Yay! Passed!

I passed biochem! Phew! Big relief.

Here's a photo of Scout's new hairdo :) She's 5 1/2 months old today!

A few new photos posted.

Library = Fun

Here I am, back in the Valley Library again. Yes, this is perhaps the highlight of my entire term. :) I'm frantically cramming for my biochem final (why have I done this to myself AGAIN?!?!? :)). Anyway, we'll see how it goes!

Here's a funny photo that I took of the princess the other day...

Thanksgiving, snow and a cold poodle

First of all, Happy Late Thanksgiving! I hope that your holiday was wonderful! We spent the day in Eugene and the rest of the weekend relaxing at home. Four-day weekends should be mandatory at least once a month! I love them.

It's snowing in Corvallis right now - I wore my rain boots today, but still managed to get my pants soaking wet. Scout was excited to play in the snow and had a good romp with some new friends in a park close to our house. She was so cold that her little body was shivering violently. But that didn't stop her from running and playing with the big dogs. She's a trooper.

In other news, Michael just bought the new Nintento Wii - at first I thought "What?! Another game?!" but have come to realize that it's actually pretty awesome - and has THE ORIGINAL Super Mario Brothers (only the best game known to mankind). So I give it a big thumbs up.

Michael and his dad did some major remodeling work on the house! We finally are getting everything back in its place and I think it looks great! Photos here.

Here are also some recent photos of us and of course Scout. What can I say? I love my dog! :)

Scout Lost Her First Two Teeth Today!

And it's her 4-month birthday!!

Welcome Home Scout!!

Yesterday, Michael and I brought home our Standard Poodle puppy Scout. She was wonderful last night (and only had a few insane puppy moments - I'm sure there will be many more to come!). She slept in her kennel and barked/cried for about 5 minutes before falling asleep. She has completely stolen our hearts and it's been less than 24 hours since we met. :)

New photos :)

Some new pictures of Nikki's first overnight trip to Corvallis :)

RHCP Forever

Michael and I went to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers this past Friday at the Rose Quarter in Portland. It was an amazing concert, to say the least...
The night began with a ride on the MAX in from downtown where our car was practically filled with a group of giddy teenagers that rapped and sang their way to the venue (complete with a rendition of Dani California). The scene was alive with anticipation.
Once we got into our seats the music began. Mars Volta opened the show, and although I had to give them credit for being so excited about their music, the songs sounded a lot like a bunch of people playing every possible instrument in a garage band. Too loud - you lost touch with what their music was about. But once they were done with their set, the stage cleared. Michael told me that when RHCP performs, they remove almost every piece of equipment, save the microphones and drums.
When the lights went out the crowd went wild. I can't even really describe what it was like, but from Flea's first strum on the guitar to his last, people were on their feet. The crowd was pulsing, people were hugging eachother, waving their arms in the air, and for 2 sweet hours, you were lost in the music.
When we walked out, our ears were ringing and our hearts were pounding and everyone on the rail home was...happy. In our world today, I think that sometimes we forget about the simple joy of music - this concert was a nice reminder of that.
Anthony Kiedis belted out in Soul To Squeeze: "When I find my piece of mind, I'm gonna give you some of my good time." Thank you RHCP, for sharing some of that with us.

Big Island Photos!!

Our first three days on the Big Island were wonderful. Now we are on Oahu for the next week! See our pictures taken so far!

Off to Hawaii!!!

Weeee!!!!

Happy Birthday Mikey!!! :)

He's 25 for the fourth time!! <3

First time for everything...

Yesterday, for the first time, I went to see a movie ALL BY MYSELF!! (I'm a big kid now!) It was terribly hot here (101F) and I had Sunday completely off...so what better to do on a hot day? You got it, buttery popcorn, soda, freezing theater...the works. I went to see The Lake House, which actually turned out to be really good.

Other first times..

First (and only) time for Beth and Brandon to get married! The wedding was wonderful and everyone had such a great time. Beth was stunning in her dress...and I didn't break the seams on mine (phew).

First time to meet Michael's friends Jen (who had just gotten married to good friend Reed), and Edin and Claire (who have been married for a while now :))

First time to stay at the Westin in Portland (nice hotel).

First time to eat onion rings at the Westin restaurant (good onion rings).

All in all...super weekend!!

Junior's New Stuff!

The Steps and the cat couch!

Our little Junior has been having trouble jumping up onto the couch/bed/etc, so I figured that I'd go on a shopping spree in his honor. Plus, hopefully the steps will make his life a little easier and the cat beds make it a little comfier. :)

Wow...

....it still doesn't seem like graduation is actually over...I want to write more - but here are some pictures for now :)

Senior Banquet

Graduation

Less than 20 days...

Until graduation!!! :) woohoo!!!

Boston/Raynham has been wonderful so far, although I do miss home a lot! New photos

More soon!

Time for a new post...

Well I don't exactly have the time to write much right now (I'm at work) - but I will soon! :) Here's a cute picture though...I love it when they get all kissy like this :)

Ikeaness

This weekend Michael and I went to Seattle!

Top ten moments:
10. Taking new car on her first road trip
9. Meeting Rick and his girlfriend Laurie
8. Actually hitting a few pool balls into the hole
7. The St. Patty's Day Dash runners that ran screaming by our hotel window this morning
6. Delicious dinner at Wild Ginger
5. Ordering "A History of Violence" on pay-per-view
4. Creme brulee...mmmm....
3. Sleeping in
2. Beautiful Northwest weather
1. IKEA SHOPPING BONANZA...and we fit all of the purchases into my car!! (dining room table, 4 chairs, coffee table with nesting table, bookshelf, baskets and tv stand!)

New Pictures! :)

Oh to be famous...

...or infamous, perhaps? :)

Well, it appears that my one chance at actually being known outside of my small group of friends has led to this....Terra

All that I can say is, now when I walk into the vet school (and even outside of the vet school) people say "ahhh...that picture is...nice...yeah" Darn it. Oh well, the article is funny although it makes me sound pretty girly (which, I suppose I am :)), complete with "ohmygod's" and "oh this is very cool!" Ha. Silly Jaime.

The newest member of the family

YAY!! :)

The Kids

New Pictures! :)

Awww...

Dramatic music and all, I love this commercial :)

Yay for commercialism, Budweiser and the Super Bowl!

JOY!!

I passed!!! Yay!!

And the presentation went well too! :)

The Big Wait

Everyone else that I know has received their boards results today. Except for me. Trying not to freak out, but WHY DOES THE MAIL HAVE TO BE SO SLOW??? Why?!? Anyway, I'll let ya'll know if it was a yay or a nay tomorrow (or whenever I get them).

Home :)

It's good to be back. :) I had such a wonderful time in LA, but opening my eyes this morning and being in Oregon again was the best feeling...

Ahhhh....

For everyone that may have forgotten what it looks like...BLUE SKY!!

Sunny California

The City of Hope and spending time with my family has been wonderful. It's hard to believe that I'll be leaving on Saturday - it feels like I just got here in a way. It'll be nice to be home though - rain and all, I do miss Oregon. Anyway, I will post more about the trip soon!

Meanwhile, look at how well Maia is getting along with the boys!! Yay! Now the hissing at Rio is down to only 20 or 30 times a day :)

Here are a few of my pictures from LA...I'll get the rest up in a week!

Leaving on a jet plane... :)

I am sitting in PDX at gate E2 waiting for my flight to LA right now. The airport is nice and quiet and I've made it this far without encountering any creepy airport groupies yet (you know the type), so I think I'm in the clear :) I'll be in LA for 2 weeks for a preceptorship at the City of Hope/Beckman Research Institute staying with Grandma and Hugh. It will be wonderful to spend the time with them and to see everyone else! It's been over a year and a half since I've seen anyone. It's amazing that life has just flown by like that...
Anyway, I'll write whenever I can and try to post pictures on Flickr!

Mileposts...

It's hard to believe that clinical rotations are over. No big parties or indulgent celebrations. Instead we spent a quiet weekend at the coast, which was exactly what I needed. In the end, I was almost a little sad to be done. Almost. :) And it was really nice to end on that note. It's been an emotional rollercoaster and I'm ready to regain some stability in my everday life, and actually be a normal person again :) Or at least one with somewhat normal working hours!

Thanks to everyone that has been so wonderful and supportive of me, sitting patiently through my episodes of self-doubt, exhaustion tears and the occasional rant...you know who you are, and I could not have done this without you. Or at least, if I had, it would have been a great deal harder.

Here's to a world full of possibility and a GREAT rest of the year.

New photos!