A typical Saturday in Omaha

I took a long walk this morning, finishing up at the Farmer's Market, downtown, where I got some huge zucchini and six bell peppers. I'm concocting some vegetarian recipes because my sister Merf is coming to visit me in two weeks! Yay. Thanks, Edie, this means a lot to me (she has nearly six nicknames and I just realized that I used two of them in the same phrase). Peter and I are excited to see you and to show you a gorgeous fall in Omaha. Bring your jacket 'cuz temps are dropping! Peter and I usually go to the gym in the late morning or rollerblade on one of the many trails around Omaha, then go to the computer lab for a few hours (we don't have the internet at home). He studies and I work on my thesis. Later, we go to his parents for some free grub (we obviously need free food if we can't afford the internet at home). We spend the night at his parents every Saturday night for two reasons: they live right by the church and Peter walks to his 6:30am Bishopric meeting. Then, I can take our only car to church at 9am or so. Its fun to spend time over there with them in their big fat house all weekend. Back to the thesis... ugh...

Happy 1st Birthday!

Here are a few members of the Nelson clan with Pierre and Rachel's twins - Jordan and Morgan - on their first birthday!

Cancer sucks!

My thesis advisor, Dr. June Mecham, told me last November that she had breast cancer. The doctors had caught it early, although it was an aggressive form. At age 35, she's healthy and we were all optimistic about her chances of a full recovery. She underwent chemo all last year and her hair began growing back this summer. 3 weeks ago, they found a lesion on her liver. !? The doctors were afraid it had spread to her liver. She went in for another round of tests last week, and the verdict is that it HAS spread, not only to her liver, but to her bones and her lungs. It is at stage four, so terminal, and she doesn't know if she has a few months, or a few years. :( There are not really any words adequate to respond to someone when they deliver news of this nature. I was devastated and horrified. She has a 2.5 year old! She finished her PhD only a few years ago and with a 900 page book about to be published, she is at the beginning of her career. It is going to be a very difficult year for me, working closely with her on my thesis, watching her suffer and worsen, knowing that she knows that her days are numbered. I have been somber and pensive this week, reflecting on the plan of salvation and the gloriousness of the Resurrection. What a blessing to have the gospel. Interestingly, Dr. Mecham is teaching a class on the 'Medieval Church' this summer. We were lightheartedly joking about the Catholic church and its colorful history. She remarked that it is necessary to be able to laugh at all religion's history because, "all religions are man-made and men make mistakes!" Well, I didn't bear my testimony about a church that is definitely NOT man-made, at least not in that moment, but I'm sure praying for the appropriate moment sometime this upcoming year. The irony is that she specializes in women's spirituality in the middle ages. Its been difficult to perform an academic exercise on the subject, considering how I feel about my own religion and my spirituality. So, that's my life right now. I am sad for her. We're the same age. But, God is good. Of that I am sure. And He has a plan...

27 Applications

Which one is your favorite? We had to come up with a 2"x 2" picture of Peter to send in with all of his applications for oral surgery residencies last month. We took a bunch, but we selected one of these two. We got in trouble at Wal-Mart, because Peter was standing on a chair and I was taking pictures of him (it was the only solid background we could find!) The Wal-Mart employee was rather suspicious of our behavior, like we were spying on the magic of Wal-Mart or something...? Trying to steal the secrets. Anyway, Peter send in 27 applications to 27 different oral surgery programs. We find out in January. Here's hoping we get in... somewhere!?

Pizza, per favore...

School began last week. I teach Elementary Italian on Monday and Thursday evenings from 6-8pm. There are 15 students, including a fellow professor from the Architecture/ Engineering dept. (originally from Turkey) and a P.A. who works at UNMC (University of Nebraska Medical Center). Random professionals want to learn Italian, and because its at night, it's convenient for them. Its a fun class, so far. Last week we were practicing our numbers, alphabet, addresses and basic conversation. Put 'em all together and what do you got? Pizza, per favore! We practiced ordering pizzas on the phone. Well, we did that a few times, then Peter showed up on cue with 2 pizzas in hand. My class was surprised and appropriately grateful.