Christmas for Mom and Dad

This Christmas I had NO idea what to get my parents.  I had no money to buy them something, and usually when I buy them something it ends up being something that I use more than they do.   One day I happened to be on Pinterest and saw a project that a daughter did for her dad's 60th birthday.  She had emailed some of her dad's friends and asked them to write a memory or thought for him to open on his birthday.  She put all the responses in envelopes and had him open them one by one.  I absolutely loved the idea so I thought I would try my own little version of it.  I emailed some of my parent's friends and lots of family and made a private group on Facebook to try to get responses.  I got TONS. I loved reading the responses.  Some were hilarious and others made me cry while I read them.  I took everything and put them in homemade books that I learned how to do from this website.

My photography skills aren't the best but I thought they turned out great (and I learned a lot about my parents haha) and I'm so thankful for everyone who helped add to them. It wouldn't have worked without the help!

I'm so grateful for my parents and all the help they give me!

First Day of Class

I had my first day of the last semester of school before I take my NCLEX to be a registered nurse! It didn't really hit me until I got a call from Career Services and went and talked with them.  The first thing he asked me was how excited I was.  I always say I'm excited to graduate and get a real nursing job, but I had never REALLY thought about how close it was. It really is happening! I can't even explain how excited I am to get to do this.  I have 13 days of class left. :) I kind of feel like a senior in high school, doing mock job interviews and sending in my resume to have people critique.  It's all coming together! I couldn't be happier!

(And thank you mom and dad for helping me out! I really couldn't have done it without you!)

NEW YEAR!

To finish off 2011:

Halloween: Whit and I dressed up as Ninja Turtles, and put together our costumes with help from Nick and Chris. We were pretty proud of them. We ended up going dancing with some friends at a random Halloween party, and watching a scary movie after. Tons of fun, even if Whit and I were coughing and blowing our noses the whole night.

When it was REALLY Halloween, Pepe, Jun, Whit and I went to the airport to pick up Javi who was getting ready to go into the MTC. We made him a sweet little sign and everything, and while we were waiting for him to come down the stairs, he called us wondering where we were. He had already picked up his bags, and was on a different airline than we had thought.  It was SO good to see him though.

His parents flew in a day later and are SO funny. We all went out to dinner and got to know them better. They had really interesting stories from when they lived in Cuba, Russia, Venezuela and Mexico. It was a fun few days, and then we got to say goodbye to him at the MTC on November 2. 

Thanksgiving: Before we all went on our separate trips for Thanksgiving we decided to have a little friend Thanksgiving.  It was perfect.  From around the table starting front left and going clockwise is Nick, Chris Yegge, Liz Allen (roommate), Stacey Johnson, Viviana Zamora, me, and RJ Mattei.  Whit was taking the picture.

I was in charge of the turkey! I made one last year when we stayed down here for Thanksgiving and it turned out pretty well.  I got a smaller one this year and we still had tons of leftovers.  It was good food and lots of laughing as always!

For Thanksgiving day, my dad had bought me a plane ticket home.  It was SO great.  My carpool group dropped me off at the airport after class and I was home by 8pm.  It was so good to be home.  I got to hang out with the nephews and family a ton so it couldn't have been better.  One night I woke up at 2 am and there was someone's face right in front of mine.  I was CREEPED out.  All I could say was, "Who are you!?" And then I heard Nick laugh and so I figured out it was Whit and Nick.  They had driven through the night to come home.  I guess they were mad when I got a plane ticket home and decided to plan a trip without telling anyone but our friends, who were all excited they could keep the secret from me. We got to go to the Turkey Bowl but mostly took pictures and talked with cousins this year.

Finals: We spent the week in the library and all managed to live through the week! I am officially on my last semester before I am an RN!

Christmas: We got to go home, and the drive was pretty fast, especially because there was no snow ANYWHERE on the drive home.  Not even on the side of the roads. It was kinda nice, I got lucky and slept most of the way home.  Whit and I got addicted to Once Upon a Time and Grimm.  SO GOOD.  I got to play more with my awesome nephews and Whit and I took Rock and Ryker ice skating.  Rock absolutely loved it and didn't want to leave. I loved getting to play with them everyday and finally getting Ryker to give me lots of loves. I'm excited to see those boys again!

Ice skating with Rock

Now on to 2012! I'm back in Provo and just getting things ready for the new semester to start next week.  I only have classes on Tuesdays and then I have ten 12 hour shifts throughout the semester for my preceptor-ship in the labor and delivery unit.  I did that rotation during the summer and absolutely loved it. I'm incredibly excited for this semester.  Things are going great!