The Hazard Chronicles

-Before you read this next post, go back to last week and watch the video of Addy and Jack "exercising." I know it has taken a long time, but as promised, I finally posted it.-

For the past 24 years I have been enrolled in formal education. The only break in this learning streak has been the two years that I took off for a service mission in Brazil. Basically, school has been a very large part of my life for as long as I can remember. And I have to say, I think that I have gotten pretty good at it. But now that is all coming to a close.

Friday was my last day of formal education, probably, that I will ever have. I am done with school. It's over. This is as far as I go.

Do you know how bizarrely strange this is for me? Very.

Do you know how absolutely terrifying this is for me? Very.

Do you know how wonderfully exciting this is for me? Very.

Obviously I have some mixed feelings. This isn't the first time I have had these feelings though. When I went to Brazil, I first passed through what we call a Missionary Training Center (MTC). There, we focus most of our time on learning the language (in my case, it was Portuguese). And then after 6 short weeks of intense training, they set us lose on the world. The feelings that I have now are a lot like those that I had as I left the MTC. Yes, there was a certain dread of the unknown, but at the same time I felt like I had reached a plateau in my education, and I knew that unless I took this next step I would never go much farther than I already was.

School has been good to me. I have learned a lot. I have done a lot. But now I feel like I need to move on in order to really progress any farther. And I love learning! I am super excited to start seeing my own patients and putting into practice the things I have learned. I am excited about the experiences I will have that will allow me to go so much farther than I was ever able to in the confines of a learning institution. And I am really excited to never, EVER wear scrubs again (the pajama look, I think, just squashes any degree of professionalism that was ever there).

So here's what I have to say- Look out world, here I come. This is going to be a blast!

On Saturday we went to the park with some friends. Here are some pictures we took. I have the greatest kids in the world.

Oh, this felt good. Even at $4.00/gallon, gasoline has never been more worth it. (Yes, those are the horrid scrubs I have had to wear for the past four years)

Just as a side note, this recent increase in gas prices is coming at a very opportune moment for us. In about three weeks Rachel and I will be driving 2,400 miles in a truck that gets 8 miles (or less) to the gallon. This thought is almost as exciting as sitting and contemplating the loads of student loans I get to start paying on!

Rachel got to have a yard sale. As mentioned in earlier posts (5-30-2010), I am not too into the garage sale thing. Rachel, on the other hand, loves these events. Well, on Saturday, Rachel and a bunch of other people in our ward got together for a big fest of second-hand merchandise. At the rate that Rachel is selling our stuff we may not have to get that moving truck after all!

We were horrible parents and failed to dye eggs last week. I know- this is totally inexcusable and we should be cast into parent prison for our transgression of time-honored tradition. We tried to make up for it, however, by doing it on Monday for Family Night. Evelyn loved it. Adalie loved drinking the colored vinegar. No joke. I tell you, that girl does not discriminate- she will eat (or drink) anything!