could it really be over...?

Summer has come and gone in a blink of an eye at our house. This summer has been one of my favorite, competing against my study abroad in 2007. It was the first semester that Sam and I weren't students since we've been married. It's been a blast! It is a true luxury not having homework, projects and tests to worry about when you get home at night. Sunday night we would plan out our week, deciding what activities we'd do that week. Our favorites were running together, playing tennis, getting snow cones, biking and hiking. Since I didn't do a great job of blogging about things as they happened here's a photo recap of what we've been doing.

We kicked off summer after graduation and finals in May with a trip to Maui, couldn't have had a better start. We stayed in my parents condo for the first time and loved the beach, pools, company and food.

On the beach right in front of the condo's we stayed at for our honeymoon.

On a hike to a snorkeling beach

We spent the months of June and July at BBQ's, at the park, birthday parties, up the canyon, on the lake and at girls camp, scout camp and youth conference.

Grandma's surprise birthday party

Sam turned 25.

24th of July fireworks

Oakley Rodeo

Zachary's birthday

our anniversary breakfast, 2 years!!

We ended summer with a week at lake Hebgen. For those of you that aren't familiar with Hebgen it is a little piece of heaven on Earth. It's right outside West Yellowstone and is surrounded by forest. The lake is more often glass than rough water due to the low amount of boat traffic and protection it gets from the surrounding mountains. It's peaceful. Sam grew up going to Hebgen and staying Grandpa's cousins with 20-30 cousins stuffed into the loft. Hebgen is where memories are made and relationships are strengthened. We spent our days on the beach, in yellowstone, and of course on the lake. Thank you to the Richards for a wonderful week away.

going kayaking

dirty socks after volleyball on the beach

at firehole, in yellowstone

Sam enjoying the perfect water

Me on the wakeboard

The boys before the "Hebgen man Triathlon" Preston has a hurt shoulder so they all swam with one arm in their life jacket so he wouldn't have a disadvantage.

The girls at the "girls lunch out"

Saying good-bye until next year.

Need a break!

I don't know why but I've been dragging this week, I need a vacation. Ever feel that way? Like one more day of waking up and going to work will kill you? I'm just about there. Good thing this is around the corner.


lake hebgen.... otherwise known by the Richards as Heaven.

food

I love to cook, but cooking in the Summer can be frustrating. It's so hot outside I don't want to turn the oven on to make things even hotter. Not to mention if I am already hot why would I want to eat something hot??. Does anybody else ever feel this way. Plus the summer is crazy, we don't have a consistent schedule day to day, sometimes we have an hour to prepare and eat dinner, sometimes just 5 minutes. Luckily I have found a few great recipes that are quick/easy, fresh and tasty. **Bonus they filled up Sam and he liked them. I'm going to share them with you but will you pass along some of your favorite dishes?? Thanks.


I bought a rotisserie chicken and used it for the next two meals, I haven't ever bought one and loved have simple it made these two meals, plus a little cheaper! This next one is a cobb salad pizza, I loved the flavor of the dressing, I added extra greens to mine and Sam added extra chicken and bacon.

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=2001880
This last one is a curry chicken salad that we put on the whole wheat thin buns, I added lots of
greens and ate it with corn on the cob for a side. Sam didn't love this meal but he isn't a big curry lover. You could omit the curry or just use less.

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=665501

This last recipe is a mango chicken wrap, it took about 15 minutes total but at least an hour for the chicken to marniate. It was sweet with the perfect amount of kick. mmhm I love mango's.

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dynaction=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1206091

PS I love using the crock pot, nothing better than coming home and dinner's waiting.

I hope you guys enjoy this meals. Please share some of your favorites. Thanks!!

Happy Cooking

oatmeal

I always look forward to eating my bowl of oatmeal each morning. Summer is especially great with the wide assortment of fresh fruits to chose from to add to the oats. Right now my favorites to add are peaches and necterines, mix in a spoon full of brown sugar and slice almonds and you've got a satisfying tasty breakfast.

Yum Yum Yum.

simple pleasure

I took an early weekend last week to go camping for girls camp. Needless to say it was nothing like the rough out camp I had in my youth. We slept on a nice grass lawn adjacent to a building with showers, toilets and a fully equipped kitchen. Despite the luxuries I still came home Saturday morning exhausted.

After napping and spending time at the pool our original plans of going to the Art's Festival didn't sound so great. Instead we ate our red butte cafe on the front lawn and walked to 7eleven to share a Slurpee. It was such a simple night but sometimes the most simplest activities bring the most pleasure and best memories.

What did you do this weekend?

on my mind today

My favorite part of working at the hospital is the interaction with individuals. The University of Utah is a melting pot of the West coast, particularly; Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. All walks of life come to the cardiology clinic for the routine appointment, simple procedures or major open heart surgery. I have learned so much about my heart and how to care for it and the consequences if you don't. (or sometimes if you are just unlucky).

I specifically work in preventive cardiology and we work closely with heart failure patients. There are many different types of heart failure but all of them mean exactly what you expect your heart is literally breaking. Most people discover they have heart failure when their heart is working 10-30% of it's full capacity. Lots of things lead to heart failure.... smoking, lots of sodium(eating out a lot), no exercise, genetics etc. etc. Well sometimes a patient heart failure is extreme enough that they will need a heart transplant. Because it can take quite some time to get a heart transplant some patients get an LVAD or a Left Ventricular Assistive Device. A LVAD works as your left ventricular which helps pump the blood more effectively. It is literally a machine that is build into your heart, a driveline comes out of your side stomach and connects to a small box which connects to the wall for power. You can detach it from the wall and put it on battery power when you need to move around. LVAD's typically work for about 2 years, so that gives a patient about 2 years to wait for a heart.

(this is a visual of an LVAD, that big greyish/whitish box is not inside a patients body, the top driveline coming down from the heart would come out of flesh and plug into the box, the two black boxes are battery packs which can last about 8-12 hours)

Because I spend so much time with LVAD patients I typically get pretty close to them. They come in about one week before they get their LVAD and I will see them twice a day until their procedure. After surgery I work with them again until they are ready for discharge. Once discharged they come to our outpatient cardiac rehab where I see them again three times a week. It's hard to not get attached and really want what's best for them. One of my good friend's at the hospital has a LVAD and has had two strokes since he got it placed in late February. A stroke is a sign that they LVAD isn't doing a good job so he came into the hospital and had to stay until he gets a heart transplant. Once he recovered from his second stroke he got moved the top of the heart list. Once on the top a patient can only stay there for 30 days. If a heart becomes available the person on the top of list has seniority, and if the heart isn't a good match you move down the list. Well, early this morning he got a heart. He had only 9 days left and his spirits were going as he anticipated the possibility of being moved from the top of the list to the bottom without a heart. His lift will start again and he deserves it, he's been so sick for so long, and now at 68 years old he can finally live his life.

I would never hope that I would leave this life early or in a tragic accident but if I do I hope that my organs can save someone else's life. America has one of the lowest percentages for organ donations in the world. You have to check yes when you renew your license. I urge you to think about being a donor if you aren't already and think about how many people you could save... 2 healthy kidney's, 1 healthy liver, 2 healthy lungs, and a healthy heart= at least 6.

I was recently touched by a story of a little girl who is the grand daughter of a neighbor, if you want to cry check it out here.

http://www.wellsphere.com/cystic-fibrosis-article/please-read-this-moving-transplant-story/1000687

employed

Sam was hired today by LDS hospital as an orderly. I am so proud of him and excited for this adventure ahead. This job is a stepping stone to his plan of PA school. Way to go!!