新年快樂!!

So.....It's unofficially 2011....only because we celebrated last night.  ;)
Monday morning we headed up to Mt. Spokane to do some X-country skiing.  Thanks Shawsh for letting us use your parking pass ;)  We had a great time, made it to junction number 7....and ended up going the wrong way UP the hardest and longest trail between the 7th junction and the Nova hut. Bad idea....I'm still sore.  But it was a great time nonetheless

Here's a link to the  the trail map....look for Quartz Mt. loop, it's a little out of the way of where we were trying to go.

Here's the crew beforehand

I fell lots....and my hair froze.  Notice the icicle hanging down my forehead.

Tacoma looks way too calm for having gone 4.5 kilometers uphill around the Quartz Mt. loop

Laughy loves....you?  No, the snow

The view was sooooo pretty!

And....us.....happy after it was all over.

This is how I felt afterwards....

Then we drove down to Endicott to celebrate New Years with games, fireworks and crab (my new favorite tradition!)

We took 2 cars down since Janae's flight left at 5 this morning, and so the girls drove back without sleeping, Exodus and I decided to leave this afternoon....too bad there was a blizzard warning for Spokane and Whitman counties.  It was one of the scariest drives I've ever been in, even though I never touched the wheel, but we made it back and only got stuck once.  Thanks goodness Exodus is a safe driver! 

HAPPY ALMOST NEW YEAR!

I'll pretend to celebrate with the rest of you while I'm working....and getting paid ;)

Christmastime

How do you describe one of the best Christmases ever?  Like this:

Exodus' family decided to celebrate Christmas 3-days early because his brother wasn't gonna be in town on Christmas day, and they invited me,  which worked out perfect since I still had to work my regular shift Christmas weekend.  It was wonderful.  His family is amazing and made me feel totally included. They even gave me a stocking/sock ;)  It was great! (They also decided to celebrate New Year's early this year....we'll be doing so next Tuesday)

Christmas day I decided to stay up after my shift since the Elder was given permission at the last minute to use Skype video chat to call home for Christmas.  Luckily I remembered to bring my laptop and presents for Shawsh's family to work that night, so I just headed straight to their house from the hospital.  The kids were already up, we opened presents, and I set up the computer at their house so we could all be there to see the missionary for the last time before he comes home!  What an experience!  We had 8 of the 9 siblings plus the parentals all on the same conference call.  I think I saw Dee Dee get a picture of us all video chatting together.  I almost cried. It's been so long since we've all been together (granted we were still missing one family) and technology made it possible!  I love it. It took us a while to get a system down so that we weren't all trying to talk at the same time.  But it was so worth it.  the Elder is doing great.  He gets home on March 8th.  Hopefully we'll be able to get him out west soon after.  And an exciting announcement was made that I can't publish yet....but soon ;)  To top it all off.....Shawsh made us crepes.  with berries, and whipped cream, Nutella and bananas, and sausages ;)  So great.  

I got home at 12:30 fell right asleep and slept until 7pm!  I slept through 7 text messages!  So proud of myself I am.  I was really surprised by my ability to stay awake all morning,  and since I'm writing this at work, I can honestly say it's been one of the easiest nights tiredness-wise for me.  Probably because I got so much sleep, but also because I slept later in the day, so I wasn't worn out when I showed up here. All in all I really couldn't have planned it better. Now if only I didn' t have to get up at 11 for meetings.....

Merry Christmas!  I'm so grateful for this season!  I'm so grateful for families - and how celebrating the birth of our Savior brings us closer together.

Staircases

There's a staircase near the x-ray core that I use sometimes to go down to the cafeteria.  I noticed the other day that the stairs looked like they hadn't been cleaned in a long time.  This staircase is very hidden, and obviously not used very much.
I decided it'd be pretty ironic to have a nasty fall on this staircase, because no one would hear me, and I'd probably not be found for a long time, and then die.....in a staircase....in a hospital.  Best to be careful going down these stairs no? Irony is great.
I will continue to use this staircase frequently, however, just to make sure no one has fallen ;)

Rollercoaster

I've been pretty much feelin like the girls starting at 6:30 in this clip...
Emotional, cranky, sensitive, sad, tired, hungry......sometimes, I really hate being a girl.

When Does the Sabbath Start?

        I've been thinking a lot tonight about what the Sabbath is and means to me.  I work every Sunday.  I don't want to work Sundays ever, at all, but I work at a hospital and there sometimes is just no way around it.  I struggled a lot making the decision to take this shift, but in the end, I realized that if I didn't work this graveyard shift, all other weekend shifts would interfere with church services, and missing church every Sunday was something I was not willing to compromise with.  Also, by working this shift, they can never ask me to fill in on any other Sunday shift which means my schedule is guaranteed to never interfere with church.  That being said, I still sometimes feel like I'm rationalizing my breaking of the Sabbath.
   
       Lately though, I hadn't been feeling so badly about it.  I still hold my calling, no one seems to judge me for it.  I still attend church meetings, (I do delegate ward council out to my counselors) I go to PEC every other week even though it only gives me about 3 hours of sleep, and I still go to school 5 days a week 7:30-5. I also rationalize it by the amount of work I actually do on Sunday....typically there is not a whole lot going on before 7am on Sunday morning....I said typically.  Today has been different.  I've been busy.  Super busy.  Between ultrasound, MRI, loading films from other facilities, 4 trauma patients, cath lab......I have not felt like this is a "day of rest", and I haven't considered it as such.  However....deep down I still know it's Sunday. 

      What I usually do is I don't think of the Sabbath as starting for me until I walk out of the hospital, I turn church music on in my car on the way home, I sleep a few hours and do my normal Sunday stuff, but is that the wrong attitude?  I'll admit, I also don't fast on the scheduled fast Sunday because of work, I just can't make it through an entire night without at least something to drink, but I do try to fast a different, less stressful day of the week, or just fast from about 3am on until dinner.  Sometimes I do try to read the scriptures online while I have some down time at work, or the Ensign, or some talks, or the Sunday school lesson for that day, but it doesn't erase the fact that I'm working on Sunday.  I like my job, I enjoy the people I work with, I feel like I'm making a difference and serving, but I guess I wonder if I'm missing out on some blessings because of my choice to work on the Sabbath, and I also wonder if I could ever teach others about the importance of keeping the Sabbath when it may seem on the outside like I don't do so myself.

I Had a Very Bad Morning

Dear whoever left the big dent in my car last night, 

You Suck. 

-Bacon

Saw this on Facebook

"Indeed, it may be our own capacity to give love that makes us most lovable. The greater our own personal substance is and the deeper our own mental, emotional, and spiritual reserves are, the greater will be our capacity to nurture and love others." -Marlin K. Jensen

Why I Don't Want to go into Ultrasound

This last weekend at work was pretty good, much better than a full moon, busy enough to keep me awake, but not so busy that I want to die.  As soon as I showed up on Friday night I had to go in to chaperon an ultrasound.  We had 3 in a row actually.  All pregnancy ultrasounds.  Scooby was working late that night, and really I wanted to just go help him out in MRI, but I did my duties, as unpleasant as they sometimes are.
   The first patient was a 22 year old.  As the tech went through the exam I noted him looking for the fetal heartbeat, and not finding one.  I also noted him working quicker than usual.  I think once we both realized what we saw, we didn't want to be around when the girl found out.  But as soon as he was done she asked the question we both hoped she wouldn't, "Is the baby OK?"  In most cases we're not really supposed to tell the patient what we see, we usually say "The doctor will look at the images and let you know"  but he didn't, he just said "there's no heartbeat".  I almost died.  I got out of there as quick as I could and resumed my duties.  I tried the best I could to hold it together, but inside I hurt so bad.  Life is so unfair sometimes.
    The next patient was a 24 year old. A little less far along than the last patient in her pregnancy.  When I went in everyone was just laughing and joking, the tech, who had just told the last patient that she had lost her baby, seemed unaffected by it.  I did the same.  Her baby was fine from what I could tell, the tech printed her pictures of the baby sucking it's thumb.   The mood was totally different, it was the first time they had seen their baby.
        I thought about this the rest of the weekend.  I thought about trials and blessings, about how life can change so quickly. I thought about my family and my siblings and their families.  I thought about the sealing covenant and how important it is, because you really never know what could happen.  It made me think about a lesson my last relief society president Kiki gave this summer. She talked about how the marriage covenant we make in the temple is not just for the couple being married, it's more about the children being born into that marriage, the children who deserve those blessings!  I rejoice to know Heavenly Father's plan has protections for families, for parents and children, and I'm blessed to have already set standards for my life. 

Ugly Sweaters

We Won!

Thanksgiving

I just got home tonight from probably one of the best Thanksgivings ever.  Exodus and I rode with Shawsh's family down to Vancouver, WA to do Thanksgiving with Ellen's family and to be there for Ella's baptism.  Everything went so smoothly.  The drive was safe, the company was great, the dinner was probably one of the best we've ever done, the baptism was beautiful, I got my frozen custard fill, the games were civil, and the cheese cake....was heaven! I didn't get many pictures, but did get quite a few wonderful videos of our Wii playing skills. 

Here's the kids at the baptism

 

Here's the girls

 

And the big girls

This first video is of Ellen and Sonaj attempting a duet A Whole New World.  

As you can see, Ellen had a difficult time with it, so Sonaj covered for her

It's totally worth hearing the last note......

This is my favorite picture of the Fowlers playing Just Dance.

Many happy hours were spent playing this game

 Shawsh and Scooby had a dance off.

These next 2 videos are a couple I took of the dancers.  Scooby makes us all look bad.  Although I think Ella took a close second.

 

You know who is a better dancer than Scooby?  Nana!  She beat us all

 

I had to add this picture because.....it's awesome. 

Someday may I have the eyebrow raising skills I desire so badly!

Countdown

Countdown of days till.....
Thanksgiving break: 3 (2 days of school/clinical)
Christmas break: 19 (6 days of school clinical)

I'm so excited to sleep!!

Thank You Note

Dear BOCA burger,
    Thank you for making me a cheap, quick, delicious meal for only 2 points!!  I love you.
Meg

Someone Else is Tired Too!

This is what clinical history I was given last night for a patient who we did a chest x-ray on.

"Man has heart failure"

Really?  I was gonna laugh if the patient was actually a woman......thank you nurse, for being so thorough.

I Want to go to Priesthood Session

Ok, maybe I don't actually want to go to priesthood session of general conference, there's definitely less "you're doing wonderfully"  said in that meeting than in relief society, but man are the talks good. I loved these quotes from Elder Uchtdorf's talk.

"Pride is the great sin of self-elevation. It is for so many a personal Rameumptom, a holy stand that justifies envy, greed, and vanity. In a sense, pride is the original sin, for before the foundations of this earth, pride felled Lucifer, a son of the morning “who was in authority in the presence of God.” If pride can corrupt one as capable and promising as this, should we not examine our own souls as well?"

- I've often struggled with the concept that people could actually not desire to make it to the Celestial Kingdom, that there are people who wouldn't be comfortable there. However, it does make sense to me that pride would cause Satan to choose as he did, standing in front of Heavenly Father......how many times do I make stupid decisions, just because of pride.....therefore:

"Pride is a deadly cancer. It is a gateway sin that leads to a host of other human weaknesses. In fact, it could be said that every other sin is, in essence, a manifestation of pride."

- Oh sooooooo deep.

"We are servants of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are not given the priesthood so that we can take our bows and bask in praise. We are here to roll up our sleeves and go to work. We are enlisted in no ordinary task. We are called to prepare the world for the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."

-This is very meaningful after watching the leadership broadcast tonight hmmmm?

"Some suppose that humility is about beating ourselves up. Humility does not mean convincing ourselves that we are worthless, meaningless, or of little value. Nor does it mean denying or withholding the talents God has given us. We don’t discover humility by thinking less of ourselves; we discover humility by thinking less about ourselves. It comes as we go about our work with an attitude of serving God and our fellowman."

 - Thanks for teaching me HOW to be better.  Forget yourself and love others!

I Like Food

So when I moved up to Spokane last January, I lived with Shawsh for about 8-months.  After getting there we decided together to do weight-watchers.  She had done it before, and knew all the tricks, it was a good thing for me.  We worked out together, and ate good food together, and kept track of our food together.  I lost about 25 lbs. before my birthday! I didn't take any before or after pictures, but maybe I'll find some good comparisons. 

 

I kinda gave up on it over the summer, I was busy with school, work, and a boy (eating out is not conducive to losing weight) and needed a little break.  I'm happy to say that during that time I did not gain!  I maintained really well.  I had learned good habits about portion control, snacking, and eating the right things.  When I moved out, I was afraid I'd fall back into old college habits, since cooking healthy foods for one person is near impossible. However, I am happy to say that in the last 3 weeks I have lost another 5 lbs!  Making me down 30 lbs total!!  My roomies help because we cook meals for each other 3x's a week.  I am buying the good foods, and still trying to stick to my good habits, although I'm not keeping track religiously, and I got a gym membership, and with how poor I am, and how much money it's costing me, you know I'm not gonna waste it!  I think dating Exodus has also helped since we don't eat out much....in fact tonight was the first time we did, and it's probably the reason I'm posting this now.....because all I ate tonight was a blizzard and a corn dog, and by the time I was going to work I couldn't think of anything to take to eat for my break....cuz I felt nasty.  Then since I've been here I've eaten 2 cookies, chicken and rice soup, and a half-sandwich.  Not my best day. In fact, I ran stairs tonight at work to make myself feel better.  But overall, I'm definitely getting there. 

I'm proud of my progress, but I am also trying to not get comfortable yet.  I still have some to lose, and would love to be at my goal size in pants by Christmas, so I can get new clothes.  I've been fighting the urge to get in-between size pants, because I don't want to have something to go back to, but I get comments on the bagginess of my pants daily, and yesterday it came from my department head......so I called mom, and asked if she wanted to give me a half-birthday present (my half-birthday was on Tuesday ) and she said, "Yeah, go to Goodwill and buy yourself a couple of pairs of pants!"  HAHAH  She's great huh?  Actually she made a good point, if I buy pants I don't love at Goodwill for cheap, then I won't want to go back to them as bad, in fact, I can just get rid of them once they're too big and not be out much money. Good mom.  I'm gonna do it.  We'll see how early I wake up after work today if I go shopping ;)

PS. Baskin Robbins gives you a coupon for free ice cream on your half-birthday as well as your real birthday!!  Woot Woot!

Inspirational quote from Shawsh:

"No food will taste as good as being thin feels."

My Happiness Today

I saw this commercial today in the locker room after my swim.....and it made me really happy.  Lots of things make me happy, but this helped today.  And the American woman's accent is phenomenal. The end. 

 

Happy Halloween

I didn't really get into Halloween much this year, mostly because of time, and also because it was on a Sunday, but we did go up to green bluff to get pumpkins, and pumkin donuts, and have fun.  I picked out the best pumpkin ever....and Exodus and I carved it at FHE the week before Halloween.  We went for a sad clown look.  It was pretty awesome.

  Well When I got home from work Sunday morning, sad clown was sitting on our porch and he looked more disgusting than ever because this was crawling out of his eye....

Yea, a nasty slug!!  Sick!  No wonder he was so sad!

Unproductive Productivity

Time is an interesting thing.  I would love a little more of it.
At some point on Friday morning I realized the rest of my schedule would look like this:

Get out of clinical at 4pm - 30 min. drive home
5 pm - Double date dinner and Peter Pan
7pm - YSA dance in Couer D'alene
10:30 pm - work
7am - Get off work SLEEP
10 am -baptism
12 pm - going away lunch
2 pm - ski swap
5 pm - Trunk or Treat with Shawsh's family
6 pm - Classmate's Halloween party
10:30 pm - work.....

Obviously I did not do the majority of things on my list for Friday/Saturday, and I'm not going to ward council in the morning, and with how busy things have gotten at work I'm contemplating not going to make a visit after church that I already committed to....and I already backed out of a dinner with Bam's family tonight.  I felt bad on my way to work tonight that I hadn't done anything, and really I only slept until about 3:30 this afternoon, but I'm just exhausted, and if this is what my weekend looks like, you can only imagine my weekdays!  I just want to justify to myself that I am not lazy, I'm just one person.  And although I probably could have done most of those things.....I need to decide what is good, better, and best!

Besides that I missed half of the baptism, including Exodus' talk, because someone failed to mention to the baptizee to bring an extra set of white underwear.  So thanks to my awesomely demon-ish driving skills, I was able to pick up the necessities just in time for the dunking.  It was a great baptism though.  Lots of much worse things could have happened.

I am so looking forward to Nov. 11th.  Veteran's Day. My first day off!!!!

This Is How I'm Feeling Today

Happy happy day, but I should probably try to not be so distracted in class.....

Why Do You Do It?

So we had the stake relief society leadership training meeting tonight.  It was way up north, I'm tired, I have no days off....ever, and I didn't really want to go.  Shame on me.  While I was sitting in the meeting, the stake president said something to the effect of:

"I'm not going to teach you women anything tonight, I just want to get up here to say thank you".  

At first I was frustrated by his comment, I thought, "You drug me all the way up here on a school night so you could tell me thank you?  If I don't learn something from this meeting I'm gonna scream. Why am I putting so much time and effort into this calling?"

Please Don't judge me, I'm just being honest here.  

Then I thought about all the times that I've told people that if you don't learn anything from a talk or a lesson at church that it's your own fault, because the spirit can teach you things that are never said.  Immediately I thought about a conversation I had recently with a friend,

After hearing about about my schedule, this friend asked me why I do so much and put so much time into the church?  And then proceeded to tell me that church is just a time sucker.

I'm sure that I responded with some logic or reasoning to prove she was wrong and actually church gives me more time.......But tonight I realized how wrong I was.  The spirit testified very strongly to me why I do this.  

It's Because It's True!!  

And I have a sincere witness that I know this is the true gospel! I know how to get back to heaven!  I know how to find happiness in life!  

Why that wasn't what I thought at the time, I don't know, but I am so glad that I have now remembered why I do it all.  And I'm so glad that I also learned tonight about opening my heart to the spirit.  

When I attend any meeting with a hard-heart, it will be a waste of time, but if at thee end of the day I have learned nothing, I only have myself to blame.

This is me happy.  

And not just because Shaw-Shawsh let me carpool with her ;)

Fairs are Better than Carnivals

Fairs are great!

Because of mutton busting, of which I have never before witnessed. 

These pictures clearly do not do this sport justice!

I got in a little bull riding action of my own that night

 This toy brings new meaning to the phrase "living in a bubble" 

And you only have to be under 120 pounds to ride!

 Last but certainly  not least, I would like to pay tribute to the wonderful animal who has warmed my head for so many years, of which animal is not a Llama....thank you Katya.

I love you Al Paca.



Hide And Seek

Tonight Bella and Exodus bonded.....while playing hide-and-seek.  Exodus claims he is too big for this game now.  I disagree. 

They definitely didn't win this round.

Shi JieMei

 2 years ago today I came home from my mission.  

I miss it everyday.  

親愛的台灣，我愛你！！

Long Legs

I've often heard that I have long legs, but I never realized to what extent until today. I got volunteered to be the patient today in class while we learned how to position patients for a lower leg x-ray to get the tibia and fibula.  The film size you use for this shot is a 7x17.....but guess whose leg didn't fit on the film?  I guess it was a good learning experience for everyone else, but for me....mainly just an ego boost ;)

Note: these are not my sexy long legs ;)

1st Day Jitters

Thoughts on my first day of clinical:
    I'm glad that I can be easy to get along with
    I'm glad that there are other sarcastic people in the world
    I'm glad that I've been working as an imaging assistant for the last 6 months
    I'm glad that I started at a more "laid back" hospital
    Tomorrow I WILL take an take an x-ray on my own.  The first one is the hardest!

Creeper

So I've been going through the pictures on my phone and realizing that there are stories in those pictures just waiting to be told.  For goodness sakes, yesterday, I drove really far just to pick up a free pizza for my roomie and me and ended up getting sidetracked because I had to take a picture of this to send to Du DiXiong.

If you can't tell (because I know you can't) the sign in the window says "Free Smells"

Which he thinks is funny since I can't smell.

The point is, there are funny stories behind many things.  Which is what this post (and possibly many future ones) is for.  So here's the story:

One night when I was home in the land of Escanaba I was sitting around reading the scriptures with my family. The young, but loveable Beebit was sitting on the couch across from me, likely sitting on top of my feet because no doubt they were cold.  Being in one of my disruptive moods I stared at Beebit from behind my Book of Mormon.  He repeatedly urged me to "stop looking at [him] like that!" but of course that only encouraged me to continue.  Later he took of picture of my creepiness and sent it to me to prove that I looked like something straight out a of a horror film.  Which obviously I did.

I recounted this experience to DeeDee when I returned to Utah, and she decided we should continue to scare him.  What are older sisters for anyway.



I think we could have done a much better job of hiding behind more menacing literature, however, I think it got the point across. Until we received this from him.

The student has become the teacher.  Here's to being a creeper Beebit. 



Conference Weekend

I love conference!!  I wish I had been better prepared for this one, and that I had been able to get more sleep.  I did end up getting kinda sick this weekend, and am still feeling it a little, and with my work schedule.....well, going to bed at 7am when conference is at 9am seems a little futile. But it was good nonetheless.  I learned a lot, and got a lot of answers I wanted, and maybe some I didn't. It was good timing though.  First let me share part of a letter I got from a good friend serving her mission in Vegas.  This is an edited version of what she learned from her president interviews last week:

" He told me once again that I have to love myself where I am at.....and I am too hard on myself....I guess sometimes I get discouraged because when I get on my knees at the end of the night I think- there was one more person we could have talked to, one more person we could have called, a person we could have left a note for.... I just never feel like I am doing enough.....
he gave me a blessing. That I would be happy with where I am at, to see myself as God sees me, and to almost relax. haha I guess I am just a stress bag. I didn't even realize it...but I think a lot of people do that- we all think that we aren't good enough- that we aren't worthy to be where we are. Something i learned from President is that we are not asked to be perfect. We are asked to do what we can and then let the Atonement of Jesus Christ to come into our lives. If we don't do this, then our faithfulness to Jesus Christ is discredited and we become worse off than we would be if we just accepted Christ and let him do the rest....So I am enjoying the journey."

So with that in mind I watched conference.  From President Uchtdorf I learned that I need to simplify my life and cut some things out....like Facebook. He quoted Divinci

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" 

Beautiful huh? From Elder Ballard I also learned to cut out facebook, you know why. President Packer reminded me to stop making excuses - to not fight against the laws of God, and President Monson taught me that I can do it!  (As in get off facebook)  OK that might not be what they all talked about, but that's what I learned.  LA said she was impressed with how much I stayed awake during conference, so I think that's a plus ;)
 Basically, to have faith in God's promises is to take action, and I am responsible for myself, and for my relationship with God, which is most important above all else.  I can have the blessing of the Holy Ghost constant in my life, and I know what things I need to change.  I'm putting my oxygen mask on first!  ;)

Epiphany

    You know those times in your life when you try really hard to focus on others, to do things for people in need and completely outside of yourself? What do you do when your plans to help others is foiled??!?!? I swear I'm trying really hard to develop the charity I need to have for the girls in my ward, to do everything I can to help and serve them, and try to forget my own problems, but I am learning that the Lord sees it differently, and knows what I need more than I do. 

    So X-Ray school is going well. I'm getting good grades on my tests, understanding what is taught, making new friends, and too busy to be breathing.  So this week when I went with the ward to the temple, I went with sincere desires and goals to know how to better fulfill my calling, to better serve these girls. But all I could think about all night was myself.  I kept wondering if I'd really be satisfied doing x-ray, if it was challenging enough for me.  I thought about what areas I might like to cross-train in, and then I kept thinking about how much I missed my teaching calling :( 

    Teaching gospel principles class was the first strictly teaching calling I've ever had.  I never really thought of myself as much of a teacher.  I taught swimming lessons for a long time, but never really loved it. I worked at schools a bit in classrooms and did my undergrad in audiology/speech-language pathology, but never saw myself working as a speech therapist, definitely not in a school.  But teaching this class at church I loved!! I looked forward to my class.  I enjoyed preparing my lessons. I loved studying the subjects. Well, that night it hit me! I might not want to be an elementary school teacher, but I love to teach my peers, and I love to teach subjects I know and am passionate about.  And then I realized the possibilities of this.  I've decided that after I've done x-ray for a couple years, if I don't decide to go on to another modality, I'll become an instructor!  I'll probably even get my masters in x-ray.  Why not? A few of my instructors don't even have bachelors degrees! I really felt at peace in this realization.    Still....I was feeling a little selfish and uneasy about not getting the answers that I came for.

    Then I had a nice talk with Ellen.  She's so good, calling just when I need her.  She reminded me that you can't help anyone else put on their oxygen mask when yours isn't on.  Maybe I was just being told to slow down and get my own life in order (if you saw the house this week you would not be impressed in our orderly skills)  I worked that night after that phone call on organizing my plans, my goals for RS, things I need to accomplish in my calling in the next couple weeks, LISTS, and some cleaning....and homework.  Don't worry, I still attended institute, the ward BBQ, even had some friends over to watch the office, and me and LA went to town fixing up the house tonight so we won't be embarrassed when our conference guests arrive this morning.  But now I really feel like this is all going to be do-able.  I feel at peace with where I'm headed, and now I can get to work! Wish me luck!

We were given our markers, radiation badges, scrubs, and clinical assignments this week!  Look at me I'm legit now!

Yea, yea I know I'm holding up the left marker on my right side, but look!  My initials in.....metal!!

WOOT WOOT!

Don't Get Sick

Last week LA started getting sick, and has been as such all week long.  I felt pretty smug going the whole week without even a sniffle.....until I woke up this morning with the beginning of a sore throat.  So I think I've now downed about 15 chewable vitamin Cs (Thanks Costco) and still have a ziploc in my backpack with more......Can you OD on vitamin C?  Is there such a thing as too much of a good thing?  Can you tell that I really don't want to get sick?

You Know Who You Are

Dear really cute boy in my class, 

       Please stop becoming progressively cuter.  

       You are making it very hard for me to concentrate.

New Calling

Remember that time that I said I loved my calling?  Well, that's what I told the bishop when he called me into his office 2 weeks ago.  He's not letting me keep that calling. 

Dream On

Lately I've been having really morbid dreams, and remembering them.


I had a dream the other night that a dolphin attacked me while I was sitting on a rock, and I died. It picked me up and shook me like a rag doll.....I can't stop thinking about it!  Who knew we had Killer Dolphins!?!?

More recently I dreamt about being stabbed, on purpose, but it going in too far, like in that last scene in "Scream" when the 2 bad guys stab each other to make it look like it wasn't them.  Maybe I need to stop watching scary movies......
Probably Not ;)

I Feel Strongly About This Healthcare Thing

Perhaps I'll have to write my own post about my own experiences with the healthcare debate, but for now, E.H. Len shared this on her facebook wall.  It's short, and to the point. Enjoy!

Pictured is a young physician by the name of Dr. Roger Starner Jones. His short two-paragraph letter to the White House accurately puts the blame on a "Culture Crisis" instead of a "Health Care Crisis"..

It's worth a quick read:


Dear Mr. President:
During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone.


While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"! During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than one pack of cigarettes every day, eats only at fast-food take-outs, and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer. And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's health care? I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the result of a "crisis of culture" a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. It is a culture based in the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me". Once you fix this "culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care difficulties will disappear.

Respectfully,
ROGER STARNER JONES, MD

Why I Have Been Staying up Late

It's because of this
It has changed my life. 
My mission president told me to get one, and they haven't been available to the public until just recently.
I didn't even care that it cost 7X's more than I was planning on paying for it
When I start studying at night, I read out loud, and I can't put it down.
Here's why it's awesome:
      1.  It has the new Chinese translation of the Book of Mormon
      2.  It has a pinyin translation of the characters
      3.  It has the English translation of the Book of Mormon
      4.  It has all this goodness in a side-by-side triple-column format
Therefore, I can read out loud, recognize the characters, and know what it means all without having to look through 3 different Chinese dictionaries, which are all in my nice newly painted nightstand.
I've only had it about a week and my character recognizing skills have already vastly improved,
Plus it's the scriptures, how could it be any better?

Oh man life is good!

And yes Mrs. Nesbit, that is your shirt. ;)

Eat Responsibly

Today when I got back home with the kids there was only one cookie left. so I did the only fair thing to do, I ate it myself so they wouldn't have to fight over it ;)

What I want

My mind was racing in the temple tonight.  So many things are going on in my life, and changing, and usually for the better, it seems.  And yet, every day I pray for things I think I need. I realized tonight that there have been many times in my life where I thought I knew what I needed, (I sure knew what I wanted) and I figured it would be best for me and make me happiest.  Later, I would  always come to realize that what the Lord had in store for me was much better than what I originally planned.  I like to think I'm a happy, content person, that I know the spirit guides my footsteps, yet I still find myself trying to tell the Lord what I "need"!  When am I gonna realize that if I'm living worthily, what the Lord has in store for me is going to really be what I need? 

And what He has in store for me I can't even comprehend.  I like the way Enos puts it in his last verse - "And I soon go to the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall rest.  And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father. Amen." Enos 1:27

P.S.  Bella was great today.  She was an angel. ;)

Babysitting Tuesdays

Tomorrow I babysit these kids again-because it's Tuesday. 

It'll probably be the last time that I have them for a whole day for a long time, but I've learned a lot about babysitting from them.  Mainly from Bella.  Last time I watched them, Bella pooped....in her swimsuit....at the splash pad. I don't know what prompts her to have accidents whenever I decide to be the cool aunt. The time before that I took the kids to Riverfront park, and she was just having too much fun to be bothered to go to the bathroom. That time I had her extra clothes and diapers, this time, I didn't, I hadn't even put her in a diaper, and we hadn't even been there an hour before I saw her stickin her hand down her shorts, and realized she had grossness all over her hands, and face....and leg. Sick.  So tomorrow, no matter where we go, we be prepared!  And the other kids will be in school ;)

Speaking of Boys....

Last year some girls in my ward made a music video, and I made a few cameo appearances ;) I prove my ice cream eating abilities in this video. 

Being Nice to Boys

Elder Scott gave a CES fireside tonight.  I love that man.  He visited our mission and taught me a lot.  His fireside was on....marriage.  Duh. He said a lot of insightful things, things about being married, preparing to be married, but what stuck out to me was something he said about his wife.  He said that the two of them never once argued in their home, and never said an unkind word to each other (hence why he is an apostle).  It reminded me a of a project I did back at BYU for a marriage prep class, I had to make a goal and work on it through the semester.  After doing the research and consulting close friends and family, I realized I needed to work on being nicer to boys.  Maybe it's just my personality, or maybe it's the way I deal with the nervousness of being around a boy I like, but I am mean!  Sarcastic, rude, I pick on them, taunt them......and what's worse, I usually don't even realize it.  DeeDee  told me that even though her and Stinkycheeze are both really sarcastic people, that they are rarely sarcastic or rude to each other.....because they would never want the other to think that they didn't love them.

How could these two possibly make fun of each other anyway?

So why am i rude to the boys I like?  Well it was reaffirmed to me tonight what I need to work on.  The question is, how do I recognize it, and how do I change that habit?

Family: Isn't it About Importance?

A couple weekends ago I had another one of those epiphany-type experiences at work.  This is actually two stories in one, and they were simple really.
 I had called in the ultrasound tech late that night for multiple ER patients. He had been pretty busy all night, so I knew I was gonna get roped into chaperoning him a bit that night. we had 2 pregnancy pelvic ultrasounds in a row.
Patient #1:
        This patient was a early 30's woman with her husband in the exam with her. It doesn't need to be said that if you're coming into the ER for pregnancy issues at 2 in the morning that you're not having a good day. What a blessing for that woman to have a supportive husband to stay with her all night and be there for her in her pain.
Patient #2:
          This next patient's exam was routinely the same, but with a much different environment.... a 16 year old patient there by herself. I believe her mom had had brought her into the ER, but all in all, a 16 year old, not even old enough to have a credit card, maybe not even able to drive yet, bringing a baby into this world, without an able father, and without the blessings of being born in the covenant.
         It broke my heart that it was obvious when these 2 patients passed each other in the hallway the latter was hurt and lonely, and probably had no idea the life she was missing out on. The first, although in pain, she looked hopeful and confident and safe. 

I'm so glad that my knowledge of the gospel, of eternal families, of temple covenants has kept me clean, and though I yearn for a family of my own, I know that it will happen on the Lord's timetable and that it will happen in the way God intended, and when I have to make late night visits to the ER, my husband will be there, supportive, loving, with an eternal perspective to lead our lives. I'm so blessed!  And...more importantly, I have the ability, and the responsibility to choose the better part for my children.

My Family is Eternal!!