Summer is swiftly approaching and after a cold winter I’m ready for sunshine.  To take ample advantage of the warm weather I have decided to take a different approach to planning my summer activities, I’m making a summer wish list. When summer comes around all I want to do is relax but I’d much rather be hiking, biking or swimming.  Here’s my wish list: Hike Multnomah Falls.  According to Oregon’s website, the difficulty is tailored for two different levels a moderate or difficult hike.  I’ll probably do this on my way to or from Portland because it’s a nice break in a road trip. Camping on the Oregon Coast.  Camping was a staple of my childhood and I want to reconnect.  An article from The Oregonian listed the top 10 tent sites for camping in Oregon.  All of them look beautiful! Bike through Tri-Cities, WA.  I’m from the Tri-Cities and want to explore the area on a bike rather than driving everywhere, the Tri-cities Guide shows different routes. Fishing in North Idaho.  My Grandma lives in Bonners Ferry, ID, when I visit I plan to hike up one of the mountains and fish, while picking huckleberries along the way. At the very least I want to do these four activities and hopefully by the end of the summer I’ve at least doubled that number!  What outdoor activities will you do this summer? Check out the sunny weather in the video below where Megan and I talk about summertime activities.

  In my previous post Blood Donation Preparation (http://urec.wsu.edu/urecnews/post/2012/04/04/Blood-Donation-Preparation.aspx) I discussed my difficulties donating blood.  I mentioned I would follow-up today with my progress.  So my co-worker, Megan, and I compared our veins in the video below. As you’ll see in the video my veins are still too small and I think I’ll sit out the blood drive today but there’s hope.  The Student Recreation Center (SRC) is hosting a blood drive on April 12.  So with six days of preparation I think I’ll have a better shot!

Until recently I was too afraid to donate blood, I’m not proud of this because I think donating blood is a great way to contribute to your community.  Everything changed last Tuesday when I was walking to class and passed a blood donation event.  Before thinking I asked if they had any openings and signed up to donate the next day.  I don’t know what exactly changed but I was ready to face my fear. I was instructed to drink a lot of water and sleep for a full 8 hours.  I slept a little longer than I usually do but that was only about 7 and half hours so I didn’t quite reach the recommendation but I did drink a lot of water.  I even cooked a steak the night before because they do a preliminary blood test to check if there’s sufficient amount of iron in your system. When I arrived in the afternoon, I shakily went through the steps nervous to sit while a needle idles in my arm.  The doctor asked routine questions then stuck my middle finger and squeezed out the blood for the preliminary blood test.  According to the doctor I barely reached the required amount.  After that I figured there was no way to be rejected and I was meant to donate blood, but I was wrong.  As I pulled off my sweater and squirmed in the chair the doctor examined my arm, her expression worried me as she moved to my other arm and then asked for another opinion.  “I’m sorry but your veins are too small,” they said.   I didn’t realize the size of my veins could be my downfall!  Don’t get me wrong there was a small part of me relieved to escape the needle but a bigger part of me still wanted to help.  I asked if there was anything I could do next time to help my chances of a vein becoming more prominent.  I was instructed to drink more water.  Apparently for all the extra water I thought I was consuming I should have been drinking twice that much!  With this experi... [More]