Settling in

So I will now retract my previous statement about it not raining alot. It has rained EVERY DAY! I can't say I'm sick of it yet, but it does get annoying. I want to see this "beautiful summer" everyone keeps talking about! In time I'm sure.

I am officially done with my first week as an intern. I sat thru 2 days of very boring staff orientation then Wednesday was my first official day. I'm working in St. Vincent's hospital in their fitness center called Wellness Works. We work with the centers in 3 other hospitals around the Portland area. They offer a place for employees to come work out on their breaks. But the main thing we do is the corporate wellness program for all 7 Providence Hospitals in Oregon- that's about 14,000 people! There are always events and promotions going on, but the one about to kick off is called "Wellness Adventure" and its a 12 week challenge for the employees to reach health goals. They set goals for anything they want- weight loss, quitting smoking, stress management, etc. and we give them support the whole way to help them acheive their goal. The cool thing about it is the hospital is donating $1 per participant to the food bank and then another $5 each to whoever sticks with it the whole 12 weeks. It's a great program- much much bigger than anything else I've worked with.

In addition to that, Molly- my supervisor- is letting me poke around in other departments in the hospital too. I will (hopefully) be sitting in on an open heart surgery pretty soon, and also want to help with a program in the nutirion department helping educate parents on childhood obesity. I'm hoping to milk this internship for all it's worth and see how much I can see in my 3 months here.

In an attempt to make some friends, I signed up to be put on a soccer team in the area. NUWS (Northwest United Women's Soccer) is a non-profit association dedicated to promoting women who want to play soccer in Portland. There are TONS of teams, so hopefully I meet some cool people.

I'm still waiting to get internet hooked up, so hopefully pictures soon! Hope everyone has a good weekend!

xoxo

Kelly

I made it!!

I made it to Portland! Dad and I set out on Sunday and made it here early Tuesday morning. We had a pretty good trip- long, but good. We took the "scenic route" thru Salt Lake, Boise and followed the river into Portland.
My apartment is better than I thought. My bedroom alone is bigger than my whole apartment in foco, it seems like it at least. Everything is new too, it was all gutted and remodeled, so everything is shiny and new. My roommate moves in on June 6th, so I have a few weeks to myself before I meet her.
Dad and I spent a few days exploring Oregon before he left this morning. We took a day and went to the Coast- it was rainy and cold, but still cool. We accidentally found the Evergreen Air and Space Museum and decided to stop on our way back. It was really cool and the highlight of the day. Howard Hughes' giant plane the Spruce Goose was there and it was incredible. The pictures don't do it justice- the thing is absolutely enormous!
We also spent a day and ventured into downtown Portland. The light rail stops about a mile from my apartment and we took it into downtown and can even make it out to the airport without getting off. It's pretty nice!
We also went to IKEA! I got some stuff for my apartment and we wondered around for almost 3 hours. I think Dad liked shopping- don't tell Mom!
I start my internship on Monday- eeek! I'm excited and nervous too. It should be a good experience, even if I hate it.
Well, I better go do some more exploring! Miss you all and hope everyone's swell!
Kelly

The new place

Here's my new place in Portlandia. It's pretty neat-o. It's called The Commons at Timber Creek. The area is about 6 miles west of downtown Portland. The website is:
http://www.forrent.com/apartment-community-profile/1006739.php
(the link won't cooperate, so you have to cut and paste it).

It's a 2 bedroom, 2 bath townhouse with a balcony and a little patch of grass. It was just remodeled, so we have new everything! The complex has 2 pools, a gym, and is about 2 miles from the hospital I'll be working in. I'm so glad we (and by we I mean Crystal) found it!

My official address is:
12244 NW Barnes Rd. Apt 3
Portland, OR 97229

Hope to see visitors this summer!

My last weekend in CO

I could not have asked for a better last weekend in Colorado. Saturday we had a yard sale. I got rid of a ton of stuff and made way more money than I thought. I also got to see Julie and Andrew- both of who I haven't seen in months! Julie has been in Utah playing ski bum since November, and is leaving for Kenya in a few weeks for 2+ years with the Peace Corps. It's going to be sad to see her go, but she's going to have such an amazing experience! I makes me feel silly for being nervous about Portland, when she's going to AFRICA!
After our yard sale Andrew, Julie, Amanda and I headed out on our last Fort Collins Brewery tour! We hit a winery, O'Dells and New Belgium. It was so much fun! We've had so many good times at the breweries, it seemed fitting to make one last trip before we all leave!
I also got to spend Mother's Day with my parents. They came up and cleared out my furniture and helped me pack up some stuff. Then we went and ate at Macaroni Grill- which was delicious! It was sad saying goodbye to my Mom on Mother's day, but it was still a good day!
Julie-kins and I at New Belgium!
Amanda, Andrew and Julie at O'Dells.

All 4 of us at New Belgium

It was bright out!

hoola Hooping at New Belgium

Weston's cake he "made" me


My Dad and I

Mom and I on Mother's Day. Obviously.

T-Minus 4 days!

So it's about time to say my last goodbyes and clean out the ole' apartment. I leave in T-minus 4 days. EEEEK! It hasn't fully hit me yet, but I'm sure it will soon.
We had a going away dinner with a bunch of co-workers and friends from the gym. We had dinner at Old Chicago and drinks out in Old Town after. It was fun and I'm glad I got to see everyone outside the gym! Thanks for everyone who came out!
Tyson, me and my favorite spinning instructor Elana!


Amanda doesn't work at the gym, but she might as well.


I had to throw one of Jack and Nick in- just cause they are awesome!