Danny Fanny

This is Dan's rear end, his hind quarters, his butt, his bottom, his derri air, where the good Lord split him, his keister, his rump, his heinie, his tush, blah blah blah. Anyway he dared me to make this post so I of course I had to do it! I mean how cute is this butt? It is pretty cute to me and honestly that is all that matters. So here is to Dan's butt.



I am reminded of a song Tamara taught me.....'I see your heinie so white and shiny. You'd better hide it before I bite it." It was sung to a baby who had the cutest little cheeks ever that you just wanted to bite them!



Here we are buying auto parts.

Here Dan is working on his 4 runner

Still working on the 4 runner.

Squatting changing out front speakers on the 4 runner.

Dirty butt from working all day.

Leaning into the 4 runner and a closeup of the hole in his pants :)

Last but not least...going to U-Pull It which is a huge junk yard that is all organized row by row numbered etc and you tell them the car model and year and they tell you what row etc. You then pay $2 to go in with your own tools and pull the part you need. So we were looking for cam shaft gears this day for the 88 4 runner. The parts cost $5.24 so it is worth going to get it yourself. Anyway, the 4 runner has had a hard week and is not feeling better. It has new brakes, master cylinder, cam gears, spark plugs and wires, steering fluid pump, side mirrors, and head rests. So now that Dan has worked his butt off maybe she'll run for a while and treat him good!

No Tryptophan hang-over!

Well, I just had my first Thanksgiving being married. It was good. We did not do anything. We tried to sleep in...I did not do so good with that so I got up and started dinking around. about an hour later Dan got up fixed a bowl of cereal and then started his day. Since breakfast was done...I made myself a German pancake. It is one you bake in the oven. It was really good.

By now I had received several texts from friends and family wishing me a great Thanksgiving. It was sad to talk to my family. I almost cried. I was missing all the fun! My nephew was doing cute things and so they took a pix of it and sent it to me. I am so glad they had fun! After lunch of bacon cheeseburgers--I made them, we went on the hunt for auto parts for the 4-runner Dan is trying to fix up. We did not have much luck. Just a little so we went back home and put the hoses on and tried to figure out the front brakes. Dan thinks it is the master cylinder. I just have no clue...Then we went to a movie. We saw 4 Christmases. It was pretty funny! Great holiday fun! After that Dan played Halo and I make Crummy Chicken for dinner. I was the only one who ate it though...don't know what is up with that. So I followed it up with some peppermint ice cream and called it good. Dan still played Halo so I finished reading my book. So while my Thanksgiving was not full of turkey and pie or the zoo it was a good one. I enjoyed relaxing and being with Dan. I am so thankful for the chance I have to be married. I am thankful for the interviews I have next week. I am extremely thankful for family and friends. I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful as well!

3 count them THREE interviews!!

I finally have some interviews. I have one on Monday, a working one on Tuesday, and another one on Wednesday. I really want the Wed one. It is 3 days a week, and really close to me. Tuesdays is an hour commute and Mondays is every other Sat. I dont mind working some Sat but I just do not want to be locked into every other one. But then again I was planning on working @ Albertsons pharmacy every Sat so might at well work hygiene. Bring on the burn out:) Not really. I am aching to clean some teeth! I want to get into that calc and give it a good scrape! I am sick...what can I say. Well, Thanksgiving is going to be very non-traditional for me. I am not sure of the final events so wait for the next post....

Missing Patients...

I have been a pharmacy technician for 8 years. During those 8 years I have done a lot of things. I have worked in a lot of pharmacies and for a lot of different pharmacists. I have met and worked with lazy techs, super ninja techs, so so techs, stupid techs, funny techs, etc. I have taught a lot interns. I have learned a lot from interns. I have been jealous of interns and the amount of money they make when I am doing all the work. But all in all it has been a fun ride. I have enjoyed being a pharmacy tech. I love the patients and hearing the funny stories. From boob rashes to sex changes to morning after pills following a rape, to how a certain med makes a certain male appendage go limp, to anti rejection meds following life saving transplant. It has been a wonderful experience and I have loved most of it.

Here in Oregon techs are not allowed to counsel patients on over-the-counter medication. In Utah we are allowed to if we feel comfortable. I did to the extend of my knowledge. If I did not know I asked the pharmacist. It wasn't a big deal for me. Well here I am having a hard time breaking that habit. It is hard for me. I have worked with one particular annul pharmacist who listens to every conversation I have with patients. She says I cannot tell them to get Ibuprofen or Tylenol. I can only show them where it is on the shelf. So here I am with a line of people and the person I am currently helping asks what is a good decongestant. I have to say I don't know let me as the pharmacist who is freaking busy on the phone or helping other patients so I have to sit and wait for her to come over and say....phenylephrine. I mean like I did not know that....If I was in Utah I would have said Pseudophed or phenylephrine and then sold it to them and moved the line along. Here in OR pseudophed is a class V narcotic and available only by prescription--Utah you can still get it over-the-counter. That is why Utah has a meth problem. Oh well. So far in Oregon I have not counted a CII medication, or reconstituted an antibiotic, counseled with a patient, or checked out someone all by myself. In OR the pharmacist has to counsel each patient when they have a new prescription and the computer required their fingerprint before I can finish the transaction. It is time consuming but good.

So I am adjusting to the rules of OR but it is a bit hard. I feel so useless. I miss treating patients. I miss the interaction and bonding that occurs between health care professionals and their patients. I really need to get a hygiene job. Luckily I am a newlywed and have other things to occupy my life:)

too funny

So today I came home from working pharmacy all day and there was a postcard addressed to Mary Ann Jones...then forwarded to Oregon. It was a postcard reminding me that it was time for me to schedule my dental cleaning. I laughed so hard. That is awesome! I am so glad that it came today. I have been missing my friends in Cedar and it was nice to know that someone cared enough to send me my reminder card. Ha ha ha.

I finally passed...

I finally got my Oregon Dental Hygiene license!!!! I am so happy. I have been stressing this for so long. I do not have the actual license but it is online--and baby that is all that matters!! I am so relieved that I passed that bugger of a law test! Failure is so hard to deal with. It feels like so much rejection and personal attacks. But passing is wonderful, marvelous and stupendous!

Portland the Great

So tonight I was driving home from working at Albertsons Pharmacy. It was 6 pm at night and so traffic as you know---good. It wasn't too bad considering it is a big city, Utah's traffic is a lot worse. It only added 10 min to my time. Anyway I was sitting there being all homesick for my friends, family and familiarity of Cedar City when I looked around me and noticed that I live in a
beautiful city! So i wished I had my camera with me. Then after another few minutes I realized I had my phone. So here I am on I-5 southbound going to merge onto I-84 eastbound while going over a huge river--Willamette River. It is amazing how the freeways wind and twist and bridge over this great river. It is beautiful. So here is a pic with my phone....you can see my side mirror in the bottom right corner.

This next picture is of the traffic under one bridge but in reality we are merging to go on top of the bridge you see at the top of the pic. Weird I now. Anyway, I have only been lost twice and both times Dan has saved my life and gotten me home safe and sound. Bless his heart. He has had to be so specific with directions. I don't have the mountains to tell me which way is East and I cannot see the sun to try to figure it out myself...so I am pretty much directionally challenged. I cannot say I am getting better but I am trying. Also drivers here are so nice and awesome. I now understand more fully the statement that Utah drivers suck! Don't be offended but it is true....

Well I feel better, not so homesick now. I have a wonderful husband who made me dinner all last week, met me at the airport with roses, washed, folded, and put away all the laundry, assembled bookcases and a computer desk, went grocery shopping (the first one so it was huge), he leaves me THE cutest messages on the wipe board. I am so lucky! Now if I could just pass my jurisprudence test for dental hygiene. I have failed twice already! I hate this feeling! I am not an idiot! I know the law. So this last time I called the Oregon Board of Dentistry and they helped me out. They said that even though I would never do what the question was asking but unless it specifically states you cannot do that you can. So weird. So I had to change my way of thinking. It is hard to try to know what the Board of Dentistry wants. I start second guessing myself and then those darn true/false questions I can talk myself out of both answers!

Anyway, I miss cleaning teeth. Weird I know! Well Portland is a beautiful city and I am trying to find my happy place here so my heart will stop yearning for Cedar City.

Mr. & Mrs. Dan Faust

On Nov 1,2008 I married Daniel George Faust. We totally eloped. We went to a judges condo. The judge was adorable. He made the ceremony quite comical. Anyway, here are some pics of Dan and I. I am totally biased but he is one attractive man!!! Friday night Emily came to Portland and we went out to dinner to some Italian restaurant that I cannot remember the name of. I was kind of freaking out that night. I was so nervous. I was questioning everything. I was doubting my choices and doubting my decision to move 1,091 miles leaving everything I knew and loved. I mean what the hell??? Anyway I am not sure if the doubts were normal but I made it through them and survived. Dan was a bit nervous seeing my reaction. During dinner he leaned over and asked if we were getting married in the morning. I scared him.

Eventually I calmed down after having a long talk with Dan. He is so good at calming my fears and helping me see what is a fear and what is just stupid girl thinking. I am so lucky to have him. So Friday night he dropped Emily and me off at our hotel and went home. Sat morning he was late picking us up. Dan is not a late person. So I was kind of nervous. Well he comes into the room and I can tell he is nervous. I am calm as a cucumber. It was funny to see how our emotions changed. Now that we were getting married in less than an hour he was freaking out. He was so nervous. I guess I had gotten all my cold feet out the night before. Also I had the comfort of the Holy Ghost. I know that sounds cheezy and lame but it is true. Heavenly Father helped me move and marry this man so much. I am truly grateful for my knowledge of God and our eternal purpose!! So even though I disappointed myself by marrying a man outside the temple I have the hope of a promise that I will be sealed one day. I pray everyday for that dream to come true.

Here is a side view shot of Dan, me and our judge. He was too funny. He called Emily Bula. It was great comic relief. We needed 2 witnesses and since Emily was so wonderful to come all the way to Portland from Yakima we only needed one more. Luckily the judge stopped one of his neighbors and he was our 2nd witness. I do want to take a moment to say that I know all of you who read this blog would have been at my side if I had just had the common courtesy to tell you I was getting married. I know each and every one of you would have been my 2nd witness and would loved to have been there to support me. And because I have this knowledge I did not feel I needed to ask you to come. It is the thought that counts....I know you all would have been there for me if I had just asked. But I wanted to do this as small and without hoopla as possible. I know that sounds cold and heartless but I am old and did not want the typical 20 year old Utah wedding with the dresses, flowers, cake (which you don't eat), decorating a gym in a church etc. I am sure you all know what a headache I just avoided:) Well anyway, I am happy. Dan is wonderful. Saturday he and I went back to the hotel and did not surface for a long time. When we came up for air we walked around downtown and went to a movie--Rocking Rolla. It was hilarious. Then we drove around Portland looking at the great contrast in leaf colors. The colors were bright yellow, orange, red and green. It is so beautiful here. Dan was trying to orient me so I can navigate my way around, but I was distracted by the scenery. Saturday was a wonderful day and I am so glad to be married to Dan Faust. If any need my address let me know and I'll email it to you alright.....

Elopement...

So by the way I got married.....Nov 1,2008. I decided I want to spend my life with Dan. I need this chance to grow. I love him and so I did it! Emily Adams was our witness. Thanks Em! I know so many of you would have been there if I would have told you I was doing this. But you see.....I am too involved with loving Dan i cannot think or see anything else. I will write more later with pics but thought y'all should know I am now Mary Ann Faust...