POSH (WHNP style)

So, I took my boards 2 weeks ago and I passed them. I am finally truly 100% a women's health nurse practitioner. And I could not be more relieved. And happy, of course. But truly relieved. (And I have 2 jobs in the works....I'll keep you updated.)
For the first part of celebration, Jonmark and I went to POSH.
I've wanted to go here for quite a few months, but it is definitely something that demands a special occasion.
Instead of a menu here, they give you a list of ingredients. If you think you don't like something, you cross it off. Then you select if you want 4, 5, 6, or 7 courses. And then the party starts. They make you whatever they want to from the remaining ingredients.
Jonmark and I each crossed off one thing. It was amazing.
We had 5 courses. They were all different.
Here's the rundown:
Pre-course snack- Cucumber caviar (not real caviar) with cheese and radish sprouts

Course 1: Me- Kumquat endive salad. Him- Pumpkin curry soup















Course 2: Me- Ahi tuna with avocado mousse, blood oranges, and lemon foam Him- Smoked Sea Bass with White Asparagus on a Tomato Sauce


















Course 3: Me- Wild Boar Bacon with Butternut Squash and haricot verts Him- Shrimp with red quinoa and the best asparagus on the planet

















Course 4: Me- Kangaroo loin with mashed parsnip and blueberry glaze Him- Short Ribs on I-really-don't-remember
















Course 5: Me- Chocolate bar on Chocolate cookie with roasted banana sauce and almonds. Him- Pistachio scone with whipped cream/ice cream and strawberries














Post-course snack: Frozen lemon curd lollipops


After-dinner send-home snack: Toffee and cookie pieces
Overall feeling: INCREDIBLE!!! (so fun!)

And this is Jonmark...

Back in November, I decided that I needed to be more social. I would seek out all the little parties that were going on every weekend and I would go to them and have a stellar attitude.
And one Friday night I went to three. The last one was a birthday party on top of a parking garage. The last one I met Jonmark.
I'd seen him once before at church when I thought to myself, "Dude! He is HOT!" but he had never really noticed me. In all fairness, our ward is huge. I asked him what his story was, at which point he told me he broke his back at T7 in 1999 doing motorcross. That really wasn't the story I was expecting, but tell a nurse how you broke your back and she'll start asking questions like crazy. We talked for an hour and a half. We ate ranch corn nuts together that I randomly had in my car (I never have corn nuts!) and it was so good talking to him.
And then he got my number. Like exactly like doesn't really happen in real life.
And we went out twice (remember the sushi snack pack post? Yup. That was us.)
The fact of the matter is, he is gorgeous to me and I didn't really know what he thought of me so it started out as kind of a weird little relationship.
And then he got an infection in February and went to the hospital. And I almost lived for a week at Chandler hospital. We shared grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup and nutella and strawberries and peanut butter pancakes. We took naps in his hospital bed and got in trouble when my shoulder blade kept hitting the nurses button. And I told them where to put his IV's (nicely of course) and kept track of his meds a little bit and I might have loved every minute.
And then Valentine's Day rolled around and I got beautiful roses at work and a love note that made me cry and, well, now we're dating.
We had to have massive 5-hour long talks about it and change our mind 3 times because we're 31 and crazy and maybe that's what happens, but it's fun. And he's great. And this is Jonmark. And, um, he's my boyfriend.

Crossfit

So I started crossfit. Most of you know that being buff is one of those really important things to me. Sexy arms on a girl or a guy is always a little amazing to me. And I want buff arms.
So...I heard about this crossfit thing originally from my sister's husband Adam. There were only about 200 gyms nationwide a couple years ago, but now there are about 2000. Including one put on by my hospital. 5 minutes from my house. I think that's a sign.
Crossfit is basically a million pull-ups and push-ups and some lifts combined with a little running and rowing. I'm on my 4th week and I've never been so sore in my entire life on a consistent basis. Let's be honest, I haven't lifted this consistently since high school (I go 3 times a week). I have to use a band to help me do all my pull-ups (because last week, we did 115 one day), but I still feel stronger.
This picture is not me or my friends. And my gym is not in the woods. It's actually little and not very pretty, but I think that's the point. Crossfit started in people's garages.
The classes have only about 5 people in each of them, which means we all are really good at supporting each other and expecting the others to show up.
I graduate from "Essentials" to real "Crossfit" next week. We'll see if I die. Whoo-hoo!

I Heart Bekah

Bekah is my friend from nursing school in Idaho. She rock climbs. She travels the world. She has a boyfriend who's ten years younger than her (i.e., my age). Basically she's the coolest thing ever (I love you all, but she is REALLY cool). She also came to visit last week and we toured Taliesin West (Frank Lloyd Wright's Scottsdale house). It has cool fountains, an awesome dinner theatre, and even a door in a wall! It was so fun to see her and just hang out. Here's our pics!

Home for Christmas

I went to Idaho Falls for Christmas for the first time in what seems like forever. My roommate Vanie and Brad's roommate Kevin came with us. Both of them needed to see how the Carbiener's did Christmas. And they definitely did. They were there for a week. I was there for 5 days.
Vanie and Kaitlynn got along great. Kaitlynn is 6. She and Vanie left pictures on my phone for my birthday:

Speaking of my birthday, Kevin made me amazing eggs, and my parents got me cupcakes for breakfast. It was a beautiful way to wake up.
Christmas morning was awesome with Candice's kids. Kaitlynn loved her mermaid costume (from Santa), and TATE loved the letters I got him to spell his name, and Perri tried on Kaitlynn's new dress-up wig.


I also got Cole Haan boots which kind of blew my mind a little bit (I loved them, but I did NOT expect to get them). I've worn them about a million times already....

And we even tried valiantly to make snow angels in very uncooperative snow/ice

But Kaitlynn and I still had fun throwing snowballs!!

Basically, we spent our days laying around eating, laughing at Candice's kids, learning to play with them (I'm better at kitchen than Barbie's!), watching Despicable Me, and just enjoying each other. I even walked Candice's dog! Shocking, I know.
It was a wonderful vacation that left me remembering once again how lucky I am to be a part of them.

Petite Maison- The Aftermeal

The meal after graduation was at Petite Maison, a fancy schmancy TINY little French place that John had discovered the week before. We all sat at the bar and talked the ears off the bartender. We tried steak tartar (look that one up!), foie gras, duck, pork belly, and trout. And an apple tartlet. Basically it was very cute and so delicious. And here's a glimpse. (p.s. They also have a thing called "staff meal" where you can show up and chill out and eat a pre-set meal from 10-midnight Thurs through Sat; I've since found out that this is kind of the underground restaurant workers/bartenders hangout time. And I'm totally going soon.)

And, then, I graduated...

My parents also came in for graduation (of course, right?) They only stayed for a couple days because I was just about to go to Idaho Falls for Christmas. John came as well (we kind of helped each other out a lot during school) and Brad came because I made him. No one really likes graduation ceremonies. And because I think he loves me or something. (Most of these pics are already on facebook.) And there are no pictures of my dad because he hates pictures of himself. But he was there. And I love him. And there were 7 women's health girls; that's all of us.
(So to explain, I got my Master's of Science in Nursing. I take my boards hopefully next month to become a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner. I don't have a new job yet. I'll let you know. And last week I started the Doctor of Nursing Practice program. Which is mostly about becoming a leader in the nursing field and not about changing my job or anything. It also might kill me, so please start praying.)

Jessica Comes to Play!!

Jessica came later that week for my graduation. For anyone who's forgotten, Jessica was my roommate in Boise who I went to visit in May and whose wedding ceremony I performed.
We've been planning for her to come down forever, and finally she got to.
She unfortunately also had to sit through a poster session as soon as she got off the plane, but I tried to make it up to her :-)
So we shopped and ate fancy places. Because that is my limited view of what there is to do in Phoenix. We ate Sprinkles cupcakes. We shopped at Crate & Barrel. We ate fancy healthy breakfasts at d'lish. We stood in fake snow that made us cough and worried us a little bit.
And basically, we had a blast.
And didn't take enough pictures. I want my ELPH back.

The Craziest 5K ever.

On December 12th, I ran a 5K with a group called Girls on the Run. As part of the graduate nurse's organization, we are supposed to do a service project, so I got together with this group and we planned some things. The goal of Girls on the Run is to promote self-esteem in girls ages 8-13 by helping them run a 5K. They pair each girl with a "running buddy" to help her get through the race. So our nurses organization signed up to be running buddies. Terrified that I might hold my little running buddy up, I ran like crazy that week (even through the burning raw skin from my chemical peel). Turns out I needn't have worried. This is my running buddy, who refused to run and complained the whole way. We did pretend to run in front of her parents for a minute.

It took us about 2 1/2 hours to walk 3.1 miles. Her name is Destiny; her little brother Dallas joined us for the last half of the race. I think you can tell which picture is from before we started and which one is from the finish line. This is maybe what I get for setting up a service project on a Sunday?! (Click on this; her little brother is so cute and she is so upset....)

I love the car wash...

So I have a million things I could post about, so this one will be small. But Scottsdale has a new car wash. It's $6. It's just like Boise's. It gets my car soooo clean. It has free vacuums with small attachments that get in all the cracks and I love it. I love it. And it's about 1 mile from my house. Hallelujah!

Its all fun and games until somebody gets prediabetes

It's time again for my workplace's annual health screening. In the last 2 years, my cholesterol has dropped exactly 50 points. My HDL is up. My triglycerides could not be lower. And my hemoglobin A1C came back at 5.7. Excuse me? What?
Now, the HgBA1C is kind of a new test, so let me explain. LESS than 5.7 means you are just fine. 5.7-6.4 means you are "prediabetic". Greater than 6.4 is diabetic. And >8 is an out-of-control diabetic.
It's an average of how much glucose your red blood cells have been bathing in for the last three months. They tend to hang on to it.
I used to think this test was the bomb. It wasn't supposed to come back like this.
Now, I happen to know my fasting blood sugar is usually 82. I also know that a pre-diabetic fasting blood sugar is 100-125.
I also know that, based on my "elf" tendencies discussed earlier this year, I prefer sugar to food. Generally always. Like the tray of rice krispie treats with chocolate chips in them I put away for breakfast and lunch last week.
Even an awesome pancreas can't hide the fact that sometimes I treat my red blood cells to a sugar bath at least a couple times a month.
Today I ate a piece of peanut butter and jelly toast with pomegranate seeds instead of jelly.
And a whole wheat gyro with a side salad of tabouuleh.
And did not eat any "yogurtland"
And I'm about to go enjoy some salmon and a nice caprese salad.
Ahhh....life as a "no I am not prediabetic but I'll keep telling myself this if it keeps me out of a sugar coma."
Oh, and I ran 2 miles.
p.s. If my insurance reads this blog post, I'm gonna be so pissed....

Snack Pack Anyone?

Last Friday night I went on a date with a guy from my ward. It was my first formal "first date" in quite awhile, but it was awesome, and we totally had a great time.
First off, we went to sushi at a place that serves everything on a conveyor belt, so if it looks good, you grab it. They charge you by what color of plate it's on at the end. I felt like I ate so much, but it was totally delicious and very fun. (That stack of plates, by the way, is not mine. They belong to the random dude who got his arm in the picture. I ate a lot. Not quite THAT much.)
The sushi was great, but I grabbed "Today's Special" which was conchi. I have since googled this and determined that it must have been meat from a conch shell. I will tell you this: it was the worst thing I have ever ever eaten as far as I can remember. I almost could not swallow it. Consider this your warning- do not eat this stuff!!
But my favorite part of the restaurant was absolutely this:

Just in case you need a snack pack to go with your sushi, it's there for your enjoyment. I laughed every time it came around. And then I ate some cream puffs.

Part of That World....

I think all of you know me enough by now to know that I do not have a particularly remarkable singing voice. That may be an understatement.
I once was told by a boy that I had a nice singing voice. Candice said he was lying because he liked me.
Emily Inglet once asked in awe how I could be so dang good at singing Alice in Chains when I was so bad at singing hymns in church.
Vanie, however, did, say I was an awesome karaoke-er.
And RockBand totally thinks I can sing.
Did I mention taking a month of voice lessons is on my list of 100 things to do in 1001 days? I thought I didn't have time. I thought I couldn't find a teacher.
This is my teacher:

Her name is Emily Williams. She teaches at the Mesa Arts Center and you get 7 private lessons for about $100. So I signed up. And on Saturdays at 1:00, I can be heard singing louder and better than I ever have before. In a room with only 2 people and a piano.
And now I know how to warm up my voice and I sing "Part of Your World" and "Angels We Have Heard on High," and it is much much better than before.
I won't be singing any solos in church. And I'm not trying to compete with my sister's awe-inspiring incredible voice.
But at least I have a glimpse into that crazy music world. And it's been really fun :-)

Thanksgiving at Home

So Thanksgiving at my home involved was on the Saturday night BEFORE Thanksgiving and only included the people who mean the most to me:
Vanie
Taylor, new 18 year old roommate
Kaitlyn, new 21 year old roommate
Xavier, 21-year old roommate's fiancee

John
and of course, my beloved brother Brad. I was there, too.
This year I had a fabulous idea. SELF magazine had published these 6 healthy and fabulous side dishes. So everyone was assigned two recipes while I made Rachel Ray Turkey Cutlets Parmagiano, the only turkey I still have ever made. Kaitlyn opted to make her own mashed potato recipe. Taylor made chocolate cream pie. EXCEPT that....this was Taylor's first time cooking it away from home. The instructions read, "cream together sugar and butter until sugar is dissolved." Taylor thought to herself, "Well the only way to get sugar to dissolve properly is to boil it." Which means, we drank the chocolate cream pie because, even after 9 hours in the fridge and 1 hour in the freezer, boiled sugar does not set. It was still delicious (just like her mom's was the week after!).

Brad did an awesome job on green beans with blackened sage and hazelnuts. AND pomegranate pear stuffing.
John rocked Butternut squash with cherries and apples (even though it took at least twice as long to cook as the recipe said it was supposed to....)
Vanie made awesome sweet potato biscuits and cherry cranberry sauce (the biscuits weren't whole wheat, but whole wheat biscuit mix does not exist in this state!)



Here's everyone with their masterpieces. I'm so grateful for good friends who humor me in this craziness!


(Real Thanksgiving was spent at our former bishop's house and was also delicious and wonderful and perfect. But I didn't take pictures.)


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Trust

Sometimes I think I just might trust people too much. Take today for example. I trusted my roommate Vanie that it would be just fine to get chemical peel done before I went to work tonight. Sure. She said. It will be fine. I'm going to work like this tonight. And I'll be peeling for 5 days. And I can't touch it or it will lead to hyperpigmentation. Awesome.

The things we do for youth....