Happy Halloween!

Alright, so another two weeks went by even though I said I wasn't going to wait so long to post again. What can I say, I've been busy. And my schedule wipes me out by the end of the week. So here goes...


Last weekend, Jeff and I headed up to Monterey for our anniversary trip from July. Our first stop was the aquarium, which is always a lot of fun. They have a special exhibit on seahorses right now. Some of them were pretty funky looking! My favorite is always the otters, and even though I know they can be really mean, those cute little faces get me every time! And yes, we even went through all the little kid sections too. How can you not feel like a kid at the aquarium!





After we were finished there, we walked around Cannery Row for a while before checking into our hotel. Our hotel ended up being only 2 blocks from Fisherman's Wharf, so we headed over there for dinner and had some delicious seafood...well I did anyway. We didn't stay up late...in fact, I apparently was out cold and snoring by 9:30. The next day we slept in (I believe I got 11 hours of sleep), enjoyed our complimentary breakfast, and then headed back to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch before heading out of town.


We decided to take the long way home along Highway 1. The water was absolutely gorgeous, with beautiful shades of turquoise blue. Even though it took us about an hour and a half longer, I'm glad we went that way. We stopped to see the elephant seals too. None of the big (ugly) males were there, but there quite a few juveniles who were in no rush to move further south. I wouldn't mind be lazy and laying out on the beach all warm and toasty in the sun. Sounds pretty nice to me. Although, I'll pass on being chased by killer whales and great white sharks! All in all, it was a terrific weekend and a fun getaway, and I'm glad we finally got to do it.




My rotation has been going well. I can't believe I've already finished 3 weeks. I've been taking more and more patients on by myself, and this next Thursday and Friday I'll have my own schedule while my CI will be out of town. I'm really enjoying this rotation (I was pretty sure I would), and I know I'm learning a lot and having to challenge myself...which is always good, although it sure does use a lot of my energy.

For Halloween, we've carved our pumpkins and bought candy, although we're not expecting any trick-or-treaters. We dressed up on Friday at work, with most of the staff dressing up as different color crayons. They even made a giant crayon box to pose with. Very cute. I bought a $5 trick or treat shirt from Target, and made a sign at work that said "Starving Student: Will give joint mobilizations for food."

In other news, my good friend Jocelyn and her husband Shaun just found out that they are expecting another baby. Congrats Wharton family! Abby will make a terrific big sister!

That about wraps things up. Don't forget to change your clocks tonight. Woohoo for an extra hour of sleep! Hope you have a fun and safe Halloween. Can't wait to see pictures of everyone's costumes!

The SLO life, and much more...

I am officially moved up to SLO and am living the grand SLO life. I moved up 2 weeks ago (sorry for the delay), and had a few days to run errands, unpack, and get used to living in the area again. I had forgotten about the onramp/offramp situation, which for any of you who have visited up here know what I'm talking about. It didn't take me long to get used to it again though.

The first weekend up here we went to Oktoberfest at the Old Vienna Restaurant in Pismo. I recognized a lot of songs from all the Oktoberfests I attended as a kid. They had this awesome polka band of 3 older guys called Trio Internationale that played traditional polkas, as well as covers of such songs as "White Wedding", "Shout", "Lowrider", and "You've Gotta Fight For Your Right...To Polka!" You can check out their myspace page here. I've gotta say they kept the dance floor packed all night. They definitely were the highlight of the night.




Then I started up my 2nd 8-week rotation at San Luis Sports Therapy. My commute is now only 30 minutes, with guaranteed no traffic. Sweet! My schedule is less than ideal, working 10.5 hours on Mon/Wed/Fri and 5.5 hours on Tues/Thurs, but the half days sure are nice!. My CI used to work with professional athletes in the Chicago area, and definitely has a lot of things to teach me. I have homework almost every night, which I'm not a fan of, but I know it's only making me a more well-rounded therapist. I can tell I'm going to gain a lot from this rotation, and should soon have my own schedule of patients. 1 week down already!

This past weekend my mom came up to look at a couple wedding locations and attend the Central Coast Bridal Fair/Expo. We visited two sites: Santa Margarita Ranch and Spanish Oaks Ranch, both in Santa Margarita. I had high hopes and good feelings about these two, so my fingers were definitely crossed on our way out to see them. I've been in contact with these two locations for quite some time now. Spanish Oaks ended up being a lot smaller than it appeared online (again, pictures are deceiving), and wasn't quite what we wanted despite being beautiful.

Santa Margarita Ranch (SMR) on the other hand was amazing! I really can't describe this place in its entirety, because you really just have to see it yourself. The ranch was a resting place between missions way back in the day, as well as a stop for the Wells Fargo Stagecoach. The barn (which can fit up to 300 guests) has the original stone walls inside, and has been built up/around it. There's an old movie theater sign, windmill, wishing well, oh yes...and a railroad...with old train cars from Disneyland! There's a gorgeous garden area to have the ceremony in, with a giant oak tree. SMR is actually a working cattle ranch and vineyard too. I really didn't think Jeff was going to like it because I'll admit, it's pretty darn country. But he actually said he liked it! Woohoo! The layout, history, and natural beauty of it all is sure going to be hard to beat, and to be honest, I'm not sure I really want to look at any other places. Now we just have to figure out if we can afford it. Ah, the life of budgets! My mom took pictures, but an old friend from dance, who now happens to be a photographer in the area (that we ran into at the bridal fair), recently shot a wedding there, which you can see the photos here: Chloe : Mike Larson Photography, Inc: Home on the Range: Andrew & Sara to give you a better idea of what it's like.

At the bridal fair/expo there were over 120 local vendors including DJ's, coordinators, locations, bakeries, caterers, photographers, florists, etc. A little overwhelming, but very nice to have it all in one spot. I found a DJ that I like a lot (in fact, after 2 other ones I stopped talking to the other DJ's because none of them seemed to compare...plus other photographers and caterers raved about him. SOLD!), a bakery with amazing cake (yes, there were some with not-so-amazing cake, which I think is a crime), and a florist who stood out from the rest. As far as caterers and photographers, well I'm just not going to worry about that yet. Too many options that I'll slowly have to filter through.

We also went to the pumpkin patch at the Avila Valley Barn, which is full of tractor rides, animals, home-made ice cream and pies, a hay maze, and produce (most of which you can pick yourself during the year). Jeff and I both said how much fun it would be to take Grady here. All the kids (big or small) love it! It was way too crowded when we went on Saturday, so we went back on Sunday morning when there were much fewer people. It's a popular place this time of year!


Alright, I should probably wrap this up. Lots to talk about. This should teach me not to wait so long to post next time. And the reason this is being written in the middle of the day is because I'm home from work with a cold. It's been a battle against a sore throat, stuffy/runny nose, and cough and I didn't really want to get the patients and co-workers sick. I'll go in tomorrow no matter what, but this morning when I still couldn't breathe and felt like my head was in a fog, I decided it was best that I stay home. Back to resting up, studying, and doing laundry...

Rotation #1...check!

Number of miles put on my car: 4800
Longest commute: 1 hour, 47 minutes
Shortest commute: 45 minutes
Number of Armenian phrases learned: 10
Number of pounds lost: 8.5
Number of times I passed out: 0
Number of days left: 0

It's official...I finished my first rotation! I can't believe how quickly it flew past, but I am very happy to be finished. I gained a lot of experience these past 8 weeks, building up my confidence and perfecting my skills. I will not miss the commute or waking up at the buttcrack of dawn. I don't think I've ever worked so hard physically, at least not in a while. The proof is in the weight loss up there. Hello jumpstart to the wedding diet! I can now count in Armenian (well, to 4 anyway), as well as some other phrases. Of all the languages in the world, I would not have picked Armenian to be the next one I'd be learning. On the last day, my CI brought in bagels, cream cheese and OJ and made me a good luck sign. It was a very weird day, with 6 patients either refusing treatment or not being able to be seen for one reason or another. It was surreal driving home, knowing that I wouldn't be driving back there on Monday morning. Surreal, but very satisfying. :) Now all that's left for me to do is turn in my paperwork, which I'll be dropping off at school on Monday.

This week I'll be moving up to SLO, which has served as motivation these past 8 weeks. I knew that once I got through this rotation, I'd get to be with Jeff for 3 months. If that's not motivation, I don't know what is! Now it's time to pack my stuff up again (didn't I just do this?!) and prepare to freeze my butt off. I know, I'm a wimp. But after living in triple digit weather for half the year, I am not used to the cool weather. I know I'll get used to it, but there will be lots of layers on me until then!

Yesterday my mom and I went to my friend Jocelyn's daughter's 1st birthday party. You may remember me talking about little Miss Abby. I'm her "auntie", and love spending time with the cutie pie. She will be the second flower girl in the wedding, accompanying Miss Sofia down the aisle (and Grady too!). She didn't really know what to do with the cake, and just picked at it and stared at everyone, wondering why all of a sudden watching her eat was so interesting. And she was more interested in the cards and tissue paper than the gifts themselves. Very cute, and I'm so happy I was actually in town for the celebration! Happy birthday Abby!