Hey stranger.

Whoa, I cannot believe I haven't updated my poor, little, neglected blog since AUGUST 2015!!
Sorry to all of my non-existent readers! ;).

In the last five months a lot has happened, you could say I'm "growing up" fast.
Some of my favorite highlights by month!

AUGUST 2015
♦ Pickling spicy pickles.
♦ Taste of Wasatch for Justin's birthday.
♦ SLIPKNOT with some of my all time favorite people.
♦ Book of Mormon the Musical!!
♦ Running through the sprinklers.

SEPTEMBER 2015
♦ Carrying on the Swiss Days tradition.
♦ Making Salsa (and my first ever solo batch.)
♦ Getting to go to the KBER studio to see A Lily Gray live on the radio.
♦ Oktoberfest!
♦ Celebrating two years with David! 
♦ Going to Jenny's cabin.

OCTOBER 2015
♦ Celebrating a LOT of birthdays!! [David's, Mom's, Grandma's]
♦ Picking & carving pumpkins.
♦ Finishing my capstone clinicals in three weeks!
♦ Dressing up like bums at school!

NOVEMBER 2015
♦ Family pictures.
♦ Mastering my resume & portfolio. (really, it was a highlight lol.)
♦ Making some KILLER cupcakes. (stay tuned for recipes!)
♦ Thanksgiving.

DECEMBER 2015
♦ Not only graduating, but FINISHING nursing school!!
♦ Getting ENGAGED!!! :D
♦ Becoming an Auntie!
♦ Celebrating Christmas with the family.
♦ My first interview for a NURSE position.

JANUARY 2016
♦ Passing my NCLEX and officially becoming a REGISTERED NURSE!!
♦ Being offered my first [and dream] job as a nurse, in Labor and Delivery!
♦ Snowboarding in our KILLER powder!
♦ Seeing my first two Sundance films.

NANDA

Spent 10 hours on a care plan today.. hopefully the last one I ever have to do for school.
Got me feeling like:

Mouse Ears and Magic.

Hi there! :)
Sorry, same old usual stuff: busy, busy with SCHOOL!!
I had another successful quarter, kicking ped's butt this time with an A!

I had almost two weeks off for summer, and I spend 90% on a much needed vacation.
David and I headed down to St. George on Wednesday night [6.24.2015] to start our vacation a little early. When we got there we shopped, grubbed and headed to bed early for our drive to Cali in the morning. I had to show David the incredible Jazzy Java's before we hit the road Thursday morning, and he was definitely impressed.

We had one hot, [my AC doesn't like to work on road-trips] yet smooth drive to Anaheim. Once we checked into our hotel, we walked across the street so I could show David what Downtown Disney was all about. Guys, this man gets so excited-- just like me!! It makes everything so much more magical. While we were there, we bought our Disneyland tickets & some mouse ears of course; then grabbed some dinner at ESPN and headed back to our hotel for some quality zzzs.

The next day we experienced the magic of Disneyland! David had been there only once when he was a child, so it basically was his first time. I did my research and we managed to hit everything we wanted to by the afternoon! We met up with my friend Anna and her boyfriend Tim later in the day, and they said we couldn't miss the parade and the fireworks. I am so glad we listened, that alone was worth the trip by itself!!

When our feet could no longer handle it [just before closing-- almost a sixteen hour fun filled day], we drove to our Newport beach house for some much earned sleep.
The next two days we relaxed on the beach and even did some SUPing [stand up paddle-boarding] in the pier. Monday [6.29.2015] we took a boat to Catalina Island. Dave had never been on a boat in the open ocean, [let alone never even seen a real cruise ship!] so it was very special and so much fun. Gosh, I just love that man. While in Catalina we checked out the island, and did some more SUPing and fish seeing in Lover's Cove. It was an wonderful little adventure with the whole fam.

Tuesday [6.30.2015] was a marvelous day spend at California Adventure. We rode everything we wanted to [twice even], and indulged in some lobster nachos and ice cold fulfilling brews [and more brews]. The rest of the week we lived it up as much as we could at all our favorite local by-the-beach spots. Our last night at Newport, David made the whole family a spaghetti and homemade meatball dinner. It was a smashing hit, they all loved it-- and all seven pounds of meatballs were devoured.

Friday, the last morning of the beach [7.3.2015] David and I tried to sleep in, but it was too hard when everyone was leaving. We were the last ones to check out of the empty beach house. We decided on a last breakfast at Charlies Chili one of the local favorites. After breaky we drove to Vega$ for one last night of fun. My sweet Glen got us a room at the Downtown Grand, which was right across the street from the Fremont Street Experience. We didn't have a lot of money left by the end of this long adventure, but we managed to win some cash to pay for our adult beverages. :)

Now we are home, it is kind of depressing actually. I have finished the first week of school already, and I have to remind myself that I am going to school so I can have more magical vacations like that.

I want stuff!
I want to play!
I want to travel!!

So I must work hard and study harder. Hopefully only five months and two weeks until I can start my dream journey as a Registered Nurse.

wanderlust.

I have been lucky enough to have seen some pretty amazing places in my short time here on Earth.
I have adventured to the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, New York City, Niagara Falls. I've seen some Mayan ruins, the red light district in Amsterdam, the Grand Canal and Saint Mark's Basilica in Italy.
Santorini and Ancient Greece.
I feel so blessed, yet I want to see so much more.

I've found myself wanderlust lately.

I want to see the Great Pyramid of Giza, and maybe ride a camel.
I want to visit the Colosseum in Rome.
I want to back pack throughout Europe, spending extra time in London.
Stonehenge, Taj Mahal, the Great Barrier Reef, Rio de Janeiro, New Zealand, Fiji.
I want to kiss the blarney stone.
I want to see the Aurora Borealis and maybe stay in an igloo.

I want to see the world.

Where are you dying to go?

keep on growing.

You grow.

You can't not change. 

That's just the way it is. It's how things work. 

Therefore, in order to stay comfortable as you grow, you must flow with the changes and not attempt to remain the same--just as you buy a new pair of shoes for your son or daughter when their feet have outgrown the pair they've been wearing. 

It's not reasonable for them to continue wearing their favorite shoes when they no longer fit. You get rid of the old ones and buy a new pair. But the reason you need new ones is that their feet have grown. 

Growth has occurred. 

Their foot grew, the shoe became to small, their foot hurt. 

Pain is not an inherent part of being a foot.

 Nor is it an inherent part of growth. 

you go girl!

Have you guys read: "Dear New Girl at the Gym" ?

A friend of mine shared this letter on Facebook the other day, and I absolutely loved it.

I recently canceled my membership to the amazing Xcel facility. It was hard for me because I have been going there since I was 15, and I have been grandfathered in at a killer rate of $24 a month (and if I ever go back rates start at $79 a month--ouch). I decided to switch to Vasa fitness for the option of more locations, better hours, and to feel a little less out of place.

 I am a little uncomfortable in my own skin right now, but I gained enough courage on Tuesday night for my first yoga class there. I was pleasantly surprised how much I loved the atmosphere. I realized that there are always people more fit than you, and always people less fit than you. We are all in this journey together, and the only person you need to be better than, is the person you were yesterday.

Anyway, this letter says it better, enjoy:

"Dear New Girl at the Gym,

You stand across from me in boot camp or on the treadmill next to me or a few bikes over in spin. I have never seen you before, but here you are. I can tell by the look on your face you are embarrassed. Embarrassed that you can’t do a pushup or don’t know how to adjust your bike or that you walk on the treadmill when the girl on the other side of you runs for a full hour at the speed of a cheetah. You look around and wonder what on earth you are doing here. You glance at me and I smile, but you look away pretending you didn’t see, because that would mean I noticed you. Maybe you are discouraged. Maybe you tell yourself this was a huge mistake and you’re going to ask for your money back. Maybe you wonder if I’m judging you.

I am not.

I want you to know how proud I am of you. You see, even though it might not seem like it, none of us are judging you. Why? Because so many of us were just like you. We know what it is like. We know how hard it is, especially in the beginning. Really we do. Maybe you woke up one day weighing forty pounds more than you did five years ago. I have been there. Maybe you stepped on the scale at the doctor’s office, had the nurse cluck her tongue, and then had the doctor say something like, “Now let’s talk about your weight.” I have been there. Maybe you recently had a baby, and you wonder if there will ever be a time when you don’t have to tuck your stomach into your pants. I have been there. Maybe you get half way through the warm up in a group fitness class and wonder if you are this out of breath now, is a full hour going to kill you? I have been there. Maybe money and time are tight and the idea of spending $30-$70 a month and an hour a day on yourself feels awfully selfish. I have been there. So many of us have.

You see us running or biking or lifting weights, and may feel discouraged or that we are judging you. Please, please, PLEASE know that we are not, because so many of us have been in your same shoes. You see us for what we are now, but many of us started out just like you, on a journey to find our best selves.

Please come back. I know it is hard, but it will get better, I promise.

And then you will wake up one day and wonder when you became that person. You know that person who can jog a few miles or do a whole spin class or even do boot camp without being sore the next day. And you will be the one, standing across the room, smiling at the new girl hoping she knows how lovely and wonderful and brave she is. Hoping she knows she is worth all the work. Because you are. You are so worth it. You deserve to be your healthiest self.

Now there might come a time and a place where someone will judge you, even someone at the gym. Maybe they make rude comments or give you that look. Maybe they have never known what it feels like to struggle with their weight. Maybe they have low self-esteem. Maybe they have never eaten an entire pan of brownies by themselves (I have) or an entire bag of Halloween candy before a single trick or treater came to their door (I have). Maybe they forgot what it was like to be the new girl. Please, don’t waste your time on them. You are on a journey to be your best self, and they don’t belong on your journey. Find people and a place where you can begin where you are.

Come back. You are so worth it."

Daily law.

↬Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. While you walk, smile! It's the ultimate anti-depressant.
↬Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. #breathe.
↬When you wake up in the morning, complete the following statement:
"My purpose is to ____________ today."
↬Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
↬Drink green tea, and plenty of water.
↬Try to make at least three people smile today :)

↬Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts, or things you cannot control. Instead, invest your energy in the positive present moment.
↬Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out credit card.
↬Life isn't fair, but it is still good. #always.
↬Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
↬Don't take yourself so seriously-- no one else does.
↬You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
↬Make peace with your past so it wont spoil the present.
↬Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
↬No one is in charge of your happiness except you. Choose to be happy.
↬Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
↬Forgive everyone for everything. #karma.
↬What other people think of you is none of your business.
↬However good or bad a situation is, it will change. #nostress.
↬Your job wont take care of you when you are sick, your friends will. Stay in touch.
↬Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
↬Each night before you go to bed, complete the following statement:
"I am thankful for _____________. Today I accomplished ________________."
↬Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.