Through the Good and Bad! What really matters?!

With  little time to spare before finals I decided to write a little blog post about some fun and not so fun current events.  I will start off with the negative and end with the positive.  So last week Hailey and I decided to babysit my second cousins kids, the Gourleys.  This was not the negative experience. I dropped Hailey off on Wednesday night in Sunnyside, halfway between Yakima and Kennewick(Tri-cities), and was planning to meet Hailey in Kennewick Friday evening after my exams.  So I studied hard Wednesday night and woke up to a crazy ice storm.  I really wasn't paying attention to the road conditions nor the temperature outside as I drove to take my exams.  I was more worried about the nerves, blood vessels, and anatomy of the gut than I was about getting in a wreck on the slick roads.  So all was merry and bright up until the turn from University Parkway into the school parking lot.   On the entrance to the parking-lot there is a double wide sidewalk that makes up the entrance. Upon hitting that sidewalk my car decided to fling itself sideways and into the curb.  Not a good thing to happen 15 minutes before exams.  Moments later another car comes inches away from sliding into my car.  My car hit hard enough to bend my tire to the point it wouldn't turn. So I turned off my car, threw on the warning lights, and ran inside to tell security to put cones around it until I could deal with the issue post exams.  2.5 hours later I called my insurance and got things squared away.  We are still waiting on an estimate. Secretly we hope for a new car. Haha. Unfortunately that day I also broke my favorite watch, which I still need to see if I can exchange at Target. So it was not a good day/weekend for future Dr. Bennion.
After getting a rental car, I met up with Hailey in Kennewick and we had a blast babysitting the Gourley kids.  Nevertheless my luck still was looking bad. Sunday night we drove home and I felt weak and clammy.  Upon arriving at home I had to head for the toilet as I had probably the worst diarrhea I have ever had in my life, no joke. It was ironic having such bad bowel issues as we had recently studied the gut as well.  Oh man my enteric nerve system was tearing me a new one! Look that up! I have been to Peru, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina and never got diarrhea like this. I won't go into to many details, but let's just say it was bad enough to where Hailey laughed and yelled from the bedroom, "Are you for real? You are so sick." So after what felt like losing 80% of my bodily fluids, I climbed into bed at 8:00 p.m. and planned to wake up and cram for my Histology Image exam the next day, which was today. I feel lots better today, too bad Hailey is now sick!
After all this bad happened to me I realize a lot of good has also happened to me.  I passed all of my exams, kinda.  I mean kinda because I got a 67% on my biochem exam, but will most likely be curved to a C-C+ because so many people struggle with that class.  I chose to let that class slide so I could catch up on my Anatomy and that payed off as I aced that exam, which is one of the most difficult classes to do that in first year. So all in all I am passing all my classes with flying colors going into finals.  I have calculated my grades to where I only need to get 50-60% on my final exams to pass my classes.  I hope to do better of course, but that takes off a lot pressure as I am not relying on the finals to pass the classes. The histology image exam went very well today and tomorrow I have a clinical skills exam where I pretend to give a physical to a patient.  Should be fun playing doctor instead of looking at books all day.
Even after all this bad stuff happened I have a lot to be grateful for.  For Thanksgiving Hailey, Olive, and I flew to Utah due to a gracious donation from my Great Aunt Phoebe, and celebrated my Grandma and Grandpa Allen's 65th wedding anniversary.  I was able to catch up with family that I haven't seen in almost 10 years.  It was an amazing experience.  I am so grateful for family.  A lot can happen in a lifetime,  I cannot believe the amazing legacy my grandparents have created.  I cannot even imagine the joy my grandparents felt during that occasion.  I love my family and all the weirdness that comes with it.  That's what carries me through even my bad times.  I realize that I have a lot of "STUFF" that I care about like my computer, my car, my phone, my education, my goals, and the list goes on and on. What truly matters is family and people!  I love my family and I still have a family even when I wreck my car.  Hailey wasn't too happy about that, but she reminded me it could have been worse, Hailey or Olive could have been hurt or I could have been hurt. Point is, life sucks, shiz happens, and money comes and goes, what is left is family and those you love.  God is good, He tries us, and He loves us.  I can't believe I am where I am at in my life and I can't believe I have such a hot wife and cute baby.  I am living my dream and bad things happen, but I take a deep breath and say, "LIFE IS GOOD!"

 Our first family flight! Olive was a wiggle worm, but didn't even cry!

 Grandma Allen is about 85 in this pictured and Olive is 11 months! Olive and her first meeting!

Too bad neither of them will remember this day until the eternities! Haha. Sorry not that funny! Haha

 Part of family pictures! Mom and Olive look like Russians with Yak fur! Ow ow!

 Olive can now say she once met her Great Grandma and Grandpa Allen! What an amazing legacy!

Poor car! My bad!!!!!