The BIG Move

Well, it's finally here.

The boxes are completely full.

The moving van is out front and half full.

The cupboards and closets are empty.

We are ready to hit the road.

I can already see the signs of the stress of change in my boys. Blaise is crying a lot more than usual, potty training has almost stopped, and he hasn't slept through the night in almost a week. Roman is much quieter than usual.

It's a big change. For all of us.

I'm not going to have internet for several days (maybe longer.) So you'll just have to use your imagination about how things are going. Until I get internet again and can tell you.

Goodbye Utah, hello Iowa!

Bryce Canyon

Today is going to be a two post day.

Because if I don't, I'll never be able to catch up. But if this is the first time you're looking at my blog today, make sure you don't miss my sister's graduation.

And I could have made it a three post day, because we had an amazing Memorial Day at Red Butte Garden, but we'll save that one for later.

The Big Move is less than two weeks away now. Keith and I originally had these amazing plans that we were going to take the boys to all the amazing sights in Utah before we left.

Of course, our time and budget didn't allow us to see everything we wanted. Well, really, we realized only one trip would be possible.

So we choose what we thought would be the most memorable and striking.

Bryce Canyon.

Panoramic view from Bryce Point

We drove down early the day after my sister's graduation.

It rained nearly the entire drive. It honestly had never once occurred to us that it might rain on our trip. We hadn't even bothered to look at the weather. Silly us.

But when we arrived at Bryce Canyon, the sun had come out.



We were able to find a camping spot in the park without any trouble (I'm pretty sure the rain scared off the holiday crowd.)

Then we took the boys to Sunset Point for our hike.

Plenty of water and sunscreen!
Ready for our hike!

We really wanted to take the boys to see the canyon, not just from the view points, but from the floor. To look up at the amazing rock structures ("hoodoos") and be awed.

View of "Wall Street" from canyon floor

So we had planned a 2 hour hike on the Navajo Loop.

Only the rain had turned the trail into the most amazingly slick and sticky mud. Tromping through the mud went against everything that Blaise had every been told about mud. Normally, it is "Stay out of the mud!" But this time, it was "It's okay. A little mud won't hurt you. Isn't this fun?" Blaise was not buying it. He screamed and cried nearly the whole way down. We tried to carry him a couple of times, but his mud-covered legs and feet attempted to cover us with the same goo. We got a variety of looks from fellow hikers. The looks ranged from "You guys are crazy!" to "Good luck with that" to "You guys rock for doings things like this as a family." I guess Blaise's screams reverberating off the canyon walls didn't really help enhance the scenery.

On the trail
Get a look at the mud on our shoes!

Fortunately the trail was nice and dry at the bottom of the canyon. And the rest of the hike was wonderful.

Keith, Roman, and Blaise
At the Twin Bridges

The boys didn't complain once. Roman walked the entire 2-hour-nearly-2-mile hike. Blaise probably would have. However, we encountered a little more mud on the ascending loop, and Blaise lost his shoes in the mud. So walking was no longer an option.

We made it!
At the end of the hike!

After the hike, we enjoyed a few more view points, then headed back to camp. We had anticipated enjoying hot dogs and marshmallows over a campfire, but it started raining again. We got our tent up just before we got drenched.

The rain did let up just long enough for us to enjoy hot dogs, but as soon as we broke out the marshmallows, it started to rain again. It rained until 2 am. (Ask me how I know. Rain on a tent is loud.)

The boys slept great! Surprising considering the noise of the rain and the chill of the night at 8000 ft.

The next morning was a gorgeous day, complete with blue sky. After pancakes cooked over a campfire, we enjoyed some more canyon views.

We drove home through a small town where Keith's father has lived as a child. There was a mill there that Keith remembers playing in as a child. But it was all fenced off, supposedly because some endangered owls had been found there. But it still made for amazing pictures.



We may not have been able to take Roman and Blaise to see all the amazing things there are to see in Utah. But at least we took them on an unforgettable trip.

I HIKED BRYCE CANYON!

Even more boys

We just got back from visiting Keith's family in Montana.

Okay, we didn't just get back. We got back Sunday night. But things were so busy, it feels like right now is the first moment I have had to sit and relax. So, yes, I just got back into the swing of things.

It was an unbelievably great trip.

Although this is excluding the time our nephew, who came with us, asked "Are we there yet?" less than five minutes after getting into the car. (And he continued to ask every 15-20 minutes for the entire 8 hour trip. Well, except for the time we broke down and put on Bolt.)

Keith never liked living in Montana. And you can't really blame him. He moved up there during his sophomore year of high school. It's a tough time for anyone to move. But every time we drive along the Bitterroot mountains, I have to think what a beautiful place it is. (And if I had had my act together, I would have taken some pictures to share. But I didn't. I was busy trying to calculate how many more hours, minutes, and miles were left in the trip.)

I love Keith's family. He has got fantastic brothers. He also has a fantastic sister, who we missed, since she is away at college. Fantastic brothers lead to fantastic sisters-in-law, which lead to a whole passel of "THE grandchildren."

I love this picture!

Every single on of Keith's mom's grandchildren was there over the weekend. Which made for some darling photos.

All 13 grandchildren!
And amazingly, everyone is looking at the camera and "smiling."

The boys.
Things started to fall apart here, but still,
what a cute bunch of kids

The girls.
This was much easier than the previous picture
And aren't they just beautiful

I got to spend a good part of the afternoon holding the two newest additions to the family, two darling babies I hadn't seen yet. 4 month old Justice and 4 months old Carly, both of whom were born since our last visit over Christmas. (If you are keeping track, Carly makes the second grand-daughter. Out of 13.)

Sunday morning, we went out to breakfast with Keith's best friend from high school. This couple is probably the most awesome couple we know. And they've got three super cute kids. I really wish we could be neighbors without it involving us actually moving to Montana. We had great conversation. And the kids were pretty good too. Blaise only licked the top of the wall once.

We got to spend time with everyone we wanted to. I'm not sure the next time we will be able to go to Montana.

But hopefully, we have good memories to fill in the gap.

Making the Rounds

Tomorrow morning, we are packing up the boys and heading for Montana.

Keith spent his high school years in a small town in Western Montana, and his parents still live there.

And since we are moving in June, we don't know how long it is going to be before we make it up there again. So, we are going to spend the weekend with Keith's parents, meeting up with Keith's high school friends, and in a way saying good-bye.

It's a reminder of how far away we will actually be. No Jessop family camp-out. No alternating holidays. No more high school graduations. I'm going to miss it all.

On a happier note, I finally have a picture of my little karate student. I sure think he looks cute in his white outfit.

Looking strong!

(And Blaise insisted that if I was taking pictures of Roman and putting them on the compute, I had to take of picture of the pine cones we picked up on our walk together. So, here, to appease my little one.)

Bucket o' cones

Somewhere to call home

We bought a house!!!

That's right! I matched two and a half weeks ago, and now we have a house.

The speed at which everything is happening is nearly boggling.

Keith and I flew out to Iowa City over the weekends and stayed with a friend from medical school (Thanks so much you guys!).

Knowing that you have a small budget and only two days to find a house is just a little nerve-wracking. I was an emotional basket-case nearly the entire weekend.

At first, it wasn't looking good. What we could afford, we didn't like. Or it was too far away from the university. Or it was in a bad school district. Or it didn't have a yard. Or it needed too much work. I wasn't going to budge on the school district issue. I felt we had to be in a great school area for Roman and Blaise. Keith wasn't going to budge on the amount of work to be done (like, rebuilding half the house.) The first night after house hunting, we almost had our first fight. Almost.

The next day, I was looking at listings in the morning. I wrote several down.

Then we went and re-looked at several of the homes we had liked from the first day. Then I asked the real estate agent if we could look at some from my list.

The very last one on my list, the one I had written down while I was being shoo-ed out the door. That's our house.

Our first house!!

And we got it with our first offer. No counter-offer or anything!!

Okay, the house needs a little work. Think "vision." (Or like Keith says, "Project.")

The front room
(this one and the kitchen need the least work)

The kitchen (with brand new cabinets!)

But seriously, this house is perfect for us. There's enough space, it has a yard, it is right next door to one of the best elementary schools in Iowa City, and it is in a gorgeous neighborhood just two miles from the university.

Our back yard

What we live next to.
Isn't it just gorgeous?

Already, we've starting planning what changes need to happen (immediately: paint, carpet, and lighting; later: siding, windows, basement).

I am so excited!! Let the home-owner adventure begin!

Backward Glance 2008

This post really should have been done in December or the first week of January. But better late than never. And I feel that 2009 is still young.

2008 was a year of big changes, small adjustments, and high hopes.

Here's a glance at what 2008 held for us...


I switched specialties. I had been planning on becoming a pediatrician, but had a horrible experience, combined with a wake-up call, and decided to do anesthesiology. And have never regretted the switch.

Roman turned 6!

Blaise turned 2!

Keith decided he wanted to go to dental school. This was a huge change for us. Keith had graduated with a double major in math and physics in Spring of 2007. We thought he was done with school. But dental school meant prerequisites and that meant back to school. Big change (but I couldn't be happier! or prouder!)

Roman started first grade! A true elementary school student! I'm still not sure how he grew up so fast. He also went from kind of reading to reading full books.

We decided to enroll Roman in tennis lessons. Roman found a sport he loved and could do, and we found a new family activity.

The boys switched daycares, which was hard. We still miss their old one. Blaise adapted almost effortlessly, as he is so friendly and happy. Roman...Well, we're still working on it.

I graduated from medical school! So, officially, I can add two initials to my signature. M and D.

Keith and I, after celebrating our 7 year anniversary, took a trip, just the two of us, to Florida with a day in the Bahamas. We snorkeled on a coral reef, saw alligators in the wild, and spent a ridiculous amount of time on the beach. Loved it, sunburn and all.

We decided to try pets again, and killed half a dozen neon tetras before getting a goldfish named Rosy (because "she looks like a girl.") The fish has survived for 5 months and is huge.

I started this blog, and then another. And have become fanatic about them.

Many other things happened, including hiking, museums, other celebrations and births. Everyone grew a little bit and got a little bit older.

And, we hope, a little bit wiser.

Spokane and Portland: Trip Recap #4

This will be the final trip recap. (And for the record, there are more than four. I just didn't start labeling them as such until January. But the trips can be found here: Trip 1, Trip 2, Trip 3, Trip 4a, Trip 4b, and Trip 5).

I have done 6 separate trips, stayed in 11 cities in 9 different states (not counting two overnight stays in airports!), and interviewed with 16 different programs.

I'm glad to be done.

This last trip took me to the Northwest.

My first stop was Spokane, WA. I have to admit I was just glad to get there. Spokane has been in the middle of an inversion and has had freezing temperatures and lots, lots of fog. I've had friends that warned me of grounded flights and long waits. So just making it in and out of Spokane without any problem was a relief.

Spokane was a surprise. It was bigger than I had anticipated. The area actually reminded me of the major city closest to where Keith grew up in Western Montana. (Which shouldn't really be surprising, considering how close they are.) The city definitely has a unique feel. One of being older, slower, but homey.

The fog was thick when I got there.

Church tower in the mist

Later, the temperatures dropped and the moisture in the fog froze to everything, creating some of the most beautiful winter scenes I have ever seen.

The frost covered everything in a thick layer

Magical, frosty winter scene
(Click on this picture to see how amazing the frost was!)

I then left the foggy, frosty scenes in Spokane to head to Portland, OR.

My grandmother lives in Portland, this wasn't as new as other trips. What was new was the beautiful clear weather that greeted me when I arrived. The sky was blue, and Mt. Hood stood sparkling in the distance.

Mt. Hood over Portland
(Courtesy of the Internet)

(Since I didn't get the chance to take my own pictures of Mt. Hood, Keith is still convinced that it isn't there, since we were there for a week and he never saw it. You know, rain.)

I stayed in the most fantastic hotel, Hotel Lucia. (I have to admit, I've been looking forward to this particular stay my entire interview trip. And it didn't disappoint.) I don't have any pictures, other than this one of a door knob that reminded me of doorknobs my grandmother had in her Reno home.

Beautiful, antique doorknob

It was a nice trip, but, WOW, it is nice to be done, and home.

Now the next adventure, deciding which of these trips was the winner, and where we would like to go for my training.

I will keep you updated on that later.

Colorado: Trip Recap #3

I have to admit that I expected Denver to very similar to Salt Lake.

Salt Lake is associated with skiing, and Denver is too. They are about the same latitude.

My first thought when flying into Denver was "Wow, those mountains are really far away." The next thought was that if I looked east, I could see Kansas.

It was surprisingly warm when I flew in: 50 degrees.

Beautiful January day in Denver
(Again, I had a hotel room
with a fantastic view.)

Denver skyline at sunset

Then the next morning, there were 6 inches of snow (which all melted by the next day.) (The weather channel had predicted 1/2 inch.) Apparently, that's typical Denver weather.

Next morning: snow!

Denver is a beautiful city (or big town, as one of my interviewers called it). They claim to have 300 days of sunshine a year. There is a lot of green space; there are tons of activities. There is also skiing, despite the fact it is three times as far to the ski resorts as it is in Salt Lake.

There was a stock show in town while I was there. In the airport, I got asked three times if I was there for the stock show, and I kept thinking, "Do I look like a girl that's into cows?" But then I found out that the stock show is a huge event in Denver, with rodeos, and such. But still, do I look like a girl that's into cows?

Oh, Denver wins the award for my favorite airport. (Before this trip, the prize went to Charlotte, NC.) But this airport wins hands-down. Fantastic!

Denver International Airport
(Photo courtesy of the internet)

I was surprised by how much I liked Denver. It has all the things you want from a city, but has the same livable feel that Salt Lake has. But then I guess that is the story of my travels.

Everywhere surprises me.

Iowa: Trip Recap #2

It's no secret that I'm not a fan of winter.

I love a white Christmas as much as anyone. I don't mind sledding or making snow angels occasionally. But for the most part, winter means heavy coats, wet shoes, no more bike riding and tennis, and a whole lot of bad driving conditions.

I'm definitely a summer person.

It was precisely because of this aversion to cold that I had initially decided to give the Midwest a wide berth. I know winters can be cold and long here, but they are nothing to Midwest winters, with ice storms, and -30 degree wind chills, and all that. If we were leaving Utah for residency, it was going to be for some place warm, gosh darn it.

Which is why I was surprised to find myself interviewing at Iowa City, IO this last week. I was even more surprised to find that I liked it.

Don't get me wrong. It was cold. A friend of mine who lives out there now said, "You think you know what cold is out in Utah. Well, ya don't."

But the town was small, friendly, pretty, and safe. The small-town feel really appealed to me, as did the warm Midwestern people I met there. It wasn't the complete flatness that I had imagined (apparently, that's Kansas.) There were a lot of trees, rivers, and rolling, um, "hills."

I only saw it in the winter, but I heard that I can be beautiful in the summer.

Iowa City
(Courtesy of the internet)

And people kept telling me the cold could be worse. I could be in Minnesota.

Texas: Trip Recap #1

Yeah!! After being on the "road" (mostly runways, terminals, and hotel rooms) since January 5, and one short (less than 24 hours) jaunt back in good ol' SLC, I am home!!

Well, for a week.

I've been a lot of places, done a ton of interviews, and have gone from discouraged, to excited, to plain worn out.

I can't share all of my trip locales in one post. It would be photo and information over-load. So, I'm going to cover one state at a time.

Today, we will start with Texas. I was in Texas for most of last week (four days.) My first time in Texas.

The first part of my trip was spent in San Antonio. It is blissfully warm there. After my interview, I decided that I wasn't going to fly all the way to San Antonio, TX and not see any sites. So I took an extremely expensive taxi ride to downtown.

First, obviously, to see was the Alamo. Very cool. I wandered through the grounds, read all the plaques, took a tour, and in general marveled. Not only is the history surrounding the area amazing, but it is a cultural icon. It stands for sacrifice and loyalty. For dying in what you believe.

Classic picture of the Alamo.
Beautiful building, fantastic architecture.
(No pictures of the amazing rooms inside, since photography is not allowed)

I loved all the old stone work.

Fantastic huge tree on the Alamo grounds.

Next, I strolled the entire length of the River Walk. Of all the luck. I was there the only week of the year that they drain the river walk for cleaning. Great. But still, all the buildings, bridges, restaurants were very beautiful. San Antonio is definitely a city that appealed to my artistic side.

The entire River Walk is full of beautiful vignettes like this.
It was all I could do to not take pictures off every tree,
piece of tile, bridge, and fountain.

View down the River Walk.

Lovely arched bridges and curving sidewalks.
(Fact: the River Walk was initially developed for
flood control for the city of San Antonio. A beautiful solution for a
practical problem.)

Designs in the paths

White stucco building with ivy covered bridge
(Like I said, very artistic area.
I took way too many pictures.)

After three days in San Antonio, I went for a day and a half to Dallas. I didn't really get out and do anything in Dallas. But I did go to a fantastic Tex-Mex restaurant. And stayed in the most gorgeous hotel so far. Yeah.

Downtown Dallas skyline:
View from my hotel room
(Working on a better, panoramic image)

So, now that you have seen my trip, I have a couple of comments about Texas in general. I know that these are stereotypes, and there are nice people everywhere. But these were some general, biased, (and I'll admit, un-charitable) observations about Texans...

People from Texas are weird. So, a long time ago, Texas was it's own country. Seems like a lot of people (both in and out) think it still should be. Texans are bizarrely proud of being from Texas. Stars and flags on every building, house, street corner, and some places, shirt. Really, we know we're in Texas. I don't think we'll forget. You don't need to have Texas-shaped waffles at the hotel.

Symbol of Texas: side of building downtown San Antonio
It's everywhere!

And then, being from Utah, I've gotten to be quite the outdoorsy person. I love the mountains, the streams, the parks, etc. When I asked people what they did, the universal response. "Oh, we go out to eat!." Each city is very proud of their restaurants. There is some weird competition about which city has the best restaurants. And yes, they do have great restaurants, much better than the Wasatch Front. But, honestly, I need something else to do.

That's why you're one of the fattest states, Texas.

Anyways, if you are from Texas, I'm sorry. I'm sure you're very nice. But I don't think I'm going to be changing nationalities anytime soon.

Exhausted

I want everyone to know that I haven't forgotten about this blog, and those of you who read it.

It's just that things have been very busy. I've been traveling for the last week, and am heading out again tomorrow (um, I mean, later today) after being home for less than 24 hours.

I've slept in airports, been lost, gone from never using a taxi to countless rides in said expensive transportation option, met a lot of new people, and "been" a lot of new places (mostly the inside of hospitals.)

I'm overly tired, extremely home-and-family-sick, approaching my credit card limit, and ready to be done.

I know this will all be worth it.

But I can't wait for it to be done.

P.S. I have some great pictures to share when I finally have time for a real post.

I'll be home for Christmas

Actually, I won't. I'll be in the great white North with Keith's family. But that's a different story.

I just got home from Nashville yesterday. Um, I mean, this morning. With the holiday traffic, the horrific weather, and some other mysterious factors, the last two times I was supposed to get in from a trip around 11 pm, my plane has landed around 1 am. Horrible. I'm tired of it. I wish that I was done with my interviews. (After all, I've done 8 interviews so far. And I have at least 6 left, and could have as many at 10; still not settled. And not the point of this post.)

I was interviewing at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. I'm keeping with my policy of not "publicly" sharing my opinions of programs until after my match list is in (around February.) So I'm mum about Vanderbilt.


But I really liked Nashville. Kind of hard not to when it was 70 degrees the day I was there. In December. Fab-u-lous! It's a "big" city, with a small town feel. And of course, music. (No, I didn't see anyone famous. But who knows: one of the five people I saw playing guitar in the Nashville airport might be famous someday.)


The campus of Vanderbilt was beautiful. (And no, these are none of these are my pictures.)


One of the main parks in Nashville has this parthenon. Kinda cool.


These are also a lot of churches in Nashville, some of them very beautiful.


But no matter now nice the place, or how beautiful, it is always nice to come back home.

Greener pastures... I mean, beaches

I just got home from another interview trip.

This time to Southern California, to interview at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Loma Linda, and San Diego.

Loma Linda isn't as close to the beach as I would like, but there are still palm trees.

Loma Linda: No beach, but still palm trees
(Oh, and smog.)

(Again, I am not discussing my opinion of programs here. At least, not yet.)

After interviewing at Loma Linda, I drove down to San Diego.

Everyone that knows me knows that San Diego is my favorite place in the world.

This is what San Diego looks like mid-December
Who doesn't love this?

At first, I didn't think I would have any time to go to the beach. I was upset, to think that I would travel all the way to San Diego and not make it to the beach. But my interview got over a little bit early, and I decided that I had plenty of time to go and get the best souvenir: a sunburn in December.

Pacific surf

The beach has lots of sea-weed on it
When I was little, we would look for brittle stars and shrimp
In the sea weed

I only lived at San Diego for maybe two years when I was little, but it always feels like home. I was able to walk along the beach, pick up shells, play a little in the water, and enjoy the sand for over an hour before I headed to the airport. Which would bring me to the below freezing temperatures back home.

At least there is my darling family there. Home, best place of all. (Just wish home was a little closer to surfing.)