Over 2000 Miles & 16 Weeks

     This post makes me a little sad and lonely....but it is nice to know that our future is headed somewhere.  Ryan is currently in audition rotations for Orthopedic Surgery.  We are ecstatic that he has found something that really meets everything he wants when it comes to patient care; surgery, one on one patient clinic time, and being about to fix about anything when it come to the human skeleton.  We have truly been blessed that Ryan gets this wonderful opportunity, but with this opportunity comes a long distance relationship for 16 weeks.  Pretty sure I transfered pharmacy schools so I would NOT have to be apart from my love, but I guess the heart grows fonder when couples are apart.  So here we are....7 weeks down of the 16 and boy oh boy am I ready to have my companion back.

     So Ryan and I did some analyzing and calculating and decided it would be best for him to drive out to the Midwest and Northeast with one of our cars.  Some of the places he would be staying at aren't within walking distance of the hospitals and for conveniency.  Luckily, since I was still in my didactic part of school, I was able to start the long journey with him to our first stop: Lansing, Michigan.

     Here is a few pictures of our little journey out to the midwest.  We decided to take our tents and sleeping bags and stay at some KOAs: first stop was Amarillo, Texas at midnight.  Wish we would have known it was by a highway, motorcycle raceway, and airport.  Those five hours of sleep we got may have been a little more restful.

We saw the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri

Many, many, and many more cornfields and wheat fields

The second KOA stop was in northern Illinois.  We were so excited because we got there at ten and were ready for bed after a 16 hour day in the car, but little to our surprise they had a local band playing for us at the camp ground til eleven.  So we rocked out and chased fireflies.

We then rolled into our first spot Lansing, Michigan.  We drove around for a little big, ate our last lunch together for awhile and then I flew home.

I left Ryan with a survival kit through the audition rotations.  This was a little something in the kit.  I thought this big Costco M&M bag would last for a while, but I should have known that the M&M gene in the Finn bloodline runs very strong.  At least they lasted the first rotation.

Well here is to 16 weeks of adventure for the both of us.  We are very grateful that Ryan has this opportunity.  Here is to nine more weeks of loneliness.

Pharmacy Madness

     Well a few good things have been going down with school lately.  School definitely has been keeping me busy this last didactic quarter.

     First off, some girls and I presented a poster at the Arizona Pharmacy Association annual meeting.  It was a poster that we had worked on for our class of Alternative Medicine.  Nothing to fancy, but since we took pictures, better document it.

     Next, I was inducted by some of my professors and classmates into Phi Lambda Sigma Pharmacy Leadership Society.  Ten to 15 students get inducted every year for their leadership shown in the field of pharmacy.  Pretty cool deal since I was one of the 12 out of 300 students inducted this year. It is always nice to have my hard work be noticed, but to also know that there are people out their who see your potential as a leader.  This year has definitely been a motivating year to be a leader, especially with some very inspirational professors that I have been able to grow a close relationships with.  

     Every year, as the second year comes to an end for pharmacy students, their class puts on a "Pharmacoformal" aka pharmacy formal to celebrate our times together, since we are all headed out on our rotations.  Unfortunately Ryan was was gone, so I went stag with one of my good friends.  It was so much fun to be with all of my classmates outside of the classroom, aka seeing all of them a little "tipsy."  Pretty sure I was the only sober one, but it made for some good laughs.  It was put on at a very nice country club that had great food and we danced the night away.  Needless to say my feet were so sore the next morning from dancing, that I could hardly walk.  But it was a great night with amazing friends.  Have I ever told you of the wonderful people here in Arizona?  It saddens Ryan and I that we only have 9 months left of this wonderful journey in Arizona.  The people here have definitely changed our lives and friendships have been made here that will last forever.  Here are some pictures of the night....

     Well here is to 9 more months left of this 4 year journey here in Arizona for Ryan and I.  Before you know it we will be walking across the stage to graduate.

Superman Birthday and 3 Years Down

     Well that time of year always come, when it is Ryan's birthday and our 3rd Anniversary!!!!  Unfortunately, he was going to be gone to Michigan during this celebratory time, so I decided to celebrate it a few days early before he left.  Ryan and I saw the new Superman movie, which the only good thing about the movie was the "eye candy" I was able to look at for 2.5 hours.  We really weren't that impressed, but I feel like Ryan is completely my Superman since he has chosen to endure some grueling 4 months of audition rotations for our family.  We celebrated with some Olive Garden and of course some delicious cake and presents.

I had to improvise with the candles to equal 28

His family sent him some fun shirts with sayings on them

And even though we were 2000 miles away when our Anniversary approached he still sent me flowers

Of course we have to end this post with some Abbi pictures....

Miss Abbi

     Well our little family of two became three on June 7!  Let's be honest, she is our little pride and joy.  I think we have been given a little insight on what it is like having a kid.  I know, I know, its not a human, but I do think it is a little bit of preparation for us.  Lucky for us she has slept through the night for 7 hours, so that is very nice. We just absolutely love her and she is a really smart puppy. Let the picture overload begin....

Here she is at 2.5 weeks

We got to pick her up at 6 weeks and boy have our lives changed since.  You forget how busy puppies are, since most their life they are adults. Ryan grew up with a house dog, but I grew up with dogs that were outside (lets be honest, they were inside dogs when my mother wasn't home) so it has been an adjustment to have a dog inside the house.  She will definitely keep me entertained while Ryan is gone for four months.  

She makes it pretty hard to study when she is doing this next to you

She loves to lay on her back and have you hold her rawhides while she chews

And now for the famous Abbi sleeping positions

We sure do love having her around!!

Fossil Creek

     Well, we have been taking advantage of life being a little bit more "chill" for us.  I'm in my last quarter of didactic work for school and Ryan is currently home studying for his Step 2 Boards so we have been seeing more of each other than normal.  So of course we try to escape the Phoenix summer, which lead us to this beauty of a place about 2 hours away, Fossil Creek.  It is b-e-a-u-t-f-u-l and so much fun! The water is crystal clear, and where there are "pools" made in the river, it is a pretty turquoise color. There are lots of waterfalls along the river that lead to the main waterfall at the end. We'll just let the pictures do the talking.

I Spy Something Green

It was a great 8 mile hike and nice to get out of the heat.  We are going to miss Arizona, with all this fun natural beauty around us, Arizona country has definitely become our playground.