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This is what I made Chelsea for her Christmas present this year. It sums up our amazing trip to COSTA RICA this summer. To be one hundred percent honest I didn't really know it was actually posted to my blog. So sorry for the random post with no explanation and I really hope that she hasn't seen this post yet, seeing as I am the worst friend and still have not given it to her!
PURA VIDA!  

On This Day of Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving! 

I love Thanksgiving and this time of year, but I can't believe that it is already time for the holidays. It feels like only a week ago we were putting away the tree and now it is time to put it back up. Time is moving way too fast! Today was a great, full of lots of turkey and yummy food. I started the day off at work, which honestly wasn't too bad. I only had to be there for four hours and I enjoyed seeing my residents. The majority of the residents were gone, but it made me sad to see the ones left behind with no family there to spend this special day with. My heart goes out to them. After work lunch was immediately ready- it was so GOOD. Mashed potatoes are my favorite and I'm pretty sure I ate about two plates full. Needless to say I ate till I was full and gained about 12 pounds. Hey tis the season right. 

This day made me reflect on what I am thankful for and although the list could go on for years, because I have much to be grateful for, here are a few things I am most thankful for ON THIS DAY OF THANKS. 

FAMILY: 

my AMAZING parents and WONDERFUL siblings

friends

food

clothes

my home 

my bed

a heater

my phone

my computer

..electronics in general 

my health 

a working body 

two legs to walk on 

the ability to smile

my sight

my ears

all of my five senses

ways to communicate 

my car 

CHELSEA JENSEN-

[ I know i already mentioned friends, but she needs to be mentioned specifically because she is such an amazing friend. She is always there for me no matter what and I don't know what I would do with out her in my life.] 

music

TV

movies

shoes

my job 

SCHOOL-

[even though I complain about school I am so grateful that I can attend school and learn]

my GRANDPA 

my pups

past relationships- regrets and all

fuzzy socks

THE GOSPEL 

and all of the knowledge that it bring with it 

my freedom 

freedom to choose and freedom of speech 

living in UTAH

living in a FREE nation 

the ability to read

health care 

the mountains 

my father's job and his ability to provide for his family 

the seasons 

candy/ treats

my NEPHEWS!

memories

dance

the BOYFRIEND:

[he has had such an impact on my life and has helped me realized a lot while we have been together. He makes me smile at least 46 times a day! Everyday I look forward to seeing him and what the day brings for the both of us. I am super lucky to be with him]

I am sure my list could go on and on and I probably left out so many obvious things I am thankful for, but I think I should wrap this one up now. I truly am so grateful for all of the many wonderful blessings I have been given in my life. My mind is blown every time I think of how much our dear LORD has blessed me with. Even when I do stupid things and make multiple mistakes he still forgives me and blesses me immensely. I cannot be thankful enough. 

I hope everyone had a beautiful holiday because I know I sure did. Wishing you the best! 

that one feeling.

Its that feeling that everyone talks about. 

The best feeling in the world. 

Ya know that one where you

can't eat

can't sleep

can't breathe

Reach for the stars 

over the fence 

world series kind of feeling. 

That feeling where no one else matters

no, nothing else matters. 

That feeling that makes your heart beat fast AND slow at the same time. 

Even after a million kisses you still catch your breath. 

and being held in his arms makes time stop. 

Yeah, its kind of like that. 

That one special, wonderful feeling. 

So this video is not amazing, but I love this song and  

Ingrid Michaelson has an extremely lovely voice. 

Enjoy! 

Let's Play Catch Up.

Don't worry everyone, I am still alive! Although, by the content of my blog you would assume otherwise. I thought this summer I would be a blogging nut because I would have so much time on my hands, yeah pretty sure I was way too lazy- even to BLOG! But the summer was fantastic. I have so many adventures to blog about, but first I feel like I need to do a brief review before I go into depth about each one. So let's play catch up for a second:

*I ended the first half of summer with an "A" in pathophysiology 

(okay- this might not sound awesome, but to me it was a huge accomplishment.

I was in a class filled with only UVU nursing students and if I could keep up with them I

knew I was on the right track.)

*I spent two weeks in California with my sister and her boys

*Went to WICKED at the capitol theater

*On a sad note- my grandmother passed away

She was amazing!

(I will have an entire blog post about her coming soon)

*The biggest event that took place this summer was my trip to 

COSTA RICA! 

Yes, there were also other great things that happened this summer and some not so great things, but such is life. These are the few major events that I can recall four months later. (I really need to be better at updating this little blog of mine.) 

SO summer came and went, I definitely did not want it to end because that meant school would be starting again. And because I have no clue what I am doing with my life any more due to the fact that I didn't get into nursing school at the U I feel as if I am wandering through life at the moment. But hey as one of my favorite quotes goes:

"NOT ALL THOSE WHO WANDER ARE LOST"

There we go a quick summer update to get me back into blogging! More posts about my adventures are sure to come!

CHEERS! 

St. George Getaway

With school finally ending I was able to start off "my summer"! To kick off this wonderful season Chelsea and I packed up our bags Friday afternoon and headed south for a weekend in St.George. This trip was just the ticket to starting summer because pictures are worth a thousand words the details of the trip will be documented by pictures we took. It was such a great trip and I couldn't ask for a better girl to have gone down with me! HAPPY SUMMER

the drive down

Friday we went to dinner at Pizza Factory and then went to a movie in the park!

Saturday we spent at the pool enjoy the HOT weather

and naturally we had to get some Neilson's afterwards

We found the best house while driving

pictures were a must!

 

 

 

that night after some dinner we went to DIXIE rock. 

Sunday we went for a walk around the St. George Temple

BEAUTIFUL!

next on our list of adventures..

snow canyon!

Monday was another day at the pool and then we went to see Aladdin and Tuacahn. It was AMAZING! I can't even begin to describe how good it was. 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday was our last day in St. George. We had to stop by neilson's one more time because its that good! We spent the morning with my sweet grandparents and then did a little shopping before we headed off to..

..MANTI- to watch the Manti Pageant. It was so fun and a great opportunity. We were lucky enough to stay at chelsea's cabin for which is only a few miles away which made for a great time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a quick taste of summer-

Although Monday was a little rough, the remaining of the week was pretty amazing. Therefore, I feel obligated to blog about it. A full week of no work or school spoiled me and I could definitely get used to staying up late with great people and sleeping till noon. 

This week consisted of:

NBA playoffs!

Drives up the canyon 

National Geographic (with the pops)

Hiking to the Hot Pots

Spending time with my little ones

 

Shopping at City Creek and Gateway then

Cheesecake Factory for dinner

seriously, not the best picture. but Friday night was so perfect-I had to add a picture!

Real Salt Lake Game/ Cinco De Mayo Fun

my stach is almost as good as my brothers right?

and

An amazing lesson in R.S.

Even though some of my ideas for this week didn't work out (example: spontaneous road trip to Vegas- quickly halted by the parents.) This week was pretty perfect and I am so grateful for the opportunities I have and the friends and family around me.  Alas, reality sets in again tomorrow with school and work starting but with summer in the air I feel a fresh start to the new semester.

Happy Sunday!

decisions & CONSEQUENCES

This topic has been on my mind a lot recently, I just haven't had time to blog about it with the semester finishing up.

                side note- spring semester is officially over! I took my last final this morning and I am completely free now.. well for two weeks until summer semester starts, but for the time being, I am LOVING this feeling. 

Okay back to my original thought.  Life is full of decisions. From the trivial items as to what am I going to wear today to life changing decision like where to go to school, what to major in and one of the biggest decisions, who to marry. Without fail ALL of our choices are followed with consequences and unfortunately, the result of our choices are out of our control. I'm not saying that consequences are always bad consequences can be GREAT, but  good or bad, they come whether we like it or not.

DECISIONS are always followed by CONSEQUENCES. 

"EASY" concept to grasp.  

As I have gotten older I have realized that my choices not only effect me, but they effect others around me. I have learned that it is selfish of me to put my wants and needs before others without considering the effects it will have on the ones I care about.
Decisions and consequences shouldn't be such a hard concept, but when we get caught up in the moments of life we usually act without thinking of the outcome. Sadly, we cannot take back our actions and we are forced to live with the consequences generated by our actions. Gratefully, we learn from our choices and how we react to our situations aids in our character progression.

Loving this quote by Hemingway. 

I am extremely grateful for the opportunities I have in life to make my own choices and work through the outcomes, good or bad. I have definitely learned many lessons from this "simple concept" and look forward to many more lessons life has in store for me.

.. one week left

I can not tell you how much I am anticipating the end of this school semester. I seriously have NO MOTIVATION. This is such a weird feeling for me because I usually love school. School is my number one priority in life right now but I honestly don't care if I do well on my finals, I have no desire to study. I'm trusting this feeling will pass VERY SOON because one week left before finals doesn't give me much time to be a slacker. Good luck with finals and send me some motivation!

My Time At The Hospital

American Fork Hospital

Hospitals. Some people hate them, some people love them. For me, hospitals reminds me of my future goals and they motivate me to continue the path which I have started. Every time I walk into one I picture myself working in only a few short years fulfilling my dreams and loving every second of it. Lately I have been at the American Fork hospital once a week volunteering/interning. It has been such a wonderful experience. I started out in the E.R. and I couldn't have been more excited. I have always wanted to work in the E.R. High impact, working under pressure and not to mention the crazy injuries and stories people have when they come in; all of these aspects drew me to the E.R. So many interesting people walked through those doors while I was there and seeing injuries while learning about what to do for each one fascinated me. But for some reason I became bored with the E.R. and last week I switched to the NURSRY, specifically the NICU. It has only been two weeks and I love it! Every time I go in such a strong feeling of love and compassion comes over me. Last night after feeding one of the babies I held him for about an hour or so just rocking him back to sleep. During this time I couldn't help but turn my thoughts to the Lord and realize that these babies are MIRACLES sent from him. These babies, all babies for that matter, are little angles. So perfect and amazing. Although I cannot do anything technical working in the NICU, and for the most part I just help with holding and feeding babies, I LOVE it so much and I could not ask for anything better. I am definitely blessed for this amazing opportunity.

I like to think Im official when I wear this badge.
Unfortunately I am only a volunteer, but one day I will have that badge that says RN, BSN
Heres to looking forward! 

Arizona Sun

Let me just say that I love spring break. It comes at the perfect time and a full week of no work or school does the body good. This year I went to Arizona for some baseball and sun. After spending a week in AZ I am sold on the idea of moving there and never returning to the Utah cold. The weather could not have been more perfect and the company was even better. We spent our time going to baseball games (game 1- Angels VS Reds and game 2- As VS Cubs), a day at the pool and shopping in Scottsdale, which is amazing and for a shopaholic like me, I seriously thought I was in heaven.  Of course we had to try out all the fun places to eat. After this trip I realized that I should probably be less picky when it comes to eating because we went to a lot of places with red meat (which I don't eat) so chicken it was, but that's okay the food was still great! Arizona was so amazing and this trip is just what I needed. I am so grateful for the company and memories. Now I need to stop day dreaming about the gorgeous weather and get back to reality.

We finally arrived in AZ after a quick and entertaining flight!

Dinner our first night in AZ

Grabbing some lunch at the cutest burger place on ASU campus before the game

the crew at angles stadium

best buddies enjoying some baseball!

Pool Day! Weather could not have been better

Dinner in Scottsdale. (bad picture)

Game on St. Patty's Day. It was so fun, everyone dressed in green.

As VS Cubs. Isn't chelsea beautiful!

Last day in AZ we had to get spring training T-shirts for the memories. Such a great trip!

UNDER THE WEATHER..

 Today was full of sleep and a lot of movies, Disney movies to be specific. At first this might sound like a lovely day, but let me tell you I was not too fond of it. Yesterday while at work I was feeling a bit light headed, but I just thought it was because I only slept for three hours the night before. Towards the end of my shift I decided to take my vitals. (blood pressure, pulse, and temperature) My blood pressure was normal pulse at 126 and temp at 102 were definitely not normal. the diagnosis- no doubt about it I am SICK! oh great. I do not have time to get sick. Needless to say after work I went straight to bed. Today was going to be a very productive day as I needed to try and catch up on microbiology reading. Lets just say my body had other plans. I tried reading a chapter and about half way through I realized that it was not an interactive book and the words were not supposed to be moving like the bacteria they were describing. So I spent the day in bed watching movies all day long, although I'm almost positive I did not make it through one whole video without falling asleep. I will be the first to admit that I absolutely LOVE Disney movies. For some reason when I am feeling under the weather I always choose to watch Disney. Subconsciously I think they make you feel better. Eventually I needed a break from Disney and watched Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. One of my all time favorite musicals. The story line is great, the songs are even better and because it was made in 1954 everything about it makes me smile. Hopefully I will be better tomorrow because although I enjoy Disney movies and sleep I am going crazy staying in bed all day!
-not to mention another downfall about being stuck in the house all day was the weather; a BEAUTIFUL  65 degrees, not fair!

                              *Disney movies, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
                                          and my bed- haven't left it all day*

 

Here is one of my favorite scenes. THE BARN DANCE. 

Just ignore the bad quality of the clip and enjoy the great dancing! 

(lets hope it works)

Blog Envy

Hello Blogging World, 
After careful consideration and much longing to be hip enough to blog I have finally overcome my inner battle and started a blog! I have been wanting to start a blog for such a long time now, but my biggest hesitation to starting one was the thought "I'm not married, I can't blog yet". To me, blogging is left to the married folk who have fun married things to blog about. Well sorry system I am throwing you for a loop. Also, after my brother started his blog (burrandon.blogspot.com) I became EXTREMELY envious! So needless to say I have started my blog. Not specifically for others to follow me, but more for myself for a more high tech way of journal writing. Here is to a new year, new adventures and blogging!