Sunday, January 30, 2011

Oh The Little Joys

I find little joys in the smallest things.
For example.
I am currently sitting on the couch with Gabster listening to 
The Kingdom of Africa's Music.
That's right.
I have found it.
Itunes Radio
whey haven't I noticed you until now!
That's right...every single radio you can imagine!
We have Country
College/University
Comedy
Golden Oldies
Top 40
and on and on and on
And then
there are subcategories!!
Glee Hits 24 hrs/day
Best of Italy
Latino Rock
70's Retro
and on and on and on
So my little joy is all the music that I can now be introduced to
from around the world.
simply amazing.
Almost as amazing as the wonderful smell of the crock pot cooking in the kitchen
{that would be shannon's masterpiece}
Gotta love Sunday's.
The roomies all together.
Spending time together.
Happy Sunday!
{ya...we kinda like to party}

Friday, January 28, 2011

Coming Home

What a beautiful morning!
I woke up to the sunshine simply beaming through my bedroom window
Friday: Class from 10-12
Simply amazing
You can believe that I slept in 
{granted...it was only until 7:35am..but that is sleeping in for me!}
I woke up smiling
Now, does it really surprise you that every song that I listen to right now
 starts with the title Coming Home!
I didn't think so.
Thank you Didd-Dirty Money
Your song Coming Home. Perfect
"I'm coming home. I'm coming home. Tell the world that I'm coming home"
Thank you Gwyneth Paltrow
Your song Coming Home. Perfect
"After all of my running, I am finally coming home"
yay!!
Have you gotten the clue yet?
I am coming home!
I guess I should say going home...one week!
So excited.
I know,  I know I did just see my family over Christmas, but I didn't get to actually go home
I miss my room
I miss my bed
I miss my mom's cooking
{this is my cute mamma in the kitchen...probably making something fantastic}
You can best believe I have a menu request
1. Lasanga {My mamma's Italian, so her homemade spaghetti sauce...meraviglioso!}
2. My daddy's barbequed burgers
3. Persimmon cookies
4. Triple C's (Chocolate Chip Cookies)
okay, I better stop now...I am getting too hungry

I miss my cute kitty Stanley
{What cat do you know that loves bubble baths!}

I miss just being home!
And doing things like this

{Just Dance 2 on Wii...need I say more!?}

So, this day couldn't be better.
Sunshine.
Running.
One class.
Work.
{yes, that is a happy place for me..weird I know}
and more sunshine.
Unfortunately I have to start studying for my Pharmacology test.
But I am not going to think about that right now.
Cause I am very happy
{Happy like when I went and saw Keith Urban in concert. Wow, thats a lot of happy}

Happy Friday!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Thata Baby.

As I was sitting in class, I decided to whip out my computer and pass some time.
You know...
blog stalk
facebook
email
more blogs
homework
calendar
grades (already...crazy I know)
BYU website
well, it was during my little meandering that I found this!
BYU Once Again Nation's Most Popular University according to U.S. News
click here and read!!
That always makes you proud!
Way to go BYU

School
Students Accepted
First Year Enrollment
Yield

7,049
5,421
76.9%

2,175
1,663
76.5%

2,426
1,694
69.8%

5,154
3,539
68.7%

5,943
3,986
67.1%

1,507
1,008
66.9%

1,958
1,307
66.8%

2,856
1,906
66.7%

3,003
1,992
66.3%

1,676
1,072
64.0%

1,269
809
63.8%

5,550
3,522
63.5%

4,040
2,475
61.3%

3,726
2,256
60.5%

827
498
60.2%

2,209
1,320
59.8%

2,130
1,259
59.1%

1,387
802
57.8%

10,821
6,253
57.8%

2,501
1,419
56.7%



Good luck in your Basketball Game tomorrow night!
BYU vs. San Diego State
This is how dedicated our fans are
It is snowing outside
It is cold
and we have 500+ people waiting outside the Marriott Center for the game.
Dedication baby
{my good friend Amanda waited in line and snapped this picture!}

As for me
 I sit here with my most favorite nursing friends trying to figure out
 Pharmacology medication calculations 
sipping hot chocolate...life is good..well the hot chocolate is good, hw, not so much.

{love her}


Meet My Roomie!

World I think it is time to meet Gabby
This is my roommate

Gabby and I have been roommates since the good ol' dorms.
{I know...I can't believe she has kept me around this long!}
Before I met Gabby Freshman year, we would email back and forth to each other.
I thought we were really cool.
You know...the traditional...
Hi! My name is Madison your new roommate! I love to dance, play tennis, and I live in Northern California with my fab fam. 
It pretty much went like that. 
Poor Gabby didn't know what she was in for!
It seems that I left out in my "hi this is me email" that I am also...
loud
crazy
hilarious (well, at least I think so)
and likes to talk
a lot
But she kept me!
And for that I am so grateful.
She is always there for me when I need someone to talk to.
I share my most secretest secrets with her.
She is the one person that I know will laugh at my jokes
{okay okay...she may be laughing at me...but I don't care!}
Her laugh "infiltrates" me
{inside joke}
She is always giving
Always caring
Always lifting me up
Thank you Gabby for putting up with my craziness
I sure do love you
and can't think of a better roommate.








Thursday, January 20, 2011

Operating Room

You know that great amazing feeling when you wake up in the middle of the night and you realize you still have more hours to sleep!
Well that was me last night.
I woke up at 2:30am this morning to use el baño and when I looked at the clock I was so excited
because I still had 2 more hours to sleep!
My alarm was set to go off at 4:40am
It's clinical day..what do you expect!

My plan: 
1. Wake up
2. Throw on the scrubs and get ready
3. Make a lunch
4. Grab the brownies I made for Paige's bday
5. Go get Paige at 5:30am
6. Get to the hospital by 5:50

Well...when does anything ever goes as planned?

What actually happened:
1. Woke up at 5:32 from a text from Paige
2. Freaked out and jumped out of bed
{sorry Gabs, I was so loud}
3. Threw on my scrubs
4. Ran out the door
5. Ran back inside to grab my stethoscope
6. Ran out the door...again
7. Ran back inside to grab a banana
{instructions from my clinical instructor...eat a hardy carb filled breakfast...its OR day}
8. Ran out the door...again
9. Ran back inside to grab the brownies on the counter
10. Off to Paige's I went- got there in 2 minutes
11. Picked up Paige
12. Got to Timpanogos Hospital in 6.3 minutes
{..I may have been driving just a tad fast...sorry mom and dad but don't worry! No ticket}
13. Kicked Paige out of the car at the Main Entrance so she wasn't late
14. Parked the car
15. Went to my shift in Same Day Surgery/OR
16. Only 2 minutes late..phew!
17. Let the day begin


Mark this day one of the best days in Nursing School
I had an amazing nurse that I got to follow
I inserted my first catheter on a real person today! 
{A female even...way harder than a male}
No more tomatoes!
I inserted IV's
I wore Surgery Scrubs
{way more comfortable than my BYU scrubs}
I wore face masks and hair caps
I watched surgeries all morning

Brachytherapy surgeries
BMT's
Adenoidectomies

and so on and so forth
I was on cloud 9
I got to work with amazing nurses, doctors and anesthesiologists
It's days like these that makes me forget about the endless amount of homework I have 
or the brutal tests I have to study for
It's days like these that make me excited to become a nurse.
and it's days like these that make me feel like I am a nurse
Yay for the Operating Room!

P.S.
As mentioned before it is Paige's Birthday!
Happy 20th Birthday my dear friend Paige Brunt
I am so glad that I met you in Chemistry class
You are an amazing friend and wonderful person
You inspire me everyday with your optimism and love for life.
And you are the best nursing partner ever.
Love you!
oh ya, and I love how you are obsessed with Grey's Anatomy.
Makes me love you that much more!
{what a beautiful girl!}

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Happiest Place on Earth

Disneyland.
It truly is The Happiest Place on Earth.
It hold's a special place in my heart because it brings back so many memories.
When I was younger
{okay, who am I kidding, up until a couple years ago}
my family would go to Disneyland.
Every year.
It was always a vacation we looked forward to.
We would pack up the Suburban with our boogie boards, beach towels, cameras, etc.
and venture the trip to Southern California.
We would go to Disneyland and spend time on the beach.
Awesome vacation.
Well, after our cruise we were right next to Disneyland how could we not go!
About a month before the trip, my mom calls to tell me that we have now decided to spend a couple days in L.A. so that we could go to Disneyland.
She wanted to know if that would be okay with my work schedule.
I told her...for Disneyland...of course!
So Kenz and I switched our flights so we could stay a couple days longer.
That idea made me very excited.
The fact that I got  more days with my family was good enough!
Disneyland during Christmas was a new experience!
And a great one at that.
The decorations were amazing.
The lights were gorgeous.
And the fake snow was...well okay, I have real snow but the rest of the fam loved it!
Everyone is happy here.
{hence the happiest place on earth}
Kids run around wide-eyed, big smile on their face with Mickey Mouse ears
It is such a great site.
So happy.
And so were we!


{Toy Story 3! One of the best rides at California Adventures}



Until next year Disneyland!

Almost the weekend!
Now that is something to be very happy about.



Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Hola Mexico!

This Christmas was the first Christmas I didn't spend at home. 
And I came to find
that was just fine.
{oh wow, I even rhyme! haha}
Because I spent my Christmas day zip-lining through the jungles of Matzlan and laying on the beach.
Spending a week with the people I love.
Not too shabby.
Mackenzie and I flew out of Salt Lake Tuesday, December 21st right into L.A.
I had to work that morning, so right from work I drove to Lehi and parked Henry (aka my car)
in front of my grandparents house
Poor fellow. I'm gonna miss him!
But off we go to the airport.
Kenz and I caught our flight with no problem, and were greeted at LAX 
by my mom, aunt, cousin and Macey.
The rest of the fam was at the hotel, and my dad and Miranda were flying in later that evening.
It was raining in LA which was no fun at all, but at least it wasn't very cold!
Love California.
The next morning we waited to set sail.
After a quick grab and go at Starbucks
(that was one large line of 16 people ha)
we headed to the boat!
We were so excited when we saw it sitting in the harbor.
Everyone was anxious to board!



Once we boarded, we had to have a mandatory fire drill. 
(We felt like Titanic...everyone in their life-vests. But, we did learn...do not say Titanic!)
When we first boarded the ship we were handed a sheet of paper.
A scavenger hunt.
Perfect.
Competition=My Family.
Winner=Prizes.
Even more perfect.
So away we went 
(well the kids did...the parents just gave us our cards and said go get our stamped...typical)
Exploring the decks were so much fun!
There were 14 total.
On our excursion, we even got massages!

After we got our card stamped, we headed down to the main deck for the Set Sail Party
Lots of music.
Lots of people.
Lots of drinks.
Lots and lots of fun.
We even won two prizes for the Scavenger hunt!
Even better.
Free internet and free BINGO

After the party we went to go check out our rooms.
Our Cruise Director
aka my daddy
{this handsome fellow right here}
arranged all the rooms so that we were 
all right next to each other.
Well, except the 3 boys.
Which turned out to be a not-so-bad accident.
The rooms weren't too shabby!
Nonnie and Papa had a room with a balcony...so sweet.

The first 2 days we were sailing, so we enjoyed the cruise ship.
This means.
1. Food
2. Karaoke
3. Chess and lots of card games
4. Laying out on the deck
5. Comedy Shows
6. Dance Shows
8. Food
9. Gingerbread Houses
10. Dancing

{if you are wondering who the guy in jeans and a towel is..well that would be my uncle...enough said}

{The parents partied more than the kids!}



Our first stop was Puerto Vallarta.
It was Christmas Day and we got ready to go zip-lining through the jungle.
We took a trip in the back of a car up to the place.
It was quite the ride let me tell you.




When we got to the zip-lining place, we had to harness and helmet up


Yes. Everyone looked this funny. 
Not just our crazy group.
Let the zip-lining begin!
It was so much fun. We would fly through the jungle and over creeks 
It was amazing.


When we finished our last run through the jungle.
They surprised us with mule rides back up to camp.
Probably the best part seeing P.J. ride the smallest little donkey.
Loved it.
{Imagine seeing this coming up the hill. It was one for the books...poor donkey}

Puerto Vallarta was amazing.
A great way to spend Christmas!
Our next stop was Matzlan.
Here, we went on the ATV's all over the plantations.
I think we were all even more excited for this.
Let's just say that my family has a...need for speed!
And my amazing favorite (only) brother was the..uhm..let's just say he rolled his quad and made Mackenzie fly off of her's 
and always making sand fly into your face.

{I'm pretty hard core though too...if I do say so myself}

After the 3 hour ride...you can imagine what we looked like!
Sand, Dirt and Sweat...what a great combo!




The last stop on our 7-Day Riviera Cruise was Cabo San Lucas!

We were all looking forward to this stop because my family has been there before.
We have a house in Cabo, but it was nice to do a little something different.
And when I say different...I mean amazing
In Cabo we got to swim with the dolphins!
What a great experience it was. 
I have always wanted to do this, so I was very anxious.
We all got on our wet-suits and were ready!
(pics from the actual swimming with the dolphins are on their way)

{I think they liked the wet suits a little too much}


{Wow mamma, getting a little short there!}
{All of the kids}

The trip was amazing. 
So much fun, and definetly more than I ever could imagine.
I got to spend time with my most favorite people in the world.









I love my family! 
Thank you everyone for such an amazing trip.
How I wish I was back in the sun!