Cardio is DONE!

So...we were in the car this morning picking up Young Men for church. I had just about rounded up all of them, when Rakiyat (one of Yusu's sister's) came running out of his house and up to our car. I rolled down the window and she informed me that the power is out at the church building and that church has been cancelled. :(

It was even worse because 2 of my young men (Tay and Yusu) were to be giving talks in sacrament meeting today. What did we do? We didn't get all dressed up for church for nothing. We headed over to our house and cooked up some delicious food and had our own "church." The menu? FRIED.

French Fries

Fried Chicken Strips

CHURROS!!!!

After we ate, we had Yusu and Tay give their talks to us. The topic was Forgiveness. Then we had a great discussion. I'm so impressed with the spirituality and maturity of these boys.

It's nice to be done with another block of school. Free weekends are a blessing. I love not having anything I "have" to study. I guess there's always boards that I could be studying for. Cardiology wasn't too bad of a course though. The test was pretty fair, which is always nice.

Our poor car has decided to be a crap-face lately. I've replaced: a control arm, a wheel bearing, a tie rod, 4 brand new tires (we got a flat and it was really about time for new ones) and now I just found a large crack in our radiator yesterday. Barf! I'll be getting up tomorrow morning to rush and get a new radiator and hurry and throw it in before Sydney has to get to her dog visits. Should be exciting!

For those of you who may follow this blog, the answer to last weeks question is F. Aortic stenosis in his sixties. So don't worry, there will be plenty more blog posts before you're rid of me. :)

Churro Churro Churro!

This week for our young men's activity we did another one of our famous cooking nights. The boys like learning how to cook and it's always fun to eat good food. This time it was Mexican food night. Total menu items: a huge pot of 4 pounds of shredded pork (they ate it all), chicken fajitas, Tay has a special nacho/meat/sauce dish he calls Ro-Tel, lime-cilantro rice, black beans, chips, homemade salsa, YUM!

I was cracking up how much of a hard time the boys were having cutting up the onions for the fajitas. That's why we're practicing right? Their eyes were all watering and they were complaining like they were dying. So funny! It looked like an onion had exploded all over the table and cutting boards where they where chopping.

Initially, we had also planned to make churros for dessert, but we were all too full and ran out of time. So, Sydney and I made churros ourselves last night. As I often do when cooking, I sang a beautiful churro song that sounded more Indian than Hispanic.

Even though they look like worms, they were delicious!

I've got a cardiology test tomorrow that I'm procrastinating studying for by updating the blog. (Caution...medical content ahead)

So, I was doing some Step 1 questions the other day, and I got this one.

A Caucasian male neonate dies shortly after being born. Autopsy shows a bicuspid aortic valve. Had he survived, the patient would most likely have experienced:

A. Ventricular arrhythmia at school age
B. Aortic stenosis in infancy
C. Overwhelming infection in his twenties
D. Leaking aortic aneurysm in his thirties
E. Atrial fibrillation in his forties
F. Aortic stenosis in his sixties

Some background information. I happen to HAVE a bicuspid aortic valve, so this question woke me up a little from my studying coma since I AM still alive. This question is about me! It felt like I was reading some magical Step 1 Ouija board, and the answer I chose would decide my fate.

Anyone know the answer?

This is how I found my wife and dog after studying for a long time downstairs. Too cute.

When you spend a lot of time at home studying, you get bored and take a lot of pictures of your only friend while your wife is at work. Your dog.

YM basketball had a tough loss last Saturday. Same score as the week before (32-30), but we were the 30 this time. It's okay. They're all looking forward to this week.

It's also about that time to start planning something awesome for Spring Break. Sydney's parents came and visited us last year. We don't have any plans yet for this year. Any suggestions?

The First Richmond Branch Basketball Team!

With all the growth we've been having in the branch, we have enough boys this year to form our own YM basketball team. It has been so much fun, and we have been having practice with the boys every week on Thursday nights. They've been working hard and played awesome this Saturday. We picked up our first win of the season against Mechanicsville in a nail-biting 32-30 victory.

Eric just dominated down low.

Notice how Nat is about a foot and half taller than me.

Sydney and I hand-painted the boys jerseys. We let them put a nickname on the back. Malik IS BIG MAC!

Raul chose OOLIE BEAR. You'll just have to ask him.

Elijah on a fast break. Tay is open!

Raul had some tough calls and fouled out halfway through the 4th quarter.

Naturally, Eric is Big E!

Yusu is Y.B.I. (His initials).

So grateful for all the help my counselors have given me. The boys love coming to basketball and really appreciate it. It's been an incredible tool in helping re-activate some of our less active boys.

Driving home from a Stake Standards night activity last night, we were talking in the car about how our team needs a mascot. They boys suggested we be the Lakers which I quickly nixed. After some discussion, Yusu suggested that we should be the Richmond Kaniya's, after Kaniya (a young woman in the branch) because she's always so funny. I was laughing so hard. Something to consider. The Kaniya's would be a force to be reckoned with.

I love these guys. Hopefully we'll have many more wins to come.

Our first year in Richmond!

I promised a "highlights of 2010" post, so here it is! If you've been following our blog, these won't be too surprising for you. There's only so much exciting stuff to write about in our life.

- January -

Sydney and I took the plunge and decided to buy our first set of furniture together. We shopped for awhile and found some that we really liked. With the help of a homeless man, we got them up to our 3rd floor apartment in exchange for a few hamburgers at Carl's Jr.

Don't worry. These couches only lasted about 2 months before we decided to sell them on craigslist (for what we paid for them), and pick up some more interesting pieces like our current green couch.

- February -

We bought a motorcycle, since I sold my other bike before we moved to Richmond. I was trying to use this fact as leverage with Sydney, but she was all for us getting another bike.

- March -

During Spring Break, Sydney's parent's came and visited us. We went all over the place and had a very nice break from school.

- April -

We left our 1-bedroom downtown apartment for a 3-bedroom house we rent about 3 miles outside of downtown Richmond. We also got the cutest puppy in the world (Fizgig)!

He continues to sleep in this position.

- May -

I finished my first year of Medical School and was so ready for a nice long summer break. I did some pig research, and Sydney walked dogs. We really just took some time to take it easy.

Hard at work waiting for the pig to live or die. At least I didn't look like this, no offense Dane!

- June -

Sydney's brother Scott came and visited us. It was a lot of fun. Hooray for summer!

- July-

It was a packed month. My parents and Katelyn came and visited us. We went up to New York, D.C., Virginia Beach, and all the usual Richmond sites. Then Sydney and I got to go to Youth Conference in Palmyra. That was a lot of fun. My 2 young men who came (Raul & Eric) had just been baptized that year.

- August -

School actually started July 26th, but I'm including it in August. Also, Sydney and I participated in the Ride for Jim bike ride and rode from Richmond to Yorktown for Cancer Research fundraising. It was lots of fun, and we plan on doing it again this year.

- September -

Sydney spent the last year walking dogs for Kat French and River City Rover, but Kat was going to be closing the business, so Sydney started her own. She's pretty awesome isn't she?

- October -

The only thing I can remember from October is the Branch Halloween party where my young men made a spook alley/maze that rivaled the best ones I've ever been too. We should charge tickets for next year.

- November -

An awesome Thanksgiving, sleeping in the back of our Volvo down in Florida! We swam with dolphins, sat at the beach, saw awesome stuff at SeaWorld, and ate some good food. What more could you ask for?

- December -

We went home to Utah for Christmas. I became 1 & 1/2 a Doctor.

I ran out of gas there at the end for finding pictures. Just look at our latest posts. I know...I'm lazy. 2010 was a good year. I'm very grateful for all the blessings that Sydney and I get. We live a wonderful life and we are so thankful for it.

I'm nervous for what 2011 has in store. There is an ominous date looming in the future (June 24) where I will be tested to see if I've remembered everything I've ever been taught while here in medical school (not to mention things I most likely have never been taught). I love my calling with the young men. Our next post will be about our basketball team. Those boys are great! Sydney is still working with the chillins in the primary, and they love her to death!

Well, that's all. Cardio is calling me. I will leave you with one question. Is it ECG or EKG?

You Done Got Shrunk 2010!

For those of you who don't understand this post's title, you obviously didn't spend Christmas with the Christiansen Family or you haven't seen Despicable Me. (Both are things you should consider doing before you die.)

2010 is over. It feels good to have a new start. 2010 was a very different year for Sydney and I. Our first full year living outside of Utah. I finished my first year of med school. Sydney started her own business. We both got really really busy with our church callings. It was a good year. Eventually I'll do a post about our 2010 highlights, but this post is about our Christmas trip home to Utah. (Thanks to our wonderful parent's generosity in purchasing our plane tickets)

I'm realizing now that I didn't take very many pictures. Must have been having too much fun.

First, this is the snow storm that happened in Richmond on Thursday morning that cancelled my exam for Friday morning. Yeah, that's right. I had to wait to take my final until...Tuesday, Jan 4. I definitely have had more snow days here in Richmond, then I have ever had my entire life living in Utah.

A casual picture at Sydney's house on Christmas Eve while Jim shared a spiritual message. Those are our feet!

Rachel and my mom put together the best Christmas party ever! It was a bunch of Minute-To-Win-It challenges. Hilarious. Don't know what that is? Neither did I. Spend the next 5 minutes on YouTube and then return. This challenge is my cousin Adrianne and Uncle Wes. They have Vaseline on their noses which they used to pick up little fuzzy balls and transfer to a bowl across the room. The person who moved the most balls in a minute won. Many of the games were quite a treat.

My favorite was a game where you put a cookie on your forehead, lean back or lay on the ground, and then try to eat the cookie using nothing but your face, all within a minute of course. Hilarious!

Tessa was not camera shy at the party!

We got back to Richmond, and have been just preparing for the new year. We celebrated my birthday and Sydney got me some wonderful presents. I got an entire paint set with a million colors and an official painting knife so I can finally create like my great mentor Bob Ross. My artwork will likely make an appearance on this blog.

So far, the tally for free things I've received on my birthday this year is:

-Free Red Robin Burger (Delicious!)

-Free Ruby Tuesday's Burger. (Haven't used yet)

-Free Coldstone (I actually got 2!)

-18 Free Wings, and a Free Dessert to Buffalo Wild Wings.

-Free Shake at Arby's.

-Free Shake at Del Taco.

-Free Dessert at Famous Dave's.

-Free Grand Slam at Denny's.

Finally, to wrap it all up, some beautiful family portraits taken at the Hamilton home on Christmas Eve. Anyone who was there can tell you that my face tells quite a story.

Happy New Year to all! Hope you have a good one.