Working it out!

I'm so proud of myself. I worked out 5 days last week (6 if you count giving the house a good scrub down)! I'm dreading when I have to work those 3+ twelve hour days. On those days I won't have time to do anything but work, eat, and sleep!

I've been running semi-regularly, and have actually switched over to running on the treadmill. It's just so much easier than driving to the park where I run and then driving to the gym for the weight-lifting class that I like to do now. I can tell you if I were doing that, most days I'd be taking a detour home! Another nice thing about the treadmill is that you can keep track of your mileage and speed. I honestly have no idea how fast I run on pavement, and mileage is just an estimate for me. I'm thinking I need an app for my iPhone that tells me how far I've run. Anyone know of any good ones?

 Back in the day when I was running regularly and doing a long run every week, I was able to run a mile (on a treadmill mind you) at a 7:30 pace. So last week I decided to see if I could still do what is my fast mile. Fail. I only made it 3/4 of a mile, but that might have been because I ran 3 miles prior. When I tried it again, I did a warm up mile first. I was able to do it, and was so happy with myself! I really don't think I could do that on pavement.

I have Mondays off so I'm just sitting around now, wanting to go to my weightlifting class. But I promised Jon that I would go to a Seder dinner with him tonight on post. So I was planning on going for a hike at my favorite state park here (since we never made it during the weekend because Jon had a ton of homework to do), but I didn't do that either. Instead, I had to take Dakota to the vet because I was seriously worried about a skin issue that seemingly flared up. I'm thinking that when we got him shaved they accidentally nicked one of his little nipples and he's been picking at it. The vet was nice enough to squeeze us in since I can't take time out from clinical during the week.

So this is what we have to do for him. We got orders for an antibiotic ointment that is to be applied twice daily and this T-shirt for 5 days. He's such a good sport, and doesn't even fight me when I was putting the T-shirt on. Go SU! :P

What I did on my spring break

(Sounds like an essay elementary school-aged kids are made to write.)

I took advantage of all that free time and just relaxed!

But I also got to do a little baking, including this yumminess.

I've worn this lovely cowl (finished last month) as much as I could and started knitting this. Can't wait until next winter when I get to wear them! (Although I'm enjoying this lovely spring weather!)

I've been hitting up the gym for the usual cardio kickboxing, running, and a new weightlifting class. I've gotten over my aversion to running on an incline and can maintain a decent pace now.

I acted the part of domestic housewife and was consistently cleaning and cooking. (This, unfortunately, has been the first thing to go since I've started clinical again.)

I finally planted some flowers to bring some "springiness" to our backyard. My goal is to one day have a garden like my mom's. She has an amazing rose garden, numerous peony bushes, and many other flowers....so much I can't even list it all.

This weekend?

Hopefully, I can get out for a hike. Wildflowers have just exploded out of the ground in the past week! (Thank you rain!)

Happy almost weekend!

Missing my blog friends!

I've been a horrible blogger. I'm not quite sure I can call myself a blogger anymore! I feel like I've lost touch with everyone that I've met--I don't write and I don't even read anymore. Google Reader is full of "new" blog posts!

I think maybe that I'm a little boring now, not to say that I was so interesting in the first place. What would I be blogging about if I had kept up with it? Probably nursing school and the stress it brings into the home....and that doesn't make for very interesting reading. Besides, I've been commiserating with my classmates.

I've managed to squeeze in some knitting--I just finished a cowl that I'm totally in love with! (I still have to take pictures.) I've been running for 2 months now, and have been consistently exercising. I decided in December to give up my perfectionist ways and to sacrifice a bit of reading for a bit of exercising and I feel great!

This weekend, with a big paper out of the way, didactic classes completed, and the first concept map done, I'm free! I'm so glad that this semester that we even get Mondays off! What do I do with myself? Even with all the extra time, I doubt I'll blog much. I've just missed out too much on the things I used to enjoy doing like knitting, baking, exercising, and keeping the house clean (I don't love this, but I love a clean house)! Unfortunately, my first weekend of freedom will be spent without Jon, who will be stuck in the house writing his final paper. He started an MBA program in January. I don't see him much!

Well, I'm very grateful for this extra time.  Things are definitely winding down. I can't believe I'm almost done! August 12 is the big day! So....I'll be around. I hope everyone is doing well! And I miss you!

Little tidbits about Malaysia

I hardly knew anything about the country before we visited. I had absolutely no time to research before the trip....I even forgot to look up suggested vaccinations, etc. on the CDC website! Hope I didn't get malaria or anything else that can be transmitted through mosquitoes--I got bit 10 times! 

Anyways, I thought I would make a list of some things I observed. Keep in mind that Malaysia's official religion is Islam.

We got our fill of chicken ham, chicken sausage, chicken....

There were a couple of radio stations that played pop songs from the States (for the expats there). We were listening to Katy Perry sing "I kissed...................I like it"

Jon's sister-in-law never saw Baby Mama so we were watching it one night on satellite TV. Many scenes were cut out, such as Amy Poehler peeing in Tina Fey's sink. Cleavage was also blurred out on certain shows.

They drive on the left side of the road. I freaked out for a while there until I got used to it.

The currency used is the ringgit. The exchange rate we got was about 3.34.

The drivers there are crazy! Lots of scooters weaving through traffic, people going extremely slow/fast, cutting people off. But strangely, very few accidents. They are just very attentive and not aggressive.

Clean bathrooms are a rare find there. Toilet paper in the bathrooms even more so. I might have used the squatter toilets a time or two when I couldn't hold it anymore (I did not use that gross hose!) It grossed me out because the floors in all the bathrooms were always wet! I will never complain about the bathrooms here ever again. Except I probably eventually will...

The official language is Malay. I didn't know they used the Latin alphabet and was expecting not to be able to read anything.

I did learn some words in Malay. Keluar (exit), selamat datang (welcome), dilarang (prohibited), anda (you), tanda (toilet), jalan (street), pulau (island)...

There are also some words in the language that sound like the English translation: teksi, farmasi, polis, bas, restoran, sens, basikal...

And that's your lesson for the day! Hope you all have a good day!

Malaysia in one post

I'm suffering horribly from jet lag! We got back on Saturday morning at midnight and I've had trouble sleeping on a normal schedule. I try to go to sleep at my normal time and I manage sleep a couple hours, but I spend most of the night tossing and turning and don't get back to sleep until about 6. Only then do I get my real quality sleep, as it is about 9 pm in Malaysia at that time. Hopefully I can overcome this soon.

So that is my excuse for taking so long to upload pictures from our trip and for writing a blog post about it. I swear I've been a zombie lately!

We left for Kuala Lampur on the night of December 20. From Tucson we flew to LAX and from there to Taipei and Kuala Lampur. LAX's international terminal was a nightmare! The lines were so long you couldn't tell where one began and one ended. We waited an hour at the check in counter and another at the security line, all the while silently thanking the extremely helpful woman who checked us in at the Tucson airport. You see, we bought two separate tickets, as it was cheaper that way. One ticket from Tucson to LA and another from LA to KL. We would have to collect our bags in LA and recheck them. It would have been another hour to do that, since there was a separate line for that after you were done at the check-in counter. This angel of a women checked our bags all the way through to KL. Now that's what I call Christmas spirit!

Our trip was uneventful and the 14.5 hr flight to Taipei wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. This is coming from somebody who is pulling her hair out at the end of a 3 hour flight (seriously....I would rather drive 10 times as long than fly that long). I'm really a sucker for sunrises and saw one of the most beautiful ones from the plane. I made Jon take a picture.

From Taipei it was a 4.5 hour flight to KL.

Jon and I adjusted to the new time zone relatively easily. KL is 15 hours ahead of Tucson time. The trip went by really fast!

My in-law's condo had the most amazing view of KL. Look at all the cranes...there is crazy construction constantly being done.

We went to a market with the most amazing fruit

We celebrated Hanukkah with our niece Matilda

We witnessed some of the most amazing Christmas displays in the local malls and hotels

We had the best breakfast at one of aforementioned hotels. Here's Matilda modeling her new dress and backpack she got for Christmas. She's such a doll!

We saw what used to be the tallest buildings in the world and what are now the tallest double towers in the world, the Petronas Twin Towers at KLCC

I wish we could have gone up to the podium, but they only give a limited amount of tickets and you had to stand in line at 6 am to ensure you got any. Nothankyou, not on my vacation!

We visited the port town of Melaka where we didn't visit any of the historical tourist attractions. Instead, we went to their Chinatown for some shopping. It's a running joke in the family how my FIL plans his trips around shopping malls and now, local Chinatowns. At least we saw some beautiful rickshaws! Makes for a good picture

We visited  Pulau Penang where we stayed in the most beautiful hotel, The Eastern and Oriental Hotel, which was founded in 1885. I heart the stained glass windows on the doors to the bathroom and I'm now a huge fan of black and white bathrooms! The hotel still has the original lift, although it is out of commission now. So many famous people have stayed here throughout the years, including Tony Blair, Charlie Chaplin, and Rudyard Kipling.

Jon loved the bathrobe and slippers

While there, we shopped at the night market in Batu Ferringhi. Check out the link, as I have no pictures of that. We even at on that ship that advertises "The Best Steak in Town".

We also visited the beautiful botanical gardens where we saw monkeys! There were tons of them, jumping all over the cars in the parking lot, carrying their babies around, grooming each other, and following the humans around because they know we carry food. Carrying any food is strictly advised against, as is carrying plastic bags because the smart monkeys know we keep food in there! I even got attacked by ornery little guy--he just swatted my foot, nothing more.

And here's a picture of me just to prove I was there, since I was usually behind the camera this whole trip. Man, I really need to get back on an exercise regimen

We went up to the Genting Highlands one day. It was a must-see for Jon after it was featured on one of the shows on the Travel Channel. It boasted casinos, a theme park, and a snow land for Christmas. Unfortunately, it was a flop. After over an hour of driving, half of that on a 10% or more incline amongst crazy Malaysian drivers, we were ultimately disappointed. It was pouring the whole time, the whole place was kind of run down, and it was just an absolute zoo full of locals and tourists. Nevertheless, I had to take a picture to document the experience. That's Jon and his brother Chris with his wife, Josie, and Matilda looking away from the camera

We even got to fit in a little karaoke. Chris really got into it and got one of the employees to sing with him

Jon liked to hog both mikes

It was a great trip. It ended too soon. I was really enjoying the weather: in the 80s and humid, but not too humid. Just enough for my skin to glow and not require so much lotion. I enjoyed walking around in shorts and dresses with flip flops, being able to take cold showers and feel refreshed. Now it's back to the land of dryness and itchiness. Nevertheless, it's still good to be home.

Selamat Hari Natal from Malaysia!

Just a quick post to wish all my blog friends a Merry Christmas! (Does anyone even check this thing anymore?)I'm lucky to be able to spend the holidays with my husband by my side and to have this opportunity to travel somewhere I've never been before. I'm truly grateful for this experience!

My inspiration for posting out-of-the-blue? Jon's sister-in-law (who is also visiting Malaysia) is documenting this trip on her brand new blog and I feel I have no excuse for neglecting my blog any longers since I'm on break from school for the moment!

Dokor

That's the nickname we gave Dakota. And the "R" is silent. Here's how we came up with it.

Jon loves to sing songs about the dogs in our life. It used to be Sammy and now it's Dakota. We will turn literally every song into a dog song. With Dakota, Jon has been singing along to the tune of the Oscar Mayer balogna song. You know the one, right? Jon's version:

"My doggie has a first name. It's D-O-K.....O....R"

Spelling is not his strong suit. That's as far as he got because I started laughing. "Doko?" I asked, thinking he said D-O-K-O-A. The name stuck, but you spell it "Dokor", with the "R" being silent of course. Here are some "Dokor" pictures

They were edited with iPhoto. The program really makes it too easy! Photoshop is way too intimidating to me.

I mentioned yesterday how much I miss knitting. I also really miss baking! Some classmates of mine had a BBQ a while back to celebrate a birthday and I made some cute little lemon tarts

The recipe called for sweetened condensed milk and I still have leftover. I'm leaving for Washington tomorrow and was wondering how to get rid of this leftover. I really hate throwing things away! My solution? Dulce de leche brownies! They look too good! The idea planted into my head last night as I was watching a program on Bolivia and they were talking about alfajores. I really didn't want to make alfajores because they are way too time consuming for me. Anything I have to roll out, really. A quick search led me to the brownies. The recipients? My old co-workers as I plead for them to water my plants while I'm gone!