new song

Thanks to Josh for sending me this song. I just wish I would have heard it earlier for the Christmas season. But in my book, Christmas music is just fine until New Years. So have a listen. Listen to the words, kinda cool. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!! We decided at the last minute to come out to Utah and surprise my fam and after a crazy Christmas Eve of traveling we made it here at 1 in the morning and had a funny surprise story with my parents that I will write more about soon.

nailed

whoa. if you’ve seen the news this last weekend you’ll know what I am talking about. One of the biggest storms ever in December wailed on the East Coast this last weekend. DC got hit especially hard. It is seriously a winter wonderland out there. The whole city seems to be shut down. The schools just threw in the towel an cancelled school all the way through til Christmas (they were supposed to be going though Wednesday. For the actual storm on Saturday we were in NYC. Noah surprised Kristi and took her on a birthday trip, so Julie and I got to go up there and take care of McKay and Lyla for the weekend. We had a lot of fun with those kids. They are awesome. Julie has my camera with all the pics of the weekend and the storm in her purse so I am just putting up a couple pictures from my iphone. Life with two kids in NYC is nuts. Kristi and Noah – you get some serious props. We had a blast doing it for the weekend, but I can see how it could be touch, especially when you are slipping all over the place trying to push two kids in a stroller through a foot of snow. But serious, look how cute these kids are.

I forgot how much I used to love doing this as a kid. McKay kept disappearing at H&M when we stopped to return something. Something about going inside of there is just fun as a kid. It would probably be fun as an adult too, except you’d have to find a really tall rack, cause you’d just look funny in the normal size racks.

Getting ready to go out and brave the storm and experience the craziness of FAO Schwartz at Christmas (maybe not the best idea, the place was rammed).

Nailed. Nothing like getting snowplowed in when there is 5 inches in front and in back of you. Noah helped me dig it out though and we made it back to DC safe and sound. There is even more snow here. I will post some pics along with the ones of the strorm in NY soon. Only a couple days tile Christmas!!! I hope your halls are decked and that you have the music playing non stop.

Last thing. We got a real tree here in the city. And surprising after 3 weeks it is still drinking and lively. Here is is in all it’s grandeur looking out onto First Street along with the art deco version of it. There’s something about a Christmas tree, that is indescribable. The way a house feels when the only lights on are those of the Christmas tree, or breaking off a needle and smelling it. Doesn’t matter the day or the mood, it automatically makes me smile and brings back memories...you know what I mean?  Let’s face it, Christmas rules. Merry Christmas!!!

thanksgiving a little late…

i wanted to put these pictures up before it gets too late and it never happens. We had a great time over Thanksgiving in the greatest city there is. We met up with Julie’s brother and his wife (Bryan and Lis) and stayed at Noah’s place…he and his fam were in Houston for the weekend, so they were nice enough to let us stay at his place. I’m not sure there is a nicer couple on earth than Noah and Kristi. We are digging the fact that we are only a bus ride away from those guys.

So we met up there and had a great time. There is a Costco in Manhattan now! Just like a 10 minute bus ride from Noah’s place, so we headed up there to check it out. It was an unusual Costco experience, the employees were so helpful and so excited to have us there (pretty sure the idea of Costco is a brand new concept to them), and they spoke English. At the Costco in Arlington close by us here, most the people aren’t super fluent when it comes to English. Anyway, we found a turkey and all the fixins and made our first attempt at cooking a turkey. So I spent a lot of time on the phone with my mom trying to figure out how exactly to do it. I have a gag reflex problem sometimes, so I consider it quite a feat. Let’s face it, that raw turkey is NASTY. And I loved that they left the giblets and the neck in there just in case we wanted to eat them. Who the heck eats giblets? But I must say, with the help of everyone, we put together quite a feast…the turkey was actually really good too.

Before we ate we headed down with the masses to see the Macy’s Parade, which was awesome. It’s always cool to see something in real life that you’ve seen on TV every year. There were so many people there, that by the time we squirmed our way up to where you could actually see stuff, we only got to see the last 30 minutes or so. But that was good for us. We saw papa smurf and the pillsbury doughboy, and Santa on his huge old sleigh. Pretty sure it was the real Santa.

We went back to Noah’s place after and started cooking. Turned out pretty nice.

We spent the rest of the weekend showing Bryx and Lis our favorite spot around the city, and eating at all of our favorite spots. Here are some pics of the stops. The Brooklyn Bridge: one of my favorite spots in the city.

The East Village for some Falafel and Frites and weird people.

The Met and the MoMA

Rockefeller – home of some of the best Christmas spirit around.

 

Staten Island Ferry

Bar Coastal for the best wings around and watching the Cougs pull it out against the U with some good Coors LIght.

and a walk on the High Line. This was our first time up there. Such a cool idea…an elevated park on an old freeway through Chelsea. We were there just in time for the sunset over the Hudson. Google it, it is really amazing.

and a walk past Madison Square Park and the Flatiron – one of the coolest buildings on this planet.

 

and lots of time in the subway – a welcome break from the cold wind.

Can’t beat a weekend in NYC. It was so fun to be there with Bryx and Lis. We made it home and took care of the next matter of business. The Christmas Tree! Can’t tell you how excited I was about this one. There’s nothing quite like when the only light in the room is the faint glow of the Christmas tree. It’s the most wonderful time of the year…there’s just this spirit about everyone everywhere. Hope you are having the Merriest of Christmas seasons!

Have you watched Elf yet? Please do if you haven’t.

And the choice is...

First, I found out how to invite myself to publish from this site. It helps when you know all of Eli's passwords. Now people will not think that Eli wrote a blog entry about feeling like the bachelor.

Second, two more times left at the hospital, one final assignment due today, one last final evaluation and I should be wrapping up my abnormally long college career.

Lastly, I made a decision. Boy it was hard. I thought something would just pop out at the last minute, but it didn't. The last hour may even have included some tears, but luckily Eli is the best person ever to take you through something when you are being slightly emotional. So I choose the hematology/oncology unit! It was hard because I love the heart and always thought I would choose that, but I knew I would always wonder if I didn't choose this one. I have felt very excited/nervous and have been singing nervous but excited ever since. (if you don't know what im talking about check this out).

CHRISTMAS IS HERE!! and snow.

Anybody who knows me, knows that I don’t mess around when it comes to Christmas. This is the best time of year. Everyone seems (regardless of their faith) to become a little bit more Christ-like as the spirit of joy and happiness fills the air. That combined with the excuse to listen to Rat Pack non-stop, watch Elf twice a week, put a tree in your house and decorate it with lights and ornaments, see the White House with its Halls literally Decked, scheme about how to really surprise Julie, and drink Egg-nog mixed with 7up…it’s just a fantastic time of year.

Julie’s older sister and her daughter are here visiting for a few days from San Diego, and they got here just in time for the first Snow of the year. The term snow is relative – it snowed for a while without much stickage, but that didn’t stop the snow plows from roaming the streets (it seems that even since we lived here when I was in 5th grade and school was cancelled literally 20 times cause of the snow; they still get frantic when there is snow in the forecast). 

Lot’s more to come but just wanted to get a MERRY CHRISTMAS out there!!! Tis the Season. Make it the best Christmas ever, get out there and make someone else’s day. Listen to the Louis Armstrong song that plays first on here. How awesome is it? We went to the temple last night to see the awesome Christmas lights and made it home in time to make the sugar cookies that Sadie asked about 39 times yesterday. They do a pretty amazing job with the lights, like the temple square of the East. It was so cool to see the variety and diversity of the people that were there. It was awesome to see all the missionaries there too. I always get pumped when I am around a big group of missionaries, they just have such a powerful spirit.

PS. Julie made a job decision and she is slow sauce about writing it on here. I need to get her to write more though. Her friends come out of the woodwork when she does, and you guys probably like hearing from her more than me anyway, so I will get her to write on here about that and more asap. Also pics from Thanksgiving in NYC coming soon too, so come on back.

I feel like The Bachelor

Little stressed today. I am supposed to give my answer as to which job I will take. I have called several people, talked, and prayed quite a bit. I honestly think I will be happy at both places, but I just don't want to question "what if" and so I am dying for a very certain answer. Hasn't come. I will keep trying though.

I was just talking to my wonderful sister telling her about the situation and realized this is what the Bachelor must feel like.

He gets down to the last two women and has no idea what to do. Wait, what? How can you not know?! You think you love both of them! Now I understand this. It is because he doesn't really know either one of them. I haven't worked on either of these floors and don't have the experience to ask all the correct decisions. I bet if I had experience on both for a month the decision would be much easier.

This realization gave us a great laugh. Eased the stress quite a bit.

Minutes left to decide and I am still floundering...But I guess that is why they call it a leap of faith.

Let's just hope I don't mess up like the bachelor did...

Stuff in your pockets

Don't you love it when you wear a coat or anything you haven't worn for a while and you put your hands in your pockets and find something you didn't expect? I love that. Like some money, or some little sample axe body spray things I just found in my pocket that I got at the Jazz Sixers game. Money is obviously better, but I needed to illustrate my point. Don't you love that?

We are on our way to NYC for the Holiday on a double decker bus. Sweet. We are meeting Julie's brother and his wife there. Gotta love how close all of these cities are back here.
Happy Thanksgiving!

New posts below.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Seeing blogs in a new light

So I haven't been that interested in blogging. I get tired of seeing all the cool things people do and feeling a little left out. But I have realized since moving away from family and friends what a great tool blogs can be. It has been so fun to know what is going on in people's lives even when we are so far away. So up front, my life is great, but we are still learning how to live with one another. That can be frustrating, exasperating, and I am tempted to question myself and say "what was I thinking!"But that really, for the all those times, I would never change having someone there supporting me 100% of that way. Anyways, enough of that.
So I will be blogging periodically from now on and hopefully Eli doesn't mind me writing every once and a while.

So here is what I have been thinking about:

Honestly, Thanksgiving is not been my favorite holiday. I really don't like turkey (unless it is my dad's and is Cajun fried). Not a big fan of stuffing. Mashed potatoes are okay. I really enjoy the rolls, but that is about it. So when November comes around, I have always find myself wanting to forget the turkey and move on to Christmas. However, I realized (when reading my sister-in-law Shawni's blog) that instead of focusing on solely on Thanksgiving day, I really should be thinking about giving thanks all month.

This really dawned on me when driving to "work" this last week. On days when Eli does not have any appointments I am lucky enough to drive. On Thursday I turned right onto Capital South to get on the freeway to Virginia and there was the Capitol surrounded in this mist of fog. I starting thinking how cool it is that I get to see this beautiful building everyday I drive to work. I then realized that the rest of my commute is pretty fantastic as well. Once on the freeway I pass by the Washington and Jefferson monuments as I cross into Virginia. I get on the 66 where I am literally feet from the Pentagon. I also see the Air Force memorial which is very cool. Then heading north I pass the Iwo Jima memorial and get to see the rows and rows of headstones from the Arlington cemetery.

How lucky am I to see such beautiful sites on a 20 minute commute to work.

Another thing I am thankful for right now are beautiful sunrises. This month I have been working quite a few night shifts. Often we give a few medications at 630 right before shift change and right as the sun is coming up. I work on the 6th floor and looking out the window on that sunrise is just incredible with all the fall trees.

Lastly, I love books. I just read this book Left to Tell. (Once again thank you to Shawni-or Saydi-can't remember) Fabulous. It is the story of a woman caught in the middle of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. It made me question my relationship with God and how much power I could and should be utilizing from prayer. You should read it.

Basically I love nature right now and feel so lucky to live where I am and that Eli has a job.

Happy month of giving thanks!

Don't forget to read Eli's new post below!

P.S. Just found out about 2 minutes ago that I got a job! I interviewed at Children's National Medical Center and got the job on the Heart and Kidney Unit and the Hematology/Oncology Unit. I feel so lucky that I will get to get to work in such an amazing place. I seriously feel so humble, because even though Eli says I am the world's best nurse, I realize that I have so so so so much to learn.
Now the extremely hard part is deciding which one to take...

around

love this place. any time you can see stuff like this…. (mind these were taken with my iPhone, I can’t find my camera charger)

 

the smithsonian. i think you could go everyday for a couple years and still not see it all. This is the tunnel between the National Gallery of Art and the East Gallery (modern art), pretty awesome moving sidewalk ride.

I think I will always be in awe when I walk past this place. This is the pinnacle of all of the incredible architecture here in dc.

somebody was really thirsty. 40 gallons is worth a picture. She was looking right at me, but to me, you are asking for pictures when you have this much milk.

drove past this on a street in maryland while driving to a school. i can’t get over the leave here. we are still hanging on to a few of them, but winter seems to be trying to take over.

I went up to a conference outside of Philly at Penn State Abington. whoa it was beautiful up there! A little campus of old rock building surrounded by leaves like you can’t believe. i wish we could have had the conference outside.

The next week, I went back to Philly where Noah was kind enough to join me for an awesome day of work and meetings with the School District of Philadelphia. We conveniently planned the day of meetings with day the Jazz were in town to play the Sixers. Julie came up from DC and met us in time for dinner and the game. We went to Buddhakan, one of the coolest restaurants I have ever been to, not to mention incredibly tasty. Any time there is at 10 foot Buddha statue in the place, it’s gonna be good right (well, this was the first time I have experienced it, but I am 1 for 1 cause it was sweet). We then headed over to see the Jazz take it to the Sixers. It was awesome to be there rootin on the Jazz…even though they started up a little rough, but I think they are hitting their stride!

DC is an amazing spot full of great stuff, weird stuff, awesome people, peculiar people. One of my favorite things about being here is the great ward we are in. The Capitol Hill Ward is full of fascinating people who I am sure we’ll be learning a lot from. We’re excited to get to know everyone better. Today one of the lessons was on Service. It fit this time of year very nicely. Thanksgiving and Christmas should go hand in hand with service. We read in Matthew 25:31-40. Read it through slowly and think about it.

  31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

  32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

  33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

  34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

  35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

  36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

  37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

  38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

  39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

  40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

I think that when we serve (in any capacity) it is one small way that we can repay (or at least attempt to) our debt to the Savior. In a sense we get to be an extension of Him and do what he did. What does it mean to you? I am going to try to apply this more in my life. Really, I mean think about it, when we are sad/stressed, a lot of it is because we are spending a lot of time think about ourselves. Then think about how happy you are/the smile on your face during and after you have the opportunity to help someone, no matter how big or small the act. Thoughts?

philly.

I had to go to Philly last week for some meetings and it turned out Julie didn’t have to be in the hospital those days, so she came with me. I’ve been in Philly a lot this year, so it was fun to have Julie there to show her some of my favorite spots.

Philly is such a cool city. It is where everything started. There is such a diverse crowd of people there, and the city itself (architecture, food, layout, all that) is pretty awesome. At the center of the city is the MASSIVE city hall. According to the handout there, it is even bigger than the US Capitol Building. At the time it was built, it was supposed to be the the tallest structure in the world. It took them longer than they thought, and by the time they finished, the Washington Monument and the Eiffel Tower beat it out. The statue of William Penn on the top is the tallest statue on a building in the world. I have to give Julie credit for this first picture, she has quite the eye. That is the masonic temple on the left.

Then going out in all directions from the city hall is an awesome city. Some incredible architecture. We made it out to the mecca of cheesesteaks. Geno’s and Pat’s King of Steaks…the never ending debate as to who makes the better steak. Nothing like a little beef and cheeze wiz. They were both really good. I think we give the edge to Pat’s though. Geno’s was a little flashier. Pat’s had an inscription on the cement marking where Rocky stood during one of the Rocky movies. These guys take their steaks serious. It was a little intimidating to order in the right way.

Got to see the Liberty Bell and go on a tour of Independence Hall. It is amazing to hear the stories, and think about all the incredible minds that worked together to break away from England and establish this great country. Here in Independence Hall, these men basically signed their lives away as they were committing high treason. I am so glad they had the guts to not only sign the Declaration, but to make it happen.

Good times in the city of Brotherly Love. Talk about Phillies Pride. We were there the night the Phillies lost game 6. Everyone was out in every restaurant watching. Even though they lost. The loyal fans, from business men, to delivery guys still had their Phillies paraphernalia on the next day.

You’re probably wondering why the water is green…they are just having some issues with water there, and it even comes out of the tap this color. Well, actually there was some promotion thing going on so they dyed the fountain. Had you going though huh? Julie is pulling her second 7pm-7am shift in a row tonight. It amazes me because she is not what I call a night person, but she just does it without batting an eye. Julie Eyre = world’s best nurse.

the national arboretum

DC in the fall is so so pretty. On Sunday, even though it was a bit rainy we drove to the National Arboretum… a huge open space/park in the Northeast. It is absolutely gorgeous. You turn in, and you are transported and you feel like you are in the middle of the forest. With all the trees there on fire with autumn, it was so so pretty. Here are a few pics.

One of the coolest things there are these pillars. These are the pillars that graced the of the US Capitol until 1957 when they did some remodeling/expansion to the front. Someone had the idea to place them here in the middle of the Arboretum.

The rest of the Arboretum is just rolling hills with roads like this meandering through.

There was also this awesome bonsai and crazy flower garden.

 

There’s something new around every corner here in DC. Julie and I are loving it. Autumn is in full swing, and we’re coming up on the greatest time of year. The Holidays!