Ahhhh...

I feel relaxed. Today, I cleaned the house in 15 minute increments. I got a lot done. Our stuff is almost all decluttered and there is such a peace it our home. I absolutely love it. I went and got an hour-long massage today and it was amazing. The massage therapy place is only five minutes from my house and they are priced fairly cheap.

The couch gets delivered on Friday and then I'm going to get this chair from Pier 1 Imports if it matches well enough :) I also need a side table/cabinet and key hooks, maybe these, for the front door area. I'msoexcited.

It's nice to walk around the house and realize that there isn't much for me to do. The bed is made with fresh sheets, everything is dusted, all the dishes are in the cupboards, the candle is burning, and I have plenty of time and space in my house and in my head to actually do things I love. Like read. And crochet. And watch movies. And cook and bake. It's nice to have this time while I'm unemployed to work on all my projects that have piled up over the past ten years, from Young Women's and such.

I just have such a peace of mind. I'm planning on going to the pool and the library tomorrow. We're also going to shop for shoes, because all my heels are dead and so are Jordan's sandals. Life is good.

Oh, and in exciting upcoming events, Jordan and I are planning to go to Virginia Beach, possibly this weekend. We're going to fly a kite and go boogie-boarding. Yeah! We're also thinking about throwing a Halloween Party. There are a lot of new people in the ward in similar situations as us who also live close by, so it would be fun to have everyone over and dress up :) I love the holidays! And I'm already thinking about Thanksgiving...planning on cooking a small turkey!

A Healthier America

This is a trend I want to change for future generations of Americans. I hope you'll join me and watch the American Public Health Association's video "A Healthier America" and share it with people you care about.

Ants...

On Wednesday afternoon, I noticed some ants crawling around the window frame in the front room. In the evening, they were crawling out from under the window sill in the kitchen. For the life of me, I could not figure out where they were coming from or what was attracting them. My kitchen was almost spotless, and the trash was only half full. I killed a few of them and hoped they would be gone by the morning. Not so!

I came down for breakfast yesterday and there was a thick trail of ants coming from underneath the kitchen window...behind the microwave...down the wall...into the trash can...and completely covering an ice cream container! I had finished the few scoops left the night before and apparently the trash was touching the wall, so the ants had easy access. I was horrified!! I walked out back to see if I could find the source, but it wasn't anywhere. I think they were coming from under the house in the crawl space (gross, I was NOT going down there).

Out came the vacuum! Out came a clean trash bag! Out went the garbage can! Out came Mrs. Clean!! I was going to destroy these ants as if my life depended on it. I vacuumed the kitchen and used the wand to pick up all the stragglers on the counters and behind the sink. Every time I went in the kitchen, I vacuumed more up. It was an all-day battle. I kind-of hoped that my neighbors didn't hear every time I turned the vacuum on, because I turned it on probably every half hour lol.

This morning I went down and found a couple stray ants. They seemed to be withering and moving slow from lack of food. Into the vacuum they went, and I haven't seen any ants in the kitchen since this morning! Go me!

We're Eating REAL Food!

That's right people - we're no longer surviving on mac and cheese every other night. I know you all want pictures of our house and neighborhood, but I'm waiting til we get our couch next week to take pictures. Until then, you get to listen to my new rave recipes! Yay!

Last night, I made an amazing marinade for a flank steak. It's asian, and so so delicious. Slightly spicy from the pepper but a great after-taste from the garlic and ginger.

Sesame Pepper Flank Steak

Prep: 10 minutes + Marinating

Grill: 15 minutes

Yield: 8 servings

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

4 green onions, slices

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp. sesame seeds

1 Tbsp. minced fresh gingerroot

1 Tbsp. sesame oil

2 tsp. pepper

1 beef flank steak (2 lbs.)

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the first eight ingredients. Score the surface of the beef with shallow diagonal cuts, making diamond shapes; place in bag. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Drain and discard marinade. Using long-handled tongs, dip a paper towel in cooking oil and lightly coat the grill rack. Grill beef, covered, over medium heat or broil 4 inches from heat for 6-8 minutes on each side or until meat reaches desired doneness (for medium-rare, a meat thermometer should read 145; medium, 160; well-done, 170).

Let stand for 5 minutes; thinly slice across the grain.

Ok, and then tonight I made some real chicken! Not plain with seasoned salt! Hallelujah for a kitchen in my house!!! haha :) This is for all the Italian lovers out there, namely Lindsey!

Caprese Chicken with Bacon

Prep: 20 minutes

Bake: 20 minutes

Yield: 4 servings (but I halved it and still had enough leftovers for 2 people)

8 bacon strips

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6 oz. each)

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 plum tomatoes, sliced

6 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced

4 slices part-skim mozzarella cheese

Place bacon in an ungreased baking pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until partially cooked but not crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain.

Place chicken in an ungreased baking pan; brush with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with tomatoes and basil. Wrap each in two bacon strips, arranging bacon in a crisscross.

Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 170. Top with cheese; bake 1 minute longer or until melted.

Jordan is enjoying eating real food, and so am I. I think I'm going to have to join a gym lol - all this delicious food!

Virginia in a Nutshell (by Jordan)

I've decided that I like Richmond. First, we have a nice little neighborhood. Since I don't have any pictures loaded onto the computer, just imagine a nice little suburb with trees, people walking their dogs, etc. The weather is hot (which I'm fine with) but the humidity isn't bad at all. Plus, I'm looking forward to a winter with very little or no snow. There are tons of trees here. I usually don't think of Salt Lake as a desert (no sand, no cacti), but it definitely looks barren when compared to the sheer amount of forestry around Virginia. There's no smog or haze. Gas prices hover around $2.50 a gallon. The roads in general have less potholes. Road construction is virtually absent. There are surprisingly few bars here (helps make the atmosphere more family friendly). Though there aren't any mountains or trails, there are a bunch of parks within a few miles from where we live.

The bad news is that the movie theaters do not compare to the ones in Salt Lake. I'll sum up the movie going experience here in two or three words: Expensive, run-down. Other than that, I'll think we'll enjoy our four years here.

The Little Car that Could

Jordan blogging. Last night, we made quite a trip and I'm surprised that my car lasted. First, I should preface by describing our car: It is a Mazda 3 hatchback. What's special about it is that this car is that it has literally been totaled and put back together again into a functioning automobile. In other words, it's a rebuilt title. Scary to think that we drove this 2200 miles in just under 40 hours two weeks ago, but we did it. Luckily, this car hasn't had any major problems in the three years and 40,000 miles I've driven it. But last night...

For Melyn's birthday we drove yesterday to Washington D.C. On the way back, we stopped at Woodbridge, VA (about 80 miles from Richmond, our new home) to go to IKEA. Melyn loves buying furniture and other home doodads from IKEA. Since our house had very, very little furnishing so far, and since we also had a bunch of IKEA gift cards, we planned to get a bunch of furniture there. I assume you all know about how IKEA "flat-packs" everything, so we expected to fit alot into our car. I love the little bit of extra space that hatchbacks can give you when the rear seats are folded down. So, at the end of our shopping we had two carts jammed pack full of stuff. Melyn asked, "are you sure we're going to be able to fit everything into the car?" I responded, "Of course!" (Since my car survived the trip to Virginia carrying four people and all our luggage, I believed my Mazda was capable of anything). Well, when I drove the car up to the loading area to where our huge pile of stuff was waiting, my car suddenly didn't seem as spacious or capable as I remembered.

Fortunately, we had an IKEA employee helping us. But as we were loading, I knew not everything was going to fit inside. So, as you can see from the first picture, we had to tie one large box (an office chair) to the top of the car. The inside was so full that I (the driver) had to lean to my left as I sat in my seat. I could not see anythingtot my right while inside, so I had to ask Melyn everytime I wanted to turn right if my path was clear. And we had to travel 80 miles with all this stuff. This is the kind of moment where you say a silent prayer. Believe it or not, we made it home. And the office chair on top made it too. I think it's about time that I give my car a break.

Job Hunting, Jump Start Med School, and Orientation

There are basically three hospitals that I would love to work at.

1. St. Mary's Hospital. It holds Magnet status, which essentially means it's an amazing place to work at. (There are only 3 Magnet hospitals in Utah, all IHC and in Provo, American Fork, and Orem.) Plus, it's only 1.5 miles away from my house, which means I could bike and Jordan could then drive to school. Or I could take the bus or walk if I was in a pinch. Plus it's so quaint looking :) The only downside is that they've rejected me from all but five jobs, but since I got my VA nursing license, that should change.

2. Henrico Doctor's Hospital. This is also about 1.5 miles away from us. Apparently, after talking to lots of locals, this is a great hospital.

3. VCU Medical Center. Oh how I would love to work here! First of all, it's literally across the street from Jordan's school. Jordan will be having clinical work and seeing patients here. Plus they are considering me for a New Grad Program in psych, which I love, and which would give me guaranteed employment for at least six months. Plus then Jordan and I could drive together whenever I work and he has school. It's only a 15 minute-ish drive.

On to other things. Jordan attended a Jump Start Medical School for the week of August 2. It was comprised of an introduction to how med school functions as well as a biochemistry class, which Jordan has already taken, so it was easy. They also had a ton of club introductions, and lots of free food. Yay!

The week of August 9, Jordan attended orientation for med school. He thought the majority of it was a waste of time, but that's ok. They mainly talked every day for hours about how to study and not be a failure in life. He's confident that he isn't a failure, and I am too :) This was also the week that Jordan's parents came into town to see us! More on all our adventures later. They were mainly here for Jordan's White Coat Ceremony, which is basically where they are given their white coats they will wear to clinical rotations and where they take the Hippocratic Oath.

Walking in with all the students

Wendy, Jordan, and Jim

Me and Jordan

I tried to upload videos of Jordan getting his white coat on and taking the Hippocratic Oath, but Blogger is being stupid. I'm sorry!

Moving In

We moved into our new apartment on July 29, and our stuff arrived on July 30! I still can't believe that we got everything accomplished so quickly. My friend from high school, Sydney, brought us some sleeping bags and pads. So sweet :) We had spaghetti and toast for dinner and then all watched a lame movie that I can't even remember the name of.

We used a Relo-Cube from ABF. Essentially, we fit all our worldly possessions into a 6'x7'x8' cube and hoped that it would come to us in one piece! With my muscular brother, husband, and mom, we got everything into the house in less than an hour. Now for the fun part...unpacking!! Joy! Sarcasm!!

I had labeled almost every box with a number and location in the house and then wrote the number and what items were in the box in a notebook. That was so helpful! Thanks to FLYlady for that tip - if you've never heard of her, check her out! She's amazing.

My dear aunt Jenae and three of her kids, Bryson, Lacie, and Carston came up that evening to help us. It was so nice to have so much help! We had Olive Garden for dinner and it took forever...three hours in a restaurant? Are you kidding me? Anyway, although having eight people sleep in a two bedroom apartment and share one bathroom can be challenging, we did it! We got the majority of the apartment completed by the time everyone, including my mom and brother, left for North Carolina on Sunday. Thanks so much for your help, everyone!

The New Ward

Ok, people, just so you know, you have 17 posts to read before you're caught up. I know, I know, I'm awful at blogging and moving at the same time! :) Who is good at it, honestly? If you want to, read from the bottom up, because the posts are backwards chronologically.

Our new ward is only 1.8 miles away from our house! It's so great. The group is pretty similar to our old ward. Some singles, some older couples, a few widows, some young families, and young couples. We also have about 15 young women, which is huge compared to our last ward of only 4! We got there late, but we already know that we are going to love this ward. Everyone is SO friendly and introducing themselves to us. The sunday school teacher and priesthood and RS teachers were incredible. I really admire the cohesiveness of this ward. Everyone seems to get along. And the missionary work is incredible! Wow, there were at least 3 investigators in church. The stake's goal is for us to bring an investigator once a year. Jordan commented that he could bring a person every month. The missionaries live right down the street from us, so once we get a table and chairs, we're going to have them over for dinner. We are so excited to be here! I could go on and on. Richmond has a cannery too, so I'll be able to get some food storage set up while we're here. Yay for a great ward!

Apartment Hunting

We were desperate to find an apartment after discovering the horrific nature of our hotel. Well, I was desperate in the first place, but this just added to the anxiety. I'm afraid I wasn't a very nice person to be around for those first few days in Richmond. We had scoped out all the possible apartments and had it narrowed down to 5 choices. The first one wouldn't even have any apartments available until September. Cross that one off our list.

The second one was about 6 miles from the school, had two bedrooms, one-and-a-half bathrooms, a great kitchen, a washer and dryer, and a good sized front room. The only downside to this was it was kind of in a ghetto area of Richmond and the outside didn't look that great. Plus Jordan was going to be riding his bike to school, and the distance was farther than he wanted.

The third one was about 5 miles from the school, had two bedrooms, one bathroom, a smaller kitchen, a washer and dryer, and a nice front room with tons of storage under the stairs. The only downside to this one was...I liked the second apartment's kitchen better. It was in a great area though, and looked SO cute from the outside. Plus there was a park across the street and a nice pool just down the street.

We went to look at the fourth and fifth options but neither manager was there, so we decided to head back to the hotel and stew things over. We debated about this for an hour, then decided to come see them again. We prayed about it, and decided to sign a year-lease for the third choice. We were so excited!! We chose on the 28th, and moved in on the 29th.

We Made It...Barely!

It's 10:30 PM on July 27. We are so desperate to get to the hotel at this point; after driving for 40 hours with 4 hours of rest, we wanted to stretch and get out of the car! I just told Jordan, "Drive as fast as you can so we get there ASAP!" Big mistake. We got pulled over in Goochland (yes, that is the name of the city) for speeding. We were 20 minutes away from our destination! Oh yes, I had thought the drive had gone too well - no problems to speak of until now. After dealing with the ticket, we drove to our hotel, a little more slowly, and went to check in. Just the look of the hotel scared me. First of all, we were only paying $38 a night. That should have been my first clue to the awful nature of the place.

Jordan and I walked up to check in, and the doors were locked. Ok? So we tapped on the window marked "Check-In," which was about 15 feet away from the desk. It was very odd. A man helped us and slipped our keys through the window, like we were going to see a movie and he was handing us our tickets. We drove to the back of the hotel and dragged our stuff up a flight of filthy stairs and opened the door. It reeked of smoke, but we were so exhausted that we collapsed on the beds and went to sleep.

The next morning I requested a different room, and although this one was on ground level, it reeked of urine. Great. I guess we couldn't win with this place! The walls were water-stained, the carpet crunched, and there was an inch of dirt on the bathroom floor. I almost wore my shoes into the shower. The breakfast consisted of stale oatmeal, frozen milk, and rotten bagels. I was so glad we were staying here for only two nights! This made our apartment search a little desperate!

On The Road...

This is a very late post! On July 25th, my family and Jordan's family had a delicious farewell dinner at the Henderson's, the last of many. It was bittersweet. I couldn't believe that this would be the last time I would see our family members - our friends who we hung out with every week! Going from being with family so often to every year or so was going to cause some serious withdrawal (of which I am still experiencing side effects).

Jordan and I had gotten the car all ready for the 2,200 mile, 40 hour drive ahead of us. New windshield wiper blades? Check. Alignment? Check. Snacks, pillows, and books on CD? Check. GPS? Check - that thing saved us! We packed four people, their luggage, food, pillows, and cleaning supplies for the new apartment into the tiny Mazda 3!

Many were skeptical. I was a little worried myself, when we all sat in the car. Considering the fact that my dear brother is well over six feet tall, he got a front seat the whole way to Richmond. Lucky!

Welcome to Wyoming...we didn't really take any other pictures of this or Nebraska cause they were kinda boring. We stopped in Omaha to see dear sister Allie, Mitch, and the little boys. It was SO good to see them! We had never seen their home before and they were so accommodating. Allie had made dinner for us and then gave us a place to sleep for a couple hours. She even burned "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins for us, which was great to listen to. We love our family!

At about 2:30 AM, after 4 hours of sleep, we all packed up from Omaha and continued to drive through the early morning. We arrived in Missouri to get gas and switch drivers. Lots and lots of fog in the morning here!

We stopped to get breakfast around 7 AM in Illinois (I think).

Cracker Barrel. It wasn't that great (like bacon as hard as a rock). But it was something :) I liked this poster that looked like it was from the 40's. Become a nurse in 10 weeks! Wow, haha!

Kentucky was GORGEOUS!! Talk about lush and green. The country-side was beautiful!

West Virginia was interesting. Hick-ville to say the least. It was slightly scary and we drove out of there fast.

VIRGINIA!!!! We made it! What a beautiful state!

Moving Sale!

On July 17, Jordan and I had our first yard sale. I wish I had taken pictures! We got rid of SO MUCH JUNK. I'm really amazed at the things that we hold onto. GET RID OF YOUR JUNK PEOPLE!!! If it doesn't make you happy or you don't absolutely love it, give it away and bless someone else with it!

We set out signs the morning of. Jordan's mom, Wendy, was so awesome! She helped us set up and we sold a lot of her stuff at the sale too. It went from 8 to 1, and we had a pretty good crowd come. I'm glad to say that it was a success, even though it was boiling hot outside and basically no one came in the last 2 hours. Oh, and around 11, we put up a "Half Off Everything" sign and sold even more things. Yay! We sold about half of the stuff, and then took the rest to DI. This money was going to be our gas money and food money for the trip over to Virginia!

Goodbye Lavon! We're not going to miss anything!

Hyundai Elantra - SOLD!

Because we were going to be moving to Virginia, we had to sell my car. The 2001 Hyundai Elantra had it's run with us, but it was over. The car wouldn't last on the drive over, and it was more than the car was worth to ship it. We posted it for sale on Craigslist and KSL.com. Only a few people called but on July 15, Jordan sold our car to a guy in Mapleton! We made a nice little bundle, enough to pay for our cube to be shipped out to Virginia, and we now own only one car! It's very strange. We have to ask each other to use the car and when I get a job, it will be difficult trying to go to work and school at the same time. We'll see how it goes :)

Last Day at Huntsman

My last day of work at Huntsman Cancer Hospital was on July 16. I couldn't believe it was finally over. I really, REALLY loved taking care of the patients on the 5th floor. These patients were so strong, and had overcome so much. The majority of them were on the road to recovery, and a better quality of life. It was a really good feeling to know that I had, in some small way, influenced their lives for the better. This is really why I wanted to be a nurse - to have that sort of influence. Even if the patients don't always know it, and even if I don't always recognize that influence, it is nice to see the patients to improve by leaps and bounds and you know that you helped. My good friend Victoria, who also graduated from Westminster, took me to lunch at the Bistro (really good food, by the way). The day was pretty weird, because I was orienting someone on my last day, but the end was great. I didn't plan on anyone really caring that I was leaving, but when I was about to walk out, almost all the nurses, secretaries, and aides gathered round and gave me hugs and a loaf of bread and a card. I cried all night! I worked at HCH for three and a half years, and it was really my home. On to new adventures. On to new experiences! Thanks for the memories!

The Dreaded NCLEX

I signed up to take the NCLEX-RN on July 1st. The turning point for my entire life (or so it seemed). It was this test that would determine whether or not I would become a nurse after four hard years of endless tests, clinical work, and papers. I was so freaked out. So so so freaked out. I had a little over two weeks from the time I registered to the time I could take it. The time was spent studying like a mad-woman - I studied my Saunder's NCLEX preparation book and my HURST prep book. In between all the studying I watched BONES, my new favorite TV show, and tried to get ready to move. :) Hey, I needed a little break every now and then!

The day before, I completely did whatever the heck I wanted. I didn't study at all! Jordan and I went and saw Toy Story 3, a great movie by the way, and then went to find the testing center so that my drive wouldn't have any surprises the next morning. There was major road construction (thanks, Utah), so I had to ditch the map from Google and use my memory.

I did everything normal the next morning, getting ready and eating the same breakfast as always. I didn't want to jinx myself. I made it over to the testing center in Draper with a few minutes to spare, so I used that time to seriously pray and get a few last minute studying in. There were 14 nursing students there ready to take the test. The moderators scanned our palms, fingers, took our picture, emptied our pockets, and then gave us a white board to write on, a black dry erase marker, and some ear plugs. It was pretty quiet in the testing center, but I put the ear plugs in anyways plus the headphones from the computer.

With the NCLEX, you can have a minimum of 75 questions up to a maximum of 265 questions. Or anywhere in between. It depends on how you are answering, whether you are above the line or below the line. Even if you end at 75, you don't really know how you've been doing because you could have answered them all bad or all right. You also have 6 hours to do it all in, which gives you a minute and a half-ish for each question.

So I'm going along, going VERY slow, and taking my time to read the question and answers at least 3 times each. I was freaked out. I got all these questions on nursing leadership and how to determine if someone you taught learned what you taught them. It was crazy. I got like one drug question and 3 intake and output questions. Lots of prioritization questions. I took a 15 minute break around question 60 and sat outside and drank some water. Then I came back in, ready to rock and roll! I reached question 75, and when I pushed the "next" button, it kept going. BOO!! I kindof started to speed up at this point, because I mentally planned to get all 265 questions, and I only had four hours left. Then I reached question 90 and the computer just stopped. Stopped!! I was done??!?! Ahh, what does this mean!??? The computer had me do a survey and then I raised my hand and the moderator came and collected my materials.

I WAS FREAKED OUT!!! I was sure I had failed. Absolutely positive. If I failed, then I would have to come back to Utah from Virginia to take it again in 60 days! And I would have to study more and face the dreaded test again! I was not looking forward to this. So I drove myself home and freaked out for a couple more days. Jordan was sure I passed, as well as my mom. I couldn't wait for the 2-day window to pass, then I could check my status online. So, on July 3, I logged into the NCLEX website, and the first word I saw was...

PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOOOOOO-HOOOOOOO!!

:D :D :D

Ahh what a relief! What a good feeling - I am officially a nurse! Heck freaking yes!

Family Pictures in Mapleland

I don't know how these posts got so out of order so I'm sorry to the confused reader!

In the first week of August, my family got our pictures taken in Mapleton (or Mapleland, as Jordan calls it). The photographer was amazing! She was very gifted. Here are just a few of the many awesome pictures she took...

LOVE THIS ONE!

Jordan looks so good in this picture!

Don't I have handsome brothers?

Wow, I LOVE the effect of this picture!! Can't wait to post more!

Happy First Anniversary!

On May 30, Jordan and I had our first anniversary! One year - we made it! Since it was a Sunday, we didn't have anything else to do besides spend time together and celebrate. We went to Sacrament Meeting at church and then came home. First we had lunch outside and played some card games, one of our favorite things to do.

My adorable mom saved our wedding cake! I thought it had been thrown out, but to my surprise, it survived. She is so cute. She wrapped it very well and then wrote on the tin-foil "eat on 5/30/10. Happy Anniversary! :)" I loved it! I set the cake out to thaw after a year in the freezer.

We played some more games and then I made dinner: spaghetti and home-made sauce and veggies. I even got out the special glasses haha. Oh and Jordan picked me some lilacs, one of my favorite flowers. He is so sweet.

Ok, so the traditional one-year anniversary gift is paper (what the heck?) and the modern gift is a clock of some sort. So Jordan got me...money (paper). Clever, eh?

And a watch (clock) for work! YAY! I don't have any working watches and this was going to be very useful as a nurse.

Ok, so I'm sappy and got Jordan a photo album (paper) so I could document our first year in photos.

And I got him a dress watch (clock), because he only has sports watches. Just need to get it resized, the watch is so big!

Time for the cake :D Yummy! Oh it was so delicious. I couldn't believe how good it was after a YEAR in the freezer!

So happy! What a great day, just spending time together. We love each other :)

Am I Finally Grown Up?

May 29 was a full day! Westminster threw a brunch for all the graduates and their families/friends. My parents and dear brother Jordan came to join us for bad french toast and cold eggs. Since my dad and brother really haven't seen the campus, we walked around and showed them our soon to be alma mater. Oh and FYI I made a really sweet graduation announcement and party invitation but can't find them to show you :(

"The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet." - Aristotle

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly

find out how far one can go." - T.S. Elliot

"I'm glad I did it, partly because it was worth it, but

mostly because I shall never have to do it again." - Mark Twain

Giovale Library. Many long and

arduous hours spent here...

"Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready

to pay the price to make them come true." - Leon J. Suenes

Happy to be done!

"I know that attitude shapes our lives; if you want to change,

change your attitude. In the end, success is simple. Climb

the mountain - achieve your dreams." - Darren Hardy

The School of Nursing and Health Sciences.

I lived here, lol.

After the brunch and tour, we went back home and got ready for that afternoon's graduation ceremony. It was held at the E-Center. We got all dressed up and grabbed our caps and gowns, and made the mad dash over there! All the graduates hid behind the stage and we filled out little cards with the phonetic pronunciation of our names. Then we all got in lines and the bagpipes (again!!!) started and we filed out. There were about 800 graduates, I believe, including all the graduate students. Then we sat down. The actual ceremony was...pretty boring. Not going to lie. It was SO long. But walking across the stage was exciting :) We sat with all my nursing friends, and whenever one of our class walked, we screamed for them. All the BS nursing students also screamed for the MSN students, who were our clinical instructors and lab instructors.

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.

Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!" - Goethe

We took pictures outside and then went home and got ready for our graduation party. So many people came! It was awesome! Thank you all for your gifts and well-wishes! We had a backyard barbecue (and had issues with the propane, sorry everyone). But overall, it went very well.

"Believe that with your feelings and your work

you are taking part in the greatest; the more

strongly you cultivate this belief, the more will reality

and the world go forth from it." - Rainer Maria Rilke

At this point, we still had no idea what the future held for us. I was planning on taking the NCLEX soon to become licensed as a nurse and then working at Huntsman Cancer Hospital. If Jordan got accepted, then we would move! But everything was still up in the air.

"To unpathed waters, undreamed shores." - Shakespeare

We did it! We finally graduated with our Bachelors in Science. Jordan graduated in Chemistry and Neuroscience and I graduated in Nursing. Yay us!

"And then the day came when the risk to remain tight in

a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." - Anais Nin

Pinning Ceremony

On May 28, the Westminster School of Nursing and Health Sciences had the annual Pinning Ceremony for that year's graduating class. It was an amazing event held in St. Marks Cathedral in downtown Salt Lake City. The family members congregated in the chapel and in a cultural hall of sorts. The students sat in the very front facing the audience. This was really it. I had finally made it! I was so emotional. To think that I probably wouldn't see very many of my friends and acquaintances again after this event made me sad. But I realized that we were moving on, and we had all achieved our dreams - we are nurses! Several of our professors and classmates spoke. There were some good inside jokes passed around, including the fact that Gail Nelson is now "passing the banana" on to one of us to become a nursing professor (Gail hates the smell of bananas and banned them from her classrooms). After the speaking, our names were called and we were pinned by one of our professors. I was pinned by Sherri Tesseyman, an amazing woman who teaches Advanced Med-Surg Nursing and Intro to Nursing. Then we all stood and read the Pledge of Nursing:

I solemnly pledge to practice my profession faithfully

and conscientiously. I will do all within my power to

maintain and elevate the standards of my profession

and to continue to pursue my educational endeavors

throughout my nursing career. Using the knowledge

I have gained, I shall continue to upgrade the quality

of care of my clients. It is with honor that I shall

devote myself to the nursing profession.

We then walked out the way we had walked in, with

bagpipes accompanying us (!!!) I was SO happy!!

"Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive

devotion as hard a preparation as any painter's or sculptor's work; for

what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared

with having to do with the living body, the temple of God's spirit? It is one

of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of fine arts." - Unknown

Afterwards, there was a reception in the cultural hall. These are my very close nursing buddies. From left to right, Des Faull, Channa Goodman, Amy Cummings, me, Natalie Sanaty-Nya.

"To do what nobody else will do, a way that nobody else can do,

in spite of all we go through, is to be a nurse." - Rawsi Williams

"Nursing is viewed as a caring practice whose science is guided by moral art

and ethics of care and responsibility." - Patricia Benner

Happy Birthday from Virginia

This is Jordan blogging. I've never blogged in my life. But if there were a reason to, it would be to commemorate my little brother's birthday. If Que had a favorite day of the year (besides Christmas), it would be his birthday. Que loved having his family get together for it. I remember when some years we would go to Lake Powell over his birthday or there would be some other Summer activity and he would be disappointed about celebrating his birthday while on vacation. I didn't understand what was the big deal then (he'd still get presents, right?), but it makes more sense now that I'm away. Though Que liked presents, it wasn't about the presents. It was about the family all being together under the same roof. There's no atmosphere like the home. Melyn and I now have our own little home/apartment (more on that later), but your parents, brothers and sisters are always your family and you still miss them. I miss Que very much, and now I'm missing all my family. But it's only for a brief while. And it will make it that much sweeter when we're all together again.

So Que, happy birthday from your favorite brother ;).

I don't know when Melyn is going to get around to updating our blog. Maybe I'll have to take over.