closer and closer

Well, time has dwindled down and there is only ONE more day until I start PA school.  Holy Moly.  I have been dreaming of this day for a very, very long time and it has finally arrived!  We have two days of orientation and then two days of classes, so at least we will ease in slowly.  I say that now, but come next weekend I am sure I will already be knee deep in studying and preparation.  Luckily I have two dear Bike & Build friends coming for a quick visit, so I've got some fun to look forward to!  I really do feel as ready as I think I ever will be.  To prepare I have been:

1. Reviewing medical terminology, woo hoo?
2. Spending as much time as possible with my sister, who is moving on Tuesday during my first day of orientation!  We have been meeting for coffee, happy hour, scooter rides, goodwill trips, runs on MackWorth Island, and general sisterly times.  It has been AMAZING to live in the same city as her, and though I am super bummed it will be coming to an end all too soon, I am super excited for the gigantic graduation party we will co-host two years from now when we both finish grad school.  Get your party hats ready, it will be here before you know it!!
3. Finishing up the stray books I have been reading.  I know I won't have time to read them during school, and I probably won't remember a single thing about them once school is over, so it is now crunch time to finish my leisure reads!
4. Cooking with my siblings on the rare occasion we are all in town at the same time.  Mmmm we can really whip up some tasty food, and we take those opportunities as often as possible.  Last week we made a variation on shrimp gumbo and grits with cornbread, this morning we had a sort of huevos rancheros breakfast pile of tastiness and tonight I think we may grill in what just might be my first time ever grilling with my brother.  It's a good life!
5. I think that's about all that I have been doing aside from endless car stuff, boring old preparation stuff, and going to the gym.  All of which sucks up time but isn't exciting to do let alone hear about. 

So that's about it.  Tomorrow will come, and hopefully starting will help to relieve my anxiety in a way.  I'll let you know how week one goes, and feel free to direct all your positive energy my way!

a visitor!

We recently had the pleasure of our first out of town visitor in the form of JP's mom Judy!  She flew in from Alabama to check out our new town and see us before the chaos of school makes visits all but impossible.  We were busy almost the entire time, showing her all of our new favorite spots (thank you Emily and Joe!), eating amazing food, and walking around.  JP had to work so we showed up at his office for lunch everyday and took him out.  I thought it might be harder to host someone when we are so new here ourselves, but this is such a beautiful city that there is a lot to do!  We even found time to drive up to Freeport and check out the flagship L.L.Bean store and the outlets around there.  It was a fun adventure, and we loved having her!

let's cook some lobster!

Ohh it is once again birthday time for JP, and we had a nice celebration! His day started out just fine with a birthday whoopie pie party at work during which he probably ingested enough sugar for the entire day at 10am.  I was busy making a sign and finishing up my presents and running down to the wharf to pick up my live present for him.  When he got home and I directed him to the large bag jammed into the fridge that was emitting a faint pinching sound, I think he might have had a few misgivings about the whole thing but he didn't back down!  He miight have yelled at me for taking pictures while he was super freaked out and trying to grab them with the pot holders on his hands, so instead I have one of him peering into the bag.

Ha, just take that expression and mentally add some potholders onto his hands and you can imagine how hilarious the scene was.

We finished off the night with my first homemade cheesecake (with finely chopped pecans as the main ingredient in the crust, yum!) and then drinks with Joe.  It was quite lovely!

picnic at the beach

I know I haven't posted any pictures of our place yet, but I promise I will very soon!  We have been busy lately with boring stuff; car repairs, car shopping, excise taxes, studying and working to name just a few.  With Joe back in the country (and state) and Emily finishing her last day of work, it was high time for some nature.  After a failed attempt to catch the ferry to Peak's Island, we regrouped and made a new plan.  Joe, JP and I biked across the bridge to South Portland and over to Willard Beach for a little sunset wine and cheese.  Emily met up with us, and we just relaxed, munched and took in the scenery. We have landed in quite a beautiful place, and I for one feel extremely lucky to be back near water again.  Mountains are gorgeous, but I just love me some water. 

Joe just got back from a tour in Europe and his love of cheese his been ignited.  We feasted on a few new (to us) varieties and sampled some salami and prosciutto as well.  This was all a lead up to a homemade Joe Walsh risotto dinner back at our place.  The evening was completed with carmel salted maine ice cream, a perfect ending to a great day, and another great way to welcome this new city into our lives.

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!