Work Hard, Play Hard

Cait and I buckled down this week in our studies in order to free up the weekend. Not only did we have a great weekend, but we totally went for it with organized activities.

On Saturday we both hopped on our cyclo cross bicycles for what was likely our final race of the season. The race was held here in Hanover and we had an absolute blast putting out the watts on our home turf. The course had it all; grass, sand, mud, roots, rocks, water, hills, flats, concrete. We loved it.

Immediately, and I mean immediately after we crossed the finish line we forewent the usual post-race chit chat and headed back for the truck. Quickly throwing our bicycles onto the rack, off we went for Thompson Arena, home of Dartmouth's hockey teams.

This was a very special trip however because it marked Cait's first ever, organized, fully-padded hockey game. Her skating legs are starting to find themselves and she'll definitely be a force to be reckoned with soon enough.

She's skating with some very talented women and together they put the hurt down on U Mass, 3-0.

 
Thompson Arena.

 
Cait on the move. Watch out for number 10 y'all.

Oh right, did I mention it's still Saturday! Ha.

Enter, Sunday.

This morning we laced up our running shoes to participate in the CHaD (Children's Hospital at Dartmouth) Hero Half Marathon. A fundraiser, this event typically attracts thousands of participants. And, as if the money going to a great cause wasn't enough, everyone dons their best super hero garb.

 
Team Hope, cape clad and read to go. Let's just say we didn't look this spry following the race.

We had a blast, the weather could not have been better, and we even were able to catch up with some visiting friends as we made our way through the streets of Hanover and Norwich. This is an event we'll likely enter each year we are here in beautiful New England. However, we have decided that training for it could be a worthy endeavor. More simply put, I can barely walk right now.

We went for it, we worked hard, we played hard, and we are exhausted.

Buenas noches.

Riley

Rum! Ney! Rum! Ney! Rum Ney! RUMNEY!

Since we've arrived in the northeast we've had a steady schedule of weekend adventures, though most have been local. In the midst of last week Cait decided we needed to branch out and explore somewhere that isn't directly adjacent to Hanover. Thus, we committed, made the drive to Rumney, NH, and embarked upon an absolutely spectacular day of fall climbing.

 
Hmm... Where should we go?

 
Cait lacing up for an exploratory trip up the beautiful schist walls.

 
A post climbing viewpoint. The fall colors are in full effect!

 
A wonderfully detailed shot taken by Cait.

 
Don't forget to look up!


The walk out. Don't you just love fall?

The day could not have been more perfect. We'll definitely make the trip back to Rumney! Come visit and we can all go together!

Riley

Cloaked

On September 28, Cait was officially "cloaked" at her White Coat Ceremony. The ceremony centered upon a passage of responsibility as each student accepted their white coats and embraced the journey before them.

 
Cait being assisted into her coat by a faculty member.

While the ceremony was progressing, so was the weather outside of the chapel and soon what was already a fantastic day became even more wonderful. Oh, and did I mention we had some special guests!

 

Hot off of a cross-country flight we were joined by Cait's folks. The weather could not have been better during their visit and we took full advantage of it by way of walks, a soccer match, walking downtown Hanover, and of course, eating some delicious meals.

What a weekend!

Riley

The Doctor Seuss School of Medicine

Well. I MADE IT! It is almost Labor Day and I've already been in school for almost three weeks with my first set of tests behind me and the next set coming up soon. It has been a whirlwind, but I am loving the chance to get so invested in a profession that I truly believe in and that will likely be something that I do for a long, long, long, long time to come.

I thought that it might be fun to share one of my first assignments with you. This is an essay that I wrote about my experience with my first patient...my cadaver in anatomy lab.



Cadaver Story

To say that there was a presence in the room is an understatement. The combined energies and spirits of fifty people, alive and passed, students and donors, was overwhelming. I was nervous and anxious about my first interaction with the body of one deceased person, but as soon as I walked into a room with over 20 body bags that nervousness turned into a feeling of lightheadedness and nausea.

In light of the challenge ahead of me, I resorted to the methods I use in any daunting or nerve-racking situation. I divided the experience into steps of manageable size. Today, those steps were crumb-sized. Find my safety glasses. Write my name on my apron. Put on my gloves. Unzip the body bag. Find the drainage hole in the bag. Clean the right knee of the donor. Wipe off the remnants of the embalming process on the upper left arm. Drain the bag. Hold the scalpel. Tighten my grip on the hemostat. Cut between the white and the red tissue. Mop up the fluid…the list goes on.

I turned my first patient encounter into a series of interactions to achieve an end goal. This isn’t any new wisdom. My experience with medicine thus far has been consistent with this technique. However, it was unique with this patient because the steps were not interactive. Usually, I would have a checklist of things to accomplish (check airway, check breathing, check pulse...) and the patient will give me feedback with each check. Through this discourse a relationship is built, even if it is purely based off of vital signs there is a dynamic component from both sides of the interaction. Now, I was learning to build a new type of relationship based off of static anatomy because even though my donor was very compliant in letting me complete the tasks at hand, his dynamic part of our interaction happened weeks, months, or years earlier when he made the decision to donate his body and I wasn’t a part of it.

I found this disconnect unnerving. The relationship was too one-sided. Throughout the session, if at any point I lost focus of the task at hand, the details of the larger picture would swell up inside my head and bring back the lightheadedness and the queasiness. While in the room with the donor, it was too difficult to process the context of cutting into and mutilating a body (in a very organized way) for my own education and betterment.

As the class was wrapping up, I was barely able to hold onto my steady grasp of completing the small tasks without my mind slipping back toward the larger context. I made it out after washing the tools, zipping the bag, washing my hands…then I HEADED UP INTO THE FRESH AIR and I felt much BETTER.

In the two weeks following this first experience, I have begun to understand and accept the ongoing relationship that I will have with the donor in a healthier, more dynamic way. I now view this patient experience as two parts. The first happens in the lab where the focus is on tissues, bones, organs, vessels and my learning goals. The second, and more important, can only happen outside of the lab where I am able to reflect on this patient’s contribution to my education and to understand the choice that he made in donating his body. For me, engaging in these two separate processes has now made the relationship and experience more whole.




- Cait

Road Trip!

We made it! We are now residents of the state of New Hampshire. Cait is in the thick of medical school. I am in the thick of trying to get our home organized, as well as registering, licensing, insuring, and organizing our lives.

However, we had an unforgettable time getting here and that's worth sharing!

Upon leaving Cait's folks' home in Seattle,  we spent a little over two weeks traveling across the country, stopping along the way to see friends and family or just do fun things! The image above more or less depicts our route of travel.We hit Washington, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and finally New Hampshire!

Some Memorable Moments:
-  Cait's folks seeing us off.
- The entire drive without air conditioning!
- My sister informing, as I finished complaining, that vehicles didn't used to have air conditioning (a.k.a Suck It Up!).
- Going on two brutal mountain bike rides in Sun Valley.
- Burgers in Victor.
- Watching our nephew on his bicycle.
- Spending time with the Hopemans!
- Hiking to the falls.
- Riding Johnny Behind The Rocks.
- Fremont Canyon!
- Having some punk teenagers steal our camping chairs and getting said chairs back.
- Jumping into Pathfinder Reservoir with my folks.
-Watching Adam and Pearson compete in a triathlon.
- Seeing my ski coaches at the triathlon.
- Visiting Laramie after many years away!
- Vedauwoo!
- Mount Rushmore at sunset!
- Seeing Sioux Falls in Sioux Falls!
- Going to Iowa, just because we wanted to.
- Seeing every Twin Cities located Hopeman there was to see.
- Spending the day with my Grandfather.
- The S.S. Badger Ferry across Lake Michigan.
- Catching up with family you haven't seen in such a long time!
- Poppycock's Restaurant, Traverse City, MI
- Road construction signs with low speed limits that play host to no apparent road construction.
- Spending time with Cait's Grandmother.
- The George Washington Bridge.
- Three Stones Restaurant, Brattleboro, VT.
- Crossing the New Hampshire state line.
- Arriving to our new home in the dark.
- Meeting our wonderful landlords.
- Two weeks of absolute wonder, exploration, and beauty.

Cait and I have been to 25 states together! Whoa! Only 25 to go!

Who's in for Hawaii?

Riley

The Photographs Are In!

Choose Either:

Slideshow

Or

Full Gallery
(Username: HopemanWedding, Password:10107)

Enjoy!

The Hopemans!

Whirlwind

What a difference a month can make! This past month has been jam-packed and our lives are on a much different track than they were the last time we posted. Thus, my hope is that this entry will serve as an update of everything Caitlin & Riley.

On June 16th, I graduated from IslandWood! It was a wonderful celebration of my ten month program made all the sweeter by having my folks and Caitlin's folks in attendance. I will sure miss my colleagues, professors, faculty, and students but feel much more empowered as an educator than ever before.



Four days later I awoke feeling like I was making an enormous mistake. I didn't want to spend the first year of our marriage across the country from my soon-to-be wife. I didn't want to attend the University of Washington. I didn't want to live in Seattle. I quickly realized that I wouldn't be as happy as I wanted to be. Fortunately, Caitlin was incredibly supportive and understanding.

For the entire morning, I scoured the internet looking for Master of Education programs in the vicinity of where Caitlin will be doing her medical school. I'd missed the application deadline for most. Many schools didn't offer an Elementary Education focus. I sent out a slew of e-mails and the first to respond came from a woman at Antioch University New England. She was incredibly kind, offering to hear me out and answering my countless questions. The more I spoke with her, the more incredible Antioch sounded. This was exciting! I was never this excited about the University of Washington...

So, I applied and waited for my paperwork to make its way across the country via USPS.

On June 23rd, we drove to Idaho to finalize our wedding preparations.

On June 24th, I had a wonderful interview with an Antioch faculty member that I thought went really well.

June 27, June 28, June 29, June 30 - Wedding, Wedding, Wedding! We got married. It was incredible! We cannot stop talking about how amazing it all was and how fortunate we were and are. It deserves its own blog and we will definitely take the time to post some photographs as soon as we have those.



Since our wedding it's been go, go, go... After all we are moving across the country!

Oh, and on June 3rd, I was accepted to Antioch University New England!

Otherwise, we've packed up our apartment and carted everything over to Caitlin's folks' home in Seattle.



We had two UHaul "U-Boxes" dropped at Caitlin's folks' driveway.



We filled them to the gills!



They picked them up and they're on the way to New Hampshire!



And now?

We have a couple more days in the Seattle area before we are road-tripping our way across the country in a honeymoon-eqsue, mountain-biking-theme-esque, see-loved-ones-along-the-way-esque, take-in-the-sights-esque, enjoy-our-wonderful-lives-esque manner.

We hit the road Sunday bound for Hampsha! Touch base with us if you are en route and feel so inclined! Our navigational beacon is bound for adventure!

Riley

THAILAND

Hello!

I am finally putting up some of the pictures from my trip with Zoe Victor (great friend and maid of honor) to Thailand. Here is the rough outline of where we went.

Bangkok: Market, street food, overnight train to Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai: Waterway around the city, temples, Thai cooking class, largest temple in the north
Pai: mountain town, scenic river w/ bamboo bridge, mountain biking waterfall adventure
Railay: southern beaches, long tail boat transportation, rock climbing, beautiful

Enjoy!

Cait

Children & Nature Network Featured Commentary!

Something I recently wrote has been published on the Children & Nature Network's website! Check it out!

  

IGNITING CHILDREN'S IMAGINATIONS: Around The Globe A New Breed Of Teacher Is Expanding The Definition The Classroom

Enjoy!

Riley

An Unexpected Evening

On Tuesday night I caught the ferry over to Seattle to grab dinner with Cait's Dad, JP. Just was we were pulling in, he sent me a text saying he was running a little late and that Jack, Cait's brother, was on his way to pick me up. We drove back towards Lake Washington and then Jack unexpectedly turned onto 23rd avenue and told me that JP was down near the water in a boat shop because a family friend was looking into buying a boat. We'd be having dinner near there.

We pulled into the parking lot of Jensen Motor Boat Company and were met by JP who casually shook my hand and asked how I was doing. He and Jack them proceeded to walk me through the incredibly classic old boat shop showing me interesting things about how the boats are fixed, different means of lifting the giant vessels, etc. We neared the end of the dock and JP turned to me as he stepped through a doorway and said, "So, check out this boat."

 
 A I stepped through the door to find a room full of the men who have surrounded Cait her entire life and who have so graciously welcomed me into their "family". In the midst of one of the oldest boat shops in the country, a group of guys had gathered to celebrate my nuptials. They were all standing around and smiling adjacent to a table donning beer, whiskey, popcorn, and wrapped gifts.

"This is your tool shower," they explained.

It was a complete surprise. Just as I finished walking around, shaking hands, and thanking each one of them, JP was on point. He read a brief speech as Cait's Uncle, Steve, handed me a small glass of a home brewed beer created by Cait's cousin, Ian. The speech involved a handful of cracks at stories family friend, Doug, might tell involving Scandinavian jokesters Sven and Ole. It was hilarious.

I was then instructed to start opening gifts. I am still taken aback by the entire event and the unbelievable generosity of these men.

Following the opening of gifts, we all moved on towards dinner at Cafe Lago. The food, as always, was incredible but really I couldn't have felt more fortunate than to be dining with the group of men surrounding me.

Tuesday night is an evening I will not soon forget.

Thank you JP, Will, Jack, Steve, Ian, Nick, Doug, Paul, David, and Jim.

Riley

La Push It

This past weekend, myself and 15 of my colleagues drove to the Olympic coast for a weekend of camping. Our destination? La Push! West of Olympic National Park, La Push resides at the point where the Quillayute River empties into the Pacific Ocean. The weather could not have been better and a wonderful weekend was had by all!

 
A couple of the rocky outcroppings that dot this landscape.

 
I spent a good chunk of Saturday combing the beach for materials with which to "create." This is one of the finished products.

 
All smiles on Saturday evening as the sun began to set.

 
This is my favorite photograph from the weekend.

 
Life is good!

Wonderful people, wonderful scenery, and wonderful weather.

Riley

Block Printing

This afternoon I was fortunate enough to attend a Block Printing workshop hosted by a local northwestern artist. I had never tried my hand at this craft and I really enjoyed it. Spatially I struggle with material that involves mirrored images and positive versus negative, but it was a really fun challenge. And, I'm very pleased with how my prints turned out!


A finished product! This print involved carving two different blocks and then using two different colors to achieve the desired effect.

 
First, I used a block that would print the blue sky.

 
Once I had my blue sky, I applied my "key block" which contained the finer details and really the structure for the whole print.

I learned a lot and would love to try my hand and imagination again soon!

Riley

Japanese Food Art

At IslandWood this week we've been fortunate enough to host Michiko Olson, one of our Artists In Residence. Her craft involves creating edible artwork, while giving a history of Japan and the influences that shaped the country.

A couple of nights ago a colleague and myself teamed up to created a few avian creatures.


Bird is the word.

I spent a couple of hours with my students and Michiko yesterday and we had an absolute blast.

Here's to the unique experiences!

Riley

Roll Bounce

I just got back from an absolutely wonderful time at Bremerton Skateland in nearby Bremerton, Washington. In total, over fifteen of us made the trip to roll, roll, roll.


I, of course, would never set wheel on the floor without adequate attire.

 
 Skateland's scene.

How the roller rink ever faded into the background of modern society I will never understand.

Riley

Dare I Say... Spring?

It rains here, a lot. Yet, lately we've had a few days of magnificent sunshine. It appears that spring is finally here. Yesterday I spent the day with a handful of my colleagues enjoying some much needed Vitamin D.


We walked along the water below Pegasus Coffee House and came across these wonderful creations.

 
 The flowers are starting to bloom! Bleeding Hearts.

 
A highlight of the day was touring our local distillery, Bainbridge Island Distillery. The distillery creates vodka, whiskey, and Douglas Fir flavored gin. I'd never toured a distillery before and it was really, really interesting. The head distiller graciously gave five of us the full tour, explaining everything you ever wanted to know about the process. The chemistry behind it all is honestly mystifying.

Bring on the sunshine!

Riley