LA: places and things

For Toni's birthday we did a day at the beach in Malibu:

Had to get my hair done at the elite Nine Zero One.  It was a ton of fun.

 

 

Food, Friends, & Sunshine

It has been really hot this summer but that hasn't stopped us from having some adventures.

Taylorsville Dayzz:  Alan, Zac, Scott, Chris, and I had fun at Taylorsville Dayzz eating all of the carney food and watching an 80's coverband and fireworks.  It was nice to just hang with the guys and chat.

I enjoyed some shark on a stick, deep fried cookie dough (which was to die for...and will probably kill me) and to balance that out some lemonade and broccoli on a stick.

West Jordan Western Stampede Rodeo: Becca joined me with the boys to go to the rodeo.  I haven't been to a rodeo in a very long time.  It was a blast watching the mutton bustin little kids and the cowboys ride and rope.  I came up with a fun rodeo name:  Possum Boxchute. 

British Bake Off: Becca, Jesika, and I decided we needed a girls night out and after dinner at Blaze Pizza we made a Victoria Sponge cake and watched the Great British Baking Show.  We forgot to add baking powder so it was more cookie than cake, but it was still so so tasty!

Midsingles Luau: I had a great time catching up with James and Scott at the Luau.  It was so nice to visit with Rebekah, Amber, Alan, Zac, and Emily as well.  Afterwards we all sat in the parking lot of Wendys eating frosties and talking about nothing.  The perfect summer night.

me and Scott

me, Alan, Emily, Zac

me and James

me and Amber

The 4th of July: food, fireworks, and drama.  Basically it was a typical 4th of july experience with a BBQ at Alan's house followed by firework watching at Saanii's party at a house next to Murray Park.  It was a perfect place to watch all of the fireworks.  I dared Alan to slip in between RaAnn and Amber, put his arms around them, and say that the fireworks were about to begin.  He did it!  I owe him a photo op at comic con. I am grateful for good friends.

 

La La Land in concert: Krystal, Becca, and I had a great time going to USANA and seeing the Utah Symphony perform La La Land in concert.  It is such a great movie and we were able to listen to the music live which was just delightful.

The Mountains are calling: On July 4th Brynn, my Mom, Reyna, and I decided to escape the heat for a bit but going up Big Cottonwood Canyon and walking around Silver Lake.  Brynn is obsessed with maps, and I am obsessed with the mountain air.

Nightshift Potluck: Maggie from T7 organized a patient tower nightshift potluck for the holiday.  It was a lot of fun to mingle with friends from each floor as you stopped for salads or desserts.  Rob and the ED manned the grill in the Ambulance bay.  Grateful to work with such stellar people.

GCL Home visits

For our home visits we headed out to Kom Pong Stoung village.  There are 250 families in the village and only 10 of them have good access to the water supply, so we went to check out the village to see if they would be a good fit for future projects with the Rotary.  When we arrived Justin and our Rotary contact talked to some village leaders while the rest of us went to talk to some families. 

First we met Lillian and her daughter who was 14 years old.  She was already out of school for the day (it was around 1030) because the teacher had a second job he had to get to.  They had many animals around their property and we had fun looking at the pigs and baby ducks and chicks.  There was a naughty pig with black spots who cracked us up.  We chatted about the school system and she gave us a tour of her garden (bananas and mangoes) and a look at the rice fields behind her house.  We walked to a family members house near by where there was a tiny kitten that I held.  I nick-named the cat "Cat Rash" because I broke out in a rash about an hour later on my arm on the spot that cat had been sitting.

Next we visited the leader's sister Mot. When she was 16 Pol Pot sent her to work in a Cotton field labor camp. When she was 18 she was forced to move again to a new province in Cambodia and she has been there ever since. When I arrived at her house she instinctively knew I was a nurse. She fired rapid questions in Khmer to me about her aches and pains and obvious Rheumatoid Arthritis. Even though I couldn't understand her words I understood her meaning and talked with her about the disease and treatment. I checked her meds and listened to her stories. It was a great reminder about why I became a nurse and a humanitarian.  At Mot's house we also met a lady and her 10 day old baby.

All of these people talked about how they had been transplanted to the Pursat region during the Khmer Rouge and had worked in different work camps (Rice or Cotton) as teens and children during the genocide era.

Our last visit was to a family where the woman had 21 kids or something crazy like that.  She lived in a bigger house the government provided for her when her husband died 10 years ago.  Like the other families we chatted with she mentioned the great need they had for better water in the area.

For me home visits are honestly the most rewarding part of these trips.