The Next Step

Catching up!

2012-02-11T14:42:00.000-08:00

Well, I've been out of action in the blogging world for quite a while but I thought I would give a little update :) Last week I was able to go to Illinois to visit my brother and his family. It was so much fun to spend time with them!

My hair is getting super long!

Love this little guy

Sophi and I

At the visitor center in Nauvoo

It was so neat to go to the Nauvoo temple. It was Jon and Mindi's ward temple night and I was able to go do baptisms in the Nauvoo temple. It is so gorgeous inside and was an amazing experience

Jon was able to get work off while I was there visiting, it was fun to spend time with my big brother:)

We did some driving around Nauvoo, unfortunately everything was closed, but I was able to get some fun pictures. This is the Smith home.

Kaidence and their dog Quincy

Some fun Aunt, niece bonding time painting our nails

Love my sister Mindi! It was fun to spend time with her

Just a little plug in on our nails, these are called jamberry nails and they are awesome! They stay on for 2 weeks and do not chip off! Look them up on this website: nailsonadime.jamberrynails.net

Funny faces are our favorite :)

I have some more exciting trips coming up and I'm super stoked. I will be going back to Washington D.C in March and we are also going to go to North Carolina to visit some family there. Then in April........

I am going to LONDON for 7 days! I can't wait!! My sister Amanda and I are going to have a blast! We have our hotel all set up and today I bought tickets to go see Wicked while we are there :)

I Feel oh so DOMESTIC!

2011-11-27T15:56:00.000-08:00

Ok, many of you know I don't cook....or bake, with the rare occasion of baking my mom's cookies. My meals usually consist of a sandwich, soup, tuna helper, salad, ect. pretty much any food that doesn't take any time to make. In some of my free time I have been getting on pinterest. There are so many good recipes on there! I decided on Saturday to bake an actual meal, I was kind of scared at first, not sure if I could do it, but after listening to some Rocky music I was pretty stoked and ready to conquer the recipe. The one I chose was a Chicken & Spinach Pasta Bake. The main reason I chose this was because there weren't very many ingredients. That is the first thing I look at on any recipe....how many ingredients it calls for, and this one didn't have very many so I gave it a shot and it was delicious!

I think when I am done with school and I have more time I will cook more....maybe even bake something. Anything to make me more domestic, because I need a lot of help in that area.

Here is my masterpiece :)

And here is the recipe so all of you can try it as well! It was really easy (If I can do it then anyone can) and it's delicious.

Chicken & Spinach Pasta Bake

8 oz uncooked rigatoni

1 T olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 (10oz) pack frozen spinach, thawed

3 cups cubed, cooked chicken breasts

1 (14 oz) can Italian-style diced tomatoes, drained

1 (8 oz) container Philadelphia chive and onion cream cheese

1/2 t salt, 1/2 t pepper

1 and 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Prepare regatoni according to pkg directions. Spread oil on bottom of 11x17 in baking dish; add onion in a single layer. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or just until tender. Transfer onion to large bowel, set aside.

Drain chopped spinach well, pressing between paper towels. Stir in rigatoni, spinach, chicken, and next 4 ingredients into onion in bowel. Spoon mixture into dish and sprinkle evenly with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake covered at 375 for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 15 more minutes or until bubbly.

Giving Thanks :)

2011-11-22T19:04:00.000-08:00

My heart seems to be swelling with more gratitude this year than normal. Each day I am noticing so many blessings that I have on a daily basis that I take for granted. As I thought about all the blessings I have, I have come to realize that they all originate from my Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life! The knowledge that I have of the plan of salvation and eternal families. I am grateful for temples and that there is going to be a temple built in Star Valley :) When President Monson announced the temple I just started tearing up, it is going to be such a wonderful blessing to little Star Valley.

I am so grateful for my health. I think we often don't realize how incredibly blessed we are to have healthy bodies. As I work with people who are so unhealthy and have all sorts of problems on a daily basis it makes me even more grateful for my health as well as the health of my family. I am grateful for my trials. I know that we each have our trials to help us become stronger. As we come upon difficult trials we need to be grateful for them because it shows the confidence our Heavenly Father has in us because he knows we can get through the trials he gives us.

This will be the first year that I will not be able to spend Thanksgiving with any of my family, but what better way to spend it than with those who are going through a difficult time :) I hope I can be a light to them on Thanksgiving day!

Fall in Star Valley:)

2011-10-22T08:20:00.000-07:00

Can I just say how much I love fall!? It is my favorite time of year! I love the beautiful colors, the crisp air, hoodies, ah the list goes on and on :) I was able to go visit home in Star Valley (the place where the first temple in Wyoming is going to be built!) for a few days and loved every minute of it. I love visiting Star Valley and getting out of the city.

My mom and I went on a little walk, this is just a 10 minute walk from my house!

Beautiful!

I also got to pick up my Grandma on the way home and take her to Star Valley to visit. She is 92 years old, and quite the hoot!

Major Updates

2011-09-08T11:28:00.001-07:00

Time has flown by and I have a few things to update on. I have been able to make many trips home this summer and loved every minute of it. I love Star Valley and am so grateful I was able to grow up in such a beautiful place.

My Dad and I before we left for our 20 mile horse ride to Alice Lake

I love this picture, brings a smile to my face every time :)

Beautiful!

Alice Lake

This was a natural spring that is supposedly 80 feet or more deep. I love the pretty blue color!

Amanda came to visit and we took the 4-wheeler up swift creek and hiked to the Intermiting Spring

This is where we get our water in Afton

I also turned 22! I can't believe it, I definitely don't feel my age. I'm excited for this upcoming year though and plan to make it my best year yet! Glad I was able to be home with my parents for my B-day.

Love my mom!

So grateful for my parents!

Been together for 33 years.

My last night at home I took Equity for a hike up to the star to watch the sunset. It was beautiful and a memory I will always remember.

My beautiful valley

A perfect end to a wonderful summer. Now back to the real world and on Monday I start my last semester of school! Can't wait :)

Hiking

2011-08-01T14:18:00.001-07:00

Lately on my days off I've started to get into the whole "hiking" thing. There are so many different hikes in the Salt Lake Valley and I'm really starting to enjoy it. After working inside for 13 hours it's nice to spend time outside on my days off :)

This hike is right about the Huntsman Cancer Hospital. I see people on the trail all the time and decided to finally try it out for myself. It was beautiful.

View of the Salt Lake Valley

This next hike was called "donut falls" I went on it with my roommate. We never made it to the falls, we got lost somehow along the way but we didn't care because we saw something much better!

MOOSE!

Or you could call it a flock of meesen :) It was so cool to see so many, and kind of scary. They started looking at us and that's when we decided we should start heading back. But I loved the hike, everything still is so nice and green and hopefully i'll get more hikes in before the cooler weather comes :)

D to the C (Warning, lots of pictures!)

2011-07-03T12:45:00.001-07:00

Ethan and I had the amazing opportunity to go to Washington D.C for 4 days to visit my sister. We all had a blast together and it was fun to see the sites and especially spend time with my brother and sister. Here are some pictures...

Starting the touring off with Mt Vernon

George Washington's Grave

The original copy of George Washington's resignation address

Touring the Naval Academy. I loved seeing all the guys in their white uniforms:)

Chapel at the Naval Academy

Biggest Milkshake in the world! It took 4 of us to eat it

6 lbs of chocolate chip milkshake!

Naval Academy

WWII Memorial

Each star on this wall represents a soldier who died in WWII

Represent Wyoming!

Korean War Memorial

Abe and I

Vietnam Memorial, I love how you can see the Washington Monument straight ahead

Tomb of the unknown soldier

Taking a break from walking around

Arlington

Washington D.C temple

Love this temple!

Thomas Jefferson Memorial

University of Maryland

Yes, I did hold hands with Jim Henson

In front of my sister's building, soon to be Dr. Amanda Wilford :)

U.S capitol

With tomorrow being the 4th of July I am so grateful for this wonderful country I live in. I loved learning more about the history of the country and being able to see it first hand. The founding fathers truly were inspired when they wrote the Declaration of Independence (I got to see the original copy, but pictures weren't allowed). I love this country! God Bless America.

Bell Canyon

2011-06-12T17:53:00.001-07:00

I have pretty much been majorly slacking in my blogging but here is something fun that I did last weekend. Me and my roommate hiked up bell canyon. It was such a pretty hike and the weather was fantastic!

Alicia and I (Gotta love my buggy eyed glasses:)

This was our view as we ate lunch

Hooray for a fun hike with a great roommate :)

Updates

2011-05-07T16:24:00.000-07:00

I decided some updates are in order, the past month has been filled with a lot of fun, unfortunately I forget to take my camera so I just have a few pictures.

This night we got a bunch of people from the ward and had a bonfire

General Conference with Rachel. It was fun to see her, we even got Plaza tickets!

And last weekend I was able to help babysit my nieces and nephews. It was a lot of fun, It will be sad when they move even further away to Illinois.

They always want to take a "funny face" picture

Playing at the park

Well, that's about all the updates for now. I am so excited for this summer to finally get started. I get to go to Las Vegas this week and Washington D.C in June, along with a bunch of fun activities in-between :)

Lessons Learned

2011-03-27T17:11:00.000-07:00

Last night was probably one of the best nights I have had at work. I had some amazing people I had the opportunity to care for and learn from. One sweet lady whom I will call Susan (since I can't use real names) left a lasting impression on me. She is a 46 year old female with ovarian cancer. A month ago she had a total abdominal hysterectomy. A week or so after surgery she started feeling some abdominal pain along with a lot of nausea and vomiting. She couldn't keep anything down, which led her to return to the doctors. One side-note, she didn't have this first surgery done at the Huntsman, but decided to go to the Huntsman when she started having these problems. Anyways, an x-ray was performed and they found that a sponge had been left in her abdomen from the previous surgery. In surgery they use these sponges to help soak up bleeding ect and before surgery they count them as well as after to make sure that nothing was left inside the patient. There must have been a miscount in her case. So she came to the Huntsman to have the sponge removed along with a washout to help with the abscess. Now, we live in a time where if that were to happen to a person they would be able to sue the hospital for all the money they could get and most people would do this. As I was talking to Susan I asked her what they were going to do. She told me, "We are not going to sue anyone. No one who was in on my surgery went into work that day saying "I'm going to leave a sponge in our patient so she can have more complications" Everyone makes mistakes and we just need to accept that and move on. Nobody needs to be sued over this." Wow! Talk about an amazing women! To top it off she has 11 children, 7 or which are adopted. They were the nicest family and her little girl drew/colored me a picture of their family. I love being able to go to work and learn from my patient's. I feel I have learned so much and I haven't even worked at the Huntsman for a year!

I also got to take care of the sweetest man who has Stage IV pancreatic cancer (not a good prognosis) and was in for a feeding tube placement for palliative care (end of life care). He was so grateful for everything and my heart just ached when I would go in the room. He and his wife were very emotional last night and I had to fight my hardest to not tear up when I entered the room.

Another patient of mine was the biggest joker I have ever met, he constantly had me laughing. The best part of the night with him was when I knocked on his room door to find him, his wife and his son kneeling around the bed saying family prayer with their daughter on the phone. What an amazing family.

So there you have it, that is just a glimpse of the type of people I get to work with on a daily basis, how lucky am I? I learn so much from them about life, hope and happiness. They make me want to be a happier person and after caring for them I feel so selfish, I am not even going through a glimpse of the trials they are and they are happier and more positive than I am at times. I need to be better and am making it a goal to be happier everyday because this life is truly a gift and time goes by all to quickly.

Remember, we live in a beautiful world and "Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured."

Presidents Day

2011-03-12T12:54:00.001-08:00

For Presidents Day a bunch of us got together to go on a hike. It was a blast because it had just snowed and was gorgeous!

The whole group

So Beautiful!

There was a lot of snow on the trees, so we thought it would be fun to stand under the trees and get the snow shaken on us. It looks like I have a white hat on :)

It was such a fun day! I'm so glad I have fun friends who are always willing to go out and do something fun/random :)

Crazy beautiful life

2011-02-16T22:29:00.000-08:00

So I've fallen a little behind in the blogging world so here is an update. First off, I absolutely love my job! Sometimes it is difficult waking up early in the morning to go to work....or heading to work at 6:30pm knowing I will be there the whole night; however, once I'm at work I love being able to care for others and hopefully I'm making a difference in their lives, because they are definitely making a difference in mine. Life is so precious and I've come to realize that one of the most important things in this world is friends and family. Many people when they hear I work at a cancer hospital just tell me how depressing and sad that would be all the time, that is not the case with my experience. The people I care for are some of the most positive and happy people. Sure, they have their hard days, but who doesn't? They realize what's important and they have their good and bad days, but they are the kindest most appreciative people I have ever cared for and I feel blessed everyday to be a part of their journey.

Second, a few of my friends from Tonga are here in the states visiting for a few months. I was able to go pick them up and show them around temple square as well as take them out to eat. The Ta'ai family really took care of my whole nursing group in Tonga and were with us every step of the way through the difficult times. Mele'ana calls me her American daughter, and they are my Tongan family. When we were walking around temple square all the missionaries would ask how we knew each other and Mele'ana would say right off "This is my American daughter" They are such a wonderful family with strong testimonies and I hope I can do more with them before they leave.

Yama, Hope, Me, Mele'ana, and Freddie

I love my roommates! We have so much fun together and get along so well. I have been really blessed to always have great roommates. The other week we went to the Cheapo theater to watch Megamind and can I just tell you that Megamind is my new cartoon crush. He may be blue...but I just think he is so cute in the movie! Call me crazy but that's how I feel :)

Pictures are always a must when we go anywhere, as well as jamming out to music in the car.

Third, I was able to go home to Star Valley to visit for a few days. How many people can get their full hours for the week and still be able to have 6 days off of work? That another one of the many good things about my job. I had a great time being with my Mom and Dad and just relaxing at home :)

Yes, I do live in one of the most gorgeous places

My beautiful mom

My parents have been married for 32 years and are such a great example to me. I love them both so much and I'm so grateful for all that they do for me.

Well that's about all the updating for now, peace out!

New Years in Vegas

2011-01-08T12:20:00.001-08:00

The Holiday season was wonderful, My entire family was able to all be together which doesn't happen very often:)

Doing some night sledding behind the 4-wheeler

Bellagio in Vegas! I got to fly out to visit my brother and his family for a few days, it was a blast

My very favorite part of Vegas

M&M world! I was in heaven, chocolate in so many colors! Need I say more...

Ya, I had some people staring and laughing at me as I got this picture taken.

Sophia

Kian

Kaidence just turned 6 and I got to be there for her b-day

We went to the Hoover Dam one day, it was so cool, I had never been before.

This bridge is the biggest cement bridge in the world

Thank you Jon and Mindi for a wonderful time! Love you all :)

Recent Happenings

2010-12-14T14:35:00.001-08:00

First U of U football game, the Utes lost big time, but it was still a blast

Blackout game! It was so crazy, packed, and loud, loved it!

What's better on Thanksgiving morning than some cupcakes with your cousins...and brother :)

My beautiful mom

Fun in the car with the cousins

Enjoying time with my sister when she flew into Salt Lake for Christmas

We also got to take Ethan out to eat in between his volleyball games

Love my Brother and Sister!

I have really been able to tell a difference in my days as I am working to serve others and find myself constantly asking, "What can I do to serve today?" I feel closer to my Savior as I'm working to serve others and I love this Christmas season and I'm so happy I will be able to go home for a couple days. I have to work Christmas Eve, but come Christmas morning I will be driving home to be with my family:) We will miss Jonathan and Mindi and their kids but luckily I will get to fly out to visit them in a few weeks :)

There's So Much to be Thankful For

2010-11-29T19:16:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of Thanksgiving and the Holiday season I thought I would list a few things I'm thankful for:

A healthy body so that I can run

My amazing parents who have taught and given me more than I could ever ask for

My wonderful brothers and sister, they have always been there for me and continue to be an example to me...

As well as my sister-in-law Mindi. I am so grateful she is part of our family, I hope I can be as good of a mother as her someday.

To be a college graduate and have a nursing degree where I get to go to work and help others. I absolutely love my job and feel blessed everyday to be doing what I am doing.

The blessing and opportunity I have to attend the SLC temple every week

The beautiful valley I grew up in, as well as beautiful sunsets:)

To live in a free country as well as those who gave their lives for that freedom

My experience in Tonga. Even though it was one of the most difficult experiences I have ever had it was also one of the most spiritual experiences I have faced in my life. I will always cherish my memories of Tonga as well as the people I grew to love and serve

Last of all my family. I know I wouldn't be where I am today without their constant love and support. I'm so grateful to be part of an eternal family.

I love this song by Josh Groban: "Somedays we forget to look around us somedays we can't see the joy that surrounds us. So caught up inside ourselves we take when we should give, so for tonight we pray for, what we know can be and on this day we hope for, what we still can't see it's up to us to be the change and even though we all can still do more, there's so much to be thankful for. Look beyond ourselves there's so much sorrow. It's way too late to say "i'll cry tomorrow." Each of us must find our truth, it's so long overdo. So for tonight we pray for what we know can be and everyday we hope for what we still can't see It's up to us to be the change and even though we all can still do more there's so much to be thankful for."

Each of us have so much to be thankful for and I am going to work more on being thankful all year round. I have set the goal to find ways to serve people in any little way I can everyday until Christmas. I hope if I can do it until Christmas it will become a habit and I will serve others all year round, which will help me to continue to see how blessed I am each and everyday. :)

What I'm Missing

2010-11-20T21:24:00.000-08:00

Today I was looking at pictures from this summer and though I'd post a little something about what I'm missing the most today.

Seriously, how can you not love a face as cute as that?

I'm so grateful to have such cute nieces and nephews. I love them so much and miss them like crazy. I've decided that now that I am going to be having a set schedule with work, (Yes, I got placed on a floor! I will be working on the surgical floor at the Huntsman and I'm so excited!) I need to make a visit to Las Vegas. I mean....why shouldn't I? I have a good job, and when I have nieces and nephews this cute I need to visit them as much as I can! :)

"Ok Go" A dream come true..

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

So my roommates and I performed in our ward talent show. When I heard we were having one I knew exactly what I wanted us to do for our talent. It has been a dream of mine to perform this dance with my roommates, but it was never completely fulfilled...until now. Here is the link to our video on youtube, enjoy! We had a blast doing the dance:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKZ4-uL-aIQ&feature=share

Nerdaween

2010-11-02T13:35:00.001-07:00

For Halloween my roommates and I dressed up as nerds. Now these are some incredibly good-looking pictures, so don't be too jealous.

Notice our cool "nerd" badges..

These glasses were pretty much the craziest things I have ever worn, I loved it!

Some fellow nerds we met at the party that night

It was an incredibly fun Halloween, however I think the funnest part was dressing up and taking pictures if you can't tell :)

Epic

2010-10-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

Ten days ago we experienced a monumental day in history. Me and my roommates decided we needed to document and take some pictures. If you are confused about why it was a monumental day and the pictures are a monumental....thing, then please continue reading. Sunday, October 10, 2010 at 10:10 am and 10:10 pm we took some pictures because this date and time will never happen again, so our pictures were taken on 10-10-10 at the time of 10:10, it was a beautiful thing as you can see.

We are pretty much hot at 10:10 am on a Sunday morning when church isn't until 1:00 pm

10:10 AM!!!

That night we all got together with some friends in the ward to play the card game "bang" I was exposed to this game in Washington D.C and now I finally understand it and love playing it! PS Eli has awesome glasses, that's why i'm wearing them...even though I couldn't see a thing.

Then, of course, at 10:10 PM we all had to get together for a group picture, and to top it off there were 10 of us there playing games that night! Can you say coincidence? I think not!

Happy 10-10-10 10:10am/pm day exactly 10 days ago!!!!

My new place

2010-10-01T17:51:00.000-07:00

Basically I have been a horrible blogger as of lately. So after much persuasion from my family I have decided to update my blog. The main thing everyone seems to want to know is what my apartment looks like, so here it is:)

This is the view from my balcony

The cute living room

Me and my roommate Erica just put these pics up on the wall today, we both think we did an excellent job, and I think my brother Jon would approve :) We still need some more decorations, but that will come with time I think.

The dog under the chair protects us from burglars, and he doesn't shed or bark, it's wonderful:)

The amazing entertainment center, thanks to my sister Amanda!

The Kitchen

We have so much cupboard space, it's wonderful

The bathroom.....obviously

My side of the room. It is very plain I know, i'm working on saving up my wonderful pay checks I get twice a month to get a desk and some other decor.

While in Salt Lake I have had many wonderful opportunities and experiences. This picture was taken after going to the General Relief Society meeting in the conference center. It definitely was a fun/amazing experience. I also have been able to attend an institute fireside where Elder Anderson was the speaker, and shake his hand after word. Also, on my way out of the hospital the other day guess who I walked past?! That's right, Elder Scott! It was pretty neat, I already have shaken his hand and he was busy talking to some intense looking security guards next to him so I figured I would just let him be. I absolutely love my job! I feel seriously so blessed to be doing what I am doing. I also am starting to feel like a real nurse, yesterday I took care of 3 patients all by myself, for the most part, my preceptor helped me out a little bit. It's pretty cool though, the nurses carry these cell phones around so that people can get a hold of you, I talked to pharmacy, respiratory therapists, x-ray, as well as a Doctor (which was incredibly intimidating, i'm not going to lie about that). Pretty much I felt like a legit nurse, which is awesome! I love taking care of my patients and helping them out in any way I can. Life is so wonderful and as I care for these people who are facing cancer it makes me realize how many of us take life and our health for granted. We need to remember to enjoy everyday and live life to the fullest. :)

Kinda Late...

2010-09-03T08:09:00.001-07:00

So I haven't posted in a while and decided it was time to update on some things. The main thing is that I had my b-day! I'm 21 now, which feels pretty weird, I feel like I should still be 19...but oh well :)

To start my birthday off Jon, Mindi and I got up bright and early to hike to star mountain to see the sunrise over Star Valley.

This is the first thing we saw when we stepped out of the house, the moon was gorgeous!

Yes, I live here, and it's pretty much the most beautiful place ever

21 years old! And Star Valley has been my main home for all of those years :)

What's a birthday without a water balloon fight!

Absolutely LOVE my nieces and nephews (Kian is still a little too young to participate in a water fight).

Mindi made me this adorable chocolate cake! It was so delicious and had this raspberry cream filling inside! hmm hmm good!

Sophia loves chocolate cake, obviously.

On Sunday my best friend since she moved to Afton in 5th grade gave her talk in church before she left for the MTC. We also have been in the same ward since she moved to Afton as well. She is going to be serving in the Spokane Washington, Spanish speaking mission! She is awesome and i'm so lucky to have her as my best friend.

This is how we feel about not seeing each other for 18 months...the longest we have ever gone without seeing each other is maybe 3 months.

Beautiful sunset from my backyard. I don't think a sunset in Hawaii...or even Tonga could compare to this one. I'm so glad I was able to grow up in such a beautiful valley.

I have now moved from small town Star Valley, to big Salt Lake City. I'm still trying to adjust but i'm excited to be here and start my new job. I know that I am going to have a blast living here and I look forward to see what the future will bring :)

Watermelon Cake

2010-08-12T14:00:00.000-07:00

I have never really been one to enjoy making cakes, (or really making "anything" for that matter) however, I actually had a lot of fun making this cake with my sister-in-law today. It surprised me how simple it was to make, and it tasted fabulous! We determined that what made it taste so good was adding pudding mix to the cake mix, it was delicious, and frosting it was actually pretty fun, especially when you get to enjoy the end result.

Can you say delicious! Not to mention fun/cute/summery/ect...

We improvised a little because we didn't have chocolate covered raisins, and we didn't want to frost the whole cake white and then frost it red/green, (like it said to in the directions) however I think it looks just as good if not better than the picture from the cake that was in the magazine and it probably has less calories :)

Here is the link for the recipe if you want to try this fun summery cake before summer is over!

http://www.womansday.com/Recipes/Watermelon-Cake-Recipe

Whenever I Run

2010-07-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

Story time: So today as I was getting ready to go on my run I had an epiphany. Wouldn't it be cool if I took my camera with me running and snapped some neat/intense/cool pictures? I thought it would, so that's exactly what I did. Enjoy! Warning: Some pictures were taken while I was moving, so they may be a bit.....blurry/unable to identify.

Before I started my run, the view from my front porch!

This is for Rachel, as I was running up the hill to the temple, trying to breath, I heard music, and children giggling. I believe it was Rachel's AFY group dancing! I was so excited I had to snap a picture, and I did it while I was running hence the blurryness. While taking this picture I definitely felt like a paparazzi.

I had to stop for this one

The horrible uphill run to the temple, I took this picture before I felt like I was going to pass out from tiredness

I made it to the temple!! Yay! I absolutely love this picture and think it turned out really well

Ran up a little further to get a better picture

Decided to take a picture of the fields up by the temple

With flash :)

First attempt at trying to get a picture of myself with the temple in the background=failure

Second attempt at trying to get a picture with the temple in the background=success!

The trail I ran up to run around the very nice/new/beautiful houses

I ran past a bunch of new homes up by the temple and absolutely loved this one! I just love brick and think it looks so classy.

Another pretty home I ran by

Have you ever taken pictures of yourself while you are running? It is actually quite entertaining if you can't tell

I feel talented I can pull these faces off while trying to breath.

At this point cars that were passing me were probably wondering what all the flashing was

It's kind of scary running at night, it was right here by this light that a dog started running after me, I would have taken a picture of the dog, but I was trying to scare it away and didn't want to make it feel special by taking a picture of it. I'm glad there are these street lights so that I can see scary dogs coming after me.

Now time to put my feet up after a fun night/photo run :)

4th of July Weekend

2010-07-08T18:58:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from my Independence Day weekend. I spent it with friends and family and loved every minute of it!

I went to Idaho Falls with some friends to watch the Firework show and there was this boy band of 15 year olds singing wild thing, so obviously me and Rachel had to jam out.

The group before the show

Love hanging out with Rachel on the weekends, I will miss this girl!

Some of Rachel's fun AFY friends

Up at the farm with my family

It was a wonderful weekend, I am so grateful to live in this free country. I am seriously so blessed for all the blessings and opportunities available by living in this free country!

LiFe :)

2010-06-27T14:18:00.001-07:00

So I haven't posted in forever, (lame...I know) so I thought I would just do a picture post showing a little of what I have been up to the past few months :)

Right before the "Epic Water fight" pretty much one of the funnest things I have ever done!

Yes, we are hard core

Big Jud's

Before going country dancing

My wonderful family! I'm so glad we were able to snap a picture of all of us together, even though it is kind of unorganized :)

I think you can really see a family resemblance in this picture

Fun night trip to Walmart. I'm so glad Rachel is here this summer, she is pretty much "rad" and one of my best friends...enough said.

Weekend trip home to Star Valley to visit the family and take "funny face" pictures

My two nephews and niece, (Sophia wasn't in the happiest mood and didn't want to be in the photo)

So there is a tid bit to my life this semester, I am having a blast and enjoying the last semester I have here in Rexburg the best that I can :) Until next time!

Can you say...Excited!

2010-06-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

Excitement is one word to describe how I have felt these past couple days, because.....I got the internship at the Huntsman Cancer Institute! I found out Friday morning and had only been sleeping for about 2 hours before my phone rang (I had just gotten home from a 12 hour night shift) that morning. I saw it was a Utah number so I just had to answer the phone, and it was Gigi telling me I got the job! I was so excited I couldn't go back to sleep (even though my eyes were pretty much exhausted) so I high-tailed it home so that I could tell my family in person.

Yes, this is the hospital I will be working at :)

I am so excited to start working here in September and to be able to move to Salt Lake and try something new! Usually I am nervous for changes, but not this one! Excitement is all that I am feeling right now. I can't wait to be able to work at this hospital and help the patient's in anyway that I can. I hope I can make a difference in their lives as I work here because i'm pretty sure they will make a difference in mine :)

Ofa atu Tonga

2010-05-15T16:21:00.001-07:00

So basically I have really been slacking on the whole "blogging" thing, I wasn't going to do a post because I loaded the pictures on facebook, then I realized some of my friends don't have facebook, so here are a few pictures of my amazing experience. They are out of order, sorry, but I hope this gives you a glimpse of how wonderful Tonga is. I really fell in love with this place and the people. They are all so happy even though they don't have much. They realize what is really important in life and I learned so much from them and am continuing to apply what I learned in Tonga to my life. The song I have on my playlist really describes how I feel about Tonga and the people, so crank the music up! This experience really changed me for the good and I know I am a better person from having the experience I did. I really hope I can make it back there next year, or in 2 years, but we will see:)

One of the student nurses I worked with

The nurses on the med/surg floor, they were amazing!

The nurse I worked with, Selena

Some of the student nurses we gave stethoscopes too

The were so much fun :)

Tonga!!

Some tiki man

Before church, right outside the house we stayed at

Me and Brother Lee, he is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. I had the little mouth whisps, and he wanted to try one and thought it was the best thing ever :)

Brother Lee and his 24 adopted daughters :)

The Nuku'alofa Temple

These guys were awesome! They were hanging out in the front of the temple because they had just gotten done with a fireside. We probably talked to them for an hour, the two standing next to me both served their missions in the United States. They taught us that you just need to chill/kick it and have fun!

On the boat ride to Fa fa, the water is so beautiful!

Ocean!

Ya, I drank Fiji water in Fiji!!

These people were so nice and fed us, and the little boy is adorable!

This was at a beach in Fiji that we hung out at during our layover on the way back

Blood pressure and blood sugar screenings at the market

Absolutely Beautiful!

We ate lunch here one day, no biggie :)

Playing some rugby with the guys haha actually they were so funny we started taking pictures and they were all posing ect. They were so nice!

The Ta'ai family, they were the nicest/best/kind people ever. They helped us so much! Meleana called me her American daughter:) (Me, Meleana, Freddie, Yama, Hope)

Two student nurses who helped us at the market when we did the screenings. The one in the white, "Da" is going to be serving a mission in Washington D.C!

Some of the girls before the ward dance we went too

All of us at the beach on the island "Fa fa" It was such a fun day!

Can you see why I want to go back? Amazing people, beautiful country, and so much work that I could do to help the people there! I really fell in love with Tonga and the people and would jump on the next flight there in a heartbeat. I have never met a more humble people, who have hearts of gold and would do anything to help you. It really was the most amazing/spiritual experience I have had up to this point in my life and I am grateful that I was blessed with the opportunity to go to Tonga. Until my next post, Ofa atu :)

I'm leavin on a jet plane....

2010-04-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

This past month has been a fun one! I was able to go to Las Vegas to visit my brother and sister and help them out with their 3 children, (soon to be 4!) I loved the warm weather and enjoyed not having to wear a sweatshirt and skins when I went running, speaking of which I ran 7 miles on Saturday! Go me:) Here are some fun pictures from my adventures in Vegas....if you can't tell the highlight was playing with my nieces and nephew:)

Me and my Brother!

Adorable Sophia

"Alli lets do silly faces!"

Kaidence

Chase

It was so fun to go to the different parks and play

One night my brother took me to the Bellagio. This was the set-up inside for April. It was gorgeous! Everything was made out of flowers, like the bee you see hanging from the ceiling, pure flowers! So cool!

Can't ever pass up seeing the awesome water show at the Bellagio

Thank you Jon and Mindi for the wonderful time in Las Vegas!

The count down is finally almost over! I can hardly believe I leave for Tonga in 3 days!!! I will definitely blog about it when I get a chance. For now I must say good-bye to the blogging world, because i'm "leaving on a jet plane..." :) nofo a!!!!

Mini Truck and Roller Blades

2010-03-19T06:27:00.000-07:00

This week my brother and sister are home for spring break and because we are that cool we thought it would be fun to tie a rope behind the mini....and roller blade down the road. Fortunately none of us were injured, which is a surprise for someone like me.....I had some pretty close calls though:)

Yes that is a 6'5 man driving the mini

This is what we do for fun in Star Valley!

I know, you all want one now. This thing gets 45 miles to the gallon!

Here is one of the videos we did....lets just say I don't know how to stop with roller blades....and when we are going downhill that is not a good thing.....but enjoy! I can't stop laughing every time I watch this!

Don't worry by the 3rd time I did this I got stopping down....it just took me two tries:)

P.S my sisters recording skills= amazing!

Fiji!

2010-03-10T08:26:00.000-08:00

Major news update! I just found out that when I fly to Tonga for my nursing service trip we have a delay in Fiji! We get there at about 5:00 am and don't fly to Tonga until about 3:00 pm, our teacher said she would watch out bags so that we can go around Fiji and see the island and some sites! I am super excited to say the least!

P.S do any of you know anything I should definetly see while I am there? I'm pretty sure we will be on the main island....even though I don't know what one that is yet:)

Charity

2010-02-24T16:30:00.000-08:00

I love watching the Mormon Messages every week, and this one I especially enjoyed. They always seem to remind me of something I need to improve on. We can always be striving to have more Charity in our lives and sharing it with others.

My Mother to me is an excellent example of Charity. She is constantly serving others and showing love to them. I hope I can be more like her. Here's the link....enjoy.

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

Official!!

2010-02-10T13:53:00.000-08:00

As many of you know...I passed the NCLEX!! I am an "Official" Registered Nurse! I feel so blessed I passed because I would not want to take that test ever again. It's kinda funny how intense they are when you take the test, before you enter the room you have to get signed in. Now when you "sign in" that doesn't just mean giving them your paperwork, you have to get fingerprints, (which you have to do again before you go into the room to make sure you are the same person) and they have to take a picture of you, as well as double check your I.D...more like triple check. Anyway I'm super excited to be able to start using my license, the first place I use it in will probably be Tonga!! Thank you for everyone's support through all of this!

Here is my license! I'm legit now:)

Amazing to say the least...

2010-02-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

Okay I am amazed at this wonderful world we live in! I can't believe how many galaxies there are and how gorgeous everything is!! It just blows my mind, so here are some sweet/awesome/amazing pictures I got from NASA!!

The galaxy, known as M31 in the constellation Andromeda, is the largest and closest spiral galaxy to our own.

The thin line of Earth's atmosphere and the setting sun are featured in this image photographed by the crew of the International Space Station while space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-129 mission was docked with the station.

Like a whirl of shiny flakes sparkling in a snow globe, Hubble caught this glimpse of many hundreds of thousands of stars moving about in the globular cluster M13, one of the brightest and best-known globular clusters in the northern sky. This glittering metropolis of stars is easily found in the winter sky in the constellation Hercules and can even be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.

More than 12 billion years of cosmic history are shown in this panoramic, full-color view of thousands of galaxies.

I am so grateful for the beautiful universe and everything in it! I just loved looking at all these pictures and reading what NASA had to say about them, and I hope you did too!! :)

Yes it's true......I'm going to Tonga!!!

2010-01-23T08:50:00.001-08:00

Since I'm going to Tonga, I thought I'd try to learn more about it, here are a few things I found out...

Tonga is right by Fiji.....which is close to Australia! Now you have an idea of where it is. It is composed of 169 islands, only 39 of which are inhabited.

Apparently Tongan's are good at rugby...maybe I should check into that sport when I get there;)

Here is the Tongan flag, I learned that the red cross represents the country's belief in Christianity, the white stands for purity and the red represents the blood Jesus shed at his crucifixion and reminds Tongan's people that they owe their salvation to him.

To end it off this is just a gorgeous picture of where I am going to be for 2 1/2 weeks!! Can you say excited?! I can:)

Well, as they would say in Tongan, Nofo a, which means good-bye:)

Did you know...

2010-01-18T08:24:00.001-08:00

Did you know................

I love, love, love wake boarding! Basically anything in the summer, in the water,= a good time
Shooting guns is one of my favorite things to do....but I have more fun posing for pictures with them I think:)
There is an airplane engine that is named after me
My Grandma lives right by the Tetons!! This is the view from her backyard..gorgeous!!
I am an intense Rollerblader if ya can't tell..
You are considered lucky if I honor you with one of my rockband concerts
Playing airplanes is fun, no matter how old you get
I raised a steer for fair every summer for 10 years!! This is the year I won grand champion. dang look at that beef!

Now it's your turn! Post stuff about yourself that people may not know, or just some fun facts about yourself:) I expect my very few followers to do this;) haha just kidding

Crazy State Laws

2010-01-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

In High School I remember one of my teachers showing us an e-mail of some weird/crazy laws some states have, I thought it would be fun to look up a few and post them, all I can say is "wow" I can't believe some of the laws that are out there!! (who knows if these are all true, my resource may not be all that reliable, but it's still fun...)

Crazy Law #1- It is against the law to fish from horseback-Utah

Crazy Law #2- It's still "legal" to hang someone for shooting your dog on your property-Nevada

Crazy Law #3- It is considered an offense to hunt whales-Utah...ok first off, where would you find a whale in Utah???

Crazy Law #4- You may not take a picture of a rabbit from January to April without an official permit-Wyoming...who thinks of these??
Crazy Law #5- Though you may spit on a city roadway, spitting on city sidewalks is prohibited-Baltimore City, Maryland...I actually really like this one!

Crazy Law #6- A person may not walk around on Sunday's with an ice cream cone in his/her pocket-New York, okay, this one is funny, so you can walk around any other day of the week with an ice cream cone in your pocket...who would do that?!

Crazy Law #7-Riding a merry-go-round on Sundays is considered a crime-Idaho....wow...
Crazy Law #8-If two trains meet on the same track neither shall proceed until the other has passed-Kansas.....that one just doesn't make sense!!

All I can say is there are some crazy laws out there, and I didn't even list half of them!! Look up the laws for your state for yourself at dumblaws.com :)

It Finally Happened!!!

2009-12-21T19:31:00.001-08:00

The countdown is finally over, I officially graduated on December 18, 2009. My family was able to come, (including my Aunt Cloe and Grandma Wilson). I am so grateful for all the support that I had throughout the nursing program, I know I couldn't have made it without the support from my family, friends, and the help of the Lord. This post is mostly pictures....because I like pictures and think they are fun, so enjoy!!

Right before the nurses pinning
Elder Scott was the guest speaker at the Nurses Pinning, and Commencement! It was so awesome to hear him talk, and he gave an awesome blessing to the nursing graduates that night. As you can see in the picture, that obviously is me, (I didn't look at the camera for a picture...and Elder Scott is smiling at me! Amazing!!!) He had such a wonderful spirit with him, and I swear he made eye contact with me a few times during his talk. When he spoke he really was speaking to the nursing students and looking at each of us, there was a wonderful spirit there that I will never forget.
Love my Family!!

I'm pretty sure i'm almost as tall as Ethan.....
My Grandma Wilson was able to make it for the Nurses pinning, it was so good to see her!
Love my roommates!! I am so glad they put up with me through my last semester:)
The "nurses pin" oohh aahh
Nursing Buddies, (Kyleen, Me, Jackie)
Me and Nicole, I think we were always at the Library studying together, good times!!

The nurse and Doctor:)
Me and Amanda, (She came all the way from Maryland! Such an amazing sister!)

Me and Ethan
We have fun together, (notice i'm the only one without red hair, but no matter what my sibblings say, I was not adopted) haha
My wonderful Aunt Cloe who graduated from the same nursing program
I'm so glad my whole family could be here, (except for Mindi and the kids, we missed you so much and wish you could have been there!)
My amazing parents who I could not have gotten through this program without
Well, I think that is about all to my graduation. I'm officially a "post-grad" now and I am excited to see what else life has in store for me!

Friday Night at the "Berg"

2009-12-12T14:28:00.001-08:00

I can't believe how fast this semester has gone by! There have been so many good memories built while I have been here in Rexburg, and I have learned things that I don't think I could have learned anywhere else.

Well, since this was my last weekend in Rexburg I decided to just have a fun night with my roomies. GNO's or GNI's (girls night out, or in....duh) = fantabulerific time! Here are some pictures from our adventures!

Before me and Rachel headed out we decided it was time for a picture, we both had our scarves, (both of which Rachel had made, my roommate=domestic)

Okay so as we were driving to get some movies we saw this cars engine on fire! It was a lot bigger before we got the pictures. And of course we had to pull over to see what was going on right? Wrongo, we totally pulled over because we couldn't see out of Rachel's car because the windows were fogged up, and it was quite convenient that we pulled into the perfect spot to watch the car/policeman/firemen....so we thought we'd get some pictures while we were waiting

Scary!

Next we got back to the apt and decided it was time for some more pictures,(I think girls like to take lots of pictures.....or maybe it's just me.....memories!) on the yucko carpet. Can I just tell you I love the timers on camera's! So convenient...so we had a fun time taking pictures before the movie:)
Two words, love Kirsten!
wow didn't notice this earlier...Chelsea's fingers are in the shape of a "w" pretty sure she has her wedding on her mind:)!! Side note....Chelsea's getting married in 6 days!
Kirsten's amazing head standing skills we knew nothing about until after this picture
oh no!! Rachel's bubble is being invaded!! :)
Love all our faces in this one
um...ya
Movie time= dang good time!!
Just as an end note.........6 days until I graduate!!! Can you say excited?!.....I can:) It's pretty exciting when you can do count downs with your hands....enough said:)

"The strength of the Lord"

2009-12-07T17:12:00.000-08:00

Today has been a crazy day, but I felt like taking a break and posting something about my day yesterday. I absolutely love Sundays! It really is the best day of the week. This past Sunday was such a testimony builder to me of how the Lord really does hear and answer our prayers. I gave my Relief Society lesson on the power of prayer and it strengthened my testimony so much! As I was struggling with something yesterday and feeling a little overwhelmed I had an interview with the stake relief society president and she gave me a little Christmas gift. It was sad because it was the last interview that I will have with her. I have really loved my calling. It has taught me so much and I am a firm believer that the Lord gives us callings that really will help us to better ourselves. As I got back to my apartment and started thinking about this week and how I will get through everything I decided to open the gift she gave me. It was a tile with writing on it that said,

"...in the strength of the Lord thou canst do all things." Alma 20:4

WOW talk about an answer to my prayers! That scripture really strengthened me, and I know that through all the different trials that we are all facing, we can get through them with the strength of the Lord.

Weird...

2009-12-03T18:23:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I took a big step in my whole graduation process, (which is 15 days away by the way!!) I picked up my cap and gown! Exciting I know....so of course I have never done this before, so I had no clue how it worked. So I went to the bookstore and basically followed the signs, filled out the paperwork that was need, as well as dropped it on the ground numerous times, kind of embarrassing when there are people all over . As I went to grab my cap and gown I was just so ready to get out of there, (because I went at a very crowded time) that I saw the box with the height of 5'7-5'10, I thought, "sweet, one height must fit all these different heights" so I grabbed one and ran out of there. Well as I was sitting waiting for my next class enjoying the free crunch bar that I got I looked at the bag my gown was in and my eyes zoned in on a tag that said, 5'7-5'8, then it hit me, it wasn't one height fits all, and seeing as how I am a little over 5'9 I decided I didn't want my gown to look like a below-the-knee length skirt, so I got my stuff and shamefully went to get the right size, 5'9-5'10, mission accomplished, I am officially all set for graduation, with the exception of finishing my classes, but that's not a big deal right? Needless to say I can't believe graduation is 15 days away! Can you say excited?! I can't say it enough.......but I think I can fit the word scared in there too :)

I'm thankful for....

2009-11-25T09:54:00.000-08:00

There are so many things I am thankful for, and here are just a few.....:) enjoy!

Our loving Savior, Jesus Christ, who atoned for all our sins

GUNS!!! not because i'm good at shooting them or anything...but because they make for great pictures:)

Temples!!

To live in a free country

Great roommates

Best Friends:)

Running 5K races....or just running in general...even if it is freezing cold....in that case I'm grateful for skins as well:)

To be an aunt

The beautiful world we live in

JAMBA!!

Bike rides with my sister

Trips to Taco Bell

Fondu!! (need I say more?)

To be part of an eternal family

To be from the great state of Wyoming!

There are many more, but I think it's impossible to list them all, I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving Day!

Here it goes....

2009-11-25T08:41:00.000-08:00

Well i've been sitting home over my week off for Thanksgiving and basically I thought starting a blog sounded like fun, so here it goes:)

This past week it has been so nice to be home for a break from school....even though I have still been doing homework, but that's the life of a college student. My clinicals are going great, and I love them because they remind me of the reason that I wanted to become a nurse, which is so that I can serve others and help them return to their full health. This week I had a particularly nice patient. She was on the rehabilitation floor and very hard of hearing, so most of the time I would just smile and nod as she would speak. Our conversation went something like this:

"I have some advice for you, now I have lived in many different places and met a lot of good people, as well as some bad people. But let me tell you something, you will always be able to find good people wherever you are if you look for them. That is the best advice I can give you."

And she was right, it was wonderful advice and I am always going to remember it.