Black Scarlet

Wish Me Luck!

2009-12-10T07:37:00.001-08:00

Well, after months of commuting up to SLC all the time for rehearsals, the concerts are finally here. I'm so happy to be a part of this for the 2nd year as a dancer. It's very rewarding. Not to mention very cool to see all the secret places in the building that you thought were just myths.

Also, for those who are interested, last year's concert will be airing on Dec 16th, 24th, and 25th on PBS. The DVD just came out a couple weeks ago, so naturally we bought it and it's very good. Love both Brian Stokes Mitchell and Edward Herriman (aka "Rory's grandpa"). Also very relieved to see that I wasn't making any weird faces when the camera was on me. For those who don't know, the yearly christmas concerts are not released for tv airtime or onto DVD until the following christmas. That way they're not driving themselves nuts trying to edit everything in like 1 week. Plus the DVD contains a lot of "behind the scenes" film and other bonuses which take time to put together. My guess is that it doesn't take them the full year to get it done, but just that it doesn't make sense to release it in mid-summer or something. It's all very confusing, especially when you're trying to explain to someone that wants to watch it that they're going to have to wait a whole year.

Oh Dear. . .

2009-11-11T12:41:00.001-08:00

Where I've Been

2009-09-09T20:58:00.001-07:00

I've been in San diego.

And it was awesome.

And yes, that is a real plumeria in my hair.

Rodeo

2009-08-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

So last week I went on a date to the Heber rodeo. Although I knew I probably wouldn't be as excited and intrigued by it as most of the people around here are, I expected to at least have a passive interest in the tricks and skills that would take place.

Well, that didn't happen. About 20 minutes into it I apparantly became a PETA activist when I started crying because the way they were treating the animals was making me sick to my stomach. Needless to say, we left and just walked around the booths outside the arena for a while.

Now, the rodeo around here is HUGE. It seems like everyone goes, and everyone loves it. So please do not think that I am condemning anyone who likes the rodeo, because I was as surprised as anyone when I realized how much I did NOT like it, and why.

August 4th

2009-08-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

Early this morning, as I began to write the date on the first patient chart of the day, I hesitated momentarily as I realized what the date was. Today is a date that used to mean accomplishment of what was, and promise of things yet to come. Today's date is a reminder of happier times when I would not trade a second of any day for anything else in the world. It means love so fierce that I thought my heart would literally explode with it. Now it is only. . .what was.

I Heart My Puppy

2009-07-01T15:26:00.001-07:00

Funny (and real!) Test Answers

2009-06-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

If you google something like "funny exam answers" or "funny test answers" you will find loads of hilarious real life answers teachers have gotten back from students. These are a couple of my favorites.

The Haircut

2009-01-10T17:50:00.001-08:00

As a free plug. . .my sister Kavita owns a salon in Provo called The Hidden Clipper. I wouldn't trust my hair to anyone else. The following haircut is courtesy of her.

Before

The cut

It was a little emotional

After

Consolation sundae

Explanation

2008-12-26T15:08:00.001-08:00

Anyone reading this in Google Reader, stop! Stop now! Because you are going to have to go to my actual blog to view this amazing video I posted at the top of my blog. I was trying to get it up before Christmas, but alas, my lack of technical skills would not allow it. This is my sis, the singer. She has always been a naturally good singer but lately she has started taking voice lessons and really increasing her vocal range. . .as evidenced in this video.

So please watch. She is amazing. (More amazing than this video shows, because for some reason the sound quality on this is horrible. Watch this, but then imagine it 50 times better, because that is how good she is in real life)

And please watch all the way through. The best part is the extremely high Mariah Carey note she hits near the end.

Did You Catch Us Yet?

2008-11-16T20:31:00.001-08:00

. . . or are we changing states too fast for you?

Historic Philadelphia

2008-11-15T16:42:00.001-08:00

Warning: Captions are extraordinarily short because I'm tired of blogging so much.

We ended the trip by visiting downtown Philadelphia! Here's what Ayisha would look like if she were money.

Me and Constance, the Constitution cow.

Being in the same room as the Liberty Bell was almost a spiritual experience. I had goosebumps the whole time we were near it. Ayisha and I both drool over history involving the founding of America, which is why we decided that would be a perfect way to end our trip.

Standing outside the National Constitution Center.

Benjamin Franklin's grave.

A strange apparition we saw outside the cemetery gate.

Mimicking this statue which is dedicated to the signers of the Declaration.

Ayisha looking philosophical.

Independence Hall. If you've seen National Treasure. . .this is where they look out from the tower where the Liberty Bell used to hang, and then climbed down and removed the brick to find the special glasses.

The room were the Constitution and Declaration were signed. That main chair in the back is the actual chair that George Washington sat in when he presided over the conference, his famous "rising sun" chair.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

This is how I looked the whole time we were back east - stressed and anxiously clutching the steering wheel! Eastern drivers are crazy!

Back to the Babies. . .

2008-11-15T16:40:00.001-08:00

We had thought about going to the Statue of Liberty this day, but woke up to a chilly wind. So we abandoned our other plans and went back to visit our friends!

I just want to point out that in this picture I'm wearing a really cute scarf/glove set that Mike's mom got me for Christmas last year. But I couldn't find the matching hat when I was packing! I was so mad.

I wish this picture had turned out better. Ayisha spent most of the day holding little miss smiley-pants. . .

. . .and I rebonded with The Little One by watching funny music videos she likes on youtube. I love that she still does the 2-finger slurp.

And nothing's better to end a chilly day than warm lava cake! Yum!

N.Y.C.

2008-11-13T10:04:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we went to NYC. We had to wake up at 5am to catch the Greyhound into the city. Fortunately, we got on the bus without any hiccups.

Then we had to navigate the tricky subway system. For 2 girls who had never travelled on the subway on our own before, I'd have to say we did really well! This is me proudly standing by our destination after our successful trip.

Our main goal was to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We were so happy as we walked up and saw the beautiful building!

After which we were immediately disappointed by this sign:

Apparantly the Met is closed on Mondays. Who knew?? (Also, pardon the goofy red earmuff- there was a chilly wind and it was hurting my ears!)

This is another model-esque picture of Ayisha that I took in Central Park. Isn't she beautiful!

We could have easily spent all day in Central Park! There were so many little hidden treasures that we had a fun time discovering - like this beautiful fountain with lotus flowers and lilypads in it.

We even indulged a little and went to the Central Park Zoo.

My favorite part of zoos is always the sea lions. They're just so cute!

The sleeping polar bears were pretty adorable too. Who knew you could find a polar bear in the middle of Central Park?

Eventually we decided to leave Central Park in search of food. We went to Ellen's Stardust Diner, where I had been last time I went to NYC. All the waiters are out of work actors and they take turns singing and entertaining. Dinner AND a show! This was our waiter, Jonathon. Isn't he a hunk?? He also had the best singing voice by far.

Ayisha had the good fortune to have him cuddle up next to her during a song. I only wish I had snapped the picture with his eyes open. . .

Next we went further into Times Square to walk off our delicious meals, and walked into the Hershey store, where we found a little bit of heaven. . .

I couldn't resist a mouthful of this special mixture.

Doesn't this look like the best corner of Times Square??

Lady Liberty?? So that's why she's green. . .

The MnM shop is right across from the Hershey shop. Ayisha was a little freaked out by their "promotional character of the day" (Big Blue in the background). Apparantly so are a lot of kids - I saw a toddler cry when he tried to say hi to her.

The MnM shop had all kind of fun mixes!

We had a machine scan us to tell us what color MnM we are. Ayisha is Orange.

This is the results of mine. If it's true, then I do a LOT of good in this world. :)

In the Toys 'R' Us store they had an indoor ferris wheel! Ironically we ended up on the MnM car.

There were all kinds of fun things in the giant multi-level store - like this image of Superman saving the Daily Planet from a runaway semi.

Finally, after a long day of walking, we headed back to the Subway and home (to the hotel) to bed.

One of the reasons for our trip

2008-11-11T06:36:00.001-08:00

How is it possible that this is like the only picture I took while visiting some of our favorite friends?? We went to church with Stef and Neal and then spent the day with them (thank you for feeding us!) We played a very long game of Ticket to Ride (I actually had to go look up what the game is actually called - we always just call it "Trains"!) before we decided to get back to our hotel before it got too dark. Ayisha thought Stef and her mom were just hilarious, which was good. Also, I can't believe how big little miss blue-eyes and her sister have gotten just in the last couple months!

Washington D.C. (and some other pictures too)

2008-11-11T06:21:00.001-08:00

I love the view from airplane windows. I think the clouds look like waves!

This does NOT say that we have 53 minutes to get to our tram to catch our connection.
It says we have 53 SECONDS.

I get a little paranoid about germs and hotels. (I mean, have you read the stats???)
Here I am, starting at the front door within the first 10 seconds of entering our room. I wouldn't let Ayisha touch anything until I had disinfected the entire room.

After a VERY long day of waking up early to catch our plane, running to catch our connection, trying to navigate the streets of Philadelphia to get to our hotel in New Jersey (Eastern drivers are CRAZY!) and getting lost about 16 times in the process, we were FAMISHED from not eating all day. Fortunately our hotel gave us complimentary cookies!

The view on our drives have been BEAUTIFUL! I remember thinking in August that the greenery in New Jersey was "lush" - really thick, tall, and gorgeous. Now in November, all the leaves are changing and it is just as stunning!

REALLY foggy in Maryland! This is a view from the bridge we crossed - you can see the railing along the bottom of the pic.

Ayisha and I were able to successfully navigate the metro system!

The Smithsonian castle in Washington D.C.

We visited the Air and Space Museum. We could have EASILY spent all day there. It was fascinating! Plus there were all these interactive things to play with.

Here I am, standing in front of Washington monument. Don't you love my new, red, wool, side-button, J.Crew coat? I do! Unfortunately I didn't get to show it off much - but fortunately that was because it was so warm in D.C. that Ayisha and I both ended up taking our jackets off! It was a gorgeous day! I would have never guessed it was November.

This backdrop of the WWII memorial is completely filled with golden stars. I figured they represented those who gave their lives but I wanted to know more about it, so I looked it up when we got back to the hotel. Here's what I found out:

"The Memorial's Freedom Wall includes 4,000 gold stars. Each star represents over 1,000 Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve worldwide freedom - over 400,000 Americans in all."

I really like this view of Washington Monument from Memorial Plaza.

This kid was like, the Duck Whisperer or something. They kept following him around! This is the pool between Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial - the one that Steve Carrell walked into in Get Smart.

I thought this was pretty cool. The sign says "Congratulations President Obama." There was a big board set up so that people could write support messages.

Standing in front of Lincoln Memorial.

Ayisha and I - wasn't it a beautiful day???

This guy was making a rubbing of one of his relative's names that was on the Vietnam Memorial Wall. For some reason I was really touched by this.

Ayisha took this photo - I just love the way it came out! I love how the branches really pop out in the foreground.

Ayisha also took this picture, which I think turned out really pretty. The security around the White House was thick!

I love this picture I took of Ayisha in DC. I think she looks like a model!

And. . .We're Off!

2008-11-08T17:04:00.000-08:00

(bleary eyed and sleepy at our early morning flight)

Catch us if you can. . .

If only I wouldn't get arrested for hurting you

2008-09-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

Please check out yesterday's great post on my friend Kika's blog: http://kikaandtrevor.blogspot.com/

I'd be lying if I said that as a fellow brown girl, this kind of stuff never happens to me.

Some people are completely and utterly stupid and make me want to break their pretty little noses. Or punch them out. I have a mean roundhouse.

I'm Kinda New at This

2008-09-22T19:12:00.000-07:00

Today I took 4 xrays. 3 of them were perfect. 1 of them was horrible.

I 75% rock.

I miss the heat

2008-09-12T08:04:00.001-07:00

This morning I had to use the windshield defroster on my car.

I cried a little bit.

Insert Blog Title Here

2008-09-05T07:18:00.001-07:00

Also, does anyone else completely and utterly freak out occasionally by this thing called life?

Natasha vs the Mosquitoes

2008-09-05T07:17:00.001-07:00

Mosquitoes: 8
Natasha: 0

They attack me when I sleep. Cheaters.

Hiatus

2008-08-13T00:45:00.000-07:00

I tried a new hairstyle the other day.

I apologize for being a blog slacker the past month. I've been really busy with Maddy and the new baby. Unfortunately, the blog slacking is only going to get worse. Tonight I'm leaving on a plane with Stef and the babies for Jersey, and I probably won't blog until I get back in a couple weeks.

A red-eye with a toddler and a newborn. Wish me and Stef luck. :)

Picture Post

2008-07-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

This has been a very busy and fun-filled week! In lieu of lots of boring text, I've decided to show you my week in a picture post:

Tuesday we got to meet The Littler One who is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Then I got to spend most of the day with the original Little One which is always awesome because she's such a good toddler. Plus I really like the Little One's grandma, so bonus!

Wednesday we got some yummy Pier 49 to share with our friends, and then I went black-light mini-golfing with my best friend Liz at Trafalga. It was really cool! I was wearing all dark colors so the only thing that glowed on me was my teeth, which was pretty funny. Lizzie was nice and gave me her arcade points so that I could get a parachute Batman that I thought was great.

I don't know why, but for the life of me I cannot remember what I did on Thursday. I had work off though, so I hope it was something fun.

Friday I got up super early to watch the hot air balloons from our parking lot. While I was waiting for them to appear, I took advantage of the fact that I am rarely up at 6am and watched the sun rise.

I also watched the early morning snails making their way across the lawn.

Finally the balloons appeared! This isn't a great picture, but my digital camera only cost $60, so I really can't complain. They had a pig balloon and a Smoky the Bear balloon this year. I sat on the comfy chair that somebody left in our parking lot and watched them.

Then I went back to bed. When I woke up, we went with Mrs S and the Little One to the Freedom Festival, which was more fun than I remembered it being last year. It was really hot though!

For dinner we went to a BBQ at my parent's house and made Cordon Bleu sandwiches. It was my sister's birthday and that is what she requested. (For those of you who don't know, 3 of the 4 girls in our family are born on holidays) Big 19! I remember 19. . .sometimes I'm really surprised when I realize I'm not still 19.

That night we went with the Hansons to watch fireworks by the MTC. Thanks for saving us a space! Evie was remarkably good-natured for being up so late.

All of Saturday was spent in Logan at a big car show. We went with our friends Pete and Rachel. You can't see it very well, but this is a casket in a glass box being pulled by a motorbike. (Don't worry, it was just for show, or I wouldn't have gone anywhere near it)

There were really big cars. . .

. . .and really little ones.

Overall, it was pretty boring and roasting hot, so I can't really recommend it.

Hope everyone had a good holiday!

More "fun" times at the doctor's office

2008-06-27T07:44:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we did a minor procedure on a 17 year old boy named Luis. He was our last patient of the day, so when we were done with him, he came and sat in the lobby to wait for his mom to pick him up. Dr H went to his office, and I sat at my reception desk working on some things. Everyone else had gone home for the day, so it was just Luis and me up front.

After a while he came over to my counter and ask if I had any suggestions on what he should take for the pain. I told him that Motrin or Tylenol should work just fine and that we normally don't have to prescribe anything. He kind of nodded slowly, but then said that his feet were already starting to bother him. Since there's really no way the local anesthesia could wear off that fast, I started to get suspicious that maybe he was just after drugs or something (unfortunately, when you work at a doctor's office you deal with a lot of druggies). So I told him again that we don't prescribe anything for it and that as soon as he got home he could take some Motrin to ease the pain. He nodded kind of slowly and started to lean heavily on the counter.

And then he collapsed.

I heard a sickening "thud" as he fell out of my view and hit the floor. He was pretty big for a 17yo so there was a lot of weight to go down! It was one of those moments you see in a movie - I sat there stunned for half a second while I processed what had happened, then I jumped up and leaned over my tall reception counter to peer down at him. Then I ran around the desk and was like, "hey! are you okay??" His eyes were open but kind of glazed and he didn't respond, and even though I was obviously flustered, somehow I managed to think clearly enough to drag a chair over to him from the lobby and prop his feet up on it. Then I ran to Dr H's office and even though he was on the phone, I just said "Um. . .I need your help - Luis just like totally passed out on me." I felt like I must have looked kind of crazy, because the words came out in a half panicked/half nervous laughter kind of way. He immediately hung up and and started hurrying toward the lobby and said something like "we need to get his feet up" which, thankfully, I was able to say I had already done. By the time we got to the lobby, the kid was coming around so Dr H just squatted down to tell him that it was a normal reaction and that we just needed to get some blood back to his head. Twenty minutes later the kid was fine and stood up and went home, but geez. I had a headache for hours just from that "thud" echoing through my skull.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Things are never boring when you work for a doctor.

Some words of wisdom

2008-06-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

I went driving with my 16 year old sister for the first time last night. Far less terrifying than I had expected, especially since I let her drive my new sports car.

I voted on Tuesday. Yes I did.

My heart aches for my friend. Luv you, L.

And finally, some parting words of wisdom:

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you'll be a mile away and they'll be shoeless. (tehe!)

Highlights from my week thus far

2008-06-24T07:38:00.000-07:00

I got paid and found out how much my raise was, and it was more than I expected!
Neal brought home cool presents from Morocco!
Farm Country was so much fun, and the pictures turned out pretty good!
I finally got Maddy to say "moo" after 4 months of coaxing!
I am having THE BEST MORNING EVER!
I get to go to a party and get prizes tonight!
My 5th post this month!

All in all, this is shaping up to be a pretty good week!

And Then There Were None

2008-06-17T11:45:00.000-07:00

Okay, I HIGHLY recommend this book to you. I just finished reading "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie, and it was AMAZING! I actually consider it one of the best books I've read in a long time, and I've read some pretty good books recently! It's no wonder it's so well-known.

Just as a short synopsis for anyone who doesn't know, "And Then There Were None" is a mystery book about 10 people who wind up on an island together and slowly get killed one by one. Thankfully, it is not at all gruesome, gritty, or scary (one of the reasons I rarely read mysteries is because I get nightmares easily). But it definitely is a mystery, and the ending completely blew me away because I could not figure out who the murderer was!

I read this book because my youngest sister Roshini recently wrote a script called "And Then There Was a Nun" which loosely parallels Agatha Christie's book. It took maybe an hour for her to tell me the whole story of her play, which was very detailed and impressive, so it made me go read the real book so that I would understand better the subtle similarities.

Great stuff. Really, go read it. (I sound like Reading Rainbow)

"Cursed"

2008-06-13T07:38:00.001-07:00

A very spooky Friday the 13th to everyone!

Big News!

2008-06-09T11:34:00.001-07:00

I JUST GOT A RAISE!!!!

Blogger's Block

2008-06-05T08:34:00.000-07:00

Well, can I just say that I have a major case of blogger's block. Despite my attempts to think of something clever to post to appease Miri's plea for "more blog" I have failed. Apparantly I blogged 5 times in May, which is actually more than I thought I had. Once a week is not terrible, I guess, except that I'm pretty sure that the first 3 times I blogged all fell within like the first week. Oh well.

Random tidbitties:

1. My first primary activity is coming up! I am pretty dang excited about this, because I think we are going to go to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point. I am excited to see all the animals, and feed them, and go on a wagon ride (because I'm pretty sure I'm too old for the pony ride), and pet the animals. . . Oh, and I'm sure the kiddies will like it too, of course. . . .

2. I am very excited for the little-er one to be born. I am very interested to see how my "goddaughter" (laugh) M will take to the new one. I plan on showering them both with lavish gifts (unfortunately not, since they won't really be able to take anything with them in the move, but I wish I could).

3. My allergy medicine does NOT WORK FAST ENOUGH. True, I have been taking it every other day instead of every day like I am supposed to, so that's probably the reason why. But it costs like $1 per pill so I'm trying to stretch them out. But I haven't been able to smell anything since April and it hurts to put makeup on because my eyes are so sore from all the rubbing. I splurged and got some soothing eye stuff from Mary Kay so hopefully that will help.

4. The doctor finally fired my assistant. Hooray! My stress levels have been just through the roof because of her ineptness and my workload feels like it's tripled. We've been doing interviews this week and they're going to let me have the final say on who we hire since I'll be the one working with her.

5. My abs rock. I am very pleased that my daily pilates/kickboxing classes are starting to do their thing.

Also I am pretty loopy today and I'm not completely sure why, so please forgive the craziness in the post. I'll likely delete it later.

Lastly, a comic that is funny from lefthandedtoons.com:

An Unpleasant Morning Surprise

2008-05-29T07:16:00.000-07:00

This book is actually fascinating. I highly recommend it.

So I'm at the office, minding my own business, and a delivery truck pulls in. The guy brings in 2 large boxes and has me sign for them. After he left, I sat down on one of the boxes and started reading through the order sheet to figure out what they are. Finally, in one small corner, I find the words: "Goods Description: Exempt Human Specimens." At which point I promptly jumped up from the box crying, "ew ew ew!"

Working for a doctor is so startling sometimes.

Kavita

2008-05-16T15:16:00.001-07:00

This is my beautiful sister Kavita!

I went to her vocal performance last night at the Northampton House. I haven't heard her sing solo in a few years, so it was really fun. I knew she had a good voice, but I had forgotten how good it actually is. As I sat there fiddling with my camera angle, all of a sudden I heard this deep, melodic, honey-covered voice resonating through the air, and realized it was my sister!

I'm so proud. :)

Free Health Screenings!

2008-05-14T09:21:00.001-07:00

American Fork Hospital will be having a health fair June 7th and will be doing a lot of free health care screenings. Here's the link for anyone who's interested:

http://intermountainhealthcare.org/xp/public/americanfork/aboutus/news/article28.xml

"Hate" is not a strong enough word

2008-05-05T07:08:00.000-07:00

I loathe birthdays.

Exercise

2008-05-01T09:00:00.001-07:00

Starting Monday I am going to be taking a couple exercise classes at BYU. If anyone would like to come along please let me know! I am not so good at the working out by myself thing, as far as consistency goes.

The classes I am going to be taking are:
Kickboxing T/Th 8-9pm
Pilates M 5:30-6:30pm and W 7:30-8:30pm

Classes are $38, or $65 for two, and they run for 3 months. Like I said, if anyone's interested, let me know.

Haunted

2008-04-25T13:16:00.000-07:00

I chose this title because I feel it accurately describes the way I've been feeling lately. Not by ghosts, but by my own dreams!! In the last year or so I feel like I've had WAY too many troubling dreams, the kind where you wake up feeling panicked, and then can't shake the feeling for days.

Lately there are 2 recurring dreams I've been having. The first is about needles. For instance, a couple nights ago I had a dream (or would my dreams more accurately be called nightmares?) where I was running around trying to find my sister Ayisha, who is also a medical assistant, because I needed an insulin shot and couldn't bring myself to do it. So I was searching everywhere for her, and finally found her, and then I couldn't find a needle to fit the syringe. And I was panicking because I knew that if I didn't give myself the shot on time I'd get sick.

The second dream I've been having usually involves this one set of my close guy friends I had in high school and college. (I don't dream about my female friends as much because I get to see them much more often) Last night I dreamed that it was high school graduation again, and they called me to meet me somewhere, so I just kept running all over the city trying to find them, and I was crying because I couldn't find them anywhere. All my dreams run along this line - either I'm trying to find them and can't, or I'm having so much fun with them that when I wake up and realize it was just a dream then I'm really sad.

It's so weird that I dream so much now, because during junior high and high school I hardly dreamed (or rather, remembered my dreams) at all. I remember one point my senior year where I realized that the last time I remembered dreaming was in like 7th grade. I think my dreams got kick-started again because when I sent my missionary off I started dreaming about him or my other friends that had left several times a week. And now I'm just a regular dreamer!

Speaking off: There are only 2 dreams that I had as a child (under the age of 10) that I can remember, and they both involve my sisters. In the first one, a lion escaped from the zoo and came to my house and so we all ran into the house to hide. But my sister Kavita didn't make it in time, so she jumped into the sandbox to hide and the lion jumped in and ate her. In the other dream, my sister Ayisha was hit and killed by a car in the street. Both gruesome, no? I must have been learning about death for the first time at that age or something.

Sorry for the random post. Though I suppose they're ALL random. . .

Embarrassing

2008-04-22T07:36:00.000-07:00

Oh, boy.

Yesterday I wore a white skirt to work. I was feeling all confident, and cute, and composed. . .

AND THEN.

I went to a medical luncheon at AF Hospital. On my way back out to the car it was my horror to have pointed out to me that I had something on the back of my skirt. For half a moment I thought it was something else, but upon closer inspection, I decided it was chocolate. Since we had been served chocolate chip cookies for dessert at the luncheon, I concluded that there must have been a chocolate chip on my chair. The chair I had just vacated, which means only one person had seen it.

Feeling much better, I then realized something else: I had patients coming into the office in 20 minutes, and the drive from AF Hospital to my office takes 10 minutes.

SO. Quick as a whistle (what does that even mean?) I decided my best option was to buy a new skirt in the next 10 minutes. So I zoomed into the Lindon Walmart, picked up the first skirt I saw that matched my shirt, paid, and left. I got to my office just in time, and the skirt looked great. Saved!

. . .and then this morning when I got in my car to come to work, I brushed some dirt off my driver's seat, and remembered how my windows had been open a couple days ago when we had that dust storm.

Dang. Maybe I DID have the stain on my skirt all morning.

Pie

2008-04-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Remember:

The difference between hostility and hospitality is pi(e).

Spicy

2008-04-03T11:23:00.001-07:00

My Indian grandma is visiting because of conference (my mom's family does conference translation). As a result, I anticipate eating a lot more Indian food this week than normal. This is of course fine - but if only it weren't so spicy!!! My grandma definitely cooks way spicier than my mom does. My mom brought me some lunch at work today that apparantly my grandma had made for me. It's so hot it's making my nose run! (To be fair, I have a lower "hot-spicy" tolerance than most people.)

10 Things You Don't Know About Me

2008-04-01T14:12:00.000-07:00

I've been encouraged to do the A - Z Tag thing that's been going around lately. However, I am not nearly as eloquent as most of you, and not nearly as patient. :) Instead, I am taking the main idea and twisting into a shorter version, something I like to call. . .

10 Things You Don't Know About Me

I went to Japan for the 1998 Olympics
I am a Rubik's Cube master
I have been in 7 car accidents and 1 motorcycle mishap (almost always as a passenger, don't worry)
I have never broken a bone unintentionally
I heart Coke
My grandpa is a potato farmer in Idaho
I secretly don't like dogs very much.
I am a crazy mad Batman fan. I have boxes upon boxes of Batman memoribilia.
I am super good at home repair and construction. I could totally manage an apartment complex if I wanted to.
I have a green thumb of death. All my plants die. I couldn't even keep my cactus alive.

My Other Car is a SAAB

2008-03-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

Well, as most of you know, I won the car! This is my new Mitsubishi Eclipse! Or, as I've decided to call her, Mitsy:

It's a really cool car, and I'm really excited to have it. It's only flaw is that it's. . .

SIGH. . .

Japanese.

Not that I really have anything against Japanese cars, it's just that after the SAAB I swore I'd only buy European cars for the rest of my life.

Maybe. . .

maybe. . .

Lederhosen Mitsubishi?!

Anyway, Mitsy and I have been bonding over the last few days. Observe:

Mitsy pummeling me in chess

Me and Mitsy rocking out to some Guitar Hero tunes

Me and Mitsy on night patrol (hence the mask)

Strawberries!

2008-03-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we had cooking club at my house. We did chocolate dipped strawberries, because as everyone knows, the only foods I can make are desserts. It was really fun. Thanks to everyone who came!

My Everest

2008-02-12T08:12:00.000-08:00

This picture accurately describes the way I felt while climbing with Cara and Lina at the Quarry last night.

Mostly it's because I'm a big baby and am terrified of heights

So I looked up at that big wall and growled, "You. . .are my Everest!"

And then I conquered it. Ha.

Props to Il Divo

2008-02-08T07:34:00.000-08:00

If you've never heard of the group called Il Divo, you seriously should check it out. It's like pop opera. They're a 4-man group, with guys from America, France, Spain, and Switzerland. My best friend introduced me to it saying that she fell in love with it immediately, and 30 seconds into the song she chose I fell in love with it too.

You can go to YouTube and search for the songs. My absolute favorite is one they do in French with Celine Dion, called "I Believe In You". Another really good one is "The Man You Love."

Check it out guys, seriously.

Bleh snow

2008-01-29T07:04:00.001-08:00

It is 2:00pm on a Monday afternoon, and I'm snuggled up safely on my sofa, watching tv and blogging while the storm rages outside. On a day like this, I am SO GRATEFUL that I have such a wonderful job, with a doctor who knows when it's time to cancel the day because of the weather.

Yet another reason why I'll never leave this job. :)

President Hinckley

2008-01-27T20:02:00.000-08:00

What a shock it was tonight to come home from a very inspiring missionary fireside, and then to suddenly get a message from my sister that President Hinckley had just passed away. President Hinckley was sustained when I was 9 years old, so I don't really remember having any other prophet but him. I really did think he'd kind of just live forever. I grew to love him as I passed through those rocky teenage and adolescent years under his leadership.

I had the opportunity to be in the same room as him many times. I attended many conference sessions over the past 10 years and would spend a good deal of time just looking at the prophet. I attended 2 BYU devotionals at the Marriott Center where President Hinckley was in attendance. I also had the unique experience to be in the Celestial Room of the Timpanogos temple during the dedication (my dad was a bishop in the area at the time) and sat 10 feet away from President Hinckley as he conducted the session that Wednesday afternoon. Even then at 11 years old, I knew he was a special man and could feel the spirit radiating from him.

This is a very sad loss, but in times like this I am reminded of how blessed we are to be part of a church where everything is in its place. There is no confusion about what will happen next. President Monson is our prophet now. The church will go on. We have lost a great man, but we have not lost truth. For this I am grateful.

NYE at the CT

2008-01-26T10:28:00.000-08:00

I forgot to post this earlier.

This was taken on New Year's Eve at the Chef's Table restaurant. I was there helping out on one of the busiest nights of the year.

Always a good dress-up opportunity. I like to wear these 4-inch heel glass slippers I have. Naturally, I end up changing into more comfortable ballerina slippers after about 2 hours. :)

NYE at the restaurant is always fun. Usually we have a jazz band that comes and plays, and we decorate the restaurant with glittery hats and tiaras, streamers, and those little paper horn things. Also (my favorite) bottles of Kristian Regale everywhere. I got to take one home this year as a momento (although it was empty by morning).

Masquerade

2008-01-26T10:14:00.000-08:00

Last night my best friend and I went to a masquerade at the Provo Historic County Courthouse building and rocked out till midnight. It was so much fun! They were offering "vintage" dance lessons and mask decorating, although we didn't do either. They also ended the night with the masquerade song from Phantom of the Opera. There were some amazing costumes there! I wish I had taken my camera. I love dressing up!

Hair Care

2008-01-24T08:14:00.000-08:00

Whenever something particularly stressing occurs in my life, I change my hair. I don't know why.

When I started college I bleached my hair to a dark wood-sy brown color.

When my boyfriend left on his mission, I dyed my hair raven black. Now this may not sound like much, but if you realized how really not black my hair is, you'd realize it was a noticeable change.

When I moved out for the first time and got in a huge fight with this queen bee roommate of mine, I went to St. George and came back with a head full of golden highlights. (This was double treatment - I was simultaneously in the middle of trying to discourage one of my best guy friends at the time from liking me romantically. We never did recover from that.)

When I moved away and was crying all the time because I missed living with my best friend and other single pals, I chopped my hair off.

When I was working 24/7 to finish my independent study classes so I could graduate on time, and all the other stresses from this summer - I had my hair layered, no small feat with hair as long as mine.

Today I am sporting bangs. Yes bangs, but not ones from the 90s. I like them quite a bit. :)

Purpose

2008-01-24T08:13:00.000-08:00

I think that lately I've been having a sort of existential breakdown. You know, the kind that most people are already supposed to have gone through by my stage of life. The whole time I was in school I felt like I had such purpose, that I was contributing so much to the community by doing my part to be educated so that I could make the world a better place. Ever since I graduated I've felt a little. . .not lost really, but more like I'm not sure I'm on the BEST path. I mean, my schooling did its purpose - I was just offered a full time position that I LOVE and where I get to help people. It's not just about work though - I just kind of feel like I'm living my life going through the motions, without any real goal in sight. It's really a feeling I've had for a couple years now, but maybe I'm just more aware of it now because I don't have school to distract me anymore. This is really hard for me because I remember a time when I felt like there wasn't anything more I could ask out of life, and now instead I just feel a little helpless as I watch life happen, like I'm not in control of my own destiny anymore. I know that's not true, but it FEELS like it. Although, to be sure, that "perfectness" I remember could have just been the glory of youth, and now that I'm considered an adult I don't look at life through such rose-colored glasses. Sorry these thoughts are so scattered - although it gives a good insight into what living in my head is like. :)

Please tell me other people have felt this way.

The Wedding

2008-01-24T08:11:00.001-08:00

I'm sorry I haven't written in a while (I don't know why I'm apologizing, no one knows about this blog!) but December has been busy. I was working at the restaurant almost every night to help out with the Christmas parties and things and that severely limited my free time.

A highlight from December:

This devastatingly handsome guy is my favorite cousin in the world. He got married a couple days after Christmas. This was a surprisingly hard day for me - I've been having a really hard time "letting him go." Ever since we were toddlers every picture taken of me when visiting Idaho has Dare seated right next to me. As kids we played together; as teenagers we confided all our secrets to each other; as college students we talked about our dreams for the future and wrote letters constantly while he was on his mission. He's always been kind of the brother I never had. But now he has a girl he can keep forever, and it's been quite a change to have him focus all his attention on her instead of me. I mean, I always knew he'd get married someday, but it was still hard. Even still, I'm happy for him, in a sad kind of way. He's the best guy I've ever known and he deserves to be happy.

Moving on to less emotional topics - my car is almost fixed! It broke down on me a full month ago but I was so busy working I didn't have time to take it to a shop. About a week ago one of my neighbors very kindly offered to help. He knows a lot about cars and has been doing a lot of legwork for me, finding this one little piece I need for my car. It shouldn't be as big of a deal as it is, but my car is European, and parts are hard to find. :) Anyway, the part came in yesterday so it should be pretty easy from here. I'll post a picture once it's done!

The Car Analogy

2008-01-24T08:06:00.000-08:00

This past spring, my friend's cousin adopted an adorable baby boy. I have become addicted to her blog as I have always been an adoption advocate, and I feel like she shares a lot of really good insights. She shared a story she heard at a conference about how teenage pregnancy is like a carwreck. I found it very touching and thought-provoking and want to copy it down here:

A young man and a young woman are out on the lawn outside of a very busy street. The child they are both responsible for runs out into the street. At the same time the couple becomes aware that there is a car coming at a very high rate of speed. There is no chance that the child will not get hit. The car is coming much too fast.

The couple has four options:

1. They can do nothing and watch the child get hit and killed by the car, the psychological memory of this inaction burned in their minds forever.

this is abortion.

2. They can both jump out and sandwich the child between them to brace the child for the collision. If they can stay together, there is minimal injury to the child. however, there is a
80-90% chance that they will split upon impact.

this is couples that try to stay together and/or get married because of a crisis pregnancy.

3. One of the parents can jump out in front of the car by themselves. Injuries to the child are more substantial.

this is single parenting.

4. One or both of the parents and run out into the street and push the child out of the way of the speeding car and into the outstretched arms of a couple on the other side of the street.

this is adoption.

However, even with adoption, the birth parents always get hit by the car

Patriotism

2008-01-24T07:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday as I was driving home from work, traffic stopped at a red light, and as we waited for the green the sound of ambulance sirens were heard. I looked in my rearview and could see, down the block, a flashing ambulance coming toward our intersection. The light turned green, and nobody moved. No one in our three lanes, nor the three lanes of oncoming. The ambulance was able to quickly move through us and continue to the person in need.

It was one of the proudest moments I have had in a while. Not for me, but for everyone who sat there allowing the ambulance to pass. Usually there's at least one or two cars that go on ahead anyway despite the ambulance, but that was the first time I have seen an intersection so completely frozen under a green light. For some reason, this stood out as an act of patriotism. To me, patriotism is about unity and working together for the greater good, willing to sacrifice. And at that moment, I was so proud to be among these fellow Americans. (As you can see my white blood is flowing today)

Hamster Babies

2008-01-24T07:49:00.000-08:00

This past July I was convinced into acquiring a pair of dwarf hamsters. My friend S wanted one but didn't want to make the full commitment, so she suggested that we buy a couple and then switch off weeks - timeshare hamsters, if you will. I knew she wanted one, and I didn't really care one way or the other, so we went to look at a new litter this lady had and picked out these two:

S decided to name hers (the black one) Audi and I named mine Kleenex.

We ended up getting them about a week early - the mom had died unexpectedly and they were urgently in need of care. So we took a small box full of cotton bedding and picked them up. They were hilarious! They were seriously narcileptic their first couple weeks of life. They would run around for maybe 20 seconds, then they'd all of a sudden curl into a ball and sleep for 8 seconds, run around for 20, sleep for 8, repeat. I guess though that when your lifespan is only 2 years then an 8 second nap must seem like a few hours!

Like I mentioned, these are dwarf hamsters, and we got them at a couple weeks old, so when we got them they looked like little colored cotton balls running around. They stopped growing after a couple months and now they are about the size of my palm. Unfortunately S is very sick now due to pregnancy, so I've got permanent/temporary custody of the hamster babies instead of switching off weeks.

Funny story: My little sister watched the hamsters for us while I was on vacation in Florida, and when I went to my parents' house to pick them up I decided to clean out the cage. I left the top off the cage while I was washing all the play tubes because usually the hamsters don't jump out if they can see that it's a long drop to the floor. Well, half an hour later I went to go put the cage back together, and Kleenex was missing! (It's always Kleenex, the scoundrel) I became very worried very fast, because:

1. My parents live in a 3-level 1900s house with lots of nooks and crannies, and there were a lot of places a tiny hamster could get lost, versus the security of our newer 2-bedroom, one level apartment.

2. Hamsters are nocturnal, so wherever she was, if she was safe, she was probably sleeping. So I couldn't even depend on hearing her squeaking or scurrying around.

3. My dad is not fond of the "rodents" as he calls them. I knew that at the end of the day, if I had to tell him that there was a lost hamster somewhere in his house, I would surely die. I was prepared to search for 8 hours straight before (if) finding her.

Fortunately what could have been tragic turned out okay - I found her after only about 45 minutes. Apparantly she had done a death drop from the kitchen table and run to the dining room, where she had squeezed under an overturned pot and settled down for a nap. When I picked up that pot and saw her I almost thought I was seeing things, because it was way easier than it should have been! But not only had she run off - she had taken food with her! There were seed crumbs everywhere! She must have thought she was going on a little picnic. Yeesh.

Mr. Nice Guy

2008-01-24T07:48:00.000-08:00

Today at work something very nice and unexpected happened. It was one of those mornings where the phone was ringing off the hook and I was a little frazzled trying to update all the Christmas parties. In the middle of this madness, Tanner, one of the servers at the restaurant, came walking up to the hostess stand with a tall Irish mug full of steaming hot apple cider. He said, "Here Tasha, cuz Bizzle isn't here to make it for you this year."

How sweet!!!!!

Let me explain: My favorite coworker, nicknamed "Bizzle" by the staff, was a manager at the restaurant and the person I connected most with. We used to refer to each other as our "work husband" and "work wife." We would always go to the work parties together. Completely platonic though. Anyway, last winter, every morning when I got to work he would make me a tall mug of apple cider to warm up before the lunch crowd came. It was a very sweet tradition until about March when we ran out of cider, probably because of me. Unfortunately, "Bizzle" doesn't work at the restaurant anymore, and I miss him very much. Tanner, who has also worked at the restaurant for a long time, witnessed this scene and had the heart to remember this tradition of winters past and totally make my day. Thanks Tanner!

I Am Brown

2008-01-24T07:45:00.000-08:00

I've had kind of a weird experience this past week. Last Sunday my visiting teachers came over. One of them is Native American. She was telling us how she had a couple experiences that week with people coming up to her expecting her to know Spanish, and how in most of her college classes she was the only non-white girl. I really enjoyed the conversation, because it was nice to have someone else to talk to about being brown besides my sisters. However, the aftermath was that I was VERY AWARE that I was brown. I have grown up in the same town my whole life and definitely act whiter than some caucasians I know, so most of my life I've never been that aware that I'm darker than most other people. But that day I went to church, and as I sat in class I looked around and realized that I was the only brown person in attendance.

And all of a sudden I felt self-conscious.

Then the next Sunday I got to go to church back east. As I sat in church I noticed there was definitely a better mix of color. Many African American, many whites, and many in between. Did I feel more at home? Not really. I mean, I definitely didn't feel like I stood out, but I've grown up with whites my whole life and that's what I'm used to, so it was a little weird to have a better mix. For the most part having brown skin isn't a big deal to me. In fact, I've grown to like it and think it is very pretty. It does bring a few problems though. For instance, there was that time in 9th grade where this guy told me that he had been talking to the guy I liked and that they had decided they could probably never marry a black person. This stung on many levels. Like, did he realize what a jerk he was, not only for thinking that, but for saying it? And did he realize that I was not, in fact, black? Looking back, I don't know if he ever did actually talk to my future boyfriend about this or if he was lying, because he turned out to be the biggest jerk on the face of the planet on many different levels to many different people (I had the misfortune of attending the same schools as him from elementary through high school graduation). Another problem is that nearly every single person I encounter will inevitably ask me, within the first 5 minutes of meeting, where I'm "from." I think this is very rude. First off, I know what you're asking. You don't want to know where I'm from, you want to know why I'm brown. Secondly, knowing what they really mean to say, I think that's a little nosy upon a first meeting. Over the years I've given many different answers and retorts depending on my mood, but usually it's just a weary "I'm from Utah. . ." and then change the subject. I've never yet had the heart to tell someone I think they're rude for asking. None of my close friends or respected colleagues asked me this question until well after we knew each other. For this I will always respect and appreciate them. I never once agreed to date a guy who had asked me this question upon first meeting. Enough of that. There are good parts to being half brown, of course! My favorite is my right to claim my White/Brown heritage when convenient. ("Ha ha, you white people all look the same. . ." or "as a fellow white American, I could never do that. . .") And I get to carry out the customs and traditions from each side that I like and discard the ones I don't without anyone's feeling being hurt. (Although my mom's pretty "white" too, so I have very few Indian traditions) Anyway, trip's been fun. . . I'll post pictures and summaries when we get back to Utah to all you white people! :D

Manners

2008-01-24T07:44:00.001-08:00

Today at work (I also work at a restaurant) something happened that bothered me. (I promise, most of the time I love my work, these last couple posts are kind of coincidental)

I took a couple to their table and pulled out a chair. . .which the husband promptly sat in. I, of course, hurried to the other side of the table to get the chair for his wife.

This happens more than I'd like. I find it very insensitive.

The Healthcare Field

2008-01-24T07:41:00.000-08:00

I work at a medical office. It is a small office, so as the doctor's assistant I do everything - assisting in surgeries, sterilizing instruments, working with insurance companies, setting up new patient charts, filing, etc etc etc. Basically, if it's not absolutely vital for the doctor to do it himself, I do it. Which is . . . a lot. In fact, I'm in the office more than the doctor is. But he did the 8 years of med school/intern/residency, so I'm not complaining.

What does suck though is when I do certain procedures on pts but don't get paid more for it. Legally everything has to be billed through the doctor. They treat me so well here though that it's hardly an issue.

Today's post is about the insurance side of things. I just spend an hour and a half compiling a packet to send to Medicare for a pt that we only saw once in December 2006. Medicare has denied the claim 5 or 6 times by now but here I am, dutifully trying everything I can possibly think of to get them to pay instead of billing the pt. (I think I've finally got it this time - I printed out pages from their website that describe what it takes for this certain code to be medically necessary. I highlighted all the criteria that we met and wrote a long letter describing each criteria in detail and showing how we've been saying this all along. There's no way they can deny this again with their own requirements slapped in their face! At least, I hope not.)

Patients don't see this side of things. They don't see the many hours I put in PER PATIENT anytime there's a problem with their insurance. These are hours I put in researching the specific code and company and their policies. Hours digging through CPT and ICD-9 books(coding books) to see if there's any other codes we could use instead that the insurance would cover. All the thousands upon thousands of dollars we've written off for pts that we feel have legitimate reasons for why they can't pay. Hours on the phone arguing with some rep in India that they're being stupid and this claim should be paid. Sidenote: I have nothing against India. Or any other countries, including the USA, who employ insurance claim reps. My anger is more when they're stupid and don't know what they're doing. I've talked to many foreign and domestic reps who were very helpful and knew exactly how to help me. In the end, sometimes there really is nothing I can do but bill the claim to the patient, like if their insurance policy doesn't cover such things, if they still have deductible to meet, etc. Every week when we do billing I end up with a stack about half an inch thick of claims that were denied for various reasons. If I had to guess I'd say maybe about 85% of those claims end up eventually being paid by insurance after many hours of work on my part, and about 15% are legitimately denied and are the patient's responsibility.

All I want to do is help people.

So it makes me frustrated when I have pts who get mad or don't understand why they should have to pay, or are mad that they're being billed for a date of service from 4 months ago. They don't realize I spent those 4 months battling the bill for them, or that it takes a MONTH on average for insurance companies to process claims and send them to us. What's most frustrating is when the claim denial reason was so simple that there is absolutely no way that the pt can deny they had an inkling. Such as, "we are not on your provider list." I mean, for the love, people! We do the best we can with this type of thing, but do you realize that there are hundreds of different types of insurance policies? And that, for instance, if you switch policies within the same insurance company we may no longer be covered? It is the patient's responsibility to know as much as they can before going to a doctor, including calling their insurance to make sure he's covered. Another line I "enjoy" is "I paid my copay, so why did you bill me this 10 bucks?" Okay, here's the secret: most insurance companies only pay 80% and you are responsible for the rest. Here's the sad part: it's not a secret! Insurance companies very blatantly explain this to their clients when you sign up. I've only seen maybe a couple insurance companies who pay 100%. The other secret is that WE don't determine the cost of medical services. We abide by whatever fee schedule YOUR insurance company has set. So don't get mad because you think something costs too much, because you'd be charged the same amount regardless of which doctor you go to. So people, please, take 10 minutes to do some simple homework before seeing the doctor. I don't appreciate being insulted or yelled at for your lack of brains.

Anyway, I realize this has transformed from a simple observation into more of a rant. I apologize for that, for anyone who may actually read this. But it's more for me - I try not to ever go on rants about this stuff when I'm talking to someone when I know they won't understand most of what I'm explaining, and also because I don't like to bother people, but it does feel good to finally get this off my chest.

Welcome

2008-01-24T07:38:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog! This is a revamped version of my older blog, so I'll start things off by transferring over all my favorite posts. I hope you will enjoy it and feel free to comment.

I went back and forth for a long time about whether to start a blog. It seemed like everyone and their dog had one, but once I thought about it, I realized that it was mostly everyone and their BABY that had one. Most of the blogs I read are proud moms posting baby news every day. Well, I don't have any baby news (except for the occasional hamster baby mention), but occasionally other things happen that I could blog about. I'm still trying to figure out how to get everything set up, but here we go!