You're only the best I've ever had...

Today Justin and I had the privilege of going with the Public Health nurses to do an immunization clinic at the local high school. We arrived bright and early and ready to work our little behinds off. The kiddos began to trickle in to register and if they were missing any immunizations they were sent to our "booth." It was being manned by myself, Justin, 2 public health nurses and the public health nurse admin assistant. I was nervouse because I'd never given an immunization before - well not on a real live/life patient. The first person came and the public health nurse showed us what to do - easy (or so it seemed)!

Justin took the next kid as I drew up the medicine into the syringe for him and filled out the paperwork. The girl, who was quite nervous, looked to her mom for support. She squeezed her beady eyes as tightly as she could and braced herself. Justin did his thing, and happily stated, "You're all done." She slowly opened her eyes and stated, "That's it?!?" She, smiling like a Cheshire cat, turned to her mom and exclaimed, "I want him giving me ALL my shots from now on."

It was my turn, and my victim (errr..patient) took her seat. I did my thing and she flinched - the public health nurse told her, "See I bet that didn't even hurt," to which she replied, "Oh yes it did." I did have one happy customer who exclaimed how he wished it would hurt when I gave him the shot, and not wanting to disappoint I did my "thang" and made him proud. To which I got the praise, "Thanks, that felt really good!"

This was how the day was to go - all of my kids were to report that my work hurt/scared/marred them for life but Justin's kids all raved about his shot giving abilities - here are a few of his praises:

"That's the best shot I've EVER had."
"I want him giving me ALL my shots from now on."
"That didn't hurt at all."
"My son hates shots and has even kicked nurses in the past but you have done the best job!"
"Blah blah blah....." (ok that was what i was hearing.....)

So eventually I just resigned myself to being the "syringe filler-upper" and "paper-work-filler-outer" - I took my place as Justin's shot assistant. Hey, I'd let him give me all of my shots from now on too.....

A romantic tale.....

Friday we had a meeting. A meeting that would determine our fate for the upcoming 14 weeks of clinical rotations. We, the students, had to draw a paper out of a cup that eloquently said "DRAW" on the front of it. This would determine what order we were able to select our clinical sites - the first # on the sheet indicated the first round of sign ups. So we lined up 1-40 according to the number we had drawn. I selected #1 so I signed up for a pediatric community rotation, which I was highly interested in. Justin was # 26 (give or take a few #'s) and by the time it was his turn to select all the slots in pediatric community were filled. So I switched with someone - someone who was going to face a dark and gloomy fate in Parrish nursing. I gave them their dream come true when I erased my name from Pediatrics and wrote it under Parrish nursing.

The way this "intricate" drawing system worked now meant that I was last to select in the 2nd rotation. So I waited in line and Justin excitedly came over and said he had signed up for Trauma/Surgical ICU (TSI). However, when it was my turn there was only 1 spot left, and you guessed it - it was not under TSI. The only slot left (which of course indicated that this was the least desirable selection) was under Psych....at the VA hospital. So now it was Justin's turn - he made someone else's day and took them out of the mire of the Psych rotation and moved them into the glory of the ICU.

Everyone who heard this story of loss for love was moved to near tears (ok....maybe not the tears) over what we gave up for one another.

Long story short - we will be together during our clinical rotations. Which was necessary due to transportation issues and the fact that I'm going to be as big as a house soon and may need a little assistance making it through these next 14 weeks (....and beyond!). We lamented our losses and licked our wounds as we drove home, but he said something I will likely never forget.

"I'd rather be at the VA with you than be in the ICU without you."

Now that is love my friends.........that is love.

Dear baby ......

Dear baby,

This week we ordered you the cutest hat in the world, and it came in the mail with a note from the woman who made it for you. It said, "I hope you enjoy your bear ears!"

(here's a pic of it....)

This week the website says this about you growing: Your baby (now about two inches long) has been pretty busy this week, growing hair follicles, fingernails, and ovaries (if she's a girl). She has distinct human characteristics by now, with hands and feet in front of the body, ears nearly in their final shape, open nasal passages on the tip of her tiny nose, a tongue and palate in the mouth. --- Sounds like you are working VERY hard and we are so thankful for all the work you are doing so that one day, very soon, we can hold/hug/love you!! Keep up the hard work little one!!

Love you more than you can fathom,

Mom & Dad

I'm getting old......

Many moons ago I started a Myspace page, which I still have however don't faithfully update or manage it. The other day I decided to take a gander at what people were up to and just see who I could find on there. It was interesting to see who has gotten married, who has moved, who is still living in Ft. Sumner, and so on and so forth. As I became engaged in looking at these profiles I came across familiar names, but not familiar faces. These names were of kids that I taught at vacation bible school, saw as prince and princess for homecoming, and remember them being born for crying out loud!! So I clicked the names I knew and was just floored at these kids now in high school, in sports, dressed ummm interestingly, cursing, acting cool, and (gasp) dating!!!!! It was so bizarre to see them in a relationship - to see them talking romantically to other "kids" - to see their pictures with their boy/girlfriends - I was thinking to myself, "arent you like 5 years old??!??" No, wait, in fact you are like 17!!!!

Man, I'm getting old.

Dear Baby 5.0

Dear baby,

I am growing more and more excited for your arrival as I begin to get more "confirmation" of you. We got to see you last week (I'm a little behind on posting the pictures but I promise I'll get around to it!) and hear your heart beating (184 bpm). You didn't move in your pictures, but that is ok because I'm sure you will be moving plent more in the days ahead. You will never know the joy we felt in getting to see you, even though you are still quite small!! You are going to be so loved you won't even know what to do with it all - I promise you.

The website says the following about this week in your development: Your baby (now the size of a prune) has small indentations on his legs (soon to be knees and ankles!), and tiny buds of baby teeth are forming under the gums. His stomach and kidneys are kicking into gear, producing digestive juices and urine, and if it's a boy, his testes are making testosterone.

Your dad was particularly excited about the tiny buds of baby teeth forming under the gums - you will soon see how he is crazy about teeth.

We get to hear your heart again in a few short weeks and then see you again in 9 more weeks - by then I'm sure you'll look MUCH differently - and we are excited!! That will also mark the 1/2 way point until you are here!!! You will soon be here!!!

Love you lots,

Mom and Dad

The little hot dog that could....

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.....

This was the chant of the little hot dog I ate last night - I will spare you the details of where it was attempting to makes its way to and whether it acutally succeeded, however I will tell you that I will never eat a hot dog again.

Especially not ones that dance.

Oh what a weekend......

This weekend we had Justin's parents over, and had this amazing plan for a fun filled weekend. We were going to meet his parents at Babies R Us after class on Friday to shop around ~ because I love buying baby stuff. We headed over there and just as we arrived Justin and I got into this WORLD class fight ~ classy..real classy. See, because I am pregnant (which Justin asserts he at times forgets - even supposedly on the day we are going to BABIES R US), I have to eat every 3-4 hours to avoid puking all over myself and those around me. My appetite has been minimal, so each time I eat I don't eat much just enough to tide me over. We arrived near the Babies R us and it had been 3 1/2 hours since lunch, I didn't know when I'd eat next, and we were going to be walking around a public place (hence I was attempting to avoid a "scene" if you will).

Justin informs me that due to my needing to eat we will have to speed up our time at Babies R us because now we will be in rush hour traffic. Mind you we agreed to meet at babies R us at 330 pm -- rush hour usually begins at 430 ish -- so apparently we were going to be in and out of Babies R us in 45 minutes or less. So I gathered up my barely eaten food, disposed of it in the garbage and walked out. I came back into Target (where we met his parents) demanded the keys from him and went to wait in the car. I politely :) sent him a text informing him that he could get a ride home with his parents ----- Soooooo there was no babies R us. That was the start of the weekend......

FORTUNATELY it was all uphill from there, how could it not be! After he got home and we both cooled off (mostly me!) we moved on and had a really good time. We went to the mall, out to eat, rented a movie, and spent the rest of the night (until 2 AM!!) talking and laughing. Jace (Justin's little brother) and I played the Wii which is awesome because he's the only one who will play with me. The next day we woke up and went out for breakfast, went to Target ("It's a match!"), Sams club and headed home for a little more visiting before they had to head out.

It's funny to look at our fights, because they are usually really pointless. As Justin said in his previous blog, there was a time we really didn't get along. Now we rarely have a fight, although I'm sure his parents NOW have their doubts! We disagree, but rarely rarely fight. When we do fight it's all over in an hour whereas before days/weeks would pass before we could move on. Justin and I both have very strong personalities and that we get along this well is only a testimony to our Heavenly father and the love he has placed in our hearts for one another. No one can make me as angry as Justin can (and vice versa) but I love no one as much as I love him.
And in the end I always know it was never my fault, and that really helps me keep it all in perspective!

Las Cruces: The Good & The Bad

This afternoon while Jennifer took a LONG nap (It is my understanding that because her body is doing miraculous things that she needs extra rest….) I took the time to look back through some old MySpace messages that we exchanged with various people from around 2005 through recently. It was really an experience to read the messages and reflect on where a few of our friendships have gone over the past couple of years, one in particular. It was even more profound to look at the evolution of mine and Jennifer’s relationship over the past several years.

Our tenure in Las Cruces was a very difficult time in mine and Jennifer’s relationship – there were many trials and a few good times. It is quite evident that Heavenly Father had a plan for our lives together, because I believe that if Jennifer and I had been the two running the show we certainly wouldn’t be where we are at today. The MySpace messages not only reminded me of the trials and tribulations that we encountered during the three years that we spent there, but also a friendship that we developed in a pretty hellish place. While we were in Las Cruces Jenn worked at a psychiatric hospital. She and another therapist at this hospital formed a common bond in trying to avoid the insanity that existed within this organization and lamenting about various psychotic supervisors and staff. The relationship grew outside of the hospital and we eventually found ourselves at dinner one evening with Jenn’s co-worker and her husband. This was the first of many dinners, movies, laughs, conversations, trips to Cold Stone and outings. It wasn’t uncommon for us to hours with these friends several times a week. Both of them left the psychiatric hospital and went to work at other mental health agencies in Las Cruces, but the friendship continued. We shared intimate parts of our lives with these friends and they with us. They moved out of state a few months prior to us moving to Rio Rancho, but we kept in touch. We laughed together when we all struggled to find jobs in our new towns and supported one another in our respective journeys.

Shortly after moving to Rio Rancho, Jenn and I couldn’t deny that our path in life was to be forged together and we started planning our wedding. This announcement was initially met with some resistance by our families and friends, with the exception of our friends that now lived nearly 1500 miles away from us. They never failed to be supportive, available, and excited. Their support was sincere enough that they accepted our invitation to be in our wedding, meaning that they had to travel to Las Vegas, Nevada. I am sure that this proved to be a hardship for them in a lot of ways (that we probably never sufficiently thanked them for), but we never heard one complaint – only support. It had been nearly a year since we had seen our Las Cruces friends when we arrived in Las Vegas. I am guessing this is when the friendship might have shifted. Our time in Las Vegas was mostly good, though we still were dealing with some less than positive vibes from family and friends. These negative vibes impacted both Jenn and I. We worked very hard not to allow this to affect our wedding, and it didn’t (it was perfect), but the stress of the situation did likely impact our interactions with our friends who had traveled from far away. We left for our honeymoon and they returned north, and this I believe may have been the last time we spoke to these friends. I’m not quite sure why this. I don’t recall that we ever exchanged harsh words or even dialoged about what happened during those few short days in Las Vegas. Now what you would expect of a friendship that is comprised of four social workers!

At the dinner table tonight, I told Jenn that I had looked back through the messages and started thinking about our friends from Las Cruces. We talked about how much our lives have changed just in the last couple of years since we spoke to them. We talked about how they had made living in a place that was nearly unbearable, as pleasant as it could be. We speculated about how their lives may have changed as well. Did she finish her doctoral program, have they started a family, how is life up north? I am not sure that we will ever know the answers to these questions, but we have often thought about these two throughout the past couple of years. I do know that Jenn and I will be forever thankful for their friendship in such a trying time in our lives while we look back fondly on so many memories and hope that they have found all of the happiness that life has to offer.

Dear baby: Part iv

Dear baby,

Hope you had fun on your first trip - you were a real trooper and travelled quite well!! Hope you enjoyed the Jonas Brothers :)

Tomorrow we go for your first ultrasound, which means it is the FIRST time we get to see you!!! We are both super excited and can't wait for 4:00 pm to roll around fast enough! This is going to be the best day of our lives so far (until you are actually here with us, of course!) and we can't wait to see you and maybe hear your heart!

The website says: Your baby is now the size of a green olive and has grown about an inch since last week. Tiny muscles are beginning to form, so while he might not be ready to pump iron, he's gearing up to move his arms and legs. It's still too soon to feel anything in your belly, but you might be able to hear something at your next checkup. Try listening for your baby's heartbeat via a Doppler device — that welcome sound should be audible anytime now.

Which all means that we might get to see you moving around a bit!!

I was a little upset with you regarding the morning sickness business, as this week has been a real struggle, however after thinking about getting to see you for the first time I am willing to forgive and move forward!!

Love you much,

Mom and dad

Stadium of fire or bust.......

Last Wednesday morning we left for Salt Lake City, at around 1100 am, and drove straight through. We got there around 1000 pm and were so worn out that we just watched TV, ordered room service and turned in for the night. We had gotten a super duper deal at the Radisson Downtown and it was quite nice there!

Day 2: We slept in a little and then headed to Park City for the Outlet malls and the beautiful drive. Oh gosh, the drive and the sights going to Park City are so beautiful, indescribable and we were just awestruck. Miles and miles of gorgeous green mountainside with running streams and wild flowers alongside the road. We got to Park City and grabbed a quick bite at McDonalds - where we witnessed the two youngest McDonalds workers in history apathetically help each patron. We sat there eating and just watching these two girls - it was hilarious! We got the baby a couple of outfits and of course went to Harry and David's for some snacks! We headed out and before retiring for the evening went to the Cheesecake Factory!! Heaven!

Day 3: We, again, slept in a little and then headed out. We at at the Chuck-a-Rama buffet, for the first time, and it was actually really good. They had amazing desserts!! We then headed downtown and to Temple Square. We visited all the different areas including the museum, visitors centers, and Beehive House - it was actually super interesting. We then headed back to the room to rest up (that was more for me than Justin!) before heading out to PF Changs. We then went to our first Drive In movie where we saw the Proposal -- it was such a cute (albeit predictable) movie. We read up all about it and were super excited -- we got there for the 1115 pm movie and much to our surprise this place was PACKED!!! We really enjoyed ourselves though!!

Justin at the Assembly House!!
The Temple!!!
Day 4: We, again, slept in and went to eat at the Cheesecake Factory one final time. We then headed to Provo for the Stadium of Fire!! We had such a great time, and will definitely be back. We highly recommend going if you have not been - and dont just sit outside of the stadium to see the fireworks because it's not the same. The fireworks were amazing - the Jonas Brothers were great -- SheDaisy was great --- the dancers were fabulous-- the whole show just top notch. We sat by these two teenage girls (16 or 17) who were going ballistic for the Jonas Brothers and it was so funny!!! Even the 10 year old girls were freaking out with how crazy they were going for the JB!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

The dancers......More Dancers......(the smoke is from fireworks being shot from the field)The Fire Handlers.....Justin waiting for the fun to begin......Me!!!SheDaisy!!The JONAS BROTHERS!!!!!!!\ Here are the two CRAAAZZY Jonas Brother fans!!! Loved them!
Finally we headed home on Sunday -- much to our sadness. School resumed on Monday and we had to be back although we seriously considered just never coming back. On the way back home I had to use the restroom and we reluctantly stopped in Cuba, NM. The Rainbow Gathering was in town and there were rainbow people ALL over the place (think hardcore hippies). They are gathering in the National Forest near Cuba where they are camping out for several weeks. They were in the gas station restroom bathing and dressing and it was quite ummm interesting. As I was exiting I saw a little girl who looked strangely familiar and we kept exchanging glances, but I figured how in the world could I know her. As I left the bathroom I saw Justin talking to the Tornows!! What a small world!! We chatted for a while and then went to take a peek at his new vehicle and all headed our separate ways - it was so great to get to see them again!!!

**********************************************************************

Videos: A few minutes of the fireworks show AND the Stadium of Fire dancers!!!

A fond farewell

I'm sure Justin will cringe when he reads this blog, however I am a child of the 80's and how could I not pay homage to the King of Pop!?!?

I remember being a small child - 4 or 5 years old and staying up VERY late to watch Friday Night Videos. I remember watching the Thriller video and being scared out of my mind!! As I adjusted to the terror in the video I was mesmerized by the dance moves, his voice, and the totality of the video. I remember watching him moonwalk. I remember the "We are the world (....we are the children...we are the ones to make a brighter day...)" song, I remember his Super Bowl performance, which was the greatest Super Bowl performance of ALL times, I remember his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, and his now come back plans. I do know many of the lyrics to his songs, and can vividly describe the accompanying videos to you. I was very much looking forward to his comeback and to see him do his thing again!!

Throughout the years Michael Jackson has undergone a great amount of scrutiny and some will call him what they will, but to me he will always be the talented artist that created a love for music and all its possibilities. It is amazing how someone so tortured and tormented could create such wonderful art and beauty.....

The world will not know another musician like Michael Jackson......his talent, passion, creativity, and relevance will be missed.

4th of July!!!!!!

We just got back to town from Salt Lake City where we had such a great and relaxing vacation. We -- however we are SOOO tired, but I wanted to post at least one pic from our trip so here it is....I hope to get the rest up here tomorrow!!

We went to the Stadium of Fire, which is Utah's biggest fireworks show and it was headlined by the Jonas Brothers (opening act SheDaisy) and they were sooo good. I've never heard so many 10-16 year old girls scream so loud in my life!! I also got some video of the amazing fireworks show there as well (if I can figure out how to make it post!)...

Well off to sleep!!!!!
hasta manana