Long Course State Swim Meet

The end of August has always been the Long Course State Swimming Championships. For the past two years this has been a big part of our lives. This past August was Brian's second time to compete in the Long Course State Championships. We planned our move to Pittsburgh around the state meet.

Warm-ups can get crowded at the state meet.

This year Brian qualified for the meet in the 50m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m breaststroke, 50m butterfly, and 200m IM. Although he swam well, finishing third for three of his events, it was bittersweet as he said goodbye to good friends that he had made over the past few years. On Saturday, the final day of the meet, some of his friends bought balloons for him and cookies for everyone. The meet finished with Brian giving goodbye hugs to his friends and teammates.

It is the norm for swimmers to write their event, heat, and lane on their hand so that they will not miss their event.

Mom giving a pep talk.

After each swim Brian talks to the coach for a breakdown of the swim.

One of Brian's favorite things was getting a swim cap with his name on it!

Brian and Mom.

Brian with grandpa and grandma Nordgren.

Brian and some of his teammates.

Getting ready for the team cheer.

Boys relay team with coach Marsing.

Brian and Will.

Swimming is a big part of Brian's life. We look forward to figuring out how that will all work here in Pennsylvania. Hopefully he can find another team and some new great friends.

Breaststroke - Brian's Stroke - 1 of 5

Breaststroke - Brian's Stroke - 2 of 5

Breaststroke - Brian's Stroke - 3 of 5

Breaststroke - Brian's Stroke - 4 of 5

Breaststroke - Brian's Stroke - 5 of 5

Que Jaws music. . .

Home Sweet Home

I just wanted to give you all a glimpse of where we are living. It actually fits our family quite well and the kids are adjusting to sharing rooms and living in smaller spaces. We really were spoiled to have had such a large home before.

It is a three story townhouse with a two car garage, storage room and entry way on the ground level.

Front doorway.

Partially finished storage room.

On the main level we have a kitchen, dining area, and family room. All of them are good size - the kitchen has more cabinet space than our house did. :)  We also have a small bathroom and a laundry room on this level.

Upstairs are two kids bedrooms, a bathroom, HUGE hall closet, a HUGE master bedroom and bath. :)

Brian and Cade share one room and Adra, Jase & Mak share the other. My favorite part of the master bedroom is the his and her walk-in closets. Ryan is jealous of mine because it has a vent so it is air conditioned. :)  Obviously we have no furniture in these pictures. The truck was a few days late and it took a few more days to buy all the furniture we needed to replace what we sold or left behind. I have never been so grateful to sleep in my own bed after spending several nights in mediocre hotel beds and then several more nights on an air mattress on the floor. As soon as we get everything organized and pictures on the walls I will take more pictures of what it looks like now with furniture.

My favorite part of the whole house is the deck off the dining room. I love the view! It is so pretty and green here. I am not sure the pictures do it justice.

It isn't easy being so far away from loved ones, but there are a few perks. The beautiful rolling hills are growing on me. I hear rumor that there are mountains here, but so far I have seen nothing of the sort. We have visited lakes and parks and driven through some gorgeous places. But that will have to wait for another post!

We love and miss all of you!

PA you say?

In the time since we last updated our blog there have been many things that have changed in our lives. One of the most noteworthy would have to be my acceptance into CRNA (certified registered nurse anesthetist) school in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

I was called by the school in October 2009 and asked to fly out to have an interview. The appointment they offered me was on 16 December 2009. It was a nerve racking wait to actually fly out and interview. Like my typical self, I had to fly out a day early and find my way around and get settled so that I would know exactly where to go and what to expect the next day. Thank goodness for the GPS navigation system that my dad let me borrow.

St. Vincent Basilica

I started my interaction with the school on the 16th by meeting with a student who showed me around the building. After talking with him for a few minutes I was invited back to the room to meet with the interview committee. I'm not actually sure if there are called an interview committee, but if you pack 8 or 10 people in the room and they are all there to interview you - sounds like a committee to me.

The interview itself was fairly informal with regards to the types of questions that they asked. None were related to clinical knowledge, mainly to how I would handle myself in various situations. I was asked the infamous "tell us one of your weaknesses" question. Always a tricky one to answer. I decided to go with - Laundry. They apparently thought that this was a good answer and had a laugh about it. I think it was the right answer (and the truth too).

The interview went amazingly well. I was really relaxed about the whole thing, which is amazing considering how little I like the self promotion business. I really felt the hand of the Lord in the process. The interview finished and I thanked everyone for the invitation to interview with them. They thanked me by giving me a 25 question clinical test. The test was difficult, but I only missed two questions! The secretary Jo told me that was well above average. Nice job me.

I flew home feeling good about the whole situation. Everything really felt like it fell into place. Lewis Bailey a senior student from Utah even called me at my hotel and came over and talked through the whole interview with me. Darin Bloomfield called me and asked me if he could help me with anything and made sure that I got in touch with Lewis. It was just a great situation.

On the afternoon of 22 December 2009 I returned a call from Dan Stairs, the director of the program. He told me that they were impressed by me and were contacting me to offer me an early acceptance into the Excela Health School of Anesthesia, class of 2012. He told me that he wanted to call before Christmas to give me the good news. He explained that a letter with instructions for the formal acceptance were on their way.

Needless to say, Julie and I were super excited. It really was the best Christmas present that we could have. It really felt like a burden was lifted with that phone call. It was a nice reassurance that we really have been led to this point in our lives and have been following the spirit. I am excited to begin this next phase of life.


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Here is a closer satellite view of St. Vincent College. It is located in Latrobe, Pa.

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