New Orleans Trip

November 1-4, 2009
I was nominated SAA (Student Advocate Association)Historian and so I was asked to travel to the AOA (American Osteopathic Association) Conference in New Orleans. Lauren Rigby (Secretary) and I traveled to her home town in North Carolina to fly out on a cheaper flight.

I had never been to New Orleans so I made sure to take plenty of pictures. As a member of the SAA we were expected to network mostly so had a lot of free time to explore. I thought I'd see a lot of the hurricane devastation but I didn't see anything but the painted X's which meant dead bodies had been discovered at that specific location.

During the conference, a new president was nominated. A traditional New Orleans band played as we made our way to lunch. It was catchy music, the kind that makes you want to dance. I didn't dance, it's hard to do when your surrounded by people who don't dance at all. It was fun to notice all the employees in the hotel dancing around as we walked by.

Supposedly Bourbon street is the partier street, 24/7 partying happens on this street. The bronze and gold street entertainers reminded me of Las Vegas. I thought the buildings were pretty interesting, they called it the French quarters but they building seemed to have a lot of Spanish influence.


This funky car reminded me of Chicago, I always wonder what state of mind the person gluing useless trinkets onto a car is in. I just noticed that the drivers side windows asks for donations. Hmm...


Here is one of the many cruise dinner boats. We were so excited for a meal until I realized it was a buffet. Mass produced food doesn't really sit well with me, I told my husband it's because he's spoiled me and we enjoy qualitiy over quantity. It was really disappointing because everyone raved about Creole food. I was thinking Creole like my Grandma Nativa's cooking, but I've discovered that my Grandma's cooking is more influenced by Spanish rather than Creole French. I miss my grandmas rice and beans and fried plantain yum.





My old roommate from UCLA is from Louisiana so I made sure to call her so we could meet up. She took us to the airport (Thankfully we didn't want to pay another $40 to a crazy taxi driver). Unfortunately we were running so late I didn't get a chance to take a picture with her. I'm still sad about it. This is her son Steven, isn't he so cute? Stephanie and I ended up getting married a week apart a year after we had been roommates. It was fun to catch up with her, it's been almost 3 years since we were roommates.

A book worth reading

Since moving to West Virginia I've taken up reading. We live literally 10 steps from the library so I've tried to check out a couple books a week. One book on CD for the long drive to work and a book to read in bed. When I was a little girl I read so much, but I have yet to find any books that I can't put down. Some books catch my interest but then crude language and other nonessential descriptions drive me to want to burn books. I usually end up returning the book to the library once I discover that it is not worth reading ("This much I know is true" is one of those books).

I've been wanting to read this book "Stolen Lives" since I watched Malika's interview on Oprah in 2001. I never got around to it because I was so busy with college. This book is about the Oufkir family and their lives before and during 20 years in prison. I'm a pessimist by nature but I try really hard to catch myself and be more positive. The hardships the Oufkirs faced were crazy but they were optimistic and I believe that's how they eventually escaped. This book is definitely worth reading, I rate it 5 stars!

Stay tuned to hear about my adventure to Louisiana and my visit back home to Utah:)

October in West Virginia

Did I mention how beautiful the drive is to work is each day? I've been leaving a bit early each day to take pictures. My camera tends to go everywhere with me now. The fog is so thick that I feel like I'm in a dream. Now I understand why there is so much road kill, often people can't see more than five feet in front of them. One day I saw a huge hog (the kind my family would roast over an open fire pit:) in the middle road. I nearly had to come to a complete stop to get around it because it was so big.I think it broke lose from a nearby farm.





The Greenbrier river laces through out Greenbrier County, the fog is so thick that the river is barley visible


This is by far the straightest stretch of the drive into work. I didn't dare stand in the middle of a curvy road.





This is Skofeild, after work he is so worked up to get out of the house. This week he has regressed into chewing things once again. Of course it's always my stuff...another favorite pair of shoes and a library book. For now Skofeild is back in the cage once again, he's pretty miserable now.



We went to a Corn Maze with the Norths, at Union town. It was fun to get away on a double date.




My cute honey bun!

Good News Announcements!

GOOD NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT #1 Derek passed his Anatomy class!!!!!!!!!!!! and has moved on to Bio-Chemistry and Micro-Anatomy. No more gorey details on the extractions of body organs and onto topics that interest me like Nonmendelian genetics or inheritance. I'm curious to know what our children will look like since I'm such a mixture of races myself, who knows what the dominate features will be:)

GOOD NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT #2 I got a JOB!,I GOT A JOB hey HEY hey!!! Por Fin!!! I am the receptionist at the Greenbrier Academy School for Girls(http://www.greenbrieracademy.com/). I know it doesn't sound glorious considering the fact that I never imagined I'd be working as a receptionist after slaving to earn my Bachelors degree. I've had to step back an eat some HUMBLE pie because West Virginia is not Utah and I had reduce my high expectations. I've been job hunting since Derek got accepted to medical school back in January. My main disappointment in my job hunt was the high credential expectations, low pay and no benefits. I'm extremely thankful to say that this job offers benefits, which we can not live with out. The drive is a bit far, but it is so beautiful. Most of the drive I can see the Greenbrier River and the fall leaves are so bright. I'll be commuting 30 minutes to and 30 minutes from the Academy (I haven't done that since I commuted to the University of Utah each day from Taylorsville) so I plan to get a couple books on CD to maximize my time in the car. I'm so excited, it feels good to know that we will no longer have to totally live off our future unearned income.

Will I Ever get Used to this?

SOME THINGS I JUST CAN'T SEEM TO GET USED TO...

- The relatively short lines at Wal-mart (due to the small population of our town) but the long wait due to the cashier catching up on the latest gossip.
- Drivers slowing down to a complete stop before turning into their chosen destination.
- Drivers merging into traffic only to slam on their brakes
- Big huge loud trucks that like to ride on my bumper!
- Extremely slow drivers
- Hitch hikers...I watch way too much CSI to pick up random strangers
- One lane windy, curvy roads always that make me so nauseous
- Creepy crawling pests in my house! If it's not the mice, it's the fleas, if its not the fleas, its the meal worms that have invaded my cupboards!. Yesterday i spent the majority of the day cleaning...this morning i woke up to more. Can anyone give me advice as to how to eliminate these pantry pests? I found them in my flower, rice, pasta and I've thrown it all out. What more can I do?

SOME THINGS I Love ABOUT OUR HOME (away from home of course!)...

- The misty early morning and fresh unpolluted air
- The hospitality of the majority of the people here
- The great friends that surround us
- Drivers who yield and let me through when they don't have to

HYSTERIA...well almost!

This is mi madre (my mom) Cindy for all those who have never met her, here she is:)I couldn't find a picture of her with out sun glasses on, this is one of the most recent picture I took during the summer. I'm sure I have other pictures in my blog somewhere if you really want to see her with out sun glasses.


Last week my mom called me one last time before she departed on her flight booked with Air New Zealand heading to American Samoa for a 5 day vacation (why Samoa you might ask when she is of Tongan decent? She claims that Samoa is much more beautiful than Tonga and Samoa is a bit more modernized than Tonga). Since I've moved to West Virgina, I talk to mom once sometimes twice a day. So you might understand why this week seemed like the longest week of my life, we swap recipes and talk about the latest contestants on the Biggest Loser sometimes mom calls just to tell me what she's eating (it's usually fish which we crave since moving here, we no longer get coolers of fresh fish shipped from San Fransisco).

When I asked my mom to leave me a number to reach her she said she'd be too busy having fun and seeing the sights. She said five days is not too long and not to worry. I called her Thursday and left a message, I was anxious to see how her trip was(and of course what she brought back for me:). She was scheduled to return home on Tuesday. I still hadn't heard from her by lunch time on Tuesday so I decided to call her again, I had no luck so I left her another message. In the evening, while returning home from the gym I heard via radio that Samoa was being evacuated due to an earthquake.

I quickly called my brother who advised me to calm down and that mom should be OK. Less than an hour later my brother called to inform me of a Tsunami and the 37 and counting deaths. We were both freaking out so we continued to try contacting mom with no luck. By 10pm my brother decided to contact the Red Cross and I decided to call the Air port (the news reported that many had gone to the air port seeking emergency shelter). Before I called the airport, I called mom one last time and to my surprise she picked up. It sounded as if she had been sleeping, I was so relieved to hear her voice I nearly cried. She informed me that they had barley missed the earthquake, their flight arrived at 2pm. Mom said many of the sights that she had visited are completely destroyed. We're so relieved that you are o.k mom and we are still praying for the families who continue to be affected by the adverse weather conditions especially our family in Tonga.

Pocahantas County Treasures...

We actually did more than attend the White Coat Ceremony when my father-in-law was here. Thanks to our adventurous friends (the Norths), they suggested we visit a few parks that they had enjoyed. I of course had my camera and I wanted to test out different settings on my camera, I love taking great shots. I would have taken a lot more if I didn't feel like I was slowing others down. Here are few pictures from our trip to Bear Town and the Falls of Hills Creek.



Bear Town, it was neat to see all the rock formations. I don't have many pics of Skofeild because he was driving us nuts!...me particularly because he whines during the whole car trip, it was like driving to West Virginia from Utah all over again.





My handsome honey:)



Can you tell these two were DONE with me acting like the paparazzi?



Derek is on his last stretch to completing Anatomy. His last test, the Head and Neck is scheduled on October 5Th 2009 (we plan a big celebration that day!). We keep thinking that after Anatomy, things will get easier because Derek constantly talks about his brain being filled to its maximum capacity. Realistically, we know school will get a lot harder. Derek has learned SO much in just the first two months of school, I'm excited for him to learn about nutrition and embryology, I love to learn from what he is learning.

I continue to be amazed at how keeping up the household responsibilities takes up the majority of my time. I started volunteering for the Gateway three times a week. I tutor a young gal with her drivers ed material. Thankfully, I don't have to assist her in the actually driving because we all know how startled I get in a car when I'm not the one behind the wheel! I was also nominated as the Historian for the SAA Student Advocate Association group. I have a conference scheduled in New Orleans in November so I have a fun girls trip to look forward to.