Thanksgiving

Oh how I love Thanksgiving. Sometimes it gets breezed over in the rush for Christmas, but it is such a wonderful holiday. Especially when there isn't tons of snow outside, but instead a GORGEOUS day with the sun shining and only a need for a light jacket. That makes it all the better.

Here are some things I'm thankful for.

1. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I would not be who I am without it.
2. Family. I have got 2 awesome families and I am so grateful for all they do for us.
3. My sweet husband. Really, he is wonderful and does so much for me. I scored!
4. School. It is hard and busy but I am so grateful I can be getting an education.
5. Food. I'm starting to get hungry and can hardly wait the few more hours until Thanksgiving Dinner!
6. Heat. I love being warm.
7. Technology. I'm here typing on a laptop, watching the Macy's day parade, and texting/calling my family all at the same time.
8. Nice weather. People may say it's global warming and that it's a problem, but I say bring it on.
9. Talented people. I don't feel overly talented in many things so I am grateful for everything other people can do.
10. Jobs. My husband and I are both so lucky to have jobs right now.
11. All my senses. I love being able to hear, see, smell, touch, and taste.
12. Our apartment. We have a great apartment with counter space, cupboard space, and storage space.
13. Washers and Dryers. We have a large stack of laundry right now and I am so glad I don't have to wash all of it by hand.
14. That I can play the piano. That is a huge blessing (especially since I get great callings in church because of it).
15. I am grateful that my mom kept me in piano lessons so I now can play.
16. My crockpot. It cooked a delicious dinner last night of bbq chicken, potatoes, and carrots.
17. Kohls. That place has everything.
18. A car. We're going to St. George tomorrow and thank goodness for our great mode of transportation.
19. Dishwashers. I don't have one which makes me even more grateful for them.
20. Contacts. I could not see without those things.

Alright, that is it for now. I'm currently pretty distracted with a dog show that's on TV right now so I'm having a hard time concentrating. :)

Catch up

Well I know this happened back in September- but oh well. This is what happens when you go to school full-time, work part-time, and borrow your neighbor's spotty internet.

My whole family (minus Jesse who had to work) "participated" in the Swiss Days 5k in St. George and we had a blast! Some (Brad and Kylie) ran more than others (mom and dad) and Kadin and I were somewhere in between. We're all a little hooked now.

Here's the whole crew!

Runny Buddies

Kylie was her own running buddy due to speed.

As was Brad.

Kadin and I were buddies
(unfortunately I slowed him down a bit but he was a good sport to stay with his slow sister)

Kadin preparing for the big eventBrad actually preparing. We kind of just followed Brad around and did whatever he did to warm up because we figured he knew what he was doing since he's a pretty good runner.

Good times had by all! And we'll be there again next year... hopefully a little more ready to run than this year, but probably not!

Halloween.
This year our treat for Halloween was spending it with Jesse's family. We got to eat delicious food and run around the neighborhood with a whole bunch of cute kids.

We weren't overly creative and dressed Jesse up like a patient and I was his nurse. That's what happens when you plan about a half hour before you have to be somewhere!

Yes my mother-in-law was Mrs. Potts. Really, how awesome is that?!

Next item of business..... It was my mom's birthday on the 23rd.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

My mom is so great. I hope I can be even half as great of a mom as she is. I'm pretty lucky to have her as an example.
Thanks for all you have done and continue to do. You're the best!

Good deal!

You know what's awesome? Robots. Yeah! They can do all sorts of stuff and I hope one day to own one (or at least be in their good graces during the robot uprising and inevitable enslavement of mankind).

Exhibit A

But you know what ELSE is awesome? Good deals on stuff! And Danielle and I got a GREAT deal on a bunch of movies. Danielle periodically peruses postings on craigslist.com and finds some pretty cool stuff. The other day she saw a listing for something called "VHS" movies for 50 or 75 cents a piece, so we decided to check it out. These people had probably 150-200 of these things for sale all in a bunch of apple boxes, so we took our time choosing. 30 minutes and 20 bucks later we walked out with all these awesome shows!

Exhibit B

That's 37 examples of how early humans used to entertain themselves! The best part is we recently came across another artifact which has actually enabled leading scientists in the field (i.e. us) to interpret the audiovideographic messages encoded on these ancient relics of the past. What we have found has been enlightening (Cast Away, Stargate), inspirational (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Dead Poet's Society), entertaining (Indiana Jones 1, 2, & 3), Frightening (What Lies Beneath, Wayne's World), and somewhat perplexing (Contact, and what appears to be an instructional record about something called Yoga {yo-guh}). In the end we feel our recent acquisition has cemented our place among the scientific greats of our day. Any of you who may feel otherwise are welcome to submit your views to i.dont.care.and.this.is.a.fake.address@gotbetterstufftodo.com.

The moral of this story is threefold:

1) Entertainment takes many forms
2) Good deals are everywhere
and
3) Be prepared because robots never sleep (robotuprising.com)

And with that I bid you all adieu.

Nervous

I'm a little nervous. Tomorrow is my first clinical. This means instead of working with mannequins or fellow classmates, we deal with real people. I feel honored to be trusted with this since we only have 1/2 a semester of nursing school under our belts. But sheesh, kind of a big deal. Guess we'll find out if I really like nursing after all. The classes have been fun and interesting but this is the real deal. Wish me luck.

Oh and did I mention I have to be there at 5:45am?! I have a feeling my alarm will come a little too soon for my liking. Oh well. It's all for the cause.

Well at least I look official!