Phineas & Ferb

JD has been studying super hard after long days of class.  This usually entails him coming home in time for dinner and then studying after dinner until bedtime.  I am so grateful he is dedicated to school and wanting to do well, but sometimes you just need to break up the day and relax a little bit.  This week began what has become one of my favorite parts of my day.  After we clean up dinner we sit down and watch an episode of Phineas & Ferb.  It is a good chance for JD to relax, and it is a great time for me to cuddle and watch a fantastic cartoon.  This has turned into our mini daily date night-dinner and a cartoon.  I love it!

The Speths

International Rose Test Garden

It is still so strange to me that we can drive to downtown Portland in 20 minutes.  After a long week, JD and I went to the International Rose Test Gardens for a change of scenery before he spent the rest of his Saturday studying.  It was overcast and cool, a very welcome change from the 100 degree sunny weather we have had the past week.  We had fun walking around taking pictures, sniffing roses, and looking at the names of all the different roses.  They have everything from Fragrant Cloud to Betty Boop to Ketchup and Mustard.  I was a fan of the Octoberfest Roses (second ones down on the left), and that was even before I knew what they were named.  It was a quick get away and it was fantastic.

Mi Casa

My mom really wants to see pictures of the apartment, so while we aren't done with everything, and some things have already changed from when I took these this is the overall gist of where we live!

Top Left: Dining Area

Top Right: Bedroom

Middle Row: 1 & 2 Second Bedroom, acting as JD's library/study area/office

Middle Row: 3 & 4 main bathroom and master bathroom

Bottom: 1 & 2 Living Room, wall cutout looks into the kitchen, Right: Kitchen

The couch faces out onto our patio that is a lovely view of a bunch of trees.  We are so happy here and it feels more like home every day. I will post more pictures when I finish some projects up.

Olympic Withdrawel

I love the olympics.  I think they are wonderful.  I love watching the athletes do amazing things.  I love muting the dumb commentators.  I love that once every two years political agendas can be pushed aside and that athletes can compete for the love of sport despite wars and grudges and all of the crap that goes on.

The olympics this year have been a bit of a lifesaver for me.  While I was packing I was able to follow the events during the day.  When we got to Oregon and JD started classes three days later I had something to preoccupy my time.  Now they are over and I am in trouble.  I went from being a full time graduate student working two jobs to only having to worry about what to cook for dinner.  I need a job, and a hobby, and a project or I am going to go crazy.

So, thank you London Olympics 2012, for keeping my sanity a little bit longer, for inspiring, for taking up my time, and for just being the cool thing you were.

Portland Temple

We made it to the Portland Temple yesterday and it was wonderful!  Per the usual standard here, it is surrounded by trees and forest, so it was hard to get a full picture of it because of how big it is and the trees all around, but it is beautiful.  With Ogden closed we have had a minimum 40 minute commute to a temple this past year so it was really exciting to find that we were only 20 minutes away.  We are very grateful to have a temple so close and for the blessings that come from these sacred places.

White Coats & Badges

JD had his white coat ceremony this evening.  It was a pretty neat event, personnally I am glad that they started on time and that it didn't last forever.  So now he is as official as he can get until he passes his boards in three years and can have fun studying, testing, and working at clinicals in the mean time.  We are super excited and are looking forward to what this experience has in store.