School's out!

School is finally out, at least for a couple of weeks when I start Summer classes. I am so glad to be done with this semester!

I started my first day of break with a joyous occasion. One of my Godchildren, Iain, was adopted today! He is such a cute baby and babbled loudly during the whole proceedings. He and his brother Elias were playing, kissing and generally causing chaos and the judge loved it! Elias is also adopted and I am also his Godmother. Here is a picture of Iain's baptism and adoption:




Later today Chelsea, Eline and I are going to ride the new Front Runner train to SLC and go shopping at the Gateway mall. It is a very warm day today, around 80 degrees, but it is supposed to be cold and rainy tomorrow, around 55 degrees.

The other day I was getting ready to take Scruffy to the groomers. My future husband and my daughter both told me to get him a mohawk. Imagine their surprise when Scruffy came home looking like this:

He looks so mean, but he really is still the sweet little puppy he's always been. Mike says he is going to get him a Harley Davidson collar, and he likes to call the poor dog Spike. But Scruffy will answer to anything as long as there is a Pupperoni around to snack on!

And here's a photo of Mike and me taken on Easter (Iain's baptism day):

It's cold!

It's so cold today and yesterday it snowed! Our temperature changed by 40 degrees in one day!
Life around here has been crazy. I have had so many projects and papers to work on. I have two papers to finish (one is going to be about 30 pages long) and I have two final exams next week. I am going to take two classes this summer which will ease my load next semester for when I start my internship!!!!!!

I am so excited about my placement. It is with a private practice that does group and individual therapy. This is a rare placement for bachelor level students so I am so lucky. It is exactly what I wanted but never really hoped for because the list of possible agencies didn't include any private practices, only hospitals, homeless shelters, women's shelters, government agencies and adoption agencies. At my interview with the professor who actually does the placement he spent about an hour interviewing me and then asked if I'd be interested in considering a placement at a different agency and mentioned this practice. He said he thought I'd be a great fit with my military experience and said he'd contact the agency. I went for an interview the other day and it went great! The offices are very nice, as are the therapists. I'll have opportunities to do intakes and assessments, sit in on individual therapy sessions and help facilitate group therapy sessions. This practice recently acquired a state contract to provide education for substance abuse, parenting and other topics and I may actually get to lead some of those classes! I'll work 13-20 hours per week so I end up with 200 hrs per semester. Plus I'll have a full load at school. This means that I will have to quit both of my jobs. Oh well, I'm planning on a career, not just another job, so it really doesn't break my heart!

Mike fell the other day and dislocated his shoulder so we haven't had a chance to get all of his stuff out of storage. Hopefully by next weekend he'll feel better and we can really get settled.

My parents are coming sometime this week. I am so excited to see them! They've been down to Mexico for dental work and prescription purchasing. They will only stay one night but it will be nice to see them and to have them see our new home.

Chelsea continues to feel good with no dizzy episodes lately but we are still going to the cardiologist next month, just to be on the safe side.

It is getting close to the time when Eline will be leaving and it makes me sad to think she won't be here any more. We have all grown to love her and she is a big part of our family, and always will be. Funny how in November I was ready to send her home and now I don't want her to leave. But I know we'll see her in two years when we go to Europe to celebrate my graduation from graduate school and Chelsea's graduation from high school. So it's all good. She knows she will always have a home here in America and I know we'll always keep in touch.

Quick update

We are in our new home and somewhat unpacked, my stuff at least. Mike's stuff is still in the storage unit and we'll slowly get that unpacked this week.

Chelsea is feeling better. She has only had one dizzy spell in the last week. I've decided to let her play soccer, although it's a decision I'm not totally comfortable with.

We've met some of the neighbors and I'm happy to say that I think we hit the jackpot! The neighbors next to us invited Mike and me over to soak in the hot tub and drink beer! Not too bad, huh!? The neighbors across the street brought over cookies. So far we haven't met any high school kids, but that will come.

So is ending fast and I have so much work to do so I need to get busy!

Chelsea

Chelsea is being seen at Primary Children's Hospital (PCH) for dizziness. When we were home at Christmas she started complaining about feeling dizzy, and having ear pain. In January she went to the Dr. who couldn't see anything wrong with her ears so he referred her to an ENT. The ENT gave her some antibiotics and Flonase which is a steroid nose spray to see if she might have an infection in her eustacion (sp?) tubes. He also referred her to an audiologist to see if the dizziness was due to an inner ear problem. The antibiotics and nose spray cleared up the ear pain and the audiologist, after running extensive tests, determined that her ears were fine. We were sent back to our family doctor to see if there was some other medical reason for the dizziness. He did a complete blood work up and had an MRI done to rule out a brain tumor or MS. Both came out fine, so he referred us to Primary Children's, which is one of the top 10 children's hospitals in the country. She saw a very nice neurologist who did a thorough exam. She couldn't find any obvious reason for the dizziness but pointed out that Chelsea had been seen at our family doc on Dec. 11th for neck pain following a bad collision with another soccer player while playing indoor soccer. She said that Chelsea could have had a mini-stroke then without our knowing it. She said that sometimes when radiologists look at MRI's for children they don't look for mini-strokes because they are so rare. I guess they are difficult to see on the MRI so you really have to be looking for it to find it. So I am sending off the CD of Chelsea's MRI today to the neurologist to have the radiologist at PCH give it a closer look. Chelsea also had an EKG based on Dad and my brother Randy's heart issues. She has to see a pediatric cardiologist as well, but can't get in until May. Unfortunately this means no soccer or any other type of exerting activity until we figure out what is wrong with her. We should know the results of the EKG by next week. Chelsea gets dizzy about 5 times a day, starts to get tunnel vision and feels like she is passing out. It really scares me but she has no concept of how serious this could be. She just thinks its cool that she has had an MRI and an EKG, but thinks it sucks and is stupid that she can't play sports. It almost broke my heart yesterday when she asked me if she could be the team manager for the High School soccer team if she wasn't allowed to play. Of course I said she could but I'm praying for a quick resolution and solution to this problem. Chelsea is so active that it is difficult to tell her she can't do anything, especially with the weather getting so nice.

If you can find it in your heart to pray for a quick diagnosis and treatment plan I would really appreciate it. I have to say that I'm scared of all the things this could be. In between packing and doing school work this is all I really have on my mind right now.

My friend Tammy

My friend Tammy is a bigwig in the military world. She's a Chief Master Sergeant (CMSgt) and Command Chief (CCM). We met when I was stationed at Mtn. Home AFB in 1999. We were both First Sergeants, lived with our backyards facing each other and she had a son Chelsea's age and the became very close friends. We spent lots of time together personally and professionally and became the best of friends. Over the years we both moved around, me to Utah and her to TX and then eventually her to Utah. We had loads of fun living in the same area again for about 2 years. But she was still on active duty and was chosen for an amazing job. She is now the top enlisted person at a base in Wyoming. That is a very prestigious position and she has a lot of influence and power to ensure a great quality of life for the enlisted people on her base, and really throughout the Air Force. She was interviewed by the base newspaper for Women's History Month. She forwarded the interview to me. It made me cry, and you'll see why. This is a part of her interview:

2. Who were your female role models while growing up and why?

Believe it or not, I really had very few female role models over the years till about my MSgt point. This may not be the most appropriate forum to fess up the fact that I really never sought or picked role models based on their gender, any more than I felt I should be “followed” because of my gender. But I will say that as a MSgt/First Sergeant, I encountered another MSgt at one base, then a SMSgt at another that not only became good friends, but phenomenal role models. They both later made CMSgt before me and watching them reinforced my beliefs that you can be a strong female professional without waiving the feminism flag or being extra aggressive to “compensate in a man’s world.” I never felt that being a female was a liability or something to make a big deal about. The two women I mentioned above, CMSgt Mary Swift (now retired) and CMSgt Mary Waddell (also now retired) were the epitome of military professionals who happened to be women. I was blessed to also become friends with them; they influenced me tremendously both personally and professionally.

3. Did it take a while for you to discover your "style" of leadership? What or who has influenced you most? Absolutely. I am a totally different person than the shy (yes!), quiet, goal-free girl that joined the Air Force a billion years ago. I had no style because I truly had no clue what leader was. I frequently tell people that I may be nothing but a great big lump consisting of the many supervisors/leaders that I’ve respected and emulated over the years. So many wonderful folks have influenced me – but a few names that quickly rise to the top are CMSgt (Ret) Norman DePalantino (what a character!), CMSgt Napoleon Walker, CMSgt (Ret) Marty Roth, CMSgt Al Taggart, CMSgt Mike Sullivan and the two folks I mentioned above. And…important to say…all but two of these folks WERE NOT chiefs when I worked most closely with them and at the most “critical time” of their influence. The fact that they later made chief is a testament to their awesome leadership qualities that resulted in their promotions to chief. It is important to say, however, that the one who has been the greatest influence, by far, was CMSgt Mary Waddell. She was/is amazing and I can only hope to be a fraction of the person/leader as she is in my lifetime.

Wow! You can't imagine how that made me feel. I guess it's good to know your friends love you, and even better to know that you have had a big impact on their lives. The only thing she forgot to mention is the margarita parties we had at Mtn. Home where we solved all the world's problems!

New Shoes

I pulled out a new pair of running shoes yesterday! I love new running shoes! I started out with Asics running shoes when I first started running. About a year later I tried out a pair of Brooks, just before my first 10K race. Not a smart thing! As I was starting mile 5 my IT band started acting up and I had to walk most of the last two miles. Of course I ended up being last (with the exception of a friend's sister, but she got lost and never did finish). I blame the Brooks shoes, however it could be that the 10K was mostly downhill and downhill running puts a lot of pressure on the IT band. But I prefer to think it was the shoes, so I went back to Asics as soon as I was able to run again (about 8 months of rest and physical therapy). I've stuck with them ever since. Now I need to be on the lookout for another pair when they go on sale.

I did some speed work yesterday for the first time since my 10K in September. Funny how a 10 min. mile seemed like a good pace back then and now seems like I'm sprinting! I want to be able to run the Grace Race this year at a less than 10 min mile pace. I just checked the date though and I think Mike and I will be in Wendover to see a jazz musician, Buddy Guy, playing. I guess I need to see what time we will be leaving, because I haven't run this race in the past two years and I'd really like to run it. Plus I do much better in my running when I have a goal.

I can't wait to move in to our new house:

Life

Mike's house should close tomorrow or Thursday, then mine on the 27th. We move out on the 29th and then into our house on the 6th of April. We'll stay on base in the meantime. Should be cozy! :)

School is keeping me very busy as are both my part time jobs. I did give up being cookie mom for Chelsea's Girl Scout troop because it was just too much. Can't wait for school to be out at the end of April. I hope to have plenty of time to unpack and get the house set up prior to our wedding on June 28th. Wish me luck!