Thanksgiving Update

Back in October, Ryan and I attended an event we had been hearing about for months… MACtober Fest. Yes, beer, wine, German food, and dancing at the MAC. We went with our friends The Browns and had a great time. It wasn’t quite the wild party we expected… not only were we the youngest ones there, most guests were older than our parents.

The next party we attended was the week before Halloween: The Annual All-Hill Halloween Party for all of the students at OHSU (medical, dental, nursing, pharmacy, engineering). I dressed up as Greg Oden (I even had a REAL cast put on!) and Ryan was Grumpy Carebear. The party was poorly organized and we didn’t stay long, but it sure was fun riding the tram in our costumes! On the REAL Halloween night we went to the Browns house (Amanda and Aaron Tinkle came too) for some dinner and board games.

That same week, I took my final exam for my first course of the year: Circulation. The first four tests comprised 50% of my grade and the last test was the remaining 50%. I went into the test with 90%, so I had very little wiggle room. I ended up getting a 95% and thus got HONORS in the course!!!

The day after the test I hosted a bachelorette/wedding shower weekend for Kara. Yes, we went to Vegas in September, but we wanted to have an invite in Portland so more of our friends could attend. We had a great time (see photos) and even though I could play hostess the next morning for the shower, I was struggling to recover from the night before. Kara’s wedding is less than 2 months away… stay tuned!

Less than one week later I threw Ryan a ‘surprise’ birthday party. After planning for months I was anxious to pull the whole thing off. Unfortunately, Ryan knew something was going on, but was still surprised on the night of… at least he pretended to be. Some of his classmates came, as did some non-school friends, and Andy and Sara came all the way from Bend for the night. We had a great time celebrating the BIG 25 for Ryan!

The next morning I hurried off the Clackamas High School for the CHS Dance Competition. I worked the whole comp. and also performed an alumnae dance that I choreographed and taught to other alumnae. I don’t think we’ll be asked to perform at any other upcoming occasions, but it was sure fun while it lasted!

As for school now… we have started our Metabolism course. It is only 5 weeks long. We just had our first test today which covered the GI tract, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas. The test was worth 50% of our final grade…. I got 94%!!!! Now I get to relax for all of Thanksgiving weekend with NO STUDYING!

In order to celebrate Turkey Day, Ryan and I are running the Turkey Trot. Then we will go to his dad’s house, then to my aunt and uncle’s house in Vancouver, and finally to my dad’s house. On Friday I will head to LA with my mom to visit Gabe and Mia. We are also going to the Oregon – UCLA football game while we are down there… Cross your fingers for a win. Without Dixon, our chances of finishing this season strong are slim.

Finally, I have included some more pictures of COLBIE. She gets cuter every day! She is still afraid of most people, but comes out to play with Ryan and I. She runs around like crazy, plays fetch, begs for food, and snuggles at night. My favorite ritual is when I get home everyday, I lay on the floor and she comes and headbutts me as an attempt to be petted. It is sometimes hard to study when she is very playful, but she is all-in-all a great roommate!