this and that.

Remember my post on everyday heroes?  Well up in Logan a group of Aggies and Townspeople became everyday heroes by lifting a car on fire off of a guy stuck underneath.  Ellen even took notice and gave them all an "Ellen-car-jack" and a cruise.

I spend a lot of time on pinterest.  If you want to see my boards you can and if you want an invite let me know.  It's a nice way to organize stuff I find online that I like and actually "meet" new people (you know virtually and all)...the key is not just to spend time looking at random stuff but to actually make stuff I find and like.  Conference craft weekend here I come, I'll post some "project:pinterest" stuff later.

I've been scrapbooking like crazy and love it.  Except for vacations and basketball season, I am caught up to April 2011...that's kind of a big deal in a scrapbooking world.

Saw Lion King 3D yesterday.  Love that show.  Love the final messages about remembering who you are and what you can become, never forgetting the big picture and who is out there to support you.  Kind of the same train of thought I had listening to Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk during the General RS Meeting.  If you haven't listened to it please check it out here.  Mormon or not this is a great reminder of who we are as women and what we need to do for ourselves.  Becky Higgins had a great blog post about this talk.  This is a quote I have found on many a blog from that talk as well...seriously, go listen to it right now, I promise you won't regret it.

"...Wherever you are, whatever the circumstances may be, you are not forgotten. No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be, your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you, with an infinite love."

- Dieter F. Uchtdorf

While I am sending you all over the internet...2 fantastic girls (also Aggies) have developed a website: Beauty Redefined.  They had an excellent post the other day I would recommend checking out about the quote (also by an Aggie):

"Well behaved women seldom make history"

Work has been really good and absolutely exhausting.  We have some serious medical issue patients which I love.  Cyrus and I have worked the last 3 shifts together which is always entertaining, especially when he get's mad over things like this:

Cyrus:  I think this is supposed to be your patient.
Me:  Why?
Cyrus: (shows me kardex that has note on it that says, "transfer patient with Wingardium Leviosa)Cyrus:  What is that?
Me: That means you have to trasnfer the patient with levitation...oh?!...
Cyrus:  I knew you'd know what it was, stupid magic crap....

Also some one wrote a sign over the air-conditioning vent that says "Ninja exit -->" and it highly entertains me.

(Toni you can stop reading now...lol)
Speaking of magic...I have finally been allowed into Pottermore.  Except for the sad lack of music and instructions, it's really quite awesome.  The graphics are stunning and the *extras* from JK Rowling are cool to find and read.  I made it to Ollivander's yesterday for my wand:

This what it means...the wand choses the wizard, does that sound like me?

And to Hogwarts to get sorted...so now it's officially official.  My name is PhoenixAuror44 so add me if you are out there.

Lot's of good things in life.  And it's turning into full blown fall so I am definitely in a good place!  Have a fantastic day everyone!

my S.A.N.E. week

Last week was long and interesting.  A little emotionally draining, but good too.  Last week I had a class to become a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (S.A.N.E.)...am I insane for doing this?  Maybe, only time will tell. 

Once upon a time in nursing school we had to attend some sort of nursing conference.  A group of us chose the International Association of Forensic Nursing conference that happened to be held in SLC that year.  I was immediately fascinated by the idea of becoming a forensic nurse.  One of the first steps is to become a S.A.N.E.- A (Adolescent/Adult).  So finally I qualified this year to take the class. 

First I had 18 hours of interactive DVD modules and powerpoint lectures to review.  During those I learned the basic interview and evidence collection process, watched a couple of fake patients from the exam to the courtroom to learn the process, and watches stories (good and bad) that real life sexual assault victims had.  Of course there were also the lectures on STD's, drug facilitated assault, and how to work with special populations in these cases. 

Then I had 3 days of class up at the UofU .  We had a lot of cool guest speakers the first 2 days.  On was a social worker from the Rape and Domestic Violence Crisis center.  She was excellent as she reviewed the different healing approaches the center uses.  One that she had us do was create a sensory box....basically you list different things that can give you comfort and hope related to each sense.  As cheesy as it sounds I have already used that list in my life and it really helps.  I think when you are in a "crisis" situation you are too overwhelmed to think about what helps and having the list or a box of actual stuff already made is really helpful.

Another speaker we had was a man who works with the perpetrators in a rehab setting.  Most of the class found this super disturbing but I thought it was really interesting.  Guess that is just the sociologist in me coming out.  I took a lot of classes in college about social problems, juvenile deliquency, and criminal law, where we spent a lot of time trying to understand why some people do the things they do.  We talked to the Officer in charge of the SL SVU, Gary Trask, who is 6'10'' to learn how we as nurses can help the investigators and what their different roles are.  Then it was lawyer time where a girl from the DA's office talked to us about testifying in court (the part that scares me the most) and then a defense attorney, Greg Skordas (I should say very infamous def. attorney) talked to us.  Greg was awesome and it's not a surprise he is probably the best defense in the state (I guess that is the sociologist in me again...I shouldn't like the defense, but really it's not my job as the nurse examiner to pick a side.  I am an expert witness stating what I found in my exam).  We had an awesome guy who works with the Victim Advocates teach us a lot about advocating for the patient and about drug facilitated rapes on college campus.

Day 3 was all about identifying and documenting injuries.  Let's just say I got to play with some nice cameras that day.  Won't get into the nitty gritty private details!

So what it comes down too....apply for the job at SLSANE or not?  It's an on-call position that pays well, is pretty competative, with a 2 year committment.  Something to think about for sure.  But I'm proud I got it done.  It was on my 11 for 11 list and now I can cross it off.

The Purple Piano Project Glee Party

My friend Krystal hosted a tasty glee premier party this year.  Since the title of the episode was "The Purple Piano Project" we decided to go purple.  We had lots of tasty Mexican dishes, like "Santana's 7-Layers" and "Will's Sexy Spanish Dip" (Chili-cheese Queso).  I made some Berry "Diva" cupcakes and posted the recipe over on my other blog.

We enjoyed the episode and the company.  Thanks for a fun-filled purple evening Krystal!

These people are getting me through this week...

Honoring the Heroes

Sandy City developed the Healing Fields to honor those who have died due to the terrorist attacks on 9.11.  There is a field with a flag for every victim of Flight 93, the Pentagon attack, and the 3 airplanes that hit the WTC and the Pentagon.  There is another field with a flag for every person killed in the towers and a Country flag for each nation that had victims.  There is a field with Utah's State flag for each soldier or serviceman killed in action.  On every single one of these flags is a tag with the victims name, age, and a bit about who they were.  It was an overwhelming and powerful site.  My mom, sisters, and I walked through these flags, reading many of the tags.  There was also a memorial with a statue of the 3 firemen raising an American flag.  What a beautiful piece of art.

God Bless the Heroes...and Never Forget

“The hero is commonly the simplest and obscurest of men.” -Henry David Thoreau

picture via.

God Bless the Heroes, for without them our world would be a lot darker of a place.  Out of 9-11 arose a new generation of heroes, the everyday kind of heroes.  These men and women are incredible people...from those in the towers and planes, the passengers of Flight 93, the first responders, fire departments, police, nurses, soldiers...to the family members, polititions, people on the streets of NYC...everyone who had to sacrifice a bit of themselves, everyone who tried to re-create humanity in that dark time even when they were suffering too.

picture via.

"So many misconceptions surround the notion of heroism. Far too many categorize a hero as a champion on the battlefield, a commander of legions, a master of rare talent or ability. Granted, there have been heroes who fit those descriptions. But many men of great evil as well. Heed me. A hero sacrifices for the greater good. A hero is true to his or her conscience. In short, heroism means doing the right thing regardless of the consequences. Although any person could fit that description, very few do. Choose this day to be one of them." -Brandon Mull

picture via.

It is incredible to think that it has been 10 years since that infamous day.  Our nation has pulled together united and pulled itself apart many times since then.  There are many lessons to be learned since those planes hit the towers, but for me the notion of heroism--simple, everyday heroism-- was the strongest.  We all have the opportunity to make the world a better and brighter place.  In honor of those who have been taken from us, that day and since, in the battles of good vs evil I hope we will each strive to become like them.

To read about where I was during 9-11-01 click here.

pretty good day...

today was a pretty good day.  Okay it was actually rather fabulous.

the AM:  my friend Jessica and I are new volunteers for the American Red Cross.  We are training for the Disaster Action Team and had a class this morning where we got the general overview of everything we will be able to do and the impact this type of service has. 


this afternoon:  Laura and I went and checked out Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Hale Center Theater.  My friends Nate and Brad were big players and the show was really entertaining.  I am not normally a Jospeh fan but this group nailed it on the head...fun costumes and choreography, some cool set stuff, fantastic vocals, and it was just funny.  I think it was performed exactly the way it was supposed to be, not like other versions I have seen.  Bravo to all involved.

Picture from the Deseret News.

this PM:  after the show Laura and I went for sushi at Red Ginger and then I met up with my friend Niki for an old-school scrap night.  We used to have them all of the time in HS and she wanted to get some things caught up before she moves to Singapore in 2 weeks.  Lots of laughter, gossip, chocolate chip cookies, and glue going on.  In her packing she stumbled across the old Key Club scrapbook we had to make for convention.  LOL.  excellent stuff in there, especially of the black mailing kind!!

Overall it was a pretty good day :)

Delicious Autumn.

 "Delicious Autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." - George Elliot

My friend Toni wrote this blog post about a sudden change after labor day.  It's true you know, autumn in all of it's wonderfulness just seems to appear.  The leaves haven't changed yet and the temperature still has a ways to drop before it will be official, but there is still something palpable, something wonderful occuring.  It makes my heart happy.

And to celebrate the deliciousness of it all I want to make this:  Pumpkin Crunch Cobbler.

So bring on the football, leaves, pumpkin, corn mazes, apples, and gentle cool breezes.  I am so ready for this. 

via.

this one time...

As school is starting up and life continues to move forward, I just remembered that in May of 2006 I graduated from Utah State University.  Holy cow, it's been 5 years!  It doesn't feel close to five years (probably because I lived up there until April 2008).

I miss a lot about my time up there, not necessarily the tests and papers, but a lot of everything else.

Here are some pictures from my "senior" year as a sociology student at USU:

My roommate Elise and I graduating in Sociology together.

I was secretary for the diversity committee ASUSU...here with Jenn, Spencer, Varuna, and Josh.

At the WAC tourney in Reno with Jilaine, LaDawn, and David on a stick.

Here is a blog post I wrote about graduation on May 1, 2006:
"Few can foresee whither their road will lead them, till they come to its end." -JRR Tolkien

I've been thinking about what I have learned in college. I graduate from USU in 5 days, and am reflecting on the past 5 years at this fantastic institution. Here is a list of some things I have learned... 1. Everything happens for a reason.
2. Affect positive change--everything you do makes some sort of difference.
3. Don't assume anything--you are probably wrong.
4. We are free to choose.
5. Everyone has something to offer, it just takes some effort to see what it is, but it is worth finding out.
6. The interactions people have with one another can dramatically affect their lives for good or bad.
7. All you need is love.
8. I love the "spot where the sagebrush grows."
9. Everyone has something in common that can bring them together....like aggie basketball!!
10. I've learned how to predict, explain, and describe
11. History repeats itself.
12. The human body is fragile and absolutely magnificent.
13. Hate is a powerful force of destructions that has destroyed generations, and mutates everything it comes in contact with.
14. I may appear productive, but I do things as quick as possible to be lazy longer.
15. Groups of people working for the same cause, influence the world.
16. I love 80's rock
17. Addiction is a powerful tool of destruction.
18. You can still have fun when it has been -20 degrees for 2 weeks...it just takes some effort.


All of those lessons still ring true, and GO AGGIES!

ps.  I decided for fun to just play music from 2005-2006 on my playlist....some of the fun music that has come up:  "The Adventure" by Angels & Airwaves, "Breathe (2 A.M.)" by Anna Nalick, "Move Along" by All-American Rejects, "Ridin" by Chamillionaire, "Hate Me" by Blue October, "Show Me The Money" by Petey Pablo (from Step Up), and the movie soundtrack to RENT...flashback!

I love the mountains...

Went camping with the family over Labor Day weekend.  I haven't been with the family since 2005.  It was a lot of fun, we stayed in Redmann just past Solitude (which was nice because I got wifi on my phone and could follow the USU vs Auburn game).  Redmann was beautiful, there were 3 deer that hung out at our site, a couple fiesty squirrels determined to steal our food, some cute chipmunks, and a ton of lazy bees.  We hiked over to Solitude than around Silver Lake one day, and then headed from Silver Lake to Twin Lakes the next.  It was surprisingly cold at night so we enjoyed a lot of bonfires.  We had tasty food, roasted bananas with nutella, lots of marshmallows and lots of laughter.

Do you wanna get Rocked?!

Laura and I have now attended 3 Def Leppard concerts.  It's funny because while they are entertaining they aren't even close to my favorite 80's hair band (Guns n Roses or ACDC) but the concert is always fun and they always have someone awesome opening for them.

This year Heart opened it up and they were a lot of fun.  My favorite songs were Crazy On You, What About Love, and of course Barracuda.

Def Leppard mixed up the background and were as rocking as ever.  My favorites were the obvious Let's Get Rocked, Pour Some Sugar on Me, and I also really liked C'mon C'mon, Rock of Ages, and Rocket!

People watching is always an entertaining plus at concerts like this.  Thanks Laura for the fun night!