I have been craving sugar like no other...

So I'm a pretty healthy eater and I never buy anything sugary at the store, but tonight I find myself writing this post at home with a bag of Peanut Butter M&M's on my right and a bag of Skittles on my left.  And we're talking the large size, not the puny vending machine size.  I've had a lot more sugar in the last week or two too.  Hmmm..... maybe it's the 60 hr. work week I just finished a few hours ago?  Maybe it's the depressing weather?  Maybe it's not having any family or friends around?  Whatever it is, it must stop.  I've been to the gym literally once in the last month.  I blame it on my sprained ankle back in December.  No, I blame it on the influenza I contracted the beginning of January.  No, I blame it on not having a gym to go to.  There's no way I'm going running in the rain.  So alas, here I sit w/ my two bags of giant sized candy.  I must say, it can't get any better than this.  Time to start my infamous no sugar diet??  I have an 11 week record to break...

48 hrs. in Portland

I had a visitor this last weekend so we toured the area.  It all began Friday night with an introduction to the Portland food scene.  We ate at Pine State Biscuits, gourmet breakfast biscuits.  I've been wanting to eat here forever and it didn't disappoint.  I could go on forever about food in Portland...

Saturday was spent at the coast.  Took a brief tour through the Tillamook Cheese Factory and walked away with a bag of squeaky cheese.  Could have settled for a giant sized ice cream cone too, but had to make room for fish & chips!  Cannon Beach has a fantastic cute little seafood joint, Mo's, but turns out they are remodeling and don't reopen until February.  Unbelievable!  Don't worry, we found another equally fantastic place with delicious fish & chips, just wish it was on the beach.  You may be familiar with Haystack Rock from your favorite movie, The Goonies.  Turns out the weather was 10x better on the coast than in Portland. Who knew it'd be sunny??

Then we drove up to Astoria to drive over the giant bridge, admire the house where The Goonies was filmed, and listen to the sea lions bark away.

Ended the night with dinner on the hipster street, 23rd Ave., in downtown Portland since the food carts hadn't opened yet.  Booooo.  And don't confuse hipster with hippie.  Two different things my friends!

Sunday morning included a quick drive to check out Multnomah Falls.  Normally your can hike all the way to the top, but not in these icy conditions!

It’s the Holiday Season

After spending a month in Utah, I flew back to Portland for just a few days, then headed home to AZ for a week.  I wasn’t planning on coming back to AZ for Christmas since I had just spent 3 months there and my mom was working that whole week I was home, but I’m sure glad I did!  I love coming home.  I met up with my friend Sariah at In N Out on the way back to Thatcher and then my mom and I stopped to look at the temple lights.  While home, I had a whole list of things to get done, but instead I watched a Christmas movie every day and made several batches of toffee and cookies to take to the neighbors.  I went running in the desert almost every day and met up with a few different friends to eat some delicious Mexican food :)

The Friday before Christmas, my mom and I flew out to Denver to meet my dad and spend Christmas at my brother’s house.  I’d never been to Denver and hadn’t seen my brother and his family for almost 9 months (way too long).  Super glad I went!  It was so great to see them again, catch up and play with my niece, who is absolutely adorable.  My favorite quote from her: “It’s Kristina time!”  Not to mention she even preferred to hold my hand over her daddy’s hand in the store one day (oh yeah!).  We had a great time together and I’ll have to go back soon to visit!  We even went to a hockey game (seems to be a favorite winter activity of my brother and dad) and took a driving tour of the city.  And…..I got to experience my first white Christmas ever!  It snowed all night just before Christmas, perfect timing!  It was super fun to have Christmas with a 2 year old around and share in her delight over the new toys Santa had brought her and have a helper in opening all of my gifts :) Thanks Ryan and Maranda for letting us come visit!  I loved it!

Rotation #5 Graduate Project

Originally, the plan was to spend the whole 6 weeks back in Portland since I had just spent the last 3 months close to home in Arizona.  I had gotten my fill and was ready to get back to friends and a social life.  Well, after the first 2 weeks in Portland I went to Utah to spend Thanksgiving with family (see previous posts) and kind of just ended up staying for 3 extra weeks.  Why, you ask?  Well, I could work on my graduate project from any location, I could be close to my sister and her family (my adorable little niece!), hang out w/ UT friends, and enjoy a more moderate climate without rain.  Ok, ok, a boy may or may not have had anything to do with it… Let’s just say I met someone while I was there and decided I wanted to spend more time with him :)

While in Utah I got to eat at all my favorite places, do all my favorite things and see all my favorite people.  It’s always great catching up with friends over a delectable lunch.  Not to mention, I got to see my niece practically every day and see her actually grow and learn new things.  I also went to a couple of my girls’ basketball games at Maeser.  I miss coaching them, but it’s amazing to see their progress over the last 2 years since I’ve been gone.  And yes, I take full credit for their amazing talent now :)

As for the graduate project, it was a systematic review I wrote taking several different studies over the last few years to answer a clinical question I came up with: In patients with a patent foramen ovale (PFO) and migraine headache refractory to medical treatment, does percutaneous closure of the PFO reduce the frequency, duration, and intensity of migraine headaches?  Basically… In patients with a heart defect causing blood to bypass the lungs and thus cause migraine headaches, does fixing the heart defect decrease migraine headaches?  It’s an interesting topic that I enjoyed researching, analyzing and writing about, but I am also extremely glad that I finished it and can now focus again on seeing and treating patients.  Five rotations down and only five more to go before I graduate!

Anderson Family Christmas Party

One minute it was Thanksgiving and the next it was Christmas.  When that Friday came, there was no looking back.  Everyone had expressed their thanks in pipe cleaners and were ready to spread Christmas cheer!  Because we aren't going to be all together for Christmas this year, Sonya planned a rockin' Christmas party. I got this email the week before (I think she means business).

The festivities started with light gazing and holiday music listening at The Riverwoods in Orem.  Of course, we wanted the 8 month old to meet Santa Clause (SANTA! I KNOW HIM!) for the first time.  And of course, Sonya and I couldn't resist also sitting on Santa's lap.  Just looked too comfortable not to.

After our outing, we had a delicious meal consisting of ham & cheese sliders, buffalo chicken dip w/ red & green chips, artichoke dip w/ pita chips, veggies, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and gingerbread men, accompanied by delicious homemade Italian sodas.  Remember how I just ate five times too much the day before on Thanksgiving?  Just add another two or three times.  What's the difference?

Time for game faces.  There is some serious competition in the Anderson family and there was no shortage of it this time.  In fact, Tyler may have even cheated a time or two....tsk tsk tsk.  Sonya set up 6 different minute to win it games, including (FYI, these are my own names):

Marshmallow Bucket Toss - see how many you can get in in one minute

Cup Stacking without a Thumb - stack a pyramid then unstack it as fast as you can, all without using your thumb

Ornament Balancing - see how many ornaments you can hang on a ruler in one minute

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Nerd - try to stick the red pom pom on the giant mound of Vaseline on your nose

Catch the Gingerbread Man before He Runs Away - place a cookie on your forehead and get it inside your mouth without using your hands

Unwrap a Present Wearing Ski Gloves Without Thumbs - oh wait, there's a present inside a present inside a present inside a present.....(good luck)

Surprisingly, someone different won each game (mostly).  Such a fun fun time!  Time was allotted for some gingerbread decorating, but I think we were all running out of steam by that point.  I mean, it's pretty serious when the Anderson family doesn't even finish the movie Elf.....surprisingly only got halfway.