Achievements with a Sour Note

It has been a rough couple of weeks, lately.  We are both still finding it difficult to tap into our “motivated greatness”.  Who can blame us, though – with an exhausting schedule of juggling rotations through the MRI lab at the hospital, work, the gym… and then homework?  It just doesn’t sound quite as enticing as cuddling on the couch to unwind and catch up with Thursday’s comedy block on the DVR.

For all Melissa’s hard work, however, she got her little ol’ picture in the little local paper.  She spent her weekend of work at the Klamath County Library demonstrating Border’s fancy e-reader, the KOBO, during a community workshop. She now knows everything you could ever wonder about the KOBO, in case you’re interested! (you can come see her yourself at Border’s on 6^th Street!)

And, although the weekend is approaching rather quickly, relieving our little minds of having to ‘cram’ for quizzes for a day or two, it has brought with it a somber mood.

Melissa’s precious little firecracker of a Grandma was the unfortunate victim of a stroke. Although her spirit cannot be broke so easily, we ask for you to send your thoughts and wishes along for the best recovery that we can hope for!

WE LOVE YOU GRANDMA!!  Xoxo

I Think It's A New Year!

“A new year started and all I got was this lousy new year” or at least that’s how it seems.  New years aren’t really all that exciting when you spend them in Klamath Falls.  Celebrating our 4^th New Years, me and Chad rang in 2011 cuddled on the couch watching some skinhead-vampire-zombie creatures turning everyone into demons, while intermittently going out in the sub-freezing garage to kick around the heater to try and keep it going.  Yes, Happy New Year, indeed.  Off to a great start.

If that wasn’t fantastic enough, we had a day to recover from our 2 am night before we found ourselves dragging backpacks into a fishbowl classroom, where we got to watch an enthralling video about MRI magnets that had to have been made around 1990.

That Wednesday was my birthday, and I had a refreshing day to myself – off of work while Chad slaved away at GNC – and was able to clean house before we fell too far into stress and homework that we lost half of our possessions beneath a scattered wardrobe and an inch of dust.  It went well, and was a rather laid back week, considering the coming onslaught of weeks ahead.

Chad's Bigger-than-your-face Pancake

Friday we set off for an adventurous birthday retreat, planned by Chad.  He managed to keep me out of the loop for months and I had no idea where we were zipping off to!  We found ourselves in Portland before the end of the night, however, our jaws on the floor after hearing about the $33 per night required valet fee.  So much for fine print – we just didn’t know Portland norms.

We enjoyed food-network –personality favorites at Podna’s BBQ, and Stepping Stone café (where Chad ate a pancake bigger than his face…almost) and were driven mad trying to find our way around town and out of Powell’s (putting my Klamath Falls Border’s to absolute shame!). We enjoyed a “Beyond Bizarre” late-night tour of Portland, where we got to experience the insane midnight clubbing culture of Portland’s streets, heard about some famous hauntings, and got a complimentary (and Delicious!) voo-doo donut.  We also got to  see and try some of the most expensive chocolates we’ve ever seen – supposedly from “Switzerland”.

M and C looking for Ghosts on the Beyond Bizarre Tour

By the time Sunday morning came, we hauled our luggage across the street to our car, spent with trying to figure out maps and babbling about directions.  Frustrated, and accepting the demoted title of “small-city people” in place of our “big-city” claim, we picked up a farewell box of Voo-doo donuts and some Seattle’s Best before heading South.

As we headed home, we took a trip down memory lane.  We dropped by Albany and Corvallis, where Chad and I first moved in together.  We stopped to take a picture of our first apartment, knowing it would probably be the last time we saw it.  We drove around our old stomping ground, remarking on all that has changed in the however many years since we left, reflecting on all the complaining that we did when we lived there, too.  It felt oddly comforting to see it all – the green campus of OSU, the yuppy little electric golf carts zipping around, my old work place – even the dreary skies and rain were the same!

            I couldn’t help but wonder, as we drove the long empty highway back to the 5, whether someday Klamath Falls would be the same way for us someday – coming back years down the road and feeling a sense of homeliness. Enjoying the sights and the memories of all the complaints said about this truck-stop in life.  But the thought quickly vanished as the rain turned in to snow, we lost our radio reception, the temperatures dipped to the low teens, and we rounded the hills towards the view of the “lake”.

            Perhaps Klamath will be just that – a truck-stop – but nonetheless we are here for another 5 months.  And, if we’re lucky, we’ll at least be able to look back on Klamath as “that truck-stop that got us to Australia”. 

At our last meeting with the program director, we were told that the needed documents are with the DOJ awaiting a final sign-off before we can continue forward.  I guess they have to make sure that the state of Oregon has legal claim to us in the contract Australia has to sign.  Apparently, when you’re dealing with things on the State Level, they take a bit longer than any one concerned would like them to!

We’ll keep on plucking away at this ‘2011’ business, and hope everyone else does the same!

Deck the Halls and Spread the Cheer!

Ah, the holidays.  That time of year when you get in touch with family, miss the siblings you don’t see nearly enough, cuddle up and watch old movies while the snow dances in the blistering wind outside. That time of year when the weirdos across the street who turn their Christmas lights on every night of the year actually aren’t weird for it (for a few weeks). That time of year where – if you’re a student working in any type of retail or customer service position – you slop up every extra hour you can and worry about how you’re going to handle a full-time job out in that “real-world” you’ve been dreaming of for far too many years.   Ah yes, the holidays.

It is amazing how fast the month has flown by.  Scary in fact.  With so much on our personal to-do lists, it seems like we’ve had even less time to get around to making progress with them than we did during school!  Well… maybe I shouldn’t go THAT far, but it seems pretty dang close to being accurate!!

Work for both me and Chad got increasingly busy as the store-fronts became decked with elves and reindeer, and it wasn’t till Christmas was little more than a week away that we realized we were short on time for decorating our own place.  It came down to Chad stringing marrow with the trimmings, and nailing up a few lights outdoors. By the time we got that done, however, the Big Day was just around the corner.

Hundreds of cookies, fudge recipes, and sweet treats later, we found ourselves heading down to the city to spend Christmas Eve with the Olson’s.

We awoke Christmas morning, had our continental breakfast with numerous other hotel guests sitting mournfully alone, and a couple arguing and throwing a fit in front of their daughter. Quite depressing, really.

We visited the second side of the family, and raced the darkening skies home.  After a delicious Christmas dinner of just the two of us, we opened presents fireside.  A perfect ending to our little winter holiday!

We got a lot wonderful gifts, and a lot of wonderful responses to our blog.  We appreciate all of you keeping in touch and returning again and again to keep up on our adventures! A special thanks goes out to: Debbie, Derrill, Caro, and John and Amy. Thank you for your support!  We’re hoping that the blizzard we woke up to this morning is one of the last one’s we will ever have to see!! This time next year, we’re envisioning ourselves with tan cheeks, in tank tops and flip flops, and you all opening up our Christmas cards with pictures of us on the beach eating the freshest fish and chips you can find!!  At least that’s what’s been dancing in our heads instead of sugar plums lately!

With school starting up just one short week away, we should know once and for all whether or not those visions are merely that, or whether they are our dreams coming true! And, well, although I’ll be bogged down in 18 credits (6 classes) next term, Chad has what he is bragging as an “easy term”.  So, I wanted to get some insight from you guys, and see if you have any suggestions or ideas for fundraising?  What kind of things would you be willing to donate for if we were in your neighborhood?

Let’s give Chad something to do so he won’t get too bored next term (:

Thank You Everyone for the Wonderful Gifts!!  All the best for the coming year!!

Christmas Break & One Step Closer

Today marks our first week on Christmas break. I hate to say it but I am extremely happy to be done with the fall term. Even though my course load wasn’t massive, I found myself exhausted towards the end of the term. I am looking forward to a few weeks of relaxing, building a snow man with Melissa and getting back into the gym to really push myself to break some PR’s

On another bright note, OIT has decided to approve our Australia Endeavour! That’s right ladies and gentlemen; the school has finally come around and granted approval for Melissa and I to complete our final year of education Down Under. We have not gotten a signed contract from Flinders Medical center as of yet, but we are confident that the facility will not have any problems with the contract. Hopefully in a few weeks we will be able to tell you that the contract has been finalized and signed and that you can now begin donating your spare change (or spare dollars). As for now, keep the positive vibes headed our direction.

Thanks for the support, check back soon to see how things play out!

Chad

The End is Near...

Melissa's Pride and Joy 

Wow, Thanksgiving sure went by quick!  We hardly even noticed it here.  We enjoyed a yummy dinner with our Oregon family (aka Chad’s side) and I got to hear more childhood stories, and about the latest guns from all the guys. Chad managed to work up a sweat with the little ones outside in the near-freezing temperatures, and we managed to make it home without sliding off the roads through the canyon.

Our short-lived “break” (which is really a misnomer, because during college terms, there is no such thing as a day without so-much as stressing out about homework and exams) was exactly that – short lived – and bright and early the next morning we found ourselves dragging each other the radiology lab to practice our positioning; our practical was that Monday.  Followed by our Surgery and trauma exam.  Followed by our Pathology exam.  Followed by our Positioning exam.  The only thing “break”ing about our Thanksgiving Holiday was our pretty little images of that light at the end of the tunnel.

That's right - CUPCAKES!

By the end of the week, I think our exam scores definitely reflected the fact that we had passed the “burnt out” stage before even our first bite of turkey, but we made it through… and can’t be happier that the only thing between us and a study-free few weeks is, you guessed it, 3 more FINAL exams.

Between the increasingly heavier work-schedules (compliments of the holiday season) Chad and I have been holed up in the testing center at the school library studying away, occasionally eeking our way out to get some sleep, some food, or make a pitiful attempt at relaxing before the next morning comes and it starts all over again. Poor Chad, all he can think about is these dang finals charging towards us, and all I can think about is the crap I have to accomplish as soon as those dang finals are done – Christmas gifts, Christmas cards, Christmas plans…

Such hard work baking so many!

Just two more days, I whisper to myself, Just two more days.  Three exams. Two days. And then we are officially 1/3 closer to the Great Klamath Falls Escape!

So, I apologize for the severe lack of updates and current news lately (which we DO have news to update you on!) but I promise that just as soon as we reach that climactic end-of-term point, we will be back!  Hopefully you will be too, because we will be asking for your thoughts!