allie joyce

New blog!

2011-10-08T16:17:00.000-07:00

I have a big announcement. Justin and I will now have a married peoples blog! I don't know if he'll contribute... but at least it'll bear both of our names. The new URL is:

justinandallie.blogspot.com

Go check it out! I even added some new posts (it's a miracle!). I will no longer be posting here (alliejoyce.blogspot.com) so add the new blog if you care to still blog stalk.

Embarrassing fact is that I may or may not have reserved this URL (along with a "Allie Larkin" email) back in 2008. Just in case my dreams came true and I did become Mrs. Justin Larkin. Now I'm glad I was so forward-thinking! However, I reserved the blog URL under a guise. Years later I couldn't remember the password! After two hours of guessing, I finally cracked the code and got access to the blog. :)

Pretty wedding pics!

2011-09-13T20:19:00.000-07:00

Many of you (if anyone still reads this ultra-neglected blog) were probably wondering if I actually got married. Well, this week I finally got some wedding pics! I was so freaking happy when I got them.

We took these two days before our wedding at the Sacramento Temple. The photographer, Debby Rackham (spicerackproductions.com), was wonderful!

Aren't these cute? Not to be all mushy but I love Justin Larkin. Being married to him is pretty awesome- he cooks me yummy breakfasts/dinners, cleans up my messes around the house, lets me have the reserved parking spot, leaves me cute notes, and still loves me even when I'm straight up crazy (which is fairly often). It's only been a little more than two months, but so far I'm liking married life. Now all I need to do is change my name. Oops.

Brooke the Bachelorette

2011-08-28T18:54:00.001-07:00

So I know I haven't posted in forever but I had to put this up...

My baby sister, Brooke is starting college this year! I am so excited for her and happy she'll be so close to us. Here is a picture from the obligatory going off to college photo shoot...

Anyway, Brooke's freshmen year has had a fabulous start thanks to the Dating Game. Brooke was chosen to be the "bachelorette" in the BYU New Student Orientation version of the game. Naturally, I headed over to the Wilk to witness it myself.

Needless to say, it was awesome. Justin wins best bro-in-law (sorry Brett) for capturing the event.

The MC (who was acting as Harry Potter's Snape for some unknown reason...) announced a little bio about Brooke and then she walked out. So. Freaking. Beautiful. All you could see was blonde hair and golden tan skin. The boys practically ran to the stage for a chance at a date.

Pretty Brookie walking out

Throngs of freshmen

Eager boys

Professor Snape explaining the rules

Brooke answered the questions...

and the sad boys had to leave if their answers didn't match hers

The pack of boys dwindles

The final five

Brooke asked questions and the boys had to make up answers on the spot. My favorite answer? For best pick up line one boys said, "I'm headed to the Celestial Kingdom wanna come?" I love BYU.

The final two

And we have a winner!

Tender moments

Can I have yo numba?

Ash, Justin, and I loved every minute of this. It was thoroughly entertaining. Brooke was like a mini celeb walking around afterwards. This weekend we are heading to Logan to watch Brooke run for BYU for her first time! So fun to have Brookie at BYU!

Weddingness

2011-03-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Justin's computer savviness we now have a cute wedding website! It's still a work in progress but check it out. The photo album is my favorite part. Cute pics of little Allie and Justin! Gets me excited for our wedding video. Only problem is after dating for 5+ years you have way too many photos.... Anyway, here's the site:

justinandallie.com

Here's one of the first pics we took together. In the early days it's hard to find a photo Anise is not in. She was our permanent third wheel and I loved it.

My v-day miracle

2011-02-24T09:54:00.000-08:00

My Valentine's Day was lovely for some unconventional reasons this year! (and some conventional ones as well)

I worked the night before, drove home V-day morning in a daze, and then crawled into bed. I of course grabbed my computer to check my email before falling to sleep. I hardly ever get any emails anymore but I still check it regularly and refresh the screen thinking surely someone has something exciting to tell me via email.

Well, that morning I actually did get something exciting-- an acceptance letter to

BYU's Family Nurse Practitioner program!

(This is just a random pic from nursing school but I'm in nursing get-up and I'm excited)

This has been a dream of mine for a LONG time. I couldn't believe it.

After all the grade stress, GRE studying, letters of rec, and interviews it was such a relief to read that letter. A big shout out to all the fam/friends who went through piles of flashcards with me during nursing school, proofread my statement of intent and other papers, gave me tons of pep talks, etc. It's been a long road, but I feel super blessed. I did not at all expect to get in.

So I start school at the end of April. I can't wait to be a true BYU Cougar again. I'm wondering if I'll get a sweet grad student parking pass?? I also can't wait to be on campus all the time with Justin, Bash, and maybe even lil Brookie come fall! Justin and I will graduate at the same time so it's pretty perfect. I already registered for my spring term classes. Never thought I'd be that pumped about getting on Route Y.

That was my v-day miracle. It was lovely. The rest of the day was great too- sleeping for hours, chocolate covered strawberries and sugar cookies from Justin (I am my mother's daughter), dinner with our fav third wheel, and then a night shift spent making Toy Story valentine's for my cute patients! A lovely day indeed.

This cougar keeps getting older...

2011-02-20T10:40:00.000-08:00

About a month ago I turned 23! I feel kinda old because it's getting to mid-twenties. I remember the day I realized that I would ALWAYS be older than Justin. For some reason I thought he'd catch up at some point but turns out it just doesn't work that way. It'll be unfortunate when I turn like forty and he's a mere thirty-eight. At least I have a few more years to accept it. Drawbacks to being a cougar I guess...

Enough of the age talk. My birthday was lovely. Not one but two yummy breakfasts (thanks to Ash/Justin and Trish), a sunny ski day, and Cheesecake Factory. I'll post ski pics later but here are some from Cheesecake.

My good-lookin' date

In my birthday best

Mmm... cheesecake.

Trish and I also had a combined birthday get-together of sorts for the fourth year in a row. Previous years the get-togethers have been a bit more happenin' but this year was just as fun. Trish had the idea to get desserts with all the besties at a cute shop in Orem called "Chocolate".

Justin and I (mostly Justin) had fun playing with our new camera. Too many pics but oh well.

Thanks friends for making my day!

"Allie Moment" Parking Style

2011-01-06T22:20:00.000-08:00

So a few weeks ago my car got hit. It wasn't too bad- just a few scratches from a guy who couldn't stop on ice. After telling the story no less than 15 times, his insurance finally set me up to get it fixed and got me a rental car.

Tonight I was going to turn in the rental and pick up my new and improved car after my shift. The parking lot at the rental place was pretty snowy but I was able to pull into a spot. I double and triple checked the car for anything I forgot before putting the key in the irreversible drop box. Justin picked me up and as he was pulling out I said, "Oh wait where are the handicapped spots??" I spent a minute trying to convince him that I hadn't parked in one until I realized I was in trouble. Of course being the parking diva that I am I had to have the closest parking spot. Only trouble was someone out there decided that one would also be good to save for handicapped people. Oops. I spent a few minutes freaking out about the inevitable ticket I was going to get from the Provo parking sharks but Justin wisely pointed out there is nothing to do about it now.

I'm such a dork. Park my car in a handicap spot and then lock the key away so there's no way to move it. Another typical "Allie moment". Just hope this one doesn't cost me too much. Guess I'll find out in the morning!

Reminds me of this other lovely moment in time.

New Year's Eve 2011

2011-01-05T14:51:00.000-08:00

Despite subzero temperatures in PC, we continued our family tradition of sparklers pictures on New Year's.

Kimber had each of us draw out our highlight of 2010. Ours was an easy decision...

We didn't brave the cold for the Canyon's fireworks show. Justin just took this one out the window with our new toy. Check out the icicle.

Party planners. Last minute we decided to have a black and white theme for our NYE get-together. Luckily, most of the guests found fabulous black and white outfits to wear. I'll post a group pic of everyone as soon as Kimber sends it to me. So grateful for such festive family and friends!

Thanks to JCrew Justin also found a fitting party shirt to wear!

Hope you had a wonderful New Year's Eve and that you have plenty of love in 2011!

Christmas in PC

2011-01-02T13:56:00.000-08:00

We are about to leave Park City and I figured I better post about Christmas. We celebrated first in Pleasant Grove with Justin's family, then headed up to Park City to ski and celebrate with my fam! It's been so fun to spend time and relax with everyone during break.

I actually worked Christmas Day so my family was sweet and celebrated a day late. We did all our Holt traditions- the nativity (with questionable casting by Ashley-- herself as Mary and Justin as Joseph), matching Christmas pajamas, and a whole week of post-Christmas skiing.

Christmas Eve Dinner

First Christmas together-- tender!

Matching pajama picture

Mom continues to feed my zebra obsession

Justin and I got a new camera for Christmas! (Thanks Mom and Dad!) So the rest of the day was spent playing with that and taking random pics like this one. Brooke whips her hair.

Christmas with David and the Motab!

2010-12-31T13:38:00.000-08:00

I'm way behind on the blog so here's my attempt to get caught up! We've had a lovely break with Justin's family in Pleasant Grove and then skiing with my family in Park City. I'll post more on that later.

First though I need to post about David Archuleta!

So I've always been a fan- not quite hard-core enough to call myself an "Archie Angel" but a fan. When I heard he was performing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for their Christmas concert, I wanted to go bad. I had the whole fam request them through the raffle (not sure if that's allowed or not.. oops) and was lucky enough to get tickets.

Christmas tree at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building

Pretty temple lights

We got there early because we were already hanging around Temple Square and got sweet seats-- 9th row! I've never been that close in the Conference Center. We were in the next section over from President Monson, President Uchtdorf, and Elder Holland (leaders from our church).

The concert was sooo good. I loved seeing David perform. Justin said I looked like a twitterpated twelve year-old but then he was the one bragging that David waved to him afterwards. Basically after every song all the little girls would wave frantically to David as he walked off the stage. It was such a fun night.

First ski day!

2010-12-12T16:20:00.000-08:00

For my family, don't be jealous of this post. Justin and I headed out Saturday for our first ski day at the new and improved Canyons! After a few wardrobe malfunctions on my part (as in I forgot that my entire ski outfit and gear were locked up at a storage unit), we finally got going. A big shout out goes out to my mom and dad for taking my early morning phone call and Justin Larkin for still being nice to me when I do really stupid stuff. Also, a big thanks to Sonya who unknowingly let me borrow a bunch of her ski stuff! Hope that's okay girl!

Canyons changed a bunch this summer. The start of the gondola was moved closer to our condo (yay!) and they put in a heated orange "bubble" chairlift. We tried both. They also took off the "the" from their name (seems pretty insignificant to me...) and made a new logo. Look how pretty!

Here's the new start of the gondola.

Justin skiing powder on "The Pines". Can't wait to ski it with you mom!

After a few runs we headed back down to try the orange "bubble" lift. We heard one local calling it the chondola- chair/gondola. That's a pretty good name for it. It has heated seats and an orange cover to protect you from the wind. It was so warm. I think it'll be mom's new fav.

Crazy orange-ness from the cover:

It was a fun first day of the season. I can't wait for all the fam to get here and ski with us!

Thanksgiving with the Ostler and Tenney Clans

2010-12-11T21:59:00.000-08:00

I figured I better hurry and put something about Thanksgiving because Christmas is almost here. This was my first Thanksgiving with the in-laws and it was so fun. Justin and I spent the first part of the break with his mom in Pleasant Grove. The Tenney's came up from Las Vegas too so we spent most of our time running around with the cute kids. I think most of my pictures are with Savannah and baby Maverick.

Jana is an AMAZING cook. Check out the huge, pretty turkey...

We also made a quick trip back to California. We saw Brooke's state meet, visited Justin's family in Fresno, and saw a few friends in GB. It was so good to be home. This is the only pic from the weekend trip- Justin and me at Brooke's meet!

Look at my cute house!

2010-12-06T13:52:00.000-08:00

So ever since I moved into a house I've wanted to put a cute wreath on the door. Then I looked at prices of pretty wreaths and decided it wasn't quite in my budget.

Then, the other day I was running to grab something at Target and found this beauty! I checked the price tag-- with the word "CLEARANCE" and price of $2.48 I knew it was meant to be. The size is a little small for our big door but I still love it!

This was after the Thanksgiving "blizzard" hit Provo. The house just got a little dusted but thankfully the mountains got more. More on Thanksgiving later....

Jo's Bro's Distraction

2010-11-18T13:22:00.000-08:00

So the other night I was hanging out with a cutie little girl at work. We were making play dough out of flour/water, coloring, eating chicken nuggets (her, not me). It was a lovely night at the hospital.

Then, my sweet patient turns and asks me if she can watch the "rudolph" movie. I knew exactly what she was talking about- the classic claymation Christmas one. So I grab it out of our VHS library and am about to start messing with the VCR when I hear this come on....

I hadn't even noticed what the TV was turned to; I was focused on my patient with her sticky play dough hands and cute turkey hat she had made at the playroom. So I kinda hesitate there wondering how long I can leave it on this sweet serenade before my little friend notices....... It wasn't very long.

I could tell she was going to get irritated if I didn't get Rudolph on that screen quick. Don't get me wrong- I love that festive claymation creation. I just also love me some Jo's Bro's.

I settled her in her bed with her movie and walked out to find a housekeeping lady in the room next door watching the same thing. I guess I wasn't the only fan...

Luckily, I found the diddy on youtube. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit I was so distracted. It's so dumb- the cheesy lyrics, silly girl smiling like an idiot and nodding her head, etc. But I couldn't help it.

For the record, I've never actually seen Camp Rock. (but now I'm thinking maybe I should?) You might remember when we got to see them live....

Cutie Roomies

2010-11-09T20:51:00.000-08:00

So these pics were taken a few weeks ago but I thought I'd show off my roommates! These were taken the first Sunday I was able to go to my ward (which was two months after moving in... such is the life of a nurse).

This year Bree left us for a change of scenery but she's still a roomie in our hearts. We made her get in the pics too. Aubrey was one of Katie's friends from AZ and we loved her from day one! I feel super blessed to live with these lovely ladies.

Bree, Trish, me, Aubrey, Katie

In other news, I'm starting wedding plans! Advantage of a forever-long engagement is that I didn't really have to start planning until a month after we got engaged. Current issues are figuring out how to get my dream dress without spending obscene amounts of money and picking colors. I know after reading a library of wedding magazines over the last few years (thanks mom! and yes I said years...) I should already have some things figured out but I don't. Also I'll have more on Halloween later... oops.

Nurse Dorothy

2010-11-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

So I'll post more on Halloween later but here's a little about my Halloween at work with the kids! I scheduled myself to work on Saturday so I could experience the Halloween festivities at Primary. My coworkers told me everyone dressed up for work that day and the kids sometimes wore their costumes too. So I hurried and asked my mom to mail me a costume. Pretty sure my 2nd grade Dorothy costume made by my dear Grandma Olson still fits! Before you get too amazed by that I guess I should say "fits" is a loose term. If I want to inhale any oxygen while in costume the waist zipper has to stop about halfway up. I threw on a long white shirt to maintain modesty and I was set.

I got up extra early to braid my hair, tie a ribbon on Toto, etc. By the time I got up to Primary I was pumped. However, my excitement dissipated pretty quickly when I started walking in. Everywhere I looked there were older nurses dressed in plain, old scrubs! They smiled at me like "Aw that's sweet a little naive nurse in her silly holiday get-up." I remembered my scrubs I had thrown in the back of the car and came pretty close to throwing in the towel. Luckily, I decided just to sprint-walk to my unit to see if anyone else had any Halloween spirit or if I would feel like a fool all day.

I showed up and found almost all the nurses and techs dressed up! At lease one new nurse embarrassing moment was avoided. Here I am with allmy festive pals.

I think my patients' parents were more excited about my costume than my patients. Granted I had three little boys... I don't think they knew or cared why the heck I was in a blue plaid dress caring around a stuffed animal dog in a basket. However, when I bribed the "Batman" nurse to visit them I got a few points. I've never seen a little boys eyes light up like one little one did when he saw those pointy ears and ripped foam chest. Maybe Wonder Woman next year??

ps just a little shout out to my Grandma Olson. She's the one who made the cute dress (and all my other cute costumes from back in the day) and also the one I received the middle name "Joyce" from. She's one of the most wonderful people I've ever met and I love her so much! Here's a picture her, my mom, and me a few years ago. Isn't she cute?

I've got the magic....

2010-10-28T11:08:00.000-07:00

The week after the big proposal my roomie Trisha made plans to go to a B.o.B/Jason DeRulo concert at UVU. She said it could be our girls night engagement celebration of sorts. Luckily there were still tickets available the day of! It was so fun and surprisingly, they both were actually pretty good live.

On my long drives to work I sometimes resort to listening to the radio to keep me entertained (or awake...). Most of their songs are ones I've heard over and over this summer and fall. :)

Trish and Badash

B.o.B

Ash showin off some MDT moves and Lisa the creeper!

Ash and me

These girls keep me young :)

Here was my favorite from the night...

We're engaged!

2010-10-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

This is quite possibly the most exciting post I've ever written. Justin and I are engaged! He proposed last weekend in Park City and I said yes! Crazy right?

Here's the story.....

Justin told me we were going to visit his roommate

who was staying at his family's cabin in Park City.

He handed me directions that said the cabin was on "Memory Lane".

Following the directions, we turned onto a street that overlooks Park City

and just happened to have a temporary sign, "Memory Lane" posted on it.

At that point I kinda suspected something. :)

Here are some pictures of the view of Park City...

and "Memory Lane"

At the end of the cul-de-sac, Justin had set up a projector

to watch a video of all our dating memories

and pictures from the last five years or so.

Then he told me there was something across the ridge he wanted me to see.

Down in the valley I saw an area lit up with Christmas lights.

I later found out Justin and Ashley had had a busy and cold afternoon getting this contraption ready. A couple hundred feet of Christmas lights, some bamboo sticks, and a few rolls of aluminum foil later...

I turned back and Justin was on one knee. He popped the question and I said yes!

We are such zoobies in our Cougar blue!

We celebrated afterwards with dinner down on Main Street in Park City and then headed home for a photo shoot courtesy of Mom and sparkling cider!

I love that now we both have new accessories on matching fingers.

Hopefully, though, he gets to take his off soon.

Here are the fruits of the photo shoot! Justin was a good sport.

More pictures Mom took...

Naturally, we used the reindeer glasses for our celebration with the family.

Ash was Justin's accomplice the whole day setting everything up.

We owe her big time!

It feels crazy to be engaged after dating for so long. Marrying Justin was always in the back of my mind but now I just feel like I'm letting everyone in on the secret. Plus I have a pretty, shiny something on a finger! If you had told seventeen year-old Allie, drooling at "math boy" in AP calculus that I was going to marry him, I would have died of happiness. He was my dream boy then and he's still my biggest crush!

Tonight I'm celebrating with my girls... Jason DeRulo and B.O.B. concert at UVU!

PS Thanks to Mom for letting me steal her blog post :)

Football and the moonlit ride

2010-10-06T20:27:00.000-07:00

So the cougs' record may not be too impressive this season but I'm no fair-weathered fan. The games have still been fun even though they are having a rough time. I'm glad the Washington game was at home so we could see them win! Here's some pics from that game and the not-so-lovely Nevada game.

We look like such zoobies in this one! But check out my sweet alumni t-shirt...

In other football news, Justin started playing on an intramural flag football team with some friends! Being the good gf that I am, I showed up with fruit snacks and animal crackers for the whole team. After a few plays, Justin comes over to the sidelines and says "I think something's wrong with my finger". Being a good nurse, I quickly assessed the inflamed, distorted finger. A trip to the local instacare and an xray later we find out he broke the tip of this left ring finger. Amazing how he played six years of tackle and never broke a bone but ten minutes of intramurals did him in. I guess his intramural football career just wasn't meant to be. So now Justin is sporting a lovely new accessory- a fatty finger splint. Luckily this poor boy had a sweet nurse to administer ibuprofen and change his splint every few days!

I don't think I have any pictures of the splint but don't worry I'm sure it'll make appearances in future photos. It's hard to miss!

Totally unrelated but the other night we went with Trisha and Brent to do the moonlit ride at Sundance! Ty and Sonya did this for their first date and Trish and I have been itching to go for a while. It was soooooo cold. Seriously. so. cold. There was a long line and I was really wondering if it was worth it. Don't worry, it was. It was strange to be riding a lift with no snow but pretty in the mountains with the full moon. Made me excited for ski season... and wearing my warm ski gear.

Summer update because it's already fall...

2010-09-28T13:34:00.000-07:00

So I officially started my job as a nurse! I am almost done with my training and will have my very own patients soon! The drive up to SLC is not my favorite but once I am there I love it.

Summer was lovely. Here is a recap of events:

Ty got married!!! Thanks to yours truly. Well at least I did some of the introducing then Ty worked his magic. I love Ty and Sonya so much! The wedding was beautiful and so fun. You can now get updates on these Okie lovebirds at their very own blog (don't worry they are much better at updating than I am!).

The "Holt girls" just missing our newest addition!

I went on a pioneer trek!! Yes you read that right. I never got to go as a youth so I was pretty excited when I heard my BYU ward was going to do a trek. Then, I was asked to be our ward's first aid person and I knew I had to go. I couldn't turn down a chance to live out my childhood dream of becoming "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman". Each trekker was given a pioneer name and mine was Dr. Quinn, naturally. Unfortunately we didn't run into any rugged, indian-clad men a la Byron Sully....

The Macobinson family!

Here we are after a day of trekking. A little less enthused. My roomies will probably die when they know this pic is on the world wide web.

Other summer activities: picnic with the bffs

Celebrating the 4th with Carrie

Hikes with spotting scope in hand...

Timp caves

So I had this goal to celebrate one Pioneer Day 100%. I was a tad fanatical about it. I promised Justin this would be the only Pioneer Day I would celebrate. I figured I had to do it once while living in Utah. The day's activities started out with an early morning drive to SLC for the Days of '47 Pioneer Day Parade! It was a little hot but otherwise a lovely way to get into the pioneer spirit. Next up I dragged Justin over to a pioneer museum in Provo. We watched a blacksmith, looked at a pioneer schoolhouse and home, and then got free pioneer candy! He was a good sport. :) To top it all off a group of us went down to Spanish Fork for a fireworks show! Quite the Pioneer Day. I'm kinda relieved I don't feel the need to ever celebrate that holiday again....

Such a good bf supporting my pioneer day obsession

Helping all the parent-less Utah children play with dangerous years-old stilts- now that's the pioneer spirit!

Roomies at the fireworks

Bobsled ride in Park City for Mommy's birthday

Roadtrip to CA with a car full of boys for Caitlin's baptism!

Outdoor movie at the state capitol

More hiking- this time Stewart Falls.

I think that's it for summer! Next time I'll try updating more than once per season. :)

I'm a nurse!

2010-07-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

Right after getting back from my trip to California, I found out I got a job at Primary Children's Medical Center! I had interviewed there right before leaving but wasn't sure how it went. Most of the applicants in my group interview had either worked there as a tech before or had done their capstone internships there. I had done neither so I felt super blessed to even get an interview. When I got the phone call with a job offer, I was ecstatic.

Trisha was a pal and took me out to celebrate my first real job!

When I was little I would tell my parents I was going to be a professional baby holder. My mom informed me that profession was called being a mother and I wouldn't get paid. Well, I'm just about as close to a baby holder as I can get! I feel really lucky to have gotten a job and especially lucky to be working at such a special hospital. It is one of the most colorful and happiest hospitals I have ever been in.

The final step to my journey of nursing school was passing the NCLEX. I did practice questions and flashcards everyday from April to June until my mind couldn't take it anymore. June 17th I took the test. It was pretty rough. Most of the time I felt like I had no idea what the questions were even asking. I got to my 75th question and the computer shut off! A few days later I looked up on the Utah DOPL website and searched my name. I was so relieved to see "Allison Joyce Holt: Registered Nurse". Here is the screenshot to prove it if anyone is skeptical....

So it's a done deal! I even passed the drug screening. I will be working at the Children's Medical Unit so my patients will be two to eighteen years-old. I love working with children and their families. Learning "the Healer's art" at BYU was incredible and I am so excited to finally do so as a real, live nurse!

Random trip home in May....

2010-07-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

So I went home in May for no apparent reason. It was a decent trip. Nothing too big to report.

Boating at Folsom

A bridal shower for Sonya

Mother's Day

Took a casual trip to the airport

Then ran into this old friend...

Okay so the trip was a really big deal. I was a nervous wreck but it was so fun to see my best friend again. Life is good. :)

Always a Cougar.....

2010-07-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

Because the last post was so wordy, I'll keep it short with this one.

I graduated. It was good. We took lots of pictures.

Here is a sample of the many pictures.

The "Sweet Sixteen"- My bffs from nursing school

Obvy I had to take a jumping pic (please notice the high heels)

Sistas

Daddy. My academic moral support. Love him.

So fun to graduate with Sonya! That was a little perk of setting up your brother with your nursing school friends....

They're now married!

Three poses with the cougar was plenty.

I started getting restless and pictures like the following resulted:

Mom and Kimber weren't too happy but they giggled. Yay for graduating and pictures.

How to run a triathlon for idiots (because I was one)

2010-07-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

Bree (the pro) and her amateur roomies

So my lovely roommate, Bree, works at a residential treatment center for teenage boys. Part of their focus in treatment includes training for and doing triathlons. Their treatment center, Telos, even puts one on! Last fall, the girls split up and each did a leg. Then this spring Trish said she was going to do it all on her own. Naturally, I had to do it with her. With minimal training and no experience, we had quite an adventure. In hopes that no other amateur triathlete will make the same mistakes we did, I include the following advice:

1. Register for the triathlon before the day of. So unfortunately registering slipped my mind until 12:30 on the day online registration closed. I thought the extra $15 fee to register the day of was lame. Little did I know I would get four hours of sleep the night before, arrive 30 minutes before the start of the race, find out they didn't accept credit cards, sprint to my car, speed over to a bunch of broken ATMs, buy a pack of Mentos at Target just to get $40 cash back, and borrow three bucks from Bree just to register. I was having a panic attack before the race even started. Hence my next advice....

2. Get more than four hours of sleep the night before.

3. Arrive more than 30 minutes before the race.

4. If you don't follow #1, bring some form of payment other than a credit card.

5. Bring a helmet. That's right. Trish and I failed to bring helmets to a triathlon. I do not own a bike helmet, only a ski helmet. Being ever so fashion-conscious, Trish and I decided the ski helmet would be much too embarrassing and tacky. Sweet Trish said she would leave hers at home, so I would not be the only one without a helmet. Bad, bad idea. So after the registration fiasco was figured out, an official kindly informed us we could not ride with out helmets. Trish and I started the run not knowing if we would actually be able to ride. But luckily, we have an awesome friend, Zach, who found us helmets and handed them to us as we ran in. Close call!

6. Don't use a hybrid bike you received for Christmas as a preteen. I'd like to think Trish and I were doing pretty good after the run. But as soon as we jumped on our rusty hybrid bikes, we were in toast. The bluish-purple dandy I received for Christmas when I was thirteen is great for riding around the Weddington Circle, but not much for a triathlon. While others sped past on their fancy road bikes, Trish and I struggled to say the least. By the time we got in the pool, we had fallen so far back in the pack I had to swim with a bunch of old men. No bueno.

7. Learn to swim. Unfortunately I only lasted through one season of swim team as a child. Most meets were spent standing stubbornly on the starting block and whining to my parents that it was "too cold!!!". So my swimming skills are definitely subpar. While attempting not to drown, I managed to kick the aforementioned old men a few times. Because the swim portion took place in a pool, the elderly competitors decided just to wade through the shallow end. I don't blame them, but them walking through the lanes while I'm clumsily making motions resembling breast stroke is not a good combination.

8. Wear an ugly Speedo swimsuit. So this is totally against my fashion taste, but I would advise you to wear a less-than-flattering Speedo one piece. I did not own one and was forced to wear a cute black swimsuit. Unfortunately it is a halter so my little straps were poking out behind my neck tied it a little bow. If anyone was confused whether I was an amateur, the bow was a dead giveaway. Also, running in a halter swimsuit was not fun.

9. Train. So I went running a few times and went on an afternoon bike ride one day with Trish, but I'd hardly call that "training". I don't know what training for a triathlon would entail because I didn't do it, but I bet that would have been beneficial.

I can't believe I was such an idiot or that I lived to tell the tale. I think I made almost every rookie mistake possible. But now that you're ready to do a triathlon, how about some pictures!

Trish and I after I survived the swim

Zach our helmet hero!

Spring Updates

2010-07-05T18:46:00.000-07:00

I always have good intentions of updating the blog but alas, it rarely happens. Now that's we're well into summer I've decided to post some updates. To be honest, this spring was pretty darn exciting so these updates will be worth reading. Well, at least it was all exciting to me so I hope it's at least semi-exciting to you.

Here's a teaser to start.....

Booyah. I bet you're gonna read those updates now, huh?

Portland for the weekend!

2010-04-17T21:46:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I got to go to Portland for my cousin, Micaela's wedding! It was so fun to see all the Olson's and hang out with my mom. It was my first time visiting portland. I didn't see much of the city but what I did was pretty! Thanks Mom for letting me play with you in Portland and congratulations to Micaela and Eric!

I may or may not be in love with Justin Bieber....

2010-03-13T18:15:00.000-08:00

and Jesse McCartney...

Never knew I was fluent in body languages. Gosh good thing Jesse figured this stuff out. Makes me want to go back to junior high and the days of my fatty Billy Gilman crush. I will forever be thirteen.

America owns da Olympics. Whhaaaaa??

2010-02-24T17:25:00.000-08:00

That title was a shoutout to none other than Ashley Holt. But, really the U.S. is owning the Olympics. I have watched an unhealthy amount of television in the last two weeks and I'm proud of it.

The U.S. has led the medal count basically from day one. Here's the current count.

	MEDALISTS				TOTAL
United States	See Names	7	9	12	28
Germany	See Names	7	10	7	24
Norway	See Names	6	6	6	18
Canada	See Names	7	6	2	15
Russia	See Names	3	4	6	13

Ashley and I couldn't pass this once-every-two-year opportunity without throwing a little fiesta. So we donned our most patriotic get-up, baked some good old American goodies, and turned on the tube. It was fabulous.

Here are some pics to prove it.

In other Olympic news, I was distraught to find out the other day that there is a group of people who hate the Olympics! They are called the Olympic Resistance Network and protested at the opening ceremonies. Well, according to their website, "The Olympics are not about the human spirit and have little to do with athletic excellence." Whaaaaa?!?! These kids must not be watching their daily dose of Olympics commercials. Here are a few of my favorites.

Dan Jensen winning gold for his sister:

Apollo Anton Ohno:

Just some NBC Olympic goodness:

I just got the chills. If you aren't feeling the Olympic spirit now, I don't know what to tell you. Happy Olympics watching!

The Almost Head-On Collision

2010-01-24T21:31:00.000-08:00

So I'm going to tell you a story because something exciting/dreadful happened to me the other night and as part of my recommitment I am going to share this story on my blog.Last friday night my roomies and I went to our stake activity- a barn dance in Elkridge, Utah. It was a lovely dance and we had tons of fun with our wardies. See pictures below.

During the end of the dance, the DJ kept telling us to drive careful because there had been freezing rain and snow while we were at the dance. My car has four-wheel drive so I brushed off the warning and we all headed to the car.

The first adventure came when I started trying to back out of a little hill I had decided to park on (genius!). I was backward on an incline trying to make it up onto the real road. After gunning it while in reverse and sliding the back of my car around for a little bit, a few kind boys offered to turn my car around at the bottom of the incline. I hesitated saying it would be a six point turn on ice and they could never just push my car in a full 180. Well, they did just that. They basically tapped on the back of my car and were able to turn it in a matter of seconds. Then I relied on my four-wheel, told everyone to get out of the way, and gunned my way to the top of the incline. All the boys were pretty impressed.

The real story came though when we started downhill on the road from the barn. So many people had already spun out that the people in charge were regulating when a car could start on the road so we were all spread out. They told us to put it in neutral and just tap our brakes on the way down. So many people had driven on the road that any snow providing traction had been cleared and now it was sheer ice. It resembled an ice skating rink but instead of skating on it we were trying to drive big cars down the icy one lane downhill road with fences lining both sides.

As we started down, the car in front of us spun out, but luckily I was able to quickly stop while some of the boys turned the car. We creeped forward again at about 10 MPH just rolling down in neutral. Suddenly the car ahead spun out again, but this time they were facing me in the middle of the road and my car wouldn't stop. I hit the brakes and held the car steady, but there was nothing to grip on the ice I was rolling down. The head-on collision seemed inevitable. Trish yelled a prayer, I screamed "PLEASE STOP MY CAR" multiple times with increasing urgency, a boy in my car jumped out to try and help.We picked up speed down the hill until at the last second when our car spun 90 degrees to the left and stopped a foot away from the car. We couldn't believe it. There was no reason for our car to slide left and stop still in the middle of the road. We all sat there with our cars in a "T" formation and made sure everyone was okay. When the car stopped, all the adrenaline left my body in the form of giant tears and then I just felt grateful.

I seriously felt like it was one of the most blatant "tender mercies" I've ever had in my life. All the boys running to help said they were sure we were going to hit them. Even the owner of the other car frantically ran and jumped a fence to get away from the seeming inevitable collision. It was a traumatic night but definitely a miracle. I drove an average of 20 MPH and rehashed the incident over and over with my passengers all the way back to Provo. The anxiety of the whole experience was still there and I was in desperate need of some comfort food. So, you guessed it, I drove straight to Taco Bell with the roomies and got a burrito. Somehow my comfort food from rough days at kindergarten still does the trick.

Recommit

2010-01-21T08:45:00.001-08:00

Hi. So I've been terrible about blogging. This is my blog post of recommitment. I really do have the time because I am surfing the web during most of my classes anyway. SO I might as well blog while I'm blowing time on the lovely world wide web. Half the time I'm stalking your blogs anyway, so I figure it's only fair if I do my part in the blogging world.

So here's the 411 on my life as of late. I am in my LAST SEMESTER OF COLLEGE. Yes, that's right. I will graduate in April and then be a nurse! (after I pass the NCLEX test) I am now in my "Capstone" of nursing, which is basically an internship with one nurse on a unit. I am at the Cardiovascular ICU at UVRMC. If it sounds glamorous, it's not. I have mostly been dumping pee out of catheters and giving old men bed baths. Booyah! Welcome to nursing. I love my preceptor nurse and I'm feeling like a real nurse though, so it's good. I think that's the gist of what I'm up to. Now that I have officially recommitted, I guess I'll make some real posts.

ps Happy 2010! Look at this sweet photo Kimber took on New Year's Eve....

Guess what...

2009-09-29T16:55:00.000-07:00

School started. Blog stopped.

Here's a brief synopsis of my life right now.... Critical care nursing, psych rotation, finishing my research project, loving my roommates, and hanging with family- they've been in town a ton.

Hopefully I'll be able to write a real update soon.

Laugh at yourself, before anyone else can!

2009-08-27T00:28:00.000-07:00

Since I was young, my parents have always told me, "You just gotta laugh at yourself!" Yielding to this wise advice, I share the following story.

Almost two weeks ago on Saturday, August 15th, I headed to the University Mall just before closing to exchange a pair of shoes. I do not go to the mall often but this errand had to scratched off my post summer term finals "to do" list. I stopped by the shoe store and Forever 21 and headed on my way. Upon reaching my car I realized I did not have my keys. I thought I had put them in the side pocket of my purse like always. I began to panic and called my brother (who was on a date) to come rescue me. I saw the cops nearby and asked if they could maybe open the car to see if they were inside. They did so, but no keys were found. When my brother arrived, he searched my purse, knowing my past history of losing things in obvious places, but again no keys were found. I ran through the closing mall yelling at employees through the gates asking them if they had found any keys. In the end, everything closed and I had to give up for the time being and be taken home like a child by my brother and his girlfriend.

The next morning I found my spare! Hope was restored. I debated whether I should give it to my brother for safe keeping, but in the end my pride prevailed. I decided I was capable of not losing the key for a few hours. Ty and I planned to pick up my stranded car from the mall parking lot after we attended church. I walked out of my meetings, stuck my hand in the pocket of my purse, and felt nothing. This time I felt I was losing not only my keys at a disturbing rate, but also my mind. In my fit of frustration and close to tears, I called my little sister to wallow in self-pity.

The next three days were spent borrowing my brother's car to drive from one lost and found to the next. I went to the mall's customer service desk, the shoe store, and Forever 21 every day. I even slyly searched around the stores myself! I frequented the BYU lost and found since the church where I lost the spare was on campus. My precious days between school semesters were spent stressing over two sets of lost keys.

On Wednesday I left for NYC to see my sister, Kimber. I welcomed the chance to escape my key search. I had an absolutely wonderful trip (more on that later) but had to return home to the key issue. Tuesday morning I set out for my final check of the lost and founds. After BYU, the shoe store, and customer service, I gave up.

I called AAA to tow my car to the Nissan dealership. They said they could rekey my car over the next day or so. I hated to say I failed and pay large amounts of money all because I misplaced something. They did the job and I picked my car up this afternoon (Thursday).

I was paranoid about my keys. I kept them zipped up that little pocket so there was no way they could fall out. Bree, Lisa, and I decided to go see Star Trek at the dollar theater tonight and I volunteered to drive my newly rekeyed vehicle. As we walked to my car in the garage, I felt for my keys in the pocket. Again, nothing. I could have cried right there. However, I pulled it together and Bree drove instead. Although Star Trek seemed like a decent movie, I could hardly concentrate, nauseated with the thought that I might have lost my brand new keys. I seriously thought I was losing my mind one key at a time.

After getting home, I rushed to my room searching every surface. I dumped out the contents of my purse on my bed. While doing so, I felt something underneath the lining of my purse. I searched for an opening to this compartment. My stomach dropped. I pulled the lining of the side pocket completely out and saw a little hole in the corner. Absolute panic pervaded me. I reached my two fingers through the hole and felt around. I started pulling the loot out one piece at a time. Eventually my fingers graced the edges of keys- not only the new pair I had lost tonight but my original set, the spare, my parents' condo key, and my brother's spare. Five sets of keys total. I called my parents tearfully reporting everything I pulled out of the hole and beating myself up over the whole ordeal. There are many reasons why I should have cracked this case sooner (before spending the money to rekey my car would have been especially nice) but instead of focusing on that I am going to laugh at myself.

It is all quite hilarious so it's hard not to. For the last week and a half I have been running to lost and founds, stressing over this while the keys sat right in the very purse I was still carrying around. Brilliant.

In this lovely unknown black hole I found eight chapsticks (didn't even know I owned that many!), a blush brush, mascara, an eyelash curler, eyeliner, two pens, pearl earrings, a bracelet, way too many bobbypins, and five sets of keys. Holy cow. Here's some photos of the purse, the hole, and the contents.

A while ago I found this quote, which wittily conveys what my parents have tried to teach me.

"Laugh at yourself, before anyone else can." Elsa Maxwell, September 28th, 1958

Now that I've amused myself, feel free to laugh until your heart's content.

As of late...

2009-08-24T16:55:00.000-07:00

I'm allergic to these:

Good at losing these:

Can't wait for this:

Loving this place:

And Missing her:

More on NYC later. Start school in a week. Oh my goodness.

Kids will love you

2009-08-16T13:41:00.001-07:00

Here's one secret I learned while babysitting. Make this rainbow cake and it's an automatic ticket onto the "cool" list. The kiddos weren't sure about me at first but after concocting this goodness it was smooth sailing. I'll post some pictures and then the link to the recipe....

You think it's just a boring white cake and then BAAAMMM!

Sorry about the terrible photography. I promise it looks super cool if I do say so myself. Here's the link to the cake. Just a warning: this recipe contains expletives. Who knew happy rainbow cake was something to curse about? Oh and another weird thing- you use soda in the cake! I guess it is a diet cake (what a paradox) so you use diet soda and a white cake mix! Crazy huh? We tried to make it as not diet as possible by using really yummy fluffy frosting instead of diet whip cream. Golden.

I'm not a regular mom-- I'm a cool mom!

2009-08-01T18:17:00.000-07:00

Today I started an adventure. I am babysitting a family for ten days while their parents go to Israel. Luckily, they are quite possibly the cutest, most well-behaved kids ever. There are only three and the youngest is eight years old. Today was the first day. I watched "Swiss Family Robinson" 2.5 times, swam in the pool, baked a rainbow cake (didn't want to toot my own horn but I had to blog about it!), and now I have three 14 year-old girls hanging out here.
I was packing to come up and I had a critical moment. I started pulling out my sweats and t-shirts because I figured I would just be hanging out with the kids and running them around. Then, I had a preview of my life flash before my eyes and I realized I did NOT want to be a frumpy mom! I quickly grabbed some cute shirts and jeans and stuffed them in my bag.
It made me think of Mean Girls when Amy Poehler (acting as Lindsay Lohan's mom) tells her friends "I'm not a regular mom, I'm a cool mom!"
And to that I say ditto.

Now that I have the wardrobe figured out, any bits of motherly wisdom or parenting advice would be greatly appreciated.

Rodeos and Jonas Bro's!

2009-07-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

I I had missed the 4th of July for the past three years but this one really made up for it.

My family was in town at Park City so I spent the whole weekend up there with them. On Friday night, I took Ashley and we met up with some of my friends for my first ever rodeo experience in Oakley, Utah! I loved it. At times the calf wrestling got a little violent, but I was willing to overlook that because the rest was so amazing. It even ended with some pretty sweet fireworks! Yeehaw!! Here's some pics....

The next day we headed down to Provo for the Stadium of Fire! We used to go when I was little so it was super fun to go again. They had two of my favorites- SheDaisy and Jonas Brothers! Okay I've only recently become a fan of the Jonas Brothers but I love them. My little sisters' twitter-patted crushes were contagious. I sang and danced along with the rest of the little tween fans and loved every minute of it.

Exploring the Beehive State

2009-07-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

Oops I've already gotten behind on the blog. Well I'll try to update over the next few days. I've been busy with school, family, and those lovely research projects I love so much.

At the end of June I went on a fun trip with some ward friends to Zion's National Park! I feel bad after living in the wonderful Beehive State for a good three years I still haven't explored much. I was beyond pleased with my Zion's adventure. We drove down one night and camped on a random dirt road. The next morning we ate cake for breakfast, shot potato guns, hiked the Narrows, had a BBQ, competed in a rousing game of kickball, and played MASH until the wee hours of the morning. Talk about a good day! We finished off the trip the next day by going to a reservoir to cliff jump. If this wasn't enough already, for our last meal we stopped at In N Out in St. George. I'm still a California girl at heart.

Our makeshift campsite on the side of a dirt-road right outside the park....

Morning activity: shooting the potato gun. Oh and Lisa pulled out some amazing skills hitting our target (the cake box) the first time! Go girl!

Hiking up the narrows

This is just a glimpse of the madness.

Lisa and I just floating at the end!

Here's the whole crew

Some of us made a goal to have a squirrel on Nick's head... being good little Cougars we are very much goal-oriented.

This was the result.

Nick, Lisa, and I at the Reservoir the next day!

Hopefully Mother doesn't read this, but here's proof that I jumped off that cliff!

Crazy photo courtesy of Lisa's camera...

I promise there is more to come!

I'm not ashamed to say it

2009-07-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

I'm ecstatic to see these boys tonight....

My family and I are going to jo bro's tonight and I couldn't be more excited. When I heard they were playing at the Stadium of Fire, I frantically called my mom to find out what our 4th of July plans were. It all worked out and we are going tonight! I'm mildly obsessed with anything Disney and Jo Bro's are no exception. I will be there singing with all the tweens! Yessss... Happy 4th!

I heart my Jeru Fam!

2009-07-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

So about a year ago I returned from my study abroad in Jerusalem and I still miss it... a lot. I got to see and experience so much while I was there. My cousin, Stephanie, is there right now doing the same thing and I am so jealous! I look at her blog and just wish I were her.

Although I am far from the city and probably won't go back any time soon, I am still in contact with a ton of the friends I made there. Way back when I think I posted about our little "Jeru Family." We were the best of buds while studying there. We each had a role like the crazy aunt, rebellious teenage son, grandma, etc. It was wonderful. Here is a family portrait we took back in the day.

Well, the other day one of the family members, Micah, said he was going to take Jenna and I out on a date. We are all best friends and I thought it was just him being sweet. We were waiting in line at Diego's (our favorite Mexican food restaurant) when in walked our "mom" Lauren Nutall!!! Lauren has been working in Oklahoma for the past year so it was so exciting to see her sweet face!

We were so happy to be reunited! After dinner, we went over to our "father" Ted's house to surprise him. Here's a shot of mommy Lauren waking up Teddy from a nap....

It felt so good to be reunited with so many of my Jeru friends. It wasn't the whole fam but I think it was most we've had together since we got back. Hooray for study abroad besties...

Wakeboard in the rain? Okay!

2009-06-24T21:59:00.000-07:00

So here's a quick story about two of my dearest friends. Back in January, a group of my guy friends invited me to come to St. George with them for the weekend. Not wanting to go alone, I invited one of my favorite girls, Lisa. We spent a wonderful weekend climbing red rocks, watching rugby, and shooting guns.

A month or so later one of those guys, Benson, and Lisa started dating! I was ecstatic. I love them both. A lot. They are still going strong and pretty much adorable. See:

Anyway, the other day Benson invited me to come on his boat! I'm always up for a chance to wakeboard so I was in. Unfortunately, Lisa couldn't come because of finals. :( Benson went right ahead and still took out three of Lisa's friends- Breanna, Miranda, and me.

Breanna, Me, and Miranda

Benson's a jolly boater.

It was quite a stormy day so the water was pretty rough. We finally found a calmer spot and then it started raining! I was not too jazzed about the idea of wakeboarding in the rain but I toughened up. This was my first time wakeboarding on Utah Lake and let me tell you... it should be called Utah Swamp. The color is a lovely green-brown like a muddy puddle that's been stagnant too long. Yucky. Also, we got eaten alive by mosquitos at the dock! I am always afraid of lakes (even at pretty Folsom!) so I was really conquering a few fears in entering those cold, murky waters. Here's some pics of the fun day!

I pretty much love Miranda... and double skis.

See the ominous clouds behind me?

Benson showing us the ropes...

Breanna's first time wakeboarding... Go girl!

Benson just left to do an internship in the Dominican Republic and I already miss him. Lisa and I are counting down the days until he comes back so we can all play some more!

No, no, no, thank YOU CPK!

2009-06-18T11:53:00.000-07:00

I have been eating free or 50% California Pizza Kitchen for the past two months. Let me tell you how!

So after finals all the roomies and I decided to go out to eat to celebrate! I had a gift certificate to CPK (thanks mom!) so we decided to go there. We had a yummy meal and then at the end the waitress brings these little cards over. She said they were thank you cards from CPK. The deal is that you have to come back in to open them up and reveal your prize. Just a ploy to get you to come back the restaurant? Perhaps, but this one worked out in my favor! Trish my little love was super nice and gave me hers because she was leaving to Romania in the next few days.

Well, Ty took me out to dinner the night before I left for Ecuador. We opened two cards up and won two free dinners for two (worth $40 each)! We used one that night and got to order drinks and dessert too! Hello bbq chicken pizza and penne pesto pasta!

Every time we'd go in they'd give us a new stack of cards too! I think I went to CPK three times in a row without paying a dime. We also won 50% off a whole meal for up to 12 people. The roomies, Ty, and I spread the word and soon we had 12 people heading up to CPK. It was wonderful. If there's anything I love more than food it's getting it for free/cheap.

I was going to post about this a while ago so you could all run in there and get some of these "thank you" card prizes but unfortunately they have stopped distributing them. Sorry! So I guess the purpose of this post was just to brag about all the yummy food I got. Kinda rude but oh well. I still have a few more 50% off coupons so if you're in Utah let's go!

State Track Meet with the Bear

2009-06-13T10:20:00.001-07:00

Here's the follow-up from that last post. So I went home for the weekend to see friends and the fam but mostly to watch Brooke "The Bear" run in the California state track meet! I was super nervous going because I seemed to have some sort of jinx on Brooke the last few times I've seen her run. We all loaded up in the car and drove down to Fresno! The meet was so fun to watch because the athletes were incredible. We watched two other Granite Bay athletes- a long jumper and a pole vaulter. Finally, it was time for Brooke's race. It was terrible sitting there worried while she ran eight laps of the track. She stuck with a pack of girls the whole time and ended up getting a 17 second PR! She ran the 3200 (basically 2 miles) in 10:48. Crazy.

She was so excited she turned and cheered after the finish line. We all hurried over to see her and she was doing a combination of laughing and crying she was so happy. She got 17th place in the whole state of California! She is amazing. This is especially impressive considering how huge California is. In a ton of other states she would have won the whole state meet with her time! I was so happy for her especially after all the training she had done. She is one of the most disciplined people I know. It was fun to finally be there at a "happy" race! Afterwards we took photos and went to In-N-Out. I love California...

It was so fun to be home and see everyone. I got to catch up with a bunch of my sweet friends- Sister Barton, Anise, and Alyssa. Dad also took the fam out to the lake on Monday night- my favorite FHE. I flew back to Utah on Tuesday. For the next two weeks until summer term starts I'm just working on my nursing research projects and living the dream in P-town!

Here's some pics from the race!

2009-06-06T12:39:00.001-07:00

So i'm trying this twitter-like update thing from my phone. Gosh i'm getting so tech savvy! :) I am currently driving down to fresno with the family for the California state track meet! Brooke qualified for the two mile race and we are so proud. She's crazy fast and so disciplined in her workouts. Go bear!!! Ty and i have been banned to the back seat but we're being pals sharing my ipod. We have already watched emperors new groove and eaten a whole box of hot tamales. Love road trips with the fam!

back in the USA

2009-05-30T13:56:00.000-07:00

Well I finally made it home! I stayed that extra day (photos and info to follow) and it was actually super fun. I got home on Saturday afternoon. It's been so fun to see my roommates and friends in the ward. I'll just be working in Provo until summer classes start. I'm going to go back and finish those few days I missed because I'm actually printing this out in a little photobook. I think I might just keep this blog because it's gotten me in contact with so many people. Thanks for reading and sharing my experience! I'll post the rest of the days soon....

Love, Allie

bittersweet $400

2009-05-28T22:41:00.000-07:00

So I'm a little behind on the blog but here's an up-to-date post.

Tonight I arrived at the Quito airport for my flight for the U.S. of A. and was pretty stoked right? Well, I walked up to a desk right after my friend, Katie. While the lady is typing and clicking away checking me in, Katie (my roomie) turns to me and says, "Wait, Allie, want to stay 24 hours more for $400?" My first instinct was to turn down the offer. The airline agent started rattling off something about a five star hotel, food vouchers, transportation, and $400 towards any Delta flight. The whole time I was thinking of my dear bffs and bro at home! We had so many plans for Friday and Saturday- the most distressing being a welcome home party on Friday night!

I broke out the computer, jumped on Skype, and made some phone calls. Mother said it was probably a good idea because $400 is quite a bit of dinero and I'm not exactly rollin in the dough with my little research jobs. It kinda seemed meant to be especially because I have been really wanting to come home in June. Ty seemed a little less enthralled with the idea but agreed. I was still beside myself about my sweet friends who had made so many plans for the weekend but decided I wasn't in a place to pass up $400 in Delta vouchers. I made my decision but waited to hear from my friends that everything was okay.

Katie convinced our friend, Sonya, to join us too and then it was official! Three other girls later in line decided to stay the extra day also. Two of the boys called their wives but when they heard the sadness of their wives about the 24-hour delay it was a no go. Oh the joys of being single and unattached!

For the first few hours I could hardly enjoy myself, still worried sick about my besties (Ty, Lisa, Katie, Bree, Benson, Jenna, Kalli, etc.). Luckily, I have the sweetest friends ever and they all were really understanding. Hopefully we can reschedule the party for sometime soon! Thanks guys for even thinking to plan a welcome home party and for being so nice when it didn't work out. I can't wait to see everyone!

In the meantime, we are living the dream in Ecuador! We decided if we're going to have to stay 24 hours more we might as well make the most of it. It's not too hard to enjoy yourself here. Delta has put us up in one of the nicest hotels in Quito- the Dann Carlton. We even have a swimming pool and spa!

As soon as we got to our rooms we all put on our little slippers.

Now I'll be arriving Saturday morning at 10:25 am! I'm so super excited to see all my friends and catch up, especially after the delay. See you then!

Ecuador=Equator

2009-05-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

So today we finally found out why Ecuador has its name! Okay maybe we already knew but we actually got to go to the Equator today. I was wondering how cool a line on a map could be but I was presently surprised.

We arrived at Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the Earth) and I immediately sensed a tourist trap. From the outside I saw a sign that bragged about being the actual location of the Equator found by GPS. We started on a little tour showing traditional dress of the people there (don't worry the men's only item of clothing is a single string around the waist) and how they shrink heads the heads of killed enemies or leaders. Basically, we all got grossed out for the first few exhibits.

Then, we followed our tour guide over to a line showing the actual Equator. He did a few Bill Nye type experiments and it was so cool!

The first was probably something you've heard of- the changing water direction with hemispheres. First, he filled the bucket and showed that on the Equator the water flowed straight down. Then he moved five feet over to the north and the water flowed out counterclockwise! It was nuts! Next, you guessed it, he pulled it over five feet to the south and it flowed out clockwise. Crazy.

Next he talked about how on the Equator because there is no Coriolis Effect it is really easy to balance. He told us if we could balance an egg on a nail we would get a little certificate at the end. Being nursing students and highly motivated, we all tried again and again to balance that darn egg. Finally, I did it! Here's a picture for the fridge!

The last one was showing how the Equator affects us. He had us try to pull each other's arms down away from the Equator and then on it. It was way easier to do on the Equator. I guess without the pull we all weigh less on it so we're weaker. Haha okay so the explanation wasn't every detailed but it really worked. Here's all the proud nursing students with their certificates.

Next we went to the place where they have thought the Equator was forever before GPS. They have a pretty monument there and shops/restaurants.

We then went on a little tour of Quito. We saw a beautiful cathedral and toured the President's Palace. Ecuador has been pretty crazy with dictators and coup d'etats. It was fun to hear a little bit about the political history.

We also saw a pretty statue of Maria on a hill...

After this we were pretty tuckered out! We ran home to change and shower before heading off to a fancy dinner at the Hotel Quito. It was pretty yummy! I even ate shrimp Dad!

After a long day of sightseeing we were ready to sleep!

jurassic park and eating guinea pigs

2009-05-25T13:41:00.000-07:00

Monday we were able to tour with the Benson Institute and see what work they have been doing in Otavalo. It was super interesting. The Benson Institute is kinda an offshoot of the Church Humanitarian Aid. They work mostly with nutrition and agriculture projects. In Otavalo they help families grow their own gardens and tend chickens and cuy (pronounced kwee). Here's a photo of me holding a cute cuy.

You may be wondering why they are called cuys. Well this video should explain all.

We got to visit four families and talk to them about their involvement in the project. The thing that really stood out to me was the families’ self-reliance. Within a year the families were basically tending the gardens and chickens/guinea pigs on their own and providing for their families. If their yield increases beyond what they need, they can donate to the Bishop’s storehouse or community families, and then even sell some for a profit. I loved talking to the mothers and fathers. They seemed so proud of the work they were doing whether it was a beautiful vegetable garden or a group of large chickens. I also love how they are to donate their excess first to the Bishop’s storehouse or community if they are nonmembers. This Law of Consecration type organization works down here! I believe it is because the people down here are much more communitarian and much less individualistic than we are in America. They are so quick to share of their substance- even with us! It is rare for us to enter a house and not be offered a drink or snack. We have even had families run down (unbeknownst to us) and buy a liter of soda to offer us. I have a lot to learn from these people. They make me want to simplify my life and truly care more about those around me than I do myself.

After the Benson Institute, we grabbed lunch in Cotacachi. This city is famous for their leather so some people got some cute purses.

We ate at a little restaurant that even had a little Andean music band! On the menu was Qui, the name for the little guinea pigs we had seen earlier. It is a delicacy around these parts so we decided we better try it. The scariest thing was that it actually was a whole guinea pig with eyes, teeth, and a tail! We took some pictures of our lovely appetizer before divvying up the rodent. I got a little drumstick I guess- one of the hind legs! It tasted just like chicken so if you didn’t think about the fact it was a guinea pig it wasn’t too bad.

Then we went to a little crater lake and took a boat ride around an island in the middle. In typical Ecuadorian style, our boat broke down in the middle of the lake, we ran into the swampy island, and had to wait until the engine would start again. I seriously love this place- always an adventure!

During the boat ride, someone mentioned that they felt like they were in Jurassic Park, all they needed was the theme song. Luckily, I learned that little ditty on the piano back in the day (mind you it was about ten years ago). I started humming the tune and everyone chimed in! When we landed, my friend, Taniel, started speaking in an awesome British accent and this video was born. Again, not sure why I'm humiliating myself though this blog.

Next we packed out of our lakeside hotel and loaded the bus to head back to Quito! It was a peaceful two-hour ride. I sat next to Katie and we chatted the whole way about nursing, our futures, and decisions that were coming up. Before leaving, I barely knew Katie except for taking her home once from clinical. Now, I’m so grateful for our sweet friendship. Luckily, we’ll have the whole next year together in our nursing classes too!

We got into Quito in the evening and went out to find some dinner. We asked the front desk for a suggestion. We wanted Italian, cheap, and close to the hotel. I thought it was a little much to ask for but the lady gave us directions and we were off! I couldn’t believe it when we found a cute little Italian restaurant. Guayaquil had nothing of the sort. I got a huge plate of spaghetti for $3.60. Another reason I will miss this place…

Sabbath in Otavalo

2009-05-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

We had another wonderful Sabbath in Ecuador! This was our first time attending church in Otavalo and we loved it. The church is really strong here- they even have two stakes! We had a really neat discussion about the three degrees of glory in Sunday School and a good lesson on prayer in Relief Society. The members are so sweet to us and excited to have us there. It was fun too to see some of the members in their traditional Ecuadorian dress.

After church we mostly relaxed and enjoyed our lakeside hotel! First we ventured over to our hotel's pet llama collection! We discovered that my roommate Mykel is a llama-whisperer. She seriously charmed those llamas. I, on the other hand, was not so good with the animals. This picture pretty much captures my interactions with them...

My roommate Katie and I laid out on some lounge chairs looking over the lake, took a nap in our room, and then ventured outside some more to take some pictures of the beautiful view.

The surroundings are seriously gorgeous. We are in the middle of the Andes five feet from an alpine lake. This is such a contrast from the crowded, polluted city of Guayaquil. The air smells so good! No trace of dead fish, rotting garbage, or even exhaust. Here's a bunch of the photos we took.

That night we were craving Mexican food so we headed into the city of Otavalo to see what we could find. Katie and I led the group to a little restaurant we had seen at the market, Tabasco’s. It hit the spot! Although we have rice and beans almost every day, I still craved tortillas, chips, salsa, etc. It was definitely one of the more satisfying meals of the trip.

The water costs just as much as soda here so I treat myself to a Fanta probably a little too often. Funny how I rarely drink soda in the States but here in Ecuador I LOVE my Fanta! Only sad thing is there's never free refills. Mother would not survive here. :)

I think that's all that happened Sunday. It was a much needed day of rest. Hope you had a lovely Sunday too!

stolen goods and drug smuggling

2009-05-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

We left Guayaquil today. As we packed up last night I felt like I was leaving home again. We made so many friends there, even within the hotel—Angel and Ronald the doormen; Papi (don’t know his real name, we just called him that because we always had to ask him for the sheet to sign out whenever we left the hotel so our instructors would know where we were, and he liked the name); Freddy was our favorite guy at breakfast; and of course our girls that helped us clean our room: Teresa, Lady and Nelly.

We arrived in Quito around 11:30 am today. It is TOTALLY different than Guayaquil. It is super green and the streets are a lot cleaner, and it just seems a little less third-worldish. I have to remember though that we did basically only see the airport and then we drove through the town on our way out to Otovalo. Even though it is cleaner and nicer looking though, Guayaquil will always have a very special place in my heart because of the friends I met and was hopefully able to serve there and maybe even because it wasn’t so nice looking.

We did have an experience at the airport that didn’t leave the best taste in our mouths of Quito though. As a group of 22 people, and even worse, 22 American people, getting around is sometimes a little bit of a circus. After we got off the plane, we went down and got all of our bags at the baggage claim no problem. We then in herd-like fashion started exiting the airport looking for our Quito/Otovalo tour guide, Ornela, and the bus we would be getting on to go out to Otovalo. We found Ornela as soon as we exited the airport and she waved the bus over to get us. As we were walking out to the bus, all of these people started swarming us, some asking for money, others asking to take our bags. I have learned from traveling previously that most of the time people offer to help and then ask for a tip. I didn't have a bunch of extra change and was fine carrying my backpack myself. I just held on tight to my stuff and kept telling them, “No. I’ve got it, thanks.”

So we all form this line to get our luggage put under the bus and still there are like 4 people helping put the luggage in. We knew after, that really we only had one bus driver that probably should have been helping. Where the other people came from, I have no idea. Luckily though, I just stood there until I had handed them each piece of my luggage and watched them load them each into the bus. I then got on the bus.

Anyway, there were six of us on the bus—me, my two roommates (Katie and Mykel), Jerome (one of the 3 boys on the trip with us), Marie and Tricia. Katie and I just sat down and were putting ourselves together—arranging bags, sweaters, etc. Then Katie notices that there is this woman walking down the aisle of the bus. She pokes me and says, “Hey look at those girl’s sunglasses! They are super cute!” I agreed and we kept on doing whatever we were doing (which was nothing). Next thing I know, there is someone tapping on the other side of the bus and talking to Marie, I look over there to see who it is, just as a man dressed in really nice clothes, comes and taps on our side of the bus and starts talking to Jerome. He says, “Where are you from?” As if it isn’t obvious?! We are like a walking American flag everywhere we go. I don’t really pay attention to anything else the man says, but can’t help but notice the big cheesy grin the guy is sporting. It was almost like he was playing the permasmile game himself. Eventually the tappers of both sides of the bus leave and then Tricia is frantically searching for her backpack.

The story is that some man in a white button-up official looking shirt got on the bus and asked Jerome if he could help him with his backpack, and Jerome said no. He then moved on to my roommate Mykel and was able to talk her into giving him her carry-on bag but not her backpack. He put it above her head and then moved it down towards the front of the bus. She noticed and said, “No! Aqui.” (pointing for him to bring it back above her head) and so he did. Unfortunately Tricia was not as lucky. He asked for her bag and she let him put it up on the shelf above her head, and then as far as we can guess, he slid it to the front of the bus with him as he walked off and was able to take off with it while the people were tapping on the sides of the bus! It had everything in it—her computer (with pictures of her and her fiancé that she was going to put in her wedding video), her iPod, her camera and $150 cash. So sad. We all pitched in $10 or whatever, but even still that barely even covered her lost cash! Sondra (one of the professors) said that we could use the leftover money we have from the trip to help her out too, which will hopefully help a little more, but still, such a bummer! We are super lucky though that they didn’t get more bags. It could have been way worse. I still am puzzled as to why they didn’t even ask Katie or I. I know that I probably would have been dumb enough to give them my bag too. He just looked like he belonged to the bus crew! I never would have guessed that someone would have the guts to get on the bus and do that if they weren’t a part of the bus staff or whatever. We know better now I guess.

Taniel, one of my friends here, randomly took a picture of the bus at the precise moment when the distractions were happening. You can’t see any faces, but you can see the man’s shadow in the bus. Freaky. Our tour guide made Tricia go through the whole process of reporting it and everything which took forever and even Tricia herself didn’t want to do it, because she knew that she would never see any of her stuff again regardless, but whatevs. We all are going to be a lot more cautious from now on, even with our own tour guide because there are some reasons for suspicion of her possible involvement, not that we will ever find out for sure, so I will try not to false accuse.

After getting through that mess, we had a 2-hour bus ride to Otovalo to the prettiest little hotel on the lake. Here is the link to it and you can check it out yourselves. http://www.puertolago.com/

It was a fun change up from the city. Everything is a lot greener and prettier here. It is like a new country. Beautiful. I still love Guayaquil though. The rooms here are more like cabins and we also don’t have the best internet service or whatever so that is kind of a downer especially for the married and engaged peeps on the trip, but it is really nice and relaxing here. It has a kind of Tahoe-like feel. Love it.

We went out to the Ponchos Fair right after check-in and we stayed there for almost 4 hours finding and buying lots of cool stuff. They have some beautiful tablecloths, blankets, jewelry, and embroidery. I tried to be thrifty and not buy anything unnecessary. I’m glad I don’t have a house or any kiddos or else I would have bought way too much stuff.

Then we went out to eat at this restaurant our tour guide had picked out for us. It was really good. We had these like cheesey/meat crepe things that I wouldn’t have normally ordered for myself, but loved them. Then we went back to the hotel, had a quick devotional, and then girls night in our room. Of course we had to watch She’s the Man because what else would be more appropriate for girls night? Fun. This unflattering, quadruple-chin picture is unfortunately the only one we took that night!

After the other girls left, Katie was unpacking my suitcases a little, and when she opened her smaller suitcase she was met with an interesting surprise! There were several packages of medications that were ripped open lying on top of her bag.

We all freaked out for a minute and then called our professors to come over and check it out. Sondra and Cheryl were so good and quickly came over. Sondra put on latex gloves (yes, only nursing students probably pack latex gloves with them) and inspected it. It turned out just to be some topical anti-fungal medication and some vitamins. It was funny because as she dug into the box that had been ripped open, there was a piece of paper in there and she was like, “It’s a note!” Of course we all gasped, and then laughed when it turned out to be a prescription for the drugs.

I am still not really sure how those ended up in her bag. It just added to the creepy day. Another girl on the trip, also found drugs in her bag in the same condition—ripped open boxes, just laid on the top of her stuff. Weird. Our guide is supposedly going to try to get the medications back to the person they were prescribed to, but we’ll see if she actually is able to. I hope so, the receipt said it was like $25 or something, which is a lot down here. Creepy, yet very pretty day.

I'm Spiderman!

2009-05-22T19:17:00.000-07:00

Today was a little bittersweet. We finished up all our work here in Guayaquil and packed up to leave for Quito tomorrow!

In the morning, we took the bus out to the Hogar de Cristo headquarters. We spent a few hours compiling all our data from the schoolchildren assessments for them to use later. They are going to distribute multivitamins and iron to those who are anemic and try to follow up with children with other medical problems. It took quite a while to add up all the numbers and assess whether each child was underweight/overweight, small for age, or anemic according to their hemoglobin level.

We presented the information to Hogar de Cristo in a little meeting and they were pretty excited. They had made a bunch of goals for the year regarding health in the communities and one of them was to screen 1,000 schoolchildren. We came close! We screened 918 because some of the students were absent from school when we came. It was sad to say goodbye to the volunteers we have been working with this whole time. They are amazing people. I would love to work with them in the future but in reality I don’t know if I’ll ever be down here again.

I got a picture with my two favorite volunteers- Pamela and Vivi.

After the meeting with Hogar de Cristo, we ran back to the hotel for a second and then on to a lunch with the Junta de Beneficia. They are the group who provides healthcare to the public through the lottery. They own Sotomayor and Luis Vernaza Hospital, where we’ve been doing clinicals. I don’t know why they’re so nice to us but this was the third nice meal they have treated us to! We got to eat at a snazzy restaurant on the Malecon (river walk). One of their employees, Vincent, has gone with us to clinical every day over the last three weeks! He is so sweet and gets us into a ton of cool opportunities in the hospitals. Here’s a picture of all of us with him.

After this we went home to blog, pack, and relax! For our final evening in Guayaquil, we got batidos (smoothies) at a little corner fruit shop and played love-odometer. This is basically a glorified game of MASH with playing cards. We had fun predicting each other’s future lives (husband, number of kids, wealth, etc.) and having girl talk. I love all the girls here. We seriously have so much fun together. Here’s the fortune telling crew with one of our sweet instructors- Cheryl.

That night was spent packing up all our gear! I had a random idea earlier in the week to make a movie like we were spiderman scaling the wall because our elevator had an open side that would pass by while we were going up. Anyway, Katie and I decided we should definitely make these videos we had talked about. We were exhausted and delirious so this probably was a lot funnier to us than it will be to you but enjoy!

P.S. I don’t know why I keep putting really embarrassing stuff on here but hopefully you guys appreciate it!

miss piggy and the swine flu

2009-05-21T21:39:00.000-07:00

Today was so interesting. My roommate Katie asked me to come with her to conduct interviews with mothers who have recently given birth. She is doing a study with one of our nursing professors to gain insight on the significance of giving birth for Ecuadorian women. We rode the ambulance to the health subcentro and started doing diabetes/hypertension screenings. After testing quite a few people, we set out to interview.

Hogar de Cristo gave us a volunteer from the community to help us find people to interview. We needed moms who had given birth in the last six months. We were able to complete three interviews. I loved walking around in the rural communities and seeing where the people actually live. The mothers seemed to love their birthing experience and the treatment they received. This was a lesson for me about ethnocentricity. I saw Sotomayor (baby factory) and thought the moms must hate giving birth there. The care lacks privacy, compassion, and patient advocacy. Surprisingly, each mom raved about the health care professionals and their experiences at the hospital. I realized their expectations at much different than mine and that Sotomayor meets their needs.

The last mother we talked to was such a doll. She was absolutely content and so kind. Her family of seven lived together a small bamboo hut. There was a plastic tub full of water and a large mound of soiled clothing waiting to be washed. Her three youngest children sat on a mattress, while we conducted the interview. I have traveled to developing countries before, but I still love to see the wonderfully happy people in less-than-ideal situations.

Katie teaching me the ropes of interviewing

After then interviews we were walking back to the subcentro when I saw a large pig on the side of the road. I figured it was a sweet photo op so I handed my camera to Katie and crossed the dirt road. As I got closer, I realized the pig was actually REALLY large and I was going to have to jump over a little stream to get to him. I contemplated the whole situation for a second and decided it was worth it.

Contemplating...

So I jumped to the side and slowly stepped towards the napping swine. Katie snapped a picture and we were done right?

Well, it had all seemed too easy so I decided I could probably get closer without waking the little feller. The moment I picked up my foot to advance, the pig startled, let out a scream-like snort, and jumped up in a hurry. I don't know who was more scared- me or him. I had about the same reaction! I leaped across the little gully and ran to safety (Katie's arms). Our volunteer, Katie, and I laughed our whole way back to the subcentro. Oh goodness.

That afternoon we met with the nursing students from the Universidad de Guayaquil! It was neat to see their facilities and talk to them about nursing school. We were all pretty pooped from the long day,though. We chit chatted with a few of them, got a tour, and then headed out. On the way home somehow Katie invented the "Perma-smile Game." Basically it's a staring contest but with smiling instead of staring. Four of us in the van smiled the entire ride home. We looked like fools and had the sorest cheeks! We cracked up watching people's reactions to a bunch of white people riding in a fan smiling like lunatics. Wow what we do for fun...

Then we stopped for ice cream at our favorite place- Fragola. Ecuador just had their first case of swine flu so the workers were taking some precautions. :) I don't know if they were protecting themselves or my ice cream but I'm grateful! We got these huge dipped cones that were absolutely delicious and pretty cool-looking!

After our lovely singing on Sunday, the missionaries had decided to have a musical fireside for investigators with us singing. The boys quartet welcomed me again for our performances. I seriously have to sing an octave lower than the rest of the girls so their kindness is much appreciated. This was actually my first experience with singing in front of people! Yeah I know with my voice you probably thought I had people begging me to perform at any and every church function. :) It was so fun though! I loved watching the people reactions as we sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" and "I Need Thee Every Hour." Made me wish I really did have a beautiful singing voice like Ashley! I guess I'll just enjoy my man/smoker's voice for what it's worth.

Professional Baby Holder

2009-05-20T20:28:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was my last day at Sotomayor- the maternity hospital I’ve lovingly nicknamed the “Baby Factory.” I spent the morning providing labor support (kinda like a doula) for one woman. She wasn’t cooperating very much with the doctors because of her pain. Finally when she let the doctors check her, the baby was crowning! (the head was about to come out). So that was a quick delivery…

After she got settled in postpartum, I moseyed up to the well baby nursery. This is one of my favorite parts of a hospital.

I spent a few hours simply holding babies and talking to the doctor and nurses. Needless to say, it was wonderful. When I was little, I used to tell my parents I was going to be a professional baby holder when I grew up. Well, my dreams are coming true! :) Here are some of the sweet little ones I got to love up.

The staff was so sweet asking me all about America and what I was doing here. I, in turn, asked them about working at Sotomayor and the culture in Guayaquil. At this subsidized hospital, most of the patients are “campesinos” or rural people who come in to deliver their babies. They are young-even thirteen to fourteen-years old- and destitute. It was interesting to hear the staff members' views and feelings. Many expressed frustration with this population they serve and the lack of education. I think it is difficult for them to do any kind of "Sex Ed." down here with such a strong Catholic presence. They also have the machismo issue. They told me some men will straight up leave their "enamorada" (literally means lover, their word for an unmarried spouse) if they do not produce children, especially boys. For this reason, many women feel pressure to become pregnant and have many babies. It's just hard to see these loving moms in the maternity hospital but also know the reality they face raising their families in the communities where we are doing the schoolchildren assessments. I loved getting to know the sweet doctor and nurses and getting perspective on all this.

That night we got to go to the Guayaquil Temple for the last time! It was wonderful, as always. Oh, in the locker room I met an awesome Ecuadorian girl. We just started talking while we were getting dressed and all of a sudden she goes off in English! I was pretty impressed. She had lived in Florida for five years and joined the Church there. She worked as an esthetician at a spa (cool huh?). We stood there and talked for about fifteen minutes and I just thought the world of her. All of a sudden it dawned on me. Set her up with the Church's PR representative, Gunther! If you don't remember he's the guy that took us to the YSA dance. Anyway, I got her number and the next night I gave it to Gunther. He seemed pretty excited about it! They're both in their thirties and wonderful people. I'll keep you guys posted on what happens! Gosh I love playing matchmaker.

The "I-Lose-Everything-Important" Genes

2009-05-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

Tuesday I had my first and only day of real clinical at Luis Vernaza Hospital. Other students have spent a week or so there but I chose to spend more time at Sotomayor (the maternity hospital) and out in the community screening the kids.

Oh before I begin I have to tell a story on behalf of my dear mother from whom I seem to have inherited my “I-lose-everything-important” genes. Well I have had a letter I needed to send since I even arrived in Ecuador! I had finally addressed and stamped it- ready to go. That morning I was running out with my backpack and a huge CPR bag full of dummies. I saw the letter on the counter and grabbed it to mail on my way out. Well between leaving my room, riding the elevator, and arriving in the lobby, the letter completely disappeared. I ran up to my room three times, tore apart my suitcase, and ransacked the counters and drawers. I was beside myself. After all this time I just up and lost the stupid letter. Our van arrived and I sulked out with the other students.

Needless to say I was rather grumps when I got to Vernaza. My roommate Katie and I were assigned to teach a CPR class to nurse’s assistants. My sour face faded as we started instructing the cute students. We taught adult CPR, baby CPR, the Heimlich, and baby Heimlich. I love watching them practice situations on the dummies. It’s kinda scary how little healthcare providers know about CPR but hopefully our classes will help them in the future.

My friend took a video of me while I was teaching! I can't figure out how to upload it on here but the URL is

http://picasaweb.google.com/byuecuador2009/19Mayo2009#5339217543755206450

baby Heimlich

After that I headed to the OR for a few hours. This may seem exciting but the OR is my least favorite place to nurse, probably because there is little for a nurse to do while the surgeon slices and scrapes away with his myriad of tools. I basically stood in the corner. We grabbed a free lunch at the hospital’s cafeteria-- always a treat. :)

Here's something I saw while walking the halls of Vernaza Hospital. The sign reads, "Use in case of fire." The fire extinguisher is unfortunately MIA. Scary.

I was still beside myself about the letter. As soon as we got back to the hotel, I ran to the front desk to ask about it. The sweet lady asked me my last name and then said they had found the letter in a hallway of the hotel and placed it back in my room. Phew!

Then, I got back to the room and my roommate asked me where the assignment sheet for the health fair was. Oh no. Yet another moment of the “I-lose-everything-important” genes. Usually this does not strike twice in one day. This time I was not so lucky. I tore through everything and failed to locate the paper. Fortunately, my roomie was sweet and helped me recreate the assignments. Mother please get a kick out of these mishaps. I know you will…

During the afternoon we blogged and relaxed. For dinner we ordered pizza! They have “Loco Martes” and the pizza is buy one get one free. Wonderful.

Then we loaded in the vans for another health fair! This time I was assigned to teach baby CPR and the Heimlich. It was so fun! Each of us girls took a little part to teach and then we helped the members practice on our baby dummies. It’s fun to teach them because they are so enthusiastic. We made five groups and rotated them through the classes: nutrition, diabetes/hypertension, adult CPR, and baby CPR/Heimlich. There’s also a station where they get to have their blood pressure and blood glucose checked. Some of my friends from the ward we attend came so I snapped some pics.