Guess What Happens?

Guess what happens when you eat bacon 3 times during Christmas week and make a habit of eating ice cream for breakfast?
You get your cholesterol checked, and it's 206!!! I'm gonna die!!

The Capricorn Emerges

I will think of Byron as I write this post, because of all the other Capricorns I know, he's the most like me. Happy Birthday tomorrow, B!!
So I love love love this time of year. It's like productivity kicks in every Dec. 26th. I set lots of little New Year's Resolutions. For example, I will work out every single day this year and count doing 15 push-ups as working out when necessary. I know, of course, that this will not happen. In fact, I already missed the 27th. But it's not the first of the year yet so it doesn't count. This is a practice week.
The week where you buy your pretty new calming yet motivating calendar.
The week where you break out your planner and plan new plans.
The week where you stock up on groceries and start cooking dinner again.
The week where you send it your application to the Dr. of Nurse Practice program at ASU. (Yay!!)
The week where you consider that maybe mint.com might actually be a good idea for this whole budgeting thing.
The week where you feel organized and productive and thrilled that the weather in AZ feels like Sept in Boise and you just hold out and hope this whole thing can last.
Happy New Years!

Clarence Goes Out West and Meets a Purple Horse

So I haven't blogged about Christmas, because, really, how exciting is hearing about someone else's morning of gifts? It was a pretty basic Christmas with a few twists and turns. Candice & Brad got wheat grinders. Apparently someone knows I don't cook bread. We all got food storage. I got a Garmin GPS for the next time I go to LA and John has to work and is not 100% available to keep me from getting lost. :o)
My favorite gift I gave, probably, was a book to Kaitlynn called "Clarence Goes Out West and Meets a Purple Horse." I read it 4 times to different family members and laughed every time. I highly recommend this book, especially all you Arizonians. So cute! (And apparently you can get it used for 42 cents on amazon.com!) But you can't click this picture to look inside on this blog. Sorry!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas....

It's been such an interesting December. And it's interesting to me how different Christmases can be as you get older. And almost as interesting which things stay the same. 

This month a bunch of us were supposed to go skydiving on the 19th for my birthday. In San Diego. But due to an unfortunate series of events, I decided not to go. I still wonder what the best course of action really was in that situation, but in the end we decided not to go until next month. 

I just hope it still happens. And that the weather's good. I'll be so pissed off if it's not. 

So. There's my internal conflict. Besides the fact that I have an awesome job that is still not allowing me to feel the sweet blanket of financial security that is always delightful at this time of year. 

MOVING ON!!

There have been some sweet sweet things that HAVE happened. Bridget threw me a surprise party on the 19th. And we all got together as friends and opened Christmas gifts. Some people that I hang out with often (Brad, Bridget, and John) and some people I very rarely hang out with (Chelsey & Kristine aka Polly Pocket, Bridget & Ariana's roommates), Phil (my hometeacher), Tyler, & Amber. Bridget was so sweet and got me IZZE's, which I love, and an ice cream cake, which I have never had but always wanted. Along with a birthday princess crown (The exact same one I had when I was 27 from other roommates :o)). The coolest was a book that Bridget got me that I read all the time when I was little called Betty Bear's Birthday. She found it on ebay and it was so sweet. 

Brad & Bridget shocked me by getting me Red Salt & Pepper Mills from Sur La Table that I've lusted after for 5 years. THANK YOU!! All the other presents from that night were so thoughtful & fun. It was absolutely wonderful. I also gave John and Bridget and Ariana cool posters of pictures we've taken this year that turned out so cool. Brad helped me make and order them while I was at work, which was so awesome of him. They turned out perfect. 

All of this made me remember a few wonderful Boise Christmases I had. See, until 3 years ago, I had never missed a Christmas with my family. But in 2006, I did. I had to work, and I didn't try that hard to get it off. My roommates were having a hard time all around, and I loved all 3 of them, and we worked hard to have an awesome Christmas together. We borrowed some of my family's traditions and read Luke 2 while putting together the Nativity, The Polar Express while ringing jingle bells at the appropriate time, and Jolly Old Santa Claus to truly get ready for the arrival of Santa Claus. We stuffed each others' stockings, and really got in the magical Santa Clausness of it all. And this was all after we got dressed up and went to a fancy little restaurant called Tapas Estrella for my birthday. The fact that we felt like a little family creating traditions made it such a fun holiday. And so did doing it all over again the next year. I miss my Boise Christmases a little this year. xoxoxo to Jessica, Craig, and Tara. Thanks for those memories. 

This year I'm in Bullhead City. Josh is alone in Alabama and kinda sad. John is working and not here with me. :o( My Boise friends are in Boise, and my Phoenix friends are in Phoenix. 

And I am here with my family. Which, really, is wonderful. I just am not used to wishing I was in 3 places at once!! And I want all my friends to be happy! And with me, whenever possible...

So... 

I slept until noon. I worked Sun & Mon nights and came up on Tuesday on 3 hours of sleep. So I slept for 12 hours last night. Delicious. My dad brought me breakfast in bed at 9. It was so wonderful, and I went back to sleep for 3 hours, interspersed only by random text messages of friends wishing me a happy birthday. (thank u all)

My cool family birthday present?? Well, Adam and Candice have been using my car for a month while we got a Camry Brad bought fixed and ready for them. While they had it, Brad ordered speakers from ebay online and Adam installed them. This is super sweet because I blew my speakers years ago and have had to turn the bass basically off for forever because it would buzz like crazy. It was such a surprise and it sounds so sweet!! And my dad had it cleaned inside and out, which I basically love. It was awesome. 

And Kaitlynn & I opened a few more little presents together (her birthday is on the 26th, but she's too little to really care too much). Candice got me pajama pants to replace my gray ones that are literally falling apart. Yay!! :o)

Kaitlynn and I also shared a birthday cake and also did some last minute shopping. She is such a trip. Kinda hard to shop with....very very busy....but so funny and cute. And we had people over for Christmas dinner and Brad made bacon-wrapped scallops which was cool and different. Amazing how many people have never had scallops. They turned out great. 

I read the Polar Express to everyone, including company. Nana couldn't quite do it this year, which almost made me cry. She's the best reader, but her mind isn't quite up to it this year. She did emphasize a few parts that she can still do better than I can. Which I loved. She's the coolest lady, and I know I owe so much of the Christmas Magic in my life to her. This is a picture of her last year reading to us, which she's been doing since 1987, when the book came out. 

After Kaitlynn & family went home, my brother & I & mom & dad wrapped the last of the presents. It was fun just to be here with them, and even though this Christmas seems a little more crazy and a little more stressed than usual, I realize that I am no less blessed. God still gave Christ to us. Christ still gave His life for each of us. I have friends and family who love & appreciate me and who bless my life everyday. 

I am so grateful for this season, and for the magic we can find in it. 

I've done not enough service this December, and I hope that's something I can make more of a priority this year. And maybe the Christmas spirit will be a little easier to capture. 

Now Brad & I are off to read Jolly Old Santa Claus. 

Because, you know, Santa Claus comes tonight. So you'd better be tucked in tight. I hope you were good this year. 

Green Bean Vomit

I thought that poop was my least favorite bodily byproduct. I was wrong. I didn't know that green bean vomit could be so vile. I didn't know it could almost make me vomit. I just cleaned it up off the floor. I feel a little traumatized. And I'm sure there's a little bit somewhere on my shoes right now. And that's almost too much to handle.

The Organic Perspective

So one thing about hanging out with John is that I'm discovering all the little restaurants around here that I couldn't find on my own. And I love love love them.
Last week we went to True Food Kitchen, a resturant based on the Glycemic Index and Dr. Weil and smells like WheatGrass. We had fancy non-alcoholic drinks - I had a No-jito (Honey Ginger Lemonade with Mint). He had The Medicine Man (a berry drink made with Olivello berries, which apparently are only served at this one restaurant in America). So delicious. We had butternut squash ravioli with yogurt sauce and chicken with squash and brussel sprouts and farro (like barley). And for dessert we had a flourless chocolate cupcake with a melted center and diced pears on top. And a slice of dark chocolate with a tiny scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. We sat on the patio under the heaters and had so much fun. :o)
Today for lunch we went to The Green Restaurant. Which is totally vegan. Of all the diet adventures I will not try on my own, it is to attempt veganism. However, I will try it at a restaurant. Especially this one. We had a Balsalmic Picnic salad with apples and strawberries and pecans. And a flatbread pizza with spinach and "mock chicken" and "mock cheese." And it all actually tasted good. For dessert, we had a soy blizzard with almond cookies and toffee flavoring.
So delicious. And so exciting!

Prissy Weekend Pictures

These are all from my cell phone; It was actually kind of a busy weekend. Not busy enough to not take cell phone pictures. :o) It's hard to get the lighting good on an actual EYELID.... The lipstick picture is a red I almost got. And then couldn't figure out when I would wear it. Ashley went for it. And looked smokin' hot on Sunday.

RockStar Virgin No More

I haven't slept really awesome the last week or so. Not terrible, mind you. Just not great. My sleep schedule seems to be off, and basically, I haven't been able to sleep as long. I've been much more tired at work and felt kind of miserable. I think quite a bit of it has to do with not working out, and even though I have tried to make it a priority, I've been really bad at it lately.
This all came to a head on Wednesday. I woke up at 3pm instead of 4:30, and I was tired! I felt fine until 5:30 when it came time to start getting ready for work, and I realized I was not going to make it. I wanted to call in "Sleepy" to work. 

Then John suggested I get a Rockstar. Now, I was, until this point, an energy drink virgin. It takes me exactly 1 Mountain Dew to stay awake for 8 hours on very little sleep. But this time I was more wiped out than usual. And desperate times call for desperate measures. 

Rockstar Juiced Guava here I come.

I drank half of this during report at work. I felt like I was on crack for 2 hours (I assume that's what crack feels like). I was totally restless. My patients all had linen changes. I had a ton of antibiotics to hang and missed exactly none of them. I basically had a very long to do list and all of it got done. My head was going nuts, but my body was Queen of Efficiency. It started to wear off a little about 1. I sipped on it until 4 and then decided to lay off. I didn't drink the whole thing, but I was still worried about how I would sleep. 

Turns out I slept like a champ. For about 7 hours. Sweet!

And on Thursday I went running. 

I think my schedule is back to normal. 

Prissy Weekend

So for those of you who know me, I'm not the MOST prissy of the girls I know. Yes, I do my hair and make-up very close to every day. Yes, I am particular about most things, and I'm neurotic about shaving my legs. But there are some very non-shall I say- beauty school girl things about me. Like the fact that I get highlights occasionally but have never truly changed my hair color. Like it took me 14 years to straighten my hair. Like I generally wear the same eyeshadow every single day. The colors I choose for this stay around for an average of 6 years. Clinique Pink Chocolates anyone?

Meet Ashley Minkalis. 

This beautiful girl has eyeshadow that truly makes me envious. Oh, I know it is superficial on so many levels. But, really, I have gone to several cosmetic counters in the mall trying to get them to imitate this woman's eyes. I just tell them to make my eyes more fun. And they just make them slightly less boring.

And then last Saturday Ashley mentioned that we needed to hang out more. And I mentioned that we should go eyeshadow shopping. We bought 4 sweet colors, and she made my eyes look AMAZING (I did have a few more to work with). She did one eye and then taught me to do the other eye to match. And everyday since has been so much fun. 

I also had my hair straight for 4 days. And got a little white t-shirt from Armani Xchange with A&X rhinestones on it. And I wore a fun new outfit to church. Basically it felt like a weekend where my priorities were totally in the wrong place. 

But that doesn't mean it wasn't fun. And it doesn't mean that doing my eyeshadow everyday this week hasn't been the highlight of my day. :)

A Saturday Thanksgiving

So I worked 5-12 hour shifts this week. I got off work Sat. morning and headed down to Bullhead City (in our rental car). Brad drove and I attempted to sleep, but really didn't. We had Thanksgiving about an hour after we got there. All the neighbors were invited so there were about 20 people in the community center. It was really nice, and as soon as we were done, I fell asleep for about 4 hours. Then we all watched Wall-E. And I fell asleep for the last half and slept until the next morning on the couch. 

Sunday was church. And afterwards we spent a lot of time reading www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com and finding out why I'm a sucker for everything I interpret as important for the Ultimate White Life. Really it was a laid-back Thanksgiving, but really good to be home. 

Dad made a great breakfast on Monday morning before we headed out. We jokingly tried to talk Kaitlynn into coming back with Brad and I until Christmas. She thought about it pretty hard. We told her it would be a long time and that she couldn't come back even if she missed her mom & dad. You could see the little wheels turning, and finally she said, "Do you have ice cream?"

hahaha. Oh, we love her. What a good Carbiener she is. 

And last night we went with most of our friends (miss you Ariana!!) to look at the temple lights for Family Home Evening and then to Chili's (which Ariana did get to stop by for). Just a relaxing night at home. It's always good to go home. It's always good to be back.