Christmas Week 2008

Christmas 2008  was nice and simple, our focus was not on presents but it was on the true meaning, Christ and his birth.  We found that this was the best year so far of our married years because we didn't exchange gifts, but we both wrote a letter to each other, which was all either of us wanted, it was so great!!  Curt's sister and her kids were there Christmas morning and so we got to do the whole Santa thing and enjoy the present opening.  I missed my family but got to talk to Bubba on the phone, only a couple more months :)  My family got on Skype Christmas Eve and exchanged our ornaments and read our Christmas stories, it wasn't the same but it was the best we could do.  We enjoyed our Christmas surrounded by family and loved keeping it SIMPLE!  I think that will be our new tradition for each other.  Hope you all had a Merry one and have a Happy New Year.  Here are a few random photos.  

The Happy Snowman.

With all that great snow we received Curt decided to make a snowman for the nephews to beat up when they came over from all the snow that was on our trampoline. It lasted over a week, it was great.

Christmas Day we enjoyed a yummy big dinner at Curt's brother Brian's house, here is all the food before we all dove in.  It was delicious thanks Karen and the rest of the clan.

Curt's grandpa lives with Curt's Mom and so he comes to all our family functions and we  love having him, he celebrated his 92nd birthday this year and still going strong, we love you Grandpa!!

And last but not least a picture of all the bro's minus Chad he was on his way. Craig, the one in the center, is moving to Italy in August, so this our last hoorah with him and his family until we go to Italy to visit :) I can't wait, thanks for the invite guys.

Oh My Gosh!

Ok People, I was lying, that last blog was all about snow but..........

this is what I woke up to this morning.  CRAZY!!  I have lived here for 9 years and have never seen this much snow down here.  It does occasionally snow but it doesn't usually stick and it never stays over night, it is usually melted in about 20 minutes.  We have like 3 or 4 inches of snow and my poor palm trees.  Well anyways, we just may have a white Christmas here, we will see. 

Let it Snow!

What is wrong with this picture?

Yes, snow in St. George and yes my poor palm trees.  The weather has been so crazy this season.  It was so warm for so long and then all of the sudden, SNOW!!  I don't think the pool likes it either.  I am having the hardest time warming up, and I know you all live in much colder places and are letting me whine about my sad snow, thanks.  Hope you all having a HAPPY holiday and hope you all are close to being ready for Christmas day, I am getting close, but it will be nice to have all the hussle and bussle over.

Merry Christmas!!

Something Fun!

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago…

1. Junior in High School thinking I was running the world

2. Hanging out with Ashlee Penrod, bowling, boyfriends and the movie Clueless

3. Driving the good ol' station wagon, cruisin the vard,rockin' to any music I could play in my Escort wagon, a lots of Wendy's runs.

4. Working at Mountain Alarm everyday, making friendships that would last a lifetime

5. Enjoying many nights down at Kurt's Drive In and their YUMMY shakes!

5 Things on my TO DO List…

1. Survive my Final, I am so close to finishing.

2. Clean my car

3. Hang christmas lights (Curt's job but I will help)

4. Email Bubba in the Ukraine

5. Feed the dogs

5 Snacks I enjoy…

1. Cheese

2. Pudding, with whip cream!! Yummy!

3. Almonds and blue berries

4. Apples

5. Fruit Snacks from Costco, they are the best.

5 Places I have lived…

1. Ogden

2. North Ogden

3. Saint George 1st house

4. Saint George 2nd house

5. Saint George 3rd house......its a regular cycle!!

5 Things I would do if I were a Millionaire…

1. Pay off our house

2. Donate, serve, and help in any way I could

3. Invest, invest, invest

4. Travel a lot, probably just spend a lot of my time on a cruise or better yet buy a yacht to cruise the world, stop a lot in Cancun.

5. Spoil the kids in my life.

5 Jobs I have had…

1. Filing at Mountain Alarm in Ogden

2. Sticker changing at Mountain Alarm in St. George

3. Huard and Welsh M.D., Billing Manager

4. Current......Huard and Welsh, M.D. Scrub Tech (I love this job)

5. In six months I will be an RN at a hospital, yeah baby!!

5 People I Tag…

1. Jessica B.

2. Jamie M.

3. Katie A.

4. Ashlee J.

5. Ashlee B.

And anyone else who wants to!

Twilight!! Need I say more!

The awaited Twilight Showing!!  We waited for the crowds to die down, we went on Tuesday.

Well I heard lots of stories and feed back on Twilight and was just going to go in with no expectations.  We got a bunch a girls together and sadly Mom was ill or else we would have added her to our craziness.  
We were the first in line,  we heard it was going to be so crazy so we needed to be there early.  Not so crazy but it paid off to be there we got the best seats in the house.  
The happy faces after the show.  It was great, I thought it was very well thought and played out.  I loved it, I love who plays Edward, Bella and all the rest, they cast them all so perfectly.  I hoping to see it again soon, everyone says the second time is the best.  

The Ellen Show

So I confessing my day time TV habits but....if I am home, I usually watch the Ellen show.  I think she is hilarious and it gets me rolling on my homework or its my wind down after work.  Well I was watching the show that she announced in 3 weeks she would be in Vegas.  I immediately got online and applied for tickets for me, my sis, sis in law and mom.  Well they of course call the night I am pulling an all nighter at clinicals and Curt couldn't find the phone. They left a message but by the time I got back with them (the next day) they were only offering me standby tickets.  I was so mad!!  

One of my neighbors and good friends is a nurse on Labor and Delivery and I happened to be following her one night and she mentioned she had gotten tickets.  Their cousins were supposed to come down but they weren't going to be able to make it so she had an extra ticket.  So I get to go afterall!!!

Luke, Jessica and Me at Caesar's Palace, that's where the taping was

Of course, me and Jessica at the Cheesecake Factory, any chance I get!!

The show was amazing.  It was so fun, lots of dancing and some good laughter.  Pink performed and she was the highlight of the show.  She did so good and she sang my favorite song for the week, the "I am going to start a fight" one ( I can't remember the name).  All in all great fun and I got it out of my system so I don't need to go again for a while anyway.

New Hair

Before:

I got hair extensions.  I have not had long hair since 3rd grade and decided to give it a try.  My hair was at the annoying shoulder stage, which I was either ready to cut or had to do something.  So my good friend was up for the challenge and she solved my problems.

After:

My hair before she cut it and blended it.

The finished product:

The finished product, with my good friend and hair dresser, Katie.

I love it, it is such a great change and it only hurt my head the first night.  That is such a girl thing to say, what we do for beauty.

Movie Night!!

Madagascar 2 Escape to Africa

What a fun movie.  Curt and I like to spoil our nephews with some fun things like movies and treats.  We had not done it in a while with school and all.  Madagascar is Briggs' favorite movie and so I asked him if he would be available to go to the movies with us on Wednesday.  He responded with  "I have school"  I told him it would be after school and he said "Then of course!"  He asked Beckham if he wanted to go and Beckham said "No"  Briggs responded with Uncle Curt is going and he will "Sugar us up" so you should come, Beck responded with a big "YES".  We love those boys and have a great time with them. 

We picked them and up and the were more than ready!!  1st stop the dollar store!!

Many treats were selected and we were off the movies.  It was a great show and the boys loved it.  It was great for Curt and I.  It was Beckham's first movie and he loved it.  Can't wait for our next movie night boys!!  Love ya.

Vote, Vote, Vote

The "BIG" day to vote. It is our personal responsibility to make a difference in our country, show some pride for those who fought for our freedoms and go VOTE!! If you don't vote you will never know if your vote made a difference. As my husband says, "If you don't vote you can't complain about what is currently happening in our country." Good luck, my fellow voters.

Sunday Drive

The Road Trip began......

Who wouldn't love this scenery!

Thrilled to be driving a convertible!

The WIND blowing through my hair!

      The great destination - Zion!!

Anybody that knows me, knew that I grew up with my dad owning convertibles throughout my growing years.  I LOVE convertibles, I am partial to Mustangs but I really enjoy all kinds.  Our friends have a 2003 Thunderbird and they left town and let us borrow the car.  Well I was thrilled.  Curt and I hoped in the car after church and enjoyed the 84 degree weather with the top down, the wind blowing through our hair and the sounds of sunday blarring on the radio :)  It was the highlight of my dad, it reminded me of old times with my Dad listening to anything we could jam to with the top down and racing off the line, of course the other person did not know we were racing.  It was a great drive down memory lane today.  

Running

RUNNING SHOES, NEED I SAY MORE!!

I went to the local running store and purchased my first pair of "real" running shoes. The Saucony Ride!! My outlet lately has been running. I find myself just focusing on my latest and greatest tunes that I got off Itunes and forgetting about all the caous going on around me. I leave my house and it is me and the road!! I come home feeling refreshed and ready to conquer the world. With school, work and busy regular life it has been a nice stress reliever. I, definitely, recommend this awesome stress reliever and it does not cost very much; find a pair of shoes, some good tunes and a road :)

NICU

Me and Julie, The New Life as  Nurse being Learned

Julie is my neighbor, friend, support and shoulder, nursing student :)

She is in nursing school with me and I find myself calling or texting her for therapy.  Well Friday I needed her shoulder and many others (my Mom) to just TALK to.

The NICU was where I was working (I say working, but it is for free of course) on Friday.  My last experience was great in the NICU and I had been pondering this floor for future work.  There are always the good with the bad and I knew eventually I would experience that.   Well there was absolutely nothing exciting going on in the NICU our census was down and it gave my nurse some great time to teach me on some things I could see and to be aware of.  We were visiting in one of the rooms  when we hear we need as many nurses as possible in here.  I am thinking, nice something to do, not knowing what we were walking into.  I had my first patient die and I wasn't even prepared for it, the baby lived for about 2 hours and fought hard.  I found myself pondering death and thankful for my view  and knowledge on death and knowing that family will see the baby again.  I held strong til I talked to my mom (I told Curt I would tell him when I got home, I didn't want to break down crying while driving) but my mom brought the floods.  Its a good thing to feel this and it is a sad thing, but it goes with the field right?  I love what I will be doing and still love every minute of it, even though some pain is felt.  It makes me want to learn and know as much as possible to be the best I can be so that when I am a practicing nurse I can know like those nurses knew that they did all they could do. 

I found my new love and interest that I didn't even think was an option before this semester started, the NICU!!  We will see, the Nurse Practitioner on staff told me she would hire me and train me for Life Flight, sounds good to me :)

Thanks to all the shoulders I used that night husband, family, friends, etc.

The ORGAN!!!

Curt has started working for one of our neighbors part time selling organs and managing their used organs and some other things.  They wanted him to learn how to play so that when he goes out on sales calls he could show the customer the capabilities of the organ.  He is thrilled because he has always wanted to learn how to play the piano, organ is close enough.  

So he and I have been having a great time learning together.  I was very surprised at how fun it was, I played the piano for like 5  years and never thought twice about the organ.  I have changed my views, it is funner than the piano and sounds better you can create the whole band on the one organ.  Well our nephews were at the the house the other night and Curt decided to show them his new form of entertainment.  The boys loved it.  They did not want to get off.  The organ has all sorts of buttons and different sounds like rock n' roll and country.  It was the highlight of the night. 

Briggs, Beckham and Curt having a blast. 

Tagged!!

Tagged by Ashlee J.
Defination of quirk:n.

1. A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncrasy: "Every man had his own quirks and twists" Harriet Beecher Stowe.

2. An unpredictable or unaccountable act or event; a vagary: a quirk of fate.

Rules: Link the Person who Tagged you. Mention rules on your blog. Tell about 6 quirks of yours. Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same.Leave a comment to let them know.

1. I have to make my bed every morning before I leave the house, or ELSE....
2. I eat every morning oatmeal squares with yogurt, blueberries and raspberries in it.  If I don't my day is completely thrown!
3. I lock every door behind me no matter who is  coming in behind me, habit or quirk. Sorry Dear!!
4. I have to get a new bath towel for my shower if any one uses it or even touches it, that drives me crazy, actually it grosses me out (slight OCD tendencies.)
5. The toilet paper has be coming out from the top, if not I change no matter who's house it is.  (I used to not care but my husband had this quirk and now it drives me crazy)
6. I squeeze the toothpaste from the middle and Curt squeezes it from the end and both of us drive each other crazy with the way we squeeze.  Problem solved: we each have our own tube of tooth paste, I have to squeeze it from the middle!!!

I feel like I have just confessed my deepest crazy secrets. :)

I tag: Tawnya, Kandyce, Ashlee B., Jamie, Jennie and Amber. Good Luck Ladies :)

Funny Movie

Ghost Town, Now Playing!!!

Curt and I had a great date night last night, after my 12 hour shift (labor and delivery again :) and I loved it again) at the hopsital

and decided to go to Ghost Town, Bajio was our pit stop for dinner and then off to the movie.

The previews looked

funny but I just wasn't sure if all the funny parts were on the previews. We all

know movies that have been like that.

It was so funny. I was doubled over a few times. The starring actor

is the original guy that started "The Office" in London, he plays Michael

Scotts part in London. He is so funny.

So if you like the office, you will like this movie.

Five stars from us. If you want a good laugh go and see!!

Labor and Delivery

Wow what a day spent in Labor and Delivery. I had a 12 hour shift there yesterday and it was so fun. 3 babies and lots of Moms with the possibility of leaking fluid later.....the day ended. I loved every second of it and had seen 4 births as the comforter or family side but never with the view of the nurse, it was very interesting. I have had this as a possiblity for me to specialize in and am going to still keep that as a possibility, I really enjoyed it. I think that the whole birthing process is amazing although I was having a hard time imagining myself in that bed but I have a lot of respect for our bodies and the changes it goes through to bring that baby to this world and a BIG SHOUT OUT to all you moms, great job and what an amazing gift to be blessed with. Stay tuned for more crazy clinical stories :). Did I say I am loving this semester, anything beats med surg, I pray I spend as little time as possible there for the rest of my career.

NICU

It was my first clinical experience yesterday and I had the best time. I was kind of nervous because it was all these new areas we had never worked in ( so new nurses and different hospital) I showed up for my shift at 545 AM and got assigned to the NICU. I was so nervous. I didn't think I could handle being around sick babies and be able to care for them as their nurse. I was in for a surprise. The first hour our first little baby pulled out her NG tube (feeding tube down the nose to the stomach). So I got to put it back in (never had done one) It was awesome. The day turned out to be like that with all our babies, fixing things, putting things back in and also remembering all the feedings. 3 babies can keep you really busy, especially when they are all on the same feeding schedule :) It was the fastest day of clinicals I have ever had. And the more love you gave to those babies the better, it was so great. Briggs, my nephew, had been in the NICU for 8 days and some of my friends babies so on the patients side I had learned to appreciate the care that is given, but being the care giver was an amazing experience. The nurse I shadowed was so amazing, she believed in me and gave me more confidence and helped me understand everything. She was the best nurse I have been with so far. 1st of 12 clinicals done and a very good experience. Hopefully next saturday, Labor and Delivery, stay tuned.

Weekend with visitors

This weekend was so fun!! My parents and my grandma came down on Thursday night and stayed til Sunday. It was so fun to have them down. We got to spend alot time as one big happy family, minus Bubba (miss ya).

Dad, me and Heather started the weekend with a 25 mile bike ride, it was awesome. I hadn't been on my bike for a couple of weeks so it felt great! Then Saturday was filled with soccer games. Jake coaches two teams and Briggs just started his first year of soccer. It was so fun to have some games to go to again, we haven't been to watch family since Bubba graduated High School.

Then Saturday afternoon Jake Leigh and his family, Bubbas first trainer out in the mission field, came over for a swim and BBQ party. It was so fun to get to know him and his family and hear what he had to say about Bubba and the mission. Of course, intertwined with all the partying, the BYU game was watched and they thankfully won.

We finished off the weekend with a good time at church and yummy BLT sandwiches with tomatoes from grandmas garden. It was the perfect end to a great weekend. Thanks Mom, Dad and Grandma for coming down, we love it when you come.

Crazy but FUN weekend

School has Started!!!

Summer is officially over for me.  I started school  this week and spent two 12 hour days on campus, thankfully that will not be every week.  This is my second year of nursing school and this semester I get to have rotation on Labor and Delivery, Peds, and Psych.  I am way excited for all these rotations.  I start clinicals next weekend and have them every weekend until Thanksgiving. One good thing is that time will fly by because I will be so busy.  I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel I will be and RN by May, WahOO!!! I am hoping to do mostly Labor and Delivery, I have seen 3 births and it is so amazing.    We have been learning a lot about the pregnancy and delivery thing and can I say WOW!!  All you moms get the gold star for performance.  Lets just say more knowledge is not always better  :)   

 

Happy Birthday Curt!!

Happy Birthday

Curt is turning 35 today!!  

I know it sounds old but he sure doesn't act it :) Thats all that matters right.  I am so thankful that he was born and that we found each other eventually and got married and have enjoyed 7 or 8 wonderful birthday celebrations together.  I have told him that we can do anything he wants today and so far he has come up with going to work.....lame I know, but he isn't thrilled about his birthday so I will keep working on him.  I am definitely making a cake and his favorite dinner.  Anyone that knows him give him a call and harass him a bit about having a birthday, he will love it.  I love you Curt and hope you had a great day :)

THe Olympics

WOW!! Ok who has not been watching or should I say who is crazy enough not to. I have found myself perched in front of the TV, watching faithfully and cheering our fellow USA team members on. Curt and I both have found ourselves screaming at the TV and clapping and whistling, what can I say? We love the olympics. It is definitley my favorite time of the year when it comes. It is DVR'd and we have had many great nights cheering on the Americans.

How about that Michael Phelps?

Did I already say I love the OLYMPICS? :)

Road Trip Up North

My Birthday!!

         

Yes, as you all know I was dreading my birthday but it wasn't so bad :)

I have such wonderful family and friends and the best husband ever that it turned out to be a very memorable birthday.  

Curt and I woke up and rode 26 miles on our road bikes for all my many 26 years, it was so fun.  He then made me breakfast and then the regulars for swim days came over with cards and presents and balloons and a cake, and I had a great celebration with them.  Curt surprised me with 14 dozen roses on my bed when I was done swimming, I was stunned :)  It was "a bed of roses"  :)  He had done this when we were dating and did it again, they were gorgeous. 

We then got ready for a night out with just Curt and I.  Which consisted of a wonderful dinner at Gun Barrel, delicious dessert at Golden Spoon ( it was even double stamp day yes!!) and then a great night finished off with Tuachan which is playing Les Miserables right now.  The play was not my favorite and it didn't help that it was still 100 degrees outside but it was so fun just to go and do it with Curt. Any body that knows Curt knows he made a sacrifice for me to enjoy my birthday by suffering through a play.....he was a good sport.  Thanks dear for a perfect day.

                

Summer coming to an End :(

Wow I can't believe it is August!!  Summer seems like it has flown by but we still have a couple of weeks to enjoy.  School in St. George starts the 12th of August so swim days will soon be over, early to bed and early to rise for the families and no more late night walks to hopefully find the cooler air. 

 

Usually August brings some excitement for me but this year it seems to be a little bit of a drag. School starts for me the 28th and then it is back to the grind for me. Only 9 more months and I will be an RN, Yahoo!! ( that is exciting but starting it isn't so much) I am also not sure about this birthday thing I am turning 26 on Tuesday.  For some reason I am not thrilled with this birthday and kinda wish it would just pass by.  Oh well thanks to the ones in my life not allowing that to happen it will be fun and I will love it....pics to come :)

I have truely enjoyed myself this summer and hope for many more great summers near the pool and having a great time in the neighborhood.  Thanks to all the great supporters of our swim days and many other events we had.  It was great fun.  Here are some pics from some of our great days together enjoying the sun.