Overload and yes I am back!

My blog world!! I have missed all of you. I took a leave of absence trying to adjust to the new job in SICU!! Adjusting and doing fine...still nauseous on my way to work but learning to live with it. Lots of new experiences, actually every day I go to work there is something new....Curt is working lots of different places and we try to meet in the middle for a few days, usually in St. George. Otherwise. Life is good. Finally caught up on the blog....sorry post overload ;) Hope the holidays treated you all well. Happy New Year!!

Christmas a little early...Dec 23rd!!

Yes Christmas was celebrated on the 23rd for me! My family is amazing and did that for me since I had to work Christmas eve and Christmas day. I love them and miss them! The best family ever!! (sorry picture overload)

Here is the group. We all have our gifts from our new and dear friend Vitali (? spelling) Mitch's friend from the Ukraine is here spending the holidays with us.

Curt and I gave the boys Christmas jammies :) The didn't take them off even the next day!

This is Vitali!

My sister's sis-in-law makes these gloves (dishwashing gloves) and she gave them to the girls in the family. Washing dishes in STYLE!! thanks T.

Every year we exchange names and buy ornaments for each other instead of presents and then we all tell why we chose that ornament for the person. Some touch our hearts and others make us laugh!! It was a great year. Except I noticed I didn't get a picture of Curt's or mine....oops.

Tawnya got an angel ornamanet with a manger inside...a baby jesus for the reminder of baby #3 coming in May!! From my mom.

My mom got a travel ornament from Mitch!! Better late than never. He got it the day before and we were all teasing him but he did a great job and it perfect for mom she is our personal travel agent!!

Heather got a house from Briggs. He loves going to her house!!

Jakes ornament had us in tears!! Tawnya put it in a jello mold!! If any of you watch the office....its Jakes favorite show. It was hilarious!!

Brian got a golf ornament from heather and it said something about a hit or something to remind him of the car accident he got in this year....double meaning :)

Mitch loves to dance, lol! As he stated on fb so Brian being the funny guy he is got mitch a disco ball and included his statement on fb!! It was awesome.

Lot so wrestling and family fun was enjoyed by us all!

Mom and everyone made a wonderful dinner!!

Briggsy!!

Beckham wanted Dee Dee to feel included

Scouty sporting his pony tail!!

Dad carving the turkey

And the cook!!

All in all a great Christmas!! Thanks family for being so wonderful this year. Your support has been much needed!! Lots of changes this year for us and we are hoping for a great 2010!! Goodbye 2009 and on with great beginnings ahead of us!! Merry Christmas and Happy New year to you all!! Smooches from Vegas!

Christmas Cancun Style

Yes, we went to Cancun from the 12th-20th!! It was the BEST vacation!! Just Curt and I!!

This is the resort, a view from the beach!! The best sand EVER!

Our beach right outside our door.

We both did a whole lot of this. I read two books and Curt read 1 1/2!!

We also did a whole lot of this :) R&R

Free Taco lunch!!

Made some new friends...I was with Curt, it would not be an outing with Curt if we didn't make new friends :) Bill and Mayme, from Reno. Curt and Bill fished a couple of mornings and came back with fish that they caught from the shore!! Now we won't ever be going back without Curt's poles. He is so excited for May!!

This a restaurant called the Aluz (pronounced Alush) It is located in a dried up Sonate or cave.
It was amazing. Food not so good but atmosphere and surroundings amazing!!

Curt goofing off at the entrance, we had to walk down many stairs to enter.

This is a head that is in the middle of the shopping street, Curt wanted a picture and he didn't even mean to be almost picking the statues nose :)

Our last meal at the Palapa!! The had great food at the resort and so we didn't venture out much. We both in need of a lot rest and relaxation. And that is what we did. We had a lot of fun. Played cards every night and ate alot of chips and salsa and virgin margaritas. It was so great and couldn't have come at a better time.

Halloween

The event of the year....arrived!!
Jessica and TJs Halloween party

I had received the golden ticket the last two years....not having to dress up, so this year, we went all out! The party was awesome. We all had so much fun, it was the best so far, Thanks Jes!!

I dressed up as a witch, Jessica was Belle and Sophie was Snow White

Heather and I joined in on the Mummy contest...Heather and Brooke won!! Bubba got sick spinning around me :)

3 hole punch and our very own Weber High Cheerleader :)

I had to throw this one in...It was my only documentation of Bubbas outfit (it is my next years costume...Yes, he dressed as a girl)

Our very own Airplane

The Kirkland Fam: Tawnya and Brian=Nacho and his nun girly. Briggs was a boxer and Beck was an airplane

My mom came up with this idea all on her own. They were glow in the dark stick figures!! Cute huh? I loved it.

Me as the witch and Curt as the Jail man :)

It was such a fun and loved all the food and neighborhood fun!!

UNLV vs BYU

Wow, its been a while...this new job thing has me thrown off! Hopefully I will be more regular.

We had the chance to go to the BYU vs UNLV game in Vegas. It was so much fun. Curt was in heaven. Nicole, KP, Tiff and Josh came down and we spent the day with them and then we all met up at the game. It was so fun to hang out with them. We love it when our friends come to visit. Thanks guys!!

It was definitely a different kind of environment. Like bar tendors serving hard liquor and the fans going up and down the stairs more times than actually sitting in their seats for their booze!! Some fights and some escorting out because the kids can't even stand up straight and throw up down the front of them.

As you can tell I had more fun watching what was going on around me .....it wasn't much of game, BYU killed them, but who wouldn't right?

Josh, Tiff, Nicole, Me and KP

Curt, not in his true fan colors(we were in the student section and didn't want to create too many fights)

Curt and I

My Dad

Happy Birthday Dad!! Well I think I am going to adopt the Happy Birthday to my loved ones on my blog thing...since now I am even farther away.

Today is my Dads big 54th birthday. What a great day to celebrate...

Things I love about my dad.

#1 The picture above is classic. We are a beach family and our vacations usually consist of beach. And my dad is found out in the sun with a variety of books he is reading, interrupted with some good salsa and chips, virgin margaritas and dips in the ocean :) I can't wait for Cancun in December! I love the example you have set for me on how to vacation!

#2 The LOVE to read! This rubbed off on to me at a very young age and still to this day I crave to read a good book. When I go home I love to see the great things he is reading and learning from his stacks of books.

#3 Great words of WISDOM. My dad seems to always know what to say at the moment I need it. (my mom too :) He has this positive attitude that is hard not to catch and it seems after a talk with him you can conquer the world. I have needed many of these words these past couple of weeks.

#4 One of my new found favorites to do with my dad is ROAD BIKING. A couple of times I have taken my road bike up with me and we go together. We push each other and have good times together. I love riding with my dad :)

#5 HOT TAMALES and POPCORN. Every since I can remember Friday or Saturday we would gather downstairs with some popcorn and hot tamales and big glass of ice water and enjoy a movie. Now we go out to the movies....but still have the same treats. I have many great memories spending time downstairs with some good snacks and a community cup of water :)

Dad,
I am so glad you are my dad. Thanks for being so great. You example and love mean so much to me and I can't wait to see you this weekend. Have a great birthday :) Here is to MANY more memories and good times!

Survival

SICU = Surgical ICU

My first two weeks have been eventful, exciting, tiring and sad! I am the officially the queen of worry....anyone that knows me just a bit knows that. My first week consisted of orientation that more than anything put me to sleep, but there were a few points that I stayed awake for like, benefits and such :).

Second week, I worked on the floor of the Surgical ICU!! Also known as "SICK - U" Funny, HUH! It rocked! I was really nervous and had worked my self into a mega nervous stomach!! My first day my "real" preceptor was called off so I followed around a different nurse and learned a lot from her. My second day was class all day in front of computer doing modules...lame! Third day I was with my preceptor and she is not what I was expecting but a great teacher and funny person. She is in her late 50's, smoker, rough around the edges and swears ALOT. She is a great nurse, and I am just getting thrown right into this Vegas culture :)

I am learning quickly what kind of nurse I want to become and definitely what I don't want to become. I have had an all in all good experience. Some patients situations and what their families want to put them through is the sad part. It will always be though. I just make sure for my 12 hours I treat them the way I would want my Mom or kid treated.

We are getting use to Vegas life. Our ward is fun and a well mixed ward. We have adventured to the temple twice. It is amazing! But it is a half a day process with how far and traffic and the session and such but it is fun. We have tried some fun, new restaurants and have made a few friends in our new ward. Hoping for some new sites to see in the next week or two.

Curt is learning a lot about his job and enjoying diving in. He wished he could know it all now and not have to go at a slower pace but he is learning and hoping to have a couple hands in the fire with a few different things going on....more to come when things are more figured out :)

We love having visitors, we have two spare rooms and want all our friends and family to come(cheap flights to Vegas...hint hint). Our nephews and Tawnya, Jake and Heather, Jerri and Mark (our friends) and Linda and Patrick have all visited at different times and it has been so much fun. It seems when people come to visit you have more time together than when you live in the same town.

More adventures from the new nurse in Sin City :)

Moving Weekend

My hubby has been busy this past week. He moved us! He moved his Mom. Then we sold our Jeep to his brother, Craig, who lives in Georgia and he drove it to Oklahoma City, to meet half way. As he has been seeing alot of lines lately, he took a few moments to take some pics.

I don't have any from our move....forgot the camera.

Curt, Mitch and his friend Jake moved us Wednesday night and Thursday. Curt drove back up to St. George and moved his mom on Friday and Saturday. He made the trip up and back on Saturday, she moved to Saratoga Springs.

The hillbilly moving service. Curt is such a good packer that he packed the backs of the trucks first. They were 12 foot high of stuff...as you can see chairs and such strapped to the top. Come to find out they didn't need to pack SOOO well, the two trailers were half empty. ;)

Curt drove this truck and Joseph drove the other.

Joseph, being forced to take a picture...not too happy, in Texas

There is a Shattuck, OK and Curt went on a 2 hour detour to check it out...No true Shattuck actually lives there, he was a little disappointed, but way excited he got to see the place.

Curt, Joseph, Stephanie and Craig in Oklahoma City, OK
trading the vehicles. Curt brought back his 1999 Chevy Truck...its for sale if anyone is interested...great shape :)

All in all a whirlwind of week that Curt, especially, is glad it is over. Off the start the new job in the morning and pictures of our new place soon to come.

Coming to an End!

Pretty sure the rental hunt is over and we can officially claim our name to Las Vegas. I got a call Thursday for HR at Sunrise confirming my spot in Surgical ICU and it looks like my start date will be August 31. We spent a couple of days down there doing a little birthday celebration...my 27th...AHHHH! And hunting for rentals. I HATE looking for houses, I have never had to do this because Curt just builds them and then we move well this is a little different ball game in Vegas. But we found one that we both like, that has all of Curts requirements and also a yard for the dogs :) They need to let us know this morning if it is a go....cross your fingers for us :)

Pictures to come of the Bday Celebration and also the house if we can call it ours for a year. Visitors WELCOME in VEGAS anytime :) Spare rooms and couches and floor space :)

Night out and Basketball

It was time for our date with Briggs and Beckham. We all agreed upon Ice Age 3 : Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Off to the movies, get our treats and find some good seats. I brought my camera but forgot to take pictures. It was a cute movie and we all had our share of popcorn and soda, but that is what Aunts and Uncles are for, right? Next stop, Dollar Tree :)

I said to Briggs, Ok we can each get a toy and a treat. He replied with a shrug of the shoulders and a reply "That seems fair". Then comes the whispering to Curt. Curt says, "Yep." I look at him with a questioning look and he replies "Oh I already made a deal with Briggs at the movies that he could get 2 toys and a treat." The kid wins, what can I say. Briggs chose a cop set with handcuffs and all, gun and a treat. Beckham chose a big group of suckers, some nerds and and airplane gun. We all left happy :)

On our way to their house, there were many crys from the back seat disputing going home, neither of them wanted to, what can I say we are a lot of fun, j/k.

We get to Tawnya's and Beckham refuses to stay home, so we take Beck with us and went swimming. The people we are renting to are out of town so we can use the pool and they put up a cool basketball hoop. So Beckham and Curt played ball. Dinner was served and then it was time to convince the kid that it was time to head home. Curt told him we were going to Desert Hills (which is th development they live in but there is also a High School down the street called that) he went willingly thinking it was the high school. When I pulled in the drive way, he said "Hey this isn't Desert Hills!" What a smart kid! He is so funny.

We had a blast, thanks for letting us borrow your kids T and B.

Love ya

He made sure I was watching every shot and had to give me a high five after every basket he made :)