The Move

Some people have wondered when we move.  Rhett starts mid-June so we'll at least be there by the begining of June.  Depending on how fast we find and buy a home, we could move even in May.  It will be interesting and I'm having a headache already thinking of moving.  At least it's not that far.

Residency Match Results

We are excited to have future income as Rhett being an employee of Idaho State University, so we'll be living in Pocatello, Idaho for the next 3 years!
He'll be a Family Medicine resdient.

It's only 3 hours from my family and Rhett is excited about the program.

Everyone, especially the Idahoans I know say it is the "buttcrack" or "armpit" of Idaho {their words not mine} but maybe we'll figure it out once we get there, because it seemed fine to us when we went to interview.  They have a Costco and fabric store so I am set. 

My only complaint is probably the temple being in Idaho Falls, so a 30-40 min drive, but that's nothing compared to when we lived in the Nauvoo Temple district and it was a day trip to another state to attend the temple. 

I'm excited because housing is really affordable, so we'll most likely purchase a house!  That will be so great.  I am thrilled about not having to rent or mooch, for the first time in our 6 years of marriage.  So lots of things to look forward to.

Some things to dread, like moving again.  Our crap is pretty much spread throughout my parent's house.  We tried to pack things we'd not need these two years separate from the things we would need, but somehow over these 2 years, we opened almost every box and almost need to unpack everything and repack it before we move.

Also it will be sad to move out.  My dad said Rhett and I could go, but we'll have to leave RJ.  I know RJ will also be sad to all the sudden not see Grandma and Grandpa everyday and be stuck with his wretched boring mother who is conservative on treat distribution.

But it is exciting and now I must go search craigslist to find a house to hopefully live in.

Hair Shouldn't Be A Spontaneous Decision

I needed a haircut.  I'm really bad about having regular haircuts.  I usually go 6 months...or more.  Gross? Maybe.  I am low maintenance especially with hair.  The part of my every-day routine that comes to doing something with my rat brown hair gags me.  I dread doing my hair every day.  After I'm finished, I always think how that was such a waste of my time.  And my hair rarely takes over 10 minutes total.  I can't imagine those women who have long hair that gets round brush dried for an over half an hour every day.  I couldn't stand that.  I'm sure for a lot of people, it's fun to style your hair and you feel nice and pretty.  Usually the rare occasions I fix my hair, which for me means something other than a ponytail, I regret "fixing" it because it's down and in my face and bothering me.  Thus Sundays, the hair goes right back up in a ponytail after church.

So this is my hair history.  Lived in slicked buns for a few years, then transferred to daily pony tails.  Twice in my adult life I cut it to just below my chin, still long enough for a half ponytail or at least pig tails.

So last night.  My mom and I were together getting our hair cut.  As I was waiting my turn, I was flipping through the magazine and saw this photo. 

I thought it was so cute.  The next magazine I looked through had it again.  Between getting blond highlights and maybe the chemicals intoxicating my better judgement, I told her to hack off all the rat to make it look like the photo. 

I left and knew it was a mistake.  First of all, it didn't look like the photo.  I don't know if it's the cut or my hair, or what.  We got in the car and my mom could tell I hated it.  She said: "Jess, are you going to cry?" That made me laugh.  Cry? Over hair?  "I think I cried over a haircut when I was 12 mom, but this is just hair.  It will grow back and I looked pretty crappy all the time before.  So now I'll look pretty crappy with short hair.  Not that big of a difference probably."

We got home.  Here are the reactions.

my dad, Scott:

I turned the corner: "I do NOT like that.  Do you know who you look like?  That lesbian in the movie John Q that is girlfriends with Ellen Degeneres."  We all laughed and my mom said: "Scott. She does not."  I turned around to walk out of the room.  Scott added: "And the back looks like a dog butt."  More laughing from everyone, including me.

my husband, Rhett.

He was upstairs studying.  I knocked on the door and said: "You want to see my new haircut?  It's pretty dramatic."

Rhett: "Dramatic?  Why didn't you ask me what I thought before you did something serious."

Me: "I didn't think you'd care, you never have cared before when I cut my hair."
Rhett: "Well I do when it's dramatic."

I opened the door.

Rhett: turns head to one side deciding how to say....."I....am. . . not a fan."

I'd always been so lame with my hair my whole life, I'd never really had anything risky done.  I was 21 before I ever put any color on it, and then it was highlights that were barely noticable. 

So this was out of control for my hair history.  I just hope I can figure it out to make it cute or at least a step up from:

"DOG-BUTT LESBIAN HAIR MASSACRE"

As we were chatting later in the night, I was telling Rhett all the positive things about the haircut.

-only 2 minutes to wash and condition

- only a few minutes to blow dry

-so nice to not have hair in my face ever

-nice not to have hair long enough to get yanked and pulled anymore

-nice to have no hair on my neck for summer, cool

-nice to be able to get it ready really quick,

Rhett interupted: "so you can just wake up and it will look the same as when you fix it fresh"

ME: exactly.  Bed head all the time and loving it.

-won't have to mess with elastics or bobby pins or any of that crap

Rhett:  So do you think all these pros that have to do with low maintentance make up for all the cons dealing with how bad it looks?

Me:  Hmmm.  For other people probably not worth it.  But for me, I think I'll end up liking the dog butt.

So I'm glad I was raised to not care about appearance.  There's definitely a balance, you should try to look nice and present yourself well, and I could use more of this motivation and talent.  But on the other side, you can care too much about how you look and how other people think you look.  A bad haircut ruining your life?  Not that big of a deal.  This was actually really funny, all night everyone kept coming up with great hair jokes, but too many to keep writing them.  But it's just hair, and anyone who would really look down on a poor fashionless girl like me for having dog butt hair...well I wouldn't want you for a friend anyway vain pants, so maybe it's better I busted out some bo-daggit hair to see who really likes me for me.

Just kidding.  It's not that dramatic.  I feel like my friends are solid whatever my hair looks like....I hope.  Rhett actually said today he may like it too once he gets used to it.

Dog Butt UPDATE:

Went back to fix some things that I really did hate and I'm liking it a lot better now.  My dad said the dog butt is gone.  I think it's a little short from the photo, so in about 3 weeks it will be longer and  hopefully I'll have figured out to make it a little closer to what I originally planned.  So we'll do the best with what we've got here.

So anyone who is into hair and knows their stuff.  Please study the magazine photo and tell me how to mimic the look as best I can.

Small words and many steps would be best.

jessica.crapo@gmail.com

Great Stone Face

We went down to Delta to visit Rhett's fam.  RJ had been a wolf that day, and it made the ride down cozy.

The night we got there, Rhett read a tourism magazine on the wonders of Millard County Utah. 

The next day he was really eager to show me the Great Stone Face.

It's only 15 min from his parent's house, and it is supposed to be a rock that has a carved face in the side. 

I didn't want to go, but once we got there it was actually pretty cool and the closer you hiked, it actually did look like a big nosed profile.

You'll see the profile along the top right side of the rock.  I think it's easiest to see the outline of the huge nose pointing to your right, then you'll see the eye and underneath, the horizontal crack in the rock that is the mouth.

On top.

If you're ever in Millard county, don't miss this gem.

As it is unlikely there would be any reason you'd ever be in the desert rural wasteland, just enjoy our photos.

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

One of my favorite hymns, sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  I love this song because it appeals to most Christians I think, needing Christ to intervene or rescue our souls through His mercy and love.  I also really identify the feelings of being prone to wander and leave the Lord I love and being disapointed in yourself, and just having the deepest desire of your heart to wise up and give your heart to the Master, looking to Him as the Supreme example, struggling to do that fully the throughout your whole life. 
I'm not muscially inclined, and don't have a great understanding of poetry, and there are actually few hymns that I love, but this is one that I get.  Hope if you take the time to listen you like it to, if you don't already know it.

Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love.


Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I'm come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.


O to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.
Seal it for thy courts above.

In case you were like me and were thinking "Ebenezer? Scrooge?"  I looked it up and found it is a reference to 1 Samuel 7:12. where Samuel set a stone as a testament that God had helped them, thus in the song "Hither by thy help I'm come"

Also what is a fetter?  1. A chain or shackle for the ankles or feet.
2. Something that serves to restrict; a restraint.
I thought that was interesting imagery, but I'm no English major to elaborate on anything, I just like the song and its message, it's really inspiring to me.

My Mom's 50th Birthday Today...sort of

My mom was born Feb 29 1960.  She was born on Leap Year, therefore she only gets a "real" birthday every four years.  The years of the Summer Olympics she gets to celebrate on a February 29th.

Here she is as the little baby in the christmas photo.

Moms are just great.  Maybe it's not like this for everyone, but it seems to me your mom has the biggest influence on your life out of any other person.  That freaks me out now that I am a mom, but I'm glad for many reasons I ended up with Sheila as my mom.  She's not perfect, but I feel like she was perfect in all the important areas for being my mom.

What's weird is now as an adult how many times I stop and realize I am just like my mother.  From phrases I'll use, to ways I handle frustration, to having too many projects to handle and just thinking and planning more.

It's been really great living with my parents for now almost two years.  My mom works now that she's an empty nester, well except for us moochers.  It's been surprising to me that even as an adult with my own busy life to live, I have to admit I don't like my mom being gone all day at work.  It's weird to be in the house even though I live there too, and not have her there.  I guess it makes me realize that it's a blessing and a privilege to be a stay at home mom and I hope I'll always have that opportunity, and good reason to remember not to complain or think I hate my life when there's no better place to be...even if I'm just mindlessly cleaning up messes one after another all day.

Anyway, it has been great to have my Mom around all the time these two years and to have the friendship and share all our interests.  But for some reason there's always a comfort in having your mom around I think, and it'll be sad to move.  I never thought I'd be sad to move out of my parent's house.
When I was 18 and moved out to college, my mom called me every day for weeks and I was so annoyed.  I was really surprised how much she missed me, she had 2 kids at home still and I was kind of a wretch, which is why Herschel rejoiced and told me he'd been counting down for years until I'd finally leave.  But I guess it's different for moms...they miss even their wretched daughters.

I think when I leave the house this second time, it will be me calling every day and my Mom being annoying and thinking "Get a grip!"  

here she is with my older 2 siblings the early 80s

Mannequins Strike Again!

This was the title to the email a friend, Lacey sent me.  I saw it and knew it would be great.  She is awesome, and sent me this photo from Ohio of a great display.

THings I love about it:

That SNUGGIE is the highlight, so important they even show you the box.

I half love and half hate the Snuggie.  Maybe if I ever had the chance to use one it would push me to make a solid opinion one way or the other.

The armless upper torso man on the floor.  Reminds me of the black knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail...Ohio State style,

Oh how I love me a creepy mannequin display!

by the way, this was Jessica, NOT Rhett, he was signed in & I was too lazy to sign out and sign myself in.

Ginger Lemon Cream Pie

I had made gingerbread cookies last week, and today there were 5 or 6 cookies left, but they were too hard to eat.  Beyond even being ginger snaps.  But I couldn't throw them away and thought they'd make a yummy crust.  I had a cheesecake recipe that used a ginger snap crust.  But then I remembered these cookies I see by the bread at Costco.  Carr's Ginger Lemon cookies.  I always want to buy them but never had, so I thought of lemon and ginger.

But I didn't want the lemon to be tangy like using real lemon juice and having any hint of sour.  I was thinking of sweet lemon flavor and thought of Erin Walker's lemon ice cream recipe.  I wanted to make a pie out of that ice cream flavor.

I think it worked out pretty good.  I felt like I was eating the Walker ice cream in pie form.

Slightly spicy ginger crust with creamy, smooth, lemon filling.

Top it with real whipped cream and it would be divine.

We only had Cool Whip.

Lemon Cream Pie with Ginger Snap Crust

CRUST:

ginger snap cookies

     (6 homemade, probably 10-12 store bought)

      enough to make 1 1/2 c. crumbs

2-3 T butter,  melted

Crush cookies into fine crumbs, or I just threw them in the food processor.

Dump your crumbs in pie tin/ plate.  Drizzle melted butter over crumbs, press in butter with fork, and form to bottom and sides of pan.

Freeze.

PIE FILLING:

1 T milk

1/3 c. cornstarch

3 egg yolks

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 c. sugar

2 1/2 c. milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp lemon oil OR 1 tsp lemon extract (I was out of extract, thus resorted to oil, which is mainly for candy I think, but it worked)

1 T butter

 

In medium saucepan combine the 1 T milk, cornstarch, yolks, salt, and sugar.  Whisk until it's a smooth paste.  Add the 2 1/2 c. milk.  Whisk until it's a smooth liquid.  Stirring constantly, cook on medium heat until filling thickens to pudding like consistency.  I test it by scooping a glob with the whisk, and it should somewhat stay in the whisk.  If it runs right out, keep cooking.  Basically until it's like pudding. 

 

Remove from heat. Add the vanilla, lemon and butter.  Whisk a minute or so to help it cool down.  Grab your crust and pour filling over crust.  Smooth it over and cover with plastic wrap, pushing it down right on the pie without air bubbles to prevent "pudding skin". 

That always reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George tries to invent Pudding Skin Singles.

 

Refrigerate for a few hours to set.

Serve with whipped cream, or if you're lame like me.."whipped topping"

 

**In a hurry: Microwave in glass bowl 1 min at at time, stirring between, as it begins to thicken at all, cut cook intervals to 30 seconds so you don't make it too thick.  

What up...

We've been enjoying the Olympics every night.  We were glad that Evan guy won the gold for Men's Figure Skating, my dad can't remember his name and so we all call him "Snake Man".

We turn in our final rank list for the residency match this week.  Getting closer to knowing where we will live for the next 3 years!

We wish we knew now, mainly because depending on where we go will determine whether we will seek to purchase a house.  We have always rented, or I guess mooched as we currently are.  So we would like to take advantage of the New Home Buyer government perk...but you have to close on your house by April 30, and that would scarcely give us a month, so not very likely we'll get to use it.

February has seemed twice as long as January to me for some reason. 

Sugar Cookie

I am a sugar cookie snob.

Maybe it's because I'm not the biggest fan of frosting.  I hate it when a sugar cookie is basically a flavorless cracker for frosting. 
I want FLAVOR IN THE COOKIE!

I'm also really critical of cookie texture.  I like soft cookies.  Once again, not a cracker.  To me, a sugar cookie should be soft and chewy, if you fold it in half, it should bend then break, not snap. Melt in your mouth rather than crunch.

So if you are nodding in agreement to this point, there's a good chance you may like to try my mom's sugar cookie recipe.  I think people have varied expectations for sugar cookies, so I give you what I like out of a sugar cookie, so you can know if this cookie may be to your liking.  My mom played with different amounts of cream cheese, sour cream, and butter base to get the right balance for these cookies to have both flavor and texture.

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE on to recipe

BIKES

Little boys need little bikes to ride around the house.

That is what my mother-in-law taught me. 

Daddy Rhett got his little three-wheeler for his 3rd birthday in the 1980s, and Grandma C got little Rhett an awesome Radio Flyer bike for Christmas this year.

He really cruises around and it's been great for cold winter days.  Also, it's light weight I have taken it places...like Tuesday night to the church when I was in charge of a young women's activity.  He cruised all around the halls and had fun, not climbing up my heels the whole time.

I should find out where my mother-in-law found it.  It's been an awesome toy.

I can't believe this kid is almost 2!

Interviews Are OVER

Colorado State Monument Park just out of Grand Junction

I'm sure you're sick of my lame teenage stories.

So here's an update on us now.

This last week we finished the last interview for residency.  Rhett is going into Family Medicine and interviewed at 11 programs.  I went to every interview. 

They were all n either Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, so only 2 were air travel, which is why I was able to attend every one.  Also thanks to our amazing moms who are super-grandmas and watched RJ for all of them.

So now they're finished, which I am glad.  It was quite fun to have so many weekends and dinners with my husband and no kids.  But the meeting tons of new people, hospital tours, arranging babysitting, and the rest kind of got exhausting toward the end.  I am grateful Rhett arranged so I could go, and I feel like this decision is definitely a team effort, so it's been nice.

But now we have to rank them all for the approaching match.

CAREER RECAP:

Undergrad

Medical School: 4 years (he'll graduate this April)

Residency: 3 years for Family Medicine

Fellowship: 1 year

(Rhett is seriously considering rural training fellowships which are a new, growing concept in family medicine)

So for residency, you put your program rank list in, and the programs rank the students, and the computer makes the assignments.  So it is a job, but it is assigned.  Rhett didn't apply to any osteopathic (D.O) residencies, and is only ranking in the allopathic (M.D.) match.

So we will find out where we are going March 18th. 

At least we know we'll be in the west!  We both learned we detest the midwest climate and are pleased we have so many options in the western half of the U.S!

So we are excited to start residency, and not be students anymore, and actually have a paycheck!  I'm sure a kill-joy will comment and tell me residency is worse and not something to be excited for, but they can only work 80 hours a week...so let's look on the bright side Debbie Downer!

Also, some fam/ friends may be interested in our settling down plans after all of this.

So around 2014 when we hope to settle down and get into his career, you will probably find us in a rural town.  Rural being population of 5000 or less.

That's right: SMALL TOWN. 

I never thought I'd live in a tiny rural town, but it's been an interesting path to where that is our plan, and to my utter surprise, I look forward to it.

Rhett wants to be in a small town that is relatively isolated from larger health care facilities.  Out on the range cowboying it up doing full scope medicine--being the pediatrician, ER, obstetrician, internal medicine, sports medicine, some general surgery, and everything else he could do before referring patients to a larger city.  A cowboy doctor.  The other day he was talking about his dream of having his clinic attached to the hospital, and our house next door.  So he'd never have to drive anywhere.  I thought, yes, then I can just send our kids next door to the hospital when they drive me crazy and you can handle them.  Small towns don't take HIPPA seriously do they????

Today they finished their surgeries earlier, and he had time to come home for lunch before heading back to clinic (he's on an ortho rotation).  We were eating lunch and he said that he's glad he'll be practicing in a small town so he'll be at home for lunch every day. 

So it will be interesting where life takes us, these next few months, and in the years to come.

I should start beginning to pack things like Christmas decorations, winter clothes we won't wear before we move, etc. 

But I probably won't until we are closer to moving.

Me and my dad are already pouting about the thought of us moving out...which is another thing I thought I'd never be doing either.  I'll be sad to move out of my parent's house, it's actually been such a great two years for all of us. (I'm speaking for Rhett)

after the Grand Junction interview, we stopped so Rhett could change out of his suit for the 4 hour drive home.  I changed into my pajamas.  He told me my outfit wouldn't look very good for our national park pictures we were going to take on the way home.  I laughed.  He asked how long I'd had these pajama pants.  Over 10 years.  Almost vintage.  So here it is.

Not too bad.  I think this will be on our 2010 Christmas card.

I UPDATED THE POST EDITING TO THE NEWER VERSION, AND WHERE THE CRAP IS SPELL CHECK NOW BLOGGER? So sorry if I have spelling errors.