White Coat Ceremony

Mom, Dad, and Grandma came over for the White Coat Ceremony Friday night. They've been here since Friday and should be home early in the week. These are the pictures Daren took of the ceremony. Afterwards we went to a dinner reception and took a few pictures in front of the replica of the Gentle Doctor. Then today we went over to the school to take more pictures in front of the Gentle Doctor Sculpture in the school's courtyard. It was nice to show them where the school was and where I'll be for the next four years. We've been taking them around town to the farmer's markets and fruit stands in the area. We also took them to the famous Hickory Park restaurant in town. We took Grandma to the Iowa State store so she could pick up some Iowa State clothes to take home. We've spent the weekend eating peaches, pickled onions, okra, and asparagus from the farmers market. Daren made a deal with Mom, if she'd cook one of her famous breakfasts then he'd barbecue for her. So we got Mom's great pancakes and sausage, and Daren's elk steaks and barbecued corn. It was lots of fun to have them, we're sad to see them go.

Orientation

So first year orientation has been going since Wednesday and I just wanted to tell everyone some of the things I've been doing. On the first morning for the introduction speech the Dean of the college stood up and talked about how we were "good enough." Basically just saying if we made it in it means we can make it through. This may sound really silly, but its been something that I've really been freaking out about, so it was nice to hear again and again that I'm "good enough." Most of orientation has just been getting to know you games and get in touch with the inner you exercises. Its been a little cheesy, but also great ice breakers. We've been broke into teams of 10-14 people to really try to get to know. Some of the girls in my group are really nice and I could see myself sitting with them in class. Everyone has been super nice. Today we had to get everyone in our group to stand on a little square of wood that was like 2 ft x 2 ft. It was a little awkward, but I was really surprised at how "okay" it was. It took us a long time to figure it out, but everyone was so willing to hold hands, sit on each other's shoulders, group hug. Just whatever anyone proposed to get it accomplished. We're assigned lockers and I can't wait to decorate the inside of it. Really high school of me I know, but I've been really homesick the last few days leading up to the start of orientation. I have some great pictures of friends and family that I can't wait to hang up to help with that. So if you're reading this (Aunts/Uncles/siblings) you should email pictures of the kids or their baby pictures are going up. Hope everyone's doing good. We really miss everyone. Yesterday was a little scary for me though. Not only did I have orientation, but I had to make a trip into the doctor's office. All day at orientation my throat felt really funny and it was awkward swollowing. It felt like my thyroid (go anatomy!!!) was swollen. At first I wasn't worried about it, but it just kept getting worse. By the time I got home my tongue was a little swollen too. Daren said I was just freaked about orientation and I was kind of thinking that too, other than I was not that nervous compared to my normal nerves. Well, surprise surprise, the doctor decided this is my new response for allergies. Usually in August in poky I have to take Claratin and use my inhaler alot cause my asthma kicks in, in response to something blooming. My doctor said I probably wouldn't have to worry about things over here for a year or so until my body build up an allergy, so I haven't been taking anything and really haven't had a problem until yesterday. Go figure though the first day of orientation would be when it presented. Just like in poky, the first time my asthma was really bad was also the first week of school. There was a little justice in being able to come home and tell Daren I had not freaked myself into it though.

Our New Pet

This little guy has decided that our tree has great shade. He's been sitting in the same spot every morning. He usually stays for part of the afternoon and then he leaves for the night. I've seen him the last three days. All I can say is I'm glad he's on the outside of the fence, away from my blueberry bush.

Iowa State Fair

These are the pictures from the Iowa State Fair. Its a really big fair and everyone we ran into just raved about it. So we packed a bunch of water and sunscreen last Friday and went to the fair. We printed off a map and directions. When we made it to Des Moines however we discovered the directions had a wrong turn listed. Where it said turn left we really wanted to go right. Luckily the fair grounds are huge and there was a lot of traffic headed that way so we were able to find it. Daren decided that he didn't want to pay for parking so we ended up walking about 15 blocks to get to the gate, only to find that parking inside the grounds was still open for only 7 dollars. By the end of the day he was wishing he would have parked closer and paid a little money. All in all the fair was a lot like Idaho's just lots!!! bigger. We were really impressed with the world's biggest bull. Although I felt sorry for him tied so tight not able to reach his water, not to mention the effort it took him to stand up and lay down. The biggest pig at the fair wasn't quite so impressive after seeing the bull. The pumkin/squash thing almost wieghted as much as the pig. In another building we found the worlds smallest cow and her calf. If you can't tell by the picture our old dog Bear was lots bigger than this cow. The sheep next to it were bigger than it. When we were walking through the buildings there was this huge crowd of people by one pen, and since we'd already seen the biggest pig and cow and the smallest cow we were excited to find out what this crowd was about. Only when we got up there it was just an elk!!! Domestic or ranch raised elk is really popular out here and you can find elk meat in the grocery stores in Des Moines. We also caught a grizzly bear show. It was an okay show. Daren was picking on me during it. I was a little annoyed the way the handlers kept saying the bears were just like pets at home, they enjoy getting love, attention, and treats. All I could think of are all the stupid people in Yellowstone who get out of their cars to get closer. I was glad at the end when they did a spill about wild bears and how not to feed them in the wild because then they become problem bears and are destroyed. After that I had a little more respect for the bear show. It was a pretty fun day. Everyone at work told Daren he had to try a deep fried snickers but by the time we found the booth we were to tired and to full to care. So next year we'll have to get that booth earlier. Oh, and the random old rotatillor was for Daren. There were lots of buildings with antiquets and pioneer stuff. When we came across the rotatillor Daren wanted to take a picture to send to my mom showing her how crapy gardening could have been. The only other really exciting thing that happened was that I found some old Louis LaMour books. I got 11 of them for 30 dollars. I was really excited about that and Daren was even more excited when I didn't make him carry them all day. The other picture is off the butter cow. In one of the buildings they had a case displaying ice sculptures and another one displaying butter sculptures. All of them were very cool...strange...I'm not sure, but they had the first moon walk, a tv, and this cow all made of butter. I thought it was weird and Daren wanted proof we'd seen it, so there you go.

Reiman Gardens

We went to Reiman Gardens on Daren's day off last week. Its a garden here on campus that grows all sorts of native and cultivated plants. They have a butterfly room with over 800 butterflies in it. The butterflies are all exotic and mostly come from South America. Daren wouldn't let me stay to take pictures of all 800, but here are some of the ones that held still for me, including a huge moth that was the size of both my hands. It was a lot of fun and we hope to go back this spring to see the different flowers in bloom then.

Peterson Park

We went to Peterson Park yesterday. Daren spent the day fishing. I went hiking, swimming, and read part of a great book. There are a ton of trails there with a lake for swimming and lots of river for Daren to fish. After hours of fishing Daren only caught a bull frog, so we'll have to try again on his next day off with some different bait. Out of all the days we've been here, yesterday only got up to 77 degrees so it was great for hiking, but not so much for swimming. At least on the next 106 degree day we'll have a shady place to go swimming.

Evening Walks

There is a river just a quarter of a mile down the road from our house. Daren and I have been trying to walk down there a few nights a week. We've had a lot of fun catching frogs and watching a beaver swim around. After it gets dark the fire flies come out. I tried to take a few pictures of them flying in the corn field, because it was really pretty. As you can see from the picture though they just come out as little white/yellow blurs.

Our New House!!!

This is our new place!!! Its a two bedroom and two bath place with a huge living/dining area. As you can see Daren has wasted no time digging out his tools and getting started on projects. We're going to do some yard work this weekend and put a little garden in around the back of the house. It even comes complete with a good sized shed that Daren has dubbed his project area or his man cave. The deck is really nice, we can't wait to do some BBQing on it this summer. We're almost settled in. Daren has a three day weekend so we plan on finishing up the odds and ends we have left this weekend. We're really excited for our starter place here. After talking to the other students in the area, this is the way to go. We actually bought the place from a 4th year vet student. These houses tend to just pass from senior to freshman and so on, so the chance of selling it when the time comes is pretty good. The previous owner has done a ton of work to the inside, so we have new carpet and dry wall in all the rooms except the bathroom. And my favorite part about the whole house (other then its mine) is a toss up between the yellow living room or the huge garden tub in the master bathroom. So bring on the bubble baths!!!!

Our Iowa Wildlife Encounters (So Far)

Well, things are progressing and seem to be falling into place on our house. We're hoping to move in by the end of the week!!! Here are some pictures of the animals we've seen on our little walks around the river. There is also a lake out on the edge of town that we found while looking for the church house. A few days ago we took a trip there and walked around the smaller half of the lake. There were geese everywhere and lots of people fishing so Daren thinks he's found a spot that he can go to almost every evening for fishing. I told him that was okay, but I'd probably take some bread and feed the geese instead. Also here are some pictures of the cotton tails I was talking about earlier. They are everywhere, these ones were just in an empty lot by a parking lot. The place we're moving into has them all over so the first thing on my list to do is bunny proof the flower beds so I can start a garden. So stay tuned for more exciting wild life, with my husband I'm sure there will be deer and turkey on the agenda as soon as he can get an Iowa hunting license. I want to go walk around the river again so I can get pictures of the big bridge we crossed (and will be re-crossing to get pictures) and there were raccoon tracks in the mud so hopefully I'll get to see one. Also the school has a themed garden that changes the theme yearly, and this year is dinosaurs so when we finally get settled Daren said we could go walk through it too. Hope everyone is doing well, we miss you guys!!!