Merry Christmas

Hello everyone!

It has been much too long since my last post.  I've been putting all my of free time into Healing Cuisine, and thus have neglected you all.  We are home for Christmas, finally, and it feels great!  At the Schwartz house presently, hanging out while we bake cookies, sip tea, the girls are playing their instruments (flute, piano, singing), and the boys are outside skiing and tinkering with the car.  Very relaxing, so glad to be here. :)

Dave and I have been all over the place for the last 6 months, including living in Canada for 3 months.  Dave has graduated with his Chiropractic degree (CONGRATS DAVE!!!!) and we are now working on opening our chiropractic clinic.  We've been living nomadically since August, going from basement to basement living with various friends all over the place.  On January 1st we will be driving down to Orlando, Florida to relocate for about 6 months.  We'll be training and working with Maximized Living while plans commence on our office in Greensboro, North Carolina.  Greensboro will be our eventual permanent home.  Well, permanent for a little while at least. ;)  2011 is going to be a busy year for us!  Hope to  have our clinic doors open by July if all goes well.

Want to wish you all a very blessed Christmas!  Our next update will be from sunny Florida!!  Visitors welcome!

"Look!  The virgin will conceive a child!  She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.'"  Matthew 1:23

Welcome Baby Sophia!

This is going to be a bit of a scattered post.  I have so many thoughts to jot down  before I have to leave for work!  Please bear with me!

Introducing Sophia Madelynn

Arrived at 1:41am
Thursday, April 15, 2010
7lbs 7ozs  - 21 inches
100% NATURAL & DRUG FREE

Christina did an amazing job not only in delivery but also thru the 9 months leading up to the beautiful birth of their daughter.  Christina chose to do a natural water birth.  We are SO proud of her!!  Last Sunday we went out to Paul & Christina's house to cook them a meal while they adjusted to having Sophia in their lives.  We grilled up some of my secret recipe burgers and had strawberry-apple spinach salad.  Gorgeous weather!  So peaceful to sit out on the deck with Soph and soak it all in.  :)

Dave had his last day of T8 internship yesterday.  Dr. Bruce treated Dave and the entire office staff to lunch.  Dr. Beck took us out for drinks after work to say goodbye.  It was a fun time and thanks for the treats guys!  Dave will miss the office and wonderful patients.  He's got 2 weeks off then starts his T9 internship the first week of May.  He'll be working at Bandana Chiropractic, which is a Maximized Living office in Roseville (about a 30 minute commute from home).  He's really excited to get into this office and have some new patients to take thru the Maximized Living Essentials.  What's great about this next phase of work is that these doctors are going to give Dave a lot more control over his own patients.  I won't get too much into the details, we realize while we find these things exciting, maybe you guys don't...but all you need to know is Dave's going to be having even more fun at work, learning new things every day, and getting closer and closer to graduation in November!

Dave and I attended a Biomarkers of Health seminar two weekends ago in Bloomington hosted by Nutrition Dynamics.  Students were able to attend for free this time, so I dragged my boy along.  :)  It was fabulous!  It was a seminar dedicated to identifying disease in the body and treating it naturally.  I get so excited to learn more and more about supplementation and natural disease reversal. 

In honor of Earth Day, I did a post on Healing Cuisine.  I can't recommend the book Gorgeously Green by Sophie Uliano enough.  If we weren't on a student budget, I'd buy this book for all of you, seriously!  It's great, jam packed full of tips on green living!  Happy Earth Day!

My hunky husband just finished making me a large mug of homemade organic chai tea, so I must leave this post.  It smells wonderful!  Look for a post on HealingCuisineByElise.com with the recipe soon!  We've been working on it for a couple weeks now and think we finally have the perfect ratio of spices!  Yummmy breakfast treat!

Spring Time Changes and Growth!

Philippians 3:10-12 (NIV)
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

I absolutely love spring time, the changing seasons, the flowers and grass, the return of birds to the sky and trees.  I also love to read thru the Easter scripture and reflect on it, what it means to me, to us.  Philippians 3:10-12 is the part that really jumped out at me today.  It is everything Dave and I have been trying to say and to do for so long, and will continue to do.  I think it applies to a lot of you who read our blog and you will find hope and encouragement thru rereading that verse.  Happy April 1st!  Celebrate Spring!  Celebrate all that He has done for us!

Dave said his Part 3 Boards tests went, to quote him, "Alright."  Sooo, we'll have to wait and see when that little white envelope comes to our door with his scores..  I know he did fine, but he and his buddies were a little nervous about at least one of the sections as it was a bit harder than they anticipated.  Thanks everyone for your prayers and encouragement again!  Every little bit of support helps!

Last weekend, actually it was longer than just the weekend, he was gone for 6 days -- Wednesday thru Monday -- to a Maximized Living Training Camp in Florida.  He and 5 of his guy friends from ML drove down for Florida in an old van which I think they borrowed from another friend.  Why did they drive down you might ask?  Because it happened to be Spring Break weekend and ticket prices TRIPLED the norm, reaching over $800 a person, normally around $150-$250.  Cost to ride down with 5 other people in a van?  $65 each round trip.  Yup, that's why.

This was Dave's second time going to a Camp since he came to chiro school and both experiences have been so amazing for both of us.  He comes back a changed man (for the better) each time.  At the camp, the coaches help you to break down, leaving your weaknesses and inseurities behind.  And their slogan is "What happens at camp, stays at camp" (much different than the similar Vegas tagline..), meaning not even I am allowed to know what went on a camp or what the issues were.  All I need to know is Dave comes home a stronger, more powerful husband and doctor each time and that helps me to likewise be stronger and more powerful to save MORE lives in my community.

Now Dave transitions into Finals WeekS (big "s" because finals are this week AND next week, hence we have to stay around here yet again for Easter so the guys can study together).  On top of more studying, yesterday he co-hosted an event for their Maximized Living club called "Dinner With the Docs".  He and Vernon organized the event for students.  They brought in three super successful doctors from the Cities to speak, to tell their chiropractic stories (mistakes they made, where their passion comes from, why we do what we do thru Maximized Living) to encourage students who are not already ML members to join, come to the next seminar, that sort of thing.  Unfortunately I couldn't be there (I'll explain why next), but I think Dave said they had a huge turnout of 30+ non-member students (give or take a few because I can't remember the exact number).  So that was really great!  Dave was very happy when he got home with how everything went.  The students were impressed by the doctors' stories and many had signed up by the end of the night.  A great night for the ML club!

Here's what's been happening in my life lately...It’s been kinda nuts.  Dr. Suzy was in a car accident last week (she’s okay, but was injured pretty badly and still cannot adjust patients for 2 more weeks minimum), so I’ve had to kind of carry on more responsibilities of the practice.  Christina is almost ready to have her baby (due on April 10th) so she will be leaving shortly as office manager -- have to learn so much yet before she is gone!  We have also recently undergone a complete software switchover to a much better, more efficient system, and while it’s better for us on the office managment side, it’s very new and confusing for patients.  We are also in the midst of hosting our bi-yearly health & lifestyle makeover series called Rev It Up!, so I have been doing a ton of marketing and prep work for that.  Basically my life has been Revolution Wellness Center 24/7 for the past few weeks...many extra hours put in to make sure everything is going great and the patients hardly notice all the drama.  :)  Oh the life of a Chiropractic Assistant!  haha  So that is why I ended up missing Dave's dinner event.  Haven't been getting home until 9/9:30pm most nights lately.

I'm taking some ME time this morning before heading out to babysit for some adorable kids at 12noon.  It's already 60 degrees out, so I'm confident it will be shorts weather by the time I need to hit the road.  I think we'll be doing some walking, biking and other out door fun this afternoon!  :)

Catch you all later!  Going to post some more recipes from this past week to Healing Cuisine.  I rolled out a facebook page for my recipes blog this past weekend and it's been a great hit!  I'm excited to see where Healing Cuisine goes in the coming months!

Hope you all have a blessed Easter weekend!

Daniel Fast

This weekend we were in Lincoln, NE doing health screenings at a ginormous community Home Show for Dr. Dan Sullivan.  Neil and Cody joined us for the 7 hour drive there and back.  Well, the drive back took quite a bit longer due to white out conditions and slippery roads, but we made it back in one piece none the less.  We left around 3pm and got home around 1:30am, sooo...  still catching up on sleep and it's already Wednesday!  We had a good trip though.  Dr. Dan and his wife Amanda let us stay with them in their new house -- so nice of them!  We alone saved around 40 lives and Dr. Dan and his staff worked quite a few hours, too, so we're hoping we helped 80 or more people!

I forgot to take pictures of us all in action so you can see what a screening looks like...whoops.  Dropped the ball.  We'll get that done in the future.  The home show was one of the best events we've been to in many months.  Great energy, great people going thru, so friendly.  We enjoyed every minute!

On the way home we saw a 5 or 6 semi pile up with around 20 or more cars mixed in.  They shut down the two major highways, one of which was basically our only way home.  So we had to take this little county road out of Lincoln toward Omaha, and that was bumper to bumper due to the accident.  It was crazy to see that severe of an accident so up close.  Made me very thankful to be safe thru our entire journey there and back!

Switching subjects, since we got home Dave and I are starting a cleanse based on the principles I learned at my nutrition and detox seminar.  And on top of it, we're doing a cleansing diet based on Daniel from the bible.  Some of you may have heard of the Daniel Fast before?  We hadn't until Suzy, here at Revolution, mentioned it to me as it was something she is doing with her fiance right now.  It's basically a fast where you eat what Daniel ate when he took on the challenge to show the value of a natural diet (v12) and went on to prove its success (v15).  His regime is the basis for the Daniel Fast.

Fasting is simply to abstain from food.  In its broader definition, it can mean to abstain from certain types of food.  We should lead a fasted life -- a life that is not caught up with giving our flesh everything that it wants.  When we fast, purposely denying our bodies and bringing them into subjection, we become sharper mentally, physically and spiritually.  This is our foundation for doing this.

We are also starting to read thru the bible in chronological order.  We want to grow together spiritually during these younger years of marriage to make for stronger years ahead.  What better way than to submerse ourselves, right?  Doing this has also been a goal for both of us since we were young, to make it thru the bible in its entirety.  Here's the site I used to get the print out of verses to read each day:  http://www.ewordtoday.com/year/.  We're using the NIV version, but you just pick the one you want right on the site.  What we loved about this site is that you can pick your start date and it adapts the readings to your date.  It's great! :)

There are many different kinds of fasts.  A complete fast  is no food, no water. (This should be a very short fast or it could be your last fast, unless you have special instructions from God. haha!)  In Daniel Chapter 1, it tells about Daniel and other children of Israel who were captives in Babylon.  Some of them, who were good-looking and smart were picked and brought to the king's palace to be taught the language and education of the Chaldeans.  There was an appointed daily amount of food and wine from the king for these young men.  Daniel obtained favor and was given the opportunity, for ten days, to prove that the vegetables and water that he and his friends wanted to eat would make them healthier mentally and physically than the ones that ate the king's food.

After 10 days, they looked so much healthier than the ones who ate the king's food, that all of the other young men had to eat the way that Daniel and his friends were eating.  This has been called the "Daniel Fast".

Have you ever fasted?  When was the last time that you fasted?  We never have, but are excited to be trying it!  We've been eating a diet that heals your body at a cellular level for over a year now, but doing this fast combined with a detox will cleanse our body of chemicals, heavy metals, rancid fats, and any other biotoxins that might be lurking in our many layers.  Fasting can be very cleansing and life-changing -- mentally, physically and spiritually!  Try a 'Daniel Fast' where you eat only raw organic nuts, fruits and vegetables for any amount of days.  We're starting at 30 days, but after reading more about the diet most people start out only at 3 or 7 days.  If you're not used to eating healthy, organic produce, this may be a challenge for you.  Try it!  You'll love it!  You will find a new way of life.  Let him guide you on this journey:  Jesus is 'The Way, The Truth & The Life'. (John 14:6)

Blessings for a great rest of the week everyone!  We love you!

- E

Same Ol' Same

Wanted to get something posted quick before heading off to work this afternoon.  We arrived home safe from Florida on Sunday morning after sleeping in the airport's food court overnight.  Our flight left FL at 5:20am and we were back in Minneapolis around 10:30am.  We slept away the rest of my birthday and got up to make some dinner around 8:30pm.  It was good to recover a bit after the seminar though.  Early mornings and late nights of training call for some extra sleep when you get home from it all!  We had a really good time at the Maximized Living seminar though.  It's always great to see all our friends that are scattered around the world and get energized and refocus together for our same mission and purpose.

In other news, Elise got the results from her final exam for the detox and nutrition seminars she has been taking.  She passed (of course), four for four with flying colors!, and this was a seminar for DOCTORS!  I was really impressed and can't wait to have her applying her skills to our own patients soon.  Now she is helping to restore health to patients at Revolution.

Nothing much is new with me.  I'm interning at an office in Plymouth and it's pretty much the same ol' thing every day.  I'm trying to spice things up and encourage the doctors to branch out and try new things.  I am excited about one thing though.  They are allowing me to do a talk for their office!  So I'll be starting out with my burst training talk as I know it's something everyone gets excited about and brings their friends to.  I hope to do more workshops for them in the coming months of my internship, hopefully can get one in on nutrition, maybe a cancer or heart disease talk, autism maybe.  Whatever time will allow for!  And I am already looking for my next office to intern at.  I will start at my T9 internship in May, so I'm looking for an office that better fits the type of office we want to open for ourselves, which means more focused on wellness, mission based to save lives, sees lots of kids and families.  Those are our top points.

Still no hits on our apartment for a subletter.  If anyone knows anyone looking for a place to live in Bloomington, let us know!  We'll work out a deal!

Need to get on the road, but I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday wherever it leads you!

- Dave

First Trip to Canada

This will be a quick post before I dash off to work in a few minutes..

Last weekend we headed up north for our first trip to Canada.  Well, Dave has crossed the boarder a time or two, but it was my first official time and our first time together.  We headed up to Winnipeg for a seminar on Saturday.  It was only about a 6-7 hour trip, so just like going home to da UP, not so bad of a trip.  It was well worth the drive, too.  We learned a bit of nutrition and cannot wait to be certified!!

This weekend we are going out to Wisconsin to screen for Dr. Drew and Lyra, some good friends of ours in ML.  It will be a fun time!  Dr. Drew just moved into a new building, so we can't wait to see it!  Hope there will be time for that.

Ummm...nothing else has really been going on for us except the usual work and school.  Dave has night classes this trimester as well as early morning clinic. So he's up around 5/5:30am and not home until 9/9:30pm most evenings..  :(  *sigh*  Just gotta push thru til December!!

We can't wait to finally head back home for Christmas.  We haven't been back since Christmas last year.  We've got so many people we need to see, some we haven't seen since our wedding!!  We'll have to make a list and ration our time..

And for those of you keep up with Ashley (yes, Ash, you have followers that live your life thru me...scary thought, huh?), she and Craig had a minor kitchen fire the other day.  Everyone is okay, Dal and the Ash got out right away.  She said the fire dept came and did their thing.  Thank goodness they're alright!  So that's her update. :)  You can check her blog on our blogroll to the right.

That's all my thoughts for now ppl!  Later!

-E

Recovering from Weekend Events

This past weekend has been nuts, in great ways! We both got a lot of work hours in Thursday thru Sunday, so that again means more cash to pay bills. It was another one of those weekends where we didn't really see each other because whenever I was babysitting/screening, Dave was schooling/screening and the other way around. But it's all good! We saved a lot of lives this weekend!!

CONGRATS to Dr. Pete and Lisa on the birth of their newest daughter, 8 lb. 8 oz, 20.5 inch long, #6 for the family! She was born on Thursday, April 2 and is unnamed so far. I had the opportunity to help out their family on Friday instead of screening for Dr. Pete with Dave in St. Paul. What a treat for me! I don't think I'd ever held a two day old baby before. She is beautiful! Perfect really! My main responsibility was taking care of their two younger children, Rachel (5) and Gabriel (3). All of their kids are so well behaved, polite and outgoing. It's always a blast to hang with them! In the afternoon, we dropped off their oldest brother at track practice and stopped at the school's park for a little while. I couldn't resist snapping a few pics on such a gorgeous day! Summer's on its way!

Gabriel going down the slide on his stomach, he "had to do it that way" :)

Rachel on her probably 8th time down

Rachel swinging Gabriel

Their FAVorite -- tire swing! SO much fun!

After getting home on Friday night, I unfortunately developed an eye infection. I knew something was up the whole day with my sinuses and eyes, but it really flared around about 8pm.. It's definitely got to be due to not keeping up with my upper cervical traction exercises. I know the curve in my neck is going back to the way it was 5 months ago. I (we actually) were doing great at consistently doing our spinal exercises, but we slipped off around January and I really haven't been very good about doing my neck at all since then. So I'm certain my curve is back to the -2 that it was in October (For a healthy spine and healthy, maximized nervous- and immune systems you need a perfect curve in your neck which is a 42 degree curve. My neck is straight. Is yours?). I haven't had allergies, a cold or headaches, let alone eye infections for MONTHS, over half a year since having started correcting the curve in my upper cervical. Before finding chiropractic, I used to get eye infections at least once a month due to non-functioning tear ducts since age 2. I also had quite severe allergies to both cats and pollen. For a few months, I was able to have a cat in my lap without any symptoms -- this has now come back to wheezing and itchy eyes, which can be linked back to my curve reverting. Anyway, the point of this whole story is 1) I need to start doing my exercises again for the sake of being healthy, 2) EVERYONE needs to get the curves in their spine checked. You'll never know what your symptoms are due to until you get x-rays done and locate your subluxations. You CAN live a symptom free, drug free life!, and 3) my eye infection got worse on Saturday, so I had to miss the screening with Dave on Saturday as well.

We did try something new for my infection though. Since discovering how bad antibiotics are for your body (learn more here: http://www.drlwilson.com/Articles/antibiotics.htm), we've made personal choices not to use them anymore. So, what options did we have to try to cure the infection? Well, we did some searching online, and the link above suggests some good all-natural and safe options as well. We found quite a few recipes using different herbs and minerals. The one we picked was the most simple based on what we had in our kitchen. We boiled 2 cups of water and mixed in 3 tablespoons of honey (organic, of course!). Let that cool to room temp, and then you just put a few drops in each eye just like eye drops (we just used a straw to do this). Honey and bee pollen has naturally occurring anti-bacterial properties, so it's a no-brainer why it WORKED so well! I only wish someone had told me about this as a kid so I could have avoided so many hospital visits and prescription drugs. The diluted honey gave me instant relief when we did it Saturday night -- just amazing! We continued the honey through the weekend and Monday, and I must say my eyes feel great and are almost fully recovered. I recommend anyone at least try the honey recipe (ahem, brother Mattew!!!) the next time you or your child has an eye infection.

The event Dave screened at was a m a z i n g as he told me. Dave put in 5ish hours on Friday and 9 hours on Saturday. It was at the RiverCentre in St. Paul. Dave said it was a constant flow the entire time he was there, which is rare to have a non-stop flow like that while screening. This event was mostly for parents and most of those parents had tons of questions for Dave and the other doctors, especially about body detox and vaccines. It was a great opportunity for Dave and use all of his knowledge on vaccines and chiropractic to tell people the truth to the public. He came home from that event and told me he cannot wait for us to open and be out there, saving lives for our own office. It is indeed going to be a great time, Dave!

This week and next week are finals for Dave. Thank goodness this trimester is almost done! He can't wait to get through each one of those finals. He's already been studying a bit this past weekend, but there're so many more hours of studying to come. I know I won't be seeing much of him these next two weeks. At least we'll have Easter on Sunday to look forward to together!

We're hoping to head out for an Easter brunch buffet after church -- and hopefully with Scott and Laura! *If you guys are reading this, call or email us back!!* We realize they are busy with their new little Ella, but we do want to stop by to meet her and to include them in our Easter celebration. If that doesn't pan out, we'll meet up with a few friends from around here for a nice Easter brunch. Looking forward to it either way! :)

We spun through downtown Minneapolis a few weekends ago on the way home from a screening event and happened to have our camera with us. So here are a few taken by the hubby. He's proud of his photography skills!

This is a cute little church toward the edge of the city, so small compared to all the other buildings near by.

We have no clue what this castle-esque building actually is, so if anyone knows please comment so we can figure it out. It was really cool! We couldn't find a sign on the building as we drove by, but we're thinking maybe city hall?

Some cool sky scrapers

This was the best picture we could get of the construction of the new outdoor Twins stadium that's set to open next year. They've made tons of progress in just the last month alone!

This one's really cool -- very artsy, Dave!

Think that's about it for now. OH YEAH! Happy birthday TODAY, 4/6, to Craig B., Ashley's husband!!

Hope you don't work to hard today, Craig! Give Dally a kiss and hug from both of us!

Sorry for such a long post! We'll be better in the future, promise!


- Elise

A Fun Week!

Dave survived his first round of National Boards! He finished around 4pm on Sunday. Feels okay about each part and now we wait 6 weeks to see how he scores. Oh the anticipation! :) I know you did great, sweetie!!

We hope you all had a festive St. Patrick's Day! Dave and I actually did a bit of celebrating since Sunday...which we claim is all in honor of the Green Holiday.. haha! On Sunday, we went out with a few other guys from school to unwind and release after their Boards. Nicole was out, too, and we both agreed it is just as stressful being the significant other of a chiro student during Boards time as it is to take the Boards!! (Our small excuse to unwind as well..)

Sunday's fun -- note the green beer to kick off our 3-day party fest!

We also went out in honor of St. Patty's Day. We met up with Shane and Nicole and a bunch of their friends from Apple Valley first. Thank you for the pictures, Nicole! It was fun meeting a few new faces and having a weeknight to relax with cool people outside of the school setting.

St. Patrick's Day

Last night was a big night for Dave and the Maximized Living Club. Dr. Pete Wurdemann and the club officers organized an event at PF Chang's Restaurant for all the club members and other student guests. It was a huge success!! Dr. Pete told the group his story, why he's in chiropractic and how he came to have such a successful practice today. He also answered many questions from the students about the transition from student to doctor. Just awesome knowledge. I'm so glad I went and will definitely continue taking advantage of these opportunities! Events like these open the networking door for Dave and me and have already helped us so much for the future of our practice. The knowledge and information that we gain alone is priceless -- something every student needs to learn but often passes up. We're just blessed with these opportunities and can't WAIT to get out there and open our own doors!

Speaking of opportunities within chiropractic, this weekend we're attending an event at Palmer in Davenport, Iowa -- the proverbial birthplace of chiropracic. Dr. Mary Tocco is speaking on "Are Vaccines Safe?" She is a world renowned leader in vaccine and autism awareness, education and research. We'll be recording the talk if anyone would like to hear it! (Do a quick Google on her and see how knowledgable this doctor is!) We are super excited to make the trip to the school and take a tour. It's somewhere Dave and I have wanted to go since he started school last year. We're also taking Nick E and Loretta with us. Should be a fun 6 hour road trip!

So these are the fun parts of our week in a nutshell. Still so much more to look forward to! AND the weather is still nice here! We went out for our first bike ride since NOVEMBER on Monday. Thinking of taking another one for myself this afternoon.. WE LOVE SPRING! Anyone sitting in their office or classroom itching for TGIF yet?


- Elise

My skinny....finally!

Hey everyone! I've FINALLY had a chance to sit down and write my "skinny" that Elise has been prepping everyone for. I'm so blessed and happy to have her as my wife as she does so much for me! I don't know what I would do without her.

Anyways, everyone is probably wondering what goes on in a day in the life of Dave. Well, it would be hard to write down one specific day, but I can give you a generality of what goes on. My friends and I work out every morning at 6 or 6:30am. Two of my friends, Jake and Nick, and myself have just begun training for the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN!! The race takes place on June 20 (I believe)...Nick has done it once already and Jake and I just decided to do it. It has been a goal of mine and even though I am busier than ever I am going to accomplish it. Being in marathon shape will give me a good base for participating in the Chisago Half-Ironman, which is another goal for me this summer. So, not only is there school work to get done, but a lot of training!

After working out, which involves burst training, swimming, or running, I go to my classes. Most of my classes this semester are not too boring. As a T5 (which is half way through school) the classes are becoming more clinical, which I am thankful for. There are a lot of labs and busy work to accomplish. After classes finish which is usually around 5pm I have meetings to attend for all of the organizations I am in or I have to plan and prepare for our club meetings. I am President of the Maximized Living Student Club here at Northwestern. We have one of the biggest clubs on campus and our mission is to prepare and develop students into future leaders of health care through Chiropractic care. Jake (one of my good friends) just became Co-President with me and I am really happy for the extra help.

Not that I want to talk to much about what we do as a club, but we just came off of a HUGE week for our club. We had Dr. Charles Majors, a world-renowned Chiropractor from Chicago, come and speak over the lunch hour to the school. Because it took place over the noon hour we had to organize an efficient process that got the students fed and in their seats so they could hear Dr. Majors talk. 2 weeks of planning and hard work by all, we were able to get 200 students and about 10 doctors to the talk. A week before the talk we had people play Wii bowling to win raffle tickets for our prizes at the school! Doing that helped us get people excited and come to the talk. A lot of hard work, but it payed off in the end!

I pretty much spend my entire time becoming a powerful and passionate chiropractor. America ranks 37 out of 42 in the world for health so we have a lot of work before us. Even though we have the greatest medical system, technology, and pharmaceuticals, we are the sickest industrialized country in the world. People need to be taught true, maximized health so they can live a higher quality life. Through Chiropractic care and teaching people how to eat the right foods, exercise, minimize the use of toxins, and reduce stress on their body we can achieve this! I am going to start a new blog that will help teach you how to reach a higher level of health and tell you more about Chiropractic care and why it is essential to living a longer, higher quality life.

I will keep blogging and keep everyone in the loop as to what I and Elise are up to! I will get better getting back to all of my friends and family, so if you have emailed me and are still waiting a reply, I will get to you! I am learning how to handle everything in life and school, so of course there are learning curves.

I hope everyone has a wonderful President Day weekend!


- Dave

I Just Pratt Myself

We're back from sunny, but cool, Orlando, FL. Our flight landed this afternoon around 4:30pm CT. You can't really be jealous of us though. Dave and I were there for a Maximized Living chiropractic conference (www.maximizedliving.com), so we didn't make it outside much at all, especially not during the day. Plus, it was freezing down there as far as Florida is concerned. We arrived on Thursday, where there was a county "winter weather advisory" in effect where some schools were closed and they even cancelled an evening prime time TV shows to air weather warnings for -- get this -- 35 degree weather. Yeah.. It apparently frosted the grass that night. Ha! Brrr for all of our group, though, who barely brought long pants, let alone sweatshirts and jackets with us! It did get into the low 70's on Saturday, but otherwise it was in the 60's and felt quite chilly.

We had a G R E A T experience at the three day conference though. We learned so much about our mission in chiropractic and cannot wait to continue saving lives and helping families here in the Cities!

So without boring you all with the details of the seminar, we of course got some pics and video of the night time fun that we had in Orlando. This was a national-level conference, so all of our friends and doctors from all over were there with us. We had fun going out with everyone and reconnecting since we're all up to so many different things.

On Thursday night we had most of our gang with us for dinner at an Irish pub in Disney World:

Left front to back: Vern, Nick E., Dan; Right front to back: Jake, Mikala, Dave, Elise

A toast to the night!

On Friday night we had the opportunity to go out to dinner with a doctor from Forrest Lake, MN. No pics of that night, but the guys had a great time talking and getting to know the doctor on a more personal level. Then on Saturday night, our favorite new docs were able to come out with our entire Northwestern University group -- Jay and Heather! They just graduated from Northwestern this past fall and are down in Florida training to open up their practice soon in Madison, WI. We don't get to see them enough anymore. It was such a treat for Dave to visit with them for a few hours!

And I have to put this on here... Okay, so Nick E., Dave and Vern were not in any way intoxicated during this. It happened one night while we four were waiting for the other guys to come down from their hotel room to go out. They were bored, it all started so fast..I was lucky to have my camera for this, because there were so many other funny moments that we wished we had caught over the weekend. Enjoy. :)

And here are my three oh-so-tired travel buddies while we waited to catch our first flight this morning. The seminar really wiped them out! First pic is Nick Pratt (the title of this post is dedicated to him) and Shane trying to gain energy from unhealthy sources.. And then there's poor Dave attempting to wake himself up.



That's a basic sum of our trip. If any of you want more info about Maximized Living, what it's all about or how you can get care from a chiropractor, just let us know. We're always happy to help!

Still waiting on Dave to get his "skinny" posted...the weekend kind of snuck up on him, but hopefully he'll have the time early this week between exams. We'll also be busy this week, besides our school and work schedules, planning our birthday party. We're acutally throwing ourselves a party this weekend -- cannot wait! For those who might not know, my birthday comes on the 29th and Dave's on the 31st, so we're two days apart. We're having a combined party on the 30th with a lot of our friends that live around here. I'm working on a menu right now. It's going to be so much fun! We're hoping to turn this into a yearly thing.. :)

Well bedtime for me now. I'm wiped after all of the flying today and lack of sleep over the seminar weekend. Dave is still out studying, but will hopefully be home soon. He needs his precious sleep the most!!


- Elise