Love Me A Girls Saturday Night!

I treasure the Saturday's that I have off, I mean really treasure them. However sometimes I stay in my PJ's until 3pm like I did today. I didn't say that I didn't do anything, because I did, it was all just in my PJ's. Well, really I didn't do a whole lot of anything, but I did clean out and organize the silverware drawer. I know totally exciting.

I put the vacuum cleaner away that had been in the hall for the past 4 days too. I learned how to make a new flower that I am totally digging. And I finished up my taxes. Hey, that's big. I usually don't get them done by now. What's even more exciting is that I am getting back more than I ever have, which just means that I paid out more than I ever have. I went to the dollar store and bought a back-mirror to replace the one I broke last Saturday. Maybe that was the reason for such a horrible shift that night. I went to Aldi's my favorite super market to buy mango's, limes, and cottage cheese. I know talk about exciting.

But... I went out tonight. I wasn't about to sit home on a Saturday night by myself, for tonight was girls night! Yes and on a Saturday night! Like with my young, newlywed girlfriends from the single's ward that I aged out of back when. I love their vibrancy and that they don't have to be back at a certain time to tuck their kids into beds and that they aren't obsessed with spending every waking moment with their husbands. No offense, but some of my girlfriends along the way can be a bit obsessed with their husbands and once they get married they think we can't be friends because they are married and I'm not. Seriously it has happened, more than once too.

I was a bit concerned about where we were going, because it would mean that we would have to drive right through race traffic, given the fact that this is one of the 3 big race weekends of the year. However, it turned out to be just fine because the race started at 7 and we were having dinner at 630, which meant most race fans were already there or living at the race track for the weekend. The most entertaining thing for me was to see all of the rednecks and variety of race fans as we were trying to make our way through the two lights that only took forever. I had met Kimberly at her house since she lives by me and she drove, which gave me the opportunity to photograph the moment. It was great and I know my brothers would have gotten a kick out of my people watching.

Who brings along extra tires, unless they are on the race track?

Beer can's liter Concord. Beautiful.

Sweet!

Love the white shirt...see him?

There are even mullet haired women

This is my favorite...boots and 90 degree's.

Like the man with his favorite number on his shirt, long shorts and cooler of beer.

Love the Mr. T Man

We went to a great Japanese restaurant where they cook the food in front of you. I haven't done that in forever; it was super fun! After dinner we went back to Kimberly's to enjoy a lot of laughter, great conversation, and delicious cheesecake.

All in all it was a fabulous day, which ended with sad news; a text from handsome man telling me his 10 year old niece had passed away. No details are really needed for the public, but my heart ached for him and his family. I am sure it is bitter sweet given the fact that she has been sick. I really was humbled in how he felt about the situation, "Thank goodness for knowledge of the plan of salvation though it doesn't make me any less sad in a selfish way." I did however finish my evening and started my Sunday morning by having a wonderful conversation with Handsome Man. Oh, how I wish it would have been in person and not over the phone. Endurance, Endurance, Endurance...

I think I Missed Something...

May is almost over. I think I missed a few weeks. Oh, yes I probably did because I have been working the past 8 of 9 days. Well, really 10, but the one day doesn't count because I got off that morning from working 3 nights in a row. Seriously the first 5 days were horrible. In fact they were so horrible that I said out loud on two of them that I was quitting. They were bad. I mean really, really bad. Yesterday the director of the ER called me and asked me about the weekend. I spent at least 30 minutes spilling my complaints. I was surprised at the end of the conversation when he said, "In 5 years I have never heard you complain." I think that was a compliment, not sure but I took it that way. I do complain, just not to the person who is in charge. In fact I have this great friend Jodia who I work with that I complain to. I always tell her she is my therapist. We listen to each other complain which makes us feel better and then we go back to work. I have been reassured that come August things will be much better. So what am I suppose to do until then? That's two and a half months away and by then we will have hired on a new batch of new grads just fresh out of residency. I'm trying to have patience, but I think my patience is wearing very thin. Thank goodness the last two days have been somewhat better. I'm really hoping for some kind of gigantic change in the next 6 months that gets me out of there. I've done my time, gotten my experience, and something new is brewing around the corner I really feel it. Just got to endure patiently...

I must say there was a patient today who swallowed at least 7, 7 1/2 inch screws. Who does that and how does that happen I'll never know, but I saw x-rays to prove it and it really does happen. Of course ETOH was involved, not much brains but I'm sure enough ETOH. Seriously people...

Mother's Day Surprises

The Friday before Mother's Day I left my house bright and early to board a plane at 6:35 Idaho bound. I had to tell my mom a little white lie that I was working that weekend, because I had the weekend before off, she believed it. However it wasn't until I walked in the house a little past 1pm that she got her Mother's Day surprise early...ME! It was so funny, she screamed with excitement like I haven't seen in a while. She had no idea. We kept it from her for 6 weeks. I love surprises. Always have always will. All the kids were home for the weekend and of course I wasn't about to miss a party.

That evening they had already planned to have a BBQ or in the south we call it a Cook Out, to celebrate Gavins Birthday and that I was home of course. Our friends the Taylors and Grandma Betty and Grandpa Randy also joined us. Tenielle had also brought home two friends from SLC. We had such a great time. I sure love a grilled hamburger, especially on dad's new grill. Our babies are growing so big and are so darn cute!

Saturday we had dad's yummy waffles for breakfast and then went to "Wicked." We all sat in different places, but had great seats on the floor. My cousin Alisha came with us which was so much fun. I have been listening to the soundtrack for a year and it was great to be able to see how the music fit the story. It very much surprised me, but I totally loved the story line. I now have a much different perspective of "The Wisard of Oz." That has always been my least favorite movie, I wonder now if I could sit through it again, probably not. Afterwards we went to my favorite place to eat in down town boise, the Brick Oven Beanery.

Sunday I surprised my mom again by speaking in Sacrament Meeting thanks to my dad the bishop. He asked me to do this 6 weeks ago. I told him that I spoke last year on Mother's Day. He wanted me to give the same talk. Funny how we think dad never remembers anything, well he proved to us that he does. The men had a very lovely dessert for us after RS and I loved how my dad had the men take over YW and Primary during RS so that all the sisters could enjoy RS that day.

It was so nice to be able to have Sunday dinner with my family. That is the one thing that I miss about living in the south. Sunday dinner by yourself is rather boring and uneventful with something like soup or dry pasta. I miss the 5 course meals, the one meal we all looked forward to even though my mom always made a nice dinner when we were growing up. I think the food always tastes better when you are surrounded by company.

Aidree and I had fun with bubbles!

After the kids left we visited my grandparents. My poor aging grandmother asked me at least twice where I lived and what I did for work. It was kind of sad. We then visited Alisha's family at her parents house for a while which was fun. It brought back memories of when I use to spend the weekends over there as not only a kid but even as college student.

Monday was a pretty relaxed day. We spent some time with Tristen and Aidree and then had Chicago Connection Pizza with my Aunt Thalia and Uncle Robert and their son Ben and his wife. Becky also brought the boys. That has got to be one of the best places for pizza in Boise and I know that I haven't had it for at least 15 years no joke. They always go there when I'm not in town.

I left Tuesday morning. It was a very quick trip but so worth the price. It was rather relaxing for such a quick trip too. Can't wait for when Mom, Dad, Tenielle, Tony, and Tanner come to CLT on May 27.

PS. I'll have to add pictures from dad's camera when they come to visit, since my battery died and I was unable to take more. Can't you tell, most of these pictures are from my phone, not super great.

Can't Sleep

It is nearly 2:30am and I am still awake. I left work an hour late today completely and totally exhausted, yet I am still awake. My eyes are super tired but my mind will not turn off. 11-9 shift is worse than the night shift. For some reason I can't seem to sleep after this shift. Probably because it is so busy. It didn't help today that I had a killer headache from working out too hard this morning. Those kind of headaches are annoying. It finally went away after 1 aleve, 1 excederin for migraine, and 1 motrin 800. When I left today there were still 30 patients in the waiting room and all 35 rooms were full. It was pretty bad because the computers went down just after I got to work. Crazy, Crazy, busy. Someday I will have a normal sleep schedule and work schedule. I feel it coming. I just need to have a little patience. I did tell the ER director today that "this place is wearing me out." He agreed and said that things are suppose to be getting better by August. That's 3 months away.

We had us a crazy thunderstorm tonight. I love southern storms, but the lightening was almost out of this world. At one point when I turned on the news they said there had already been 967 lightening strikes. Glad none hit my house. All is calm now, so I should be able to go to sleep right? I sure hope so, because I have another 11-9 shift coming up in 8 1/2 hours...

Oh Hooray For Craft Day!

We had us a very pleasant craft day this afternoon. It was Emma, Taya, and I. Rachel had a sleeping child and I'm told you don't wake sleeping children to craft. We had ourselves a ball or at least I did. It was fun to get to know Taya and Emma better. I learned some new techniques in flower making and we enjoyed ourselves some no bake cookies and lemon cheesecake. I also learned you can put coconut in no bake cookies and to use crunchy peanut butter. All in all it was a very relaxing and enjoyable day for me.

Well worth the drive uptown to wear they live across the street from each other. Seriously how fun that would be to have a crafting friend live right across the street. I'm just a little jealous. So we have decided that the next time I go to Boise I am going to look for fabric at home fabrics because it is much cheaper out there and Taya is going to teach us how to make a rag quilt. I think that's what they are called. We are going to have a craft day at least once a month and I'm going to pen it into my schedule because we had such fun today! Of course we will have to wait a few months for Taya to adjust to her new little one who is due any day. She can have her now since we made it through craft day with only a contraction or two for reals.

Emma made this one, wish I could take the credit for it, but I'll learn it eventually.

This is my favorite because it is easy.

I think I need a different button for this one...I love this one too.

This one took forever and mine turned out a little big. Still trying to decide what to do with it. Maybe it will become a magnet...

Now that my 4 days off are almost up, I better get some things done on my to do list, because the next several days are taken by work...I could really be a stay at home mom after the last 4 days.

Sundays

Happy May Day! I love the first day of a new month. Always seems so refreshing. I love Sundays. I am sure I have mentioned this before and I'm sure this won't be the last time I mention it either. Today was just one of those great days that comes along every once in a while. There wasn't anything spectacular or great about it. It was just a fabulous, very relaxing Sabbath Day! I love Sunday mornings when I'm still in bed and I wake up to the tiny hint of the sun. Then I look over at the clock and realize I still have 30 minutes to sleep, love it! I always turn the alarm off before it goes off, because I hate the sound of an alarm clock. First thing every Sunday morning before I do pretty much anything is to turn on my Sunday Music. There is just something so soothing to me about starting the day off with introducing the spirit into my home by way of music.

Nearly every Sunday I wash my hair. I know you are thinking what...honestly I only wash it about twice a week. I could go a whole week without my hair ever getting greasy. Ok tangent. I mention this only because I think it's probably one of the only days out of the week that I really do my hair. Most other days it just pretty much falls the way it does, especially when I wear it curly, because I can do curly in 5 minutes, no joke. I know lucky me. And when I work I usually throw it up in a clip or two which takes less than 5 minutes. So now you see why Sunday hair is a big deal, because I usually spend at least 30 minutes. Some Sunday mornings including this Sunday morning, I did think what it must be like to have to get others ready besides myself. I think I would still get up early to get myself ready before getting others ready. I think I get this from my mom and when I lived with my cousin, I remember she would always get herself ready before getting the kids up.

Sunday means I get to wear something besides frumpy scrubs. I usually pick my outfit out the day before because if not there would be clothes all over Sunday morning and I don't like to come home to a messy bedroom. I take advantage at this time in my life that I don't have kids getting me sticky, spitting up on me, or the chance of leakage from you know what. I'm sure one day I won't be wearing my Sunday best, but for now I enjoy it.

I love to be the first one to enter the chapel. Doesn't always happen, but this morning it did. I like to run through the hymns once before others arrive, you know to just brush up on them. And then I love to be able to play through the song books that I have for prelude. I think it is important to play to help invite the spirit to the room as the young men are preparing the sacrament. When I was in the singles ward here the organ faced the sacrament table and so I had the awesome opportunity to watch and play at the same time. The sacrament table sits behind me these days. We had a lot of people in church today. This means I played the first song extra loud. When I play louder, the congregation seems to sing louder and it always helps if it is a familiar song like todays. It always sounds awesome to me to be up playing the organ while the congregation sings.

In RS I got to sit by my friend Karen because she visited RS today instead of going to YW. What a treat. I sure miss her being in RS. Today is her birthday. I'm so lucky to have her as my friend and faithful reader of my blog! We will celebrate today again some other time this month when we will go to lunch...There was a quote in RS that really hit me. It was by Elder Bednar from this past conference. "In many of the uncertainties and challenges we encounter in our lives, God requires us to do our best, to act and not be acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:26), and to trust in Him. We may not see angels, hear heavenly voices, or receive overwhelming spiritual impressions. We frequently may press forward hoping and praying—but without absolute assurance—that we are acting in accordance with God’s will. But as we honor our covenants and keep the commandments, as we strive ever more consistently to do good and to become better, we can walk with the confidence that God will guide our steps. And we can speak with the assurance that God will inspire our utterances. This is in part the meaning of the scripture that declares, “Then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God” (D&C 121:45)."

I really liked the part about having absolute assurance. I was impress with this because I believe that Heavenly Father hears and answers my prayers, but sometimes I think I lack faith just a little. I love the word absolute. Something I definitely am going to work on.

I have wonderful church friends. Really they are my family out here. Every Sunday I always receive plenty of relationship advice. I love it. The people in my ward give me inspiration and help to increase my faith. I believe it is the goal of my ward members to get me married. I bet they even discuss it in ward council. Probably not, but you get my gist.

This afternoon we had a RS Presidency meeting. I love the sisters that I serve with. They have truly become some of my best friends. Of course some of our meeting has to involve updates from each others lives. And we couldn't have a meeting without a treat. I made a delicious lemon cheesecake last night. It totally hit the tangy lemon craving that I've had the past few weeks.

This evening in between my chatting with handsome man I've gone on a walk, chatted with mom, grandma Betty, and my sister Tenielle, and watered my newly planted flowers.

This was before I put them all in pots. Still have a few more to plant, but will get it done tomorrow.
We're working on the yard. Yard man was out this week and sprayed the weeds. I know should have worked on it last year, but I'll get a yard eventually. Hey at least I can grow flowers.

I know they look small now, but give them a month and they will be all over that area. I love Lantanas! The random brick is just something that I dug up while planting the flowers. I know nice. And my yard man is suppose to deliver mulch in the next week or so. Can't wait for that either!

I've also done the unmentionable and finished the load of laundry that I accidentally left in the washer from yesterday. You just don't do such a thing here in the south for fear of mold, but gratefully it wasn't humid today and we missed the mold. And I've relaxed by reading and listening to my Sunday music. Now it's almost Monday and I decided not to switch with someone who really didn't want to switch anyway, because it would have put her in a night shift. So I have one more day off. I've had the last 3 off and it has been so very relaxing. Tomorrow however I am having crafty day with some of the ladies in my ward. I can't wait. I've been wanting to have this day for sometime. I am going to learn a new skill...flower making. I can cut and sew on people, but I'm just not good at doing it with fabric, well I'm about to learn! Happy Day! I have a lot to be grateful for and happy about. I'm excited for a new week and for what will transpire. One only knows!