Winter Wonderland.

Seriously I just love this time of year. Who doesn't right? It's the only time I accept all that white crap outside. Only for one month though. Then it can go back to being 80 degrees. Despite the 0 degree temperatures and literally feeling like I was getting snowed in at work, it is quite the pretty scene to look at, especially from my patients' windows. Just wish it was easier to drive in. 

On another note...

Dancing. Singing at the top of our lungs. Exchanging rockin' presents. Overstuffed bellies.

Ahhhhh yeah. Just another partay with the girls!

Din-din at Mac Grill.

Love them all.

Lets not forget beautiful temple square. Always so pretty to go at Christmas time. Seen it a million times. It was fun to go with Danny boy who has never seen them until now.

Love you little brother.

This post is purely dedicated to the little tyke above, Tyler.
As promised.
Thanks for playing Barbies with me when no one would.
You rock.

Burnt Poptarts.

So right now it's 3am and I am working the lovely night shift. Finally the call lights have tapered off and all my patients BETTER be sleeping (thank you dilaudid & morphine). Facebook, blog stalking and eating cookies only kills so much time so I thought I'd actually post something. Warning: this post is random and it is 3am. And I feel like telling stories. So my co-workers right now are watching you-tube video clips of Brian Regan. He is pretty halarious. One video in particular sadly represents an experience I had. It really is pretty sad, not the depressing, "oh I feel sorry for you" sad but rather "you're an idiot, that's embarassing" kind of sad. Perhaps I should not reveal my blonde moments but it's actually pretty funny. So to preface the story, please view the video link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8kThoZpF_U

One fine afternoon while living at The Avenues, I decided to make myself a poptart. Simple enough right? Negative. So I opened up the package and popped one of those bad boys in the toaster. I think I even changed the setting to a 3 or 4 so it would cook to a golden brown. I left the room to continue a convo with one of my friends online. A few minutes passed and I smelt something burning. Immediately I jumped from my seat, sprinted to the kitchen and lo and behold, a burnt poptart was before my eyes. Shiz I thought. Okay so no worries, I had the other poptart remaining from the previous opened package. I grabbed it, threw it in and turned the dial down. Now it'll be fine I thought. So I ventured back into my room to finish talking with my friend. Mistake. For some reason, in those 5 minutes, I completely spaced the 2nd poptart and luckily smelt it burning as opposed to finding my kitchen in flames. I was SO mad. How could I have failed twice?? It's a freakin' POPTART! So I gave up. I didn't have any more poptarts so I resorted to my wheat thins. About 20 min later, Steph comes home and exclaims, "Have you been cooking?!?"...sadly, I couldn't answer yes because lets be honest, making a poptart is NOT cooking. Stephanie soon finds out there is no food to be found and that I attempted to make a poptart not once BUT twice. Good times, good times. I will never be allowed to forget that one. Moral of the story: Laugh at yourself especially when you do stupid things. It's healthy and life shouldn't always be taken seriously. And I promise I can cook :)

Happy Turkey Day Y'all.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you all had a fabulous day.
And thank you for all being in my life!

dear cancer: you suck.

Cancer sucks. That was my thought as I left work today. Yeah we all know cancer sucks but today it was more evident. I had a patient who had an extensive surgery last week to remove a pancreatic cyst. The pathology reports came back today and I found myself in the room listening to the doctors tell my patient his fate. The tumor that was wrapped around part of his pancreas and an artery, the one they weren't able to remove, was indeed cancer. Pancreatic cancer. Those two words ultimately mean a death sentence. His next options for treatment are chemo and radiation therapy. At my last job, I heard many doctors tell people they had cancer and/or a dim prognosis but it has been a while. It is always depressing to see this happen but today it just broke my heart. It was just so sad to see the look on his face...like another huge burden was placed on his shoulders. He was already sad and trying to deal with the unknown and now the unknown became his worst nightmare. To make matters worse, his wife and son are bi-polar and his mother-in-law just moved in with them because of her declining health. Right after the news, his wife had a hysterical breakdown. And there he was trying to stay calm. I can't even imagine what he was thinking and feeling. In that moment I couldn't help but think that the Savior is the only one who knows. I feel so lucky to be in a profession that constantly reminds me of how grateful I should be. There is so much to be grateful for even when we feel like life sucks. I hope we can all remember how blessed we truly are.

October Festivities

I've decided I really do love Fall. I always say summer is my favorite season but Fall is pretty much right up there with Summer. I love the gorgeous mountains and changing of leaves, the mild temperatures, October always being a fun month and of course the Fall fashion :)

All of the girls were able to get together at PF changs in celebration of Stephanie's birthday.

Love her dearly!

Yeah we are all dorks...

 The whole gang.

On Halloween I went and visited my cute nephews Peyton and Noah and sweet miss Lily.

So glad to have seen them! It has been way too long.

\

Halloween afternoon/night was spent with good friends Brooke, Linds, Kris, Danny, Blake and Dave.

First we all met up at the REAL playoff soccer game. First game ever, it was pretty cool. And we won!

Then we all headed to cheesecake factory. Stuffed myself with some good salmon. Yum yum.

Afterwards we got ready for the night. Brooke, Kris and I were the 'wild things' and Danny, the boy Max.

Linds was Dorothy, Blake was the dude from Reno 911 and Dave was Ron Burgandy. Good times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Fall!

Just some random thoughts...

 I just have to say I loved President Uchtdorf's talk tonight. I think his talks just rock.
http://www.lds.org/move/index.html?type=ces&event=1&lang=english

         "Much of the confusion we experience in this life comes from simply not understanding who we are. Too many go about their lives thinking they are of little worth when in reality they are elegant and eternal creatures of infinite value with potential beyond imagination."
         "You are something divine, More beautiful and glorious than you can possibly imagine. This knowledge changes everything. It changes your present. It can change your future. And it can change the world."

Amen! Seriously, I sometimes just want to scream this to some people. It breaks my heart to see others go through life not realizing the potential they have and/or who they really are. It really is amazing how valued every person in this world is to God.

On a another note, I decided to break out my journal which hasn't been written in for several months. I try to journal regularly, not just to document random crap but it's quite therapeutic for me. I was reading back on some entries from several months ago and I had written down a quote I saw on my friend Brooke's blog. I forgot how much I liked this quote. But thank you Brooke.
           
            "Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend...when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present--love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us (happiness)--the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth." --Sarah Ban Breathnach.

Double Amen. Be grateful for everything :)

What to be?!

HELP! What should I be for Halloween?? Thoughts very much appreciated.

Oh Cali, you bring me so much joy.

Sadly I have not made it to Cali yet this year but Cali here I come. Finally! This weekend will be spent with some of the fam hopefully soaking up a lot of this. It has been way too long. After working some night shifts this week and accidentally sleeping until 7:30pm, I am sooo ready for a vacation and the BEACH!

Weekend adventures

Despite having to work Saturday, the weekend turned out great! Another reunion with the girls, pumpkin carving with delicious treats made by Linds, good company, a fun camping adventure in AF canyon with tootsie roll roasting included, all in all a successful fun weekend :)

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