Dallas

Nate and I just got back from about 3 1/2 days in the wonderful city of Dallas, TX! Granted, we went there mainly because I was taking the third portion of my prosthetic boards but we still made a mini vacation out of it and had some fun!

First off, I think my exam went really well!! I feel better about it than I did after my orthotics portion, and I passed that one, so I think I should be just fine;) This portion of the boards involves actual patients that we have to interact with, evaluate, and take measurments and cast for a prosthesis. Then there are also sections that don't involve actual patients, but an examiner is there asking you questions....I must say I am better at and more comfortable with written tests, so these 5 hours of oral exams make me really nervous!  Anyway, a few people from my prosthetics class were also there so we reviewed together.....and also went out together....

Nate and I left Iowa Thursday evening and flew to Chicago then to Dallas. We got out rental car and found our hotel without any complications!! Being that is was about 1am when we checked in, we didn't do anything that day. Friday we visited a great mall in Dallas, North Park Mall. It has really ritzy stores (that we didn't even think about venturing in) and great restaurants all around it. We ate at McCormick and Schmicks seafood restaurant, it was GREAT. Friday night I reviewed with an old classmate.

Saturday was the exam starting at 7:15am and FINALLY ending at about 12:30. After that we had an afternoon and evening full of "stress relieving" activities, which may or may not have included visiting quite a few bars....you know how we roll, haha. My friend Maja and her husband Joe drove up from Austin to hang out with us too, it was great to see them!

Sunday, believe it or not, it freaking snowed in Dallas. It was only about 1/2 inch, but everyone in Dallas FREAKED OUT.  All schools were already closing for Monday and it was all over the news......haha, pretty humorous.  We did decide, however, that we probably shouldn't drive too much because yes, we know how to drive in 1/2 inch of snow, but EVERYONE ELSE DOESN'T! We did got out to eat for dinner, but mainly we spent a cozy day in our hotel room relaxing and recovering.

Monday we went to the 6th Floor Museum. This is the museum dedicated to JFK and houses the place where Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly shot from and killed the president. It is a weird feeling when you leave there. It's sad, interesting, eerie, and controversial all at once. It gave me goose bumps and a lump in my throat a few times, even Nate said he almost teared up while we watched and listened to what happened that day from the police and secret service recordings and eye witness testimony. I would definintely recommend it to anyone visiting anywhere near Dallas.

We were nervous our flight to CR was going to be delayed or cancelled since it had been snowing all day in Iowa, but luckily all our flights and connections were on time, whew! It was hard to get up and go to work today, but I guess I better get used to it, our next holiday at work is Memorial Day, yikes!