In the movie “Dances With Wolves” there is a scene where John Dunbar, a US soldier, is being accused by the US Army of treason because of his contact with the Sioux tribe near his post. One of the men assigned to take him back to be sentenced tells a story of a man who is killed in battle. He jokes that his family probably wonders, “Now why don’t he write?” Some of you may have been wondering where I’ve been for the past year. Obviously, I’m not dead. The past year has been full of fun, adventure, plenty of work, and school – don’t get to excited about that just yet. So there’s been plenty to write about. Finding the time and energy to write has been an entirely different story.
I was able to get a little more fun in at the end of the summer last year. Near the end of July I went to Jackson Hole with some friends and went whitewater rafting down the Snake River. It was excellent. At one point our guide (a friend’s neighbor) asked if anyone wanted to try steering. No one said anything so I volunteered. I got us through a few rapids, but then I misjudged one… He told me to just let it go, we’d hit the rock bank and we would be on our way. I guess I should have braced myself a little better for the impact. I got launched into the river. When I tried to surface, I found myself underneath the raft. I’d been in similar situations before, so I knew the best thing to do was wait for the river to flush me out, which it did. When I surfaced, oar in hand, all I could see were the butts of everyone in the raft. They were all frantically looking off the back waiting for me to come up. I chuckled and called out a cutsie little “yoo-hoo!” After that everyone started breathing again.
The Gang
Heading Out
Labor Day weekend was spent in Zion National Park in Southern Utah. It is beautiful! I went with some friends of mine and we hiked through a river that runs along the bottom of a narrow canyon, hence called “The Narrows”. We had a great time enjoying the nice weather, the company, and the beautiful scenery. I’ve been blessed to have moved from one beautiful place to another.
Last fall I started school again. Some of my pre-reqs are old and I needed to improve my grade in a couple others. So, I opted to go to Salt Lake Community College where I had flexibility and cheap tuition. I went last spring as well and will be there again this fall. In the meantime I’ve been working full-time. One of my buddies recommended me for a volunteer position at the hospital which I need for school applications anyways. Ultimately that helped me land a job as an orderly in the OR where I have been able to meet some excellent people that are helping me make my application much more competitive. A big shout out to all of them! I owe them all big time!
This summer I was able to hop on board with the Liahona Children’s Foundation for a humanitarian project in Guatemala. I went down for a week and helped screen kids for malnutrition. It’s a beautiful country with beautiful people and it felt great to be able to do another project. I wish I could do them more often! We collected height and weight data for a lot of kids. The World Health Organization (WHO) has a calculator that we put each kid’s info into. The resulting calculation was then compared to the WHO’s international data. Any child that fell 2 standard deviations or lower than the international average score for kids their age were deemed malnourished. The next step is getting supplements distributed to each of the malnourished kids. Thankfully, I’m not involved in that portion. It’s a lot of communication with a ton of people between here and Guatemala. Although it would be great to help out, there’s the little issue of language that renders me essentially useless.
What's South America without a little corn on a stick, complete with mayo, ketchup, chili, and parmesan cheese?
A pyramid at the Tikal ruins
Along one of the main ancient highways in Tikal
A Temple in Tikal
A living area in Tikal
A view of Tikal from the top of one of the Temples
The Pacaya Volcano
The Adventurers
Roasting marshmallows in a heat vent
A volcanic cave. This made the burning sun feel like A/C.
Since then, I have done a lot if work both at the hospital and for my PA school applications. With any luck the third time is a charm and by this time next year I’ll be on my way towards a career. In the meantime, I’ve been making my career as an orderly working anywhere from 40 to 50 hours a week. Thank goodness for family and friends that help me keep my sanity!
I could make promises to try to be better at posting, but who knows what’s going to happen. With any luck I’ll be so busy with work, school, and traveling to interviews for PA schools that I won’t even have a chance to think about a blog. Otherwise, you may hear from me…
