I'm Going With That...

New Missionary Blog

2010-07-10T19:36:00.003-04:00

If you'd like to keep up with Melissa while she's serving her mission, feel free to check out her mission blog here: http://sistermaughan.blogspot.com/!

ohhh hi! oh.

2010-06-10T17:44:00.005-04:00

Oh look! I'm not on my mission yet! I've just been neglecting my blog....oopsieeee. Sorry friends :) But since I only have TEN DAYS until I'm set apart as a missionary and can't use a computer, I'll try and not neglect too badly.

I'm feeling better about my call to Kirtland now. Spending a month out of the country really helped a lot. I've come to terms with it and am just feeling better overall, although I can definitely improve. It's REALLY entertaining to see people's reaction to it...highly entertaining! It ranges from people genuinely excited for me and think Kirtland is the most amazing place, to people who are trying to make Ohio sound fantastic, but you know they're faking it. hehe Adapting the famous words of Rachel F. B: It's okay, you don't need to pretend Ohio is a cool place, because I totally know it's not. haha. (again, not that I won't love it, just sometimes you need to make jokes, ya know?) And then there are the people who react like the elderly temple worker at Palmyra, who gets a gold star for awesome response to my call: "tough break, but I guess someone's got to go there." hahaha yesss. Thank you Bro. Cusolito!

It's been funny to look back to this entire mission process/preparation. From the end of December when I started my mission papers, everything has not gone the way that I had anticipated, or the way it goes for most people. Yes, everything. (minus going to the temple. the only thing that has gone without a glitch). This goes from waiting almost a month for my call, to having the sister missionaries transferred out of my area the week I came home from Ghana so I couldn't go on splits with them. Plus the very obvious reassignment. When I got the letter from the MTC that said we could not go to the temple because the one in Provo would be closed from the day I enter the MTC until the day I leave, I could only laugh. When my mom said that was ironic, all I could say is that it wasn't ironic, because with irony you don't see it coming. hehe. But hey, I like these trials. It's the only way to grow, right? Plus, it forces you to find the positive things! For instance, when your call is switched, it's remarkably easy to re-write an acceptance letter! I refrained from taking my original letter, crossing out San Diego and putting Cleveland, but hey, copy and paste is pretty darn easy too! :)

that's right. word for word :)

As for other mission stuff, I report two weeks from today, and so far I'm feeling okay with the preparations. I've bought most of the stuff that I need. There are some more things I need to get, and I really should look at all my clothes and make sure I have real outfits, but I'm not stressing out. My stake president told me that I should spend this time cultivating relationships that I want to last throughout my mission and long after, so that's what I'm doing. Spending most of my time with my family and my friends.

Along those lines, let me introduce Abigail! Abby has been my best friend since we were in 6th grade and both super short. I've grown, she hasn't ;) just kidding. Abby's birthday was in May while I was in Ghana, so for her birthday I bought her a Ghanaian dress and we decided to sport those dresses on a night out on the town! Only....we went for lunch...which would make it more of an afternoon. You know, we live quite the party life. We took our daily hour long walk in the morning and then got all dolled up to head up to Saratoga, where we were going to Wheatfield's for lunch. I know. We're classy.

Just because I started curling my hair 45 minutes before her and we finished at the same time doesn't mean ANYTHING! sigh. the curse of thick hair.

We had a lot of fun at lunch, then walked up and down Broadway going into various (ridiculously expensive) boutiques, shopping for mission shoes (an epic failure), trying on classic Saratoga hats (a "must" when in town) and getting hot chocolate from Uncommon Grounds to warm us up in the FREEZING rain.

on that note, WHAT THE HECK NEW YORK?! Do you not realize that it is JUNE?! It's supposed to be warm. Not 40 something and raining. Some of us only brought two pairs of pants home, and would really like to wear something else! kthanksbye.

Palmyra Temple--June 2, 2010

2010-06-03T11:59:00.007-04:00

Yesterday, I had the amazing opportunity to go through the Palmyra Temple and receive my endowment in preparation of my mission (which I leave for in 2 1/2 weeks!). I was able to go to Palmyra with my mom and dad. Because my call has been switched to Historic Kirtland, we decided it would be a great idea to go to Historic Palmyra and go to the sites and talk to the sister missionaries who serve at the visitor centers there. It was great to talk to them and see the sites. It was one of the most BEAUTIFUL days I've seen in a long time, so that made everything even more perfect.

It was a really special thing, getting to go through the temple with my parents. As I was preparing to go through, I realized that going to the temple was something that I had been preparing for, practically my entire life. All through my days growing up in this church, I've been singing "I love to see the temple, I'm going there someday...". In young women's, I recited weekly that by following the Young Women values I "prepare to make and keep sacred covenants" and" receive the ordinances of the temple". I had been taught time after time about how to live my life in such a way that I would be worthy and ready when the day came for me to go to the temple. And now, that day has come. I am so glad that my parents, teachers, and other family members/friends have helped to raise me in such a way that I felt prepared and excited to go to the temple, making it one of the most amazing experiences of my lifetime. hands down.

on the top of Hill Cumorah

My mom and I realized once we had gotten home that we had not taken a picture with the two of us :(

This is my mission picture going on my plaque

But this was a close second ;)

Right after coming out.

beautiful flowers on such a BEAUTIFUL day!

p.s. as for my Africa pictures, I'll put them up once I can figure out how to describe my month-long life changing experience in just a few pictures! :)

You Know You're in Ghana When....

2010-05-25T00:24:00.002-04:00

This weekend was a really good weekend! On Saturday, we went outside Koforidua (which is about 2 hours away) and went down to some twin waterfalls. It was absolutely beautiful, and very peaceful. And I feel the need to mention it was also much cooler at the waterfall, and that is always a treat :) but then we went on a 2 ½ hour hike through the rainforest and hiked up to this big boulder on a mountain that overlooked the valley. It was so green! At first all the green made me think about New York, but then you see all the African trees and that image is gone! Watch Lion King and you’ll know what Africa trees I’m talking about. Haha. It was quite a breath-taking view. I took pictures, but it just doesn’t do it justice. I guess you are all going to have to go to Koforidua and see it for yourself :) don’t worry, it
will be worth it.

This week was our last Sunday in the Abomosu branch. I’m not sure I can go back to a ward where they don’t say “good morning” back to the speaker or speak in two different languages or have conversations from the pulpit. American wards are so boring haha. Did I mention that we were singing in church? Alison and I rearranged a version of How Great Thou Art, taught it to a couple other girls and then sang it in
sacrament meeting. It turned out really well!! I switched the words in one of my solos, but no one noticed but me and everyone really like our arrangement. It was pretty funny because afterwards the district president stood up and from the pulpit asked me if it was true that we had arranged the song and when I said yes, he made me stand up and said “this girl knows all!” haha. He’s a good guy. But now he’s recruited us to sing it again this Wednesday night when our housekeeper, Gloria, is getting baptized. I’m excited for that baptism!

I can’t believe that we are leaving this week. It’s hard to believe that it has been a month, it’s gone by so fast! And since I report to the MTC in less than a month, I can’t decide if it’s a good or bad thing that time is going so fast. I’ve had such an amazing experience, and I wouldn’t change a thing. To sum up my trip, I thought I would send you a list of things I’ve learned from Ghana. Lindsay and I came
up with this list. Hope you like it!

You know you are in Ghana when….
1. You can buy tampons out your car window
2. You’re grateful to have water AND electricity!
3. You have an IV bag hung on your bedpost by a headband (side story: remember how Alison had malaria? Well she got even more sick with some other bug and she was so dehydrated that she needed IV fluids. When we came home from clinic one day, this is how we found her!)
4. Driving off the road is smoother than driving on it.
5. You answer to “obruni” before you answer to your own name.
6. Sweat, bug spray, and sun screen have become your new perfume
7. Mosquitos, millipedes, giant spiders, wiggly butt bugs and lizards become your roommates
8. You play cards for 4 hours and still haven’t repeated a game.
9. Five marriage proposals and 8 “I love you’s” from random strangers becomes a daily ritual
10. You learn roosters DON’T just crow when the sun rises (which is wayyy annoying)
11. You appreciate not having warm water
12. Small children run around carrying machetes on their heads
13. You have to iron your socks and underwear, electricity permitting (this is to kill the bugs that are in your clothes before they burrow in your skin)
14. Chicken, cabbage, bread, and fruit becomes the new food pyramid
15. You have to suck water out of a bag
16. Pineapple Fanta and Fan Ice are the most coveted items
17. Natives tell you not to chew, just swallow your food.
18. A woman can climb into a leaking canoe with a baby on her back and a tree on her head
19. Tires and branches act as traffic cones
20. Driving on your side of the road is optional
21. The first thing people want to know about you is what day of the week you were born
22. Every question you ask a native is answered with a “yes”
23. A street vendor running along a car gives a whole new meaning to fast food.

Maybe that list is only funny if you lived through it all haha.
Anyway, I'm off to the Abu's to have fufu for dinner! Love you all so much and see you in a week! (some of you...)

The Art of Brushing Teeth

2010-05-18T22:03:00.002-04:00

Etisane! It’s pretty crazy to think that we are over halfway done with our trip here to Ghana, and next Thursday we are leaving Abomosu for good. Where has the time gone!? But I have to say the time is pretty well spent. This past week has been really good for the most part. This week we started going into the schools and teaching hand washing and tooth brushing at the primary schools, and simple first aid, and “being healthy” at the junior highs (which is ages 13-16). I’ve taught all of these classes and I’d have to say that my favorite class to teach is definitely teeth brushing (tooth brushing? Where’s Eric and his innate grammar guide when I need him?).

Once we teach the children the basics of brushing their teeth, we sing the song “When you wake up in the morning and it’s quarter to one and you want to have a little fun you brush your teeth ch-ch-ch….”. Remember that annoyingly repetitive song? Well apparently it sticks! The children love to sing it and it’s a lot of fun to see them around the village or the market on other days and the say “Obrunee! Brush your teeth! Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch…” hahaha. Only they can’t say ‘th’ so it’s “Brush your teet.”

Apparently after we taught in the first school, all the littlec hildren went home and begged their parents for a toothbrush. Too bad we couldn’t bring some to donate. Oh well. At least now they are aware!

So Abby asked me what exactly we have been doing here, nursing wise, besides playing with the children . There’s actually a lot that we have been doing! A lot of our nursing interventions are education, like teaching in the schools. We also do health fairs on the weekends (this past weekend we went to Tema, about 45 minutes from Accra and taught a large stake there), and tomorrow we are doing a neonatal resuscitation training course for the midwives in the area.

They are really in need of education, especially since this health district that we are in, the Atiwa district has 100,000 people and one doctor. ONE DOCTOR!! We met him the other day, he’s a great guy who went to Cuba to get his education, but he’s a bit busy…I would be too! In the clinics, most of the diagnosing is done by someone called a medical assistant. They basically have a book and they look up your symptoms and then say what treatment you need, although they often don’t have the mediations necessary. Even I have more training than this medical
assistant. So clearly they welcome the education.

We also do a lot of BP screenings, and malaria testing, HIV testing, and triage (when they come to the clinic, we take their history/vitals etc and determine the order to be seen by the “medical assistant”). Last week, a couple of the girls helped with the delivery of two babies, one healthy and one who ended up dying on the way to the hospital from the clinic. I wasn’t in the clinic that day, because I was in a village called Asunafu where we were special guests at the kick off of Child Health Promotion Week. That included dancing with the children for 2 hours, and even getting to sit next to the Queen Mother and the Village Chief and had to go to the front and introduce ourselves . Yeah, I know. We’re cool.

I feel like that’s a huge part of what we do. Just make an appearance. We even were special guests at a motorcycle ceremony where they taught nurses to ride motorcycles so they can get to the outer parts of the villages. We also make a lot of donations, like backpacks with supplies to the motorcycle nurses, stethoscopes, BP cuffs, speculums, and even YW medallions for the branch here. That’s the gist of what we do. At least that’s all I can think of right now.

We have a student here with Malaria… :( The other girl from NY, Alison. She woke up way sick on Sunday morning. Not fun. She’s starting to get better, but this afternoon she also developed a sty too. Which is an infection that essentially shows up as a zit on the tip of your eyelid, even further infecting your eye. And she just got bit by a spider. She’s having a rough couple of days. I hope that bad luck is not contagious! Of course, none of this was helped by the fact that we have had NO power here since Thursday. That’s why no one has heard from me since what, Wednesday? Sorry fam. I’m still alive!

We finally got the power back on around 7 tonight. And there was much rejoicing. Of course, not surprisingly, around 6 tonight our water shut off. Haha. So the trend continues! Let me paint a picture for you: No water and no electricity/fans= 14 hot, smelly, sweaty girls with no relief from the heat or showers to clean off/cool down, meat that is defrosting and rotting, other rotting fruits and vegetables, dirty clothes unable to be washed lying around the rooms, and a sick girl who is constantly vomiting into a toilet that can’t flush. Can you imagine how wonderful our house smells right now!? ;)

Hope things are going well in the States, mostly I hope you are all enjoying the fresh, cool air around you! Haha.

Love you all lots!
Mel

p.s. We visited the Accra Temple this weekend! What a beautiful temple.

African Royalty

2010-05-14T00:14:00.001-04:00

Things are good here in Ghana. The last two days have been RIDICULOUSLY hot, and even Brother Abu said that he can’t remember Abomosu ever being this hot, and he’s lived here for 70+ years! So I think I am totally justified in saying that I’m sweating the most that I have ever sweat in my life haha. I mean, if the AFRICANS are suffering, then it’s totally plausible that the AMERICANS would definitely be suffering!

It was especially hot though when 5 girls and I went to a village called Asunafu, where we were special guests attending child’s health week kick off. They sat us next to the Queen Mother and the village chief, and made us come up and introduce ourselves by name. Yes, we are celebrities. Hahaha.

But the best part was dancing with the children. There were so many kids that came out and danced with us in the middle of the square, and it was so fun! Best part was when I was dancing with three girls, and they were doing exactly what I was doing. Then all of a sudden every single child was dancing the same way as me! It was like 50 children! I felt like I was leading a jazzercise class, and it was definitely entertaining to the rest of the group haha.

Paradise on the Coast of Africa

2010-05-10T00:20:00.002-04:00

So I mentioned to some of you that we went down to Cape Coast this weekend to do a health fair at the stake center there. It took about 4 ½ hours to get there (although it took SEVEN and a half to get back…ugh), but it was totally worth it. When we first pulled in to Cape Coast, we went straight to the slave castles right on the coast. When we got out of the van, it was still hot and humid but it was like BEACH hot and humid! That’s the kind of humidity that has a purpose, plus you get the sea breeze, which is marvelous. We took a tour of the Cape Coast slave castle, which is a large mansion that held the African slaves for 3 months before they were shipped to the Americas. It kind of made me want to cry. The things that these people went through… I don’t really have any problems that can compare to it...definitely an awesome eye opening experience. Besides the subject of the castle, it was really a beautiful place and I really liked it.
We all did.

From the slave castles, I went to paradise. No, literally. I thought I was in heaven. We stayed in a place called Alberta’s Palace. It was a little beach resort right on the water (hence the word “beach” ha) and it really reminded me of Chankanaab Mexico, in Cozumel, although the water wasn’t quite as turquoise. But here is where heaven came in. I got into a really comfortable bed next to my best friend, after taking a long cool shower, in an AIR CONDITIONED room, with my belly full of a gourmet cheeseburger, fries, and a pineapple Fanta, and having just sat on the beach while some of my good friends swimming in the warm Atlantic Ocean. Heaven. Did I mention the air conditioning!? It was definitely hard to come back to Abomosu. Hehe.

Early Saturday morning, we got up and went to the stake center to set up for the health fair for the RS sisters. They seemed to REALLY enjoy my presentation, and a lot of people claimed in was their favorite class. I can’t really take credit for it though. The ladies just liked the topic. Who knew that once they started talking about menopause, it would never, ever, EVER stop!! Haha. That’s probably enough on the subject for those who are weak-hearted :)

After the health fair, we drove to the rainforest and went on what was called the canopy walkway. Basically it was a one hour hike in the rainforest, which included walking over SEVEN swinging bridges!! These were bridges that were about a foot and a half wide that were way up,
looking over parts of the rainforest and were not exactly the most stable of bridges, hence the term “swinging bridges”. Don’t worry, it was heavily roped on both sides, and while I doubted it at some points, I survived :) Plus now I can say that I have hiked through the rainforest of Africa. No big deal. Haha.

Okay, I was going to stay up and write more about church today and a couple other things, but it’s past midnight now and I’m completely exhausted. It’s ridiculous how at home I can stay up til 2 no problem but come 7:15, It takes some serious effort to keep my eyes open! (sounds like a certain brother I have...cough cough Scott) Clearly it’s the same for everyone here, since I’ve been the only one awake for about 45 minutes now. Haha. So I'm off to bed.

Love you all!
Mel

Hello from Africa!!

2010-05-06T23:20:00.002-04:00

Greetings from Ghana!

First of all, I made it safely! We got in very early in the morning on Sunday and after a brief scare when everyone had their luggage for 15 minutes except for me (thankfully they had a second load of luggage to put on…scared me though!), we headed out into Accra! Accra was an

awesome city, but I am really glad that we are not staying there anymore. I don’t feel like I would have as much of the African experience as I am having here in Abomosu. And trust me, I am DEFINITELY having the African experience!

We are living in an ADORABLE house in this small village, down the street from both the elders, and an older missionary couple, the Terry’s. They have been life savers, they even took us down to the river this afternoon and in a canoe across to the gold mines. It was pretty fun. They’ve served a whole bunch of missions all over East and West Africa, but they have only been in Abomosu for 6 months. They love the place though, and we are definitely loving it too.

Jo Ann read us a quote this morning that says that you have to experience Africa in pieces, because it’s never fully together. I would have to say that is DEFINITELY true! We’ve decided that you can either have electricity, or water, but heaven forbid you get selfish and want BOTH! Haha. It’s rainy season here, so the first night that we were here, we experienced our first African thunderstorm, which was AMAZING. The sky was completely lit up pink and purple with the lightning. It was awesome. But apparently, the power company down here decides to turn off your power before a large storm to prevent damage later. Smart idea, but still annoying. So we had to spend our first night using flashlights trying to unpack and eat our meal in the dark…I felt like I was at girls camp. But it worked out okay, because we all were in bed at 7:30.

The sun is up from 6 to 6 during the entire year and we are so exhausted because of the heat and busyness that we are usually in bed early, but as I lay in bed Sunday night at 7:30, I had to laugh because I realized that my ward in Utah had only been in church for half an hour when I was already in bed! (There’s a 6 hour time change to UT, 4 to NY).

They turned the power back on the next morning, and it’s mostly been on since then, but they have turned the water off twice. And once, when I was in the shower, I looked down halfway through the shower and realized that the water was brown…yum!! Like I said, I’m definitely having the African Experience :) But have I mentioned that I am LOVING it?!

I’d have to say that my favorite thing is playing with the African children. I think that is everyone’s favorite part. Anytime we walk beyond our gate they are there waiting for us so that they can play with us and hold our hands and follow us wherever we go. Millie and I were discussing how we feel like celebrities because when we walk to the market everyone looks and waves and follows us and chants our names. Actually, they just chant “obrunee!” which means white person.

Haha. It’s pretty funny. We had a 2 ½ year old chant that as we walked by “oh-brew-knee. Oh-brew-knee”. She laughed hysterically when I said “Obibine!” which means black person :) props to David Byers for teaching me that one!

A few of us stayed in the village yesterday and played tag with the children. But what I mean when I say tag is that I chased the children around for 40 minutes (at noon I might add…hot!)
and the rest of the nursing girls stayed in the shade while the kids ran away from me. Haha. It was so fun, even though it practically killed me.

We started working in the clinics today. They are in DEFINITE need of help, but I have to admit, they do pretty well with the resources they have. Jo Ann said that we are going to be like a stone rolling down a mountain. We’re kind of off to a slow start, but hopefully once they
start to see what we can do and word spreads to the other villages, there will be a lot more that we can do and work will pick up.

Today I worked first with the midwife taking care of the five hundred thousand pregnant women in the village (maybe a slight exaggeration haha) but then went over and worked triage for most of the day. It was pretty interesting, but hopefully the work will pick up and we’ll find more to do. And I’m hoping that maybe someday I will get used to walking around in my scrub top, dark blue scrub pants, and socks and shoes. Ugh. I’m sweating just thinking about it. Orrrr maybe I’m just sweating because it’s still ridiculously hot and humid. Haha.

Well, it’s after 6, so almost bed time haha. We have two more days in the clinic here then I think we are going to Cape Coast this weekend. Should be fun! The internet here is pretty slow, so uploading anypictures is pretty much out of the question, but I can guarantee that
there will be PLENTLY to view when I get home :) hope all is well for everyone back home in the states! Love you all!

Mel

Hermana --> Sister

2010-04-29T23:47:00.003-04:00

I know that by now most people are aware of this, but it's not official til it's blogged, right? And again, it's one of those things where those that read my blog get the real story and the true feelings. Lucky you guys. Or unlucky as the case may be.

I will no longer be serving a mission in the California San Diego mission, particularly the Mormon Battalion Historical Site, leaving July 7, speaking Spanish. I have been reassigned to serve in the Cleveland Ohio Mission, Kirtland visitor's center, leaving June 23, speaking English.

I guess I should tell the story from the beginning. Last Thursday, I got a phone call from a friend who is also in the nursing program with me who had her papers in (there are 4 of us in our semester who are going on missions this summer). The second she called, I knew she was going to my mission. Sure enough, my friend Katelyn was called to serve in the San Diego Mormon Battalion mission, leaving July 7th and speaking Spanish. A-maz-ing. We talked about how exciting it was going to be that we could be companions and would be getting back at the same time, etc. Then I went to Arizona on Friday and didn't get on a computer until Sunday night, when I got onto Facebook and saw that Katelyn had been reassigned to serve in the Cleveland (Kirtland) Ohio Mission, leaving June 23rd. She had her call to San Diego for only a day. While I was on Facebook, I also saw that one of the sweetest girls I've ever met, Alicia, had also been called to Kirtland, leaving June 23rd. I thought to myself, "wow! That's crazy! Small world!". When I woke up early the next morning, I saw that I had gotten a text message from my bishop that said "When do you leave for Ghana? And when do you come home? How can I best get in touch with you?" Right away I knew that I had been reassigned, because I could think of no other reason why my bishop would wonder in the middle of the night what my flight schedule was. After I texted him, he called me minutes later and told me that the missionary department had reassigned me. Before he could even tell me where, I said, "Let me guess. Kirtland, leaving June 23rd?". He was amazed I knew, and confirmed that that was where I would be serving my mission. We talked for a few minutes, then I was left alone to think.

There's been a delay in announcing this change because I needed time to think, figure out my feelings, and absorb the change. Although I found out about 7 am Monday morning, I didn't really tell a mass amount of people until Wednesday afternoon (thank you Facebook) because I was tired of getting texts messages and questions about San Diego. It hurt too much and I needed people to know. And only now am I finally getting around to blogging about it, because I needed to figure out how I feel. So if you don't want to read a long emotional explanation, stop reading here. But if you are brave and daring, buckle up.

My emotions are everywhere. Truly. When the bishop and I hung up on the phone, I just sat in the room and started to cry. hard. In fact, I may or may not be tearing up just re-living it. I truly felt/feel like my world was kinda thrown up into the air. But you know what, I think it's okay to cry. It's okay for me to feel upset that what I had been planning for and getting excited for is not going to happen. For those who are not LDS, you should know that having a reassignment of a mission call is VERY rare. 98% of the people I talk to have never heard of anyone getting their call switched, especially after having a call for 3 1/2 weeks. It's not easy. You plan, you prepare, you purchase, and then you hit a wall. It's especially hard because of how different San Diego and Northeast Ohio are. San Diego is warm, sunny and beautiful year round. Kirtland will have ridiculously hot/humid summers and extremely cold and snowy winters, thanks to the lake effect. When you get your call originally to someplace so beautiful, you prepare for beautiful weather. You pack up your winter coat and all your winter clothing and put it into storage. You go to stores and buy lots and lots of short sleeve blouses and summery skirts. Now I find myself having to return some of these outfits, and figuring out when I can get to my aunt's house to unpack all that winter stuff. For 3 1/2 weeks, for most of the day every single day, I would think about San Diego and get excited. SO excited. Absolutely thrilled would probably be a better phrase. Now when I think about San Diego, it hurts a lot. It doesn't help when on a flight from SLC to Baltimore you sit next to a Hispanic women from southern California, right outside San Diego. Or from Baltimore to Albany you sit next to a man who pulls out a bag that has "SAN DIEGO" written in great big letters across it. I can't let myself think about where I was going, because it really does only make me sick to my stomach or cry. I also have to try and not think about no longer learning Spanish, a dream/goal of mine for a long time. I have to believe that sometime I will learn it and be able to reach out to any Spanish-speaking patient I will have, and perhaps someday fulfill my dream of becoming fluent in a language (understanding Spanish and a little French just doesn't cut it).

I'm going into the MTC two weeks earlier than originally assigned. I know it doesn't seem like much, but those two weeks are actually making a huge difference. First of all, I'll only have 3 weeks (possibly a little less) to gather everything together for my mission. Also, I will no longer enter the MTC with one of my best friends, April, who is going to Spain on July 7th. But more than that, I have to do this alone. June 23rd (my report date) is the day that my brother Scott graduates from high school, so my parents need to be home to celebrate his graduation, so they cannot come out to Utah with me when I enter the MTC. This also means that I will no longer see Scott graduate from High School. Craig will be in Arizona for research with an astronomy professor there, and the day before I enter the MTC, Eric is flying to Arizona to drive Craig from an astronomy camp to Flagstaff, where he will be conducting the research, so Eric and Craig will also be unavailable. This means no one in my immediate family can be with me when I go back to Utah hopefully a couple of days early, and then enter the MTC on June 23rd. It breaks my heart.

I need to be clear about something, my heart break is NOT about Kirtland itself. Had I been originally called to Kirtland, I would probably be excited. The pain comes from the switch, seeing what I had, feeling how perfect it was, and now observing the changes. I've been to Kirtland before and it is a great place. It's filled with lots of church history and I'm grateful for the opportunity that I'll have to learn that history and share it with those who come to the site. Kirtland also has absolutely beautiful spring and fall months, from what I've heard. I know that I am going to love Kirtland. I know that for whatever reason, it is the right place for me to serve my mission, and someday I will recognize the reason why, whether it's before I leave, sometime during, or even after. This is just one of the trials that I have been given. One of my best friends told me that the Lord would not change a call of someone unless He knew they had the faith to be okay with the switch. This is a test of my faith. This is my time to show the Lord that I truly will go wherever He wants me to go. This is my chance to throw my life into the Lord's hands and say "Thy will be done". I know that everything is going to be okay. I know I'm going to love Kirtland so much that I am never going to want to come home. It's just going to take time.

It's not about the location, it's about the purpose. I'm going to be a missionary!! Even if I will be sharing the gospel in my native tongue, I'm still sharing the gospel. Even if I'm only going to be a few hours away from my family, I'm still separating myself from worldly things and giving myself to the Lord full-time for 18 months. I still have to exercise faith, and learn to rely on the Spirit. I will still get to meet AMAZING people, and let them change my life, as much as I hope to change theirs.

I'm going to be okay. I'm going to love my mission. I'm going to give 110% of myself every single day for 18 months, with the Lord's supplication. I'm doing the right thing and I'm not turning back. No matter how hard it gets.

I could not possible show adequate appreciate to those who have shown such amazing love, concern, and support for me. Since Monday morning, I have had an overwhelming amount of support and advice coming in all different forms: text messages, emails, phone calls, facebook messages, facebook wall posts, person-to-person interaction, meaningful hugs, a shoulder to cry on, crying with me, and even staying in the car with me and talking until 4:45 in the morning. I am especially grateful for all the prayers. I feel so blessed to have such amazing support from all around, from all different people. It's all of you who are answering my own prayers and letting me know that I'm going to be okay.

This is hard, but this is right. This pain will become incredible joy. Kirtland will soon hold my heart.

Sorry for such an incredibly long, rambling post. There are just so many thoughts in my head...

Oh ambitions...

2010-04-11T02:10:00.004-04:00

So I was telling someone about how appropriate it is that I was wearing my scrubs when I opened my call (long story short: we ended up leaving the hospital in Salt Lake wayyyy later than we were supposed to so I was running really late and didn't have time to do anything but grab my call and computer to start the skype session) because it brought together my life goals of serving a mission and being a nurse.

Being a nurse has been a goal of mine since I was 4 years old and going on a mission has been a dream since I was 6.
Put a ring on my finger and a baby in my belly and I'd have all my life goals in one place.
...Although I feel like there are some contradictions in that statement...

Hermana Maughan!

2010-04-09T01:51:00.009-04:00

How appropriate that this is my 100th post on my blog, since this is so significant....

I'm sure that by now either by Facebook, my family, my friends, or straight from me practically everyone has heard about my call, but just in case...I'm going to SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA, SPANISH SPEAKING!! Some of my mission I will also be serving at the Mormon Battalion Historic Site. Can I get a woot woot!? hehe. I report on July 7th, which happens to be my 21st birthday. So even though Facebook tells where I'm going, it's those elite people who read my blog that will know how I feel:

I have to admit I was very very surprised when I opened my call. It was nothing that I was expecting. Truly. Well, I guess that's only half true. I always thought that California is the place that I didn't belong, so half of me knew I would get called there. hehe. And yes, that is the truth ;) I didn't really know how to feel at first: Stateside? California? Spanish? Visiting Center?! All things that I had never seen when I pictured myself as a missionary, which I have since I was 6 years old. I guess I had always pictured myself in some far off foreign land learning some crazy psycho language, not know by a lot of people. I would have to say Spanish is DEFINITELY known by a lot of people haha. I even felt a bit guilty because of the way that I was feeling. I think all missionaries would like to say they didn't have any hopes of where they'd go, but I think deep down we all do. But I've always felt like missionaries end up getting called to the place that is perfect for them, but is the place they never expected. And surely that is the same for me.

The thing is, a month or two ago, I really felt strongly that things related to my mission were not going to work out the way that I was expecting. I had already seen that happen with my delay in putting the papers in and having to wait for my call longer than anticipated. And now the Lord does it again. I'm not doing what I'd thought I would be doing, but at the same time, I'm doing the EXACT same thing! I'm still preaching the gospel! I'm still sharing my testimony! I'm still serving the Lord! I'm even still learning a language! And on top of that, I'm even learning more about the history of the church then I might not have learned anywhere else. So really, what else matters?

I'm feeling a lot more confident about my place and time. It feels more and more right. I don't know why I've been called to San Diego, but I can probably guess some of the reasons. For instance, now I'll be able to speak Spanish fluently, a dream of mine, and a HUGE benefit for nursing. There's a good chance I'll end up being home for Christmas 2011. I'll be able to start school winter 2012, rather than wait until the next fall to continue studying nursing. I'll be stateside in case something does happen with my health (which, with my luck, is not that unbelievable). I get to find people when proselyting, and have people find me when at the visitor center. I get to force my tongue to finally learn to love spicy Hispanic food (that one may take awhile...). I'll be close to the GORGEOUS San Diego Temple (all my non member readers, click on the link! It's beautiful!). The weather in San Diego is perfect! I may not be able to swim in the ocean, but I will get to see the Pacific! I'll get to learn lots of church history about the Mormon Battalion! (PLEASE don't ask me right now though, I don't know even know what happened there! My mom (my seminary teacher) wasn't too thrilled with that haha).

I'm excited. It's been a long hard journey to get here. Emotionally, Physically, Mentally, and Spiritually. There have been broken hearts, broken necks, and broken friendships. There's been difficult struggles with myself, feelings of inadequacy, and doubts of the right thing to do. But now that's it here, it's right. It's been a long time coming. I know I have a long hard journey yet to come. I know that preparing to go will be a challenging time. I know that the mission will be hard and tiring and demoralizing from time to time. But I know that it's the right thing for me to do. I KNOW that the church is true, so why would I really have doubts if sharing my testimony for 18 straight months, every single day, is the right thing? I don't. The Lord is amazing. He loves me, and everyone, and I'm excited to play a part in bringing people to an understanding of what's true. I love my Savior. I know this is right. And I'm ready....

Learning that I leave on July 7th, my 21st birthday. The really funny thing about that day is of all the people involved in opening my call, July 7th is a significant day for 4 of them. For me, Sara, and Michelle Brooksby (in NY on skype with my family), it is our birthday, and for April McMurray, it is also the day that she enters the MTC to Madrid Spain. I'm so excited we'll get to go in together!

It was really sentimental to hug my brother. Hence the tears.

My best friend Sara got her mission call the same day too! Philippines Naga Mission. She leaves in August. It's fun though because we were born on the same day and got our calls the same day.

Click on this to see it bigger. Notice that I will have "special training in conducting tours". haha

AHHHH!!!!

2010-04-05T16:45:00.004-04:00

So funny story: I have been waiting longer than usual for my mission call. My papers went in three weeks ago today, but I still hadn't heard anything and had essentially given up on getting it this week because of conference. But I have a friend who put her papers in last Monday, and found out that her call was issued that Thursday (a few days ago) so I thought to myself, hmm....would I get that lucky? So I emailed my bishop and asked him if he wouldn't mind looking online. Fast forward about two hours, and I walking home from campus. I'm right in the middle of 7th north, smack dab in the center of the crosswalk when I get this text message from my bishop: "It says your mission call was sent on April 1st. You don't think it was an April Fool's prank, do you? just kidding. You should get it soon."

OHHHH MYYY GOSHHHH!!!
MY CALL IS COMING THIS WEEK!!!!!!

and the funny part is, I jumped up and down in the middle of the street for a while because I was so excited, until I realized there were still cars waiting for me to cross the street :)

You could just tattoo it to my face, if you'd like.

2010-04-02T11:06:00.004-04:00

I'm a blogging machine recently!! Yes, I know that I have lots of things to do, but for some odd reason blogging sounds a lot more enjoyable than the things I actually have to do. hehe. Just think of this as compensation for the soon to be 18 months of silence. Well, 19. I doubt I'll be doing a lot of blogging in Ghana.

SPEAKING of which, ONE MONTH FROM TODAY I'LL BE IN GHANA!!! Halle-freaking-lujah. I'm so excited. I'm ready to be there. Well, almost. Still have to get some stuff together, prepare my lessons on women's health to teach down there, get some anti-malarial pills, and--you know--pack, but overall, it's coming up fast. I even went and got my vaccines last week! It really stinks that most insurances don't cover vaccines for travel to other countries, because my pocket sure took a hit for only three vaccines. But here's the funny part. I got two injections (Polio and Yellow fever) and then one oral typhoid vaccine because 1) it was a bit cheaper, and I, as you should know, am frugal and 2) it lasts for 5 years as opposed to two years, and I figured, you never know where you'll go. But the key with the typhoid pill is that you have take 4 pills, one every other day with 8-12 oz of water. But you can't miss a single day. If you do, you have to start the whole process all over, beginning with buying new pills, and that's not conducive with my frugality. So to help you remember, the manufacturers have thought of some clever ways to subtly remind you to take your pill.

1. These are fun little stickers that you write on and put one on the fridge and one on the bathroom mirror. They even labeled each one lest you put the fridge one on the mirror.

2. This is my favorite. A reminder bracelet! Remember all those LiveStrong bracelets that were all the rage in say, middle school?! Apparently they still make them! And you may not be able to read it (I have no idea why my hand is so red in this picture) but the bracelet says "Remember Oral Typhoid Vaccine". HOW AWESOME IS THAT?! Really! It's clever, helpful, and most of all very fashionable. I'm tempted to never take it off. The website? www.reminderband.com. I'm going to do this for everything I ever need to remember. Ever. Think about it. You could have a whole to-do list that goes to your elbow, but instead of crossing it off, you'll just take a bracelet off. I like it.

Moving on. Have I mentioned that when Camille and I are in Salt Lake for clinical from Wednesday evening til Thursday afternoon or Friday afternoon we stay at her grandparents house? Well we've done this every week since September so I've grown really close to them. They are marvelous people. So this week, when we were there on Wednesday night, we found these mugs sitting on the table filled with chocolate! (They DO know me well!)

How cute is this?! Camille's mug is pink and says "girls love...SHOES!" with a little shoe instead. And it had a note on it that said "Happy Easter, we love you!" Seriously, how cute is that?!
And don't worry mom, I'm going to find a way to bring this mug back to NY safely so that you can appreciate it too :)

Hurry up you AND you AND you.

2010-03-31T17:44:00.004-04:00

So there are three things in my life that need to hurry up.

1. My mission call. As of Sunday, my call had not been issued, which means I'm not going to hear anything this week. Which also means because of conference this weekend, it probably won't be for another 10-14 days. sigh... Don't get me wrong, I love conference. That'll make it all better.
But seriously, I've had this badge for over 2 1/2 years. I'm ready to switch it out for a new one.

2. The end of school needs to get here pronto. And truly, at this point, I'd be okay if just finals got here quicker! But in the next two weeks I need to take two ATI exams (standardized tests predicting how we'll do on the NCLEX), a peds exam, a women's health presentation, an article summary, a women's health quiz, a mock ethics trial, and a psych exam. And that all needs to be done before finals even begin.

3. GLEE!!!! It returns in TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY! It's the one thing getting me through all my problems. okay, not really, but it could! I can't wait to see the new songs and Rachel's new romance and Emma and Will and Finn. Oh man. 14 days 14 days. If I get my mission call that day I may have to open it later ;)

Just hurry it up.

Hare Krishna!

2010-03-27T22:09:00.003-04:00

First of all, I just noticed that this will be my 10th post this month. This is monumental! I've never before, in the 23 months I've had my blog, blogged 10 times in one month! Double digits baby. Of course, I did know that this would be one of the craziest months of my life, with a couple extra crazies thrown in there. But still, yay! I can call myself a true blogger now!

Anyhooser, today I got to go to the festival of colors! It's a Indian/Hindu(?) celebration of the beginning of spring. Essentially, there is lots of celebration, dancing, smoking of drugs (just say no), and the highlight....throwing chalk at one another! (powder chalk. I told my friend Colt about throwing chalk at one another and he said, "wouldn't that hurt?!" haha. No no. Not the sidewalk chalk. That would make for a VERY interesting festival). The festival was fun and exciting, and I even had a chance to use my nursing skills when a 15 year old girl was thrown into the air when crowd surfing and they didn't catch her. So I jumped in to take care of her until the ambulance came. That was thrilling. I had somewhat of a deja vu feeling....back injury leading to ambulance leading to hospital.....alas, I digress.

The point is, it was fun. I can't believe that after three years of living in Utah this is the first time I've gone, but hey, now I can cross it off my bucket list. That, and blogging ten times in a month.
Hare Krishna!

It was me, Camille, and her roommate Megan who went

And so it begins....

Remember how white our shirts were in the beginning!?!

You say mission, I say mission.

2010-03-24T10:20:00.005-04:00

So I've been getting a lot of questions about the status of my mission papers because of that little "oopsie...." that was discovered last week. So now I must say, yes. My mission papers are in. They've been in since last Wednesday, but that doesn't make a lot of difference because they won't be processed until this week. As for when I'll get my call... not the slightest idea. It's possible that they're delayed because I may be medically flagged (due to my chest pains sophomore year) and/or because of General Conference. It's a well known fact around here that extending mission calls slows down around conference time, and because of the week delay, I'm not sure if my papers are in early enough to miss that. So I guess my call may come as early as next week, or as late as when I'm packing up and leaving my apartment in a month (or possibly later, but I don't want to even THINK about my call coming to an apartment I don't even live at anymore....) Sigh...maybe it's better to truly have no idea when it's coming. Then you have no expectations and will be more surprised when it does come! I'm going with that.

SPEAKING of missions, today is an exciting day for a certain someone....

HAPPY 18 MONTH MARK TO CODY (AND SARAH)!!!
only 6 more months without him Sarah!! :)

Hurry Up Spring...

2010-03-21T22:42:00.007-04:00

I'm kind of scared to actually say this, because I know I'm only jinxing it, but today was such a LOVELY Spring day!! What wonderful weather! I have such spring fever. And it made me soooooo happy :) :) :)

it made me actually forget how much I want this semester to end and to finally move. out.

p.s. that picture was taken by my mom in Holland. It still makes me think of spring though :)

I had you going, didn't I? Yeah, me too.

2010-03-17T20:42:00.004-04:00

Just kidding about the last post apparently. My mission papers DID NOT go in.

When I asked the stake executive secretary on Monday, he said that he had started to work on them and they would be submitted later that day. But he really didn't work on them until Tuesday late afternoon (cut off for the week is Tuesday at midnight). It was then that he found an error in the medical portion of my papers. Under the TB shot section, there was spot to say if the test was positive or negative and then the number of centimeters that the spot was. My doctor put the test was negative, so I guess he assumed he didn't need to put a number. But he did. And the secretary didn't pick it up until last night, and didn't call me til half an hour ago. And now since I've missed the deadline, I have to wait until next Tuesday to put them in, which means the earliest I'll get my call now is early April.

I'm trying hard to not be too frustrated. Mom says that it is such a freak circumstance, that there HAS to be a reason. Like maybe there is a mission available next week that isn't this week. I'm going with that...

Let the guessing begin...

2010-03-16T15:17:00.001-04:00

My mission papers are officially in.

Now, we wait.....

Here we go again....

2010-03-13T11:34:00.004-05:00

Don't worry, this is the last one! But today my baby brother turns FIFTEEN! Freak!! Young girls, you have one year to prep yourself for this witty, smart, funny, fun-loving hunk of a brother I have, before he'll take you out on a date ;) Once again, I present a montage of Craig's awesomeness. :D

Craig is a great target :)

I'm taller ;)

Happy 15th Birthday Craig! I love you!!

Update

2010-03-10T13:22:00.005-05:00

Well, I've had lots of people asking me how things have been since my lovely accident, so I thought I would give a general update.

Saturday was the day of the accident. The doctor told me that Sunday was going to be the worst day for soreness. He wasn't totally wrong. It wasn't as painful as I thought it would be, but then again, he probably meant that it would hurt if I moved, which I couldn't. haha. So I spent the day resting and reading and watching movies. (Yes, I did skip church, but for some reason sitting through my 4 hours of stake conference meetings in the Smith Fieldhouse bleachers just didn't sound like a smart idea...)

Monday was a pretty good day. I still felt like I had been hit by a train (I kinda was ha) but I was able to walk okay. My neck did start to hurt a bit, and I started to find all these weird bruises and other markings all over my body, but at this point I was only really experiencing pain on my left arm/shoulder (I guess where I collided with the ATV?), a little in my neck, and then right over my kidney, right lower back, and just overall soreness. But here I was thinking I was going to have a speedy recovery. Beep! Incorrect. Try again.

Come Monday night. I laid down to sleep but couldn't because it hurt too bad. It was weird because I had slept pretty well the previous two nights. I tried taking medication, putting my ice packs all over my back, being on my side, being on my back, I even tried the stomach approach (ouch!) but nothing worked. I didn't sleep that night. maybe 15 minutes at a time, but with a couple of hours between each "nap". It was miserable. No more than 45 minutes-hour of sleep.

That made yesterday (Tuesday) pretty miserable. I was hurting more than probably any other day thus far. But too bad nursing has all the classes on one day a week: lovely Tuesday. I had class from 8 am to 8 pm. But I was so tired, and in so much pain that I could only make it through my first two classes before I gave up and went home. I tried to sleep but just ended up relaxing, and doing a little bit of homework. Then came last night to sleep. I got into bed and it was the same as the night before. Way too much pain all over for me to sleep. After 45 minutes, I decided to try something different, so I went to the couch with my pillows, blankets, and ice packs. The moment I laid down the pain was (essentially) gone. It was wonderful!! I slept like a baby for a few hours. I did wake up in pain at some points, but still, far more sleep than the night before.

Today, I'm feeling okay. I'm definitely on the mend. I'm sore, but now it only really hurts when I make transitions. I'm fine when sitting, standing, or walking, but transitioning between that all is very painful. I suppose it's to be expected though. At least I am feeling better and don't need to take painkillers anymore. I'm overall trying to take it a little easier. I'm limiting my activity, especially neck movement (just want to be careful with that fracture). I usually get up at 6 at the latest to get a start on my day, but I'm trying to get more rest than usual so I can heal, so I'm trying to sleep in to 8ish.

I'm healing faster than anyone thought I would, even the doctor. I know that it's not a coincidence. I also know that I was DEFINITELY protected in my accident. I must have been going almost 30 mph down that hill and had I not been able to protect my head from the ATV, I can guarantee you that today I would either be dead, paralyzed, or a vegetable. I have no question about that. I'm just grateful that I was protected for whatever reason, and healing quickly.

Anyway. That's my lengthy, way-too-much-information update. I know you're all wishing I had said "I'm fine" and moved on. Too bad I'm not that way :)

Just a quick shout-out. Thanks to everyone who has been SO supportive and caring over these rough few days. Offering rides, telling me I MUST take it easy, praying for me, thinking of me...And especially those who have brought me food of some kind!!! I got homemade Cafe Rio and banana bread (thanks Alyse!), cinnamon rolls from Shea and Kyle, homemade salsa and tabouli from Aaron, and orange chicken from Camille. I really appreciate everyone for helping, especially those who have just sent me a text to say they're thinking of me, or come over to visit. I love the company :)

So after all this, all I can say again is: DO NOT EVER PLAY CHICKEN WITH AN ATV! You'll regret it. haha

GAH!!

2010-03-08T18:19:00.006-05:00

I don't understand this. How the heck do I have an 18 year old younger brother?! But alas, Scott turns 18 today! He's freaking awesome, so this montage of pictures is to celebrate that fact :)

That BYU blue looks good on you, bud! Did I mention he's recruited to run track and XC at BYU? :)

He totally bought these boxers haha

Happy Birthday Scott!! Love you ;)

They need to decorate the ceiling of ambulances if you have to stare at it for 20 minutes

2010-03-06T23:50:00.011-05:00

For two weeks I have been looking forward to going up to my friend's cabin for a gathering for some friends and their dates. It was going to be a great time to take a break from this *wonderful* month. Unfortunately, things didn't go the way I expected...

Oh it started out all right, everyone was happy and enjoying the cabin and the company and looking forward to a day of sledding, four-wheeling, hot tubing, games, movies, etc etc. I mean, look at these happy faces!

We decided to go sledding first. There was a really steep hill just next to the cabin that was long and steep and super icy. Because it was so long, we were towed up the hill by four wheelers. Very convenient on the way up, not so much on the way down. As I went sledding down the hill for the second time, I turned a bend and low and behold idling right in the middle of the trail was a four wheeler....and I was headed right towards it, headfirst. Try as I might, it was too icy to stop or steer and not really enough time to roll out, so my instinct was to put my arm up and protect my head for the possibility of any neurological damage (thank you nursing for that one). Although I was (miraculously) able to save my head from any damage, there was nothing I could do to save my back. The second I collided, my back twisted in all the ways it's not supposed to, my body curled up underneath the four wheeler on contact, and I was basically just one limp, mangled mess. It hurt. so. bad.
Next thing I knew, I was surrounded by a group of people who were concerned and watching out for me while I struggled to breath and attempted to figure out what was going on with my back that was hurting so badly. But I've decided that if you're going to get injured anywhere, it should be with three nursing girls! (Props to Sara, Sarah, and Shea!) They did all kinds of assessments to make sure I didn't have any neurological problems, and to determine what kind of pain I had and what it could mean. After being in the snow for about 20 minutes, it was decided that I first and foremost needed to get inside and warm up. This required a makeshift bodyboard. Sleds are remarkably handy when used as hard, flat, objects to keep back and neck straight. Everyone did a wonderful job keeping me stable as they all lifted me from the ground onto the sleds.

Sarah R. decided to document this experience. Hence the pictures.

Since I couldn't move my neck/head, and my back hurt whenever my legs were higher/lower than my back, the "board" required two sleds to keep my body level.

The next step to getting into the house was getting me up the long, steep hill. At first they tried pulling the sleds, but that was going to be quite a treacherous trip and everytime they pulled me over uneven snow (aka, THE ENTIRE TIME) I could feel it in my back and it hurt! So that plan was an epic fail. Next plan was carrying me up. I'm glad we decided not to try that one. Thankfully, there was a Jesus-loving drunk (he offered me a beer to take the edge off my pain haha) who offered to bring down his Suburban to take us to the cabin. He was a different kind of Good Samaritan than I would have expected, but I was so grateful to him. He brought us to the cabin and I was carried into a bedroom to rest and be covered in lots and lots of blankets. And to take lots of advil haha (which I really appreciated because those transfers were extremely painful).

okay, this was obviously before the lots and lots of blankets, but you do see the meds! ha

After another half hour of not being able to move, my friends called 911 and told me afterwards (mostly because I had told them a hundred times that I didn't need/want an ambulance). Alas, it was too late, and it was already on the way. So they came, strapped me to a board, put a lovely neck collar on, and took me away.

Funny story about the ambulance that may only be funny to nurses. When I was in there for the 20 minute drive, my pain was so bad they gave me fentanyl (best. stuff. ever! My pain went from an 8 to a 2 in like three minutes) but they had to start an IV in the ambulance. One of the EMTs tied the tourniquet on my arm (far tighter than I had ever had before or needed to be) and left it on my arm for about 2 minutes. Ouch. Meanwhile, the other EMT took my vitals, including blood pressure. When he took it, he asked if I was nervous. I told him I wasn't, but asked why, and apparently my blood pressure was 168/104 and he thought it was because I was nervous hahaha. Nevermind I had a noose around my arm for two minutes making it hard to pump blood ha.

This was in the hospital before they took me for x-rays. I have oxygen in this picture because in the ambulance my oxygen saturation levels dropped to 86-87% (normal is 95-100%) so they threw me on 4 L of oxygen.

Thankfully, all scans came back clean, and I was able to go home. yay!

When getting discharged, they made me go out in a wheelchair because I really couldn't walk well, as you can tell haha. Eric (who had driven up to Heber from Provo) thought this was remarkably funny and wanted to document the moment. haha.

So there you go. My first ride in an ambulance. It's about the same significance as my first step, first tooth, and first kiss. More or less. And even though I am ridiculously sore, walk like a cripple, and have no idea when I'll be able to function again, at least I got to ride in an ambulance. AND keep the hospital pants that are one size fits all--including all obese patients. boo-yah.

Moral of the story: If you're going to play "chicken" with an ATV, you will lose.

Update: The ER doc just called me this morning (Sunday). The radiologist called him very late last night and thinks I may have a fracture in the posterior process of one of my cervical vertabrae (aka my neck area) and recommended a CT scan. Wouldn't that come with neck pain though? I'm not having any pain in my neck...?

Ohhh March...

2010-03-01T16:15:00.004-05:00

Bad Things About March:
-Unpredictable weather
-No days off school
-11 quizzes
-2 Relief Society Lessons to teach
-3 Exams
-4 Research Papers
-1 Debate
-1 Birth Plan
-2 Article Summaries
-2 Simulations

Good Things About March:
-Mom here
-7 more weeks of school, meaning 7 more Tuesdays (the day I have class from 8 am to 8 pm with one two hour break)
-Brian's 24th Birthday
-Scott's 18th Birthday
-Jared's 18th Birthday
-Craig's 15th Birthday
-Brett's 21st Birthday
-Mission papers in
-Mission Call?
-11 quizzes, 2 RS lessons, 3 exams, 4 research papers, 2 simulations, 2 article summaries, 1 debate and 1 birth plan all done.

I'm ready for one crazy month.

I am a complete chick-flick-lovin' girl.

2010-02-20T09:34:00.003-05:00

I am your classic girl. I love all the things that typically girls are expected to like. I love wearing dresses, putting on eye makeup, having girl chat, talking on the phone, eating ice cream from the container, crying when PMSing, taking long walks on the beach, dancing in the moonlight, kissing in the rain... these are the things girls are stereotypically supposed to do/love, right? Eh, more or less. ANYWAY, what's another classic sign of a stereotypical girl? A chick flick lover. I must say, I DEFINITELY fit into that category. Especially since last night I watched the perfect chick-flick.

Meet Nick and Beth

They're from the movie When In Rome, no NOT the one with the Olsen twins (excuse me for a minute while I throw up in my mouth...okay, back). I had seen the previews on TV and wanted to go see it, so last night my old roommate Lu and I went. It was perfect. Cute, clean, cheesy, hilarious, unrealistic, mushy-gushy, predictable, perfect guy who doesn't exist-- I love it all. Truly. I laughed, I (almost) cried, I drooled over Josh Duhamel, I envied Kristen Bell's outfits, and I smiled practically the whole time. So let's begin:

Kristen Bell: How could you NOT love this girl?! I first saw her as Elle Bishop in Heroes, then as Sarah Marshall in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (the edited version). (Also, for all you GG fans who are not reading my blog, she's the voice of Gossip Girl). She's stunning, and funny, and she's dresses like a goddess. Of course, when you are as naturally beautiful as she is, it's not hard to look like a goddess. Also, I think she is a terrific actress, definitely amazing in this movie, even though every time she stepped into the fountain and got a beautiful dress soaking wet, i cringed.

Josh Duhamel: ::drool, drool, drool:: HELLO HOTTIE! Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, Las Vegas (the series), oh MAN you are beautiful. And even though your role as Nick was completely unrealistic because you said things no guy ever says, and I've never met a man more flawless as your character, it doesn't mean I don't love you anyway. You're funny, and beautiful, and quite a good actor, so if you are ever looking for someone who is, ya know, 17 years younger than you, I'm your girl :) You shouldn't have married Fergie. You're too good for her.
p.s. There was this part in the movie that we laughed and laughed and laughed at and wished that we could rewind and watch again (no, it wasn't JUST the kissing parts) so if you watch it, let me know and let me laugh with you ;)

There were other cast members who were pretty big too: Danny DeVito (is he really that short?), Jon Heder and Anjelica Huston (Ever After). Overall I would have to say this was an awesome movie. It may be too gushy of a movie to watch with my boyfriend, but it's definitely going on my "must purchase" list ;)

To watch the trailer, which you should do, click here!

Valentine's Weekend

2010-02-16T17:56:00.009-05:00

This Valentine's Day I got to be in Idaho with Brian and the rest of the McKellars. It was a fantastic weekend, although it was cut shorter than I had hoped. I have this entire week off from school and was planning on coming back on Wednesday but the girl I was going to ride back changed her plans to Thursday, a little too late for me. So I came back Monday. sigh.... But it was still fabulous!

On Saturday, Brian and I exchanged gag valentine's day gifts. I gave him a Raggedy Ann doll (an inside joke) and he gave me a box of stuffed "microbes" haha. Only funny to a nurse apparently. Then we were going to go to a dance, but changed our minds, and instead went to dinner at Olive Garden. So good! We then got back to his house right when Shelby and Robert were about to head out to the High School Sweethearts Dance. I crashed their photo shoot :)

I'd like to believe that they enjoyed my tongue in their picture...

"awww....."

I LOVED her dress!

And I apparently really wanted to go to the dance with them.

On Sunday, Brian and I went with his Mom to the Singles Ward (his mom is in the Stake RS presidency and it was ward conference). This was kind of unusual because Brian now attends his family ward. When we were in Sunday school, he passed me a note saying that his valentines gift to me was that he had arranged to sing in sacrament meeting :) It may sound silly, but he sang a few weeks ago in his home ward and I was so bummed that I didn't get to hear him, so he planned to sing in the Singles ward while I was there :) It was a really sweet gesture and he did an AMAZING job! :)

After church, we had a fabulous dinner made by the men for their ladies. There were 13 people all together at the dinner, 6 couples and Claire. Landon made the main dish (chicken alfredo with sauteed veggies etc) Brian made the salad, Matt made the potatoes, and Robert made the fruit pizza for dessert and the (virgin) martinis. Good meal, good company, good valentine's day :)

a heart shaped chicken breast for valentine's day :)

Since Claire was the only single, she found comfort with her good friend "martini"

yummy!!!!

After dinner, Mike (Brian's dad) Carmen, Salvador (Carmen's man) and Claire did magic. They are SO good, It was pretty amazing.

Thanks Brian, for being my perfect valentine and giving me an awesome weekend. :)

Why not put croutons in there and put the whole thing on a spoon?

2010-02-11T21:57:00.003-05:00

I had always thought that Mac and Cheese was like the lowest a college student could go. Okay, maybe it's second only to Top Ramen, but I've never had that before (nor do I intend on ever having it, so this is the lowest I fall). I mean how much more simple can it get? Boil water, add noodles, drain, add butter, milk, and cheese powder. And if you are like me, you don't even measure the milk and butter! And it only takes like 15 minutes top! Easy peezy. But apparently not easy enough.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you: Velveeta shells and cheese!!

I'm sure that I'm just behind the times and you've all had it before, but it was on sale the other day so I bought it and decided to make it tonight since I didn't feel like making a real dinner (don't worry Mom, I usually eat really well and healthy! Promise!!) So when I started to make it, I thought for sure that it would be a mac and cheese knock off. That would be a no!! Apparently mac and cheese CAN get easier. Just put all the cheese, milk and butter into once sauce mix! Heaven forbid we need to open the milk AND measure some butter AND rip a packet of cheese powder! Do you know how much time that takes and how much work is required?! I'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle last time I opened the milk. Now with a simple packet filled with a substance that can't decide if it's liquid or solid, I save myself from all that work! Thank you Velveeta! What would the world do without you. Now if only it could all be found in a convenient squeeze bottle. Can life get better? I submit that it cannot!

Jack Bauer and I are both glad the times have changed.

2010-02-08T10:10:00.002-05:00

So this is a really funny clip i saw this weekend. It's probably a little funnier if you've seen 24, but you will definitely laugh hard no matter what.

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

Thank goodness we are done with the 90s.

Pictures give me something to blog about...

2010-01-30T00:41:00.005-05:00

First of all, can I just say that I LOVE being at the stage in my life when I get the dates that some of my best friends are coming home from their missions!? In the last two weeks I have found out when two of my very best friends are coming home and I am SO EXCITED! First of all, Brian Lowe, a friend from freshman year gets back from Honduras on June 15. Hallelujah! I miss that kid! and getting a letter every 6 weeks is so. stinking. slow. gah. Hurry home boy.

And of course, can we forget Brett Brooksby!? Nay! My best friend/pseudo brother/pseudo cousin gets home from Birmingham England on MAY 5TH!!! That's less than 100 days! YAYY!! Of course, it's 4 days after I leave for Ghana for a month, so I won't get to see him until I get home on the 30th, but still, I am SO excited. It'll be good to have him home.

NEXT: My friend Camille and I stay at her grandparent's house in Draper on Wednesday and Thursday night since we have to be at Primary Children's Hospital VERY early in the morning on Thursday and Friday. This week I went out with a friend and came back pretty late to the house after she had gone to bed and I found a card and my camera on my pillow. This is what I found:

I have a cute friend :) and yes, that is a toilet paper "U".

These pictures below don't need an explanation. Better yet, they don't DESERVE an explanation. All I need to say is that these are not on a green screen. They are real. aksdjhfskhfdk.

stinkin' family.

Funny story time! I got a card from my aunt Miriam this week. It was a card that she bought TWENTY FIVE years ago at the BYU bookstore. Apparently I was the only one worthy enough to receive it in a quarter of a century. It says "If they can make penicillin out of moldy cheese, maybe we can make men out of the low-lifes in this town." hahahaha. Oh how appropriate that is :) Anyway, inside the card was a letter and a collection of stamps. Remember this? well, I decided I need to blog about things I need more often, then maybe I'll get that in the mail too. :) Thanks Miriam! I'm excited to make a puzzle out of getting the right amount of postage!

This should last me for a while ;)

Sometimes I hate them.

2010-01-25T15:03:00.006-05:00

I know my last post was all about how much fun I had with my family and how I love them and such, but I'm beginning to change my mind. There are five reasons:

1. It's regents week in NY, so that means no school for an entire week, but they all count as school days. bah. lucky.

2. Because it's a full week off, my family decided to go on a CRUISE TO THE CARIBBEAN as Scott's graduation present. He wanted to go while he was still under 18 (his birthday is early March) so he could do all the fun stuff that kids can do on the cruise that we experienced in November 2003.

3. They left me and Eric here. (al*kdnfaslk@u#thfs*@d,jrsadrn$salkj#sd$alkrna%sdr.!!!!)

4. For the most part they attempted to not talk about the cruise in front of us and I had all but forgotten that they were going. Until I get this email a few days ago...

"Dear children, Not to rub it in, but we are leaving for warmer climes tomorrow....Our Royal Caribbean cruise leaves Miami on Sunday for 7 days. We'll be on the Liberty of the Seas, going to Costa Maya, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; and Cozumel, Mexico........."

'not to rub it in'!?!? you failed, mother. haha.

This is what I see when I look outside...

This is what they see....

I bet they'll come back all tan too. bleh. there's reason number 5.

Bon voyage famille. Bon voyage.

p.s. I don't really hate my family. This post may or may not be related to jealousy.

The Best of....

2010-01-03T20:15:00.003-05:00

School start's tomorrow, so break is clearly over. It was so much fun to be with my family, but it was especially sad to say goodbye since we all won't be together mostly likely for another 3 1/2 years. So in honor of that, I wanted to post some "best of..." from this break.

*Eric: (on the phone) So we're going to meet at 4:30 tomorrow morning at Exit 12 to go snowshoeing.
::Mom and Melissa shudder involuntarily.::

*While singing "Whatcha say" by Jason Derulo:
Me: When the roof caved in and the truth came out...
Eric: When the rains came down and the floods came up...

*When driving back from the airport, Eric sat in the way back. Unfortunately, apparently no one had sat in that seat for a long time and we realized that the seat was not attached. We noticed that when we went around a sharp corner and the other side of the seat flew up in the air. That led to my dad take every corner much sharper than necessary :)

*Eric: Dad, have you ever seen my chest hair recently?
Dad: Um, no...I can't say that I have....

*Scott: OWWWWWWWW!!!!!! BUTT CRAMP!

*Me: (after giving advice on driving in snow) see Craig, it's never too early to start learning to drive.
Craig: you sure? It's never too early? I kinda feel like when they are born they're more concerned with things like, cutting the umbilical cord.

I love my family.

Melissa+Exhaustion+Single=.......

2009-12-31T08:52:00.003-05:00

Last night I was exhausted. And when I'm exhausted, I get a little delirious. When I'm delirious and around the right people, I get giggly. Late last night, when on the phone with a good friend, I got to that exhausted delirious giggly stage. And when we started talking about a New Years Eve kiss, this just popped out of my mouth. So in honor of New Years Eve and to all those who are going to have a new years kiss, this one is for you.

Happy New Year!

I'm so lacking in the macking, it's a matter of facting.
But other people are RACKING in the macking.
Man, I'm slacking....
But then I was exacting, maybe I'm lacking in the macking
because I do too much smacking during the macking?
So maybe if I do some subtracting of the smacking during the macking
I won't be lacking in the macking anymore!!!

for the record, I don't smack. I'm just single. but that doesn't rhyme.

Best Christmas Present Ever.

2009-12-27T20:13:00.004-05:00

My family and I got tickets for Christmas to see Wicked. It was quite a surprise and I can't lie, when I pulled the ticket out of my stocking I screamed for excitement. So yesterday we went to go see it and I'd like to tell you what I thought of it. But I should warn you, I can be a harsh critic from time to time:

5 Stars
A++
110%
Fantastic
Breath-taking
Heart warming
Amazing
Filled me with warm and fuzzies
"Two enthusiastic thumbs up!"

okay, but seriously. The show was amazing! The acting, the singing, the plot, the humor, the romance, the music, the atmosphere, the set....I loved every second of it. Even though I knew every song, knew the plot, and had cloud club seats, it was great. Now that definitely makes it a good play, and probably one of the best Christmas presents ever.

Merry Christmas...music style

2009-12-22T17:58:00.001-05:00

Just a little somethin'-somethin' to share some Christmas joy :)

They are both awesome. You don't want to miss out on either.

10.....9......8.....7....

2009-12-14T16:39:00.002-05:00

23 hours, 36 minutes until I am DONE with finals. But even better, til I am done with this ridiculous Med-Surg/Pharmacology Semester. Not that I'm excited or counting down or anything...

23 hours 35 minutes....

after 10 long years of waiting...

2009-12-11T12:29:00.004-05:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that as of an interview with the bishop last night, and both of us setting up an online account early this morning.........

my mission papers have officially begun.

bring it.

Spinach, liver and porcupines.

2009-12-09T13:20:00.003-05:00

In honor of this week and my confinement to the good ol' Harold B. Lee Library, I wanted to adapt a favorite childhood poem by Jack Prelutsky that I've had memorized since about...oh... 1st grade, when I realized I didn't like school work. I'm pretty sure my college classmates can relate to this. Three cheers for failing finals week!

Finals! Oh, finals!!
I hate you! You stink!
I wish I could wash you
away in the sink.
If only a bomb
would explode you to bits.
Finals! Oh, finals!
You're giving me fits.

I'd rather take baths
with a man-eating shark,
or wrestle a lion
alone in the dark,
eat spinach and liver,
pet ten porcupines,
than tackle the final
my teacher assigns.

Finals! Oh, finals!
You're last on my list,
I simply can't see why you even exist.
If you just disappeared
it would tickle me pink.
Finals! Oh, finals!
I hate you! you stink!

mon freres

2009-12-06T18:13:00.005-05:00

I love my brothers. A lot. They are my best friends and they're just amazing. But when it comes to photographing them, it's not a simple task, but it does become some of my most fun memories. It takes quite a long photography session to get some decent pictures. Here's a collection of fun pictures I've found that really show the personality of me and all my brothers and our fun interaction. And don't be hatin' because we aren't photogenic. :)

Probably my favorite ever :)

Oh look! eventually we DO take good pictures. :)

Bored much?

2009-12-04T03:19:00.000-05:00

don't lie to yourself.

2009-12-02T21:36:00.003-05:00

Everyone knows these things are true. Don't try and deny it. :)

1. There is a great need for a sarcasm font.

2. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

3. Bad decisions make good stories.

4. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

5. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

6. The only time I look forward to a red light is when i'm trying to finish a text.

7. The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.

8. A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

9. Was learning cursive really necessary?

10. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

11. Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

12. Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

13. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a putz from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

14. Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in..(10 second lapse)..umm...Goonies"

15. What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

16. While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

17. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

18. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

19. I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

20. Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

21. If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

22. Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

23. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've make up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

24. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to restart my collection.

25. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

26. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

27. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

28. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

29. I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

30.Why is a school zone 15mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...

31. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

32. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

33. It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

34. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

Thanksgiving Tears...

2009-11-26T11:50:00.007-05:00

When my family moved to Virginia back in 2004, we were first befriended by an amazing family, the Petersen's. This family literally lit up my life, and the life of our entire family. They are as good as it gets, in every way. We love them all so much. And now, we support them in their time of great need.

Their only daughter, Emily, has been married for 3 1/2 years to John Jones. They have a daughter, and are currently expecting their second child. They live in Charlottesville Virginia, where John was in his second year of Med School at UVA. For Thanksgiving, they came to Utah to spend time with John's family. However, on Tuesday night, John, along with his brothers went as a group of 11 people into Nutty Putty cave, west of Utah Lake. It was around 9 at night that John got stuck upside down. He hung upside down all Tuesday night and Wednesday while rescue workers tried to get him out. They were almost successful at one point, but the pulley system failed. Early this morning, a little after midnight, no vital signs could be detected, and he was pronounced dead, after hanging upside down for over 27 hours. John was 26.

This loss has been quite a blow. John is such an amazing guy. The type of person that touches peoples lives just by meeting them. Just so happy and so kind. It breaks my heart to think that the world has lost someone like John Edward Jones. I followed this story over the internet and communicating with Emily's brother Dan for hours before John passed away, and I had a lot of thoughts come into my mind. This whole thing is a reminder to me that life is so fragile, and can be so short. It's too short to save things for later. It's too fragile to not love fully. Life isn't fulfilled if you can't serve other people, like John was known for doing, and loving them with everything you have. Our days are numbered, but we determine the quality of our days and of our life in general. It's sad that it takes a heartbreaking tragedy like this to remind me, but I am so grateful that it is never too late to make the most of every day of our lives. It also makes me so grateful to have the knowledge of the gospel. That I know John and Emily and their daughter Elizabeth (Lizzie) and unborn child can all be together someday and for the rest of eternity. What a comfort to know that during times of trials!

So this Thanksgiving, kiss your spouse a little more, hug a friend a little tighter and recommit to love and serve everyone around. Like John. For John.

Please pray for the Jones/Petersen family this holiday season.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13864973
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34157005/ns/us_news-life/
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=8810404

John Edward Jones
January 21, 1983-November 25, 2009
You will be missed.

I take it back...all of it.

2009-11-23T10:17:00.008-05:00

If you read my previous post, I'm sorry if this seems a little contradictory. But wearing essentially the same clothes for 3 days gives me a right to contradict myself.

Dear Delta,
BAD DELTA. VERY BAD. Yes, I did say I had a (mostly) satisfactory flight, but it's very hard to remember the good things about you when I am just surrounded by the bad things. Like how you lost my luggage. And now I have no clothes. Do you realize how hard it is to find something to wear to church when your only options are two prom dresses, a graduation robe and my baptism dress I wore when I was EIGHT?! It's not an easy thing!
As a nurse, we spend a lot of time working on patient teaching. It's called multi-focal planning. Well, I'm going to do some airline teaching right now. So sit down, shut up, and listen.

Lesson #1- telling time. When someone calls you on the phone complaining about their luggage being lost, and you tell them it will arrive "tomorrow night", that usually implies at night, aka after the sun has gone down. When that said someone asks you to clarify what "tomorrow night" means, don't tell them 2 or 3 pm. That would imply afternoon. It's okay. Sometimes reading a clock can be difficult. Maybe that's why both my flights got in 40 minutes early. But also when you say it'll be there tomorrow night, make sure you tell other people, so that it will actually get there at that said time.

Lesson #2- Penmanship. I think, Mr. Delta-man, that you skipped the day in first grade that taught you to tell time and write your letters and numbers. Please note Exhibit A is my baggage information reference number that I type in online to check the status of my bag. Now, this can get a little tricky, but to me, this seems like maybe "A1B0H1U205" or maybe I supposed you could argue that the second to last digit could potentially be an O. Regardless, I would still be very wrong. You see, when I couldn't get this code to work no matter how many different ways I typed it in, and I called you up to check what the code actually was, I was very surprised to learn that it was ALBOH14205. So here's a few pointers. First, LEARN HOW TO WRITE A 4!! Not a U, a 4!! Second, if you are using a 1 and L in the same code, WRITE THEM DIFFERENTLY. Finally, if you are also stupid enough to use an O and 0(zero) in the same code, could you like, draw a line through the zero or something? k. thanks.

Lesson #3- Geography. Now, I don't know where you originally sent my luggage, but I'm quite sure you didn't send it to JFK. So let's start there. John F. Kennedy airport is located in NYC (that would be New York City) which is EAST of Salt Lake. Let's at least send it that direction, k? And when you do end up sending it to JFK (over 24 hours after I myself land in Albany) do not send it directly to Cincinnati Ohio before sending it to Albany. If you leave the state of New York where I live (which by the way, I live in BURNT HILLS, not BRUNTSHILL) then you have gone too far. Personally, I feel that the 25 minute flight from JFK to Albany is much more direct and frankly, much more efficient then sending it to Cincinnati first.

Also, I know you only gave me this message like 12 hours ago when you "located my bag", but I'm getting very tired of this message. Will you please change it to something useful that actually gives me some sort of hope that I can get clean clothes before I go home in a week?

Bag Tag Number:

DL140959

Status:

We have located this bag at New York-Kennedy, NY (JFK) airport and are scheduling it to be on a flight to your final destination.
Please check back again for the delivery date and time of your bag.

So, Mr. Delta-man, I hope that you can understand this letter and that this airline teaching has been effective for you. But please. I'm begging you. Please bring me my luggage. It'd be great to have clean clothes, makeup, medication, shoes, my toothpaste, my scriptures, my assignment due by tomorrow........

A newly faithful Southwest flyer,
Melissa

Kalamazoo Michigan

2009-11-21T14:52:00.004-05:00

So, right now I'm in Kalamazoo Michigan. Okay, that's half a lie. I'm in the air over Kalamazoo Michigan. I was boarding the plane in SLC and this girl was handing out cards that just said that ebay was providing free wi-fi for the flight! It was amazing. And I thought to myself, 5 hour flight....I can definitely handle some good ol' wi-fi! Plus they served a good lunch. And I got my own pillow and blanket. And they keep refilling my orange juice (which between you and me is making me have to pee...). I'm thoroughly enjoying this business class adventure, with the only downside being my neighbor. He's a dad who's going on a trip with his son, so his son gets to sit on his lap. He claims his son is "under 2", which is the requirement if they are going to sit on your lap, but I'm pretty sure this kid is starting to grow facial hair. Although he does cry and scream like a kid under 2, so maybe not.
So here's my little plug in. I was (mostly) satisfied with my Delta flight. (Now Delta, can I get a discount on my next flight?)

Anyway, I'm off to do some homework. For my family and friends in NY, see you in a few hours! :)

Can I get a "WOOT WOOT"?!

2009-11-19T01:45:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to let you all know that I have a freaking awesome 17 year old brother. Scott got an email today from the BYU track and cross country coach and they are going to fly him out here to Provo the second weekend in December to meet with him and the rest of the team....HOW AWESOME IS THAT!?

Don't worry, when I'm home for thanksgiving (which is VERY SOON!) I'll make him start working on autographs so he can perfect it :)

Also, I just wanted to remind that I am done with classes until December. yesss!
Life is good, friends. Life is good.

Thanksgiving!

2009-11-16T11:33:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to let you know I have this much time til I leave for a 9 day Thanksgiving break back in New York!!

Countdown To Thanksgiving in New York!

ennn geee.

2009-11-08T01:18:00.004-05:00

I feel the need to remind that I am a NURSING STUDENT and these are the kinds of things that are exciting to me and blog worthy! No, I'm not a freak. No, I don't need my head examined. But yes, my life is utterly boring except for these brief moments of things that are out of the ordinary.
So yes, it was a...well...an interesting experience today when my friend Hayley and I got to practice putting nasogastric tubes in each other. an NG tube is a tube that goes through your nose, down the back of your throat and into your stomach for feeding, pumping or medication. We've been practicing on mannequins, but at open lab this morning Hayley and I decided to do it on each other so we have a better grasp on how to do it on a patient. I'm 98% sure that we are the only two in our semester of nursing who have done it on an actual person and so let me just give a shout out to other nursing students...DON'T DO IT! It was miserable! Yes, it is easier to place it when the patient can swallow, but WOW it's awful! It's so uncomfortable having some plastic tube going up and irritating your nose before just settling in your thro
at. Your eyes start to water and you gag and ugh. Maybe I'm just a wuss, but now I can definitely empathize with my patients that need an NG tube. Of course, I probably am a total wuss, since it was only a pediatric NG tube, three times smaller than an adult one!

checking it's not coiled in the back of the throat

a proud moment of my life: checking the pH of the gastric content and it's in the right place!
woot woot!

You know, I have no prince charming, so now I have to swoop mannequins off their feet :)

Don't blame me if I kidnap... ;)

2009-11-02T16:09:00.010-05:00

So I've have had definitely one of the longest and worst weeks in the history of mankind. Definitely one for the books. It looks like the "week" is going to run into this week too, so you can imagine how nice it was to take a break and go up to visit with Erin and Justin and baby Bennett Wilson on Sunday! Eric and I had a great time visiting with the Wilson family in Logan and getting to show some loving to little Bennett, who is already 5 weeks old! Oh man. Time is flying. Here are some pictures from our day with the Wilson's. Thanks again Justin and Erin! :)

Bennett's tie is probably the cutest thing ever.

pseudo nephew!

I'm definitely Bennett's favorite almost aunt.

I am not baby happy. I am not baby happy.

Beautiful Family, eh?

I could not decide which one of these family pictures I thought was cuter, so I put them both up :)
Erin, let me know what picture you want me to send you. or both.

next step

2009-10-28T14:50:00.002-04:00

My International Application was due this morning and I decided for sure that I want to go to Ghana. So Ghana was my first choice and Taiwan is my second. Now the next step is an interview in the next few weeks and then hopefully I'll know by Christmas if I got into either of those. If I didn't, I'm stuck staying local. So start saying your prayers that I get to go to Ghana!!

Big decisions

2009-10-26T00:49:00.002-04:00

So I knew that this year was going to be a big year for me to make decisions, but now that I have to make some of these decision very soon (like from a few days to 2 months) it's getting quite a bit overwhelming!!

-Stay in Provo for a one day clinical next semester or switch to Primary's Children hospital for 2 days? Convenience vs. Experience (this decision has to be made by tomorrow haha)

-Ghana or Taiwan?

-Mission?

-Move, or stay put?

-Stay friends, or pursue something more with a person?

-Aim for graduation or just drop out and move home?

That last one sure is tempting :) Just kidding!

HELP ME!!

2009-10-22T14:33:00.004-04:00

So I have the opportunity in the nursing program to go this spring and do nursing abroad for 4-5 weeks. It seems very exciting, and yes, it is. But it's also one of the most stressful decisions I've ever made! I'm pulling my hair out! You can ask my mother I keep going back and forward on what to decide. Problem is, I have to submit my international application by Wednesday at the latest and it has my top 2 choices on it. After learning about the international sites, which includes Vancouver British Columbia, Ecuador, Jordan and Jerusalem, I have selected my top two choices to be Ghana and Taiwan. But don't ask me which is first and which is second choice BECAUSE I CAN'T DECIDE! So I need input. Lots and lots of input.

Some things to know: I do have to interview, but I only get interviewed for my top choice. If you don't get your first choice, they try and put you in the second choice, but if you don't get that one, you don't get to go international, and instead you go to DC for a week, Colorado for 3 days, the "inner city" of Murray UT or the state prison. So yeah, I'd like to go international ha. Also, I know I'll have a great experience no matter where I go, but what's going to be best?! Anyway. Below is my pro/con list. See?! It's gotten so hard to decide I had to type out my pro con list!

GHANA

TAIWAN

PROS

· More service oriented

· Get to make a noticeable difference

· Not for the faint hearted, and I am definitely not weak.

· Two faculty members going are my past two clinical instructors

· 3^rd world country

· 13-16 spots available

· I have a bunch of very good friends who want to go, and will probably end up going

· Cheaper

· Get to travel entire country over weekends

· In country 5 weeks

· ER rotation

· 1^st world country

· Opportunity to scuba dive, learn how to surf, see country….

CONS

· More expensive

· In country only 4 weeks

· Don’t do much travelling, go from hospital/village to housing at night

· Don’t go out at night

· Risk of illness or death (technically)

· Requires lots of immunizations and taking anti-malaria medication.

· Seems to focus more on my own personal experience (travel, scuba etc)

· More people are going to want to apply here (mainly because of price and international location)

· Only 8 spots available

· I don’t quite feel as attached to going to Taiwan. It just seems more logical

I'll try and pretend I'm not baby happy...

2009-09-30T00:29:00.005-04:00

You know time is going fast when the person you've been best friends with since birth, gives birth....

Congratulations to Erin and Justin Wilson and little Bennett!
You are a beautiful family.

Justin Bennett Wilson
9/28/2009
8:39 pm MDT

Pinching Pennies 101

2009-09-16T14:45:00.002-04:00

I'm a poor college student. Cliche, I know, but SERIOUSLY, it's true. So to help the whole situation, I resort to pinching pennies, counting quarters, clipping coupons, bargain hunting...whatever the phrase I probably do it (although not as insane as some other members of my family--cough cough Eric). So when I went to send 4 letters to missionaries on Monday, I did not falter when I found I didn't have the right stamps. I opened my stamp holder and found a plethora of stamps that didn't fit the 44 cent and 98 cent stamps I needed. Lots of 2, 5, 10, and 41 though!

So did I go to the post office and buy some nearly-a-dollar international stamps, and possibly some "Forever" stamps that I can send to anywhere in the US? NAY! What kind of college student would I be if I didn't scrap around trying to save as much money as possible? So I was very resourceful and used FIFTEEN stamps to send FOUR letters. How awesome is that? The post office may raise their prices for stamps and think that means people will buy more stamps but they don't know the power of a frugal nursing student. Once again, I stick it the man.

Unfortunately, the man stabbed back, now that I'm completely out of stamps and have to buy some new ones. Win the battle and lose the war.

Thank You, Nursing...

2009-09-14T15:43:00.005-04:00

This post is dedicated to Sarah Alvey.

Nursing school is full of stimulating information. Some of it is obvious, others not. This would fall into the obvious category.

Wound dehiscence or evisceration is essentially when things that are supposed to stay inside your body come out through a fresh surgical wound. I'll keep this squeaky clean for all you faint-hearted out there.

But here is a paragraph from one of my books:
If wound dehiscence or evisceration occurs, call for help and contact the primary care provider immediately, stay with client, monitor the client for shock, cover with sterile towel, and do not attempt to reinsert organs.

Maybe you have to be a certain kind of sick sick person, but I laughed really hard at this. Can't you just see a student nurse--much like myself--saying: "OOOHHH!! OOOH!!! I took Anatomy!! I think I kinda sorta mostly remember where the pancreas goes! Let me!!"

Darn you nursing school. Now that this has been in my assigned reading, I'm legally accountable if I try and reinsert the organs. Darn you for dashing all my hopes and dreams.

Who wants to be my patient...?! ;)

Getting Past my Marriage Prime

2009-09-10T09:12:00.002-04:00

I may have mentioned the pattern that seems to have emerged in my home ward/stake, where the last several girls that have come to Utah for school have gotten engaged at 19 and married by 20 (well technically 2 1/2 months past 20 was the oldest). In like a week I will be the older than that and will be an old single maiden. Originally I didn't think that I should worry, but after reading this I'm beginning to panic.

For some reason I imagine this being sung as a country song by someone with a lisp...

I turned eighteen a long time ago.
I'm wonderin' why it's takin' so long
To find that man, the one from my dreams.
Gotta find him before I turn nineteen.

I'm nearly an old maid!
Need to say "I do" before it's too late.
Past my prime now!
Come on guys, can you help a girl out?

It's been a long grueling eighteen years
Tryin' to fight back all these lonely tears.
Got my GED; It's time to settle down.
Colors picked, even bought my wedding gown.

I'm nearly an old maid!
Need to say "I do" before it's too late.
Past my prime now!
It's about time I settled down!

They say I'm a menace to society.
Need a man cause I have no self-esteem.
Wanna get wed now so I'm goin' to BYU;
Statistically it'll take a week or two.

I'm ready to be your wife!
I wanna taste of married life!
We'll start a family right away
Before my fertile regions decay.

Been married six years,
Eight kids under age five.
Still don't know you real well
But at least I'm satisfied.

Yellerrrstone

2009-08-22T11:42:00.008-04:00

So I'm in Idaho right now, and have been here for the last almost 2 weeks. It's been a lot of fun here with Brian and the rest of the McKellar clan, and we've been keeping very busy. We've gone to movies, up to Brian's beloved Treasure Mountain Scout Camp, to the Idaho Falls temple, to the arcade (which I suck at...) up to Rexburg, over to Shelley to help in Amanda's classroom, and even went to watch Brian participate in the triathlon he's been training for (I love the boy, but when he WANTS to swim a mile in open water, bike 25.3 miles, then run a 10K, I seriously have to question his sanity...) He even developed shingles while preparing for the run! But it turned out well for him, since he knocked twenty minutes off his PR and did it all in 3 hours and 10 minutes, placing him third in his division. Plus he got steroids for the shingles. Which he loves. Too bad he didn't get them until after the race.

But I would have to say that probably my favorite thing we have done this vacation is go to Yellowstone National Park. It was absolutely stunning, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite shots. It was also very exciting because since Yellowstone is so big and we drove back through Grand Teton National Park, we officially went to three states and two national parks in one day. Not bad if I do say so myself...

I loved this lake..

Old Faithful/Old Geyser/"Thing that Goes Kawhoosh"

One Week!

2009-08-04T08:33:00.002-04:00

ONE MORE WEEK...

until I see this:

and lots of these:

Which eventually leads to this:

and this walking around campus:

One week til I get to enjoy this fabulous style again:

and eventually a ton of this:

But I'm mostly excited because it's one week til this:

Yee-haw!!!! :D

I'm so oblivious. But at least I've got class.

2009-08-01T14:33:00.007-04:00

I'm one of those people who is easily surprised. Maybe I'm just totally naive, but I never catch a hint. But sometimes I think it's a good thing. Like when I miss all the hints that my good friend Adam Ward was driving all the way up from Virginia to come spend a few days with me in New York! This is the second time that Adam has taken the 600 mile trip north to surprise me. The first time he rode a Greyhound Bus for 18 hours next to a spanish nanny who cuddled with him the whole time. This time he opted out of the bus and just drove his car. You have no idea how surprised I was when all of a sudden Adam Ward was right outside my bedroom door. Poor Brian (who I was skyping with at the time) got an earful of excited screaming. haha. Adam was only here Monday night til Wednesday afternoon, but we had such a good time, especially in Saratoga where we got to try on those classy Saratoga race track hats. Man we've got style.

U.S. Waterski team show at Jumpin' Jacks

My best friend Abby was in on the whole thing. Like I said, I'm oblivious.

Hehe oh Adam...

Adam and I spent a ridiculous amount of time dancing to really loud music around the living room. We also reenacted the forever wedding march that I posted a few days ago. THAT was entertaining.

Adam and "Skipper"

Will: "Adam, you look like a convict. I'm talking about the guy who's trying to escape and blend in, in Mexico with the ridiculous sombrero. Not shaven, rainbow colored, $4 sunglass wearing, corona drinking convict."

Told you I'm classy. and apparently a diva.

Rockin' the aviators in Saratoga. Again, straight up classy.

My Wedding :) :)

2009-07-27T21:45:00.005-04:00

This is what I am doing at my wedding. Seriously.
This is worth all 5 minutes of your time. WATCH IT!

serious.
now.
do it.

note: just because I talked about what I am doing at my wedding DOES NOT mean I am engaged.
just reminding you. :)

Disney/Pixar Presents: Missionaries, Inc.

2009-07-25T11:23:00.007-04:00

So I got an email today from my old landlady. The email said that there had been a letter delivered to me (darn USPS for not forwarding my mail when I successfully filled out that forwarding card in April!!). Here's a part of the email describing the letter:

"It has a UK postmark on it and it says it's from Mike Wazowski...?!"

hahahahaha!! Oh Brett. :)

Can you see the resemblance?

For all single boys looking for an EC.

2009-07-19T22:18:00.003-04:00

Warning: this blog post is not intended for the eyes of girls who get jealous easily. Or if they are married/in a serious relationship. I don't want to be responsible for breaking up any relationships or being called a homewrecker. :)

But ladies, c'mon now. Who WOULDN'T want a piece this? I mean, I didn't even drool on myself in this video after getting my wisdom teeth out...haha. (although my mother did tell me later that I had a hard time distinguishing my chin from my lip. Anatomy was a hard class for me.)

Best Week of Summer 09

2009-07-09T13:11:00.009-04:00

It has been my experience that each summer has a highlight. Usually about a week. In summer 07, it was when Nerece and Megan flew up to visit me (you would think it would be my trip to London and Ireland, but that was longer than a week, so it doesn't count ha). In Summer '08, it was going down to Virginia with my whole family to visit once Eric had gotten home from his mission. And now, I present the award for Best Week of Summer 2009 to Brian's visit to New York. If you didn't know that he was coming, that's okay. I barely knew either. The last full week of June, Brian and I were talking about how we wished that we could get together at some point during the summer before I fly back out west on August 11. So just for kicks I looked up tickets for Brian's break from school July 1-5 and lo, and behold i found a ticket for $114. Does life get any better than that?! I submit that it cannot. There was a little bit of rescheduling that needed to be done, some airline shuffling, but it became official 4 days before he left. haha. It was nice not having to wait very long. So Brian flew into Albany wayyy late on Tuesday night (the 30th of June) and left early in the morning on Sunday the 5th. We had SUCH a good time! Here's snipets of Brian's trip east...

This was probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen. My 14 year old brother Craig beat Brian at Guitar Hero on expert with his back to the TV hahaha. In the words of Brian: "I'd feel better about myself if you were some fat lazy kid who did bad at school because all you did was play video games, but you're not..." haha. way to go Craig :)

On Thursday, Brian and I took a drive up to Lake George, a stunning lake and town about an hour away. We went on the Minne-Ha-Ha, a paddleboat/steamboat that takes you on a cruise down the lake. Even though it was rainy towards the end, it was still so nice ;)

Clearly still happy, even in the rain on the cruise.

Brian with his "I rode the Minne-Ha-Ha" sticker

On the pier at Lake George

We are SO attractive.

Friday we took the 3 hour drive to Historic Palmyra. This is Hill Cumorah, where they are setting up for the Pageant (July 10-11, 13-18 for those are you around here)

In front of the gorgeous, but small, Palmyra Temple

The view of the temple from the Smith Farm/Sacred Grove

Sacred Grove

hahahahahaha. We needed to exfoliate. :)

On the 4th of July, we celebrated my 20th birthday (which was July 7th). Brian took this highly attractive picture of Craig. This illustrates the idea that Brian probably had more fun with Craig than he did with me hahaha.

Some exercise clothes I got for my birthday. I also got a couple of AWESOME CDs, a computer sleeve, some decorations for my apartment, necklace from mom, handmade earrings and bracelet from Michelle (thank you so much!!! I love them!) and a picture frame with an awesome picture from Brian.

My mom made a yummy homemade ice cream cake. my favorite :)

Fourth of July sparklers with the Brooksbys.

Brian had to leave two days before my birthday (sad day) but he sent me these gorgeous flowers as a surprise :)

Miss you.

My Life Would Suck Without You!

2009-06-12T00:20:00.006-04:00

I know I know, two posts in two days. I'm such a hypocrite. I say my life is busy and then do this haha. (no really, my life is busy!) But I just got back from seeing Kelly Clarkson perform at UVUphoria with Cassie and we had SUCH a blast! It was so nice to get away and have just a really good time with one of my best friends. Even the rain (that started RIGHT when Kelly Clarkson got on stage) was nice because it created an AWESOME double rainbow that went all across the sky and just looked amazing. Cassie and I had such a fun time jumping and dancing around singing Kelly Clarkson songs at the top of our lungs. I don't care what you say, that girl's got talent. (and so do Cassie and I, if you watch the video of us singing hahaha) It was such a good time!

I Will Survive!

2009-06-10T16:23:00.006-04:00

OKAY! So, my cousin-in-law Kristie (pretty sure that's not a real term but it works so hey, copyright Melissa Maughan) has kindly reminded me that it has been awhile since I have blogged, but I blogged NINE times last month, which is wayyy above my quota so I can't be getting TOO many complaints. haha. But here's an update of my life recently...

1. Whenever anyone asks an unmarried BYU girl for an "update on your life" we all know the truth. They just want to know what the deal is with my love life! It's okay, I do it too. So here are the "deets". I don't really have a LOT to share. But remember Idaho Brian? well, we're dating now. Oh sorry. That's too general. He's my boyfriend. (Sometimes I forget we are at BYU). yes, he still lives in Idaho, but somehow in the 3 plus weeks that we have been dating we have seen each other like a combined 10 days, or more. which is kinda a lot if you think about us living 250 miles apart. We spent two weekends ago together at his grandpa's house in Tooele (this is where his grandpa backed into my parked car before I had even met him hahaha). We had a really nice weekend, which included making homemade french toast dipped in a special custard (yum!) and a drive up the Tooele canyon, where this picture below was taken.

So then last Thursday night/Friday, we got to hang out again because we went to the Relient K concert in Salt Lake. They were soooo good! Definitely the most entertaining group to watch. We went with his best friend Landon and his wife Amanda. Who are freaking (mmhm sorry. "fetchin'") awesome people! If you can't tell from below, Brian and I are awesome rockers. especially with those nerdy glasses. yurp.

I'm going to spend this weekend with Brian and his family in Salt Lake again, but unfortunately that will be the last time I see Brian for who knows how long (whoa the complication!) but I'll keep ya'll posted, because I know that's all you REALLY wanna know about me.

BUT in case you care about more than my rockin' love life, keep reading! got some interesting stuff.

-I'm going to another concert tomorrow night (what's with these Thursday night concerts?!). Only this time it's the UVUphoria with Cassie Phillips! I love that girl. She's my roommate from last semester if you don't remember, and she's awesome. Seriously. We get to see a whole bunch of artists, but we're definitely the most excited to see Kelly Clarkson! "My Life Would Suck Without You" was our apartment theme song. Cassie got these tickets for me for an early birthday present. Which reminds me, I have less than a month left as a teenager. HALLELUJAH! You know what this means, right?! It means that 1) I need something wild to do in the next month so I can blame it on me being a teenager and 2) it's time for ya'll to start shopping for gifts! :)

-I fly home in NINE days from today! Single digits baby! Weird. This term is flying (yet not fast enough). I'm having very mixed feelings about it--thank you Brian, Jeff, Angie and Christina squared--but I'm so ready to go home and BREATHE. Getting out of Provo is good from time to time.

-I diagnosed myself today. Remember how sick I was in the fall? well it's kinda carried over into winter semester, but again this spring term. It's getting really annoying. But today I was sitting in pathophysiology and I found out what I have. It fits perfectly! Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome: its genetic, and causes changes in your mitral valve and causes heart murmurs (which explains why me and all my siblings have heart murmurs). butttt, it's worse in females, which explains the following symptoms: Palpitations, Tachycardia [rapid heart beat], Syncope [fainting spells], Light-headedness, Fatigue, Anxiety and Chest Pain. now, if there were any words to sum up my health for the last 9 months, these would be them, particularly chest pain, tachycardia and anxiety. And it gets even better. These symptoms are manifested and present in a more serious manner under periods of high stress---perhaps...NURSING SCHOOL!? bingo!
Now I just have to figure out what the treatment is. I hope this disease is going to be on my Patho final, because I'll be sure to get it right.

-Finally, school. Holy cow. I hate it. It's kicking my butt this spring term. never ever ever ever ever take hard classes in the spring. If you stay for spring, take flexibility (where you get to nap) and maybe a jogging class. or floral design. Or calligraphy. but seriously, do NOT take Pathophysiology and Astronomy! Just passing on my word of wisdom. But finals start a week from today, and I'm hoping to be done a week from today, so yay! But to show how I feel, I wanted to share with you this video that my Astronomy teacher should us today in class (when we were talking about aliens...bahaha). This basically sums up my life.

I-da-what?!

2009-05-26T18:40:00.006-04:00

School sucks. Seriously, whoever tried to convince me it's better to take a class (i.e. PATHOPHYSIOLOGY) in the summer was smoking something and was going to fail all the classes anyway so why not in the spring? I'm stretched thin with school and life, and ridiculously stressed so to de-stress, I went up to Idaho Fall this past long weekend to spend some time with family friends of my parents! Okay, all the above is true, but it's not really the TRUTH. I really went up to see Brian McKellar, who is the son of the family friends of my parents, and coincidentally the one who hijacked my computer and wrote that last post. His mom set us up, and we've been talking for a bit, and decided to spend the long weekend with him (and before you ask if he's my boyfriend, DON'T! we still don't even know what to call ourselves haha). I have to say, that this has probably been the best weekend ever. We had such a good time with his family and friends and just relaxing that I didn't even think about the fact that I am going to fail every since one of my classes this summer! (too bad THAT didn't last). I just put up a couple of pictures from this weekend, but to be honest there are way too many and too much fun to sum up in pictures. So use your imagination (but keep it clean!)

The two of us at Historic Chesterfield on Memorial Day. it's just a old pioneer town that was pretty lively for this one day of the year haha. We went with his family. and no that is NOT a beer in his hand (although he is 23). It's a huckleberry soda.

The start of it all...our dads served their missions in Germany, and then studied Mechanical Engineering both at BYU and Purdue University. Our parents are literally the best of friends. they both had sons, then daughters then moved to opposite sides of the country (the rest of the kids match up too. The McKellars had 3 daughters and 1 son, and we have 3 sons and 1 daughter. massive match making going down right here, ya'll!) This picture was taken in 1990, where I am already checking out Brian apparently by looking at him and pointing! I knew I was a smart baby!

Anyone have a pitchfork we can borrow?

Idaho Falls Temple, about 5 minutes from his house. the only temple in the world that is next to a river. It's a GORGEOUS temple!

Don't we all wish we could be more like Brian. I mean, he's just so...cool!

. :)

If you really want more pictures you'd have to look at Facebook. I don't know why you didn't just look there in the first place haha

Ohhhhh, wow!

2009-05-24T21:01:00.003-04:00

I'm pretty sure that I just found the most wonderful man in the world!

Written by Brian. Hijacking my computer.

:)

2009-05-18T10:25:00.003-04:00

It's not even 8:30 in the morning. I have been up since 6. I have 2 ridiculously hard exams this week, a simulation, and a 7 page paper to write.

But I am happy, giggly, have butterflies in my stomach, and can't stop smiling.

I love good weekends, cute boys, and talking to my best friend about both :)

Completely RIDICULOUS day!

2009-05-15T22:22:00.002-04:00

So I had a completely unbelievable day yesterday. Not really good, not really bad, just absolutely hilarious. After Erin Wilson asked for details, I emailed this to her, and I realized it was just to funny I had to share it with all of you. You may think I am making this up, but I promise you, I'm not hahahaha. Key words are in bold for your convenience :)

I almost won a CRUISE, but I didn't because I'm not 25. Got asked out on a date by a guy I've sorta been seeing for almost 2 months (but haven't talked to in like a week) about 2O MINUTES before he picked me up, so I had to stay in the sun dress that I had been wearing all day because hey, we were only going to make pizza. Then when he picked me up, he told me that he had been jumped by two completely DRUNK MEXICANS a week ago and he hadn't called for the last week because his face was STILL SWOLLEN even last night, a week later! haha. Then turns out the girl who's house we went to was the best friend of Trevan's girlfriend that he cheated on me with (KARALEE BUCKHOFF) and totally put her foot in her mouth when she found out haha. She then continued to drill me for details. Not cool. Then one of the guys at the group date asked if I knew where CLIFTON PARK New York was. Hello random.Then BEE MONEY (the mentally retarded local rapper) ate dinner with us, blessing the food by thanking God for the "CD sales he has accumulated" and asking that "these beautiful girls get what they want from their dates". hahahaha. Then I playfully slap Todd (the guy I've been seeing for almost two months but haven't kissed---surprisingly) with my hand on his stomach and he completely shrivels up so I make some joke about him having mono and I must have hit him in the spleen, and turns out it wasn't a joke!! He has had MONO for TWO MONTHS!! (explains the lack of kissing! as it shall remain) So then we're all just talking and relaxing and then we apparently were going to go up the canyon for a BONFIRE. I'm in a SUNDRESS and flip flops!! While we're there Todd and I go the river and I FALL (since it's pitch black and there are sticks/rocks everywhere) and my dress practically goes up over my face hahaha. then while at the campfire, we ROAST STARBURSTS (a Utah delicacy?). Then the smoke from the fire triggers one of my ATTACKS and all of a sudden for 10 minutes, when I already can't breathe, everyone is around me basically staring. Random people I met that night were practically groping my legs. so awkward. haha. So after like 20 minutes of not really breathing, Todd carries me to the car, but DOESN'T CATCH THE BOTTOM OF MY DRESS. therefore carrying me past our campfire and two other campfires with my lovely YELLOW PANTIES completely exposed. Thank goodness they were at least cute. And finally, I collapsed on my front door when I had a little bit of another attack, my roommates heard and opened the door that I was leaning on, and I FELL at their feet. hahaha. I then proceeded to laugh about the whole night hysterically for the next 2 hours.

Moral of the Story: Never wear a dress...ever and always ask the guy you are dating if he has mono or is prone to random attacks from drunk Mexicans.

HOLY SCHNICKES! TIME'S A-FLYIN'!!

2009-05-14T14:33:00.011-04:00

Today is a very special day!! It's another Hump Day!! I promise I won't do one of these posts for everyone I know that is on a mission, but this certain missionary has a very special place in my heart. Ladies and Gentlemen...BRETT WILLIAM BROOKSBY!!! Brett has been a very very good friend of mine since I can remember. Brett and I, in addition to our whole families, have always been very very close. So close, in fact, that one time when I lead the music for church, a member of the bishopric announced me as Melissa Brooksby! Everyone had a good laugh about that one. But Brett is serving as a missionary in Birmingham England, but despite the distance, our friendship is still strong! Brett and I write all the time and I have to say, he's one of the best missionaries to get a letter from. His letters never cease to make me laugh, he picks me up when he can tell I'm miserable (even so far away, now that's talent) and his letters make me miss him like crazy, but no fear, because today is Brett's HUMP DAY!! He's been out for one year today! I would say that this means he'll be home a year from today, but he got to talk to his family on Mother's Day and apparently he thinks he'll be home probably 2 weeks before the 2 years. Of course, as I am writing this right now I realize that's really not helpful to me considering I'm supposed to be doing nursing service abroad from April to the end of June (thank you Nursing 400) but I am so excited for him to come home! In honor of this special day, I have put a collection of pictures (one might say a plethora) on here of my favorite English missionary!

Making Jackson Pollock paintings about a week before he left.

You know he's a good friend when he lets you wipe paint on his back haha

Brett and I understand the importance of cleanliness.

Brett left a handprint on my pants (get your mind out of the gutter!) and wiped his all down his own pants.

Just so you know, if you dip your hands in bright green paint, your hands look like they belong to the Hulk. just FYI.

Our masterpieces!! Mine is hanging in my room at home, not sure where his family put his...

Breaking the rules at the airport right before he left. We condemned ourselves once we took a picture of it.

SUCH a tender picture!

I absolutely love this picture of Brett.

Oo Oo!! This one too!! In fact whoever controls his facebook (cough cough Erin) I would recommend making this his profile picture :)

Farewell Friend! I miss you!!

Buy away your problems.

2009-05-13T22:06:00.004-04:00

I had a roommate. For privacy purposes, we'll call her Keightlyn. Keightlyn was a friend from freshman year who lived next door. a very lively person, very fun. We had our good times, but we also clashed heads from time to time. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't like walking into our suite was like walking into a WWE match (although if it had been, I could have taken her in no time, because everyone knows who I am!! Melissa Maughan, WWE DIVA!). It was actually never like that. We just viewed things in different ways. Like spending money. Keightlyn had the opinion that if you even drove PAST the mall, you had to stop in and buy $150 butterfly earrings that are designer made! (yeah, true story. She tried to tell me they were worth the $150 because they were made by Burberry, and my response: "Is that a proper noun or a verb?") Keightlyn got basically anything she wanted from her parents, never wore the same outfit twice, and once went to Best Buy to fix her computer but came back with a $300 coat from Nordstroms ("It was on sale!"). Since I freaked when I spent $40 on a phone that has since been a reliable phone for almost 2 years, it goes without saying that Keightlyn and I had different opinions about this. Where she made any excuse to go shopping, I do everything in my power to avoid shopping.

That was yesterday, my friends. Today I am a whole new person. After having a TERRIBLE day, I decided I would relieve my stress by...gasp...going shopping! And even worse....CLOTHES SHOPPING!! It was always a form of torture. Or worse. I would have rather had 3 enemas, a catheter, and a ventral gluteal shot then go clothes shopping (sorry for the nursing analogies. It's pretty much the only thing I can relate to). But I went today, and OH the exhileration!!! I swear, when I pulled my face through the hole of the first shirt, I saw angels singing hallelujah from the clouds. and when I looked in the mirror deciding if I liked the way I looked it it, I saw Ashton Kutcher in the mirror telling me I looked like a babe. When I saw the price tag and saw it was on sale for $5.99 (SCOREEE) I'm pretty sure I lost 10 pounds instantly. Yes sir-ee! I walked out of that store with a grand total of $30 spent on 3 shirts and a very cute pair of sandals. I found a particularly attractive outfit that I would describe for you, but since I plan on wearing it 24-7 for the rest of my life, you'll all get to see it at some point.

Keightlyn, Although I spend like 1/1000000 of what you spend, I must thank you for being my inspiration for today's morale boosting shopping trip. I accomplished the unheard of today. And although I believe this was a one time thing, the frog is in the cool water ready for a sauna.

SERIOUSLY?!?!

2009-05-08T11:24:00.004-04:00

Some people really have no sense of what's polite and what's not.

The story goes down like this. I got up at 7 this morning, got all ready for school and went to campus to study for 2 exams before my class at noon. I decided to study at my favorite study place, the Pendulum Court in the Eyring Science Center. Let me lay it out for you. The Pen Court is sort of separated from the lobby by a barrier, and is a place where the dietetics program serves lunch during Fall/Winter. But I really like studying here because it's not too quiet that you're distracted and not too loud that you are distracted (I obviously have a very exact level of noise that I can tolerate). There are approximately 30 tables in this area, and they are nice tables with four surprisingly comfortable chairs around it.

So here I am, studying very early in the morning at the Pen Court at one of the tables, with only 3 other tables being used. Now, let's take a break and do some simple math here. 30 tables total-4 tables being used= 26 tables that are open and available for others to use. So here I am, studying for almost an hour and then SHE walks in. Girl In Purple Shirt, hereafter known as GIPS. So GIPS walks into the Pen Court and comes over to my table and asks if she can sit with me. huhh....? I wanted to say something like "So this table, completely identical to the open 26 tables, is somehow better?", but alas, I figured she was trying to be friendly and meet people so I told her she could. So GIPS says thanks and gets to work studying. As weird as I thought it was that she chose my table over all the rest, I didn't really mind because we were both just studying and it's not a huge deal to have two people study in silence.

But silence is not what I got, thanks to GIBS and BIS (girl in blue shirt and boy in suit). GIBS and BIS come to sit with GIPS and they start talking a lot, take out all the notes, covering the now completely filled table, and start doing some homework together. Seriously?! Conversation goes like this...

GIPS: I'm glad you guys could make it!
BIS: Thanks for letting us know you were doing the homework.
GIBS: Nice table! (FOR REALS?!)
BIS: So did we decide when the homework was due?
GIBS: I'm pretty sure tomorrow at 11.
GIPS: ::gasps way louder than necessary, looking at syllabus:: GUYS!! IT'S DUE TODAY AT 11!!
GIBS: oh no!!!
BIS: QUICK! We need to tell BIBS to hurry!!

SERIOUSLY?! another person is coming?! In my despair, I look around. I notice that two of the previously occupied tables are now vacant. which now means there is only ONE table taken other than mine. Out of 30. Seriously?!

In walks BIBS (boy is blue shirt), comes over to the now full table, takes a deep heavy sigh, looks at me doing my Pathophysiology and says in a highly suggestive voice:

"Sigh....There's no where for me to sit...." SERIOUSLY?!

Then the best part: GIPS (the original) being so kind says to me, "would you mind moving to another table?"

you. are. kidding. me.

Don't worry, I did. I went to a table far far away. Where I don't have to even see them. Or smell them. Too bad I can't stop from hearing them.

So thank you GIPS, GIBS, BIS AND BIBS for ruining my morning. and BIBS and BIS, you weren't even cute. Seriously.

NEW CAR!

2009-05-07T15:38:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that Eric and I bought a car yesterday!! We've been needing one for a long time (thank you Salt Lake clinicals...) but we've been actually looking for like a week or so. We finally found one we could both agree on. We bought a 1997 Toyota Corolla. I'm saying it's grey, but Eric's calling it lavender (Why he would want to drive a car that is lavender I dunno. He originally called it periwinkle. sigh...I have failed as a sister.). It drives well, and doesn't have very many miles at all, so these are all things we can celebrate. And it will be very easy to share a car, considering Eric and I live...oh...say....100 steps from each other? Seriously. I can see his front door from mine. Alas, I digress. The point is, we're very excited to have a car, since now it means we can stop bumming rides of people. But don't be mistaken. I still plan on bumming rides from time to time. :)

I'm In Love.

2009-05-04T01:12:00.003-04:00

Symptoms of Love: Heart skips a beat or two, feel like the world is spinning, butterflies in your stomach, never want to do anything but spend time with the 'one' you love, want to sing at the top of your lungs, crave a good piano and a sit down session with Jon Schmidt.

Oh I'm sorry, did you think I was in love with a boy?! HA! good one.

You have to be a nerd...

2009-04-29T18:44:00.002-04:00

So people like my mother will totally think this is the funniest thing ever. However, I think my mother has already seen this, so I'll have to show it to the rest of you. Because this made my year. :)

How to name a kid.

2009-04-20T14:49:00.012-04:00

This post is in honor of Erin, who is expecting her first child....

My aunt Carolyn has some rules for naming kids. When I first heard them years ago I thought that she was kidding and I had no clue why she needed to make rules. But as I have grown older, her reasoning has become crystal clear. Here are the rules.

1. The name has to sound/look good with "Dr." in front and/or "PhD" in the back. So try as you might Gwen and Gavin, "Dr. Zuma Nesta Rock, PhD" does not fill this category. Please try again. Or not.

2. The name must be easily spelled as you hear it. This means that the lady who named her twins "Lemonjelo" and "Orangelo" strike out. Among the many other reasons to not name your children after the jiggly treat you had while in labor, you could have a serious panic attack when trying to spell these names! Is it two words? A dash perhaps?! and goodness, did they honestly remove an "l" in the first and mesh the words together in the second without a "j"?!?! My mind is about to combust!

Finally, 3. The name must be easy to pronouce when you see it. This includes Zephyr. Even if I had passed Hooked on Phonics (no comment) I wouldn't be able to pronounce that.

Now, my friends, I have found a name that turns a back on all three of these rules. It's a version of one of those very common names. Here are the many forms, and yes I know someone with each one of these spellings:

Kaitlin
Katelin
Kaitlyn
Katelyn
Katelynn
Caitlyn
Caitlin
Caitlynn
Catelin

I thought some of these versions were obscure, but I tolerated them. but today, I came across a form of this name that makes all the rest look like names of angels:

Keightlyn

Shall I spell it again?
Keightlyn!

Carolyn, I'm adding a new rule. You can't have a name that makes you think of a freight train coming down the tracks.

*all names used in post are true and actual names.

oh and p.s. I just finished my first year of nursing school. yahoo!!

I HATE UTAH!

2009-04-15T20:18:00.002-04:00

Only in Utah...

Is it 70 degrees on a Monday...
Showering but warm on a Tuesday...
Pouring rain on a cold Wednesday morning....
SNOWING 3 INCHES WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON!

stupid stupid utah...

Happy Hump and Pump Day!!

2009-04-09T17:39:00.001-04:00

As I am preparing to go on a mission, I have been taking a mission prep class from Brother Bott. (btw...he's amazing). But one of the topics we discussed were the different landmarks throughout a mission. If you are a good missionary (and all of my missionaries are!) then at 6 months you reach a 'bump', one year is the 'hump', 18 months is 'pump' , and at the very end of the 2-year mission it is a 'jump'. Well my friends, today and tomorrow are very monumental days for two missionaries that are very close to me. Today is Riley Wilson's "hump" day!! He's halfway done with his mission to Novosibirsk Russia! (I probably should get his address and write him again sometime soon. Cough cough Erin?! wanna help out a friend!?) He's an amazing guy and if you guys don't know him then I am sorry to hear that. You are really missing out. It's already been a year, but I hope time goes even faster because I sure do miss that kid....My fun little Indiana Jones/Russian missionary before the Halloween dance!
(You can see a little bit of the chest hair drawn on with black marker. hahaha)

The last time I saw Riley. This is probably one of the most normal pictures we ever took. haha. It goes without saying we are pretty weird... (and p.s. can I just say eww braces!?)

Well, as excited as I am for Riley and his hump day, tomorrow, April 10th, is "pump" day for Trevan Reeves!! 18 months!!! I REALLY have a hard time believing it. He's going to be home in a little under 6 months and I can't wrap my brain around that one. But yes my friends, April 10th marks 18 months that Trevan has been on his mission to Budapest Hungary. (Ironic thing is, April 10th was already a big day for me and Trevan, but I'll let your imaginations run wild on that one. hehe ;) just messing... here are some pictures of me and Trevan.

Mission call: Budapest Hungary!!! woohoo! (Can I just throw in that I am wearing an EXCELLENT top?! haha)

Trevan and I at my graduation, right before I moved away from Salem.
(boo family on that one---^ )

Can I just say that I love all of my missionaries throughout the world!?! Shall I name them?
Novosibirsk Russia, Budapest Hungary (2), Birmingham England, Sao Paulo Brazil, Tegucigalpa Honduras, Carlsbad California, Chicago Illinois, Orlando Florida, Provo Utah, Belgium Brussels/Netherlands, Colorado Springs Colorado, Dominican Republic Santo Domingo East, Merida Mexico, Toronto Canada, Buenos Aires Argentina ....should I stop there before I name every mission!?

and yes. I do write them all. don't mock. They'll pay me back some day ;)

Obama Killed Kutner.

2009-04-08T17:37:00.002-04:00

I love House. I really do. but when they kill off your favorite character, you can't help but shed a tear and think badly of the writers. And you know what, Obama killed Kutner. Kal Penn, who plays Kutner, was offered the position of Associate Director of Obama's Public Liason. Yeah. He's ditching Dr. House for the White House. Bad choice Kal. Bad Choice.

For the record, if McCain was elected, we'd still have Kutner messing with House. sigh....

Of all the typos you could make...

2009-04-06T18:54:00.004-04:00

For those of you who didn't go to BYU, you don't know about the Daily Universe, or the daily paper that is distributed across campus. It's usually a highly entertaining paper, and that was especially true today when you saw the main picture on the front of the paper under the picture of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Just read the picture heading...

Of all the typos you could ever make....haha. You'll be surprised to hear that they had taken all of the copies of the Daily Universe by 10 am. :)

Happenings as of late...

2009-04-03T11:48:00.007-04:00

So it has been a very very VERYYY long time since I have written, and I have realized that makes me a failure. But to make up for it, I thought I'd leave you with a list of things that have been on my mind and things that have been going on!

1.After running the 10k/walking the mile at the end of January, I went with my roommate to see a play at the Hale Center Theater in Orem to redeem the free tickets that we won. The play (All Shook Up) was remarkable good, but I learned something about free tickets. When you get something for free, it's definitely not the best seats in the house! Our tickets were in the farthest corner of the theater (which granted, is so small it wouldn't even fit the entire Glenville Ward). Cassie was against both walls and Tae's seat was broken. Obviously this is high quality stuff!! Oh well. Beggars can't be choosers. At least it was a night out on the town. ;)

2. I finished my last Clinical last Thursday!! No more Orchard Park. No more getting up at 4 am (at least not til next semester). No more grouchy patients who don't know what they want but they know they don't want what you want to give them! No more brief changes. No more whirlpool baths. No more passing meds. No more dealing with the North hall nurse who apparently hates students. On the flip side, no more sweet patients whose day lights up when they see our faces. No more South hall nurse who appreciates the students so much for taking care of the patients by administering medications. No more sitting and holding a patients hand while they talk to you about how you are feeling. No more patients who tell you that you are beautiful and going to be a great nurse and that you can do whatever you want if you just work hard. No more getting to hear about patient's lives and the family that they've lost, the grandkids that they pride in, and the love of their lives. No more Jean, who helps me feel better about myself and is so patient and understanding and loves to talk about the things going on in my life and giving me advice. No more Violet, who although she is unable to talk, is the most loving and compassionate woman I have ever come in contact with, who wants to hold you hand and give you a kiss every time you see her. Sigh... I'm going to miss Orchard Park. Below is a picture of my clinical group on the last day.

3. Before the cruel joke of a snow storm that has hit Provo the last few days, (gah!! Utah you are my enemy) there was actually a stretch of a few gorgeous days! One Saturday, it was 75 degrees and sunny so my roommates and I decided to bask in the sunshine with J-Dawgs, music, sunglasses, sunbathing and "homework" (HA!) Of course, being the picture-addict that I am, I brought my camera, and used my laptop webcam to capture the fun time! We had such a good time, although we didn't get much of a tan...sigh.

Earlier that day before we went to the park, Cassie cut Eric's hair. We matched so we had to take a picture. Duh.

Just a little bit of light reading...

Lu, Cassie and I are very special people, if you can't tell. :)

4. I have taken a very big step on my own. I am very proud of myself. "Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up." Basically, I just assumed that I would spend all of my college years living in the Avenues, the apartment complex that I have been living in this year. The condo that we are living in is owned by Tae's parents. It seemed like the perfect situation. But due to a long list of circumstances, I have felt for the last few weeks that I need to move somewhere else. So, I did some apartment shopping, found a contract that I wanted to buy, called and email the person trying to sell the contract, made an appointment with the manager to look at the apartment, felt good about it, and signed the contract. Did I mention that this was all on my own?! For a very passive person such as myself, this was a big step, although I did have Eric come with me to look at the apartment. Baby steps my friends, baby steps.

5. Who wants to hear the craziest thing ever? In 2 weeks, classes are OVER and then a week after that, the semester is finally finished. Then I'm halfway done with college. You kidding me!? I swear I JUST graduated!!
6. Since the end of the semester is so soon, I've been thinking a lot about summer. I'm staying here at BYU for Spring term to take Astronomy and Pathophysiology (ewww...) but I am planning on heading back to New York for summer. So I've kinda been fretting about a job, especially since I'll only be there for like 6-8 weeks. So for those of you in the Glenville/Burnt Hills area, wanna keep your eyes open for a potentional job!? haha. I'm thinking of potentially being a nanny, since I'll get home right before the kids get out of school and leave right before it starts up again. So if any of my friends back home hear about any one who is looking for a nanny, who is maybe...oh i dunno...a nursing student? close to 20 years old by chance? and it wouldn't help if they are CPR and first aid certified haha. Just a suggestion ;)

and finally, 7. Don't call me weird, or whatever, but it's T minus one year until my mission papers go in!!!!

Shoot Me Up Sista!

2009-02-09T16:55:00.005-05:00

So today was the first day in my nursing classes that we did injections. It was quite the experience. I left lab with band-aids on both my forearms, both deltoids (shoulder area for those who are anatomy impaired haha) and on my butt/hip. It was quite a thrill. My favorite line from class "Now make sure when you stick them you put the needle ALL the way in, but stop if you hit bone." hahaha yes. And to answer your question, I don't know whether it was scarier to be injected or to do the injecting!
Enjoy these pictures and be glad you chose the major that you did. p.s. these pictures are in reverse order, but I hope that you can find a place in your soul to forgive me.

Aspirating before the actual injection. Alyse didnt like that.

Kenzie obviously was not a fan of getting her shot.
Probably because she has no fat to muffle the pain. haha

I love Rachelle's face in this (the "nurse")
I'm pretty sure it's the patient that is supposed to have that kind of a reaction haha

I'm smiling so it doesn't seem so terrible :)

Rachelle was not a fan of the entire needle in her arm.

My partner Alyse focusing very hard on getting the right dose.

getting the "TB vaccine"

Hale Freezes Over

2009-02-02T22:49:00.003-05:00

There are two types of runners in the world. Those who love it with a passion and those that will only run when hell freezes over. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that day has come. Saturday morning, me, Eric, and most of our apartments did the Hale Theater Fundraiser Run "Hale Freezes Over". It was a 10k, 5k, and 1 mile walk. It was so much fun!! Eric and all of his friends ran the 5k, while Tae and I did the 1 mile walk (yay for both of us being exercise intolerant!) and my roommate Cassie did the 10k. We all had such a good time. And just to let you know, I have a future in competitive walking. You're talking to the 2nd place winner baby :) ha ha

Roommates!! Cassie and I matched too. How cool are we?

Woohoo Eric!!

The whole group.

Yes. We do plan on doing it again. Maybe even the Highway to Hale. ha ha

FREE AT LAST!

2009-01-22T17:49:00.003-05:00

Ladies and Gentlemen I have an announcement! As of Tuesday, January 20, 2009, 11 am MST, I am finally free from those ugly wire/metal things glued to my teeth, commonly known as braces. I know this excitement is not usually something heard from someone so close to 20 years old, but hey, it's not my fault!! Word to the wise: DON'T EVER GET STREP THROAT!
Take that advice to heart and you will live a long and happy life. With bare teeth. Rawr.

HELP ME!

2009-01-19T20:40:00.002-05:00

I am ashamed. It's been over a month and I haven't been able to think of ANYTHING to write about! Is there something wrong with me?! Have the (already scarce) creative juices been sucked out of me thanks to the nursing program?! AHHHH!! I'M BORING!

Rent-to-Own??

2008-12-14T12:36:00.003-05:00

My roommate and I do everything together. Sometimes it feels like whatever I do, Tae does and whatever Tae does, I do. This semester, we took that to a whole new level. If you don't know by now, I have had some weird, medical mystery problem all semester (since the very beginning of September) which included lung pain, breathing problems, chest pain in general, heart pain, heart spasms, and eventually seizures of some kind. It was rough every day for 13 1/2 weeks but I'm feeling so much better since this past Wednesday (no thanks due to a very special ward fast last week) but not after visiting many many doctors, get all sorts of tests done, and visiting the ER on some occasions. Of course, just as I am starting to feel better, that special connection I have with my roommate decides to kick in. On Monday, she sends me a TEXT MESSAGE saying she is in the hospital because they think she has appendicitis! Sure enough, that's what it was and she had an emergency appendectomy to remove her highly inflammed appendix, which doctors said probably would have burst if she did not get it out right then. So Tae was admitted to the hospital for a few days, but her troubles didn't end there. We returned, yet again, to the ER just a few days later due to Tae's inability to breath normally. The nurses recognized us. Some even knew me by name! We sure know their names!! (Nyree, Rick, Jeremy, Melissa, Jared, Megan...) When I told my aunt Carolyn, also a nurse, that we were back in the ER, she recommended we just start paying rent there, since it would probably be cheaper than all the co-pays we are paying. Considering our history, I'm beginning to think it might be a smart idea...

This is me and Tae and our collection of hospital bracelets that we have made in the last 4-5 weeks. We're tied with the ER bracelets (pink/red) but she's got that OR blue one.

I'll teach my baby the right limericks.

2008-11-28T15:20:00.005-05:00

Happy Belated Thanksgiving! Is that even accurate? As much as I want to be home for Thanksgiving for many reasons, I am spending my Thanksgiving here with my Aunt Ruth in Kaysville Utah. It's been very fun. The whole house is bubbling with excitement for my older cousin Alex to come home from his mission to France on Monday. But even beside that, it's been fun chilling with this other side of my family. However, they make me question my childhood and the fun little limericks I've learned. Joking around in the kitchen this morning, my aunt was found chasing my 17 year old cousin Tony(dressed up as a hick) around the house. Being the top shot putter in the state, and the star of the football team, Tony is...well....healthy. So this whole scene was highly entertaining. and somehow, it led to this:

Ruth: Sticks and stones...

Tony: Mom, sticks and stones may dent my fat but words will never hurt me.

hahaha um...not exactly what I learned. but I'll take it.

So it seems word has gotten around my recent health problems and the pain that I have been having. Of course, most people who read this blog have never actually seen an attack, but its safe to say that it is very VERY painful and pretty much unbearable (Although after having numerous everyday for well over 10 weeks, I'm developing some sort of tolerance)
ANYWHO! The whole point is, last night I saw a lady who is expecting a baby any day. She was at my aunt's house for Thanksgiving and towards the end of dinner she was experiencing some very painful contractions that brought her to tears, and as terrible as this is, the words that went through my head were "That's IT?! That's a contraction!? SO EASY! Bring on the baby!!!" haha. oh boy.

The hardest hard-core fans you've ever seen!

2008-11-11T14:32:00.005-05:00

So if I haven't already mention in every post for the last 2 months, this year my friends and I had front row seats to every home football game. Rain, shine, or occasionally snow we were there for every minute. As the home season is now complete, I thought I would give you a glimpse of the last three games of the season.....

We started out with a very subtle face painting and a little bit of hair dying.

Then we moved to a more dramatic face paint, split blue and white hair dying. Please take note of the fingernails.

The final was pretty dang hot!

This shot was the point out the MOST AMAZING FAKE EYELASHES IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND. Long and glittery. Totally realistic.

The last game of the season was supposed to be three roommates with a B. Y. U. on each face. Unfortunately, a certain roommate who shall remain nameless (but for the point of the story we shall call her Rachel K. no no, R. Kendrick) decided to back out so we had to do some rethinking very quickly. Unfortunately Tae didn't have time to get to the white background (we didn't want to be late for the last game!!) so I look like a mime all by myself ha ha. Then again, she did dye her hair blue...

How sad...last game. :(
P.S. I have no idea why my hair looks so ridiculously red...

Second Coming?

2008-11-03T17:12:00.004-05:00

Here's a recent text message conversation between me and my older brother.

Me: did you hear about Obama's grandma dying today?
Eric: Yup, just saw it. Bummer, huh?
Me: Yeah, sad. It'll help him at the polls though, that stinks.
Eric: That's what I meant by bummer, haha. Dang it! He didn't need that.
Me: I know! Ugh. I just keep reminding myself everything happens for a reason.
Eric: Yeah, I keep telling myself. Ripening for destruction.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!! Get ready!

Friends Call Me Speed.

2008-10-28T20:28:00.003-04:00

Brownie points if you can name the movie the title of the post is in. Seriously, BIG brownie points, since its basically my favorite movie in the world ha ha.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I took a 40 question midterm today. And I did it in 9 minutes. yes. 9. As in, one minute less than 10. As in still in the single digits. As in only using 2 hands. As in enter testing center at 5:48 and leave at 5:57.

And did I mention I got a 95, which is only one missed question? ha ha ha.

I'll answer to "Speed" from now on. Or "Queen" will do.

synchronized swimming!

2008-10-26T22:04:00.002-04:00

My ward talent shows never turn up online. ha ha. This is hilarious!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f86qKQJg3Z8

What now?!

2008-10-22T16:18:00.003-04:00

For the past 2 1/2 weeks, I have had exam after exam and quiz after quiz without any sort of break. This morning with my finish of my Anatomy Lab Midterm (yikes!!! I could tell you about it, but then I'd have to kill. In addition to getting a zero) I have officially completed those 2 1/2 weeks. Sure, I've got quizzes I should get ready for, and I always have homework that I can do, but still. No midnight music. No hard core stressing at least for a little bit. I don't know what to do with my life now!

I'm not dead!!

2008-10-19T02:07:00.004-04:00

It's been so long, let me introduce myself. Hi, my name is Melissa. I'm a 5'6" beautiful brunette who enjoys laughing, movies and long walks on the beach. I know some of you think that after I came out here to college for my sophomore year, I dropped off the face of the earth and died. Good news, although I have had some seriously close calls, I'm still alive!! Breathing in and out (RR:14--little nursing talk for ya!). Heart beating (PR varies depending on how close I am to an episode). And now, I have no excuse and its time to update on my life!! School is ridiculously hard and wearing me thin, but I'm trying so hard to stay on top. Even if that means that pretty much every night I get to hear the lovely midnight music at the library. There's nothing that makes you want to leave the library as quickly as possible more than elevator music loud enough to make your body shake. I just keep reminding myself that people have gone through nursing school many many times before and they are still alive so I can do it! ha ha

This is an exciting week. Although I have a ridiculous amount of exams/quizzes, I'm super happy because Dad and Scott are here! And yesterday Erin and Justin came down to visit too! It has been so much fun, even though I haven't gotten any studying done. Good thing I was anticipating that. ha ha. Dad left tonight, but it was still so fun to have him here. Scott's here until Tuesday at midnight so I've got plenty of time left with him. Yay!!Yup. I love my family :)

This is pretty much my favorite picture ever with my favorite people ever!

I think this is such a cute picture of the 3 friends!

Ok, well the pictures below are from last week. We had Homecoming week and part of the Homecoming hoop-la is True Blue football! Let me paint a picture for you: Helaman Fields, completely COVERED with bright blue foam, and several hundreds of people. It was amazing. We played flag football, had "foam fights", played volleyball, and slid down the hill on our stomachs. Tae and I even had some sort of sumo wrestler fight. Definitely got some pretty interesting looks from that one. It was so slick and so much fun! Somehow, I got dye in places that I didn't even know COULD be dyed and I'm not even kidding, I still have blue in my hair and on my stomach. Ha ha. It was so much fun though!

Clint, Tae, Me and Josh

Pretty much the most amazing picture of the two most amazing roommates ever! :)

Wanna Lose Weight?!

2008-09-06T18:40:00.003-04:00

So while looking up some information for my nutrition class, I came across this site: www.aboutcabbagesoupdiet.com. Interested? I mean, doesn't cabbage soup diet just sound so marvelous? It gets even better. This is the information posted on the home page.

The Soup Diet is based on a fat-burning soup that contains negligible calories. The more soup you eat the more weight you should lose. It allows people to eat as much Cabbage Soup as they want each day, which should sound appealing to dieters. After all, dieters love to hear that they can eat unlimited amounts of food and still lose weight fast.

The Diet relies on eating strange and bizarre combinations of food that nearly force you to starve each day. Dieters are allowed all the water and cabbage soup they want, plus a very restricted set of other foods.

A running myth suggests that this diet originated at any number of hospitals, but thus far, no medical facilities have claimed it as their own. Consensus is that the diet is effective for temporarily losing a few pounds. However, this is not a very nutritionally sound plan and certainly not one to live on.

Emphasis added. Yeah, this seems like a real winner of a diet, eh? If I was a medical facility, I wouldn't claim it as my own either.

BYU FOOTBALL BABY!!

2008-09-01T01:01:00.006-04:00

So I have the most amazing roommate. Wanna know why? She was able to score our group of friends south endzone, front row tickets for the ENTIRE season. Shall I repeat for all those who think they are cool because they had front row tickets for one game (cough cough Erin)? I have FRONT ROW TICKETS for the ENTIRE 2008 SEASON!! Yay bab-ay!!

Bekah came to visit and got to help Cosmo crowd surf! See her?
Look at the concerned look on her face ha

roommates-Tae, Melissa, and Rachel

Front Row!!

you wish you looked this good.

2008-08-30T01:41:00.008-04:00

So I've moved into Provo and today I finished my last step to my nursing prep. I went and got drug tested, got my box of nursing supplies that were shipped to my aunt's house, and went scrub shopping. Look how stylish these suckas are. The one on the right is my BYU nursing uniform (notice the BYU blue) and the one on the left is just for kicks. It was deciding between this one and the one with the little teddy bears waving that just seems to be practically a staple for nurses. But then again, if I was to ever purchase those, I would never be able to show my face in public, which kinda defeats the purpose.