Winter is approaching

Winter is approaching and that means that Fall is ending. This is not good for these reasons:
1.  It is getting colder, which means
     a. snow is going to be tickling my nose, cars will be sliding, and my feet and hands will continue to be frozen for the next 4 months. (My roommate literally just walked in and was like  "It snowed! ERG!" Man, we got this far with only one or two snow occurrences, let the freezing begin.)
     b.It will be getting too cold for just a sweatshirt. I absolutely love sweatshirts, and I would wear them nearly everyday of the year, but now time to bring out the big bulky attire.
     c. Rexburg winters are harsh. Did you know that your body is a thermometer? If you walk out in the morning and the first breath you take freezes your nostrils, it is -20 or below. Oh and did I mention wind chill?
     d. Rexburg has the worst, and I mean the worst roads in the winter. They plow the streets every few days, put red rock down as salt, and leave huge piles (about 5-6 feet high) of snow in the middle of the road to create medians, that were never there in the summer.

2.  Fall semester is ending. This is bad for numerous reasons. My best friend will be going home for the next 4 months, school starts for me with some hard classes I am very nervous about, and I will be working while I am going to school.

But, there is opposition in all things, these are the reasons I am excited for Winter to begin:

1. I am excited for the material in the classes. I am excited for my Teachings of the Living Prophets class, and semi-excited (but when I say semi I mean on the lower end closer to not excited) for Organic Chemistry and Human Biology.
2. I get to continue to work with some amazing people that teach me to think about the simple things in life. I love old people.
3. I will be able to get into a routine. I like it when I have things to do all the time. My brain goes crazy when I have nothing to do.
4. New semester means new roommates (now this could be good or bad), new ward, and some new friends.
5. New semesters mean new challenges, but new growth.

I am so glad that I will not be alone for Christmas, I would have been so sad if I was going to be in Rexburg all alone for Christmas. Granted I am working most of Christmas eve and most of Christmas,  but at least I will have Mark and Summer and Summers family to come home to. Thanks so much for allowing me to be the party crasher. It really means a lot. I think that this is the first Christmas when I have actually never had anything on my Christmas list besides being with people I care about. When you take that away from the Christmas season, nothing else matters.

Also, We took roommate pictures. Except for I am the adopted one. I sleep in 211 but eat, live, and party in 109.  Here are a few: 

Thanks girls for an amazing semester, it is one I will never forget!

Crazy life

     I am now working full-time and it is great! I work at Heritage Homes Assisted Living in Rexburg and then I also nanny the owners kids for 20 hours a week. I experienced my first death this week. Farrel was 96 and deserved to go. He was in bad shape. I was the first person to find him after his last stroke. From then on we babied him and the he passed 30 min after my shift was over.

     I also signed up for classes and am a wee bit nervous for this next semester because from here on out the majority of my classes will be either biology or chemistry. Oh well, that is what I chose.

     Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and I get to go home. We will all be there but Kyle & Alyssa and their kidos. But don't worry we will only have 80% fun. See ya then!

Wyoming with my Bestie

Mads invited me to go to Wyoming with her to go see her family and her grandparents. On the way we drove through Yellowstone. We saw some pretty cool things. I love driving, especially with my best friend, not to mention the views were great.

In Cody, we walked down main street. here at the Yellowstone Gift Shop we found this glitter hat. I asked Mads to try it on. She had glitter on her the rest of the day. 

I am glad that someone appreciates my snuggie other than me!

We found Barbra under the bed, later we found her this accessory. 

On our way back, we found this black beauty. Wolves are hard to find in Yellowstone, luckily we found this one. 

Thanks Mads for inviting me. I had a blast. And for the first time in my life I won Phase 10. It was a weekend of new adventures :]

Rexburg Take 2

So this time I am staying in Rexburg. I am all moved in and sitting on my bed in my new room. I am the only one home now. I am only just upstairs from my old roommates! That means party all the time! Tonight it the David Osmond concert that Crissy, Marie & Greg, Brooke, and I are going to. I am excited! I have work too. I work for Absolute Home Health Care in Idaho Falls. This Sunday we re having dinner with our old FHE brothers. They are seriously the best. Well, not that much to say. Oh yeah, so I found 10 dollars on the ground the other day. Also I found a $15 Itunes card in my room while I was packing. So, you know what I bought? SCOTTY MCCREERY! Yay. Well of to listen to the blessed son of God, that he is...

General Conference Oct 2011

I loved Elder Scotts message today. I loved that he said to memorize scriptures, because it is like having many close friends with you all the time. It is so true. I need to be more valiant in my scripture study, I love conference it always makes me feel so good. 

I also loved the talk by Elder Arden.  I need to learn to prioritize. And to use my time in a way that I can prepare better for Christ to come again. 

My cousin Adam Burke is GREAT! He got the opportunity to sing in conference today in the afternoon session. Adam and I are pretty close. Whenever we are together, we are either playing with each others hair, laughing, or making funny faces at each other. I am so jealous of him being able to sing at conference. All of the family that was at my grandma's house were looking diligently for Adam. He is the youngest grandkid, and everyone loves him. Here he is singing in conference!

Adam we are all so proud of you! You did a great job!

Best Weekend Ever

I had been planning a weekend up to Rexburg to see my old roommates for two weeks. I am not very good at keeping surprises a secret, but I did it! And they didn't even suspect anything! It was grand. I also brought Mykal, Maddi's sister up with me. We had a blast on the car rides, I am glad I had company. I got to see my best friends, a lot of friends, some acquaintances, and met some new people too. 

Since I barged in on her life, Mads still had homework to do. This assignment required her to go watch children at play for 30 min. So I politely invited myself to come along. 

We can be just a little crazy sometimes too. 

Saturday afternoon Mads took Mykal and me bowling at the school. I had never been there before. It was way fun and cheap! Especially cheap for me since Mads paid! Thanks Mads!

Saturday evening was the Relief Society broadcast. The stake provided dinner for all the girls. The best part were the skittles that were the center pieces. Needless to say they were gone by the time dinner was half over. 

 I was way sad to leave on Sunday, but dreams can't last forever, you eventually have to wake up. So Sunday  Mykal and I left, and on our way back we documented the large buffalo in the middle of the field. Kind of hard to see, but the first time I saw it on the way up, I got freaked out. 

Sidenote: Mom and I always make fun of/ think it is funny when people with short hair spike it straight up and make themselves look like a ray of sunshine. So mom was flipped over hairspraying her hair and came up like this. Not the total ray of sunshine look but similar. I guess her hairspray really works! I told her she should go to work like that :)

Thoughts from a girl who is home alone

So I turn off the shower, and hear this very loud and obnoxious, beep, beep, beep, beep. Oh Crap the fire alarm! So I quickly grab me towel and run out and find that it is the one in my room going off. So I try and muffle it with my hand, and I am frantically pressing all the buttons trying to shut it up. We live in a basement apartment, and the people upstairs have no problem coming downstairs, so I was like oh holy heavens, what if the people upstairs comes down to see the problem, and I am standing here halfway in a towel frantically running around trying to get this thing to turn off. So I re situate the towel and still try to turn it off. Finally it turns off. Then I am getting dressed, and halfway dressed it goes off again! Ugh! So i try and muffle it again, but it doesn't really work, so I press buttons and finally it turns off. Praise Heavens! Now lets just pray it doesn't go off again.

Just out and About

Remember this little fella? Well, just to let you know, he has been roaming the streets of Layton. Yes the same town as me. Crazy! I have now seen him out and about twice now. The people who bought it did tell me that they lived in Layton so I do not doubt that it is him. Plus I can identify him by some of the special bumps and bruises that he has. All in all, HE LIVES!

CNA Clinicals

So two weeks ago I decided to take a CNA class. My thinking was that it would be a good idea because I could get a job with it and it would boost up any nursing application that I will do in the future. But according to my bank account it was not such a good idea. After I pay $293 for insurance for school which is due in 3 days, I will be down to a total of $6 dollars in my bank account. Oh well, I guess I will just have to start to donate plasma. Okay on the good note...

 Clinicals Day 1:

Wake up at 4:30, get ready, and Dad is out making waffles for me! What a nice Dad. Then I am in the car at 5:15 and almost to the freeway when I look up and see that the check engine light is on. Oh joy! So I call dad, he said to turn around, and I was already late, but then switched cars and was on the road again.  Then my gps on my phone doesn't work, so I call the instructor guy and ask him how to get there and I turn around and finally get there. Then the bum wiping starts.

You know, after you have seen so many naked bodies, it doesn't really phase you anymore. My CNA was really good, the first girl that we helped, she gave me gloves and said okay put on the Ted Hose. So I did, then we just worked as a team the rest of the day. that day I wiped bums, gave bed baths,gave showers, shaved a lady's beard, used a hoyer lift, changed wet briefs, held hands, talked to the old ladies and men, took meals to people, and many other little odds and ends things.

That day three ladies in particular stood out to me. Marilyn, Virginia, and Eunice. Marilyn is about 75 and capable of most things. She was just so sweet. She would walk the halls and hand out candy to the CNA's and tell them than-you for all that they do.

Virginia a 89 year old lady with severe back pain and on lots of pain meds. i first met her when we were getting her up from bed. i talked to her while she was laying there and asked her if she was the neighborhood watch because she had a good view. She said she might as well be because she is looking out the window all the time. When my CNA lifted her for the first time she screamed in pain because she had been laying down for so long without movement, and now we were disturbing her peace. When I took her to breakfast i said "okay lets go talk to your friends and have a good breakfast" and then she replied, "I don't have any friends here and I don't need anymore". I felt kind of sad.

Eunice. She is the cutest old lady. She probably was a new admit because she was the only one in her room, and had little to no belongings. The first time I had met her we took her to lunch, and at lunch this scenario happened.

I wheeled Virginia into her spot, then I wheeled Eunice into her spot next to Virginia. Eunice looked over and said, "Virginia!", and then Virginia looked over and said "Eunie!". They then had told me that they were friends in a different nursing home and had been there together for 7 years previous. Virginia had made up the nickname Eunie for her when they met about 8 years ago. I left and let them talk and when i returned after lunch they were still chatting away, and still holding hands. They were seriously so cute together! later I had talked to Virginia for a while and asked her about Eunice. She said that  she fiinally got up the courage to ask her how old she was and Eunice told her that her birthday is tomorrow and is turning 99! Can you believe it! Crazy. And she doesn't really ave too many problems except for the ones that naturally come with old age.

Long story short those three ladies are just the cutest. and I think that I will always remember the glow in Virginia's eyes when she said, Eunie! She was so excited to see her friend.

Day 2

I was assigned to the first level which is the Alzheimers and Dementia level. The first guy I helped, two people were standing next to him, holding his hands while he was on the toilet, and he was shouting, "I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kick your butt, and go to heck!, you son of a monkey!" (but with the real words inserted) He was fighting back the CNA's and I was like oh good heavens and I have 8 hours on this floor? To my joy he was one of only two people like that. It was crazy to think that when the family would come around those two people, they were calm, collective, and if they did say something inappropriate, then a family members voice calmed them right down.

Most people were very nice, Billy, but she introduces herself as Silly Billy, is quite the character also. She would hold your hand and talk for hours if you had the time. Leaving her grasp is very hard once she holds your hand.  

I felt so bad for Billy. After lunch, she grabbed my hand and said, "Why do we have to live so long? I just want to die now."  I told her that Ididn't know but we have to try and live every day to its fullest and that I would try and make that day the best one I could for her.

I also saw a pressure ulcer. It was to stage 4. They had a wound vac on it to help it heal. They brought me in to see the bandage being replaced. It was on her bum, but if it had been anywhere else bone would have been showing. It was so deep that a 2 year old could fit their fist in the hole. She said at that point it didn't hurt her because the tissue was so dead. They also said that in a few months they could have it back to normal.

Also, most people were very, very grateful on that floor. They were constantly saying thank-you, or you are such a sweet heart, or please come back and help again. I was so sad to leave them. I think I am way better at the talking to them part of the job than the actual dirty work.

All in all, I had a good experience, and I confirmed my love for old people

Things I want to know, experience, or see before I die.

1. How do hot dog buns get sliced? I mean they are all connected, but yet they all have a perfect slice in them.

2. A cop who is driving, park in his stake out point on the freeway. You always either see them in their spot, or driving, but never in the process of stopping. 

3. A person who is running on the street turn around. I have always wondered, "where are they running to?"  or "do they have a route that allows them to not turn around." Well for those people who run straight then turn around and go right back please place yourself in my path. 

4. Witness or be in a freak accident and miraculously walk away clean and unharmed.  (This one I will not inflict upon myself, but if it happens, then that would be cool) 

5. Witness a miracle. (Could be related to #4) 

6. Go on a humanitarian aid trip. Mainly to Africa because little black kids are so stinkin' cute, but if not Africa then somewhere else cool.

7. Be of impact in someones life. 

8. Bring the gospel to someone who does not yet know of its truth. 

9. Own my own home. 

10. Know if the people I have made relationships here with, were friends with me in the pre-existence, and if we arranged to find each other when we got here. (This might not happen till after death, but I still want to know)
11. Learn how to play an instrument, and do it well.
12. For one night be homeless. I just want to see what others experience. 
13. Experience an impairment that allows me to look at life in a better way.
14. Watch brain or heart surgery. (The people who do that are so talented!)
15. Have a YouTube top hit video. (Unlikely, but hey as long as I am dreaming)
16. Have my home feel like home to all that enter.

There are many more, but I can not think of them currently. They usually come when I am driving, when I don't have anyway of recording my thoughts. So this post may be updated frequently.

MADDI, MADDI, MADDI

 These are all the pictures I have of Maddi, she was wondering what pictures I have of her so here they come... you don't know what you just got yourself into... everyone else can just ignore, well, if anyone else even looks at my blog :)

 

 

This one is my personal favorite :)

Bahamas Baby!

My cousin Kate Baldree had invited me to join her on a cruise to the Bahamas about 8 months ago and we were doing the count down. Well, now it is in the past and this is all I have to remember it by.

 

Marie and her family just happened to be in Miami the week before the cruise, so her dad stayed an extra day and picked me up from the airport. We got a hotel, and this was the view from the room. Talk about beautiful!

 

Also, I knew there would be palm trees, but I never imagined the roads being lined with them, the parks being filled with them, and houses having lawns infested with them.

This is Kate and lady Majesty of the Seas herself. 

DAY 2 (Nassau)

This is Atlantis on Paradise island. it cost $150 to enter the water park. And if you thought that was expensive, try staying at the hotel for a night. the lowest of lows was $275/night, then $475/night, then $600.

 This arch is the presidential suite. It goes for $25,000 a night, and there has to be a minimum of 4 nights. Michael Jackson was the first person to stay there and 50 cent was the most current.

 

We took a tour bus and he showed us around the island. He took us back to the ghetto, and told us that if it was night he would not allow us to be there because it is too dangerous. This is a daycare. It was easily 90 degrees outside with 70% humidity. I do not know how they play out there all day. I was dying. 

I tried to put up the photo that I scanned of us at the formal dinner but it didn't work. Shoot, it was cute. 

 

That night Marie tried escargot and liked it. Sick. I had no desire to. But, i did try shrimp, which is gross, and duck, which is delicious. 

 

Our first towel animal. I guess the guy found a way to use my sunglasses that I left in the room.

Day 3 (Cococay Cancled, traveled to Key West)

If you didn't know, little Irene was on our tails the whole time. The day after we left Nassau, it got all shook up. So we went to Key West a day early. We just lazied by the pool, and watched some shows. The entertainment was great. We never left a show one for foul language or crudeness.

 

This is Darren (If i remember correctly) he is the activities director. He is gay and proud of it. He can shake his hips like Shakira by the way. He was a great entertainer to say the least. He squirted frosting in Maries mouth at one point during the cake decorating contest.

This is lovely Dave Chapman in all his glory. He won macho man contest, sexiest man contest, and hosted all the shows. It may have helped that he was the cruise directer that he won all of them, but I would have still voted for him anyways. He is Australian, and his accent made all the girls swoom. 

 Our towel animal of the day. 

Day 4 (Key West)

 

We walked on Duval street for half the morning until our shore excursion.

 

So our snorkeling got canceled because the waters were too choppy because of Irene, and there were too many jellyfish. So we went parasailing instead.

 

This was the guy who dunked us a billion times while parasailing, it was on purpose, and we asked to be dunked, but we got a little more wet than everyone else.

 

Despite what you may think, it is actually very relaxing. They described it as feeling like you are on a Ferris wheel, and that is exactly how it felt. I would definitely do it again.

 

The guys who took us parasailing. 

 

Our last towel animal.

Saturday, I hung out with Maddi, and when I pulled up this is what I saw...

It is a little hard to see all the details but, it was me on my cruise boat.  I absolutley love Maddi's family they make me feel so welcomed, and at home.