Colorado

Back in the beginning of August I had a work trip to Boulder Colorado for a 4 day software workshop. Since Joe and I hadn't really been on a trip by ourselves without the kids, we decided this would be the perfect time for him to come along. Plus, he loves Colorado and served his 2 year mission for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Denver North mission.

We arrived on a Sunday morning and dropped our belongings off at the hotel. Then we explored Boulder on foot. Monday we rented a car for the day and took off to visit Rocky Mountain National Park. While it was pricey to get in ($20 for a 7 day pass - but for us it was just one day), it was amazing. I even got to see my first real wild elk! As we drove in the mountains just outside of Boulder we stopped to see a waterfall. I forget the name, but it was just a short hike from the road.

Then we drove to Estes Park and from there to the Rocky Mountain National Park. We decided to take the Old Fall River Road and drive along the narrow dirt road along the side of the mountain. It gave us some amazing views. It was also scary at times, because there was literally only a foot on either side of the car (one side dropping off and the other side rock cliff straight up).

I just love this picture and have it as the background on my laptop and my mac at work.

We saw a couple areas were avalanches in the mid 1980's and early 1990's completely wiped out sides of the mountain. All that is there currently is rock; nothing growing at all.

I believe these were called chimney formations.

For it being the beginning of August, I was surprised at the amount of snow that was still present. In fact we were told that the mountain roads (both the Old Fall River Road we were on and the Trail Ridge Road) usually open Memorial Day weekend, but they were still closed as of July 4th due to the large amounts of snow that fell last winter. There was one area where the snow drift that covered the road was still about 7 feet high on the one side of the road (that was some really nasty, dirty looking snow let me tell you). The temperature change was drastic from Boulder to the Alpine Visitor Center; in Boulder it was 80F and at the Alpine Visitor Center it was about 42F and very windy.

It was neat to see the snow melt form waterfalls down the side of the mountain.

I would love to have a house built in this meadow...

We crossed the continental divide at one point and then reached the Alpine Visitor Center. At this point we got out and walked around the gift store. The high altitude was making our heads feel funny (over 13,000 ft at this point, Boulder is around 5,500-6,000ft). We drove west further and saw some beautiful lakes in some valleys. Then, we headed back towards Boulder and got us some delish pizza at Beau Joe's Pizza.

We had done a lot of research on places to eat, so we ate pretty well and I think we were happy with all our choices. I made sure that our hotel had a good breakfast that came with the room as well, so that helped us get a good start to the day. We also ate at the Rib House, Foolish Craig's Cafe, Agave Mexican Bistro, and Snarf's Sub Shop.

Overall we enjoyed our trip (and my workshop was good too). The time always goes by fast though...

The one with a pinched nerve...

Today marks the 9th day of being in bed since I pinched a nerve in my lower back. On the Friday morning of incident I was getting out of the shower and lifted my left leg up on the side of the tub and bent forward to dry my foot. My right leg went instantly numb, I became very dizzy and nauseous (almost ready to faint) and Joe had to help me back to bed.

In bed was where I stayed all day (hating the times I had to get up and use the bathroom). Lying flat was the only way I could get any relief from the sharp and stabbing nerve pain and to get at least partial feeling back in my leg. Saturday I saw a chiropractor and I felt quite a bit better afterwards and actually walked around for about an hour at a park. Sunday morning I woke up and my entire right leg was cramping for hours. Into the ER we go. The hard part is trying to get any pain relief while sitting or standing (there is none). All the good meds are not for use with while pregnant.

Fast forward to Tuesday when I talked with my OB to get referrals to Ortho (spine Dr) and Physical Therapy. Sadly these referrals will take a week or so to get scheduled... Wednesday to the Chiropractor and felt better afterwards. Thursday back to the chiropractor and feel even better afterwards, as we found a position for me to lay on my stomach (thankfully I'm still in the 1st trimester) and to stretch my legs down at an angle (the futon works well). This allows the "probable slipped disk" to fall back into place, relieving the pressure on the nerve in the back.

Each morning is getting somewhat easier to do gentle stretching and then getting out of bed. However, the more I am up, the more it hurts. And being up for more than 5 minutes at a time is difficult. The sciatica is still there and my glute and hamstring muscles are so tight that they pinch the nerve as soon as they are engaged. Stretching them just makes the back hurt worse, so we are working from the top down; back first then the muscles.

I see the Chiropractor on Monday again and then the Ortho on Tuesday. I really hope that I can get back to work later this week, as I'm burning through all my sick days and vacation days. If I'm off much longer, then there will be little traveling for us over the holidays this winter...

Tired...

Ever since being sick with a bad throat infection about 5 weeks ago, I have been tired a lot. Like asleep by 9p and waking up at 6:30a. I thought it might have been my thyroid levels being off again, but those results came back good. So I got some more blood work done. Guess what I have? Something I've been through before... mononucleosis.

I've had it for about 5 weeks now and my spleen is still enlarged (due to not resting nearly as much as I should be). Rest and Vitamin C for me. Hopefully I can have a somewhat laid back and easy weekend. Because Monday I leave for Pennsylvania for an interview...

Overcoming obstacles

There are some things in life that take a long time to figure out. You may remember from a tag a while ago, that I don't swallow pills. I imagine it started when I was about 2 and choked on a Hershey kiss. I just could never swallow a pill - whenever I would try I would just make myself sick.

So, fast forward to 2 years ago when I started taking thyroid medicine every day. It was a little pill, but I could take it with food, so no big deal - I didn't have to swallow it.

About a month ago I had forgot to take it with breakfast, so I decided to try to swallow it. I did it with no problems - it was so easy! Since then I've been swallowing pills left and right (well once a day and sometimes for headaches).

Is there something that you haven't figured out that you want to?

New Calling

So, last Wednesday we got a call that the Bishop of our Ward wanted to meet with both of us for 5 minutes Sunday morning before Sacrament meeting. I immediately thought that we both or one of us would be getting a new calling.

Well, I was right - I am now the Relief Society secretary! And I am excited because I love the sisters in the ward and I love the Relief Society President too. I think this will be a busy and I'm sure exhausting calling, but I know that I can grow so much in serving the sisters in our ward.

Prayers would be appreciated as I'm still part of the Activities Committee too, so my plate is pretty darn full right now...

Celebration!

I have been working at Purdue for less than 2 years (just barely - May 8 makes 2 years) and I have been co-authors on 2 publications in big journals. Both of these have come out in the last month and I have done considerable cryo-EM (cryo electron microscopy) work (including sample prep, freezing, and data collection) for these 2 projects.

The first paper came out earlier in the month in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. The article is Binding of a neutralizing antibody to dengue virus alters the arrangement of surface glycoproteins.

The second paper just came out today in Science. The article is Structure of the Immature Dengue Virus at Low pH Primes Proteolytic Matruration.

I think we will be celebrating sometime this weekend with dinner out!

Now lets hope all the other projects I'm working on go as well as these did...

Two Things...

I (Heather) was tagged by my best friend, Joellen, so here are some random things about me:

Two names I go by:
1) mommy/momma
2) wifey

Two things I am wearing right now:
1) wonderfully soft pj pants
2) my fuzzy leather slippers (a must have with hardwood floors)

Two of my favorite things to do:
1) sew
2) play with my hubby and kids

Two things I want very badly at the moment:
1) really chocolaty brownies (I just made some, now waiting to cool)
2) a solid 8 hours of sleep (Meghan sleeps it, but I don't go to bed when she does, and the times she has slept 10 hours, I sleep for 5 hours and then wake up every 30-45 minutes waiting for her to wake up -ugh)

Two favorite pets I've had:
1) Tara, my first dog, an English Springer Spaniel
2) Fluffy, my enormously fat cat from my childhood (seriously she weighed like 25lbs)

Two things I did last night:
1) planned food menus for the weekend (Joe mainly cooks during the week, so I shoehorn the weekend)
2) talked with the missionaries

Two things I ate today:
1) leftover cabbage roll casserole for lunch
2) leftover scalloped potatoes and meatloaf for dinner

Two people I last talked to:
1) Jase
2) Meghan

Two longest car rides:
1) When we moved from Michigan to Montana over New Years holidays
2) When we moved back to Michigan from Montana 6 months later

Two favorite beverages:
1) milkshake
2) yogurt smoothies

I tag (if you haven't been tagged already):

Maren, Misty, Melissa, Charlotte, and Ginger