.we need a vacation.

Now that I am finally done with all my make-up assignments (almost, anyway) I keep thinking about a vacation.  An escape.  A week, maybe more, of relaxation and time away from the daily reminders of George.  This is especially more important to me as his due date gets nearer.  I really don't want to be in this apartment when that day rolls around, even though it looks like I will be.

So I've made up a little list of imaginary places I would like to go if we could get out of here.

1. Manzanillo, Costa Rica.  This is where we went on our honeymoon.  It was spectacular.  Quiet, remote, beautiful, and peaceful. 

2. Switzerland.  Leif has always wanted to go here and after looking at photographs of the place, I do too.  It seems like an ideal place to go hiking and enjoy a leisurely vacation.  Plus the big bonus is that the food is probably amazing.

3. Nicaragua. This appeals to me in the same way that the Caribbean side of Costa Rica does.  It isn't a typical tourist destination and so would be pretty low key.  Just like us.

4. Barcelona, Spain.  We spent three days here two summers ago and we left telling ourselves that we would be completely happy to live there.  It may be a huge city with tons of tourists but it feels very comfortable.  I was amazed at all the history in the city and found the gothic quarter completely charming.

.a little confession is good for the soul.

I want to go here. 

Call me crazy but I think it looks like fun.  I mean, fun aside from the millions of people that are going to be milling around.  I guess what I really mean is that the idea of a Harry Potter theme park is fun. 

.string gardens.

I love this.  If I wasn't so good at killing plants I would want one (or ten, or twenty) of these things.

Here is where you can see more.

.the heart of the house.

Living in an 800 square foot apartment has its challenges.  For one thing no matter how much stuff we get rid of there just is never enough storage space.  The other biggest issue with the apartment, at least for me, is that our kitchen is pretty tiny and only has one tiny window.  When I dream about our future house the first room I always think about is the kitchen. White, bright, with lots of windows.

These are some of my favorites right now.

House Beautiful

House Beautiful

House Beautiful

Bosworth Hoedemaker

.an arrival from pdx.

Leif and I are lucky.  Well...if you exclude the obvious horrible lack of luck we had recently.

We are lucky because we have some pretty damn good friends.  Friends that most people just aren't lucky enough to find.  Friends that you can always count on to be there when you most need them and to know you well enough to ignore you when you act like a punk.

Marc and Natalie are some of those friends.  They flew in from Portland last weekend to celebrate my graduation and to spend some time with us.  Secretly I suspect that they were just looking for an excuse to come to the beach.  But who can blame them when they live in a city that is rainy like 300 days out of the year or something heinous like that.

I've known Natalie for almost sixteen years and she is ultimately the person responsible for the love connection between Leif and myself.  Her husband (then boyfriend) and Leif worked together at the time and she was the one who had the foresight to "introduce" us in the hopes that we would hit it off.  It worked. Obviously.

Anyway...like I said, Natalie and I have been friends for almost sixteen years.  Our friendship currently has its learner's permit and will soon be going to the DMV to get its license.  Watch out fellow motorists because our friendship drives a speedy red sports car.  Which runs on biofuel, of course.

As always we had a great time with them and the weekend just flew right by us.  I think the reason for that had something to do with the fact that we ate so much food that we were not physically capable of keeping up with the weekend.  Which is the only important marker of a successful weekend.

That is, food and the beach.  Those are the two markers of a successful weekend.  A little smash ball, a little sandcastle building and a serious lack of enough sunscreen for Marc and Leif made for a fun day at a relatively empty beach. 

When it was time for them to return to Portland and to their hipper, more tattooed friends we were sad to see them go. They are two people who we would love to live nearer to.  Maybe one day. 

.and i now pronounce you graduated.

So technically I haven't graduated yet.  Because I missed so much school when I was in the hospital and after my c-section I am having to make up a lot of work.  It is just busy work but I am literally just happy that they are letting me graduate that I don't really care at this point.  For a good five or six weeks I really thought that I was going to have to repeat a class next year because it is only offered once during the course of the program.  I was almost at the point where I thought I was going to have to pick up another nasty habit to ease my anxiety as my nails were already chewed off as much as they could possibly be. 

By next Tuesday I think I will be completely finished and then I can move onto the next hurdle...passing the board exam and finding a job.  Like a real job with real patients. 

It still feels a little surreal to be done with school.  When I started this program three years ago it was with 45 other strangers.  Now I am finished and had to say goodbye to 45 friends (ok, not really all 45 are my friends but it just seemed less dramatic to say anything less).  Some of them I know I will probably never see again.  Others I am sure I will always keep in touch with, in one way or the other. 

 

.palm springs.

I've come to the conclusion that I am really just an old woman in a young woman's body.  While at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs this came to me as we lay poolside, observing all the other hotel guests.  There were too many people.  Especially too many overly-young (very early 20-somethings), overly-bronzed, overly-loud, and overly-hip people for my tastes.  At some point in my life, probably about eight years ago, I would have loved this crowd (because I was this crowd) but now it is just too much for me. 

But that being said it was fun.  The place is pretty darn cute and the rooms were very comfortable.  By far the best part of the trip was the airtram ride and hike in the San Jacinto mountains just above PS.  I would definitely recommend going at least once to anyone who lives in Los Angeles.  It was absolutely breathtaking.