Getting out!

This weekend, my roommate Sarah and I decided that enough was enough! It was time to get out of the heat and head off to the mountains for some much needed rest and relaxation! (kind of). So off we went to go camping with her little brothers. It was beautiful- but like always--an adventure! I learned a little thing about camping in the white mountains. They dont have designated campgrounds like the ones that I am used to. You find a nice piece of dirt that looks good and settle down. Here is what we found. It was beautiful!!!


The best part was that if you stood at the face of the tent and looked forward- this is what you would see--

You might not be able to see unless you click on it- but they are cows. Yep. Cows roaming free right across from the dirt road! So funny! I told them that if we woke up to cows grazing around us I would probably freak out!




The other funny thing that happened was that all the wood that he had was soaked due to the unusually large amounts of rain that the mountains had received. We tried, but to no avail- all we got was smoke.










Thankfully we live in a wonderful day of technology and we could call their dad (who was coming up later to drop off their other son) to bring up DRY wood.

Therefore, not having a fire what else are you going to do? How about work on your golf swing. I have to say I've never done that while camping before but it was fun!



Dont be fooled. I know I look like a pro, but keep in mind that I left out the many pictures of me missing the ball.





The next day we went on a hike. There are no pictures on the way up because my focus was on breathing and not dying. However- It was worth it once we got there.

Once back at Sarah's house we hung out with the cutest puppy ever. I fell in love with Brody! So he deserves some pictures on here! You'd have to agree he's pretty darn cute!


I had a great weekend. It was nice to get away from life for a little while. I definitely recommend it to all. Even take a golf club or two because its fun for all!



And a Happy Birthday to my cute roommate too! You're great!

Thank goodness for kids!

Yesterday I was working with a five year old boy in the hospital. This little guy couldnt leave his room to play in the playroom, so he was super bored and you can only imagine how his parents were feeling! I went in and introduced myself. I asked him if he wanted some things to do. His not so emphatic reply was "sure". When I returned with some activities his mom had left the room. She came back and we went for a walk (a "we have to keep our hands together so we dont touch anything" walk)and then I left him with some more things to do. A few minutes later one of the doctors asked me if I had worked with this patient. I responded "yes" and she started laughing. Apparently, when I was playing with him, his mom had gone to tell the doctor this really funny thing. After the first encounter that I had with him, and then left to get the activites, he said to his mom- "mom, you gotta get out of here because this girl is pretty!"

At least little boys love me! Now I gotta work on the older ones! :)

Fish heads

Working in a playroom in a hospital has its ups and downs. Ups include- seeing the children get well and begin playing again, having a fun environment and music playing all day long (which could also go in the "down" category as well. Hearing the wheels on the bus all day long can really start getting on your nerves!)Down side- fish tank. Dont get me wrong. I love the fish. As I have mentioned in a previous post, I love how excited they get to see me in the morning. What I dont love is actually feeding them. Have you smelled fish food lately? EWW! I have to hold my breath and count to three. Not to mention when I slide the cover off the fish tank, an awful, pungent, stinky odor fills my nostrils. Lets just say, not the best way to start the morning. I do it, however, because I love how it makes the children so happy and excited.

That being said, one day I was sitting on a mat in front of the fish tank with a mom and her 2 year old son. We were pointing out the fish and talking to them as if they were in Finding Nemo. The mom pointing to something floating on the top of the water. "Whats that?!" She asked me. Looking at it, I was 100% positive that it was nothing but a piece of the fake seaweed in the water that had gotten loose and was floating on the top. I told her in a rather confident tone what I believed it to be. However, the mom was not convinced. "You know, some fish end up eating each other if they're not fed enough" she said as she got up on her knees for a closer examination. Those words did not bring happiness into my heart. Also I thought to myself--#1 please dont say that in front of your son and #2 please dont really be a dead fish.

Sure enough, she jumped back quickly and with all the confidence in the world told me that it was a dead fish that had been eaten and was still being eaten. I then examined it myself and sure enough it was a dead fish, but without the head! EWW!!! SICK SICK SICK!!! Those cannibals! It had been so disintigrated that it looked like seaweed!
I did the best I could to distract the kid so that the trauma of the hospital did not include the death of one of his fish friends. The mom then asked-"whos job is it to clean it up? Its not yours is it?!" Yes mam! It sure is. I dont know who else would do it. I got up, feeling like the song that is played on the drums right before an execution, was being played all around me. (I even think that I began singing it outload so as to have some comic relief!)I slowly slid the lid off right after a took a deep breath. However, in doing so the fish got extremely excited. To them, they were getting second breakfasts! They were jumping all around and swimming so out of control that the dead fish was moving all over the place and was basically impossible to get out. Then a brilliant idea popped into my head. (or at least at the time what I thought was a brillant idea.) I'll give them more food and then they'll be busy eating that, that they will leave us alone. Nope. Remember, when they get food they go crazy trying to scarf up each and every one of those tasty little circular bites of food- that they dont care that I am trying to scoop of their neighbor and flush it! Each time I went in with the net, a fish would run into it. Then some of them began taking little nips that the dead fish AGAIN! Goodness fishies! Give it a rest!!!

Soon after the food frenzy died down and I was able to fish it out! (hehe. PUN definitely intended!) I went to the toilet and flushed it away. As it was going down, I thought- maybe its tricking me and thinks that this will lead to ocean! Maybe he thinks that he is finally free. Then I remembered that it didnt have a head. I dont think it was a trick.

I now am super careful to feed the fish more food and more often so as to have less casualties!

Jill-isms

I once had a friend that would talk about the books that we are writing that are being recorded in heaven. These books contain our very most embarrassing moments. I know that I have thousands of them already written and many more to come. I know that one day when I get around to reading them, I will need an entire box of tissues because I will be laughing hysterically! I thought I would share a few of the moments this week that I am SURE made it into the book.

*I was talking to a girl a church about how her dog gets medicine for his arthritis. I commented on how at the pharmacy we filled prescriptions for dogs that included antidepressants and insulin. and then as a matter of fact, I said, "You know, dogs are people too!"

*I was talking to a co-worker in my office on Tuesday. I had to make some copies and wasnt sure if she would be there when I got back. We said goodbye and I left. A few minutes later, I returned and she was still there! I was so happy that I got a little confused with my words and shouted to her "I"M STILL HERE!!!" (Of course meaning to say, you're still here!)

*We were in our living room talking about funny things and I decided to smell a candle. At the moment that I was sniffing the luxurious pumpkin pie smell, someone made a comment and my friend's response was exactly what I would have said, had I not been in the process of sniffing. Excitingly, I said "I would have said that same thing had I not been sniffing the candle. I guess I can't use 2 senses at once!" (Apparently, speaking is one of the 5 senses! Who knew?)

*And lastly- this one takes the cake! Recently I went to San Diego with my family. I got super sunburned and spent many long nights uncomfortable as I couldn't lay on my back. The redness and burn has left (HALLELUJAH) however, the itching has begun. My back has itched for about 2 weeks straight now. The problem is that it is a super hard to reach place. My poor arm muscles are so sore from trying to stretch and reach the middle of my back. I can reach it, but it isnt a place where I have scratched very often. But now, its a constant every 5 minute motion and my arm is beginning to ache with even the slightest movement now! Well, this morning, they hurt so bad that as I was running out of my house to go work, I grabbed 3 Ibuprofen and guzzled them down. On my way to work, I was so tired. I could barely keep my eyes open. I thought to myself- "Why am I so tired?! I slept well last night." When I got to work I put my head on the steering wheel and actually feel asleep for about 10 min. I woke up, saw the time and freaked out because I was late! I jumped out and started fast walking. I then thought- I feel like I am drugged! because I couldnt walk straight. So I thought back to the IBU and then stopped in my tracks...It wasnt IBU it was Tylenol PM. I drugged myself!!! I took 3 Tylenol pm and then drove! No wonder I felt like I was going to pass out! I feel extremely blessed that I made it to work okay. I went into my office and saw that there wasn't anything too important happening on the floor so I made a call to my dad. He informed it would be in my system for 6-8 hrs! I started drinking a coke and put my head down for a few minutes. I wanted to crawl into one of the beds on the unit!!! I am still feeling the affects of it, so I hope this blog makes sense!
Lesson learned---Sleep aids go in their own special place!

Yea for friends!

My old roommate Katey came down to visit this weekend. Plus, my long time friend Nate has been here going to school for a little bit. So being the fun people that we are and being sunday we decided to get together and take a trip to the temple, walk around, and ofcourse---take pictures! Enjoy!


Here is my cute roommate Sarah! I know- We are gorgeous!




I love to see the temple!!!(Dont worry- I did sing it out loud!)


There was this beautiful tree with big green fruit. So of course it became a game of guess the fruit. What better way to guess it than to smell it!










(So I decided to put the strap from my camera on my head. and Yes, I know I look like a Lamanite. Perfect example that my brillant ideas are not so brillant after the thought!)


The verdict is in! We believe that they are limes!












I am thankful for great friends!!!

THANKS FOR VISITING!!!

Now all the rest of you need to come on down! Look how much fun we could have?!

Joanna Banana

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!



My dear sister takes the time on her blog to send out birthday greetings on each of our birthdays. Therefore, I thought it only right to return the favor and tell her just how much we love her!!!

Whenever I speak about Joanna to anyone, I never have anything bad to say about her. She truly is one of the greatest people that I know. There is an optimism and genuine love that comes from this girl. It's a rare thing to meet someone who can look at people and see only the good that is in them. Joanna never has bad things to say about people. She truly sees them in a Christ-like way and that is AMAZING!!!

She also has a remarkable talent with children. I would love to sit in her classroom and watch her teach. (I'm sure that that would freak her out so I have refrained) I'm sure that teaching small children is not easy, but you can see the love she has for each of them as she talks about them and tells us the funny things that happen all day!

Not just her school kids, but our nieces and nephews just love Aunt Joey!!! They love to sit by her at church, play games with her, and jump with her in leaves! Once, one of our nephews asked me, "I wish that Joey could visit us." (Too bad Utah and Arizona are so far away!) They just love you Jo and always want you around!

Joanna can make any stressful situation better. We have been on several trips together- which usually results- as you can imagine- in a BIG adventure. Once, we decided to go to Colorado. We were so proud of ourselves because up until we got to the city, it was smooth sailing. However,for some reason big cities are always under construction. And they do crazy things. Like randomly SHUTTING DOWN the freeway at night. Who does that?! Of course, I began to have an anxiety attack because we were forced to exit the freeway and get on another one that was sending us who knows where. Plus there was tons of traffic since everyone was doing the same! We were going 65 miles an hour down an unknown road worrying that we were now on our way to Canada. Thinking fast, I grabbed my phone and called my friend for new directions to her house. She asked me what street we were on, and I asked Joanna the same thing. Joanna looked at a sign and said causally "oh we're on Santa Fe drive!" and then proceeded to sing "Santa Fe" from Newsies at the top of her lungs. Here we were completely lost, panic filling the car, and she was singing! She made me laugh and the situation changed drastically!

Joanna is such a thoughtful person. Other people's needs always come before her own! Once she called me just to say Hi. It was a particularly bad day for me and she caught me in the middle of a cry session. I told her I was fine and not to worry. 10 minutes later, there was a knock on my apartment door and there she was. She dropped everything to be there for me and make sure that I was Okay. When I was about 12 I mentioned that I wanted to begin wearing makeup. The next day, there was mascara on my dresser that she had bought for me! Joanna would also randomly stop by with icecream for me just to wish me a good day! (That icecream would be very welcomed her in Arizona!)

Not just anyone will willingly lay on the side of a snow-packed road, with cars and semis driving by, to put chains on our tires so we could make it through the canyon! (I still can't believe that you didnt get run over!)

Joanna I just love you to pieces!!!

To my travel buddy, tent mate, and board game teammate--- I wish you the best birthday EVER!!!

No Freddy Krueger here!

For some reason this past Friday, when my alarm went off at 7,I decided that it really wasn't necessary. I turned it off, rolled over and peacefully fell back asleep. During my dream I think that something triggered my brain to start working again and I shot out of bed wondering what time it was. Yep. 7:45. Here's the problem. I leave at 8:15! Half hour to get ready?! It was pushing it so I ran around like a crazy woman! I knew right then and there that this Friday the 13th was out to get me! But was I ever wrong! It was one of the luckiest days that I have ever had! Let me elaborate a little.

Even though I woke up a little late, I somehow got into my car at 8:20! The drive to work was very peaceful with very little of the normal crazy Arizonian drivers all around me. I pulled into work at 8:54! Which was my normal time of arrival. "How can that be?" You may be asking yourself?! Well, I wondered the same thing. Luck.

Then to the parking garage. I started my drive up to possiby the 4th floor like usual. But right there before my eyes on the second level...A SPOT! Only one flight of stairs today! Luck.

As I began my walk in to the hospital, a light and strangely enough, cool breeze blew by right before I began the hot trek across the asphalt. Luck.

Into the hospital and toward those dreaded elevators. Lately these elevators have taken quite a long time to come when called for. (Another proof that they are ready to break down at any moment with helpless people trapped inside.) However, this day was different. I pushed the up arrow, and the door opened immediately! No waiting today! Luck.

Nothing dramatically lucky happened at work. However, by the end of the day there were only 3 children left on the unit. So I consider that lucky for those children and families who got to go home. Esp. one family that had been there for 2 weeks! Lucky day for them.

On my drive home, I was reflecting on how great the day was and pretty soon I noticed that I was lost in my thoughts, but the gas pedal was still being pushed by my foot. As I took the turn off the freeway, a little warning bell went off in my head. "There are cops on this road Jill. Remember the speed limit is only 45". I think my foot responded ever so slightly as my speed reduced to 60. (Still speeding- mind you.) Just as a tangent, I have a real problem with this stretch of road. There is NOTHING on the road. Just the dump. The terrain looks just like the freeway, so why am I forced to go 20 miles an hour slower? It really irks me- so therefore I think that I push it a little too close than I should! Anywho, back to the story- As I came over the top of a little hill, again the thought came to mind. "If I were a cop, I would hide at the bottom of this hill." So again I took my foot off the gas. However, no cops--so I thought--smooth sailing to my house. Nope. As I got closer I saw 2 not just 1, but 2 cop cars faced towards me ready to get me for speeding. There is nothing more frightening then seeing 2 black radar guns pointed out the window at you. (I take that back.I think 2 black real guns pointed out the window at you might be more frightening.)I think that I then defied science as my heart stopped beating, fell out of my body and onto the floor. After picking it up and getting it going again, I looked down and I was going 60. "Ahh!!" I screamed as I hit the break. Surely they caught me. I began saying out loud. "No! Please. I'm sorry! I wont do it again. Let me go." I guess they heard me because they stayed in place and I drove past them on my way. Still looking in my rear view waiting for them to flip around, yet they never did! Luck.

And last but not least... That night at the movie theater, the parking lot was packed. We drove around and at the last minute a person on the very front row was backing out! Luck.
Inside, we were the 2nd people in there and got the most perfect seating I have ever been in. Right behind the hand rail. Plenty of leg space, a place to put my feat, and no one in front of me! Luck.

I cant wait for the next Friday the 13th!


You can also say that "luck" can also be those little tender mercies sent from Heavenly Father to reassure us that He does care and is mindful of us, even in the smallest of situations! So thank you Heavenly Father!!!