sticking with it

Compromise. If the boar head stays, then I will decorate it.

The wedding went off without a fire, helicopter, passing out panic attack or any other mad hatter pre wedding dream disaster that I had. There were a few hiccups, and yes my loving sister did start off her toast with ' my sister has had a lot of boyfriends'. Hysterically enough, the wedding video ends with one of my best friends staggering off with her husband discussing their level of inebriation.

oye I love it

but as things wind down, it sure was nice to have seen everyone and had a chance to celebrate such an anticipated day. And the presents sure are a nice touch.

Ill post some pictures when I get them all in. They have been arriving in bits and pieces, and the ones from the actual photographer are still out. Thanks for sticking around!
Until then, keep your pimp hand strong!

Roundtrip ticket

It's going to be tough trying to get the trucker to stop saying 'eh' all the time, but other then that Canada is a pretty cool place. Which is good, because that's why we went there. Being 102 degrees here = cranky pants, and with a 9 day break from work we headed for the border. Americas cool cousin Canada. Where we proceeded to visit friends we had me once years ago, meet family friends for the first time, and essentially spare bedroom surfed our way around BC.

Having never been, I have to say it was pretty sweet. And the temperatures even drove me to buy a jacket. Canada. You have yet to let me down.

The boats on Victoria Island.

The culture diversity in Vancouver was outrageous. We went to the Islamic festival downtown, and since the sign said, learn about the Islamic culture, and we didn't know about any of it, we went. What a kind group of people so eager to share there culture. At one booth a young man asked if we were married, when I told him 'soon', they got so excited and dressed us up in the traditional wedding attire and took our pictures. The jeans and tennis shoes totally give away the fact that we are soooo american.


The trip took us inland then to do a little sailing with one of my moms childhood friends. This is a must stop for anyone going to BC. Al and JoAnn have a charter sailboat 'The Cats Ass'. I got to drive. Before we left I was using all kinds of sailing jargon. 'Hand over the booty!'

Oh wait, that's pirate talk.

The trip was wrapped up at a small farm on a lake with some snowmobiling friends of the truckers. The trip had barely ended before another began, and we just got home from a second quick trip to see the crew from WP, as Molly and Pete got married. Now for me it's time go go join the crew downstairs, and try to get some rest in before the work week begins.

not as easy as it looks

Mom is on me about being a month behind on blogging. Considering I was gone for 2 weeks and took my national registry this month, I thought I was doing good breathing.

I passed by the way. (and the crowd goes wild)



Meanwhile the trucker and I loaded all the dogs in the burb and drove to the eastish coast to take a little break from it all.
We stayed off the main highways (to throw off the feds of course) and just enjoyed the drive.

It became pieapolooza 2008. I ate pie in each state we went to. The winner you ask? Kentucky. Yum. Runner up, Oklahoma followed by a close third in southern Colorado.

So it's back home and Ive started work, as well as a workout routine to take care of the pie handles. On top of it all planning a wedding is not as easy as the tv shows make it look. I have NO idea what I'm doing and everyone assumes that I do. This is my first wedding folks. I logged onto a wedding website and after registering all of our info a window pops up.....

92 days to go and 231 unchecked 'to do' things.

Oh sweet jesus, giving me a countdown is not doing anything but increasing my heart rate. Which on the plus side has got to be burning some calories.

How to call AAA

AAA: Hello Miss King, are you in a safe location?



Well the police are here, so I'm going to say yes.



AAA: Ok good, what can we help you with?

I'm going to need a tow.

AAA: Ok, what is the make, model of the vehicle?

79 VW westy

AAA: What color is the vehicle



On fire red

AAA: Can you give a landmark for the tow truck, we are concerned he may not be able to locate you.



Sure, tell him to follow the smoke, when he can see the flames slow down, and if he passes the fire engine, he's gone too far.

AAA: Oh.

I dont even know where to begin

I graduated.

(Id show you a picture but I forgot my camera at home)

My family and I plus the trucker went to the grand canyon.

(and I forgot the camera)but luckily superstar sister photo logged it all

The trucker asked me to marry him during the sunrise over the canyon.

(and superstar sister had a camera)



(I said yes)

Then we came home from family trip USA, and worked all morning on Beck McVanagon. (luckily I have this picture from the archives)



Then, after the fishing poles were loaded in, and one German Shepard later, we made it 12 miles down when the bus caught on fire.

(and luckily despite the fact that we didn't have the camera, some of the people who watched it blow up were nice enough to email me a picture from their camera phones)




So what have you guys been up to?

Springtime pictures to keep you posted

Everyone seems to be thawing out, soaking up some sun, and spending time playing in the sprinklers around here without me.


Even the spiring chickens are acting their part.

Unfortunatly I am not the only one that wants to carry around the chicks.




Even the elk are enjoying to upcoming grass.



Apparently everyone gets bored since I'm on nights now, and there have been some creative games being played by the dogs in my absence. Like.....Eat the spinkler starring Atlas, and Tevas favorite, count the fat rolls on Mr. Jakers. Lucky for me, I get to join them in a few weeks.

Happy easter easter bunny balk balk!

Yesterday, the trucker, his bff and I spent the day working on the yard around the house. Considering I havent really ever had a yard to plant things in before, I had no idea what I was doing when I went to Lowes. Somewher, sometime, I think I heard, or saw that if you plant bulbs when its still frosting outside that they grow after and you never have to plant them again. Anyone? Anyone?

Anyways, I bought a ton of bulbs, and about half way through the morning, my well planned landscaping ideas of tall flowers behind short flowers.....turned into my randomly throwing bulbs on the ground. If anything grows I'll let you know. In my mind it is going to look like something out of Gardening Magizine.

Final words

My portfolio is complete. My brain is a little mushy, and when I looked over it this morning, I find the 'letter to bette', may be a little more honest then I should.....but funny




Dear Bette,
I know how everyone always says how happy that they are, you had this as an assignment. Honestly, this portfolio just made me feel more insecure about what I thought I knew. Or more importantly what I was hoping that my brain would remember from the accumulation of two year of flashcards. Frankly, the magnetism/ electromagnetism section isn’t my best work. I think I had to go over it about 3 separate times just wondering if what I had written even made any sense, or if I had just convinced myself what I had written was correct after staring at it for 3 hours. And let’s face it, if there is a massive explosion in the world and I am the one left to wire us a new x-ray circuit, I may personally be responsible for blowing up the remaining survivors. My strengths on the other hand, are a confident understanding of radiation protection and an incredible dedication to the patient care. I will leave this program knowing that I have a solid understanding of what is going to produce a good image, all the while protecting my patient from the radiation that I alone am exposing them to. I will also always understand that I am never done learning about the field.
I hope you don’t find yourself too terribly bored while reading this. Perhaps you would enjoy a tasty adult beverage after you’re done. Now that I’m done, that idea sounds pretty good.

Thank you for your dedication to us,
Amanda

Ok ok fine.

I'm alive, feeling good, except I'm pretty sure that something happened in the universe and I'm dealing with 1/4 of the hours that used to be consumed in a day.

The trucker and I cleared out and cleaned the apartment yesterday. All official now, We're living in sin. It's quite impressive how much I had crammed into that space. Many trips to the thrift store later, and I still managed 3 truck loads to the house. I was so exhausted on the last day of packing that when I hit I70 and watched something fly off the back I took in a sigh and though.....one less thing I have to unpack.




The handsome hound is trying his hardest to adjust to the sleeping arrangements.
Meanwhile, the trucker is battling what I'm guessing lab results this week will determine a parasite.

F-ing Jamaica, the gift that just keeps on giving.


As far as school goes I learned in my mock registry that taking the REAL registry hung over is not a good idea. Somewhere around #84 the headache creeped on, and then around #113 I contemplated stopping where I was at and taking a nap. Yikes. Luckily in my heart of hearts I know that my score will be better next time based on the fact that I will not be drunk from 1-84.

Stupid box wine and good friends.

So I'll try to be better with keeping updates, and maybe soon I'll unpack the camera and give some new pictures. 71 days till graduation. 71 days

Snow snow and more snow

It seems like the second it's time for me to go anywhere lately, there is a massive snowstorm on the frunt. I know, thats no excuse for not blogging. We have gotten a rediculus amount of snow over the last two weeks. Sure, just when I have an out of town rotation and a car without 4WD.

Control the slide and carry an extra pair of pants and panties in the car. Thats the girl I've become, and thats the way I roll.

The new hospital is quite nice. Such a small town that at lunch last week there was a HUGE uproar in the cafeteria over the highschool varsity football team. It seems that the freshman that helped the varsity team during practice recieved a varsity letter for their participation.

Those bastards.

With the exception of the piling snow, everything else is clipping along well. I'm in the last semester of school......what?! seriously?! that went by way fast. Next week I leave for my first radiology confrence.....in VEGAS BABY! I've never been, so there may be some blog worthy stories coming soon. I did however have to sign a waiver along with my other classmates promising to show up sober to all functions where representing the college. Bah.

Come wednesday, I'm sure to see another massive snowstorm on the horizon as I will slide my way into nevada. Keep your fingers crossed, and ignore the spelling errors, blogger spell check isn't working. Leave it be I am a slave to spell check.

Tijuana, I mean Jamaica pictures

Jamaica is a total shithole. Seriously. It's not even a step above Tijuana.....it's more like the raised part of the sidewalk on the edge that catches your toe and makes you bust out your front teeth when you fall.

We did some cool stuff, but everything and everywhere you go, you need to check the legitimacy of it because not everywhere is safe.


After the death defying car rental in Kingston from what I can only describe as Kingston's king pen....we were off in our obviously stolen car racing for the beach. Which coincidentally there isn't really too much of. The beach that there is, is gated and private. Everything else is a wall built that the ocean smacks against, so you see HUGE waves, but impossible to surf because of the jagged rock underneath.

The 'how to stay safe in Jamaica' tour book in our condo told us where to go and what to do. So we did. It included.... going to see where Bob Marley grew up and is buried.

Climb the falls. (This was fun until the trucker broke his toe.)


Ride horses in the ocean water. My poor horse saw this as his opportunity to make a break for Cuba.

Donkey dress up. Note that is nothing like the Tijuana donkey show.

Thought about some canoeing but like the horse, the trucker and I would have pushed on till Cuba.

And of course drink lots and lots of rum in hope of killing any parasites that might have snuck their way in.

Jamaica

Let me first start by saying that this was by far the nicest gift anyone has ever given me, lovingly knowing that I had some anxiety about turning thirty.

Turns out you don't think about work, school, or turning thirty when you think that your going to get murdered in the Trenchtown Ghetto of Jamaica.

I have stories....oh sweet Jesus do I have stories.

For now I am drinking my coffee, trying to process what was seen, trying to drop the guilt of not giving those school kids money for their lunch fund. Trying to let that knowledge of a country accepted poverty stay in Jamaica.

Give me a day or so to get the pictures together, because it is true that the countryside is beautiful. The forest is lush and green, and the colors are fantastic. We did have fun, and we did eat a ton of local food that was delicious.

But this coffee is setting well on my tounge right now, so I'll talk later about it.
Very good to be home.

Happy New Year!!

New Years resolution for 2008:

Blog more.

No not really, it should be, but It wasn't on the top of the list of things to work on this year.

Try not to be so crazy.

That's more like it.

And of course maybe try to get to the gym 2 times a week....

Superstaaaa has some great pictures from Christmas. Funny stories and maybe three too many plane rides for my taste. Sitting in a snowstorm for five hours in an airport gets old quick.

Good thing I'm funny. Yea, that's me in a suitcase, two dollars richer. I will however keep that trick in my pocket for any upcoming trips that I might want to sneek away too....



like JAMAICA!!!!! (wild applause from the crowd in round)

Thats right, I leave tomorrow for my birthday celebration week in Jamaica. If I'm going to turn 30, I am damn sure going to be on a beach getting a tan.....

Plus 10 for the trucker for falling hook line and sinker for 'King girls turn 30 on beaches'......2 out of 3 that is.....

Happy new year everyone.

counting down the days.

The truck drivers birthday was a total hit. We rushed into Denver with all three dogs in tow, checked in, and went to the first surprise present.
It was amazing. If you never plan on doing hallucinogenics in your life, but have always wondered......go see this show.
The second night was Americas favorite Mexican comedian. He was pretty funny, but I didn't get some of the jokes when he switched from English to Spanish.....the Mexican crowd went crazy, so I'm guessing the joke got funnier.

Now we are just counting down the days until we hop on the plane and head south. Hopefully between then and now I will have found the camera chord. Not that we were allowed to take cameras into either of the shows, but the dogs are still cute.

can you believe that it's almost over? I'm officially on my month off break now, and have a semester to go before I get my little bo peep degree.

weird.

There will be a lack of pictures for a bit,
as in: making a Geek squad employee cry = loosing all of your pictures on a hard drive. But don't you get too torn up about it bc the camera is at my side and an exciting month is ahead.

You'll see.....I promise.

It's Alive!!

Well kiddos, my computer crashed....

during finals.....

And I made a Geek Squad employee cry.

I feel bad about that one actually.

After this week of clinicals I have a month holiday vacation where the trucker and I are traveling as much as possible. Unfortunately we will not be in an eighteen wheeler. I'll try and keep you all posted on what is going on as I Christmas shop shop shop the days away.

Holy crap I can't believe you still check this page

Mr. Jakers and I have been taking turns throwing our head in the toilet. The stress of my final and paper/presentation has left me in the 'ulcer bleeding stage' for the last two weeks. Two out of three left, I am polishing off a bottle of pepto and hiking my pants up like a big girl.

I missed you guys too.

There is nothing really to fill you in on, unless you want to know something about the skeletal gene mutation of dwarfism?

Everyone loves a midget.

The truck driver has gone international for a week, which has left me with a pack of dogs. I don't mind, they are pretty funny together....especially when we attempted a photo shoot to send to the trucker so he wouldnt forget what we look like.



Certainly not my best work, but Atlas comes close to outweighing me, and Teva was more interested in a bug then helping me stay upright. The handsome hound of course is always ready to strike a pose.

I of course am crashing a thanksgiving dinner as tradition has it. This years lucky family has no idea that I am showing up with an extra turkey to sneek into the frier and take home with me. After last years fiasco, I think it will be better if I bring my own bird to the dinner to take home at the end of the night.

Paid cat hitman

Good god someone shoot me. No no not really, I can't spare any time off of free work and class. It's a bad thing when I day drift about how I get to sleep in one extra hour because of daylight savings time this weekend though.

But Lucky for you I have a story I've kept in my pocket for a treat that is today. Mom, Amy, Phil. Your probably the only readers I have left so this one is for you.

A few months ago while leaving the truck drivers house, the cat that resides in the shop jumped in through the passenger side window in the driveway. Teva, thinking Christmas had come early, proceeded to chase the cat around the back of the station wagon while I threw it into park.

I open up the back drivers side door and try and herd the cat. No Luck. Teva and I are not working well as a team on this. Knowing if I touch the cat I am destine to go inside and wash up because of kitty allergies, I throw a jacket over the cat. The cat, as I am now half way into the car, is escorted out via the backseat passenger side window. Despite my efforts I sneeze all the way home.

A couple weeks later we realize that no one has seen the cat.

Kitty kitty was the truckers ex's. Who called. To check on the cat.

And the trucker says to her.......

'Ya know no one has seen him in a while. Actually I think Amanda saw him last when he jumped into her car and she threw him out the window.'

Sweet. My head drops to my chest and I shake my head.

Stupid cat is going to get me beet up in the alley.

I somehow managed NOT to pee my pants on the drive home this afternoon.

Something about road trips with my family engraved into my brain NOT to pull over just to pee when there is only thirty miles left to get home.

I swear my eyes were yellow when I went flying past the state patrolman. I actually mouthed the words "I have to PEEEE!' when we made eye contact.

He must have understood and had a father like mine.

It even took what seemed like hours to convince my bladder that it was ok to go, and not a hallucination due to kidney eruption once I got to the house.


In other non'eurethra damaging news, Teva spent the day at the vet having some 'touch up' work done for her birthday. Everyone got a kick out of me having cosmetic work done on my dog for her birthday.....which wasn't really intentional, but did work out quite nice as a gift with a pack of greenies.

Today is my girls birthday. She of course doesnt look at day over seven.

And she is currently outside hunting chipmunks.