a narc load like that to your body. It makes me think one of 2 things: either the prescription is a forgery or the doctor is a candy man.

• There was a story in the local news recently about a father and son who robbed a pharmacy of Oxycontin, took a whole bunch of them, then the son didn't feel good, so the dad drove to the ER and fell asleep in the parking lot. When he woke up, his son was dead in the seat next to him. It's a very sad story, but it's real. I am surprised at how quickly the consequences of their actions hit them, but those consequences were going to hit eventually.

I could go on, but I won't. I think I have vented enough for one day. I really don't want to come across as heartless or unfeeling, I just want to tell everyone that addiction is real and it makes otherwise good people do very bad things. I am not trying to say that prescription pain killers (or anti-anxiety medications like Xanax) are bad drugs either. If you are truly in pain, by all means treat it. It's OK to take Percocet after having a baby or Lortab after breaking a bone, etc. There are actually really good studies that show that if you are truly in pain, your chances of becoming addicted to prescription painkillers is very, very low. What I am trying to say is talk to your kids, nieces, nephews, etc. about the dangers of using these drugs the wrong way. If you have some kind of sphere of influence over pre-teens or teens, talk about it. Just because they are legal, doesn't make it right or safe to take them if they aren't yours.

This and That

The last month has been a busy one. Carl and I enjoyed visits in July from our good friends Sean and Jenny Taylor (currently living in Connecticut) and my friend MaryAnn and her daughter Brie Ann (currently living in California). It was so fun to see everyone! MaryAnn and I had the chance to meet up with a few other of our BYU friends while she was here. We went to Thanksgiving Point with Valerie and Tara and had a great time. I miss my girls and wish I could spend more time with them. There is something rejuvenating and therapeutic about girl time. I also had the chance recently to see Temina and Kristen, 2 of my best friends from Evanston. Temina and I grew up down the street from each other and have known each other since the first grade. No one knows me better than her! Her daughter McKina is two now and I haven't seen her since she was a baby so it was great to catch up. Kristen is expecting twin girls in September so it was great to see her before her life gets crazy soon.

Carl and I went to Youth Conference last weekend with our ward and although it was a lot of work, we ended up having a great time. We wanted the kids to have experiences outside of their comfort zone so we split in to groups and did service projects up in Salt Lake. One group went to a Detox Center, another group went to Refugee Daycare Center, and our group served lunch to the homeless at the St. Vincent De Paul soup kitchen. The experience reminded me how fortunate I am to have my home, my husband, my education, and the great support from my family. I think the kids really enjoyed it too.

Seven Years Going On Eight

August 2008

August 2001

Yesterday Carl and I celebrated our 7th Anniversary! Saying that makes me feel old. I could go off about how I married the perfect guy and how we have the perfect marriage, but that would be a lie. Carl isn't perfect, I'm not perfect, and our marriage isn't perfect. We have our struggles and our bad days just like everyone else. The important thing is that we try to work through our differences each day, communicate, and have patience. We aren't perfect at this either, but we are working on it. Carl has taught me a lot about the meaning of unconditional love and faith. He is one of the most Christlike people that I know and I truly feel very blessed to have him as my husband. He will always be my best friend and my adventure buddy. Here's to 7 great years!

New House # 3

Carl and I decided to buy another new house. The new house is down the street from the one we currently live in. This will be the 3rd house we have bought in the past 4 years, and the 3rd house we've owned in our ward boundary. What can I say...we love our ward!

The nice thing about New House # 3 is that it really is a new house. We are buying it from the developer so we get to pick out our flooring, lights, appliances, everything. House # 2 is currently for sale which is sad in a way because it has been a good house too.

Hopefully our house A.D.D. is over now and we will live in New House # 3 for more than two years. Here are a few pics of the inside. I will post more pictures as progress is made in the construction process.

Spirit Lake

I spent the weekend at Spirit Lake in the High Uintas with my dad, Cheryl, and the family. All six kids were there (Chrissy, Mandy, me, Nate, Ronnie, and Casey) with our families except for Carl. He had to go to Arizona this weekend for a simulator trip and we missed him. The lake was beautiful and we had a great time. It rained on Saturday so we spent a lot of time in the lodge playing cards, but it was nice just to spend time together. Me and Grandma Massey

My 4 Minutes and 7 Seconds of Fame

Today I made an appearance on "Studio 5," a local TV show. I spoke about sunscreen, which isn't a super exciting topic but an important one I suppose. Check it out:

Life on the Other Side

I have had several people ask me what I've been up to since graduation, how my boards went, etc. I did pass both of my board exams and ended up doing fine, which was a huge relief. My license posted a week after taking my second exam, so I am officially a pharmacist now!! I received my license on Friday the 13th (of June) so hopefully that is not an omen for the future of my career. I'm not superstitious so I'm not too worried. I work about 20 hours a week at Taylor Drug, the pharmacy where I interned, and work one shift a week at a pharmacy in Tooele. I also recently signed up to be a fill-in pharmacist for Target--if you work at least one shift a quarter you get the employee discount so how could I pass that up? Here are a few of the other things going on since finishing school:

The day my license posted Carl and I went to Salt Lake to visit my sister Mandy, her fiancee Josh, and their baby Gabby. We had a great little summer BBQ outside. It makes me sad that Mandy and I have lived so close to each other for so many years, but still only see each other 2-3 times a year. Hopefully now that school is behind me I will be able to spend more time with her. Isn't Gabby a beautiful baby? I took piano lessons for a couple of years as a kid and have always wanted to get back into it. Carl bought me a new piano about a month ago and I have been taking lessons from my neighbor Heather. Heather is great to work around my work schedule so I can take a lesson every week, even if it isn't on the same day each week.

We also recently sold our townhome (finally!). It was on the market for almost 6 months and I have to admit it was a very stressful process. If we could do it over again we would do it much differently, but you live and learn. Our townhome was a great little starter home for us and I will miss it, but only just a little.

During the rest of my spare time I am still working on my goals of maintaining a spotless house 24/7, becoming a gourmet chef (that likely won't happen in this life or the next), and going to the gym more than once a week.

Carl is staying busy with work and the army. He is working on becoming a pilot-in-command (PC) with his guard unit now that he has a little extra time. They are in desperate need of PCs and even asked if he could take 2 weeks off of work so he could get all of the requirements done faster. His thoughts were "hmm...after taking time off of work for Woodbadge, scout camp, and to maintain my flight minimums, if I had 2 weeks of vacation time left I would spend it cruising the Mediterranean with my beautiful wife, not doing army work."

Maybe someday we'll take that Mediterranean cruise...

I Think a Pedicure Sounds Nice

Two days after Carl came home from Scout Camp, I left for Girls Camp (and people wonder why we've been married for 7 years and still haven't had kids). We had Stake Camp this year and I was assigned to be assistant leader over a group of ten 15-year old girls. Like Carl, I really enjoy spending time with the youth, but I DO NOT enjoy sleeping in a tent. To say the least, I am not a "happy camper." Despite the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements and the mosquitoes, Girls Camp was a lot of fun this year. We went to Bear Lake and got to swim, canoe and kayak, along with all of the other typical Girls Camp activities. At least I have a year to recuperate before next year.

Scout Camp 2008

Carl spent the week of June 23rd-28th in Moab at Scout Camp with the 16 and 17 year old boys in our ward. The weather was extremely HOT but they had a good time. They got to mountain bike, repel down a 150-foot cliff (see picture below), hike, and river raft. Carl enjoys spending time with the youth in our ward and I think he is a great role model, although I suppose my opinion is biased.

Ragnar Relay Weekend

Carl ran the Wasatch Back this past weekend with a team from NuSkin. The Wasatch Back is a 178 mile relay race that starts in Logan and ends in Park City. The race has 36 legs, and each member of the 12-person team runs 3 legs. His team ran it in about 29 hours. He had a blast running in it, although he was extrememly tired and sore afterwards. Next on his list of things to do...the St. George Marathon! Crossing the finish line
Team picture after the race

Big Wonderful Wyoming

As I mentioned in my last post, Carl and I drove to Casper, Wyoming earlier this month so I could take the NAPLEX (one of my pharmacy board exams). Typically, a long drive into the inner depths of Wyoming to take a test would not be exciting enough to be blog-worthy, but we took a couple of pictures that I thought were funny. We stopped at Independence Rock and Martin's Cove on the way home and it was REALLY WINDY!! These pictures don't quite do it justice. I had forgotten how intense the Wyoming wind can be at times. It took Carl several minutes to get a good shot of me next to the Martin's Cove Visitor Center sign because the wind was blowing the sign up so you couldn't see it.

There are lots of things that I miss about living in Wyoming. The wind is NOT one of them.

Some Things Never Change

Yesterday I had the chance to see my friend Andrea from high school. Her and her family were passing through town on their way to a family reunion and we met for lunch. Andrea and I have known each other for over 10 years and everytime I see her, even if it has been months or years since the last time we saw each other, it still feels like old times. This is a picture of me, Andrea, and her baby Aiden in the parking lot of the Subway where we met...with the famous Lehi Roller Mills in the background. Aiden did not like me holding him, but didn't seem to mind my presence when his mom held him.Last Friday night Carl and I were in Evanston for a couple of hours on our way home from Casper, Wyoming where I took one of my pharmacy board exams. While there I visited my friend Kristen, another good high school friend. We went to dinner at Don Pedro's, one of my favorite Mexican Restaurants, which was like icing on the cake. I feel spoiled to have been able to spend time with two of my great friends in such a short time.

Weekend in Vegas

It's about time that I update this blog...I thought I would have so much more free time since I finished school but it hasn't worked out that way so far.
The week before last Carl and I went to Las Vegas with Carl's family. Everyone was there and it turned out to be a great weekend. I spent lots of time shopping with my sisters-in-law and found some great deals at the Outlet Mall. Here are a few pics of the trip:

We ate breakfast one morning at the buffet at "The Paris"

Carl playing arcade games at "Circus Circus" with his brother

Family picture taken at a nearby park

Graduation...Part Two

It's been 2 weeks since graduation and I am finally getting around to posting a few pictures...better late than never I suppose. It was a fabulous day and I am very grateful for all of the support I received from family and friends.

Me, Carl, and Carl's parents Art and Karen after the ceremony.

This is Carl and I with Mandy, Nate, my Dad, Cheryl, Mandy, and Grandma Massey.

This is me with Brent, my mom, Izzy, Abby, and Isaac.

My cousin Brooke graduated from the University of Utah the same day as me and my sister-in-law Mandy graduated from Utah State the next day. We had a celebration luau at a park in Sandy after graduation to celebrate our accomplishments. This is Brooke, Carl, and me in our luau attire.

A graduation luau would not be complete without a little karaoke. Abby and Izzy sang "Catch a Falling Star."

Thanks again to everyone for all of their love and support! I couldn't have done it without you!

A Trip Down Memory Lane

My last day of clinical rotations EVER is tomorrow and it is hard to believe that 8 years of higher education are almost complete. The last 4 years of pharmacy school feel like a dream in a way. All of the lectures, exams, late nights, and early mornings are a blur...I wonder if that is a coping mechanism of some sort. Ten years from now I might not remember that if you add a halogen to the ring structure of a TCA it increases serotonin selectivity, but I will remember the good memories (in spite of the stress there were some good times), and the people that I met along the way. Here is a glimpse of the good times:

Disclaimer: This post will likely be painfully boring for everyone in the world except me. I won't fault you if you decide not read further.

My first semester of pharmacy started with the white coat ceremony. Here is me, Carl, and Grandma Darylene afterwards.
The summer following first year I attended a weeklong seminar hosted by the U on alcoholism and drug abuse. I received elective credit for attending and overall it was a great experience. This is me and a few of my classmates on the last day.

Later that same summer I volunteered as a counselor at a summer camp for kids with diabetes (I received elective credit for this as well). This is me at dinner with the girls in my cabin.

The camp was held near Tooele and one day during the week they bussed us into town to the waterpark. This is me with my classmates Andrea and JulieAnn. Julie is one of my best friends in pharmacy school...without her I would likely be in a straight jacket in a padded room somewhere.

During third year I was in charge of organizing the 4th Annual University of Utah College of Pharmacy Easter Egg Hunt for Children with Diabetes (try saying that 5 times fast). Walgreens sponsored the event and the kids and their siblings received lots of sugar-free candy and toys. We had a good turnout, great weather, and lots of volunteer support. This may have been the most stressful endeavor I undertook in pharmacy school, but also the most rewarding.

This is a picture of the kids crowding around the toy table. They received little tickets in their eggs and were able to redeem them here. We also had clowns, magicians, face-paintings, and pictures with the Easter Bunny.

Carl and I attended a random assortment of get-togethers and holiday parties with my classmates. It was always nice to spend time outside of class with my friends from school and their significant others. There were only 45 of us in the program, so after 4 years you get to know each other pretty well. This picture was taken at a Christmas party (I don't recall if it was 1st or 2nd year). We had a gingerbread house contest....

...and a white elephant gift exchange. The box in the middle of this picture contains a live rooster. I don't remember laughing so hard in my life at the expression on the face of the person who opened this box.

We finished all of our classwork last April before beginning clinical rotations. Pharmacy school would not be complete without burning three years worth of lecture notes over a bonfire and then roasting marshmallows over it.

Last but not least, pharmacy school would definitely not be complete without getting together and hitting a pinata representing our least favorite professors (wow! this post makes us all look so violent. I promise it was all done in fun and that we are not a group of malicious future pharmacists! I guess everybody needs to burn off steam once in a while). Phung, the girl in my class who brought the pinata, couldn't find one with a white coat on so an Elvis in a white suit holding a counting spatula had to suffice. This is Jake, my friend who hosted the event (which actually took place last Saturday), holding the pinata. If you ever read this Jake I apologize in advance for posting your picture on my blog but your face says it all.

A group picture taken after the pinata bashing...

Now that pharmacy school is over it is fun to remember the good times. Thanks for the memories!