E & A's Clubs

Eric is the club founder and president of the BYU Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu club on campus, while I am the president of the BYU Pre-Pharmacy club. We've had a lot going on with our clubs lately. Here's what's been going on:

Eric's been having a great turn out for his club meetings (every Wednesday and Saturday). He and some of his club members were meeting everyday for a month to prepare for a competition this past Nov. 15. It was at Throwdown in Orem and lasted ALL day. It was pretty cool to watch because everyone in Eric's club placed except for one guy.

Eric's club members (Eric refereed for the first 5hrs before his matches)

The advanced winners

Eric took 1st place in his Advanced light-weight division. I was so proud and oh so nervous. Before Eric competed one guy was convulsing on the ground because his cervical spine (from what I could see) was flexed pretty hard and he was being choked. Another guy was carried away in a stretcher to the hospital for landing on his upper thoracic/cervical spine area. Eric came out of his first match winning against a wrestler who previously was in a 30min. match. Eric took him out in less than 5min.

Eric gearing up for his first match against the wrestler

Rolling in the cage

The next guy Eric went up against was a man covered in tattoos (like many of the guys there that day). He put up a great fight but kept trying to get Eric in ankle locks (very dangerous and dirty moves). Eric made a sweet Judo take-down on the guy, and the guy did a flying arm bar on Eric. In the end Eric won and the guy popped his rib out or something with the cartiledge connecting the rib to the sternum because there was a bump near that area, and was very painful.

Winner!

Posing with Michael Peays

#1 Fan

Now my club is completely boring next to Eric's, but I have to say that the leadership this year has completely turned the club around. Last year the club was falling apart, but my presidency took over and now we actually have a turnout at the meetings. We've done a lot of advertising. We recently had two pharmacists come speak to our club from the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. Currently we're working on having a field trip to the University of Southern Nevada (Draper campus).

These pictures are from the allied health week on campus (Nov.21). Our club had a game where you had to match the brand name drug to its generic counterpart for a prize of delicious chocolate.

'Tis the Season to be Happy

So basically life is great, and I love every minute of it. Eric and I are graduating this December, and I'm so happy that I've been able to have the education I've worked for and have met so many incredible people. I'm sad that I'm graduating, BYU is awesome and is full of awesome people. This was truly and one in a million experience and I wouldn't have traded it for anything. I mean, I've been in two cadaver classes, physical therapy, biomechanics, physics, music, religion, chem labs, nutrition, public speaking, microbiology and Korean classes (to name a few of the interesting ones) and I'm going to miss them so much.

Right now I love being in my orthopedic impairments (EXSC 460) class, learning how to assess different nerve or bone or muscle impairments and learning how to treat them. But more than the classes I'm going to miss my peers and teachers. Working together in groups and learning together is a wonderful feeling. Having teachers as sources of knowledge to answer my questions is a resource so valuable its bewildering. I love school so much. Eric loves it too and one of the many reasons we're attracted to each other is because we both love learning.

Another reason that life is great is because I have a great job. I'm a pharmacy technician (Andrea Stevens CPhT) in a closed-door pharmacy (we send out meds to assisted living and nursing homes- no dealing with customers!) in Springville, Utah. I have great co-workers and an awesome pharmacist I work with. I never dread going into work, sometimes I even wish I could be there longer. And if I get into pharmacy school, school will be that much easier because I already know the top 200 drugs, and their basic function. I love being in the pharmacy track, but sometimes I wish I could be a PA or MD because they get to work with patients- hands on touching and using your knowledge to solve their maladies or problems. I can't afford the time for that though, as I want to have a family in the near future, but maybe in the next life...

Life is also good because it's CHRISTMAS season. I don't particularly care about counting down to Dec. 25, because I love the season surrounding it. Eric and I have decorated our apartment a little and it's so cozy and full of Christmas spirit. I don't even want to think about taking the decor down, that will be a sad day. I wish we could have Christmas decorations up all year. And Christmas music makes me so happy (You're a mean one Mr. Grinch just played on my pandora radio station, oh yea!)

But the number one reason I choose to be happy is because I am marriend to my best friend and we are so in love. We are great friends and have thoroughly enjoyed our first year of marriage (coming up on Dec. 20). We love being members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we have wonderful friends who support us, we support each other and help each other try to be the best people we can be. I'm so lucky. And I love the fact that Eric will be mine for eternity. That makes my heart smile.