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I’m so glad tomorrow is Friday.

I’ve still been sneezing all week… stupid trees. Kate thinks I might be allergic to birch because there is a big birch tree right outside our bedroom window and birches have a lot of pollen. I googled birch allergies and all sorts of frightening articles came up about “oral allergy symptom” where people with pollen allergies also develop sensitivities to lots of fruits and vegetables. UGH. I noticed today that my mouth felt more itchy after eating an apple. I will continue my study for the next little while.

Work has been a little bit crazy the past few days. As we get further and further along in my program the more we are expected to do on our own. The other day they had a staff meeting and me and the other student had to keep scanning while they were talking. AHH!! (We could easily go and grab a tech if we needed one, btw). Sometimes I feel like I am doing quite well and sometimes I feel like I suck. I have noooo idea really. I wish I could fast forward until September and just find out if I get hired anywhere or not. GAH.

Ever since I got back from Fiji I have been following a weight lifting plan from a book I got from the library. I lift 3 to 4 times a week and that’s it! I love it. The rush you get from being able to lift a heavier weight than the day before and the physical changes you can see in your body are very addicting. My plan is to stick with this all spring/summer and then by next skeleton season I will be much more capable.

Dad and Kate’s visit to Vancouver was very nice. Very short, but I will take what I can get! We rented a car so we could bring them to and from the airport and we met up with Winnie and ate delicious sushi. That and sleeping and them washing off 2 weeks of Fiji sweat pretty much encompassed their whole visit, haha. They should definitely come back.

This coming weekend should be a good one. We will get to hang out with Janine tomorrow, and go to the Fan Expo and the Canadian Video Game Awards on Saturday. I finally get to have my neck ultrasound (apparently I have an enlarged thyroid), and I don’t have too much homework. WOOHOO!

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Oh my goodness catching up on blogging is taking AGES. Good thing I don’t have much school work to do this weekend! I’m almost done though, I’ve finished my Fiji recaps and my next (DOUBLE) daily dinners post is almost finished and ready to post on Monday morning. Hooray!

Today I thought I’d just tie up a few loose ends and get completely caught up.

My overall impressions of Fiji are AWESOME. I LOVED my trip and I’m so grateful that I got to see and do so much. I feel like I got quite a decent picture of Fiji since I got to see it from so many different viewpoints: as a tourist, as an international student, as a local etc etc. It was great having Rosemarie to show me around and introduce me to her friends from Fiji and all over the place.

Fiji is a little more expensive than South East Asia but it’s also so much less stressful because (almost) no one tries to scam you! It seems that Fijians are very honest people. I found the prices to be generally fair and there were no tricks. I’m sure there are exceptions to this but really I didn’t have any problems. It is also handy that there is no language barrier.

One thing about travelling in Fiji though is that you have to be pretty willing to eat whatever is made for you. At a lot of the resorts you don’t get any choices and your dinner will just be brought out for you already served up on a plate. This is pretty much my favourite way to dine, so I was happy, haha. But if you’re a bit picky you might go a little hungry and I would pack some extra snacks.

I would totally return to Fiji. It’s really not too far from Australia so I’m quite confident we will return some day.

It was also soooooooooooo nice to spend so much sister-time with Rosemarie. She was fairly busy with school while I was there but we still managed to squeeze in a lot of visits. YAY! And then the family reunion at the end of the trip??! Even better! (It would have been perfect if Scott could have come too. :()

Oh kokoda, how I love you. I ate this FOUR times in Fiji. The first was homemade by Rosemarie. Then we ate it together for lunch at Beachouse. Then it was available for lunch at Octopus Resort, where my gushing convinced EVERYONE at the table to try it as well. And then finally they had it at my last meal (lunch) in Fiji on Robinson Crusoe Island. I WAS SO HAPPY.

I read 8.5 books on my Kindle on my trip. KINDLES ARE AWESOME. I read Hopeless, Safe Haven, The Silver Linings Playbook, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, The Power of Habit, Warm Bodies: A Novel, White Teeth, The New Rules of Lifting for Women, and half of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (no insignificant feat!).

I went to Trader Joe’s in Los Angeles again on the way home and they were sold out of cookie butter AGAIN! I seriously almost cried. I am cookie butter cursed, I swear.

Since I’ve been home I’ve just been at school mostly. I’m back at the gym too following a new weight lifting plan that I’m very excited about. And we had a games night the other night with Lesley. I don’t have very much school work so this weekend has been nice and relaxing. I am so so so close to finished school!!! (5 more weeks of classes/clinical, then 3 months of clinical over the summer…. at SURREY!! my first choice!!!). Then DONE!!! I CAN’T WAIT!!!

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I finished 1 of 4 midterms, I’m keeping up on labs, case study is done, essay draft is done, assignments are done. I’m doing well at keeping on schedule so far. Probably going up to Whistler this weekend is not the smartest choice, but it’s the last skeleton session of the season and I can’t miss that!!

I’m hoping that the ice will actually be a little slow, so that I can try out out some new things and try to arrive early in each corner as opposed to late. Early means less slingshot type forces on my body so hopefully that makes everything a little smoother. Our coach only told me this AFTER our last run of the last session, so I’ve been sitting on it for a month.

I am also really excited to see if my weight training has helped at all. I’ve been doing a lot of training of my traps, which should help in holding my head up in the really high pressure last corner. And hopefully I will have an easier time carrying my sled around as well. We shall see.

All for now, gotta get back to studying.

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Rosemarie said I should choose a favourite recipe from each Daily Dinners post and then at the end of the year I will have a great collection of 26 recipes. I think this is a super idea so bear with me while I quickly catch up with the weeks I have missed.

Favourite Recipe #1: Beans and rice, with shrimp. The original recipe is WAY TOO SALTY but other than that it is flipping delicious. And cheap. We add the shrimp and omit all the salt.

Favourite Recipe #2: Shrimp with fried egg and avocado and green onion on rice. There isn’t really much of a recipe for this except cook all that stuff and put it together on a plate. Serve with soy sauce. It takes like 4 minutes to make it excluding the rice.

Favourite Recipe #3: Butternut mac ‘n’ cheese with caramelized onions, bacon, and apple. SO GOOD. Cassia tried it and she liked it too. I roast my own pumpkin because I am anti-canned pumpkin. The recipe is time consuming but so worth it. I may never stop talking about it.

Favourite Recipe #4: Dragon noodles. Scott made it and it was awesome. Leftovers weren’t good though, so just make enough for dinner.

OK back to work for me. I still have 4 midterms, 4 labs, a case study, AND MORE to get through before I can fully relax on the beach/rollercoaster. Ah and I also have skeleton this weekend.

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I survived my first ever hot lab rotation. Waking up at 5:10AM was not fun for me at all, but once I got to work it was pretty good. It was an enjoyable two weeks of making kits, drawing doses, doing lots of injections, putting in lots of IVs, and running the stress lab. I used to find stress lab very stressful (for me!), but I am way more comfortable doing it now. And I improved a lot in putting in IVs. They’re no longer scary, it’s fun to try now! Sorry to all those patients that I poked unsuccessfully though…….

Hot lab was really tiring but I still managed to go to the gym a few times per week. Lately I’ve been doing about 30-45 minutes of assorted weights (mostly machines, because I don’t know anything) and then 20-30 minutes on the elliptical. I can’t see much progress yet other than a little weight loss, but I’m still motivated. Skeleton is a good motivator.

I am excited to make a real fitness/food plan when I come back from Fiji. Random stuff is ok for now because my Fiji trip is going to throw everything off, but when I get back I’m probably going to follow one of the plans in the books I got from the library. And get some help from some friends that are more gym savvy. I want to get strong!

I don’t have any pictures to share this time. Going to bed at 8PM does not leave a lot of time to do fun stuff.

Scott got his last three wisdom teeth out. He is recovering very well so far. DENTAL PLAN!