Update Part II

Most of you probably don't care about these updates. They are kinda boring, but I wanna brag about all the fun I've been having. :) And I've been bad at keeping a journal lately, so I need to be remembered some how. 

I've had tons of fun with my family this summer. I went to the Pink Coral Sand Dunes for a few days with my parents, oldest sister and brother and their families. It was such a blast! It was stinkin' hot though. We played around all weekend in the sand on the four wheelers! And sat in the shade, read books, or slept when it was too hot to do anything else. It was such a fun weekend!

For my birthday Kristen got us tickets to Miller Motorsports Park for an off roading competition. It was such a unique and fun gift! It's out in Tooele aka the edge of the earth. :) But we had so much fun! Basically they would race these cars on a dirt track, go as fast as they can, crash, ruin their cars, and keep going. It was way cool! 

We were sitting right at the first turn and they would be going so fast it would spray huge dirt clumps at us. It was dangerous and slightly scary. 

Update Part I

It's been forever and a day since I've blogged. I'm not sure I remember how to do this. Well to catch up a little.....

I graduated!

A week before graduation we had a dinner at Pizza Factory with our whole class and then afterward drove up the canyon to burn our scrubs. It was so fun! It was great to spend a night with all the people I had spent so much time with over the three years of nursing school, who I literally spilt blood, sweat, and tears with.  Burning our scrubs was the best part of the night!

Burning my scrubs.

My best friend. I couldn't have done it without her. I'm so glad that not only did BYU give me a degree it gave me a best friend for life. 

Kristen is a continual constant in my life. I'm so grateful for the incredible friendship and relationship that I have with her. I couldn't have done it without her.

Words can not even begin to describe how I feel about these two people. They are my best friends, my advisors, my confidants, and my rocks. I owe everything I have and everything I am to them. I love them with all my heart and am continually grateful for all they have done for me, all they do for me, and all they will continue to do for me. I couldn't have done it without them.

BYU College of Nursing Class of 2012. I love all these girls (and boys) so much.

A few weeks after graduation, I flew down to LA to spend the week with Laura and her family. It was a blast. I attempted to surf for the first time. I was scared, but I did it and it was actually really fun after I got over the fear of drowning or being eaten by a shark or being smashed by the real surfers. I boogie boarded for the first time. I had the best strawberry I have ever eaten in my life. I got an awesome $20 asian massage. I watched the whole second season of Downton Abbey with Laura and her sister. And I went to my first Dodger's game and ate my first Dodger Dog. It was the best week. 

For graduation my awesome parents sent me and my mom on a cruise to Alaska! It was the best thing ever. I loved every minute of it. Cruises are so fun. And Alaska is breath taking and spectacular. It was easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen! I had such a great time with my wonderful mom. We made some great memories that I will never forget! 

Well that's a long enough update for now. Stay tuned for part II.

Remember that time?

Remember that time my dream came true?

And I got into the nursing program at BYU.

Graduation is right around the corner. Today is my last day of classes. It's kind of absurd. I'm not sure how this happened. I remember starting the nursing program like it was yesterday and now I'm about to graduate with a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing!

Wow.

Remember that time my dream came true again?

And I got a job at Primary Children's Medical Center!

I've wanted to work at Primary's since before I started nursing school. I had the awesome opportunity to do my capstone on the pediatric intensive care unit at Primary's. And I was made aware very quickly how much I love pediatric nursing and how badly I really did want to work at Primary's. There is just something about that place. I absolutely love it up there!

I applied for a job in the Float Pool at Primary's a few weeks ago. I wanted this job so bad. It's perfect for me. Float Pool nurses work on every unit in the hospital; I love the change in that.

And last week I got a call telling me they wanted to offer me the job!! I freaked out.

I can hardly believe it's actually real. I have to remind myself all the time that I actually got a job. And a job that I LOVE. MY DREAM JOB!

I'm so incredibly blessed. Only three people in my class of sixty have jobs. The job market is just so difficult right now for nurses. And I got my dream job! It's just incredible to me and unbelievable.

Remember that time my dream came true?

Yeah. That was pretty cool.

Reading

I just finished reading Gabby. It's written by Mark Kelly and Gabrielle Giffords. And it was wonderful! Everyone should read it.

On January 8th 2011, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head at an event she was holding at a local Safeway in Tucson, Arizona called Congress on Your Corner. Nineteen people were shot and six died. Gabby lived.

The book tells the story of her life, marriage to astronaut Mark Kelly, and her miraculous recovery. It is a story tolled through Mark's eyes. It's beautiful and inspiring. It's a book full of hope, courage, despair, triumphant, and love.

I wish I could meet both Gabby and Mary to tell them how I grateful I am for their service to America, for their story, and for sharing it.

She's a remarkable woman. A hero. A fighter.

It's a great book. Read it.

Go here for a short video about Gabby from 20/20.

You can watch the full 20/20 episode here.

I also read three other books over the break. The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. Some of the best books I've read! Seriously, so, so good! I pulled two all nighters reading those books.

If you haven't already read them (you probably have, I'm a little behind) go read them right now. I loved them so, so much! And I can't wait for March 23, 2012 when The Hunger Games Movie comes out.

As you can see I had a great time reading over the break. I used to hate to read. But when I can choose what I read it's SO much better! I wish I didn't have to go back to school, so I could keep reading so much. Soon enough, soon enough.

New

I've never really loved the idea of New Year's Resolutions. I think we should be constantly checking ourselves and making goals not just at the beginning of a new year, but always. But I do love something new. A new day. A new week. A new semester. A new job. A new pair of shoes. A new book. A new shirt. A new year. There is something refreshing about new.

I read this talk by Jeffrey R. Holland. It's entitled The Best is Yet to Be. He talks of Lot's wife and her mistake in looking back, longing for the past. In Genesis 19:17 it states "Look not behind thee". I think of this in two ways. Don't look back to previous mistakes and don't look back longing for the "happier times". As I approach 2012, I think about mistakes I made in 2011, and in previous years, and I also think that there may be times this coming year when I will wish to go back to "happier times". So, I've decided to make "Look not behind thee" my theme for 2012.

Elder Holland's thoughts on "looking not behind thee":

"As a new year begins and we try to benefit from a proper view of what has gone before, I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. Remember that faith is always pointed toward the future."

"You can remember just enough to avoid repeating the mistake, but then put the rest of it all on the dung heap Paul spoke of to the Philippians. Dismiss the destructive, and keep dismissing it until the beauty of the Atonement of Christ has revealed to you your bright future. God doesn't care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and with His help where you are willing to go."

Although I don't want to dwell on the past, I do want to learn from it. There are habits I wanna change. And a new year is a great time to change. There are areas I need to improve. And again a new year is a great time to improve. I wanna grow. I can do this without looking behind me. I can also remember all the great times I've had in the past, but also look forward with faith and happiness in the future.

As I think about the new year, 2012, ahead of me I have no idea what it will bring. But I do know one thing. Graduation. After that, I have no idea.

I went to the dentist earlier this week. The dental assistant asked me if I'd like to make a check up for six months. I said "um, sure. I don't know where I'm going be in six months, but I'll just call and change it if I need to." She said "How about Thursday?" I said "uh, sure." She said "How about 3 o'clock?" Again, "uh, sure." It was weird and surreal to think I literally have no idea where I'm going to be when that dentist appointment comes around. Never in my life have I had that before. When I graduated high school I knew I'd be staying in Provo and going to BYU. But now, now I have no idea where I will be in six months. It's terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time.

So the new year. 2012. "Look not behind thee". Change. Improvement. Growth. Graduation. And the unknown.

Elder Holland says that "every day ought to be the start of a new year and a new life. Such is the wonder of faith, repentance, and the miracle of the gospel of Jesus Christ."

So I won't be making any New Year's Resolutions this year, but I will be making changes and improvements to start a new year and a new life. I know what I need to do. I know what I want to do. And I know I can do it.

Here's to the refreshment of a new year!

Wrong

Since June 3rd was the last time I blogged I figured it was about time to write again. I'm not sure why I stopped blogging, but here I am more than six months later blogging.

Six months is a long time and yet I can't think of what to blog about it. I'm sure I had great thoughts and ideas in those six months that would make great posts.

Here's something I've been thinking about. In May it will mark five years since my graduation from high school. Five years. Half a decade. I think about where I was then and where I am now. And I'm stinkin' proud of myself. I was so naive. Man, I thought I was the bees knees. Man, was I wrong. I thought a lot of things that were wrong.

I thought I would be friends with my friends in high school forever. I remember Dr. Fullmer telling us that we probably wouldn't be friends with the friends we had then after high school and for some us we would never see each other again. And I remember thinking you're wrong, Dr. Fullmer, I will be friends with these people forever! It turns out I was wrong. Now I find myself avoiding people I knew in high school. Not because I don't want to talk to them or see them, but because I'm a different person now than I was then. A whole different person. And it's okay that I'm not friends with my friends from high school. In fact, it's good in a way.

I thought I would be married maybe with a baby by the time my five year reunion came around. A lot, probably most, of the people I know from high school are married with kids. And most of them have blogs where they record their love for their husbands and children. They write about how cute their newborns smile is or how incredible their husband is. They may write about how fast their children are growing, their first word, their first step. After high school you're expected to go to college, get married, and start a family. Somehow being married and having kids has became a stigma of success. Of course I want those things and I look forward with anticipation to blogging about my husband and kids. But I don't base how successful I feel about my life on that.

I thought a lot more things that were wrong that don't need to be hashed out here. My point is that even though where I thought I would be or where society thinks I need to be I am proud of myself. And I'm grateful I'm here and not there. Right now I'm content. I'm successful. I'm proud of myself. I'm glad I was wrong. I'm glad I'm a whole different person now. Being wrong turned out to be right.

Will I go to my five year reunion like I always said I would? Probably not. Just another thing I was wrong about.

If Wishes Were Fishes

I went to the Verizon store today.

Bad idea.

I saw one these.

Now I really want one. Like a lot.

Too bad I'm so poor.