Of all the typos you could make...

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...

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!

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

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!

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!

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??

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.

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!

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?

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!