2010... can you believe it?

It's amazing that yet another decade has passed. It sure was an interesting one. We had things like:

9/11 and the Iraqi war
Saddam Husein executed
The Tsunami
Hurricane Katrina
The first African American president
ipods and iphones
hybrid cars that are more mainstream
Everyone has a cell phone now. Believe it or not, but I remember when hardly anyone did. Now elementary school kids have cell phones!

For me, 2000-2010 had some big changes. I started highschool, graduated highschool, was a river guide and a college student, I got married, and graduated from nursing school. Holy transitions batman!

I decided last Sunday what my resolution for this year would be. I've made some small ones in the past, but I haven't been a real resolution maker. I mean, I have had goals, but they've always been brought on by things like schooling and life transitions (as mentioned above.) The only definite resolution I can remember making and keeping was trying to be nicer to my sister. :)
This year I have a goal and a plan. Something that promises to make this year extra special.

Recently, a pair of newly weds moved into our ward, and they are quite a pair. They are very outgoing and have taken the time to immerse themselves into the ward right away. I've been very impressed with the wife of this couple especially. She spoke in church, and lit a fire in me. I was so amazed at her excitement for the gospel of Jesus Christ. She loved it, and you could tell. And it was so easy for her to talk about it, because she was so excited. Her and her husband talked about sharing the gospel like sharing a new favorite TV show. It really made me think. How many times do I tell people how great Deva Hair products are? Or how much I love Glee and Big Bang Theory, and how everyone should watch it? Or rave about Anne Taylor Loft and how I could spend my life savings in that store? Why can't I do that with my Savior? Why do I get so embarrassed and assume people don't want to hear about him, when I assume they want to hear about my hair products? Why am I so willing to be teased for loving a show about choir, but not willing to put myself out there for what matters most?

This is my new years resolution: To find a love for the gospel of Jesus Christ so deep and passionate I can't help but share it with others. To become more comfortable talking to people about my faith.

My plan:

1. Daily prayer, once by myself, once with Ryan. (Then of course meals and such.)
   
2. Study the scriptures and the life of Christ 4 days a week at least.
3. Share my love for the gospel 1 time a month at least. Whether it's to people who already know about it or not.

It's an amazingly simple plan, but one I've been neglecting too much.

I figure that if I can increase the light of Christ in my life all my other resolutions will be easier too. Because when I'm taking care of my spiritual self, I am kinder to my spouse, I am more motivated to serve others, I have a stronger desire to care for my physical self, and I am just darn happier. The end!


Other goals for this year:

1. Find a job as a nurse and transition into that new role.
2. Buy a house with the extended tax incentives.
3. Get pregnant. (not right away, don't get excited people.)
4. Build lots of muscle and get ripped!
5. Go to Disneyland.

What are your goals for the new year? I'll try to get Ry to post his too.

Adventures in Carpet Cleaning

If you've been to my apartment in the last year or so, you've probably thought to yourself how dirty the carpet was.

Thank you for not voicing it out loud.

Because I really did know. How could you not notice? The multicolored spots, the obvious flattened down crusty pathway where we walk most of the time, the smell. I know.

Luckily, we just got a new vacuum with some of our Christmas/Graduation money. It stirred a whole new passion with-in for cleaning. I ended up borrowing my Dad's Bissell carpet cleaner, and had rather grandiose ideas about sparkling like-new soft carpet. I vacuumed all the corners and moved all the smaller things off the floor. I hooked up all the parts, took the hose to the faucet and... something was wrong. Yup. I have a backwards faucet. In both the kitchen and the bathroom. When you unscrew the thing off our faucets, they are female, and so is the Bissell. And as much as I tried to convince them they were lesbians, we all know that that just doesn't--work.

As I was mourning the loss of an ideal world, what to my wondering eyes should appear--But Ryan with a ginormous carpet cleaning machine. One of the very ones he spends 8 hours a day financing for people. My Hero! We immediately went to work and had cleaned a full 4 foot square... when the fuse blew.

And our neighbor landlords weren't home. (the fuse box is in their half of the house.)

So we read books to the light of flashlights and fish tank until they returned. Very romantic... Or something.

Eventually though, we did clean our carpets.
It's a good thing too:
NO, the frustration didn't send us to coffee drinking.
This is the water emptying out after we cleaned. ugh.

Check this out. Can you see the difference in color between the unclean and the clean?

The finished zebra striped carpet.

Christmas 2009

We sure had a full Christmas that lasted a whole week.

Our festivities started on Sun. 12/20 at the McAllister Christmas party. We ate food, and then had the new addition of having a white elephant gift exchange this year. I liked that we did it, because all of our families don't always intermingle or do things all together. This made us all interact and share a couple of good laughs together. I liked it better than any of our recent parties with that side of the family. It was really funny to watch Ross try to plot and battle it out on how to get Rock-em Sock-em. He was making deals with his wife and siblings, and all to end up being out done by his own brother. It was very entertaining.

(Taking pictures of family parties is really kind of lame. Just a bunch of people sitting around. I promise, we have fun though. ) (Remember, if you click on them you can view them larger)

Here's Grandpa and his white elephant Kiss CD.
Just what he always wanted!

And here's Dad and his stylish Jonas Brothers tote bag.
Also a long awaited gift.

The very next day was the Dearden Family party. We did an interactive Scrooge movie, where you watch the movie and sing along, eat when/what they eat, do what they do, etc. Complete with English party poppers. I got shots of everyone who put on a crown. We're so cute.
On Christmas Eve, we cleaned the house--Santa doesn't come to a dirty house--then rewarded ourselves with some... Crown Burgers! and a walk up Millcreek Canyon.
It was very pretty, and very cold. It was also nice to get outside and enjoy some of the best winter scenery around. Then that night we went to Ryan's Aunt JaNel's, where we had Pretzels:

(Mine is the treble clef on the left, then Grandma Carol's in the middle, Elise's right.)
and all sorts of other goodies.

Here's yet another collage of people sitting around.

(To our far away families: anyone you don't recognize is probably Heather's kids who were with Aaron and Donna, or Jessica's-just-announced-fiance, Wes.)

We had some entertainment from the kiddos, (Many, many, videos. Theses are for you Brad. I'm not as talented as you, especially since I was just sitting in my chair, but at least you get a taste!)

and grandma read a story.

Then, Aaron read the Christmas story from the scriptures.

We ended with a White Elephant gift exchange. There were some really great entries, like chapstick, scented candles, and a train whistle. I beat out both Grandma and Paul to win my very own squishy light up glow worm thing! Here's Ry and I with our winnings. (he got a 3D puzzle)
We missed all you other Greens. Next year, you should all come to us! (Our jobs won't let us leave during the holidays.) We'll have you all over to our house--which will hopefully really be a house at that point. You can haul down Grandma, Grandpa, and Steve and Nancy too. Especially since I've never met either of the latter.

The next morning, Ry got up at 6:30. I managed to hold out until 7:30 before getting up. We had a pretty good haul this year, if I do say so myself. :)

Here's Ry celebrating having picked out something for me to wear all on his own, and me liking it. (he got me shoes) Ryan's pile:

Mine:

Mikey and Brenna were on-call for the Mortuary, so we all went up to them for Christmas dinner.

We were really in touch with our British roots this year and did poppers a second time.
Nothing feels more festive then a paper crown, no?

We spent the whole day playing some new games,

then watched Four Christmases. (Weird, and not really funny movie. I don't recommend it.)

And Laura and Garhett had a fight.
Just kidding, they were just sitting like this and I thought it was funny.

It was a really nice Christmas, full of lots of family.

And in case we hadn't had enough family time yet, after I got off work the next day, we all went and saw Sherlock Holmes. (Really good! Very fun, lots of hot dudes.)

The End!

ha ha!

Anyone else see the album cover of Adam Lambert's and laugh really really hard?

Or just me?

Positively good.

I feel like I've posted a lot of negative thoughts lately, so here's a few things to bring the positive vibes back.

First, before I got sick I had my sister-fitness-trainer-in-training help me set myself up for my new weight training program. I can see why having a trainer can get you such good results. Laura had me do heavier weights than I would have picked. She also corrected my form, and pushed me to the last rep. I got a really great work out! and it was fun! I highly recommend her, even though she's only had a semester of training.

Recently I got to spend the whole day with my sister in law Brenna, and niece Bridget. We had a craft day. It was really fun to spend so much time with Brenna. It's been nice to have developed such a good friend in my sister in law. It's only taken 2 years. :) I'll post the pictures of my finished crafty awesomeness later. It's a present for Ryan's mom, and I don't want to ruin it.

With the reduced stress level now that I'm done with school, Ry and I's relationship has been really great lately. I haven't laughed this much in a while, and it's been so nice. It's so nice to just enjoy our time together and the things we love about each other. (aw... you can gag now if you want.)

I have to teach YW this Sunday, and I'm doing a Christmas theme lesson. I bring this up because I have learned so much from preparing this lesson about Christ's birth I never knew before. It's also made a wonderful impact on making this Christmas season geared towards the right things in my mind. I am so grateful for my savior, and the chance to celebrate his birth.

Ry and I went out last night for dinner and a movie. We had sushi! Yum! We caught some really great footage of us stuffing those huge rolls into our mouths. Very attractive....

Ryan eats sushi with his fingers. He's chopstick challenged.

This is a rare type of fish called the big mouth ash. ha! (Like big mouth bass. Get it?)

We also found out we don't like eel. (ugh.)
Here it is after I took it out of the whole caterpillar roll.

Ryan was recording when I thought he was taking a picture--a favorite past time of his. I was teasing him about taking a good picture of me, and asking of the lighting was good. I promise, I was joking, I'm not that narcissistic. At least not out loud. ;)

And if I'm posting retarded videos of me, I'm posting this one of Ry at Red Robin. I was making him re-do his shocked face. It's classic.

The movie we saw was Avatar. It was good. The story is obvious, or as Ryan said: Tired. Some of the dialogue was really bad. But the special effects were amazing. They should be when 300 million dollars went into making it! I don't think it'll ever be in my top 10 favorite movies, but it might be in someone else's. It's worth seeing though.

The next week will be busy with family Christmas party after family Christmas party. I love Christmas time!

What I really want for christmas...

Is a job

I think I'm struggling most because people said over and over that as a nurse I'd have people lining up to hire me. Well, thanks to this dad-gum recession, and silly rules at Intermountain Healthcare, I have yet to find someone to even interview me. A lot of women that work as nurses work part-time, or PRN, since you can still make good money and have a family. (Hello! That's one of the reasons I picked it!) I'm sure many of their spouses have lost jobs in this economic downturn and so these part-time nurses have gone back to work. Also, everyone is feeling the crunch of the economy, so many hospitals have a freeze on hiring. New grads are also more expensive than experienced nurses, because it takes a lot of orientation and work to get us in the groove. Almost every job posting I look at wants at least 1 year experience. Well, that's nice, but how am I supposed to get a years experience if no one will hire me? I also wonder if I'm having issues because I'm not even licensed yet. But as soon as I'm licensed I can't work in the job I have now. It makes me feel pressured to get hired as soon as possible because I'll be out of work soon.
Intermountain kind of has the monopoly on healthcare in Utah, and they won't hire new grads except into a nurse residency program. Which is a program they designed for new grads and nurses with less than 1 year experience. You have 4 hours a week of class time, and then 4 extra weeks of orientation. They also rope you in to a 2 year commitment. The issue for me arises from the fact that IHC has their own nursing program. They'll pay for the students' education and require a two year commitment. So the positions in the residency programs are quickly consumed by their internal new grads. I work for Intermountain now, but of course I happen to work in an ICU, which is required to take those with more experience first. (more critical patients need more experience nurses.) We've hired new grads in the past because we didn't have any other choice. I just had to graduate when 8 applicants don't only have experience, but ICU experience.
I've tried to be optimistic. I try to tell myself that perhaps there's somewhere else I'm supposed to be, or something else I need to be doing. But I really have no faith in that, which is sad. After looking at the Dept of Workforce Services website and reading "1 year experience required", "3 years experience highly preferred", etc over and over I get discouraged and just want to go back to bed. Forever.
I just need to be patient, and get over the fact that I may not work in acute care (a hospital). I have to tell myself It's only been 9 days since I graduated, 7 of which I spent sick. I'm not the only one in this boat, either. It's only that I know so many people who have had a job lined up since before graduation because they worked in a unit that would just hire them on. I need to relax and enjoy the holidays and get over myself. The End.

Updatearoondo (Hey, I have a lot of posts titled 'update' okay?)

I often sit down to blog and then my mind goes blank. What did I do recently that's blog worthy? Good thing I take pictures of pretty much everything we ever do. Even if the pictures suck and I never post them, I have something to jog my memory. So with or without pictures, here's some thoughts and events from the last little while.

-It finally snowed a bunch a while ago. I was starting to really hate the cold weather. I always feel jipped when it's freezing cold without the benefit of snow.

-The cold has been good for one other thing too: the cat. Afro can't stand to be outside for very long, and it's given us a chance to get reacquainted. He's kept me company a lot while I'm sick and has slept the days away with me. It's been so fun to have him follow me around the house like he always used to. I heart my kitty.

-Here are some pictures of my graduation.

Greeting the Weber lady with my diploma holder thing.

Pinned by mom.
Then greeting the rest of the faculty. (Gonna miss them.)
Greeting the family afterward. This is the only good one. The rest were candid ugliness.

The four ladies that made nursing school bearable

Rachel, (me), Christie (prego!), Nicole, Nina

-The job search continues without success. Looks like home health and nursing homes may be in my future. (blech) At least they pay really well.

-I felt well enough to work my weekend shifts. Although I do have a persistent post nasal drip cough that is lingering. It was enough to have a family request I do not return to their room. Ever. :) It's probably because they are stationed right outside the nutrition room where I went to go retrieve water when I had a coughing attack. (ya know, when you can't stop coughing and your eyes bug out of your head and your face turns bright red. yeah, like that.)

-One of the girls at work who reads my blog asked me what the name of my brother is. She was confused because I sometimes use nicknames and sometimes don't. So for clarification: Giardia is Jordan's nickname. Loufa is Laura. They are all one in the same. I think I almost always call Mikey, Mikey. But everyone else calls him Mike. Aren't nicknames fun? They don't call me anything though.

-Last night we went on a double date with Kevin and his girlfriend, Mikelle. We went to Desert Star Playhouse, which is always so funny! We saw Nutcracker: men in tights. It was a fun time, and we all enjoyed it.
And that's what we've been up to!

I now leave you with this awe-dorable picture of us, cuz we're vain like that.

Speaking of Glee look alikes...

I also think this Glee member (Finn) looks like/acts like/totally is my brother Jordan.

Seriously. They have similar mannerisms, similar looks, similar facial expressions. It's so weird sometimes.

Idina Menzel Vs. Lea Michele (Rachel from Glee)

Does anyone else think these two look and even sound a lot alike?

Every time I watch Glee I always think so.

(Idina Menzel from things like Wicked and Rent, top. Lea Michele from Glee, bottom.)
On the playlist on the side of the blog, you can hear the two of them singing the same song.
See what you think.

I think they especially sound similar when they're belting it, if you can listen that far.


I'm gonna miss Glee while it's on break till the spring. :(

Drowning in my own mucus

I know, after a post title like that, how can you resist reading it?

The day before Jordan's wedding, I got just a touch of a sore throat. I tried to nip it in the bud with some Airborne, but unfortunately the sore throat escalated into sinuses full of mucus by reception time. The following 4 days were imperfect, but bearable. I made it through all my finals without feeling at all hindered by my illness.

I felt so good a week after the sore throat started, I even felt gung ho enough to start the weight training program I've been planning on. The next day, however, what I thought was simple muscle soreness became much more. My whole body ached, my teeth chattered uncontrollably, and I couldn't stop shivering. This was not good, mostly because it brought on the whimper-laughing my family is famous for. (what, you didn't know?) I know for a fact my siblings often participate in the same behavior that drives my mom up the wall. When ever we're achy and sore we do it. Things like high fevers, long hikes, and skiing typically bring it on. It's true, after a long day on the slopes my whole family can be seen laying about in various states of convulsions and whimper-cry-laugh-hysterics.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason Ryan has never seen me in such a state. (It has been a while since we've been skiing together, then been together after for the soreness.) So in the midst of my crying one minute, laughing the next through chattering teeth, Ryan--in all seriousness--asked me if I was going to die.

Eventually, the Ibuprofen kicked in and I stopped shaking and chattering and laughing and went to sleep.

Of course this just HAD to happen the day of my graduation from nursing school. Luckily, as long as I stayed medicated my symptoms were mostly minimal and I made it through the ceremony awake and alert.

It was a pretty good ceremony, although I think my LPN graduation was better. There were too many people trying to be funny in their speeches. I thought the things said in the LPN graduation were much more meaningful and made me feel happy about becoming a nurse. But I was sitting next to some of my newest best friends and I'm glad I didn't miss the culmination of all our hard work. After many speeches and slide shows, we finally walked across the stage to receive our diplomas. My mom presented me with my pin this year, which was really great. My Grandma gave me my LPN pin, so now I've been pinned by both nurses in my family. It's fun to have 3 generations of us.

We had originally had plans to go to dinner as a family after the ceremony, but due to my illness I didn't want to infect the planet. (just everyone at graduation.) It ended up giving me time to snap a few pictures of me and the 4 great friends I've made in school. I know I wouldn't have made it through without them. It's been a blessing I never expected. It's amazing to have such wonderful women bear the same burden and help me with mine. I cannot thank them, or my Heavenly Father enough for their friendship and support. I am--yep I'm going to say it--seriously so blessed!

I've spent the last two days since then in bed. I've slept more in the last 3 days than I do in a week. It's been a really lame way to start my new found freedom, but I don't have the energy to participate in anything else. It's been a nice destraction from the fact that I can't find a freaking job though! but that's another post.

I hope someday to get back out into the real world. I have wonderful plans of revenge to seek on the makers of the flu shot this year, among other things. If anyone is needing a service project, you can come clean my apartment while I watch the insides of my eyelids. :)

Thoughts about the end of a long road

Well, today I graduate from nursing school. I've had lots of time to contemplate as I've spent the whole day in bed with the flu. It is truly surreal. My life has been almost nothing but nursing school for a year and a half and now it's ending. All I can think about is how grateful I am for the experience. Nursing school has taken me to places I would have never been without it. I've had experiences I will always cherish. I've had some amazing friends and mentors, and I'll never forget. It's a realization of a long road and a lot of work. I will always look back on nursing school happily. It's changed my life and for the better. I'll miss so many people and I don't know how to tell them all how much they've impacted my life. I can already tell I shouldn't have put on mascara before going to the ceremony tonight.
Thank you to everyone who's supported me and put up with me during this journey. I know the stress of school didn't always make me a delight to be around.
A special thank you goes out to Ryan for keeping me on track and putting up with the worst of it. For sleeping alone some nights and not seeing me for days on end. I owe a lot to you, thank you.
Here's to the next chapter in our life! Cheers!

Stuff We Like

When you get a craving for a burger, you probably have a particular one you always go for. Maybe it's In n Out, Maybe Five Guys... for us, it's gotta be a Crown Burger.

I introduced Ryan to Crown Burgers and he can't go back. They are de-licious. The beautiful layers of pastrami, american cheese, and onions on top of the juicy burger is better than any other hamburger out there. mmmmm...

Here it is in all it's deliciousness:

and what was left after I got a hold of it:
Although I have to admit, I usually eat the Jr. Crown Burger because no matter how delicious it is, I can only fit so much.

Oh we love ourselves a good Crown Burger.

Giardia's Wedding

Last Wednesday, my little brother got hitched! It was a fun and exhausting day. I love when you're closely related to the person getting married because you get to be a part of everything. But it sure makes for a long day!

The sealing was absolutely wonderful. They were sealed by the new apostle, Elder Anderson. He had some good things to say, and made it a nice ceremony. I was so proud of my little Giardia. He was just beaming and happy, and it was so sweet. I cried. A lot.

And here are a bunch of random photos outside the temple:

Everyone thinks they're so funny.

The "ice cream kiss" as Mikey called it.
Apparently Jordan didn't get the memo that G rated kisses only are allowed at weddings.
Sicko.

Poor freezing cousins from California.Aw, they're so cute!

Aw...

Between the sealing and the luncheon, Mike, Brenna, Bridget, Laura, Ryan, and I all made a Wendy's run for a snack. I don't care what you say, my siblings are freaking awesome and we always have fun. I'm glad that I've gotten to know Brenna better over the last little while because she's a wonderful asset to our family.

The luncheon was at Olive Garden downtown. Laura came with Ry and I. We got in the wrong elevator, but only figured it out after Ryan had hit every single button on the darn thing. So we visited every floor of the office building Olive Garden is in. Luckily there are only 5 levels. The luncheon was great, even with it's weird set up that kind of segregated the two families. My dad made our side of the family very happy by simply saying, "On behalf of Vivian and I, thank you all for coming. And that's it!" We're not really speech people. My dad especially.

Between the luncheon and the reception, Laura came over to our apartment and we watched So You Think You Can Dance and Big Bang Theory that we had recorded.

The reception was held at the point and was a really nice venue. The decorations were gorgeous and so was the view. I really liked the place. I kept trying to think of reasons I could make up to rent it out for a party some time.

The video they had was not just a slide show, but had footage outside the temple. It was so beautiful, I cried some more. I have never been really impressed with any wedding videos I've seen, but this one was really great.

I have just a random smattering of pictures from the reception.
Honestly, the best one's I took were with my mom's camera.
But it's enough to get the idea.

Here's me, Laura, and Mom getting ready in the bathroom.

We spent most of the time just hanging out. Ry and I went on a nice walk around the top floor of the Huntsman Center. Then of course there was the cutting of the cake and bouquet and garter toss. Then we got a few family members to dance.

Here's Laura and her boyfriend Luke Skywalker, I mean Garret.
He went on a mission to Anchorage Alaska! He even had dinner with the Greens while he was there!
(Elder Colton)

The cute couple in line

It was a really nice wedding, and I enjoyed it a lot. I'm glad Jordan found someone so great to be his wife. Miquelle is a great addition to our family and I'm sure will be a great friend.






ha! I just realized I posted this as Ryan! oops!