My Frist Blog Tag

So I was blog tagged the other day. My husband informed me that now I am supposed to complete the tag by writing about the given topic (6 mystery items about myself) and then tag someone else. My husband says this is to much like a chain letter for him and that he won't ever do a blog tag (so for future reference, you might want to avoid "tagging" him), But whereas this is my first time being tagged I have decided to comply. So here it goes, 6 mystery things about me.

Mystery #1
I don't like clutter. Everything in our house has a designated spot. My husband can attest to this. I have a hard time seeing stacks of things lying about and often I can be found stacking up newspapers, books, or such at houses that aren't even my own.

Mystery #2
The first and only boy "I" ever kissed was Jacob. Since you will eventually comment I will explain the whole "I" thing. Another boy kissed me in college after I had "fallen asleep" during a movie we were watching. I wasn't really asleep (just closing my eyes because I was really tired) but I was so scared I just continued to let him think I was and never kissed him back. So I don't consider that my first time kissing a boy. On a side note, the first time Jacob ever kissed me I was also just as scared and reacted by laughing. And I seem to recall I also reacted the same way the second time he kissed me. Poor guy, good thing he really liked me.

Mystery #3
I tend to get very anxious when meeting new people. I wish I had inherited my mother's ability to chat with anyone. I once saw her carry on an hour long conversation with a man in the grocery store that asked her how to pick out oranges. She is amazing. Unfortunately I didn't inherit that skill and continue to work on my small talk skills. You should have seen me at all these interviews, I was a wreck.

Mystery #4
I never attended a high school football game. My husband says this only further sums up my high school experience. I was a swimmer and the swimmers at my school tended to pretty much only hang-out with other swimmers. I think it had something to do with the smell of chlorine. When I look back at high school I can sum it up rather quickly. Class, Swimming, Work, and Homework. That was pretty much my life. Ironically my college experience was about the exact opposite. It is funny how that happens.

Mystery #5
I would say I have a touch of OCD. For example, I have all of my families clothes (yes the children's and Jacob's as well) organized by type of article, season of article, and dressiness of article. They are also organized by color hanger and must all hand in one direction. I know, a little crazy, but I just can't help it.

Mystery #6
While in high school at worked at a local Arctic Circle. After a few months I worked my way up the mighty career ladder to "Night Manager" My memories of this place were great and all included the smell of french fries and greasy burgers. My husband often teases me about how fond I am of these memories and often refers to them as my "glory days". Well on our last trip to SL we were heading back to my parents when we drove by the old "glory days" location. I was shocked to find that my old high school happiness had been torn down to make way for a car lot. I have to admit that a tear escaped. And them my husband teased me again. I really had some good memories of that place.

So that is it. I have now completed my first blog tag. Now it is up to me to tag someone new and whereas I only know of one faithful reader that has their own blog . . . I tag Charlotte.

Oh Hillary

I was reading in a family practice journal this past week about Hillary's solution for the national healthcare crises. I was dumbfounded when she stated that one solution would be to get nurses to do more so that more people would have access to a healthcare provider. Now I don't know about the rest of the country outside of Kentucky, Indiana, Washington, and Utah but all those places are struggling with quite a shortage of nurses. Good research there Hill.

Later in the article she stated that her healthcare plan; "Will not be a government run program, unless you consider Medicare a government program". So now the woman is either a complete idiot or she is just so far removed from real life that she's useless as a political leader. Maybe in the future she can make comments like Baron Davis, who said; "there's nothing wrong with making $70,000 to $80,000 a year", and further display her removal from mainstream society.

Take your kids to work day

Kristian had his one year check-up today so I got to take him and Jessi (Melissa came too) to the clinic this morning. He's dropped a bit on his growth curve from the 90% line down to the 75% line (for both height and weight). He didn't like his shots too much but made it through without too much difficulty.

As if that wasn't enough I was able to work with my dad today. I have been working in the IHC clinic with Dr Bunker this week and today is Dr Bunker's day off so I worked with Dad all day (well until 2:30 when he goes home anyway). He kept introducing me to his patients and telling them that I'm coming back to town to take his place. It was pretty cool as most of them said they were looking forward to having me take over as their physician in the future. All in all it was a great day.

We finished up interviews last week with one at the University of Utah and another at St Marks hospital in Salt Lake. They both had some good things about them and some bad, but neither supplanted either of the South Bend programs on my rank list (Melissa is still struggling with her list). I ran into Mark in the University hospital during my tour, and we chatted for a moment before we both had to run to other areas. I had forgotten how much I love the University of Utah. Just driving through campus gave me chills. In about 20 years there will probably be some friendly encouragement for my kids to attend the U (unless they stay here and go to SUU which is completely acceptable).

We're looking forward to seeing my siblings as they trickle into town over the next couple of weeks.

Kristian's Birthday Post (Just a Little Late)

Our little boy is now a big boy. That is right, Kristian turned 1 years old on the 5th. I guess technically he has always been a "big boy" but now he is also a big boy in age. Kristian had a great birthday and didn't seem to mind to much that his dad was in Philadelphia flying back home from a test. We enjoyed spending his birthday with family from my side and all in all enjoyed ourselves.

I have decided to give a picture play-by-play of the traditional birthday events.

First was the Dinner. I decided on stew (mainly because it sounded good to me) and as you can see, Kristian was a big fan as well.

Then of course, we move on to the cake. Kristian's cake was a marvel of store-bought wonders. Spencer suggested the blue. Surprised??

At First Kristian did not seem to know what to do with his cake.

Then he taste tested the icing, just a little.

And That was All it took. He quickly went from picking with fingers to grabbing with his entire fist and shoving as much cake in his mouth as possible.

As you can see, Kristian really enjoyed his cake. And amazingly enough, (and to his mother's pleasure) there was not one crumb on the floor when he was finished. Like I said, He really liked his cake.

Once the cake was done it was off to the front room to open presents. Kristian really didn't understand much of the opening presents concept so his siblings and cousins were kind enough to "help".


I then quickly had to explain to his siblings and cousins that just because they "helped" Kristian open his presents doesn't mean that got to take Kristian's presents.


All in All, I think Kristian had a Happy 1st Birthday. Happy Birthday Son! We love you!!

We want a playoff

It's no secret that I hate the BCS. This year is quite possibly the worst ever. Now I'm not one to say that any team other than OSU and LSU deserve to be in the championship game (except for Hawaii, but that's another can of worms), but are those two teams really that much better than everybody else? Sure I think LSU is the best team in the country, but could they beat OU or USC right now. Ohio State only has one loss, but the little 10 is the worst of the BCS conferences this year. Do they really deserve a chance at the title more than a one-loss Kansas?

As far as Hawaii goes I get sick to my stomach when I think about them. They can do no more than win all of their games. Too bad the Florida game starts out next season instead of this one. My biggest complaint with the BCS is that until it is abolished no mid major will ever win the national championship because the voters just won't put them that high. Consider that the 1984 BYU Cougars won the national championship by cruising through the WAC (isn't that the conference that Hawaii plays in?) and beating Utah State, Pittsburgh, Tulsa, and Michigan none of whom were ranked in the top 10 at the end of the year, though Pitt was ranked #3 when they played the first game of the season (Funny that Michigan was ranked #5 at the beginning of this season how did that turn out?). That schedule wouldn't make the championship game today because all the voters come from the BCS conferences and they wouldn't put them up there. We all know I like to diminish BYU football in any way I can, but they did win in 84 and the fact that that probably wouldn't happen today is a shame. One more point, those 84 Cougars were unranked at the beginning of the season. Hawaii climbed from 23 all the way to 10 during their undefeated season this year.

In the end Hawaii will lose to Georgia, Kansas will lose Va Tech, and Ohio State will somehow beat LSU because the BCS always seems to work out (5% of the time). Who's gonna argue against the Buckeyes if they're the only one-loss team in DIV-I football (except for Hawaii of course).

On a side note My test went well today and I'm looking forward to flying back to Salt Lake for Kristian's birthday tomorrow.

Too Funny Not to Post

MC Hammer Meets The Chiquita Banana Lady

So my solo was Thursday night, and I can not tell you how great Friday was without that hanging over my head. So if any of you are curious how it went I will attempt to illustrate the evening.

First off, I don't know what the costume lady was thinking. I am supposed to be dressed as a Nephite Woman. Jacob and I decided that I looked a more like MC Hammer crossed with The Chiquita Banana Lady. The pictures turned out poor but this might give you a general idea of what I looked like. Got to love the headdress, huh. It weighed like 10 pounds.

As part of the program they asked us all to sit on stools in front of the stage during the performance which turned out to be rather stressful as every time I looked up everyone was starting at me. (at least it felt like everyone was starting at me.) So the whole time I am trying to breath deap and stay calm and clear my throat. None of this actually happened.

So finally my music started playing. Luckily, as my song is sung to a child, I got to grab Spencer and bring him up with me. So then I am at the microphone and notice that all that stressing about clearing my throat was for not because now my throat was bone dry. (I don't know how that happens but it blew me away.)

Spencer held my hand and I began singing. Basically the rest of the song went fine. I did not forget any of the words, or get of pitch, or off the music at all, so that was good. I did however have to sing rather soft as my nerves were getting the best of me and I knew if I tried to sing any louder I would definatly crack. After what seemed like an eternity the song ended, I sat down, and began to breath again.

Afterwards several people came up to me and said I did great, (of course, it is a church function, what else are they going to say.) They all mentioned that it must be diffucult to sing a song that is so emotionally charged and they could tell I was feeling very emotional when singing. I didn't bother to correct them that it was nerves and not emotions, I figure let people think what they want to.

The other comment that I got from people was that it must also be difficult to sing while trying to keep my little boy still. I didn't bother to correct them on that either. The truth was that between the first and second verse Spencer looked up at me and said, "Mom, you are squeezing me to tight" He really was a big help to me to hide some of my nerves.

So to wrap up this rambling post, for my first solo, I think it went about par. I am still a little dissapointed because it did not sound as good as when I practiced at home, but what ya gonna do. Nerves are nerves. Everyone keeps telling me it will be easier next time. At this point, I have not decided if there will be a next time. I figure I will just enjoy this feeling of no singing stress for a while before deciding if I want to go through all of it again.

I'll be happy when....

I can remember numerous times in my life when I have said, or thought, I'll be happy... Some of those phrases have included the words; when I finish high school, when I leave on my mission, when I get a new companion, when I get home from my mission, when I get married, when I graduate from college, when I have a child, when I get into medical school, when I get out of medical school, and of course when I have a dime to my name. I was thinking about the many times I have been longing for tomorrow the other day and I realized that I am really happy now. Now I've always considered myself to be a pretty happy guy (though if you knew me in high school you would probably disagree...you'd be wrong), but Life is exceptionally good right now.

I live in the town that I love with a woman who saw too much of me during our first 3 years of marriage and too little of me during our last 4 and still loves me. I've got three kids who, for whatever reason, adore their daddy. I've got a future that is plotted out and excites me, and a past that is fun to look back on.

I just finished a rotation with a family physician here in Cedar and it was incredible. It's nice to find out that my chosen specialty is actually very fulfilling and enjoyable for me.

For the moment at least it's nice to see the grass on my side of the fence because it looks pretty green.

Fall Leaves . . . Winter Snows

Today Spencer asked me why he couldn't jump in the leaves any more. I explained to him that the leaves had all fallen off the trees so there were no more to jump in. He was disheartened by this, letting me know that "Leaves were his favorite thing to play in".

Trying to cheer him up I reminded him that it won't be long before the snow comes and he could play in that. He responded by stating "Oh Ya, acutally, snow is my favorite thing to play in" He also added that mabye once it snowed he and daddy can build a snow family like they did last year. So Daddy better gear up for another 2 hours in the snow building the second Corry snow family.

(The extra snow person on the end was Grandma as she was visiting us at the time.)

This one's for Doug

Sorry it has taken so long to get some deer hunt pictures up Doug. Here they are.













As you can see Bob really got into his fire making.

Back home for a few days

We made it back from our whirlwind trip to Ogden. I interviewed at the McKay-Dee family practice residency yesterday and I'm very happy to be back home in good old Cedar City. It was by far the strangest (worst) interview I have had this year. I was initially very impressed with the facility and the curriculum, but as the day wore on I became more and more disinterested in them. I think they became more and more disinterested in me as well. I felt like I was being interviewed because the program is feeling pressure from the state to train rural docs and I fit that profile, but they really weren't too interested in me as a resident. I was also somewhat disappointed with the residents as none of them even seemed to want to put on a happy face and the welcome we got from the hospital (there were 10 applicants there yesterday) was less than warm. In the end I still think McKay-Dee is a great residency and trains great docs, but it is definitely not a good fit for me (or my family). Here's hoping next week goes better at St. Marks and the University of Utah.

Turkey Day

We had a very fun and busy week. The week started out on a plane from Chicago to SLC, but when we finally returned to Cedar City we tried our best to get things back to normal.

The first half of the week was somewhat hectic as I was on call. Taking hospital admissions for all of the family practitioners in Cedar isn't as easy as I had once believed. We were very busy spending close to 3 hours rounding on patients each morning. I'm not complaining because at this stage of my career I love hospital patients because they are interesting (you don't ever want to be an interesting patient). Melissa and the kids saw very little of me Monday-Wednesday.

We left for the Powell household in West Valley (a beautiful suburb of SLC) Wednesday evening arriving just in time to put the kids to bed and get some much needed sleep bef0re the big day. Melissa spent the morning of Thanksgiving helping her mother in the kitchen while I slept, ate, and watched the new Die Hard. It's not hunting rabbits or playing in a turkey bowl, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless. You may think it was a bit unfair that I was able to relax so much while Melissa slaved in the kitchen. You would be right if you are thinking that. She's a good woman (and somewhat of an enabler for me). Ironically I happened to be sitting at the bar on the day after Thanksgiving for lunch and commented to Spencer (sitting next to me) that I was just like him being served lunch by mom. He responded by saying, "That's because we're the men, dad".

As always we had enormous amounts of food, and enough pies to satisfy everyone. Not only did I not watch any football this year, I didn't even care that I didn't watch any football. I am completely apathetic toward the NFL this year. I'm not sure how long that will last, but it may be due to the fact that my favorite team is in the race for the worst team ever and my most hated team is in the race for the best team ever. It's gotten so bad that I'm almost hoping for injuries to the Patriots (I said almost).

We are now safely back in Cedar City and looking forward to putting up our Christmas decorations this evening. I have an interview in Ogden on Tuesday but otherwise this should be a more normal week.

I'm excited for another bad year for the BCS should Hawaii win their bowl game. What a year when the one undefeated team in DIV-I football not only isn't the national champion, but isn't even given a chance to compete for that title. We desperately need a tournament.

4th and 18

Another year another new catch. I can't wait to spend the next 12 months watching replays of the new version of Ute ineptitude. I think its a great plan to cover everybody except the number 1 Cougar receiver and to not only let him slip through the defense, but to allow him to pick up 49 yards. 4th and 18!! I don't even blame the refs for donning their Blue and White during the rest of the final BYU possession. If the Utes can't stop the Cougs on 4th and 18 they deserve to be called for phantom penalties.

4th and 18 what a joke.

The "Cold" Season

I always look forward to the Cold Season as it brings snow, hot chocolate, and christmas music. However, I always dread it as the cold season normally brings with it Colds. This year has proved to be no exception. We returned from Indiana to three kids with nasty coughs and runny noses. (Poor Grandma got more than she signed up for)

Spencer and Jessi haven't gotten much worse but poor Kristian is feeling pretty awful. The only silver lining in it is that he likes to snuggle a lot, which normally he refuses to do as there is so much to see and do all the time.

I have also found myself waking up with a sore throat and runny nose the last two days. I am hoping this is short lived as I have to sing my first solo ever on the 29th of this month. I am scared to death and being sick isn't helping to calm my nerves at all. I guess it is time to stock up on Vitamin C.

Tales from South Bend

Having been a Utah and BYU fan all my life (yes I was a BYU fan as a poorly informed youth) I was completely unprepared for the experience of Notre Dame Football. It was nothing short of awesome. Taking into consideration the record of the team this year I can only imagine what things are like during a BCS year.

We started yesterday by walking up to the stadium parking lot at 10 AM. The walk took about 30 minutes and less than a quarter of the way there the neighborhoods were charging $10 for parking. That price increased as we got closer to the stadium. When we arrived at the Notre Dame campus we were shocked by the sheer number of tailgaters (apparently what we saw was less than 1/3 of last year’s festivities). We socialized with the residents and attending physicians at the St Joe’s tailgate party. Melissa tells me the food was good, having eaten out the 6 previous meals I was very full and not hungry.

After a while we walked across campus to watch the band play on the steps of a building that has some kind of significance unknown to me. We then walked through the basilica and Melissa became my tour guide. She enlightened me as to the differences between fired glass and pieced stain glass as well as elaborating on the symbolism of the various aspects within the cathedral. From there things got interesting. Before each game the Notre Dame marching band walks across campus through a throng of fans on a 12 foot sidewalk. We followed the band to the stadium and entered at the D entrance.

For those of you who don’t know, the shots of Rudy outside the stadium were filmed just before the stadium renovation, however, not wanting Knute to roll over in his grave the golden Domers built the newer portion around the existing structure so the original exterior wall is still standing and very visible when one enters the ticket gates. That wall is now adorned with plaques of the various coaches, national championships and heisman trophy winners. As you can imagine I became the tour guide when we entered the stadium.

When we did finally get through the tunnel to the stadium I felt like Rudy’s dad when he said: “This is the most beautiful site these eyes have beheld” (or something like that). It was really cool. The stadium slowly filled up and it got colder and colder. You all know (or should know) the results of the game so I won’t go into that. After sitting through the game (and the rest of the day) I am sure of two things; Rudy is the greatest sports movie ever, and Rudy wouldn’t be such an inspirational story in this day because I’m pretty sure he could start for the Irish this year.

If we are lucky enough to match at one of the South Bend programs and come back here for the next 3 years I will surely cement my status as a Notre Dame fan and hopefully take a vow to attend every ND-BYU game within the next 40 years (be it in Provo or South Bend) wearing the Irish blue and gold.

The rest of the week pales in comparison to the game, but it was really great as well. I guess I hadn’t realized how much I like the residents and faculty in South Bend because it was really neat to see them again at the interviews and at dinner later that night, and it’s always nice to know that people like you.

I had a very good interview with the Directors of both programs. I must have felt very comfortable because during one of the interviews I actually brought up the topic of my grades and board scores (the weakest portion of my application by far). I think he was somewhat surprised at how open and honest the interview was. I hope that is a good thing, guess we’ll find out in March.

South Bend

With 5 interviews down and 3 to go I think it will be hard to beat South Bend. While we still have the three interviews in the Salt Lake area in a couple of weeks we have really liked it here. The tough decision now becomes chosing between the two programs. Both programs here have everything we want. The community is great for Melissa and the kids, and the extra $15000 per year over the Utah programs isn't chump change. I get along great with the residents in both programs and both programs seem to have an interest in me (it helps to bring Melissa to the interviews as she does a very good job of making me look better than I am). Over the next few months I'm sure we'll be making a lot of comparisons and hopefully we will come up with the right decision, though I don't think we could go wrong with either program. We'll be sure to make our decision before the Superbowl so we can officially cement ourselves on the Colts bandwagon should the need arise.

Hopefully Notre Dame can pull out a win against Duke tomorrow. Be sure to watch us on NBC, I'll be the guy in the Florida sweatshirt (courtesy of Steve and Barrys yesterday).

And of course go Michigan! (or more appropriately beat Ohio State)

I Have To Blog Now??

Each time I think I am pretty secure with my computer knowledge, Jacob throws a new curve ball at me. I have spent the last hour figuring out how to add a family picture to our blog. (It was that or clean the bathroom). I think my blog learning curve is starting to improve though so hopefully it won't take an hour in the future to add one picture.

We are leaving to Salt Lake tomorrow where Jacob and I will fly to South Bend for the week for Interviews and even get in a Notre Dame football game. Here is hoping they can pull out a Win for us. The kids will be enjoying the week with their Grandma and Grandpa Powell. Spencer seems to be very excited about this and the other two don't understand at all but I am sure they will enjoy themselves. I guess that means I better stop procrasting the bathroom and go get cleaning and packing.

A week in the life...

I'm working with a local family practice physician this month. It has been a welcome change from pediatrics. I very much prefer hypertensives and diabetics to the monotony of 20 well child checks per day. It has also been nice to feel known. In one week I have treated a classmate of my bigger-younger brother, a ward member of my engineer brother (he actually asked me if I have a brother who is an engineer), numerous people who know mother, and the girlfriend of a young man who was named after my father (that one came with a story that neither my mother or father had heard). One of the best parts is that I have a log-in on the EMR (electronic medical records) system so I can actually open and close all of my charts. When I started my rotations I was very hesitant to be sent into rooms on my own, but now the autonomy that comes with being able to keep my own charts is very liberating and those times where I have to "shadow" the physician are somewhat boring.

Church has become consistently more difficult as of late. Jessi is the epitome of a terrible two year old. She has hit her head on the pews (in an attempt to show her disgust with our decision to say no to her) in church so many times we have come to expect it. Lately she has taken to throwing things within her reach. Apparently she knows better than to throw objects across the room, but when she gets mad she looks for anything nearby, picks it up and promptly throws it back down on the ground. This action is always preceded and followed by a furious stare and usually accompanied by a squeal, sometimes low sometimes loud. Luckily for us Grandma and Grandpa get her most of this week.

You may have noticed that the Dolphins found a way to lose again, and once again they did it without the help of their rookie quarterback. I sure hope they don’t waste the top pick in next years draft without knowing how good Beck is. Maybe they can pick up another undersized wide receiver with very little upside and use him on special teams. Wait a minute I think that already happened. I guess it’s time to start cheering for the Dodgers and their bid in the ARod sweepstakes (it’s kind of like a reverse lottery).

Why the Dolphins will always have a place in history

Much has been said about the Patriots current season and the impending undefeated season they may achieve. If the Patriots were to go undefeated they would eclipse the mark set by my beloved Dolphins back in 72.

While the Patriots may have an undefeated regular season they will not win the Super Bowl and thus will fall short of the 72 Dolphins. The reason for this is nothing short of arrogance. Consider that the Patiots will clinch their division in a few short weeks (courtesy of the other 3 teams in the division having a combined 5 wins). The Colts will lose again allowing the Patriots to clinch homefield advantage with two games left to play in the regular season. Not only will Bill Bellicheat not rest his starters he will play them in the 4th quarters of those games to secure the win (apparently a 3 touchdown lead with under 8 minutes to play is no longer secure). As a result of this poor sportsmanship the Patriots defense will be decimated by injuries and will not be able to contain the Colts in the post season.

If by some crazy chance the Patriots do win the Super Bowl unblemished at least the Dolphins are well on their way to having the first winless season, and that is something to be proud of.

The Interview Trail

I have decided to pursue a residency in family practice and spent last week interviewing at three of the programs Melissa and I are interested in. At the moment we have (or have had) 8 interviews set-up. Most of the interviews are located in the mountain west with the exception of two in South Bend, IN this coming week. The month I did in South Bend was great and I am certainly excited to take Melissa back there.

I'll review a little information for those of you who may not be familiar with the process of medical education. I am currently in my 4th year of medical school. As I am at a DO school without an affiliated hospital I spent my 3rd year in Yakima, WA doing the required 3rd year rotations at the hospitals there. My 4th year is filled with mostly electives so we have moved the family to Cedar City where I am doing most of my elective rotations. Towards the end of the 3rd year I filled out my residency application (a national service) and submitted it to 13 family practice programs. Since that time I have veen offered various interviews and decided to set up times for 8 of the programs. Apparently I'm not good enough for the Idaho programs as all three in that blessed state told me they are not interested in offering me an interview. Following my interviews I will create a list ranking my order of preference for residency. At this same time the programs will create a list ranking their preference for students. The "match" takes place in March and at that time Melissa and I will know where we will be moving for the next 3 years.

As I stated we are heading for South Bend this coming week. We interviewed in Grand Junction, Colorado as well as Casper, and Cheyenne, Wyoming last week. The three programs last week had their good and bad of course, but overall we were impressed. We have decided to avoid any firm decisions as to where we want to go until we have interviewed at all of the programs. Apparently we are attempting to keep our minds open to future programs.