Jammin' with the Jamisons

IVF Journey

2011-10-05T13:17:00.001-06:00

I have been contemplating about whether or not to share our experience; but through this difficult process, I have been grateful for all the message boards and blogs that I found on the Internet that helped answer so many questions that we had throughout the process. Even though our experience is not quite done, I only hope that by sharing our experience, it will reach out to those who are going through the same ordeal.

Background
Our journey began in 2009. We met with the fertility clinic about a year and a half after we had no success on our own. After discussing with the doctor, we had tried 6 IUIs and all were not successful. The next option was IVF. We were quite scared of the IVF process, but decided to schedule it for Dec 2010, which at that time, was quite a while. As the time got closer, we were still very hesitant about the timing because I was still in school and the week of retrieval was during finals week. However, we ended up cancelling it because of an experience we had at the temple.

Instead of IVF, we decided to try and take a less invasive approach and met with a naturopathic doctor. After 3 months of taking about 19 pills a day, still no success. We also decided to try acupuncture. The acupuncturist treated me for stress, insomnia, and infertility. Still no luck.

The Beginning
Summer of 2011 came and went and we finally felt that it was time to do IVF, especially since I am done with school and all the major youth program events that we participated in for our church were completed (e.g. Girls Camp, Scout Camp, Youth Conference). We scheduled an appointment to meet with the fertility specialist again and we were so surprised how quickly everything fell into place. We scheduled IVF for Sept and it was a whirlwind of events. The fertility clinic gave us a calendar and packet of information about when all the injections and medications would start. Everything seemed to be on rapid speed since they put me on birth control right away and we only had a few short weeks before the whole process began.

IVF Process
Injections. Let the dreaded shots begin. I was fearing these shots, but I was quite surprised that they were not bad. I was able to gather the courage to do the morning shot myself with the Follistim pen and Ryan did the evening shots (Menopur and Ganirelix). Each day, I went into the office so they can monitor follicle growth and blood testing (more needles!). Everything was going well and we were set for egg retrieval a few days earlier than normal. After getting the go-ahead, we did the HCG trigger shot. This was a beast of a needle and goes in the lower backside. I was so scared of it. Ryan was brave enough to do the injection. No hesitation and with dart-like maneuver, the needle went in without an issue. Relief! (This would be the same for the daily progestrone in oil shot as well)

Egg retrieval. Egg retrieval went smoothly as well. Prior to egg retrieval, felt really bloaty, but overall, okay. I was put on local anesthesia for this procedure so I don't remember much. I remember waking up and saying "It's done? That was fast!" According to Ryan, I said this multiple times and then would promptly fall back asleep until I finally woke up for real. The doctor asked Ryan if I took cough medicine or drank much and being a Latter-Day Saint, the answer was no. The doctor said he figured as such because they only put in a tiny bit in me and I was out. We were fortunate enough to have 15 eggs retrieved! I still felt bloaty afterwards and later that day, felt really bad cramping, but it was tolerable with some Advil and a heating pad. Next few days, I was drinking Gatorade like crazy to avoid OHSS (ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome). Gatorade felt like it was running through my veins, but I felt good--no OHSS!

Transfer. We were undecided as to how many embryos to put in and came to the consensus that we would say 2, but will do what the doctor recommends. He recommended that we do a single embryo transfer due to age, egg quality, first IVF. We felt good about the decision and proceeded. This process was easy and very similar to an IUI. The only thing that was difficult was maintaining a full bladder for the transfer process. It was amazing to see the transfer on the ultrasound screen. There was a tiny white streak on the screen and the doctor told us that was the air bubble with our embryo inside! Amazing! I was on bed rest for 2 days. First day/night, I spent it on the couch, but found out that was not a good idea. Sore back/shoulders/etc. I mainly slept those 2 days. Overall, feeling fine.

2 Week Wait. Ahh. The awful 2WW! No more daily office visits and blood tests. Just waiting. It is enough to drive someone crazy, let alone all the hormones pills/injections. Tried to take it easy. Went to the library after being done with bed rest and felt some intense cramping. I was trying to handle the cramping by quick breaths. Felt a little silly because it seemed like something one would do during labor. Took it easy the next few days. Was warned not to take a home pregnancy test because of false negatives and positives, but I couldn't resist, so I took one 2 days before the first blood test. It was a negative. I was saddened to never see the 2 blue lines. Ryan said not to worry since it could still be too early. Tried to remain positive and to remember how smoothly everything was going. We went to a movie to get my mind off of it.

First beta test. Couldn't sleep at all the night before because of worry about the test results. I received a Priesthood blessing from Ryan and the blessing said that I would have peace and comfort. I told Ryan that the blessing did not seem quite positive and he chuckled and said to be patient. Went in to get my blood drawn for testing early that morning and just waited for the call from the office. I realized now that the wait is the worst part of the whole process. That one call would be life-changing. The nurse finally called shortly before lunchtime and told me the results. Beta count was at 6, with 5 and under being a negative. Therefore, since my beta count was so low, it is most likely a negative. However, they still wanted me to remain on all drugs and wait for the second beta test to confirm.

Wait #2. Now we wait again. First word that came to my mind after the call: Devastation. But kinda had a feeling this was the case based on the home pregnancy test and a general "off" feeling. I will be honest, it is so hard to maintain an optimistic and positive outlook. I feel numb. The emotional pain is so much worse than anything. I have come to realize that physical pain is much more tolerable. Tons of questions have swarmed through my mind as to what went wrong. Did I do something? How did the whole process go so smoothly until the end? What could we have done differently? What more must we sacrifice? I wish we could re-wind and go back to the transfer process and re-do. Maybe I needed to take it easier? So many unanswered questions. I took another progesterone shot last night and wondered if it was even worth taking this shot. I wonder if there is still a small glimmer of hope and chance for a miracle that the second beta test will turn out positive.

Second Beta Test. Went in to get blood drawn one last time. For some reason, I have a lump forming from the blood drawn. What a way to end this IVF cycle. Still feels very surreal knowing that we have reached the end. The whole thing went by so quickly, I almost wonder whether we forgot something along the way. Finally got the call from the office to confirm that my betas went down to 4, so it is a definite negative.

Next Steps. The obvious question is: what next? To be honest, we are still dealing with this. I know many have asked whether we have considered adoption or foster children and we have truly analyzed and prayed about it. But right now, it is not our time. There is just another level of emotions that go through the adoption process and we are not there yet. The only thing we can do is to take it day by day, as painful as it might be. To hold tight on the idea of hope and to have faith that the long-term plan is the right one. Is this easy to do? By all means, no! It is agonizing and it hurts--and I don't know how long it will hurt. There have been many tears shed through this whole journey. But I know that our journey is not complete. And that is what keeps us going.

1 Year Later from Last Post

2011-05-14T08:46:00.000-06:00

Still grasping the concept of blogging as you can tell from my last entry :) One year later...I graduated. Very surreal, but worth it. Had to take a pic of my new shoes for the occasion!

So close...yet it seems so far away

2010-05-10T15:03:00.005-06:00

Finals Week: The countdown to the end of Spring 2010 semester classes starts today.

Late-night cramming sessions
Group presentations
Papers meeting allotted page amounts
Multiple-choice "guessing"

4 more days seems like forever...

Lesson Learned...

2010-04-28T11:40:00.002-06:00

Lesson learned from living in New Mexico:

Never leave your windows opened during high winds!

No fun finding a nice layer of orange dirt in a white bathroom :(

Say What?!?

2010-03-05T11:36:00.004-07:00

So I'm a total slacker when it comes to blogging...but here's a quick update:

It's halfway through another semester packed with stats, econ, and tech. Oh the joys! Each class seems to have its own "language" and the phrase which best summarizes each class is: "say what?!?" Not so fun feeling after spending 2.5 hrs in class in complete and utter confusion. Too bad there isn't a Rosetta Stone kit for these classes to learn the language in 10 mins!

'Tis the Season...

2009-11-15T18:42:00.005-07:00

Today we woke up to snow! Granted it was only a dusting, but it definitely felt like the Christmas :) Since we're going to be very busy these next few weeks, we decided to put up Christmas decorations after church. Here's the results of our first Christmas tree and the decorations:

My "view" for the past few months

2009-10-22T15:33:00.007-06:00

Since my blog has not been updated for a while, here is a quick "Evelyn's eye view" of where I have been/what I have been seeing for the past few months. I know, very exciting. (this pic was even taken with my laptop, which now seems to be an appendage)

UNM Parish Library

Back to school...as a Freshman again!

2009-09-01T11:42:00.008-06:00

I am now in my second week of school. It has definitely been an adjustment with getting back into school mode. My classes are Mon-Thurs, almost all of them in the evenings, which throws my schedule off a bit since I am use to studying at night and spending the evenings with Ryan.

Parking is atrocious! Maybe it's because of my sense of entitlement, but I would think that there would be privileges for grad students since: a) we already have survived undergrad, b) we are considered as the "seniors" of the school--seniority rights, c) we pay more money for grad student tuition!!!

Starting in a new school has been a surprise too. Wandering around looking for classrooms/buildings, not knowing people, not knowing the "insider" hints in making school life easier...guess that just comes with being a "UNM transplant".

But enough of the gripes. Overall, I think this will be a great experience and that not only will I learn about the subject matter, but also about myself.

I know a lot of people have been posting their kids' first day of school pics, and my friend joked about me doing one, but I decided to post a pic of something that will endure the next few years of classes with me:

Wedding Season

2009-08-23T10:10:00.004-06:00

Ryan and I went to Oregon for my brother's wedding. This was our first time in Oregon, so we went a few days before the celebration to explore.The happy couple:They actually got married on our anniversary, so here's a little tribute to 3 wonderful years and plenty more to eternity :)

Cutting it off!

2009-08-19T08:20:00.012-06:00

Thanks to my wonderful friend, MyLyn, I finally found a hair stylist here in ABQ! Since then, I had waited to get my hair cut each time we went up to Utah. So yesterday afternoon, I took the plunge and not only tried out a new hair salon, but also a new "do". I haven't had short hair since my last few years of college. I just let my hair stylist work her magic and--voila! Here's the results:

Before: About a month ago

After: The New "Do"

I wasn't expecting to go so short, but what's done is done and I think it will grow on me!

UFOs, Bats, Stalactites, Stalagmites all on the 4th of July!

2009-07-09T16:08:00.018-06:00

For the 4th of July weekend, we ventured south to further discover why New Mexico is considered to be the "land of enchantment". We stopped by the famous (or infamous if you have a fear of UFOs ) city of Roswell. I loved the UFO streetlights: We visited the International UFO Museum and Research Center. Sadly, there wasn't much there and this was the only "UFO" we saw.
After our quick visit to Roswell, we headed off to Carlsbad, NM to visit the Carlsbad Caverns. We watched a massive, ominous dark cloud of thousands of bats swarm out of the cave's mouth for their evening bat flight. (no pics since bat hearing is ultra-sensitive)

The next day was spent in the cave. If you have the following phobias, this trip might be a bit tough:

Achluphobia- Fear of darkness
Bacillophobia- Fear of microbes
Bathophobia- Fear of depth
Chiroptophobia- Fear of bats
Olfactophobia- Fear of smells
Ornithophobia-Fear of birds

The cave is at least 750 ft below ground and it is amazing! Here are some pics:

Accepted!!!

2009-06-16T16:20:00.007-06:00

I am officially a new Lobo (translation: Going to grad school at University of New Mexico in August)! I got my acceptance letter in the mail and was surprised how thin the envelope was. Back in the day (am I really getting that old?), I remember the difference between acceptance/rejection letters was dependent on the size of the letter--the bigger the better. So for a brief moment as I was opening the letter from UNM, I was a tiny bit worried, but relieved with the results! I registered for classes today and I am anxiously awaiting the start of a new schoolyear. It has been a while since I set foot in a classroom setting, but I look forward to the learning aspect of it. Doesn't courses like Operations Management, Organizational Behavioral, and Ethics, Politics, Social and Legal Environment of Business sound like fun??? ;)

Stake Youth Trek

2009-06-08T09:32:00.010-06:00

Last weekend, Ryan and I had the opportunity to participate in the Stake Youth Trek. This is a mini reenactment of what the Mormon Pioneers had to go through as they crossed the plains to Salt Lake City.

When we were first asked, I was very hesitant to go since I have never gone camping (Girls Camp in Florida was in cabins). The thought of no showers/facilities sounded like torture for a neat-freak/germaphobe like me.

But surprisingly, the experience was much better than expected--it was truly an amazing and uplifting experience. We were "Ma and Pa Jamison" for a group of 9 youth ranging from 12-17 yrs old. We went up to the Jemez and hiked a little over 12 miles on Thursday hauling 400+lb handcarts while wearing pioneer attire. There were some pretty steep areas along the way, but with trek family unity and wonderful leaders and many prayers and words of encouragement, we were able to complete the trek.

I must say that one of the most incredible experiences during the trek was the woman's pull. Along the way, there was a segment of the trek where the boys in the group were tapped out of pulling the handcart, leaving the women to pull on their own. This represented the time when all the men had to leave and join the Mormon Batallion, leaving the women, children, and elderly to continue the journey on their own. I know that when I was pulling the cart with the 4 other young women, I thought we were not going to make it up and over the hills. There were times when our cart was moving backwards as we climbed uphill and felt like we just didn't have enough strength to go on. With much faith and many prayers, we were able to make it to the next section of the trek. From the men's perspective, I know that Ryan and the young men in our group said that it was so painful to see us struggle without being able to help and do anything about it.

Having this experience made us realize the great sacrifices that the pioneers had to go through on both sides--the men seeing how difficult it was to leave their women/children and see them struggle on their own, and the women realizing that they must rely on each other and to have the faith, strength, and courage to overcome obstacles. We were able to talk about the experience with our trek family and the youth talked about the importance of families.

On Friday, we were able to have a day of pioneer activities. It was a day to relax and re-cooperate from the previous day. That evening we had a fireside with talks given by a few of the youth and the Stake Presidency. We ended the evening off with family home evening held within our trek family. Our youth shared their testimonies and it was so uplifting to hear their thoughts and impressions from this experience.

Saturday was our day to go home! We packed up camp and loaded up our handcarts and walked about 2 miles out to the main road. Everyone was in good spirits knowing that hot showers and civilization was awaiting. Overall, it was an incredible experience for all. There were many lessons taught and learned during the trek. I think some things that really impressed upon my mind were:

FAITH and knowing that Heavenly Father and our Savior is there for us and knows who we are and what we can accomplish and having faith in the people around us
PRAYER and that He hears and answers them
ETERNAL FAMILIES and the importance of celestial marriages and finding a true companion to help each other along the way and to help lead and nurture family members

Here are some photos of the Trek weekend:

Graduations, Weddings, Vacations, Oh My!!!

2009-06-01T11:30:00.002-06:00

After a month's hiatus from blogging, it is finally time to catch up with all the events in our lives! So here it goes:

At the end of April, I was able to attend my brother, Jeff's, graduation. It was nice to go back to the ol' BYU Cougars stomping grounds.

Me and the Graduate

Mid-May, Ryan and I flew out to Florida for some R&R at South Seas Resort in Captiva Island, FL. It was amazing!!! I had forgotten how much I love the beach. The weather was a bit rainy, but there was a day when it was clear enough for us to get sunburns :( Here are some pics from our vacation:

Much needed R&R

Loving the sand and sun

An approaching storm
More beach

On Memorial Day weekend, we went down to Naples, FL for my cousin's wedding. They had a beautiful ceremony right on the beach.

Wedding Ceremony

Celebration Time!

In the last weekend in May, Ryan flew out to UT for his sister, Sara's, high school graduation.

Ryan and Sara

Yea for a month of celebrations!!! :)

A New Career?

2009-04-22T14:32:00.006-06:00

Yesterday, a neighbor came to our door and asked if I was willing to give piano lessons to her 10-year-old daughter. She "found" me when she heard me play as she was walking around the neighborhood (which makes me wonder how soundproof our house is!).

This took me by surprise and I quickly told her that I have never taught piano lessons before. She seemed to be okay with that fact--which further surprised me. I agreed and told her that we can try it out and that I would not be offended if I am not a good fit. I will start my first lesson on Monday. We'll see how it goes. I am a little apprehensive--especially without a teaching background. I am hoping that I will be able to teach her all the good techniques that my piano teacher has taught me years ago and that this will be a positive experience for the both of us.

The Sweetest (and Cutest) Little Things

2009-04-10T15:44:00.009-06:00

I decided to try out a recipe I found on a blog from Bakerella called "Cupcake Bites" (http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/05/cupcake-bites-made-easy.html). They are essentially mini bite-size cupcakes with a candy coating. It was a surprisingly easy recipe and the results were so cute! I must admit, they were a little too sweet (probably because of the cake, frosting, and candy coating), but they are so cute, they are almost irresistible!

Here's the end results:

Ryan was nice enough to "model" the size of the mini cupcakes:

This is him devouring the little guy:

Springtime

2009-04-02T10:11:00.003-06:00

Beautiful spring flowers from my thoughtful brothers!!! Thanks Ben and Jeff--you guys are the best!!! :)

The Nemesis of My Life

2009-03-30T12:07:00.002-06:00

Need I say more?

To Tile or Not to Tile

2009-03-25T10:16:00.007-06:00

For our weekend project, we are debating whether we should tile our kitchen backsplash. Things in debate:
1) Does this tile match our kitchen?
2) Is it worth the time and effort to tile?
What are your thoughts? :)

Artist Block No More!

2009-03-15T15:09:00.004-06:00

A few nights ago, I was finally able to get some inspiration for the 3 giant canvases. It turned out much different than what I had intended, but the overall idea is there. I have 3 additional (smaller) canvases to paint for the hallways, so hopefully the ideas will keep coming.
To complete the entranceway area, Ryan and I decided to bring some nature indoors. We bought some peace lilies that are stated to "cleanse the air while eliminating toxins and creating oxygen" (the selling point on the plant tag). Here is the completed entranceway.

I Love Cookies

2009-03-14T20:49:00.001-06:00

I love finding and testing out new recipes. My really good friend bought me a recipe book of cookies and I decided to try out a recipe for Black & White cookies; which apparently are renown in NYC. We had quite a few friends tell us that these cookies were on a Seinfeld episode. They were yummy and definitely a keeper!

Artist Block

2009-03-11T12:00:00.001-06:00

"The painter's obsession with his subject is all that he needs to drive him to work." --Lucian Freud

Unfortunately for me, I don't seem to have a "subject". I am having a major case of "artist block" and it has been lasting for a few months now. Not that I can truly call myself an artist since I merely dabble in it and have yet to make my very own portfolio. But I have tons of empty space in our entranceway and 3 large blank canvases staring back at me--very daunting!

Yea for Birthdays

2009-02-13T13:07:00.004-07:00

My birthday and Valentines was finally celebrated with Ryan after having missed the past 3 yrs due to business travels. Ryan surprised me with a beautiful ring! I loved the box and had to take a picture of it before I opened the present. Ryan and I went to the Melting Pot and spent the night at a Sante Fe resort. It was such a wonderful weekend and I am so grateful that I could spend the holidays with my hubby :)

Dad's 60th Birthday!

2009-02-06T22:26:00.000-07:00

I have had good intentions of being a better blogger for the year of 2009, but I am once again, trying to play catch up. Late last year, my Mom and I decided to plan a surprise birthday for my Dad. We planned for Mom and Dad to fly out to New Mexico and have Ben and Jeff fly out the night before to have a family reunion. It was tough to keep this a surprise for so many months, but we pulled it off. It was so fun having my family here with us.

Heartfelt Surprises!

2009-02-02T21:50:00.004-07:00

Today was just an ordinary Monday; but for no apparent reason, I felt sort of sad. (Maybe this is attributed to being a girl.) Ryan noticed that I was not my usual self and surprised me by placing some roses on my laptop. I am so thankful that I have such a caring and loving husband who notices even the little things. :)

I'm Officially a New Mexican!

2009-01-12T15:33:00.006-07:00

I've been a huge slacker with blogging over the holidays. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years! Quick recap of ours: Ryan and I took a road trip to Utah (this Christmas was Ryan's family--UT, next year is my family--FL) for Christmas and unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures! Yeah, that's probably something I really need to work on. Anyway, it was a very busy trip and we were able to visit with lots of family and friends.

Now that the holidays have come and gone, I finally decided to become an official resident of New Mexico by switching out my drivers license. Ryan did his right away when we moved down (so responsible!), but I just kept delaying for no apparent reason--maybe it's my inner rebellion against conformism or something. Anyway, Ryan said it was a very painless process and that I should not take the risk of not updating my license in fear of a potential penalty fee. Taking his word for it, I decided that I should be a good denizen of New Mexico and get it done.

Needless to say, my experience was not smooth and easy like Ryan's. I even went to the less crowded MVD. After filling out the same form 3 times, getting my picture taken 2 times, answering the same redundant questions about another 4 times (address, height, weight), going to the MVD 2 times in a matter of 2 hours (they had to close for lunch in the middle of my license being processed), and roughly 2-2.5 hours of wasted time waiting (especially when I think of the hours as billable rates for work!), I FINALLY got my temporary drivers license! Talk about inefficiencies! I even began analyzing the flow process while I was there. (Maybe I should have presented them my assessment and billed them for my time) Thankfully, I do not have to renew my license for another 8 years...

It's FINALLY beginning to look a lot like Christmas in NM!!!

2008-12-15T16:28:00.007-07:00

It snowed all day long today! We had woken up to a few days with a light dusting of snow last week and I wanted to take a picture of it, but Ryan said the "snow" wasn't picture-worthy--especially when it all melted by 10am. Today is different though. It has been snowing all day long. Not the big snowflakes we usually see in Utah, but there is enough snow to cover the ground and for me to sweep the snow from our steep driveway. Believe it or not, sweeping the snow from the driveway is a first for me! I have been lucky to not have to deal with snow removal until now. I remember when my dad would shovel snow when we lived in Maryland and it always looked fun since he did it in such a neat and efficient way...now from personal experience, it is not as fun as it looks. Here's some pics (since I think it is now picture-worthy!)and, from the looks of it, I think I have to go out and sweep the driveway again. And we might just even need to invest in a snow shovel if this keeps going!

New Mexico snow!!!

Snow from our balcony!

The Piano Obsession

2008-11-17T17:27:00.005-07:00

For our 2nd anniversary, Ryan bought me a baby grand piano off of craigslist. I have been trying to get back into piano and have been obsessed with learning 2 songs written by Michael Nyman (the songs are on the playlist)--both from a movie called "The Piano". I haven't seen the movie, but the music is mysterious/intense/passionate. It really is an obsession since I play it everyday, trying to get further and further through the songs.

As I play, I often wonder what the history of our piano is. For instance, who played on this piano? How often was it played? What was the hardest piece that was played? The person we bought the piano from said that it was 90 years old. I don't know if that is true since I did some research about Steinert pianos and came across an article about various clues that date the piano. On our piano, there are 2 stickers on the back by the National Association of Music Merchants, which dates this piano to 1919 at the earliest. And then there is another clue about the tuning pins base section alignment, which may actually date our piano post-1925.

At any rate, the haunting pieces are an obsession not only during the waking hours as I relentlessly work through the pieces, but the melodies even seep into my dreams...

Extreme Home Makeover--Jamison Style

2008-11-14T13:01:00.006-07:00

Since we are now homeowners, we have been immersed into the world of home improvement. Our new favorite stores are The Home Depot and Lowes. The people there in both stores have been such a help for us novices/"weekend warriors" (seriously, a Lowes employee in the paint department called us that). The first two areas we worked on were the garage and bedroom.

For the garage, we have put an epoxy coating on our garage floor and primed and painted the walls and ceiling. Here are the "before" and "after" pictures of our garage:

Before After

Ryan has grandiose plans to put in movable cabinets and a huge workbench and tool cabinet, but that will be a gradual process. We had to have a professional come out and install the water softener since we have really hard water out here. Ryan and our neighbor took a shot at it, but after hours of trying and countless trips to Home Depot and Lowes, we had to call in the professionals.

For the bedroom, my first project was to make a tuffed headboard. I saw this project on HGTV and they made it look so easy (as always). It took about 1/2 a day and it went much more smoothly with Ryan's help (the tuffed buttons were a pain!). Ryan was also able to install his first ceiling fan (more ceiling fans to install later in other rooms...). The pics above our bed are beach scenes (which I really miss) and were taken by my brother, Ben, who claims that I need to wire him money for his photography services. Ryan kinda thinks our room looks like a hotel room and wonders if I am having traveling withdrawals...

Before
After

I am in process of tackling the huge 2-story wall in our entranceway. This has been a decor issue for me. Any ideas??? I ordered a 47" console table to put there and I bought 3 huge canvases (24"x48"). I was thinking of painting them as an abstract triptych to break up the white space. However, I am struggling to find inspiration for these canvases as well.

Empty entranceway :(

Halloweentime

2008-10-30T14:01:00.005-06:00

Last Friday, we had our friends, Tim and MyLyn, over to carve pumpkins. We got addicted to pumpkin carving from my cousin, Kin and his family, in SLC who always hosted an annual pumpkin carving party and we decided to take this tradition with us to New Mexico! Here are the results of our pumpkins:

Pumpkins: MyLyn, Tim, Evelyn, Ryan

My cat pumpkin wasn't completely done when everyone was finished, so I had to work on it for another 1/2hr or so:

Ryan and I decided to take our pumpkins outside to see the "full effect" at our first attempt in Halloween decorating (can't see the spider web across our front door):

What About Ryan???

2008-10-23T09:20:00.001-06:00

Now that you have gotten an update about my career, it's time to talk about Ryan. I told him that he should explain his job instead of me because once he starts talking about engineering, I sort of glaze over and my mind begins to wander and think about other things like "hmm, what should we make for dinner?". Since Ryan has gotten use to this reaction, he gave me a brochure that discusses the purpoes of his department:

After reading the brochure, it still doesn't quite explain what Ryan does since it encompasses a plethora of engineering software terms and gives a very vague depiction. However, when asked about Ryan's occupation, I just take the little phrase in the middle of the brochure: "Modeling and Simulation". Maybe some day I will suddenly have the "A-HA moment" and understand it, but I'm not holding my breath. I am just happy that Ryan enjoys what he is doing. As what a former professor once said, "select a career that you are good at and that you love to do". Based on the few months that Ryan has been working, it seems like he is following this advice.

"Well, what would you say...you do here?"

2008-10-22T13:12:00.005-06:00

You gotta love "Office Space" (the edited version of course) and "Dilbert" to try and convey what consultants do since we have such a "cryptic" job description. Ryan found this in the newspaper a few weeks ago and said that this is what I do:
And another one just for fun from my brother, Ben:
Naturally, consulting is much more (and obviously more legitimate) than the various stereotypical depictions! (Although, I must admit, that like the consultant in "Office Space", there was a time when I did ask someone what they did in the organization.)

Posing this same question to myself, "what do I do?", here's the basic summary: I am now an independent consultant and I assess patient throughput issues through data analyses and create presentations based on findings/recommendations for hospital systems on a needs basis. Since becoming an independent consultant, I haven't had to travel lately and work comes in peaks and flows, but a lot less burnout. And I guess you can add the fact that I have more time to write more posts :)

A New Place, A New Posting!

2008-10-21T16:08:00.014-06:00

Okay, now you know why I put a disclaimer at the end of my first post considering the fact that it has been over 10 months since I started this blog! I think that is another reason why I haven't really told people we have a blog. One of my friends who noticed that I had a blog mentioned that she checks my blog every now and then and wonders why there are no updates (sorry Emily!) and that I should just email her to let her know when I do have a new posting. So here's my second attempt at blogging:

After a summer of endless research and thesis revisions, Ryan graduated from the University of Utah! With the "grad school phase" of our life completed, we then headed off to New Mexico for our next phase in life full of firsts: first house, first career (for Ryan), first time in NM. We have been enjoying our time out here in NM and are busy getting everything situated.

A New Year, A New Blog

2008-01-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

So after contemplating whether or not I want another technological addition to consume my life besides email-ing, Facebook-ing, Wikipedia-ing, and endless net-surf-ing, I've finally decided to jump on the blogspot bandwagon and start "blogg-ing" since this is a new year and that this might be a way to keep up with our lives since typing seems to be easier than writing in a journal.

Here is a quick recap of 2007:

January-February

The usual--according to Ryan, we had our usual routine--Ryan studying at the University of Utah, me working and traveling (for work) and meeting my goals of Elite frequent flier and hotel stay statuses

March

Weekend trip to NYC--I was working at a client site and Ryan was able to meet up with me during Spring Break

May-August

Moved to Auburn Hills, MI--for Ryan's internship at Chrysler and took trips all over MI, including going across the boarder to Toronto, CAN

July

New Job--I stayed in the same industry as a healthcare data consultant, but switched companies

August

Anniversary--Ryan and I have been married for 1 year!

September

Moved back to Salt Lake City, UT--so that Ryan can finish up grad school (Mech Engineering) and took a trip down to Zion's National Park

October-November

More of "the usual"

December

Home for the holidays--still consider FL as home :)

Well, that pretty much sums up our year. We are excited to see what 2008 brings us. I will try and keep this blog up-to-date, but I must place a disclaimer: Posts might come and go in splurges (just like my journal entries)...so it may be a hit or miss!