Chiro-in-training

Steve's passing on his chiro wisdom to Sophie. First was leg checks on Baby.

Then Bunny. Because, if you didn't know, animals can also benefit from chiropractic. (True story.)

The Steve offered himself as a guinea pig.

After the checks were carefully made,

The adjustment was made. Check out that form!

Announcement

Dr. Steve Perry is now licensed in the State of Nevada and adjusting like mad.

That is all.

Dr. Steve

I'm going to break from our roadtrip report with a couple of big announcements...

1. I would like to introduce you to Steve Perry, D.C.. (And soon-to-be C.C.W.P. - Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner) Steve was done in September (and got his diploma), but graduation ceremonies weren't until December. (They only hold them twice a year.)

The next photos are the reason why I need to take a photography class. Once I'm out of natural light and in strangely lit areas, I'm helpless. I practiced on 5 or 6 people before Steve went across the stage, trying different settings and this is what I ended up with.

Lovely. Sigh.

Graduation attire kind of fascinates me.

I've always wondered where the robes and funny hats came from. The robe Steve wore reminded me of something from Harry Potter.

Sophie liked the tassel.

Here we are on the day we've been waiting the last seven years for: graduation. We're officially real people! (We're 30 and 31, so it's about time, right?) Yikes. All of the hard work and long hours at school and clinic have paid off. And he even finished with honors.

The Perry clan came out for the big day. (His brother Michael, Amanda, and little Layla on the left, Dad & Mom Perry, our family, and Aunt Kimi on the end. Ivy just woke up, in case you're wondering. I guess the ceremony wasn't entertaining enough.

Everyone had to have their own pictures. Steve's Uncle Ron and Aunt Kathy also came with Steve's cousin Scott. (bottom right)

A few of Steve's favorites at the school: Dr. Donaldson (Dean of the Health Center, also LDS) on the top, Dr. Hawkins on the left, and Dr. Hiliker (Steve's clinic faculty advisor) on the right.

I'm really proud of Steve. I love that he found something to pursue that he's passionate about. How many people can say that they truly love their career? Of course, he has lot of work to do ahead as he starts working and eventually opens up his own clinic.

And that brings us to our next announcement. . .

2. We're moving to Reno, Nevada.

Steve got a job with a doc (Dr. Cliff Fisher) who has an upper-cervical (Blair)/full-spine office. We actually stayed at his house one weekend in October so Steve could check out his office. We didn't expect him to offer Steve a job because he wasn't sure if he was ready to take on another associate yet (he already has 4 other docs working for him). But he called us on our way to Vegas last month. And within a few weeks we got the OK.

(Side Note: Steve had to talk to the doctor's business coach after his phone interview with Dr. Fisher, and toward the end of their conversation he told Steve, abruptly, "I don't need to talk to you anymore. I like you." Then the business coach called Dr. Fisher back and told him he'd be an idiot not to hire Steve. I agree. But then again, I'm sort of biased.)

Steve starts mid-January. We're moving out there the weekend of the 8th into yet, another, little apartment (AHHHHH!), but that's only because we're planning on buying a house sometime this spring. We think our move will be longer than the typical year-long associateship, so we're taking the plunge.

I've never felt a burning desire to live in Reno. Ever. But it feels right. I'm excited to move on, but I start crying when I think of all of the dear friends we've made since we've been here. (And some who've left already.) So I don't think about that. Otherwise I'd be crying all the time.

So please don't make me cry until January 8th.

The Obligatory Trunk-or-Treat Post

After posting this photo, it was only natural that Steve dress up as Spock for Halloween. So who would I be? One of the only women on the Starship Enterprise who has a name: Uhura.

I have to preface this post by mentioning two things. . .

1. I am not a Star Trek fan.
2. Putting a lot of bronzer on your face and neck will NOT make you look black. A shade of tanning bed orange, yes, but not black. A shocker, I know.

Now we have that out in the open, may I present . . .

Spock, Uhura, Ariel, and Purple Ariel (according to Ivy)

Costume info...

I made the girls' tails from this tutorial (thanks Marisa!) with the help from my seamstress BFF (thanks Sarah!) It's nice to have talented friends who know stuff that you don't. I used scraps of leftover material to make the "seashells" on their shirts with ties in the back. Cost: under $20 for both costumes.

I found the tutorial for my dress here and used Sarah again. (thanks again Sarah!) Bet you'd never guess it used to be an XXL mens shirt. Paired it with some leggings. Cost: $10.75 for the shirt, the leggings, and the gold trim.

For Steve's I just taped some gold trim to a sweater. He really didn't need much because he looks so much like Spock to begin with. :) (Moreso the younger, better looking one from the new movie.... :))

Another round of, "SMILE! LOOK OVER THERE! GIRLS! HEY! SMILE! SMILE!" It didn't help that we weren't the ones taking the photo.

Here's proof that I'm really not a trekkie. It took me a second to get the fingers right...

We had our carnival/trunk-or-treat in our church parking lot. (Lucky for my orange-tinted face. We were all standing under orange-y street lights.) The other ward that shares our building basically put on the whole thing. I'm beginning to see that Samoans really know how to throw parties.

One more attempt at a photo when we got home...

Batty

Updates? Not really. We're just waiting around to see what our next big step is.

I think my kids are sensing that there may be some big changes soon. Sophie's still . . .

Sophie. Just a little more intense.

Ivy thinks she's grown up now.

She insists on walking everywhere, hates her car seat, and yells for panties every time I put a new diaper on her. We've had to resort to putting a pair of Sophie's panties over her pj's at night to pacify her.

And she isn't afraid of doing things that Sophie does.

(I tried to make this into a really fast slide show to simulate a flip book, but I couldn't figure out how. That would be cool.)

Steve's hanging in there. He's officially through going to classes, and hopefully his 12+ hour days will ease up while he finishes clinic over the next couple of weeks.

So, um. . . they have a little tradition at the school where the seniors run around the school in weird clothes during the last week of class. His class decided to do an 80s workout theme to this song.

Hence, the cut off shirt, "sweatband" (bottom of his shirt), and short shorts (which I saved you from. Although he does have nice, svelte caveman legs.)

Oh, and the mullet, which is actually MY hair. I still have my ponytails from when I chopped my hair in June.

I'm going a little nuts, too. Which is the only explanation I have of this:

I think I need a new routine.

Or a change of scenery.

Or some goals. . . . or somethin'.

Birthday Card for Steve

A little birthday wish from your girls. Happy 31st, Daddy!
(If you click on the picture it'll get bigger.)

No children were harmed in the making of this e-card, but there was a wardrobe malfunction and failure to re-dress.

As well as moments of distraction.

A Day in Monterey

Last week was the last week of Steve's 4-week break from class. (Not clinic, unfortunately. Clinic never sleeps.) With Steve's (slightly) more flexible schedule, we decided to take off a few times and do some fun things with the kids. We were lucky enough to play on the beach twice in one week! The first time we went to a small beach just up the freeway.

The girls wouldn't go near the water when we got there, so Steve dug a little trench and put water in it so they girls could splash around a bit. They got used to that, so they ventured out into the bay. Ankle deep. (Baby steps)

A few days later we spent the day in Monterey. We love Monterey. If it wasn't so expensive to live there, we'd plant ourselves there permanently, I think. We hadn't visited the aquarium since we moved here so we made sure and did that.

Side note: As I was pulling out photos to put on this post this afternoon, I noticed that Sophie, Ivy, and I are all wearing the exact outfits that we wore in this photo. Sophie insists on picking out her own clothes and she usually chooses this combo when it comes out of the washer (if I've hidden the "Kitty Dress" soon enough.)

The only decent picture of us inside:

Afterward we walked down Cannery Row and went down to the water.

Brave little Ivy let Dad play in the water as it lapped the sand.

Sophie wasn't into that.



She stayed up high and played in the sand.



As far from the water as she could possibly get.



After that and a visit to my great-uncle's place in Carmel, we found the Dennis the Menace park.



It was designed by the creater of the comic and is, quite possibly, the coolest public park we've ever been to. Not the best place to take a bunch of kids by yourself, though. There's no way you'd be able to keep an eye on more than one kid at a time. Luckily we're still 1-on-1.



Sophie's a slide girl.



This one kinda tickles as you slide down.



This one throws you around like a ragdoll. She went on this one about 8 times.



Ivy liked to walk around and point at stuff.



And brave an occasional slide.



But what she loves most of all is to climb.



To climb things that a 19-month-old should have no business climbing.



I stood behind her and spotted her, but she did all the climbing herself. When she got too high, I had to climb up myself so I could reach her. At that point, I was starting to freak out a little and kept my hands on her legs. She would have gone all the way up and onto the play structure if I hadn't have pulled her down. She's nuts.



Steve and I both went down the slides, too.



This one seriously makes you dizzy.



I don't think there's a male on earth that could resist a zipline.



After a long hour of playing (by then it was about 8PM), we got some drinks. . .



went to a local pizza place, drove 90 minutes home, then plopped ourselves into bed. The girls slept until 9AM the next morning -- probably the latest in their lives. It takes a lot to wear them out.