Physiology

This class has been my life for the past week and a half, and I study all the time for it--Jessica can testify. It didn't help that I had a test exactly a week after classes started and have been studying like crazy for it. I have it for an hour and a half every day, and then on Tuesdays I have a lab right after that lasts another two and a half. If it wasn't for my institute classes I think I would die.

Tuesdays are particularly long, and the labs are fairly interesting. Today the lab was taking blood pressure and doing blood typing. I have been dreading it for seven days.

When someone takes my blood pressure I hate it. I feel like they are going to squeeze the life out of my arm and I'm going to die as a result. Yesterday I learned that they really do cut off your circulation and find out how much pressure it takes for the blood to push through. That's comforting. Needless to say, it scared me to death.

Also, I found last week that for the blood typing lab we have to do our own blood, and to do this we have to prick ourselves in the finger. Ourselves.

Last year during the UofU Blood Battle I tried to give blood. During that crazy consultation where they stick your finger I fainted. My body didn't like that too well. And today I had to do it to myself.

I was terrified. Beyond words. But I wore pants and a jacket so that I didn't get cold, and I made sure that I had food and plenty of sugar in me, and I prayed really really hard.

I put on a brave face for the lab, and it went pretty smooth. The sphygmomanometer (blood pressure cuff) didn't scare me, even though she did it twice--not in a row. I probably took too long taking my partner's blood pressure, but it was a success! My pressure was about 120/80. I feel so smart because I know what that means!

I tried not to freak out when it came time for blood typing and I just forced myself to do it before I thought too hard. I watched my partner do it first, and I backed out only once because the button wasn't very sensitive. But I did it! I pushed the button, and dropped my blood on to the slides and bandaged up my finger. My hands didn't shake too bad, I kept a cool head, and it wasn't as horrible as I'd imagined. I realized I'm a pretty good bleeder so I didn't need to try very hard to get the four drops of blood I needed. My test indicated that I am O positive, though I'm not exactly sure how accurate it is.

You cannot imagine how happy I am! I was so afraid for today, but with help from my Father in Heaven I made it! Alive! Unscathed! and without fainting!

Kameron's First Date

This 16 1/2 year old boy has been pestered and teased so much that he was on the verge of never dating, EVER. Our family can do that... BUT Tyson planned out a date and we kept it on the down-low Kam agreed to go. The first step!

The first challenge was asking the girl. They sat down with no distractions and Tyson began explaining and giving encouragement to this poor, frightened boy. Tyson made a bulleted list of everything Kam needed to tell her and walked him through the entire phone call--several times.

Kam asked Tyson if he should wear his hat or not... to call her... on the phone. He was very nervous, as you can see. I'm not sure what he was thinking... Then he said he needed complete silence so that he could concentrate and at that precise moment my mom's cell phone alarm went off and he went crazy.

It took him nearly an hour, but he finally said, "Ok, I'm going to do it."

Then he said, "Should I say a prayer?" In all seriousness. My brother is a stud. :)

He called her and like a shotgun gave her all the information she needed to know without bothering to wait for a reply yet. But she was sweet and agreed to come. He succeeded and did very well, I am proud.

Through a series of events the first girl wasn't able to go and instead of spending another mopey night we needed to act fast and find him another date. We decided on a neighbor girl that Kam had known for years and figured that it would be a pretty comfortable first date. He threw a fit about everything, maybe she isn't old enough, maybe she's busy, it's too short notice, blah, blah, blah.

So I told him I would call her mom and make sure she was old enough and make sure she was free tonight. I dialed and he screamed and ran out of the room. I talked with her mom and she was definitely old enough and she was indeed free, so I handed over the phone to the scared boy and he calmed down and asked her on a date.

Success! No more mopey Kameron and we were going to get this first date over with! Now he is a pro at asking girls out--he did it twice! ;)

So we walked him through all the things he needed to do, and although he was really scared he did just fine. He picked her up and had her mom sign a waiver, and did everything right except he forgot to ask what time she needed to be home. But overall it was a complete success.

PPT--Progressive Power Tumbling in Provo. Coolest place ever.

They had all kinds of equipment for bouncing and having fun: tramps, spring boards, balls, wheels, you name it. We rolled Tyson and Kam around in a big wheel, and we played Aeroball and Taylor played with Tyson's new camera. I found out how to work it once we left, naturally, so the pictures aren't great.

They had sumo suits that made you look incredibly huge, but we couldn't really find the purpose in them. They didn't bounce, they were just heavy and big. Kameron discovered that falling over "hurts the same." They certainly made for some funny and embarrassing pictures though.

We all jumped in the foam pit, which was disgusting, but incredibly fun. You are completely safe jumping into it and can land on your head and not feel a thing. If you jump really high and fast before falling in you get buried really deep and practically disappear. Getting out of the pit is extremely hard and usually requires assistance because it's deep and there isn't anything to stand on. But it was cool, and I slowly became more brave as I went along.

Things became crowded with little high schoolers over by the pit area, so we found something else to do. There was a long tramp with a ball-like thing at the end that you jump over onto a thick foam pad. We all took turns and Kam and Tyson had no problems, but I could not jump over it to save my life. I chickened out a lot too. I can't even do a cartwheel. What makes me think I can do a flip in the air like that?

It was fun, but soon started to get too crowded so that it wasn't fun anymore, so we decided to leave. The next stop was Stan's and we all got shakes: Reese's Pieces, Mint Chocolate Chip, Oreo and I discovered my favorite: Fudge Brownie. The most delicious chewy brownie pieces in plain vanilla ice cream. Heaven!

After we let our stomachs settle for a bit we finished our date at the Spinney Park at Cherry Creek Elementary. You are even more dizzy at night because you can't see well in the dark, and so it took forever to recover from spinning.

The pictures turned out pretty sweet because they are all fuzzy and smeared and enhance the dizzy factor. I look like Frankenstein, but I blame it on Tyson...

We tried out the "puke chairs" and climbed all over the playground. We tried to do a train, but it failed miserably with our big bodies. We spun until our stomachs screamed "STOP!" and then we decided to call it a night.

We watched Kam's "awkward doorstep scene" in which he failed and didn't walk her to the door. But he only messed up twice, and we are proud. :) Next time will be easier and he won't have so much on his mind.

Kam's first date: Success.

My Life's Quest

I graduated high school with a goal: Pharmacy School. I wanted to do something great in the world and prove to myself that I could do anything. I wanted to make good money, be a professional, and I wanted to be a mom. This was the perfect career, how could anything go wrong?

I'd prayed sincerely back in October to know if it was right. I chose Pharmacy School and prayed, and I never got a "no," so I stuck with it. I pushed myself hard and I planned on an exceptionally hard school schedule to get it done in time. I was enrolled in Physiology and Calculus for the summer semester and many more hard classes in the Fall and Spring. I was pushing myself to the limit.

I went to three days of school this semester, and something simply wasn't right. My physiology class was exciting and interesting, but calculus wasn't clicking. It had been a year too long and the information wasn't coming back. I tried so hard to understand integrals again, using manuals, equation sheets, but nothing made sense. I simply couldn't do both classes and succeed.

My last option was to buy the solution manual and hope that it would help just a little with calculus. When I bought it she said that the last day to return it for a full refund was the next day. I'd been thinking of dropping it, but this kicked me into hyperdrive. I needed to decide TODAY.

Dropping calculus would put me a year behind in my pharmacy goal. As things were I would graduate at about 24, but putting off having children for that long isn't something I wanted to do. As I discussed things with my mom we thought absolutely everything through. The most important thing I discovered though was this: When I graduate I will accumulate at least $100,000 in debt. But when I graduate my plan was to immediately be a stay at home mom. In order to get rid of that debt I would need to work for three years and save every penny I could, and still not pay it off. That plan doesn't work when children enter the picture.

I've always wanted to be a mom, but that thought seemed so far distant that I started to focus more on my career. Through this realization and many things mentioned by my wonderful institute teachers, I've put my priorities in order again, and I'm going to be a mother--not a pharmacist. I didn't realize how far away I'd gotten until I took a step back and looked at myself. I wanted prestige more than I wanted a family. Now I want a family more than anything else in the world. I love mine sooooo much, and I hope that one day my kids will love me the way I love my parents.

I decided to let go of that dream in favor of a better one. Once I had made that choice I felt liberated, free, and at peace. My prayer had finally been answered--on the Lord's time. There is a reason I'm here in Logan this summer, and there's a reason I went through the things I did. My physiology class feels right, and even though I don't necessarily need it, I'm going to stick with it because I love it.

My mom found the most wonderful scriptures and shared them with me. It felt like he was speaking directly to me and telling me that it was right. They apply to every major life decision I think, and I hope someone finds them helpful like I did:

2 Nephi 32:1,3,5,9

D&C 11:12-14

I've found that the Lord knows and cares about us each individually, and sends us tender mercies all day long. When I went home I got online and found out that the next day was the last day to drop a class and get a full refund. I'll get my money back, and calculus will just be like it never happened.

My life doesn't have a firm direction right now, but I've never been so sure that I'm doing the right thing. The pressures of the PCAT, getting good grades, taking hard classes, have all ceased and now I can relax and just be Taylor. I'm thinking about becoming a PTA and perhaps getting a degree in Psychology or something, but it doesn't matter right now. I'm happy the way I am and so very excited for life!

So Taylor the aspiring Pharmacist is no more... But whatever is next sounds exciting!

Springtime Serenade

It was a day to trump all boring days. There was nothing in the whole world I could think of to do, but I was positively aching to go outside. So I did. I picked up my blanket and my book and set off in the direction of Adam's Park, my absolute favorite place to go "out-of-doors." I found a nice partially-shady spot of ground and I stretched out and began to read.

It was a marvelous day to be at the park. There were so many people to see: the mom playing with her baby, the family taking pictures in matching white shirts, the guitarist in the far corner, the laughter of children on the playground. It was a simply gorgeous day!

I had been there for at least an hour and the guitarist I heard started to walk past me--I thought. So I feigned interest in my book and waited for him to pass by. He stopped, and asked me what book I was reading.

Confused, I told him. He asked what it was about, but this book was too complex for me to simplify, so I muttered something about "sci-fi" and "it's complicated."

Then he said, "You looked kind of bored, would you like a serenade?"

How are you supposed to respond to that? My head flew a million miles a second. What do I do? How do I say no politely? Is this going to be awkward? WHY do I want to say no? He is strange looking, but not threatening. What's the worst that could happen? When will this chance come again?

So I said, "Sure." I told myself that I'd just play it safe, and make sure not to give out too much information. It was a full park, not a dark alley. I was safe.

So he introduced himself as Matt and got out his guitar and sat on the grass in front of me. (Just because you can't really tell in the picture, he had blue highlights in his hair. Definite blue.)

He asked me what kind of music I liked, to which I replied, "Anything and everything." Those of you who know me can testify of it's truth. He told me that that wasn't very helpful, so he chose a piece of "Spanish guitar."

I know a little about the guitar because I used to play it... kind of. He wasn't by any means amazing, but he tried and did well. MUCH better than I could ever do. He kind of had pudgy fingers, but did well in spite of them.

He told me that it was called "Spanish Romance" which sent up a little red flag, but I promised I would play it safe and not give him any strange ideas. The entire time I was guarded, but I still had lots of fun. It was flattering that he picked me, most likely because I was the only one of his approximate age in the general vicinity, but it still felt nice to be noticed.

The next song he played was one he had written. He told me to picture the scene it was portraying, and what emotion I felt as I listened. It was a beautiful piece and I absolutely loved it. To me it sounded very thoughtful, contemplative. He was kind of taken back by my answer and he told me what his image was. He pictured a wide open field right after a battle during the civil war. With fog laying thick on the ground, broken wagons, and scattered helmets. It honestly did fit the music. The thoughtful feeling came from someone looking on the scene at the aftermath.

He repeated over and over that he loved to share his music with people, and I thought that was really cool. He's very brave for doing so. We talked about different things and I found out that he is from Long Beach, CA, is apparently a member of the church, and that he wants to go to beauty school. He was very strange, but talking to him was like medicine to my lonely soul that day. I enjoyed it.

He played one more song for me, "Come Thou Fount." I love that song. He forgot the words in a few places, but did a good job nonetheless. He had a fairly decent voice, and his guitar accompaniment was really good. That song was a wonderful reminder and something I definitely needed to hear.

Afterward he shook my hand, I gave him my thanks, and we said goodbye. Truly fascinating and wonderful! (And for your benefit Mom--completely safe. I'll never see him again unless it's a random coincidence.)

Now I can say I have been serenaded. In a park. By a man with blue hair. Aren't you jealous?

Hike to the Caves

June 3--We made the long journey to American Fork Canyon on this beautiful Thursday morning, so anxious to hike that we forgot two very important things. Jackets and a camera. The camera was for my sanity's sake, and for the sake of memories. The jacket was too keep us some semblance of warm while we were in the 45 degree caves. In place of our nice digital camera we bought a disposable one, so that we had at least something. Thus, I apologize for the terrible quality of pictures.

One thing about disposable cameras though, It was fascinating to see the huge change in cameras over just a few years. I'd forgotten about winding, and holding down the flash button, and guessing what the picture will look like... it was actually a lot of fun. The only bad part was that we had to be conservative because there were only 27 pictures, and that was very difficult for Taylor.

So, on to the hike. It's a fairly easy, fairly simple hike, but it is straight up the mountain, with about a million switchbacks. I am not in shape at all, but it was easier than I thought it would be. It was just up and up and up and up with no breaks. Needless to say we were breathing heavily pretty quickly, and having lots of fun feigning exhaustion for the camera.

We had fun taking pictures, until we realized that we needed to go faster up the mountain or we wouldn't make it in time for our scheduled tour. So we picked up the pace and headed up.

They had all kinds of signs on the hike up. There were little signs for an audio tour you could listen to if you called a number then they would tell you about a specific thing on the trail. They had signs telling you how far along the trail you were, 1/4 way, 1/2, 3/4. And there were signs all over that said "Watch out for falling rocks" and "Warning steep cliffs." Those are the two biggest dangers on this trip, rocks and cliffs. They just recently had one maintenance worker die, and one girl injured severely on this hike. It's kind of scary in parts, and you could most definitely die from a fall.

We got a kick out of this and decided that we really need to convince Dad to come with us just so he can take a picture with this sign. :)

They do all kinds of things to try to protect you, but they can only do so much. There were red lines on the trail where you weren't supposed to stop hiking because there was rock fall danger, and the signs all warned of steep cliffs. Mostly as long as you pay attention and be careful you are completely safe. But if you aren't watching you can easily walk off the side, which is what that girl did. There were parts that I wouldn't walk next to someone and preferred single file lines, but it was always pretty safe.

And look! Mom found a cave all by herself! Time to go back...

When we finally completed the long, but eventful trip to the top we met with the rangers and sat down to eat our snacks. We just chilled and talked with them while we waited for another group to join us. They told us what their job was like and how much they loved it. There was even a summer internship program for students. The coolest thing they told us was about a different tour that they offer called "Introduction to Caving." They told us that spelunking is the amateur term for "caving." It's a tour that takes you to a different area of the caves and you get to wear cave helmets and do some exploring etc. It lasts like an hour and a half and they only let 5 people go in a day. It sounds like such an adventure! I really really want to do that someday!

Once the next group caught up to us we were able to go on the tour. We walked into the entrance and it was COLD. 45 degrees cold. As I said before, we forgot to bring our jackets so it was a little chilly. It actually wasn't too bad when you got used to it, but the initial shock was pretty cold. Once we started moving more we warmed up as well.

The tour was awesome! It's incredible what things can grow in caves! Everything is formed by watered down calcite that builds up on every surface. It was extremely wet and droplets fell from the ceiling all over. They called it being "kissed by the cave" when a drop landed on you. :)

They explained what happens when a stalactite drips and starts for form a stalagmite, and that over thousands of years they run into each other and form a column. They explained how old the cave was and that this was probably the safest place to be in an earthquake. There were so many fascinating facts! The curly carpet looking things in this picture are called helictites (click on it and you'll see it better.) No one knows for sure how they are made because they defy gravity in the curly way they form. There is also a formation called bacon, because it looks just like bacon. :)

The hike itself was adventurous too! We had to duck underneath lots of low rocks, bend to the side to avoid touching formations, and climb up and down some steep paths. It's paved entirely with concrete, so there wasn't ever any danger of twisting an ankle--though I'm sure I could have managed it. It's pretty much awesome.  I love being adventurous!

The most amazing part of the tour though was a part in which Sue--our guide--turned off all the lights and made everyone turn off their cameras and phones. It was complete darkness like I have never seen before. I was touching my face and couldn't see my hand. There was no light whatsoever down there, and that was apparently how caves grow the best. Which makes sense. She shined a laser pointer across the room at some different things. The rocks were completely opaque and the laser didn't penetrate them, but the calcite formations would glow all the way through. Kind of like when you shine a flashlight through your hand and it glows reddish? That's just like what this was.

She also shined the laser on her ring and it scattered a dozen different red lights across the ceiling, which was an amazing sight. It was so humbling to be apart of this kind of nature. Rocks, of all things, really do hold an astounding amount of beauty.

All in all the cave was an amazing and thoroughly satisfying experience. The trek up was definitely worth the spectacular sights, and I highly recommend it to anyone.

The hike back down was much quicker, and much easier. But we had to take one last picture as "roadkill" laying on the trail, for exhaustion's sake.

I still have yet to decide if this picture was meant to depict us falling off the cliff and dying, or just being too tired to continue the hike...

"The Mountain"

Jessica's grandpa and his brothers own a piece of land in Idaho affectionately named "Grandpa's Mountain." Each Memorial day weekend is spent camping on this beautiful piece of ground, and enjoying the company of family.

I was lucky enough to be invited to this wonderful place by Jessica, and we spent all day Saturday with her family. We were cold, wet, muddy, and had a wonderful time.

The morning was cloudy and it started to drizzle on the drive up. The morning was cold and rainy too, so we passed the time in "Grandma and Grandpa's" camper putting together puzzles.

Someone had a set of three Thomas Kinkade puzzles that we began work on. The first one was 100 pieces and was finished pretty quickly with 6 people working on it. It was then that they made it known that these puzzles were GLOW IN THE DARK! How rad is that? We then concocted several ideas to try to see it, because we didn't believe them.

At this point I must tell you about my wonderful discovery as I got ready this morning. My hair fits into a ponytail again! It was an exciting and welcome discovery and completely made my day! Growing out your hair really does work.

We then began the 300 piece puzzle, which took longer, but was still moderately easy. Then Taylor got a wonderful idea--we needed a coat! The glow-in-the-dark was clearly visible underneath. Score!

The next puzzle was 500 pieces and took us probably 3 hours to finish! It was a monster! We were thoroughly exhausted of puzzles afterwards, but we did indeed finish.

We had some delicious fajitas for dinner that were spicy, but kept us warm during the short span we were away from the fire. We spent the rest of the time sitting around the amazingly warm fire and making sure our clothes smelled enough like campfire to witness that we had indeed been camping.

When it came time for goodbyes I felt like it was my family we were leaving, they were so kind and welcoming! It was a fantastic day, thanks Jess!

Candy Canes

Our dear friend Bill came over last week and gave us candy canes--though why he had them, I'm not sure.

There was much rejoicing... and picture taking.

One tongue, two tongue,
Blue tongue, green tongue...

When you were younger did you ever have contests to see who could lick it into the sharpest point? And then you stab yourself in the roof of the mouth and realize that it's not such a good idea... Oh how much fun!