Pirate Night!

We had been talking about doing a Pirate night for ages with our friends Suzie, Brian, Kristi, and Scott. Well, we finally did it a few weeks ago- complete with a Pirate movie (the inspiration for the night), pirate food (crackers, anyone?), an excessive amount of "aaaargh" usage, eye patches, stripes, and other pirate booty! Anyway, I just had to post these pictures of Suzie and Brian's cute little boy. I am seriously regretting not getting pictures of everyone.

He has the most pinchable cheeks!! He made the best pirate of all of us, that's for sure.

Happy Birthday! (lots of photos...)

Some say that the older you get, the less excited you get about your birthday. 

False.

Or, at least not around here. A birthday is a good reason to celebrate, see good friends, eat delicious food, and... get spoiled a little bit :).

Because I have managed to survive 25 years (truly miraculous when you consider I've been in Utah for the last 5 years or so around all of these crazy drivers...)... Brian decided that he wanted to celebrate the fact that I am now a quarter of a century old. So... he woke me up with this GIGANTIC pile of chocolate chocolate-chip pancakes cut into "quarter" pieces. Yum!

Please ignore the hair doo... I just woke up!

I found a pile of quarters in my car. I was informed that these are to be used on the vending machines at grocery stores so I can buy tattoos to my heart's content!

Later I was sent to the tennis courts ("quarts"), where we play tennis and had to find a little present he left for me there. After I got to plop down on a blanket and read a good book. I am definitely enjoying the extra time I've had to read some books that I actually want to read for a change... and I am absolutely in love with the weather lately. Sunshine!! (Sorry, no picture of the courts, just some of my favorite shoes!)

Next I came home to a quart of ice-cream! Ohhh how I love icecream.

We had a fun party that night and finally busted the piñata we've been hoarding for over a year. It was time for him to go...

Yes, that is definitely a frying pan...

Inspired by one of the best movies ever!

We also had the option of using one of Brian's old crutches or a broomstick.

Hannah finally killed it!

Brian made me the coolest cake! I found it on Pinterest a while ago and told him I wanted it for my birthday. I couldn't believe he remembered!

Check out the colors! It's a rainbow cake!

Lots of things happened last year... got married, graduated, got a job... we'll see what age 25 brings!

Turkey Day & the flu

Luckily Thanksgiving and the flu did not fall on the same day... I was lucky enough to get the flu on Saturday after we were home from our awesome trip down to Saint George! 

It was warm. Very warm :). I think I need a winter house in Saint George.

We had an amazing few days of delicious food, hanging out with family, and four-wheeling at the sand dunes! It was so nice to get out of Provo.... and Brian's aunts, uncles, and cousins are so much fun! We drove down on Thursday morning (after we got up at five) with Rebecca and Chris, got there pretty early and started peeling potatoes (we weighed them after they were all mashed and we had 35 pounds of mashed potatoes in one pot and about the same in another. Ca-razy.). Rebecca and I made the yams and everyone else helped with the rest! It was super yummy and there were about 40 people there! We played soccer, kickball, football, and had some good chats. 

We were planning on camping out in the backyard because of the large volume of people... but once we got there they let us know that we'd be staying in the neighbor's guest house... which was super nice! I was a little sad that I didn't get to camp, but relieved that I wouldn't freeze my buns off. Added bonus: the neighbors had a giant dog named George and he was SO cute and friendly! I miss my dog :/

Chris & Rebecca

Isn't this thing sweet? It's a "RZR". The kids complained of bonking their heads too much when they caught air though....

Grandpa Buzz!

Yep, I got awesome red goggles :)

check out the dirt on my collar! We were soooo dirty after.

Back to the real world on Friday evening I got down to working on my 20 page research paper about proper bottle-feeding techniques. Saturday we prostituted our plasma and then Saturday night... dun dun duunnnnnnnnnnn.... I got struck with the flu. Ew.

And guess what...

I still have it! It has now turned into a violent cold flu thing, but man oh man I'm ready to feel better. Nothing like a flu to make you want to lay in bed all day long and watch Gilmore Girls (which I have - thanks mom for letting me borrow your season). I have also watched Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., Walk the Line (which I did not like), the Italian Job, and plenty of YouTube videos. 

Oh, and somehow I finished my paper! Yaaay!

Brian has been an excellent help - always there to fluff my pillow, feed me some soup, grab some medicine, set up movies, and make me laugh. That's all you need when you're sick! I think I'm finally on the mend, however. I just need to make sure I'm completely better before Tuesday so I can go and do my last shift as a student nurse at clinicals! Ay carumba!

Who wants to hear what the nurse manager wrote me in her email? ... I wrote her to ask her "how hard" she thought I should look for another job as a back up. You know, feeling out the situation. 

Jeanne,

This is Rachael Pearce, the Capstone student currently working with Becca Derouin in your unit. I just wanted to say thank you so much for receiving my resume and discussing possible future employment with me! I have had an excellent experience in the NICU and have learned so much. I am actually sad to see the semester come to an end next week but I am so excited at the prospect of becoming part of the NICU team. I feel that I can be a great asset to an already exceptional staff. I graduate at the beginning of December and plan to take the NCLEX as soon as possible (end of January or early February). What will be the best way to keep in contact with you between now and when I pass my boards? I have a portfolio containing information about my project and certifications and am planning on bringing it on Friday for your review.

Because I know nothing is for certain, I was wondering what your advice is on applying for positions elsewhere. Should I spend a lot of time and energy doing that or do you feel that I have a great chance at getting a job with your staff? I plan to apply to at least a few other hospitals for the experience, but I know the place I want to work is at University Hospital.  

I look forward to seeing you sometime soon! Thank you again,

Rachael Pearce

rachael.l.nielsen@gmail.com

This is what she wrote back:

Jeanne Thornton	Nov 30 (3 days ago)
to me

Rachel:

You can keep in touch with me through this email.  That will be the best.  We plan to post positions the first part of January, and I will definitely put you on the list.  You will need to go through the interview process with me and the staff, but your chances are very,  very high as I have already had such great recommendations from the staff regarding your performance.  I will contact you the minute we put the jobs on the board.  You can apply even if you haven’t taken boards, as we will look to hire everyone together.  We mostly hire new grads, so you may all be in the same boat.  I think we will look to hire about 4 new RNs.  I will be here in the morning on Friday, so make sure I see you that morning.  I’m only here until about 11:00 that day.  I would never discourage you from making other applications as you never know maybe your dream job is elsewhere and you just don’t know it.  It is good experience to go through the process.  Thanks for your interest in our unit.  It is a great place to work. JT

Jeanne Thornton, RN, BSN

Nurse Manager

Newborn Intensive Care Unit

University of Utah Hospital

Cha-ching!

So, as you can see, it is not for certain, but my chances are "very, very high." Oh yeah! Just gott make sure I don't screw anything up to ruin those chances!

Brian and I took a field trip to Salt Lake and got me all registered for the NCLEX and my Nursing RN license (don't worry, just $300 - aaaah! I better pass it the first time!). We were going to go to the temple but it was CLOSED. So sad. So we took pictures with the animals instead :)

Ok, things I still need to blog about (this is a reminder to myself!)

1. 11.11.11 date
2. the Help
3. Amanda taking our blood!
4. Holiday plans

Well, it's back to homework! Hope everyone is doing grrreat :)

Halloweeny

Unfortunately I had to spend most of my Halloween writing a research paper... but we still found some time to celebrate! Just some fun Halloweeny things I found on Pinterest.... we bought the stuff to make the adorable Frankensteins (never got a chance, but we're going to do it after Halloween anyway!), made those INCREDIBLE pumpkin donut holes (baked - if you want the recipe, let me know!), made the cute little mummy hotdogs, and saw lots of cute costumes! 

I made Brian promise me that next year we could really celebrate Halloween and not study all night. Mostly I made him promise because I'll be graduated and he'll still be on the road to lovely dental school! He is doing so so well in his classes this semester and I am seriously proud of him! He went from all business classes to almost all sciences (chem 105, physiology, biology, pre-dental, and a personal finance class) - crazy busy and he is rocking them! 

Hmmm... what else is new since my last post?

• I am still loving working in the NICU. I put an IV in a little 2 pound baby!
• Kelly aka Sister Campbell, stayed with us for the weekend before she entered the MTC yesterday! It was so great to see her and reminisce about how I felt right before I entered the MTC - full of excitement, nerves, and the spirit! Yeah!
• My primary class was so well behaved on Sunday. I just love them. We learned about Moroni. I am already excited to see them again this next week
• memorable things from the lesson:the kids decided they want to call us fruit names. I think I'm Strawberry and Katie is Pineapple
• they were really excited about Halloween (one was postiive he had met the real spiderman at the trunk or treat. adorable.)
• I convinced them to sing in sharing time (hurray! seriously an accomplishment for the little boys)
• It's freezing here! 27 degrees. 
• We went country dancing with Ryan and Andrea on Saturday night. SEriously so much fun... and a great workout.
• Hannah and Chris came over on Sunday night for games and treats. We played Monopoly in a card-game style and it was so fun. Waaaay better than normal monopoly. 

Anyway, happy November! I can't believe how fast this year is going by!

Falling

Man oh man I'm glad FALL is back! For a few days I was really frightened that we were going to skip one of my favorite seasons and go right to cold cold winter! Luckily, the 30's degree weather left and today was a beautiful, crisp fall day. Nothing better than jeans and a hoodie. I really love Fall. I really love Spring and Summer too.... and we won't mention Winter :/.... let's just say I'm so grateful for Christmas!

Oh, and fun fact.... Brian and my 6-month anniversary will fall on Christmas Day! Glad it's so easy to remember :).

Why Fall is so fantastic!!!:

1. Crisp. I love that crisp yummy air!
2. Pumpkin and everything pumpkin! Most recently... pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes :).... true story: I had a dream last night that when I started carving my pumpkin it wasn't fully of the slimy seeds and gunk, it was full of pumpkin pie. Yes, pumpkin pie. Maybe it could happen?
3. Hayrides
4. Hoodies/jeans/cardigans/boots/scarves/mittens/comfy jammies/hats

***it is important to note that while I do also wear these in winter, in the Fall I wear them and they actually keep me warm. In the winter it seems nothing can help my freezing fingers, nose, & tosies.
5. Hot chocolate
6. General Conference (already did that one!)
7. Blankets
8. Hot chocolate + blankets + good book = great afternoon!
9. Getting the itch for Christmas music - I know! I know!... I can't help it.
10. Beautiful leaves
11. Drives through the canyon
12. Leaf fights
13. Cuddling and not wanting to get out of bed because it's so warm and cozy
14. Blow-drying my hair is no longer a pain, but a pleasure because it's warm!
15. Rosy cheeks
16. Decorations for the holidays
17. And I must mention the holidays... I love Halloween and Thanksgiving!

Ok, that's enough for now, I'm sure I can think of more, but I'll just have to count those blessings in my head.

rock climbing... "rock on!"

So, our lovely friends Hannah and Chris invited us to go rock climbing with them AGES ago, but we only just got our schedules all worked out so we could go. So, Saturday (before the incredibly embarrassing football game), we went up to Rock Canyon and tackled a mountain! It was super fun, super scary, and a super good workout. I am a bit sore today...

Definitely a new thing for me and it was great! I have found that I need to seriously improve my strength, however :/....

I'm glad that Brian likes to do adventurous things with me. There's always something new to try out!

Brian rappelling down the mountain after they got our rope set up.

And there she goes! Hannah went first and showed us how it was done.

we estimated it to be around 80 ft.

isn't she cute? who knew she was a rock-climbing master?!

so, it looks like I'm falling in this one... but I didn't fall - promise! 

STRAIGHT up.

I made it!!

so much fun :)

"he climbs like a monkey!" ... 

this part was scary

and... expert #2 to show us how it's done!

Hannah and Chris