Adam and Chelsea

My Birthday

2012-01-20T09:10:00.000-08:00

Well turning 27 is quit depressing. It's ok laugh like everyone else did at work when I told them the same thing. It means you are no longer in your mid 20's, or even just your 20's, you are now in your LATE 20's, which means almost 30! My 21yo friend at work asks me where I "went out" to for my Bday. And I thought "oh thats right, "going out". Am I still expected to do that?!?!" Well, my "going out" consisted of going to a fancy Italian restaraunt with my husband. Wild and crazy night!-In bed by 10. A part of me feels I should be somewhere else at this time in my life, but when I really look at where I am, it's actually exactly where I chose to be, for the most part. In fact, Iv'e grown more than I ever thought I would by now. But being 27 and not having a house, kids, and getting ready to leave my stable job makes me feel like I'm running out of time. Which is a funny concept-running out of time. Most healthy people live until well past there 70's. So that gives me over 40yrs before Ive "run out of time" and even then i'm running out of time to do what? Well, have a family and a house and a stable life..... To have a "stable" life for 40+yrs sounds like a long unexciting time. So, the way I see it, before I get to my stable conventional years (which I do look very forward to) I might as well build a strong foundation to live on for 40 yrs. Get the education and job I want, have the experiences I want, and learn a few life lessons to teach my kids. Plus if I was so worried about my place amongst those around me, I would end up living their life not mine. So onward! :)

Adam's cousins came to town that weekend before my bday and we got our segway on!

Segways are acutally more fun than I thought they would be! We rode around for an hour or so and then went to lunch downtown.

This is Chris with baby Ryann, Emma (Adam's cousin) and Adam. We had a good time that weekend with them and Adam's other cousins, Chris and Sonja and their kids. They came from Susanville and Sacramento. We went to the Cocounut Bowl which is like a giant play land. Mini golf, go-karts, foozeball, a ball pit, bowling, etc. Good weekend.

A few days ago Adam made a bunch of cream soda, were excited to see how it tastes. The Rootbeer he made a few weeks ago didn't carbonate right :( But the beer he made 6months ago is apparently good according to the local brew master guy :)

I joined a womens group that meets at the church at 10am on Tuesdays. We are reading a book called Fearless by Max Lucado. At 10am on Tuesday morning I didnt know what I would find (maybe Maurie, hahaha- thats a nerdy joke.....Tuesdays with Maurie.....its a book) anyway, Adam said I would fit right in cause it was probably gonna be a bunch of old quilting ladies. Well, Adam was wrong, it was mostly stay at home moms in there 30's-40's. This week was our first meeting (or my first mtg with them) and it was great. I really enjoyed sitting in a room with 8 or so women who have a completley different perspective on life than me! very exciting. They all had kids of varying ages, a few had jobs outside the home, one actually said she was "bored" with her life. For once in my life I wanted to actually just sit and listen to them, without telling them about me! Sometimes its nice to not have school on my mind, and all my friends are work friends so we just talk about work all the time. This is like my own little lady world, haha!

This weeks takehome: "Fear, at its center, is a perceived loss of control. When life spins wildly, we grab for a component of life we can manage: our diet, the tidiness of a house, the armrest of a plane, or, in many cases people."

This coming week: In Spokane to interview with Gonzaga, and all over WA visiting friends and sisters! Adam in Portland at the Nines, ooooooo. Baseball games start in March!

December/New Years Stuff

2012-01-02T20:39:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas was very wonderful, and spoiled. I got the Oral B toothbrush Ive always wanted and a LG sound bar for my rockin out I do around the house. I got many other great gifts including PJ's, sewing stuff, earrings.... Adam got a lot of baseball stuff- a new bat, bag, penny loafers.....

The aftermath

These are my "genuine sheepskin Uggs". They came in a box with only chinese writing, came in a color that must be a limited never-before seen edition (no not the color I picked), and only cost a little less than regular price! I got these online on black friday as part of my Chrismtas gifts, clearly they are fake. This was a tragic experience. Luckily my bank is investigating the company (who refused to give me info to send the item back and said they would charge me 50% of the items cost if I returned it). Good news is I found someone who wanted them! Fake and all- my friends 13yo daughter loves them!

Ice skating downtown

This pic is for my mom- as she likes to make fun little treats like this. A friend brought these into work. So cute! A chocolate covered cherry, hershey kiss, almond slivers, on a half oreo!

Ace and the wild horses again!

We got real close this time, it was fun!

Way up top hes scouting the rabbits!

New Years Eve I worked but after we went to my friend Leslies house for "Italian Fondue"! She had skillets full of hot butter/garlic/anchovies then a ton of diced meat and veggies to skewer and cook in the sauce. There was beef, duck, chicken, oysters, chucker, shrimp, calamari, elk..... pretty neat. We rang in the new year with Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest, nothing too fancy, but fun.

On new years day Adam wasnt suppose to work but then this apt burned up and he spent the rest of the day working :( Bad way to start the new year for the poor guy who lived here

This was the culprit.
Then today, Jan 2nd, Again Adam works half the day because a sewer got clogged in the parking lot and was leaking all over!

Our "houseguest" that was staying with us finally moved out and I got my sewing room back! So I started a new project today! Also Gonzaga offered me an interview so I am making my plans to fly to Spokane the end of this month! With school coming up the fun-trains gonna slow down as we prepare for college life once again :)happy and :( sad

My work Christmas Party

2011-12-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

Every year we have an amazing Christmas party at work. This was one of the games we played. We grabbed two of the Docs (one of which was our friend Nizar so it made it even funnier) and they put on this pajama suit and Night shift vs. Days- had to stuff as many balloons as possible in the PJs. Whoever had the most wins!

Dr. Parker had what we called a "hemorroid" hahaha. He didnt even know it!

Some of the girls at work!

And of course dancing. Everyone at work loves to dance!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

2011-12-05T15:46:00.000-08:00

I was kinda mad she was in my lunch box.....but had to take a picture first

Adam started his coaching at Sparks High School! He is the assistant varsity coach with a friend of ours who is the head coach. I'm so excited for him and considering he wore this all day after their 8AM practice, I think he is too! He said it will be a rough year, only one returning starter and I guess the school is in a low-income area where the kids have little access to baseball before they get to high school. Last year though, the friend of ours whose the head coach had an excellent season and got coach of the year! Go Railroaders!

We got a little crazy with lights...they line our entire hallway!

-Oh and never blogged about my last minute trip to Salt Lake City. I applied to Westminster in SLC for my masters in anesthesia and they called on halloween and asked me to be there on the 3rd for an interview! So I caught a train and went. It was perfect my dad was coincidently there and I had an awesome time hanging out with him and my grandparents. Nothing to do for three days but the interview. It was nice. the interview went really well, I still have 2 other schools I applied to OHSU and Gonzaga. Westminster offered me acceptance which is a great blessing- I just pray for guidance with the other schools, as they are closer to home and at this time, seem more practical.

Halloween and Thanksgiving

2011-12-04T19:24:00.000-08:00

For Halloween Adam was a hillbilly and I was Wonder Woman

We decorated our car for trunk-or-treating at the church. Everyone is to have a game for the kids to play and of course, hillbilly Adam's was a shooting game. It turned out really well. We taped pictures of the pasters to each bottle that was to be shot- the kids loved it!

Adam's been working with the childrens ministry, I think he really enjoys it!

Trans Syberian Ochestra!

Very cool, everything I thought it would be! It's just like a Christmas rock concert!

We walked out of the Arena and it was snowing! Perfect! ( And perfect for the fires that had been burning up parts of Reno that day)

THANKSGIVING

My WHOLE family did a turkey trot Thanksgiving morning! I loved it. Adam ran the whole 5k, and although he doesnt say much about it, I'm very proud and I think he is too- this being his first 5k. It was cold, but the rain had ceased for the 2 or so hours we were there. I was so happy all this was done as a family- not one person was missing :)

Adam and I with my sister Jenny, Brett, Tyson, Blake, Cade and Adalyn. Waiten for the "Go"

Plenty of Carb and Protein replacement afterward!

We spent the rest of the day hanging out, watching football and chatting....it was great!

Adalyn and Haley- the oldest and the youngest of the grandkids.

This is Harrison checking out the dinosaur quilt I had just made him for his Birthday.

Adam was a jungle-gym for all the boys!

My mom put together a Thanksgiving craft for all the kids. "Turkey-Oreos"

Luke with his "Turkey-Oreo"

Tyson, Adalyn, Jaclyn, and Luke.

It was a great Thanksgiving vacation with my family! Adam also got to see his friend Jason and I my friends Brittany and Terra.

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-24T21:56:00.000-07:00

We decided it would be fun to shoot pumpkins..... And it was! We had a .40 glock, 2 .22's, 7mm, 12guage, M1, 20guage, and a few others, I just don't really know what I'm talking about :) I just shoot them! One of the .22's though was an old pump action. Adam traded with a friend and we now own it. It's really fun to shoot.

Going in......

Going out! Ouch!!!
Our version of carving pumpkins

Not bad :)

Apple Hill

2011-10-24T20:35:00.000-07:00

The weekend I was in Sacrament for Women of faith, Adam made a last minute decision to meet me there saturday after the convention and drive to Apple Hill for the night. Apple Hill is an area in Northern California that is known for it's farms, produce and winery's. The town most notably connected to it is Placerville. This is where we stayed that night. Placerville is only about an hour drive from Sacramento. When we first got there, Adam suprised me by arriving to a bed and breakfast that we would be staying in that night. Iv'e always said I wanted to stay in a bed and breakfast! We pulled up and there was a little girl running around with only a diaper on and the man who owned the bed and breakfast was chasing her, he greeted us at the door- it was awesome!

Placerville from the hill by our B&B. The hill is scattered with old victorian homes

The front of our B&B

It had such funky fun decorations. I guess the owners were theatre majors

This is our cute little room

In the morning we were made apple struessel french toast and ate in the dining room. I could totally spend a week or so at a B&B. The concept is so fun!

We walked the short distance to "downtown" literally a street full of shops maybe 2 football feilds long. We soon discovered they had just started a wine and art festival- so we joined! We had a good time and afterwards ate dinner at a fancy cafe.

The next day was all Apple Hill

A quant little winery we visited

At another winery overlooking a valley

This was at one of the produce farms.

Along with a million kinds of apples and other fruits there was lots of fun craft stations. Adam bought and designed me 3 rings made from old buttons!

Women of Faith

2011-10-17T13:59:00.000-07:00

I went to Women of Faith this weekend in Sacramento at the Power Balance Pavaillion (formly Arco Arena). There were 10,000 women who attended! I guess a lot of people are familiar with this conference but because I was not, I will breifly explain: It is a nationwide 2 day nondenominational christain conference for women only. They have lots of speakers and musical performers. This year the musical perfomers were Mandisa and Selah! Some of the notable speakers were Andy Andrews, Patsy Clairmont, Lisa Whelchel.......Some of the topics included friendships, "change can be good", stories of overcoming severe illnesses, not letting your emotions control your actions/words, strength in being yourself, raising polite children, motivational speaking, the power of prayer, .... It was a very freeing, validating and strength providing conference. I was laughing out loud many times and not just a cheesy dorky funny but really very halarious things were frequently said. I thought it might be a bit "heard that before" and dramatic fluffy stories attempting to pry deep emotion out of you, but it wasnt that at all. And all the ladies (and one guy) that spoke were odd, and I enjoyed that. They all had unique experiences that made them relatable and honest. One use to be homeless, one was agoraphobic, many severly obese, a couple well known for public rejection, a few widows, etc

This is Ravecca and I. The arena was packed! I grouped with a bunch of women from my church and other community churches in Reno. A bunch of us "tailgated" for dinner on friday night, which consisted of BBQing and fellowshipping in the parking lot :)

Some Good Take-Homes

-"I'm not weird, I'm a limited edition"
-"Feelings dont have brains. Dont let them dictate your actions" This was a light bulb moment for me! haha (Proverbs 29:11)
-"Fear is a feeling, and God has designed us with a will that is greater and stronger than our emotions."
-"People go from almost to almost all the time. People force answers and send their life into an almost all the time because of impatience with God"
-"Dont talk too long"
-"Seek wisdom. Choose what goes in your mind."
-"Fear is a misuse of your creative imagination" -"If you find yourself in a calling at church that you have no passion for, heres my reccommendation........move! Get out! Make room for somebody else God wants to use. And quit saying yes to everyone! Learn the power of No!"
-"Discipline is about what result you want, not what you dont want, but what life you want to create"
-"No one cares how you feel- they care how you act"
-"Every great thing thats happened to you didnt happen because you felt some way"
-"Forgiveness is a decision not an emotion. Breech each day with a forgiving spirit"

Books I bought: The Travelers Gift and The Final Summit by Andy Andrews. He was awesome! I am excited to read his books!

September

2011-09-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

Ace as a Nun/Gangster

We walk on a near-by trail with lots of wild horses. Ace can sense their power and keeps his distance

My friend from work Mat, got married this weekend. The ceremony was beautiful and the weather was very sultrey. It was cloudy and windy but yet the sun was shining through the clouds. The spot overlooked the city.

This is Mat the groom and David another friend from work. The bride is very shy and I do not know her so there are few pictures with her :( They got married very quickly after meeting so a lot of us don't know Tauni- the bride, very well.

It was like a big Roseview ICU party! We find a way to party everywhere we go!

This is my friend Raveca. She has become very special to me latley, but is moving to Sacramento next month. We will be going to Women of Faith together- only 3 weeks away!

(No pictures with Adam, he had what we thought was food posioning. But now I'm sick 2 days after him with what I think is the flu)

Like I said, the bride is shy, but Mat is anything but, as you can tell by his amazing dance skills!

We went to the hot air-balloon races again. We have a friend from NY who just moved here a few months ago. He had never been so we all went.

It was 9/11 so they did a tribute and had jets fly over doing the "Missing Man" formation. If you look closely you can see the five of them in the sky. A few minutes after the jets flew over us, no exaggeration, a group of 5 birds in the exact same V formation flew over us and one of the birds flew out of formation. They flew like this until you could no longer see them in the sunrsie. Everyone around gasped. It was really was very eerie.

Blowing up the balloon. I have always wondered how they did this

They had a Darth Vader one that everyone loved! I guess you could take a ride in it for like $300/hr!

Nizar (NY friend), Adam, me, Chelsea, and Brandon. Chelsea and Brandon are our neighbor friends. Brandon has been staying with us for awhile. Nizar is also our neighbor and I work with him. He's Lebanese so we kept giving him a hard time about being at the 9/11 tribute. We called him "Nick" the whole time we were there(so we wouldn't blow his cover). We would lean over a couple times and whisper to him- "We're your friends right? You will tell us when to run won't you?". Or his phone would ring and he would be like "It's my cousin, I have to take this". We are weird sick people I know, but every friend needs a good teasing.

August

2011-09-06T20:06:00.001-07:00

Pyramid Lake Triatholon with my friend Liz

Liz coming up from the swim

Me in my bike transition (notice no other bikes around. My swim went horribly- I panicked in the open water as I usually do!)

Coming across the finish!

FORT STEVENS

-camping with the smith fam-

My fires will never be small and pueny

Blake, Jaclyn, Tyson and Cade

Tyson and Matthew- Seaside, OR

Another beach trip- Why are digging ditches in the sand so fun? I remember doing this too!

Harrison looking like a little Axe body spray boy! A nice lady let ALL the little ones go for a ride

Blake, Tyson, Matthew, Harrison and Cade

My dad and I going for a bike ride

These boys were cracking eachother, and everyone else up. Like two old men...

Battery Pratt

All my little ones except Adalyn and Cohen

Baby Adalyn

Teeley's Wedding

2011-07-25T12:26:00.000-07:00

Our college friend Adam (Teeley) got married this weekend in Truckee, CA. Its about 45minutes from us, outside Lake Tahoe. We spent the whole weekend with friends and doing airport runs. It was great.

Breakfast get-together

The whole crew. The groom is in the yellow.

The boys went golfing the day before the wedding. This is Blake, Adam, Alex and Josh(brides cousin)

Momma and Poppa Vaughn, Katie and Matt. Momma and Poppa Vaughn are Katie's parents. They come to all of our weddings! They flew in from Arizona, Katie from LA and Matt from Seattle.

Ahhhh, As I have said many times before...... I love weddings! Teeley actually met Natalie when he was down visitng us a few years ago. Who would have thought it would lead to this!

Mr and Mrs Teeley

It was on a beautiful golf course

Katie and I

Alex, Amy, Blake, Katie and I

Dancing of course!

It was great to hang out with the college buds! Other highlights include- Amy and I shopping in downtown Truckee, walking home from the wedding using the light of glowsticks, the stars at night were unreal!, catching up, taking walks, lounging in the sun....it was all fantastic!

July- Fun and water!

2011-07-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back we took Ace to Lake Tahoe for the day to get him use to the water,

apparently it was an exhausting day for the little boy!

Ace and his girlfriend Bee

This was another attempt at swimming. Ace likes water, but is scared to swim. He can do it (we may or may not have pushed him in before) but just wont do it!

We found this fresh water stream 2miles from our house, never knew it was there!

The other weekend we did a hike up to Horsetail Falls in CA. Its a bit past South Lake Tahoe, beautiful!

There's the top! It was a warm beautiful day

Aside from the big falls, there were tons of little ponds for us to play in. The water was freezing, but refreshing and crystal clear!

Our exhausted zoo! It's been in the mid-high 90's and it really tires our animals out. Ace wont go for walks in the middle of the day because of the heat. So, at night we have to take him for runs, but we are too tired by the end of the day so we drive in the golf cart and have Ace run next to it. On the 4th of July, I worked, but Adam didn't, so he played in a golf tournament and placed second! After I got off though we drove the golf cart across the road and up a dirt hill to watch the fireworks, it was fun. The golf cart is the apartments but we like to drive it like its ours :)

Last weekend a friend of Adams invited us out to Tahoe for the weekend, with him, his wife and a few friends/family. I thought it would be awkward cause I had never met anybody there, they were about 15 years our senior and they are literally multi-millionaires. But it was acutally a lot of fun! I got along great with his wife and her sister and everyone was fun and laid back.

We spent all day saturday, 11 hours, out on the boats, wakeboarding and just lounging. They had two boats, one was a speed boat we would wakeboard off of and the other was a Bayliner. Adam had a blast driving the Bayliner. His buddy, Chris, had him drive it for a few hours while a few from the group headed back to the cabin in the other boat. Adam was in heaven. He would rather drive the boarders then be one. He's good at it too, probably thanks to his days working at Roche Harbor

This is Chris' step son wake surfing- looked super hard so I never tried! I wakeboarded instead, I hadn't done it in like 4years but got up the first time! We wont talk about Adams wakeboarding experience.

Adams such a good boat captain!

We had such a good time! The only time it got awkward was when I was telling a story and mentioned beer-pong, and they had no idea what that was and then when Chris' wife was dropping me off at our apartment (Adam had the car and was golfing with Chris), she says "oh these are nice, I had a friend that lived here while her house was being built". Internally I laughed, cause she meant nothing by it, but it was kind of funny as she drops me off at my apt I have lived in for 3 years in her Escalade- the crappiest car they own. But they are rags to riches self-made millionares so I never felt like they were snotty or stuffy

From Morning 'til dusk out on the water.........Amazing

Maui Pictures!

2011-06-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

A Palm Tree sunset to start....... Cool flowers EVERYWHERE!

One of the many sea turtles we saw

Me swimming with him!

Molokini Island

Crystal Clear water and lots of coral

The whole group!

Boogie Boarding! We loved the water camera, we took pictures as if we were professional water sportsman, haha

The waves at Big Beach got dangerously big! They were calling people in but our boys are the ones you see inside the wave

Girls Night

Cool Coral

Kinda a cool picture! Adam coming in on his boogie board, again another pro sportman picture!

Shark bait whoo-haha!

Honolua Bay, good snorkeling, as you can tell by the transparent water. This is where we saw a lot of turltes

The coolest large vines -you could swing from them like Tarzan!

The sunset at the place that tried to kill Adam

Out on our condo patio, not a bad place to relax

Us with Terra and Brandon, late night beach escapade

At Spago (Emeril Lagasses's place!) Nice View

Us at the Luau

Old Lahaina Luau

The boys: Kyle, Adam and Brandon

Brittany and I Snorkeling

Us three girls, best friends for 16years!

Sunsets from our back patio

Ahhhhhh!

Oh, and a few other things...

2011-06-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

-Right before Maui I passed my CCRN. It is a critical care certification for RN's. It's not required but makes you look cool! :)
-Adam is getting A's in his online classes!
-I started a new quilt and have only 5-6 others planned after this one
-Adam has started a new project: Beer making. Pretty cool, a friend of ours does it and its delicious! So now were BBQ sauce canners, picklers, meat smokers, and brewers. We will have our own restaraunt soon!
-Its sunny! which means more biking to work, swimming, trips to Lake Tahoe and long romantic summer night walks! Two days ago I got on my bike and rode over to my friends house in my bathing suit to go swimming, just had to be back before dinner. Felt like middle school all over again!

Maui- with no pictures

2011-06-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

Our internet is down so I am unable to download all of our marvelous pictures from Maui. But I will give a brief and then post picture when the good ole internet is working.

So, we had a blast! We were there for 10days and went with my two closest childhood friends, Brittany and Terra and their husbands/boyfriend. We stayed in Kihei the first couple nights and then in Wailea the rest of the time. We snorkeled lots, boogie boarded, swam, shopped, wave jumped, took a boat out to Molekini (a small island off Maui), went to a luau, and didn't do half the things we planned because we were too busy relaxing! :) The flowers there are unreal and scent the entire atmosphere! And we got to swim with turtles which was one thing I would have been really disappointed about if I didn't get to do! But we swam next to about 6 or 7 total. Saw lots of pretty colorful fish. Ate at Tommy Bahamas, Cheeseburger in Paradise, etc and at Spago- Emeril Lagasse's restaraunt, we ate a few tabels away from Anthony Hopkins (I didn't know who he was, but apparently hes a pretty big deal). The food was amazing and the cocktails were just as fantastic! Without pictures, this is just another boring blog! But since we have no pictures of the following event, I suppose now would be a good time to mention Adam's scare. Sorry for those who already know the story. Here's a quick version:

We were out to dinner with the group and after appetizers Adam started to not feel well, describing what felt like really bad heart burn and chest pains. I was off taking pictures, Terra alerted me that Adam was leaving to get antacids. He looked very uncomfortable so I left with him. But before we left we asked the waitress if anything we ate had shellfish, since Adam has an anaphylactic reaction to it, the waitress quickly replied no. Terra told me to grab my phone when we got back to the condo. On the way to the condo Adam was having a hard time driving because the pain was so bad. We go to the condo, couldn't find antacids but I told him to take a benedryl just in case, because at this point something wasn't matching up with just "heartburn". I grabbed my phone and on the way to the car I saw Adam spitting and drooling. He looked at me and his face was very swollen and eyes were blood shot. He was having a reaction- no doubt! We quickly got in the car and headed down the "freeway". I got on the phone with 911, they directed me to an urgent care. I had Adam take a deep breath and heard him wheeze. Moments later they called back saying that one was closed and gave me the name of the street for another urgent care. Hawaiin names are hard to grasp but right as the lady was spelling it I looked up and there was the street. I had been going 90-95mph laying on my horn and running lights. By the time we got to urgent care, Adam was just hanging in there. We rushed in and because of the 911 call they knew we were coming and had epi ready to give. Adam was wheezing, dry heeving, and drooling. His face was so swollen and his eyes watering. Within minutes of the epi he looked and felt better. I knew the wheezing was a sure sign of impending doom, but I asked the Doc how much time we had before he would have had to do an emergency tracheotomy(hole in throat), his response was "2-3 minutes". The things that would have delayed us by 2-3 minutes were numerous!
-If Terra wouldnt have told me Adam was leaving
-If Terra wouldnt have told me to grab my phone (I wouldnt have normally, I never have it on me)
-If the waitress actually would have known that the food had crab in it, we would have called an ambulance and since the nearest medical center/dispatcher for ambulances is 25 minutes away, they probably wouldnt have made it in time
-If I hadnt have sped and ran redlights
-If 911 hadnt called back in time and if I hadnt have picked up my phone (random number calling while my husband was dying-not a time I would usually pick up)
Theres so many things........
I don't really want to go into detail but the restaraunt had added crab into ther "spinach and artichoke dip"and nobody knew but the Head Chef and Manager.

Were just thanking God that he provided those 2-3 minutes. Reaction time shortens by almost half each time you are exposed/have a reaction. So we are working on quick Epi pen access if it ever happens again.

Pictures of the fun stuff to come!

Sweet Remarks

2011-05-24T15:00:00.000-07:00

I got this from a patient I extensively took care of and grew to really care for,
Attached to a vase of flowers read a card:
"We believe that God sends angels in our time of need. We know that you were that angel He sent to take care of Ron."
I almost cried!
They called me a few days later from home and had me tracked down (I was working in the other ICU) to ask me questions about some symptoms he was having. Of course I couldn't give them medical advice but his wife said she wanted to talk to me because "I knew Ron so well". :) I knew there was a reason I put up with bodily fluids of all natures, disrespect and name calling, stupid people, and overall frequent feelings of frustration.

Are You Ready for the Summer?!?!

2011-05-04T14:09:00.000-07:00

(note new sunglasses)

This weekend was busy! I am kind of a loner and dont ever think twice about hanging out by myself. But this weekend was very fun and friend filled! Friday night was a going away party for a friend at work. So after work, Adam met me and a bunch of my co-workers at a mexican restaraunt. We had a good time and ended up staying until they basically did the old - slow music, sweep next to you- bit. Then saturday we watched the MMA fight with some other friends and ate steak and potatoes! Sunday after church was the Aces baseball game with our new neighbor friends, Chelsea and Brandon. We ended up making a night of it to, doing dinner together as well. Tuesday we did dinner with them again too, and watched "The Voice" (not that cool of a show, not a big Christina Aguelara fan). So all, in all a busy and fun weekend! I have to mention a conversation I had with a friend during this weekend. He had mentioned to me before that he had been in prison, but never said for what. I never got nosey with him about it and a part of me thought he was joking. Well, this weekend he shares with Adam and I that he use to have a heroin addiction, along with an alcohol and "anything he could get his hands on" problem. He got put in prision for it and had to go through 4 years of treatment. He has also been divorced more than a couple times, and in general has been through a lot more than I ever realized. I have been thinking about that a lot latley. He is now a Christian and it is so cool to hear his story because he and those like him truly understand God's Grace and NEED it. They wake up everyday humble and knowing that if they don't walk with Christ every step of their day, they are putting themselves at huge risk. The same is true for everyone, it's just harder for an average joe to really live it and NEED that grace and life-line. He is now desperate for something outside of himself or anyone/anything else in this world, only what God can provide. Those are my favorite kind of people. When they talk, they actually know what they are talking about.

Adam got me a sun tea jar! I have been looking for one forever. They make a plastic one at Costco that Adam kept telling me to get but everyone knows that a sun tea jar needs to be glass! (insert here, laughing at me, I know) It's suppose to get up to 80 degrees, good day for tea!

Ace is working on licking Momma, not biting. I love this pic!

My pickels I jarred a few weeks back, kinda pretty

Ace must have had a busy weekend too! :)

Easter

2011-04-25T13:11:00.001-07:00

Our Easter weekend was very relaxed. Friday night we went to Good Friday service after we did some fun sunglass shopping for our upcoming Maui trip. On the way to the church we pulled over to help a guy who ran out of gas, and small world.... he was from Mount Vernon, WA!

Saturday was work for us both, but we had dinner together that night at our favorite Thai place. Then we went and watched karyoke at local bar down the street. Always entertaining to watch people karayoke!

Sunday we got up early, went to a great service at church, then took Ace to the dog park. That was a lot of fun! It was really sunny but really windy, so we didn't stay for too long. Then we hit the stores to pick up canning supplies. Adam canned his homemade BBQ sauce and I tried a pickle recipe. Although I put more in my jars than just cucumbers. I added green beans, bell pepper, and in one, radishes. So we'll see. We had a delicious pulled pork sandwhich with coleslaw dinner. It was a nice Easter!

Fishing

2011-04-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

We went fishing the other day, just thought I would post a few pictures. We got skunked but it was still fun!

Half the lake had snow on the bank and the other half was dry. Supposidly the fish liked the side with snow, of course! Adam was in shorts, so I was dying laughing when we both kept falling through.

PS: My pickeled asaparagus sell is blowing up! I've made over 50 jars for orders from people at work. But I know realize that I priced them too low, and if I'm not careful, I could actually lose money. Live and Learn

Work Stories

2011-04-02T12:25:00.000-07:00

Forget TLC's "Trauma: Life in the ER" show. These last three days have been crazy and exciting! I thought I would share, but as usual I spare details and use generalizations. Also, in telling a story, I in no way want to seem insensitive by the way things are said or the way they are termed. Day one: My patient (pt) was very young and was going to have their organs donated due to their unfortunate situation that left them no hope of survival. However, you need to be declared dead before you can donate, obviously, however this person wasnt quit brain dead so we had to declare her a cardiac death before we could harvest her organs. This is tricky because without a pumping heart your organs/body dies, making it difficult to harvest them for donation. This is a very well planned orchestrated event. The transplant team, me and the MD planned our actions out for hours before the event to make it smooth and the least traumatic for everyone. So, this is how it worked- again young person- intubated(breathing tube), on contnous IV meds to give her a blood pressure, in a coma. With family at bedside we pull all the support and allow her to die. It went very well. They died within minutes, with little extra pain meds, while the family played Amazing Grace. I'm certainly sad but well trained in not crying, but I notice the Respiratory Therapist (RT) is really crying. As soon as the pt is "declared" (dead) we usher the family out and I quickly detach and unhook all extra devices. We have 5minutes to get the patient to the Pre-preped OR for the organ removal surgery. The 5 minutes allows for what is called autoresuscitation, when people will die then spontaneously come back to life, it really does happen, I've seen it myself. Anyway, we all go into the OR (already prepped before hand in scrubs) to greet the OR team and surgeon. The pt is placed on the table, clock going, prepped, positioned, tools ready and then -5minutes up. First cut is made and the pt is opened up. I got to sit in for the whole surgery. SO COOL!!! The liver is way bigger than I remember. The whole process of preserving organs is very detailed and amazing. Tons of phone calls are being made inside the OR. There's a plane outside the hospital waiting to fly the organs to the appropriate places. The pt's family was so excited about being able to donate that they even wanted to know where to go so that they could watch the plane fly away! Day 2: Day was going realitivly normal. The RT that had been with the donor pt and I the day before came up to me and starts to tell me how much it meant for her to be in the surgery. She goes on to tell me that 10yrs ago her teenage son died and was able to donate his organs. It was the first time she had ever been able to be a part of the whole process. SO COOL! That's why she had been so emotional! Then toward change of shift, my podmate (RN working in the same area as me) yelled out "I need Atropine", knowing the tone and need for that drug, I drop everything and grab her Atropine. I standby, pt's ok, then I hear it again " I need Atropine!", I run off to get more and by the time I get back shes on top of the pt doing CPR. We had nursing student's that day on the unit and they were all in the room, really excited. The pt was in the process of being intubated so it was a very organized code blue, with the RN and MD already in the room. Some codes are CRAZY and chaotic, especially outside of the unit, the goal of course is to have a controlled chaos, where everyone plays their role. My role was to record, so I was mostly standing at the doorway. Anyway, we thought the pt was okay and then they coded again a few minutes later. Finally it all ends and we are giving report to the next shift. I get ready to leave and go home, I have my keys and bag in hand when this new RN being oriented says while in our pt's room "is that what his arm was doing before?" I look back and the pt is seizing. This is not "what his arm was doing before". So I threw my stuff down and ran to get some Ativan from our drug dispenser. What a way to end the day. Day 3: My seizure pt was fine. My other pt was not. We had talked about intubating him since yesterday, however he was riding a fine line, and it hadnt been done. He was kindof awake but had a snore-like breathing pattern (not good). Well morning starts off with him vomitting and because of his condition I know he was going to need to be intubated. I could safely assume that he aspirated, he did not even cough or move much when he threw up. So I call the pulmonologist and he comes by shorlty after and we intubate the guy. Later that afternoon the pt gets to the point, again riding a fine line, where he needs a "brain drain". His pressures in his head were building up so much that we needed a way to evacuate the extra blood that was not reabsorbing as planned. I was hoping the neurosurgeon would do this at the bedside since they often do, because I had a student again and she would have loved to watch! But instead we wheeled him to the OR. He came back with some minor seizures and a new brain drain! Then I find out that the lady that coded the day before came back positive for a very contagious and deadly bacteria. Everyone involved in the code had to go to the in-house pharmacy at work and get an antibiotic. Luckily I was only at the doorway! but still had to take the drug. Also while walking to lunch earlier that day I saw the transplant RN and she told me that all the transplants from our donor pt so far were a success, and in particular, one of the kidneys had gone to a 35 year guy who had been on the transplant list for 8years! The transplant was a huge success! I guess when the surgeon had called to tell the transplant RN this, she was in tears saying that they kidney reciever was such a nice deserving guy. None of these events are abnormal, but all in one week, day after day made for an exciting week! And I didnt even mention the week before when I ran into some sticky legal situations with suicide attempts, where security and hospital attorneys had to be called. It was one of the only times that I was pretty sure I was going to be taken to court! So far no subpoena!

College Girls Weekend

2011-04-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

After my brothers wedding I headed up to Seattle with my brother-in-law and the kiddos. They dropped me off in Tacoma and from there I headed over to Seabeck to have a girls weekend with my best college girlfriends. So cool that we were all able to get togehter.

We did what we always do when we get together: chat, gossip, take walks/runs, and cook. This time around we had two little babies, Ashlies Roman and Melissa's Kannon. The two are 2 months apart. Starting from the Left:

Kali- She has the most nic-names, I will leave it at that! My college roommate my sophmore/junior year, we took jogging and volleyball together and played on a few intramural volleyball teams together. The only person I truly enjoy runnning with. I get her when some don't. Shes in PA school in Spokane with her husband who is finishing med school. Both at UW, we show no sensitivity to huskies, where you get your undergrad is where your heart is!

Melissa- "Momma Mel", met her my sophomore year. She's super fun and girly but very stable in all her adventures. Shes the most mother-like, always has a warm inviting home, warm food, good advice, and keeps us all together! She is a 3rd grade teacher. She had her first baby last June. She lives in Seabeck with her husband whos a land surveyer. We stayed at their new beatiful home on 4acres.

(me, next to Mel)

Ashlie- Met her in HS actually, we went to different schools but dated brothers. We actually didnt become friends until college, when I left all my clothes at home and had to borrow hers! She was also a roommate, during my sophomore year. We have the same intellectual drive and mind. She loves to love and loves challenges. She is also an RN, so I spent many years in college with her. We were excellent study buddies! She lives in Vancouver with her hubby who is also an RN. She had her first baby last April.

Amy- Shes a special character. You can't not love her. Shes got attitude, was on our logging team, wears carhart, but looks like Barbie. Shes from a real small town and knows everything about cooking and anything that has to do with hard work and dirt. Shes super tough, but super sweet and sensitive. She lives in Birch Bay with her husband who was a real good college friend of all of ours, hes a great guy! Amy has two bachelors in criminal justice and biology, she wanted to be an FBI agent. She is bummed to be working at a spa but cant wait to be a mom!

Katie- The one you live vicariously through! She lives in LA and is a producer. She has worked closely with Gordon Ramsey and is now working on a song writing show with Colbie Calet, Jewel and many others! I would be suprised if she didnt take over LA! She's a work hard, play hard kind of person. She's opposite of all of us. She never wants kids and doesn't think she will be married soon or ever. Shes from Arizona and like most Arizonian's I know- knows how to have a good time but is a loyal genuine friend.

But we all love hard work, good people, sports, getting dirty outdoors and enjoying the good things in life!

Melissa with Roman and Kannon

As we cooked and played with babies Melissa's husband was in and out, so we started joking about being sister wifes, hahaha- one doing dishes, two playing with babies, one cooking, etc....

We had a blast and spoke without inhibition, another one of our favorites.

This is Katie getting on a tractor for possibly the first time in her life!

These girls are great, and so special to me! Along with my 2 best friends from home, Brittany and Terra, and a good friend here in Reno Kaylee, these girls know everything about me and never stop supporting and loving me!

Jordan's Wedding

2011-04-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

Adam and I went home this last weekend, to see my fam and for my brothers wedding! Before the wedding was hanging out and shopping with my mom. I also spent hours with my mom going through her quilting fabric! I was like a kid in a candy store! Saturday Jordan and Tessa got married in Ridgefield, WA, just outside of Vancouver, at one of the LDS churches. There was lots of family and it was a great weekend. Tessa looked Beautiful!

The Bride and Groom

My Nephews

The B and G with my Dad and his sisters, Crystal and Jan

My Aunt and Uncle and Cousins

My Nieces and Nephews

Adam and Aunt Jan

Me and my Bro

Aunt Jan and Matthew

My dad loves to dance

All my kids!

All my siblings, except Jen :( with out new sister-in-law, Tessa

College Bball was also a big part of the wedding......for some

My Uncle Randy, Dad and My Grandpa

Hanging out after the show was over. I was so happy to see everyone and get to hangout!

The Bride and Groom Exit

A double rainbow on the way home from the wedding!!! How cool!

The two are now headed to ID where my brother will be starting at BYU very soon.

Congratulations!

Boring Old Couple

2011-03-08T09:10:00.000-08:00

I was really sad that I hadn't seen a post from my sisters blogs for awhile. I clearly stock them because I LOVE seeing pictures of my nieces and nephews and getting updates when I'm not around. However it had been awhile for Jenny and Kara still hasn't updated yet. This is probably because they both have had way more exciting lifes then us latley. Jenny took her kids to Disneyland- (cutest video ever) and Kara and Judd went to Vegas. So, I was sad that they hadn't updated in awhile but I realized neither had I. Now, I am fully aware that no one stocks my blog like I do with there's because I have no cute little kiddos, just cute animals :). But here is whats going on in Reno land. Ace is so cute and really starting to listen to commands- he likes to snuggle too which is a must for pets. He has his first date with our friends lab puppy today.....hes so nervous, I just know. Adam has planned a last minute trip to Texas next week. His BF, Roccay, is coming home from active duty in Iraq for a week or so, so Adam is making the trip to see him. Then the next week we have my brother's wedding, which will be very exciting. I will see all my family except my sister Jenny who wont be able to make it :( Adam and I are both going on this trip which is nice cause that hasn't always happened. Before i fly out (Adam flys out before me) I am stopping in Seattle to have a girls night with all my close college girlfriends- what are the chances of all of use being able to get together!?! Coming from all over WA and even LA. But as of latley we havnt been up to much because we have a Maui trip planned in May/June! I will spare the details but it is free (thanks to good friends) except our plane tickets back and spending money. So I spend my days off canning and being a puppy mom. I was "forced" to take a vacation day because I had let too many accru (>290hrs) Adam has been spending his time playing basketball and doing P90X. He has weight and fitness goals for Texas and Maui. So I have been doing P90X with him too. Were pretty boring......we went bowling the other night and shoe shopping the other day..... ya, were boring!

Ace Pictures

2011-02-22T09:02:00.000-08:00

Snuggeling

His first bath

His first snow day

The Wind

2011-02-16T07:20:00.000-08:00

The last two days have been beautiful. Sunny, about 50 degrees and clear skies. However its been so windy that its miserable to go outside. Well I still have an addiction to satisfy, so I have been running in this wind. I use to like wind when I lived in WA because it was kind of peacful, but when it gets windy here, its like a tornado. So on a windy day run I go around Terd Hill a bunch of times, its a dirt hill by my house. Any sort of straight away would be suicide. Going multiple times around a hilly area breaks up the long stretches of head wind, and theres no cars around. There was once when I actually stopped moving and it was not because I quit emitting energy to move forward. You reach the top of a hill, which is usually the relieving part and instead, boom- your hit with all the wind that was blocked by the hill. You just close your eyes and push against the wind then the wind lets up for a second, and you fall forward. I actaully got scared a few times, it was so strong. It was blowing me back and sideways and rocks and tumble weeds were blowing so hard that it hurt when they hit me. Ace came with me one of the days, I felt bad for him, he didnt have sunglasses on like me, but he's a puppy, he loves it. He's up to 7miles! Hes like an ididerod dog! Now today, I wake up and its snowing! No matter what the elements, the hardest part is looking out the window and leaving your warm home. Once you've started you feel like Rocky, just fighting the elements- keeps it exciting!......Right?

Friends Events and Gary and Margo's Visit

2011-02-14T07:54:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago a friend of mine at work Kellen, had a show. Shes the lead singer in a local band. This is her above. It was fun to watch her perform. Not really our style of music (one of the only styles I dont like) but fun.

Also a few weeks ago was my good friends sisters baptism. This is Kelsey, Kaylee's sister. Kaylee is a good friend so I have gotten to know her family. This is the same sister that we would watch play softball at UNR. I casually asked how Kelsey was doing because I hadnt seen her in awhile and Kaylee said "She's getting Baptized on Sunday if you want to come". I was so excited for her! This was unexpected from what I knew, so I went to the service and then we all went out to dinner afterwards. The service was excellent, it was at a church called Living Stones, in dowtown, very hip and trendy but very sound. Congrats to Kelsey!

Gary and Margo came to visit! We did a lot of just hanging out which was really nice and on the last day we all went for a long walk around the wet lands.

We saw these guys on our walk. NV is a free range state so wild horses run around like they are just parts of neighborhoods. One night Adam and I say a herd of about 15 running on the sidewalk next to RC Wiley.

They brought Alaskan King crab. It was so yummy I ate 1/4 of one (pic above) and was in a crab coma! It was so fun to have them. we went shopping, they went to our Bible study group with us, we got Garys new jeep that he picked up in Vegas fixed, celebrated Adam's birthday early and Margo and I did some quilt shop shopping. Thanks for visiting!

Adam and the little boy Ace

Posenjak Family Farm Pictures

2011-02-07T14:22:00.000-08:00

A little late, but Acorn was a Christmas cat too

Ace and Momma playing

Ace (Much to his dismay, he is no longer allowed on the couch)

Stuffitis

2011-01-29T10:56:00.000-08:00

There's a term that Dave Ramsey uses called stuffitis, meaning that we as people have an obsession with stuff, a disease if you will. You might think that is not true, well clean out your house, your entire house and you too, like I just have, will realize that you have stuffitis. We have so many small kitchen appliances/objects its ridiculous. We have: a George Formen, a Totti maker, a kitchen aid, a hand held blender, a crock pot, a mini crock pot, a coffee maker, a coffee bean grinder, a food processer, a large flat skillet, a rice cooker, an egg poacher, a blender, a toaster, an electric can opener, and just last night I was talking with a friend about buying a dutch oven. This is not including all the many other smaller gagets we have like 2 juicers, a mudler, 2 egg slicers, a melon baller, 6 star shaped ice cube trays, a zester....the list goes on and on. Who uses an egg slicer anyway, and why do we have 2! This is obsured, I am never buying anything again. I even was cleaning out the freezer and discovered we have PLENTY of food, we just dont think about it! Flank Steak and Roasts that are just waiting to be used.
Stufitis is a real thing, once you get something you think you really need, the next day its something new. So for now, I will be WT and live with my plastic drawers that I have had since college to store my clothes in, my pink cordaroy couch, my lavender and brown spray paint attempted dining room chairs, and my lack of bed frame. Maybe living like your in college isnt the worst thing- Few things, little money to spend on things, and utalizing stuff until it doesn't function anymore.

The Busy Month of January

2011-01-27T14:12:00.000-08:00

It has been very busy lateley. Heres a breakdown:

Jan. 9th- my bday was good, spent most of the day cleaning the house. Went to lunch with two work/church friends, then we went to dinner with Kaylee, a good friend, her BF.

Jan. 10-13th- My good friend Brittany (AKA Ber) and her BF Kyle came to visit. We were lazy all day monday then watched the BCS UO v. Auburn game at a casino downtown that sets up stadium like seating in the sports book area. We all placed bets for fun, but Adam was the only one who won (thats cause he bet against UO, boooooo!, he says bet with your wallet not your heart)

The next day was skiing in Lake Tahoe at Heavenly ^. Kyle and Ber snowboarded, while we skiied. It was a good day, pretty good snow, decent weather. Ber outted early, she wasnt having too much fun, shes newer to snowboarding. We then got back home and went to our favorite Thai place to eat dinner.

The next day we took Ber and Kyle for their first Costco visit- very exciting. And then that night.....we added to our family. Meet Ace a now 18lb Lab/Aussie Shepard mix from a pet rescue outside of Reno. He was born in early novemeber.

The reason for this cute little guy you might ask- Adam was convinced that he needed a puppy before we had kids, to prepare him he says. (No, I'm not pregnant) I like dogs, but dont know the first thing about raising them, I've never had one. So here we are 2 crazy people with two spoiled cats and a puppy living in a one bedroom apt. So......we moved. To a two bedroom apt in the same complex. I now have a sewing room!

Momma and Ace get along pretty well, as long as Ace knows who's boss. Acorn doesn't like him, yet.

They like to play. Ace can get a little rough just cause he doesn't know better, but Momma is perfect with him she swats him and bites his ears. This should teach him not to bite in general.

Puppies are A LOT of work. Adam slept next to his kennel for the first two nights until he got use to holding it when he had to go to the bathroom. And even though I thought the reasoning for getting one was a bit ridiculous, I actually think it is a good thing for both of us. I affirmed that I am extremely impatient. Cats are pretty dumb, I love my cats more than anything, but not smart animals. You have to teach a puppy everything and he will learn, but it takes time. We are working on potty training, not barking (his pretty good at this), not biting when playing, and overall verbal commands. He's a great runner, which makes me happy. He's up to a little over 2miles now, and he stays right by my side and never barks at other dogs or people!

He's a good boy, but definatley work! Labs and Aussie Shepards are suppose to be really smart and good with kids so I hope he starts to learn. I love animals but the last thing I want is for him to be one of those dogs that barks at people and doesn't behave. Hes a puppy so I can't help how much energy he has, except try to run his butt off. But my family doesn't particularly care for dogs so I understand how non-dog likers see dogs. But at least with a dog you can train them to be what you want them to be for the most part, I hear with kids theres no garuntee :) So, nothing will prepare us for that I guess!

Less than 2 weeks after my friends visited, Adams friends Jason and Chuck visited. They did man stuff like golf and watch football. We all also went down to Tahoe and stayed at the Hyatt of course, a cabin on the lake and had dinner again and the Lone Eagle Grill. Lots of fun!

New Years Weekend

2011-01-04T10:42:00.000-08:00

For New Years, we last minute decided to head down to the beach- Monterey, CA. Adam's good friend Charlie lives there. We wanted to do something different and not so typical New Yearsy, just the two of us. So we headed down thursday night after a coworkers wedding.

Work Friends

Liz, me and Kaylee (There was a 7 year old little girl wearing the exact same outfit I had, really- the exact same, kinda funny. I knew I looked like I was attending my own 1st grade winter musical!)

It was a beautiful wedding, and lots of fun. It started at 2 in the afternoon on a sunny but snow covered thursday. It was very magical to look out the window and see the sunset on the snow covered trees and mountains. There were cows right next door and a barn. It really was very cozy and romantic. I like the idea of a winter wonderland wedding. The bride and her bridesmaids had little white furry short jackets they wore over there dark blue dresses- so cute.

We got into Monterey late thursday night. On New Years eve, Adam and Charlie got up early to golf- as it was Charlies only time off while we were there. While they golfed I slept in, read a book and went running. Then I met them at the golf course for lunch. After that we went to the hotel to check in. Adam took a nap and I sat by a big fire in the lobby and talked to a good friend on the phone while drinking hot tea. Then I went back to the room, showered, and Adam and I were off to a fancy New Years Eve dinner! Ahhhhh, what a day!

To ring in the new year that night we went to a New Years "Ball", at the Hyatt, which is where we were staying that night. This is where Chuck works so as usual, he hooked us up! We weren't quit dressed for a "ball", but no one noticed by the time we arrived. Lots of sparkly clothes, I didn't get the memo that sparkley dresses are 2011. Lots of older people (Maybe thats why I never got the memo, they got it a decade late. heehee) but there was a coverband and dancing- so we had a great time! It was the first New Years we spent just the two of us.

Happy New Year!

The next day we went to the Monterrey Aquarium. SO COOL! We saw tons of things- birds, penguins, ducks, tons of fish, flamingos, starfish, squid.....Among may favorite were the sea lions, the octopus and the many seahorses.

We fed a Sting Ray

This is a seahorse! His face is in the L hand corner. I think God had a lot of fun making some of these animals!

This is a little french man

An Eel

A Giant Squid

This seahorse kept trying to kiss Adam

The octopus!

I loved this seahorse!

On the beach

On our way out of town and thro San Jose we were able to stop and have lunch with my Aunt and 2 cousins. A very enjoyable and relaxing weekend.

Christmas Spirit

2010-12-23T09:12:00.000-08:00

Momma, the Christmas cat

Adam's work party, at Claim Jumper

My work Christmas party- Hula competition

My work Christmas Party- dancing ALL night long as usual.

Charlie visited, our good friend (well, Adam's, but hes mine too :))

Golfing in December...... a beautiful thing

A Christmas card we recieved. Author: 7 year old Mckenzie

Dear, chelsea and adam,

this is a good present and I'm sorry you have to work on christmas day but I heard you have Christmas on Christmas eve it is sorduv werd but you guys are like speiel friends and you know what you are going to have a good speiel Merry Christmas!

(postscripted with a variety of hearts with smiley faces)

Adam's Turkey, Black Friday and Christmas Decorating

2010-11-27T09:43:00.000-08:00

Adam's smoked turkey was beautiful and delicioius so I had to show you a picture.

Black Friday: It went well actually and I would totally do it again. We arrived at the mall at 4:15AM. My first stop was Express where everything was 40% off. Then we went to Macy's- and again only bought things that were at least 40% off. These are the only places we bought things and ended up leaving the mall about 5:30, which was good because it started to get crazy but really, if you get there first thing, its not bad at all- and we both hate to shop. There were a lot of stores open but really didn't have any good sales, so beware, they are just trying to feed off the the frenzy! It also really helped that I had a plan and that 2 days before I had gone into Express, tried on what I wanted and then was able to come back and just grab the items and sizes I needed and go. I also had envelopes labled with store names and inside had pictures of what we wanted and coupons from the Sunday ad. We got 3 pairs of jeans, 1 sweater, 3 tank tops, 2 dress tops, a necklace, a pair of mens dress shoes, 2 mens dress shirts, 2 pairs of slacks and a jolly good time for well under $500. Thats a lot of stuff! It was all good brands too. So the take home message is: Black Friday is worth it if you have a plan and stick to it, know what you want, stay in your budget, and get there early and get out! Here's all our stuff!

After getting home I took a nap, then got up around 0830 and did Plyometrics (P90X stuff) with Adam. At the time I was actually feeling good. Today my toilet seat parts are really sore! I then went to the book store (yes, there was an envelope for this one) in my sweaty nasty running shorts and a big jacket. I spent too much time there fiddeling with Christmas stuff and trying to decide which 5$ Christmas CD to buy. Adam calls and says his friend got us tickets to our minor league Bball team- the "Reno Bighorns". So we accepted and went with Dave and Rosa. This friend of Adams works for the Bighorns so we got club seats, third row back from courtside. Yes, they are just a minor league team, but it was still cool to watch so close, and these guys are still really good. In fact on our team is a guy that played on the Mavericks last season, DJ Strawberry (Daryl Strawberry's son), and Patrick Ewing Jr (you can figure that one out). I LOVE basketball.

I really like to watch football too, but basketball is my favorite, espcially college, infact we dont watch NBA we only watch NCAA. I think I like bball so much because I know the game better than football and when I watch I can relate to how they feel when they play because I use to play and love it, but football I never played of course so as much as I like it, I have no personal connection. Speaking of football- UNR beat Boise State last night in an EXCELLENT game! Go Pack!!! There was a 14point spread on Boise, but the Pack came through big.

The next day we got our Christmas tree and started to put up our decorations

Random Pictures

The bachlorette party the other weekend with work friends- Jen, Leslie and Liz.

It was really bright and Adam didn't have sunglasses, all we could find were ski goggles. heehee

It's kinda blurry but I woke up to this the other morning. So pretty!

The girls doing what they do best- sleeping and looking cute

The act of ink. It was very apparent this guy knew a thing or two about tattoos, and Adam asked around and did some research. I supppose you wouldn't go to an out of shape trainer right.....or a bald hair dresser?

Adam's new tattoo. This was right after he got it. You have to keep it wrapped for a bit I guess.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T19:55:00.000-08:00

The day before Thanksgiving Eve a friend of Adams wanted to go give gloves, sleeping bags and such to the homeless. It was predicted to be 6degrees that night and she felt bad for these people. We were happy to go, but in all honesty Adam and I are anything but bleeding hearts- infact we are pretty horrible people, espcially myself, I'm a little jaded. But I'm glad we went and everyone was extremely in need. It gives you a new perspective on being grateful. The next morning we started out Thanksgiving Eve with first of the season skiing. It was great weather but as we got onto the snow, we both go to click in our boots and off of Adam's bindings pops a few washers and he is unable to get his boot clipped. He told me to go up and he would meet me after a few runs. I guess his bindings are unfixable and he never got to ski. He hung out in the lodge while I skiied for about 2hrs. We then went shopping for Turkey day food, and then went to a friends house for appetizers and games. The morning of we layed around and watched football. Until about 2pm when we had Thanksgiving at a friends place. Hours later it was back to our place to watch Elf, my favorite movie! Now as Thanksgiving comes to an end I lay out our plan of attack for Black Friday tomorrow.
Happy Thanksgiving, to family and friends- wish we could all be together!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...Already!

2010-11-20T15:51:00.000-08:00

Last night Me, Adam, Dave and Rosa went to a local theatre to see "The Buttcracker". Yes, a spoof on The Nutcracker. It was fun and different. The theatre was, like I said, a small local one filled with art enthusiast. So there was edgy humor and cross dressing. I think its fun to dive into other peoples cultures, Adam actually played nice and said he thought it was funny too. It was a good kickoff to the Christmas season!!!! Already Christmas music and today we got snow! There is suppose to be a big snow storm tonight, which is great but I have a bachlorette party I'm attending tonight and Adam is worried and says he doesn't want me on the rode after, so..... guess I need to figure that one out. The Bridal shower was this morning, for a work friend and I just got back from it. It was fun. I then had to stop in to work to fix some charting that I had apparently done wrong and for legal reasons had to go in and fix it. However, they made a mistake and it wasn't me. I should have clocked in for the 15minutes I was there! haha. It's always awkward walking into work in normal clothes. Everyone stares at you and makes comments, cause all we see eachother in is loose baggy scrubs. Except for the annual Christmas party, which I am so stoked for!
Adam and I might do black friday. Risky?- Yes, but thought it might be fun. We are also getting ready to plan our first of the year ski day! The lifts have already started to open. Also, the big news on Adams list is his new tattoo. Yep, a big black tattoo on his calf. I was a little anxious about it, but he came home and said- it's exactly what he wanted, so that made me happy. He's been thinking about it for over a year and really, if its what he wants then its what he wants. When I first started to panic about it my friends at work kinda laughed and assured me that its not a big deal. And it took a few days for me to really believe it just didn't matter. It's of a cross he designed himself so its not like its mighty mouse or a unicorn or something super cool (sarcasm). I told him I just wanted him to be happy with it and have it really be of something that meant enough to him to be a permanent part of his body. Apparently its not done yet either. No pic though, sorry, I will work on that. Also, Adam ran the other day, he is preparing for his first 5K he is going to do early next year! I'm so proud. He is also doing P90x, which is kicking his butt! We did the yoga together the otherday, thats hard stuff!
I'm getting so excited for the holidays! Even tho it will just be the two of us :(

If I Could Just Toot My Own Horn For a Sec.

2010-11-04T13:28:00.001-07:00

I got introduced the other day as "the women who saved my husbands life"! My patients wife said this with tears in her eyes...... thats why I do what I do! It was a great feeling. I caught small neurological changes in her husband that led to a quick and emergent craniotomy AKA brain surgery. The changes were small but by the time we got back from MRI and a CT scan, he was decompensating quickly. His breathing pattern and level of conscioiusness had changed. It made me feel really good to know I had caught on early and that, from what I know, he is doing much better. :)

Fall Cleaning

2010-10-24T14:58:00.000-07:00

We got new carpet placed in our apartment. Doesn't sound too exciting but it is. This carpet is cleaner of course but also darker so future stains won't be as noticeable. It was quite an ordeal to move everything in the house off the carpet. This made it so that we also had the opportunity to clean out all of our "crap". Apparently I'm the horder in the relationship and Adam is the disposer.

Adam also found us a Dyson vaccum. Apparently these things are the best of the best. However they cost, the best of the best price. To make a long story short Adam got our new Animal Dyson vaccum for 50% off!!!! Unheard of, but Adam did it. It should be here on wednesday!!!

We did some pumpkin carving with Ben and Stephanie's kids, Haley and Mckenzie. Adam did most of the design and gutting work.

In the end we had two very scary pumpkins!!!

Adam and I have recently become SF Giants fans. No we are not band-wagoners, although my announement comes with bad timing being that they just made it to the World Series. Of course the Mariners are our team at heart but we don't get all the NW games, so since SF is the closest team to us, we are now fans! "Fear the Beard!"

We lost our power last night due to the high winds. It was kind of fun hanging out without TV and falling asleep to candel light. :)

Our Life Group, AKA Bible study group, is reading and discussing a book called "The Prodical God". It's a very good book about the parable of the prodical son, or after reading the book and understanding the parable- the TWO prodical sons. The book tells a cool little story that I really like and thought I would share:

One day Jesus asked his disciples to carry a stone for him. Peter, being practical found the smallest stone he could and put it in his pocket. Jesus then told them to follow him and led them on a long journey. Around noon he had them all sit down and then turned there stones into bread. Peter's lunch was very small. When lunch was over Jesus again said "I would like you to carry a stone for me". This time Peter thought "ah hah, now I got it" and found a huge boulder and hoisted it on his back. They began walking again with Peter barley keeping up, but thinking "I can't wait for supper!". Jesus then stopped hours later at a river and said "Now throw your stones in the water". So they did. Peter and the others looked around dumbfounded. Jesus sighs and says "Don't you remember what I asked you to do? Who were you carrying the stone for?"

"It is only when you see the desire to be your own Saviour and Lord-lying beneath both your sins and your moral goodness- that you are on the verge of understanding the gospel...." -The Prodical God, by Timothy Keller

:) Running Again :)

2010-10-14T16:52:00.001-07:00

Some of you have been asking and I'm sorry, I have been a negative nancy lately and not wanting to jinx myself so I have forgotten to mention to you blogger eyes that I am RUNNING AGAIN!!!!! It is fantastic! I still have a little pain but I can control it and its much milder than before. So, already I have planned races in mind :) My bike has been awesome and I ride it almost everyday off, but as I have explained there is something about running that cannot be replaced. I think part of it is the true ability to have that time be solely about you. Even on the bike I have to worry about cars, and things in the road and which gear Im in and because I still suck- I have to focus on the 5 o'clock pedal pull up. No complaints though, I am very grateful for my bike! I'm just a running addict. So, in short I'm "using" again and loving it.

*This post sponsered by my most recent running high*

Really?!?!

2010-10-14T15:24:00.000-07:00

-Why are candels so dang expensive! This is a normal thing to do, buy candels, but yet I have such a hard time doing it. Really!?!?!, $12 for a candel! Am I too cheap? I know theres a few that are slightly cheaper, but I'm candel picky, I don't like the "candy coated sugar muffin" smells. Eeww!

-Momma opens the door on her own now. She escaped the other night and a neighbor picked her up and had a "pajama party" with her. This neighbor now calls us and tells us that her cat TOLD HER that she misses Momma and wants her to come over again for another "pajama party", really!?!?!

-I got called 4 times from my work 2 days before I returned from my vacation. Really?!?! What do you want? Oh thats right, they want me to come in for OT or for some housewide meeting or to switch days with me. I called back and 3 different people wanted to talk to me. I guarentee you I am not that important, but I guess it was nice to know they missed me! :)

Vacation Home: My babies!

2010-10-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

Visiting home was so great! I'm an Auntie to so many "babies" and I love every second of it!

We went for a walk in the park

Blake and I caught 12 grasshoppers!

Danielle cut Cades hair

Playing in the park

Cade helping Harrison

Baby Adalyn

Cell phones are very cool as Jordan explains

Cade grinding wheat for bread

And Harrison mixing the ingredients

Jaclyn, the minnie mommy

Visitng with my good college friends and their cute little families

Ashlies baby Roman and in my lap, Melissa's baby Kannon

I also did some fun bracelet making and nail painting with Haley and Savannah, but no picutres :( I was too busy hanging with the girls :) Also, my mom took the whole day off and we went and visited my grandpa! Lots of good quality fun

Vacation Home: Terra's Wedding

2010-10-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

My best friend from my childhood, Terra, got married on October 9th in Portland. The wedding was beautiful and lots of fun

The Bride and Groom

Us Bridesmaids and our cute red heels!

Me and Brittany, another childhood BFF

This is the quilt I have been working on for Terra and Brandon. I left it in there honeymoon suite the night of the wedding, all wrapped up in a pretty red bow (my moms idea).

Terra is very flowery and has a bubbly personality, Brandon listens to heavy rock music and likes skulls. They are great together and the quilt was fun to make bringing in both of their personalities!

My red piping!

Brittany, Terra and I- Best friends since we were kids!

The Worst Day Ever

2010-09-30T17:15:00.001-07:00

So I show up to work, kind of dragging, but thankful I didn't have an orientee that day, and I could just do my job and not have to expend a huge amt of extra energy since I had been doing this for the last 4 weeks and working a ton of OT. Well to my surprise I had an orientee. Brand-spankin new too. Which is fine but a lot of work for me. I also got stuck with a horrible assignment . I will spare the details, but when I say horrible I don't mean really sick and busy- thats fun, what I mean is.....well, it's not always just the patients, i'll just say that. I will move on. Anyway, it was a bad day. My orientee informed me that the next day she would not be with me but would return the following two. I was relieved, and it wasnt a personal thing. So that day stunk. But the next day was "the worst day ever". Again I can't discuss the details, but my friend and charge RN walks up to me around 10AM and asks if I'm okay since it was very apparent I was not, and it was one of those moments where I couldn't speak or do anything, or else I would have a complete meltdown right on the unit. So, I nod my head no, and quickly walk into the employee locker room and just start balling and having a complete melt down. My charge followed me in, and of course minutes later my supervisor walks in on it and also attempts to calm me down. It was so bad that my superviser suggested I think about going home and my co-worker said if I stayed she would switch one of my patients with me. The bad part was I actually said I would take my co-worker up on the offer. The drama slowly fizzeled as the day went on, and I left feeling kinda okay, but super "burnt-out" a commonly used nursing term that I finally have a first hand experience with. The next two days they switched my orientee to be with someone else and reassigned me new patients. My 2 week vacation this weekend couldn't have started any sonner! However, because Adam knew I was having the worst day ever he cleaned the whole house for me AND made me dinner after he got of work. :)

The Zac Brown Band Concert

2010-09-25T09:36:00.001-07:00

The Zac Brown Band concert was a lot of fun! There a country band but there style is somewhat unique. I describe it as Bluegrass rock with a little Jimmy Buffet-like flare.

I laugh everytime I see this sign so I had to take a picture of it since we parked right by. the concert was at the Lawler Event Center on UNR's campus.

We had good seats!!!

They play a string guitar, steel guitar, electric guitar, violin, fiddle, drums and it all sounds so cool. One of their opening acts was these guys who at the end of their run switched places. The steel guitar went to drums, the violin to electric guitar and the string guitar to steel guitar- it was very cool! I love love love music especially live. I am entertained by anything from Metallica to Opera. Music is a talent I do not posess, so it is so cool to me to watch people who are talented, enjoy themselves and have a good time. My favorite part was the dancing Adam and I did. When "Highway 20 Ride" and "Whatever it is" came on we went up a few stairs to an open floor by the exit doors to do a little two stepping and country swing dancing! After the concert we met up with my work friends at a college Saloon down the street. It was fun and nice to hang out with the work friends since they give Adam and I such a hard time for never going out with them.

Great Concert, Great Music!

Our smokin' weekend

2010-09-19T12:29:00.000-07:00

We have a smoker now and Adam has been smoking everything! He gets made if I suggest that maybe we not eat meat that night that has been smoked. We started with smoked salmon- which is my favorite, and have been eating locks, I guess its called- a bagel with cream cheese, capers, red onion and smoked salmon. Very delicious. And because I love a good deal I have to share that while we were at Cabellas getting the smoker I got an Adidas workout top and a North Face tank-top for a combined total of $8! True story.
Yesterday while Adam was working I went to meet a friend of mine to quilt. This friend is older we'll say, and the fact that I was spending my saturday quilting gave everyone at work ammo to tease me about being a grandma. The friend I met use to work with us but has since retired. Her husband still works at the hospital as our intensivist/pulmonologist so she is very much so still in the know about the hospital affairs. So, I can't lie- we spent a lot of time "analyzing other peoples life decisions" AKA gossiping. Theres something about getting two women together, especially when there is a craft involved that elicites gossip. We weren't talking trash neccessarily, but just being chatty. I don't do this at work, so it was kind of nice to just be able to get out my thoughts and feelings about things or people at work.
Then last night Adam and I met up with my friend Kaylee, her new boyfriend and her roommate, had some dinner and did some karayoking. I love to karayoke and really missed seeing Kaylee.
Its been a nice weekend especially since working 100+ hrs these last 2 weeks! Tonight its football and BBQ with Neighbor Dave and Rosa. And later this week-more normal work hours and the Zac Brown Band concert!!!!!

The Fire

2010-09-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

Last night there was a fire right by our house....a big fire too! This picture is taken off our balcony, no zoom. That is a big hill that is one of my favorite running spots, so I was bummed that all my trails were ruined. The right side of the hill had big flames too that we would see pop over the crest of the hill. We were afraid the fire was going to come over the hill in which it would be hard to stop, in our minds, because the south side of the hill where we are, is very steep! We were listening to the police scanner and critiquing all the firefighters moves- like we knew what we were talking about!

There's a good chance we were fine but the condo complex across the street had a fire truck stationed in it, so this kinda scared us. But I loved watching the fire. I love fire in general! Good thing I'm semi-all-together in the head or I might be a true pyro! I went biking today and got a decent look at the burn area-funny how it kinda looks the same. Thats true Nevada beauty! heehee

Working too much!

2010-09-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

Adam and I have been working a TON lately. I worked 5 days in a row, one day off then four days in a row! Keep in mind I do 12hr shifts, although some of those were half shifts, thats still way too much time in one place! However my patients have been fabulous. I got another present yesterday from this sweet older couple. Anyway, while working a ton I've also been orienting which can be more work too. I have to explain everything, do everything perfect, and then the hardest part- let her do things her way in her own time, but just overseeing things and picking up the slack. I'm so use to just go-go-go and I have a routine, but when I orient my routine gets messed up and I have to do things like not socialize so much and take the Code Blue and Rapid Response pager- which means we respond to all patient emergencies in the hospital- exciting for an orientee but an inconvenience at times for an orienter. But in all actuality she is a really fast learner and great to work with. Anyway, I was trying to leave her alone one day so I would quit having ADD and doing things for her. So I decided to make this sign (I made 2) and put it up on my unit.

My sister Jenny had sent out an email a long time ago asking for boxtops for Tyson's class at school. Neighbor Dave and I started collecting and sending them. Jenny then said that all her school-aged kids, Tyson, Blake and Jaclyn, collect these. So lets see how far this sign gets us! (Do you like the "it's for the children")

Acorn the Quilter

2010-09-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

This is one of the many annoying things she does while I try to sew!

My First Spill

2010-08-30T10:48:00.000-07:00

The guys at Great Basin Bicycles (where I bought my bike), told me that its not a matter of IF I fall over on my bike because I couldnt clip out soon enough but WHEN I fall over on my bike.....well that happened today at a 4-way intersection! I was on my way back from a great ride. I was riding through the foothills in this fantastic area with lots of cows, horses, victorian houses, barns and large fields. As I came back "in to town" I was flying through this intersection trying to make the light, well I made the light, unclipped one foot- but my bike fell the other way- towards the still clipped in foot and I ate it! Francis, my bike, got a scrape on her handel-bar, which didn't bother me at all. She is now broken in. I will never own anything that I dont get good use out of. So to everyone at that four-way intersection of South Meadows and Double R, I hope I made your morning!

Baseball, Baptisms and a Bike

2010-08-29T14:34:00.000-07:00

Last Monday we went to the Reno Aces baseball game! They are a minor league team so free tickets can come pretty easy, our friends Ben and Steph got the tickets from our pastor so the four of us and there two kids went.

A blurry and weird picture, but this is Stephanie, Hailey, Adam, Mackenzie, and me covering up Ben's face. The two girls are little tom-boys. Mackenzie wears a baseball hat EVERYWHERE, its really funny, so she brought her mit just in case one came into the stands.

While I was in Utah Adam went to our friends' baptisms in Lake Tahoe! This above is the Davis', the family we went to the Aces game with. the whole family got baptized together

And this is Jaun, another friend of ours

What a cool place to get baptized, talk about a public display of faith!

This is my new bike!!! I'm offically in the cycling dork club, I have a cycling jersey and all (thanks to uncle Ralph). To those that hate bikers- I understand and I try my hardest to not be that annoying biker in the road, but please be kind and have patience, were just trying to get some excercise.

SLC Smith Family Reunion

2010-08-29T13:41:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was the Smith family reunion in Salt Lake City. I drove the 7hrs over there by myself. If you have ever wondered what the middle of Nevada looks like, here it is:

This is the town of Battle Mountain. The big brown mountain in the back with the letters "BM" crack me up....we all know BM stands for Bowel Movement which is a polite way of saying poop. hahaha

The first night was hanging out at Aunt Jans. I stole these next two pictures from Kara (thankyou)

Me with my cousins Ashley and Rachel and our Grandpa Smith, and Jans chickens.

Me, Haley and Jan. This was a fun night of reconnecting and just talking. Grandma and I talked about quilting and she told me a story about how her Dad I believe it was, named one of her twin sisters after an old girlfriend of his!

Grandpa and Grandma Smith

The next morning was family pictures at the Orson-Pratt trail in Draper. Jenny and I drove up with Uncle Tyler. Orson Pratt was a distant Grandpa of mine.

The theme per my Gma was red, white and blue

The picture isnt of good quality but this is Grandpa and Grandma with all their great grandkids (and cousin Marney keeping a little one happy)

After a large lunch at Chuck-o-Rama with all the fam and then a bike store shopping trip for Ralph and I, was hanging out and playing games at Gma and Gpa's condo. Grandma wanted us all to sing together "Getting to know you...." Grandma's funny like that!

My cousin Claire, her husband works as a firefighter for SLC. So after all the singing and game playing at Gma and Gpa's we went to visit the fire department. This was very exciting for the young kids especially Matthew and well as you can see the "big" kids were just as interested....especially my dad!!!

They even got to play with the big hose

Savannah
And dress up in the offical uniform (my dad and cousin Joel also put on the gear)

After dinner Jen and I went back to Gma and Gpa's. This is my dad trying on what Grandma thought was a sheet to put on his mattress. I'm not quite sure what it was, but it sure was funny to see my dad put it on.

Sunday morning was the "MoTab", Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

The whole family at the visitors center on Temple Square.

My bunker buddy/sister Jenny and I at Temple Square

Soooo much fun!

Continuation of the Great Northwest

2010-08-11T13:26:00.000-07:00

My good friend Terra had her Bachlorette party/weekend in Vancouver, CA. A very cool city, but rainy, even in August! It seemed like everyone there was from a different counrty- Germany, India, Ireland, etc.We did the traditional naughty decorations, dinner, dancing and just being girls.

This is me with Brittany and Terra, I have known them since I was a kid!

We had a fancy dinner, but unfortunatley I had bad allergies and couldn't taste anything!!

From CA, Brittany dropped me just across the border in the town of Blaine, WA, where I met up with Adam who was coming over from Friday Harbor. We met at our good friends house- Blake and Amy. This was a great end to a great vacation. Melissa, another good college friend drove up from Seabeck to hangout as well. We played rock band and just hung out. It was very relaxing.

Melissa (middle) had just had baby Kannon (shown on a previous blog). So us girls had fun talkin babies.

Adam and I flew home together on August 10th- Our 3yr Anniversary!!!! I couldn't even get into the house when he sent me off in the car to go get a massage he had schedueled for me. When I got to Massage Envy there was this giant bouquet of flowers waiting for me! We then dressed up and went out to dinner at a delicioius Italian restaraunt.

What a great vacation the last three blogs have been. After 10days away though, it's nice to be home! I wish I had more pictures of Adam's trip, but here's the only one I have- and I had to steal it off facebook.

Adam with his good buddies from his childhood. His vacation in short: a ton of golfing and hanging out with family and friends!

Fort Stevens

2010-08-11T09:45:00.000-07:00

My family's annual Fort Stevens reunion has come and gone. This year I went by myself :( but still had a ton of fun! My brother-in-law's birthday was celebrated the first night I arrived.

Brett (bro in law), Jordan(bro) and I took the kids to the old Battery Pratt. Jordan and I spooked them out by slamming the old metal doors, making an eery sound.

The boys especially were obsessed with anything army.

Coffenbury Lake

The walk back to camp included the special care Danielle(sis) had to take of a giant bananna slug we had found. Harrison was very adiment about taking this slug back with us. Brave Danielle

Jenny, Jordan and Haley. After the kids bedtime, all the adults (my bro, sisters, husbands and mom) would sit around the camp fire and talk. This was very entertaining and usually consisted of many laughs. Haley and Savannah wanted to be adults one night and joined us, but only briefly- to them were weren't very fun

Harrison, Matthew and Blake- Cousins at play

All of my 11 nieces and nephews together!!!!!
From the top left: Blake, Jaclyn, Savannah, Tyson holding Adalyn, Matthew, Haley holding Cohen. Bottom Left: Cade, Luke and Harrison.

Visiting the Tilamook Cheese Factory (don't mind the sign on the window, we didnt)

Luke just hanging out like a big boy

Harrison

Harrison, Cade and Matthew- On the last day as I was taking down my tent, they asked if they could play in the tent together. They got in, zipped it up and then all you heard was laughing, screaming and the tent walls moving all over the place!

They were crackin me up! They were trying to move this tire cause thats what men do, and I could hear them saying things like "come guys, I know we can do it", so cute!

Twins Cohen and Adalyn playing with cousin Tyson. They loved his hat.

Our family has two sets of twins, these two and then their cousins Blake and Jaclyn.

Haley and Jaclyn being goofy

Looking out over the jetty

The Pacific Ocean meeting the Columbia River

So much fun, I love you all!

Dave and Rosa's Wedding

2010-08-11T09:04:00.000-07:00

Dave and Rosa got married on the Truckee River on a saturday night! It was last minute planning due to the time restraints the government puts on them. It wasn't there dream wedding but it was great and we all had a lot of fun! They plan on having a "real" wedding and reception in a year or two.

July 31st, 2010- Dave and Rosa Stoveld!

After we went to a restaraunt by the river to do the reception. There were about 20 of us who attended.

Congratulations!

Summer Update

2010-07-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

*We've been busy as usual. Adam continues to play basketball- ALL the time, softball and golf. He has a very fancy friend he's been golfing with latley and they play fancy courses- thanks to his friend! I go to all of his softabll games and he does so well! He really is a very good softball player and I love watching him play! I attempt to try new things in efforts to keep my mind from exploding from not being able to run. If I'm going to do something I like to be good at it, not just do it, so I usually don't dip my hand into too many crazy things. But I've discovered I have a lot of room to grow in a lot of areas. I let a softball flying through outfield hit my bicep and not my glove (left a narly bruise). I went swimming with my friend Liz, and got some serious lessons- the breathing is the hardest part for me, I can't just breath when I want, thats why swimming is such a great workout and cross train for running- it expands ur lungs and is a whole body workout! I was trying to learn the butterfly- I looked ridiculous! I went rock climbing- I actually wasn't too bad at that but lacked endurance in my arms. And of course biking. Hopefully I will get a hardcore road bike soon! I just started running again but heres the latest on the butt/leg/knee problem- now it's not a bulging disc, even though I was treated as so for 5 weeks. Now we have no idea what it is and I have to go see a Sports therapist. So at this point I'm just doing what I want, which includes running but very minimally and with serious fear the whole time! The pain has already intesified since starting back up.....so, I just wana cry.
*We went Jet skiing the other day, that was fun! The weather has been so warm, mid to high 90's everyday!
*Neighbor Daves fiance is here! They are getting married on July 31st. They are going to a downtown chapel-yes like the ones in Vegas. The goverment gives them like a few months or something to get married, so they are doing a legal one and then in a year or two a real one. I went shopping with Rosa to get a dress to wear, she found a cute white summer dress. While we were shopping I found a dress I had boughten as a bridesmaid for my BF's wedding in October that was on sale. I took back the one I had already boughten at retail price and rebought it at the sale price saving....drumroll.....$95!!!! Amazing
*So I'm trying to do some planning for Dave and Rosa's wedding. There will probably be only a few of us doing the "reception" at the apt club house. I need to get balloons, cake, and the whole shabang! It may be small and just for legal reasons at this time- but it can still be fun!
*We tried to join our churches "Young Adult" group. Were just in the awkward phase! Almost everyone there was like 19. So maybe on to a new group. I'm planning on joining a "life group" titled The Truth Project. You may have heard of it, it's a nationwide course I believe. I also got to give a lesson to the youth group last week and the week before. It was very exciting and enjoyable.
*When not doing the above, Adam's been playing his new PS3 and I've been scrapbooking

-Lots of traveling to come!-

Momma's boyfriend

2010-07-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

We've been letting Momma outside for shorts amount of time. She LOVES being outside and when I call her she comes running so I don't worry too much. Today she didn't come running though so I got a little worried and started walking around the apt complex calling her name. Well come to find out she has a boyfriend, thats a dog, just downstairs. So her and Tucker, her BF, roll around on the porch together, which is where I found her. She even went into these people's house so they could play! Aparently they don't mind and think Momma's a cool cat. She's actually more like a dog seriously. Anyway, it's really cute! I just worry still about her getting more adventurous and starting to not come when I call. Plus shes SUPER friendly, obviously, which makes me worry too!

Summer Plans

2010-07-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

Adam and I already have our whole summer planned out. August is big travel time. Early in the month we are both flying back to WA, but not together and were not going to be in the same place. Adam will be up in Friday Harbor visiting his family and friends and I will be at Fort Stevens visiting my family and friends- which includes a trip to Vancouver CA, in which I might see Adam while in Bellingham visiting some friends of ours. Adam is so stoked to go to the island he can hardly contain himself, and everytime I see Blog pictures of my neices and nephews I get so excited to spend time with them and my siblings camping! Then we come back and I have 7days before the UT Smith family reunion. I work 6 of those 7 days.....so that'll be fun. But the reunion is very exciting. I will get to hang out with Aunts, Uncles, cousins, Jenny, my dad, and Kara and her family! But, again I travel without my other half :( He's a hard working man. I hope Adam and I can find some time for a romantic and exciting camping trip! Or even a day shopping trip in Sacramento. Neither one of us like to shop for clothes much- but were both in need! On the short Summer list of things to do include:
Go to a hotsprings
Go camping and hiking in Zephyr Cove
Minature Golf
Wakingboarding at Almanour with the cousins
Shopping Trip
Save for a TV (Adam) and Save for a bike (me)

The Fourth Festivities

2010-07-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

For the Fourth of July Adam and I went to Tahoe with some friends from my work. We stayed in a big cabin in SW Tahoe. Downtown was crazy of course so we stayed up in the mountains most of the time. The weather was perfect. This is the dessert I made- honestly not that good, but it looked kinda festive at least.

This is the neighborhood we were in. I was able to take some fun walks. All the houses are brand new. I guess they call this the "burn zone". Awhile back this area burned pretty bad, so all the houses are rebuilds. You can see, theres no bottoms on all the trees. My favorite things about Tahoe, other than the gorgeous views of course, are the smells- trees and dirt, the huge pinecones, and the vegetation. One morning I woke up and just sat on the porch watching the leafs on the Aspen trees, glitter in sun with the breeze.

We played games and BBQ'd on the huge patio. The cabin had an indoor pool and plenty of cool features for indoor entertainment

The boys, Jedd and Mat, poseing for a BBQ shot they called "gay BBQing"

Here is goregeous Tahoe. The smaller lake in the bottom left corner is Fallen Leaf Lake. Adam and I took a little ride to Fallen Leaf earlier this day. We came up to this point to watch the fireworks. There are 3 major firework shows on the lake. The only one we ended up being able to see was in Incline Village, or North Lake Tahoe. So since we were in South Lake, we really couln't see anything! But the view was beautiful

This morning before we went home we went to Angora Lakes. A set of small lakes at the Tahoe Basin. Lake Tahoe is beautful and ginormous, but it really is just as much a part of the experience to explore all the surrounding lakes and hiking trails. You take a one lane windy rode and then hike 1/2mile or so to the Angora Lakes.

This is the first lake, really a pond

This is the second of the lakes, a little bigger with cute little stone and cedar cabins.

And this is the biggest or the main Angora Lake. The water was so fresh and clear

We found a rock in the water to sit on, but Adam was a little lenient of the "cold" water

You cant really see it but theres a waterfall flowing into the lake. One of these days I'm gonna hike up to the very top of a place like this.

We left our things for about 30-45 minutes and this little guy had gotten into our almonds! Adam said that chipmunks are gross so we should just give him the rest. We then spent 20minutes narrating this guy and his two friends lifes. We got the the Lake at about 10am and left in perfect time before all the crowds showed up!

Happy 4th of July!

My Confession

2010-07-03T15:01:00.000-07:00

I have a confession....... I love Glee! I think its hallarious and very entertaining. The idea of a show-musical is fantastic! Puck and Finn are so cute and I love the gay guy Kurt. And Sue, the arrogant man-like cheerleading coach kills me! Okay, Iv'e come clean now

My Friend's Babies

2010-07-02T09:17:00.000-07:00

My friends are having babies!!!! My two close friends, Ashlie and Melissa are the first of the group mommies!

This is Roman Goulet, Ashlie and Tom's little boy, born April 20th

And this is Kannon Ottmar, Melissa and Jareds little boy born June 28th

Random bit of info- My patient the other day got admitted, intubated and sent to the ICU with a blood alcohol of .62!!! Most people would die at like .3 or .4. This means 62% of her blood was alcohol. Up walking and talking the next day, withdrawl hadn't kicked in yet. Alcohol withdrawl is the most dangerous withdrawl of any drug out there. Seizures, vomiting, hallucinations, severe agitation, confusion, death, etc. Sorry, did that take away from the happy post above? .......Cute babies huh?

Call the Nursing Home.....!

2010-07-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

Adam and I are only 25 and 26, yet we find ourselves hobbeling around like old people. Adam has an unclear injury in his right knee, I should have taken a picture, its huge and swollen. He can hardly bend it. Some guy in basketball ran right into Adam and the guys knee cap (patella) went right into Adam's upper knee/lower thigh area. Adam refuses to go to the Doc of coarse, so I say okay then don't whine. So, we don't actually know whats wrong with his knee, but apparently my opinion and the neighborhood EMT's opinion are insignificant. This means no basketball for him :( for at least a few days
My injury makes me even older than Adam. I have a bulging disc in my lumbar region that is compressing my L3-L5 Nerve roots. No pain in my back, just down my right leg, in my butt and my knee. I actually have had it for awhile but seriously avoided talking about it because I would have a serious emotional breakdown when I did because I havn't been able to run- so I have been super moody, emotional, frustrated and angry. Whatever emotion I have I run. It's my therapy and yes Adam you can have this one- an addiction. I have been running since I was like 12. I have this chaotic ball of energy constantly bouncing around inside me and nothing, NOTHING, can get it out but running. So needless to say, poor Adam's life has been miserable no matter how hard I try. Iv'e been seeing a PT and for the first time in 4 weeks since treatment (for the second time) I can say I am hopeful! I'm feeling better, can't run yet of course but I can't focus on that. I'm learning patience, which is not a natural trait of mine. I have to work on my core muscle strength, moving my hips more when I walk and posture in EVERYTHING I do! Thats tough! But now I walk like a model or a big fruit cake I feel like. My gay friend Daryl at work use to tell me I walked butch, I guess he was right! hahaha. I also get called Drummer Boy and Peter Pan from another guy I work with. But now they are complimenting me on my lady-like posture!

So call the Nursing Home! This is the second time in one year Adam has had to use the electric scooter shopping cart at the grocery store! A guy on Adam's softball team the other day says: "I'm proud to be out of shape, skinny people are always injured"
We laughed, but hurt deep down

A Busy Sunday

2010-06-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a busy day. We went to the early service so that we could get to tubing down the Truckee River. The water was high and fast, we had a good time! It was 98degrees!!!! I remembered sunscreen on my back and shoulders, but forgot my belly and ended up getting burnt! And Adam didn't put any on at all (which was my fault) and got burnt too.

Then we had a BBQ at Kaylee's

Then Adam had a Softball game. He hit 2 Homeruns! It's a church league so its not like it's competitive at all, but our friend Jaun plays on the team and he use to play major league, he actually played with Micheal Jordan, so thats the Whitesox's or something right? Anyway, he hits homers all the time.

Mom got stuck in a bag again. Adam said that if she had to go to the bathroom at least she'd be covered!

The latest

2010-06-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

*I started a daily bible study. Our pastor really recommended this. It's something you know you need to do, but just can't ever figure out where to start. Our church hands out "Daily Bread" which is a little daily Bible Study guide with an attached story or statment. This has helped a lot. That time in the morning has already become hugly important in my day.

*We started Dave Ramsey awhile back, thanks to Bryan and Allison. So soon we will be financially free, wealthy and have an abundance of savings!!! Right?

*Adam wants a tattoo. Oh geez. Most people think this occassionally and then get over it. I think he might be serious. I told him I will tattoo him in Sharpie and he has to keep it on him for 1month and if he still likes it we'll consider talking about it. He wants a cross on his calf or the bible verse "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" on his inner bicep. Okay, cheesy yes, but what tattoo isnt and its better than a basketball or something. I think I will have him do a report on why that verse means so much to him before we can discuss tattoos again. Afterall, I should have some say in what he does to his body.

*Adam has come across some work that does not interfere with GBA and that brings in some extra $$$. We are so grateful! Now I just pray that I will learn to adjust to not having dinner made for me every night! Hes such a good husband!

*I learned I have an enormous amt of vacation time at work, just waiting to be used! Some people take a whole month off and do nothing! That sounds great, but my supervisor told me to save it for maternity leave if I plan on having kids within a few years. But I could still use a couple.....I have like over 200hrs!

*My good friend Melissa is having a baby-anyday now. Technically shes due on the 22nd I think, but shes already like 44inches around!

*Our basil plant died :(

*Smith family reunion in UT being planned! Very exciting. I really hope my family can make it. Jenny and I might be sharing a hotel room- how fun!

Kali's Wedding

2010-06-14T18:07:00.001-07:00

My good friend Kali got married this last weekend in Hayden Lake ID. (the one i made the green, and blue shoefly quilt for) Her family and family friends have cabins on the Lake, so this is where we stayed. The first night we saw this outside our window.

I've never seen a rainbow so clearly!

We went for a kayak ride across the lake to the boy's cabin to intrude on their "pre-wedding man time". The ride over and back was fun, guided by the moon light.
Kali and I bond over our obsession for running, need for daily workouts and smelliness. So it was nice to go running and biking with her again. She took me on a tough 14 mile bike ride.

The day of the wedding. The weather was amazing. This is at the Country Club where the wedding was.

The groom and one of the bridesmaids examining the layout.

All of us wedding party had a cabana on the club grounds to get ready in. Kali needed help shaving, I dont know why, but I was happy to help!

The first look, oooooh!

Kali and Ben: Driving around the golf course to take beautiful pictures!

Yay! The dresses she picked out were a very pretty green. She looked absolutley beautiful! She wore my wedding earrings which I was very excited to share.

The first dance overlooking Hayden Lake

Her dad gives these crazy speeches with lots of props. It was a medium sized wedding with lots of fancy people. A few times I was in a conversation with the plentiful amts of lawyers, doctors and dentists that led to a kind of "ahohoho" fake laugh, turn your head to the side and take a sip of wine while thinking "wait, are these people for real?". Very fun wedding though, the dancing was fantastic and I was very happy to see Kali so happy.

After this was only dancing of course and as you know me, that's what the rest of the night consisted of.

Even the next day was beautiful. We lounged around and layed on the beach at her parents place. I was happy though to go back home to Adam, weddings without him always make me a bit sad :(

RTO Relay

2010-06-14T17:17:00.000-07:00

The 6th annual Reno Tahoe Odyssey Relay Race!! It's a 178mile relay around Reno and Lake Tahoe area (Just like HTC). 12 people per team, 3legs per person, usually over about 24hrs (depending on how fast your team is), our team placed 23rd out of 153.

Heres a map, the yellow line is the course...very cool course!

Our team: Perfect Strangers. Most of us did not know eachother, a few are from Sacramento. Shawna and I were the only girls. Kevin and I (the one in the red shirt, white hat) were the captains. I was the only one however who had ever ran the RTO, or even any (true)relay race. This was my 8th relay race! The guy on the end by me had a 6way cardiac bypass surgery in Dec.! Whats more amazing is that I ran the California International Marathon-Relay with him and Kevin three weeks before he had the bypass. He was the first leg and decided to run the whole marathon and finished in better time than our whole team! The guys insane....awesome runner even when his coronary arteries are 90% occluded- True Story!

And were off (our first man is in the black shirt....Go Michael!)

We started in downtown Reno

Chattin it up at the Boca exchange

We've now made it to Tahoe, heres my van-mates.

Luxury sleeping in the Walmart Parking lot in Carson City. We got about 1.5hrs of sleep- and then its up to run again

Outside Carson...beautiful morning! This was about 5am.

Micheal apparently still needed some ZZZZ's- what a weenie, 1.5hrs isn't enough! haha

Coming up the backside of Virginia City

Go Neighbor Dave go!! This leg was killer, whole way up hill a 15% grade!

Great weekend!

Yay for being recognized

2010-06-08T16:23:00.000-07:00

Rarely do us ICU RN's get appreciated, because:

1. Our pt's our knocked out for various reasons

2. Our pt's are "frequent flyers" and have no regard for others or themselves

3. Our pt's have no family

4. Our pt's are mad that they are alive

5. If our patients and families are appropriate to appreciate us, they forget about us after they transer to the floor and we never get recognized on a hospital-wide scale (surveys they send out)

But.......All in one week I got 2 Starbucks teas, a Starbucks mug, a dish of fresh strawberries and 2 family members tell me that they were writting me up for being so great!

As an addendum, I discovered that I am a Nazi nurse. When my pt's are past the point of "pure death" we'll call it and are on there way out of the ICU, I like to tell them that they are at bootcamp. And in most seriousness treat them like so. They have been laying in a crumy hospital bed for sometimes weeks and I'm the mean nurse that tells them that they have to start doing there own work, which includes sitting up in a chair for longer than they want, scooting themselves up in bed, and so on. This sounds minor but these were once very sick people so to have them do little things like these are huge for them. They complain and sometimes cry, but I tell them that my job is to help them get home and if that means putting them through a little pain, than thats what I will do. Pain is enevitable, misery is an option. We really do have to talk to most of these people like children, since most people revert to a child-like state when ill. Strangely enough one of the ladies I made cry is one of the ones above who got me a gift and thanked me! Yesterday my pt kept talking and she recently had the breathing tube pulled out of her throat which can cause swelling especially if you talk a lot after. She kept failing her swallow evaluation and wasn't able to eat or drink because of this swelling(and on top of it has a disease where she doesn't secrete saliva) so she was miserable, but kept talking and was confused so would ramble about nonsense. Finally I told her that I didn't want to hear her talk unless she was dying. And if she started to say something I interrupted her and said "are you dying?". Walking in on it it sounds horrible but I kept telling her to keep her flapper shut if she wanted to eat or drink anytime soon. You will not catch me wearing looney tune or care bear scrubs- I like care bears but do not agree with there position in life- Caring is not always a big fluffly hug its a kick in the pants! My favorite advice I ever got was from a good friend/roommate- I told her about my oh so dreadful problem where someone had offended me and she looked at me for a second and said plainly "maybe this isn't about you". Thats tough love. I feel bad for the children I will have one day

I Phone Pictures

2010-05-27T10:49:00.000-07:00

Finally figured out how to get these from my phone to my computer. Just randoms. I called in sick today, thats why I've been blogger happy, I've just been laying around, feeling better tho

Acorn loving Adam

Acorn being an acrobat

Acorn's "old man toe hair"

Poor little Blakies owee

With the Po fam in Entiat on the river

Flowers on Catalina Island

My BF's dogs: Lola eating Kaines tail

Like always Adam and Acorn Snuggeling

Italian Festival

Momma stuck in a plastic bag- nothing new

Acorn being fat- also nothing new

Food!

2010-05-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

We love food and its a priority for us to eat healthier food. So I thought I would share some of our favorites:

*Fruit- I could eat fresh fruit til I'm blue in the face! Especially raspberries and strawberries!

* My ultimate fav is chocolate ice cream cones by Skinny Cow. They are even better than regular ice cream, they have 150cals and like 5 grams of fiber. Delicious!
*Jennio Turkey products= the best! we eat ground trukey now in place of all our beef (although we still will eat a good BBQ'd steak any day). Watchout other brands can have way higher fat
*Turkey burgers- good ones at costco, a few grams of fat and 35 grams of protein! Then you can eat them on those thin wheat buns from Orowheat
*Jumbalaya- just found this recipe yesterday. Google Paula Deen Jumbalaya and she has a great recipe. For the meat I just did 2 Chx breasts and 3 Jennio sweet turkey sausage links. Again that Jennio turkey sausage has a great nutritional layout- especially for a sausage replacement.
*Sarah Lee honey wheat bagels- way better than Thomas even though Thomas usually has better bagels in general. Then your stuck putting cream cheese on it, yes, but its morning and you can always use 1/3 less fat.
*Jimmy Dean and Banquet turkey sausage for breakfast- pretty good
*A whole young Chx thrown in the crockpot with garlic, rosemary, onion, s and p.
*Fresh frozen fruit in plain lowfat yogurt, maybe with a little Kashi Go Lean Crunch mixed in- I like it, but most may not
*BBQ'd Salmon with lemon. You can BBQ it on a cedar plank too for extra no calorie flavor
*Stoneyfield yogurt- Costco use to sell them, but now you can only find them at an organic store like Wholefoods.
*Fiber One blueberry muffins- Actually pretty good. Don't underestimate the fiber though. I figured I eat plenty of fiber so I could handel 3 muffins one morning at work-i payed the consequences.
*Whole wheat pasta- most brands are pretty good.
*Multigrain Cheerios- I love 'em, but its still cereal so, lots of carbs and little to curb your hunger
*Subway!- Of course you can go wrong here- but such a great quick, easy, and healthy eat out option
*Brown rice
*Pork Loin
*And of course my recipes for- Garlic lime chx, turkey bisquit bake, curry chx, grilled chipotle salmon.....If they sound good I can give anyone the recipes!

I'll stop here!

Disneyland and Catalina Island!

2010-05-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

WARNING: long post

My last day of work before vacation was a train wreck, So I needed this

We started out in Long Beach, the good ole LBC. Usually when we drive into California we like to bump Tupac, but we didn't have an Ipod hook up in the rental car so instead we drove by freeway signs and through cities acknowledging the cities and places Tupac had sang about....it makes us feel like were Californians, on that note, I found my new favorite flower/tree thing while waiting for the ferry to Catalina.

Here's long beach from the ferry (its actually a catamaran type boat, not a ferry)

The ride over was fun, salty fresh air, what more could you ask for!

Heres our hotel from the dock, right on the beach front

So this is our hotel room, I took this picture from the very deepest corner in the room! We only stayed one night, and were out being adventurous most the time anyway.

Beautiful plants and trees, it was very tropical, kind of like Mexico! We found all sorts of things on our Sunday morning run through the town. We also found a local community church which we attended later that morning, very fun!

The famous Casino behind us. Catalina Island is a lot like Friday Harbor, but smaller and tropical. The first day we sat on the board walk and picked out people that play the same role as the people we could identify on FH. That was fun. It was so nice to be on the water! If only we had the time and money to fish! I saw the California state fish in the water, hes super cool and neon orange.

Now its off to Dland!!

This our friend Katie Vaughn. She lives in LA and came down to see us for dinner. It was so great to see her. We saw her mom in Reno for a work conference a few days earlier for a fabulous dinner! How Ironic, two Vaughn spottings in one week!

We stayed at the Hyatt thanx to Adam's childhood friend Chuck, who really hooked us up. We had a King suite, with two 55inch flat screen TV's and he had chocolate dipped strawberries and champagne delivered to our room. This picture is only 1/2 the room, the living room and giant bathroom are missing :) We payed less than 1/2 the price for this one than the Catalina one. hahaha. So when we weren't at Dland we enjoyed the two pools, good restaraunts, work out room and just loungin watching the flat screens!

After dinner with Katie we got into the park just in time for the fire works!!! I love fireworks! Then we literally ran from ride to ride- Space Mtn to Indy to Splash Mtn to Pirates of the Caribbean back to Space Mtn, and on and on. The next morning same thing but throw in all the California Adventure rides like Toy Story Mania, Soarin California, California Screamin and Maliboomer.

I really enjoyed the parade: Celebrate You!!!! But Adam thought it was kinda gay.

The weather was mostly so-so. This gave us premium rideability!

I had to do it. I waited in line for this, which made us miss one of our wine tastings in CA Adventure, but it's Minnie! CA had a Food and Wine festival gong on, so once we got past the first day and half of running around like mad people trying to hit all the best we sat down and enjoyed more than just rides. We learned about cheese and wine, chatted with crush, watched a bugs life three D show (twice per Adam's request), found the Tower of Terror- excellent ride, Enjoyed the Tiki Room and browsed downtown Disney.

This is California Screamin taken from the top of Maliboomer

I love Sully!

Our last time on Toy Story Mania, I finally beat Adam!

We had a blast in Dland and are now recovering!

PS: we stayed in budget, which makes a good trip better!

PSS: Best rides to repeat over and over are- California Screamin, Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror, California Soarin, Indian Jones, Space Mountain, and Thunder Mountain. Try it once but never repeat- It's a Small World-unless you do hallucinagents.

Holy Shorts

2010-05-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

Adam tried to convince me that I could just "patch-up" these shorts

These beloved shorts have already been patched up and now are worse than ever. The patches would hardly have anything to hold on to seems as though any sourrounding fabric is on its way out too, and this is only the backside.

My nasty hand picture is gone!

2010-05-10T10:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Mothers day to our moms and sisters/sister-in-laws!

Adam is very loved by our cats!

I will start by saying sorry everyone for the nasty picture of my hands. I got informed that it was really gross. I kept them well covered and protected at work. Imagine if your nurse had hands like that.....hahaha, I look like I have Leprosy!

Momma always finds the most awkward, uncomfortable place to lay, like here- on top of costco toilet paper plastic wrapping.

This weekend was out to get me. I had a softball game friday night, and in the second inning this old lady on the other team, who had been keeping track of all the substitutions informed the ump that we were illegally substituting, so subsequently I could hit the rest of the game. this inferiorated me because we are in the lowest rec league you can be in,

AKA: NONCOMPETITIVE. We had no idea this form of subing was illegal. If it gives you any idea, I've never really played like competitve softball, not even growing up and Adam says I'm one of the top 5 best on our team. I was mad not because I couldnt hit anymore but because who does that???? Who intentionally keeps track of substitutions in a noncompetitive rec slow pitch game. And she kept stopping the game for others things that weren't up to "official league rules", the ump and even her teammates were annoyed. It would be way different if this was competitive, they beat us 22 to 8.

Then the next day was this obstacle race downtown called the "Runamuck". It's like 2.5 miles for each person in the 2 man relay. You dress up and jump over hay bales, run through a group of football players with hitting pads and run through a foam pit and best of all you slide/run through a giant mud pit- hence the name- "Runamuck". Well my teammate, Liz, went first and got all muddy and fabulous. Then my turn, Adam and Dave were waiting at the mud pit to take pictures. But right before the mud pit Adam infomed me that it was closed down because some guy jumped in and then couldnt move his legs. There were ambulances and barracades everywhere. So I missed the mud pit! It was very dissappointing, but the poor guy! I guess he had a C5-C6 break and is paralyzed, at least temporarily. Here is us after the race.

I had to use the tight and bright outfit again! It may be overdone, at least the whole 80's thing but it's just too wonderful

boxing

2010-05-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

I tried boxing the other day, with gloves.......it didn't work out so well.

Late April Events

2010-04-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we went to A UNR softball game, our friend Kaylee's sister plays. It was great to be out in the sun watching softball. I even got a little color. Although they lost pretty bad!

Adam had another b-ball game last night, this one went way better than the last, they beat the other team by 30points! Adam hit two three pointers in a row.

I've now been at my job long enough to where I've started to discover there are people I just really don't care for. I kind of got into a little "tif" with one of them because he's chovenistic and was making sly sarcastic remarks....like a child would. But he's on the board of medicine at the hospital so I guess I loose that argument every time, although it helps to know that everyone agrees with me in my dislike of him. Like Adam says, it doesn't matter if you like politics or not, they are a part of every job.

The other day a co-worker walks up to me and asks me what's under my scrub top and she point to the V neck area, I'm thinking, well a shirt silly, since I wear shirts under my scrubs. So I put my hand on my chest and feel this kinda rough material.....it was a dryer sheet, hanging out the top of my shirt! Good thing it was relativley early in the morning!

We finally got our herb box up and running! We thought long and hard where to put it so they could all get the amt of sun they required, we came up with the front porch ledge.

Adam spent his Sunday afternoon making this box, isn't he so handy? It was my valentines day present. If they look a little pathetic, it's bacause we had a huge wind storm the day after we bought them, 80mile/hr winds! That day I came home and Adam hands me a letter from our apt complex that reads:

"Dear resident,
Although your flower pots do look good on your patio.....Our insurance agent has advised that they must be taken off the edge of the patios. This is a safety issue...."
We both start laughing.......Adam is the the apartments insurance agent! So I say "Adam, this is your fault!"
He says its not him, it's the insurance company, making those "advisements". So he goes and talks with the apt ladies (who love him) and reassure them that this is not a flower pot, but an herb box with braces on either side, therefore it is a lot more stable, and technically okay. heeheehee

Spring

2010-04-19T15:21:00.001-07:00

On Saturday morning I was asked to come into work early...... 4AM early! I said yes, so I worked on Saturday from 4AM-7:15PM. A Long 15hr day!!!! When my boss asked me to do this she had just given me a card that had some very sweet words about me and my contributions at work. She said the card was not given to me because of the favor she was asking, either way I accepted and she also said that if I did her this favor, I would be guarenteed permanant day-shift! Yay. It was actually one of the funnest if not THE funnest day at work I have ever had being a nurse (I had a lot of fun at The Crab House in Friday Harbor. Oh and yes funnest is a word in my dictionary) I had a blast. I started out working a few hours with my old night shift buddies, who are always wild and crazy, and then the rest of the day was spent with day shift buddies. It was just one of those really enjoyable days, fortunatley. I'm sure it had a great deal to do with the insanity feeling that comes with waking up at 3:30AM.

Adam had an interview with Big Brothers, Big Sisters this morning. He wants to be a mentor. He comes up with this stuff all on his own and its so cute! I guess they ask a lot of questions, it's a very serious thing. He also wants to be a part of the childrens ministry at church, I think he really enjoys youngens.

On Sunday it was a beautiful 80degrees! We went for a walk together which is always one of my favorites. It was almost 80 today too, and go figure, possible snow on Thursday! Thats Reno in the Spring! Adam and I also stopped by Home Depot to check out the supplies we would need for our Herb box we want. We are planning on growing Basil, Rosemary, Cilantro and Mint. Cilatnro will be great for salsa, we cook with rosemary a lot, and summers coming so we need fresh mint for Adam's famous Mojito's! Happy Spring everyone!

Not up to much.....and it's Great!

2010-04-12T18:50:00.000-07:00

So we havn't been up to much. I accidently thickened our orange chicken glaze with baking soda, and it started to fizz. Adam's planning a golf tournament. My first close friend is almost due with a baby boy! I just bought a slew of new fabric for a new quilt!!!!- if I can just get the cats to quit eating all my thread!, and well thats about it. Easter was great, Dave went with us, and the day before I went to our churchs Easter egg hunt at a local park. There were 5,000 eggs!!! Adam and I helped stuff some the week before. Most our nights are spent watching Bones, American Idol, Biggest Loser or many others, while Adam ices his shins and I heat my butt. Adam plays basketball almost everyday despite his aches and shin splints and I run on all my days off despite my tight piriformis (butt) and now affected IT band. (my relay race is in less than 2months!) So basically were old and will be crippled and have osteoarthiritis at the age of 40, but right now it seems worth it. Adam made me a deal, if i clean up after myself everyday, he will give me a 5minute butt massage. So far it's been like a whole week with massages every night!!! Adam got on a rec basketball team with three guys, all above 6'4", one 6'9", and still they lost their first game, how does that happen?!?! I'm playing on a work softball team, (oh yay, my vball team lost in the first round of the playoffs :( so were done). Our Softball team name is the DNR's. How funny is that! On the back of the shirts is a picture of a normal heart rythym and then it flat lines! Everyone on the team is an RN except like 2 people, we all pretty much stink too, so this will be good! We had our friends over the other night, they have a 15month old little girl and Acorn was terrified of her. She is never shy or scared of people, but I think Jersey was just too close to Acorns size, but just big enough to seem like a giant cat!
We reserved our Dland hotel and our Catalina Island hotel!!!! The big disneyland trip is coming up! We have a good friend who works on the Hells Kitchen set and lives in LA, so we are gonna get to see her too, very exciting.

The Heels

2010-03-29T17:17:00.000-07:00

I got these heels awhile ago for $15, originally like $75! I wore them yesterday for the first time.....Aren't they FANTASTIC!

Diary of a freaker-outer

2010-03-29T15:22:00.000-07:00

In a previous blog I mentioned my stress or anxiety issues, so heres basically a dairy of what this looks like:
I Love to plan, I'd like to say that I have learned that planning doesn't work, but I have not learned this, only acknowleged that I can plan on my plans occassionally not going according to plan. So I think things like so: I'm 25, I want to go back to school and I need to have babies soon, I'm excited for this and then very fearful, what will happen to my traveling?, my running?, my quilting?, my marriage?, and not to mention the ideas in my head that I need a real house to have a baby. So in my unrealistic mind I make up this temporary plan to get pregnant at X time and then apply to school (while pregnant, but not too pregnant or they will know and not accept me) at Y time, so that I can have the baby right before school would start, (okay now all mothers can laugh together). But heres the kicker, I need to NOT be in NV to go to school, theres no anaesthesia schools here. So that means we need to move to either CA, WA or OR (all have schools and Adam, or GBA rather, have licenses here). However, my moving does not depend upon me, no why would it, I'm not 18 anymore, it depends upon life. Or in other words, things out of my control! Like GBA's growth and wether or not, even when it is big enough, we can realistically move to where I can go to school. Plus, you never know whats gonna keep you somewhere. So then that takes you back to the house thing....So, if were here for lets say 2 more years, which is probably realistic, then we rent for 2 years....no plans to buy?.?. But what if that 2 years turns into 5,6,7, etc.!!! And we should have just boughten! And if we are here that long, I plan on retaking statistics before I apply to school, but you have to take it within 5 yrs of applying, so how do I know when to retake statistics? And keeping in mind most people don't get accepted into school the first time, especially to the places I want to apply. So, these are legitimate concerns right? And before I do all this I need to travel to a few key places before my life gets turned around... Like Hawaii, Napa Valley, Disneyland (happening in May!), and Yosemite.

Friday Harbor

2010-03-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

This blog is about our wonderful visit to Friday Harbor, but first heres Adam's leg:

He had a plate and some screws removed that had placed about 4 yrs ago when at the Haws' Adam landed on his ankle while catching a touchdown pass (as the story is told) in an early morning Thanksgiving football game. Hopefully he'll feel better when he plays basketball now!

Gary and Margo (Adam's parents) came to WA to visit! They live in Alaska on the Alutian Islands in the Bering Sea! So, Adam and I were lucky enough to go see them while they were home in Friday Harbor. This is Adam's family, with his two brothers Jeremy and Bryan.

We did family pictures and these are just some sloppy wanabes till we get the real ones.

Cousins Jared and Melissa and little Myles. We lived with them for two summers while in college. We missed them and it was great to see myles whom we hadn't seen since our wedding, which was like 3 days after he was born.

The big family dinner! It apparently took 6 guys to run the BBQ

We used the community church to eat and celebrate 4 March birthdays
Gary's, Allison's and Adam's, and Jason's, Adam's friend..... he's pretty much a part of the family.

Not the best picture, but all the girls. Heather (Ali's sister), Melissa, me, Allison and Margo.
We played sharades, Boys V Girls. The boys actually did better than expected.

FH Highschool has an open gym night so the Posenjak boys and the Allens got into an intense Bball game. Adam did this with his 3 week post-op ankle, I about died! The girls watched and Dillan and I played one on one.....he beat me

Frisbee Golf

Adam's birthday!!! The big 2-6. He has never had an ice-cream cake and always wanted one, so thats what he got.

Being with family was great as usual. Bryan and Allison were so great and let us all stay there, even though it meant Ali had to sweep like 12 times a day! Adam hadn't been on the Island or seen family in such a long time, I know it meant a lot to him and me, thank you Gary and Margo!

Craft Day

2010-03-18T13:37:00.000-07:00

Adam, Kaylee and I had a craft day one cloudy tuesday afternoon. Kaylee crotched, I quilted and Adam tied flies. We drank hot tea and ate gummy lifesavers!

Here's my latest quilt-

An upclose corner

Another upclose corner, I did 2 pink and 2 brown

Adam's flies

His "man-art" supplies

Hope Community

2010-03-08T20:41:00.000-08:00

So we have been going to this new community church down the street, and we really like it. We are not members yet, or "partners" as they call it, but we are pretty sure we are going to make that commitment! We've met some special people. It's very exciting and for Adam and I, it's exactly what we have been praying for. This last Sunday we had a sermon on money and finances. I actually love this topic because at least for me, it's huge, it has so much to do with letting God take control and as the verse goes: where your treasures are, your heart is. I really feel that God has been working on my control and anxiety problems for as long as I have been a Christ follower. I love to control my situations and know outcomes of decisions I make, unfortunatley that comes with thinking a lot of times that I know more than God about whats good for my life. I don't realize I'm doing this but it really shows when you look at how money is managed. I heard it put so wonderfully like this: "Making decisions on your own and controlling your own situations is great, until you realize that without Christ your never gonna be who you were made to be and you only have yourself to blame". Were very excited about this, and are so grateful that we are growing in our relationship with Christ! Check out our potential new community of believers. www.encounterhope.org

My Personal Girls Weekend

2010-03-01T13:15:00.000-08:00

Adam was in TX this weekend visiting his bestfriend, and of course it worked out that I had all the days off that he was gone :( but I did what any wife left home alone would do. Thursday night went bowling with some work friends, Friday candel making and Bunco with girlfriends from work. Saturday was all quillting, and a breif visit to Victoria Secret with a girlfriend. I Spent about 2hrs at Joannes and picked up a new project, scarf making. That night I went to Kaylee's and had dinner with her, her parents and her new roommate, then had a slumber party over there. Sunday Church, then a BBQ- which included a long walk through the park (husbands never like to take walks!) volleyball game and then the rest of the night, quilting of course. But tonight I pick him up, so today is cleaning! No pictures cause, nothing exciting.....sometimes thats nice.

Snow Storm

2010-02-25T14:29:00.000-08:00

I know I post a lot of scenic pics, but we had a cool unexpeceted snow storm this weekend, just thought I would share what we woke up to Sunday morning, and this was just the begininning!

Usually you would be able to see a big mountain/hill in the distance. I love snow!, but we ended up getting so much by the end of the day, my volleyball game was canceled. So Adam and I just snuggeled and watched the olympics :)

Theres always someone

2010-02-13T21:12:00.000-08:00

My job teaches me many things outside of common intellect and science, the most consistent thing being that, when ever you think "theres no way!" or "no one would really do/think/say that", I've learned theres always someone, someone willing to say "Yes, I will be that guy".

I have to be careful sharing stories, so rarely I do with people outside of the medical proffession. The whole thing is a unique culture in itself. ER's get lots of "stories" and notable events, but the thing about ICU's is that these people don't leave after a few hours like they do in the ER, so we get the whole enchilada, day after day. A lot of times I truly feel as though I am on the set of Jerry Springer or find myself laughing and thinking "is this really my job". The things people come up with is unreal! I know it significantly diminishes the entertainment of this blog, but stories must be left out for a number of reasons. Although let me describe my day today, and this is a fairly typical day at work.

I recieve a patient who "fired" the previous RN for unknown reasons. So my assignments are this patient, A, and then patient B. I start the day with my friend and coworker approaching me in tears because she has to help an awake and conscious patient take the next step in life (pass onto heaven). I still remember the first patient I had that passed in the same condition, it's very difficult to deal with. I then have pt B's family insist that we leave the EEG (brain wave) monitor on the patient, due to the fact that they have their own set of "tests" they need to run before it is removed. Mother B then insists that the patient has pink eye that traveled up the breathing tube and into her eye. Later this same women attempts to fire me and the new graduate I was orienting, because she blames us for her daughters grave and unfortunate condition saying that we were running experiments on her. She was very rude and irrational with me, but I have no choice but to try to be sympathetic. We get blamed frequently, it is a very unfortuante and frustrating thing. I show up everyday to an adequate paying job with a huge amount of life or death responsibity in hopes to help my patients and family move in the direction best for them, whether that be life or death, and to be accused of being the cause for someones deadly and unfortunate situation is very heartbreaking. Most do this intially- out of shock, and are easy to forgive, while others will spend there whole lives blaming others, these people require a whole new set of forgiveness and patience, which must be had in order to provide true heartfelt care. But anyway, in this case I was very frank and tried to address her concerns but then she refused to speak with me, so you move on. But one of the physcians I'm friends with was outside the door, heard this, walked in and berrated the lady for being so rude to me. So this contributed to the drama and lady's hatred of me. While this is happening pt A is pushing his call light so that he can write me notes (he is intubated, so can't talk) to tell me he is having chest pain, well i take this lightly considering last week when I had him, we called a false Code on him, believing he was having a heart attack due to heart rhythm changes and chest pain, well, the guy has a half inch round tube inserted into his lung through his Lateral chest wall, so pain doesn't seem far fetched but hes on enough pain meds to kill a horse. Despite the tranquilizer like meds, chest tube, breathing tube, feeding tube and endless amounts of wires and lines he has coming from him he insists upon shaving. I don't know if you understand how odd this is. Day after day I continue to be able to say, I've never seen this before! So here I am sitting on the edge of the bed watching this guy shave, reminding him to not clip the tubing that inflates the cuff holding his life support in his trachea. Now patient B's, mother has decided to leave due to the fact that she hates me, but not before her daughter started having long pauses, meaning her heart would stop beating breifly, so that went over well, and again was somehow my fault. By the end of the day, pt A was taxing on me because he's a noncompliant, manipulative man who decided to smoke meth while he had an active collapsed lung he knew about. Day's like this make it hard to be compassionate. But it never fails, Pt A's mom calls, and is a very sweet rational lady telling me of how her son was a great kid until his dad died a few years back. She goes onto to tell me about how sweet he was until his dad died and all the sudden I'm struck with compassion again. The amount of emotions we expereince in one day is unbeleivable! I suppose we need those somewhat "entertaining" moments when security gets called, a girlfriend has to be asked to not make sexual attempts with her comatose boyfriend, walls get punched in, someone is caught trying to eat a lightbulb, home insulation, and IV's; family members give you a palm reading, you have to remind a pt not to drink their own vomit, and you find yourself tied up in a family feud, that doesn't involve your family. We need those days to get through the heart wrenching tearful days.......today was a bit of both.

Utah!

2010-02-05T11:16:00.000-08:00

Our trip to Utah:

We drove to UT and got in Thursday night (Jan's Bday) and met them at a restaraunt for the celebration, everyone was there!

The next day, we spent the whole day visiting with Gpa and Gma and then went to Chuck O'Rama (I was hoping deep down inside that that is where they would want to go, since that is a Gpa and Gma Smith staple!)

That night, a hockey game with the cousins, Marsha, Craighten and Claire.

The next day, skiing at Alta with Jan and Ralph

It was pretty much a perfect day!

Jan and Ralph

The whole crew

Adam and Ralph

Yes we actually skiied, not just took pictures all day

On Sunday morning we went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with Jan and Ralph

Adam and I later that afternoon walked around temple square

And parts of downtown SLC to admire the beautiful buildings

That night was the Petty Family's famous waffel dinner

And a late bday celebration for Jan

The fam

Grandma convinced Craighten to play 1 song for us, then it became 2 and 3 and 4 songs. He is an excellent pianist

Since Monday was a work day for most, Adam and I headed to Park City to ski with our old boss at the Crab House, Nancy, who owns a cabin in the area.

We got an incredible deal on tickets and skiied at Deer Valley- Very posh!

Heres what Adam did most of the day! haha. I love skiing with him, he is better than me, but is so patient. We started skiing to have a hobby we could do together, and we have a blast!

Nanc and Adam

Our trip was amazing! And it was wonderful to see family and friends. We couldn't have asked for a more phenomenal time.

My 25th Birthday

2010-01-23T09:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the late post on the birthday weekend. I have been working a lot of OT!!!! But finally a few days off and I'm catching up with the blog, cleaning and even doing a few fun things like skiing and going to see Avatar! (if I can get Adam to quit working)

On Jan. 9th it was my birthday, and unexpectedly we went and stayed in Lake Tahoe with Adam's friend Charlie and his friend Angela. We stayed in a great private cabin on the lake at the Hyatt. Charlie works for the Hyatt so the whole weekend we got hooked up like you wouldn't believe!

This is from the porch of the cabin, with Lake Tahoe right in front of us

The boys liked feeling like they were rich old men, lounging in robes.

On Friday, we went skiing at Diamond Peak in Incline Village, only about 2miles from the cabin!

Adam and Andrew (a GBA agent)

So pretty but I almost crashed many times because I would be site seeing and not paying attention!

On Saturday, the day of my birthday, the boys got me and Angela a full day spa treatment, pedi, mani, and sweedish massage! We lounged around and sat in the steam room drinking green tea with cucumbers over our eyes, it was wonderful! That night we went out to a very fancy dinner on the Lake. There was a live guitarist who came to our table, sang me Happy Birthday, and by request from Charlie, James Taylor's Handyman. I love James Taylor. It was a great dinner, I had buffalo tenderloin that was amazing. Adam and Charlie got steak that seriosly had the texture of ice-cream! It was an unforgettable birthday!

A Smith Family New Years!

2010-01-11T20:05:00.000-08:00

Adam and I went to WA for New Years. to see my family. My brother Jordan had just gotten home a few weeks earlier from two years in Chili! I was very excited to see him. He brought me back black coral earrings!!! Very cool. Danielle had just had her twins and I got to see them as well, although they were not able to come to the cabin with us all to celebrate the New Year, I made sure and got in my time with her and the babies (wish I had pictures of that). We stayed in a beatuiful big cabin in the woods in Mossy Rock.

My mom had wrapped up 5 large boxes and told us each to pick one out.

Inside we each found a Christmas quilt she made with fabric from my Grandma who passed away about two years ago. It was such a special present. In the quilt we found fabric that our childhood stockings were made out of and fabric we had grown up seeing at our house and our grandma's.

A very special gift!

We (9 adults and 8 children under 10years old)
went to the fish hatchery in Mossy Rock

The man working there was kind enough to give us a tour and let the little ones feed the fish.

Most of the time was spent lounging and playing games. We had so much fun with games!

Being the Aunt without kids, I made sure and caused trouble with my ideas for fun with all the kids. We created a mattress room, where all the walls, except the one in the back there, were covered with mattress's, so ultimatley being a safe room to jump and bounce in. (I wanted one of this when I was a kid) This "safe" room lasted maybe 4 minutes until someone was crying. I had a blast running, tackeling and playing games all my nieces and nephews!

We had sooooo much fun and were really excited to see the family! It was priceless. When we got back to Vancouver we were able to spend the birthday day with one of my best friends Terra, and see another friend of mine expecting her first baby. The whole trip was great and we enjoyed spending so much time with the fam. Love you guys!!!
Sometimes the best moments don't have pictures. Check out Kara's blog shes a bit better at this

Our Christmas Decorations

2010-01-11T19:58:00.000-08:00

The day before Christmas Eve is apparentley a great time to buy Christmas decorations. These are a few of our good steals.

Frosty and Santa stockings (50% off)

A tree train (75% off)

A blow-up Frosty (75% off, Adam's personal Favorite)

Neighbor Daves First Christmas Story

2009-12-21T12:31:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas

Dave and I got into a 1hour plus conversation about God, faith and religion. He is so fun to talk to because he has no foundation whats so ever and has sincere questioning. He kept calling the crucifiction the crossifiction. So he comes over a few days later and asks Adam and I if our cats have souls. We tell him no, when they die, they just die. He thought that this should make us sad. So we got into a conversation about what happens to your soul after you die, we said some go to heaven some go to hell, depending upon your acceptance of Christ. His take on things is so interesting, he says so if your "bad", you really don't want a soul cause then you just rot in the ground and dont have to suffer hell?
That same night we were going to a live nativity scene at a local lutheran church and asked him if he wanted to go. We had to explain what the nativity scene was, which included explaining Jesus's birth and what a manger is. After the little nativity presentation that was put on we get in the car and Dave says "so that's it?". This allowed Adam and I to explain and elaborate on the whole story. Dave thought that because it ended with the three wise men bringing gifts, that Jesus and his family were then rich, hence the point of the story. As much as this story makes you chuckel at Dave it really was cool to explain to him for the first time the story of Christmas and Jesus's birth.

But here is a story simply for chuckeling at Dave (as a disclaimer he is aware and okay with our occassional chuckels at his expense)
Daves says while having a discussion about his bad driving: "It's not that I'm a bad driver, I'm just too cheap to get my breaks fixed!"

Brittany's Visit

2009-12-15T20:47:00.000-08:00

My best friend from home came to visit me this last weekend. Her, Adam and I had lots of fun. The fun started with my work Christmas party.....what a blast! I love the people I work with!!!

There was plenty of dancing of course. One of my bosses and a respiratory therapist won the hola competition

But Adam and I won this competition! I was blind folded and had to wrap his head as if he got a craniotomy and then restrain his hands.

So.....this is a real picture. We were all dancing and Matt (the green man) comes out of no where dressed like this and starts dancing with our boss. Halarious!!! Although in retrospect it looks more creepy than funny. Guess you had to be there

The next day was sledding on Mount Rose!

Downtown this time of year is a giant Christmas party with over 5,000 people

Most people just dress like Santa, but we chose 1Santa(me), a snowman (Adam), a Christmas tree(Britt) and a reindeer(Dave)

Adam was sooooo excited that he actually found a genuine "corn-cob pipe"

We found this shopping cart and thought Blitzen should pull Santa's sleigh!

Afterwards errupted a HUGE snowball fight. The main road was blocked off for the party, so on either side of the road, giant snowballs were being thrown, the street being the danger zone. Seriously a very cool thing to see, there were thousands of people involved in this.

Dave got hit! So here he is showing Adam who to go after. If you look at his clothes you can see exactly where he got hit......he was down for awhile.

Adam preparing a snowball and eyeing the enemy

Bob the Beast

2009-12-14T13:11:00.000-08:00

Bob is our 2008 Subaru Outback, now I know the things that are said about subarus and the stereotypes they carry about the people that drive them, but I must say we love our Bob! The other weekend we drove to Sacramento for the California International Marathon. The Marathon Relay went well, our chip didn't register though so our team lost out on second place in the Coed division, but what can you do. Really though Bob was the champion! On our way home I-80 was closed due to zero visibility going across the pass. Theres really no other way home so we just waited. It took us over 5 hrs to get home, when it usually takes just over 2! But Bob was riding the ice and cuting through fog and snow like nobodys business! We were passing trucks, cars with snow tires and well, pretty much everyone. He did the same on my way to work the next morning. He may be grey, boring and super practical but he's a beast!

Our Little Thanksgiving & Yoga

2009-11-28T11:03:00.000-08:00

It was just the two of us and neighbor Dave for Thanksgiving. It was nice and relaxing. We had all the usuals turkey, mash potatoes, stuffing, green beens, ect. The night before we had a "pre-Thanksgiving," per Adam's request. He taught me how to play cribbage, but became frustrated that Dave and I were not taking it seriously. I had worked that day and was very tired so by 11pm I was all goofy and laughing at everything and Dave kept obsessing over the gift he ordered on-line for his girlfriend. He would just sit there and stare at it. Adam swore to never play cribbage with us again.

Just this morning Adam and I went to yoga for the first time together. It was fun, and a good thing for Adam's inflexible hamstrings and sore back, even though he said he felt gay. But as we were doing some of the "manuvers", with our eyes closed, I could hear Adam moaning and groaning, making the strangest noises as he tried to grab both his ankles while laying on his stomach. I was trying so hard not to laugh, it became very difficult and a few times it slipped out. There was only 5 of us in the class, 3/5 were pretty serious about yoga. It reminded me of our freshman year in college, we were just barely friends. Me, Adam, his roommate and a friend of mine were taking a Human Nutrition final. They were passing out the finals and one of us said or did something, I don't even remember what, but it became so painful to not laugh that we all seriously were silently crying and holding our stomachs for the first 15minutes of the final, no joke. The whole room was silent and we were getting glared at and scolded for laughing so hard we were crying! Those are some of the best moments in life, when you laugh so hard you cry, especially when its inappropriate to be doing so.