Only 8 lives left

Bill used up one of his nine lives this week. 

He loves to jump up on the ledge on the second floor. He enjoys looking down through the hole to the first floor. On Monday, I was walking by the ledge and Bill jumped up, slipped, and fell all the way to the first floor and hit the coffee table. 

My heart jumped out of my throat and I yelled for Grant. We inspected Bill and everything seemed fine. Good thing he came with nine lives. 

Imagine that Grant's head is Bill.

You look really ugly...thank you!

You don't often want to hear your husband say, "You look really ugly, honey." That is unless you are getting ready to go to an ugly Christmas sweater party. The ophthalmology residents had a party last night and I do think we won the ugliest sweaters of all time award.

What do you think? (And the skirt added a little something extra!)

Freezing Cold Thanksmas

Mom left the mild and balmy Texas weather to visit us during our first blizzard. Yes, we have now survived our first official blizzard. It hit just an hour after Millie arrived for Thanksgiving. It wasn't quite as bad as the weather people predicted, but it was still pretty intense. The worst part was that it brought with it freezing cold air. I don't think it got above the teens the entire week. But mom came prepared to battle the cold.


You're not in Texas anymore.

The next day was spent relaxing with massages and sushi! The spouse of a co-resident is a sushi chef (lucky us!). Their family did a fundraiser for their son's school trip where they sold platters of homemade sushi. Look at the artistry in her work. It tasted even better than it looked.

The next day was Thanksgiving. We celebrated with the Hudson's at their annual orphan Thanksgiving dinner. Although we weren't orphans this year, we were still allowed to attend. Sarah did an amazing job as always. And Ali and Sherry sent us a beautiful centerpiece that we brought to enjoy at the party.

The snowy view just outside the Hudson's house.

Centerpiece from Ali and Sherry.

For the first time ever, Mom and I decided to partake in black Friday. Here I am looking over all the deals to be had. Can you see those crazed shopper eyes?

We decided to head up to the Park City outlet malls for our first stop. They opened at midnight, so we slept for a few hours after dinner and then ventured out. It was fun, but also quite hard on our bodies. We were a little loopy at times. It was also about 2 degrees out, so we were cold and tired little shoppers.

We made it back down in time to get Grant and head to Best Buy to get in line for their 5 a.m. opening. As our Christmas gift to each other, we purchased a Canon Rebel digital SLR camera. It has changed the way we take pictures for ever. It really is amazing what this camera can do. Grant is still learning all the settings, but the pictures here on out are taken with the new camera.

The next day was Thanksmas. It was our Christmas celebration with Mom over Thanksgiving. We did stockings and gifts and all the traditional Christmas day activities.

Don't be fooled by that cute cat. He discovered his stocking early, knocked it down, and started taking things out. Bad Bill.

Grant's favorite gift - a mustache mug from Millie!

Anna's gift of new canisters.

Bill sniffing Grant's new Molcajete (authentic Mexican guacamole making bowl).

The trip ended with another huge snow storm. We stayed in the house all Sunday just watching movies and lounging in our PJs. Grant shoveled the driveway while we drank wine. Ahhh, that is living the good life right there. Thanks Grant!

TONS of snow.

Good, good, hubby shoveling that snow!

Opening weekend!

Saturday was opening day at Snowbird Ski Resort (that's where we got our passes this year). While poor Grant and Scott were working all day, Sarah and I escaped up the canyon for some skiing.

It took me a few runs to remember how to ski again and I am a little sore today. But, now I am really excited about the season.

Anna's turn to go to Chicago

Grant went to Chicago for a conference a few weeks ago, so I decided it was my turn to go to Chicago for a conference. Sure wish we could have overlapped the two. And you can decided whose conference was more riveting. Grant's was the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Mine was the Fall Forum for America's Health Insurance Plans. Both sound pretty exciting, right?

The conference was pretty packed with meetings, but we did get to see a bit of the city the first day.

Coworkers Rachel and Sean (my new boss).

At the Chicago Art Institute.

Looking out at Navy Pier.

At legendary Harry Caray's steakhouse.

Anna versus Giordano's deep dish pizza.

Fun piano bar for our last night in Chicago.

I really learned a lot at the conference. Health insurance, as dull as it might seem at first glace, is so complex and interesting to figure out. Especially when you add all the new regulations coming along with healthcare reform. I'm still far from being a master of insurance, but I feel like my comprehension is slowly growing.

The Parker Roundup

Uncle Scott and Aunt Pam came to SLC last weekend for a quick visit. They now live in Colorado, so its only a 6 hour drive. Scott brought with him ingredients for a special Parker family dessert. Can you tell Scott is happy about it? And the dessert lived up to its expectations...sweet, light, and fluffy. We did lots of good cooking while they were here.

On Saturday, we ventured out to Antelope Island (out in the Great Salt Lake). Little did we know that it was the annual bison roundup weekend (http://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/antelope-island/roundup). Hundreds of buffalo are rounded up by cowboys to be vaccinated. The entire process was amazing to watch. There is this strange torture looking mechanism that holds the buffalo in place. Then they hook their tender nose so they stay still. Shots are given, and ear tags inserted. It is surprising how close they allow spectators.

I hope they pay these people well.

Here they are corralling the buffalo into the vaccination area.

Scared buffalo waiting for their shots.

We took a quick walk on the island.

At Ruth's diner.

Grant was working most of the weekend, but he did join us for some breakfast at Ruth's Diner. The trip was fast, but worth every minute. Thanks for coming out Scott and Pam!

Baby, baby, baby, oh

For those who aren't up on pop culture, that is the chorus to one of Justin Bieber's hits. And Bieber was my Halloween inspiration this year. And Grant's inspiration was MacGruber.

The real MacGruber.

The real Justin Bieber.

The Morshedi versions!

I won second place at my work's costumer contest. And I found someone dressed as a Bieber fan!

Hudson's as Ron Burgundy and Antoine Dodson.

The "white trash" Taintors.

Sarah and Scott put on a fabulous Halloween party and then hosted tripoley the next night. Wow.

Race day

While Grant was off in Chicago, I ran my second half marathon. My friend Sarah was the one who talked me into it. We both needed an exercise goal to help keep us in shape. For my last race, I trained by myself. This time, it was so nice to have someone else to run with and it helped me stay motivated and accountable.

The race we chose was the Moab Half Marathon in Moab, UT, which is about 4 hours away. The course runs along the Colorado river with a backdrop of red rock cliffs. It is more of a "nature" run without any spectators along the route.

Up at the crack of dawn.

The start of the race was so chilly. They had ghetto fires in oil barrels to keep us warm.

As you can see from the image above, I had a knee injury to battle. Close to the end of our training, I started to have some painful IT band issues. The IT band is the muscle that runs from your hip to your knee. It manifests in major pain just on the outside of your knee. And it is aggravated by running. So what is the best thing to do, run! Ha ha. It made the race quite painful. I started really feeling pain about halfway through the race. 

Imagine running with this as the backdrop. Stunning.

Sarah ran an amazing race coming in at 2:07. Wow.

Running the last painful steps.

I ran it in 2:23. Not great, but I finished.

On the runners high. So proud.

And our reward...beer from Moab Brewery!

Thanks Sarah for the exercise motivation!