Jeff and Brianne's Family Blog

I Guess After 7 Months It's Probably Time to Post Again...

2011-08-14T21:07:00.001-06:00

Clearly, we have slacked at blogging. What has happened this year? It's hard to remember it all but I guess I will give it a shot.

February: Hmmm....not much. We worked and skied. We also found the most adorable Pomeranian puppy but our landlord wouldn't let us get it. Well wishes to you dear Cupid. Hope your owners are as cool as we would have been. I think we bought Kindles this month, too. Excuse the language, but I've given Jeff a new nickname: technology whore. This cute boy of mine has to have the latest and greatest of everything. And I've proved to be a bit of a pushover, so somewhat against my will, we bought Kindles. They've actually been pretty great and we have read a lot of books this year so far.

Is he cute or what?!

March: We headed down to St George so that Jeff could get some--according to him--much needed golfing in. To my surprise, this trip also extended down to Vegas. Jeff sweetly surprised me with a night at the Vdara (a new 5-star hotel on the Strip) and tickets to Phantom of the Opera. Needless to say, the show was absolutely amazing. And Jeff got to golf. Of course.

April: Work. Work. Work. And my 24th birthday. That's it.

May: After several months of planning, we FINALLY got to go on our California Trip. This included golfing (what else?!) at Pelican Hill. Wow. That place was top notch. We also spent a day at Knottsberry Farm and 2 days at Six Flags Magic Mountain. So freaking fun. And then we ended our trip with a lovely 2 night stay at the Hyatt Resort in Huntington Beach. It was a pretty fantastic getaway. Later that month we moved apartments. The people upstairs got to be too noisy to handle any longer and I had to either leave or go insane. I chose to keep my sanity. With the move we also decided to spend WAY too much money on a new couch and loveseat as well as Jeff's pride and joy, a 60" TV. Remember that nickname I gave him? On Memorial Day Jeff and I went with his parents and Sadee and Ava to Yellowstone. It. Was. Freezing. Little too cold for my liking but it was still a fun adventure.

Jeff at Pelican Hill.

Our new living room.

The cute girls somewhere in Yellowstone.

June: My younger brother Nicholas got home from his mission in Portugal in May but I didn't get to see him until June when he moved out to Provo for summer term at BYU. It was so good to see him all matured and grown up. Proud of him. And I applied to PA school during June. That's right. I did. I guess we'll see how that goes. Crossing our fingers and praying that we both can get into the same program.

Pre Mission

Post Mission

July: Sadee and Ava came to visit again. We spent time with Jeff's family at a water park in Kearns. Went to Jump On It again. Stayed up late to watch movies and play (or attempt to play) Rock Band. And I worked A LOT. I usually work at least one extra shift a week, but this month I ended up working 2 extras per week. It was tiring and to be quite honest, almost torturous.

August: I know it's only mid-August right now, but we've already had so much fun. We spent a couple days with Jeff's family in central Utah four-wheeling and right after that we got to spend 3 days with my family at Bear Lake. My dad, step-mom, 2 youngest brothers and 3 stepbrothers drove over from Oregon, and Brandon, his wife and son drove down from Rexburg to meet up with Jeff, Nick, Alex and me at Rendezvous Beach. We camped there for 2 nights. We swam in the lake, visited the Paris Ice Caves (not worth the 10 mile drive on a rough gravel road), and went boating/tubing. It was a blast.

The whole fam. More pictures of the Bear Lake trip are on Facebook.

Well, that's all folks. Maybe we'll post again soon. Maybe we won't...

After Christmas Fun

2011-01-17T18:07:00.001-07:00

Sadee and Ava are the cutest nieces ever. We love them so much! We were so lucky to have them come spend a few days with us after Christmas. It was like a non-stop 3 day party. See the pictures to take part in all the fun we had.

Opening presents. Their favorite thing was the lockets we got them. I found some for super cheap.

We went to Trafalga and tried the mini golf. They have a really cool black light course we thought they'd love, but they didn't even last 3 holes before they were sick of it the game.

Trafalga has a 4D Theater they loved. The chairs move, vibrate, blow wind on you, etc.

The girls LOVED the arcade games. I know Ava's face doesn't look like it, but she was loving the race car driving.

Do you see all those tickets?! That's only about of third of what they won. They both kept hitting Jackpots and then Jeff won them a ton on the Pink Panther game behind them. The got 3,200 tickets. And below is what they traded in their tickets for.

Sadee got a stuffed dog and a gumball machine and Ava got an awesome glittery princess lamp and candy. It was way too much fun.

One of their presents from us was wooden jewelry boxes, pictures frames, paints and paint brushes. They sang along to Mandy Moore and Taylor Swift while painting. It's so cute how they know all the words to so many songs. Love them.

We went and saw Legend of the Guardians in 3D.

We also went to a place in Lindon called Jump On It. As you can see from the video, there are trampolines everywhere. There's also 4 or 5 bounce houses that the girls loved too. We went right after dinner which, apparently, is a bad idea. Sadee kept complaining of stomach pain that sounded like heartburn. Whoops.

There were a bunch of high school and college guys doing crazy jumps. This is the best one I got on video.

We went sledding at Rock Canyon Park and had SO MUCH FUN. It was exhausting climbing up the hill a million times but we flew down so fast, it was worth it. At one point, all four of us went down at the same time. Two on one sled, two on the other, and we held on to each others legs. I wish we could have had someone take a video of it because we went so dang fast. It was hilarious.

Jeff and Sadee just before hitting a jump. And of course, I missed getting them in the air. They wouldn't do it again for me to try and get another picture. I'm thinking the landing probably hurt a bit. Haha.

Braving the hill on their own.

Poor Ava. Just look at that face. Obviously, this was when all the fun was over and we were frozen to the core. Miserable.

The girls love the show So You Think You Can Dance and like to play their own version of it quite often. Usually we play it at Grandma and Grandpa's house and they have a bunch of their mom's clothes over there that they love to dress up in. Playing the game at our house, with a whole new wardrobe (mine) was almost more excitement than then could handle. They danced while Jeff and I sang along in our Rock Band microphone. (Yes, we have Rock Band 3. Very fun).


I think Ava looks so pretty here. Such a cutie.

We also went to the Lehi Aquatic Center where Sadee went down the big slide by herself and where Ava jumped in from the side over and over again by herself. They were very proud of themselves. We played games, ate ice cream, watched movies, and had a blast. All the fun made up for having to work during the holidays. Thanks Kari and Dave for letting them come stay with us and Grandma and Grandpa for driving them down here!

Christmas Eve on the Mountain

2010-12-31T04:16:00.000-07:00

Since I had to work during the holidays again this year, Jeff and I decided we would celebrate Christmas Eve by going skiing. I had only been one other time in my life. We spent a few hours in beautiful sunny weather at Sundance. Unfortunately, the conditions weren't ideal for beginners. The whole mountain was iced over from all the rain that fell the couple days prior, so it was super slick and super fast. I fell A LOT. And I got A LOT of bruises, including one on my left hip that is about 3 inches in diameter and is a deep purple. It scares me every time I look in the mirror, like there's a huge spider or some foreign thing on me. Overall, we had a really fun time and hope to be able to go again this season.

Winter Wonderland

2010-12-07T22:23:00.000-07:00

A major downside of being a nurse is working during the holidays. Last year I worked Christmas Eve and Christmas and decided to be a bit of a scrooge because I was mad about it. This year, you guessed it, I get to work Christmas Eve and Christmas again! Aren't I lucky?

This year, I decided that we should embrace every bit of Christmas we can get. Right after the awful drive home from Idaho (as noted in the post below), we put up our tree and new collection of decorations. The pictures below don't quite do it justice.

The Tree

Snowmen

Santa Clauses

My favorite: The Village

Stockings and random decorations

We also have Christmas lights draped all around the doorways and the ledge across the ceiling. It's so much fun. We love it!

Alive and Well

2010-12-05T22:18:00.000-07:00

We are well aware that we have been major blogging slackers lately. We deeply apologize to all of our followers, although I'm sure that by not blogging for the past three months, we may not have anyone left to read our blog. For any patient and dedicated readers out there, we will give you a brief rundown of recent events and a commitment to be better bloggers!

I am still working in the NICU and loving it, and Jeff is still working as a medical assistant and waiting to be accepted to PA school. Prayers for him, please!!!

We got some time off for Thanksgiving and, of course, traveled to Idaho Falls to spend time with some of his family. Like always, we had a great time playing with Sadee and Ava, shopping, and eating delicious food. I tried to be better at taking pictures, but what's below is all I got.

Sadee and Ava after putting on mascara, blush, and lip gloss. Pretty little girls.

Swimming in the neighbor's fabulous indoor pool. I succeeded in getting Ava to go down the slide all by herself. You'd think I would have gotten a picture of that, right? Well, I suck at taking pictures.

This super flattering picture is documentation of the horrendous drive home. It took twice as long as normal and we were miserable. Stupid snow...

Jeff and I also did some Black Friday shopping. We stayed up all night and parked outside of Sports Authority at 1:30am. The store was to open at 5:00am and we REALLY wanted to be one of the first 85 people in line so that we could get one of the gift cards they were giving away to the 85 customers. Well between the two of us we got a whopping $20 in gifts cards while another couple got $750 together. The jerks! Life is not fair. We got out of our car and in line at 4:00am (that's when the first people got in line) and stood for an hour in -14 degree weather. Wowzers. That was freaking cold. It was an adventure to remember to say the very least.

Off to bed now. Look for more posts in the coming week!

Summer 2010

2010-09-06T09:21:00.008-06:00

Yes it has been an eternity since we last updated our lives. So many things have happened since our last post, most importantly COLLEGE FOOTBALL has began. My wife might kill me for that one. So here is our update.Jeff- As many of you know I applied to PA school last year. I had 5 interviews and was on an alternate list. It didn't work out this year so I am just finishing up some applications to apply again. I am currently taking some independent study courses to improve my GPA and I also have been working as a Medical Assistant at Cherry Tree Family Practice. It has been such a blessing to get the job through networking. It pays decent for a health care experience job and is great for work experience for my application. I work with a team of 3 PA's, a Physician, and an NP. I draw blood, give injections, and do all the responsibilities of an MA. I love it. I often find myself looking at people's arm veins. Yes it's kind of weird. Okay, really weird. Other than those things my life is about movies, football, and the wifey.
Brianne - In July, my older brother got married. So I have a new sister-in-law. Yay! She's from Alaska. Here's us at their Oregon reception. It was 100 degrees that day and my hair was a sweaty mess. I was impressed at how good Natasha looked all day even in her 3/4 length sleeve dress.

Here is the cake my step-mom made. She's a chef, but I had no clue she could do wedding cakes. I thought she did a really good job.
And this picture is just to embarrass Jeff :)

In the beginning of August I ran the Provo River Trail Half Marathon again. I was really excited for it because the first 5 or 6 miles is a slight downgrade which obviously makes it easier to run faster. I had a goal to beat my record by at least 5 minutes. Well that did NOT happen. I was dying after mile 7 and only beat my time by a whopping three seconds. It was a bit depressing. But I'm planning on running another on almost the exact course on October 30th. We'll see how that one goes...

We also recently bought a new car! It's 2010 Nissan Altima in Pearl White. We bought it used with only 2,000 miles on it and got a REALLY good deal. We love it!

And finally, the news that has been a long-time coming: I GOT A NEW JOB! I will be working in the Newborn ICU at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center! I still can't believe it. I start on the 20th and cannot wait!

STEVE YOUNG IN THE FLESH

2010-06-28T11:52:00.003-06:00

Growing up I was a huge Steve Young fan. I lived and breathed for the 49ers and seeing them win their 5th Superbowl in 1994 was probably a top 5 sports moment in my life. However I watched Steve Young hundreds of times on the television I didn't get to see him play football in person. Sunday I was able to go to a Provo Freedom Festival Patriotic Service. Steve was the keynote speaker which was SWEET!!! The meeting was really good. We clapped along with all the former military veterans in the audience as all their songs were played by orchestra. Jenny Frogley (a great LDS singer) was also there and the whole meeting made you proud to be an American. Steve spoke about service being the key in making this nation great. He spoke of when he first step into the shoes of Joe Montana and how he so bad wanted to live up to the his and all the fans expectations. He worked his butt off and use to compare stats after each game to see if he was in line with Joe. After the first year he could see he wasn't in line and all the hard work wasn't paying off. Frustration began to enter and he went to the late Truman G. Madsen for advice. Truman said, "Steve do you know how many receptions Jerry Rice has? Do you know how many Touchdowns?", Steve had no idea. Steve Young went on to say how Truman said work just as hard but work that hard in serving others, serve your coaches, teammates and anyone else that comes in your life. Steve later said, "the moment I stopped obsessing about myself, I became the quarterback I always wanted to be, the moment I stopped obsessing about the MVP, I won the MVP." What a great lesson as we celebrate our freedoms this week. Let us remember those that served us and gave their lives for our freedoms and begin serving others.

Brianne Johnson, RN, BS

2010-06-04T11:16:00.005-06:00

For anyone who hasn't heard yet, I would just like to say that

I'm an RN!

Life is good. I took the NCLEX Tuesday morning and got the minimum number of questions which is 75. The maximum number you can get is 265. Soooo glad it stopped when it did. The test was a bit nerve-wracking, I'll admit. I was literally shaking on questions 74 and 75 because I wanted the computer to shut of sooo bad. I have a ton of other nursing friends who passed this week too (and who will pass in the coming weeks as well). Yes, we all graduated in April, but now the hard work and studying is

officially OVER!!!!!!!!!

WAHOOO!!!

I had a lot of fun at work yesterday writing "RN" after my signature. No more "LPN"!!!! And of course, I got another big fat raise.

Can you tell that I'm happy??

Parasailing

2010-05-17T23:49:00.006-06:00

Somehow I completely forgot our parasailing adventure in the post below. It was a really fun-but-not-at-all-scary ride. On the boat ride out, we saw dolphins and mating sea turtles. We didn't see any sea animals when we were up in the air but we had a beautiful view of Cocoa Beach and could even see the Kennedy Space Center.

To be totally truthful, I was glad that we were able to go parasailing, but you really only need to do it once in your life. I thought it would be a bit more of a thrill, but when we were in the air, it felt like we were just sitting really, really high. We couldn't even tell we were moving. However, I really would still recommend doing it once.

Florida Fun

2010-05-17T23:01:00.011-06:00

We've been back from Florida for a couple weeks now so it's probably time to post some pictures from our amazing trip.

Jeff in Heaven.

Jeff Johnson, PGA Pro.

"I know, I'm good."

Even on the beach, Jeff is still absorbed in golf.

I love the beach!

And I was so excited we were finally there.

NBA City. Of course. When Jeff gets to pick the restaurant, it usually involves massive televisions and sports-related food.

Rip Ride Rocket. Soo fun!!! This is the one where you get to pick the music you listen to throughout the ride. I admit, I was scared going straight up like that.

This dessert was AMAZING! The strawberries were fried in a cinnamon-sugar batter and put with vanilla ice cream in a cinnamon-sugar tortilla all over a strawberry and vanilla cream sauce. To die for.

The Jurassic Park ride was pretty fun. We got completely soaked though.

Hogwarts! I was bummed that the new Harry Potter World wasn't open yet. We got a good sneak peek though.

Blue Man Group is a must see. It was 2 hours of pure hysterical laughter. I was bawling I was laughing so hard.

We had so much fun and I can't wait to go back!

ROLLER COASTERS BABY!!!

2010-05-04T16:02:00.004-06:00

As many of you know my wife and I headed to Florida to take in the sun in celebration of our graduation. We were able to ride a couple of sweet roller coasters at Universal Studios and in celebration of our coaster riding I wanted to list my Top 10 Coasters I have been on. Here they are:

10. Superman: Ultimate Flight (Six Flags Great Adventure) This a flying roller coaster. You imagine you're flying and fly along the ground at high speeds.
9. El Touro (Six Flags Great Adventure) By far the best and fastest wooden coaster I have step foot in. The speeds are crazy. At the end of the ride I was pretty much in shock. Very smooth also which is usually a downside to wooden coasters.
8. Hulk (Universal Studios Island of Adventure) This coaster blasts you out of a tunnel into loop and corkscrewing track at high speeds. I looked down at my skin after and thought a saw a greenish tint.
7. California Screamin' (Disneyland California Adventures) Similar to the Hulk but the speeds if I remember right were faster and better.
6. Dueling Dragons (Universal Studios Islands of Adventure) Two coasters with dangling legs. Throughout the ride you see the other coaster and jet right at one of another before going into vertical loops.
5. Rip Ride Rock It (Universal Studios Orlando) A fast coaster where you pick the song to jam to throughout the ride. With Evanescence and Limp Bizkit rockin, my blood was pumping throughout.
4. Nitro (Six Flags Great Adventure) Massive first drop and the speeds never stop. Outside of King Da Ka (which was closed), the best ride in the park.
3. Deja Vu (Six Flags Magic Mountain) A feet dangling coaster the pulls you up backwards then drops you straight down before doing it all again backwards.
2. Goliath (Six Flags Magic Mountain) The biggest drop I have ever been on and it drops into a black smoking tunnel. One of the best in the world.
1. X2 (Six Flags Magic Mountain) This ride has it all. Speed, thrill, and might just make you wet your pants a little, ask my friend Nate Waddoups. The seats rotate circles while you fly at the fastest speeds I have ever experienced. An Amazing RIDE!!!!

Other note, two awesome rides that aren't coasters. Soarin' Over California at Disneyland and Test Track (Epcot). What is your favorite?

Graduation & Golfing with Gators

2010-04-26T18:55:00.012-06:00

As most of you know, Jeff and I graduated from BYU on Friday. Freedom!!!!! We both got our Bachelor's degrees; mine's in Nursing and Jeff's is in Physiology & Developmental Biology. Kim & Patsy and Alisa & Ryan came down as well as my dad, my older brother Brandon and his girlfriend. Thanks for supporting us everyone! And to celebrate, we are living it up in Florida. After a long Sunday of flying (we had three connections), sitting in the airport forever waiting for Jeff's golf clubs to show up, long rental car lines, driving to our destination in a thunderstorm, and accidentally sleeping in until 11:00am (whoops!), we finally got to do something fun today. We walked along the beach for a while and went golfing at the Cocoa Beach Country Club. The staff there got me in a little bit of a panic with all the warnings, "Be very careful when you go near the water," "Now you know why shouldn't go near the water right?" and "You'll be fine if you don't go near the water." And this is why:Scary right??? Well, not really. This is the closest we got to a gator:After a couple of snap shots, the gator must have gotten annoyed with me because it jumped out of the water a little and snapped its jaws. Needless to say, we got on the golf cart and sped away.

Although the course was beautifully set right on the Banana River, the wind was out of control. There were gusts up to 30 mph! It made for tough golfing, but we still had fun. I quit after I double-parred the first nine. That's right, double par. Meaning, I suck! Jeff did great though as always. Now off to Universal Studios in the morning!

5 Favorite Things

2010-04-12T13:32:00.003-06:00

I got this idea from my cousin Jami. Enjoy!!

Five Favorite T.V. Shows (Current)
1. LOST
2. The Office
3. Modern Family
4. The Amazing Race
5. Parenthood

Five Favorite Foods
1. Funeral Potatoes
2. Hamburgers
3. Pizza
4. Chicken Roll-Ups (Bri's Recipe)
5. Cafe Rio (anything)

Five Favorite Famous People
1. Steve Carrell
2. Steve Young
3. Glenn Beck
4. Mitt Romney
5. Bronco Mendenhall

Five Favorite Things To Do With My Wife
1. Well leave that to her and I
2. Play Golf with Her
3. Get a back scratch
4. Watch Friends and other TV Shows
5. Travel (Florida is 2 weeks away)

Five Favorite Things About Brianne
1. Putting Up with Me.
2. Her Testimony
3. Her Body
4. Her Love
5. Her Smell

Five Favorite Smells
1. Brianne
2. Freshly Mowed Grass
3. Fresh Baked Bread
4. Coconut Shampoo
5. Barbecue

Five Favorite Movies
1. Braveheart
2. Avatar
3. Lord of the Rings
4. Transformers
5. Anchorman

Five Favorite Vacation Spots
1. Anyplace with Top Golf Courses
2. Hawaii
3. Florida
4. New York
5. California

Five Favorite Bands/Musicians
1. Sum 41
2. Yellowcard
3. AFI
4. Eminem (clean)
5. Good Charlotte

Five Favorite Books (I only read church books)
1. Believing Christ
2. Following Christ
3. The Peacegiver
4. Book of Mormon
5. The Atonement

Exciting Things Are Coming

2010-04-03T09:24:00.002-06:00

Before next Thursday, I have my last three 12 hour shifts at OCH, one shift at Trinity, 3 papers to write (one 20-pager), and a million random little assignments to complete. Then before the next week is over I have only one final (thankfully) and I have to do 900 N-CLEX prep questions. If I make it through the next week it will be a miracle! The only thing that is getting me through this CRAZY semester is the exciting things that are coming!

20 days until Graduation!!!!!!

21 days until my birthday!!!!!!

22 days until we leave for a week for some much needed R&R in Cocoa Beach, Florida!!!!!!

GOLF AND BASKETBALL IN VEGAS

2010-03-26T09:59:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago my wonderful father and I drove down to Las Vegas for golf and basketball. Outside of football those are #2 and #3 favorite sports. I probably conned my dad into going but I am a very good convincer. Working on his love for BYU basketball and his love for me he couldn’t say no. I basically manipulated the man until he accepted. We went to Vegas for the Mountain West Conference Basketball Tournament and Golf 36 holes in between. He arrived at my crib Wednesday late and after a short 4 hour cat nap we left around 5AM in order to stop and golf in Saint George. The course was awesome and was top notch. For the first time out of the year (I live in Utah, snow comes down there) it was a beautiful 55 degrees. Golfing was a blast for me and another unique experience for my father. Using my old clubs (I bought new ones) he slowly tried to keep up with the younger and harder hitting son. The course at Sunbrook was absolutely beautiful with snow capped mountain ranges in the distance. The greens were like glass, the best we have ever played on. For the first time out I scored really well and it was a very fun time riding in the cart. Throughout the day we had problems eathing because of time constraints. Our body nutrition consisted of a bowl of cereal at 4:30AM; McDonalds stop at 4:00, and some Mountain Dew and popcorn at 9:00pm. I felt like I was fasting without a prayer and my dad said he knew he had lost 10 lbs. From my view he was looking sexier. Although BYU ended up losing the next day to stupid UNLV (I still don’t know how the conferences accepts them playing on their own home court every year and calls it fair) we did get to see Jimmer drop 37 on TCU. Friday we were going to go to “Area 51” a blocked off site in the desert but it was 2 hours away. We went to the new hotel on the strip called “City Center”. It was huge, let me repeat that, it was huge. My dad liked it more than I did. I don’t enjoy site seeing like my father. I want to play not look in my young age. Before heading off to the game we found a place to eat through my GPS. It was an Afghanistan restaurant. My dad spoke the next 30 min to the owner about Iraq and the middle east. I guess I should really care about all of that but I really didn’t so I zoned out. The food was good but apparently Afganians eat small portions because for the cost that plate needed a few more pieces of meat on the stick. Saturday we woke up early and drove out to find a golf course in northwest Las Vegas. We golfed with a couple of men in the mid 30’s. Within the first 5 minutes, swearing had already left their mouths, and drinks and cigarettes were a common entity in their golf cart. They actually were really funny and a good couple of guys to play golf with. They both worked at “the Wynn”. Driving home we hit a huge snow storm but eventually arrived in Orem at about 10PM. All in all in was an awesome trip of golf and basketball with the my all too wise father.

New MOVIE Ratings and Reviews

2010-03-08T15:15:00.003-07:00

I know I have slacked on my movie reviews lately. I have still been watching a lot of movies and I'm anxious to report my review to all my devoted readers. However, my wife is just not into the whole movie review thing. From here on I will be the one and only movie reviewer for our family blog. I hope my expertise in the art of movie going will assist you in the decisions to pay full price, dollar movie, or rental in your movie choices.

YOUNG AMBASSADORS

2010-02-17T08:33:00.004-07:00

Bri's and my favorite yearly show has to be the Young Ambassadors. Taking a break from all of my passionate sporting events, I try to have some diversity by attending theatrical performances. Growing up, I had a family that forced my attendance to many Broadway plays. Although I always played the role of the hesitant teenager, I always came away really loving the performances. I loved Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, and still today I would pay a lot to see Riverdance again (already seen twice). The Young Ambassador show put on by BYU is a highlight of many present and past Broadway shows. These students are extremely talented and they make me feel like I have done absolutely nothing with my life. They all take the stage and showcase their amazing talent they have of singing and dancing. Singing songs from all of the famous shows, the show leaves you hearing your favorite numbers for about a quarter of the cost. This year marked the 40th anniversary and with it, the 40 years of alumni came to participate. Although some of the elderly alumni didn't perform the dances perfectly, we were able to have amazing performances by some who had gone on and toured with many famous Broadway acts. All the performances were great but my top 5 are below:

5. Footloose - Abe Hegewald and Company
4. My New Philosphy
3. Do You Hear the People Sing - Les Miserables
2. Bring Him Home - Les Miserables
1. Defying Gravity - Wicked

Now We Get To Play the Waiting Game

2010-01-27T08:50:00.002-07:00

For the most part all of the PA schools that I applied too this past year have let me know whether I am accepted or not. I have interviewed at 5 schools and I thought I would give you all a little bit about each one and the town we would live in. Basically I wanted to give you an update on the whole process. I will list them in order of my choice of attending.
1. Marietta College - This was my last interview and it turned out to be the best. They have a great program and I loved the town. It reminds me of a little old restored town. They have a river that runs through the town and a awesome authentic downtown. Living is extremely cheap and when I went there it just felt right. Krista it is three hours away from Cedar Point which also is a plus. I find out TODAY if I get accepted. I really can't wait and the anticipation is out of this world.
2. Western Michigan University- Western is located in Kalamazoo Michigan. Just saying you lived in a town with that cool of a name is worth attending. It is one of the 12 original PA programs in the country and has alumni all over the country which is a great positive. I liked the atmosphere and organization of the program. Find out in February.
3. Central Michigan University - I already found out from them. I was placed on the alternate list (somebody that got accepted has to give up their seat). Great small town and I loved the interview a lot. Would be very fun and great to attend there.
4. Barry University Florida - My wife would really like the weather here that is positive. When I went for my interview it was 70 degrees and multiple students from Florida were saying how cold it is lately. I had to laugh at that. The program is decent and would provide me with a great education. Also Golf is year round and has some of the best in the world. Also great parks everywhere from Disney World, Universal, Knotts. You name it Florida has it. Find out in February.
5. Western University of Health Sciences - Don't get me wrong. If Western was the only school I got in I wouldn't hesitate at all from attending. It is in California and they do have a good program. Just wasn't as impressed as the four others. Hopefully I don't have to go here but I don't want to be too picky. Find out in March.
All in all this process has been extremely tiring and exciting. I think when we get accepted somewhere it will be the happiest days of both our lives. I will be sure to let you know the updated news when I do get accepted somewhere, hopefully.

AIRPORT MADNESS

2010-01-21T21:53:00.002-07:00

Well I will later give my thoughts on the interviews I have this weekend, but right now you must know what I had to go through to have my butt arrive in Tampa, Florida. It all started when the announcer at gate A4 in SLC said that there were severe winds in Phoenix and there was a possibility of flight cancellations. Cancellation of a flight for an important PA school interview = NOT GOOD. There was nothing I could do at this time but get on the winged jet and head south to Arizona hoping and praying for the best. I had a 45 min layer over from the arriving Phoenix flight until the departure to Tampa so if all went well, I would be fine. First, most of the plane ride was rather bumpy. With about 20 minutes to go, air traffic control held us in the air because of winds of 50 MPH. Another not good sign for those still reading, cause who wants to land a massive jet in 50 MPH winds? To me that doesn't seem so safe so I was fine with holding out, assuming that all flights leaving Phoenix would also be delayed. After the pilot joked with us across the intercom, it was finally decided to land in Phoenix. The winds were down to 35 now and it was possible, but not ideal. The descent was like a roller coaster, which for a coaster lover like me with the true gospel of Christ and Plan of Salvation knowledge, I was rather calm. Needless to say I can’t say that for everyone aboard the aircraft. Palms were sweaty and the guy across the row from me was “hating life”. In all seriousness, it was little crazy looking out the window and seeing the wings move up and down as the plane tried to touch down on the runway. After we landed, the stewardess let out a “WHOOHHH”. Then the pilot came on saying that was better than a ride at Disneyland. I knew I probably had to hurry but that was the small of it. I walked out and after checking the screens, my flight was on time it said. We arrived in Phoenix at 4:20 and my flight was leaving at 4:10. I am freaking out cause remember, really important interview in Tampa tomorrow at 9AM. I started walking missionary pace to the door to see if by some chance it was still there. My gate was A30 and we exited A14 so I felt I was close. When you are thinking you just missed a flight your mind doesn’t work the way God intended it to. I saw the first sign directed to A30 so I followed but the ports lowered: A10, A7, A4. Thinking this was wrong I turned around and headed back to where I came from. Then the public announcement came across saying, “Flight 536 to Tampa is in final boarding, report ASAP to Gate A30 to Tampa”. This put me in panic mode. I had no idea where this stupid gate was. I switched directions probably 4 times before I realized gates A15-A30 are at a different part of the airport. A30 wasn’t close at all. I had an entirely full backpack and a carry-on suitcase. I didn’t and couldn't care so I started sprinting in the gate's direction weaving in and out of people (the airport was packed). I felt like a member of the Callister family during Christmas (HOME ALONE). The walking escalators helped as I was moving like a cheetah. In the midst of this craziness, it felt like my backpack was open. I turned around to find my backpack is wide open. I was probably 2 seconds from all the stuff dumping out including a new laptop computer. I would say tender mercy from God that I felt it. I sat my backpack down to zip it up just as the walking escalator ended. Of course, the waist straps on backpack got entirely stuck. I tried to get the thing out but had to use my Hercules strength to pull my backpack loose and break the straps free. They were really more of an accessory to the backpack than a necessity. By this time, my sprinting body was needing more oxygen than I could get to it. I can thank the fat cells for that. Sprinting down the last corridor I finally saw A30. The door was still open! Breathing like a 90 year old with asthma, I arrived at the gate and walked through a full plane to my seat. It was the craziest experience that I have had in quite some time and wish it upon no one. Anyway, the reason this entry is a book is 'cause wrote it on a flight going three quarters of the way across the country on a plane with no TV or movies. What else is a guy supposed to do? Ok, now off to the interviews...

Capstone. Finally!

2010-01-16T00:59:00.004-07:00

The end is near. Very near. Wahoo! In just over three months I will have my Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Words cannot explain how excited I am. Seriously, I've been waiting for April 23, 2010 to come for 5 years now. I love BYU and all, but man, being done will be the BEST!

I'm doing my Capstone (aka final semester) at Orem Community Hospital's Women's Center. This is wonderful for 4 reasons:

1. I've only heard great things about this hospital
2. It's a two minute drive from my house. Yay!
3. I don't have to wear my lame BYU uniform anymore. I can wear whatever scrubs I want. Trust me, this is an exciting thing for us students.
4. The unit includes Labor and Delivery, Postpartum, the nursery, and NICU (a very small NICU, but still...) all in one area so I get to be a part of it ALL!

I met my nurse preceptor today. She'll be with me for the 17 shifts I have to do throughout the semester. When we met she told me the last 5 students she's had in their Capstone were pregnant by the end of the semester. Hmmm...I'm planning on breaking that chain. Hopefully it's not some kind of funny curse.

Cutest Country Song

2010-01-16T00:18:00.004-07:00

If you've read the previous post, you know Jeff's been gone since Wednesday night. Well I can only think of one good thing about not having Jeff around for a few days: I get to listen to country radio in the car. I used to be quite the country fan, but I must say being around Jeff has lessened the love. So I was driving home from work tonight and heard the absolute cutest country song on earth. Just listening to it made me love Jeff more :) I wouldn't be surprised if a bunch of you have heard this song already, but it was a wonderful first for me. It's called "Love Like Crazy" by Lee Brice. If I were a little bit more computer smart, I would somehow put the song in this post. But since it's past midnight and I don't have Jeff to help me, I'll just post the lyrics to the first verse and the chorus:

"They called them crazy when they started out
Said seventeen's too young to know what loves about
They've been together fifty-eight years now
That’s crazy"

"He brought home sixty-seven bucks a week
He bought a little 2 bedroom house on Maple Street
Where she blessed him with six more mouths to feed
Yea that’s crazy"

"Just ask him how he did it; he'll say pull up a seat
It'll only take a minute, to tell you everything
Be a best friend, tell the truth, and overuse I Love You
Go to work, do your best, don't outsmart your common sense
Never let your prayin' knees get lazy
And love like crazy"

Seriously, this is so cute to the music.

And while I'm on the topic of good country songs, another absolute favorite of mine is "Little Girl" by John Michael Montgomery and Alison Krauss. Oh my gosh, I get chills just thinking about that song. I remember my mom making me listen to it in the car a long, long time ago and it was the first time I ever cried about a movie, song, book, or anything like that. I was embarrassed back then, but the song still hits me pretty hard every time. If you haven't heard that song, you HAVE to. And you have to really LISTEN to the words. Gomusicnow.com has really cheap downloads, like for 7-20 cents per song.

Anyway, anyone heard these two before?

PA Schools Update

2010-01-14T10:07:00.005-07:00

Well once again it has been awhile since I have treated my blogger followers with an update on my exciting life. As many of you know I have decided to pursue a Master's Degree in Physician Assitant Studies. To become a PA you must to attend graduate school and pass a certifying exam (PANCE). This past summer I spent hours and I mean hours applying to 35 schools. Updating you on the current situation of being accepted into those schools is as follows. I have been invited to 5 interviews so far. The schools are Central Michigan (Michigan), Western University (California), Western Michigan (Michigan), Marietta College (Ohio), and Barry University (Florida). I only have attended two of the interviews so far and have 3 in the next 2 weeks. Needless to say I will be spending a lot of time in the airports, renting cars, and nights in cheap hotel rooms. This past week I was placed on the alternate list for Central Michigan. It was a bummer since I really liked that school a lot when I went there but now it depends on those accepted in they decide to accept their seats or open up spots for us alternates. Most likely I have to move on but I am still holding hope for CMU. Western University will let me know in March if I am accepted and who knows when the next three I will. This whole process has been one exciting yet stressful time. Brianne says it might be the happiest day of her life when we receive my acceptance letter (crossing fingers). We love BYU and our apartment but we are ready to move on in our lives. I have been in my undergrad since WW2 I swear and am ready to go to graduate school by attending PA school. I bought a new suit for the interviews so I thought I would post some of my professional modeling pictures. I was actually offered thousands of dollars but turned it down. Its just not the life I want to live. Anyway, you can be 100% positive that I will blog about being accepted when I find out.

A Really Late Halloween Post

2009-11-17T13:29:00.008-07:00

This year we went to Idaho to take the nieces trick-or-treating. As always, they were just too cute.

The four of us before we headed out. Jeff was the Scream guy, I was a banana, Sadee was Cleopatra, and Ava was a pumpkin.

For some reason, my costume was a hit. EVERYONE had to make a comment about the Banana. It was fun. And then every time someone would say, "Look! It's a banana!" Ava would pipe up, "And I'm a punkin!" in her cute little voice. And goofy Sadee loved to point out that I was fruit and Ava was a vegetable. Too funny.

Scary Ava

Scary Sadee

Just being adorable.

BACK FROM THE DEAD

2009-11-05T14:33:00.003-07:00

Looking at my blog I realize I haven't posted for probably the past 3 or 4 months. For my dedicated and avid readers, I APOLOGIZE!!! Life has been crazy this past summer but that is still no excuse. I will just give this blog a life update on our lives together.
Jeff- This past summer was nuts for me. As many of you know I want to be a Physician Assistant and I applied this past summer to graduate school for that field. What I thought would take me about 8 hours to complete ended up taking more than a month. It was nuts!! Now, I am all done with all the application process and I'm waiting for the interviews and acceptances. I applied to 39 schools and, as of now, have two interviews (Central Michigan University, Western University CA) and have been rejected by 11 other schools. I am really pumped for the interviews which are next week. Monday I fly out to CMU and Wednesday I have the interview in California. Either way I am not complaining and hope to have some more. Currently, I am taking a couple classes and working at the BYU Student Health Center as a Clinician Aide (basically a Medical Assistant). I currently serve as a Den Leader with the Weblos Scouts in my ward. Outside of school, my free time has been given to my wife and NFL/College Football. She is still learning to cope with my football passion. I admit, sometimes its crazy. Both of us graduate with Bachelors Degrees in April with Bri's in Nursing and mine in Physiology. We are pumped to move on and have already planned a week long celebration to St. George and Vegas to relax.
Brianne - She is the income provider that's fore sure. She works as an LPN at Trinity Mission Nursing Home in Provo and works her butt off (makes bank). She just finished up her ICU rotation in the hospital and now will do her last rotation of Mental Health before her Capstone project. She really wants to get Labor and Delivery for her final capstone in American Fork Hospital because after PA school we would like to settle down in the north end of Utah Valley. She is still serving with the Young Women as a Girls Camp Assistant in our ward. Her drive and hard work always inspire me to be better.

I Got What I Came For So That's All That Matters

2009-09-08T12:57:00.003-06:00

Last Saturday I ran my second half marathon: the Spanish Fork Half. I signed up way back in April or May and had a plan to train super hard throughout the summer so I could improve my time by 9-10 minutes. Well, I didn't actually start training until we got back from DC. That left me with only 5 weeks to try and get back in shape, but I still wasn't going to change my goal.

But about a week before the race, I kind of lost hope. My training wasn't going too well and I wasn't excited to run...until I looked at last year's times. The top finishing times in my age division were definitely within my reach. And then I saw that the top three finisher in each division would get a medal. In all my years of track, I NEVER got a medal. I got a lot of blue ribbons, but never got a medal. I've always, always wanted one so this completely re-motivated me. I wanted to get a medal!

Race day came and Kari and I set out to for a great run. Or so I thought. The stressors came even before the gun went off. We didn't have time to warm up because of the super slow potty line, and I lost my bib number five minutes before the start (how? I have no idea!) and had to really quickly re-register. Somehow, I still got to start on time.

I felt good for the first three miles. I was right on pace. But then the wind came, and whoa, that made it a lot more difficult. I slowed down by about 20 secs/mile and decided that I would be able to pick it up a lot once we got through the hills and got to run the opposite direction. I was in sixth place for the women until about mile 6 when the treacherous hills started. Oh those sucked. Once the hills were done at about mile 8, I decided to pick it up and make up for some lost time, only to realize that the wind had switched directions and was now opposing me again! By mile 9, I just fell apart and had to walk for a minute. After getting passed by two girls, I knew my medal was in jeopardy so I picked up the pace again. But I couldn't handle it! I'm not sure why, but I was just dead. By mile 11, I was having a full blown asthma attack and had to walk again for a couple minutes, getting passed by three more girls. At this point, I would have hopped in a car and quit if given the chance. I really struggled in the last two miles with the wind, sideaches, and my stinkin' asthma. Even though my time was crappy, I was soooo happy when I crossed the finish line.

I surely didn't get the time I was shooting for, and I really thought I lost my chance to get a medal. But to my surprise, everyone else in my age division must have been struggling too cause I still placed second meaning that I DID get the medal I came for! That cheered me right up, haha. Of course, Kari did awesome.

I don't know if I could say this race was fun. But I can say that I had fun with Kari and I am now more motivated than ever to get my toosh in gear and redeem myself. For those of you who are wondering what my time was, read this post and add 2 and half minutes. Blah. My goal time was 1 hr 35 min. But no, that did not happen.

DC Slideshow

2009-08-26T16:39:00.002-06:00

Washington DC

2009-08-25T09:24:00.005-06:00

It's about time we post about this adventure. Jeff's wonderful parents decided to take us to DC for 10 days in July. Pretty awesome, right? We had so much fun and feel very grateful for the opportunity to learn and see all that we did. Just to warn you, this is gonna be a looong one.

The adventure began even before we got to the airport. Haha, I still laugh just thinking about it. Jeff and I were standing with his parents and Alisa and Ryan in front of Alisa and Ryan's house when their neighbor decides to set off a firework. Don't know why for sure. I guess he just felt like it. Anyway, the firework was pretty impressive shooting colorful sparks up in the air and making screeching noises. Until the firework TIPPED OVER and started sending blasts towards the house, cars, and every other direction. I looked around at everyone just standing there, looking stupified and not really sure what to do when Jeff yelled, "RUN FOR COVER!!!!" and sprinted off in the opposite direction. Fearing for my life, I ran after him. Finally the firework stopped and we couldn't stop laughing until we got to the airport. Oh my gosh, it was hilarious. Thankfully, no one was killed, none of the cars blew up, and no houses burned down. It was a close one though :)

After that, the trip started out with a red-eye flight to NY. Jeff suffered from restless leg syndrome and I was worried about not being able to sleep so I took one little Tylenol PM (which is only half a dose) and felt drugged for the next 12 hours. That stuff knocked me out! We had a layover at JFK and sat around watching BIRDS flying around INSIDE the terminal. It was really funny to watch peoples' reactions when they realized that yes, that was a bird that just flew past their face.

When we finally got to DC, the weather was just as I was warned it would be. Hot and sticky! And it stayed like that the entire trip. I never really felt clean. That's okay though. Our first stop was Arlington Cemetery. Very impressive. We took a bus around the cemetery that made stops at all of the really important memorials. We watched the changing of the guards. I was amazed at how precise and in sync the guys were as they did the gun routine. I also felt bad for them because they had to have been hotter than heck in their uniforms.

Next stop was the Holocaust museum. There was a torrential downpour just before we got into the museum so we were especially freezing inside. I was amazed at how interested Jeff was. I won't lie, I wasn't really sure he would get into the museums, but man, he loved them! Every person in the world should go to this museum at some point in their life. It really touches you and makes you feel awful for all the horrible things that happened back then.

By this time, we were so hungry and tired that we got some food and went to the hotel to prepare for our drive up to PA the next morning.

We drove to Gettysburg which was so neat! It was kind of humbling to be there, to know that so many soldiers died right where we were in order to establish justice. Just FYI, if you ever go, plan on way more than 2 hours if you want to see it all. It was very, very cool.

Then we drove to York and got lost. Then drove around until we finally found our way out of York. Haha. We were on our way to Doylestown for the rest of the weekend to spend time with Jeff's cousin Todd and his family. On the way, we drove through Lancaster County where the Amish live. It was so crazy to see the families driving around by horse and buggy. We decided to stop at an Amish restaurant to get a feel for their life. In my opinion, the food was decent at best. Our favorite thing about the restaurant was that it was in a town called Intercourse. Yup. I was the lucky one who got to ask for directions on how to get to Intercourse. We all thought that was pretty funny. As we drove on to Doylestown, we got to see how beautiful PA is. It was gorgeous. I didn't realize that there were states as pretty (or maybe even prettier) than Oregon.

Finally, we arrived at Todd and Connie's and met some of the cutest little kiddies ever. Alex, Anna, and Andrew were totally adorable. And I must brag that Anna and Andrew especially liked me :) They were too much fun. That weekend Todd was our tour guide. We went to Philadelphia and saw the Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross' house, Ben Franklin's grave, the Church of Christ, and ate the famous Philly Cheesesteaks. Yum! Jeff and I got out of the car at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to run up the same steps that Rocky Balboa runs up in the movie. Later that day we went to Valley Forge and saw the humble circumstances the troops lived in. The huts were weeny and dirty! I especially enjoyed the museum there and the tour of Washington's house while he was there. I thought it was so cool to be able to walk in a house that George Washington had lived in. So neat!!

The next day we went to church and then to Washington's crossing on the Delaware River. Everything was closed there so we just walked around the park for a while. Then we went back to Todd's house to jump on the tramp in the rain (which to this day, I still think is so much fun), and play some Wii and Bop-It, see fireflies for the first time, and watch the most intense thunderstorm I've ever witnessed. I'd never seen rain pour like that before and the thunder was sooo unbelievably loud. And the lightning was so close it would light up the entire black sky. It was really cool!

The day after that we went to Six Flags in NJ. Sooooo muuuch fuuuun!!!!!! I overcame my fear of rollercoasters by doing one simple thing: closing my eyes during the climb. I HATE the climb because I'm so afraid of heights. But after that, then the rest of the ride is a blast. Jeff and I especially loved Nitro. It was by far the best in the park. I wish I was riding it right now, haha. We also really liked the Superman ride because you feel like you're flying. And El Torro is the most intense wooden rollercoaster ever! Even though the heat and humidity were almost too much to handle, we still had a ton of fun. And props to Kim and Patsy for going on most of the thrill rides.

The next morning we went to "Coffee with the Senator" or whatever it was called and got to talk with Mike Crapo, senator of Idaho. He gave us his stance on healthcare, and from what he said, we should all be afraid if Obama passes his legislature for universal healthcare. I really enjoyed being able to learn more about that directly from a senator. We then went to the National Museum of Art which Kim and I especially liked. I realized that maybe I did learn something from my Humanities classes. We also toured the Library of Congress and saw where some scenes in National Treasure took place. We then proceeded to tour the Capital building where I had a little run in with security. Haha. They were out to get me that day, I swear. I won't get into it, but let's just say they were all in a conspiracy to get a hold of my nifty pink waterbottle. They didn't though! Unfortunately, our tour there was super rushed because they were trying to close the building for an event. And our tour guides voice was completely obnoxious. After that, we got to go to the Senate Lecture Hall and listen to a few senators debate and make propositions (if that's what you call it, I'm not sure!). It was pretty neat.

After that, we went back to Alexandria, VA, where our hotel was. We were really close to Old Towne Alexandria and so we decided to go down to the waterfront and have dinner around there. We were told by someone that it was only about 6-8 blocks to get down there. But it actually ended up being more like 20+ blocks and it took us forever. We were so hungry and wanted some advice as to where we should eat when this random guy told us that we should go to Gadsby's Tavern. He said that Washington had eaten there a few times and the food was delicious and not too expensive. And so we went, but only to find out that the food was super expensive. On average, it was about $30 a plate! We weren't sure what that guy was smoking when he told us they had reasonable prices. The food was really good though. After that, we were going to take the free shuttle back to the hotel, but missed the last one of the night by about 3-5 min. That was frustrating. Fortunately, Kim decided he'd rather pay for a taxi than walk for another hour. It seem like we spent half our time walking everywhere. But I guess that's what you do when you go back East to see the sights.

This is getting way too long so I will just list the rest of the stuff we did:
-Went to the National Air and Space Museum. One of the planes there was in the new Transformers movie.
-Had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, a place Jeff has wanted to go to for a long time.
-Went to the DC temple.
-Toured the White House
-Went to the American History Museum
-Went to Mount Vernon--and got hit by yet another torrential downpour.
-Relaxed in the hotel's hot tub and watched SYTYCD. A nice relaxing evening.
-Went out on a date. Jeff took me out to dinner while Kim took Patsy out somewhere else.
-Walked the entire mall where we saw the Washington Monument, Vietnam War memorial, WWI and WWII memorials, Korean War memorial, and the Lincoln, FDR, and Jefferson memorials. A LOT OF WALKING THAT DAY!
-Went to the Botanical Gardens.
-Went to the Museum of Natural History and saw a 3D Dinosaur Imax movie.
-Had dinner at Union Station.
-We did want to go to the International Spy Museum, but were so completely exhausted that we just slept in on the last day and then packed to go home.

We had a trip of a lifetime and feel really lucky that we got to see as much as we did. Thanks Kim and Patsy for a great trip!

Girls Camp

2009-08-25T09:08:00.006-06:00

A view of the camp from half way to the summit.
The first year girls. They were too cute.
The Camp Director with me, her assistant. Glamorous shot, I know.

This year I got sucked into going to girls camp again. It seems weird that I'm old enough to be a leader in YW. I mean, when I'm with all the girls and all the leaders, I feel much more like I'm 17 or 18 than 30 or older. And I'll be honest, when I first heard about Camp Mia Shalom, I finally realized how spoiled I was when I went to camp up in Washington. We had electricity in half of the cabins, we had warm showers, we had a pool, and we had a lodge with a dining hall. Camp Mia Shalom had NONE of the above. Most everyone went without a shower for the whole week. Not me though, no thanks. I'd rather take a freezing cold shower than none at all. And yes, it was freezing! We also had to cook every single meal for the entire week. Luckily, we brought along a lady who cooks delicious food on the fire and on camp stoves so it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Even though we were roughing it a bit more than I would prefer to, we had a lot of fun. I've never met a more happy and friendly group of girls. They were awesome to be around. I also had a lot of fun getting to know the other leaders better. Yay for making more friends in the ward!

Here are some highlights of the trip:
1. The hike to the summit. We could see forever in every direction.
2. Canoeing on the lake. It was too bad that we couldn't go swimming though. The lake was crystal clear so you could see right to the bottom. It didn't feel too cold either, and since it was so hot up there, it would have been a great way to cool down.
3. Morning runs at 10,000 feet. I don't think I've ever had to work so hard to breath. Great way to train though.
4. Singing around the lake.
5. Tin foil calzones. Delicious.
6. The scenery. It was beautiful up there. Reminded me a lot of Oregon.
7. Cute little first years with extra camp enthusiasm.
8. Camp fire stories.
9. Watching the moon rise each night. It would come up from behind a mountain and light up the sky. There were a gazillion stars out too.
10. And I'll be honest, I felt pretty lucky that I got to come home a day early to go up to Jeff's family reunion in Idaho. I got to shower before everyone else, and I didn't have to help clean up! Haha.

I Have A Dream

2009-07-17T04:50:00.002-06:00

Of living in a beautiful home settled between a fancy golf course and a LAKE! So then Jeff could golf all he wanted and we could own a BOAT and spend our summer days out on the water.

Jeff and I went to Talon's Cove Golf Course yesterday in Saratoga Springs and I must confess that I coveted a lot. A LOT! The houses were gorgeous and they all had boats and a great view of Utah Lake. The only negative thing: Saratoga Springs is in the middle of nowhere.

But I'm gonna keep on dreaming that we'll find a place like that someday. And that we'll be able to afford that. Yeah, I know. Keep dreaming, Brianne. Keep dreaming.

Bringing Home the Bacon

2009-07-02T21:46:00.003-06:00

That's what I'll be doing this weekend while everyone else is getting their party on. I'm working from 2pm to 10:30 pm tomorrow (Friday) night and then from 6am to 10:30pm on the Fourth. I'm slightly sad that I won't be doing anything fun this weekend and that I have to be here at home all alone. But I don't think I'll regret it when I see 16 hours worth of time and half on my next paycheck. Yeah, baby! Have fun everyone :)

2 Years Down. Eternity to Go!

2009-07-02T21:19:00.005-06:00

Monday was our second anniversary. Man time goes by fast! Jeff is the cutest husband and had a little adventure planned for us. We went up to SLC and tried a new restaurant called Biaggi's. It was a yummy Italian place that was very nice. But we both agreed Gloria's (a scrumptious place in downtown Provo), Johnny Carino's, and Olive Garden beat it out. We stayed up in SLC for the night and went to Cherry Hill the next day. I had never been to Cherry Hill before and I have to admit, I was a little skeptical at first sight. But it was soooo fun! We felt like little kids having a blast. The water slides were awesome and I almost beat Jeff in mini golf. Almost! And despite numerous applications of water-proof sunscreen, we still got fried.

Oh and yup, we forgot the camera. So no pictures, sorry! I know, I've got to get better at that!

But I do have a picture of the super cute watch Jeff got me. It's the kind Krista blogged about a while back. Now I have one, too!

Thanks Jeff for being the sweetest ever! I love you so much for who you are and for all you have done for me in the past couple of years. I don't know what I'd do without you! Xoxo.

A House Full of Boys

2009-07-02T20:45:00.005-06:00

For those of you who don't know this already, my dad got remarried in January. That marriage brought me three new step brothers. Yes, more brothers for me. That brings the total to: 8 brothers! It's fun to see peoples' reactions when I say that. Anyway...my dad, his wife, Becky, my two youngest brothers, and three new step brothers came to visit a couple of weeks ago. Wow. These kids are ages 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14. Jeff and I had to rethink our desire to have 5-6 children when we realized how much food it takes to feed them. I went through over two loaves of bread when I made french toast one morning. Insane.

These poor boys had been saving their money for a month so that they could go to Seven Peaks. And then...it rained. Actually, that's an understatement. We went to the park anyway cause we thought we could handle the rain. But after about 45 minutes, there was thunder and lightning and a torrential downpour. Jeff said it right when he said it was like a bomb went off. People started screaming and running every which way in an attempt to get out of the storm. Of course, with lightning, we got kicked out. Fortunately, they got their hard-earned money back. This picture DOES NOT do the weather justice. It was crazy!They got to stay through Father's Day which was fun because I haven't been with my dad on that day for a few years. I was, once again, very bad at taking pictures. But we also went camping up Hobble Creek Canyon where it was BEAUTIFUL. It reminded me of good 'ole Oregon. And we played a lot of football :)

It was fun trying to squeeze seven more people into our tiny two bedroom apartment. Thanks for coming guys!

I Passed

2009-06-26T09:09:00.002-06:00

I took the NCLEX-PN (nursing test to become an official LPN--I've been working with a temporary license) two days ago. Man, that thing was stressful. This was one of those stupid computerized tests that gives you questions based on how you answered previous questions. For example, if you answer a question right, it will give you a harder question. If you answer a question wrong, it gives you an easier question. Well I did not think one question on that stupid thing was easy! I walked out of that testing center and cried because I SERIOUSLY thought I failed. Oh, and you don't get to know your results for TWO DAYS! So I've been living in stress and fear for the past 48 hours...until now! I paid the 8 bucks (yes, you have to pay to find out your results, ridiculous right?) and just about died when I saw this glorious word: PASS. Hallelujah!

Wisconsin

2009-06-18T10:16:00.010-06:00

This term has been a really fun one! In the nursing program, the spring term before you graduate is called Global Health and Diversity. This is when clinical groups go to exotic places like Australia, England, Ecuador, and Taiwan. But I didn't want to go abroad and leave Jeff at home for 6 weeks all by his lonesome. So I chose to be in one of the groups that stayed here. I chose to take the Integrative Healing clinical because I know the teacher and she is so much fun! I learned about a lot of different things including acupuncture, herbs and essential oils, massage therapy, chiropractics, spinal touch, reflexology, iridology, neurofeedback and much, much more. Very interesting stuff.

To end the term, we got to go to Madison, Wisconsin for four days to attend the AHNA (American Holistic Nursing Association) conference. Due to a grant that my teacher worked hard to get, we went for free. I was lame and didn't take very many pictures, but I have stolen some of my friend’s pictures from Facebook to share with everyone. There are still a couple of really strange ones that I'm hoping to get from someone. Enjoy!

The whole group of us at the capitol. Minus our teacher and the person taking the picture.
One night we walked around downtown Madison and came across this beautiful sight near the University of Wisconsin. It was absolutely gorgeous.
Not so sure about how I feel about being a part of a drum circle. Yup, drum circle :)

But then we thought, "Who cares?" and went crazy. Haha. It was actually pretty fun...and funny.
Synchronized swimming...at least an attempt at it.

I also took a golf class and a super easy research class so school was great for the past 6 weeks. But now I'm ready for a long summer!

Under Attack

2009-06-18T09:03:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, Jeff and I were peacefully minding our own business when we got in the car and began backing out of our driveway. When I reached the mailbox, Jeff requested that I stop so that he could see if his new beloved golf magazine had arrived. I obliged and let him out. As he innocently opened the mailbox, a GIANT bee soared around his head a couple of times as if it were about to stab my sweet husband with its malicious little stinger. Jeff’s proficient reflexes allowed him to duck and swat the pest away.
After finding the mailbox to be empty, Jeff returned to the car, opened the door, and got in. Right as he shut the door, the BEE flew into the car! AAAAGGGHHHH!!! We both shrieked frantically. Yes, we both did. And it was bloody murder screaming at that. After realizing the true danger we were in, I attempted to eject myself from the car with my seatbelt still on. Jeff, luckily, hadn't put his seatbelt on yet so he was actually able to get out of the car. But no need to fret about what happened next. Fortunately for the both of us, when Jeff opened his door to escape, the BEE zoomed right out. I think we may have made the rotten thing go deaf.
The story ends well. Jeff and I drove off to our destination with tears streaming from our eyes as we laughed at the hysterics of the scene. The End.

GOLF is BACK

2009-06-14T21:37:00.002-06:00

All through high school and childhood golf was a big part of my life. I still recall hitting the Linx with my friends almost everyday. Being the last one cut on the high school golf team I was decent but since being married golf kind of disappeared. My wife hasn't ever seen me golf until this year. Well now it is back. I also have convinced my wife to take up a golf class. I have been about 6 times this year and the passion has returned. I always say golf is the sport of bipolar people. One minute your screaming in frustration and the next minute you just won the Masters. This Saturday my mom came along for the golfing ride. She rode in the cart as I played 9 holes. After the 7th hole the rain came. Now this wasn't just sprinkles but was a torential downpour. Both of us spent the next couple of hours getting dry. In all of this crazy weather it was the best I had played all year. What are your favorite courses of those golfers out there?

Job Upgrade!!!

2009-05-13T23:20:00.003-06:00

My hard work is paying off. After completing three semesters of the nursing program, I am now officially a nurse--an LPN that is. One more year til I'm an RN. But still, I'm a nurse! Today was my first day working and let me tell you, it is sooo much better than being a CNA. I feel so lucky to have this job because not a lot of places are hiring and because I get an 80% raise! And that feels good. Yay for me!

I'm a Slacker

2009-05-13T11:10:00.008-06:00

Jeff has recently pointed out to me that it has almost been two months since I lasted posted. I know, I'm a slacker. I have a ton to post about so I will be posting more often in the next couple weeks.

So here's item #1: Moab and My Birthday

My birthday usually lands during finals for winter semester. However, this year it landed after finals and on the break between winter and spring classes. It's much better that way. So for my birthday, Jeff took me down to Moab! I had never been there and desperately needed to get away from this town so we went camping. It had been a long, long time since either of us had been camping, but it was fun! We had some crazy campground dilemmas but luckily got our money back and we were able to go find a much better campground--ya know, one that you can actually have a fire in.

We spent most of the time hiking at Arches National Park (and thus getting very sunburned!), but also tried new restaurants, went to 17 Again, and lounged by the pool and hot tub.

Here are some not-so-glamorous pictures. Give us a break people, we were camping :)

Jeff showing off his mad balancing skills at Balancing Rock.
The cute little tent...and the cute little man :)
This is before we realized that the sun was going to come out and get blazing hot. It was cold and cloudy at first so we didn't put on any sunscreen. Bad idea.
Delicate Arch. It was SOOOO windy up there. I was afraid we were gonna get blown over the side. That's also why I'm holding my bangs back.

Thanks Jeff for a super fun trip. Love you lots!

The Grocery Store Experience

2009-05-02T14:49:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I had a very interesting grocery store experience that I wanted to share cause it is really funny. My wife and I only have one car so it involves a lot of dropping off, picking up, and patience. Well this day the snow was out and about in April (gotta love Utah). THE PLAN: Brianne was going to drop me off at 8:30 to job shadow Chelsea Marshall (PA) and then go workout and come back and pick me up at 10:30. She was feeling fat that day so the 2 hour workout was necessary in her eyes. Sounds really simple I know, but that was the plan, only the plan. WHAT REALLY HAPPENED: Brianne dropped me off at the Family Practice office located in Provo a good 15 min driving from our house in Orem. When I arrived I found out Chelsea was sick with pneumonia and forgot to call me so I shot the breeze with her for about 5 min wanting to leave so I could call my wife and tell her to come back and pick me up before she entered the gym without her cell phone. I left the office and called her phone right away. NO LUCK SHE WAS ALREADY IN THE GYM. Knowing I had 2 hours to kill I headed to a small supermarket across the street. Pouring rain outside I wasn't about to walk in slacks and a tie home so I killed some time. I am not sure if any of you have spent 2 hours in a small grocery store but it gets BORINGGGGG. My activities while in this store consisted of reading people magazine, studying my golf swing in Golf's Digest, walking up and down the aisles 50 times, quizzing myself on nutritional facts, etc. After about an hour of being the weirdo walking up and down the aisles an employee asked me if I needed something. I explained the situation to her and told her I was just waiting for a ride and who knows how long I would be stuck there. During the 2 hours I spent in the store I called Brianne 20 times with hope to get a hold of her so when she got done with her workout she saw 20 missed calls on her phone. Freaking out she apologized but it wasn't her fault at all. I just had to tell you cause never in my life have I spent 2 hours killing time in a grocery store.

I LOVE MY HUSBAND/WIFE TAG

2009-04-05T15:13:00.006-06:00

In light of recent threats from my cousin Whitney I complete the tag she gave me.

1. Where did you meet your husband/wife? What was the first thing he/she said to you? I met Brianne in Salem, Oregon where she is from. In the summer I was out there knocking doors selling Satellite systems (I know please don't judge me) when the first week I arrived there was a tri-stake break the fast at a nearby church. I remember entering walking with my buddy through the hallway and a girl passed me on my left carrying some kind of bowl with food. I thought, "she was hot and she had food. Do I need anything else?" I didn't say anything to her but throughout the testimony meeting I scanned the audience like any single man would do and saw her. My eyes had a mind of their own with were addicted to looking at her. I didn't really get too much out of that meeting. I had to talk to her. After we had a break the fast in the gym and she was nowhere to be found. Pissed I sat down with my buddy next to some other girls but they were boring. Looking I spotted her and beligned it to her table. I don't remember what first said to me but we got married so it was probably good.
2. Where was your first date?
We played games at my Apartment.
3. When was your first kiss?
I think it was after our 4th date. It wasn't my finest hour but she was willing to do it again.
4. Who said I love you first?
I did although she knew she wanted to marry me first so I will give her that credit. I took her up to the mountains and danced outside the car. Let the words fly and I got them right back thank goodness.
5. Did you have a long or short engagement/courtship?
Long courtship and short engagement. We dated for about 10 months and were engaged for two. To me that is the only way to go if you want to keep your chastity. The hormones are not well controlled in a long engagement.
6. Where did you get engaged?
I have told this story thousands of times it seems like. I took her up to Y mountain and had a big UHAUL trailer parked where the back door was open over looking the city. I had my roomate be our waiter and he went early to prepare the moment. Rose petals covered the ground and table while candles were the only light. He served us throughout the night. Earlier I filmed myself attending a few important events in our courtship (first kiss, first time we met, etc). At the end standing in front of the temple I made a acronym for her name with characteristics I loved about her. At the end I got on my knee and busted the question. She said YES!! and grabbed the ring from me and put it on herself.
7. Where did you get married?
Portland Oregon LDS Temple on June 29, 2009.

Two thumbs up for FIVE GUYS

2009-04-05T14:58:00.003-06:00

Living in Orem/Provo, Utah, you live in the presence of almost 60,000 students between BYU and UVU. You do have some drawbacks, but on the plus side, lots of restaurants are not hard to come by. My wife and I are cold hard white skinned Americans and love a good juicy American Bacon Cheeseburger. When a new restaurant called FIVE GUYS opened up 2 minutes from our house, we had to give it a try. Saturday before Priesthood session (it was quite funny, half of the people in the restaurant were guys dressed in white shirts and ties) we headed over to Five Guys. Two thumbs up from Jeff. Brianne liked ,but she still has her heart set on Fuddruckers (another local burger joint). I really liked the atmosphere of the restaurant. The kitchen is open for your viewing pleasure. Great music playing and the portion sizes were well done for the cost. They don't charge extra for any toppings (grilled onions, peppers, etc). The fries are fresh cut daily. Also, being an Idaho boy, it was cool to see that the potatoes that day were from Rexburg, ID. Best of all you can order as many patties as you want. I went for a double but I do feel a contest coming on. Overall I would give the restaurant an A- for the overall visit. If there is one near you, GO!!!!!!

THE MONTH THEY CALL MARCH

2009-03-29T11:51:00.004-06:00

There is a certain time in life when you fake sick to take work off. There is a certain time in life when those who never gamble enter office pools of money. There is a certain time in life when you stair at the television for 12 straight hours 4 straight days. There is a certain time in life women just don't understand. There is a certain time in life that moves you. That time is March Madness. The final four is close to being set and my bracket not pulling its weight. Every year I love the Cinderella's and pick them too much. I just have to pick upsets, it is an inner drug. I take this time out to solute the madness we all love. My wife growing up with 5 brothers had never experienced the madness (very difficult to believe I know) until I arrived. 2 years in the books and she is still learning why this month takes her husband away and why it is called Madness. 64 games in 65 days in the greatest tournament ever. That is why, my sweetheart. Buzzer beaters, blown calls, and cutting down the nets is what it's all about. The only thing that would add to the enjoyment would be the Cougars actually winning a tournament game, but I will save that one for another day. Next time when you're depressed in February, hold your head up and smile because March is coming. Madness is coming!!!!!

Lime Ricki

2009-03-19T09:10:00.002-06:00

Hey girls, cutest swimsuit site ever! How many of you have heard of Lime Ricki before? I hadn't until I googled "modest swimsuits." Seriously, these are the cutest tankini's I've ever seen. Jeff's going to get me one for my birthday. Check it out at http://www.limericki.com.

If you click on the NEW! Spring 2009 tab, you can see the one I've got my heart set on. It's down at the bottom and it's called Maizy. I'm going to get it with the black shorts they have. Love it!

If you're looking for a new suit this summer, then you should seriously check this site out.

Words of Encouragement?

2009-03-08T21:02:00.003-06:00

I am SO burnt out. I cannot stand school anymore. I like what I'm learning, I do, but I just can't take anymore of the stupid assignments, quizzes, tests, and PAPERS (BLAH!!!). I know there are only 6 1/2 weeks left in the semester, but the first 9 weeks have seriously DRAAAAAGGGED on. Ugh! I haven't had a break (other than in between terms and Christmas break) since the summer we got married and I won't get a break until mid-June 'cause of the mandatory Spring Term. I just need some words of encouragement or any ideas of how to help me get through these next few months cause I feel like dropping out (NOT THAT I EVER WOULD!). Any suggestions anyone?

-Burnt-out Bri

That's Right, We are Number One

2009-02-28T09:42:00.003-07:00

Disclaimer: I have nothing against UVU. I think it's a great school and I totally would have gone there if I wasn't accepted into the BYU nursing program.

But...I do have something against people who scoff at me for being in the BYU program instead of the UVU nursing program. What's that about?! I've heard numerous times from people (mostly people who don't have a chance at getting into the program at BYU) that UVU is just SO much better. Jeff's heard it at his work as well. In fact, I think there is this one chick who talked to him for quite a while about all the reasons why BYU sucks compared to UVU. I don't get it. I mean, it's BYU people!

Anyway, I got an interesting email from the Dean of the BYU College of Nursing. For those of you who don't know, the NCLEX is the test that students have to take to become an RN. So here's the email in a nutshell.

NCLEX PASS RATES IN THE STATE OF UTAH FOR 2008:

Number One: BYU with 91% pass rate
Number Five: UofU with 86% pass rate
And Number freakin TEN: UVU with a sorry 82% pass rate

And might I add that both Utah and UVU came in after Salt Lake Community College and Provo College. So to all you people who think I'm not as smart or cool or whatever because I go to BYU, I would just like to say, "EAT THAT!"

If This Doesn't Make You Wanna Dance...

2009-02-27T23:01:00.003-07:00

..then you're crazy!!!

Even though the quality of this video is poor, you have to watch it! This is Quest Crew, one of the final 2 crews currently on ABDC and oh my gosh, they rocked this one! Too bad dance team wasn't anything like this.

Ok, now that I've got you all excited about that one. Here's another must watch. It's a little shorter but still pretty freaking awesome. The coolest part is at the end.

Now can you see why we TiVo the show?

25 Questions about Me

2009-02-19T10:12:00.001-07:00

1. What is your middle name? Kim (No its not from a girl)
2. When is your birthday? January 27, 1984
3. What is your favorite song? It changes but right now Wicked-Defying Gravity
4. What is your favorite singer or group? Sum 41
5. What is your favorite color? Red.... Yea right I don't wear it. BYU BLUE ALL THE WAY
6. How many brothers or sisters do you have? 2 older and wiser sisters
7. What are their names? Alisa and Kari
8. What is your favorite TV show? The Office (I don't think I would miss it for anything except Christ's coming)
9. If a genie granted you one wish what would it be? Get into PA School
10. What is your favorite food? Pork Burrito at Cafe Rio
11. Do you have any pets? not yet but want a Huskie and Golden Lab in the future
12. Who is your favorite movie star? Shia Labeouf
13. Which hand do you write with? Right
14. What was your favorite subject in school? PE, I'm a guy
15. What was your least favorite subject in school? Chemistry
16. Do you have a nickname? Hefe, Yerffej
17. What is your favorite movie? Braveheart, Transformers
18. What is your favorite sport to play? Football
19. If you could be any kind of animal what would you be? Dog, only the best in the world
20. Do you have a hobby? being a movie critic, exercising, being a husband
21. Who is your favorite athlete? Steve Young. I have a personal letter from the man, need I say more?
22. What is your favorite book? Books exist outside of text books? I had no idea
23. What is your job? Husband, Physical Therapy Aide at a clinic
24. Did you attend college? Of course, Associates from BYU-I and in Dec Bachelor's from BYU. Hopefully in the future a Masters in Physician Assistant Studies
25. What is your favorite desert? Snickers/Butterfinger Cyclone from Coney's frozen custard.

I tag Nathan Waddoups, Jarom Jordan, Alisa

A Lovely Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T16:32:00.002-07:00

We had a really great V-day yesterday. We're really trying to cut back on the money we spend and so I told Jeff that I didn't want him to spend any money. I know, that usually makes it hard to do anything but Jeff got creative and gave me the best gift ever. He made me a little coupon book and the coupons are awesome! Here's what they said:

1. Good for a complete house cleaning on demand
2. Good for 1 full body massage for at least 30 min (my favorite!)
3. Good for breakfast in bed of your choice
4. Good for a week of love notes around the house (cute!)
5. Good for dinner-and-a-movie night. Your choice completely and I will work Saturday to pay for it.
6. Good for a gift of something you want and I will work Saturday to pay for it.
Are these awesome or what? He's the best :)

We got to spend most of the day in SLC for Preston's wedding. The ceremony was so nice and the sealer gave some great words of advice. Lillian looked gorgeous and they are such a cute couple! We also got to spend a lot of time with Bruce and Becca and would like to shout out to them for reading our blog! Haha. If Jeff gets into PA school at ISU we will definitely be spending more time with them.

To top the night off we decided to get really romantic and go see The Uninvited. That's right. We saw a horror movie. It wasn't really that scary though. And thanks to Jeff's Cinemark gift card, it didn't cost us anything. All in all, it was a pretty great day.

TV SHOWS

2009-02-02T11:50:00.003-07:00

Since my wife and I have not yet entered into the world of parenthood, our posts are always about our event-filled busy lives. If that bores you I apologize and return to the blog in 4 years when we will begin our journey of creating 6 little ones. Christmas 2007, my wife bought me the best gift any guy could ask for: TIVO. I have used that more than any other gift in my entire life. Because of TIVO, I have been able to watch shows that have interested me at my own pace and my own time. I wanted to give you a quick of review of the shows my wife and I are watching. and sometimes just me.

LOST (both of us watch it): We have bought all the seasons, and I was hooked from the first showing. Has to be the best show I have ever came across. So much to the story with the best character development ever. Every show keeps you thinking, "Holy Crap that was nuts".

The Bachelor (both): As a man, I will blame this on the wife. She was the one that forced me into another season of A-Man-Says-He-Is-In-Love,-Gets-Engaged-and-Then-Breaks-Up. I think in the 13 seasons of this show, only one Bachelor/Bachelorette has gotten married to the guy/girl she chose. I admit that you kind of get sucked in, and as a guy, it's not that bad to watch multiple hot girls.

True Beauty ( just me): It's pretty funny! I can't believe how self-centered these people are about their looks. Yes, I like to look good, but man these guys are nuts. My favorite part is when they find out its not about looks but the way they are treating other people and feel absolutely stupid.

Real World Brooklyn (just me): Before you all gock at how I watch this sometimes trashy show, I became interested when a Mormon Frat Boy from Salt Lake City is one of the roommates. So far Mormonism has been brought up quite a bit and Chet is holding strong with his beliefs, and I think he's doing a great job of showing that Mormons can have fun without lowering their standards.

America's Best Dance Crew (both): I like dance shows. What else can I say? I look forward to So You Think You Can Dance in the summer and this show is pretty cool. Hip Hop Dancing and crazy moves keeps this one in the TIVO.

The Office (both): Simply put, it's the best comedy show of all time (Seinfeld has to be lowered to #2). If I only could watch one, this would be it.

The BIGGEST LOSER (both): I don't know why I really like this show. I guess its because I am into fitness and I do like seeing the workouts. Before-and-after shows are out of this world. All the crying aside (which seems to happen tons for fat people, I guess), the show is pretty good.

It seems like a heck of a lot of TV when I list them all, but TIVO cuts the shows basically in half. I would probably only watch 1 or 2 if I had to watch all the commercials. Also TV entertainment is free and a fun time with the wife. Anyway I dig the shows and you should check some of them out if you aren't already.

Labor and Delivery

2009-01-25T10:24:00.004-07:00

In my L&D class we got to try on the "Empathy Belly." And let me tell you, that thing is heavy!

I have found my place in the nursing world. I always thought that I would want to work in the Mother/Baby unit or in the NICU and I never thought that I would want to work in Labor and Delivery because that's disgusting. Haha! Even though I haven't had my rotations on M/B or in the NICU yet, I really think that L&D is where I will be working in the future.

On my first day on the unit, I helped with a medicated birth and I watched a natural one. I used to think that people who chose to deliver naturally were "macho women" who had something to prove to the world, but now I see that there are definitely pros and cons to both sides. Don't get me wrong though, I think I'll still want the epidural when my time comes :) On my second clinical day I watched a C-section. I never knew that the mom was awake through the whole thing. I'm not sure I would like that! Also, how many of you knew that when they stitch up the uterus, they take it out of the mom (still attached to her, of course) and plop it on her belly? Then when they're finished they just stuff it back in. Haha, so weird!

I think I could get used to watching little miracles happen everyday. Watching a birth is the most amazing thing ever, unless you see the mom tear and then I get all creeped out...ouch!

BEST VIDEOGAMES EVER

2009-01-15T09:36:00.002-07:00

Growing up I remember receiving the original Nintendo for Christmas. Probably was one a young boys dreams. My friends and I enjoyed hours of that toy. Then I got a Sega Genesis, after I moved to a Nintendo 64 and my last rising was Sega's Dreamcast. Don't lie all of us have one time in our lives loved arcade games and Nintendo games. I wanted take some time to give my top game for every system I ever owned.

Nintendo (Original) - Super Mario Brothers 3. You can't get much better than this game. Highlights include warping to the last level, and flying leafs up into the clouds receiving extra lives and tons of coins. I still remember playing this game and still love to play this game. One of the originals and will always be one of the best.

Sega Genesis - Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic basically made Sega for his perfectly spiked blue hair incredible running ability. One of the funnest games around and the best Sega ever made. Sometimes he ran so fast he went out of the screen and you had no idea what was going on. Definitely one of the best games ever.

Nintendo 64 - NFL BLitz Still and ever will be the best football game ever created. From dropping elbows to picking up a player and chucking him 30 years this game rocked. I remember one sleepover where 4 of my friends each picked 10 teams and played until they all lost. Yes I was the champion I only needed one of my teams to beat all the rest. At college Sean Stanley beat me once in probably 50 games and he celebrated like he had just won the lottery. Till this day I will play anyone, anywhere in this game.

Sega Dreamcast - NCAA FOOTBALL 2K2 The most realistic and enjoyable game made by Sega. The gameplay and graphics were amazing. BYU was really good in the game as well. Playing in Lavell Edwards Stadium and taking your team to the Rose Bowl was awesome. Nate Waddoups and I played the entire season along with the 2002 BYU team. We ended up #1 in the nation and played Florida State in the Rose Bowl. I swear til this day the computer cheated. We lost that Rose Bowl not once but 5 times atleast. We would be about to win the game and we'd fumble or throw a crazy interception. Not to lose the final game we would turn it off without saving and play it over. Probably one of the most rollar coaster seasons of my life.

The reason I write this is my wife has got me addicted to probably the oldest video game in history. PACMAN. That's right PACMAN. How a dot eating cheese head can be so fun has amazed me. Brianne started out killing me in a 10 game serise 10-5. She also held the high score for a week. I perfected my skills and now she bows down to the champion. I have won the past two 10 game series, 10-6, 10-5. My high score is 65,010. If you have some spare time to kill here's the website, but be careful it could take over your life.
http://www.thepcmanwebsite.com/media/pacman_flash/

Deciding to MAKE THE TRANSFORMATION

2009-01-08T09:23:00.002-07:00

I remember walking through the mall about 10 years ago when I was 15 years old. My friend Devin and I saw a book on the rack at Walden Books. The book was a diet book with various before and after pictures of people who had completed the challenge. This people were extremely out of shape, but their after pictures were too good to believe. We both actually laughed at them. I don't think we believed one photo.
Nothing came of that day in the mall until my freshman year of college. I had a roommate named Carl Young. I mentioned I wanted to get in shape and he told me of the BODY FOR LIFE PROGRAM. Then he showed the book when we got home. It was the same book with all those fake pictures that I had seen back in high school. I had the same reaction saying, "that is impossible dude, I don't believe that". I learned that day that they weren't fake at all. My roommate had done the program and he showed his before and after picture and I couldn't believe it. I was amazed at what a little healthy eating and exercise can do to your body. If any of you have watched the BIGGEST LOSER also, their transformations are unbelievable also. That show proves anyone and I MEAN ANYONE can get in shapel.
The BODY FOR LIFE program is 12 weeks long and consists of 6 small meals a day with 6 intense workouts a week. I did it off my mission for 8 weeks and was in the best shape of my life (hence my wife married me). Well I've been married for 1 and 1/2 years and after growing accustomed to life, stress from school, and brain surgery I am now in the worst shape of my life. You know that time when you look at yourself naked in the mirror and just say,"alright Jeff its time to change, I know that six pack is in there somewhere". Currently I have gained 35 pounds since my marriage and I have had enough. This week I started the BODY FOR LIFE program. I will check back with you after 3 months to tell you the results.

Skiing!

2009-01-04T13:06:00.005-07:00

Ready to go! That's me in the yellow and Jeff in the blue if you couldn't tell. Haha.
EARLY in the morning before heading up to the mountain. Yes, we were all very tired.

Dave, Kari, and I convinced Jeff that we should waste some money and spend half a day skiing. It was so fun! I was the only who had never really skied before (that one time in 8th grade when I traded my friend my snowboard and she gave me her skies and then left me up at the top of a blue without a clue how to go down it doesn't reallly count, haha) but Dave and Jeff were very good teachers and I caught on pretty fast. We went to Pebble Creek outside of Pocatello and I had a really good time...until the wind started blowing so hard it burned. It got to be something like -6 degrees and it was beyond miserable towards the end of the day. But I'm still glad we went! I think I could really get into skiing. But we'll have to wait to start that hobby until we have money and then I think we'll only go in November and March when its less likely that we'll lose our fingers and toes.

Cutest Nieces in the World

2009-01-04T12:39:00.006-07:00

We always say that we have the cutest nieces in the world. And we do! (We also have the cutest nephew too, but sorry Collin, this is just a "nieces only" post today :) ) However, we don't ever take pictures with these cute little girls even though we play with them like mad when we're with them. So on our last day in IF we decided we had to stop by Kari and Dave's and get in a few quick pics. Sadee was so funny how she had to pick out a whole different outfit to wear especially because it was a very summery outfit at that. Here are some fun pictures.

Pre-Christmas Dinner

2009-01-04T12:17:00.004-07:00

Yes, this is way late, I know. Jeff and I have been lazy bums over the break and basically did nothing productive until yesterday. And so now we will be getting around to posting all the fun things we've done in the past couple of weeks.

So even though this dinner we had was held the Sunday before Christmas, I still really wanted to post something about it because I made an entire Christmas dinner by myself and I'm kind of proud :) and had to post the pictures. We did it because Nick wasn't going to have anywhere to go on Christmas day and I wanted to do something for him. Although, it turned out that that Nick did have somewhere to go because my in-laws (I have the BEST in the world. Sorry everyone, it's the truth!) insisted that Jeff and I bring him up with us for a few days over Christmas. Amazingly nice!

Anyways, we had the basic Christmas dinner: ham, potatoes and gravy, veggies, homemade rolls, blah, blah, blah and then Nick (yes, Nick) MADE an ice cream cake and I made a pumpkin log for dessert. It was way good and way fun. When there's no pressure, I really do like to cook!

Gettin' Back in Shape!

2008-12-16T21:19:00.003-07:00

Jeff had his three month postoperative Dr's. appointment yesterday and he is a healthy man. Yay! He was cleared to do anything he wants now (except for tackle football) which means I have a workout partner again! He's had a tough time not being able to workout for three whole months but yesterday he hopped back on the bandwagon and worked me over quite hard.

Also, I just have to add this because I'm feeling like a runner again. Today I ran 2 miles in 14:35! Yesterday I did it in 14:52 and somehow I shaved off 17 more seconds today. I'm setting a goal to be able to do it in 14:00 flat by December 31st. That might be a little too ambitious, but we'll see how it goes...

UPDATE: I did not meet my goal. Nor did I try very hard. I only practiced it once during the whole break and then today I scarfed down two pieces of french toast before going to the gym not even thinking about the fact that today is the 31st. After 45 minutes of weights I realized that today was the day I had to meet my goal. And so I tried anyways. I came close but gave up. I was ahead of pace up until 1.75 miles when I thought my breakfast was going to come up and thus I kicked it down to 5.0 mph for 45 seconds. I finished in 14:23 which is my best time so far but I will keep working at it.

Mewwi Chwistmas

2008-12-16T21:06:00.004-07:00

Last night as I was on my way to meet Jeff in the Wilk, I wouldn't say that I was in a bad mood, just a I'm-sick-of-school-and-want-to-be-done-with-finals mood and really wanted to get home. But as I walked out of the library, I was approached by a 3-foot tall little boy all decked out in his cute little snow gear. He handed me a candy cane and added a high-pitched, "Mewwi Chwistmas." It was so adorable! I seriously couldn't stop smiling for about 5 minutes because it was just too cute.

After he handed me my candy cane, I noticed that there were about 4 little kids with their parents handing out candy canes to all the stressed out college students coming in and out of the library to study for finals. Creative idea. And I know it may sound dumb, but it seriously made my night.

A Normal Day in Pharmocology

2008-12-11T15:29:00.004-07:00

So Kari emailed me this and so all the questions are responding to her. However I sent the email to Jeff as well and he apparently found it very interesting and decided to post it on here. Haha, I just realized that. Anyway, enjoy...

1) Can you cook? I think so. And so does Jeff so I guess that's all that matters.
2) What was your dream growing up? To marry Zac Hansen of the band Hansen. Ya know, "Mmmbop..."
3) What talent do you wish you had? I would love to be an amazing singer. But I'm quite the opposite.
4) If I bought you a drink what would it be? Strawberry lemonade.It's hands down the best. A lot of sugar though.
5) Favorite vegetable? Cucumbers in vinegar with salt. Yum. Or just plain old cucumbers.
6) What was the last book you read? Lame: Nursing Care for Adults with Acute and Chronic Illnesses. Not lame: the 4th Twilight book
7) What zodiac sign are you? Taurus.
8) Any Tattoos? No. Not a fan at all.
9) Worst Habit? Definitely procrastination. I don't know how I've done so well in school so far because it's a serious problem.
10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride? Of course!
11) What is your favorite sport? Football. It's more fun to play than watch though. Track comes in second. It'd be first if I was still involved in it. But sadly, I'm not.
12) Negative or Optimistic attitude? Both. It depends on how tired I am, I think. I should be better like Jeff. He's ALWAYS optimistic.
13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me? Talk. What else is there to do? Plus, we don't get to talk a whole lot.
14) Worst thing to ever happen to you? Mom died.
15) Tell me one weird fact about you? You already know this but I love dill pickles.
16) Do you have any pets? No, but one day we'll have a husky and a golden lab.
17) What if i showed up at your house unexpectedly? I would be happy!
18) What was your first impression of me? She'll be a way fun sister-in-law. I'm excited to get to know her more.
19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary? Neither and I DO NOT understand why people are afraid of them.
20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? My hair. It's always been a problem. It either needs to be curlier or straighter. And thicker too!
21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience? Conscience
23) Ever been arrested? nope
24 ) Bottle or Draft? I don't think I understand what this is asking...
25) If you won $ 10,000 dollars today , what would you do with it? Help my dad get some schooling or something to help him get a job.
26) Would you date me? No
27) What's your favorite place to hang at? Well I would say that since we go there whenever we have time off, it'd be Kim and Patsy's house.
28) Do you believe in ghosts? Just spirits.
29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time? Go out to eat or go on long runs with a partner
30) Do you swear a lot? No. Not an attractive habit.
31) Biggest pet peeve ? Rude people and busy work in school.
32) In one word, how would you describe your self? Happy
33) Do you believe/appreciate romance? I totally love it.
34) If you could spend 12 hours with me and ask/ do anything you like, what would it be? Work out first (because I love working out with you!) and then shop.
35) Do you believe in God? How could you not?

Shopping for Christmas

2008-12-09T21:57:00.002-07:00

For years growing up I remember on the 24th of December my father would run to to the stores getting all his shopping done on Christmas Eve. You have to give him a little bit of a break. He owned Christmas tree lots. Did he get good gifts? Somehow, someway he always nailed it for me. My favorite father specific gifts consist of shopping sprees, BYU basketball game tickets, baseball bat, pool table, and the best looking ties a young man could ask for. I get a tie every year and I always look forward to it. Add to the great gifts the gift wrapping he would get done and he always did well for himself. I ask the question could anyone else but a man get his entire shopping down in one day? I went the other night and in two hours, my wife's shopping was nearly done. In my shopping I pulled out a piece of paper many times to find sizes and check the list. I did get a few funny look but those never keep a man down. The trick to quick and sucessful shopping is simple, ask them what they want and go get it for them. You don't have to guess for hours and days at a time ending up with the wrong item. That is all it takes for me. I know suprises are nice so set some dollar amount of money for the other person to decide what to get. While shopping I saw and listened to one of the coolest things. A 10 year old kid playing the piano outside of Nordstroms. He wasn't just some cute 10 year old playing okay music. He was good and could play!!! The gifts those little ones have. I salute those who get all their shopping done in one day.

Disco Elves

2008-11-28T22:41:00.004-07:00

Bet you didn't know we were that talented, did ya? Thanksgiving is over (and it was fabulous) but now it's time

to get in gear for Christmas. Yay!

BYU VS UTAH AGAIN!!!!!!!

2008-11-19T20:44:00.002-07:00

BYU??? UTAH?????? Those two words bring great emotion to my heart and always will. My dad attended the University of Utah, my mom, sister, and brother in-law are BYU alumni. My father has since corrected his path now bleeds blue. My wife and I will be BYU alumni in a year so the family is a cougar family. Growing up I loved BYU football. I watched it, played it (in my head), dreamed it, and ate it. It was a HUGE part of my life. Attending BYU as a student, this desire has only grown. Every football game is important but there is one game that we title THE HOLY WAR which brings passion and hatred for the color of red. BYU VS UTAH happens this Saturday and has divided households, neighbors, and friends for years. My entire family are cougars so unite. These games have been absolutely amazing the past 20 years with the winners split dead even at 10-10. A rivalry doesn't get much closer than that. I just wanted to share a couple of my memories from past games and give my prediction for this year's game (I will be attending in person).

#2. Last year after a defensive battle it came down to a 4 and 18 for BYU. The percentages are very low for that distance so I tried to keep my faith but it was dwindling. Utah fans were thinking they had it won but as we know now they didn't. Hall found Collie for a 40 yard gain and Unga eventually bulldozed into the end zone. I remember that game for the intensity that it brought. Every single play was important and the eruption that occurred after the 4th and 18 I will never forget.

#1. "Harline is still Open" Not a phrase that Utah fans like. It might just be the worst moment of their lives but it lives deep inside of my heart with sheer happiness. Six of my friends went up to Salt Lake to watch this in the freezing November cold. The whole game was nuts. BYU started off 14-0 and then went silent for the next two quarters requiring an amazing comeback to win. I will jump to the end. The play that lasted an eternity. Beck rolled right and threw all the way across the field to find Harline wide open in the end zone. I just remember absolute pandemonium in the stands as all us charged down the aisle looking at depressed Utah fans. Aside from marriage this was probably the happiest moment in my life.

THIS YEAR: I am a loyal BYU fan so I will never will pick against the cougs. The key to this game will be protection of Max Hall. Utah's defense has been susceptible to the pass and if Max gets time I can see him having a big game. I think Utah will score first with a field goal and before the opening emotion dies from the crowd Utah will be up 10-0. Then the second quarter happens when BYU comes to play. I think the halftime score will be 17-13 BYU. The second half will be based on adjustments. Who's will be the best? Bronco Mendenhall has won 22 of the last 23 conference games and his adjustments will be better. The game will go back and forth and BYU will be trailing by 3 with 5:00 minutes to go. Max will drive down the field and connect with Collie for a go ahead touchdown with 2:00 min to go. Now Brian Johnson takes the field and Utah will be ever so confident they will drive the field to win. NOT SO FAST, after 5 games of defensive frustration. They will be the heroes on Saturday stopping Utah for the win. Utah will be throwing for the end zone from the 35 yard line and the ball will fall incomplete. Cougs win 38-34. That's how I predict it, but that is why they play the games. We shall all find out Saturday who is the best team in the conference and the state!!!!!!!! GO COUGS!!!!

My Clinicals Are Over!

2008-11-12T16:08:00.002-07:00

Today was my last day of clinical for this semester. I can't believe how fast it went by! I'm thrilled cause now I have 16 hours/week free that I didn't have all semester. I have time to sleep and work out and cook and get caught up on homework. Oh this is so exciting!

Two Thumbs DOWN for the Haunting of Molly Hartley

2008-10-31T23:53:00.002-06:00

This movie deserves an entire post rather than just a simple review in the margin. Tonight Jeff and I celebrated Halloween by going to the theater to see the new scary movie, "The Haunting of Molly Hartley." I'll admit, we were really entertained until the last 5-10 minutes. The story was interesting, spooky, and seemed to be going somewhere. However, the "scary movie writers" failed again. It's like they can never (or I guess almost never) figure out how to end the stinkin' thing.

They had this story going about how Molly was dead when she was born but her parents sold her soul to the devil in order to give her 18 years of life. Apparently, she was supposed to become some evil demon on her 18th birthday, therefore her mother was trying to kill her before then to save her from becoming something horrible. It was really quite entertaining. But the ending was shocking. People were laughing and booing when the credits came on. No joke!

So since I know most (if not all) of you hate scary movies and won't go see this one, I've got to tell you how incredibly stupid the ending was. Basically, all the religious people ended up insane or dead while the "devils angels" ended up having a seemingly fabulous life of immortality. I don't get it... I guess you probably have to see it to fully understand, but save your money. It's not worth it.

HALLOWEEN CRIES FOR MOVIES

2008-10-30T15:20:00.004-06:00

Halloween to me is about movies, movies and more movies. For one, we dress up like we are in the movies. Second, who wouldn't want to star in a horror film. There is something about this holiday that is just awesome. Watching hundreds of kids walk from door to door just for a piece of candy is quite the tradition. Who wouldn't want to be known as the guy who thought that one up? Last week I looked up on my TiVO (best invention ever, no joke, worth every penny) for movies coming on in the next two weeks. After seeing both "I know What You Did Last Summer's, all 3 "Screams", 5 "Halloween's" and 4 "Freddy Kruger's" I knew Halloween was upon us. What a day to the scare the crap out of us. There is something about that rush of adrenaline that gets the body moving. My wife says I get scared more than she does during movies but I put on "When a Stranger Calls" and she's quivering. I watch basically anything but Exorcist stuff. No desire to mess with that crap here.

Here's My Top 5 Scary Movies
5. The Eye - One of the best most recent ones. Jessica Alba (a reason to go right there) stars as a woman who gets eye transplants to see again. Maybe she didn't want them after all. This one had my dad, Ryan O'berry, and myself literally jumping off the theater seat.
4. Mothman Prophesies - Great flick, based on true events that are pretty creepy. Well told story of bizarre events that keep happening.
3. Sixth Sense - Definitely the best the first time, but still a great freaky flick. A little boy who sees dead people. What more can you ask?
2. The Ring - Love the story of this one. Love the acting and suspense as the 7 days are counted down. When you think its over it's NOT!!!!
1. Amityville Horror - I am talking about the most recent remake of it. Get it edited and you are in for a rush of horror, hence the name.

Way Cheap Produce

2008-10-29T14:48:00.004-06:00

I just have to tell everyone about this awesome new store in Orem. It's called Sunflower Farmer's Market. I just noticed it last week and thought I would go check it out. I'm glad I did! They had a huge variety of produce (and other healthy and organic foods) at very good prices. I found out that today (Wednesday) is the best day to go because last week's ad ends today and this week's ad starts today so there is double the sales. Just to give you an idea, let me tell you what I got.

3 avocados, 2 cucumbers, 2 heads of lettuce, 2 containers of blackberries, 2 pounds of red seedless grapes and 2 red peppers for only $9.18! Is that a deal or what?

There are two stores in Utah--one in Orem and one in Murray. Unfortunately all of you Idaho readers are missing out on this place cause it's not up there. Anyway, I was quite thrilled!

SUSHI MUST BE RECKONED WITH

2008-10-26T18:35:00.003-06:00

Does that picture make you gag or desire more sushi? It is a question we all have to face at least once in this life. Sushi has many rumors spread about it. Raw fish eggs, eel sauce, and much, much more. However the choice is ours whether to believe them or find out for yourself. About 3 years ago I was taken to a restaurant in Provo called "Happy Sumo". It carries other food but its specialty is sushi. I wasn't paying--those summer salesman were in heat recruiting me for summer sales--and I will always accept a free meal. I figured since I was not paying, it was worth a shot. Acting like a mature adult who has tried sushi thousands of times, inside I was about to puke. After sticking the piece of crab wrapped in seaweed with a little rice in to my mouth I was quite surprised by my desire for more. I liked sushi that night and sushi has only grown into being a big part of my life. VEGAS ROLL is my favorite and you can't go wrong with a little Vegas. A friend and I try to go to all you can eat sushi about once a month. Now after much persuasion my wife is a sushi fan as well. This past weekend my sister Kari picked "Tepanyaki" a Japanese grill and sushi bar for her birthday meal so add her to the list. My mom and dad tried it that night and actually liked it as well. My desire is for all you out there who haven't tried sushi and are still believing the false rumors, sushi can change your life like it has me. When you're feeling down and depressed, GRAB A SUSHI ROLL!!!!!

Tagged Again

2008-10-19T22:27:00.002-06:00

8 THINGS I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT:
1. Jeff
2. Family/friends
3. The Gospel
4. Running (lately there's been very little time for this)
5. Baking treats
6. Nursing (but NOT nursing school)
7. Jeff
8. Jeff

8 WORDS/PHRASES I SAY OFTEN
1. I love you.
2. I'm tired.
3. I hate my job. I DON'T want Monday to come!
4. We have got to start eating healthy again.
5. You decide. I'm too tired to decide.
6. I don't want to study.
7. Hurry! Get that light! (meaning the green traffic light cause I'm always running late)
8. 18 more months! (until I graduate)

8 THINGS WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE:
1. Be a mommy
2. Run a marathon
3. Serve a mission with Jeff
4. Visit Europe
5. Go to Hawaii/Bahamas/Jamaica/somewhere tropical
6. Go back to Ollalie Lake with my kids and other cool places in Oregon
7. Buy a boat and live near a lake
8. Build our dream house

8 THINGS I HAVE LEARNED FROM MY PAST:
1. There is always something to be grateful for.
2. Being self-conscious is boring.
3. Procrastination only makes life worse.
4. I'm not invincible and neither are my loved ones.
5. There's no better way to start out your day than with prayer and scripture study.
6. A positive attitude changes everything.
7. Recreation is a must. You'll snap without it.
8. You can only do your best and you should be satisfied with that.

8 THINGS I CURRENTLY NEED/WANT:
1. A break from school!!!
2. An extra day in the week to get caught up.
3. To lose 10 lbs so that I can actually fit into my clothes.
4. A new job!
5. A job for my dad!
6. New white casual shoes.
7. A second form of transportation
8. For BYU to go to a BCS bowl

Three Things

2008-10-19T16:19:00.003-06:00

Last time someone tagged me, I didn't end up doing it. Whoops, sorry Kari! So I got on this right away before I let it slip my mind.

Three things I love (besides my family...that's a given!)
1. Dill pickles. They're best when they're cold and really crunchy!
2. Afternoon naps
3. Oregon

Three things I did today:
1. Got called to be the YW Sports Director?!
2. Went to church
3. Made french toast and eggs for lunch

Three things I would love to do eventually:
1. Go to Switzerland and Italy
2. Become an RN (18 more months!)
3. Serve a mission with Jeff

Three things I could not live without (besides my family ... that's a given):
1. Chocolate
2. The gym
3. Soap. Sometimes I'm a germ-a-phobe. Especially when it comes to raw chicken.

Three things that scare me (besides losing my family... that's a given):
1. Heights
2. Free-falling
3. and thus, rollercoasters (I don't want this fear, but they truly cause some serious anxiety)

I tag Candice, Shelby, and Kim

The OR

2008-10-04T20:11:00.004-06:00

This week I had my clinicals in the operating room (OR) at IMC in Murray. It was quite the experience! I really thought I'd be nauseous and maybe even pass out because normally I can't even stand to watch gruesome stuff like on TV, but it wasn't bad at all. I saw a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal), internal fixation of an ankle, irrigation and debridement of an infected shoulder (even the surgeon was saying that it was disgusting as he was pulling out clumps of pus, haha!), a carotid endarterectomy (removing plaque from one of the neck arteries), and a spinal fusion. Unfortunately, I didn't get to scrub in BUT I did get to intubate a patient which means I stuck a breathing tube down someone's trachea. So cool!

During this experience, I thought about how fun it would be to be a scrub nurse and help surgeons with surgery. But then I kept thinking about how badly I want to work in the mother/baby unit. And then I thought about how great it'd be to be a school nurse and get teacher's vacation with a nurse's wage. But that's the great thing about becoming a nurse: I can easily change the field that I work in with just one degree. So I'm pretty thankful to be in the BYU nursing program!

New Apartment

2008-10-04T17:54:00.015-06:00

Well this is a bit late seeing as how we moved at the end of August, but we thought we'd still post the pics anyway. We moved out to south Orem 'cause a steal-of-a-deal fell into our hands and we couldn't resist. We love the area and the family that lives above us is great. By the way, I have no idea why the picture above won't come below this text. I've tried for a while and now I'm giving up. Sometimes blogger can be so annoying!

Our poor little table looks so teeny in our enormous dining room. But at least we have a dining room now...

These babies are my pride and joy! We are forever done with the laundromat. Hallelujah!

Our apartment is super long and skinny as demonstrated by our super long and skinny hall.

We have an extra bedroom that we use as a study room. It's quite nice to have since we're so far away from the library. By the way, that's the bookshelf that I built. I know, I'm talented.

I know, I know. We probably shouldn't have a TV in our bedroom but we hardly use it since the TiVo only works in the living room. But it's nice to have from time to time.

So, if anyone ever wants to come stay, we actually have room for you now! Having a couple extra people over doesn't feel claustrophobic anymore. We love it here and are so lucky to have found such a good place in a town with two big Universities and tons of young married people.

Hydrocephalus

2008-09-29T19:17:00.004-06:00

This picture might be a little more clarifying. The image on the left has hydrocephalus--this is similar to how Jeff's brain looked prior to the surgery. The image on the right is a normal brain with a functional draining system. The ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt was placed in the third ventricle which is the area where the white arrow is pointing to. Pretty soon--if the shunt works correctly--Jeff's brain will look like the normal one. I also thought I might add that when Jeff and I were in the ER Friday night, Dr. Gaufin, the wonderful neurosurgeon, said that he had performed 300-400 of these procedures and that there was a 95% chance of everything going as planned. So we are thankful that everything did!

A Weekend To Remember

2008-09-29T13:56:00.008-06:00

This past weekend has been one that I will never forget. Hopefully I can tell you the story of my brain surgery experience. On Thursday I went in for an eye appointment to update my prescription and buy another year's worth of contacts. My eye doctor saw something on the photos of the inside of my eye where the optic nerve is. He noticed a change from last year that he thought might be something significant, but I felt completely normal and had none of the symptoms that he mentioned. He wanted me to go to the BYU health center within the next couple of weeks just to make sure and mentioned he would call them and explain the situation. That night, when I was in class, I received a call from the health center telling me I needed an MRI ASAP. Friday during my lunch break, I went and got an MRI of my brain to confirm that it was nothing. The doctor there told me they would have the results back by Mon or Tuesday. Friday evening at 6:00 PM I received a call with the results back from my MRI. The doctor explained to me that I had spinal fluid blockage in my brain and the pressure was building up in my ventricles. He continued to tell me to go to the ER immediately and see a neurosurgeon about having surgery. Saturday Morning at 11:00 am I went in for brain surgery to correct the hydrocephalus and I had a shunt placed in my brain to help the fluid drain. The shunt goes from inside my brain all the way down into my abdominal cavity where the spinal fluid will now drain when the pressure gets too high. I feel really grateful for my eye doctor who saw something different and had the courage to act and make sure it got taken care of. The surgery went as planned and I was able to come home Sunday evening with some painkillers and an amazing wife to help take care of me. As long as a painkiller enters my body every four hours I am doing okay for having brain surgery two days ago. To think that if the doctors hadn't corrected the problem, serious issues would have risen such as a coma or even death. I feel eternally grateful for all those involved and for all those that helped with me. Life can be short and we need to always be prepared for anything that comes are way. The Lord cares about us and loves us so much. I felt his love through him and all his children that helped me.

Had to make due with the haircut. Ranked #7 in the country how can you not put it on your head.
This is where the tube ends in my stomach.

Here's the scar from the hole they drilled in my skull (dime size) Going for a Walk, I literally felt like a Old Man who was 80 yrs old.

It's Been an Interesting Morning

2008-09-12T12:06:00.004-06:00

So far today I have:

1. Built a bookshelf
2. Broken out in hives all over my body. I have never had hives before so it's quite strange.
3. Killed the LARGEST spider I have EVER seen with a hammer.

Kind of a weird start to my day...

-Brianne

Oregon Trip/Jesse and Michael's Visit to Provo

2008-08-30T20:55:00.020-06:00

Well we finally made it back to Oregon! I hadn't seen my family since our wedding (which was 14 months ago) so it was great to see them! We drove there and back for a total of 26 hours of driving and whole lot of miles on our trusty Toyota Camry. My younger brother Nick drove out there with us and then Michael and Jesse drove back (along with Nick) to visit for a few days so it was quite the cramped ride on the way back. But we survived and had a ton of fun. My studly little bro, Michael, taking a break at his football jamboree. 10 year olds are so cute in their gear!Visiting my two best friends Danielle and Emma. I miss them a lot!

I was really looking forward to going to the Little North Fork of the Santiam River and spending the day in the water and the sun but it was only 75 degrees so when we got in the snow melt water, it was freeeeezing!!! I was sad I didn't get to show Jeff how fun it is up there. Maybe next time...

We also had a fun time at a barbecue with my extended family and at Rock-N-Rogers where we had the most delicious breakfast food ever.

Highlights from Provo:Visiting the Legacy Hall of Fame. In 10-15 years Michael Rasaka might be in there as he has made it clear he wants to be a BYU football player. Go Michael! Love Jesse's closed eyes...
We decided to go to the BYU track for our workout on Tuesday and this is how we felt when we finished.At the top of the Y on Y Mountain. The hike was a whole lot harder than we remembered. Especially after a sprint workout. The Statue of Christ in the visitor's center at Temple SquareJesse and Michael were troopers. Neither had flown before but they toughened up and flew back to Oregon all by themselves.

Sadly, we didn't get any pictures of our time at Seven Peaks but we all had a blast. The weather was great and the park was way empty. Also, Michael and Jeff were extreme dare devils. They both went down the yellow and blue slides but Jeff even went down the orange one and then he went down the Boomerang backwards! Scary!

In Memory of Robin Rasaka

2008-08-29T12:13:00.004-06:00

Two years ago today I answered a phone call in the middle of grocery store only to hear the worst news of my life: my mom had passed away in her sleep early that morning. It seems like it has been TEN years since I've seen my mom, but it's amazing how the Lord blesses and comforts you during life's trials. I know I wouldn't be doing so well if I didn't have a testimony of eternal families and it makes me so much more grateful for the Lord's Holy Temples and the sealing power that is found within.

Here are the top 5 things I have missed since she's been gone:
1. Lying in her bed at night and watching chick flicks and eating chocolate.
2. Going to McGrath's for dinner after a day of shopping together.
3. Her cooking, her decorating, her craftiness, her organization, etc. Basically everything that made our house the Rasaka home.
4. Singing to loud country music (mostly Keith Urban) while driving in the car with her.
5. Calling her whenever anything went wrong in my life and having her tell me it'll be okay. Also calling her whenever anything went right and having her congratulate me.

I wish there was a phone line to Heaven so I could call and chat with her now and then but that would just make life too easy. My mom was the best and I love her dearly. I've been blessed to have her in my life for 19 years!

Another spirit enters the world!!!!

2008-08-12T15:32:00.005-06:00

I have been an uncle for many years now. My sister has probably the cutest two little girls on the face of the planet in Sadee and Ava (don't believe me? click on her blog Atkinsons). You just can't argue with curly hair on little girls. Now after 3 years of nothing a new baby has arrived in the family. He finally got here after being 4 days late. My older sister, Alisa, had her first baby boy and first child for that matter this past Thursday. His name is Collin Ryan O'Berry. He is definitely a cute one. I always find it a miracle to think how much of an adventure he is embarking. Times of sorrow and happiness await that little spirit. He'll have many trials and blessings as he learns the plan of his Heavenly Father. It kind of compares to the mission. You have no idea what lies ahead, the lessons you will learn, the trials you will face, the happiness you will embrace. You embark for two years having no idea what's in store for you. Collin is about to embark on who knows how long of a journey. What a special day for his parents to accept that responsibility. Right now I can only imagine that feeling, but it will come soon enough (3 or 4 years) when you have a bunch of little Bri's and mini Jeff's running around the Johnson household creating havoc.

Our First Half Marathon

2008-08-12T12:28:00.004-06:00

This last Saturday, Jeff and I ran in the Provo River Trail half marathon. We trained for about 9 weeks and both did better than we had expected. Unfortunately, we had to start the race about 4 minutes late due to a very disorganized morning that caused us to get on the LAST bus up to the starting line. Luckily, I had my watch so I was able to get our actual times.

In my opinion, the first 8 miles were great! I was totally loving it and running between a 6:40 and 7:00 min pace. But once I hit mile 10, I totally hit a brick wall. The last 3 miles were harder than heck for me!

For Jeff, he was cruising along with until about mile 6 when he got a pretty bad side ache. I was waiting for him to catch up to me again (but of course he never did, haha) but apparently the side ache lasted quite awhile.

So that's right, I beat my husband! I only had two goals. One was to beat him and the other was to run it under 1 hour and 50 min. and I did both! According to my watch (since that's what's accurate for us), I ran it in 1:44:43 and Jeff came in at about 1:51:00. It was a great experience and we will definitely start racing more!

Oh, and I thought I would add that the picture was taken after the race hence the tired and somewhat unattractive look :)

BYU FOOTBALL PREVIEW: DEFENSE

2008-08-10T17:55:00.002-06:00

I have to first apologize for the longing readers that have checked hourly for the past week for my BYU Football Preview. I had finals this past week and it took up my life, sorry. This week the defense steps up on the stand to be judged. Over the last two years the D at BYU has restored what it once had. Bronco has one important stat he uses and thats points scored. The yards given up are important but you keep the points off the board you win. Seems simple, and BYU has dominated the last few years in this category. Take off the Tulsa debacle and BYU had an incredible defense last year. Losing all of our secondary and 3 of our linebackers to graduation will hurt but I don't see the defense missing that much of a beat. Bronco proved last year BYU should be a reloading program and it won't be any different this year. Our defensive line is the deepest its been in years with all starters returning and with the return of Tialavea we should be even deeper. The rest the Defense (linebackers, secondary) I expect to reload. If injuries come like a plague then we could be in trouble but who wouldn't be. I expect a Top 20 D this upcoming year. They should get plenty of help from the offense and the kicking game so don't expect many opponents to get above 20 points a game. My grade B+ Here is a list of some players to keep an eye on.Jan Jorgensen #84

Vic So'oto #37

Brandon Bradly #5

BYU Football Preview SPECIAL TEAMS

2008-08-03T12:52:00.002-06:00

This week I preview one of the most important units on the team. Hence comes the name special, they are special and a botched special teams play can change the entire outcome of the game. This past year, the special teams unit was only average. Austin Collie emerged as a dangerous return man with the speed to take it the distance and he has only gotten faster (hopefully his stress fracture doesn't affect him). The biggest addition is Justin Sorensen, the kicker that can kick it a mile. In the first practice he kicked 9 out of 10 out of the end zone with one being 8 yards deep. I don't see many kicks getting returned this year. Hopefully Mitch Payne has stepped up his game or he won't see a down this year. Punt returns won't be anything special but as long as Bryce catches the ball I won't complain. I truly feel last year the special teams cost us a lot of yardage and with new comers I can only see the special teams going forward which it must if we are going BCS. GRADE B+

NEW MANSION IN IDAHO FALLS

2008-08-03T10:03:00.009-06:00

As I begin this blog with the mom sitting next to me telling me, "It is not a mansion, I'm embarrassed." Well you guessed it. This weekend we went up to Idaho Falls to help my parents move into their new house. It might not be a MANSION, but it is a big step up from their last house. Other than moving, nothing that exciting happened besides playing with the nieces and seeing Wall-E (which sucked). I won't bore you with moving stories but here are some cool pics of the nice house. They really don't do it justice yet because of the lack of furniture.

Kitchen
Kitchen and Great Room

Family Room Downstairs where projector will be.

Dinning Room Area, kitchen is to the left
Pic of the stairs and entry way.

Here is the front.

Can You Tell What's Missing?

2008-08-01T11:08:00.005-06:00

Last Sunday when I was sitting in church, I looked down at my ring and my diamond was missing! Ahhh! Jeff and I teach the 9 and 10 year olds in primary and our class became quite disruptive during singing time as we searched the floor around us for the diamond. After a few minutes of panic, I emptied our church bag and lo and behold, my diamond was in there! It was quite the scare. I'm on my way to the jeweler today and hopefully everything will go okay with the warranty...

BYU Football 2008 Preview COACHING

2008-07-29T08:49:00.004-06:00

Here is the weekly layout of BYU Football fall preview. I will begin this week by discussing coaching and giving a grade of the unit. The question in most football minds is what makes a good coach? Many elements go into coaching and I for one do not know them all, but winning makes a good coach in my eyes. Yes back in the growing up days of little league and grid kid football, winning wasn't the most important thing, but at the college level you have to win. Some argue that coaching isn't what wins football games but its the players. I feel both play a role in the winning. Coaching is critical for football especially in college with the role they play in recruiting and the motivating of the players to play at the highest level.
Bronco Mendenhall has been a answer to our prayers here at BYU. After three horrid years, the man has changed the entire state and reputation of the program. Trust me, that isn't easy. Takes a lot of time to do, it is not done overnight. The speed that Bronco has done it is remarkable. The players went from getting arrested for rape to giving Friday night firesides before the game. All this and when we look back and see he wasn't our first choice, kills me. I guess we can still come back to the phrase, "Thanks Kyle, Seriously." You can buy the shirt on cougarfan.com. The university and athletic department may not judge a coach on wins but no matter what you say, all of you want to feel and have to feel the excitement of winning. Why do we get all upset when they lose if we didn't care? I crave wins and want wins and thats what Bronco has brought me and rest of you. We have the longest winning streak in the nation and one of the best records the past 2 years with 22 wins only four losses. I judge coach on wins and thats how it will always be. Its kind of like on my mission, when you really knew if elders were working by baptisms, yes you looked at contacts, invites, discussions, families at church, but in the end the final goal is baptisms. This may not be true for all missions I know but in mine, we wanted baptisms, that was how all of us were judged. No matter what you say, if your team is not winning than your just not that good of a coach. Bronco is winning and that makes him a great coach and will be for a while. At BYU its a little bit different. You can't just win but you represent the church in all that you say and do. Instead of hiding from it like Crowton, Mendenhall has embraced the church and used the spiritual aspect to his advantage. The only thing I can think negative about him is the crazy words he uses, but I feel that reflects his vision and mastery of his players. Will all these praises continue to be said about him? Time will tell as the season progresses, but my vote is they will. How can I not give him a big fat A

BYU FOOTBALL 2008

2008-07-27T20:37:00.005-06:00

I recall back in January of this year after the last football game depression of an entire summer with no football. Usually my summer is filled with excitement of pennant races but when your team (Seattle Mariners), is the worst in the whole MLB I find it rather difficult to rant and rave of their success. So enough of the baseball talk, its time for byu football, let me repeat that, ITS TIME FOR BYU FOOTBALL BABY!!!!! This blog will start a succession of blogs of probably outside my wife and the Lord the most important thing in my life (sorry father but I can't hide my true passions). Much excitement is boiling through my veins with the fans here in Provo in what could be one of the greatest years in BYU football history. This is no guarantee but will require skill, hard work and some luck. For the next five weeks I will be previewing my opinions of each unit (offense, defense, special teams, coaching) and will finish it with my preview for each game this season beginning with Northern Iowa at home. For the last few years I have only been one game off so you all better listen in. I also advise you to read Jarom's blog (see link below on my friends). He will add many if not better insights than I will.

My patience is being tested!

2008-07-25T16:08:00.006-06:00

Well today and yesterday have been extreme tests of my patience. In both incidents I felt like my head was going to burst because I was SO mad (and rightly so) and ended up crying instead because that's what happens when I get really mad. The tears just come and there's NOTHING I can do about it. It's kind of funny actually. Anyway, I need to vent, so here are the stories:

1. The Car
So this story starts out with me taking the car to All Tune and Lube to get our timing belt fixed because when Jeff called around for quotes, they were the cheapest. Here is the list of frustrations that we encountered:
-The day I took the car in the guy told me it would be $430 instead of $330. Um, big difference! Not knowing what to do, I called Jeff who called the store and was luckily able to get them to stick with the originally quoted $330. Alright so far, but it gets worse as we go along.
-After picking the car up an hour later than they told me it would be, I drove to Jeff's work to pick him up. On the way, I noticed a strange sound. Something was wrong. We called them and they told us to bring it back in as soon as possible.
-I brought it back and waited for an hour for them to fix it. After leaving, there was ANOTHER DIFFERENT sound this time. At this point we were very annoyed.
-So once again I brought it back. I sat and waited for half an hour before the guy came and said we would have to come back when there was another mechanic around. What's that about???
-Yesterday was my millionth trip back (and my last EVER as they totally have lost our business) and I was quite annoyed to be there. However, throughout this whole ordeal, we both kept our cool and acted very rationally. So I'm sitting there and the guy says that I'll be out of there in half an hour. "Okay," I think, "That's not bad." Well 45 minutes later I was still waiting and decided to ask how much longer it would be. This is when I got mad. The guy tells me that the part is not there yet and he doesn't know when it'll get there and then it will be another half an hour after that until I could leave. I had to get up and walk out of the store to stay calm and I called Jeff who helped me relax. I was furious! Seriously, who has to go back to a freakin' store 4 times for them to get something right?!! Although I so wanted to give him a piece of my mind, I was as nice as possible to the guy in the store and just let the tears flow once I got in the car. IT WAS SOOO RIDICULOUS!
2. Okay, I'll make this story a little shorter since I've written so much already. Back in December I got an Ipod Nano and for my birthday I got Nike+ shoes and the Nike+ adapter (it connects the shoes to your ipod and it's like a GPS/coach in your ear as you run--way cool). I've loved it! The ipod was working fine until about a month ago. It just stopped working for no reason. I took it to a Mac store in Orem and since they didn't know what was wrong, I then took it the Apple store at the Gateway. The people there were horrible. They told me that my ipod had been "exposed to large of amounts of water," and told me "sorry, we can't do anything about it." Excuse me? What? Large amounts of water? I think not. I am more than 1000% positive that my ipod has NOT been exposed to ANY water let alone "large amounts" of it. Yes 1000% positive! So I finally got around to calling someone about it last week and got nowhere. I called again today and with all of the How to Win Friends and Influence People principles in mind, I was still getting nowhere. But I refused to let it go because it's ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS that a $150 product can all of a sudden stop working and when I try to confront someone about it, it's all of sudden my fault. Bogus! I was on the phone for over an hour (most of it was sitting on hold and writing this blog entry) talking to three different people and feeling like it was a lost cause...but guess what? I thought this entry was going to start negative and end negative, but it's not! I just got off the phone with a wonderful person named Chad who is going to make sure that my Ipod is fixed free of charge! Can you believe that?! Even though that's what I expected in the first place and that's what I deserve, I'm still shocked! I seriously have had a trial with patience lately and I feel like I have just past the test!!!

I Swore I'd Never Be One...But I'm a CNA Now

2008-07-24T19:56:00.003-06:00

I finally got a job (yay!) as a CNA at a nursing home and I started this week. Here are some highlights:

1. Feeding a lady who randomly screams "WAHOOOOO!" and wears a bright pink t-shirt with the word "SEXY" in huge glittery letters.

2. Showering a 400 pound woman. Enough said.

3. Taking a patient outside to smoke (I have no idea why they allow this) and not knowing which end of the cigarette to light.

4. Suspecting ghosts in an empty room where a lady died just last week and the call light keeps turning on randomly (and in the room two doors down) when there is NOBODY around or in the rooms. Everyone on our shift last night was pretty spooked. I'm normally not one to believe in that kind of stuff but when I went in the room alone last night to turn the call light off, I got a cold sweat. Still not sure what was up. Oh, and even the big 45 year old male nurse was scared...

5. Having the classic CNA experience: Think of the worst bathroom experience possible. Now multiply that by ten. If you're having a hard time picturing something, it was basically like 5 massive cowpies in a row. Now imagine the rotten smell as you wipe it up and it just keeps pouring out all over the patient, the bed, the sheets, and everything else for twenty-five minutes straight. I know, you're jealous. But now imagine trying to eat dinner right afterwards...

Even though I come home exhausted, I really feel like I've already had some great experiences in learning how to care for patients. And I'm getting paid to do it!

THE DARK DARK NIGHT

2008-07-24T18:00:00.005-06:00

VS

Well all those fans which read this wonderful blog know that I watch a lot of movies. My wife and I try to see about one a week (beauty of the dollar theater) and I swear every Monday and Friday people at my work ask me two questions: What movie did you see? and What movie you going to go to this weekend? Not to my control, I did wait for a whopping week before I had the chance to see The Dark Night. I was getting a bit nuts. Everyone I was talking to loved it, saying it was incredible and I the movie guru, who has his own movie review on a blog, hadn't seen the movie of the summer. I called it to be the movie of the summer back in April and it did not disappoint. Us fans make it so hard for these blockbusters to live up to the hype we give them and The Dark Night did. The last movie to do so in my opinion was Transformers. I feel that a great movie no matter the length makes you want more. After two hours and thirty minutes of amazing storyline and great action with a little mentally ill Joker (whom I loved) I still wanted more. Heath Ledger was absolutely amazing and was so clever at playing his part you felt like the Joker really existed and he just pissed you off. Batman, as always played by Christian Bale, was great. I really enjoyed the, in fact I thought it was awesome when I think back on the movie. I highly recommend it for everyone thats 13 and older. Not a movie to take a child too unless your crazy, but great great film.

JULY 4TH BABY!!!

2008-07-21T20:18:00.012-06:00

Can you tell its in the Denny's parking lot.

Just before the fireworks and after some dang good food.

My wonderful sister and her family, (notice Ava plugging her ears)

My Camera's attempt to Capture the Great Lights of Idaho Falls

My wonderful and beautiful wife drinking the Mormon Party Drink Water Baby!!!!!

Nieces Sadee and Ava Best Parents in the World

I do realize that its been 2 weeks since the fourth and apologize for the delay in posting these wonderful pictures and video. My wife and I have been swamped and really haven't had time. We went up to IF for the fourth and partied with the family which you just can't argue. So a little history about my father. He talks a lot of the talk a lot of the time. I remember (and my sister Kari can relate) when he took his whole family to test drive an Audi. What are a couple of teens going to think? He talked like he was going to buy it the whole entire time. He plays with your mind. For a while now he has bought some property to build on but never started to so when he told me about a house he was liking I was very, very skeptical. Well I was wrong and they will close on the house tomorrow. To start things off my father and mother will be moving and we had to go see the wonderful house (it is amazing to say the least). I guess you could say its a step up from the house my siblings and I grew up in. They will be moving into the huge mansion first of August. (My mom just might kill me for saying that so if I cease to exist check with her). No seriously, it is large and almost as luxurious as our apartment in Provo. I for one am very excited for the projection screen downstairs with state of the art surround sound to enjoy many movies and BYU football victories. It will be really nice to come home and have upgraded the house facilities. My dad has worked his freaking butt off and deserves some reward so props to him. We also went and saw the new movie Get Smart (see movie review column) the new Steve Carell movie and enjoyed it. The fourth in Idaho Falls does not get the recognition it deserves for everyone that grew up there and has seen fireworks other places, there just not as good. Our seats were incredible, the best I have ever had so we sat on the grass and watched them launch from less than 100 yards. The nieces Sadee and Ava were great to be around and fun to play with. What a great fourth of July!!! Here's a Video of the finale, ENJOY!!!!

THE DAY I BECAME SHAQ

2008-07-11T12:42:00.005-06:00

As many of you know, my height has never been one of my strong points and so I resorted to playing sports with my brain instead. In basketball I played point guard and gave the ball to others to score which I had no problem with. But there comes a weird time in a man's life that he just wants to know how it feels to dunk the ball. After this desire, hoops came with adjustable levels to lower it to seven feet which allowed me to play for hours with my buddy's in the front driveway. Well Saturday I decided to just live one of those dreams and grab the rim on my old hoop (it's about 18 years old). I don't know if I became Shaq or what but I recall jumping up and grabbing the hoop and then the entire hoop came crashing down onto my back. No injuries were obtained from my short body but it was probably one of the funniest events. Where's the camera when you need one? It was nuts just plain nuts--the hoop snapped in half cause of the years of rust.

First Anniversary

2008-06-29T18:56:00.015-06:00

Today is our first Anniversary! Jeff is a complete stud and planned the most fun weekend ever for us. We stayed at the Anniversary Inn in Logan and having never been to one before, we were blown away by the room. We stayed in Aphrodite's Court and I loved it! I'll just say that I was jumping up and down and running around the room in excitement. We had dinner at The Coppermill which was decent and then had the BEST ice cream EVER at this little old place called Charlies. Yum!

When we woke up Saturday morning, we found the Logan River trail and went for our weekly long run. The trail started as a packed gravel road right next to the Logan River and it was just beautiful. Then all of sudden the trail turned into this teeny tiny lane through a massive uphill jungle. It was quite the experience. Eventually it turned back into a gravel road and we were thankful for that. After rolling my ankle a couple of times, tripping, watching Jeff freak out over seeing a snake (hahaha), and being barked at by a ferocious dog, we still completed the 7-miler a few minutes faster than we planned for.

Next on the schedule was Lagoon. So fun! The first time I ever went on a roller coaster was in Disneyland last year on the last day of our honeymoon and I'll admit, I'm quite the baby when it comes to heights. This year I improved. Yes, I still whined about having to go on a couple of the rides, but I had fun on all of them. Jeff was disappointed because Wicked was shut down after about 45 min of standing in line. Lame. But, it was a VERY fun time and a VERY fun weekend. I love you Jeff! Happy Anniversary!

Oh, and today we also enjoyed the top of our wedding cake. Frozen for a year and it still tasted great...very rich, but great.

MANTI PAGEANT WEEKEND

2008-06-25T13:37:00.006-06:00

This past weekend was great, my sexy wife and I went with Patsy Anne Johnson aka My mother to Manti Saturday to go to the Manti Temple and attend the pageant. I have been to other pageants and other temples but neither of them in Manti. We started off with some good food from Magelby's Fresh in Spanish Fork which was delic and Dave Atkinson would have been jealous of the chocolate cake we enjoyed.

Then off to Manti. The temple as you can see by the pictures was incredible. "It looks like a castle", was my wife's first words when she saw it and I would have to agree with her. Very beautiful inside and out. For dinner we went to some small little diner in Ephraim which was again delic. The pageant tells the story of Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel through a couples life. As always you have the ignorant anti-mormons that spend their time in life harassing others. Why? why? and why? are the three words that come to my head. What a boring and unsuccessful life they live. It was a fun weekend visiting an amazing temple and a great visit with my mother and wife.

Complementary Alternative Medicine

2008-06-11T11:40:00.007-06:00

Today I had the coolest nursing class ever. One of the classes we are required to take is Community Health Nursing which consists of a lot of different things and today we talked about auras and energy fields and chakras. Pretty weird sounding, huh? I was skeptical at first but when we got to check each other's chakras and fix them, it was sooo neat!

I bet you're wondering what the heck a chakra is. It's basically a center of spiritual energy located in a specific area on your body. Everybody has seven of them. Take a look at the picture to see where they are located. Here are the representations: crown=relationship with the Divine, forehead=wisdom, neck=communication, heart=love, navel=I can't remember..., groin=sexuality and reproduction, and we didn't talk about the base but I'm sure it's somewhere on the internet.

Here's how you check each chakra. Get a piece of thread about 8 inches long and thread a paper clip on it. Tie the ends together. This is your pendulum. Make sure the pendulum is 3-4 inches long because this won't work if it is too short or too long. Once you've got your pendulum, hold it 1/2 inch to 1 inch above the center of your palm or someone else's palm. You have to make sure that you're "grounded" which means you need to have both your feet flat on the floor, take a deep breath, and make sure you are in the "present." After doing that, the paper clip should begin to rotate in a clockwise circle. If you have it in the wrong spot it won't move. Weird, huh? Well once you've seen that, then you can try the different locations indicated on the picture above.

Your chakras are in check if the paper clip moves in a clockwise motion. If the paper clip just moves back in forth or moves in a counterclockwise position, then you've got to fix your chakras. Also, if the paperclip doesn't move, then you have it in the wrong spot. All of these spots are right in the center of your body. If you move to the side, the paper clip will stop moving. So weird, I know!

Ok, so here's how you fix them...I think. Our teacher just put her hand in front of the out-of-check chakra and twirled her finger in a clockwise manner. Then she had the student breath orange aromatherapy oil deeply 3 times. When she checked the chakra after "fixing" it, it was totally normal! Seriously so freaking cool and weird.

We learned a few other crazy things but I'm not going to write about all of them. If you're interested, I'll just tell you in person. Give this a try. It's super easy and so weird.

Research this Summer

2008-06-01T16:15:00.003-06:00

Well some of you know a little of my schedule this summer. I was able to get a job at a local PT clinic as an aid and gain some hours for my future PA school application plus a little bit of money. They just don't pay as much money as my wife and I need but what job really does. I work about 25 hours a week there. On Tuesday and Thursday I have been able to be part of Dr. James Porter's research team for 8 hours a week. It has been really fun and interesting. Let me give you the down low on what we are doing and his goal in his research. The first day of research we killed 10 rats and removed their hearts, kidneys, adrenal glands, pituitary glands for more research later. He has found that rats whose mom's were given high salt diets had much higher increases in blood pressure under stressful situations than rats whose mom's were given normal salt diets. Right now we are discovering and proving why this is occurring. On Thursday two rats died. We were doing surgery on them to implant a blood pressure monitor into their belly and for some reason there were some complications and they died. Anyway it is very interesting but would not want to do it my whole life and that is why I will be a PA and not a researcher.

Shootin' Up!

2008-05-22T15:08:00.005-06:00

This past week we learned how to give shots! It's actually way fun. We have injected each other with saline in the deltoid, the abdomen, the fatty part of the back of the arm, the forearm, and the booty! We had pass-offs today so on Tuesday I went to open lab to practice and you only get 30 minutes which isn't nearly enough time. But luckily I was able to convince my wonderful husband to come with me so I could inject him four times! He was quite the trooper. Unfortunately, I forgot our camera every time I was in lab and didn't get any pictures. But these here are from other girls in my section. Hopefully it gives you a sense of what class is like.

These are all the girls in my lab. There's seven of us including myself and we have two instructors. Notice the tannish brown thing towards the front of the bed. Yup, that's a fake toosh.

What is the World Coming To?

2008-05-04T20:14:00.003-06:00

So my wife and I purchased the Nike Runner program. It is probably one of the coolest gadgets in the world. It tracks how far, your pace, and sets up personal training programs for you. It seriously has changed my outlook on running and I love running now and it has kind of become addicted which I never ever thought possible. Thats not the reason I am writing this blog. As many of you know I live in South Provo while my wife and I go to BYU. On Saturday I started out for a 6 mile jog, I was warming up and arrived at the corner of University Ave and our street. A SUV drove by and a kid yelled at the top of his lungs, "F*&$ You". Now I was thinking, what did I do that would have drove this young man to such anger and profanity. As I thought for a few minutes, there was absolutely nothing I did to piss him off. What is the world coming to when you go for a short morning run and get the F word screamed at you.