building up

 After biting the bullet and signing on for $65,000 worth of student loans (!), I've been ordering some of my books.  I got all of them used and most for a substantially lower price than what they retail for so I'm feeling pretty good!  Not when I think about the price, so I am just not thinking about it right now!  Six of them came in the mail today and I took the opportunity to start organizing my desk.  It's actually more of a table that could probably seat five or six and less of a desk, but to me it's the perfect size.  I am a spreader when it comes to studying, and after spending last semester overtaking the kitchen table, I knew that I would need something spacious.  Luckily our apartment is much larger than our last place, and both of our "desks" fit comfortably in our office with room to spare.

 

Getting things set up on my desk and paging through my new books is making me excited for all the things I am going to learn in the near future.  JP thinks I'm a little weird because even though I have spent most of my life in school, I still get nerdily excited for learning.  It's true!  Which is probably a great thing because in the medical field you have to commit to being basically a forever student, and loving to learn seems like an excellent prerequisite. 

 

Adding to the list of my nerdery, is this cool copy of Gray's Anatomy that I found at the thrift store for only 89 cents!  I know I will have anatomy coming out of my ears soon, but I couldn't resist buying this.  It has 780 illustrations!

And last but not least is what I am currently studying.  We have a medical terminology test the first week of class and I am not about to risk failing my first exam!  I kept my textbook for just such a reason, and I had forgotten that there are flashcards in the back and an interactive cd!  Woot!  Flashcards are my best friends, and I am going to take them to the park with me right now.

scoot pursuit!

My brother Joe had his bicycle stolen right around the time we moved to town.  He spotted it in the Old Port chained to a sign, but when he returned with a bike lock of his own it was already gone!  We have all been on the look out for his red canondale ever since, but yesterday Emily and I took it to a new level.

After a few days of rain we finally had a windy, sunny day and we took to the streets scooter style!  It actually turned out to be the perfect mode of transport for stolen bicycle investigating.  It isn't too fast, you can quickly pull over just about anywhere and you look awesome while sleuthing around!  We rode around for about an hour without many bicycle sightings of any kind and decided we will have to reconvene once it is less windy and more consistently sunny.  Either way it was a great time!

moving

 

Before I tell you about the amazing place we are living in and all the fun things we have seen and done since arriving in our new city, I will tell you a bit about the moving.  As you might imagine, moving an entire house between just the two of us was kind of stressful.  Add to that two dogs who were in a panic about what was happening around them and terrified of being left behind, and it gets a little worse.  The whole packing, lifting, shuffling, heaving, arranging and cleaning portion of the journey is probably best left not remembered.  It was looong and sweaty and back aching and long.  I always forget about that part and how stressful and strenuous it is, I just like to remember how exciting moving is and how much fun a new place will be to decorate and a new city will be to explore and omit in my memory the parts that suck.  Unfortunately they still exist, but FORTUNATELY I am in the finish part and I can begin the work of remembering how great moving is and forgetting how horrible it can be so that I will be ready to be excited the next time around!

We have been incredibly fortunate in the weather department since we arrived, but I am currently cozied down with a fresh steaming cop of coffee sitting by the window watching and listening to the rain outside and I thought it just might be the perfect time to blog a little.  Rainy days are glorious for me still, although that will probably change pretty quickly, because it barely ever rained in Denver.  Here it has been drizzly, wet, and windy since yesterday and it's been lovely.  Sometimes I think Denver made me forget how brilliantly green grass can be over large spaces, but the park we live across from is doing a good job of reminding me. 

The pups did an amazing job once we finally got out on the open road.  The four of us crammed into the tiny cab of the truck actually wasn't too bad!  I think they were so incredibly exhausted from constantly making sure we hadn't moved without them that once they saw we would all be jammed in close they just passed out cold.  It was kind of a miracle, but they sure were more than ready for a beach run when we finally arrived!