Thanksgiving!

Can I just say that thanksgiving rocks! I mean, what other holiday is it perfectly acceptable to load up a huge plate of yummy food and then not be scoffed at when you go for seconds. Seriously though, thanksgiving is always so much fun! Every year, we get together with my mom's side of the family. I am very close to my cousins and I feel like some of my happiest memories have been with them. It has been fun to have Lexi home this past week. I forget how fun she is until she comes home. Luckily, she'll be home in a few weeks for the Christmas break. Anyway, I am so grateful for family.


And of course, what is a holiday without a few pictures!

THIS IS THE LIFE

It's apart of my daily routine to check for updates on blogs. Seriously, I get this weird over-excitement feeling when new pictures are posted and I am able to get updates on those people I love most. Unfortunately, their diligence in updating their blogs has not rubbed off on me...sorry. It's crazy how life changes. I've made a huge transition in life by moving home away from some of my best friends and the carefree college life. Fortunately, I have learned recently that change, although difficult at times, can turn out to be awesome! Since August I have started an incredible job at a hospital in an intesive care unit that is so updated and the new technology makes it exciting to be apart of. Since August I have been able to hang out with my family a ton. I was so sad to see Ryan, Nicole, and the kids move away but I loved getting to know Alie, Ray, and Jenna better. The highlight was being able to read to Jenna, she is such a sweetheart. I was able to be at the hospital the day my sister Aubry had her first little girl, Josie. Her son Gage will say my name now, it's pretty fun for me. My sister Raquel just moved around the corner from us! I consider her 7 month old girl, Presley, one my best buds. She is the easiest little girl to be around and I love that I get to hang around her more. My mom has taken the role of my real estate agent. We have put in a few offers on houses for me but none of them have been accepted. We term it, "throwing mud against the wall". One of these days, that mud will stick! Until then I will just keep saving my pennies and live for free with my parents who are dang good roommates. Sounds like a good plan to me!

My mom, vampire Gage, and I on halloween!

Here is Presley. I stole this picture off of Raquel's blog, sorry Rock! Anyway, I love this little girl.

This is my new sweet little neice. My sister Aubry just happens to be a photographer, check her website out. http://www.aubryandmegan.com
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Cancun!

Although I rarely get comments on my postings so I question if anyone even looks at my blog, I will continue to update myself on what's going on.
Last week my Grandpa took all of the single cousins (I of course qualify) and the adults to Cancun for a week. It was PARADISE! We stayed at an all inclusive resort so there was unlimited food, pina coladas, and icecream. Let's just say it was delicious to the mouth but detrimental to the hips. Our resort was right on the beach so between the sand and the pool, I was able to get a little tan which is always a good thing. I was able to do things I had never done before which was awesome. My dad and I went scuba diving and I drank alcohol for the first time. Scuba diving was intentional but the alcohol tasting definately wasn't so don't go tell the bishop on me quite yet. All of the workers assumed that since I'm an adult that I drink so I would make sure that I say I wanted virgin pina coladas. Well I guess one time they didn't understand my broken spanish and thought I said, "Load this one up! I love to have a really gross burning taste in my throat." We literally took hundreds of pictures so below I am showing just a few of the highlights. Anyway, it will be a trip I'll never forget!

GRADUATION!

I know that I am a little behind in blogging but that's pretty normal for me! Just know that there are two more blogs coming very soon!
First thing is first though!
I GRADUATED!
I didn't think that day would ever come but it finally did. The girls all had to wear all white as part of the nursing tradition. My parents were able to come to Idaho for the ceremony and it was awesome having them there. Along with my parents, my sister-in-law Nicole and both sets of grandparents drove to get there too. I definately felt loved. The last week of school was actually more emotional than I had expected. Some of my bestest friends are in Idaho so it is still a huge adjustment for me being home. I am going to miss my friends a whole lot but I am excited to go visit them. It has been awesome being home with my family and spending more time with them these past few weeks. We took a trip to Mexico last week but we'll save the details of that for the next blog. I got a job at Banner Gateway hospital in their ICU (Intensive Care Unit). I start August 11 and I am both excited and nervous to start. I will be trained for the next while so I guess I have a little bit of time to get my feet wet. I plan on taking the NCLEX, which is the test to become licensed, the beginning to middle of September. Anyway, more updates are to come! Below is a slideshow of graduation night!

Nursing Group

So I am in what is considered to be the "alternate" group in nursing school. There are only 9 of us and there are 32 traditional students. Although I have been able to become friends with many of the other people in the traditional group, I have become very close to those in my group. We have had clinicals every Saturday together since the beginning and we have had many other activities with just us. We have all been through a lot together and it was great to have such a huge support group. They have been like family up here. We finally got a picture together in our uniforms yesterday morning before clinical. I am excited for my parents to meet all of them come Thursday when I GRADUATE!!!


Top row starting from the left- Eloise, JoAnna, Brandon, Steve, Jory, Mitchell
Bottom row starting from the left- Kirstie, Cade, Me

MONTANA!!!

Last weekend Julie and I ditched the Idaho Falls festivities and drove to Montana to see Bonnie! We had so much fun! If Montana had my family there and better opportunities for nursing, I’d be there in a second. It is so beautiful. We were planning on camping but then the thought of mosquitoes scared us so we just set up a tent in her front yard. We did, however, go to the top of the mountain the night of the fourth and watch all of the fireworks that were going on in the valley. We had a great time hitting golf balls off the side of the mountain and sitting around a campfire eating s’mores. I am definitely going to miss these girls, we have had a lot of fun and they have made the past few years very fun for me. I’ll forever be grateful for them! Here are a few pictures of the weekend!

CAMPING!!!

This past Saturday was the first Saturday of the semester that I did not have to be at the hospital. My roommate Julie really wanted to go camping so we invited a few boys from the ward and went. We had a great time! One of the boys owns a motor bike and so he gave me a fun ride and it was gorgeous! While we were on our ride a black bug flew into my friends ear. Not just around his ear, but it actually flew into the hole! He was shaking his head around trying to get the bug out and at that moment we both remember that we saw an episode of "Trauma: life in the ER" and this exact thing happened to a man where he was getting stung by a mosquito over and over in his ear. I'm pretty sure at this moment we both got more panicky and so I started to blow in his ear trying to get it out. IT WORKED! I looked in his ear and saw a little part of the bug and so I motioned him to get it out. He told me to get it so I stuck my finger in his ear and retrieved the dead bug...poor little guy, he was probably just as scared as we were! Afterwards we just laughed and now we have a funny story between the two of us. Other than that, I think the mosquitos were on vacation because I did not get bitten once, I felt super lucky. We left the campsite early the next morning which was perfect because none of us were grumpy campers yet. This weekend Julie and I are off to Montana for the 4th to visit our friend Bonnie, I am very excited and I'll have to post pictures later!

This one's for Austin!

It has been a long time since I have made a post and Austin made sure I was aware of it so this blog is for him!
Our class has a countdown board and when I looked at it today it said that we only have 33 more days till graduation. I couldn't believe it! I have been at college for so long that it has become a part of me. I am very excited to see my family more but I also am starting to feel sad that I'll be leaving Rexburg and all of my best friends up here. I have been so blessed to be here. So yeah, after I graduate I am planning on going on a way fun trip with some of my family and cousins and then I'll study for a few weeks for the NCLEX exam. After I pass that, I will be a full fledged nurse and I'll look for a job. I have learned recently that my passion is the ER. I got a full taste of what it is like last Saturday and my love for the high energy floor was confirmed. Ryan was able to come up here for a night and it was a blast seeing him and I'm psyched to see Nicole and the kids later today! Anyway, that's about it right now! Happy Father's Day DAD! I'm excited to be there for it next year!!!


This picture was taken on my birthday last month! Here are 3 of my roommates this semester, they are very fun to live with!

Happy Easter!

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Easter! I for one had a great Easter this year! My roommates and a few guy friends came over and we had sort of a potluck dinner. I had made Nicole's sugar cookies earlier in the week but we still had a lot of dough so we rolled them out and all decorated them, it was really fun. My friend Brandon is a paramedic so I asked him if he could get me a pair of scrubs, anyway he remembered and suprised me with them today. I am definately excited to be able to wear scrubs to work starting in July or August, you can't beat their comfort! School is going pretty good but I'm psyched for it to be done for the semester. We are about two weeks and a half weeks away and then I get to go home for a week or so, I miss my family a ton! Clinicals have been so much fun this semester. We are on the labor and delivery unit so I've been able to see a lot of births, it's amazing. I started my first IV in a patient yesterday so that was really exciting for me, kind of nerve racking though. Anyway, that's about it, I love you all and am excited to see my favorite Arizonans in a few weeks!

Here is a picture of two of my roommates and I in our matching scrubs, I'm the only one that got the full outfit though...I felt special!

Funny Movie

Hey I know I haven't updated in a while, sorry. Anyway, I was at this comedy thing and they showed this youtube video at it. So yeah I went home and showed my roommates and we've watched it so many times. I think it gets funnier every time. You'll just have to go to the bottom of my blog and stop the music. Anyway, it cracks me up, enjoy!

Back in Rexburg!

After a fun christmas break, I am now going full force in school again. It was hard leaving the warm Arizona sun to come to the bitter cold windy icebox known as Rexburg. I think today was the coldest I've ever been and yesterday it was so windy and cold that the local schools were cancelled and the power was out in my apartment when I woke up. My cell phone was my only light source so it was a fun little adventure trying to get ready. Other than the cold, I love being in Rexburg. It has been fun to reunite with old friends and meet new ones. School is busy but that's expected. I'm psyched to hang out with newborns and their moms starting next week, I've never seen anyone give birth. I get to go to see the Rexburg Temple open house tomorrow morning...I'm pretty excited, I hear it's beautiful! Ok well that's as good of update as I can give, I'll try to get pictures when I can!