Pretty sure I skipped April..Oh well.

Hmm... where to begin? How about a recap of April. During the first 3 weeks of April I was finishing up my last rotation at the Sturgeon Community Hospital on LDRP (Labor, Delivery, Recovery, Postpartum). I really enjoyed that rotation and learned a lot. Also in April I was able to use my crock pot!! I made a personal goal to use my crockpot more. In one week I made ribs and a roast in the slow cooker. Pictured below is the roast that I did on a Sunday! My first Sunday dinner that I made all by myself!

The last week of April was spent in Cardston with Daley's family. I always enjoy spending time with family. While in Cardston I was able to go gopher hunting (not able to aim properly yet... so no dead gophers from me) and was an excellent spotter.

Daley and I were able to relax and enjoy the company of family. The last couple of days we said goodbye to a missionary from Australia that we got close to. He was so much fun to be around! 

Later that night (the night we said goodbye) we went with friends to the U of A observatory and got to see the Moon, Mars, Venus and Saturn!!! Daley was able to get a picture of Saturn off his iPhone!! 

This month I was able to start my new job as a UNE (Undergraduate Nurse) on an Orthopaedic Unit at the Misericordia. I have done 2 shifts and am learning lots! I am really enjoying the staff and I think this will be a great experience. 

Memory Lane.

Over the past couple of months I have been thinking about the future. Mostly about the life that I want my future family (mostly children) to have. Growing up I had the opportunity to watch a lot of awesome movies and read a tonne of books. I also got to travel all over as well, because that was a priority that my mom made. Basically the arts were a huge part of my life, and still are something that I make a priority whenever I can. (Being a student makes it hard to pay $80 for a ballet/broadway show ticket)

So I have been making list of Disney/Pixar/other movies that I want to purchase and add to our ever growing movie collection. I also want to find some of my favourite books growing up. My latest obsession is the Alphapet books. There are 30 books in total, 26 for the letters of the alphabet and 4 other learning related books. The alphapet books star an animal that starts with the letter of the alphabet and has an adjective to describe the animal with the same letter. For example.... Albert the Absent-minded Alligator (book title= Albert's special day) or Connie the Cuddly Cat.

So.. slowly but surely I plan on adding to my collection. I have to make sure that I don't go crazy and get it all at once. :) Because I am known for doing that.

March Madness

A couple of weeks ago I was able to order a TV stand off of the Sears website. I decided to put our leftover Sears gift cards from our wedding to good use, as you probably can tell by the before and after pictures. Before: After: I'm really happy with the TV stand. Also this month Daley and I were able to go to a birthday party for a friend at Delux burger bar. It was a super fun night and we really enjoyed ourselves. It was so cute the fries came in little shopping carts.

February Update

February went by so fast. Highlights of the month included Valentine's Day, having Morley come and visit us, and finally overcoming my challenge of not being able to sew (I still can't but I at least attempted). For Valentine's Day I made a nice dinner, which included mashed potatoes, gravy, bbq chicken, and steamed carrots. Daley and I were so tired that night, that we ending up falling asleep at 7:30. Needless to say I was very awake the next day at clinical.

It was really nice being able to get to know my brother in law Morley. I never really had a good chance to get to know him and having him at our place provided that opportunity.

This is Daley's handiwork. He read somewhere that you could do this with a broom because of the moon. In the first week of March I was able to attend a women's conference. I had an opportunity to be in charge of making dialysis bags. Dialysis bags are used to cover a person's central line while they are not receiving dialysis. This was my first time learning how to sew. Growing up I never really had an opportunity to sew because my mother always took over (because I really wasn't very good). I still am not very good, but I at least attempted and I am more willing to learn. Also during women's conference I was able to listen to Sis. Wendy Watson Nelson. I have always enjoyed hearing her speak. I was able to take away some valuable insights and have since applied them to my life.

nursing reflection.

So in nursing school it's custom to reflect on your practice. This week I started a new clinical rotation (I am on a pulmonary unit in the Robbins Pavilion in the RAH)and have mixed feelings about it. I'm excited that I get to learn skills and have the experience that I need to become a UNE. However I am kind of upset that I haven't found my groove yet. I am sure that it has to do with the fact that I have already figured out where I want to take my career. Side note: I really want to be a community health nurse/work in public health but I am realistic and know that those jobs are really hard to come by. So until I get my "in" I wouldn't mind working around either women's health/the family. Basically Labour and Delivery, Gyne or post partum ( I had a rotation last year and loved it there), and I have even considered NICU (random I know but my aunt works there and it seems like it would be interesting).

Continuing on... coming onto the unit after community has been really hard. I am used to doing completely different work. (AND.. it's really hard to remember how to do skills after a couple of months/a year). I really felt like a 2nd year on the 1st week of the rotation. I am really excited for the day where I have better critical thinking skills and overall time management. I know that will come with time but it's still frustrating. Basically the whole point of this post is to say that I really hope that one day I make a good nurse.

Gratitude Challenge

In Relief Society there was a challenge to think of 100 thing you are grateful for. Luckily the task does not seem so daunting because it was broken down into 10 different lists of 10 to be grateful for.

100 Things I'm Grateful To/For/The

1. Be Able to think

2. A sense of bodily awareness

3. Ability to be able to dance

4. To be able to write

5. To be able to walk and run

6. To see

7. To touch and have hand dexterity

8. To smell

9. To hear

10. To be able to lift and carry things

11. The scriptures

12. My personal library

13. Hairdryer, flat iron, and curling iron

14. My Oma's T pin

15. My desk and cedar chest (my Papa made them for me)

16. All of my pictures

17. MY BED!!! (and the nice sheets that go with it)

18. My engagement/wedding rings

19. The quilts my mother in laws made for my wedding/future home

20. Dish wands- they make doing dishes more bearable

21. Daley

22. My parents (both my own and my in-laws)

23. Julia and Janessa (my sisters)

24. Davis (He is the sweetest... the other day he gave me a back rub without me even asking, and it was fabulous)

25. All of my brother in laws (Jensen, Andrew, Ari, Morley, Oakley)

26. All of my sister in laws (Dena, Vivian, Brynley)

27. My grandparents (Opa, Papa, Gramma)

28. My Auntie LeAnna

29. My close friends (church and nursing friends)

30. My "adopted" older sisters (J.S, R.T., K.L., A.W.)

31. My Oma

32. Wyatt Card- my cousin

33. Joseph Smith

34. My Great Gramma Card

35. President Gordon B. Hinckley

36. Thomas Edison

37. Alexander Graham Bell

38. Bob Fosse

39. Martha Graham

40. Snow Covered Mountains

41. Sunset

42. Sunrise

43. Full Moon

44. Blooming flowers in spring time (especially tulips)

45. Changing of the colour of leaves in fall

46. The first snowfall of the year

47. Good music (especially music that uplifts you) -- like the instrumental music I'm listening to now

48. Ability to be able to do service

49. Connecting with people (children, youth, and adults)

50. For days where I'm happy

51. When projects/assignments get done

52. Productive days

53. Getting enough sleep

54. Second winds (of energy)

55. For Fridays/the Weekend

56. Crossing multiple things of my to do list

57. My husband's safe flight (and hopefully drive)

58. Once Upon a Time (TV show)- it brings cheesiness into my life

59. Sunshine

60. Waterton National Park

61. London England- It's just so nice there.

62. Paris France- on top of the Eiffel Tower (at night)

63. New York City

64. The Backyard of my parent's house

65. Salt Lake City, UT

67. California

68. Electricity

69. Stereo

70. Microwave

71. Modern plumbing

72. Electric mixers and other things to make baking easy

73. Showers

74. Computers with built in webcams

75. Cars

76. Cell phones

77. The incandescent lightbulb

78. The internet

79. Airplanes

80. Birth Control

81. Wyatt potatoes (Funeral potatoes), Ham and Beans (my favourite meal)

82. Tortellini el pana (tortellini noodles in a cream sauce)

83. Berries (Raspberries, Blueberries, Strawberries, Blackberries etc)

84. Ice cream with fresh raspberries on it

85. Roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy

86. Peanut butter and homemade raspberry jam sandwich

87. Taco anything- taco potatoes are my latest favourite

88. Fondue

89. WINGS! (homemade honey garlic)

90. Old Dutch Ripple Chips with Philadelphia Onion Dip

91. Temple Ordinances

92. The Priesthood and Priesthood Blessings

93. Music by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

94. The Atonement

95. The ability to talk to my Father in Heaven through Prayer

96. Being able to pay Tithing and Fast Offerings

97. The truths of the Book of Mormon

98. The Sacrament- it gives me a chance to renew my baptismal covenants each week

99. Relief Society

100. That Families can Be Together Forever

The Simple Life

I had a very thought provoking conversation with one of my close friends that has helped me to reset some of my priorities in life. Also with the new year I have wanted to set some new goals for myself.

1. I really would like to blog more so that my family and close friends (or anyone who is interested by the link on Facebook) can know what is going on in my life.

2. I have decided that I need to cut down on the amount of TV that I watch. For Christmas we got an apple T.V so Netflix has since been sucking all my free time and that takes away time I could be doing something better.

3. I would like to better organize and beautify my home. (There are still boxes that are being used to hold up our T.V. speakers. Included in this goal is to finish hanging pictures that I wanted to put up when we first moved in but never got around to do.

4. Learn new recipes... mainly focusing on using my crock pot and learning how to bake with my not so great oven. ( Banana Bread is the first thing I would like to bake)

5. Enhance friendships- I would really like to become better friends with a couple of people.. and I hope that happens this year!