Over the Hill and through the Town

If you haven't met my dad, well you should. He is one of a kind. I promise you will find none like him. He has a sense of humor and a big heart. If you haven't already heard, my dad turned 50 years old. For being 50 he sure acts like a young buck-a-roo with a good sense of style (Buckle jeans and Sperry's how could you go wrong?!).  For his special day my mom got an awesome hotel in downtown Portland and planned a day of fun events for my hip father. He got his first pedicure. Now like any man he was hesitant at first, but my mom talked him into it. My dad came out of the nail shop as happy as a clam repeating, "I feel like I am walking on clouds." Lets just say I don't think it will be too hard to persuade him to get a hot stone pedicure again.

When I met up with my parents I felt like a third wheel. They were wearing matching Seahawks shirts. Apparently I missed the memo. Anyways, they looked like two kids going to the Sadie's Hawkins dance. It was adorable. Not only did they get a lot of double takes because of their identicalness, they were the popular couple to talk to for all the Hawks fans in the area. I learned that if you want to get attention, wear a sports shirt in public. 

My parents went to VooDoo Donuts. My mom was appalled by the names of their famous sugary treats. My dad said he wanted the "cock ball" but he just couldn't get himself to order it. Apparently their donut choices were based off of the less crude names and they stuck with the Memphis Mofia (among a few others). They enjoyed the treats nonetheless.

We were able to venture to the mall because my dad was so relaxed from his foot massage he didn't care if we did a little shopping. After hitting a few stores we went to dinner. The hotel bought us a complimentary appetizer. I have never had that happen before but it was awesome! The food was delish! When we got back from dinner the hotel left my dad happy birthday chocolates. I am not sure how they knew it was his birthday, but my dad felt really special. 

 The next morning we woke up and went to breakfast to this little Bistro place in downtown Portland. It is one of my favorites. They have the best homemade granola and yogurt. They also have the best homemade jelly and ketchup. The ketchup was so good my mom now wants to try and make her own. After breakfast my parents graciously let me practice my new skills on them. They sat for a few hours while I tortured their eyes, but on the bright side they got it for free and their eyes seemed to be pretty healthy. Eventually my parents had to scurry home. My mom wanted to stay here because we had sun (no, it is not a joke) and at home was cloudy. The weekend was fabulous and it was great to see my parents.

Happy Birthday Dad and I'm glad you enjoyed the donuts!
Go Seahawks!

Thanksgiving and Christmas Festivities

Thanksgiving was the first holiday I have ever missed with my own family. It was really weird not going to my Aunt Doris and Uncle Jeep's house for their spectacular smoked dinner. I even missed out on family pictures that were actually coordinated this year. Although I missed being with my family, John's family opened their doors and gladly welcomed me into their large family. Only half of their immediate members could make it to Thanksgiving and the house was still full! If I counted right, 13 were there (did I say this is ONLY HALF of the Spearin clan?!?). I was lucky enough to get to be in the "girls room." It was a sleepover party every night with some pillow talk of shoes and clothes. It was unlike any family gathering i've ever been too.  It was rowdy, unorganized and the house was full of energy. It was great! It was really awesome to see how other families celebrate holidays and express their love toward each other. I have never been part of a big family and it was neat to get a taste of what being in the "Brady Bunch" is truly like. 

Because I celebrated Thanksgiving with John and his family, he spent Christmas with my family. It was great that he could make it. I am so glad his family let me barrow him for the holidays. John got to experience our extended family tradition of the "Big Family Gift Exchange" (which is smaller than his immediate family) and a small, quiet Christmas with the Brady's. I can only image how weird and eerily quiet our house was for John. Although my family events were not as crazy, we still had a good time. 

John with Moose and Rosie. They love him. John still isn't sure how he feels about them....

Emma Lou loves her attention

Mr. Optometry 2014

I decided to join class council at the beginning of the year. I had no idea what I was getting myself into at the time but decided it would be a good idea to get involved. After a few meetings I realized student council had the normal responsibilities like any other ASB or club, but to our surprise we had  the responsibility of fundraising for our graduation banquet as well. This graduation banquet in the past has accommodated 400 people in a location downtown Portland, so you can image how expensive the event can be.

After our first meeting, our job was to brainstorm fundraising ideas to fulfill this goal. You would think this would be a simple task but let me tell you no it wasn't! Either a class had a similar idea already or it had been done in the past... so unoriginal. I had to get my creative juices flowing and it hit me. I knew we had to do something that would attract the women in this program, considering we have about 75% females in the class of 2017 alone. If we could draw them in we would be bound for success! Then the idea literally hit me while I was in class listening to lecture (okay, okay, I'm guilty of day dreaming in class when I get bored...its our little secret). I thought, why don't we have a male beauty pageant! And Mr. Optometry was conceived, planned, and executed. 

We got back to school after three weeks of Christmas break and then had four days to get everything organized and finalized. Our class president made a valid point that most of us spent so much time that week we could have just gotten part time jobs and made the same amount to put toward our class fund. Although this may be true, we wouldn't of had it any other way. It felt so good to see our hard work pay off and hear the laughter and involvement from the crowd. 

The big night rolled around and we were as nervous as the contestants, if not more! It was our first event EVER and we felt we had pressure to do well. At last the lights dimmed, the music turned on and the show began! The first ever in Pacific University College of Optometry's History, Mr. Optometry was held on January 9th and it was a complete success. The 10 contestants were judged on best clinic attire, athletic abilities, photogenic eyes, persona, talent, baking abilities, presentation, and Q and A. We had two awards. The first was the "Pupil's Choice" which consisted of the highest combined score of most photogenic eyes, baking abilities and the most ticket sold per class. Pupil's choice was awarded with a mini otoscope donated to us by Heine. The second award was Mr. Optometry who was awarded a sash and of course, a CROWN! Mr. Optometry came with special privileges during ski trip and a $200 gift certificate to Pioneer.

Yes, we had a DJ

The Lovely Men of PUCO

Mr. Optometry

Mr. Optometry 2014

Mr. Optometry and Pupils Choice with the judges

The Contestants and the brains and brawn behind the scenes

Class of 2016 

2017 Class Council and our Volunteers

EyeBall

Optometry school has not allowed for many fun occasions. Taking 20.5 science credits isn't quite conducive for anything except long dates with your text books. Thankfully, there has been a few instances where I have been able take a break and enjoy life. One of the first events I went to this year was EyeBall. It was so much fun, especially since John was able to make it down to share the experience with me!

John was super stoked because this was the first time I paid for dinner. Man, don't I have a wonderful boyfriend? Have I not mentioned I have had flowers on my desk everyday since I've gotten to Forest Grove??? I could ramble for days about how amazing my boyfriend is but I will save that mushy gushy stuff for another day. Anyways after a nice three course meal John was still  hungry (I swear a fat man is living inside his body... or maybe he hides it in his socks.. hmmm...) so we went to a brewery/pizza restaurant called the Mellow Mushroom. Of course John ate again and we both tried some hard cider (I got a blackberry pear cider and it was delicious). 

After a long day of looking at optometry equipment, going to the mall, attending the main event we went home and fell asleep before midnight. Sometimes I think I am living in an 80 year olds body....or maybe I am sleep deprived from all the studying. Whichever it is, I still had a blast with John and was so happy he was able to make the six in a half hour trek to Oregon!