Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Apparently I'm a middle-aged overweight male

So I had my annual check-up yesterday with my new OB/GYN. She asked if I wanted to get my cholesterol checked because my mom has high cholesterol (sorry mom).

So, I got a call from the nurse today telling me I have high cholesterol- 256 mg/dL or something ridiculously high like that (optimal is below 150). Mind you, it wasn't fasting.. so it might go down to 200 or something, but still... That is bad for a 26 year-old healthy female.

I start thinking about all of the crap I've eaten lately (Chinese food, Christmas candy, etc... you know how it is around the holidays!), and I start freaking out. I had to remind myself that I've been eating healthier since I started working at the hospital (more yogurt, fruit, water, etc..).

Then I remember one experience from my childhood. When I was like 8 years old or something, my pediatrician told me (and my parents of course) that I had high cholesterol. Obviously I have a genetic tendency for high cholesterol. Their advice back then was just to switch to skim milk. My mom did that, but I had no follow-up whatsoever. Thanks Kaiser Permanente!! Now you totally screwed me and my heart!

So, I've now found my motivation to eat even better--sorry Graham-- and to exercise regularly.

Happy f-ing New Year. Live healthy.. or die early like I might.

I'm still eating some of the cake I made last night for the New Years Eve party tonight.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

A special rant against Physician Assistants

Ok, so this is my first rant against different people/positions that work in the hospital. There are definite classes of people... as I'll explain and define in further posts.

First, I'm going to rant against PA's... Physician Assistants. Let me first say this.. This is not a case of sour grapes as I did not apply to go to PA school, nor did I ever want to be a PA. I did think that it was a 4-year post-bachelor's program, but it is not.

Let me tell you my experiences with PA's before I started working with them at the hospital. First, I got a gynecological exam from a PA at an urgent care center. I had gotten one before by an OB/GYN, so I knew what to expect.. but the one by the PA was extremely painful and comfortable. Let's just say I was not impressed.

Then, us nutrition students at OHSU had to take a graduate physiology course with the PA students there. I then found out that the PA degree is only a master's level degree... the same level degree I was getting. The PA students for some reason thought they were so much smarter than us nutrition students and treated us like we were idiots. They definitely made me dislike and mistrust PA's.

So that brings me to work... One nurse manager was talking to a doctor, and the doctor was introducing the new PA on their staff. The nurse manager then turned to the PA, "Oh yes my son wants to go to PA school." The doctor said about the PA.. "Yes, she just graduated from George Washington University." The PA then says smugly to the nurse manager, "Yeah, it's a Top 3 school."

Oh yeah? How nice.

Lastly, there's another PA on the medical staff that I've found that I also dislike. She's not a fresh graduate like the other one, but just as smug and annoying. So, we still have written medical charts at our hospital, which is really annoying because I often have to play "musical charts" trying to find the charts. One day last week, I spent probably 15-30 minutes searching for a chart for this one lady. Finally at the end of the day, I saw the PA with the chart. She had some hospital discharge papers out, and was just starting to dial the phone. Since she was just dialing the phone, I whisper to her, "Is so-and-so discharging?"

15 seconds later... No response.

15 seconds later.. She dials the discharge summary dictation phone line.

So, I'm like, ok this patient is leaving, so I'm done with work. I start gathering all of my papers in my binder, right near the PA because that's where I always leave my stuff.

Then the PA says to me, "Can you just leave me be and we can talk about this later?"

Wtf lady? I wasn't waiting to talk to you.. I was leaving and I don't give a (four-lettered word) what you have to say to me. All you had to say was "yes".. How hard is that?

Anyways, PA's... you are NOT doctors. Don't act like you are. Don't act like you're above everyone else. Many other people in the hospital are just as educated as you... including me. Oh, and don't try to do my job and assess people's nutritional status. Thanks.

I'm not saying PA's aren't helpful, and it's not a job I'd want to have (too much responsibility), but show some respect for other people.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Happy Anniversary

Graham and I are "celebrating" our 1st anniversary today. We are snowed in our apartment with winter wonderland outside. We're not quite going stir crazy, but we might be soon.

Anyways, since we haven't done anything since Friday, I'm going to blog about our wedding day..
If I were to do it all over again... I would:


1) Go for the ivory dress. Wearing my super-white dress in the temple didn't make too much of a difference. I remember/look at the pictures more than I remember my dress in the temple.

2) Go with a different florist. I was NOT happy with the floral arrangements. Tip for all of you single ladies: Be very specific about your bouquet.

3) Go with a different videographer. I wanted something more artistic to capture the events of the day.

4) Eat! My stomach was growling all throughout our sealing ceremony. I also didn't eat our cake or the catered food at the reception.

5) Have our maid of honor and best man give toasts. Thanks Julie...

Nothing else I guess... I loved my wedding day. I've loved our first year of marriage..

Here's to many more years.. :)

Friday, December 19, 2008

Another... Interesting... Christmas Greeting

We were looking for a cheap temporary stocking for Graham at Rite-Aid, and this is what he picked.

Men are so perverted.

You can't tell me the penguin is "dancing".

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Christmas Greetings

Merry Christmas from us..

2008 has been a busy year for us.. Let's see..

--Graham and Sherri went to Disneyland for Graham's first time in March. No plans to return as of yet.. On the way there, they missed our flight down to Orange County.
--Graham got a promotion at his job at Contech in April. He became a manager and received a 50 cent raise. Woohoo.
--Sherri successfully defended and published her master's thesis in May at Oregon Health & Science University. She didn't officially graduate until the end of June. She also finished her dietetic internship in June.
--Graham & Sherri had a summer full of vacations and interesting experiences. They went to Idaho for the Camp family reunion, where Graham lost his wedding ring tubing on the river. They also served as a "ma and pa" on a Mormon pioneer trek for the Portland Stake. They were the coolest "parents", and ended up having a good time even though Sherri sustained several minor injuries along the way.
--Graham & Sherri went on their honeymoon to Kauai in July and only had a few minor mishaps on their vacation.
--Sherri had her first job interview at a hospital in the Seattle area, and got a job as a clinical dietitian. She officially started there in August and is currently loving her job.
--Graham started school full-time at Olympic College in Brem Brem, and plans on going into mechanical engineering. He also got a job as a job coach for handicaped people at the hospital. He plans on getting into the coordinated program with the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to become an engineer there and they in turn pay back student loans. So.. they may end up in Brem Brem for a while!

For the cheese factor, here you go..

We're sending a greeting from both of us,
From G & S.. the names you trust.


We took a picture of us both to share,
We even dressed nice and styled our hair.


We only have one stocking by the fireside,
But we have Christmas lights to keep the room bright.

We love you all and miss those not near,
So we wish you all a Merry Christmas this year!












P.S. Doesn't Graham look like Edward from Twilight in this picture? I apologize for the nasty picture and sweats, but we thought it'd be pretty funny.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Road Tripping.. Sherri & Graham Style

You know.. I just typed a 5-paragraph essay about our weekend in Portland, but freaking blogger deleted it!

Let me just tell you a quick story to demonstrated mine and Graham's luck:

Friday night, we swapped cars with Graham's parents so they could drive my XTerra up to the snowy Mt. Hood. We drove their Mazda hatchback down to Portland that night. I don't know how many of you watch the weather channel besides Graham, but it has been very very cold (and snowy!) up here in the Northwest. So about 5 miles away from our exit on the freeway, we felt something funky when we changed lanes. Bad news: we had a flat tire.

So, it's midnight, 25 degrees outside, and we have a flat tire in someone else's car. Graham knew how to fix a flat tire thankfully, so I went outside to appear supportive and helpful. After a semi-truck passed me by and almost blew me over, I got back in the car almost in tears, muttering "I hate my life".

Anyways, it is FREEZING here and we finally turned on the heater for the first time tonight. We are so cheap.

Oh, and stay tuned.. Graham and I will be sending you a digital Christmas card.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Wake up call

I went and worked in the nursery unit at the hospital today to assess two little baby twins' nutritional status. They were two little tiny babies, sharing a teeny bassinet! They were precious.

Anyways, the nursery was pretty full.. tons of ladies have been birthing babies in the past week or so! When one little infant started crying, so did many others. They just started crying for no reason out of the blue!

I got to thinking.. YIKES. I AM SO NOT READY TO BE A MOM.

Enough said.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Birthdays and Parties

When I was younger, I always celebrated my birthday with kind of a Christmas theme--we would make Christmas ornaments, do other kinds of crafts, or make Christmas cookies. When I got older, I chose to celebrate my birthday at the mall with friends.. and so on from there.

My mom threw me a surprise birthday party when I turned 16--sweet sixteen and never been kissed. I was seriously surprised because I thought the party was for my dad who was turning 50 also that year. I found out who were my real friends (i.e. none of my cheer friends showed up), and boys actually came.. which I thought was really cool. I had a lot of fun, but I decided from then on I didn't want big "parties" for my birthday. Instead of noticing all of the people who came, I took note of the people who did not show up. I felt disappointed that more people weren't there.

Once again, when I turned 18, my mom decided to throw me a big 18th birthday party. Friends came and went.. including my old boyfriend who gave me a freaking "Survivor board game" for my birthday.... and I'd never even watched the show. I did get a Mustang convertible, which was freaking awesome, but I couldn't help but feel like I didn't have enough friends to warrant a big party.

So in college, I always tried to take my birthday celebrations easy. I was offended when my freshman dorm roommate didn't stay home for the weekend to go out to dinner with us, but I tried to be relaxed about it. Most of my birthday "parties" in college usually included dinner or dessert with just my roommates. I never asked for or expected presents, but it was nice when people called me, texted me, sent me a card, or emailed me an e-card. So, I never have expected anything big for my birthday.

So.. to wrap this all up.. My birthday is tomorrow. Graham keeps saying how he feels bad because he's not making a big deal for my birthday, and how we only had a few people come over to celebrate. The thing is.. I really don't have that many friends, so why try to throw a big party and make a big deal out of nothing?

Anyways, we had a few of our married friends come over last night for pizza and cake, and I had a lot of fun. Who needs a big group of people anyways?

P.S. This is not a "woe is me" post. It's just been something I've been thinking about lately.. Also, my blog was starting to sound wayyyy too positive and too typical Mormon newlywed for my taste. :)

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Spend a day with me

Since most of you don't live anywhere close to me, I'm going to giving you a glimpse as to what a normal day is like for me here in Brem Brem with Graham.

5:45 AM: Wake up to alarm, take a shower, and wake up Graham before his alarm goes off to make him mad. :)

6:30 AM: Go to kitchen, turn on lights, and look out the window onto the Sound. No, it's not that light outside at 6 AM, but it's just as beautiful.















6:45 AM: Leave for work with Graham. We carpool most days. We complain about the "traffic" here in Brem Brem and about the pansy (although we sometimes use more crude words) drivers here in the Northwest. Sometimes, especially on a clear day like today, we get a view of Mount Rainier and the sunrise.













7-5:30 PM: I work, chat with my dietitian friends, and pray for the day to be over.
5:30 PM: Graham and I drive home together, and have deep conversations about current events and world issues, such as the following real conversation we had one day:
Me: "What do you call birds who are afraid to fly?"
Graham: "I don't know... chickens?"
(True story)
5:45-7 PM: Cook dinner and watch TV. Graham will sometimes surprise me, like he did in the following picture. I kept asking Graham to take out the pizza box by the door, and I came home one night and found the pizza box torn up on the bed in the shape of "I love you". Aw how... sweet?










Anyways, that's what my life is like.
Oh and go back to my "holiday highlights" post. I added pictures.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Songs

I just got an iPod nano for my upcoming 26th birthday (yes, I turn 26 on Monday) from my parents...

I've been putting off getting an iPod for so long because everyone had a freaking iPod.. so I went against the trend and got all kinds of mp3 players.. any kind but iPod.

But I finally gave in because of all the cool accessories iPods have.. like the alarm clock radio I'm getting for Christmas that plays and charges my nano.

Anyways, I'm sitting here listening to Alicia Keys's song "No One".. and I'm loving it. Does anybody else have a strong attachment or reponse to their favorite songs?

Monday, December 1, 2008

Holiday Highlights

Ok guys.. We had the BEST holiday vacation over Thanksgiving. Instead of me boring you describing the whole 5 days, I'll just give you the highlights:
--Celebrating our 1st anniversary a month early at our honeymoon suite in the Inn at Parkside (a beautiful B&B in downtown Sac).










--A delicious turkey dinner made by my sister and sister-in-law (I'm still drooling over the gravy and potatoes).
--My 6-year old niece started using hand "quotation marks" in her everyday language. When my sister-in-law Anna tried to teach her the correct "usage", she replied to her, "I don't 'care'!" It was freaking hilarious.


--Black Friday shopping at the newly remodeled Roseville Galleria. It's freaking huge now!
--Cuddling and playing with wittle Baby Emma.










--Visiting my best friends Tisha and Darren at their mountain cottage in Grass Valley.
--Having lunch at Mikuni's (tasty sushi place) with old cheerleading friends.
--Watching "Four Christmases" on Thanksgiving night.
--Decorating my parents' house for Christmas.
--Eating our frozen wedding cake--it wasn't that bad!













All in all, a great trip.. and I don't wanna go back home to real life!

New home blog coming soon

I have received a lot of questions via email about how the home is holding up for the past 2.5 years. I plan to do a detailed update on our ...